Andrew begins a recent blog post by stressing the inefficient ways employees of the federal government experience training and education, and by suggesting three forces that will shape the future of learning for federal government. These include:

1. Informal learning is the new normal (i.e. Google searches, YouTube videos, LinkedIn / Quora / GovLoop question and answer).
2. The real experts are in cubicles, not classrooms (meaning that we learn less from people who stand in front of us in a classroom and more from our colleagues online and in-person).
3. Social networks are the perfect, perpetual classroom (you don’t need to wait for the next training – you can learn right here, right now).

Social Learning Boot Camp Modeled Social Learning

With that background as context, Andrew participated in the Social Learning Boot Camp hosted by    Future Workplace at Georgetown University. First Andrew shared how the Boot Camp was not just another conference, but really an executive education session which successfully modeled a new way of learning, one that is social, collaborative and mobile.

Here is what Andrew had to say about his experience at the Social Learning Boot Camp:

• Participants were encouraged to engage in pre-work that got them to interact with one another and primed them for in-person engagement
• Pre-work was incentivized through gaming and that online interaction was incorporated into the in-person session.
• Each participant received an iPad and was taught how to use it throughout the session.
• Participants broke into teams and used the iPad in a hands-on, real-time activity where they created a sample learning video to explain a concept or challenge – in under an hour!

In addition to these practical elements of the training, participants heard from practitioners who shared case studies about enterprise-level learning through internal social networks and gaming. I’d like to give a special shout-out to the Defense Acquisition University, who presented on their cutting-edge gaming endeavors.

Key Learning Points from the Boot Camp

Some other gems I heard in conversations and presentations throughout the day:

• “We are canceling more instructor-led, classroom-based courses than we are putting on due to tightened budgets and restricted travel.”
• Employers are increasingly expecting their potential hires to demonstrate social media literacy (or training them in that subject)…and applicants are increasingly expecting an open, social environment that welcomes online engagement as part of work flow.
• The top 3 barriers to adoption of social learning in an organization are: a culture that’s not ready for it, confusion about its value, and lack of training on its use.
• It is not fear of technology, but fear of transparency that inhibit social learning.
• Culture change happens when an organization identifies the committed leaders, communicates the benefits, and creates social media literacy training programs
• Social media / learning policy should explain the value, not just the do’s and don’ts (see socialmediagovernance.com for examples)

Why the Real-Time Video Project Was Successful

The videos created by participants were great examples of how quick, easy and effective it can be to prepare video for the purpose of training as they were:

• Created in real-time for just-in-time learning
• Authentic because it wasn’t over-edited
• Involved focused, fast production (vs. a long, drawn-out process)
• Fostered collaborative, social work to get it done
• “…not just a tech thing” as most of the production process was a dialogue about challenges (45 minutes) that culminated in a tech-enabled product (5 minutes)

One of the groups even used an app called Magisto to add music and some editing – all in just a few minutes – to take their video to the next level.

The next Social Learning Boot Camp is scheduled for:

March 7-8th, 2013

Georgetown University

Washington DC

Learn more and register here:
Social Learning Boot Camp

Top line findings from this research include:

• 70% of all CEOs have no presence on any social networks
• Only 7.6% are on Facebook
  • Of this, only TWO have more than 500 friends
• Only 3.8% use Twitter
• 25% of CEOs have not updated their LinkedIn profile with a current job title or company (What would you think if a prospective candidate did this!)

So what exactly does a Social CEO look like? What does he or she do and what are the implications in marketplace? As the infographic below illustrates, A Social CEO first and foremost believes in the value of learning from employees and customers in social ways. And Social CEO’s can demonstrate this in several ways one of which is by using social media to:

1) Gain market intelligence

2) Engage with current and prospective & current customers

3) Source & recruit top talent

4) Demonstrate transparency and openness

View the infographic and then read below to view the questions to ask yourself about what this means for your CEO?

Questions to ask yourself:

1) Will the demographics of the 2020 workplace change this? As more CEO’s assume office at a younger age, will they bring their social media habits to the job and insist on learning from employees and customers?

2) Will consumers vote with their dollars and decide between two brands based upon the “social literacy” of senior management? Are CEOs who have a social presence–defined as being active on some social media sites and sharing their beliefs and comments about the marketplace and industry–seen as better able to understand consumer needs and wants? According to BrandFog, a survey of CEOs who use social media found that CEOs who tweet are held in high regard by consumers. CEO activity on social networks also appears to influence employees’ faith in their company. The study’s findings indicate that 82% of employee respondents trust a company more when the CEO and leadership team communicate via social media.

3) Will HR and Corporate Learning professionals set the bar high and be the pioneers in building a social HR department and lead the way here?

Share your thoughts with me in the comments section!

Gamification, defined as the application of gaming concepts to non-game experiences in order to drive desired behavior from audiences, is rapidly becoming a feature of an increasing number of workplaces.

In fact, according to new research by Gartner, it seems gamification has seen much higher rates of corporate adoption than previously thought. Along with the statistic in the title, M2 Research has said that revenue from gamification software, consulting and marketing will grow to $938 million  from $100 million by 2014.

It’s a big jump and the article goes into detail on how companies are adopting game dynamics in their business, and to what ends. Real results are being achieved. LiveOps – which runs virtual call centers – used gamification for their call center agents. Since that happened, agents have reduced call times by 15%, and sales have increased by 8%-12%.

It’s important to remember who gamers are: 59% of social gamers are women and 23% are between ages of 45-65. Is your company using gamification for training, HR processes and/or new ideation? What are some drivers to using gamification for your company? Some I see are helping to build a sense of community among telework employees, and adding an element of “fun,” which appeals to all of us.

For more, read the full Wall Street Journal article, available here, or join in to the discussion by posting your thoughts in the comments section below.

Prediction 2: Companies Will Disclose Their Corporate Social Responsibility Programs to Attract and Retain Employees

The focus on people, planet and profits — known as the new triple bottom line —
will become the main way organizations attract and retain new hires. This will be critical because 80% of a sample of 1,800 13-25 year olds want to work for a company that cares about how it impacts and contributes to society. More than half also say they would refuse to work for an irresponsible corporation.

So companies will begin to move beyond corporate philanthropy by integrating Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) into their core business strategy, and by reporting quantitative goals to current employees, prospective hires and investors.

In the past year in particular, you can see Corporate Social Responsibility becoming more prominent in company strategies. Companies “going green” are seeing a difference in their bottom line and are making a good impression. (Read this New York Times article on sustainability translating to profits.)

This is already the case in Great Britain where the law requires companies to provide information and business goals for their CSR programs. For example, the Annual Report of National Grid, an international electricity and gas company, not only includes a review of all CSR projects, but also identifies quantitative business goals such as: achieving an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, having 15% of its energy demand from renewable sources by 2020, and defining a global inclusion charter for the organization.

But imposing a legal requirement may not be the real impetus that forces companies to report CSR programs. The Millennials and Gen 2020 will demand companies to be more socially responsible or risk losing valuable talent to a competitor.

CSR is a priority among Millenials. In in Magazine, Jenny Gomez writes that “the ‘Millennials,’ also known as the ‘Y Generation,’ are the driving force behind the trend to use the power of business to create a better world. They are civic minded and 78 million strong.” Companies developing and integrating CSR strategies need to keep in mind that the Millennials are a unique group that has high expectations for the products they purchase, the companies they work for and the companies with which they do business.

Companies are constantly under pressure to provide information pertaining to their CSR, whether the pressure comes from their own stakeholders, shareholders, employees or even the public, as seen in this Greenbiz.com article. (Greenbiz Group is a source for news, opinion, best practices and other resources on the greening of mainstream business.)

Corporate Social Responsibility

Forbes asks whether or not HR will adopt CSR practices this year. Millenials, it seems, will have some impact on the corporate world in the way of CSR.

Companies publishing their CSR reports include: PVH, General Mills and Verizon.

Questions:

How seriously do you take Corporate Social Responsibility?

Do you and the company you currently work for have similar views on the role of CSR?

Would Corporate Social Responsibility be a determining factor in choosing between jobs?

Prediction 1: Reputation capital will be the top currency in the 2020 workplace. This is the sum total of your personal brand, your expertise, and the breadth, depth, and quality of your social networks.

Reputation Capital Promotion

Companies will increasingly source, recruit and promote new talent based upon their reputation capital. This means looking for employees who not only have wide, deep and high-quality social networks, but also demonstrate a track record of turning these networks into increased business value for the organization and stronger personal brand for themselves.

Already some companies, like Best Buy, are listing reputation capital as a requirement for some positions, such as the senior manager in emerging media marketing. Some of the job requirements – developed via crowdsourcing – included having active accounts and a significant following on sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Plaxo, Ning, delicious, Slideshare, YouTube and PRWeb.

By 2020, hiring companies could very well make specific requirements that prospective employees have experience using these types of sites to further their business agenda.

According to Dr. Robert Cross, professor of management at the University of Virginia, high performers of an organization focus on building quality networks rather than large social networks. They may not know everyone, but the people they know, they know very well, and they invest in these relationships before they’ll actually need them to get their work accomplished.

What’s happened in the last year:

The launch of these two new companies in helping people build their reputation capital: cubedual and klout.

Questions:

Is reputation capital important to you?

Given the importance of reputation capital through social networking, should employers restrict/monitor social networking by employees?

Does your company rate reputation capital as important? Would they recruit or promote new employees based on their reputation capital?