In this month’s episode of The BizLibrary Podcast, we sat down with Matthew Burr, an HR consultant with over 13 years of experience working in HR. Matthew shared some of his insights around interviewing, a topic that many organizations find themselves surrounded by in the midst of the current job market.

Matthew gave a few of his key insights – first, he discussed the importance of honesty in the interview process.

Using K-mart as an example, Matthew talked about the absolute need for interviewers to paint an accurate picture of the challenges and obstacles in a job, and discover first if a given candidate is up to the task of working through those challenges. 

This may turn away some candidates, but Matthew demonstrates how many of those candidates aren’t great fits, if the challenges they’re presented seem insurmountable or unappealing.

Matthew tells us “I’ve taken jobs with companies where they tell me it’s 25% travel – I was in a position where I was on the road 95% of the time.. You’re not going to retain anyone. The more open, the more transparent you are, the better you are in recruiting and retaining people – you’re also building that trust up front.” The honesty and transparency doesn’t just help you find the right candidate, it also helps you 

Next, Matthew discusses the importance of a great process – fair, warm, welcome, and efficient. Hiring processes that take too long will result in candidates finding other positions, potentially with competitors! When in doubt, get a second opinion. Matthew tells us “It’s never a bad thing to bring them back in and have another sit down and have another decision.”

Moreso, when faced with two great candidates, never burn bridges! Matthew points to a common issue employers run into: Candidate A and B are both great candidates, but you choose candidate A. Candidate A rejects your offer, and unless you’ve maintained your relationship with candidate B, you may be back to square one in your recruiting efforts!

Matthew tells us “Even a generic thanks, but no thanks, but your resume was reviewed. Those are things that any company can do very quickly, and there’s no real reason not to do those things.”

Finally, Matthew expresses the importance of asking difficult questions. His favorite tough question – “tell me about a time you failed.”
 
 He asks this to discover how employees come back from failure by learning and improving. He tells us “Everyone has made mistakes – it’s a self-reflection question, but also an emotional intelligence question.”

Hiring the right candidate is a fundamental cornerstone of a successful business. Refining your process, being open, honest and transparent, and asking the right questions will go a long way in helping you find the right talent for your organization.

Thanks for listening to this month’s episode of The BizLibrary Podcast! Want to learn more about creating a great interview process? Check out our free resource, 

Welcome back to another episode of The BizLibrary Podcast! We know it has been a while since our last episode, but that's because we have some exciting changes to come! This week, we are so excited to welcome back Thomas Shayon Harrell, a successful L&D professional, whose thought leadership has helped further the knowledge of not only his own workplace but of several other L&D professionals.

Thomas is here this week to discuss personal branding, and if you're like us, you may be wondering why L&D professionals should care about personal branding - Thomas quickly answers that with a compelling argument - he tells us that his company's initiative to produce and create social content through LinkedIn has helped them secure new partnerships with potential clients, and has attracted new employees who are excited by what they see on LinkedIn.

Naturally, we were hoping to understand Thomas' secrets - as we noted in this week's episodes, Thomas is often able to create trending posts, and so we wanted to learn his methods.

Thomas outlined six strategies, among them relevancy, and working with the algorithms. To hear more about Thomas' strategies, you'll have to listen to the whole episode!

Moving forward, we have some exciting things planned for The BizLibrary Podcast, and among them is a reworking of our release schedule. For now, we'll be releasing episodes on a monthly basis. 

Don't worry, because with 67 episodes, there's plenty of relevant and important L&D content for you to catch up on!

Thanks to all of our listeners who tune in each week. We appreciate you, and we're glad we're making something you find useful and valuable. 

Stay posted for more updates, and we'll see you in March!

Learning retention can be a scary and nebulous concept, especially when studies show that we forget as much as 40% of what we learn within 48 hours!

When we look at training budgets, and how rapidly they're rising across the nation, it becomes even scarier that almost half our budget goes to waste just days after a training event takes place.

To placate that fear, we invited Mark Nilles, a versed learning science researcher and learning theory expert to discuss the importance of ensuring learning retention, tools we cna use to ensure that learning is retained, and finally, how we overcome the forgetting curve for good!

Mark talked to us about data that shows that re-engaging learners after a learning event through quizes, open-ended questions, and other strategies that push knowledge back into a learner's brain is a great way to increase learning retention.

While the forgetting curve is scary, overcoming it is relatively simple, when we change the way we think about training - it's a process, not an event!

When you're done listening, be sure to download this week's related resource! Thanks for listening to The BizLibrary Podcast! We'll see you next time!

This week, we welcome back Katie Miller, who appeared in early episodes to discuss the job search process from a candidate's perspective. Katie presented at ALIGN, our client conference, where she discussed overcoming skill gaps.

Skill gaps are the difference between the skills you need your employees to master, and their actual level of mastery. If the discrepancy becomes too large, employees may become unable to achieve their job functions.

There are two ways to overcome the skill gaps that exist in any given organization - hire employees from outside who possess the skills you need, or train skills in your existing workforce to a level that fits your organizational needs. 

Hiring from outside presents a risk - first, there is time and money spent identifying viable candidates, and ensuring that their skills match the skills you are seeking. Second, even preliminary tests can be faulty, meaning that the candidate you take on may not have the level of mastery in any given skill.

Training your existing workforce has its own challenges, but saves both time and money.

Effectively training your employees requires a strong strategy, and one of the first steps is to conduct a skills gap analysis. 

In the episode, we used a podcast host as an example. Our podcast host must have strong interview skills. We categorized this skill two ways: first, we measured on a scale of one to five how important this skill is to the success of the host. We decided that interview skills are a key attribute and gave it the importance of five out of five. 

Next, we analyzed the actual interviewing skill of our fictional host. We gave the host a 3/5 - meaning that more mastery is needed.

Deciding what skills you need, and determining what levels currently exist can go a long way in helping you prioritize how you train individuals in your workforce!

Thanks for listening to The BizLibrary Podcast! When you're finished listening, be sure to download our free related resource!

We'll see you next week!

In this episode of The BizLibrary Podcast, we welcome Dr. Jaclyn Brandhorst, a business professor at the University of Central Missouri.

Dr. Brandhorst is joining us to discuss crisis communication and its role in modern organizations. We first discuss what it means to be “in crisis” – often we equate the word crisis to a serious issue, but crises are fairly common in business – a crisis can be a change in government regulations or rumors of layoffs – but they can be more obvious, like an impending merger or acquisition.

Dr. Brandhorst talks to us in-depth about the four Rs of crisis management – relationships, reputations, responsibility, and response.

First, she discusses how being proactive and building strong relationships can help mitigate the effects of crises – it’s easier to explain why a shipment was late to a customer with whom you’ve had a long-standing, well-established relationship with than to a brand-new client.

Next, we discuss the role of reputation in crisis management – being known for acting with integrity will give your organization a certain amount of goodwill to leverage during times of crisis.

It’s also important for companies to take responsibility for and acknowledge the consequences of crises caused by their actions. Taking these factors into context will help inform what response you create to your crisis.

It’s also important to identify key stakeholders during crises – those who are most affected during times of change and uncertainty. Dr. Brandhorst says that employees are often overlooked, but act as brand ambassadors, so keeping communication open and honest with employees will play a huge part in how you are able to mitigate the effects of your crisis.

Thanks for checking out this week’s episode of The BizLibrary Podcast! When you’re done listening, be sure to check out the free related resource, and as always, we’ll see you next week!

Thanks for checking out this special episode of The BizLibrary Podcast! This week, we’re hosting our Founder and CEO’s ALIGN 2018 President’s address.

Align is our annual client conference, where talented training program managers from around the country to network, learn new strategies to improve their business through training, and learn about the future of BizLibrary’s award-winning learning solutions.

If you haven’t registered for ALIGN 2019, there’s still time! We hope to see you there.

Dean talked to us about times of change and uncertainty, and how technology has transformed the workplace - it has eliminated some jobs while creating new, tech-based jobs, that the labor market is largely unprepared to fill.

Dean tells us that because of this, there isn't a jobs problem in today's marketplace, but rather a skills problem. To overcome this, employers must be intentional and proactive about upskilling their workforce.

Another change rapidly impacting the workforce is demographic changes. Younger employees are entering the workforce quickly, with millennials now making up a majority of the workforce.

lately, members of Generation Z have been bringing their skills and challenges to the workplace as well. Using training to address issues that arise due to multigenerational workforces will continue to have a tremendous impact on your organization's employee 

This week, we welcomed Dr. Nina G, a keynote speaker, author, comedian, and disability advocate who talked to us about how companies can be more accommodating to employees with disabilities.

Nina discusses how sometimes training can be hard to accommodate for - if an individual has dyslexia, writing notes or reading from slides may be impractical.

At the same time, some video content may be impractical for an individual who is deaf, who relies on gestures and strong facial communication to understand a message.

To become a more welcoming environment for individuals with disabilities, Dr. Nina G has one, emphatic recommendation: hire more disabled people. Research shows that the more accustomed we are to working with people with disabilities, the better at it we become.

Building a workplace that accommodates all people is like building a workplace that engages people. It may take some learning and effort, but will eventually improve the results your business is able to produce.

If you'd like to learn more about Universal Design in Learning, you can get in touch with Dr. Nina G at her website!

Thanks for listening to The BizLibrary Podcast! If you'd like to learn more, be sure to download our free related resources!

We'll see you next week!

This week, we had the pleasure of speaking with Lisa Yankowitz, the workplace educator. Lisa's years of experience in issues ranging from employment law to soft skills training have given her a unique perspective and understanding of workplace issues.

Using that experience, Lisa started a company called Ntrinsx, a platform that gives employers perspective into the motivations and values of their individual employees.

Ntrinsx works by delivering assessment based results that gives employers insight into what their employees value. People with heavy blue results value relationships and self-expression. Motivating these people involves showing them how their performance affects others. 

People with high orange results value freedom and fun. Giving these employees flexibility to accomplish a job will help them feel valued, respected, and motivated.

People with high green results value competency. They are analytical, rational, observant, and calm. 

Finally, people with high gold results are consistent, reliable, stable, and value responsibility. Giving them deadlines and meaningful work, and rules to work within will give them guidelines and help them do better work!

Lisa talks about the need to individualize your approach to understanding your employees. By finding their unique motivations, you can better understand how to deliver meaningful feedback and improve the performance of your team!

When you're finished listening to this week's episode, be sure to listen to Lisa's SHRM and HRCI-approved webinar. It's a great look at building better teams. The other related resource will help you understand the employment journey from your employee's perspective!

Thanks for listening! We'll see you next week.

This week, we are joined by Brian Westfall to discuss data collected by Capterra that suggests businesses need to do better at developing their managers.

Over 40% of managers responding to Capterra's survey said they received fewer than two hours of managerial training in the past year. Shockingly, for first-time managers, those numbers are even worse!

Often, management training is conducted with a one-size-fits-all approach. Brian urges businesses to instead identify management skill gaps and build a customized management training program to upskill individuals.

Most managers reported that they wanted more training in these areas:

• Interviewing and hiring, at 31%
• Conflict resolution at 27%
• Coaching and mentoring, at 26%
• Team-building at 26%
• Crisis Management at 24%

These skills are often the biggest changes from individual contributor to manager. Managers need to learn how to ask the right questions in interviews, help teams work well together, deliver meaningful feedback, and handle crises! If you know your management training could use improvement, but don't know where to start, these skills are a great place to begin!

A large content library like BizLibrary's is helpful to managers: they have access to training around every topic, and can watch training over these topics delivered in a variety of styles.

Good managers are an important asset to an organization. Research suggests that they can improve productivity in a department by as much as 50%!

On the other hand, poor managers can increase turnover by as much as 60%. Managers can make or break a department, and that has a major impact on your organization's bottom line.

Thanks for listening to The BizLibrary Podcast! When you're finished listening to this week's episode, be sure to download the free ebook, The New Manager Playbook. This interactive ebook will help prepare your new managers for success! We'll see you next week!

This week on The BizLibrary Podcast, we welcome Atif Siddiqi, the CEO and founder of Branch, an app that allows hourly employees to budget, and access their earnings, and offer a way for employees to earn more money by picking up shifts within the platform. 

Branch has done a lot of research into what causes turnover in hourly employees, and he shared a lot of insight with us during our interview.

Atif mentioned that apart from pay, retail and hourly employees need stability if you want them to stay. That means offering consistent scheduling and offering an easy way to gain or give up shifts.

Additionally, Atif tells us that offering distinct career paths and opportunities for development is important for retaining hourly employees. This can be a challenge in busy locations where time and staffing are in short supply.

There are many ways to overcome this, but a mixture of microlearning and mobile delivery allows employees to quickly access training from their devices, and quickly learn new skills that will prepare them for future roles.

Retail employees often face major challenges with multi-generational workforces. It is not uncommon for locations to have employees who are as young as 16 and some who are working post-retirement to stay busy.

Helping employees understand the values and motivations of various generations through training is a great way to solve issues that may arise due to generational conflicts.

Ultimately, by offering stability in scheduling, competitive pay and flexibility through technology, you can improve your turnover rates. Atif tells us that on average, Branch has helped clients lower turnover by 13%!

Employee turnover is a costly business challenge that affects almost every organization. If you’re in retail and looking to reduce expenses, building a plan to reduce turnover is a great way to increase your organization’s profitability!
 
 Thanks for listening to The BizLibrary Podcast! When you’re done listening, be sure to download this week’s related resource to help you knockout employee turnover!