I have been inspired by the ground breaking research of David Kolb who stresses that we learn through our experiences. As educators/HRD professionals, we must always start with the learner’s experiences if we want to see transformation or behavioral change.

I am always open to conversation and debate. Reach out to me via twitter, LinkedIn or old fashioned email.

Randstad uses the partnering model with their new sales recruits.

Xtreme Labs uses pair programming which matches young co-ops with more experienced programmers.

How can you help your newbies learn through experience?

This week’s learning champion is Telus who is leading the way in social learning.
Social Learning at Telus

Last month we featured – Globalive Companies, Fusenet, TakingITGlobal. Check any of these out at stryde.ca/blog. Coming up next month is our feature on Rypple, a company that makes performance reviews irrelevant by providing a simple and effective way to give feedback every day.

Fusenet is an SME with a ‘wow’ factor. Most recently they were featured in the Globe & Mail for their innovative take on the Google 70/20/10 work day. Whether you are HR, marketing or a techie employee of Fusenet, you get to work on your ‘pet project’ every Friday. Not only does this allow each employee to explore their entrepreneurial itch but gives them a real sense of ownership over something they do. In the end, the employee owns the IP to the product or service they invent and gives Fusenet the first right of refusal. Click here for our interview with Sanjay Singhal, CEO of Fusenet.

“Definitely recommend for the GenY’ers entering the workforce but also a great fast
read for their managers as it gives a good refresher on career how to’s.”
-The Executive Roundtable Book Review

Can a book really make a difference? Seldom. Except if you are a company that hires recent graduates, Hitting Stryde – A Gen Y Career Survival Guide with 110 Actionable Shortcuts will make them more effective from day one. From how to work effectively with your Boomer boss to how to build relationships with multiple generations, Hitting Stryde was written in response to interviews with 100s of recent grads and their managers about the challenges they face becoming a productive asset in their new careers.

We’ve got both generations covered. Co-authors Daneal Charney and David James Singh are a dynamic pair who offer a yin and yang approach to navigating your early career. Daneal has been involved in developing high potential leaders in a corporate setting for over 20-years. David is a Gen-Y leader himself at the beginning of his career driven by the pursuit of happiness.
Buy a copy today.

Write Your Own 12th Chapter
We want Hitting Stryde to have a life of its own in your organization. So when you order over 100 copies you get to personalize them. For example:
• Co-branding Hitting Stryde with your logo and your President’s Message
• Creating a 12th chapter that gives your new grads insights that will help them
from day one. For example, a dress for success chapter, etc.
• Using career insights from Hitting Stryde to provoke dialogue on your
company intranet site or integrating our book into your new graduate or
young leadership development programs.

More details about our corporate programs here.

The same applies to issues in your organization. I once walked into a management retreat and the negative energy was palpable. I discovered very quickly that the two departments represented in the room hated each other and there was a long history of animosity.

My first step was to address the ‘elephant in the room’. In this case the elephant included:
1. Lack of clear roles
2. Lack of a clear structure
3. Perceived lack of respect
4. Ineffective meetings
…and the list continued.

Once the elephant was named, we could begin to discuss and deal with stuff that had not been dealt with for years. Moral of the story: deal with the ‘elephant in the room’ when it appears to be inhibiting future team, department and organizational performance. It will not disappear on its own. [JP-Facebook-Like]

I am always amazed how some companies pay a lot more to get what they see as top value (they pride themselves on recruiting the top grads) but then seem not to be sure what to do with this valuable asset. Are they better off paying less to get more. How do we measure an employee’s value? How do we max our Return on People (ROP). ROP is partially measured by how well we use a person’s skills, knowledge, energy and time… As I ponder on this topic, what do you have to say?

Here is my 2 sense based on my own consulting experience and ongoing interviews with Gen-Y employees.

Firstly understand the generation you are dealing with. A generation who is twice as educated as previous generations and brings in-house expertise in everything from web 2.0 to change. They may have a lot to learn, but they also have a lot to give.

Secondly ensure that in the first month of onboarding, you ‘contract’ with your Gen-Y employees as to what they can expect. This should start with an open conversation where both sides express their needs and offering and end with a roadmap for the next six months.

This generation demands that we return more value on their assets (time, passions, skills, and knowledge) so make sure if your employee’s core job role is administrative, you create the flexibility for them to spend 20% of their time on committees, special projects, etc. that leverage their intellectual assets and passions.

Lastly create regular check-in points where you take 15 minutes to debrief their ‘highs’ to date, ‘lows’ to date, ‘issues’ to date and future plans. This investment of time has a high payoff – avoid the costs of turnover, create a pipeline of future leaders and enable you to better leverage your Gen-Y assets.

As with any high potential employee, open conversations regularly are key.

If you have not already checked out our latest Gen-Y survey results, click here.

“I was as high as the CN Tower when I started then low as a basement.”

The cost to the organization: productivy, morale and ultimately turnover.

What was missing for him was something quite simple: a honest conversation about how things really worked as well as how he could gain more responsibility slowly.

I have observed the power of transparent and authentic coaching conversations. The new term is ’stay interviews’ instead of exit interviews.