Posts From: Industry News

As one of the world’s largest shipping companies, Maersk Line certainly knows about moving goods from one place to another. But sometimes the internal flow of knowledge and information travels a less direct route. That’s about to change: The company is on the verge of implementing a new process for working with outsourced suppliers, a process designed to reduce the time to competency for Maersk Line’s global workforce and create more strategic partnerships for the delivery of learning & development. All aboard: This ship is about to set sail.

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On November 11 of each year, citizens of the U.S. recognize our veterans of military service by honoring them for Veterans Day. I like many Americans, believe our military, for more than 200 years, has been instrumental in protecting the very way of life we cherish. It's my opinion, they are phenomenally prepared because they are the best trained. And there is much we can learn by understanding what makes training and education of military personnel so great.

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When Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation took over Dow Jones & Co. in 2007, the parent company of the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Factiva.com was facing some changes. In the time since, the company has brought a new sense of cohesion to the far-flung branches, divisions and organizations. Learning and talent management has led that charge, including with a new Management Essentials program that’s rolling out a defined set of global policies and procedures, ensuring management engagement, learner participation and equal opportunity for all.

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Who heads up the training department for your company? Is it someone who is educated, trained and certified as a training manager or training executive? Or is it someone who has been with the company for a long time, moved around from department to department and has now been put in charge of training. If the later is the case, has this individual taken the initiative to get educated or become certified in his new vocation?

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This week was herald with some unfortunate news… the flagship of all outsourcing events, Global Sourcing Forum, held each year in New York City was canceled. The less than one week notice left participants from around the globe (China, Poland, S. America…) stranded without an event to participate in. Literally thousands of dollars was spent by suppliers and nations, some of which supported by the World Bank, to promote their services.

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Like many industries, banking is about relationships. While that is definitely true of the customer experience, it’s important for internal relations as well, as bankers often can best help their customers by knowing the right internal resources and having the right connections. At Zions Bancorporation, building those relationships has been the focus of a new video-based learning project that’s not just connecting the dots in a widespread organization, it’s breaking down barriers to build the business. The walls come tumblin’ down. – John Mellencamp

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The Maytag salesman isn’t lonely anymore: Depending on what city he or she calls home, about 10,000 colleagues are about to drop in for an impromptu party that includes music, food and training. It’s all part of a new 70-city “Whirlpool Corporation on Tour” initiative that’ll provide cluster training to thousands of professionals who sell the company’s appliances. They’ll get more than the chance to kick the metaphorical tires on a series of new products: They’ll get in-depth product information designed to increase sales through increased knowledge.

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For the third year, hundreds of learning executives came together recently for the CLO & Talent Management Forum, a discussion-driven event that has senior learning leaders sharing solutions and resources to power corporate people processes. With a who’s who of corporations including Apple, Bank of America, Hertz and ESPN, the event featured a series of strategic conversations that ranges from aligning learning to business acumen, and from corporate communications to supporting top talent. In case you couldn’t make it, here’s a recap of the spirited conversations taking place under the desert sun.

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Drill bits and saw blades seem like the ultimate hands-on tools, the kinds of things you have to pick up to use and practice to learn. While practice is always a good thing, it’s now possible for professionals to learn about tools by putting their hands on a keyboard. LearnIRWIN.com is a still-evolving learning portal that Newell Rubbermaid is using to help train sales professionals, distributors and customers on how to build great things together.

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Trust is an important issue in the worlds of training and business, especially in light of a recent survey that puts sales professionals on a short list of uncertain character. Fortunately, training plays a role here, by helping to create knowledgeable sales professionals who can overcome negative public perceptions. When it comes to training the rainmakers for your organization, who do you trust?

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