2011 Social Learning Technology Award Winner – TOPYX®Tuesday, 21 February 2012 12:43  Contributed by Jeffrey Roth, Vice President, Marketing and Communications for Interactyx Limited
Interactyx Limited, a leader in providing social learning management system (LMS) software, won the Brandon Hall bronze award for excellence in the social learning technology category for TOPYX®. TOPYX is the easy-to-use, fully hosted eLearning software solution that has infused social learning tools into the traditional LMS to create an engaging and collaborative environment for learners. Due to the award-winning features, unlimited users, unlimited bandwidth/storage, multi-language capabilities, and free implementation, TOPYX is regarded as an ideal solution for businesses, associations, academic departments and eCommerce needs of any size. Interactyx Limited offers a free, personal demonstration of TOPYX by completing the form at http://interactyx.com/request-a-demo/ or contacting information@interactyx.com directly. Said Mike Cooke, CEO of Brandon Hall Group, “2011 provided us with a unique viewpoint of how organizations are driving business results and performance improvement through technology. This was the year in which technology providers and their clients have been able to transform the power of mobile, social, talent, learning, sales and marketing technologies, with proven, validated results. Most impressive to our judges was an underlying theme around collaborative relationships, a deep understanding of client needs and how technology can be leveraged to create opportunities and operating efficiencies for organizations of all sizes. I am proud to announce these first-rate solution providers as award winners in the most competitive year yet.” A panel of veteran, independent senior judges evaluated the entries along with Brandon Hall Group’s industry expert analysts and leadership. About Brandon Hall Group About Interactyx Limited Since 1995, Interactyx has worked with educational programs to develop engaging learning solutions. Interactyx, the developer of TOPYX, is at the forefront of developing eLearning and social LMS solutions that engage learners and enhance collaborative learning environments. TOPYX has gained acceptance as an innovative, affordable solution to deliver a complete eLearning software solution meeting the needs of today’s learner that is the best value in social learning software. (www.interactyx.com) |
Jobscience Takes Gold in Talent Acquisition for 2011 Brandon Hall Excellence AwardsFriday, 17 February 2012 13:00  Contributed by: Barbara Reichert, President, Reichert Communications, LLC It’s award season, and not just for Hollywood. Jobscience is taking home the gold. This morning we announced we won the coveted Brandon Hall Gold Award for Excellence in the Talent Acquisition Technology category. Social networking is a game-changer for recruiting and will continue to impact the way entire organizations are built. Companies that leverage the social connections of their employees will be the market leaders of the future because of their ability to attract skilled talent while they are passively searching for jobs and engage them before the competition. At Jobscience we approach talent acquisition like customer acquisition and turn recruiting into a marketing exercises. We’re helping our customers create ‘employment brands’ and tap into the leading social networks as well as their internal connections – to create talent pools. These talent pools empower you to quickly access and acquire the top talent in the market. The Jobscience Recruiting application, built on Force.com, leverages customer relationship management (CRM) concepts, workflows, and best practices, which enable companies to gain, retain and grow employees through the full TRM lifecycle for talent optimization. Whether a company is sourcing talent for future growth plans, actively filling open positions, or managing rehires, the CRM approach of creating and managing a pipeline of talent in a searchable and active database is the key to a closed-loop talent strategy that creates a 360 degree view of the employee lifecycle. “2011 provided us with a unique viewpoint of how organizations are driving business results and performance improvement through technology,” said Mike Cooke, CEO of Brandon Hall Group. “This was the year in which technology providers and their clients have been able to transform the power of mobile, social, talent, learning, sales and marketing technologies, with proven, validated results. Most impressive to our judges was an underlying theme around collaborative relationships, a deep understanding of client needs and how technology can be leveraged to create opportunities and operating efficiencies for organizations of all sizes. I am proud to announce these first-rate solution providers as award winners in the most competitive year yet.” A panel of veteran, independent senior judges evaluated the entries along with Brandon Hall Group’s industry expert analysts and leadership. We are honored to receive this award. Great work Jobscientists! |
KnowledgePoint Wins Brandon Hall Bronze Award For Excellence in TechnologyThursday, 16 February 2012 22:13  Contributed by Shaliya Khan, Senior Manager – Global Marketing & Sales, ClearPoint Hoboken, NJ – ClearPoint, a global authority in interactive health education, won a coveted Brandon Hall Bronze Award for excellence in technology in the sales and marketing category. ClearPoint’s win was announced on January 25, 2012. The winners are listed at http://www.brandon-hall.com/. ClearPoint took bronze for KnowledgePoint as the Best Advance in Sales Training Software Platform. A unique social-learning platform for life sciences companies, KnowledgePoint offers both formal and informal learning features. Among the features that set KnowledgePoint apart are SCORM compliance; one-click launch of learning assets; highly configurable feature set and interface, including the ability to privately brand; the ability to share documents through the asset management system; and user-generated content, profile information and status updates. According to ClearPoint CEO Philip McCrea, “We developed KnowledgePoint in order to change the learning dynamic and keep pace with the sea change in how commercial teams in life sciences now need to learn in order to boost their sales performance. This award validates our team’s creative thinking, laser-sharp focus on clients’ needs, and superior execution.” Architected to give life sciences organizations a high degree of flexibility, KnowledgePoint offers a built-in Learning Management System (LMS) or the portal can be integrated with an organization’s existing LMS. Replete with robust reporting and dashboard capabilities for training administrators as well as learners, KnowledgePoint makes tracking and analyzing learners’ progress simple and insightful. KnowledgePoint’s measurable benefits as a training platform have included a 22% savings in training costs as part of new-hire training, 7% increase in proficiency over traditional web-based assessments, and significant speed in deployment with the portal going from conception to pilot to production in less than 30 days. Further, KnowledgePoint’s mobile capabilities also reduce representatives’ time off-territory in formal training settings, thereby enabling sales teams to spend more time in the field with customers and prospects. Said Mike Cooke, CEO of Brandon Hall Group, “2011 provided us with a unique viewpoint of how organizations are driving business results and performance improvement through technology. This was the year in which technology providers and their clients have been able to transform the power of mobile, social, talent, learning, sales and marketing technologies, with proven, validated results. Most impressive to our judges was an underlying theme around collaborative relationships, a deep understanding of client needs and how technology can be leveraged to create opportunities and operating efficiencies for organizations of all sizes. I am proud to announce these first-rate solution providers as award winners in the most competitive year yet.” A panel of veteran, independent senior judges evaluated the entries along with Brandon Hall Group’s industry expert analysts and leadership. As Dave Phillips, ClearPoint’s Director of Technology explains, “Winning a Brandon Hall Award—an honor to which we’ve aspired since KnowledgePoint was still in the idea phase—in the same month that we have launched its mobile companion, is a technology team’s dream come true.” Phillips added, “We constantly strive to change, improve and, ultimately, innovate… and this industry recognition pushes us to develop more solutions that enhance the critical learning needs of our life sciences clients.” More information on KnowledgePoint available at: http://knowledgepoint.clearpointlearning.com About ClearPoint: ClearPoint, a global authority in interactive health education, provides learning solutions to the world’s leading life sciences companies. With more than 1,000 successful implementations in ten years, the company creates on-demand, multi-channel tools to enable sales, marketing, and compliance professionals to grow their brands, increase clinical competencies, comply with regulations, and enhance relationships with health care providers. The global ClearPoint team of 175 employees has its headquarters in Hoboken, N.J. and operates from offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia. For more information about ClearPoint, please visit: www.clearpointlearning.com/. About Brandon Hall Group
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Knoodle Wins Two Awards for the 2011 Brandon Hall Excellence in Technology AwardsMonday, 13 February 2012 20:11  Contributed: Tony Yang, Director of Marketing, Knoodle SUNNYVALE, Calif., Feb. 6, 2012, PRNewswire Knoodle, the leading provider for enterprise social learning solutions, announced that it has been awarded two coveted Brandon Hall awards for product excellence. Knoodle was honored with Gold in the Content Authoring and/or Content Management Technology category, and also Bronze in the Sales Training Software Platform category. “We are thrilled to be recognized by the industry experts at The Brandon Hall Group with these two awards, and to be only one of four companies to win in more than one category,” said Michael Rose, General Manager, Knoodle. “More importantly, these awards are a testament to how we make it incredibly easy for companies to quickly get their content ‘up and running’ and distributed in a variety of ways.” Knoodle helps businesses extend the value of content already at hand to meet a wide range of goals – from corporate communications and product demos, to online training and certification programs, to interactive social learning communities. Instead of requiring proprietary or complex authoring and publishing tools, Knoodle makes it easy to combine slides, video, audio and images into engaging online presentations that can be quickly shared throughout the organization and with the external ecosystem of customers and partners. Businesses also benefit with Knoodle’s testing capabilities and real-time analytics to help track engagement, learning retention, and training effectiveness. Organizations all over the world use Knoodle, including Black and Decker, The Buffalo Bills, University of California at San Diego, and Easter Seals. “2011 provided us with a unique viewpoint of how organizations are driving business results and performance improvement through technology. This was the year in which technology providers and their clients have been able to transform the power of mobile, social, talent, learning, sales and marketing technologies, with proven, validated results,” said Mike Cooke, CEO of Brandon Hall Group. “Most impressive to our judges was an underlying theme around collaborative relationships, a deep understanding of client needs and how technology can be leveraged to create opportunities and operating efficiencies for organizations of all sizes. I am proud to announce these first-rate solution providers as award winners in the most competitive year yet.” A panel of veteran, independent senior judges evaluated the entries along with Brandon Hall Group’s industry expert analysts and leadership. About Knoodle Knoodle is an SK Telecom Americas portfolio company. SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM) is South Korea’s largest telecommunications company. For more information, visit http://www.knoodle.com/. About Brandon Hall Group Media Contact: Tony Yang |
Brainshark Wins Brandon Hall Excellence in Technology Award in Recognition of Superior Mobile Learning SolutionsMonday, 13 February 2012 19:58  Contributed by: Business Wire Honored in “Best Advance in Mobile Learning Technology” Category, Brainshark Makes it Easy to Create and Deliver Interactive Video Content That’s Accessible on all Major Mobile Devices WALTHAM, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Brainshark, Inc., the leader in online and mobile video presentations, today announced that it has received a Brandon Hall Excellence in Technology Award. Brainshark was honored in the “Best Advance in Mobile Learning Technology” category, in recognition of its powerful and easy-to-use mobile learning (mLearning) solutions. Now in its 18th year, the awards program is hosted by Brandon Hall Group, a leading analyst firm focused on learning, talent management and business research. A panel of independent senior judges, along with Brandon Hall Group senior analysts and executive leadership, evaluated submissions on their breakthrough innovation, unique differentiators, value proposition and measurable results. According to Brandon Hall Group, winners represent the “best-of-the-best” across learning, talent management, and sales and marketing categories. “Throughout the last year, technology providers and their clients have tapped into the power of mobile, social, talent, learning, sales and marketing technologies – with proven, validated results,” said Mike Cooke, CEO of Brandon Hall Group. “We’re pleased to honor Brainshark among the winners in our annual awards program, recognizing its ease of use, market penetration and results in the field of mLearning.” Brainshark’s cloud-based software enables anyone, regardless of technical expertise, to create high-impact, interactive mLearning content that’s accessible anytime, anywhere – on nearly every smartphone and tablet. It’s easy for users to add their voice – along with video clips, survey and test questions, attachments and more – to PowerPoint decks and other documents, and create online and mobile video presentations and courses. Users can share this content in multiple ways – including through mobile content portals, email links, learning management systems (LMSes) and Brainshark’s free iOS and Android apps – and track learning participation, completion and content effectiveness. It’s easy for learners to access and interact with Brainshark content too, regardless of the smartphone or tablet model they’re using. Behind the scenes, Brainshark automatically detects the type of mobile device accessing content and serves up the optimal file format. “Given today’s global and mobile workforce, it’s important for companies to be able to reach their learners in a convenient, accessible manner,” said Brainshark CEO Joe Gustafson. “At Brainshark, we’re committed to making this process easy – enabling organizations to rapidly create mLearning content and deliver it in the ways their learners want to access it. We’re honored to be recognized by Brandon Hall Group for our mobile learning solutions.” About Brandon Hall Group With more than 10,000 clients globally and 20 years of delivering world class research and advisory services, Brandon Hall Group is the most well-known and established research organization in the performance improvement industry. We conduct research that drives performance, and provides strategic insights for executives and practitioners responsible for growth and business results. Brandon Hall Group has an extensive repository of thought leadership research and expertise in our primary research portfolios – Talent Management, Learning and Development, Sales Effectiveness, Marketing, and Executive Management. At the core of our offerings is a Membership Program that combines research, benchmarking and unlimited access to data and analysts. Our members have access to research and connections that help them make the right decisions about people, processes, and systems, coalesced with analyst advisory services tailored to help put the research into daily action. (http://www.brandonhall.com/). About Brainshark, Inc. Brainshark provides the leading cloud-based software for creating, sharing and tracking online and mobile video presentations. With Brainshark, businesspeople can easily transform static content such as PowerPoint® documents into voice-enriched video presentations that can be accessed anytime, on-demand. Customers can also obtain extensive viewing details, enabling them to measure the effectiveness of their content and follow up accordingly. Thousands of companies – including a third of the Fortune 100 – rely on Brainshark to increase the impact and reduce the cost of their sales, marketing, training and HR communications. For more information, visit www.brainshark.com . Contacts Brainshark, Inc. |
ANCILE Wins Bronze Brandon Hall AwardThursday, 09 February 2012 13:00  Contributor: Marianna Noll, Director of Marketing and Communications, ANCILE Solutions, Inc. ANCILE uPerform™ recognized for ability to keep organizations’ learning content fresh Elkridge, MD (PRWEB) February 8, 2012 — ANCILE Solutions, Inc., a global company that develops learning and performance software products, won a coveted Brandon Hall Bronze award for excellence in the Best Advance in Content Authoring and/or Content Management Technology category. The winners are listed at http://www.brandon-hall.com/. Organizations face a major challenge in keeping their learning content current after project or event completion. The award recognized three ANCILE uPerform™ features designed to ensure that learning content reflects current business systems and processes:
“It’s very gratifying for ANCILE to be recognized with our sixth Brandon Hall award,” said Frank Lonergan, CEO of ANCILE. “Organizations need to be able to count on content freshness to retain employee confidence in the learning content, support new hires, and address compliance requirements. Our 2011 award confirms the ability of ANCILE uPerform to meet these business needs.” Said Mike Cooke, CEO of Brandon Hall Group, “2011 provided us with a unique viewpoint of how organizations are driving business results and performance improvement through technology. Most impressive to our judges was an underlying theme around collaborative relationships, a deep understanding of client needs and how technology can be leveraged to create opportunities and operating efficiencies for organizations of all sizes. I am proud to announce these first-rate solution providers as award winners in the most competitive year yet.” A panel of veteran, independent senior judges evaluated the entries along with Brandon Hall Group’s industry expert analysts and leadership. About ANCILE Solutions, Inc. ANCILE Solutions, Inc. is a global software solutions company specializing in the development and support of learning and performance products. ANCILE products support mission-critical business applications by providing solutions that increase employee productivity and proficiency. ANCILE products are used across all industries and in thousands of organizations globally, including half of the Fortune 100. ANCILE develops, sells, supports, and services ANCILE uPerform™, ANCILE uPerform™ Express, ANCILE uLearn™, ANCILE uBenchmark™, and ANCILE Info Pak™. ANCILE is headquartered in Elkridge, Maryland. For additional information, please visit http://www.ancile.com/. About Brandon Hall Group Having worked with more than 10,000 clients globally and after 20 years of delivering world-class solutions, Brandon Hall Group is the preeminent research and analyst organization focused on developing research-driven solutions to drive organizational performance for emerging and large organizations. Brandon Hall Group has an extensive repository of thought leadership, research, data and expertise in Learning and Development, Talent Management, Sales Effectiveness, Marketing Impact, and Executive Management. (www.brandonhall.com) |
SHL Talent Analytics Wins Brandon Hall Excellence in Technology AwardWednesday, 08 February 2012 11:59  Contributed to by: SHL Now Available: Industry-First Solution Capable of Providing Data-Driven Insights to Benchmark The Caliber of Your Workforce Against the Competition Atlanta, GA – February 8, 2012 – SHL, the global leader in talent measurement solutions, today announced that SHL Talent Analytics™, its newest offering, has won silver in the coveted 2011 Brandon Hall Excellence in Technology Awards in the Workforce Analytics Planning and Technology category. First announced at the HR Technology Conference with overwhelming interest this past September, SHL Talent Analytics is now available as part of SHL’s comprehensive suite of talent measurement tools. In order to make critical business decisions more confidently, SHL Talent Analytics provides scientific, data-driven insight to help companies better understand and measure employee effectiveness. A distinguished panel of independent, industry veteran judges evaluated the entries along with Brandon Hall Group’s expert analysts. As an increasing number of companies compete for the best and brightest talent in a highly competitive landscape, many are finding that the key to success lies in their talent – often their greatest asset. At the same time, struggles against factors such as unsettled economic conditions, market volatility, employee retention, and rising operational costs have made talent decisions more difficult, and more critical than ever. “SHL Talent Analytics was created to show how the skills, capabilities, future potential, and overall impact of an organization’s workforce compares with the very best in their industry or region,” explained SHL CEO David Leigh. “This has quickly proven to be invaluable insight, especially to companies who rely on human capital above all else.” SHL Talent Analytics is built on the world’s largest database of People Intelligence spanning 30 countries, 37 industry sectors and 31 business functions, and comprised of over 80 million data points to date. This database is set to grow with additional input from more than 25 million assessments per year, globally. Recently dubbed the “next evolution of talent assessment” by The Aberdeen Group (October, 2011 Market Alert), SHL Talent Analytics offers companies of all sizes and industries direct access to this unmatched data. Whereas traditional measurement solutions focus solely on efficiency, SHL Talent Analytics measures effectiveness, or the potential of your workforce to actually achieve organizational objectives. Its robust, user-friendly database segmented by geography, industry, business function, and job level enables companies to drill even deeper into their workforce profiles to more effectively benchmark talent potential and performance against comparable companies. As a result, a large number of global brands have already begun leveraging SHL Talent Analytics’ insight to realize positive business results in industries as varied as telecommunications, retail, transportation, and financial services. “We’re very pleased that Brandon Hall has recognized SHL with this award, as part of their program to acknowledge true innovations in talent measurement and management,” Leigh commented. “With SHL Talent Analytics, companies not only gain access to a wealth of desirable data points, but also get the tools to use that data to their advantage. Ultimately, we are delivering better people intelligence, for better business decisions.” ”This year’s finalists provided us with a unique viewpoint of how organizations are driving business results and performance improvement through technology. Most impressive to our judges was an underlying theme around collaborative relationships, a deep understanding of client needs, and how technology can be leveraged to create operating efficiencies for organizations of all sizes,” said Mike Cooke, CEO of Brandon Hall Group. “SHL is the clear leader in talent assessments and I am proud to announce that their latest innovation, SHL Talent Analytics, is one of the most compelling offerings in talent measurement and has the potential to take the human capital management space to a new level. Congratulations to SHL on winning their award in the most competitive year yet.” More information on SHL Talent Analytics can be found at http://www.shl.com/us/solutions/talent-analytics/. Information on the Brandon Hall Award Winners can be found by visiting http://www.brandon-hall.com/. About SHL – People intelligence. Business results. About Brandon Hall Group |
A Letter to the Talent and Learning Vendors: From Your Concerned BuyerThursday, 02 February 2012 23:53  As we wrap up January, mergers and acquisitions and new product launches are heating up – Two this week that may have an impact on the Brandon Hall audience include:
Brandon Hall Group has been taking briefings non-stop since the first of the year – but these two announcements were of particular interest to me this week. In different ways, both of them address some very real issues voiced by the learning and talent buying communities. With all the changes in the market - buyers are a bit bemused, frustrated, and overwhelmed. They feel like they are facing both great opportunity and great risk when making purchasing decisions and they are desperate to make the right choices for their organizations – as well as their own careers. I thought it might be helpful if I shared a few comments on the recent industry announcements, in the context of what I’ve been hearing from the buying community. As it were, directly from the buyers lips: Don’t tell me you can help me manage my Talent if you can’t. If you tout yourself as a Talent Management system or solution provider, but you don’t have strong talent acquisition, performance management, and learning and development capabilities that are actually integrated then you are missing fundamental elements. Solid partnerships are good to know about and I’m smart enough to know the value of those connections. But don’t sell me on the value of integration when I still have to do most of the integrating myself. Peoplefluent and Strategia’s announcement was a positive, if a bit overdue, announcement. Strategia is a solid LMS platform that has built a loyal client base. Peoplefluent is the descendant of two of the most successful performance, succession, and recruiting platforms in the industry (Authoria and Peopleclick). This is a good match between two organizations with similar philosophies in customer care. For Peoplefluent adding Strategia to their portfolio and discussing aggressive plans for technology integration puts them in a much better market position as a Talent Management solution provider. Don’t underestimate my user community. My audience is made up of savvy consumers. They have high expectations for technology today and they have very little patience for awkward user interfaces and outdated platforms. They want to manage their talent and learning in the same place where they accomplish their work. If you can help me accomplish this, then I will be successful. A major opportunity that could come out of the Peoplefluent acquisition is their ability to transfer their unique approach to creating an immersive mobile environment for managers and end-users to the learning industry. When talking to the Peoplefluent product team, you really get the sense that they understand where work happens – and it isn’t inside a talent or learning tool. On the other hand, the announcement that Rypple, a performance feedback tool, was purchased by Salesforce.com in early December indicates that the work world may not be willing to wait for HR to get their solution providers clued in on these issues much longer. Don’t give me technology without experience. Look, as a solution provider you’ve been through multiple configurations, implementations, and change management efforts. Why is it so hard to aggregate that valuable insight and share it in a format that can help me? I’m floundering in bad data, internal politics, and people who just don’t get it. Help me look good! The other announcement that caught my attention this week was Mercer’s product launch for iKnow. Known for their great consulting and advisory services in core HR, in 2010 Mercer threw their hat into the talent technology space by offering a customized version of the Peoplefluent platform. With iKnow they are now launching a workforce analytics tool that would sit on top of the various systems a client may have, both Mercer and non-Mercer technology products, and provide both standard workforce analysis and capabilities for more sophisticated predictive models. By itself the tool isn’t extraordinarily unique. It is built on the backbone of a standard business intelligence tool-set, but integrated with Mercer’s years of consulting expertise and data, along with the bundled education and consulting offered with the service, they could possibly create something that is more than the sum of its individual parts. Time will tell if Mercer is capable of truly integrating the technology and their expertise, but their continued focus on offering this packaged approach is something to watch carefully. If they can build a successful model – the real winners would be their clients. If I’m a client of an acquired company, be transparent and quick with your communications. Mergers and acquisitions are common in today’s business environment, but as a current client I want to hear more than just how great the acquisition will be for my organization. I’d like to understand realistic timelines, expected changes, and genuine explanations of how my service will change in the next 6 to 12 months. I realize some of those details may still be undecided, but without information I will imagine the worst. If you can provide me with clear upfront information on possible pricing changes, service reductions, and contact changes – then I look like I’m in control in front of my leadership. I can make a case for the changes and be prepared for the questions. If after we discuss the changes it makes more sense for us to move to a new solution provider and you can help me ease that transition – then you (the vendor) become a real hero. What an interesting concept. Some companies handle mergers and acquisitions better than others. We’ve had a number of organizations coming to us with plans for switching from recently merged learning or talent providers because in their mind more features, more complexity, and less communication is just not better than what they had with their original organization. These are issues that can be addressed with some open conversations and honest assessment of both the clients needs and the new direction of the now merged solution provider. Many times buyers are making these decisions based on frustration and fear, versus solid information. These were only a few of the topics that buyers have been bringing to our conversations - but if the solution providers just addressed these four areas they would go a long way in creating better conversations. I’m excited about both of these announcements. I think these organizations have a clear view of what the buying community is looking for and they are working to answer these concerns. I’m rooting for all the solution providers trying to make improvements today – because If they get it right the real winner is the buying community. Buyers are looking to create partnerships with solution providers who can help them improve their own careers along with meeting the business needs. Career enhancing projects used to rest squarely in the business systems space – if you successfully worked on launching the company’s new ERP, CRM, or Product website, then your contributions were valued in terms of business outcomes. This same level of respect was not generally allocated to those who implemented the HR, talent, and learning solutions, but this is changing. These solutions are now in the spotlight and so are the buyers making solution decisions or managing vendor relations. Solution providers, your buying community has the opportunity to shine – how are you going to ensure their work with you is career enhancing and not career ending? Stacey Harris Brandon Hall Research Group |
Tying Learning Analytics to Business Success Metrics and ROIWednesday, 01 February 2012 15:41  By Ron Zamir, CEO of Allen Communication Learning Services In a July post on this blog, Rachel Ashkin wrote, “It is critical that organizations can identify and demonstrate measurable results for their investments and efforts.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. A state-of-the-art ERP or other system is only beneficial to a company if it can accomplish the business’ goals and deliver ROI. After 30 years in the training industry, we’ve worked with our fair share of companies and organizations and we’ve seen the connection between lack of proper ERP and systems training for the end-user and failed system implementations. Think about it, without end-user adoption, sustained use, and ROI, there is no way a system implementation could be deemed successful. And, a systems failure in terms of dollars spent on the implementation alone is in the ballpark of $250 to $700 million. We asked other industry experts to help us identify what exactly was missing, or leading to 50 percent of systems implementations to fail. We conducted an eight-month qualitative study with performance consultants and with system integrators. The big “aha!” finding was that training was considered an “orphan child” when it comes to the investment—it gets left to the end, when budgets are often exhausted or overspent, and it’s not defined whose role it is to lead the training. Training, according to our interviews, is key to successful implementation. After all, when so much of the success of a system lies in the end-user (such as an order-to-pay system), you can’t expect high adoption or sustained use when the training is limited to nothing more than documentation or content overload. The context of the training design lacks relevance and motivation. So what influences adoption? It’s a mix of relevancy, motivation, and competency. Taking the equation one step further: successful adoption = achieving business metrics and ROI. Relevancy, Motivation and Competency While disruption is to be expected with any system or process change, the disruption and the consequential impact on productivity and motivation can be mitigated. How? Our research and experience has demonstrated that by stacking the deck to improve overall understanding and sustained performance, the company will significantly lower risk and get the bigger bang for its buck (ROI, sustained use to extend the lifecycle of the system). People who benefit the bottom line of a company need to be trained on execution, being able to perform their specific functions properly (efficiently and effectively) in a timely manner without mistakes. Through this, the system is being accepted and used in the organization. Competency works hand-in-hand with relevance. Competency maps are used regularly in business, and at Allen, we use them for developing the training approach, too. We use the competency map to underlay everything, and from there, we have the design approach that will successfully deliver the system training to achieve the business metrics and guarantee ROI. These findings proved to be more than just interesting—we took the findings to heart and used them as the foundation for Systems Assure, which takes a blended learning approach, delivered over time rather than as a one-time, documentation-like event, and “fixes” all of the breaks in training we’ve identified above. Compare it to leadership training—so much of it is scenario based, but in systems training, not so much. We must reiterate—people need to understand the reasons behind what they do. It comes down to decision making, and training end-users and those in between on how to take the system to the next level, going beyond following the prompts and being able to use the system to a company’s advantage, whether through order-to-pay, resolving a customer issue or up-selling a product. Note: Brandon Hall Group was pleased to recognize and select Allen Communication Learning Services as a winner of a Gold Award for their entry in the Best Custom Content category in 2010. A current list of Brandon Hall Group Award winners is available at http://www.brandon-hall.com/awards/excellence-in-learning/winners-of-the-2010.html . Ron Zamir is CEO of Allen Communication Learning Services, a Salt Lake City-based provider of systems training, custom learning solutions and other change management resource to clients around the globe. |
Gaming MechanicsMonday, 23 January 2012 16:44  I started this blog a couple of blogs ago by talking about gamification in the workplace. Specifically, I was wringing my hands over the fact that the idea of “playing games” while at work doesn’t sit well with most folks, and I made the simple observation that we need a better term if we’re going to sell this idea to stakeholders. Then I ventured down the path of trying to figure out—just what is a game anyway? My thinking was that this was the logical starting point for understanding anything that had to do with games. How could we even begin to have meaningful conversation about anything games or game-related if we didn’t first understand, and at least partly agree on, what makes a game a game? I realize now that I probably took the longest possible route to get to where I wanted to be, a place where I could discuss gamification. As much as I enjoy the topic of games, and even as much as I believe that games can play an important learning role in knowledge acquisition, retention, and transfer, I have to conclude that games and gamification are two very different topics. Apart from the fact that people react sharply to the word “game” when hearing the term “gamification,” for the most part, the two don’t need to be discussed at the same time at all. We don’t have to understand much about games in order to discuss gamification. Games are games. We know what they are, but gamification? Gamification is really just theft. Let me explain. When talking about gamification, the label “gaming mechanics” can add clarity to an otherwise vague notion. Gaming mechanics—the mechanics or devices of a game—can be thought of as the hypothetical levers, pieces, processes, and parts that, when assembled into a coherent situation or activity, make the whole thing work. Take Monopoly for example. The mechanics in that game are game cards, purchases of property, randomly assigned player setbacks and advances, accumulation of money, etc. When all those devices come together, and individuals agree to the stated rules and objectives, the game takes place. When I say gamification is theft, what I mean is that gamification takes the conceptual devices from a game like Monopoly and uses them for some other purpose. It’s very simple really. If you want to “gamify” an experience or activity, you need only look at the games you are familiar with and figure out how to steal (okay, “repurpose”) the devices found in the game and apply them to your given situation. Accumulating fake money during Monopoly is both fun and engaging, maybe it could also be both fun and engaging in other scenarios? Of course it can be, and the marketing universe has known about this secret of engagement for a long time. S&H Greenstamps (most of you are too young to remember, I’m sure) started handing out stamps for select retail purchases back in 1896. Airlines have their frequent flyer programs (first started by Texas International Airlines in 1979) and credit card companies have been promoting their rewards cards for years. Consumers like these gaming mechanics, and as consumer loyalty grows increasingly difficult to earn and sustain, it looks like we’re going to see a lot more gamified marketing strategies in the foreseeable future. But shaping and engaging behaviors through gaming mechanics isn’t just for marketing. Just as consumer loyalty is growing more challenging, so is employee engagement. According to research done in 2011 by BlessingWhite, Aon Hewitt, and Towers Watson, employee engagement is at an all-time low. The percentage of engaged employees in North America appears to hover around 33%, while the number of disengaged employees appears to range from a low of 28% to as high as 48%, depending on the study. What’s emerging is the desire to gamify learning and development activities in the workplace with the hopes of getting some of the disengaged to increase their engagement in their work and personal development. While that may sound like backwards thinking at some level (who would argue to keep the disengaged on the payroll?), increased engagement is a business opportunity, where increased engagement by any percentage translates into an organizational win. The application of gaming mechanics to learning and development is still in its infancy, but a number of organizations are already experimenting with what works and what doesn’t. And the results show promise. Solution providers are also gearing up to help out, and gamification functionality opportunities such as leader boards, badges, points, and levels are starting to appear in the technology platforms that employees use. But one thing we know already: Just because the technology exists, doesn’t mean organizations should use it. Applying gaming mechanics to learning and development activities isn’t a silver bullet solution. Like applying lipstick to a pig, adding gaming mechanics to a flawed or ineffective learning and development program isn’t going to help matters, and in many cases, it is likely to make matters worse. When considering gamification for your learning and development program, your first step is always to ensure that your core solution is coherent, and that your gamification strategy is an integrated part of a larger plan. Scot Lake |
What is a Game? Part IIMonday, 19 December 2011 15:37  So in my last blog, I invited readers to share thoughts on just what the principles of a game are. In other words, what does a game need to include in order to be considered a game? What are the components that make up a game? I have some thoughts on the topic myself, but let me first explain how I got started thinking about this at all. Two events really. First, at HR Tech this fall, the word “gamification” was used to describe what was being done with a few new vendor solutions that were being showcased. What caught my attention then wasn’t so much what was going on in the solutions themselves (though at least a couple of these “gamified” solutions were rather exciting), but rather what was going on with the people in the audience alongside me. At least a few of the people I spoke to afterwards had generally positive reactions like “looks great!” or “really fun!” or “really fun and educational too!” but it was what inevitably came next that got my attention, “I don’t think that would go over in our organization.” So that was the first thing that got me thinking. How should I understand this reluctance to embrace games in the workplace? What is it about games or gamification that doesn’t seem to sit well with workplace decision makers? …Let me just detour here for a moment before proceeding to my second event. As I mentioned in a previous blog, I looked up “game” and “gamification” in Wikipedia. While those entries don’t directly address my questions, I find it fascinating that the entry for “game” attempts to define a game by pointing out that “games are distinct from work.” Somewhere in my mind, I hear a deep voice declaring, “Well, we can’t exactly tell you what makes a game a game, but we can tell you this—games are not work.” Really? What we are to make of that, I’m not really sure. But I think there is definitely something lurking beneath the subconscious surface of that kind of definition. It seems so emphatic, so gut-level. Okay. Back to the second event that brought me down this path. The second event was our annual awards program here at Brandon Hall Group. I was a judge in the category “Best Use of Games.” With just a handful of entries, it wasn’t our most popular category, but I was excited to find out what people were submitting nonetheless. (Subconsciously, I was probably secretly hoping to get to play some games while on the company clock.) Nope. No such luck. In fact, I was rather surprised to see what kinds of things were being submitted as games. I won’t disparage any of the entries, which were in fact, quite good and likely very effective tools for learning. I’m just not sure I personally would have entered some of them in a category described as “games.” Simulations would be a more appropriate description for most of what I judged. So I found myself asking once again, “What makes a game a game?” Because if we can answer that, then maybe we would be better equipped to overcome objections to gamification in the workplace. If we can tease the notion of a game apart, perhaps we could selectively choose just those components that would be palatable to our organizational performance stakeholders. So here’s my definition: Games are structured, rule-based activities that challenge us to attempt to accomplish predefined goals or outcomes for the primary purpose of attaining a sense of accomplishment or enjoyment. If even one of those italicized elements is missing, I’m going to say we’re talking about something other than a game.
If you think I’ve got it wrong, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Scot Lake |
SAP and SuccessFactors, Was a Weekend Announcement Really Necessary?Wednesday, 07 December 2011 17:51  If you didn’t see the announcement this Saturday about SaaS based Talent Management suite SuccessFactors being purchased by ERP SAP for $3.4Billion, then you aren’t one of the small percentage of HR professionals and techies who follow the twitter feeds and news blogs even on the weekends. Instead you are a normal HR and learning leader trying desperately to get your work caught up before the holidays, and you found out on Monday like the rest of the world. Like many of you I spent Monday and Tuesday working on my day job and watching the onslaught of blog postings, analyst insight articles, and twitter comments hitting the Internet. By making the announcement on Saturday, SAP had the rapt attention of global audiences not dealing with day to day business issues – and created exactly the level of hype they were hoping for with the purchase between industry analysts, financial analysts, and technology news writers. If you are looking for some of the better commentaries and recaps posted on Monday and Tuesday, here is my own top list, many of these commentaries are good in their own right or they provide a list of additional links that go in-depth on technical discussions or the financial impact of this merger. SAPs acquisition of SuccessFactors re-energises its hcm and saas strategy; Great Overview of the event and things to consider by Paul Hamerman, Forrester Analyst SAP acquires SuccessFactors a first take; Dennis Howlett had some good early commentary on the opportunities this aquisition creates SAP acquires cloud hr vendor SuccessFactors, ERE’s John Zappe did a nice job of re-capping the weekend high-lights Finally, SAP and SuccessFactors acquisition, Jarret Pazahanick did a nice job answering those pesky questions and linking to the most thought provoking comments from seasoned commentators. This purchase has more immediate concerns for the solution provider space than it has for the buying and purchasing community. In multiple commentaries in the last two days we’ve seen remarks ranging from: “It’s the “beginning of the end” and “the sky is falling”, to “watch out for an M&A war in the Talent Management Space”. We’ve also seen an immense amount of coverage on what this acquisition will mean for existing large talent management systems and predictions for both doom and glory for newbie Workday, seen as being vindicated as well as put on the hot seat due to their unique position as the growing HRIS SaaS system, reaching for ERP status. There is no doubt that you will see a rash of additional acquisitions in the coming months, although many of these discussions have been on the table for a while, this weekend’s announcement simply put those discussions into high gear. I won’t pretend to have a crystal ball, but SuccessFactors announcement of their purchase of Jobs2Web early on Tuesday morning, right on the heels of the SAP announcement, can give us some idea of the possible pace of this acquisition. For some time it will be business as usual for SuccessFactors, they have a lot of work internally still making sense of their own acquisition efforts in the last two years. Figure 1 is an image of SuccessFactors’ acquisition history timeline.
Both SAP and SuccessFactors leadership have stated that for the moment SuccessFactors will continue to be managed as a separate entity called “SuccessFactors, an SAP company”. This integration both in terms of talent and technology will take a while to work out. Even with all the great articles and discussions, here are a couple of areas I still have questions on: Vertical Sales and Support Models As many of the analyst comments point out, SAP’s current SaaS strategy has not done so well. I don’t follow the entire ERP market enough to comment on that issue – but I did start my career developing training and support for SAP systems in Retail and I can see the issues between the vertical sales and support models, and the configuration model of large talent suites. Global Perspective and View End-User Experiences During some recent European research interviews, I had two organizations tell me that they had purchased SuccessFactors only to scrap it after a year or two of effort because it hindered rather than helped their performance processes. I was once part of a retail organization that was almost brought to its knees because it couldn’t get product on the shelves during the holidays due to a poor SAP implementation. We hear these stories more than we would like in the analyst space, especially knowing that just a little additional time in strategy, governance, change management, and portal work-flow design could have made all the difference. How will these three giants come together to meet the new workforce expectations for simplicity, ease of use, and system environments that don’t require a manual or performance support tools to navigate? This is a question that is as much about their leadership as it is about technology. Plateau Customers Like everyone else, I agree that the best action to take right now is a wait and see approach. SAP has had considerable challenges meeting the diverse and heavy requirements of the learning community over the last few years – and as recently as early 2010 I had SAP employee’s telling clients not to look at their current LMS as a viable option. The SuccessFactors purchase by SAP was probably heavily dependent on their own purchase of Plateau earlier this year. My hope is that SAP realizes the wonderful talent they now have in the existing Plateau team members and leverage that across their entire strategy to meet the needs of the learning industry. When you consider both internal and extended enterprise learning audiences, as well as the natural overlaps with Sales and Marketing outreaches – Learning technology sales could outpace the talent technology sales if handled appropriately. Thoughts for Buyers Simply put, this market isn’t baked yet – and I don’t believe we’ve seen what the ultimate products will look like, I think organizations like PeopleMatter, Rypple, Salesforce.com, and Glassdoor.com have a lot to add to this discussion going forward. In today’s business the only thing you can really count on is change. Yes, this acquisition will cause some deals to speed up. Yes, this is a nice validation in the general IT space that HR systems are important. Yes, this is a big announcement. Buyers should understand it – know its specifics, and make sure it is included in their future IT discussions. However, it shouldn’t ruin your weekend or holiday plans as it did for many of the analysts and solution providers this week. Feel free to share your thoughts and questions on the changes taking place in today’s Talent Management systems market directly at stacey.harris@brandonhall.com. Stacey Harris, Brandon Hall Group Research |
What are companies doing today to move away from traditional training?Monday, 05 December 2011 10:25  I’m very fortunate to have the opportunity to review so many great programs that companies have implemented within their organization, and have submitted to Brandon Hall Excellence Awards Program. We have 25 categories not including our Excellence in Technology Awards. I will be sharing some thoughts weekly on these incredible programs to offer our viewers a chance to have a sneak peak of the amazing work done by different organizations. Full reports of these case studies are available for members through Brandon Hall Group’s Online Research Center: http://www.brandon-hall.com/membership/trial-membership.html. List of winners can be found here: http://www.brandon-hall.com/awards/excellence-in-learning.html The following three companies are from different industries with unique business challenges. However, all three aim to improve performance for their employees, partners, retail shops, and subsidiaries. They desire to engage, impact and install new ways of learning that are more adaptable by the learner, and flexible in delivery, in order to drive a greater level of application and results, while reducing costs and time. Midas International Corporation (Gold), Owens-Illinois Inc. (O-I) (Bronze), and Wilh. Wilhelmsen ASA (WW) (Bronze), were winners of the Brandon Hall Group Awards Program within the Best Results for Blended Learning. Here a full list of winners within the Brandon Hall Excellence Learning Awards Program: http://www.brandon-hall.com/awards/excellence-in-learning/132.html 1) Midas International Corporation consists of 7,500 employees, with over 700 car repair shops. They provide training for franchise owners, shop managers, service advisors, technicians, franchise business managers, and shop operations managers. Their business challenges included a decrease in the market share of brakes by nearly 20% from 2005 to 2008 and each shop operating and acting differently. The company decided their learning needs should focus on core technical training and customer service. The program emphasized four key areas to drive sales, including:
Midas needed to decide how to offer training: in person, elearning modules, web conferences, or mobile and other various delivery methods? Midas decided to emphasize telephone skills, customer experience, and technical process. The training included individual learning plans based on the stores and locations. Some of the training was offered face-to-face in a small group setting, followed by post work and coaching provided through teleconference, and short e-learning modules and assessments offered through their Learning Management System. To measure the learning results a survey was given to franchisees, shop managers, and service advisors who had participated in the pilot of the program in 2010. Results are in Figure 1 below:
Source: Midas, 2011. 2) Owens-Illinois Inc. (O-I) is a Fortune 500 company with over 24,000 employees in 21 countries that specialize in glass container products. It is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of packaging products. O-I realized the importance for its employees to have a level of proficiency in the English language to improve communication across the enterprise and with its clients. O-I, with the help of goFluent, which offers distance business English training solutions combining eLearning and live trainers, developed a rich, flexible, and comprehensive Blended Learning Program to teach English to its employee’s in eleven countries. The training was tailored based on individual needs, and included a combination of articles, videos, quizzes, and webinars. Learners login into a customized learning portal that includes an assortment of courses and delivery methods. The materials reflect news articles and content applicable to its industry. Coaching is offered through telephone meetings or webinars, and written via chat within the learning portal. Learners receive feedback to help improve grammar, syntax, and communication. Key factors to success include:
Figure 2
Source: O-I, 2011. 3) Wilh. Wilhelmsen ASA (WW) is a leading global maritime industry group, which offers logistics solutions and maritime services through a worldwide network. The WW group has 6,000 employees (wholly-owned subsidiaries) with 400 offices in 73 countries, this increases to 10,300 employees and more than 500 offices in 78 countries when partly owned companies are included. Based on the globalization and dispersed workforce, WW recognized the necessity to ensure its managers had a unified approach to training, coaching, and communicating the company’s vision and values. WW, like I-O, offers a blended approach for its Onboarding program. This program is called “Survival kit’ and was created for first time managers. The program included:
The emphasis of these various offerings was on providing short excerpts of learning to allow the managers to capture the information so it can be quickly and easily adopted into their environments. Training courses that don’t offer an array of delivery methods result in information overload and inevitably the learner only absorbs about 10% of the material. WW was able to reach its first time managers and offer a multi-rich blended learning program that was more cost effective and, according to management, even fun. Owens-Illinois Inc. (O-I), Wilh. Wilhelmsen ASA (WW), and Midas were all very successful in implementing Blended Learning Models to drive greater performance, adoption and reduce costs. Although challenges exist when developing programs to ensure the learners are engaged and are retaining the information. Even though a blended approach can reduce costs, there is still a significant investment in time and budget, so organizations must have a comprehensive understanding of their audience, economic and business circumstances, and business objectives, to align programs to fit business needs. For more information please contact, Rachel Ashkin at rachel.ashkin@brandonhall.com.
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Building Teams Through AssessmentsThursday, 01 December 2011 04:42  Recently I had the pleasure of attending SHL’s (www.shl.com) L.I.N.K. event in Orlando, FL. L.I.N.K. stands for Learn, Interact, Network, and Know, and I had the opportunity to do all of those at this event. I also had the opportunity to learn about what SHL is doing in the assessment arena. SHL is an industry leader in the assessment area and it appears they have an assessment for every job, in every industry. My interactions focused on assessments and their importance to organizations. Learning, interacting, and networking is important, especially as we (Brandon Hall Group) know that from the research we have conducted, assessments offer different opportunities for both technology providers and for client companies. Assessments are the next big opportunity for Talent Management Providers and LMS providers to buy or build into their existing systems, and they also represent an amazing opportunity for clients to better understand their talent pools. Every organization wants to have a great team of people working to make their organization better. Successful enterprises take many things into consideration when building a team, but to the surprise of many, group or team intelligence doesn’t have a whole lot to do with the intelligence of individuals. Assessment testing allows the organization to determine if the most important traits of a world class team are possible with the available individuals. In building a great team, the ability of the team members to listen and provide feedback constructively is critical to its success. Of course, a good team member is intelligent, but these individuals must also display emotional intelligence. In the past, I have had outstanding opportunities to work with many wonderful team members, many of whom I would consider to be the best and the brightest anywhere. However, this intelligence does not always translate into a great team. I have seen team dynamics that were more focused on individuals trying to focus on their own strengths rather than working towards goals as a team. This game playing does not make for a sustainable team in today’s workforce. Your best people won’t want to be part of a team where someone is always trying to prove their superiority by putting down the rest of the team, and if assessments are done on potential team members before they join the team, the organization can determine whether or not individuals are a good fit from an emotional intelligence standpoint. Generational norms are also becoming a factor for companies to consider when building teams. In 2010, US Bureau of Labor Statistics projected that by 2013 the millennial generation will make up 40% of the work force. Millennials were born between 1982 and 2002, and companies sometimes forget that members of this generation will be turning 30 next year, and are becoming organizational leaders. Some of these people are managers and a select few may become your next boss or the company’s youngest CEO or VP if they haven’t already. I believe the millennial generation is going to be very successful and as they learn to have a voice and a seat at the table, they are going to be a very important part of the team. The advancement of this generation into company leadership is especially important when organizations are looking to create teams to function well together. The necessity of teams functioning well together leads me back to assessments. Americans happen to be one of the lowest users of assessments in the world. However, our initial research shows that if a company is embarking on any kind of a learning strategy, a talent strategy, or heck, a new business strategy, any of these initiatives will be more successful if the organization engages in assessments before moving forward. Having a talent strategy without utilizing scientifically proven assessments is like getting married before dating. Sometimes the results are positive, but most people would agree they wouldn’t want to operate that way. Some advanced assessment of potential team members and team characteristics is critical for a team’s success. I would love to hear your thoughts around assessments and how your organization conducts assessments for its team members. It is a fascinating topic and one we want to hear from all of you on as we conduct our research in these areas. |
No Longer Separate SilosThursday, 01 December 2011 04:28  Recently I had the pleasure of speaking at Richardson’s event in Philadelphia. Richardson (www.richardson.com) is a top sales training company and focuses on sales performance and business impact for their clientele. I also had the honor of learning more about this 32 year old company from their senior management team and in meeting the founder, Linda Richardson. Richardson has positioned itself as a sales performance company to a core audience of senior sales, HR, and talent executives. This conference was quite exciting for me because it was a blend of executives in different functions, which is unusual for a conference that focused on performance improvement. I gave a presentation and a workshop for close to 100 people with titles including Chief Learning Officer , VP’s of HR, Learning, Talent, Sales, Sales Effectiveness, and Marketing which allowed me a unique opportunity to connect with top individuals focused on improving performance. Two years ago, Brandon Hall Group predicted that the traditional focus of HR and Learning would become more focused on things that actually matter, including increasing revenue and profitability, as well as a renewed energy in driving revenues from the traditional sales and marketing organization. For years HR and Learning have battled for a seat at the table, especially when it comes to budgets, and although these departments still face some of this battle today, that time should be coming to an end as companies continue to focus on performance improvement. For those of you who would like to view the slides at this conference, Richardson has posted them here: http://www.richardson.com/Client-Forum/Client-Forum/. At the Richardson event I had the opportunity to speak with a number of people across various roles and functions in organizations, but for all of them, the main focus is on business results. Major changes have been made in tracking and measuring information related to sales and training, and this information is a game changer. As information is more available, and easily tracked, this creates great opportunities for organizations. Every part of the organization wants to see results that prove what they are doing makes a difference in the marketplace. As an analyst firm, we have seen ourselves at a number of recent events. This is certainly an interesting time to be an analyst firm because we get to learn more about companies and most importantly, the clients who are working to improve their organization’s performance. What is most exciting is that this event confirmed that we have an opportunity to provide more value to our clients based on the pace of change and the new mindset leaders have in working with the key areas in their businesses that drive performance, HR, talent management, learning and development, sales effectiveness, marketing impact, and executive management. For Brandon Hall Group, we believe these are the optimal ways to drive performance for our clients. As my presentation alluded to at Richardson, these areas should no longer be considered separate silos in order to better contribute to the overall health and profitability of an organization. |