CLI is proud to present a series of white papers about our research and on-going development in the field of organizational development. CLI is not only a training center, it also serves as a learning hub for graduate students pursuing internships.

> Multi-Generational Workplace
> Building Effective Communities
> Women in the Workplace
> Understanding Team Building Transfer
> Coaching in a Down Economy
> Meeting Employee's Motivaition Needs

Multi-Generational Workplace | download pdf
The Future Ain’t What it Used to Be; Understanding the New Multi Generation Workforce. For perhaps the first time in history, four generations are working side-by-side. That means everyone must make an extra effort to understand other generations and the emerging workplace landscape, so we can avert real or perceived discrimination, and everyone can do their best work. Everyone is already under pressure in this economy, which Peter Cappelli, author of Employment Relationships: New Models of White-Collar Work, claims has forever altered the lives of workers in every age bracket. The simultaneous collapse of the manufacturing age and rise of the information age has created transparency and sped up knowledge sharing almost beyond comprehension. This paper will help you understand the needs of every generation in your workplace, so you can actually benefit from these changes.

Building Effective Communities | download pdf
Most of us go to work and assume that our work relationships should fall under the realm of “professionalism.” However, recent thinking focuses on the importance of connecting with others at work on a more personal basis. This report reviews the most recent thinking on this topic as well as insight into how interpersonal relationships can be strengthened by building effective communities at work.

One of the most important developments an organization can strive for in order to promote growth is establishing a sense of community. Mintzberg (2009) illustrates the significance of community building by stating “We are social animals who cannot function effectively without a social system that is larger than ourselves (141).” He proposes that the idea of community insinuates being dedicated when it comes to work, caring about other people and being thoughtful about the environment. This paper will define community building. It will share methods to building community based on Peter Block?s book Building Community.

In general terms, the fact that community building has numerous advantages is not a novel idea. However, community building is also advantageous in terms of organizational development. In fact, when it comes to organizational effectiveness, community building is particularly important. A successfully developed community enhances organizational learning, elevates innovation and creativity, strengthens employee morale, increases a sense of employee loyalty, increases organizational citizenship behavior, develops leadership, and helps implement organizational change.

Women in the Workplace | download pdfOutside of Corporate Learning Institute’s office is a 30 acre wooded area unique in that it houses our low and high team challenge courses. On that course is an activity that we call the trust fall. It tends to be a well known activity, having been mocked in television shows like the old Murphy Brown and on various commercials.

The activity is powerful. It requires that the faller expose her/his needs/feelings/thoughts to the group. The group in turn must require this exposure to adequately catch the faller. The obvious communication links of asking and giving help must be optimized or the fall will be stiff, performance-based or even worse, the faller will pike. This causes great pressure and stress on a few people. A good, relaxed fall requires an inordinate amount of communication between the faller, who must explain how she/he is feeling and what they need to produce a relaxed fall. If the group is too task-focused, there will be an obvious gap between the faller and the catchers, allowing for a very up-tight fall or worse, the pike.

Understanding Team Building Transfer | download pdf Organizations across the world use teams and teamwork as a basic unit of operation to accomplish goals. The popular notion of teams, that they are a group of people who get along well enough to get things done, has been thrown by the wayside. Today, every conceivable measurement and training apparatus are employed to ensure that teams, like any other important resource within a company, are developed with strategic precision. Companies invest millions of dollars in training each year, because “they believe that their people do not have the right skills to compete effectively”, (Cheese, 2004, p.12). A continuous challenge for developers of training programs is to ensure that training dollars are well spent and that training impact transfers to the work place.

In their monograph “Making it Sticky, How to facilitate the Transfer of Executive education experiences Back to the Workplace”, researchers Haskins and Clawson (2005) of the University of Virginia found that there were three areas in their executive education program that would allow for “sticky” mechanisms to be embedded: before, during, and after the training. They believe that the “stickiness” of a mechanism increases as it moves from the pre-program to post-program phases. The authors note that this phenomenon exists in both open enrollment programs as well as custom designed single corporation training programs. Additionally, they found that adults learn best in response to immediate concerns, which implies that training must focus on the impact back in the workplace. Traditional training transfer studies have explored the significance of trainee characteristics, training design, and work climate variables on training transfer in attempting to validate the influence of each of these independent variables on training transfer (Baldwin & Ford, 1988, Ford & Weinstein, 1997).

Coaching in a Down Economy | download pdf
This paper will focus on what coaching is, why it is important in a down economy, the different types of coaching, the process involved, and a brief look at how the Corporate Learning Institute approaches coaching.

Companies face unique challenges on a daily basis, especially when the economy is bad. While more traditional methods such as power and control and command and compliance were used to motivate employees to tackle these challenges, companies are now seeking different methods which focus on empowerment of employees in order to maximize their potential. Hamlin, Ellinger, and Beattie claim in their article that “this new paradigm of management calls for new facilitative behaviors that focus on empowerment and employee development” (2004, p.573).

A new approach being used in order to empower and develop employees is individual coaching. This paper will focus on what coaching is, why it is important in a down economy, the different types of coaching, the process involved, and a brief look at how the Corporate Learning Institute approaches coaching.

 

Meeting Employee's Motivaition Needs | download pdf
Four industry leaders were asked if their employee’s motivational levels were affected by the economic downturn, and the responses from leaders varied. According to an executive from the food industry, “employees are putting in the same amount of effort and potentially even more effort to ensure they are building skills that can serve them as a back-up plan.”

Similarly, the General Manager of the Marriot Hickory Ridge Conference Hotel Laura Lojas also claimed an increase in motivation. She said the “leadership team keeps employees up to date with new information. For example, when jobs were eliminated, we were very honest with employees, eliminating the shroud of mystery that could have enveloped this process.” The Hickory Ridge Marriott Hotel, takes the motivational levels of employees seriously. Lojas further stated, “By celebrating the small successes, employees stay motivated because they are being recognized for the work they are doing.”

From a different perspective, the President of the National Marine Manufacturing Association (NMMA), Thomas Dammrich has noticed minimal impact on employee motivation. Instead, he found the influence of the economy to be much greater on employees’ attitudes. “Workers have become more edgy and worried but also creative, in the face of adversity”, he stated.

According to Vice President of 53rd Bank Tom Heuer, the economy has affected motivation in that “workers seem to be exerting less effort on the job, and are more edgy and careless. There also seems to be a loss of energy for the company and for their work.”

CLI welcomes you to our organization. Every training service that we offer combines interactive learning with your business training needs. We have a long list of clients from every business sector around the world. Contact us to develop a proposal to meet your needs;
Susan Cain, Ed.D., scain@corplearning.com/Direct reach (630) 347-6333
Tim Buividas, ABD,tbuividas@corplearning.com/ Direct reach (312) 615-2211