Training Directors' Forum E-Net - 15 September issue

TrainingZone

Training Directors’ Forum E-Net – 15 September issue

By TrainingZone

TRAINING DIRECTORS' FORUM E-NET
A discussion-driven e-mail newsletter for training managers
Wednesday, Sept. 15, 1999 Vol. 1, No. 26

THIS WEEK:

1. Training managers: Cautious by nature?
2. Keeping IT pros: Training lags
2. Building a cognitive site for managers
3. Comparing authoring tools
4. Web check:Online blues

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TRAINING MANAGERS: CAUTIOUS BY NATURE?

Are training managers dragging their feet in adopting tech- delivered training?

You're still checking in with pointed opinions about that question.

"Most training managers are cautious by nature," says Eric Parks ([email protected]), a Web-based training developer in Fair Oaks, CA.

Moreover, training managers are often, if not always, constrained by the organization when it comes to delivering training.

One kind of constraint is degree of acceptance for online learning. "Where technology-based learning is being pushed from the top," says consultant Parks, "I see many training managers jumping on it. Where it is not, it is often on the back burner."

Are training managers afraid of technology? "I don't think they fear technology," Parks says. "I think they understand that for technology to be successful, they need support from technologists.

"Training managers recognize that their information- technology organizations often are overloaded. So getting support from internal IT staff is a challenge."

TDF E-NET SAYS: Parks will lead a session called "Why Online Learners Drop Out -- And What to Do About It" on Sunday, Oct. 17, at OnLine Learning '99 in Los Angeles. Register for the Oct. 17-20 show at http://www.onlinelearning99.com.

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TRAINING LAGS AS MEANS OF KEEPING I.T. WORKERS

Training is way down the list of perks chief information officers dangle before their information-technology workers to keep them around.

Only 4% of CIOs see training as a way to keep IT pros. At the top of the perk list list are flexible hours and personal days, says a survey by RHI Consulting of Menlo Park, CA ( http://www.rhic.com), a tech-temp service that sponsored the survey of 1,400 CIOs from U.S. companies with more than 100 employees.

How to keep your IT pros happy? Here's the share of CIOs affirming each of these ploys:

Flexible hours.................. 73%
Paid time off (personal days)... 72%
Part-time work.................. 38%
Telecommuting................... 34%
Job-sharing......................27%
Sabbaticals..................... 12%
Training........................ 4%

TDF E-NET ASKS:

Q Does training help retain IT workers, in your experience?

Q Or is the job market so hot, and tech advancing so fast,
that training IT workers is no longer an in-house
priority?

Q What kind of IT training, in your recent experience, most
benefits IT workers -- and your organization?

Send your response to [email protected]. Please include your name, title, organization, what it does, where it is, and a phone number at which we can reach you. Your subject line: Keeping IT Workers.

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BUILDING A COGNITIVE SITE FOR MANAGERS

A reader of OnLine Learning News, an e-sibling of this publication, is building an intranet site that will be a managers' online information-support system, with tools, tips and information for managers.

"This is cognitive, not skill-based, learning," says the reader. "We will use this as a platform to channel managers into online and Web-based training, if that's what they choose.

"Has anyone been down this road yet? I'm looking for partners to share experiences and resources."

We thought the responses would be useful for training managers as well.

Candice Kramer, a Washington, DC, consultant working on a book about cognitive development, suggests first defining the cognitive areas in which managers should develop.

Kramer, a 20-year veteran of adult education, suggests Daniel Goleman's "Working with Emotional Intelligence" as "a wonderful resource to provide inspiration and direction in personal and professional growth."

Kramer's advice: "Set guidelines, train the managers to support each other and themselves, and make collaborative discussion sessions available."

Peter Z. Orton, director with IBM Corp.'s Global Curriculum Technology program in Armonk, NY, suggests this site:
http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu.

And a vendor offers http://www.negotiatorpro.com.

TDF E-NET ASKS:

Q What would go into your cognitive site for managers?

Q What are the skills in which managers most clearly fall
short?

Q Can you teach those skills by using a Web site? How?

Send your experience or ideas to [email protected]. Please include your name, title, organization, what it does, where it is, and a phone number at which we can reach you. Your subject line: Cognitive Site for Managers.

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COMPARING AUTHORING TOOLS

One other OnLine Learning News note of interest to training managers: Someone asked how to compare authoring tools.

Patricia Platt ([email protected]), a training specialist based in Chicago with Grant Thornton LLP, suggests these articles from yet another TDF E-Net sibling, Inside Technology Training magazine:

http://www.ittrain.com/archive/January_99_18.html
http://www.ittrain.com/archive/March_99_30.html

And Rick Fountain ([email protected]), who is a multimedia developer with Farmington, CT, custom-training firm Human Performance Technologies Corp. ( http://www.hptcorp.com), created a chart for his company's use in comparing Web-based training authoring tools. It's at:

http://www.hptcorp.com/wbtcompare.html

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CHALLENGE DU JOUR: GOOD P.R.?

Can you help? Send your idea to [email protected]. Please include your name, title, organization, what it does, where it is, and a phone number at which we can reach you. Please use the appropriate subject line (e.g., Good PR).

GOOD P.R.?

"I am a training manager for a 206-store retail division. I have been charged with the responsibility of establishing training guidance that will help our general managers understand how involvement with the community, i.e., Chamber of Commerce or Parent-Teacher Association types of organizations, will generate additional business and improve our public relations image within the stores' respective communities.

"I am having difficulty obtaining any established materials concerning this subject matter. If you have any books, materials, personal experiences, success stories or Web sites related to driving business through involvement with the community, I would certainly appreciate hearing from you."

WHAT'S YOUR CHALLENGE DU JOUR?

Are you stuck? Maybe your peers have some ideas on how to get you out of a tough training-management spot. E-mail [email protected] with an account of your challenge. We'll post it here, without your name, and invite readers to offer their thoughts. Please use a distinctive subject line.

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OOOPS! DIGITALLEARNING.ORG IS UP

We jumped the gun last week announcing the new organization for technology-based learning vendors.

DigitalLearning.org or DLO, which will launch officially at OnLine Learning '99 ( http://www.onlinelearning99.com) in Los Angeles next month, now has its Web site up at http://www.DigitalLearning.org.

Last week we gave the address, but the site wasn't ready.

The new organization allies companies involved in online learning, satellite delivery and interactive-multimedia education.

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WEB CHECK: ONLINE BLUES

http://www.learn2university.com

ONLINE BLUES. Learn2.com of White Plains, NY, will provide law-enforcement professionals with online training through Learn2University at this site under a pre-paid annual license arrangement with Law Enforcement Online, a national police- training network for 18,000 officers.

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... AND FINALLY

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Go! OnLine Learning '99/Performance Support '99 Oct. 17-20 in Los Angeles. Register at http://www.onlinelearning99.com.
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