Dear Readers,

You are not alone. As we learned in our recent survey, training professionals in organizations of all types and sizes are dealing with the challenges of creating and delivering meaningful and effective training. Often constrained by resources, time and infrastructure, trainers and HR professionals have a lot to do – and a thirst for ideas and information.

Thank you for your participation in our 2006 Training Industry Survey: Professional Information Needs, Resources, Satisfaction and Usage. We value and appreciate your feedback and will strive to provide you with the actionable information you need. We invite you to review the highlights of this survey here.

Ten Tips to Make Training and Development Work
By Susan Heathfield

How much money did your organization invest last year in training and development that failed to provide the results you sought? You are not alone if training classes rarely resulted in the transfer of immediately useful information to your workplace. Real employee behavioral change, based on the training content, is even harder to demonstrate in most organizations. Discouraging? You bet! So what’s an organization to do?  Learn More

Coaching: The Fad that Won’t Go Away
Five suggestions for getting the most out of a coach
By Jim Bolt

Trainers are embracing the concept of coaching in organizations. Executive coaching is now a billion-dollar industry experiencing explosive growth. Frankly, it wasn’t very long ago that having coach was sort of a dirty little secret -- you kept it to yourself. It meant you were in trouble and probably on the way out. Now it seems everybody has a coach. It means we’ve arrived, that were a rising star, someone our organization is investing in for the future. Wow, what a turnaround! Learn More 

Increasing Engagement by Creating a Responsibility-Based Culture 
By Dianne Michonski Durkin

Imagine working in an environment where all employees are fully engaged in what they do, excited about their work, accept personal responsibility for their performance and are committed to the organization. Envision your colleagues connected to the vision of the company, looking forward to coming to work and actually wanting to provide customers and the community with exceptional service. Learn More

Creating Successful Mentoring Partnerships
By Ann M. Johnston

Few people are neutral in their feelings about mentoring. Most, if they have had a mentoring relationship, begin by telling of their gratitude for having met the "right" mentor at the "right" time. From that perspective as protégé, mentoring can have positive nostalgic memories associated with the experience. If, on the other hand, they feel that they have received poor or no mentoring, it is reflected upon as missed opportunity."   Learn More

How to Choose a Custom Content Developer
By Brandon Hall

How do you choose a vendor to create content for your organization? Most people rely on word-of-mouth. This can be a starting point, but like any significant purchasing decision, it's smarter to follow an RFP (Request For Proposal) process – or something similar – and have vendors convince you they're the right firm for the job. Instead of being sold directly by the sales department, with an RFP you can create a more meaningful exchange and find out if your organizations are truly compatible. To get there, you'll need to ask the right questions.    Learn More

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