it's ALL about the experience

The Candidate as Customer: A Follow-up Discussion

In this recent webcast for HCI, I spoke about improving selection in talent pipelines through the implementation of strategic candidate feedback initiatives.  For those who were unable to join us, the concept draws from marketing practices of measuring customer loyalty, which research shows is a key driver of business profitability.

 

The topic raised some excellent questions from the audience, many of which required significantly more time than we had in the webcast to address fully.  For example:

• Why is it important to measure the satisfaction of those who aren’t hired?
• What are the implications of treating internal vs. external candidates as customers?
• What is the best way to get feedback from candidates that were not hired?
• What specific feedback should be collected to address the problem of high turnover?
• Is it important to collect feedback when we’re not actively hiring?
• How does availability or lack of talent influence the need to collect candidate feedback?
• What are some best practices regarding the types of questions to include in a candidate survey?
• Do most companies develop their own candidate surveys, or are there pre-packaged resources available?
• How should small companies implement a feedback strategy?
• Where and how does one start a candidate feedback initiative?
• Which demographics are important to collect with the feedback?
• How does anonymity fit into a feedback model that stresses transparency?

There’s some really good stuff in here, don’t you think?  As a result I’ve moved the discussion to this forum, and in the coming weeks will address each of the questions in a blog post of its own.  In doing so I encourage your participation through comments and further questions, which only improves the learning for all.  Thanks in advance for playing.

 

Why is it important to measure the satisfaction of those who aren’t hired?

 

In short, because expectation, experience, and perception (those elements which engage and engender loyalty), are common to all candidates, not just those who are hired.  And measuring the perception of one group without considering the broader context of all creates a fertile ground for assumptions and ignorance – two very dangerous business management principles.

 

The conversation with candidates begins at the moment an individual becomes aware of your company - either as a potential employer, or as a provider of products and services.  Keep in mind that in many industries the role of candidate and customer are interchangeable, which only adds complexity to this discussion.

 

The conversation continues for candidates as they choose to engage with your company in a series of predictable hiring checkpoints: when they apply for a job, at the interview stage, as an offer is extended, and after onboarding is complete.

 

These earliest stages of contact provide fuel that feeds the scope and quality of your talent pipeline: the people who will ultimately influence, either directly or indirectly, the satisfaction and loyalty of your customers and the profitability of your business.  Measuring and managing satisfaction of all candidates in this stage ensures that your company competes more effectively for the best talent, and that you continue to positively influence the perceptions of those who are not selected for hire. The growing influence and viral nature of mobile and internet technologies only add compelling reasons to manage employer brand intentionally at this stage.

 

 

Take off the blinders.

 

Context is the answer to this question; without it, you learn only part of what you need to know to attract, acquire, and retain the very best employees for your company. You also take big (and, I might add unnecessary) risks in allocating resources to meet your hiring objectives, and further hinder your ability to manage employer brand beyond the simplest of good intentions.

 

What are your thoughts?

 

 

Additional resources:

Customer Loyalty: How to measure it, understand it, and use it to drive business success

 

Involved, Interested, then Applicant: Candidate-Friendly Recruiting Technologies

 

 

About the author:

Claudia Faust is the CEO and Head of Products at Improved Experience, a software-as-a-service provider that helps companies measure and leverage feedback to engage and retain employees and customers. Learn more here.

Diversity in Recruiting - A Panel and Party, to Boot!

Serving on the Board of the Dallas-Fort Worth Staffing Management Association as the VP of Professional Development and Diversity, I have a key initiative on my plate this year:  I get to chair the annual Diversity Event panel, cocktail reception mixer, and silent auction.  The event will take place Thursday September 16th from 3:30 to 6:30 CST at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center.  And I know this may sound crazy, especially considering this is a volunteer/non-paid role, but I'm kinda excited about the whole thing. 

This year, the SMA, which is a special interest SHRM chapter, is partnering again with Mid Cities HR and National Association of African Americans in Human Resources or NAAAHR to organize and execute the event.  And great partners they are!  Already, we have most of our panelists in place and several sponsors committed.  Our mission is to showcase what top DFW employers are doing to ensure a diverse candidate slate for their hiring managers and why this is important to the business bottom line.  So far our panel includes , Jim Schnyder of PepsiCo-Frito Lay, Jason Leonard of JC Penney, and Debbie Herd of Comerica.  A few other panelists are being vetted by the committee as we speak.

As for sponsors, Insala, a talent management firm, has joined us an early sponsor.  They understand the importance of diversity in the recruitment process and have in fact recently released a white paper that addresses the connection between diversity and real business results.  Also sponsoring is Elevated Resources, which provides unique workforce solution/vendor management solutions.

The silent auction portion of the event, which takes place during the Happy Hour / Mixer after the panel discussion, will benefit the SHRM Foundation.  So far, contributing donors are:  Checkster, JC Penney, and QuestPro/QTEMPS.   

If you're not a DFW resident, I am sure many other SHRM-affiliated chapters are conducting Diversity events in your own back yard. I encourage you to check them out!  Meanwhile, I look forward to seeing my local brothers and sisters at this year's event.  If you have questions or want to get involved, please contact me:  alise (at) improvedexperience (dot) com.

About Alise Cortez:  My day job is VP of Sales & Marketing at Improved Experience where our online feedback portal products provide subscribing HR/Recruiting customers data to make a business case for change or improvement in these areas:  recruitment process effectiveness, employer brand, candidate experience, recruiter performance, early employee engagement, quality of hire, and retention.  What can I say? -- it's fun!

Did You Catch Sumser's Five Scenarios Recap from ERE?

I don't know about you, but I think it's a pretty interesting time to be in the Recruiting profession. Lots of changes and a whole lot of disruption.  John Sumser of the HR Examiner has spent the last several weeks addressing such things as the future of recruiting, trends, the marketplace, future matters, and guild cities, among several topics in the series.  And then he brought a room full of talented and engaged Recruiting professionals together at ERE in San Diego to debate the series topics.  All these efforts have culminated into a white paper summarizing the series and the debate.  Lots of good stuff to chew on.  Visit HR Examiner to register for the free white paper and Scenario Planning Guide.

About Alise Cortez:  My day job is VP of Sales & Marketing at Improved Experience where our online feedback portal products provide subscribing HR/Recruiting customers data to make a business case for change or improvement in these areas:  recruitment process effectiveness, employer brand, candidate experience, recruiter performance, early employee engagement, quality of hire, and retention.  What can I say? -- it's fun!

Going to ERE? Don't Miss Uranga on 'Putting Your Recruitment on a 12-Step Program'

I had occasion to speak today with William Uranga, Sr Director of Talent Acquisition at Tivo.  For those of you who don't know William, he's known for his intellect and dry sense of humor.  I also happen to think he's a great example of a well-developed human being who is thoughtful about his life's navigation, and also the strategic leadership he is providing to both Tivo and the HR/Recruiting community at large.  Take a peek at his blog "making fans" and you'll see what I mean. 

As we caught up on things, I asked what he'd be speaking about at the ERE Recruiting Expo in San Diego this month.  True to form, he told me he'll be addressing what the tough times have taught us in the Recruiting space.  So, while all of us have taken the recession seriously, William wants to make sure we're not too quick to put these hard times behind us at the expense of truly understanding what's required of Recruiting in order to stay on the new playing field. He suggests "putting your Recruitment on a 12-step program."  

Of course, I agree with William.  I don't think 2009 was a "bad year."  I think it was the beginning of the end as we all know it.  That is, business has changed probably forever due to the restructuring of the marketplace and some of its key players (think of the automotive and banking disasters of late as just a couple examples).  And in so doing, the new, ever more demanding requirements placed on Recruiting to be a true and strategic partner to the business have taken firm root.  Not sure what that new role looks like?  Come to ERE and hear what William has to say.  And if you can't make it to San Diego this month, well then, if I were you, I'd just keep checking his blog.

This is Alise Cortez signing out for another week.  In the meantime, consider how you need to change your game in order to be of the utmost value to your organization.  It's not just good for your company, it's gret for the health of your overall career.  As I've said many times before, the HR/Recruiting industry needs your passion, your innovation, and your quest for improvement.  Don't let us down.

 

About Alise Cortez:  My day job is VP of Sales & Marketing at Improved Experience where our online feedback portal products provide subscribing HR/Recruiting customers data to make a business case for change or improvement in these areas:  recruitment process effectiveness, employer brand, candidate experience, recruiter performance, early employee engagement, quality of hire, and retention.  What can I say? -- it's fun!

Hilbert's Latest Post: A Worthy Read

I don't know if you follow Dan Hilbert's musings as I do.  This week, he's got an interesting piece entitled, "Is the Demise of HR Real or Fiction?"  I think it's well worth a read.

When you read this short piece, I encourage you to pay attention to Dan's assertion that "evidence-based initiatives backed by data are essential for [HR] security."  I concur and want to encourage Recruiting/HR leaders, as I have done in previous posts, to be bold, take a stance, and back up their business cases for change with data.  Too frequently, I encounter HR professionals who are afraid to confront the business with bad news or suggestions for change.  According to Hilbert, this behavior will be rewarded with a pink slip -- and I think he's right.  To survive in today's competitive and demanding marketplace, every single person in an organization must be contributing to the bottom-line results of the company, some how, some way.  As always, Dan, thanks for lending your thoughts on the current and future landscape of this thing we call HR.

About Alise Cortez:  My day job is VP of Sales & Marketing at Improved Experience where our online feedback portal products provide subscribing HR/Recruiting customers data to make a business case for change or improvement in these areas:  recruitment process effectiveness, employer brand, candidate experience, recruiter performance, early employee engagement, quality of hire, and retention.  What can I say? -- it's fun!

Simple Elegance: Best Recruiting and Business Practices, Courtesy of Godin and Jarvis

What would Google Do?,Elegant Organization,

It seems most competitive organizations now agree that providing a pleasing hiring experience to job seekers is in their best interests of finding the best talent and ultimately retaining it.  Further, many companies have also come to realize that job seekers can be current customers, or at least potential ones, and therefore a precious relationship already exists and should be protected during the course of job-seeking courtship.  Yes, of course, there is the occasional recalcitrant business or HR leader who somehow believes that with today's 10 percent  unemployment that employers have the edge and can afford to be less than courteous to job seekers who need them more than vice versa.  But let's face it -- those people aren't with the competitive, "best places to work" organizations.  And they probably don't have the proverbial "seat at the executive table," either.

What is perhaps less understood or widely accepted is that candidates talk about their experience -- good or bad -- of trying to find a job.  And today they do so in a very public, viral way that can negatively impact the employment brand as well as bottom-line sales for any company.  Take a look, for instance, at the site called GlassDoor - they provide an open format of exchange between job seekers and employers, allowing candidates to vent about the worst interview story EVER all the way to the best onboarding experience that defies even the most creative of imaginations.  Even without such a destination, candidates and job seekers post their tales of job-seeker woe on their blogs and social networking sites for all the world to see.  Ahem, even if you don't care to hire the person who made the not-so-nice comments about you as an employer, you just may be interested in one or two of their several-hundred-fold peer community who now have seen a poor review about you.  So, what's an employer to do?

Hold on to that thought for a moment, while I introduce another.   You may have noticed in other posts that I like to read -- a good combination of business, HR/Recruiting related, and works celebrating exceptional human lives.  Well, my latest two reads have been Seth Godin's Tribes and Jeff Jarvis' What Would Google Do?  Godin stresses the need for leaders to offer something compelling enough to warrant a crowd to willingly -- and even, enthusiastically -- follow. The idea is not far from the concept of encouraging people to opt in to marketing messages as he details in his Permission Marketing book .  Jarvis celebrates the success of Face Book and Google and notes that their secret to success is not in creating or "owning" a community of followers, but rather attracting this group by providing it with an "elegant organization" solution.  That is, these companies are successful because they help already existing communities do something they are doing today, but just make doing so even easier.  In this case, connecting with friends and colleagues in the case of the former, and searching for information in the case of the latter.   

So, picking up where we left off in the previous paragraph, what can employers do with all this conversation among job seekers? The short answer is "plenty."  The longer, more thoughtful one is, "join the conversation AND make the exchange even easier."  I would add, entice job seeking candidates to not only dialog with you about their experience of trying to gain employment, but make them your avid, following fans by having something worth listening to in return.  As we at Improved Experience are an online feedback portal directing anonymous feedback from job seekers to the specific employers with whom they're attempting to gain employment, I realize in reading these two books that we act as "elegant organizers" between employers and job seekers.  That is, we facilitate something that is already taking place -- albeit it in a much more direct fashion.  My question for you is, how much more effective would your Recruiting efforts be if you were facilitating conversations about your employment brand, job opportunities, and recruitment process effectiveness that were already taking place elsewhere? And then, what if you joined the conversation by indicating you were listening, that you heard what was said, and then perhaps posted a progress report on your career website or Public Relations channels.  What a concept -- "you talked, we listened."  Seems the world would be a more civilized place, and the companies that opted in to this ideal would be more efficient, effective, and competitive.  Just a little food for thought, courtesy of our brilliant author friends Godin and Jarvis.

This is Alise Cortez signing out for another week.  In the meantime, consider the notion of transparent communications with your job seekers.  But more importantly, think how employing a more strategic, "tribe-attracting" philosophy could serve your organization while allowing you to make an important professional contribution.  As I've said many times before, the HR/Recruiting industry needs your passion, your innovation, and your quest for improvement.  Don't let us down.

About Alise Cortez:  My day job is VP of Sales & Marketing at Improved Experience where our online feedback portal products provide subscribing HR/Recruiting customers data to make a business case for change or improvement in these areas:  recruitment process effectiveness, employer brand, candidate experience, recruiter performance, early employee engagement, quality of hire, and retention.  What can I say? -- it's fun!

Lessons for HR/Recruiting Leaders from Andy Williams' Memoir

OK, I admit it -- I'm a big resolutions person.  I make a large wall chart of my 30-some resolutions and then proceed throughout the year to track my progress by color-coding goals achieved by category (i.e., Professional, Intellectual, Financial, Family, Cultural, etc.)  So, in late November/early December, I start looking for inspiration from which to formulate new goals for the coming year.  As occurs when you become of aware of what you want, I happened across an interview on National Public Radio between the ever-wise Diane Rehm and the incredible singing tenor Andy Williams.

The realness of their exchange, absent the self-aggrandizement that sometimes characterizes a star's self-portrait, was alluring and made me want to learn more about the life of the now 80-some year old.  (For a perfect example of narcisstic tendency in a self-biography, I suggest you read Katharine Hepburn's memoir, entitled Me: Stories of My Life.  As far as memoirs go, it's exceptionally aptly named.)  As I'm 45 this month, Andy Williams happens to have graced a period before my own.  So, I went on to Amazon and purchaed Andy's Moon River and Me and one of his CDs, Moon River:  The Very Best of Andy Williams.

The very first thing I did when my purchases arrived was to open the CD and listen to the ever-famous song, "Moon River."  What a voice!  And could they harmonize in the 1950s, or what?!  I could see why President Ronald Reagan proclaimed Andy's voice a "national treasure." 

Next, I began to settle into the book. I read at least one business book and one pleasure book per month.  Obviously, Andy's book qualified for the latter -- or, at least I thought so for the first few pages.  I soon discovered, though, that the contents of his book -- or, perhaps my own interpretation of them -- comprise the stuff many business books are made of.  And, I soon discovered that what I was reading had direct application to the HR/Recruiting industry.

I'm about two-thirds the way through the book right now, but here's three points I wanted to share with you, especially at a time when you consider setting and achieving your own goals in 2010 as an HR/Recruiting executive:

1) Find yourself a champion/cheerleader/mentor AND be one to someone else.  Andy was the youngest (surviving) of four Williams brothers.  Having grown up in a small town in Iowa and experiencing some early small stints with choir projects, Andy's father Jay Emerson Williams somehow got it into his head that his boys would not be mail sorters on a railroad train as he had been, but rather professional singers.  Andy's father constantly encouraged, pushed, and prodded his boys to practice.  He believed in their talent -- and probably in the early days, wanted their success, way more than they did for themselves.  Andy's father moved the family several times, each time uprooting his own job, to ensure close proximity to the next bigger radio station.  And he was relentless in his early pursuits to get the Williams boys singing work, often camping out in the lobby of stations or nearly stalking radio station managers until they finally agreed to grant a short audition, heard the boys, liked them, and gave them a paying gig.  Andy dedicated his book to his father, "who had the vision to see a future for me as a singer, and the belief and the relentless determination to make it happen."  Think what you could do personally or at work if you had someone who believed in you like that!  Conversely, think of your years of experience and insight and how they may benefit someone younger or new to the industry who shows a lot of potential but just doesn't know how to navigate corporate America yet.  In the words of Ben Affleck in the movie Pearl Harbor, I dare you to really matter.  (Incidentally, my first real boss, not counting my restaurant-owning father who I began working for at age 11, made a real and lasting difference to my life, so much so that I have kept in touch with him for more than 25 years since I worked for him, invited him to and recognized him at my wedding some 10 years ago, and still talk with him today, especially at the holidays -- but that's the musings of another blog post.)

2)  The importance of hard work.  I realize how cliche and tired this sounds, but I sometimes think in our generally wealthy times (excepting all of last  year's recession, of course) that the art and science of really hard, dedicated work isn't as common as perhaps it used to be -- somebody, please prove me wrong here.  But I digress... the point is that Andy's father instilled an extremely arduous practice schedule for his four boys, and they followed it.  Andy and his brothers didn't see themselves as anything special in the way of talent, nor did their father, but they probably worked harder than most any other child singers did at the time.  Andy mentions he had very little time to date or even do much school work!  Instead, hours upon hours of disciplined practice characterized Andy's youth and high school years.  Now, I'm not advocating you become a workaholic, per se, but being truly great at anything does require a unique focus.  Let us then pay rapt attention to our craft as HR/Recruiting executives this year - and stand out among the crowd.

3)  Face your fears and then blow right past them.  Every single one of us at some point gets scared of our own dreams.  Or, when we get close to realizing them, we can become debilitated and frozen in fear, unable to take the next step and realize the according success.  Andy talks about the point in his career when his three brothers wanted to exit the very successful four-some they had been and pursue some other kind of work.  But Andy, being the youngest and unexposed to anything else, only knew how to sing.  Moreover, he wanted to keep singing, but he was utterly petrified to go it alone, experiencing terrible stage fright the first many times he did so.  But he persevered and went on to great success for many decades afterwards.  Think of what we as a nation or perhaps even the world would have missed out on had Andy not faced his fears, and then just kept right on going.  What are you keeping yourself from doing -- and thus, the rest of us peers missing out on? 

Remember the words of Johan Wolfgang von Goethe:  Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.  Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it."  Inspiration can come from many places. The point is, find your inspiration, be bold, and let's go do great things this year. Our industry needs us to!  Stay in touch and be sure to come back and tell us how you're tracking toward your goals.

About Alise Cortez:  my day job is VP of Marketing & Sales at Improved Experience, where our mission is to capture the voice of experience one job search at a time for employees and empower employers with the metrics of engagement and retention.

 

Can You Manage Consulting?

Michael Maynard provides his perspective on whether a career in consulting is suitable for you.  Sage advice -- just in time for Thanksgiving consideration.  Thanks Michael.

 

Previously I discussed RIF's (Reduction in Force), otherwise known as getting laid off.  Being without a job can be a very jarring experience.  What you thought you knew about your status with your ex-company is no longer true.  For many, this blow to the ego leads to loss of self-worth and depression, even though it wans't really their fault.

A natural emotional over-reaction is to start thinking, "I'm never going to be the pawn of the corporate world ever again.  I'm going to work for myself."  Translation:  I'm going to show how valuable I really am by helping other companies succeed, especially my former company's competitors.

I'm going to be a consultant.

OK, go back to the phone booth and put on your civilian clothes. Just because you want to strike a blow against the evil doings of corporate Jokers, doesn't mean you're ever going to get the opportunity to do so.  I was a management consultant for over 20 years (and I was a very good one at that)... However, I'm the exception, not the rule.

I've read various consulting industry studies that showed 95% of individuals and companies that enter the consulting business leave within 6 months.  Expand the time to 1 year and that percentage goes up to 98%.  My goal in writing this article is not to stop those of you who want to start consulting, but to provide information that will help you make a more informed decision about whether the consulting business is right for you.  These are the major misconceptions about consulting.

Clients call you.  In my time as a consultant, I think I had 3 potential clients call me or my company first.  The business world is not looking for another management consultant who wants to help their business.  The biggest initial challenge for beginning consultants is to land their first consulting assignment, other than those with their former employer or where friends and family work.  Don't wait by the phone expecting IBM, General Motors or even Joe the Plumber to call  you.  It just doesn't happen.

You spend your time consulting.  My analogy about entering consulting is like being a club golf professional.  You become a pro because you love and have passion about playing golf.  However, the various managerial duties of the golf pro limits their time to play to a minimum.  Part of the joy of management consulting is getting to work with your clients and help them solve problems or start new initiatives.  Even in the large consulting companies, like Bain or Anderson Consulting, it is the junior consultants who spend their time on site consulting.  The higher you go in the consultancy, the less time you spend doing the consulting work.

What you really spend time doing is the administration, marketing and sales that lead to consulting assignments.  When you are working on assignment, you still need to spend the same amount of time doing the administration, marketing and sales.  You hope that you can get out from the assignment to make an in-person sales meeting.

You control your schedule.  I once was on a 3 AM conference call with my client's CEO.  Because of the CEO's nocturnal life style, he was raring to go, I and his managers who were on the call weren't.  Back to the golf analogy, I got a lot of "you must spend a lot of your time playing golf with your clients all afternoons."  I can remember 3 times where I played golf with a client or prospective client.

Even if you are doing well, being an individual consultant or part of a small consultancy means spending 60 to 80 hours per week, every week.  My former business partner, Dr. William Mott, had a great term for this:  "persistence over time."  The more you make the time doing the right things:  mailing out pitch letters, writing articles for publication, or lining up speaking engagements, the more business you will get in the long run.

But even when you are consulting, your time is not your own. There was more than one time that I did an all-nighter to put together a proposal or write the findings report.  What ultimately became my last assignment, despite having a strep throat, I worked all night, drove to the client site in a snow storm and delivered the report 10 minutes before the final project meeting.  I knew that I almost put a good client and friend at risk because I could no longer be counted on to deliver on commitments I made.  I needed to get out.

You can consult while finding a new job.  Maybe you can, but I never met anyone who could do this.  As described above, consulting is a full-time job. So is finding a new job.  Occasionally, I know of consultants who go to work for their clients, but I would maintain that if you can be tempted by the offer of a job, then you aren't really a consultant.  You also run the risk of crossing yourself, having a potential employer/client get your consulting materials and your resume.  The risk is not getting either employed or consulting because you've given the executive the idea that you don't really know which one you want.  If you can't manage your own business, then why do you expect executives to meet with you?

There is a lot more I can write about becoming a consultant at this time, but I think the above gives you a realistic picture of what the consulting life is really like.  You have to want to do it or else you're just wasting precious time that you should be spending finding a "real" job.  Consult with yourself and manage yourself to be successful with the career choice you've made.

About Michael Maynard:  Michael is a free-lance journalist and management consultant.  As a freelance writer he has written for CEO and CIO magazines and other magazine and newspapers.  He was managing editor and featured columnist for Global Business Newsletter.  He was also a featured columnist for the Washington Post-Newsweek syndicate.  For more than 25 years, Michael has been President and Co-Founder of Azimuth Partners, a marketing and business development consultancy.  Michael is currently lending his consultant talents to Improved Experience, which helps employers use feedback to measure and manage competitive advantage, engagement, and retention. You can reach him at michael@improvedexperience.com.

 

Technorati tags:  consulting, self-employment, Reduction in Force.

Employee Training a Path to Retention?

Guest author Steve Krajewski has dropped in for his perspective on retention and the role employee training has in boosting it.  Thanks for dropping by, Steve!

There's a fair amount of digital ink spilled these days on the role ongoing education plays in retaining--and engaging-employees.  London candymaker Swizzels Mathlow recently said turnover in one department dropped from 42% to 2% after it began offering courses in food and drink in partnership with a local university.  The Container Store, a Coppell, Texas-based storage products retailer, famously provides first-year salespeople with 241 hours of training in an industry that averages just seven.

Striking a balance between the quantity and quality of training may not be the biggest hurdle to clear for companies interested in following suit.  One key to developing a meaningful training program may hinge on accepting an apparent contradiction:  the most effective way to make employees better at what they do for you is to make them better at what they don't do for you.

Walt Disney acquired Pixar Animation in 2006 for roughly $7.4 billion.  As much as anything else, Disney was buying into Pixar's employee education philosophy.  The Emeryville, California-based company doesn't give a nod to employee learning--it weaves it into the fabric of studio operations.

With more than 110 course offerings, Pixar University (P.U.) offers employees a buffet of film school courses, taught by some of the best in the industry. Randy Nelson, tapped as Dean of P.U. in 1997, says employees are encouraged to devote up to four hours each week to their education.  Explaiing the thinking to one reporter, Nelson said, "Why teach drawing to accountants?  Because drawing class doesn't just teach people to draw.  It teaches them to be more observant.  There's no company on earth that wouldn't benefit from having people become more observant." 

While cross-pollination is important--company cooks taking scriptwriting classes--the next wave of employee education may have to draw on more than classroom lectures.  A whitepaper from Gartner Research predicts an 80% chance that half of all corporate e-learning projects will involve games by 2011.  For an upcoming generation of tech-savvy workers raised on digital distractions, the medium may be just as important as the message. 

The notion of all work and no play is getting turned on its head.  Companies that aren't willing to re-think the changing nature of employee education may have to face the hardest lesson of all. Contrary to popular belief, a heavy investment in employee education doesn't necessarily send your best employees packing.  In fact, just the opposite may be true.  The Container Store has a turnover rate hovering at less than 25%--in an industry that averages 100% annually.

Making an investment in your employees by encouraging and supporting active learning may teach them a priceless lesson:  sometimes the smartest move is staying put. 

About Steve Krajewski: Steve is a free-lance writer based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.  His perspective is fueled by a background that includes stints as a tutor, magazine reporter, and billing team manager.

Technorati tags:  employee development, recruiting, selection and hiring, employee retention, The Container Store, Walt Disney, Pixar Animation, Pixar University.

Keeping Passive Candidates in Orbit -- a webcast

Hi there!  Claudia and I will be conducting a national webcast on Tuesday, November 13th.  This Human Capital Institute program is being sponsored by PeopleClick, which means that it is complementary for you to attend.  If you'd like to join us, please sign up today via either of the links below:

http://www.humancapitalinstitute.org/hci/tracks_creating_talent_pipeline.guid

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=6958589803&ref=mf

See you there!

Alise