Free T&D webinars for July

Summer’s been teasing us with little bursts of warmth—let’s hope the sun gets down to business with some good weather! In the meantime, you can get down to business by signing up for one of the free webinars being offered this month. We hope they will inspire and motivate you.

Monday, July 1, 2013, 11AM – 12PM PST: Leaders Open Doors: A Radically Simple Leadership Approach to Lift People, Profits, and Performance (Free for ASTD members)

The study of leadership development has grown very complicated. We often get stuck thinking about leadership in terms of matrices, competencies, and modules. The simple truth is that to be a leader is to open doors of opportunity for others. To be most effective, leaders need to be opportunity creators. Drawing on the concepts introduced in the new book Leaders Open Doors, leadership expert Bill Treasurer shows how leaders help people and organizations grow by creating meaningful learning opportunities.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013, 11AM – 12PM PST: Conquering Online Presentations with Confidence and Charisma (Free for ASTD members)

Confidence and charisma are key when delivering live online presentations. We all possess these attributes, but knowing how to tap into them and share them with your virtual audience will make your online presentation much more effective. Join best-selling author Jim Cathcart as he reveals how to tune up your presentation skills to connect more powerfully with your audiences. In this webinar you’ll learn how to:

• Put yourself at ease to be your best in online presentations
• Treat virtual presentations like in-person events
• Naturally engage your audience so you’re not alone as you present

Tuesday, July 9, 2013, 10AM – 11AM PST: How to Earn a Top Spot on the Training 125

Don’t miss this opportunity to get the inside scoop from three Training Top 125 judges who will pinpoint what they look for in Training Top 125 applications during the scoring process. Whether you are a veteran Training Top 125 winner or filling out the application for the first time, this special complimentary webinar can be the key to increasing your score and ranking.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013, 10:30AM – 11:30AM PST: Three-minute Activities That Teach

Enliven your training in less than three minutes with a jolt that gives learners an emotional impact resulting in surprise and discovery. Your learners will sit up, listen, learn, and gain instant insights into your training topics. Join us in this discussion of why and how to use these three-minute training “jolts” to provide practical insights before, during, and after training events. Listen as interviewer Karen Hyder challenges and probes Sivasailam “Thiagi” Thiagarajan to validate the return on investment of this approach to training the next generation, and learn about the importance of debriefing.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013, 11AM – 12PM PST: Managing a Technology Change Initiative (Free for ASTD members)

Technology is a breathtaking investment. Implementation often requires significant revenue and a heck of a lot of work, devouring profitability, time, focus, and energy. And we know that change efforts often fail. If you’re in charge of leading a technology change, how do you make sure you deliver? What does success look like? How do you communicate effectively to stakeholders? Tricia Emerson, author of the recent Technology Change Book, will show you how to be successful with one of the toughest assignments out there.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013, 10AM – 11AM PST: Best Practices in Diversity and Inclusion: A Panel Discussion (Free for ASTD members)

Diversity and inclusion (D&I) practices are important in today's workplace in light of changing demographics, globalization, the war for talent, and consumer requirements. Panelists—several chief diversity officers—will share their insight and experience on how D&I has evolved in their organizations. These chief diversity officers will discuss challenges encountered along the way, established best practices, and the future of D&I.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013, 10AM – 11AM PST: Is Sheryl Sandberg Right? Are Women Liked Less when Promoted?

Sheryl Sandberg, author of Lean In, tells a story about a businesswoman who explains to her daughter that when women are promoted and succeed in business, they are liked less by their co-workers. The daughter says, “Then I wouldn’t want to be promoted, because I want to be liked.” We’d like to see women “lean in further” and not assume that being promoted to a senior position causes them to be disliked. Interestingly, our data show just the opposite. Join us as we discuss whether the male “success-likeability bonus” is fact or fallacy, whether likeability is linked to leadership effectiveness and business outcomes, and much more. Register now to take our Likeability Assessment and see how you compare to other leaders!

Thursday, July 11, 2013, 10AM – 11AM PST: How to Get Your CEO and the C Suite to Engage the Workforce

Chances are your CEOs are left-brain types who get the numbers— things like EBITDA, ROI, net and gross revenue, income statements, balance sheets, and related “hard” data. But perhaps they don't put the same focus on “soft” business needs such as employee engagement. Many of us learning, communications, OD, and HR folks are right-brain types—more reliant on soft skills, feelings, visuals, and intuition—and thus have difficulty convincing executives to make employee engagement part of the company's strategic plan. Invite your C Suite to join you for an entertaining and fast-paced hour discussing how employee engagement DRIVES business results.

Thursday, July 11, 2013, 10AM – 11AM PST: The Role of Learning in Global Talent Management

Most often the term “talent management” refers to the life cycle of the employee, beginning with recruitment and selection, continuing through to exit interviews and retiree support, and covering everything in between. To one degree or another, the processes and programs that manage each phase of the talent cycle depend on one another. One aspect of this cycle is connected more strongly to all the others and in more ways—learning. Join Brandon Hall Group Senior Analyst David Wentworth and Alex Poulos, Chief Marketing Officer at NetDimensions, as they take a look at specific examples of how learning is inherently integrated with various aspects of talent management and how technology can leverage these connections, especially in global organizations.

Thursday, July 11, 2013, 11AM – 12PM PST: From Complex to Simple: How to Make Hard Subjects Easy through Story-based Learning

Have you caught the facts fever? If you’re comfortable with a subject matter, it’s quite likely you’re infected with the curse of knowledge. In other words, knowing too much gets in the way of communicating clearly to those who know less. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a master storyteller or presentation designer to learn how to choose, prepare, and present the right content for the right class—whether in person or online. Join Roger Courville, virtual presentation expert, for a fast-paced and practical session on how to tell a clear, compelling story that both educates and motivates. Learn:

• Three steps for transforming facts into messages
• How to design a flow that keeps the audience engaged
• Four tips for creating visuals that stand out
• A killer idea for making infographics work in online presentations

Tuesday, July 16, 2013, 10AM – 11AM PST: Tin Can: Why Your Systems Need to Talk and How the Tin Can API Can Help

We know the majority of learning that happens in the workplace (and everywhere else) is informal. People learn constantly at their jobs, solve problems, and get better at the things they care about. In order to support people we need to figure out where they’re at, what they need to do, what they want to do, and how we can remove the barriers stopping them. Without a common language, this is very hard to do. The Tin Can API (aka Experience API) is a common language for many different systems to communicate what people are doing. Learn what the Tin Can API is, how it works, and see some examples of what it can do.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013, 11AM – 12PM PST: Teaching Effective Online Dialogues for Federal Agencies (Free for ASTD members)

Easter Seals has been recognized as a best-in-class example of collaborating with government agencies and creating effective forums for online dialogues. Federal agencies are often faced with a deluge of information from the public, and are often challenged by how best to organize, capture, coordinate, and follow up on those interactions. This gap in capabilities can effectively be addressed by the training and development community. This webcast will focus on how training and development professionals can educate their agencies on effective large-scale online participation.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013, 10AM – 11AM PST: How to Make Technical & Compliance Training and eLearning Fun and Engaging

“Boring.” “Tedious.” “Painful.” “Do I have to?” These are the moans and complaints of learners as receivers of the data-dump type of very technical and compliance forms of eLearning. But when we shift the design by focusing less on the technical view and instead considering the learner’s perspective, technical and compliance eLearning can be fun and helpful. This webinar will present ideas on how to make this shift possible.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013, 11AM – 12PM PST: Get Ready for the Virtual Classroom (Free for ASTD members)

One of the biggest obstacles to moving organizations to virtual instructor-led training is the approach of the trainers themselves. Why do learning professionals resist using these tools? The answers to that question will help individuals overcome their objections and help organizations make the move to VILT smoother and more effective. Join us for this candid and entertaining webinar event.

Thursday, July 18, 2013, 10AM – 11AM PST: Mobile Learning: 5 Ways to Improve Learning Results

Are your employees increasingly mobile, but your learning programs aren’t? If so, you’re missing out on an effective way to support your programs, make an impact on learning results, and be relevant to your employees’ day-to-day jobs. Mobile learning used to be the next big thing—now it is the big thing. Join senior product marketing director Mark Brandau to find out the top five ways mobile learning can boost your learning programs. Get an overview of using mobile technologies, and learn how to:

• Provide learning on the spot, right when it’s needed
• Use mobile learning to increase learning adoption and business results
• Jumpstart your own mobile learning initiative

Thursday, July 18, 2013, 11AM – 12PM PST: Increasing Training Success: Best Practices for Implementation & Sustainment (Free for ASTD members)

Interested in a better approach to making learning initiatives work? Considering today's hectic work environment, don't you want leaders to be more engaged in learning initiatives? Register for this one-hour webinar to join experts from the award-winning employee development firm AchieveGlobal. You'll learn about a new research-based model for sustaining learning to get optimal gains on training investments. Wendy Mack and Seleste Lunsford will tap into AchieveGlobal's 50+ years of experience in delivering learning solutions, revealing best practices that are proven to boost training transfer and sustainment.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013, 10AM – 11AM PST: Building a Pipeline of Culturally Agile Professionals

While our world is becoming increasingly more interconnected through cyberspace and international airports, success in global business requires more than a passport and a plane ticket. Success in global business is a function of people—those with an ability to operate effectively in intercultural and multicultural situations—people with cultural agility. This webinar will describe what cultural agility is (and isn’t) and offer various ways HR leaders can help develop a pipeline of culturally agile professionals within their organizations.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013, 10AM – 11AM PST: Thinking of Replacing Your LMS

Learning leaders must stay a step ahead of their business, but that can be difficult when dealing with antiquated technology and limited delivery options. Over 30% of organizations in a recent Brandon Hall survey had plans to replace their existing LMS solution. Most of them look forward to the transition with dread and concern. Register today for this critical session to learn how hundreds of organizations have made successful transitions—and the tools and tricks your organization can use to upgrade successfully too.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013, 10AM – 11AM PST: Unleashing More Team Power in Your Organization (Free for ASTD members)

Have you noticed how everyone in the workplace talks about teamwork? For facilitators who specialize in teamwork, it can be frustrating to encounter old mental models and biases about team training. In this webinar, you will explore some of the common systemic barriers to effective teambuilding—from cynicism, to time and budget pressures, and more. You will also encounter some tools and strategies that you can put to work in your organization right away.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013, 10AM – 11AM PST: Is L&D an Expense or Investment?

The continually accelerating speed of change over the last several years has made employers and learners (employees) more impatient. In today's climate, investments need to provide returns in a relatively shorter period of time than they did a few years ago. This webinar will provide insight on the important factors business leaders need to consider to create the required velocity in realizing ROI, and the controls possible over direct and indirect resources. You will learn how to improve ROI on training and development by understanding the underlying factors, gaining control of them, assessing competencies and their impact on business performance, and strategizing for competence development.

Thursday, July 25, 2013, 11AM – 12PM PST: Profiling Management Success – Leveraging Performance and Analysis in Management Development (Free for ASTD members)

This session will focus on the development and research methods involved in the creation and enhancement of training and leadership development initiatives at U.S. Security Associates. The discussion will specifically highlight the Success Profile Initiative (SPI) and how the research supporting this initiative was utilized to leverage transformation in a variety of learning, training, and development components within the organization, including selection practices, targeted organizational objective accomplishment, succession strategies, and management success.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013, 5AM – 6AM PST: Learning for Transformation: Co-create & Co-achieve (Free for ASTD members)

Join this exclusive webcast presented by Ms Rajkamal Vempati, Head of Human Resources at ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited, the largest private-sector general insurance company in India. Critical learning components:

• Build ownership: co-create & co-achieve; strategic agenda
• Leverage learning to transform: create a brand, sponsorship, contextualization, and business impact
• Integrate with people process: performance and talent management, leadership development, competency-based development, and organizational structure

Tuesday, July 30, 2013, 10AM – 11AM PST: Show Me the Numbers – Five Case Studies Illustrating the Effectiveness of Games and Gamification for Learning

Are learning games effective? Does gamification work? What are some practical examples of successful implementations of games and gamification in practical work environments? This webinar examines five case studies of organizations that have successfully implemented game-based learning and gamification to help increase sales and participation in leadership programs, and to reduce safety incidents and inventory loss through shrinkage. Webinar topics:

• What type of business results can be expected from games and gamification?
• What elements of games and gamification lead to success?
• What tools are used to create games and gamification results?
• Participants receive a list of “Lessons Learned” from the five case studies.

Wednesday, July 31, 2013, 11AM – 12PM PST: Global E-Learning for Today’s Multinational Work Models (Free for ASTD members)

As your organization expands its operations in the global marketplace, effective and timely eLearning becomes crucial to the success of your company and your multicultural workforce. There is a wide range of tools for developing training content, and an assortment of media for communicating that content. How can you ensure your eLearning curriculum makes the best first impression with global audiences? And how can you facilitate simultaneous release in multiple markets? Join representatives from Lionbridge, dedicated global eLearning experts, as they describe how to:

• Address the challenges of developing content for global consumption
• Utilize industry best practices for developing eLearning for a global audience
• Implement design, development, and multimedia tools that facilitate delivery to multiple markets

Free T&D webinars for June

With summer around the corner and school out soon, many of us are getting ready to switch gears. It’s a great time to brush up on learning before the hot weather hits. Why not wrap up spring with a free webinar or two? We hope these June events will inspire and motivate you.

Thursday, June 6, 2013, 10:30AM – 11:30AM PST: Let’s Get Real about Training Evaluation – Part I

In today’s resource-strapped business world, there exists greater pressure than ever to demonstrate the value of training to the organization. In this two-part webinar, Jim and Wendy Kirkpatrick will share practical ideas for maximizing the value of training while minimizing investment. In Part 1, Jim Kirkpatrick will discuss the fact that training evaluation is not as complicated or expensive as some make it seem. He will explain how to integrate a sound evaluation plan into the instructional design process and implement it with minimal resources. Participants will come away with ideas they can implement quickly and inexpensively in their own organizations.

Thursday, June 6, 2013, 11AM – 12PM PST: How Leaders Can Minimize Deception and Build Trust (Free for ASTD members)

Wouldn't it be great to know when you're being lied to? Wouldn't it be a savvy career strategy to know how to handle liars? And wouldn't it be a great leadership skill to know exactly what minimizes deception and builds trust? Join Carol Kinsey Goman, author of "The Truth About Lies in the Workplace," and learn:

• Why people tell lies at work
• How our biases, motives, vanities, desires, self-deceptions, and  rationalizations allow us to be duped
• 7 habits of highly successful liars
• 12 verbal and nonverbal cues for spotting liars
• Strategies for dealing with liars once you've spotted them
• How to make sure that you don't look like a liar
• Leadership strategies for minimizing lies and building trust

 Thursday, June 6, 2013, 11AM – 12PM PST: The New Reality of Virtual Training

The way we learn has changed. With just a few taps, we can now find and share information with anyone, anywhere. Today’s training professionals must embrace the new technology and create an environment where people can gain knowledge the way they want to. Join Cammy Bean, Vice President of learning design for Kineo, as she explores the resources and performance tools that are supporting this revolution in learning. Attend this live webinar to learn:

• What continuous, collaborative learning means and why it matters
• How to implement the newest learning technologies
• How other organizations have transformed their learning programs
• And more…

Tuesday, June 11, 2013, 10:30AM – 11:30AM PST: Designing Learning for Behavior Change

Frequently, learning design is about showing people how to do the right things, but actually getting them to change behavior can be a challenge. This means that, as design professionals, we need to know all we can about designing for real behavior change, including using techniques from the fields of neuroscience, behavioral economics, behavioral psychology, persuasive technology, user experience, and even game design. Join us as we discuss learning design for behavior change with Julie Dirksen, consultant, instructional designer, and author of the 2011 book, Design for How People Learn.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013, 11AM – 12PM PST: Show Your Work (Free for ASTD members)

When you ask, “What does learning look like?” the answer is rarely, “Someone talking in front of a room.” We learn by doing, and by telling what we’re doing, and by watching others do things, and by showing others how we did something. Narrating work can solve so many problems for organizations, from capturing tacit knowledge, to easing transitions when workers depart, to further enabling informal and social learning. How can Training & Development (T&D) help this happen?

Wednesday, June 12, 2013, 10AM – 11AM PST: Informal Learning – Implications and New Opportunities and What They Mean to Your CEO

Experts state that 80% of learning in today’s organizations is informal. Learning leaders try to manage it; CEOs want the increase in human capital it creates. Bright prospects eager to get hired try to get it in order to have a shot. All have somewhat different objectives. Organizations that understand how to leverage their informal learning initiatives will create competitive advantage. Join this webinar to learn:

• Why informal learning is not merely a different form of formal learning
• How important members of your management team view informal learning
• The language of the important constituents impacted by informal learning
• The asset challenges the exiting baby boomers present to every organization over the next decade
• Innovative ways to increase the assets of informal learning in your organization

Wednesday, June 12, 2013, 11AM – 12PM PST: Happiness and Productivity at Work (Free for ASTD members)

Learn how to use the power of positivity to help people achieve greater success and well-being. Research in positive psychology shows that people who experience more positive emotions achieve higher levels of success. This webcast teaches participants how to apply positive strategies in order to enhance employee performance and engagement.

Thursday, June 13, 2013, 10:30AM – 11:30AM PST: Let’s Get Real about Training Evaluation – Part II

In today’s resource-strapped business world, there exists greater pressure than ever to demonstrate the value of training to the organization. In this two-part webinar, Jim and Wendy Kirkpatrick will share practical ideas for maximizing the value of training while minimizing investment. In Part 2, Wendy Kirkpatrick will share four practical ways to implement a “real” training evaluation strategy, even with limited resources. Beginning with the concept that “the end is the beginning,” she then will provide tactics to utilize before, during, and after training that will both increase and document the value delivered to the organization. Participants will come away with ideas they can implement quickly and inexpensively in their own organizations.

Thursday, June 13, 2013, 11AM – 12PM PST: T+D: Building the Business Case for Employee Recognition (Free for ASTD members)

We all understand that employee engagement is critical to business success. Sometimes, however, organizations think of it as a soft and non-urgent business imperative. But engaged employees help you maintain an advantage over your competitors and help grow your business. The challenge is to excite your workers and continually maintain their engagement. Join us as we define the key drivers of employee engagement and prescribe a formula for success. Learn all the factors that motivate engagement from case studies, and learn how performance-based metrics can help you track your progress. Develop a road map for effective measurements, metrics, and processes to enhance your organization’s commitment to engagement.

Friday, June 14, 2013, 11AM – 12PM PST: Ensuring Learning Transfer: An Introduction to the 6Ds (Free for ASTD members)

Training improves performance and provides a competitive edge if it is transferred and applied on the job. But for many training programs, transfer is the weak link. In this fast-paced and interactive webinar, the leaders of ASTD’s Learning Transfer Certificate Program will explain how training professionals can increase learning transfer. They will share the two key questions that must be answered for transfer to occur, and will introduce the six disciplines required to ensure a positive response. A handout with notes and job aids will be provided.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013, 10AM – 11AM PST: Imbedded Learning: How a Sales Portal Became a Competitive Advantage

Join Brandon Hall Group’s David Wentworth, Sr., and Bob Sullivan of PinPoint Global Communications, along with Barbara Brooks and Karen Stockla of Prudential Annuities as they share research on the need to make learning a business tool and the story of how Prudential accomplished this and forever changed how learning was viewed in that organization. Our presenters will discuss the critical path Prudential took to integrating multiple business tools into a single sales portal that focused on providing product training, development tools, marketing materials, business intelligence, sales metrics, and prospect data in a single location that supported business outcomes.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013, 10AM – 11AM PST: Re-thinking Change and Implementation: Myths/Truths/New Ideas

In this session, Lance Dublin shares the myths/truths distilled from 30 years of successes and failures, covering the change lifecycle from awareness to adoption to adaption to full integration. The key objective of this webinar is to challenge all of us to re-think what we know and have done, and to generate new ideas. So, please come prepared to share as well as listen. This is an opportunity to evolve an approach together for organizational change and program implementation based on our collective experience and learning.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013, 11AM – 12PM PST: Best Practices for Citizen Engagement Initiatives (Free for ASTD members)

Focusing on novel ways for the public to engage and impact the local and federal government process, this webinar will feature a joint presentation by the founders and officers of Citizinvestor and POPVox respectively, regarding transforming government through citizen engagement. These founders will talk about their process for capturing and stimulating engagement with an eye toward how aspects of their processes might be applicable across other areas of government.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013, 10AM – 11AM PST: Leading Virtual Teams

Virtual teams often face difficulties solving problems, making decisions, generating innovative ideas, and reconciling differences. When team members don't meet with each other face-to-face, it can be harder to build rapport, develop trust, and establish meaningful collegiality. Team members multi-task, leaders fall back to presenting endlessly, and the work goes sideways. Join us as we help you tackle the common challenges that go along with leading virtual teams. Our speakers will describe and demonstrate several practical skills and methods you can use right away to help team members and leaders improve the way they collaborate and perform.

Thursday, June 20, 2013, 10AM – 11AM PST: The Business Benefits of Effective Teams

We all know that the majority of work in an organization is conducted in some type of team environment. Individuals cannot be productive by operating independently. They must be able to communicate, persuade, and rely on each other in order to successfully achieve both minor and major initiatives that drive business results.

Research shows that the impact of a dysfunctional team can negatively affect organizational productivity and quality by more than 44%. With globalization and dispersed workforces, there is more need than ever to find effective ways to collaborate and communicate. Join Brandon Hall Group’s Rachel Cooke and Claude Werder as they share recent research on team effectiveness and show how social learning technologies can provide teams with effective communication strategies.

Thursday, June 20, 2013, 11AM – 12PM PST: BEST Webcast Series: Jiffy Lube University – A Success Story (Free for ASTD members)

Learn the simple strategies used by Jiffy Lube to transform an outdated training program into the #1 ASTD 2011 BEST Award winner in just seven years. This interactive presentation is filled with practical ideas and proven methods designed to help enhance any corporate university.

Thursday, June 20, 2013, 11AM – 12PM PST: Enlightened Onboarding: Your Path to Accelerating New Sales Rep Productivity

The skills and knowledge required to be successful in sales are greater than ever. Yet while selling is getting harder, the amount of time and resources dedicated to onboarding efforts is declining. Join us for a webinar featuring Jim Ninivaggi of Sirius Decisions as he shares sales onboarding best practices that drive productivity in new sales hires. You’ll learn:

• The importance of establishing a sales onboarding system
• How to leverage emerging technologies (mobile, social, video) to create a virtual onboarding program for new sales hires
• Ways to measure new rep time to productivity

Friday, June 21, 2013, 9AM – 10AM PST: Going Mobile: Creating Practices That Transform Learning (Free for ASTD members)

Presented by Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) CEO Kevin Oakes and John Polaschek, Senior Manager of Learning Technology at Qualcomm, this webcast examines how organizations are implementing mobile learning and developing their mobile strategy in the current technology-based landscape.

Monday, June 24, 2013, 11AM – 12PM PST: Strategic Acceleration: Succeed at the Speed of Life! (Free for ASTD members)

In today’s ultra-competitive world, getting superior results faster is absolutely critical to success! However, the hectic speed of life makes it easy to become sidetracked by things that steal priority and make us less effective. People are hungry for ways to get ahead, to win, and to accelerate results both personally and professionally.

The Strategic Acceleration approach is based on three pivotal concepts: Clarity, Focus, and Execution. Once understood and deployed, Strategic Acceleration will have a powerful, long-term positive influence on the results and success that so many people want.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013, 10AM – 11AM PST: Building a Workforce Strategy with Skills-Gap Analytics

More than 83% of organizations with a skilled labour workforce state that it’s difficult to find employees capable of addressing their growing hiring needs today. Major workforce shortages in critical skilled roles are predicted at a global level by 2020 in healthcare, high-tech, and manufacturing. Businesses and governments alike are quickly realizing that long term-strategies for growth, innovation, and market share must include a workforce strategy based on data and analytics. Join Stacey Harris, VP of Research for Brandon Hall Group, as she shares recent research on developing workforce strategies to address growing skills-gap issues.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013, 10AM – 11AM PST: Fixing Leadership Development Programs & Developing Effective New L&D Initiatives

As a Human Resources executive, trainer, and consultant, Ralph Jacobson used many of the conventional approaches to leadership and change management training. He found most did little to help the organization achieve its strategic objectives. Despite billions of dollars spent on leadership training, employee engagement surveys suggest low morale and followership. Authors such as Pfau/Kay, Gary Hamel, Barbara Kellerman confirm the assessment.

Learn and explore a counter-intuitive yet powerful approach that results in leadership and change management training that is less costly, easier to implement, and more impactful than traditional approaches.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013, 10AM – 11AM PST: Creating a Mentoring Culture: What You Need to Know and Do (Free for ASTD members)

Mentoring requires a culture to support its implementation and fully integrate it within your organization. It is more than simply a self-sustaining program. This webcast is designed for those who are responsible for some or all aspects of designing, developing, or implementing mentoring programs. Dr. Lois Zachary will walk you through how to create a vibrant mentoring culture by creating a shared vision of organizational mentoring, assessing organizational readiness, and then designing appropriate mentoring opportunities. You will learn about the eight hallmarks of a mentoring culture and the specific processes you need to apply to support all of the mentoring that occurs in your organization.

Thursday, June 27, 2013, 10AM – 11AM PST: Is the Unit of Learning Still a Lesson? Can the Lesson Survive Social and Mobile?

A shift is taking place in today’s learning environments that requires us to change our approach to learning – creating smaller, shorter, more targeted and relevant learning experiences. In today’s mobile and social learning environments, can and should the “lesson” still stand as the centre of our learning models? Takeaways of this event include:

• The business case for creating a learning environment, over a learning course or program
• Approaches to downsizing your lessons
• Practical tools for creating a learning environment
• Award-winning case studies of organizations that have created contextually relevant intelligence

Thursday, June 27, 2013, 10AM – 11AM PST: The Many Faces of ROI: Analyzing Training’s True Value

In our evolving global economic landscape, ROI is more important than ever in demonstrating the accountability of learning systems. But even powerful metrics have their faults. ROI calculations can seriously misrepresent and overstate the business contribution of a learning solution, and should therefore never be allowed to stand alone when communicating results. Enter the new view of ROI – the ROI Quality Analysis reveals the truth and communicates the real business contribution. Join this webinar and take away powerful tools that you can quickly and inexpensively apply to business strategies, HR software, and learning solutions to improve and communicate value.

Thursday, June 27, 2013, 11AM – 12PM PST: Demystifying the Open-Source LMS (Free for ASTD members)

Considering an open-source learning management system? Will an open-source solution give your organization the reliability, robustness, ROI, and flexibility that it really needs in a learning management system (LMS)? Join us as Lambda Solutions and Elearning Experts, two organizations with decades of experience using and supporting open-source initiatives, explore the truths and myths surrounding open-source LMSs.