Chief Learning Officer - October 2008 - (Page 56)

stop with business processes and the elimination of data silos. In a 2007 Gartner report, analyst James Holincheck wrote, “The lack of integration between talent management applications can cause many issues for companies in gaining strategic value from their investments. From a line manager’s point of view, there are multiple applications with multiple user interfaces that do not work the same way. The user experience for creating a requisition or providing interview feedback in recruiting is different from the experience for writing or approving a performance review and possibly different from the experience for merit increase planning. This can be confusing to managers.” CASE STUDY continued from page 51 General Beneﬁts of Accreditation What could accreditation mean in other learning environments? It could be an opportunity to improve the quality of a learning organization. It could help in evaluating and comparing courses and programs, facilities and procedures with those of others. The organization could receive public recognition as an institution that has met industry-wide standards. However, the greatest value of accreditation is undergoing the process itself, a process of self-evaluation and peer review that ensures programs and policies embody “standards of good practice.” There are many choices for accreditation. Learning leaders should consider what type of accreditation program is right for their corporate universities or learning and development organizations based on organizational priorities. A typical accreditation process takes one and a half years of preparation and involves a self-evaluation, comparing programs to established standards and identifying areas of comparable strength and needed improvement. The results of the self-evaluation are veriﬁed on-site by a team of evaluators and subsequently by the accreditation authority. An organization must demonstrate it has met all standards before accreditation is conferred. DAU’s self-study was accomplished as part of the institutional reafﬁrmation of the accreditation process set forth by COE. Compiling the self-study was a collaborative effort between DAU staff, faculty and leadership, giving the organization an opportunity to examine the critical processes supporting its vision of being a premier corporate university serving the AT&L community. Preparing the self-study also provided DAU with an excellent forum for identifying areas in which improvement could be made and prioritizing them in its strategic-planning process. Dr. Sue Stein, action ofﬁcer for DAU’s COE accreditation, led the integrated process team that represented a cross section of the entire university. In addition to and complementing the COE accreditation program, DAU uses other sources of standards, such as the International Association for Continuing Education and Training, American Council on Education and DAU’s market-sector professional association criteria or sector leadership program. Leveraging market-sector professional association or sector leadership criteria, DAU has received many awards as a corporate university. These awards are standards-based and promote measuring DAU’s performance against nationally recognized measures of success. Today, DAU is recognized as one of America’s leading training institutions. “As we improve our mission-support capability, we are moving toward becoming one of the best corporate universities recognized inside and outside DOD for excellence in education and as a leader in the creation, integration, dissemination and application of knowledge,” DAU President Frank Anderson said. “We will continue to actively participate in initiatives to help streamline processes and incorporate new concepts and technology. DAU’s continuing involvement in the accreditation process will provide the sense of direction necessary for the superior attainment of our mission.” CLO Dr. Chris Hardy is director of the Learning Technology Center at DAU. He can be reached at editor@clomedia.com. The beneﬁts of integrated learning and HR functions are lost if users do not adopt and embrace the solution. With a consistent user interface, organizations can drive a higher user adoption. The beneﬁts of integrated learning and HR functions are lost if users do not adopt and embrace the solution. As learning executives work with HR to embrace enterprise-wide talent management strategies, they must consider the ability for solutions to seamlessly ﬁt into a uniﬁed architecture and deliver a consistent user experience. Driving True Business Value To stay competitive into the next decade and mitigate the talent crisis, today’s leading learning organizations are adopting new strategies that enable them to develop their existing talent. There is a strong correlation between improving individual productivity and an organization’s ability to develop and retain a solid workforce. Only when learning is considered a strategic part of HR can organizations truly align their people strategies with business strategy to deliver further value and drive increased business performance. CLO Jeff Kristick is a senior vice president at Plateau Systems. He can be reached at editor@clomedia.com. 56 Chief Learning Ofﬁcer • October 2008 • www.clomedia.com http://www.clomedia.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Chief Learning Officer - October 2008

Chief Learning Officer - October 2008 Editor’s Letter Connections Business Impact Best Practices Effectiveness Guest Editorial How Fast Is Your ‘B’ Team? Hampton Hotels CLO Profile Save the World, Make a Buck: Seven Ideas From the Nonprofit Sector Developing Leaders at Amnesty International Learning Measurements: It’s Time to Align Aligning Measurement to Business Success Training Employees With Special Needs How to Reach Disabled Learners Hands Off: Facilitating Informal Learning Who Owns Informal Learning? Case Study Business Intelligence Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources In Conclusion

Chief Learning Officer - October 2008

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