This post contains a summary of some of the research that I have done into learning and development, and performance improvement during February/March 2008. All work is that of the authors, and I have provided links to the original articles.
The science of team success
Steve W. J. Kozlowski and Daniel R. Ilgen write that “Given the centrality of work teams, it is more than a bit remarkable how much our society's perspective is focused on the individual. We school our children as individuals. We hire, train and reward employees as individuals. Yet we have great faith that individuals thrown into a team that has been put together with little thought devoted to its composition, training, development and leadership will be effective and successful. Science strongly suggests otherwise.”
However, research shows that there are practical steps that can be taken to improve group skills and team capabilities.
A summary of the article appears here on leadershipnow.com.
Coaching: Evaluating the impossible
It was within the sporting arena that the concept of coaching was first formalised, but now coaching is essentially about change and transformation, focusing on the individuals' ability to grow and alter behaviours, and generating new successful approaches and actions. In the workplace it is one of the most rapidly growing forms of staff development but its effectiveness as a development tool and the return on investment for coaching spend is still largely unclear and often questioned.
Elouise Leonard-Cross argues that those responsible for evaluating coaching need to think beyond simple happy sheets and start considering carefully how to evaluate within their organisation. This article appeared here on trainingzone.co.uk.
Employee engagement: Tailoring it to the company
Employee engagement - a concept that ‘involves feeling positive about your job, as well as being prepared to go the extra mile to make sure you do your job to the best of your ability’ – is critical to ensure that your staff are more productive, stay longer, deliver great customer service and grow sales.
Many organisations don’t get it right, but those that do often reach it by very different means - Kentucky Fried Chicken draws on the iconic 'Colonel', Yahoo yodels, and the Penguin Group depends on a shared passion for books. Annie Hayes is the author of this article on hrzone.com.
Coaching no longer the preserve of the elite
According to the UK HR body the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, more than seven out of 10 UK employers now use coaching within their organisations. The vast majority of coaching was carried out by line managers coaching those who reported to them, followed by HR, training, and Learning & Development specialists. Coaching has now entered the mainstream, and is no longer used exclusively for middle and senior management development.
The author of this article is Nic Paton, and it appears here on www.management-issues.com.
Spotlight on the importance of training (learning)
(Given my insistence on the difference between training and learning, I have taken the liberty of changing all references to training to learning.)
Research carried out for the CIPD, has come up with four ways in which learning can add strategic value. Firstly, learning helps produce organisational agility, since if a workforce has the relevant skills, changing delivery, approaches and products becomes much easier. Secondly, learning can help reduce labour costs, since trained staff are far more efficient. Thirdly, learning can increase workforce productivity. And finally, learning allows the organisation to develop and foster its own culture.
Martyn Sloman of the CIPD says: "Identifying training needs can be seen in a much broader concept than traditionally thought."
This article appears here on personneltoday.com.
HR says Line needs to be ‘Better Equipped’
A new survey shows that HR staff believe that better equipped line managers are the key to improving HR effectiveness. The survey shows that by equipping managers with skills in managing employee development, overall employee productivity would increase.
The full article is featured on trainingzone.co.uk.
