Training Industry Quarterly - Spring 2008 - (Page 3)

FROM THE GUEST EDITOR | KALIYM ISLAM A CHALLENGE TO TRAINING PROFESSIONALS G o to the legal department of any corporation. Who is leading that organization? A lawyer, educated, trained and certified in the vocation of law. Go to your local hospital. Who oversees surgery? A doctor, educated, trained and certified in the field of medicine. Apply that same logic to training departments. Who heads up the training department for your company? Is it someone who is educated, trained and certified as a professional training manager or training executive? Or is it someone who has been with the company for a long time, moved around from department to department, and has now been put in charge of training? If the latter is the case, has this individual taken the initiative to get educated or certified in his or her new vocation? Although the traits of successful leaders cut across the boundaries of industry and vocation, the functional areas that reach their maximum potential are the ones led by individuals who possess a certain level of expertise in the function they are overseeing. A lawyer, even with the best leadership skills, is probably not well suited to oversee the operations of an emergency room. Welcome, my friends, to the inaugural edition of Training Industry Quarterly ezine, a new digital publication designed for and dedicated to the leaders of the learning function. As the first guest editor for this new online magazine, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to the newest resource available to help learning leaders advance their organizations. Just like that lawyer who belongs more in the courtroom than the operating room, too often the leader of the training function lacks the requisite expertise in the science of training and development. This is at least one factor that contributes to the lessthan-stellar opinion that business executives can have of the training function. These opinions are often clear from surveys and industry studies. For example, the 2006 installment of the Accenture workforce performance study revealed that only 9% of the executives who were surveyed felt that the training function was operating at a high level. Only 14% perceived training as one of the top three most important functions in their organizations. The survey also indicated that business executives felt that the “ shortcomings in the HR and learning functions may be preventing companies from creating and sustaining stronger overall workforces that are key to competitive advantage.” This Month’s Guest Editor Kaliym Islam is a Six Sigma Black Belt, the founder of Tek-Training LLC, and vice president of learning for the customer training department for the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC). At DTCC, Kaliym is responsible for all customer-facing learning activities. Kaliym is the author of two books — Developing and Measuring Training the Six Sigma Way and Podcasting 101 for Trainers. His perspective on training is that it shouldn’t be delivered for the sake of training, but that learning organizations should solve business issues with learning solutions. Email Kaliym at editor@trainingindustry.com. Know someone who’d make an outstanding guest editor? Interested in becoming one yourself? Contact us at editor@trainingindustry.com. Imagine that! Business executives believe that the functions that are in place — in their organizations — for the sole purpose of creating and sustaining a stronger workforce may well be preventing the creation and sustainability of a stronger workforce. Changing those perceptions is one role an industry publication can play, and if the Accenture report is any indication, this magazine is long overdue. In addition to sharing information on ideas, issues, trends and technologies that power learning, Training Industry Quarterly will provide advice from the industry’s most successful learning executives, case studies of specific learning initiatives, thoughts and support from expert columnists and original research, all designed to support the mission-critical functions of the titled professionals. As the first industry publication designed specifically with the portability and potential of digital publication in mind, Training Industry Quarterly will offer you resources beyond these pages and provide tools to connect you with the larger learning community to help ensure your success. Learning leaders are often the foundation of knowledge in their enterprises. Training Industry Quarterly will be a foundational resource for our industry. Welcome to it. 3 Training Industry Quarterly, Spring 2008 / A Training Industry, Inc. ezine / www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ http://www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Quarterly - Spring 2008

Training Industry Quarterly - Spring 2008 At the Editor’s Desk Contents Winning Organizations Through People Before You Buy… Learning Technologies Take Your ROI to Level 6 LCMS: A Critical Link to Learning Success Establishing Best Practices for Learning Governance Training’s Role in Continuous Improvement Meet Jim Mitnick Meet Karen Kocher Meet Christina Cernuch The Personal Side of Personnel Training Closing Arguments

Training Industry Quarterly - Spring 2008

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