Learning for Good | L&D Solutions and Leadership Development for Nonprofits

Have you ever wanted an inside look into another nonprofit’s competency model?

Kristi Burnham, UNICEF USA’s Vice President for Professional Learning and Leadership, is here to talk about what competencies are working for them, the challenges they face in implementation, and their strategies for reinforcement.

▶️ One Nonprofit's Honest Opinion after 6 Months with a Competency Model with Kristi Burnham

Key Points: 

02:20 Kristi’s career journey to UNICEF

04:48 What prompted UNICEF’s competency model

07:21 The process of crafting the model

10:01 What’s in UNICEF’s one-pager model

12:38 Introducing the model to staff and prospects

15:48 Positive responses about the model

17:48 Other ways to implement the model

19:46 Advice for organizations in creating competencies

Visit the website to see how we might work together:

https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/consulting-home

Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms

Often, organizations have competencies in place that are ineffective. But why is that?

My experience as a nonprofit consultant helped me discover four strong reasons why your competencies don’t bring the results you want, and what you can do about it.

Are you ready to start using a competency model that actually works? Let’s dive in.

▶️ Four Reasons Your Competencies Don’t Work

Key Points: 

01:46 #1 Competencies are not tailored to your organization

02:36 Outdated and not tailored to individual roles

03:54 #2 Competencies are not forward-looking

05:25 #3 Too many competencies create confusion

06:25 #4 Why existing models are not used

07:51 What you should do to improve them

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Skill Masters Market

Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms

Virtual training, when designed poorly, can be boring.

One effective element you can incorporate to make your virtual or in-person training engaging and effective is storytelling.

Listen as Monique Purnell, Learning and Development Manager for Alpha Gamma Delta International Headquarters talks about why stories work and how to create them in your next virtual training.

▶️ This One Element Changes Everything for Training with Monique Purnell

Key Points: 

01:52 Monique’s career and background

07:01 Two ways to use storytelling

10:56 Why stories work

14:58 The challenges of storytelling

17:48 How to start writing your story

20:48 What to do after writing your story

Subscribe to the channel: Skill Masters Market

Visit the website to see how we might work together: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/consulting-home

Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms

Behavior change is complex, but it isn’t impossible.

Whether they’re New Year’s resolutions or using new software at work, you can create behavior change with a good strategy in place. Keep in mind what happens after the transformation matters as well.

Tune in to discover this three-step process that you can implement to facilitate behavior change during training in your organization.

▶️ Use THIS Process if You Want to Change Behavior with Training

Key Points: 

02:47 Imagining the new behavior

04:52 Using awareness and techniques

06:15 Practicing the new behavior

07:18 Using and reflecting on the new behavior

09:54 Celebrating wins

Watch: 8 Hours of the Worst Training Ever. https://youtu.be/OBkgZ1N9Y9Y

Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms

Picture the last training you attended.

Were you engaged? Hands-on in practicing a new skill? Or were you bored, yawning, and even multitasking? It might have felt like the slowest eight hours of your life. However, we can learn from that experience to create training that people actually want to attend.

Tune in to learn and be inspired to craft a training program that’s relevant, meaningful, and fun, and the tools and techniques that you can utilize to make it happen.

▶️ 8 Hours in the Worst Training Ever

Key Points: 

02:55 Making training relevant

03:57 Relevant means actionable

05:44 Making training meaningful

07:10 Making training fun

08:12 Features and techniques for engagement

Subscribe to the channel: Skill Masters Market

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Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms

Challenging our own mental models is a way of life.

This is why Dr. Hedy Lemar Walls is committed to helping organizations engage deeper cultural understanding of themselves and others. Instead of training, she creates “learning experiences” as opportunities for growth and accountability in the diverse 21st-century workplace.

Dr. Hedy Lemar Walls is the chief social responsibility officer for the YMCA of the North. She also leads the United Health Group Equity Innovation Center, using Intellectual Inventory Development (IDI) to guide groups in applying inclusivity and systemic change within their communities.

Tune in to discover as Dr. Hedy Lemar Walls shares what her institutions do to promote inclusivity, the basics and goals of IDI, her IDI success stories, the byproduct, and the downside of using IDI for assessment.

▶️ Breaking Down the Good, Bad, and Ugly of Diversity Assessments

Key Points:

02:32 Dr. Hedy’s education and career

10:06 Dr. Hedy's IDI-centered services

13:19 How IDI is used in assessments

15:41 The objectives of IDI

18:52 IDI success stories

22:15 The pros and cons of IDI

26:13 Dr. Hedy’s advice for organizations

Subscribe to the channel: Skill Masters Market

Watch The Secret to Making Leadership Assessments Work

Visit my website to see how we can work together.

https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/consulting-home

Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms

What you do after assessments matters.

You’ve selected the right assessment, offered it to your leaders, and received their results. The three things that should happen next are the secret to making leadership assessments work.

Tune in to Learning For Good —  The Secret to Making Leadership Assessments Work.

What You Will Discover: 

✔️ Coaching. Have a coach who can debrief results with your leaders and support them over a period of time. This step is important because it will be harder for leaders to ignore results. Coaches can help set the right goals, execute accountability, and help leaders identify and overcome barriers to change.

✔️ Tailored development. Once leaders understand their results, it’s time to take action. Give them opportunities to create goals and engage in professional development to help them achieve those goals. Dedicate time and resources for leadership training or a stretch task or assignment.

✔️ Follow-up. This is where you’ll find out if the assessments made a difference. This can look like a conversation, report, survey, or a second assessment process, and can happen with a coach, supervisor, or HR team member. You must know what the leader has accomplished and what they still need to be successful.

Subscribe to the channel: Skill Masters Market

Watch Self Assessments vs. 360 Assessments

Visit my website to see how we can work together.

https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/consulting-home

Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms

Let’s take a deeper dive into competency assessments.

Today, we’ll be talking about two different types of competency assessments that you can use in your organization: self-assessments and 360 assessments, the advantages of each, and how to know which assessment is right for you.

Tune in to Learning For Good —  Self-Assessments vs. 360 Assessments.

What You Will Discover: 

✔️ Self-Assessments. Your leaders will answer a series of questions about their own perceptions of their competency strengths and gaps. It’s a quick and easy way to assess competency, but is subject to the leader's own bias about their skill level. These generally cost less and are easier to administer. 

✔️ 360 Assessments. Your leaders will answer a series of questions about their own perceptions of their competency strengths and gaps, but those responses are combined with the responses of others, such as their supervisors and peers. These are more time-consuming, more costly to administer, and require a high level of trust.

✔️ How to Know Which Assessment is Right For You. Consider these different points.

• Cost - How much can you invest in the assessment process?
• Time - How much time do you have to administer the assessment process?
• Rater fatigue - How many other surveys are you operating?
• Trust - Will leaders be receptive to feedback? Will raters feel comfortable giving feedback? 

Subscribe to the channel: Skill Masters Market

Watch Three Types of Assessments that Pay Off for Your Hybrid Workforce

Visit my website to see how we can work together.

https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/consulting-home

Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms

Welcome to Season 2!

In the previous season, I had so much fun talking about DEI in virtual training and leadership development topics. I hope you enjoyed it as well.

In the first few episodes of this season, we will focus on leadership assessments, starting with the three best types of assessments that pay off for your hybrid workforce and why.

Tune in to Learning For Good —  Three Types of Assessments that Pay Off for Your Hybrid Workforce.

What You Will Discover: 

✔️ Strengths assessments. These help leaders recognize their strengths so they can maximize them in the workplace. Maximizing our strengths can lead to greater performance and employee engagement. Gallup, the company behind CliftonStrengths, found that strength-based development can lead to higher employee engagement, increased performance, increased sales, and increased profit.

✔️ Diversity assessments. Everyone should feel safe, respected, and valued in the workplace. Our leaders need to continue greater awareness of themselves and others in order to lead effectively. Improving our intercultural competence will improve our organizational culture and can have a lasting impact on business results as well.

✔️ Competency assessments. They help leaders see which skills are strongest and which skills might be gaps for them. There are a couple of ways to go about these, such as using an off-the-shelf assessment that aligns with your staff's leadership skills. They can then use that information to tailor their learning and development experience. If done well, they will end up with an individual plan to reskill, upskill, or leverage a skill. 

Subscribe to the channel: Skill Masters Market

Visit my website to see how we can work together:

https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/consulting-home

Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms

One of the top 3 skills needed in a hybrid environment is collaboration.

Collaboration is a skill that is also used in the in-person environment, but it looks different when hybrid. Hybrid collaboration requires clearer expectations, open communication, and thoughtfully designed and productive co-working sessions.

So today, we’ll explore two virtual learning activities you can implement to develop your team's collaboration skills.  

Tune in to Learning For Good —  Two Virtual Learning Activities to Develop Collaboration Skills.

What You Will Discover: 

✔️ Establish group norms. Group norms are what allow your group to work together - or collaborate - more effectively. This can be done in any shared collaboration space like Microsoft Teams, Slack, Google Slides, Mural, Miro, or Jamboard.

The idea here is not that they leave the space with a list of group norms, but that they leave the space ready to facilitate the conversation with their teams. 

✔️Implement, reflect, and adjust. In a best-case scenario, participants are able to try out this new skill in the real world. Give them a chance to implement with their teams. Then, bring them back together virtually to reflect and adjust.

This gives participants a chance to reflect on their experience with establishing group norms AND the outcome - the impact on hybrid collaboration.

✔️Ask your team. You might also consider asking them how they might use a similar approach for other challenges they are having as a team. This will help them to apply the same skills in other areas of their role.

Watch: Three Must-Haves in Any Virtual Training

Subscribe to the channel: Skill Masters Market

Download my free Virtual Facilitation Formula: https://mailchi.mp/skillmastersmarket/three-tips-for-virtual-facilitation

Visit my website to see how we can work together.

https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/consulting-home

Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms