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In this issue:

1. What's Training Good For Anyway?
2. More Targeted Reporting Coming Soon for e-Learning Customers
3. High Praise for People from Will Marre
4. Staff Recommendation: Review of Santa's Leadership Secrets
5. Welcome Aboard



1. What's Training Good For Anyway?
Submitted By: San Diego Employers Association

There are good reasons to mandate training and development in your organization, and there are bad reasons for mandating training. There are ALSO good reasons for NOT training, in some circumstances, and bad reasons to refuse. Knowing what training can and cannot accomplish enables you to make the right decisions at the right time, ensuring that your limited training dollars are used effectively.

The Chaotic Work World
If our work worlds were stable, and unchanging, we might not need to worry too much about training. We might still do it to provide employee development, but it would be less critical to our organization's success.

It ain't so. All you need to do is look around at your own organization, and what you are likely to see is significant changes that have occurred during the last year. You may have lived through downsizing, restructuring, changed mandates, increased workloads, flattening of management structure, and a host of other changes. It is not likely that these changes will cease in the future either.

You know all this. Change has accelerated to the point where some organizations are in chaos, and most are at least staggered. What all this means is that as our work worlds change, new skills, knowledge, and concepts are needed to achieve our corporate goals – and, our personal goals – just to stay even, and just to keep our sanity.

What Training Can Do
Training CAN accomplish many things. It can help people learn the new skills that are required to meet new expectations, both formal and informal. For example, a support staff person may have been hired originally for his/her ability to type, to answer the phone and file. But now, with increased workloads, we want that person to be able to do much more...perhaps to solve client problems, to use desktop publishing processes, to handle more of the day-to-day issues, so we can use our time more effectively. Training can help people accept the challenge of their evolving jobs.

Training can also help to:

• build a common understanding of the organization's purpose.
• show management's commitment and loyalty to employees.
• develop people so they can increase their responsibilities and contribute to the organization in new ways.

What Training Cannot Do
There are many things that training can't do. Training, on its own, cannot change ineffective employees into effective ones. It is unlikely to address ALL the causes of poor performance. Limited training also will not turn a poor supervisor or manager into an effective one, unless it is coupled with ongoing coaching.

Training will not erase problems that occur as a result of poor structuring of work, mismatching of work with the person, unclear authorities and responsibilities, or other organizationally related issues.

Training as a Tool
The best way of thinking about training is to think of it as a management tool, much like a carpenter's tool. Just like a carpenter picks the hammer and not a screwdriver to pound a nail, the manager should be choosing training because it is the RIGHT tool for the job.

Also, to continue the analogy, if the supporting structure (the wood) is rotted, only the foolish carpenter would attempt to pound the nail into the wood, and expect it to help. It is the same with the manager. If a manager expects things to improve as a result of training, he/she needs to ensure that the supports are there for the use of the tool, and that there are no other non-training related problems hanging around.

To conclude, training can be a valuable tool for the organization and the manager, provided it is the RIGHT tool to solve the problem or address the identified issues. Even then, there must be supports in the organization so the training can be effective.



2. More Targeted Reporting Coming Soon for e-Learning Customers

You spoke, Business Training Library listened!

In numerous conversations with our valued customers, we heard a consistent desire for more targeted reporting capabilities. In response to that need, our e-learning staff is pleased to introduce a new addition to the wide variety of existing reports in our Learning Management System! Unlike other reports, which return all history data, the new "User Activity Report" will allow administrators to view training data over a targeted timeframe.

Want to report on how many employees from your Northern office took the required Safety Compliance course in June? No problem! Simply filter down the data using the selection criteria and choose the specific timeframe from the pre-defined options or innovative calendar feature.

Need that data local to manipulate and prepare for a meeting? With this report you can! Choose the Export to Excel link and watch your data download into Excel to save on your computer or network. Don't have Excel? No problem, the data file is saved as a CSV and can be opened in a wide variety of other spreadsheet and text applications.

Want to learn more about the new User Activity Report? Simply call your Account Manager for more information!



3. High Praise for People from Will Marre

Will Marre, former president of Covey Leadership Foundation, recently commented on the new training course People by saying "on a scale of 1 to 10, it's a 25. If the UN hired the best agency in NYC to do a piece on what their mission is, it wouldn't have been this good."

Have you been looking for that one video you can use in all of your...

Leadership
Management Training
Interviewing
...and any other communication-based program you conduct?

People (#25015) is a visually engaging 4-minute launching point to any session you're conducting on these topics. It's a video that won’t interfere with the skills you teach; it only reinforces what you've already developed.

People was originally inspired 7 years ago by a mere three lines from a poem, and was more recently impassioned by observing the outpouring of global humanity after the unfortunate tragedies of our new century.

It’s interesting to observe how the world drops all of its prejudices and differences and rushes to the aid of those in need, regardless of race, religion, country or political differences during times and events such as these.

People beautifully illustrates the potential of these universal human traits of kindness, generosity, and respect in our workplaces. This powerful, 4-minute video gets to the heart of the one thing that unites all people on earth. This one thing is the key to success in all our relationships.

Lending Library members can check out this new title today at http://www.bizlibraryonline.com. Prospective members can view select titles at no-charge by signing up for a free demo.



4. Staff Recommendation: Debbie's Review of Santa's Leadership Secrets

Course Title and Code
Santa's Leadership Secrets: #44028 (VHS) and #44028A (DVD)

Media
Video and DVD

Course Group
Business Skills Library

Course Overview
This is a clever and compelling resource for leaders at all levels to help them accomplish "big things" by giving employees clear goals, solid accountabilities, ongoing feedback, coaching and recognition. These are the leadership traits of the Santa Claus in each of us! This video is applicable for year round training, not just seasonal.

From motivation and communication issues to reindeer recruitment and red wagon production problems, Santa's got a REALLY tough job with never ending challenges. This powerful and entertaining, animated training program focuses on leadership principles relevant to every organization.

Target Audience
This course would be applicable to all leaders.

Our Rating
5 Stars (out of 5)

Debbie's Review
It’s the perfect time of year to review one of our newest additions to the Business Skills Library! And even though we may not have ever really thought about it – Santa Claus does make a good example of a talented leader responsible for a diverse and unique team!

In this video, we see Santa Claus reply to a letter he has received from a leader who is at his wits end. Santa is able to empathize with the leader and share some of his insights from all his years at the North Pole. We see that Santa has faced miscommunication with the elves in the workshop, not making the best hiring decision when it came to a new reindeer and how he had to help the elves accept a change in toy production.

At 12 minutes, this video would be a great starter to a meeting for leaders and managers at any level. The program addresses some of the greatest challenges a manager can face – coaching employees, setting goals and expectations and being a positive example to others in the face of change. We see that not even Santa is the perfect leader all the time, that he has made some leadership mistakes – but that he has learned from them, and has become a better leader in the end.

I think this video deserves 5 stars!

Lending Library members can check out this title today at http://www.bizlibraryonline.com. Prospective members can view select titles at no-charge by signing up for a free Trial Membership.

Debbie Williams, Operations Manager, has been with Business Training Library for 4 1/2 years. Outside of the office, Debbie enjoys traveling, trying to stay fit and family gatherings.



5. Welcome Aboard

Business Training Library would like to welcome its newest clients and partners! Your BTL team stands ready to support you throughout this new endeavor.