Leadership Development is Vital for the Culture of Your Organization

In most business structures there is an overall leadership hierarchy. A CEO, members of the board, and upper management have important responsibilities and must make critical decisions. This includes setting goals and implementing the right systems in order to achieve those goals.

What some companies fail to do, however, is create a culture of high performance throughout the entire organization. Therefore, leadership development is vital. In fact, according to the Center for Creative Leadership:

“Numerous in-depth studies have reached the same conclusion: Organizations that invest in leadership development perform better than those that don’t.”

Leadership Development Increases Communication Within the Organization

Among the most important skills leadership development offers is tools to increase communication within the organization. From the top to the bottom, members must effectively communicate with one another to create an effective culture. Examples of this include:

·         Making communication a priority: Simply put, some managers get wrapped up in their responsibilities and forget to communicate. Others assume the members of an organization are of like mind, when they may not be. However, studies show that organizations that communicate well, and on a regular schedule, have an overall higher rate of achievement.

·         Delivering a clear message: Lower level employees rely on leaders for direction. Mixed or unclear messages lead to confusion among staff members. Confusion will often lead to a lack of confidence in the leaders themselves and the organization as a whole.

·         Listening effectively: One-way communication is simply not successful. Ideas should be exchanged in order for efficient processes to be implemented. A common trait among good leaders is the ability to delegate, but also to trust the feedback he or she receives from that delegation. In both cases, employees are valued.

·         Enhancing teamwork: Teamwork is essential within a successful organization to create solutions to problems as they arise. This includes both inefficiencies in business processes and personal conflicts that can infiltrate an organization and lead to lower productivity.

Leadership Development Increases the Performance of the Entire Organization

An effective system of communication is certainly a very important part of a successful organization, but it is only one step towards increasing performance. Bersin & Associates is an independent research firm that has studied the impact leadership has on the overall performance of an organization. In a 2008 study, the firm concluded:

“It is important to remember that leadership development is not just about developing leaders – it is about creating a culture of performance. There is a relationship between good management and employee commitment. Great leaders attract, hire and inspire great people. A mediocre manager will never attract or retain high-performing employees. Leadership development creates a magnet for high performers and fosters a high-performance organization.”

In other words, companies that invest in leadership development are actually making an investment in the culture of the organization as a whole. By increasing communication and valuing employees, each individual will increase his or her performance. As each person achieves more, the organization will as well.

Sources:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rogertrapp/2014/03/23/organizations-need-leaders-at-all-levels/

http://smc.temple.edu/strc/undergraduate-program/undergraduate-concentrations/organizational-leadership-faqs/

http://www.ccl.org/leadership/pdf/landing/DrivingPerformance.pdf

https://www.udemy.com/blog/leadership-activities/

Learning Management Systems: Bigger Is Not Always Better

When it comes to Learning Management Systems (LMS), bigger or more complex and expensive does not equal more efficiency or better results.
Read this article by Lindsay Edmonds Wickman to find out more:
Learning management systems (LMS), in many cases, are the bane of learning organizations. Instead of simplifying the learning process, they tend to over complicate it. When learning executives enter the relationship, they are filled with hope, but those hopes are quickly dashed as the LMS becomes yet another burden instead of a solution.
“People are investing in LMSs thinking this will improve their return on investment in learning, but I think that is a very questionable assumption,” said Bob Becker of Becker Multimedia, a creative services firm specializing in corporate learning. “I think learning management is very important, but the cost and the labor that are going into [it] are out of proportion to the benefits that are possible to achieve.”
Organizations can spend between five and six figures on the initial implementation of an LMS, Becker said, but satisfaction results are low: At least three out of five LMS customers have not had an exceptional experience. So why does virtually every learning organization have one?
“There really is no other way to administer a large curriculum to a dispersed population. You can’t do it manually with a tablet and pencil. You need an LMS,” Becker said. “The need is real, [but] the appraisal or assessment of the need by LMS vendors is sometimes imprecise or exaggerated, and the promises made to users of LMS [tend] to be overstated.”
With LMSs, bigger is not always better. In fact, Becker advocates for a simpler, more straightforward approach.
“LMS tends to become a problem when the needs are inflated and the system becomes too complicated and too ambitious to deliver on its promises,” he explained. “Organizations that are conservative and critical about their learning management strategy can do it well and spend very little money getting it done. We’re doing an LMS implementation now for a very large company, and we are doing it very simply, very straightforwardly and very inexpensively. So we know it can be done and others are doing the same.”
One obstacle to a successful LMS is integration. Trying to get your LMS to interface with a number of other applications can present problems, Becker said. Additionally, an LMS can impose certain standards on an instructional system. Typically, when an LMS is installed, everything has to conform to it. This can be difficult when involving different departments, different people and different vendors that like to do things their own way.
“It’s a little bit like herding calves,” he said. “Trying to get everybody to comply with and conform [to] the standards of your learning management approach can be an obstacle. It’s so easy to get too fancy with LMS and try to make it do more than what is reasonable to expect from it. I believe that using it for fewer things and making it a relatively modest, straightforward and simple solution is one way to avoid that complexity.”
If learning executives go with a simpler LMS, they will spend less on it, making it easier to attain a return on investment.
“If you keep your cost very low getting into LMS, you will more than achieve your return on investment in a very short period of time,” Becker said. “If I’m not spending $250,000 on an LMS but instead $25,000, I’ve got a lot less to do to make up that expenditure.”
The full article is available at CLO Mag.
What you can do:

1. Keep it simple stupid….. Seriously keep it simple.
2. Keep your costs low
3. Get a hosted LMS application

We recommend eLeaP Learning Management System (LMS). See why at www.eleapsoftware.com

Learning Management Systems - Don't get LMS before you read this.

Over the past two decades, the Internet has had a tremendous effect on humanity. It has dramatically changed almost every facet of life, from industry to communication to entertainment. A major benefit of the Internet revolution has been the increased accessibility to education. It is now inexpensive, easy and effective to take courses and training programs online. Online learning programs are known as Learning Management Systems or LMS, and a popular one is the eLeaP™ Learning Management System (LMS/LCMS), developed and headed by President Don Weobong.

The general trend in corporate and business education is moving away from a training mindset and structure and towards a learning and performance philosophy. The most prevalent learning systems that corporations are using to educate their staff are known as Learning Management Systems. These systems are far more than a training manual; rather they are a completely facilitated education system.

The cream of the pie, of course, is that online Learning Management Systems carry a rather light price tag compared with the costs incurred from traditional corporate training. In the past, companies typically consulted experts in certain fields and paid exorbitant rates in order to train its employees in a particular skill. In fact, experts and consulting firms typically charge over $10,000 for only four or five days of work (or fewer). Online e-learning platforms and training programs like eLeaP™, on the other hand, can be acquired and implemented, starting at only $125. This difference is huge.

LMS offers extensive course management along with collaborative learning and online training. These LMS can function on a number of operating platforms such as Microsoft .NET and Java EE. LMS are highly important for the spread of Internet-based education. The virtual learning environments currently in fashion are simply a variant of the LMS. These virtual learning environments provide the user with an outline of the course structure, its duration, how the courses are graded, and the assessment of scores.

Most LMS are web-based to allow for the 'anytime any place' access to learning for students. They are highly favored by regulated industries in which training is a necessity (such as financial services). They are also entirely performance based. As such it means they are extremely easy to assess a student’s progress and development, and are completely suited to corporate training.

A completely functional LMS will include a control panel that shows managers what their employees are learning, a system that enables knowledge sharing throughout the company, a system that recommends the best way to learn depending on the student’s abilities, a system that transfers information to portable and mobile devices such as PDAs, and a system that allows employees to learn in any language.

The best way to get started for individuals or organization is to seek some of the best Learning Management Systems in the industry and actually trying them out. Also research what other successful professionals or companies in your field are training with. But there’s no substitute for personal experience – the popular eLeaP™ Learning Management System offers a great 30-day Free Trial for both individuals and organizations seeking to learn and improve their skills in their fast paced industries. With a secure, scalable, and on-demand e-learning platform, the Free Trial also includes free setup and easy-to-use training, and is jam-packed with rich and powerful capabilities and features. This may be your first stop if you’re looking for good value and maximum results in your and your employee’s career development.

With eLeaP™ Learning Management System’s comprehensive and secure web training and e-learning program, training managers need not be technically oriented to develop, manage, and measure the progress of all users in their interactive training courses and learning programs.

Learning Management Systems are viewed by many as the key to creating a much more efficient and effective workforce in a short period of time. The growth of web based education has helped expose LMS to a wider audience. LMS are now viewed as an industry in itself, and constitute a market share of approximately $500 million. They are the prevailing source of online courses for with in the United States of America.

The LMS style of corporate education is growing at a tremendous rate; it has overtaken training modules in the United States as the number one form of corporate education. Its performance-based style and wide range of features, which encompass every area of education, are perfect for corporate education.

Learn more at www.eleapsoftware.com

Why you need written, documented company policies

When was the last time you reviewed your organization's policies? If you're like many employers, writing or updating policies is at the bottom of a lengthy "to-do" list. And, you may even question the value of having written company policies because of the apparently conflicting advice concerning their usefulness.

On one hand, many HR experts advocate having written policies as a way of communicating your organization's values and practices to employees. Alternatively, a growing number of attorneys are warning clients that poorly drafted policies may land you in court. So, whom should you believe?

The short answer is both groups. Upon closer consideration, these positions are not contradictory. Well-written policies and employee handbooks can both serve as an effective communication device and help you stay out of court, or at least give you a better chance of prevailing if you end up there. In contrast, poorly executed policies can create unintended contracts and be used as evidence of noncompliance in court.

Learn how to write an employee handbook.

How about delivering your employee handbook or company policies? Have you considered using a learning management system to deploy your policies? Most learning management systems enable tracking and reporting. So not only can you create an ongoing delivery system, you can also monitor or track employees who have not viewed your employee policy. What better compliance tracking and documentation than downloading and printing your employees access and completion records.

Learning Management Systems: What you need to know before you buy

Wow! Can't believe we are already winding down 2007 and heading into 2008. For those of you who still have discretionary funds in your training budgets, this might be a good time to consider investing in a sound learning management system.

What is a learning management system (LMS)?

According to Wikipedia, a learning management system is a "term used to describe software tools designed to manage user learning interventions". I would like to add that learning management systems exist to help organizations easily create, deploy and manage learning and e-training. There has been a growing trend for learning management systems to be web-based applications. This means all you need is a web browser and an LMS account, and you can begin utilizing a learning management application for training and e-learning.

Increasingly organizations are having to deal with managing growing numbers of remote employees, partners, customers and suppliers. To be able to track and manage all your e-learning training, organizations are turning to learning management systems, especially web-based LMS applications. These web-based hosted LMS's provide instant access 24 hours a day. They also provide some flexibility in pricing.

What to look for in selecting/using learning management systems?If Learning management systems are so great why is everyone not adopting them?

The reason is this:

24% of LMS buyers are satisfied with their purchase
25% of LMS buyers are not satisfied with their system
About 25% of all LMS buyers plan to switch vendors

Not exactly the glowing review we were hoping for. BUT and there is a big BUT...

For those LMS customers who are satisfied with their training software investment, they are planning to increase this investment in subsequent years. The point I am making is that since LMS's can be pretty significant investment, you need to spend some time thinking about the exact specifications of what you want .. scratch that, need. There are many out there who want an LMS to toast their bread and do the wash ... They just can't do everything for you.

Some Salient LMS and/or LMS Vendor Features:

1. LMS Uptime record: Uptime is how reliable your LMS provider's web servers are available. If you try to access your training and your browser keeps timing out or the web server is unavailable, then you might need to switch. Ask your prospective vendor about their uptime record. You can also access public sites like Netcraft to do independent research on uptime.
2. Scalability: Can your LMS provider grow with you? You started at 50 employees but your business has expanded to over 4000, can your learning management system absorb your growing user base? How much more would it cost? How reliable is the capacity of the system to absorb the increasing levels of usage?
3. E-Learning Standards Compliance: Have you heard about SCORM? What about AICC? Is your learning management system compliant with these government mandated e-learning standards? Is your LMS SCORM or AICC compliant? How about your authoring program?
4. Data Exchange: Does your LMS provider allow you to download data/reports from your account? Can the learning management system easily interface with your HR information system? How easy is it to upload your content and user list? Can user self-enroll for courses/training in your LMS?
5. E-Commerce Capability: For some content providers, e-Commerce (selling courses or trainings) is an absolute must. Does your LMS provider have e-Commerce capability? Is it easy to integrate into your existing website?
6. LMS Security: With phishing and data security being increasingly threatened on the Internet, your LMS should make security a cornerstone of their service. Does your LMS come with SSL encryption? How about password integrity. How is this maintained? Can you instantly activate and deactivate user accounts easily?
7. Financial Solvency: Is your LMS provider some kid with a computer in the basement? How many years has your LMS been in business? Ask for and follow up on all business references.
8. LMS Support and Customer Service: Once you have purchased the learning management system does your LMS vendor disappear on you? How is their customer service like? Do they provide online or live customer support? How about a knowledge center to help you get answers to technical questions?
9. LMS Cost: What is the total cost of ownership? Are there hidden charges or fees? What about set up fees? Is maintenance free? How about customer support? Do you have to pay for technical assistance? Make sure you get in writing all costs associated with your LMS purchase.
10. LMS Training Software Updates: Is your vendor a one trick pony? Do they have plans to improve or upgrade the LMS platform? What will it cost you to get upgrades? This is where the Software as a Service (SaaS) business model makes sense. Is your Learning management System vendor a SaaS LMS provider?

After carefully considering all 10 questions or criteria about, make your decision to purchase a solid, reliable, secure and above all EASY TO USE learning management system. It is worth the price.