HR Assurance of Learning

The U.S-based Society for Human Resource Management has launched its Assurance of Learning, which it labels as "the new universal benchmark for undergraduate level HR students."

Essentially, the Assurance of Learning is an exam for students graduating from Human Resources (HR) programs.  Students who pass the exam receive a certificate of learning that informs:

hiring managers that they have sufficient knowledge to enter the workforce.

This takes the general HR certification programs to a new level.  As other professions, like Training (Human Resource Development), and technical communication launch and develop their certification programs, the path of the broader HR profession from a group of isolated certifications to widespread recognition of the credential provides a model to observe.

Does Every Good Job Require a Four-Year Degree?

"Bunk," claims Mike Rowe, the star of the U.S. cable TV show Dirty Jobs (who holds a bachelor's degree), according to Mike Rowe, host of TV's 'Dirty Jobs,' in a recent article by Lorraine Mirabella in the Baltimore Sun, the news paper of Mike's and my hometown (no, I don't know him).

In his show, Rowe performs a different "dirty" job each week, which are predominantly skilled jobs that do not require a bachelor's degree.

The experienced has transformed him.  According to the article, Rowe commented that:

"When you portray people doing work that's dirty or difficult or dangerous, but you don't show them being miserable and completely wrapped in drudgery, you send an interesting message to millions of people" 

In response, he's made his mission to advocate for skilled labor.  In doing so, Rowe has launched the website,  MikeRoweWorks.com, "to highlight the decline in the trades and boost enrollment in trade schools."

Rowe isn't the only one who feels this way.  A number of recent articles and books, like Anya Kamenetz's DIY U, raise the question.

But few are doing anything aimed at potential skilled laborers as Rowe.

Check out the article at http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-mike-rowe-jobs-20110118,0,7205510.story.

Go Northward My Friend

The relative strength of the Canadian job market and the reasonably high standard of living here has attracted not only Target stores (though I still have to wait at least 2 years for the first store opening), but also immigrants in search of a better life and opportunity.

As an immigrant to Canada, this issue resonates on a personal level with me.

Canada Lures Immigrants
In Defying Trend, Canada Lures More Migrants, reporter Jason DeParle, notes that, while immigration has become a prickly topic in many countries like the Australia, UK, US, and many European Union members, immigration successfully continues in Canada with little of the political fallout experienced by those other countries.

In fact, DeParle notes that some Canadian provinces are so eager to attract immigrants that they have successfully worked withCanadian immigration officials to develop policies that would attract immigrants to those parts of the country.  In many instances, immigrants fill huge gaps in the workforce and are the primary source of population growth.

Read the article at  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/13/world/americas/13immig.html?ref=homepage&src=me&pagewanted=all.

If You're Thinking of Immigrating
If it inspires you to immigrate to Canada, you might be interested in the practical employment advice offered to prospective immigrants by Sumedh Nene, a recent immigrant to Canada from India, a two-part article published in the Indus, the newsletter of the India chapter of the Society for Technical Communication.

In Canada Calling (http://indus.stc-india.org/2010/10/canada-calling/), Nene explains how the labyrinth of the Canadian immigration process, and provides practical information about living in the Toronto Metropolitan area.  Although Toronto differs from other metro areas, much of the experience is similar in most other metro areas  in the country.

In  The  Hidden Job Market of Canada (http://indus.stc-india.org/2010/08/want-to-work-in-canada-read-this-first/), Nene provides helpful, practical advice for navigating the job search process--from tips on preparing a resume (called a CV in parts of Canada, not to be confused with a CV in other countries), as well as the etiquette of the job interview process.

Even though Nene reports primarily contrasts the Canadian system with the Indian one, the insights should be useful to all potential and current immigrants to Canada.

Try It, Maybe Buy It

Employment Trends

The next several of posts address issues in employment.  The first two address job market issues, subsequent posts address skills .

Try It, Maybe Buy It
Reporting on what might seem obvious to many who follow the job market, New York Times reporter Motoko Rich reports that companies increasingly favor hiring contingent (temporary) workers in Weighing Costs, Companies Favor Temporary Help.

For example, Rich reports that:

This year, 26.2 percent of all jobs added by private sector employers were temporary positions. 

Then puts this in perspective of hiring trends in previous recessions:

In the comparable period after the recession of the early 1990s, only 10.9 percent of the private sector jobs added were temporary, and after the downturn earlier this decade, just 7.1 percent were temporary.

Although these figures come from the U.S. labor market, they reflect trends in the Canadian market, too.

Rich cites a well-known economist, when writing that:

Temporary employees still make up a small fraction of total employees, but that segment has been rising steeply over the past year. “It hints at a structural change,” said Allen L. Sinai, chief global economist at the consulting firm Decision Economics. Temp workers “are becoming an ever more important part of what is going on,” he said.

From my personal perspective, this is the realization of a trend predicted back in the early 1990s, when futurists predicted that work would be organized around small, flexible teams that come together for a project, then disband and move onto new projects, often with different people and, perhaps, different organizations.

In such an economy, workers are hired for their skills, rather than for their seniority.  In theory this sounds good because it provides everyone with flexibility.  If an employer no longer needs a skill, employers can lay off workers with those skills.  And if workers finds better situations that more effectively (or rewardingly) use their skills, workers can easily transfer among jobs.

The broader implications of such a system have not been fully thought through, much less implemented.

But that's beyond the scope of Rich's article.  It focuses, instead, on the people affected by this hiring trend.   Check out the article at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/20/business/economy/20temp.html?ref=general&src=me&pagewanted=all

Spending on Training Stuck in Neutral

At the Training Conference today, I presented Ingy Bakir's and my analysis of spending patterns on training between 1982 and 2008. As the title suggests, spending hasn't grown in the past 24 years after adjusting for inflation, although it did during some of the periods of the survey.

To see the original article in Training, visit

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/training_201002/index.php?startid=16#/18

The complete analysis is published in the third quarter 2010 issue of the peer-reviewed journal, Performance Improvement Quaraterly.

Upcoming Presentations During the First Half of 2011

Following are the presentations that I am scheduled to give in the first half of 2011.
Highlighted presentations have a focus on business and management issues.

Slides for most of these presentations are typically available through the Concordia University repository about 10 working days after a presentation. Slides and papers for older presentations are currently available.

Presentation	Event	Location	Date
Spending on Training Stuck in Neutral	Training 2011	San Diego, California	February 5-6, 2011
An Integrative Review of Literature on Perceptions of Training Held by Clients (with Colleen Bernard)	Academy of Human Resource Development Research Conference in the Americas	Schaumberg, Illinois	February 23-26, 2011
Bridging Research and Practice: An Interim Report on 5 Pilot Projects	Academy of Human Resource Development Research Conference in the Americas	Schaumberg, Illinois	February 23-26, 2011
Certification and the Branding of HRD	Academy of Human Resource Development Research Conference in the Americas	Schaumberg, Illinois	February 23-26, 2011
Research-Validated Practices for Designing Effective e-Learning	The User Assistance Conference by WritersUA	Long Beach, California	March 13, 2011
Eight Design Lessons We Can Learn from Museums	Learning Solutions Conference of the e-Learning Guild	Orlando, Florida	March 23, 2011
Out of Range or Out of Touch: Verifying that the Development Staff Has Up-to-Date Skills	Learning Solutions Conference of the e-Learning Guild	Orlando, Florida	March 24, 2011
Is Informal Learning Right for You? Ten Issues and Technologies to Consider	Learning Solutions Conference of the e-Learning Guild	Orlando, Florida	March 23, 2011
The Incredible Shrinking e-Learning Program	Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychologists Annual Conference	Chicago, Illinois	April 12, 2011
Profession Building: What the Peer-Reviewed Literature Tells Us (with Nancy Coppola)	Society for Technical Communication Annual Summit	Sacramento, California	May 15-18, 2011
Narratives Over Numbers: Why Qualitative Research Is Essential (with Jamie Conklin, George Hayhoe, Hillary Hart, and Menno de Jong)	Society for Technical Communication Annual Summit	Sacramento, California	May 15-18, 2011
Informal Learning and You: 10 Issues and Technologies to Consider	American Society for Training and Development International Conference and Exposition	Orlando, Florida	May 21, 2011
Visions of TechComm 2.0	Metro New York chapter of the Society for Technical Communication	New York, New York	June 16, 2011

Do You Really Know How to Give a Performance Review?

In Learning Before Reviewing published in CLO Magazine, Ladan Nikravan emphasizes the importance of training managers in the performance review process before they actually perform them.

But Nikravan notes--as is also noted in my academic and certificate courses--that a once-a-year conversation isn't really the best way to ensure that performance issues are addressed.  Year-round conversations are important as well as clear performance metrics, which people can get on their own at any time they want the information.

Check out the article at http://www.clomedia.com/articles/view/4007# .

The Difficult Conversation about Performance

Most workers abhor poor performance (at least, the poor performance of their co-workers).  More significantly, so do most managers.

But tackling poor performance requires having difficult conversations about work standards, and many managers prefer to avoid it.

In How to... address poor performance, published in the UK magazine, People Management, author Kate Russell explains why "Avoiding difficult conversations about work standards can demotivate other staff."

Although many have written about the issue of confronting poor performance, what sets this article apart is that it addresses the issue from the perspective of the other employees.

At the least, these other employees might feel that the poor performer is being appraised against an easier set of performance criteria than they are.

At the most, these other employees depend on their poor-performing co-workers to accomplish their jobs, and the failure of the manager to confront the issue prevents these workers from performing at their best.

Russell offers specific suggestions for preparing for the conversation about performance, conducting it and, most importantly, following up with coaching and feedback.

When a worker starts a job, a lack of ongoing coaching and feedback has the potential to reinforce and solidify poor performance.

And if the manager has effectively raised the concern about performance with the poor-performing worker, that workers needs the coaching and feedback to re-align his or her efforts with the manager's.  

Check out the article at: http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2010/11/how-to-address-poor-performance.htm?area=pm.