"Canada Day Crowd" by Jawaad Mahmood is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Aaahh, summer! For some it’s a time to slow down. For others it’s time to rev up production. And it’s always nice if you can figure out a way to do your work at the beach. However you approach the summer workflow, why not build in some time for learning? There are plenty of great webinars offered this month.

Wednesday, July 6, 2016, 11AM – 12PM PST: Evaluating Learning (Research Webcast) (Free for ATD members)

We know that measuring the impact of learning programs matters, but the majority of organizations aren’t doing a good job of it. In fact, only 44 percent of talent development professionals think their learning evaluation efforts are helping them reach organizational learning goals. An even smaller percentage, 36 percent, think their learning evaluation efforts help them meet organizational business goals.

Recognizing the need for more effective evaluation efforts that drive the success of learning programs and the business overall, this webcast dives deeper into the types of measurements organizations are taking, the programs that are being evaluated, and the specific approaches and tools being used. It also takes a close look at what characterizes successful evaluation efforts. In addition, the webcast discusses the limited budgeting for evaluation, the challenges talent development leaders face in recruiting and retaining staff with the necessary skills to conduct meaningful evaluations, and other barriers to successful evaluation. Finally, the webcast presents recommendations for overcoming these roadblocks and maximizing the impact and effectiveness of evaluation efforts.

The key data points presented in the webcast are taken from the recent ATD research report Evaluating Learning: Getting to Measurements That Matter.

Thursday, July 7, 2016, 10AM – 11AM PST: How Modern Sales Enablement Increases Sales Effectiveness: In-Context Training, Development, Content, and Intel Sales Needs to Succeed (Free for ATD members)

Once-a-quarter training isn’t enough to keep sales reps on top of their game. People remember training when it is reinforced regularly and in context of where it should be applied. Sales reps are more likely to review and adopt training and content that’s bite-sized and relevant for the current selling moment. Aberdeen Group studies have shown that sales teams that follow this practice have an 85 percent quota attainment—three times more than those that don’t.

With modern sales enablement methodologies, you can arm your reps with in-context and just-in-time training, content, and best practices they need to better engage prospects and close more deals, faster. Join us in this webcast to learn:

How to apply in-context sales enablement for guided selling, playbooks, customer-facing content, and training.
A specific framework for mapping content to the context of sales.
What customer engagement intel is most effective in increasing deal-velocity solutions to support in-context and real-time engagement efforts.
The business benefits of alignment of content and training to the sales process.

Monday, July 11, 2016, 11AM–12PM PST: Shift Your Leadership Development and Engagement Initiatives into High Gear (Free for ATD members)

In most organizations, leadership development programs and employee engagement initiatives are not tightly integrated. They are often managed by different groups, with different program cycles, senior sponsors, and goals and objectives. Because of this separation, organizations are missing a golden opportunity to increase the speed at which leaders acquire new skills and put them into practice.

This highly interactive webcast will explore and discuss compelling reasons why these two major talent management areas should proactively reinforce each other. The presenters will provide engagement results from high-performing Fortune 500 organizations to support tighter integration and practical tips, methods, and strategies every organization can implement.

Whether you design, develop, and manage leadership programs or manage employee engagement initiatives, this webcast will leave you energized and ready to take action to enhance your talent initiatives.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016, 11AM–12PM PST: Career Mobility Matters: Why Mobility Matters and How to Build a Long-Term Strategy to Deliver It (Free for ATD members)

Nearly nine in 10 (85 percent) of HR professionals agree that it costs more to fill an open position with an external candidate than to source candidates from within their organization. The ability to make smarter people decisions and drive business objectives hinges on having better insight into employees’ experiences, skills, and career aspirations. Join this webcast to examine the career motivations of today’s multigenerational workforce and how these expectations align with that of HR professionals. You’ll learn:

What career mobility is today and how it can have a quantifiable impact on your business.
Strategies you can use to ensure that internal mobility is communicated and available to all employee.
How to gain insight into your external and internal talent pools through the use of analytics.

Wednesday, July 13, 2016, 10AM – 11AM PST: Grooming Young Professionals for Success in an Age of Change

As of 2015, millennials became the largest generation in the workforce and are driving permanent transformations that will change the course of your business. Yet all young professionals were not created alike. In this participatory webinar, the facilitators will discuss the motivations and development needs of three very different cohorts of workers, including your rising early millennial managers, your late millennial junior staff, and the Generation Z students you must begin understanding and building relationships with if you wish to remain competitive in the near future.

Wednesday, July 13, 2016, 11AM–12PM PST: Building a High-Quality and Highly Engaged Workforce (Free for ATD members)

The ability to effectively hire, retain, deploy, and engage talent at all levels is the only true competitive advantage an organization possesses, and great managers are the key to developing such a workforce. This webcast will show you how to elevate your managers and create a stronger and more engaged workforce. You will learn to:

Create more effective leaders within your organization.
Create training that engages your employees.
Train your workforce and make sure they retain that training.

Thursday, July 14, 2016, 10AM – 11AM PST: More Fatal Kirkpatrick Model Execution Errors – Practical Tips for Identifying and Correcting Them

The Kirkpatrick Model is the most-used training evaluation model in the world. This does not, however, mean that it is always implemented correctly. What does misapplication put at risk? The image that training holds in many organizations, the future of your training department and, ultimately, your job.

Attend this informative webinar with Jim and Wendy Kirkpatrick, creators of the New World Kirkpatrick Model, to find out the most common execution errors, what is at risk if you make them, and how to avoid them in the first place. Pick up practical tips that any training professional can implement to maximize their program value and demonstrate it to their organizations and stakeholders.

This webinar follows the success of their March webinar, “Fatal Kirkpatrick Model Execution Errors – Practical Tips for Identifying and Correcting Them,” in which three different fatal errors were detailed. This event will share new and different errors for you to avoid, as well as tactics to assist you in designing and implementing training that really works. It is not necessary to have viewed the March webinar to get full value from this new program, but you may wish to watch it to gain even more knowledge.

Click here to access the recording of the March event.

Thursday, July 14, 2016, 10AM – 11AM PST: Why Employees Taking Charge of Their Learning Is Good for You (Free for ATD members)

There is a new social contract between employers and employees. Employees expect:

Rapid career growth.
An engaging workplace.
Self-directed learning.

Millennials have grown up with self-directed learning. They realize that learning leads to higher earnings, and they want to take charge. What does this mean for you? You’d better have systems that give millennials more of a voice and a choice in their learning journeys through self-direction and empowerment. If you don’t, they’ll go elsewhere.

If your organization is like the 92 percent of respondents in Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends 2016 study, your leaders are trying to redesign the organization to increase employee engagement and create a stronger learning culture. This webcast will help you meet those goals. You’ll learn how to:

Provide employees with tools that promote rapid career growth.
Empower and engage employees with self-directed learning.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016, 10AM – 11AM PST: Bringing the Classroom into the 21st Century

Most of the research, discussion and general buzz around learning today is all about what’s going on outside of the classroom—social, mobile, gaming, etc. However, the bulk of learning being delivered in organizations is still occurring within the classroom. As the classroom continues to evolve and include new technologies—from tablets to smartboards and more—it is more important than ever to be able to manage the resources necessary for an effective classroom experience.

Discussion topics include:

The role of classroom ILT in the learning ecosystem.
Classroom technologies.
Classroom resource management.
Examples of companies using best practices.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016, 10AM – 11AM PST: Creating a Culture of Excellence with the FISH! Philosophy (Free for ATD members)

The FISH! philosophy shows you and your employees how to create a culture in which people can’t wait to come to work and be their best, who want to make a difference for their customers and one another. It’s based on the bestselling book FISH! and the fishmongers at the world-famous Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle. The fish market is one of the most successful in America, even though it’s located right near three other fish markets that sell the same fish for the same price. The market doesn’t trade on product or price; they trade on creating unique customer experiences. The fishmongers at the market work in a culture that encourages them to bring passion, energy, and enthusiasm to work every day.

This webcast will show you how to create a culture that will lead to sustained success through hardworking, dedicated people. You’ll learn the essential components, which include:

Understanding and using your organization’s mission, vision, and values.
Focusing on performance and values.
Creating stories that reinforce your desired culture.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016, 12PM – 1PM PST: All New Cool Captivate Tricks You Probably Don't Know!

Adobe Captivate is such a rich tool that contains so many features that it's hard for anyone to know them all. Yet, some of them are so darned useful that not knowing about them can sometime make your work more time-consuming and cumbersome.

Come to this session for some practical approaches that will open new doors to what you can do with your instructional design approaches.

You will learn to:

Apply some techniques that you may not have known were available.
Learn a few tiny programming tricks that will give you new abilities.
Surprise your learners with personalized services (beyond using their names).
Receive the praise and accolades from your family and friends!

Wednesday, July 20, 2016, 6AM – 7AM PST: ATD 2016 Recap (Free for ATD members)

The ATD 2016 International Conference & Exposition brought the talent development industry to life. Each aspect of the industry was covered for every level of practitioner, from CEO to specialist, from dean to student. At ATD 2016, with more than 10,000 of your learning colleagues from around the globe joined in Denver, CO, May 22-25, 2016, sharing best practices and insights. Attendees learned current and future trends, and found out how to apply them on the job to get results. They also learned from world-renowned thought leaders, and industry luminaries. ATD 2016 also provided the tools and resources necessary to move you and your organization forward.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016, 11AM – 12PM PST: Creating a Blueprint for Engaging Training Programs (Free for ATD members)

Organizations that leverage learning beyond traditional onboarding and compliance training reap the rewards of a more engaged, skilled, and productive workforce. Unfortunately, today’s learners are too distracted, impatient, and busy to participate in learning activities. In fact, according to research from Bersin by Deloitte, 64 percent of employees aren’t even aware of what is available in their learning management system (LMS).

Join this webcast to discover how well-thought-out content, aligned with the right LMS technology and focused on the learners’ experience, can lead to learning with real business impact. The webcast will discuss how to create a blueprint for an engaging training program:

Making it known: how the right branding and communication plan can lead to higher adoption rates and keep learners coming back for more.
Making it valuable: tips for creating engaging content that helps your learners solve problems and improve their skills.
Making it easy: with the end user in mind, learning can be created to be mobile, bite-sized, and available when and where it is needed.
Making it fun: hear examples of these strategies in action from real-world corporate universities.

Thursday, July 21, 2016, 10AM – 11AM PST: The 4-Door Approach to Effective and Engaging E-Learning Design

This rapid design approach can be applied to creating e-learning on any topic using any platform. The outcome of this approach is an online training module that is divided into four areas: The library contains the content such as reference materials and job aids, the playground contains games with closed questions, the café contains a chat area with open-ended questions, and the assessment centre contains a performance test. The participants work through any of these areas in any sequence, any number of times. Based on the self-determination theory of intrinsic motivation, this approach treats adult learners with respect and provides them with meaningful choices.

Objectives:

Prepare an outline for a 4D e-learning module by specifying the contents for the library, the games for the playground, the open questions for the cafe, and the performance test for the assessment centre.
Design an e-learning course that consists of modules created by the 4D approach.

Thursday, July 21, 2016, 10AM – 11AM PST: EY Transforms Learning by Deploying a Blended Approach

It’s not easy to design and deploy large-scale learning programs globally and consistently, whilst keeping them locally relevant. However, this was the challenge faced by the learning team supporting EY’s Audit practice, who support 63,000+ professionals in their commitment to deliver consistent high-quality audits worldwide. In addition, it was necessary to prepare their auditors even better for the fast-changing regulatory environment in which they operate.

EY’s Audit Academy uses a blended learning approach built around a series of technology-enabled simulations, and has been deployed globally with great success. The journey included establishing appropriate governance, applying neuroscience-based design principles, implementing change management processes, and measuring business impact.

Topics covered will include:

Strategy and definition.
Design and development.
Deployment and implementation.
Measurement and evaluation.

Thursday, July 21, 2016, 11AM – 12PM PST: Unleashing Learning Management: A Case Study for Launching a Performance Model of Training (Free for ATD members)

This webcast will share insights on:

Overcoming the hurdles of moving from SharePoint to a learning management system (LMS) for collaboration and learning.
Launching an LMS behind a firewall in less than 30 days.
Increasing learner capacity from 275 per year to 2,500 per year.
Transforming training from a completion model to an integrated data-driven performance model.

You’ll learn how to standardize learning across an agency with replicable content, and steps to launching a successful online program.

Tuesday, July 26, 2016, 10AM – 11AM PST: E-Learning for Newbies, Beginners and the Confused

Does reading an e-learning blog result in more questions than answers? Does reviewing descriptions of conference sessions make you wonder what language they are written in? Do acronyms such as SCORM, LMS, and LCMS make you dizzy? If so, then this session is for you. It can be challenging to understand e-learning information without a baseline of knowledge. This session is designed to give you that foundation so you can understand everything else you see, hear, and read. So bring all your questions (yes, even the ones you are afraid to ask), and get the answers you need so that all the other sessions will make sense.

For an e-learning beginner, attending a conference can be like trying to jump rope when other people are already spinning the rope very fast. In this session, we’ll set the rope down and explain all the basics in a clear, safe, and easy way.

While concurrent sessions tend to dive deeply into specific areas of the industry, this session will include a broad brush on many topics such as:

The different types of e-learning (self-paced, webinar, MOOC, etc.).
Technology used for e-learning (authoring tools, LMSs, social media, etc.).
The overall e-learning design and development process (analysis, storyboarding, media, testing, etc.).
Managing e-learning projects (timelines, costs, etc.).

Tuesday, July 26, 2016, 10AM – 11AM PST: Why Women Aren’t Leading Organizations and How to Fix It

Gender equality has long been a challenge for organizations worldwide, and in spite of awareness efforts and education, a challenging environment still exists for women in the workplace. In the 2016 Brandon Hall Group Women in Leadership Study, only 12 percent of firms said they see gender parity when it comes to executive roles, and the rest exist in various stages ranging from no female representation in the C-suite to those trying to improve their actual ratio of women executives. Also, 70 percent of companies have a C-suite that includes 25 percent or fewer women.

The survey pointed to some painful truths that organizations must face if they want to improve the position of women in leadership roles. However, it also offers some insights into how to resolve this systemic issue. During this webinar, Brandon Hall Group’s COO Rachel Cooke and Kelly Watson, Managing Partner of Orange Grove Consulting will examine the findings and lay out a path for organizations to follow to improve their standing. The bottom line is that while the current state isn’t optimistic, there are opportunities to mitigate the issue and help level the playing field for women in leadership roles across the globe.

Session highlights include:

The current landscape of gender parity in leadership roles.
How representation of women in leadership positions differs in small, mid-size, and large organizations.
What separates high-performing organizations from the rest of the pack regarding of culture and approach.
Understanding the top barriers to leadership for women.
Methods for companies to improve equity for female leaders, including training, dedicated networks, and setting quantifiable targets, providing practical training and targeted networking programs.

Wednesday, July 27, 2016, 10AM – 11AM PST: 12 Proven Strategies Your Sales Team Should Be Using to Engage, Win and Grow Customers

Expert selling strategists and “Beyond the Sales Process” authors Steve Andersen and Dave Stein reveal what decades of experience and deep research have taught them about how societal and technological changes are dramatically changing how we need to relate to and engage with our customers and every prospect differently. In this segment we learn that if we haven’t already evolved, we are already caught behind the curve! Fortunately, they also show us the strategies our sales teams need to adopt to get back out in front.

Anderson and Stein will take webinar attendees through the significant and specific changes in buying that are driving the immediate need for engaging differently with customers. They explain why these changes mean the old, rigid, take-control, fill-in-the-form, follow-the-sales-process approaches don’t work out for the long-term.

The authors share their findings from deep dives into 18 of the world’s most successful companies: What success is for them and their customers and how they have achieved it.

You’ll leave this session with 12 proven strategies as a more natural, comfortable, and effective way to engage, win, and grow with your customers.

Wednesday, July 27, 2016, 11AM – 12PM PST: Hiring for Culture Fit: Using Organizational Culture to Select the Right Employees (Free for ATD members)

Companies want productive, committed, and engaged employees. People want meaningful work in a workplace guided by values that are in sync with theirs. Candidates who are selected on the basis of culture fit—in addition to job fit—contribute faster, perform better, and stay longer with the organization. So how do you create such a workplace?

This webcast offers a fresh formula for screening for culture fit. You will learn powerful and practical tools to map your organization’s core culture and audit the alignment of your hiring practices with your culture. Build a workplace where employees understand the culture, personally connect to it, and want to live by it. Play a strategic role in your organization by managing and sustaining your organization’s valuable hidden asset: its culture. Use your unique culture to drive your organization’s success.

After this webcast, you’ll be able to:

Understand the elements of an organization’s core culture—the purpose, philosophy, and priorities.
Define the core culture of your company using the core culture interview guide.
Align your hiring practices with your core culture using the recruitment and selection alignment audit.
Implement a hiring process that sustains the culture, enhances engagement and retention, and improves the bottom line.

Wednesday, July 27, 2016, 12PM – 1PM PST: Shifting Careers: From Trainer to Curator

One of the challenges faced by trainers and instructional designers is their lack of real-world experience of the content they are trying to train people on. There is a huge gap between the knowledge and information and its application. The gap is fueled by the sheer volume, high speed and ongoing change of massive knowledge to be learned by workers.

As a consequence courses are boring, lack real-life applications, and are irrelevant. To arrest the decline in the quality of training programs, companies are shifting training efforts to curated learning. Trainers are also shifting careers from being designers and trainers to becoming curators.

Topics covered:

How to gauge your company’s readiness for curated learning.
Conduct an inventory of your trainer versus curator skills.
How to start curated learning.
Where to find the opportunities to make a shift in careers.
How to build skills and which ones create immediate impacts.
High-tech and low-tech tools for curated leaning.

Attend the webinar and obtain a virtual “sandbox” or “playground” where you can test and implement curated learning.

Thursday, July 28, 2016, 10AM – 11AM PST: Is Your Technology Keeping You Out of Compliance?

If your organization is like most, keeping your workforce in compliance with laws, regulations, and internal policies is a strategic imperative. And, while training is an important part of the puzzle, it’s one of many pieces you’ll need to put in place to build an effective workforce compliance program. Managing all of these pieces and the complexity they bring can be overwhelming without the right technology in place.

In this webinar, join David Wentworth, Principal Analyst with Brandon Hall Group, and Wendy Miller, VP of Customer Success at Compli, as they look into the complex landscape of workforce compliance and the effective tools for delivering it.

Discussion topics include:

The critical impact workforce compliance has on your organization.
Training as just one tool in your workforce compliance arsenal.
Where technology may fall short.
What goes into effective workforce compliance management.
Examples of companies using best practices.

Thursday, July 28, 2016, 10AM – 11AM PST: Managing for the Future: Millennials and Beyond (Free for ATD members)

Millennials are those born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s; they’re anywhere from 16 to 35 years old. According to The Council of Economic Advisors, they represent one-third of the total U.S. population and will shape our economy for decades to come. Millennials work differently from the generations that preceded them:

They are technology natives.
Their expectations for where and how they work are different.
How they learn is different; typical classroom settings for training may not be effective.
What motivates them is different; work and personal life aren’t as clearly separated as they used to be.
They tend to be job-hoppers.

Join this webcast and learn how all the above is affecting your workplace in more ways than you can imagine. Learn to better understand your current and future workforce and how to maximize their potential. The implications for your company will be far-reaching and long-lasting.

Thursday, July 28, 2016, 10AM – 11AM PST: Six Advantages of Agile Design for Reducing Common L&D Pain Points

You see potential in good design. You can change behaviour, drive results, decrease errors, and improve engagement. But, even the best designs are jeopardized if the process lacks the ability to support them. A great learning design driven by a flawed process can create havoc, such as:

Missed milestones.
Unnecessary burden on SMEs and reviewers.
Scope creep.
Unengaged learners.

In this webinar, you'll meet the Successive Approximation Model (SAM). Richard will share the power of using an agile, iterative process for the design and development of learner-centric experiences and uncover six agile advantages of SAM that mitigate common learning development pain points.

Learn how SAM can help:

Manage client expectations and content development.
Bring focus to designing performance-focused interactions.
Minimize the risk of delay and endless revisions.

Friday, July 29, 2016, 9AM – 10AM PST: The Changing Role of L&D in Healthcare (ATD subscriber/member content)

If you are a talent development professional in the healthcare industry, don't miss this opportunity to learn from the BEST in an interactive webcast with Jacque Burandt. Jacque leads the Center for Learning Excellence at University Health System in San Antonio, which has been the recipient of multiple ATD BEST Awards.