UPCOMING EVENTS - Please diarise!

21-23 April: ASTD Annual International Conference in Cape Town       
View the programme and registration. The Theme this year is “Leveraging Learning & Leadership to improve Organisational Performance”.  Don’t miss out on excellent International ( 8) and local speakers. Plenary speakers are Clem Sunter,  Raymond Ackerman, Dr. El-Agamy from IMD Switzerland, Dr. Elize Booysen from CCL, USA etc. Members get a substantial discount of over R600 per delegate. We have arranged for special National voting on Wednesday afternoon the 22^nd for delegates who are out of their provinces.

15^th May : Organisation/ Needs Analysis - One Day Workshop (08:30 – 16:30)                                                     
Contents: Purpose and importance; Key Stakeholders; Preparing a business case; Application of steps in N.A; Selecting the appropriate learning interventions; Aligning needs to HR practices and business objectives; Integrating NA, assessment & evaluation. Venue: Black Eagle Conference Centre, 88 Doreen Road, Poortview, Roodepoort. Cost: R2,000. Please register with juanitapro@worldonline.co.za by 10^th May. Facilitator Marius Meyer.

22^nd May : ASTD Forum Network Meeting for ASTD members (14:30)
Presentation on “Leadership and Talent Management” by Mike Truelock from Sappi. Venue: Sappi, 48 Ameshof Street, Braamfontein.  No charge. LEARN about Best practices from World Class companies. Great networking.

ASTD International Conference in Washington 31^st May - 3^rd June 2009
If you are interested to join our group to attend as delegate in Washington, please contact Robin before 10^th April. We now travel directly to Washington. View the itinerary and full conference programme on www.astd.org

Many Positive outlooks in the Economic forecast for 2009

• We are in a better position than most other countries to weather the difficult global economic conditions.
• Our banks remain sound and we have been spared the big corporate collapses.
• Our National Credit Act has helped to dampen bank lending and consumer borrowing and spending.
•  Exchange control limited local banks’ exposure to International credit risk.
• The weaker Rand has acted as an automatic stabiliser by curbing imports and supporting exports.
• Negative small business growth, falling car sales and job shedding will stabilise in the second half of the year.
• Lower interest rates, falling inflation, better petrol and diesel prices, etc should support consumer spending and boost real household income.
• Africa as a whole will produce better GDP than most developing countries.
• Our hosting of prestigious global sporting events will pump large revenue into our country and challenge us to provide excellent service and an improved infra structure which will benefit the entire country.

Sustainable Employee Motivation; How are you managing Generation X?

• Born between 1970 and 1989. General Attitude:  “Whatever…Enigmatic...arrogant,
  risk taker”.
• Likes: Sharing, individualistic, Change Dislikes: Bossiness and Corporate red tape.
• Dress: Own distinctive jeans look, sloppy clothes, often torn and hanging.
• Dating: Often girls take initiative in dating and dating on the internet common.
• Training: Make it fun. I’ll listen, but I can teach myself.
• Work: Unlike baby boomers they work to fund their life style. Need flexitime. Change jobs frequently. Laid back generation and like informal flexible work environment with fun and relaxation. They demand work/life balance as a right, not a privilege. They are output driven and often like to work out of office.  
• Fun: Go for risky activities like Bungee jumping, white water rafting. Like dark, moody music.
• Recruitment: Need to know that the company is dealing with issues that are important to them. They like to interview the interviewer. They are not impressed with the company branding spieel, so keep it honest and real. They are impatient, so one needs to keep the process short. They prefer electronic induction with minimum “motivational talks”. This is not their scene.
• Careers: Unlike their parents, who gave everything to their jobs and were spat out when things got tough, they work on building a portable career which they can take with them in the future. They change jobs between 3 and 5 times in their career and often re-skill themselves at least twice in their careers. They are not unreliable but are concerned about building their C.V’s for the future. One needs to enrich their jobs by providing opportunities within and rotation to acquire additional expertise.
• Teamwork: Teams to them are built on each other’s individual strengths. They are team people but not in Baby Boomer style. They ask “Where do we differ, What is my unique contribution?”. They share differences in opinions but consensus is not their goal. They are more collaborative but don’t want to be bogged down in political posturing. They get on with the work and exhibit a much more direct style in communications.
• Rewards and feedback: They like freedom and a balanced lifestyle and value time with friends and family. They do not want to become workaholics like their parents. They work hard and need time off. They are not overly concerned with future rewards. They often take their pensions with them. They want immediate feedback after every project, but less structured. Often called the “now” generation.
• Loyalty: They are concerned about loyalty. They don’t expect job security in hard times. Provide them with a two way partnership in terms of balance, freedom and rewards. Provide a cheerful, happy and fun environment. This will motivate them. Don’t take their loyalty for granted.
• Leadership Attributes:  Cautious, Creative, Pragmatic, Realistic, Low Key, Innovative, Flexible, Independent but Adaptable.
  
  

Key learnings from Prof. Martyn Sloman’s (U.K.) Workshop held in January 2009

In his research around the world on “The Changing Role of the Trainer” the following issues emerged on good practices:

• Showing a clear understanding of the business drivers in their organisations.
• Helping their organisations add value and move up the value chain.
• Establish a clear vision and strategy for people development.
• Involve others and engaging stakeholders in a transparent way.
• Having a good overview of what is needed to advance in the long as well as short term priorities.
• Using processes and Techniques appropriately.
• Applying metrics to demonstrate value.
• Understanding the legacy that learners bring with them and adjusting their interventions appropriately
• Using a blended delivery approach.

Other observations on The International Dimension:

• A shift is evident world wide from training, as an instructor-led content based intervention, to learning, which is self-directed work-based process, leading to increased adaptive capacity.
• Learning lies in the domain of the learner. Only the learner can learn. Hence the importance of generation sensitivity.
• Training to-day is not only concerned with developing people and their competence but also as a tool to improve competitiveness.
• The acquisition of relevant knowledge and skills by employees allows the organisation to deliver services more effectively because we know that organisations around the world are competing to deliver value added services.
• There is no evidence that leaning interventions are different for learners from different cultures.
  
  

Survey of Global Industry Leaders in a Downturn Economy (IOD research)

• 67% of CEO’S are aggressively seeking growth opportunities.
• 23% report that Competitive Strategy has been their no1 success factor for growth.
• 54% state that both Strategic Partnering & Competitive Strategy have secured the most growth.
• Only 13% chose growth out-sourcing as part of their top 3 strategies.
• 62% believe that the media threat of a recession is negatively impacting their business.  

Good Things,