May 2006 e-Newsletter

Brought to you by Business Training Library
The #1 Provider of Training Solutions for Growing Companies!

In this issue:

1. Slowing the Leak of the Baby Boomer Brain Drain
2. What Keeps Training Professionals Up at Night?
3. Course Review: Communicating as a Leader
4. e-Invoicing Now in Place for all Business Training Library Clients!

1. Slowing the Leak of the Baby Boomer Brain Drain
By Candace Fisher

I am a late boomer, part of the “baby boom” generation born between 1946 and 1964. Early retirement is a dream of many of the baby boomer generation, but for some, it’s merely a pipe dream – something that will not prove to be reality. Since, like many younger boomers, I’ve not accumulated a lucrative pension from any one employer, my 401(k) plan investments were hit hard by stock market dips and I really do enjoy working, I’ll probably not be among the group that will be retiring early. I might not even retire at the age of 67 - when my age group is projected to receive full retirement benefits.

As the oldest of the baby boomers turn 60, organizations are being hit with the reality that many of their employees may be considering retirement in the not-so-distant future. Some may have already retired. While many experts believe that this may not necessarily result in a labor shortage, there is a growing concern that the aging and retiring workforce will widen the skills gap and create even greater staffing challenges. Organizations cannot continue to expect that they can hire employees who have the necessary skills, are already trained and ready to go to work. Unfortunately, many organizations have not done a good job of developing the next (replacement) group of experienced employees.

One of the strategies that companies should consider in order to address or avoid the “baby boomer brain drain” is to utilize “older workers” (and I use that term very broadly) as an educated, experienced talent base. According to a demographic profile published by MetLife, “baby boomers have a higher level of education than any generation before them.” U.S. Census Bureau data published in March of 2005 indicates that over 88% of baby boomers have completed high school and approximately 29% have at least a bachelor’s degree. “But these employees aren’t trainers,” you may retort. “How can younger employees benefit from their knowledge and experience?” There are several options. You may refer to these experienced employees as SMEs (subject matter experts) and have other employees develop and deliver the training, or you may even go so far as to train the experienced boomers to be trainers.

Recently, at a training workshop, I noted an example of this interesting phenomenon. One of the participants introduced himself as a baby boomer who was attending for the purpose of learning to design and develop training that would enable him to pass on his knowledge to the next generation of employees. This is an example of an organization that has developed a plan to ensure that knowledge is passed on so that younger employees are ready to assume the responsibility when the boomers leave.

Training does not have to occur in a formal classroom setting. Formal and informal mentoring and coaching programs can prove to be even more beneficial. A respected mentor who meets with an employee regularly can pass on their knowledge in a way that will be more useful to the employee because it’s “on the job” rather than in the classroom. Your employees CAN learn from others’ mistakes and experiences.

Managers should be coaching their employees. They should assess employees on their leadership skills and potential for future jobs. As part of the evaluation process, managers, with the employees’ input, should detail a development plan for each employee, a plan that may include training by a more experienced coworker.

There is still a great opportunity for most employers to harvest the knowledge of the baby boomers in the workforce. Employers should begin to take action now by examining their workforce and actively engaging in succession planning at all levels of the organization.

Candace Fisher is the Manager of Education for The Management Association of Illinois. Her background includes work in training and development, employee relations, labor relations, benefits negotiation and administration, recruiting, workers' compensation and overall strategic management of the Human Resource function.

2. What Keeps Training Professionals Up at Night?

The members of the Masie Consortium and Learning Trends readers from around the world have shared with Elliott Masie some of their concerns, priorities and key projects. Elliott used these comments to edit and develop a free digital book entitled "What Keeps You Up at Night?" which addresses 672 of your training issues and challenges. This book covers topics from resources to governance, and from learners to systems. Most of the top issues that are being faced by learning professionals are listed in this 91-page document.

Click here to download a copy of this free digital book!

3. Course Review: Communicating as a Leader

Course Group
Business & Professional Skills Catalog

Media
e-Learning

Course Overview
You've asked an employee TWICE to complete a project as soon as possible and still the work isn't completed. You've delegated a task to another employee only to have it done incorrectly. You've sent an e-mail asking for extra help on a project to which you've had several negative responses. What's going on? While these situations could be the result of many different influences, you can eliminate one of the variables by ensuring that your communication style is positive, clear, concise, and to the point. Learn how to coordinate your verbal and nonverbal message to get the best results and learn how to write in such a way that you get the highest impact with as few words as possible.

Target Audience
Supervisors, managers and coaches

Expected Duration
4.5 Hours

Tom's Rating
4 Stars (Out of 5)

Tom's Review
Effective communication is the cornerstone of an effective leader. The way in which a leader communicates with his or her staff will make or break their team.

This course introduced strategies for improving leadership skills through more effective communication. From the context of how to communicate different messages based on their content and audience, to effective questioning and listening techniques to help you get to the bottom of a situation by hearing not only what’s said, but how it’s communicated, and what may have been left out. This course also suggested some great ways to resolve conflict providing specific questions to ask that can be used in almost any situation. The printable Job Aids on communication skills and listening styles will be helpful to reinforce these concepts now that I’ve completed the course.

The bottom line is: I’d recommend this course for anyone that wants to improve themselves, or their company. This course only took me 2.5 hours to complete. Time well spent!

Tom Braning is a Senior Training Consultant for Business Training Library’s e-learning division. He has been with Business Training Library since January 2004. In his spare time he enjoys spending time outdoors with his dogs as well as golfing and playing the guitar.

If you have any questions about this course or others in the e-Learning Catalog, you can reach Tom at 888.432.3077 ext. 127.

4. e-Invoicing Now in Place for all Business Training Library Clients!

Business Training Library is always looking for ways to improve customer services! As a result, we’re pleased to announce that, effective May 1, 2006, we converted from paper to electronic invoice delivery. All future invoices from Business Training Library will come to you via e-mail.

We will send your billing forms as e-mail attachments in PDF format. When you receive invoices from us by e-mail, you will have the added option to pay them electronically from your Web browser.

By moving to this format, customers will enjoy these added advantages:

Paying online is easy, fast, accurate, and secure.
You can pay by credit card.
You can view previous invoices and payment history.
You can store forms electronically and easily review them on your computer.

Here's how it works. You will receive an e-mail with a reference line of “Invoice from Business Training Library.” Open the message and view your invoice by clicking on the yellow “View Invoice” button. From there, you’ll be directed to the “Secure Online Invoice,” where you may:

Pay your account balance via credit card. To pay, just enter your amount and click the yellow “Pay Online” button.

Click on the PDF file to view and print your invoice. Click here to download Acrobat Reader.
Set up an account that will allow you to view previous payments. All information regarding your account is password protected, and all transactions occur over a secure Internet connection.
You can even send an e-mail message to us if you have questions about your account.

If you have any questions about this new service, please contact our Accounting Department at: 888.432.3077 ext. 122.

Business Training Library - 285 Chesterfield Business Parkway - Chesterfield, MO 63005
888.432.3077 - Fax: 636.534.1001 - http://www.bizlibrary.com