Getting into the time alone zone

How often do you get into the "time alone zone"? Daily, weekly, rarely, never?? I don't get to visit nearly enough!

Happiness in the workplace

I just read an article about the value of happiness in the workplace. ( http://www.cox.smu.edu/article/research/research.do/103 ) There is a line in there about The Container Store that “people care about each other here.” Consequently they encourage their friends to apply. Over forty percent of the company’s new hires result from referrals made by existing employees.

That really struck a chord in me. If anyone asked me I would recommend that they NOT work at my company; particularly if they were a friend. I'd tell them to run...RUN FAST...in the opposite direction.

What can you do to change that type of environment from the inside?? I'd love to know that answer.

Collected Wisdom

A collection of "What I've Learned" interviews of people like Red Auerbach, Jeff Bezos and many more.

http://www.esquire.com/features/learned/011019_mwi_index.html

Training a powerful predictor of financial performance

TRAINING DIRECTORS' FORUM E-NET
A discussion-driven newsletter for training managers
Thursday, May 19, 2005

Firms' investment in employee training is the single most powerful predictor of future financial performance, says Lauri Bassi. The CEO of McBassi & Company Inc. and former VP of research at ASTD has spent the last decade researching the connection between organizational performance and investment in training. Today, she uses that research to run an investment company that invests in firms that invest in their people. TDF e-Net spoke with her recently about her work.

TDF E-NET: Why did you embark on this research?

BASSI: Historically, there has been a real absence of information and a lack of understanding on the part of analysts about training and its impact on the marketplace. The economies of the stock market are such that firms that do make significant investments in their people are
penalized in the short run for doing so -- when the opposite should be happening. When I left Georgetown University and went to ASTD to become VP of research, we set up benchmarking systems and used them to generate data on thousands of organizations around the world with
the goal of using that information to set the analysts straight.

TDF E-NET: How much better do firms that invest in their people do in terms of market performance?

BASSI: Through our research and investment activities, we have discovered that a firm's investment in employee training is the single most powerful predictor of stock price that we can find. Also, historically, [McBassi & Co.'s overall] portfolios of large investing firms have beaten the market by about 33 percent per annum. That's significant, especially when you consider the principle of compounding interest. If you can consistently outperform your competitors by one-third each year, within a matter of only a three-year period you can double your performance relative to theirs.

TDF E-NET: What type of culture typically exists in companies that understand the importance of training and development and view it as a strategic priority?

BASSI: A lot of it has to do with a leadership team that values the investment and truly perceives employees as an asset and not a cost. These are the kinds of companies that do not resort to layoffs as a first reaction to any small downturn in their business. (After all, if they are investing in their people, the last thing they want to do is lose an important asset.) There also are practices and behaviors associated with a culture of investment that move beyond treating
people as costs and toward the creation of a behavioral and institutional mindset that focuses on optimizing people as assets. These are companies with a long-term-investment culture and a culture that has the strength and resilience to withstand the pressures to which
so many companies fall prey, such as maximizing this quarter's earnings to the detriment of the organization's long-term health.

TDF E-NET: Trainers already understand the value of what they do, but how can they use this information to convince executives who don't necessarily share their viewpoint?

BASSI: One thing to do is size up your leadership team and determine whether the people on it are, in fact, capable of changing. Some organizations are helpless, and the only option is to look elsewhere for work. At other places, they just get it, and those are wonderful organizations for trainers to be part of. If you're in an organization that may swing either way, another option is to work internally to change your culture. What do you do? In the past, we have found that the research-based evidence we have presented in articles can be attention-grabbing for execs because the publications speak their language. That kind of evidence, our credentials and the authority of the publications themselves all can help to garner attention.

Beyond that, as an industry, trainers need to fundamentally change the way they seek evidence. Trainers who are pursuing the same tired old Kirkpatrick approach to evaluation are not serving the industry. We need to figure out new mechanisms for measurement that go beyond
asking, Does the course work? to asking, How is our learning strategy supporting our business goals and how might we demonstrate that? In short, we need to seek out alternative measurement strategies and quit using the tired old ones that we have used for the last 50 years
and that haven't worked.

TDF E-NET: Do you think that this research will revolutionize training and development and finally give trainers the recognition they deserve?

BASSI: Yes, I do. But the revolution will be somewhat evolutionary in nature. Training will not be dramatically different 12 months from now, but it will be significantly different five years from now and very significantly different 10 years from now.

The fundamental economic force at work here is that we are in a globalized economy where capital moves quickly, technology changes rapidly and is rapidly replicated, and commodities are created quickly. For highly developed nations such as ours, the only way to compete in such an environment is through superior human capital management (HCM) -- of which training is a very important component. Firms that don't take HCM and training seriously in this environment are going to either go out of business completely or just fade into irrelevance.