TM - January 2008 - (Page 39)

paper states that a study on the business value of SOA, performed by IBV (Institute of Business Value), found 100 percent of respondents saw increased business flexibility from their first SOA project. Traditionally, the means to becoming an agile company are found throughout organizations in leadership and management, culture, software development, information infrastructures, project management, compliance and policies. However, one area that has not received as much attention is the ability of employees to respond to unforeseen challenges and solve problems quickly. This requires getting pertinent content into the hands of staff at the exact time they need it during their day-to-day work. Cross-Training for Agility making all employees agile and ready to adapt to change quickly, whenever business needs dictate. Regardless of where agility is needed in the organization, dealing with change impacts the workforce, putting it in constant transition. Employees have increasing responsibilities and demands and are expected to know more and do more due to global expansion, virtual locations and mobile offices. Companies are realizing that to be an innovator during this constant change, they must support employees in acquiring and applying knowledge in the moment of need. However, speed of change has proliferated information at such a disturbing rate it has overloaded our ability to gather information and comprehend it. What’s needed is information in context that will provide knowledge for needed skills, stimulate thinking, and create innovative ideas, enabling the workforce to move quickly, decisively and effectively. The quest for information can be a barrier to agility. The volume of information at our disposal can be overwhelming. The amount of new technical information is doubling every two years, yet this is creating more problems than it solves. Research shows employees are spending inordinate amounts of time searching for information to help manage their responsibilities and to keep current. According to a BusinessWeek Online survey, employees spend upward of 12 hours each week on informationgathering tasks. And, according to a survey conducted by Accenture, the information they are finding is often of no value or is incorrect. The best way to ensure employees have the skills and information they need is to weave learning into how employees work naturally. By sharing bite-size nuggets of targeted learning content, such as a relevant chunk of a course, a job aid, a simulation or other resource, organizations turn learning into an enabler of the corporate mission. Through cross-training, employees have the opportunity to learn new skills, which can make them more valuable in their current job and enhance their own professional development. It also allows for more flexibility in managing the workforce. To increase agility, cross-training employees can be made an inherent part of the workday that is easily The quest for information can be a barrier to agility. accessible via the corporate intranet or portal. Elearning allows workers to train at their own pace within the flexibility of their own schedule. Employees have the ability to cross-train and develop skills outside of immediate tasks to adapt easily and quickly to expanded responsibilities. To maximize knowledge retention without disrupting employees’ normal workload, organizations also are utilizing learning structures that blend content in meaningful ways. This often involves integrating easily consumable bits of knowledge into business workflows. With this connected learning methodology, content and technology are no longer viewed as stand-alone components; the value of the content comes not only from its inherent qualities, but also from the management, delivery and customization tools used to provide it. This model of on-demand learning allows employees to solve problems in real time as they arise, without departing from their normal day-to-day functions. Additionally, by cross-training employees in other sectors of the business, organizations can eliminate the stagnation that can occur over time, Without easily accessible learning assets, employees may turn to traditional algorithmic search engines to find information they need to perform day-to-day tasks, which can lead to an inordinate amount of time spent sifting through irrelevant information before ever finding useful data. A Butler Group report, titled “Enterprise Search & Retrieval,” states ineffective search and delivery strategies are hampering business competitiveness, impairing service delivery and putting companies at risk. Users need a way to access and absorb the information that will best help them accomplish their mission. Equally important, users need an easy way to search rich media assets, such as videos or training simulations. These learning assets have diminished value if they are not readily accessible and easily searchable. An effective cross-training system can provide employees with a context for information and help them more efficiently find what they need, when they need it. John Ambrose is senior vice president of strategy, corporate development and emerging business at SkillSoft. He can be reached at editor@TalentMgt.com. talent management magazine www.TalentMgt.com 39 January 2008 http://www.TalentMgt.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of TM - January 2008

TM - January 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Learning Connections: Working With Those People Leading Edge: Hub Caps for a Buggy Human Performance: Hawthorne Effect Revisited Beyond Affirmative Action: The Changing Face of Recruitment Assessment Centers in Talent Management: Strategies, Use and Value Nontraditional Benefits- How to Hook the Best Talent Intersection of Web 2.0 and Talent Management Cross-Training for Workforce Agility Mapping Talent Among Younger Workers Dashboard: Using Personality Data to Identify and Develop High-Potential Leaders Application: Shaffer Title Uses Myers-Briggs to Develop Common Corporate Language, Jump-Start Growth Insight: Dreier, Stein & Kahan LLP: Using Strategy to Bring Back the Law Profession Advertisers' Index Editorial Resources Full Potential: Stop in the Name of Leadership

TM - January 2008

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