Org-Fitness Today!

Assessment Tool: InsightMirror360

There are lots of assessment tools on the market these days. Being in this field for almost 20 years I have certainly seen my share of assessments. The InsightMirror360 is one we have been aware of and recommending for about a year now.

360-degree feedback tools get bantered about all the time. Used properly, they can be a good tool for individuals and organizations. In my mind, these tools are great for providing developmental feedback to leaders and managers.

What I like about the Insight tool is it's ease of use--everything can be done on-line and the fact that it includes a well thought out Action Guide. I've linked a brief fact sheet (click here) on the InsightMirror360.

Click here for a review of this action guide in Government Training News.

Click here for some client testimonials. 

Please contact me if you would like more info on this assessment.

GE's Jeff Immelt Describes Growth and Leadership Development

In an article from the Wisconsin Technology Network, General Electric's CEO, Jeffery Immelt describes the new thinking for his company on growth. I want to focus on what he says about leadership development.

First, he describes the type of growth that GE is looking for is more organic or internally-generated growth. To describe this process Immelt told his top senior managers, "The business book that can help you hasn't been written yet." He then goes on to describe six areas of focus that will help drive this growth.

The sixth area is leadership development. GE studied companies such as Toyota and Dell to find out the key traits of their leaders who have been successful around innovation and growth.

The five key traits:

1. external focus
2. imagination and creativity
3. decisive, clear thinking
4. inclusiveness
5. deep domain expertise

These will be incorporated into all GE management and leadership training. Immelt even chose an area for himself to work on.

To find out which one and to read the full article, click here. What's your thoughts about this? Click on Comments to let me know.

Wait a Minute, What is Web2.0 ?

I recently mentioned Web 2.0 and it's potential impact on the workplace inside the corporate world and even for small business. Then I started to think, Web 2.0 could be one of those terms that some people clearly know what it means and other people might be in the dark about. Often times those of us who use technology as early adapters make the assumption that everyone else should know about this technology. Another example might be RSS technology. Sure RSS it bantered about all the time (it is is a Web 2.0 technology), however ask the average sales manager or HR director and they'll probably give you a funny look.

So, I did a bit of looking around and found the following links that define Web 2.0. Click here for a Wikipedia posting. The graphic at the start of this post is also from Wikipedia. If you click the graphic, it will get larger. This graphic shows many of the terms and technology that make up Web 2.0.

Click here for another take on Web 2.0.

Here's a link to an article by Pete Blacksaw where he argues the roots of Web 2.0 were really developed in Web 1.0.

So as in most things, a standard response might be; WIIFM?? Most business manager's might wonder What's In It For Me?? Connection, Communication, Sharing of Information, Customer Feedback: both positive and negative, Team Collaboration, Opportunities for Marketing and Sales, etc.

What are other reasons for corporations and small businesses to embrace this change and how can we as organizational development practitioner's (OD) help with this? Click Comments below to share your thoughts.

Web 2.0, OD, and the Shrinking World We Live In

Earlier today I came across one blog post that lead to another blog post. The subject: Organizational Development 2.0 Style on the blog, Successful Blogs by ME “Liz” Strauss. Liz is commenting on an analysis that Gautam Ghosh makes on his blog, Gautam Ghosh on Management in a post entitled, The promise of web 2.0 - True Organizational Development?

Essentially what they are talking about is how the use of Web 2.0 technology can perhaps lead to or help in the implementation of organizational development (OD) practices into the workplace. Or in other words, technology such as blogs, wiki's, and other 2.0 tools can help to connect people, improve communication, create more open and innovative work cultures, etc. We'll see...

I'm not sure a lot of U.S. companies are all that up on Web 2.0 technologies and their potential use. However one thing is for sure, the use of these tools sure make the world a smaller place. I probably would have never heard of Gautam Ghosh (though he does state he is an aspiring guru on his blog) were it not for Web 2.0 technology since he is from India. Cool tools and great to connect in today's world with similar thinkers!

Preaching to the Choir: Employee Development

For some of you, this is like "preaching to the choir" and for others it is just a reminder of what we need to be doing (or should be) with our employees. AllBusiness.com has a daily e-mail tip of the day and today's tip has to do with employee development. Titled Employee Development Is The Key to Success. Employee development has been mentioned several times by employees as the key to retention.

Here's a list of six ways to encourage employee development from the AllBusiness site:

1. Support employee development and training programs
2. Assign mentors to junior employees
3. Offer tuition reimbursement
4. Emphasize and encourage development
5. Recognize and reward employee growth
6. Promote from within

Do you offer a comprehensive employee development program? How do you encourage employee development in your organization?

Training and ROI

How valuable is the training you are providing? What kind of return are you getting for your investment? What difference does the training make in overall job performance?

These are important questions to ask and get answered. According to the 2005 ASTD (American Society of Training and Development) U.S. companies are investing heavily in training spending on average between 2 and 10 percent of revenues on corporate training or $955 per employee.

Accenture recently did a study of over 250,000 employee records and found the following in regards to workers with the most training:

• Were 17 percent more productive
• Performed at 20 percent higher levels than their peer groups
• Stayed with the company 14 percent longer

This shows training's impact to the bottom line. For the details and source of this information, click here. How does your organization measure training ROI? Click on Comments and let us know.