Human Capital Investment

With 77 million baby boomers preparing to retire in the near future, and only 44 million Gen X'ers to fill the leadership void, the organizations that effectively and purposefully collect, utilize, and disseminate the tacit knowledge — know-how, beliefs, and experiences — of their workers will be more effective at achieving their organization missions. Learn how tacit knowledge cultivation and enablement are part of the leadership of knowledge.

Experience, also known as informal learning, accounts for 70 percent of the knowledge we bring into our careers. The remaining 30 percent is comprised of our training and education - formal learning. The challenge for CLOs is how to integrate the convenience and flexibility of informal learning with the expert-selected content and measurement value of formal learning - targeting our learning investments and taking advantage of the full potential of both.

Learn how to isolate the business impact of your human capital investments and apply analytics and key measurement steps to implement in your organization today! Learn how an array of Fortune 500^® companies have used proven methodologies to measure the impact of learning and development investments to take their intelligent talent strategies to the next level - Optimization.

In addition to downloading a PDF of the presentation below, you can watch the video.

Organizations have a strong need for better skills to make analytic decisions on human capital issues. Learn about the three types of data and analysis that can be conducted to empower HR professionals with the data they need to support their decision making as well as the changes in structure and work design organizations must undergo for these decisions to be effective and sustainable.

With an informal, user-generated approach to developing content for learning, Sun Microsystems has created a delivery platform, the Sun Learning eXchange (SLX), that delivers timelier, quality content with drastically less expense than instructor-led and web-based training. The development costs are so much lower for SLX, the ROI versus web-based training is 7,505 percent. As impressive as that is, perhaps most encouraging about this new delivery platform is the high, and growing rate of user acceptance.

Even as the feverish cost cutting that accompanied the recent financial meltdown has subsided, the call to arms with regard to corporate learning programs remains the same: Innovation. Specifically, innovation in terms of rethinking outdated notions of learning interventions as "soft costs." Learning can be measured in dollars, and innovation is the key to accomplishing this shift in perception.

For Chrysler, and all auto brands, a dealership selling one or two extra cars a month can make the difference between running a business or closing one. The Sales Manager Training program at Chrysler Academy has produced staggering ROI and gross profit margins at dealerships employing the program.

As appeared in the May 2010 issue of Chief Learning Officer

Human capital, a company's talent, is the only resource that provides the organization knowledge, ideas, and relationships. Strategic focus on internal talent creates a human capital advantage over competitors, but in order to do so, HR executives and other business leaders must create a measurable model that links human capital to business goals.

Human capital investments are the best corporate investment today. Learn how to get a 270% ROI on your training investments, how to expand funding for corporate learning investments, and more from Lab experts and Corporate Learning Leaders from ConAgra Foods, Mutual of Omaha, and ACI Worldwide, Inc.

Since its founding in 1982, Sun Microsystems has weathered multiple rounds of broader economic boom and bust. The latest downturn prompted an overhaul of their long-standing New Director Training program. The results of this overhaul drive home the dire need for investments in human capital regardless of the current economic temperature.

For innovation to become an enterprise's cultural norm, it must begin at the top. It is the learning leaders' responsibility to make a more compelling case to leadership that investing in human capital feeds innovation - creating value and a positive business impact.

Office politics are an all too common reality negatively impacting the work environment, impeding business objectives and wasting resources. Recent research, however, has drawn surprising conclusions regarding the degree to which engaging in politics, and traits such as altruism, correspond to the pace of one's advancement.

Today, companies have more cash assets than at any time in the past 40 years, notes The Wall Street Journal. What are scarce are good, measurable alternatives that can use these stockpiled financial resources to create value for an organization, in particular, human capital investments. To be successful in the post-economic recovery era, learning leaders need to advocate for the necessity of skilled leaders - over cash reserves - as part of their strategic planning.

For too long, HR managers and learning leaders have operated in isolated silos. Now, these two departments are tasked with working together to discover new pathways that accelerate both learning and the favorable impact of this human capital investment upon the organization. It will require innovation and energy to blend theoretical knowledge gained by way of higher education with tacit knowledge acquired through an organization's employee learning programs.

Your company's tuition reimbursement program may provide benefits beyond your expectations. Discover how Bellevue University's Human Capital Lab researched Mutual of Omaha's tuition reimbursement program, finding a positive impact on employee skill levels, loyalty, retention, and the organization's long-term strategic value.

Social learning environments create value by addressing real business challenges. Social learning programs are cost effective and accessible to diverse workforces enabling employees to learn faster, build informal groups that share knowledge, and customize their learning, which, when combined can immediately impact business results. View case studies from MillerCoors, Cisco, and others.

Social learning environments create value by addressing real business challenges. Social learning programs are cost effective and accessible to diverse workforces enabling employees to learn faster, build informal groups that share knowledge, and customize their learning, which, when combined can immediately impact business results. View case studies from MillerCoors, Cisco, and others.

Despite a tough economy, organizations can function effectively, by tying human capital investments into the company's KPIs and strategic goals. The newly published results of an HR practitioner series provide talent management best practices, from mentoring and succession planning to retention and re-recruiting that can be implemented now.

Using the power of statistics to isolate the ROI and impact of human capital interventions takes measurement strategies to the next level – optimization. Mutual of Omaha, Sun Microsystems and Chrysler leverage predictive analytics to answer tough questions: Are my investments improving some KPIs and not others? Are they more effective with certain delivery methods? Are they benefiting some employees more than others? Are they helping to retain some employees and not others? Asking – and quantifiably answering – questions like these empowers learning leaders to make informed human capital investment decisions.

Organizations cannot compete effectively - at least for long - without aligning their people with results and measuring business impact.  And yet the decision-making processes for optimizing the people side of the business remain rudimentary in most organizations, often amounting to little more than guesswork and gut feel. When critical human capital decisions are made without the benefit of analytics, it’s a disservice to the organization and its shareholders.

As human resource management activities become increasingly aligned with business functions, HR professionals must take a proactive LAMP (Logic, Analytics, Measures, Processes) approach to integrate human capital into strategy design, implementation, and measurement. This approach may be a big paradigm shift for some organizations but provides the human capital business impact and competitive advantages that companies seek.

Over the course of seven years, Mutual of Omaha supported employees completing more than 20,000 credit hours, begging the question: Do employees reinvest in an organization when they utilize an employer-sponsored tuition reimbursement program? Mutual of Omaha found that, even in a time of reorganization, employees who participated in a tuition reimbursement program experienced more positive job mobility and were more likely to be retained than non-participants.

While industry reports indicate that corporate tuition assistance programs have not experienced major cuts despite the uncertain economy, John Zappa, Senior Vice President of Learning Services at the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), encourages learning leaders to take action now. Zappa provides steps to ways to optimize your current program, and position tuition reimbursement as a part of your overall talent strategy.

Bersin & Associates estimates that 2008 training expenditures were 11 percent below 2007 levels. Although funds to develop future leaders are shrinking, tuition assistance continues to be funded, but is managed under “benign neglect.” While most organizations are struggling to make tuition assistance a strategic investment, a few, such as Verizon Wireless and The Home Depot, have gone beyond best practices to true breakthrough. – Chief Learning Officer, June 2009

It’s no secret that corporations’ investment in human capital is a key indicator of their success. Yet, the value of that investment and how it is shown, resourced, and leveraged remains a mystery for many training professionals. Jennifer A. Murnane, Ph.D., Assistant Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Bellevue University and Nancy Maresh, Founder of Brains at Work make the case for new methods and measurements, tactics, and strategies for leveraging value in a global knowledge economy at Training magazine’s Training Leadership Summit. The presentation is capped off with metrics on how well this learning mode works at Verizon Wireless.

While industry reports indicate that corporate tuition assistance programs have not experienced major cuts despite the uncertain economy, John Zappa, Senior Vice President of Learning Services at the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), encourages learning leaders to take action now. Zappa provides steps to ways to optimize your current program, and position tuition reimbursement as a part of your overall talent strategy.

Developing mutually beneficial working relationships is a wise strategy for HR departments. Read how to leverage alliances with universities to supplement your employee learning interventions, to increase the talent, skills, and knowledge of your workforce.

Organizations that effectively and purposefully collect, utilize, and disseminate the individual tacit knowledge (or know-how, beliefs, experiences, and values one has learned over the course of a career) across their workforce are more effective at achieving their mission. This case study, reviewed in the October 2009 issue of Chief Learning Officer, highlights the Lab's work with Boys Town, and how this non-profit organization is augmenting its knowledge management information systems to develop a stronger and competent workforce.

Learn how companies can spend less on tuition assistance while gaining more business impact; how tuition assistance programs influence employee retention; how to measure effectiveness; and how to align programs with corporate talent strategies. Bersin & Associates, in partnership with The Human Capital Lab, developed the research report: Tuition Assistance Programs: Best Practices for Maximizing a Key Talent Investment. View the report's executive summary.

According to the 2008 American Society for Training and Development yearly report, organizations across the U.S. spend an estimated $134 billion on developing their workers. Yet, fewer than five percent attempt to measure the business impact of these learning interventions. This study explores the question: Why is measurement of this intangible asset not occurring?

Transfer the knowledge you'll gain from Bersin & Associates' comprehensive study of how to deploy cost-effective approaches that enhance the value of your organizations' tuition assistance programs. Purchase full report at www.bersin.com.

"We are at a tipping point – a shift in the measurement of value, and the even more fundamental conversation about what value is." Listen as Dr. Mike Echols discusses the struggling economy's impact on stock prices and executive salaries, and why those figures weren't rooted in reality. Echols calls for a broader approach to determining "value," and to bridge the gap between HR and accounting when it comes to value measurement.

Bellevue University's Human Capital Lab and Verizon Wireless examined the Verizon Wireless Tuition Assistance Program to gauge its effectiveness in the company's talent management retention rate. The team presented their research findings at Corporate University Week.

One of the challenges faced by organizations today is the impending leadership gap – the difference in sheer numbers of millennials entering the workforce to take the place of retiring baby boomers. To prepare for this future, training and learning efforts must accelerate the development of leaders who can innovate in the face of rapid change. Michael E. Echols, Ph.D., suggests that the only way to prepare for the uncertain future is to manage expenditures targeted at human capital as investments – not current-period expenses, and this will require the measurement of value being created by training and e-learning programs.

In today's workplace, multitasking is a necessity. But few people can actually demonstrate productivity when performing numerous tasks simultaneously. However, positive returns on human capital investments can be realized when training managers and employees are effective at multitasking.

Unlock the human potential within your company, and measure the impact and value of learning interventions on the bottom line. Dr. Michael E. Echols' book shares his expertise on this topic, and provides methods that can demonstrate the value of talent to senior management. Order yours today!

Budget discussions between learning leaders and financial execs can be frustrating if neither party is speaking the same language. The Human Capital Lab provides an accounting "Rosetta Stone," preparing you to translate the value of human capital investments to business outcomes, in a way that makes sense to corporate decision-makers. Read how Chrysler's bottom line is positively impacted by additional employee training implemented with senior management's approval.

The IRS imposed dollar limit on the maximum tuition assistance allotment for employees shouldn't limit you from offering your employees learning opportunities that can add value to the bottom line.

Did you know that one-quarter of the U.S. workforce has been with their current employer less than one year? Or that by 2010 the projected top 10 in-demand jobs will be positions that didn's even exist in 2006?

Frank J. Anderson, Jr., Director of Human Capital Initiatives and President of Defense Acquisition University, reveals the danger of operating under old assumptions, and how he developed strategies to maximize human capital investments at his organization.

Did you know that one-quarter of the U.S. workforce has been with their current employer less than one year? Or that by 2010 the projected top 10 in-demand jobs will be positions that didn't even exist in 2006?

Frank J. Anderson, Jr., Director of Human Capital Initiatives and President of Defense Acquisition University, reveals the danger of operating under old assumptions, and how he developed strategies to maximize human capital investments at his organization.

This study of more than 500 HR, learning, and line of business professionals reveals the current and anticipated status of learning and human capital development, their role within talent management, and the value organizations derive from it. The full report is now available for download.

By documenting your learning initiatives from the planning stage to implementation and beyond, you will gain the respect and understanding of senior executives.

David L. Vance, former President of Caterpillar University, suggests starting with a written business plan, which outlines clear and measurable objectives that align with your company's strategies – such as increased production levels or reduced injuries, your projected learning program outcomes, and evaluation methods to determine if you've met your goals.

Discovering how employees think and the rationale behind their behaviors provides the basis of Emergenetics, a brain-based profiling tool that can assist learning leaders in building successful teams. Morgan Browning, Executive Vice President for Emergenetics International, explains how this tool can foster group synergy, enhance employee relations, improve communications, support leadership development, and increase creativity.

Review preliminary findings from Human Capital Lab original research that studied five multi-national companies leading in human capital management, and determine how to apply the study results within your own organization.

Landmark study uncovers the actual cost of tuition paid by employees per semester in the U.S. Utilize this data to develop ROI measurements for your organization, based on market prices.

The value of your company’s human capital is an asset not typically shown on the pages of an annual report. Entice potential corporate investors by featuring the results and impact of your employee learning interventions on business outcomes.

In just four short years, the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) increased the number of employee learning program graduates from 60,000 in 2002 to 114,000 in 2006. DAU President Frank J. Anderson, Jr., shares how he moved learning initiatives to the next level by engaging and empowering the workforce through strategic partnerships, centers of excellence, cohort training, high impact performance support, and providing students learning opportunities at their point of need.

Utilize the key questions identified in this presentation to survey your senior management about their understanding of talent management, and identify barriers that may keep your organization from optimizing its human capital investment.

Learn how to position your workforce's talents and skills as the ultimate competitive resource that is key in today's global economy in which advances in technology and increases in the complexity of skills needed to carry out new tasks require an even higher level of performance by employees.

Organizations that continue to view human capital investment as an expense may struggle to survive in today's global economy. Learning leaders must prove the business impact of this employee benefit to C-suite executives who scrutinize budgets and cut costs they believe are not beneficial to the company's overall strategy. See how CACI International, Inc. demonstrated why ongoing training and strategically managing tuition assistance is critical to corporate success.

HR managers can broaden their roles beyond traditional compensation and benefits duties by focusing on talent development. Learn how you can team with senior management and serve as a strategic advisor by aligning human capital investment with organizational goals.

Gain knowledge of the measurements and models needed to define policies, practices, and procedures that result in measurable business outcomes. This book provides guidelines on how to manage the human capital investments that comprise your company's critical intangible resources. Order yours today!

Study new methods to measure and manage the return and risk related to human capital investment. Dr. Michael E. Echols' book provides innovative processes to favorably impact the financial returns from employee training initiatives. Order yours today!

Understand how your CFO determines the cost and risks associated with investments in learning and development. Armed with this information, you can create a collaborative relationship with your organization's finance professionals to determine the ROI of employee learning interventions that can positively impact the bottom line.

Senior executives and accounting professionals are challenged by stakeholders to enhance the bottom line, by boosting worker productivity levels. This is your opportunity to enlighten this audience about how investment in human capital can align with corporate strategies.

Debunk the myths held by C-suite executives that diminish the value of your employee learning interventions, from the belief that tuition reimbursement outcomes cannot be measured to hiring outside employees versus investing in the new skills of current employees.

Few business leaders fund capital expenditures without reviewing ROI projections. Yet most organizations approve HR budgets containing tuition reimbursement programs without the financial data to corroborate the cost. Learn the equations needed to obtain this data, and apply this information to get to the ROI of your company's tuition reimbursement program.

Without an understanding of ROI measurement, learning leaders are challenged to quantify their employee tuition assistance budgets to C-suite executives. Review the steps to develop a corporate tuition assistance policy based upon scientifically proven measurement tools.