Shows
the Learn-It-All™ podcast66: Top 10% Secrets: The Behind-the-Scenes Formula for Winning in Sales & Life | Kristi K. JonesWhat if the real differentiator between the top 10% and the rest isn’t talent or intelligence, but something you can cultivate? Business leaders constantly seek the secret to driving consistent high performance, but what if the real differentiator between the top 10% and the rest isn’t just talent, but something you can cultivate? In this episode of The Learn-It-All Podcast, Kristie Jones, author of Selling Your Way IN, challenges traditional ideas about sales excellence and reveals key insights from her journey in the sales world. Learn how top performers stand out—not just because of natural ability, but thr...
2024-09-2455 min
L&D UnlockedExploring Employee Development: Insights from World-class CHROs (ft. JP Elliott, PhD)I almost want to say that JP Elliott walked so that L&D Unlocked could run, but that would be a mischaracterization. Don’t get me wrong, the previous statement is, for the most part, entirely true, except for one key element – JP isn’t walking, he’s sprinting, and we’re just trying to keep up. A human resources executive with a resume spanning nearly three decades and listing such names as Taco Bell, IBM, Lenovo & DICK’s Sporting Goods, JP’s focus has recently shifted to educating the next generation of HR talent. And, as the host of the...
2024-04-1039 min
The BizLibrary Podcast68. Making the Most of Your InterviewsIn this month’s episode of The BizLibrary Podcast, we sat down with Matthew Burr, an HR consultant with over 13 years of experience working in HR. Matthew shared some of his insights around interviewing, a topic that many organizations find themselves surrounded by in the midst of the current job market.Matthew gave a few of his key insights – first, he discussed the importance of honesty in the interview process.Using K-mart as an example, Matthew talked about the absolute need for interviewers to paint an accurate picture of the challenges and obstacles in a job...
2020-03-1820 minThe BizLibrary Podcast67. Personal BrandingWelcome back to another episode of The BizLibrary Podcast! We know it has been a while since our last episode, but that's because we have some exciting changes to come! This week, we are so excited to welcome back Thomas Shayon Harrell, a successful L&D professional, whose thought leadership has helped further the knowledge of not only his own workplace but of several other L&D professionals.Thomas is here this week to discuss personal branding, and if you're like us, you may be wondering why L&D professionals should care about personal branding - Thomas...
2020-02-1226 minThe BizLibrary Podcast66. Learning RetentionLearning retention can be a scary and nebulous concept, especially when studies show that we forget as much as 40% of what we learn within 48 hours!When we look at training budgets, and how rapidly they're rising across the nation, it becomes even scarier that almost half our budget goes to waste just days after a training event takes place.To placate that fear, we invited Mark Nilles, a versed learning science researcher and learning theory expert to discuss the importance of ensuring learning retention, tools we cna use to ensure that learning is retained, and...
2019-10-0930 minThe BizLibrary Podcast65. Overcoming Skill GapsThis week, we welcome back Katie Miller, who appeared in early episodes to discuss the job search process from a candidate's perspective. Katie presented at ALIGN, our client conference, where she discussed overcoming skill gaps.Skill gaps are the difference between the skills you need your employees to master, and their actual level of mastery. If the discrepancy becomes too large, employees may become unable to achieve their job functions.There are two ways to overcome the skill gaps that exist in any given organization - hire employees from outside who possess the skills you...
2019-09-0921 minThe BizLibrary Podcast64. How to Communicate During Crisis ManagementIn this episode of The BizLibrary Podcast, we welcome Dr. Jaclyn Brandhorst, a business professor at the University of Central Missouri.Dr. Brandhorst is joining us to discuss crisis communication and its role in modern organizations. We first discuss what it means to be “in crisis” – often we equate the word crisis to a serious issue, but crises are fairly common in business – a crisis can be a change in government regulations or rumors of layoffs – but they can be more obvious, like an impending merger or acquisition.Dr. Brandhorst talks to us in-depth about the four R...
2019-08-2123 minThe BizLibrary Podcast63. The ALIGN Special Episode!Thanks for checking out this special episode of The BizLibrary Podcast! This week, we’re hosting our Founder and CEO’s ALIGN 2018 President’s address.Align is our annual client conference, where talented training program managers from around the country to network, learn new strategies to improve their business through training, and learn about the future of BizLibrary’s award-winning learning solutions.If you haven’t registered for ALIGN 2019, there’s still time! We hope to see you there.Dean talked to us about times of change and uncertainty, and how technology has transformed...
2019-08-1648 minThe BizLibrary Podcast62. Universal Design in LearningThis week, we welcomed Dr. Nina G, a keynote speaker, author, comedian, and disability advocate who talked to us about how companies can be more accommodating to employees with disabilities.Nina discusses how sometimes training can be hard to accommodate for - if an individual has dyslexia, writing notes or reading from slides may be impractical. At the same time, some video content may be impractical for an individual who is deaf, who relies on gestures and strong facial communication to understand a message. To become a more welcoming environment for individuals with...
2019-07-2419 minThe BizLibrary Podcast60. The State of Management TrainingThis week, we are joined by Brian Westfall to discuss data collected by Capterra that suggests businesses need to do better at developing their managers.Over 40% of managers responding to Capterra's survey said they received fewer than two hours of managerial training in the past year. Shockingly, for first-time managers, those numbers are even worse!Often, management training is conducted with a one-size-fits-all approach. Brian urges businesses to instead identify management skill gaps and build a customized management training program to upskill individuals.Most managers reported that they wanted more training in these...
2019-07-1121 minThe BizLibrary Podcast59. Retaining Hourly EmployeesThis week on The BizLibrary Podcast, we welcome Atif Siddiqi, the CEO and founder of Branch, an app that allows hourly employees to budget, and access their earnings, and offer a way for employees to earn more money by picking up shifts within the platform. Branch has done a lot of research into what causes turnover in hourly employees, and he shared a lot of insight with us during our interview.Atif mentioned that apart from pay, retail and hourly employees need stability if you want them to stay. That means offering consistent scheduling and o...
2019-06-2616 minThe BizLibrary Podcast58. L&D's Role During Mergers and AcquisitionsThe BizLibrary Podcast is back with another episode. This time, we’re discussing how L&D and HR departments can use training to make the merger and acquisition process proceed smoothly. Brand consolidation is a growing trend, and companies will continue to need to grow larger to stay relevant in a globalized marketplace.That said, mergers and acquisitions can be a source of stress on organizations – there may be stress due to fear of layoffs, redundancies in departments, and clashing cultures. However, when managed well, a merger or acquisition can dramatically improve your market standing as companies cons...
2019-06-1225 minThe BizLibrary Podcast57. Defining and Developing Job CompetenciesThis week on The BizLibrary Podcast, Hannah and Derek discuss defining and developing job competencies.Competency based training is an effective way to set L&D goals and define behaviors that you’d like to see changed through training. The first step of that, however, is to define these job competencies.Hannah notes that most companies have already begun this process, by creating skill requirements on job postings. Analyzing these job postings and defining a ‘why’ behind each skill is vital: take a skill like communicating on the phone.“Phone skills” is a generi...
2019-05-2919 minThe BizLibrary Podcast56. Culture Immersion in OnboardingThis week on The BizLibrary Podcast, we talked to Susan Daniel about how her organization, Exeter Finance, was able to create an onboarding process that immersed new hires into Exeter’s intentional culture.Company culture can be intentional or accidental. Every company has a culture, but companies with strong cultures intentionally build a culture by using vision, values, and missions to build processes and behaviors into the workplace.Exeter Finance has a “culture of excellence.” To test the strength of this value, Susan conducted surveys and focus groups and identified that the main values at Exeter...
2019-05-2226 minThe BizLibrary Podcast55. Turning Data into ActionThis week on The BizLibrary Podcast, we welcome Hallie Tucker. Hallie is a safety supervisor and program manager at Superior Energy Services, who has developed a great program using data-driven approaches.We talked to Hallie about how she uses data to build a stronger training program. She starts with a framework that most learning and development specialists are familiar with: the Kirkpatrick model.The Kirkpatrick model is a framework that can be used to measure learning - it starts with measuring satisfaction - a simple question can measure this: did the learner enjoy the training?
2019-05-1523 minThe BizLibrary Podcast54. Making Leadership Development Really WorkThis week, we are excited to bring leadership expert and author Kevin Eikenberry to The BizLibrary Podcast. Kevin brings two decades of experience to the forefront as we explore the differences between the theory and application of true leadership development.Apart from remote leadership, which makes methods like "manage by walking around" obsolete, Kevin notes that not much has changed in leadership over his time as a consultant. At this point, Kevin says, the basics are well known.What's missing from leadership training that makes it really work in the real world, is the buy-in...
2019-05-0925 minThe BizLibrary Podcast53. Creating High Functioning TeamsWelcome to another episode of The BizLibrary Podcast! Today, we welcome DeeAnna Deane, from Teel Plastics, to discuss how she’s managed to build high-functioning teams in her organization.DeeAnna is very clear that relationships are a key part of building high functioning teams. She started her initiative with the goal of making each team member seem more human to each other.To do this, she held a training session where she highlighted negative personal aspects, then asking employees to identify these traits in themselves. Each employee confessed that at times, they exhibited som...
2019-04-2425 minThe BizLibrary Podcast52. Unlocking the Potential of Your Emerging LeadersSuccession planning can never be started too soon. When there is turnover in your leadership ranks, if you do not have someone prepared to take over important leadership duties, your organization could be headed for trouble.Hiring from the outside is expensive. Hiring executive level leaders is expensive – a study by The Centre for American Progress demonstrates that replacing highly skills executive costs about 213% of their annual salary!This week, we welcome back Daniel Binkholder to discuss the real strategies behind succession planning. Getting high potential employees ready for leadership roles is difficult, but one of...
2019-04-1728 minThe BizLibrary Podcast50. Employee Engagement 101Welcome back to another great episode of The BizLibrary Podcast! Today, we're talking about one of the most popular subjects in both HR and Learning and Development circles - employee engagement.There's so much information out there about employee engagement, and many organizations struggle with disengaged employees.If you're one of these organizations, fret not! Studies show that about 15% of the global workforce is disengaged, meaning that even a modest time investment into engaging employees will help pull you ahead of your competitors.We've broken engagement down into...
2019-04-0325 minThe BizLibrary Podcast49. How to Retain Top TalentThis week, we're delighted to welcome Roberta Matuson from Matuson Consulting, an accomplished author and effective business consulting.We had some questions for Roberta about employee retention; she gave us a formula that is simple but effective: employees want good leadership, purpose, and development.Too often, employers rely on gimmicky benefits that are aimed to retain employees: they may offer air hockey tables or free food, but not focus on the important things that employees truly want to get out of a job.Good leadership, Roberta explains, means that employees have space to...
2019-03-2721 minThe BizLibrary Podcast47. Choosing an LMSThis week, we're joined by Tom Braning, BizLibrary's Channel Sales Manager, to discuss the process of choosing the right LMS.With over 14 years in the learning technology business, Tom has gained a strong insight into the industry, and how learning technology can help companies overcome genuine business challenges.Tom identifies a few challenges that an LMS could be used to solve - for instance, a geographically dispersed workforce, or a need for advanced analytics.Tom also points out that an LMS is not always the best way to deliver training. For smaller organizations...
2019-03-1323 minThe BizLibrary Podcast46. Learner PreferencesWelcome back to The BizLibrary Podcast! This week, we are joined by Dr. Amy DuVernet to discuss a massive study she conducted with Training Industry.Dr. DuVernet's researcher examined learning preferences, and the role that learning preference plays in the effectiveness of our training efforts. You can find her full report here.We first ask Dr. DuVernet about her finds, and what she found most surprising.She reports that about 50% of the workforce prefer classroom and instructor-led training over other learning modalities. That surprised us, and so we asked whether there is a...
2019-03-0623 minThe BizLibrary Podcast45. Executive Leadership DevelopmentThis week, we welcome Erin Correa from Correa & Associates, a Talent and Development partnership group that helps companies through consulting, coaching, and instructional design.This week, we talked about executive development. This can be a tricky situation for many in L&D; Erin noted that often times, in the c-suite, the word 'development' has a negative connotation, used as a euphemism for poor performance.That doesn't have to be the case, and with a proper strategy, executive development can be a catalyst for change within an organization. Afterall, leadership is often charged with setting the...
2019-02-2824 minThe BizLibrary Podcast44. Finding the Right Candidate in a Crowded Talent MarketplaceTalent acquisition is a serious challenge facing most companies today. Traditional recruiting outlets like LinkedIn and Google Jobs are overfished, crowded, and historic unemployment rates only make it more difficult to find your next generation of workplace talent.This week, we are joined by an accomplished recruiter named Adam Hilliard, who talks to us about how talent acquisition can be improved in the modern age.Adam mentions first that industry and job role conferences are completely under utilized in today’s talent marketplace. By approaching talent at these conferences, recruiters gain a chance to access fa...
2019-02-2026 minThe BizLibrary Podcast43. Emotional Intelligence in the Modern WorkplaceHappy Valentine's Day to all the great listeners of The BizLibrary Podcast! This week, we welcomed back Libby Mullen, the talented L&D manager here at BizLibrary.Things got emotional as we discussed Emotional Intelligence. You may be surprised to learn that emotional intelligence is one of the top predictors of success.That's because the strength of our relationships has a lot to do with how we perform. When we are able to leverage relationships to extend and improve results, some portion of our successes are owed to emotional intelligence.At the core...
2019-02-1326 minThe BizLibrary Podcast42. Changing a Company's CultureThis week, we welcome Jim Gilkey, the Director of Membership Development at trueU, to discuss changing a company culture.Jim started by defining a company culture: "the shared beliefs or attitudes that drive the behaviors within an organization."The caveat to this concept is that culture can very easily become accidental, meaning a culture that arises without the input or influence from your company's leadership. To create or change a culture, Jim recommends by starting with conversation: what are people talking about? What's on the minds of your employees? What challenges are they f...
2019-02-0625 minThe BizLibrary Podcast41. Utilizing Technology for TrainingWhen Thomas Harrell appeared on The BizLibrary Podcast, to discuss the future of L&D, he mentioned that using technology, and technical literacy is the most important skill that program managers should learn to prepare themselves for the future.This week, we welcome Lloyd Brown to talk about great technology program managers can leverage to increase the effectiveness of their training programs.Unsurprisingly, to keep a pulse on technology trends, Lloyd recommends actively seeking new learning about technology. Truly a learning and development advocate!Lloyd then recommends identifying problems that impede employee development – fo...
2019-01-3023 minThe BizLibrary Podcast40. Setting L&D GoalsIn this week's episode of The BizLibrary Podcast, we sit down with Victoria Cason to discuss goal setting in L&D.Setting good goals almost always preceeds success. Victoria made a goal in the fall of 2017 to win an ALIGN award, and through actionable steps, Victoria's program won an award for Program of the Year.To bolster her case for this award, Victoria was able to prove serious ROI on her training efforts, saving on travel costs, turnover costs, and increasing productivity.Here are a few of Victoria's takeaways.First, find...
2019-01-2331 minThe BizLibrary Podcast39. Successfully Launching a ProgramOn this week’s episode of The BizLibrary Podcast, we welcome Cara Austin to discuss launching a new program. Cara Austin an L&D professional working for ClubFit in New York City, New York.Cara tells us immediately that her program was planned and phased out in advance. Her first phase was heavy on communication.First, she met with managers, asked questions about desired outcomes, and then presented a realistic preview of what the program would look like.Cara emphasized that part of the planning process was considering how training would impact the le...
2019-01-1624 min