Don't Throw Money Away On Training - Planning Well Will Cut Costs and Increase Value

We've all done it. The glossy brochure with catchy headlines promoting training courses which seem too good to miss. We either see them ourselves or employees bring them to us with a previously unknown "need" to have this training. Before we know it a large chunk of the annual training budget has gone on courses we didn't even know existed.

This sort of reactive approach to training and development costs far more than systematic training and is usually far less effective.

So, how do we do this systematically? If we cover the key elements of an integrated approach to managing people, the pieces will fall into place.

Planning
The starting point should be the corporate plan - where is the organization going? If we know this we should also know what the obstacles are and what we are going to require of people.

In previous articles we have discussed what people have to deliver (documented on job descriptions) and how they are to do it (competencies and associated behaviours). Once these have been determined, it should be easier to see what, if any training or development needs there are.

Gun at the head test
Here is a simple test to see if training is required. If the employee could do what is required if a gun was held at their head (please don't use a real gun!), they don't need training. They need better management. If they couldn't do the tasks, then training may be an answer.

Following on from the planning stage there are other parts of the system that will provide useful information on training and development needs.

Recruitment
What are we having to recruit for? If we are paying a premium for certain skills, can we develop these internally? If we can't find certain abilities, do we need to start growing these ourselves?

Performance management
What are the gaps in current performance? Are these caused by a lack of training? What are the aspirations of staff and do they fit in with our corporate goals? Can we meet these with internal development plans?

Rewards
Are people earning to their potential through the salary system or incentive plans? If not, does this indicate a training need?

Succession plans
Are all the key jobs covered? If not, should we be developing people right now?

By collecting all the information from these sources it is then a case of collating it and determining what needs to be done. But here is another trap. It does not mean we have to go out looking for training courses.

If our training and development needs are documented in terms of objectives, that is, what someone should be able to do after they have received the development, rather than "attend management course" there are usually several options available. For some of these there may be no direct cost.

An example may be "To be able to accurately set up systems for recording and analysing data and prepare reports with recommendations and action", not "advanced Excel course" With some creative effort you may find there are experts in the organization already who can provide some assistance in the relevant areas without the expense and inconvenience of an external training course.

Also, it is worth noting that when research is conducted into why people prefer certain employers, high up on the list is usually the growth and development opportunities available. Accurately and actively identifying development needs makes good business sense.

People Development vs Training - Its Not Training!

People development has long been recognised as a primary need for any growing and developing organisation. However there seems to be little agreement as to what people development really is. What tends to happen is that companies, once they do decide that something is needed (through annual appraisals, personal development reviews, performance management reviews, change programmes, etc), put out a call for training, without really understanding the difference between it and development.

Then they get saddled with programmes that 'train' people on the 'right' way to do things (communication, presentation, assertiveness, etc.) and find that things don't seem to change much. For instance, we often hear of presentation training designed to get everyone giving a consistent message. So people get trained in the right way to deliver the company message, rather than having their individual capacity developed to present in their unique style.

One company we spoke to had put an entire department of 400 people through a 'training' programme (prestigious and expensive!) and plaintively asked why nothing had changed a few months down the line. It wasn't even that the training was bad; it simply had a different, more proscriptive perspective on the issue at hand (indeed, the outcome was one of conformity) and the organisation ended up not getting what it needed.

eal people development should be driven by the person being "developed". Think of it as learning to use new words within a language rather than learning a new language. In hard skill terms it is rather like a good computer programmer developing his ability to write better programmes. He doesn't need to learn to programme, he's already a long way down that road.

In just the same way, people development issues such as influencing, negotiating, assertiveness, presenting, time management, etc, begin with people who already have a good foundation of skill in the area. For instance, an organisation may identify that a group of managers need to communicate better and therefore look for programmes to address that. But the reality is that these managers already do communication or they wouldn't have their jobs in the first place. Therefore trying to get them 'trained' in communication won't do it. There has to be respect and regard for what people already have.

Here's a good example of how we see the difference between training and development. Let's take appraisals. If managers get any appraisal training at all, it tends to be along the line of: how do appraisals work and what procedures you need to follow. From a development perspective, we'd be far more interested developing a manager's skills so they could handle a difficult appraisal well.

One issue we've encountered a lot is one of time management: "We need this person to become better at managing their time. What can you do to fix that?" Well, we can't, and here's why. If, after a whole life of managing their time (however it is that they do it), someone is still unable to work to a time table, it is highly unlikely they will 'develop' into a well-regimented, routine-driven person, no matter how much 'training' they are given.

Unfortunately, what can happen is that they are sent on time-management training courses that end up making them feel bad. First they learn all about clear-desk policies, the right way to be organised, keeping an up-to-date filofax and making 'to-do' lists, and might possibly go away inspired with this new routine - for about a week. Then, their real and true personality asserts itself and they revert to type by doing exactly what they've always done. Except now they have the added burden of not having done it the right way, and the 'time-management' problem still exists.

That's tackling the situation from a training perspective: this is the problem; give me the solution.

A people development perspective is completely different: it looks at what people actually do, rather than at what companies wish they would do.

So with our time management 'problem' person, the aim would be to identify what they can do, not what they can't. With this approach we would turn things on their head. Perhaps this person works best under pressure and their best skill lies in not missing deadlines. Someone who does work well under pressure tends to leave things to the last minute and appears disorganised and chaotic, which makes colleagues very uneasy.

This person could now be developed into someone who is skilled at allaying the concerns of colleagues and has a reputation for calm in the midst of chaos. Far easier than trying to get them to start projects earlier or to miraculously become organised. We can't fix any of that.

All effective people development starts with an assessment of what each individual already does well. And more importantly avoids any reference to weaknesses or things that need 'fixing'. At first look this may seem wrong, and against a lot of current management thinking: surely you should look at strengths and weaknesses. We don't think so. A sure-fire way to undermine someone's confidence is to tell them what they're weak at.

You can also look at turning a perceived weakness into something the person can use. For example, if someone is quite young and inexperienced there is often the desire to get them to have more authority. Whereas if you turn it around you can develop this person's sense of pride in their youthfulness, energy and fresh outlook.

This is because any soft skill that a person is bad at is one that they will never excel at. You can put a lot of training effort into getting someone from bad at something to competent at it. Whereas with just a little development effort you can get that same person from good at something to excellent at it. And what is more, you will have a happy person on your hands as opposed to a weary one.

At Impact Factory we are passionate about peopling feeling more in charge of whatever arena they are working in. That's why we say our work is 'more than just training'.

Time Management and Working to Succeed

Time management is the process of working to succeed. When you are working to succeed, you are reaching your goals. Another way to look it is the popular phrase "begin with the end in mind." Sometimes it is difficult when times are constantly changing and problems get in you way, so it is important to decide which plan works for you as well as understanding that life has its ups and downs. It is also important to honestly evaluate your current situation and then decide in which direction you wish to move.

When you are planning to reach goals, sit down and really ponder on what is needed to reach your goal. Write down your goal and then write down the very next thing that you could do to take action towards that goal. By knowing what your very next step is going to be, you will be amazed at how many things can get done and move you forward on your path to success.

There are different ways to approach time management and goal setting. Some prefer to set short-term goals, reach that goal and then go for a long-term goal. Others prefer to set short and long-term goals in the same time management system in an effort to reach both goals accordingly. One of the best tools provided to me in time management or rather business planning, is role-playing. Set your goals and then play out parts in your head and create strategies for how you would like to see the plan carried out and also think of contingencies for how the steps might change along the way. This works better for some people than others, so try it out and at least make it a tool for your "toolbox of time management techniques." This time management technique can also help you keep grounded in reality by practicing how you react to situations and to develop a more proactive approach in your habits.

When working to succeed, your success is something that you alone measure. How you view success will affect how you react to others and situations. After all, how we view the world is a reflection of how we view ourselves. No one is born a successful leader, a sales person, an athlete or an engineer. These things require training and development of skills and habits. Your path to success will be the same so keep your eye on the goal, make sure it's the right goal and use effective management of your time to clear your path to

Innovation and Change in Human Resources

Veronica Inoue: What is [Federación Interamericana de Asociaciones de Gestión Humana] FIDAGH's perspective on human resources [HR] in Latin American countries?

Paul Rosillón: We have to look at it from different points of view. First, I think that Latin America is undergoing a process of change and transformation—as is the whole world— but this particular geographic region is where we are experiencing the most changes.

On the other hand, a big part of the changes that we are facing in Latin America are related to the needs of individuals and the way people are acting in the social, political, and economic spheres.

Third, and regarding the world of management and organizations, in the last 20 years, the topic of people management has changed dramatically. This has been a paradoxical change, because people have always been the most important factor. However, from a managerial science standpoint, individuals are a different subject now because they are managed differently and they are considered an economic factor. What do I mean by this? When knowledge and innovation become critical, people go from being a resource to being owners and capital. And that is somehow what is leading managerial sciences to focus more on intangibles and make leadership once again the underlying topic.

Another important change is occurring, and that is that people management is no longer part of HR functional management; it now concerns the whole management process. Therefore we, as management professionals, have had to understand that our roles are different—that we are also facilitators, internal consultants, coaches, or internal staff managers. In this sense, we can say that great changes are taking place.

Personally, I think there are two different levels: organizations understand that people are very important, but professionals in this area are not progressing at the same pace. A lack of connectivity exists within managerial education and training programs. Take, for example, an [master of business administration] MBA or similar postgraduate program; the attention to people management is minimal. Marketing and finance are still the more prestigious subjects.

To expand on this idea, we are undergoing change and transformation, but we still have a long way to go. We lack clarity, and we haven't been able to develop the connecting points [that will link managerial education and training programs together]. We could say that we know what we want to stop doing, but we still don't know how to take new steps. Even the way our federation works reflects that since 2001, we have been experiencing a restructuring process. Today, we have completed the first stage, but we must start stage two.

FIDAGH: The Lever and the Engine in the Arena of People Management

VI: How is FIDAGH searching for a way to do this?

Eladio Uribe: We at FIDAGH think of ourselves as a lever, but we also want to be the engine behind the transformation process that Latin America has to experience.

In Latin America, we all speak the same language—in general—but there are many differences in education, criteria, politics, strategic vision, and direction. The domain of HR in this region of the world is living this debate, which is also reflected in our federation. While we ask ourselves, “What does FIDAGH do for me?” others are asking, “Where should we go from here? What should we do with the HR people and people in other organizations and countries?”

I want to clarify here that the main issue is not the HR people; the main problem is our countries, our communities. The people in HR are working hard to help our communities overcome poverty.

We still have to understand that we must accept people from Argentina, Guatemala, Mexico, Uruguay, etc. as equals—as Latin Americans—instead of as Argentineans, Mexicans, etc. But overcoming inequalities is very difficult for us. We are convinced that we will be able to do it because we have a great source of motivation, and this source is that people who do not work in HR have been pushing these professionals to make a change, so there is no other option.

VI: Today, what are the key areas for HR in Latin America? Which other areas need to be reinforced?

EU: An agreement must be reached between the people of HR and employers on one side, and the state on the other, if we want to improve education systems. One of the greatest issues HR people face is the hiring process, the challenge of bringing “new blood” into the organization—people who are capable, competent, and ready to face the challenges that an organization brings. That is the biggest hurdle they have to overcome.

The other challenge is diversity. We still have to learn to accept and believe in diversity—believing that the person who comes from Asia, the US, or any other country in America can make an important contribution, can be helpful for our performance.

I think these two factors are fundamental: educational development and acceptance of diversity.

PR: There are two issues. The first one is corporate social responsibility [CSR]. While it is a common topic, we haven't started managing it and moving forward with it. Nobody expects organizations to become philanthropists, but they do have to play a role in society, and that is a paradigmatic change that is still in progress.

The other issue is the way companies are organized—the division of work according to tasks and descriptions of positions and roles within the organization. This is a model that is in crisis, and though it is becoming less and less common, we still are not certain of what the new trend will be. It's not easy to change a paradigm that has been the standard for almost 100 years, and that is taught in universities and reinforced everywhere. I think this is a golden opportunity for us, as HR professionals, to contribute and make a change. The problem is that we have been educated with the same old paradigms, so abandoning those notions is like getting undressed—

EU: It also means breaking another important paradigm: believing that only our organization can solve its internal problems with staff, management, or processes, without taking into account what is happening around the world.

Furthermore, my actions as HR have to be collective actions. Instead of aiming solely at my company, these actions must generate change in the community and in my daily environment. This will allow me to have capable individuals in my organization that will help realize strategic, sales, and other goals.

VI: How are the 15 member associations of FIDAGH participating in and committing to these objectives?

PR: As I said before, since 2001, we have been questioning ourselves and acknowledging that we have to change the way we think and see things.

We are halfway through the process. We—both the federation and the associations—have been going through this process since 2001. Next week [referring to May 14, 2007] we will have our 20th conference, our board meeting, and our management meeting, where we will change our approach. We are convinced that our current approach is not working, so we have to take a different direction. We don't know exactly what that direction will be, but we will say, “Gentlemen, we must admit that we have to change. We need to find ways to evaluate the changes that we will implement, and how we will work together in the future.”

Now, as Eladio said, we have diversity, and we feel pressure from each association and each country. But each one of them is different. Therefore, this diversity forces us to modify our ideas of the need for change. During this process, we have had to admit that we are not the same and that we don't experience the same pressures. We understand that the subject of people is important and that we must do something about it, but we have different driving forces. FIDAGH is responsible for harmonizing all these approaches.

EU: Besides, our goal is a collective one that involves management and integration. Therefore, from this standpoint, we do not want to exclude anyone—on the contrary; we have to insist that people come and learn. But we are aware that there are different levels of learning and that we have to work to unify them. It's a difficult task, but we are working on it.

Information Technology: Driving Innovation

VI: Do you think that the new information technologies are driving innovation and changes in organizations?

PR: We have learned a lot from this subject. We have learned that IT is not a source of innovation, but that it does facilitate and dramatically increase the potential for innovation.

We have learned to assign a place to the role that technology plays in innovation. But what Horacio Cortese and Ricardo Perret said at the [Human Management Conference] is crucial: if I don't have a working environment in which I build trust or create the emotional conditions that will allow people to think differently, take risks, do their best, defy models, etc., then regardless of how much IT I can have, it won't be enough. Although IT and the human factor come together, there is no question that the latter will always be the more important one.

EU: Let me use an analogy: comfort is important, but it's also important to strike a balance between work and recreation. Nobody questions that. However, Latin Americans in general and HR people must try to put comfort aside at this time, [and focus on the work at hand].

This is a time for study, energy, commitment, and strength—definitely not for comfort. We have to work hard now to get the desired results; then we will be able to rest. What I mean is that this is a transcendental moment for those involved in human management; we are approaching an extraordinary challenge, and if we don't grasp this opportunity, we will stay behind. And those who stay behind in human management might disappea

The ERP Ecosystem

Considering the short life cycles of many things we experience these days, enterprise resource planning (ERP) has a long history, if we trace it back to the advent of inventory management and control systems in the 1960s. After forty years of development, ERP has grown to an industry with over $30 billion (USD) in application revenue (AMR Research, 2007), with an ecosystem that has grown to a mature level allowing every party within to function together, with all other factors of the economic environment.

A Three-party Game

The ERP ecosystem is comprised of three major parties: software vendors, consulting services (including both consulting firms and independent consultants), and adopting organizations. In the ERP game, these parties work closely to achieve a common goal—to improve operation performance for the adopting party, through the establishment of ERP systems.

The vendor is the main source of software technologies. Without the software (behind which are methodologies, system designs, programming and testing, and all other efforts that make the delivery of a software package possible), the adopting organization would have to build its own system from scratch at much greater cost.

The adopting organization is the financial source for the whole ecosystem. Without this party, the whole ERP industry would not exist.

Consulting services are the bridge between the other two parties. The existence of consulting is the result of a division of labor, which allows every party to focus on what it does the best.

If we look at this three-party game from a short-term perspective, or on the level of a single case, it is possible to see that only one or two parties win the game at the cost of the rest. For example, we have seen certain cases in which vendors made good money, but the systems they provided didn't work well. However, taking a long-term perspective, this game is able to reach a triple-win situation in which every party receives what it deserves.

"Triple-win" Success Factors

As there are already many articles talking about key factors for successful ERP projects, it would be interesting to take a different view of success. And so I'll begin by zooming in on the main factors each party requires to be successful in this ecosystem, based on observations and perceptions formed as a result of recent visits to different parties within the ERP ecosystem. To the vendors, the most important factors are development capability, market leadership, and the ability to maintain the balance of the ERP food chain. To the consulting services, knowledge capital, human capital, and creativity are critical, while to the adopting organizations, winning factors are in-house expertise, financial capacity, and independency.

Success Factors for Vendors

1) Development capability
Development capability can be divided into two parts—the technology side and the business side. First of all, as application system developers, vendors need to have sufficient technology inventory. Generally speaking, all the technologies that are involved in a software package for commercial purposes should be mature. However, due to the fast pace of the IT industry, application system developers should always work with the latest mature technologies. For example, the evolution from SAP R2 to R3 and then to mySAP is in tune with improvements to the architecture of information systems.

Secondly, development capability on the business side is also critical since the value of ERP software is to help businesses run better. Some exemplary approaches include: building solutions and best practices on an industry level; maintaining a certain proportion of employees as an in-house consulting team in order to insure direct and tight connections with customers' businesses; and having a group of industry experts who keep the development in line with business processes, to accommodate real business needs.

2) Market leadership
Developing software that fits a great variety of enterprise requirements demands tremendous resources. However, only a few market leaders have enough resources to do so. The competition for market share is probably one of the major forces that led to a series of mergers and acquisitions in the ERP industry during the past few years. Seeing that the adoption of ERP systems had reached a plateau in big organizations, major ERP players are now trying to maintain their market leadership via two major dimensions. One way is by expanding the scope of their products to include other relevant application areas, such as customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain management (SCM), supplier relationship management (SRM), and product lifecycle management (PLM). The second way is by expanding the range of their customer base to reach smaller-sized customers with different offerings.

Besides the in-house development forces that maintain major ERP developers' leadership in the technology dimension, establishing partnerships with major universities and research institutions is a critical approach to maintaining leadership by influencing the upper-stream in the ERP food chain. Another approach to maintaining market leadership is to incubate new concepts and products or acquire small but innovative players that represent new trends.

3) Ability to "weave the net"
Although all three parties are responsible for maintaining the harmony of the ERP ecosystem, it's the vendors that take the most responsibility to keep the food chain healthy. Through the distribution of knowledge and benefits, ERP vendors manage to ensure all parties stay in the winner's circle, an intricate and dynamic equilibrium amongst the players.

Major ERP vendors have successfully woven knowledge networks. The distribution of knowledge to consulting services and customers could happen at any stage of an ERP project, from presales to after-sales services. In addition, the vendors' training and certification programs are ideal channels through which to provide quality and profitable knowledge transfer. Some vendors also have built an extensive knowledge repository and community to support third-party developers, consultants, and customers. Maintaining the balance of benefit distribution is done in a more subtle way through pricing policies, partnership programs, and other marketing activities.

Success Factors for Consulting Services

1) Knowledge capital
Nowadays, renowned consulting firms have built massive knowledge assets to conduct their business effectively and efficiently. These firms all have a powerful consulting methodology (as examples, Deloitte's value-driven approach and Capgemini's Collaborative Business Experience), which is believed to be one of the core competencies of being successful in the consulting industry.

These intangible assets are comprised of three elements. The first includes general consulting methodologies, models, and tools that allow consultants to build requirement models and implementation plans accurately and promptly. Another is the industry knowledge that aids in having a better understanding of customers' businesses. And finally, there are the project management experiences that reduce project risks and ensure on-time delivery.

2) Human capital
Consulting is probably one of the few industries that rely on human capital development the most. It's not a surprise to see how actively the top consulting firms compete to acquire the most talented people, and to provide sophisticated programs to help employees to grow.

Some consulting firms are working creatively to develop their people. In 2007, Accenture published a book titled Return on Learning, which tells the story of how the company reignited learning for a whole new generation of its people, including details about its award-winning study and demonstrating the return it makes on its learning investment. "Your Accenture Education experience begins the first day you walk through the door, and continues each day of your career. Every step of the way you're learning, growing, and building yourself—getting ready to meet the next challenge that comes your way," states the training and development section on the company's web site[1]. Nevertheless, the highly competitive work environment itself is already a great place to learn and grow.

3) Creativity
IT plays an important role in how companies manage their business in response to instant changes. In today's business environment, simply adopting an ERP system associated with predefined best practices may improve operation performance, but may hardly confer competitive advantages. The value that a consulting firm brings to its clients should not be limited to regular project planning and delivery. The ability to inspire clients to practice better but different ways of doing business and to support those differentiations through ERP implementation has become the dividing line between good consulting firms and mediocre ones.

The first time I visited a global consulting company's Toronto office, its kindergarten-like appearance didn't allow me to make a connection between the company's image in my mind and what I saw. Later on, after participating in a brainstorming session, I had to agree that this ambiance did help people to think more freely and differently.

Success Factors for Adopting Organizations

1) In-house expertise
Very often, adopting organizations overestimate their capability on the business processes side and underestimate their need to become stronger on the IT side. Although there are consultants that help enterprises build ERP systems, adopting organizations should not limit themselves to being passive adopters of the technology.

If companies can have or develop their own expertise in areas such as project management, information integration, and other technological aspects during ERP implementation, they will have better control of their ERP initiatives, and thus lower risks. I had a chance to listen to GSK Canada's ERP project leader Diane Connolly describe her experiences in integration, and discovered how these experiences not only helped the business unit achieve its project objectives, but also how they became an asset for ERP implementation across the whole corporation.

2) Financial capability
The investment in an ERP system is usually comprised of two major parts: software licenses and implementation services. When project scope and scale are determined and a software vendor is selected, the license investment is relatively stable, but the implementation part is associated with more uncertainties (consulting fees are more likely to change, compared with license fees). It is not rare to see an ERP project go over the initial budget due to unexpected issues or changes that come up during implementation. As soon as it is realized that things aren't going as planned, the adopting organization needs a strong contingency plan to address the uncertainties.

Another reason that the adopting organization needs financial capability is that the implementation may: 1) require the business to go into a period of downtime; and 2) cause the business to performs below its pre-implementation level for a period of time. These two factors both place additional financial pressure on the organization and should be foreseen and planned for.

3) Independency
On one hand, it is essential for adopting organizations to build strategic partnerships with vendors and consulting services to maximize the output of their ERP investments. But on the other hand, adopting organizations should be aware that there are risks associated with these close relationships with the other two parties.

When an ERP system is established, it is expected to be in service for years, if not longer. Mergers and acquisitions, downsizing, business or release discontinuations, and price and service policy changes that happen on the provider side may all have an impact on ongoing or completed ERP projects. Adopting organizations must develop IT governance policies in order to reduce risks that may arise from selecting a product and service provider. Doing so means the organizations need to pay more attention to major technology trends and maintain a certain degree of independency (or neutrality) from vendors and consulting firms.

Human Dynamics

One interesting observation of the ERP ecosystem is that, although the three parties are very different from each other and there are clear organizational boundaries between one another, the barriers for ERP professionals to switch from one party to another are not that significant. An employee at an adopting organization may move to a consulting firm after accumulating enough experience working on the company's ERP project. A seasoned ERP consultant may be invited by an adopting organization to fill the chief information officer (CIO) position. Consultants may also have a choice between being hired by a firm and working as an independent consultant. In addition, migrating between vendors and consulting firms is also not unusual.

There are several benefits of this mobility. For one, the whole ERP industry benefits, as this human dynamic improves knowledge exchange and transfer. Also, this provides a bigger human resource pool for specific needs of each party in the game. And of course, to the individual professionals, mobility helps them to be better rounded, which aids them in reaching higher achievements in their careers. Each time they switch, it might be an opportunity for them to improve their professional status.

Trends in LMS

Learning management systems (LMSs) began simply as registration and record-keeping software to manage instructor-led instruction. In the late 1990s, the ability to launch and track e-learning was added. Since then, related tools such as improved reporting capability, e-commerce, and performance and competency management have been added.

A recent survey by Government Elearning! Magazine (access to the survey requires subscribing to the e-zine) indicates that approximately 50 percent of all training provided in major corporations is done through e-learning. It has become a way of life. TELUS Communications (the second largest telecom company in Canada with 25,000 employees) recorded 100,000 online learning course completions in 2004. An LMS is a requirement to manage and track this kind of volume.

There are at least 250 LMSs on the market—not including education and open-source LMSs. Many companies and educational institutions have developed their own but do not market them. There are also at least 100 learning management content systems (LCMSs), 250 course authoring tools, and 50 virtual classrooms. There are 10 to 20 major players in each category. For a comprehensive list, visit Vendors of Learning Management and E-learning Products.

Prices of LMSs vary widely from as low as $5,000 to several hundred thousand dollars (USD) depending on the features they offer and the number of people using them. Some of the simplest LMSs just provide a platform for launching and tracking e-learning.

Most major corporations now have LMSs but some are looking to change because they are not satisfied with the ones they have. More and more medium and smaller enterprises are adopting LMSs.

Like all software, LMSs evolve as the market matures. Throughout the rest of this article, I'll detail some recent trends in the LMS marketplace.

Industry Consolidation

There is an ongoing trend toward consolidation among the major vendors which began a few years ago. Several major mergers took place in 2004 and 2005. In 2004, Click2Learn and Docent merged to become SumTotal Systems. In 2005, Adobe purchased Macromedia, Saba purchased THINQ Learning Solutions and Centra, and Blackboard purchased WebCT. Blackboard's purchase of WebCT made it the single largest vendor of LMSs for the education market. In 2009, Blackboard also purchased ANGEL Learning.

In 2009, OutStart merged with Eedo and Hot Lava. OutStart's merger with Eedo strengthens its position in the LCMS market and is essentially a merger between two of the biggest players in the LCMS market. The acquisition of Hot Lava increases its mobile learning capability.

In 2008 and 2009, Mzinga expanded by purchasing KnowledgePlanet, Shared Insights, and Prospero, and began offering a virtual classroom. KnowledgePlanet allowed it to add an LMS and authoring tools, while Shared Insights and Prospero allowed it to add Web 2.0 tools. Mzinga now offers a suite of social media solutions that includes learning management, learning, marketing, and customer support.

While there are still many minor players in the market, look for more mergers and acquisitions among the major vendors.

Web 2.0

With the popularity of Web 2.0 and social networking tools like MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, there has been great demand to include similar tools to help people make connections internally in companies. In spite of some unresolved issues concerning security and incorrect information, they have been widely accepted. In the Government Elearning! Magazine survey, 40 percent of surveyed enterprises are already using blogs and forums. LMS vendors have been quick to add these kinds of tools to their features by providing connections with experts, mentors, and communities of practice. This improves the efficiency of informal learning as well as creating a record which can be put into a searchable database. It is seen as a way of facilitating informal learning or, in some cases, giving it structure or controlling it. Informal learning is unstructured and often occurs between individuals in conversations. It has been estimated that the great majority (upwards of 70 percent) of learning in the workplace is informal (see Participation in Adult Education and Lifelong Learning: 2000-01). Mzinga bases its whole offering on social networking while Saba offers Saba Social; and OutStart, as a result of its purchase of Participate in 2004, now offers social business software.

Talent Management

The major LMS vendors have long offered performance management and competency management tools. Performance management is the process of setting goals, self-assessment, manager assessment, peer-assessment (also called 360 degree assessments), coaching, development planning, and evaluation. Competencies are the collections of skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary to do a specific job. Once a company has developed the descriptions of the competencies desired for each position in the company, they are better able to identify who the right people are for each position, provide training, and enable employees to achieve their development and occupational goals. Competency management tools enable both the employer and the employee to track progress.

Recently, the larger LMS providers have expanded into talent management, including career development and succession planning, performance appraisals, recruitment, compensation management, and workforce planning. These are used as planning tools related to training and learning and do not typically provide the day to day transaction processing of human resource (HR) systems.

Top 5 Trends in HR Technology

Over the last decade, the face of human resources (HR) has changed dramatically. What was once a seemingly low-priority department has now become an integral part the organization—and its bottom line. Today, HR is all about the understanding that maintaining a positive and productive work environment is good for business.

Accomplishing this more-than-ideal scenario can seem difficult because many organizations don't understand what is required. So, how can today's businesses manage this change? Simple: by adopting HR best practices and leveraging HR technology.

Recession or not, innovation in HR technology continues to grow and to alter the way in which people work. This technology impacts all of us—in both our personal lives and in the workplace. It's important that we continue to embrace technology in order to have the tools that will help create better communication and collaboration within our grasp. Technology (e.g., social networking, mobile phones, etc.) helps people connect within their work environments and fuels the potential for increased productivity and creativity.

But no matter what the current trends are, the most important point remains: organizations need to keep both their current and future workforce requirements in mind before turning to a new solution.

As we approach a new decade, here are five of the top trends that I believe are making the biggest impact in the HR arena.

* talent management
* social networking
* outsourcing
* software as a service (SaaS)
* mergers and acquisitions (M&As)

1. Talent Management
Talent management adds to the core HR mix, providing a combination of recruitment, performance and compensation management, succession planning, and more. As such, the enterprise software industry has seen a drastic increase in vendor offerings—as well as the types of vendors who are selling them.

This year's 12th Annual HR Technology Conference & Exposition in Chicago, Illinois (US) was proof that talent management is alive and well, and making an impact on the way organizations do business. Today, both talent management and employee development are critical in determining an organization's performance potential. But it's the ability to manage performance that often sets organizations apart—and the primary differentiator between an organization that produces so-so results and one that exceeds their expectations.

Talent management is a strategy that combines core HR functions such as, personnel administration, payroll, and benefits with acquisition, development, and performance. These solutions provide a comprehensive suite of tools that helps organizations take a more strategic approach to the way they select, manage, and retain their employees.

The vendors that offer talent management solutions today are an extremely diverse bunch. This can make it difficult for HR decision makers to determine which solutions can truly satisfy all their needs. The decision makers need to decide which solution is better for their organization by determining whether or not to purchase an out-of-the-box HR solution, an learning management system LMS solution that fits nicely with their current core HR system, or an enterprise resource planning ERP system that can replace many of its separate solutions. The combination of systems available is endless.

The five main types of talent management offerings include

* traditional HR vendors that have added talent management functionality to their core HR applications;
* ERP vendors that have developed talent management add-ons to their core product(s);
* LMS vendors that blend learning with talent management;
* niche players that focus on one particular area of the talent management spectrum (e.g., applicant tracking, recruitment, workforce management, performance management, etc.); and
* talent management software vendors that focus solely on the four pillars of talent management (recruiting, performance management, learning management, and compensation management).

Employee Training in a Recession

As organizations reassess their staffing levels, many employees are being asked to do more with less. Aside from reducing headcount, many organizations are cutting back on employee-related expenses, even if they can provide long-term benefits. Examples include application training and travel to user groups in which employees can network and exchange best practices. This article discusses the increased importance, benefits, and risks related to employee training in a recession with respect to enterprise systems.

Growing Organization Risks

While understandable and often imperative for the continued survival of an organization, the aforementioned cutbacks promote a vicious cycle of increased organizational risk:

* Organizations reduce or eliminate formal training and informal opportunities for users to learn how to better utilize enterprise systems.
* This solidifies many users' bad habits and suboptimal processing methods.
* At the same time, organizations trim staff, resulting in more work among fewer employees. This means even less time for cross-pollination where employees are trained in multiple jobs.

Organizational risk is compounded if key employees leave the organization and, as is often the case, user documentation is lacking. For example, incumbents may scramble to figure out how Alex ran regular interfaces, Neil matched invoices, Julian filed tax reports with the government, and Nancy created database backups. If Alex, Neil, Julian, and Nancy are no longer with their organizations, then they are, in all likelihood, unable or unwilling to assist their former employers in the event that their help is needed.

Often, the best case scenario is that jobs performed by ex-employees are partially understood by their replacements. Nonetheless, this may very well result in increased risk of error, financial irregularities, expensive engagements with external consultants, or some other highly undesirable outcome. In the extreme, a single employee's departure may result in a missed payroll, an eventual government audit, or security breaches.

Opportunities and Benefits

Organizations with tight budgets may not need to reduce headcount at present. There is a fundamental tension between lean staffing levels and organizational bench strength. Lack of widespread end user application and technical knowledge is dangerous in the event that a key employee decides to walk. Yes, even in these economic times some employees voluntarily leave their jobs for whatever reason.

To this end, organizations should consider expanding employee training, not cutting back. Whether employees are being cross-trained in different functions or learning new technologies altogether, the benefits of training can more than offset their costs. First and foremost, training mitigates the risk of key employee turnover. Second, the mid- or long-term savings of training may more than pay for itself. Two super users with substantial skills and a global perspective may be able to do the work of three or four limited end users, especially if they are skilled in different automation methods. Finally, while hardly tantamount to reassuring nervous employees about their employment futures, training can send a strong message to attendees: the organization wants you to develop your skills. And the message becomes "despite current economic challenges, we are committed to growing our employees' skills and abilities." This attitude may reduce the likelihood of voluntary employee attrition.

Types of Classes: Public versus Private

Once the organization has decided to move forward with training, it has a fundamental decision to make. Where will the class be held?

Organizations that want to build internal expertise in new applications have two choices: They can either send their employees to public or private training classes. Public classes typically take place at vendors' offices or at vendor-approved locations. These classes cost in the neighborhood of $500 per day per student. Many organizations in different stages of an implementation send users to public classes to learn how their systems work in a generic sense. In other words, a payroll manager should not go to a public class intent on learning how to set up and process payroll at her company, although she should walk away with more than a few ideas from the class. Because payroll personnel from other organizations attend public courses, the instructor will discuss the payroll application in general terms.

For public classes, clients travel to vendor sites, sometimes incurring significant travel costs. To the extent that client end users are out of the office, they should be able to focus exclusively on the class and the applications being taught. From a technical perspective, vendors should have sufficient computer terminals and training data areas. In other words, clients need no organizational IT involvement to attend a public class, nor do they necessarily need to bring laptops with the applications already on them.

Private classes are very different than public ones, both in terms of costs and content. For one, it's not uncommon for a vendor to charge upwards of $3,000 or more per day for a customized class at the client's site, because vendors know that client end users will not have to incur travel costs. Thus, from a strict cost standpoint, a private class with more than six people will probably be cost-effective for the organization. As for content, instructors will typically customize agendas specifically for each client. In a private payroll class, for example, the payroll manager can ask many specific questions related to her company's payroll setup and processing.

While, it may be less expensive for clients to host private classes in which trainers come to them, understand that employees attending private classes are in the office. Crises or emergencies can take them away from the class, reducing overall learning. Also, from a technical perspective, the trainer is not going to bring laptops configured with the software and training data areas. Consequently, the amount of IT involvement is much greater than that of a public class. The organization that brings in an instructor at $3,000 per day should ensure well before trainer's arrival that its hardware and software are "up to snuff". Nothing inhibits a class and frustrates all concerned more than "buggy" software and the lack of a proper training data area. The last thing that a client's management wants from a public class is a disaffected end user base.

Outside of a formal class (whether public or private), independent learning has become more populate. Recent advents such as web-based training (WBT) have become increasingly popular. While the cost savings are obvious and the convenience factor is high, remember that employees at their desks are often distracted by daily calls, e-mails, and old-fashioned door knocking. Consequently, the cost of a public course can sometimes be justified by the additional learning that tends to take place in an isolated environment.

Considerations and Caveats

Training for training's sake is fruitless. Organizations need to ensure that their training investments will result in tangible benefits. Users may learn a robust new technology over the course of a three day class. However, this certainly does not equate to mastering it or deploying it in the organization, even for highly motivated and skilled attendees.

Consider two examples. Boris attends a class on Cognos PowerPlay, a robust business intelligence (BI) tool. Patty attends a class on Crystal, a powerful reporting application. Boris and Patty are both highly skilled users who have long expressed to their managers a desire to learn more about each application. During and after their classes, they are excited about the new features and possibilities now available to them. Both are excited to begin using their new toys in their jobs.

This is where the similarities end. Boris simply has no time to use PowerPlay. Building cubes of data takes time and he is simply swamped with his daily responsibilities. While he finds half hour increments every two weeks or so to play around, the phone invariably rings and he forgets much of what he has learned. His excitement for—and knowledge of—the product wanes and PowerPlay never gains traction in the organization.

On the other hand, Patty immediately begins writing Crystal Reports and distributing them to others throughout the organization. She builds on the knowledge and excitement from class and joins online discussion groups promoting best practices. She is able to "kick the tires" on new reports and experiment with different ways of extracting, manipulating, and presenting her organization's data to her internal clients. As a result of her efforts, many users have freed up additional bandwidth; they no longer have to manually compile reports from disparate sources of information. Now, reports arrive via e-mail as attachments with no further manipulation of the data required. Patty's employer saves thousands of dollars in overtime and now has access to accurate and actionable business information. In this case everybody wins: Patty gains valuable skills that will help her be more productive. For its part, the organization will recognize a significant return on investment (ROI) on the course and might even unearth new knowledge through data mining

Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

In the field of human resource management, training and development is the field concerned with organizational activity aimed at bettering the performance of individuals and groups in organizational settings. It has been known by several names, including employee development, human resource development, and learning and development.

Harrison observes that the name was endlessly debated by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development during its review of professional standards in 1999/2000. "Employee Development" was seen as too evocative of the master-slave relationship between employer and employee for those who refer to their employees as "partners" or "associates" to be comfortable with. "Human Resource Development" was rejected by academics, who objected to the idea that people were "resources" — an idea that they felt to be demeaning to the individual. Eventually, the CIPD settled upon "Learning and Development", although that was itself not free from problems, "learning" being an overgeneral and ambiguous name. Moreover, the field is still widely known by the other names.

Training and development encompasses three main activities: training, education, and development. Garavan, Costine, and Heraty, of the Irish Institute of Training and Development, note that these ideas are often considered to be synonymous. However, to practitioners, they encompass three separate, although interrelated, activities:

training
This activity is both focused upon, and evaluated against, the job that an individual currently holds.
education
This activity focuses upon the jobs that an individual may potentially hold in the future, and is evaluated against those jobs.
development
This activity focuses upon the activities that the organization employing the individual, or that the individual is part of, may partake in the future, and is almost impossible to evaluate.

The "stakeholders" in training and development are categorized into several classes. The sponsors of training and development are senior managers. The clients of training and development are business planners. Line managers are responsible for coaching, resources, and performance. The participants are those who actually undergo the processes. The facilitators are Human Resource Management staff. And the providers are specialists in the field. Each of these groups has its own agenda and motivations, which sometimes conflict with the agendas and motivations of the others.

The conflicts are the best part of career consequences are those that take place between employees and their bosses. The number one reason people leave their jobs is conflict with their bosses. And yet, as author, workplace relationship authority, and executive coach, Dr. John Hoover[5] points out, "Tempting as it is, nobody ever enhanced his or her career by making the boss look stupid." [1] Training an employee to get along well with authority and with people who entertain diverse points of view is one of the best guarantees of long-term success. Talent, knowledge, and skill alone won't compensate for a sour relationship with a superior, peer, or customer.

Typical Reasons for Employee Training and Development

Training and development can be initiated for a variety of reasons for an employee or group of employees, e.g.,:

* When a performance appraisal indicates performance improvement is needed

* To "benchmark" the status of improvement so far in a performance improvement effort

* As part of an overall professional development program

* As part of succession planning to help an employee be eligible for a planned change in role in the organization

* To "pilot", or test, the operation of a new performance management system

* To train about a specific topic (see below)

Typical Topics of Employee Training

1. Communications: The increasing diversity of today's workforce brings a wide variety of languages and customs.

2. Computer skills: Computer skills are becoming a necessity for conducting administrative and office tasks.

3. Customer service: Increased competition in today's global marketplace makes it critical that employees understand and meet the needs of customers.

4. Diversity: Diversity training usually includes explanation about how people have different perspectives and views, and includes techniques to value diversity

5. Ethics: Today's society has increasing expectations about corporate social responsibility. Also, today's diverse workforce brings a wide variety of values and morals to the workplace.

6. Human relations: The increased stresses of today's workplace can include misunderstandings and conflict. Training can people to get along in the workplace.

7. Quality initiatives: Initiatives such as Total Quality Management, Quality Circles, benchmarking, etc., require basic training about quality concepts, guidelines and standards for quality, etc.

8. Safety: Safety training is critical where working with heavy equipment , hazardous chemicals, repetitive activities, etc., but can also be useful with practical advice for avoiding assaults, etc.

9. Sexual harassment: Sexual harassment training usually includes careful description of the organization's policies about sexual harassment, especially about what are inappropriate behaviors.

Human Resource Management (HRM)

A relatively new term, that emerged during the 1930s. Many people used to refer it before by its traditional titles, such as Personnel Administration or Personnel Management. But now, the trend is changing. It is now termed as Human Resource Management (HRM). Human Resource Management is a management function that helps an organization select, recruit, train and develops. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Human Resource Management is defined as the people who staff and manage organization. It comprises of the functions and principles that are applied to retaining, training, developing, and compensating the employees in organization. It is also applicable to non-business organizations, such as education, healthcare etc. Human Resource Management is defined as the set of activities, programs, and functions that are designed to maximize both organizational as well as employee effectiveness Scope of HRM without a doubt is vast. All the activities of employee, from the time of his entry into an organization until he leaves, come under the horizon of HRM. The divisions included in HRM are Recruitment, Payroll, Performance Management, Training and Development, Retention, Industrial Relation, etc. Out of all these divisions, one such important division is training and development. TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT is a subsystem of an organization. It ensures that randomness is reduced and learning or behavioral change takes place in structured format. TRADITIONAL AND MODERN APPROACH OF TRAINING AND DEVLOPMENT Traditional Approach – Most of the organizations before never used to believe in training. They were holding the traditional view that managers are born and not made. There were also some views that training is a very costly affair and not worth. Organizations used to believe more in executive pinching. But now the scenario seems to be changing. The modern approach of training and development is that Indian Organizations have realized the importance of corporate training. Training is now considered as more of retention tool than a cost. The training system in Indian Industry has been changed to create a smarter workforce and yield the best results

TradeStone Approach

With this concern, the team has been focusing on ways to further harness the Internet to ease sourcing and procurement among international trading partners. They spent two years researching the marketplace and exploring new technologies that could serve as a catalyst for yet another iteration of the international sourcing and procurement application. Finally, in 2003, Welch once again tackled the acute problem of sourcing: the headache caused by separate (and "autistic") systems for domestic and international buying, and the inability of smaller companies to leverage global buying platforms. Partly owing to the market epiphany of standardized buying practices, and partly owing to the latest service-oriented architecture (SOA) developments, more and more user organizations are seeking to bridge "global gaps" in their sourcing infrastructure by unifying their international and domestic business practices, and tying them together on a single technology platform.

Thus, this time around, Welch has tied the unifying solutions (processes across systems, organizations, and geographies) to the Internet, whereby the system layers into, enhances, and expands existing IT functionality, with the model-based "data anywhere" Web services architecture that eliminates database replication and reduces integration. This also embeds much more intelligence and process management for ease of use (in other words, no shoehorning the system), whereby the solution deployment cycles can further be shortened with a step-based approach and retail-industry best-practices to "fill in the global functionality gaps"; training can be improved (if not completely obviated); and international links can be enhanced. By accomplishing these principles, one can also establish true collaboration, and close the loop with a single way to do business, achieving the coveted "one version of the truth."

The year 2003 marked the founding of TradeStone, gathering the executive management team (which happens to consist of much of the former core RockPort team), and also marked a large customer win with Rhode Island (US)-based Ocean State Job Lot. With Welch as chief executive officer (CEO) and president, and Zackarian as chief research officer (CRO), TradeStone has rounded out its management team with Ann Diamante (chief product officer, including consulting, product design, custom modification, and integration services), Kamal Anand (chief technology officer), Robert Kaufman (vice-president [VP] of professional services), Jeanene Bettner (VP of sales), and Holly Allison (VP of marketing). Diamante is also part of the executive team involved in the development of the company's international finance reconciliation software.

With the concept of delivering a deployable and functionally rich collaborative e-sourcing technology to the global sourcing market in hand, TradeStone signed up Ocean State Job Lot as its development partner in May 2003. By October 2003, having proven that it was possible to layer across an organization's current infrastructure and build a sourcing system requiring hardly any training, the worldwide opportunistic buyer's technology was up and running. Users anywhere could sign on and have the system handle all the intricacies of international trade, without having to experience its complexities themselves.

Collaborative Sourcing Solution Vendor Leaves No Stone Unturned

Welch got her start in the early 1980s working as an import manager for Zayre, a large erstwhile apparel retailer, when she realized there was a real need to automate international trade processes. She learned on the fly that the profit margin for imported goods was far greater than for domestic goods, and she attempted a concerted effort to increase the number of imports. Being well ahead of the times—even heretical—she boldly suggested eliminating the buyers, thinking that with a heightened number of transactions supported by fewer humans, profits would increase even more. However, at the time, neither the technology, nor her superiors' approval, was available to support the endeavor.

For an extensive discussion of global retail sourcing, see The Gain and Pain of Global Retail Sourcing, The Intricacies of Global Retail Sourcing, and The Fashion and Apparel Retailers' Conundrum.

Disappointed, but neither discouraged nor dismayed, Welch started her first company in 1984, called IMC Systems Group, to provide PC-based import software technology solutions to the international market and to automate the import operations of global organizations. Teaming up with her long-standing business partner Jack Zakarian to form IMC, Welch took care of the conceptual product design, while he performed the software coding. It was the first import program delivered to the market, and was launched at a trade show, where the company managed to sell international trade automation to Spiegel and TJ Maxx. Disney and JC Penney bought the product later, but the weakling ahead-of-the-curve company struggled to break even.

It was the very first company with software for importing, at a time when companies did very little direct importing themselves. This meant a lot of proselytizing, and painstaking market awareness work. They raised venture capital (VC) in 1987, but was still not profitable by 1992, and the VC investors became impatient. Eventually, in 1994, the investors infused more money, and put themselves at the helm of IMC, which did not exactly correspond to Welch's vision.

Welch walked away with plans to found another company, and did just that (reportedly on the very day after being let go from IMC; other former co-workers at IMC joined soon after). She built on the foundation of IMC's import software, but with many improvements based on customer feedback and suggestions (along with the advent of Microsoft Windows). She named the business RockPort Trade Systems, and the Windows-based sourcing software RockBlocks. Microsoft Windows was a new technology (and a user interface [UI] metaphor) at the time, and there was also an opportunity for combining exporting and importing, which was an either-or proposition at the time.

RockPort Trade Systems became the number one global sourcing and supply software package in the world, with Global 2000 customers including Home Depot, JC Penney, Unisys Computer, Sears, Ames, Federated, Timberland, and UPS. The product was agnostic with respect to import, export, product, and country, and it lured all the old IMC customers to the new company. IMC never sold another software package, and eventually sank into oblivion.

In contrast to IMC, RockPort was profitable virtually from its inception, thanks to its lucrative and value-adding consulting practice, and thanks also to the early critical mass of customers signing up, which all helped the sustained development of the technology. As with Windows, when the Internet took off as another disruptive technology, the RockPort team excitedly tracked the evolution of web-based browser technology.

In the late 1990s, the company added an Internet-based front end to RockBlocks, enabling its customers and their suppliers to access relevant data, and to send responses using just a web browser. By 2000, the company was filling its entire Gloucester, Massachusetts (US) harbor headquarters building, supporting offices in London (UK) and Hong Kong (China), employing about one hundred, and serving the Who's Who of the global retail space. In 2000, amidst pressure to either go public, go for additional VC investment, or be acquired, Welch sold RockPort to California (US)-based QRS Corporation (now part of Inovis—see Inovis Delves into PIM by Snatching QRS) for over $100 million (USD).