Recently I’ve been thinking of a famous quote popularly attributed to Mark Twain and the French mathematician Blaise Pascal, which states: “I’m sorry I wrote you such a long letter; I didn’t have time to write a short one.” While many historians doubt the veracity of the quote, it has been employed to illustrate…
Read MoreThe ATD International Conference and Exposition is undoubtedly one of the best shows for learning and development pros to attend, and this year was no exception. Last month, I had the opportunity to travel to Denver and attend 26 sessions at ATD. From the opening keynote to the individual sessions this is a great show…
Read MoreAs I looked out my rain soaked window of Meridian’s headquarters, located in northern Virginia last week, I started thinking about the National Zoo and how hard it would be to build an ark. I mean Noah and Evan Almighty was able to do it, right? For those of you following the national weather,…
Read MoreSpring is more than a new season, it’s a time of renewal. Days are longer, flowers are beginning to bloom, and the air is filled with the sound of birds chirping. Opportunities are sprouting all around us. As we anticipate the growth and rejuvenation that comes with spring, businesses are looking forward to brighter days…
Read MoreIn a dream world, we’d all devote countless hours to our professional development. Who doesn’t want to brush up on old skills and learn something new? It would only make us better contributors, right? Here’s the rub: the modern learner only has about 1% of their day they can devote to learning and development activities.¹…
Read MoreIt is no secret that today’s workforce is distracted. According to a 2013 Towards Maturity report, 88% of employees don’t have time, or make time, to engage with learning and development (L&D) offerings. When you add in the fact that the average attention span for adults engaging with learning is only 8.25 seconds* (…….sorry, what…
Read MoreThe Greek philosopher Heraclitus said that “Change is the only constant in life,” and that is true more than ever in business. The pace of change seems to be moving faster than ever, and organizations of all sizes are struggling to stay ahead of the change or even keep up. Compare the 2015 Fortune…
Read MoreA whopping 64% of learning leaders reported their people are not aware of the learning and development opportunities available in their organization.¹ This scenario alone is enough to bring L&D teams to tears. After working so hard to select, build and implement a learning management system (LMS) and then fill it full of fantastic, creative…
Read MoreI watched the first season of Narcos in less than three days. I’m not ashamed to admit it. Over the next week I’ll probably knock out the newest season of House of Cards, and my calendar is already blocked off to binge on Orange is the New Black the weekend of June 17th. Binge-watching…
Read MoreWhen thinking about the concept of a corporate university, we often first think of large corporations with famous universities, such as GE’s Crontonville University, McDonald’s Hamburger University or Disney University, to name a few. But, and here is the kicker, you don’t have to be a Fortune 500 company to establish a corporate university that…
Read MoreWe all have those days when our to-do lists number in the double digits, and we feel like there’s just not enough time to get everything done. And we all understand the role productivity plays in our success at work. Research shows it even boosts employee morale! (It just feels good to get things accomplished,…
Read MoreIs your learning management system (LMS) living up to its full potential? If you’re only using your LMS to train internal folks, it may not be! The benefits of leveraging an LMS to deliver learning and development (L&D) training courses across organizations are far and wide. Strong L&D programs can reduce onboarding times, boost…
Read MoreIn case you missed it (ICYMI), today is employee appreciation day! If you’re like me, you’re probably thinking: “Wow, there’s a holiday for everything nowadays!” and “Shouldn’t every day be employee appreciation day?” Celebrating Employee Appreciation is very important – not just for employees but also for leaders to realize that their employees are a…
Read MoreHere’s a not-so-dirty little secret: If you don’t invest in your employees’ skills and development, they’re going to look for it somewhere else. We recently sat down with Kris Dunn, CHRO of Kinetix, and Ed Nathanson, founder of Red Pill Talent to talk about how organizations with strong learning and development programs are able…
Read MoreHow doodling sparks creativity and increases knowledge retention in individuals and teams. Doodling isn’t child’s play, though history may argue otherwise. Doodling has long been described as a foolish, meaningless activity; something one does to distract themselves from what they should be focused on. Often people think of doodles as nothing more than…
Read MoreIn case you missed it, New York Fashion Week wrapped up this week. For all you non-fashionistas, NYFW is everything in the fashion world. The world’s leading fashion houses (and super models) take the stage, debuting their new line of clothes, accessories and styles. Everyone ohhs and ahhs. Trends are born. Art is inspired. Bloggers…
Read MoreIt seems like everywhere you look there’s a new blog, report or book on leadership trends and tips. From Harvard Business Review research on how to be a stronger, better leader, to Inc. and Fast Company articles listing the common traits of truly exceptional people – leadership advice is in no short supply. Even our…
Read MoreCompliance is like water, if you don’t know how to manage it, you’re going to drown. If you carefully and proactively manage it, you’re going to thrive. High-consequence industries can’t afford to turn a blind eye and ignore government regulations, especially in life sciences. The repercussions of a compliance fallout are costly, and I’m…
Read MoreIt’s that time of year again, HR has kicked off the annual performance review process. It’s your opportunity to have irrelevant meaningful conversations full of constructive feedback about your performance over the past year. Or, is it? Each year managers and employees alike relentlessly complain about what they consider a tedious, unnecessary and unrewarding…
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