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Special Advertising Supplement to Workorce MANAGEMENT S3

Best Practices in Training and Development

Tying Training and Development to Competitive StrategyASSESS SYSTEMS

Every organization has a specialized value chain consisting of

unique activities that make products and services beneficial tocustomers. Knowledge of the value chain and its accompany-

ing strengths and deficits is essential. The process of gaining such

knowledge is known as value chain analysis, a concept popularized

by competitive strategy guru Michael Porter.

Value chain analysis is a powerful tool for business leaders, partic-

ularly those who oversee training and development (T&D). Best-

practice T&D, along with other human resource (HR) functions,

supports the primary activities of the business. In difficult financial

times like these, support might be considered non-essential to

business processes and therefore subject to cost-cutting. However,

activities that sustain the primary value-creation engines of a busi-

ness always require investment, in good times and bad.

Critical Business Support

Top T&D professionals first seek to understand how value is created

by the business they support. They then translate this thorough

understanding of the value chain into the knowledge, skills and abil-

ities of the people involved in mission-critical activities. The next

step is to organize these key capabilities into competency models for

each level of the organization. Competency models define successful

behaviors that ultimately make the products and services of the busi-

ness valuable to customers.

Competency models drive not only T&D activities, but also other

HR activities. Upstream activities, such as talent sourcing, anddownstream activities, such as performance management, work in

concert with T&D to provide the HR capability to the value drivers

of the business. Companies that hire the right people for the job and

reward them for top performance get the most return from their

T&D investments.

T&D professionals can avoid common training pitfalls by build-

ing their programs around the business value chain, incorporating

overall business strategy and coordinating their activities with other

HR practices. A business leader might say, Sales are down, so we

need better sales training. The savvy T&D manager should be able

to help pinpoint the constraint leading to lower sales, find a more

effective solution and respond with something like, If we targettraining to the order-fulfillment process, we can reduce delivery time

and errors, which are the primary causes of declining sales.

Well designed, expensive training programs risk becoming the

flavor of the month when not intimately tied to business strategy

and tightly woven into the fabric of other HR practices. The skilled

T&D professional proactively offers the fundamental activities that

lead to value creation in the business and thereby avoids the latest

fads and trends in T&D, which quickly give way to the next wave

of fads and trends and always involve additional expenditures.

T&Ds Value Chain

An organizations value chain yields products and services with

competitive advantage. The concept of value chain analysis can also

apply to the business of T&D. At this level, the primary strategic

objective of T&D activities is to provide more valuable employees

to the company.

Activities in the best-practice T&D value chain precede employ-

ment and extend beyond termination:

Pre-employment:

Community, governmental and educational outreach programs

Sourcing and recruitment activities

Employer-of-choice branding and realistic job-preview activities

Pre-employment assessments and interviews

During employment:

On-boarding activities

Enculturation, reinforcement of values and basic operational

training

Career guidance and management activities

Functional, professional, management and leadership training

Assessment for promotion or individual insight and develop-

ment

Safety, compliance and regulatory training

Post-employment:

Exit interviews and surveys

Outplacement support Employee alumni groups and networks

The T&D professional conducting the value chain analysis exam-

ines each activity and asks, Where does the development of people

add the most value to our enterprise? Where are the constraints to

adding that value? For example, some high-tech companies take a

proactive, strategic approach by directing significant T&D efforts at

middle-school students who have an interest in a technology career.

On the post-employment side, many consulting companies recog-

nize ex-employees as a profitable source of increased business. By

making every effort to ensure a positive experience for all their people,

these organizations now have numerous former employees who are

ambassadors of the company brand, involve the company in con-sulting contracts and sometimes return with even more experience.

The Bottom Line

Value chain analysis is a tool business leaders use to lay the foun-

dation for executing on business strategy. It is also a tool that helps

define best practices in T&D. By adding value to the business, T&D

investments yield significant returns and become a key driver of

competitive advantage. I

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The online hub for everythingand everyone you need to know in

Training and Development.

Use the Training and Development channel on the workforce.com Web site

as your information hub for this topic, 24/7. Read the most current stories,

trends and special reports. Search by subject or company. Get news you

might have missed. Find archived in-depth features. Click on the Commerce

Center for a list of directories on different segments within the category,

such as Leadership Training, HR Education Programs, or Software. Each

directory includes profiles and links to resources and vendors, cutting down

on your research time.

Access is free,you simply need to register to become a member!

> Go to: workforce.com/training

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Linking Learning and Talent Management fora High Performance Workplace

HALOGEN SOFTWARE INC.

Traditionally, learning management systems (LMS) havebeen used primarily in large enterprises where the HR andlearning teams operate in isolation from one another.

However, recent research in talent management points to theunion of learning and performance management as a growingbest practice.

Bersin & Associates 2008 Corporate Learning Factbook identified

that more than 25 percent of corporate learning and development

(L&D) managers rate integration with performance management as

one of their top two priorities. In theory, all L&D programs, inter-

ventions, activities and resources should support this performance

management process.

However traditional learning management software was devel-

oped as a standalone solution. It focused on improving the efficiency

and operational effectiveness of the training organization; provided

tools for employees, trainers and content developers to more easily

build, administer and deliver training programs. But it lacked a key

functionthe ability to create a development process between

manager and employee that helps employees improve their personal

performance in conjunction with organizational goals.

As a result, stand-alone LMS offerings didnt meet expectations.

This was in large part due to the lack of integration with other HR

functions. This resulted in LMS offerings being time consuming to

administer and resulting in significant duplication of data and

effort. One of the biggest issues with traditional LMS systems is that

improvements in performance from training could not be measured.

Why Integrate Performance Management with Learning?An integrated learning and performance management process

enables organizations to align enterprise-wide learning programs

with corporate and individual goals. After looking at the best prac-

tices of over 750 corporations, Bersin & Associates discovered that

aligning training with the development goals of individuals and the

organization is a leading talent management practice that drives

business impact. The power of an integrated LMS is that it enables

learning managers and HR leaders to use the same system to link

and track employee performance and learning, thus gaining action-

able intelligence about their learning investments.

An effective LMS seamlessly integrates learning activities into

the performance management and succession planning processmaking it easy for HR, employees and managers to access informa-

tion; identify and assign development plans; even register for learn-

ing activities and track progress on achievementall in a single user

interface. They can also identify skill gaps and measure the success

of learning programs in terms of improved corporate performance.

Using Integration to Drive a High-performance WorkforceResearch shows that employees perform much better when they

have a clear picture of the development needs and opportunities for

their jobs. When they realize that they may not be proficient at a

task or process, most people want to improve.

With an integrated performance and learning system, the L&D

organization can publish all internal and externally validated pro-

grams, and align them directly to competencies and job descriptions.

Employees and managers can then easily find the right training at

the right time without guessingor ignoring the process. This

gives employees the ability to plan and implement their own career

and performance growthwhich ultimately improves morale,

retention and succession rates.

Filling the Leadership PipelineSuccession planning is a key part of most organizations talent

management strategy as they face increased pressure when it comes

to attracting and retaining highly skilled workers. Management andsenior-level positions require many critical skills, including deep

knowledge of the organization, strong skills in people management,

and higher-level skills in planning, administration and financial

analysis.

Often organizations promote employees to higher-level positions

based on a gut feel of management potential, or recent project-

based successes. Some succeed and some do nota costly exercise

in trial and error. With the integration of performance management

and learning management, a robust assessment and integrated

development planning process can clearly identify and develop

employees and managers based on longer-term performance and

big-picture organizational goals. For example, managers who are

slated for promotion can attend well-designed development pro-grams. The result is a much higher level of performance and success

in the mid-level manager population, and a rich pool to draw from

for executive-level succession.

Making an Integrated Platform a RealityFor the HR department who is championing an integrated

performance and learning management approach, its important to

secure executive buy-in by make the discussion one of strategy

communicating the business benefits. This includes aligning talent

improvement investments with corporate priorities and demonstrat-

ing how managing talent from a holistic view will ultimately improve

competencies across the organization and drive corporate objectives.

Summary: Performance and Learning ManagementBelong Together

In the current climate, it is imperative for organizations to link

the performance and learning processes together. In doing so there

is greater potential for organizations to drive even higher levels of

performance, better utilization of training resources, and new levels

of employee engagement and business impact. I

For more information please visitwww.halogensoftware.com

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The Value of Learning and Performance IntegrationSILKROAD TECHNOLOGY INC.

Traditionally, learning has been pushed into its own corner of

the office. If you have a learning management system, thattoo may be functioning in a stand-alone fashion. Currently,

one of the biggest trends in the talent management market is the

tight integration between learning, training and development with

ones overall strategy, a key part of which is performance. In

Aberdeen Groups 2008 report, Achieving Real Business Value

with Learning and Development Aberdeen states that one action

an organization must take to achieve Best-in-Class status in the area

of performance is to, integrate learning with performance manage-

ment, make it readily available and aligned with development

plans. Its safe to say that learning has inched its way to the very

core of talent management.

Most learning programs and LMS systems were designed tocentralize learning, maintain compliance (especially if youre in a

regulated industry), and reduce the extensive administrative and

financial burden of these programs. While such benefits are still

immensely valuable, organizations must take steps to integrate learn-

ing with employee development planning and performance, as well

as overall business strategy, in order to stay ahead in todays market.

Define Competency Models

One of the first steps to getting started after a firm understanding

of your companys talent strategy has been established (more on this

below!), is making sure you have a solid and accurate competency

framework in place. One example of this can be found in the Bersin& Associates Talent Management Framework, which identifies 4

critical tiers of competencies: core, career path, functional, and lead-

ership. Incorporating a similarly efficient competency framework

into your performance management process is necessary in order

to ensure youve got the right people in the right positions now for

current and future training.

Align Learning with Individual Skills Gaps

Identifying skills gaps will allow you to align learning activities

and development plans targeted at bridging these gaps and allowing

employees to take responsibility for their own success. Knowing

where the gaps are in your talent base is critical to understandingwhere your organization should focus its training efforts. Having

identified skills gaps and aligned training accordingly, you can more

successfully lead employees down their designated or desired career

path. In addition to improvement in the performance of your talent,

youll realize cost savings by ensuring the training programs you use

are the ones that yield the most benefit.

Align Learning with Corporate Strategy

For lasting success, organizations need to offer long-term, blended

training programs that are tied to overall corporate and talent strategy.

This can be challenging as it requires your management team, at all

levels, to have a clear understanding of the companys short and long

term needs, goals and benefits. Its critical that those responsible for

creating training and development programs align the programs to

meet the needs of corporate strategy, in addition to that of the

employee, and ensure that theyre rooted at the core of the process.

AutomateAutomation of the learning management process with software

solutions is the final key to merging your performance and learning

processes. Just as your process of learning and performance should

be tightly integrated, so should your technology solutions. This type

of closely-knit automation provides you with a clear vision into

which training programs are working and how development is

affecting performance. You can also launch learning programs

based on performance assessments, competency/skill gap analysis

and business strategy. A few other benefits of using performance and

learning software include:

Employees can easily manage their development and training via

one destination

Ease of staying in compliance, especially for organizations in

regulated industries

Ensure consistency across all your processes

Tracking and reporting for HR and management

Virtually eliminate paper from the process As appropriate, reduce costs by utilizing on-line learning options

rather than costly classroom training.

Summary

With new challenges facing the marketplace, a highly engaged,

motivated and productive talent base is more important than ever.

As discussed, by taking the time to strategically align and integrate

your performance and learning management processes through:

competency models, identification of skill gaps, learning programs

tied to corporate strategy and talent management automation, youll

be able to derive greater benefits from your workforce, reduce costs

and provide outstanding bottom line business results.

About SilkRoad technology

SilkRoad technology inc., is a leading provider of a full suite of

talent management solutions that significantly improve the talent

within its more than 1000 customers across the globe. With a suite

that includes solutions for recruiting; onboarding and life events;

performance; learning; and employee intranets, SilkRoad offers the

most comprehensive talent management suite on the market. To

learn more, please visit www.silkroad.com. I

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S8 Special Advertising Supplement to Workorce MANAGEMENTS8 Special Advertising Supplement to Workorce MANAGEMENT

For more information on the companies thatcontributed to this white paper, visit their web sites,

or contact them directly at:

SILKROAD TECHNOLOGY, INC.

102 West 3rd Street

Suite 250

Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27101

Phone: (866) 329-3363

www.silkroad.com

HALOGEN SOFTWARE INC.

495 March Road

Suite 500

Ottawa, Ontario

K2K 3G1 Canada

Phone: (866) 566-7778www.halogensoftware.com

[email protected]

For information on participating in upcoming Best Practice White Papers, contact:Jason Asch, Advertising Sales Director

(212) 210-0112 I [email protected]

WorkorceM A N A G E M E N T

WorkorceM A N A G E M E N T

Irvine Headquarters4 Executive Circle, Suite 185Irvine, CA 92614-6791(949) 255-5340

www.workforce.com

ASSESS SYSTEMS(FORMERLY BIGBY HAVIS)

12750 Merit Drive

Suite 300

Dallas, TX 75251

Phone: (800) 283-6055www.assess-systems.com

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