INSIGHTS

Eight Must-Reads for Corporate Learning and Development
Over the past couple of months, a number of recent articles and podcasts have caught my attention and challenged my point of view for the better. Here are my top selections about culture, innovation, and the future of hybrid workplaces.
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The scope of the Coronavirus outbreak is changing rapidly, and the way organizations manage their training initiatives is changing just as quickly in response. Mandel is prepared for times like these and we’re here to help. We know organizations are putting significant thought into business continuity plans, and we’re standing-by to help our clients with the execution of these plans.
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I met former Nobel Prize Museum curator Tobias Degsell in Belgium last month at the 2019 European ABPM Conference. An expert in creativity and learning, Tobias gave a fascinating keynote on the common ingredients of Nobel Laureate success. Among them? Creativity. Courage. Persistence. But there's another factor that research suggests matters even more. Read this week's blog to learn the secret ingredient to Nobel Laureate success. (Hint: It’s not just that they're smart!)
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What inspires and motivates people to action? Here’s a hint: it’s not a PowerPoint deck filled with data points and analytics. Learning how to share a powerful story can positively influence others and help your ideas become memorable. Perhaps you need to promote a new idea or close that crucial sale. Learn how some of the most successful business ventures today got their start from sharing a powerful story and how you can make your own narrative work for you.
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There’s a treacherous siren threatening learning effectiveness today. It seductively sings, “Don’t make it too difficult. Make it easy.” Now, there’s nothing wrong with trying to make learning more physically convenient for people. But is your learning at risk of becoming too convenient? Read the blog to discover why learning should be uncomfortable.
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Communication is the skill most in demand across 100 major US cities, according to LinkedIn research. That may be why more than 2000 talent professionals and executives identified soft skills as their #1 development priority for 2018. But in a world obsessed with data, why do soft skills matter? And how can companies meet demand in the face of such a huge shortage?
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"Too little time" is the number one concern customers raise when it comes to training. Organizations fear that pulling employees away from their jobs, even for a day or two, will negatively impact productivity and performance. To mitigate this perceived risk some opt to drastically shorten training or, worse, skip it altogether. But cutting corners on the one skill every single employee uses every day could cost you in ways you hadn't imagined. Read the blog to learn why and what you can do about it.
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A recent MIT Sloan/Deloitte study named innovation the second most important issue companies are grappling with today. Most organizations aren't lacking for ideas—the challenge is making sure the best ones get heard and funded. Unfortunately, too often, even great ideas get lost when poorly communicated. If you can't make a clear enough case for your idea, it ends up ignored, shelved, abandoned— or it may even get defeated by a weak idea, better presented. Don't let your best ideas get lost in presentation. Here's how.
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Imagine this scenario. You’re at home and you want to learn something. What do you do? Watch a video on YouTube, Google it, find directions on Waze, ask Alexa, get the news on Twitter. As consumers, we’ve been conditioned to expect a certain experience. So why is it that our experience at work is so vastly different? This week, Mandel Executive Director Kate Day writes about how technology has forever changed learner expectations and what the implications are for businesses. She also has some “from-the-trenches” advice on how learning and development organizations can seize this moment as an opportunity to reimagine the user experience for your employees and, in turn, your customers.
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Change. Disruption. Digital Transformation. They can wreak havoc on organizations. What can you do about it? How should training and development organizations adapt? Soft skills — even the ability to manage meetings well or to write clear and succinct emails — can reduce workplace confusion and employee frustration in the face of disruptive forces. They can help create calmer, more creative, and goal-oriented workplaces. Here's why your company's ability to do that now is more important than ever.
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