This week we introduced an important new set of research and recognition, the HILO 80® - the top 80 organizations we benchmarked in high-impact corporate learning through our High Impact Learning Organization® research program.   Methodology:   On an annual basis, we investigate the highest impact best-practices in corporate learning, looking at more than 50 different elements of the corporate learning strategy, organization, systems, processes, and governance.   In addition to understanding how these companies manage and implement their learning strategy, we also look at their performance:  performance in workforce readiness, in adapting to change, in talent management, and a variety of other business measures. Read the Full Article

Last week I had the pleasure of talking about the realities of social software and social networking in the enterprise with a group our member companies, including Sun Microsystems, Xerox, Glaxo Smith Kline, Cornerstone OnDemand and SkillSoft.   You might be tempted to think, based on the composition of that list, that this was a conversation between a group of early adopters – pioneer organizations in uses of social software in the enterprise. Not necessarily. Read the Full Article

One of the important lessons we have learned from our High Impact Learning Organization® research is the simple but profound fact that learning is part of a corporate business strategy.    While many HR and business leaders still believe that “training” is department which improves workforce productivity and should be treated as an expense item, our research clearly finds otherwise.   Corporate learning is a critical part of any enduring business strategy, similar to finance, marketing, sales, and manufacturing. Read the Full Article

Do consumer social networking sites like Facebook have a place inside corporations? The answer to this question is the subject of much discussion across the corporate world. On one hand, an outplacement consulting firm, Challenger, Gray, & Christmas, recently surveyed 200 human resource professionals.   They found that 23% businesses block access to Facebook. Read the Full Article

Before the rise of today’s social media tools like blogs and wikis, there already existed a variety of computer network supported communication and collaboration technologies – with which many organizations were already quite experienced.   E-mail is the best example.   As a technology, e-mail predates both the modern Internet and the WWW. Read the Full Article