Chief Learning Officer - February 2008 - (Page 31)

social networking modality serves two distinct purposes for Sun. The first is that it actually supports the overall organizational culture. “One of the goals of Sun Microsystems is getting people participating on the network,” Willyerd said. “The more people who are participating, the more infrastructure is needed to support that network, which leads to server sales. So our culture is very much about network participation. We have more than 3,500 employees who blog, for example, which makes it easier for us to do some of this cutting-edge stuff. In fact, if we weren’t using some of these tools and technologies, we’d be seen as not ‘getting it.’” Also, social networks make it possible for Sun employees — many of whom might never actually meet each other in person — to communicate and collaborate comfortably. “About 25 percent of our employees don’t work from a Sun office — they work from home,” Willyerd explained. “You can come in as a new hire and work from home, and you won’t meet another Sun employee for ages. Even if you do go to work, it might be at a drop-in center, which we have in several major cities. That’s not a group of people who you’ll create a physical social network with. Sun has so many locations and so many people dispersed that creating virtual social networks is a very important part of the overall strategy to attract, retain and motivate employees.” Because of these unique factors, Sun Learning Services plans to add many varieties of virtual, collaborative programs in the near future. “[The new-hire site is] just the beginning of the learning offerings we’re moving toward,” said Kelly Palmer, senior director of design and development. “We’re targeting a collaborative learning environment for the next few quarters and beyond.” “We have a vision for how much more we want to do,” Willyerd added. “We’re all saying, ‘Let’s go faster!’” — Brian Summerfield, bsummerfield@clomedia.com EDUCATION AS VALUABLE AS YOUR EMPLOYEES. The Strayer University Educational Alliance program. Let Strayer University help you develop your company’s most important asset: your employees. We will evaluate your e-learning and instructor-led corporate training programs to provide comparable college credits to your employees. In addition, we can customize our educational programs to your company’s needs, and provide online reports and a central billing system to better measure the return on your investment. Strayer University is a regionally accredited, nationally recognized university with more than 115 years of experience in helping fulltime employees fit education into their lives, and their career. To learn more about Strayer University’s educated approach to workforce development, call 703.339.3000 or email bizdev@strayer.edu. http://www.strayer.edu

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Chief Learning Officer - February 2008 Editor's Letter Table of Contents Business Impact Trends Best Practices Effectiveness Guest Editorial Learning Solutions Home Depot: Building Better Associates CLO Profile Environment Realizing the Vision of “One Philips” Tactics Sun Microsystems’ Next-Generation Worker Video Game Recruiting Tool Productivity The Regence Group: Blended Measurement Human Capital NASA: A Case Study in Technical Leadership Development Case Study Business Intelligence Advertisers' Index Editorial Resources In Conclusion

Chief Learning Officer - February 2008

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