University Business - October 2011 - (Page 26)

HUMAN RESOURCES Training Ground T WASN’T LONG AGO THAT I believed there was nothing new in employee training or professional development. My inbox was ﬁlled with emails about new employee workshops and online training programs covering the same old topics. And there were phone calls from consultants, bragging about this or that traditional training program. I have since discovered several higher ed institutions doing amazing things with professional development. One school casts employees in targeted training videos. Another helps faculty integrate student concerns outside the classroom with work inside the classroom. Some middle managers are touring diﬀerent departments to better understand their challenges and the potential impact on their own department’s activities or budget. e fact that schools are revamping their training programs is good news, especially considering a recent study found that less than 60 percent of faculty and staﬀ were satisﬁed with their job training, while only 55 percent believed their school provided eﬀective on-the-job training. Exploring new ways to boost employee learning By Carol Patton I Georgetown faculty training has helped them relate academic content to student mental health. e study, based on a survey of 21,000 faculty and staﬀ at more than 35 U.S. colleges and universities, was conducted by HR Solutions and released in February. Not all schools tolerate average satisfaction. e lesson for HR: Without introducing more eﬀective, more engaging ways to learn, employees could be stuck in neutral. Consider the following creative training approaches. What’s Next? Helping Employees Learn and Grow Many organizations focus training efforts on developing technical skills, explains Kim Ruyle, VP, managing principal at Korn/Ferry Leadership Talent & Consulting in Miami. Yet, work behaviors, attitudes, and values are more likely to get employees red. To help employees grow and remain engaged, Ruyle suggests: • Helping managers optimize team or staff performance. “This will be very important for universities,” Ruyle says. “How can you manage a team for innovation? How can you create products and services that make the pie grow?” • Developing cross-functional teams to solve real problems. The more heat that’s applied, the more dollars attached, the more learning will occur. The takeaways will be far more impactful than what simulations offer. • Assessing employees for emotional intelligence at different stages of their career, offering coaching, and developing a personal learning plan. Such a plan may not be part of a formal training program. “HR tends to compartmentalize HR functions,” Ruyle says. “Integration is key.” Georgetown University (D.C.): Reﬂecting on Teaching “We have long helped faculty develop their practice, but as part of that, we’re now asking them to reﬂect on what changes they’ve made,” says John Rakestraw, director of faculty programs at Georgetown’s Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship, which supports roughly 800 faculty. Educators are encouraged to measure the eﬀectiveness of changes and publicly share their ﬁndings with other faculty. e center co-authors articles with faculty, encourages them to write journal articles on their teaching practice, oﬀers individual consultations or faculty workshops that help them change their pedagogical approach to courses, and invites them to participate in a variety of projects that enhance teaching practices. One such project requires faculty to relate academic content to student mental health and well-being. Rakestraw points to a math professor whose students examine mathematical formulas to calculate the way the human body processes alcohol. Students then listen to a health expert about drinking. In a biology class, students study the physiological foundations for depression, then listen to a mental health professional about depression. “Students learn the disciplinary content better when they ﬁnd some sort of anchor in their lives outside the classroom,” Rakestraw says, adding that this approach helps students deal with real issues in creative ways. “We’re trying a variety of ways to help faculty show students how the work they do in the classroom plays out in the world outside the classroom.” Carol Patton is a Las Vegas-based freelance writer who specializes in covering HR issues. 26 | October 2011 universitybusiness.com http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - October 2011

University Business - October 2011
Contents
Editor's Note
College Index
Ad Index
Behind the News
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Human Resources
Cloud Email
Tuition Setting
Campus CFO
Independent Outlook
End Note

University Business - October 2011