BLOG.TRAININGSYS.COM

I Can Hear Your Groans - Punography

tsi@trainingsys.com (Performance Improvement) — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:01:00 GMT

I changed my iPod name to Titanic. It's syncing now .

When chemists die, they Barium.

Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.

A soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.

I know a guy who's addicted to brake fluid. He says he can stop any time.

How does Moses make his tea? Hebrews it.

I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.

This girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I'd never met herbivore.

I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. I can't put it down.

They told me I had type A blood, but it was a Type- O.

PMS jokes aren't funny, period.

Why were the Indians here first? They had reservations.

Class trip to the Coca-Cola factory. I hope there's no pop quiz.

Energizer bunny arrested. Charged with battery.

I didn't like my beard at first. Then it grew on me.

How do you make holy water? Boil the hell out of it!

Did you hear about the cross eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn't control her pupils?

What does a clock do when it's hungry? It goes back four seconds.

I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me!

Broken pencils are pointless.

I tried to catch some fog. I mist.

What do you call a dinosaur with a extensive vocabulary? A thesaurus.

England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool.

I used to be a banker, but then I lost interest.

I dropped out of communism class because of lousy Marx.

All the toilets in New York's police stations have been stolen. Police have nothing to go on.

I got a job at a bakery because I kneaded dough.

Velcro - what a rip off!

Cartoonist found dead in home. Details are sketchy.

Earthquake in Washington obviously government's fault.

I used to think I was indecisive, but now I'm not so sure.

Be kind to your dentist. He has fillings, too.

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Best Practices for Communicating When Work is Being Done Remotely

tsi@trainingsys.com (Performance Improvement) — Mon, 07 May 2012 16:21:00 GMT

From our colleague Bruce Tulgan's Blog - It's OK to Be the Boss

When it comes to learning/practicing leadership OR followership, so much of what is missing in the real world is concrete solutions; real tactics; actionable best practices.

Tactics like scheduling phone calls, sending summarizing emails, and scheduling follow-up calls, sound so basic. But the basics are so often what’s missing!

If YOU are an employee working remotely from your manager, you need to talk with that manager about the ground rules for how you are going to stay in communication while working remotely.

Do not accept: ”If you have questions, just let me know.” That’s how you end up interrupting each other all the time.

Do not accept: ”Let’s just check in with each other from time to time.” That’s how you end up with pro-forma check-ins that accomplish nothing but false assurances.

Do not accept: ”I’m here if something goes wrong.” That’s how you end up interacting mostly when things are going wrong!

If YOU are managing employees working in remote locations, you need to work even harder to make sure that you are highly engaged. Make your expectations clear up front and every step of the way for how you want your remotely located employees to stay highly engaged with you. What are your ground rules for how you want your direct-reports to do their part to keep you informed of what they are doing and how they are doing it. What obstacles are getting in their way and what support and assistance do they need from you? What is changing and what is going as planned? What feedback, guidance and direction do they need from you?

When are you going to schedule the phone calls? Who is going to send the email in advance with the agenda for the call? Who is going to send the email afterward summarizing the call? How often will the follow-up calls be scheduled?

Stay strong!
Bruce Tulgan

unless otherwise noted ideas as presented are the copyright of CBT TRAINING SYSTEMS INC. For reprint permission email TSI@TRAININGSYS.com

May 2012 Fun Days to Celebrate

tsi@trainingsys.com (Performance Improvement) — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:16:00 GMT

May 2 – Baby Day & Brothers and Sisters Day
May 3 – Lumpy Rug Day & World Press Freedom Day
May 4 – Bird Day, International Tuba Day, National Candied Orange Peel Day, & Space Day
May 5 – Cinco de Mayo & National Hoagie Day
May 6 – Beverage Day, National Tourist Appreciation Day, National Nurses Day, & No Diet Day
May 7 – Astronomy Day & National Tourism Day
May 8 – Iris Day, National Teachers Day, No Socks Day, V-E Day, & World Red Cross Day
May 9 – Lost Sock Memorial Day (Let’s all take a moment of silence), National Receptionist
                Day, & School Nurses Day
May 10 – Clean up Your Room Day
May 11 – Eat What You Want Day, Military Spouses Day, & Twilight Zone Day
May 12 – Fatigue Syndrome Day, International Migratory Bird Day, International Nurses Day,
                    & Limerick Day
May 13 – Mother’s Day (Thought for the day: if evolution is true, why do mothers still only
                    have TWO arms?!), Frog Jumping Day, & Leprechaun Day
May 14 – Dance Like a Chicken Day
May 15 – National Chocolate Chip Day
May 16 – Love a Tree Day, Wear Purple for Peace Day, & National Sea Monkey Day (These
                    people do realize that sea monkeys aren’t really monkeys, right?)
May 17 – Pack Rat Day
May 18 – International Museum Day, National Bike to Work Day, No Dirty Dishes Day (Whoo-
                    hoo!!!), & Visit Your Relatives Day
May 19 – Armed Forces Day
May 20 – Be a Millionaire Day (I’m in!) & Pick Strawberries Day (Only if they’re already covered
                    in chocolate)
May 21 – National Memo Day & National Waiter's and Waitresses Day
May 23 – Lucky Penny Day
May 24 – National Escargot Day
May 26 – International Jazz Day & Sally Ride Day (Honors the first American woman to go into
                    space — no, it wasn’t Alice Kramden)
May 27 – Sun Screen Day
May 28 – Memorial Day & Amnesty International Day
May 29 – Learn About Composting Day
May 30 – Water a Flower Day
May 31 – Speak in Complete Sentences, Save Your Hearing Day, & World No Tobacco Day

May is...

National Barbecue Month
National Hamburger Month
National Salad Month
National Bike Month
National Blood Pressure Month
National Photograph Month
Older Americans Month

May 1-5 – Nurse's Week
May 7-12 – Wildflower Week
May 14-18 – National Bike Week & National Police Week

unless otherwise noted ideas as presented are the copyright of CBT TRAINING SYSTEMS INC. For reprint permission email TSI@TRAININGSYS.com

April 2012 Fun Days to Celebrate

tsi@trainingsys.com (Performance Improvement) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:01:00 GMT

April 2 – Children's Book Day, National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day, Reconciliation Day
April 3 – Don't Go to Work Unless it's Fun Day (LOTSA people staying home today!) & Tweed Day (Tweed?!)
April 4 – Hug a Newsman Day, Walk Around Things Day, School Librarian Day, & Tell a Lie Day
April 5 – Go for Broke Day
April 6 – National Walk to Work Day, Plan Your Epitaph Day (A little morbid, but if you do it while walking to work, you can kill 2 birds w/one stone! Then you’ll have to plan the birds’ epitaphs.)
April 7 – Caramel Popcorn Day, No Housework Day (Yaaaaaaaaaay!!!!), & World Health Day (Since I’m pretty sure housework will kill me one day, it’s a good day all around. Good thing I planned my epitaph yesterday!)
April 8 – Easter, All is Ours Day, Draw a Picture of a Bird Day
April 9 – Dyngus Day (A Polish Holiday. Dyngus Day is a day of fun, always celebrated on the Monday after Easter.)
April 10 – Golfer's Day & National Siblings Day
April 11 – Eight Track Tape Day, Barbershop Quartet Day, & National Submarine Day
April 12 – Big Wind Day & Russian Cosmonaut Day
April 13 – Scrabble Day
April 14 – International Moment of Laughter Day, Look up at the Sky Day, National Pecan Day, & Reach as High as You Can Day
April 15 – Rubber Eraser Day, Titanic Remembrance Day
April 16 – National Eggs Benedict Day, National Librarian Day, National Stress Awareness Day, & Patriot's Day
April 17 – Blah, Blah, Blah Day, National Cheeseball Day, Pet Owners Independence Day (So...what — let your pet fend for himself? I don’t get it?)
April 18 – International Juggler's Day (Multitasker’s can also celebrate.), Newspaper Columnists Day
April 19 – National Garlic Day & National High Five Day (No kissing, cause of garlic breath.)
April 20 – Look Alike Day & Volunteer Recognition Day
April 21 – Kindergarten Day
April 22 – Girl Scout Leader Day & National Jelly Bean Day
April 23 – National Zucchini Bread Day & Take a Chance Day
April 24 – Pig in a Blanket Day
April 25 – East Meets West Day & World Penguin Day
April 26 – Hug an Australian Day, National Pretzel Day, Richter Scale Day, & Take Your Daughter to Work Day
April 27 – Babe Ruth Day, National Prime Rib Day, & Tell a Story Day
April 28 – Great Poetry Reading Day & Kiss Your Mate Day (Better than Valentine’s Day, cause it’s non-fattening.)
April 29 – Greenery Day & National Shrimp Scampi Day
April 30 – Hairstyle Appreciation Day & National Honesty Day

April is...

National Humor Month
International Guitar Month
Keep America Beautiful Month
Lawn and Garden Month
National Poetry Month
National Pecan Month
National Welding Month
Records and Information Management Month
Stress Awareness Month
Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Weekly Celebrations:

April 2-6 – Library Week & Read a Road Map Week.
April 9-13 – Garden Week
April 16-20 – Organize Your Files Week
April 23-27 – Administrative Assistants Week & National Karaoke Week

unless otherwise noted ideas as presented are the copyright of CBT TRAINING SYSTEMS INC. For reprint permission email TSI@TRAININGSYS.com

The Instant Trainer: Quick Tips on How to Teach Others What You Know by C. Leslie Charles & Chris Clarke-Epstein

tsi@trainingsys.com (Performance Improvement) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 15:53:00 GMT

Training after training, conference after conference you have full sessions at the beginning and by the middle you have full hallways, restaurants and people who "cheked their email and now have to get back to their desk". You’ve changed your location, you changed the order of your program, you have the session topics chosen by people who always choose well known experts and still it’s the same.

What's wrong?! Could it be that those wonderful session topics are submitted by those well known experts and that they are the people designing and facilitating the learning? Yes it could! Those well known experts are experts in the content but not in helping others learn.

Suggest in your Call For Proposals that these experts plan nad devleier their training suing the books below. Or use the book as a workbook in a training session you fun for all chosen to do training for you. Or even provide them as a gift – but mail them before the training instead of after!

The Instant Trainer: Quick Tips on How to Teach Others What You Know (an oldie but a goodie) - there’s no better guide for people who have the information but not the know-how for getting that information from their brains to other people in a way those people can easily take it in. This book has lots of bullets, checklists and white space making it easy to learn from and follow the steps.

They’ll learn “instant” steps for preparing, delivering, evaluating, and fine-tuning conference sessions and presentations that will keep participants riveted and leave them smarter and more capable. This will help those well known experts with little training skills become skilled instructors in as little time as possible, no matter what size group or what kind of subject matter they’ll be working with. A really cool and unique feature is the hotline for new Instant Trainers to call with their specific questions – a “consultant in a book”!

Consider the chapters – “Identifying and Organizing Material”, “Facilitating the Learning Process”, “Delivering Your Content”, “Getting People to Participate”, “Dealing with Difficult Trainees” and “Using Audiovisuals to Improve your Presentation”

Sound too "trainerish" for experts who don't consider themselves trainers? Even the chapter you think they won’t need - “How to Know if Learning Has Happened” - helps them understand how to set learning objectives – a must before being able to tell if the learners are getting it!

Example:

“No matter how you wound up with this training assignment. The Instant Trainer will help you plan and prepare better for your training sessions, and keep you from getting too overwhelmed or intimidated by the prospect of teaching others what you know. We’ll explain what it takes to create a learning climate and how to identify your participants’ wants and needs: who they are, what they already know, what they need to know and what you can do to gain and hold their attention.

You may have been given the title trainer in an instant, but you can’t realistically become an effective trainer in an instant. You will learn, as we have, that successful trainers have made an enormous commitment of time and energy to both their subjects and their deliveries. The lessons we’ve learned from other exceptional trainers combined with our own lessons (many from the painful process of trial and error) are captured on the pages of this book. Fortunately, you ca access them in an instant! While learning from experience is great, you won’t always have time for that. Benefiting from other people’s experience saves you time and energy, and prevents anxiety.”

There are absolutely things in this book we wouldn’t want to see an experienced trainer/speaker doing (getting participation by calling on individuals by name – as opposed to making the session so fun, so interactive, so exciting that they just want to shout out ideas/answers) but we need to start great content knowledgeable people from near their comfort and current ability zone. After they are doing the things in this book comfortably then move them on to Creating Highly Interactive Training Quickly and Effectively (2000, TRAINING SYSTEMS INC).

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Quotes About Real Life (at least about my life)

tsi@trainingsys.com (Performance Improvement) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 16:35:00 GMT

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. Was learning cursive really necessary? (most of you have seen my handwriting)

6. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

7. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

8. Bad decisions make good stories.

9. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

10. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

11. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

12. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call. (I thought this was cute - but not to worry everyone, I don't do this - I only save numbers in my phone for people I want to talk to)

13. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

14. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

15. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

16. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

Thanks goes to Roger Hirschman for continuing to proivide TRAINING SYSTEMS with great poster quotes!)

unless otherwise noted ideas as presented are the copyright of CBT TRAINING SYSTEMS INC. For reprint permission email TSI@TRAININGSYS.com

Keep the Employees You Want By Understanding Jobs

tsi@trainingsys.com (Performance Improvement) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 20:36:40 GMT

Now this is a strange title for you (our readers are HR professionals, people managers and career professionals - so you understand jobs better than anyone)!

I just read an article by Marshall Goldsmith in this month's issue of Talent Management magazine. The pull quote is - "There is a new breed of professional employee, more driven and hardworking, yet more insecure than ever before."

Here's an excerpt and I know you'll want to read the whole thing -
Joanie said, "My dad didn't really like to work. He always put in the minimum number of hours, called in sick whenever possible and did just enough to keep his job. He worked in a manufacturing job and, like all the hourly employees, he was protected by the union. He had no special training or education. He didn't have to. He assumed he had the job until he retired, and he was right.

"In hindsight, even though, he didn't care much for his job, Dad had a pretty easy life. We lived in a small but nice home in a safe neighborhood in the suburbs. Dad started working fresh out of high school and he was able to retire in his early 50s. He had a great pension and health care plan that took care of him and my mom for more than 30 years afer he stopped working."

Joanie's voice changed as she talked about the life her son was confronting:
"Jared has 3 years of college and works as much overtime as he can at a huge distribution center outside of town. He's 26 yrs old and still lives at home. He doesn't have a union protecting him. He doesn't have a pension plan and the health plan is decent, not great. The way it looks now, Jared's chances of having the same home, security and benefits that my dad took for granted are slim, even if he gets married and he and his wife both work."

Joanie wanted Jared to be able to buy a house like his grandfather's, work 40 hrs per week, take 4 wks of vacation a year and have lifetime health care and pension benefits.

Here's the problem: Those jobs don't exist anymore. Read the rest of the article

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March 2012 Fun Days to Celebrate

tsi@trainingsys.com (Performance Improvement) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:27:00 GMT

March 1 – National Pig Day & Peanut Butter Lovers' Day

March 2 – Employee Appreciation Day, Read Across America Day, & National Salesperson Day

March 3 – I Want You to be Happy Day, If Pets Had Thumbs Day, & Peach Blossom Day

March 4 – Hug a GI Day

March 5 – Multiple Personality Day

March 6 – Dentist's Day & National Frozen Food Day

March 7 – National Be Heard Day

March 8 – Be Nasty Day, International Working Women's Day, & Popcorn Lover's Day

March 9 – Panic Day & Middle Name Pride Day

March 10 – International Fanny Pack Day & Check Your Batteries Day

March 11 – Johnny Appleseed Day & World Plumbing Day

March 12 – Girl Scouts Day & Plant a Flower Day

March 13 – Earmuffs Day & Ken Day (Barbie’s boyfriend gets his own day?!)

March 14 – Learn about Butterflies Day, National Potato Chip Day, Einstein’s Birthday, & National Pi Day

March 15 – Ides of March, & Dumbstruck Day

March 16 – Everything You Do is Right Day & Freedom of Information Day

March 17 – Saint Patrick's Day, National Quilting Day, & Submarine Day (The sandwich or the boat?)

March 18 – Awkward Moments Day

March 19 – Poultry Day & National Chocolate Caramel Day (...chicken with chocolate & caramel...? Nah.)

March 20 – International Earth Day & First Day of Spring

March 21 – Fragrance Day & National Common Courtesy Day

March 22 – National Goof Off Day

March 23 – National Chip & National Puppy Day (Say “Awwww!”)

March 24 – National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day

March 25 – Pecan Day & Waffle Day (Pecan waffles!)

March 26 – Make Up Your Own Holiday Day

March 27 – National "Joe" Day & Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day

March 28 – Something on a Stick Day

March 29 – National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day & Smoke and Mirrors Day

March 30 – National Doctor's Day & I Am in Control Day & Take a Walk in the Park Day & Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side Day

March 31 – Bunsen Burner Day & National Clam on the Half Shell Day

March is...

Employee Spirit Month

Irish American Month

Music in Our Schools Month

National Frozen Food Month

National March Into Literacy Month

National Nutrition Month

National Peanut Month

National Women's History Month

Poetry Month

Red Cross Month

March 1-8 – National Ghostwriters Week & National Write A Letter of Appreciation Week

March 5-9 – Newspaper in Education Week

March 8-11 – World Rattlesnake Round-up (They even have a Miss Snake Charmer Pageant!)

March 19-24 – American Chocolate Week

unless otherwise noted ideas as presented are the copyright of CBT TRAINING SYSTEMS INC. For reprint permission email TSI@TRAININGSYS.com

Dinner with a Perfect Stranger by David Gregory

tsi@trainingsys.com (Performance Improvement) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:00:00 GMT

Carolyn B. Thompson, President, TRAINING SYSTEMS INC, just finished reading:

How Incredible Would This Be - Having Dinner With Jesus!
Jesus explains the difference between Heaven and eternal life. He explains why you can be in relationship with God and still be doing poorly. And much more.

So what?, you say. I've read plenty of books that explain these things. Ah, but this is written as a story with dialogue, humor and detailed descriptions of the people, the restaurant, the food - and we all know how much easier that is to understand than theory!

My Initial Reaction to the Book

I am not interested in books that try to prove that Christ existed and the questions the man having dinner with Jesus asked weren't the ones I would have.

Why I Liked the Book Anyway

The idea of having a meal with my friend Jesus (I love food and eating together is so intimate) and being able to ask Him anything is really, really appealing. To be in His bodily presence is a dream come true for me.

My Favorite Parts

The man at dinner said "the answers you've given me, why haven't I heard these things before?". Jesus replied that church hierarchies crowd out the truth. My favorite line from the man - "If this is what Chistianity is all about, why doesn't the church say it?"

And finally, His explanation of why He died for our sins is the only one I've every really understood. Since this is the centerpiece of the Christian faith it was a crucial read for me.

unless otherwise noted ideas as presented are the copyright of CBT TRAINING SYSTEMS INC. For reprint permission email TSI@TRAININGSYS.com

Easy Ways to Get Started Using Social Media in Your Recruitment Plan

tsi@trainingsys.com (Performance Improvement) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:26:00 GMT

"Facebook is becoming increasingly important to our recruitment efforts," says Steffen Harting, European recruitment marketing lead for Accenture, based in Palo Alto, Calif. "A lot of the people we want to reach, especially college seniors and graduate students, spend hours each day on Facebook. So that's where our recruiters want to be as well." Accenture currently receives about 3,000 resumes a month from people who first accessed the company using Facebook.

Some Facebook Strategies to Consider

Harting says Accenture has 30 career pages on Facebook, all of which both promote the company as a nice place to work and list specific job postings. Many people share job postings with friends they feel would be interested in them, he says, adding that referrals from Facebook friends tend to be highly trusted. "Things tend to move along more smoothly when the referrer and candidate can do everything without leaving Facebook," Harting says.

Vineland, N.J.-based Louis P. Kadetsky, managing director of KGTiger, which provides services to help corporate recruiters, describes three levels of involvement in Facebook that corporations can engage in.

The first is simple brand identity. Create a Facebook "work for us" company page that describes, in general, the benefits of working for the company and the types of positions the company is looking to fill.

While this may closely resemble similar pages on the corporate website, when Facebook users "Like" the site, any new material will appear on their newsfeed and be visible to their friends. "You get the advantage of spreading your brand well beyond the person who landed on your page. And because the person 'Liked' your page, you get the benefit of an implicit recommendation," says Kadetsky.

The second level is to post specific jobs on Facebook. To ease the burden of posting and updating many listings, he says, most companies opt to only post jobs that are either difficult to fill or will most likely appeal to Facebook's younger demographic. New Facebook apps that automate the process of posting jobs, however, are beginning to encourage companies to post more of their jobs -- sometimes all of them -- on Facebook.

The third level is to target specific types of people by joining Facebook groups. This allows recruiters to engage directly with people who have the needed skills. Kadetsky points out that participating in group discussions is much more efficient than one-on-one telephone calls. "Recruiters can reach a lot of people in a single posting," he says.

One potential advantage of Facebook over corporate career websites is that visitors may not only communicate with corporate recruiters but also with current employees, who tend to be more trusted resources.

Kevin Wheeler, president of The Future of Talent Institute acknowledges that security-conscious organizations may limit employee access to social media in order to prevent possible leakage of sensitive information. "Companies naturally want control over what their employees say on Facebook. But if you have too much control -- if there are no even-slightly-negative comments from employees -- Facebook users won't trust them," Wheeler says.

Finally, he says, prospective applicants should "have a realistic picture of what it's like to work at your company." For example, if programmers sometimes work 10 hours a day when a new system is installed or may be called in at 3 a.m. to fix bugs, those are not things you'd want to hide from candidates.

While Facebook may not be completely ready for prime time when it comes to job postings and recruitment features, a number of companies are developing add-on applications aimed at improving Facebook recruitment functionality.

In fact, Facebook add-ons can render the social medium more like LinkedIn, combining the benefits of the Facebook demographic with more professional profiles. Avery Block, social engagement and brand champion for Taco Bell in Irvine, Calif., says her company has 58,000 fans of its career Facebook page (separate from its consumer page).

She also uses LinkedIn. But, she says, for any position from general manager on down, "most people we recruit are millennials who are much more likely to be on Facebook rather than LinkedIn."

The downside to Facebook is that most users' profiles have skimpy professional information, if any. So Block is now testing BeKnown from Maynard, Mass-based Monster.

BeKnown allows users to create professional profiles that are separate from their regular Facebook profiles. "Sure," says Block, "anyone can put their professional profile on LinkedIn. But with BeKnown, the interface is familiar since it's the same as Facebook's. When people use it, they don't even think of themselves as moving off of Facebook -- and, actually, they aren't."

In addition, BeKnown can automatically post on Facebook jobs from a client's corporate career website or from their Monster listing, let recruiters know which of the company's employees are friends of the people the recruiter would like to contact, and can interface seamlessly with most applications the company has licensed from Monster.

Another Facebook add-on, RecruiterConnect, now being tested by BranchOut in San Francisco, allows corporate recruiters to search the databases of Facebook users who place their information on BranchOut (the company's original Facebook application, which goes by the same name as the company). When recruiters contact BranchOut users about a job listing, they can opt to reject it, or pass it on to their Facebook friends with a single click.

Work For Us, one of the first job apps on Facebook, eases the process of creating a Facebook career site by, among other things, automatically displaying career-site job postings on Facebook.

A new feature, Smart Share, will recommend to Work For Us users friends who might be interested in a job based on the friend's Facebook profile.

Before using Work For Us, Accenture recruiters could only take the time to post the most difficult-to-fill or demographically appropriate job listings on Facebook.

"Anyone who wanted to see all of our available positions had to move from our Facebook page to our career site, and we've found that many people didn't do that," Harting says. Now that all jobs are automatically posted on Facebook, he adds, more people at least look at the listings

What about LinkedIn?

According to its website, LinkedIn has 120 million users, which makes it the largest professional network on the web. And while its membership is only one-sixth that of Facebook, virtually all its members are there to publicize their professional and academic information for the purpose of advancing their careers, so LinkedIn profiles very often have much more comprehensive job and educational histories than do Facebook profiles.

For recruiters looking for a specific, hard-to-find skill, a LinkedIn search is likely to be more fruitful than a Facebook one. And people are more amenable to being contacted about a job on LinkedIn than they are on Facebook.

There is also a bit of a generational gap between LinkedIn and Facebook. Harting and others find that, for high-level executive positions -- those that tend to be filled with people over 40 years old -- LinkedIn is better. On the other hand, he says, many college students or recent graduates on Facebook are either not on LinkedIn or have virtually no information there that they do not also have on Facebook.

Kadetsky believes Facebook has the potential to become a more powerful recruiting tool than LinkedIn primarily because of its numerical advantage, but also because of what he calls its "warm and fuzzy atmosphere."

"People," he says, "are much more willing to discuss things informally on Facebook. A recruiter who contacts someone at a Facebook group can have a light discussion about the company and suggest a visit to the company's career site. Discussions initiated through LinkedIn tend to be more formal. So unless someone is actively looking for a job, [he or she] may not want to pursue the discussion there," he says.

"We see value to utilizing both as part of our employer brand and recruitment strategy," says Jenny DeVaughn, manager of social media and employment branding at Houston-based Waste Management Inc. More people who visit her company's career website, she says, got there through the company's Facebook page(s) rather than through LinkedIn.

Portions from the November 2011 article in HR Executive

unless otherwise noted ideas as presented are the copyright of CBT TRAINING SYSTEMS INC. For reprint permission email TSI@TRAININGSYS.com

February 2012 Fun Days to Celebrate

tsi@trainingsys.com (Performance Improvement) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:58:26 GMT

We've just added a new feature -
ideas for how to celebrate - click on the links!
February 1 – National Freedom Day, Skippy Peanut Butter Birthday (My favorite!) & Bubble Gum Day

February 2 – Ground Hog Day, Self Renewal Day, & Wear Red Day

February 3 – National Carrot Day & Halfway Point of Winter

February 4 – National Stuffed Mushroom Day & Thank a Mailman Day

February 5 – Super Bowl Sunday, & National Popcorn Day

February 6 – Pay a Compliment Day & National Frozen Yogurt Day

February 7 – Wave All Your Fingers at Your Neighbors Day
February 8 – Leadership Success Day & Kite Flying Day (In the middle of Winter!?!)

February 9 – National Bagels and Lox Day & Toothache Day (From eating all those hard bagels!)

February 10 – Umbrella Day

February 11 – Don't Cry over Spilled Milk Day, Make a Friend Day, & White T-Shirt Day

February 12 – National Lost Penny Day, Abraham Lincoln's Birthday, & Plum Pudding Day

February 13 – Clean Out Your Computer Day

February 14 – Valentine's Day

February 15 – National Gumdrop Day

February 16 – Do a Grouch a Favor Day & National Almond Day

February 17 – World Human Spirit Day & Random Acts of Kindness Day

February 18 – National Crab Stuffed Flounder Day (Red Lobster, here we come!)

February 20 – Hoodie Hoo Day (Go out at noon, wave your hands over your head and yell "Hoodie-Hoo"! It’s supposed to chase winter away. Hey, it couldn’t hurt!)

February 21 – National Sticky Bun Day & Love Your Pet Day

February 22 – Mardi Gras & Paczki Day (Fat Tuesday)

February 24 – National Tortilla Chip Day

February 26 – National Pistachio Day

February 27 – Polar Bear Day

February 29 – Leap Day (Last one for another 4 years, so enjoy!)

February is...

American Heart Month

Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month

Black History Month

Great American Pie Month

National Cherry Month

National Grapefruit Month

National Time Management Month

Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month

February 5-11 – International Coaching Week & International Networking Week

February 8-14 – 34th Annual Love May Make the World Go 'Round, But Laughter Keeps Us from Getting Dizzy Week (This week is dedicated to Victor Borge’s belief that “Laughter is the shortest distance between two people” and Joel Goodman’s belief that “Seven days without laughter makes one weak.”)

February 20-28 – Random Acts of Kindness Week

February 26- March 2 – Telecommuter Appreciation Week

unless otherwise noted ideas as presented are the copyright of CBT TRAINING SYSTEMS INC. For reprint permission email TSI@TRAININGSYS.com

January 2012 Fun Days to Celebrate

tsi@trainingsys.com (Performance Improvement) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 01:39:09 GMT

January 4 – Pop Music Chart Day, Trivia Day, & World Hypnotism Day

January 5 – Bird Day

January 7 – National Tempura Day & I’m Not Going to Take It Anymore Day

January 8 – Argyle Day (At least wear the socks!), Bubble Bath Day, & National English Toffee Day

January 9 - Dance Day & National Clean Off Your Desk Day

January 10 - United Nations Day & National Cut Your Energy Costs Day

January 11 – Cigarettes Are Hazardous to Your Health Day

January 13 – Friday the 13^th, Rubber Duckie Day, Blame Someone Else Day

January 14 - Dress Up Your Pet Day

January 15 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day & Strawberry Ice Cream Day

January 16 – Appreciate A Dragon Day & Robert E. Lee Day (Not saying anything about ole General Lee…)

January 17 – Rid the World of Fad Diets & Gimmicks Day

January 18 – Winnie the Pooh Day (Oh, bother!)

January 19 - National Popcorn Day

January 20 - Cheese Day & Penguin Awareness Day (Watch “Happy Feet”.)

January 21 - National Hugging Day & Squirrel Appreciation Day (…so…hug a squirrel…?)

January 22 - Celebration of Life Day

January 23 - Measure Your Feet Day (Why!?)& Pie Day (Not to be confused with Pi Day in March.)

January 24 - Compliment Day & Peanut Butter Day (My, your peanut butter is delicious!)

January 25 - Opposite Day (I love this day . . . or do I?)

January 26 - Fun at Work Day

January 27 - Chocolate Cake Day & Punch the Clock Day

January 28 - Blueberry Pancake Day & International Make Your Point Day

January 29 - Puzzle Day

January 30 - National Inane Answering Message Day (Now, this sounds like FUN!)

January is...

National Get Organized Month (Hope springs eternal!)

National Clean-Up Your Computer Month

National Mail-Order Gardening Month

National Hot Tea Month

National Polka Music Month

Soup Month

Mentoring Month

Reach Your Potential Month

Celebration of Life Month

Financial Wellness Month

Thyroid Awareness Month (Helpful site: http://thyroid.about.com/)

January 1-7 - Diet Resolution Week (‘cause that’s about how long a diet resolution lasts!), Women's Self Empowerment Week, & Home Office Safety & Security Week

January 8-14 - Pizza Week (immediately after Diet Week – hmmm)

January 11-17 – Cuckoo Dancing Week

unless otherwise noted ideas as presented are the copyright of CBT TRAINING SYSTEMS INC. For reprint permission email TSI@TRAININGSYS.com

Love Food & Live Well by Chantel Hobbs

tsi@trainingsys.com (Performance Improvement) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:47:00 GMT

Carolyn B. Thompson, President, TRAINING SYSTEMS INC, just finished reading:Just reading the Acknowledgements I loved Chantel already! She has a heart for others that was given to her by a loving God. Because of this she wants to connect with people and when you read you feel like she's siting next to you talking.

She says the way to live well through eating is:

surrender the pain of food being the enemy to God every day
eat clean (foods that give the maximum energy w/reasonable calorie count) 80% of each day and 20% eat whatever you want (even if you think it's bad for you) - doing this daily is the key (as opposed to 80% being weekdays and 20% being weekends) so you don't feel unhappy w/yourself for overeating and deprived for many days while eating clean
believe that exercise is to live, just like food is

She gives lots of personal examples during her own work to recover a healthy love relationsip with food (and subsequent weight loss) and, refreshingly, many specific descriptions of how different foods provide maximum energy and why.

unless otherwise noted ideas as presented are the copyright of CBT TRAINING SYSTEMS INC. For reprint permission email TSI@TRAININGSYS.com

How to Maintain Training After a Financial Meltdown

tsi@trainingsys.com (Performance Improvement) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 20:13:00 GMT

SunTrust Banks Chief Learning Officer Mary Slaughter helped guide the company out of the financial meltdown with a better sense of itself and its industry.

"We've been, as an industry, swimming in a sea of ambiguity and uncertainty, unbelievable levels of public and regulatory scrutiny, and some fundamentally bad press where the image of the industry is not positive," Slaughter said. "The impact that that has on leaders is unbelievable."

SunTrust’s response to this crisis has been a renewed push toward leadership development centered on gaining an outside perspective on the nature of such a challenging situation. "We’ll bring in analysts from Goldman Sachs to talk to us about how we are viewed [and] how our competitors are viewed, to have some financial sense of that from an analyst’s perspective," Slaughter said. "We’ll bring large clients in to have conversations with us. We’ll bring CEOs of other companies in to talk to our leadership team about when they’ve found themselves dealing with really challenging times, where perhaps public confidence has been shaken."

SunTrust also has reviewed its learning and development efforts related to risk and credit. According to Slaughter, SunTrust as an institution has always prided itself on being conservative relative to credit risk, managing its portfolio closely. But faced with a whole new definition of risk and how to mitigate and manage it, the bank has revisited its competency models, best practices and compensation plans on risk management processes such as evaluating creditworthiness and underwriting. "[It’s] helping people really understand [risk management] at a level that we thought we were already good at, but the market dynamics have forced us to be even better and smarter and ask ourselves what were we not doing that we should have been doing," she said.

And Slaughter arrived in the midst of financial meltdown. In her first 100 days she assessed the state of learning in the company and reported on it to the company’s president and CEO. She told them: "It’s as if someone put a pause button on learning and development in the corporation for the last eight to 10 years. If this had been 10 years ago and you had asked me to come in and assess where you are, I would tell you [that] you were going great guns. But what’s happened is the marketplace had moved on, best practices have moved on, and you have not."

SunTrust’s senior leadership was determined to increase its L&D efforts. William H. Rogers Jr., president of SunTrust Banks Inc. said, "SunTrust has made investment in learning and development a business imperative," Rogers said. "The past few years have brought unprecedented change to our industry, and we are positioned to take advantage of some of the most exciting and challenging opportunities that I’ve seen in my career — all of which require a focus on preparing our teammates to be better than the competition."

So what has SunTrust done toward that end?
1st - it's selected a new LMS supplier, with plans to roll this out in 2011, increasing the technology-based learning delivery choices available to SunTrust University.

2nd - it's revisited its client-facing curriculum. "We’ve done it in a way that for the first time ever in the history of the company, it was actually a decision process that crossed over multiple business units," Slaughter said, explaining that in the past, retail banking, commercial banking, and private wealth and mortgage management training within the company were handled separately. "So as a client, you might go in and experience a certain style, flavor, methodology or approach in one line of business but feel something entirely different in another. The whole sales enablement in aligning our behaviors with what we want to demonstrate in the marketplace was huge for us."

3rd - SunTrust revamped its leadership development. "All ships rise at high tide," Slaughter said. "When you’re doing really well, you have the sense that your leadership is probably doing really well, too. We needed to stop and think about how we were enabling leaders in the company." SunTrust did just that, quadrupling its investment in leadership development, partnering with Emory University to launch a three-week program for the top 150 leaders in the company.

4th - SunTrust reapproached employee engagement, in particular looking at tuition assistance as a way to accomplish this. "We had tuition reminbursement but it wasn't part of a strategy, ie 'why do we have that, what does that mean for us, and what are we enabling?’. So we’re re-engineering that under the umbrella of teammate engagement."

Next step - will be tackling best practices within SunTrust, with a mind toward getting business leaders involved in the process. "Right now, I do a lot of that work myself and then bring things forward to people," she said. "That’s OK, because the business is so focused on restoring itself in the marketplace. But one of the bigger issues for me is to engage the leadership in the best-practices thinking so that they can help me formulate strategies. That’s where we’re going to start having conversations about things like mobile learning or around what we want to do in terms of our approach to social networking. I would rather do things with the leadership of the company [than] to the leadership of the company. I actually want to get them further upstream in helping me define the priorities and requirements for the business in a much more strategic way."

excerpted from Profile article "Risky Business" by Daniel Margolis, September 2010

unless otherwise noted ideas as presented are the copyright of CBT TRAINING SYSTEMS INC. For reprint permission email TSI@TRAININGSYS.com

New Poster Quotes From Our Friends!

tsi@trainingsys.com (Performance Improvement) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:11:54 GMT

Never argue with an idiot. He'll drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on my list.

Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.

We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

Evening news is where they begin with 'Good Evening,' and then proceed to tell you why it isn't.

To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.

I thought I wanted a career. Turns out I just wanted paychecks.

Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says, 'In case of emergency, notify:' I put 'DOCTOR.'

I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.

I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn't work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.

You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.

Money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.

I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not so sure.

You're never too old to learn something stupid.

To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

Hospitality is making your guests feel at home even when you wish they were.

When tempted to fight fire with fire, remember that the Fire Department usually uses water.

unless otherwise noted ideas as presented are the copyright of CBT TRAINING SYSTEMS INC. For reprint permission email TSI@TRAININGSYS.com

December 2011 Fun Days to Celebrate

tsi@trainingsys.com (Performance Improvement) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 20:44:30 GMT

December 1 – Eat A Red Apple Day (Apple trivia: The science of growing apples is called pomology.)
December 2 – National Fritters Day, Special Education Day, & National Mutt Day
December 3 – Earmuff Day
December 4 – National Cookie Day & Wear Brown Shoes Day
December 5 – Bathtub Party Day & International Ninja Day (Ninjas in bathtubs — now THAT’s a party!)
December 6 – National Pawnbrokers Day & St. Nicholas Day (Another day for presents! Traditionally, gifts left in children's shoes.)
December 7 – National Pearl Harbor Day & National Cotton Candy Day
December 8 – National Brownie Day & Take it in the Ear Day (Pretty sure brownies are better by mouth.)
December 9 – International Anti-corruption Day (Boy, I wish the people in our government would honor this just for 1 day!)
December 10 – Human Rights Day, Day of the Horse, International Shareware Day, Nobel Prize Day, & Dewey Decimal System Day
December 11 – Worldwide Candle Lighting Day & International Children's Day (Light a candle for all the children who have no one to love them.)
December 12 – Poinsettia Day
December 14 – Monkey Day (. . . eat a banana. . .?)
December 15 – Bill of Rights Day & Cat Herder Day (Look up "cowboys herding cats" on YouTube – it’s hilarious!)
December 16 – Barbie and Barney Backlash Day & National Chocolate-covered Anything Day (hmmm...chocolate covered Barney, anyone?)
December 17 – Maple Syrup Day & Wright Brothers Day
December 18 – Bake Cookies Day & National Roast Suckling Pig Day
December 20 – Hanukkah begins
December 21 – Humbug Day & World Peace Day (These two don’t seem to go together, do they?)
December 22 – Winter Solstice
December 23 – Festivus (Seinfeld fans, all together now: "It’s a Festivus, for the rest of us!")
December 24 – Christmas Eve
December 25 – Christmas & A’Phabet or No "L" Day
December 27 – Make Cut Out Snowflakes Day & National Fruitcake Day
December 28 – Pledge of Allegiance Day
December 29 – National Chocolate Day
December 30 – Falling Needles Family Fest Day
December 31 – New Years Eve, Make Up Your Mind Day, & No Interruptions Day

December is...National Drunk & Drugged Driving (3D) Prevention Month

National Write a Business Plan Month

National Tie Month

Spiritual Literacy Month

Universal Human Rights Month

World Aids Month

Bingo’s Birthday Month

Write a Friend Month

Quince and Watermelon Month

Root Vegetables and Exotic Fruits Month

Tomato and Winter Squash Month

(Put these all together, bet they’d make an interesting stew!)

unless otherwise noted ideas as presented are the copyright of CBT TRAINING SYSTEMS INC. For reprint permission email TSI@TRAININGSYS.com

What is Social Capital Analysis & What is it Doing For Organizations?

tsi@trainingsys.com (Performance Improvement) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:02:02 GMT

What is the one tool that is likely to change how we approach HR and OD strategy in the future? I believe it is likely to be Social Capital Analysis. By focusing on the trust connections within organizations, HR and OD professionals can improve outcomes of their initiatives in such areas as succession planning/leadership development, onboarding, change management, employee engagement, and mergers and acquisitions, just to name a few.

I know that this is late notice for a rather high-ticket training opportunity, but if you are interested in cutting-edge tools, have some extra dollars in your training budget, and are open Dec 5 – 7 in Louisville, KY or Dec 7 – 9 in Lexington, KY, this could be the most important opportunity of your career!

If you’re not familiar with Dr. Karen Stephenson’s work - here are the highlights from a SHRM retreat and article on how Social Capital Analysis has helped organizations in aligning their HR and OD strategies to move organizations forward.

What can you learn in Social Capital Analysis Certification Training? Why go now? Our Associate Cathy Fyock says:

There will likely not be another Social Capital Analysis Certification Training for several months. And, unless you’re on the west coast, this could be the closest training opportunity until late in 2012.

If you participate in the training and decide to do an analysis in your firm in 2012, the cost for the survey will be discounted. Also, if you sign up for a 3 year contract, the entire cost of your training will be credited toward the investment of the survey.
You’ll be able to spread your investment for training and the surveys over budgets for 2011 and 2012!
Whomever attends the training will be well prepared to understand exactly how the analysis can be used given the specific issues you are currently facing at your organization. By having a trained and certified individual internally you will be able to leverage that knowledge and better use the tool to solve your unique issues and challenges.
The training in Kentucky will be facilitated by the pioneer in Social Capital Analysis herself - Dr. Karen Stephenson.
You’ll have the benefit of an intimate learning environment since the training is limited to 10 people per certification cohort. You’ll receive lots of one-on-one input directly from Dr. Stephenson.
Thie training has been officially approved for 18 Strategic Credit Hours through HRCI!

For more information, please email Cathy Fyock at cathy@hannaresource.com or call her at 502-445-6539.

unless otherwise noted ideas as presented are the copyright of CBT TRAINING SYSTEMS INC. For reprint permission email TSI@TRAININGSYS.com

More Than 1/2 of US Employees Disatisfied with Their Jobs

tsi@trainingsys.com (Performance Improvement) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 19:48:58 GMT

32% of US workers were seriously considering leaving their organizations, up from 23% in 2005, according to the result of Mercer's What's Working survey in June 2011. Meanwhile 21% of employees were not looking to leave but viewed their employers unfavorably and had rock-bottom scores on engagement which, obviously reflects things like diminished loyalty, commitment and motivation.

Not surprisingly, the youngest workers were most likely to be eyeing departure: 40% of employees 25 - 34 years old and 44% of employees 24 and younger were thinking about leaving.

I've been reading articles that say the predictions of workers leaving (upwards of 50%) as soon as the recession lifted are apparently not coming true. Maybe people are still scared - but the alternative is that people staying! I remember a boss, years ago saying that people staying for a long time wasn't a good thing. I've watch this phenomena for years as a people manager, HR professional and as an employee myself. They just get tired of their boss, their co-workers, their customers, their tasks, their workspace. Even if they get incented, even if they move to a different workspace, even if they get promoted - most of us just need a change in order to stay engaged.

Do we need to help those people leave for a job in another organization? Do we need to find out what they can do in our organization and hope that that move/change is enough? What innovative ways have you seen to create engagement in people who've lost theirs?

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World's Coolest Office Contest

tsi@trainingsys.com (Performance Improvement) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 20:39:43 GMT

The World's Coolest Office contest is an annual contest run by Inc Magazine. Check out last year's winners, with pics!

Enter your organization - www.inc.com/worlds-coolest-offices

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November 2011 Fun Days to Celebrate

tsi@trainingsys.com (Performance Improvement) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 04:52:10 GMT

November 2 - National Deviled Eggs Day
November 3 - Cliche Day & (strangely enough) National Men Make Dinner Day
November 4 – Use Your Common Sense Day
November 7 – International Tongue Twister Day
November 8 – Election Day
November 9 - National Chaos Never Dies Day (what? at my office?..noooo)
November 11 – Veterans Day
November 12 - National Pizza With The Works Except Anchovies Day (who eats those things?)
November 13 – World Kindness Day
November 14 – Loosen Up, Lighten Up Day & Spirit of National Speakers Association Day
November 15 – America Recycles Day & National Bundt Pan Day & I Love to Write Day
November 19 – Use Less Stuff Day
November 20 – Name Your PC Day & National Absurdity Day (no comment needed)
November 21 - World Hello Day
November 23 – Fibonacci Day (it’s on November 23 because the first numbers of the Fibonacci Series are 1, 1, 2, 3. The Fibonacci sequence adds the previous 2 numbers to get the third. If you’re into math, do a little discovering of your own on Fibonacci numbers.)
November 24 – Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day & MADD’s Tie One On Day
November 24 – Thanksgiving Day
November 30 - Computer Security Day

unless otherwise noted ideas as presented are the copyright of CBT TRAINING SYSTEMS INC. For reprint permission email TSI@TRAININGSYS.com