Talent Management - January 2009 - (Page 48)

BUDGETS continued from page 35 to gain experience by interpreting and discussing others’ proﬁles. To understand and utilize their SPR results, Oliver encourages participants to do reﬂective writing and praying to help them “unpack” what is contained in the SPR results. “With the SPR, people see patterns they may not otherwise see in how they relate to others. When people are caught up in a conﬂict or stressful situation, they miss these [patterns]. The SPR helps them see how the past is playing out in the present. I encourage them to reﬂect and decide how to react differently based on the insights they have gained,” he said. Oliver said he found his own LSI 1 and 2 proﬁles enlightening. “I found that I had strengths others perceived that I did not recognize,” he said. “Through the LSI 2 proﬁle, I was able to learn that I could trust myself. I didn’t need to spend energy proving myself to others again and again.” Sandberg said he also was pleasantly surprised to discover some unperceived strengths through his LSI 2 report, which offered an opportunity for improvement. “I have my own perspective, but I don’t trust it to be the best perspective on my strengths and weaknesses. The feedback I received in the LSI 2 gave me more conﬁdence in my abilities,” he said. “I had gotten pretty good at just doing whatever it took to make others believe that I was all things to all people, covering up things I didn’t want people to see — people pleasing.” “Furthermore, the assessments helped us [POE participants] move beyond our tendency to be competitive with each other and discuss what is really going on. Instead of discussing how big our parishes were, we moved past that and got into an authentic discussion of competencies and conﬁdence to do ministry.” “The main asset pastors have is high-quality, authentic relationships,” Oliver said. “Inﬂuencing others through relationships is their primary commodity. The insights pastors gain from the assessments challenge them to see where there are inconsistencies in their messages. Insight leads to the possibility of behavior change. The tools provide insights and help people decide which types of changes would be constructive.” Sandberg agreed. “I believe this is the best hope for pastors in the church right now.” Empowering and preparing employees to deal with stress and to be aware of their strengths and opportunities for improvement can improve performance, job effectiveness and ultimately add value to the organization. For the talent manager, being proactive when dealing with issues such as stress and burnout can help the organization avoid losing quality people, and it can maximize their contributions. Brian Stout, M.A., is a content developer at Health Media Inc., a behavioral change program provider. He can be reached at editor@talentmgt.com. than one day. The availability of modular training, pre-study and follow-up allows people to develop their skills in a more effective manner that requires less time away from their jobs. At Gates Corp., a manufacturer of industrial and automotive parts, today’s environment has meant constraints on training travel. “It’s forced us to look for more creative ways to deploy training content,” said Kathy Wojcik, Gates’ manager of leadership development and learning. “We’re doing more Web-based training, webinars and consolidating training in the ﬁeld to focus on what’s really needed by the business. Self-paced and on-demand learning are also on the rise. We’re evaluating the impact of these changes so we can make smart long-term decisions about training deployment.” Support People One of the biggest challenges organizations face in a down economy is waning employee engagement. Organizations typically don’t lose many people during a recession because external opportunities are limited. But slow-growth and a shrinking opportunity pool can cause employees to lose motivation. If layoffs occur, the remaining people likely will experience fear and stress from the change and risk overwork from picking up extra responsibility. It’s important to support employees through training and development. Communication may initially take precedence over training in the early stages of cutbacks. But once people understand the situation, don’t overlook how training and development programs can help. Consider: • Building core skills such as personal effectiveness, team performance and conﬂict management. • Providing new functional skills training for employees with new responsibilities. • Assessing employee engagement to uncover areas of concern. “[At CoBank], we know our learning and development activities have improved employee engagement. People feel emotionally connected to the business because we invest in them,” said O’Toole. Just as a stock market decline presents an opportunity for investors to regroup before future gains, a down economy presents an opportunity for training and development. “It’s the challenges that teach the best lessons,” said Wojcik. “The decisions we make today will shape our future.” John Myers is president and CEO of Tracom, a workplace performance company, and David Collins is general manager, Tracom Training Products Division. They can be reached at editor@talentmgt.com. 48 January 2009 talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com http://www.talentmgt.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Talent Management - January 2009

Talent Management - January 2009 Editor’s Letter Contents Human Performance Leading Edge Learning Connections Integrate Web 2.0 Into the On-Boarding Experience Show ’Em the Money: Compensation Trends 2009 Transition at the Top How Hollywood Manages Talent and What You Can Learn Get the Most Bang With Limited Training Bucks Life After Layoffs Attract Specific Talent Groups Performance Management: Its Time Is Now Helping the Helpers Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources Full Potential

Talent Management - January 2009

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