Chief Learning Officer - November 2007 - (Page 29)

such a unique leader? How has he been able to redesign a profession that no one else has redesigned in 100 years? The learning really happens when they come back and hear from each other. It ends 18 months later with a two-day regional event called PINNACLE. In between, there will be some very unique opportunities for MDs to learn with peers.” Of course, not all learning needs to be quite so advanced or intensive — Blieberg also has developed programs for on-thejob performance support, designed for accessibility and speed. “We’ve studied the trading floor and thought about which methodologies are best for learning,” she said. “It’s actually the largest trading floor, the size of three football fields. Most of our traders have four to six screens in front of them. That’s the way they do business. E-learning doesn’t work for this group — they couldn’t concentrate on it. So, we came up with the idea of Express Learning programs, which are 90-minute learning modules that they can take before work starts or at the end of the day. What surprised me is the group that takes these the most isn’t the trading group, although they’re high users. It’s the logistics group, the operations and IT folks who find it hard to get permission from their bosses to leave their desks for a day.” Based on the anecdotal evidence she’s gotten on these courses so far, it seems learners are getting a great deal out of them. Blieberg offered one firsthand example of this. “I was sitting in the back of an ASCENT program, and they did a quick ‘get to know your neighbor’ sharing session. The guy next to me went first, and he didn’t know who he was talking to, as I’d never met him before. He said, ‘I heard about something cool called Express Learning. I didn’t know what it was, but I’d heard no matter which one you get into, you could really learn something. I went to one of them and had an amazing session. I came away with some really usable skills.’ I felt like a proud mother.” Blieberg cited these kinds of impacts on workforce performance as her primary motivation. “I’m not your academic type of learning officer,” she said. “I’m very practical, and I’m known for execution. Learning is a very powerful lever that companies should use to execute their strategy.” Her colleagues at UBS agree. “Since Michelle’s arrival, we have moved from a productbased learning environment toward one that encompasses all types of learning, regardless of where one is in one’s career,” said Francesca Barnes, UBS global head of private equity. “What Michelle has done brilliantly is to take the staid thinking and traditional education ideas of the business and turn them into momentous development opportunities for our people. Michelle’s ability to combine the vision about how development can be done differently, inspire her team to deliver creatively and actually deliver with flawless execution is exceptional.” – Brian Summerfield, bsummerfield@clomedia.com http://www.teds.com http://www.teds.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Chief Learning Officer - November 2007

Chief Learning Officer - November 2007 Editor's Letter Table of Contents Imperatives Selling Up, Selling Down Strategies Take Five Rediscovering the Essence of Learning Cornell University Maintains Productivity While Pursuing Higher Education CLO Profile How Loyalty and Employee Engagement Add Up to Corporate Profits A Strategic Foundation The Evolution of the LMS Ariba: Growing Sales Skills in Conjunction with LMS Technology Leveraging Change to Build Productivity Equinox Fitness: Leveraging Change to Build Productivity Tangibles or Intangibles: Where’s Your Value? Raising the Stakes: The Strategic Role of the CLO Case Study Business Intelligence Case Study Advertisers' Index Editorial Resources In Conclusion

Chief Learning Officer - November 2007

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