Article Planet

Casino on Wall Street

2009-07-02T20:49:00.001-07:00

Securitizing learning with lessons from the downturn.

The economic meltdown provides a powerful inflection point to reflect, rethink and learn. This is an opportunity for CLOs to use learning as a lever to make the future for our people more stable, prosperous and secure.

During the past decade, many in the financial services industry provided loans and investments to customers who had a seemingly insatiable appetite for borrowing and speculating at levels of risk and requiring due diligence that they did not fully understand, or they ignored. Financial firms securitized by pooling and pricing subprime mortgage loans that they sold as financial investments called collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) - derivative securities.

They also met investor demand to create derivatives of these derivatives. Credit default swaps (CDSs) were created to function as insurance, backing up CDOs. Some investors bought CDSs that would pay off in the unlikely event that large numbers of underlying subprime mortgage holders defaulted on their loans. Though CDSs serve a legitimate purpose, they became yet another way of profiting from a propensity to gamble.

We developed sophisticated language, algorithms and models for calculating and managing risk. But any good builder will tell you that a model is only as good as the assumptions upon which it rests. It appears that the modelers at organizations such as AIG assumed that a global negative growth rate in the value of mortgaged properties was not possible.

The house of cards began to tumble at Lehman Brothers when the impossible became reality. When total home values fell below the value of their related loans, mortgage holders defaulted in record numbers. The CDS insurance payouts exponentially exceeded the real value of the underlying securities and the guarantor's capital, making it impossible for them to make their contracted payouts. When it started to get ugly, taxpayers were forced to cover the remaining bets because, as we have repeatedly heard, these companies were just too big and too essential to be allowed to fail. It's a bit like having to pay for your cousin Harry's failed fling at the roulette table because your parents tell you he's an essential member of the family.

One of the lessons of the crash must be an observation about rewards. Our economic system rewarded disproportionate risk takers handsomely. How can a mere mortal resist a legal activity for which he trained and worked diligently and for which he is rewarded with tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars - particularly when he wins 90 percent of the time, and any loss is not his loss. It is not merely the financial rewards. Our finest universities were placing as many as 25 percent of their graduates in jobs in the financial services industry where they lived an important and exotic life that was the envy of their classmates.

It was not merely the underlying assets that turned toxic. This entire system fed our worst instincts. Investments became speculative gambles, and banks, insurance companies and investment houses became casinos fueled by gambling consumers who borrowed as if there were no tomorrow. When the casinos made too many imprudent loans, we reached a tipping point, and the rest is history.

Perhaps I have been too harsh about the nature of gambling; after all, there is risk in everything we do. But we are suffering from the effects of a gambling binge that is exceptionally painful. As White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said, never let a crisis go to waste. CLOs have an unprecedented opportunity to help their businesses learn how this happened, how it could be avoided in the future and what to do about it now.

Here are some of the questions proactive companies are asking their people:

How does our reward system incentivize the right or wrong behavior?

What are the unwritten house rules about risk in our business?

How can we increase rather than decrease the quality of customer experience in the midst of this challenge?

How can we listen to and fully engage workers to be a part of the solution?

What are we doing to ensure standards of integrity trump greed and self-interest?

How can we make it part of every person's job to surface undue risk?

How can we help customers understand and manage risk, thus increasing loyalty and our value to them?

The current crisis presents an opportunity to help focus and harness the brains of our people to create solutions that are the source of real security. Don't waste it.

Correct Way of Eating Fruits

2009-07-02T00:36:00.000-07:00

EATING FRUIT - Guide

We all think eating fruits means just buying fruits, cutting it and just popping it into our mouths. It's not as easy as you think It's important to know how and when to eat.

What is the correct way of eating fruits?

Women Can Tap Inherent "Strengths" to Succeed in a Tough Economy

2009-07-02T00:05:00.001-07:00

Research shows women have a series of natural advantages over their male counterparts they can leverage to give them a boost up the corporate ladder.

"For a long time, women felt and were told: 'To be successful, you need to act like men in the workplace,' and at one point we even tried to dress like men with padded shoulders, dark suits and briefcases," said Catherine Kaputa, founder and president of SelfBrand and author of The Female Brand: Using the Female Mindset to Succeed in Business.

"That's a mistake because you should build your career identity based on something authentic. Part of our identity is our gender, and that's an advantage."

In fact, women quickly realized that "acting like a man" generally backfires because behaviors that are considered leadership qualities in men - such as assertiveness and aggressiveness - are often viewed negatively when displayed by women.

Kaputa outlined several traits the typical woman possesses that can help her stand out among her competitors:

Strong social perception skills.

"Women are very good at picking up subtle emotions that men have difficulty reading," Kaputa said.

This empathy - as she describes it - can be a tangible advantage when leveraged in the workplace.

"Having empathy is a good tool for managing employees, understanding what client needs are, [carefully navigating] office politics, making personnel decisions and taking a more personal approach to assessing a situation," she said.

Strong verbal and communication skills.

Research has shown that girls as young as two years old have a larger vocabulary and started speaking earlier than their twin brothers. Even in grade school, girls tend to outshine boys when it comes to speaking, reading, writing and listening skills - and strength continues through their adult lives, Kaputa said.

"In the business world, possessing verbal and written communication is a very important thing - being able to communicate ideas, participate in meetings, write reports, etc.," she said.

Strong people power.

"Women are good at building strong relationships; connecting with and nurturing other people; and in business, they build strong and supportive work relationships, networks and teams," Kaputa said.

Collaborative team-oriented leadership style.

A hierarchical business model existed several decades ago - and even though it exists to some extent today, the global nature of business raises the need to create ad hoc teams that don't necessarily report to a single source, Kaputa explained.

"This kind of collaborative, team-oriented [atmosphere] empowers people rather than seeks to have power over them and is associated with the female leadership style," she said.

More "Appearance Tools".

"A big part of success is looking the part - and women have more appearance tools at their disposal," Kaputa said. "Compared to men, who kind of wear a uniform to work, women have more visual identity tools - hairstyle, makeup, clothing, color, accessories - and they can create an image that, from a branding perspective, that can make them stand out."

A Conversation on Reputation Between Peers

2009-06-28T21:05:00.000-07:00

A new training manager asked a senior talent manager, "What leads to professional success?" The senior manager highlighted seven specific areas he attributed to his success during the course of his 36-year career.

Walk the talk.

Academic credentials create a perception of talent and capabilities, but once through the door, leaders need to prove the initial perception. The senior manager explained that as part of his personal perception campaign, he always allowed his work to speak for itself. When given an assessment, he made sure it was completed on time and that the quality of the work was at the highest possible level.

"Your reputation is eventually based on what you accomplish, not what you say you can accomplish," he told the manager. You will be quickly identified as a management facade if you don't follow through with concrete results.

Tap into your brain trust

Run important issues by staff to get their input. The senior manager said he always came out of his meetings with better ideas when he tapped into the brain trust of his direct reports. "It makes sense," he said. "You have several people brainstorming your issue instead of just one."

Always treat others with respect

Treat others with respect no matter what their pecking order within the organization. The senior manager said when he was a CFO for a large health care facility, he occasionally had lunch with the custodians in their lunch area. This allowed him to get a realistic picture on any building issue.

In addition to being proactive on building issues, his open-door policy was effective once word spread that he was open to everyone's ideas no matter what their position. As a result, employees were comfortable making improvement recommendations.

Get back to people quickly

The senior manager responded to every e-mail within 24 hours. He stated this was his "window of opportunity" to let everyone in the organization know they could depend on him for a prompt response to their issues or inquiries. He said it "spoke directly to his reputation of prioritizing everyone's areas of concern."

Dress professionally

The senior manager stated that if you want to succeed, appearance is of paramount importance. The appearance of a nice suit is totally negated when a person's shoes are scuffed up, a blouse or shirt is a bag of wrinkles or hair is growing down the back of one's neck. People will perceive you on how you appear, so appear the way you want to be perceived.

Avoid discussing personal lives

Keep conversations focused on professional life. Yes, you eventually will disclose your wife's name, the names of your children and other minor details, but don't discuss your daily interactions. Also, avoid getting involved in discussions about employees' personal lives. In this area, less is more. Establish a threshold for discussion of personal issues and maintain the threshold throughout your career.

Thank people for the contributions

The senior manager also emphasized that acknowledging and expressing appreciation for everyone's contribution was a key contributor to his success. He said one of his favorite quotes reads, "It's the blood of the soldier that makes the general great."

Thinking Critically

2009-06-24T02:38:00.000-07:00

With workplaces so complex and rapidly changing, combined with the recession, it's important that newly hired employees have critical-thinking skills.

Success in today's tight economy is defined by making the right decisions, solving the problems that truly impede success and anticipating the trends that are redefining the competitive landscape.

The failures of AIG, Lehman Bros. and General Motors are very public and painful reminders of what happens when people make poor decisions and management fails to consider all of the facets and implications of a decision.. Organizations that attract, retain and develop the best critical thinkers have a huge competitive advantage.

Identify Critical Thinkers

The Department of Labor identified critical thinking as the raw material that underlies fundamental workplace competencies, such as problem solving, decision making, planning and risk management. It's also in short supply.

In Are They Really Ready to Work? Employers Perspectives on the Basic Knowledge and Applied Skills of New Entrants to the 21st Century US Workforce (2006) -- a study conducted by The Conference Board, Partnership for 21st Century Skills, Corporate Voices for Working Families, and Society for Human Resource Management -- critical thinking was identified as one of the most important skills needed for job success, and one that is lacking in the new workforce.

It was also rated as the No. 1 skill of increasing importance over the next five years -- and it's easy to see why critical-thinking skills are on the rise.

Never before have employees operated in such a complex and rapidly changing workplace where they are bombarded with a constant stream of good and bad information. They are being asked to manage this information flow, take on new responsibilities, learn diverse new tasks and make good judgments -- often with limited direction.

The successful employees -- the good critical thinkers -- are able to focus on the most relevant information, ask the right questions, separate facts from opinions and assumptions, make sound decisions and set priorities.. They learn quickly and they apply what they learn to new situations. Their actions are both effective and economical.

Organizations can increase their critical-thinking capabilities by targeting this skill when selecting and developing employees. Hard to spot in a resume or an interview, some companies are turning to assessments to help them measure it.

For selection, a candidate's performance is generally evaluated using a peer group, such as other managers, or more specifically, managers within a specific industry. For development, the focus shifts to skill building.

A development report can provide customized skill-building feedback that targets the individual's current level of critical-thinking proficiency. Examples of skilled and unskilled behaviors illustrate desired and undesired behaviors.

Many organizations currently provide training to improve decision making, problem solving and strategic thinking among managers and individual contributors. To maximize training effectiveness, a critical-thinking component can be inserted prior to the other sessions.

Using an assessment and feedback report in this component will help the employee (and trainer) accurately determine skill level and chart a personal development plan. Overall, this strategy will create a more efficient training experience.

Selecting good critical thinkers will set a new bar for an organization's performance. Developing good critical thinkers will accelerate that performance and companies will, more often than not, make the right decision when it matters most.

Making the Business Case for Assessments

2009-06-22T01:52:00.000-07:00

The authors argue that, especially in a poor economy, assessments will show a positive link to the bottom line. They relay several arguments they needed to overcome when rolling out and generating buy-in for their company's plan.

Although those of us in the human resource field understand the value of using assessments in candidate selection, it is often difficult to convince line managers of their value and to gain complete buy-in to an assessment program.

It is particularly important to "make the case" for assessments in a down economy where we have the unusual luxury of more applicants than openings, and the opportunity to be very selective in our new hires.

And, we can ill afford hiring mistakes, or failing to maximize our selection effectiveness, in an economy where productivity and customer service are critical to overcoming the economic challenges that have created a very fine line between success and failure.

Additionally, like most HR tools, assessments must be applied consistently across the board to be both legally defensible and effective.

In implementing assessment programs for our customer-service teammates and our technician/mechanics, we have had to overcome several challenges and obstacles presented by our field managers.

As a human resource function, it is our objective to provide our field managers with tools to help them grow their businesses. However, we must first overcome perceived and real obstacles by demonstrating the value of the tools we are offering before we can expect our field managers to fully buy-in.

Making the Business Case

Common concerns expressed by our field managers regarding the use of assessments included:

1. There is a shortage of available talent for our open positions and we can't let anyone "get away;" we don't have the luxury of being selective..

Response
The benefits of being selective outweigh the perceived lack of luxury. The new practice of requiring the assessment assures a larger population of more productive, longer-tenured employees who help create customer loyalty.

Customers like to be served by the same consistently proficient technician every time they visit. Additionally, we will be offering a new staffing and scheduling tool from our workforce-management initiative that will help keep candidates in the pipeline, reducing the last-minute panic that leads to taking a higher risk approach to selection.

2. Our applicants will not put up with an involved, time-consuming selection process - they'll just go somewhere else.

Response
The poor economy has actually helped us. One of the few advantages of a down economy is that more qualified applicants are available for open positions. While we should always be sure we are hiring the best person for the job and a person who has a high probability of success in the job, having a larger applicant pool provides us the luxury of being even more selective.

Now more than ever, we need assessment tools to help us sort through the applicants and identify those that have the best chance of success. We need to take the time to make the right decision, without being concerned about losing a candidate because we require them to go through an assessment process.

In fact, we have found that many applicants (who are now employees) viewed our organization more favorably as a result of having gone through a rigorous selection process. Who doesn't want to become a member of an "exclusive" club? We also believe that it honors our existing workforce to not just allow anyone into the camp and expect good folks to work with those who are not the best.

3. It's too inconvenient and time-consuming to ask an applicant to drive to a district office or testing location to take an assessment. We need them to start right away.

Response
The assessment is part of a process to screen in the very best, which includes a physical, drug screen, interview and background check. The test will fit nicely into the time space required to be in compliance with the other screening requirements.

Not taking the time ensures the continuation of higher levels of turnover, more training investment and a significant portion of the workforce always ramping up to cover those who are exiting. The assessment changes this dynamic significantly.

4. The assessment will take control away from me in making hiring decisions. What if I really want to hire someone but the assessment says I can't?

Response
As the positive impact of less turnover and higher productivity takes hold, the candidate pool will be populated with more qualified candidates from which to select. If the assessment results suggest a candidate is not a good fit, the manager will have several other qualified candidates from which to choose.

Our experience with other assessments has been that, as managers see the positive impact from using the assessments, they place more trust in the results and quickly embrace it as an effective tool to help them make more informed decisions.

With more than 2,000 certified interviewers and hiring managers in our field organization, consistent standards are required to ensure we align with our brand promise, are in compliance with numerous regulations and that we build teams that perform and that are retainable.

5. Does the assessment really work? I'm pretty good at reading people and generally know who I should and should not hire.

Response
It has been a challenge to instill patience in our field managers when they are in need of an additional person and there are customers and cars waiting to be serviced.

Additionally, it has been a challenge to convince them that an assessment will help them make more informed selection decisions, and not take away their control.

However, our hiring success prior to using assessments was less than stellar, although the success rate varied across our 2,300 stores. Too many new hires in the technician/mechanic position left within the six months on the job, so we were always looking to bring in new technicians.

We needed to show our field managers that more patience and care in the selection of technicians would pay off for them in the long run through lower turnover and greater productivity, leading to fewer open positions. To do this, we needed to demonstrate the value of assessments in a language they understood - that is, the way assessments could help them grow their business.

We believed that a clear demonstration of the value of assessments to business outcomes would allay most, if not all, of their concerns.

To demonstrate the value of our assessments for the technician position, we conducted, with the help of our vendor-partner APT, a comprehensive validation study. For test developers, our approach would be referred to as a "predictive, criterion-related validation study."

This study also provided our legal defensibility in the event our selection processes are challenged under Title VII. The general steps included:

1. Conducting a comprehensive job analysis of our technician position - resulting in a set of critical success factors and knowledge, skill and ability requirements.

2. Administering an "experimental" assessment battery to a sample of new hires over a one-year period - not using the assessment scores in the hiring decisions. Our technician assessment included both a cognitive (general mental ability) test and a conscientiousness test.

3. Collecting retention (turnover) and productivity data on the new hires three to six months into the job.

4. Correlating assessment scores of the new hires with their retention and productivity data.

5. Finalizing the assessments based on the correlations - removing those test items that did not differentiate new hires on retention or productivity.

From this validation we found some interesting relationships.

a) Those new hires scoring in the top quartile on the assessment were 20 percent more productive than those scoring in the bottom quartile.

b) Those scoring in the bottom quartile were 4 times more likely to turn over within the first 90 days on the job.

And since we knew actual out-of-pocket costs associated with bringing a new hire on board (about $2,300 per hire), we were able to convert the differential turnover rates into a dollar amount. We conservatively estimated we could save $1.5 million in turnover costs by using the assessment and avoiding hiring those applicants in the bottom quartile.

We used the results of the validation study to demonstrate to field managers, in their terms, the value of assessments to their business.

Typically, the outcome of a validation study is a correlation coefficient. We did find high correlations between the assessment scores and retention and productivity data; however, we did not believe a correlation would have much meaning for our field managers, and would not make a compelling story for the value of assessments.

Demonstrating the relationship between assessment scores and retention and productivity for a large sample of new hires, however, did make a compelling argument and went a long way toward establishing buy-in for the new assessment program.

We were fortunate to have objective, readily available productivity data for our technician position and recognize that performance measures for other types of job are often more difficult to obtain.

However, turnover can be objectively measured for all job groups, and the cost of turnover can be fairly easily calculated or estimated. Other potential performance measures include quality, sales, customer satisfaction/complaints, and supervisor ratings of performance.

In sum, the important point is to demonstrate the value of assessments to managers in terms they understand and view as important. Only then will you realize the full potential of your assessment programs.

Live Healthy

2009-05-27T04:40:00.001-07:00

Did you know that just breathing in and out correctly can help you relieve stress? Yoga and lifestyle reveals some smart stress-busting breathing techniques.

"Fastened heartbeat, stomach flutters and quickened breath are all the result of stress. Correcting your breathing will automatically calm your nerves and stabilise the jerky movements in your body."

Practice each of these techniques at anytime and any place for immediate effect. However, if you still feel stressed, just pick one technique that you find most effective or like, and practice it for some more time.

Deep breathing

• Breathe in deeply, so you fill your lungs with as much air as possible.
• Hold your breath to a count of five seconds.
• Then exhale as slowly as possible through your mouth. Repeat this process five times.

Abdominal breathing

• Sit in any comfortable posture -- make sure your back is straight and your stomach is relaxed.
• Now breathe in, instead of your lungs, let air fill your abdominal cavity. Watch as your stomach expands.
• When you release the breath, pull in your stomach. Continue this for one to two minutes and remember to concentrate on the movement of your stomach, while you do so.

Controlled breathing through the nostrils

o Use your thumb and forefinger to press on your right nostril while you breathe in from the left.
o Now, release the right nostril and press on the left as you exhale. Repeat this ten times.
o Then repeat the cycle while inhaling from the right nostril and exhaling from the left.

Blast breathing

o Sit with your back straight, and exhale through your nose with force and pull your stomach in at once.
o Then breathe in and allow your lungs to expand. Repeat this around 50 to 300 times depending on your stress level.

Breath meditation

Now that you are more relaxed, simply close your eyes and breathe as you would normally. Don't try to control your breath. Slowly focus on the point between your breathing in and breathing out, which lasts a fraction of a second. You can meditate this way for as long as half an hour.

How To Win!

2009-05-26T22:36:00.000-07:00

Winners never quit, but quitters never win!

There was a young woman who had taken ballet lessons all through her childhood, & now she felt that she was ready to commit herself to the study & discipline necessary to make a career of it. She wanted to be a prima ballerina, but first she wanted to be sure that she had a special talent. So when the ballet company came to town she went backstage after the performance & spoke to the ballet master.

"I want to be a great ballerina," she said, "but I don't know if I have the talent."

"Dance for me," the master said, & after only a minute or so he shook his head. "No, no," he said. "You don't have what it takes."

The young woman went home, heartbroken. She tossed her ballet slippers in the closet & never wore them again. Instead, she got married & had babies, & when the kids were old enough she took a part-time job running a cash register at the convenience store.

Years later she attended the ballet, & on the way out she ran into the old master, now in his eighties. She reminded him that they had spoken before. She showed him photos of her kids & told him about the job at the convenience store, & then she said, "There's just one thing that's always bothered me. How could you tell so quickly that I didn't have what it takes?"

"Oh, I barely looked at you when you danced," he said. "That's what I tell all of them who come to me."

"But that's unforgivable," she cried. "You ruined my life. Maybe I could have been a great prima ballerina."

"No, I don't think so," said the old master. "If you had had what it takes you wouldn't have paid any attention to what I said."

* * *

If you think you are beaten, you are.

If you think you dare not, you don't.

If you'd like to win, but think you can't,

It's almost a cinch you won't.

Life's battles don't always go

To the stronger or faster man;

But sooner or later the man who wins

Is the one who thinks he can.

Partnering with Operations

2009-05-08T01:53:00.000-07:00

Corporate learning cannot exist on its own, as its success depends on collaboration with the business. For Christy Sinnott, this philosophy drives every learning initiative at Hyatt Hotels & Resorts North America.

No learning department is an island, isolated from the rest of the organization. Hyatt Hotels & Resorts North America knew this when it embarked on a massive initiative to improve guest service. The only way to do it successfully was to create a partnership between the corporate operations team and the learning function, each bringing its own expertise to the table.

"Our team provided the learning aspect, [and] the operations group became the subject matter experts," said Christy Sinnott, vice president of learning and development at Hyatt Hotels & Resorts North America. "[Now] they are the face of our major training initiatives, and we are really the support division to help them be successful."

In its first year, this guest-service initiative trained 1,000 front-desk and restaurant managers from more than 120 hotels across North America on service delivery. Four years later, Hyatt hasn't stopped the process. The organization is retraining two to three guest-facing departments each year on service-delivery expectations to ensure hotels consistently meet the changing needs of their customers.

"In year one, we developed the front-desk materials. In year three, those all had to be revised, so it's a constant evolution," Sinnott said. "I think the process will never be done because as the needs of our guests evolve, it requires us to go back and make those changes in our service delivery."

This evolving partnership is a priority at Hyatt because it's the competitive edge. There are many beautiful hotels to choose from, but appearance is not enough. According to Hyatt's customer data, what differentiates these hotels is the service experience.

"The senior team knew that hotel appearance alone [did] not ensure we [were] the preferred brand for our guests," Sinnott said. "As a result, in tandem with physical upgrades to our hotels, we had to elevate the level of service delivery."

The learning team collaborated with the corporate operations group to create training that was relevant and realistic. Without this partnership, it would have been learning in a vacuum without connection to the business or the day-to-day operations of the hotel staff.

"One of the things we've learned in this process is we both bring value to the equation," said Paul Daly, vice president of food and beverage at Hyatt Hotels & Resorts North America. "Christy and her team bring a level of expertise that far exceeds what I or anyone on my team has from a training or learning environment standpoint. And conversely, on the operations side, we have a level of expertise with what's going to work, what's realistic [and] what's viable from a hotel prospective.

To develop the content for this retraining on an annual basis, the learning function works closely with the operations team and hotel staff to gain insight into what is happening at the property level.

"I've been with Hyatt 20 years; I spent 17 of them in the field," Daly said. "But the minute you're not in a hotel, you can't say [you've] got your finger on the pulse because you're not there. You really need to stay in tune with what the hotels are experiencing [and what] the business climate is."

Once the production work is done, the managers are trained by the operations team. While the actual training content and delivery may change from year to year, all the managers still come to a central location, and there is a balance between internal expertise and external consultants.

"When we needed to focus on professional presentation skills, we used an improv group to come in an lead some workshops on how improv can help in service recovery or employee engagement," Sinnott said. "We didn't want to be perceived as the subject matter experts in everything, and we wanted to bring in external perspectives on how we could be better, as well."

Once the managers are trained, they go back to their hotels and train their employees. As a result, managers not only had to understand the service-delivery expectations, but they also had to learn how to train others. Ultimately, giving managers a role in this process instilled a sense of ownership, Sinnott said, and helped them become better leaders.

"By involving and engaging [them] in the role of training, they develop [and] strengthen relationships with their own staff," she explained. "Stronger communication skills, more interaction and more feedback and coaching: All of those aspects help them [to] become better leaders in their role[s]."

To chart its progress with guest service, Hyatt analyzes its guest survey data on a monthly and quarterly basis to see if this training is having an impact. The process of evaluation, though, is one of continual analysis, evolution and progress.

"We're able to keep a very good pulse on where we are making progress and where have areas of opportunity," Sinnott said. "We have been pleased with our growth in the service metrics, but we continue to set the bar higher for ourselves. Even though we've seen movement, the expectation at the senior level in our organization is to [continue] to make progress and move forward."

Additionally, retention has increased in the departments that have participated in this training.

"While I think retention is a difficult thing to pin down and [say] it's specifically because of training, we have seen [it] increase since this period of time," Sinnott said.

Even beyond the guest-service initiative, Sinnott's team works to create learning that is closely aligned with Hyatt's mission and goals.

"Our [company's] mission is to provide authentic hospitality; our goal is to be the preferred brand," Sinnott said. "[In] everything we do as a [learning] group, we [ask], 'How does it relate back to the mission of the organization?' And if it doesn't have a link and there's not a measurable outcome, quite frankly, we back off those items. We have limited resources as a team, and we're very focused and deliberate in what we do."

In a 24x7 environment in which guests can be checking in at 10 p.m. or checking out at 6 a.m., the challenge is to design content that is flexible and creative. And that's what Sinnott enjoys - the chance to be innovative day in and day out.

"It's not a job I come in and I feel like I'm doing the same thing every day," she said. "In fact, it's the exact opposite."

For learning to be effective at Hyatt, it needs to fit into the work environment, so the learning department has to work around the schedules of Hyatt's 40,000 employees. For example, some days, general managers (GMs) only have a few minutes to spare right before their day begins. To meet this time demand, Hyatt developed short podcasts that could be listened to as the GMs' schedules allowed.

"The idea of taking someone out of the workplace for a significant period of time is not really an option for me," Sinnott said. "[We have to] understand the operation priorities and how we as an organization support those priorities and work with them in tandem to figure out how to make that blend happen."

Another way to get content to learners is through pre-shift meetings, where managers will bring their staffs together for five to 10 minutes before a shift starts.

"We will parcel a lot of content into five- and 10-minute segments," Sinnott said. "It might be something that's 30 minutes, [and] we cut it down into three 10-minute segments and it's delivered in a pre-shift over a week. It fits within the workday, and it sets the tone, the priority, for the day and reinforces service delivery."

Hyatt's learning function tries to use opportunities that already exist, such as the pre-shifts, to dispense learning.

"A key focus in our group is how we can use our current infrastructure and be [creative]," Sinnott said. "[So we look] for those small opportunities that may be easy to take advantage of [and] are easily accessible by employees."

As she looks ahead, Sinnott sees opportunity to utilize Hyatt's new global learning management system that was launched in the first quarter of this year. Going forward, the goal is to centralize the learning resources around the globe.

"Our next step is focusing on individual employee development [and] creating individual development plans," Sinnott explained. "We don't recognize a one-size-fits-all curriculum. There are always required classes for people to take, but we think [it's] important [to recognize] that people have individual strengths and [abilities].

"They have different career aspirations, whether they want to be the best front-desk clerk at Hyatt or they want to move to manager or general manager. It's important we understand what those are and [use] the resources in the learning management system to help them get there."

Hyatt's senior leadership supports Sinnott's learning endeavors. Just as learning groups cannot function as an island, senior management cannot cast them away.

"Our senior team is very involved in learning," she said. "They have great ideas, they love to share ideas, they're very open to feedback, and they take a lot of ownership [in learning]. And I love that."

Put Learning on a Diet

2009-05-08T01:48:00.000-07:00

I like to throw a provocative line into a conversation with learning colleagues to get a reaction. For example, I have said, "Most e-learning is pretty boring!" and enjoyed the conversations that follow.

So in that spirit, I added a zinger to some professional dialogues in the past two months: "Content in corporate classes is so bloated. Many courses have as much as 80 percent too much content. What if we could just teach the 20 percent of content that is targeted, new to the learner and essential for competency?"

I expected to get serious push-back, but instead saw nodding heads. So to take the experiment a bit further, I added this statement: "For many learners, they only need, want or benefit from 20-30 percent of the content in a given course. For example, we could teach project management or leadership essentials in a deeply slimmed-down fashion by skipping the stuff people already know, assuming they will continue gaining knowledge through social learning, on-the-job learning or with performance support. Why, we might be able to get that five-day class - whether e-learning or classroom delivered - down to one day or less!"

I was truly expecting deep push-back from that statement. Instead, a period of quiet reflection followed. Then, the conversation quickly shifted to how this could be accomplished and the obstacles to making these shifts.

Let's explore the bloated content phenomenon with open hearts and creativity. Start with the question why. What are the roots of bigger content loads in our courses?

1. Compliance and regulation
Legal advisers often want us to add content that will potentially protect the organization if "bad things" happen.

2. Tradition
Everyone has their own sense of tradition. Traditions may be relevant, but as multiple "musts" are added to a course, it gets bloated.

3. Design is an additive vs. zero-based process
Unless it is a brand new program, the design process starts with adding content instead of a clean slate.

4. Least common denominator
We often design for the least competent and experienced learner, which results in teaching things many people already know.

5. The renaming and jargon effect
A good percentage of content can result from renaming and reframing something that is already known, or from taking common sense and converting it into a complicated graphic with a new piece of jargon.

6. Length often precedes design
I am often asked if I am available to teach a one- or two-day program before the program's objectives have been set. We sometimes plan for the footprint we have in mind before we define the learning experience.

7. Lack of experiments
The design and needs-assessment process usually results in a single model of content for an instructional outcome. We rarely experiment to see if we can effectively deliver the same content in a less bloated fashion.

No one is the villain here, and there are courses that are appropriately large and complex. Yet, I challenge my learning colleagues to take a fresh look at learning content. If we change a few of our assumptions in light of changing economic times and acceptance of technology's potential role, we could place our content on a dramatic diet. Keep these ideas in mind:

a) Extreme design might be required.
If your CEO told you that you had to design an abridged emergency version of a key course, you could and would. And it might be way better.

b) Slimmer means more learning.
As we slim down courses, we can spread learning resources and budgets across a larger slice of the workforce.

c) Adult learners really can take responsibility.
Malcolm Knowles, the godfather of adult learning, pushed the idea that adult learners are capable of and willing to take on more responsibility in the learning process. If we treat them as adults, they often surprise us.

d) Teaching is just the trigger for learning.
I would rather teach less and trigger longer, deeper learning experiences for learners. I would rather leave a class hungry and motivated to continue learning than put them to sleep with a 400-slide presentation that leaves them sedated and unmotivated.

What started as a provocative statement has turned into an exciting personal and professional exploration. I am quite motivated to gather evidence and conduct experiments on content bloat, and I invite you to take part.

Career Goal

2009-05-04T03:10:00.000-07:00

A career goal is a great tool in your hand to manage your career effectively. A career goal is like a compass on a dark and endless ocean and it guides your progress in the proper direction. Without a compass, you would be lost in the high seas. Similarly, without a proper career goal, you would be lost in the world of jobs and will find yourself unable to reach your full potential.

Benefits of Career Goal Setting

Setting a career goal for yourself may be one of the most effective tools you have to motivate yourself and to make significant progress in your career. Career goals help you stay focused on your chosen career path and work as great indicators to measure the progress you have made. Career goals also give you directions that you need to follow to reach your full potential. Having your final long term goal in mind will inspire you to face challenges and obstacles with grit and determination. Additionally, career goal setting gives you a sense of control over where your life is headed and helps reduce the stress and anxiety of not knowing where to do next.Career Goal SettingIt is important to set proper career goals to ensure that they realistic and achievable. If you set goals for yourself that are more like fantasies and have a very slim chance of being realized, you are likely to feel frustrated and discontent. Keep your personal strengths and limitations in mind before you set your career goals. Prioritizing your goals is also a very important aspect of career goal setting. Classify your goals as very important, important and good to have accomplished. Once these are in place, you can then create a plan of action to achieve these goals.

Long Term & Short Term

It is important to create both short term and long term career goals. While the long term goal will give you the overall context within which to operate, short term goals will help you create milestones that will pave your way to your long term goals. Your long term goal should be akin to your life’s ambition, while your short term goals should include progress that you intend to make in the next few months or years. Some people even create daily and weekly career goals to help them stay focused on the task at hand.

Flexibility is Key

The process of career goal setting should include a measure of time and results. You need to set a fixed result that you need to achieve in a fixed amount of time. This is how you will be able to measure your progress. However, it is important to remember that the plan you have created is meant to assist you in reaching your goal. Sticking to the plan should not become your goal in itself. It is important to have the ability to be flexible in your goals to account for life events that are not in anybody’s control.