1.   Training Part-Timers

For some time now companies have been trying to address the issue of training part-time and temporary personnel. Banking, credit and collection, and food service are just a few categories that continue to see an expanding use of part-time workers.

A recent survey by Thomas Mortenson at the Center for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education and reported in the October 2000 issue of American Demographics, points to the rising number of college students taking on full- or part-time work in addition to their studies. The study found that in 1998 14 percent (1.4 million) of all full-time college students were employed full-time, up from 8 percent (0.6 million) in 1987. An additional 38 percent (3.8 million) were employed part-time. To put it another way, more than half of all full-time college students are working. In addition 16 percent of part-time students (0.9 million) in 1998 were employed part-time.

While many of the students are working part-time on campus, the study reports that 22 percent of freshman alone are working at off-campus jobs. This could be a heads up for HR and training personnel to develop recruiting strategies for part-time workers on campus, offer them training, and build relationships that will encourage accepting full-time positions at graduation.

More information on the study can be found at http://www.postsecondary.com.

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2.     Is E-Learning for You?

With increasing rapidity, organizations are looking to harvest the promises of the Web to provide up-to-the-minute training for employees. Some estimates are that within four years, half of all corporate training will be Web-based. Although e-learning seems to have unlimited potential and flexibility, implementing this new training strategy creates several challenges for the organization, the most important of which is ensuring rapid organizational acceptance and adoption.

According to Michelle Minton, TCPI Associate, e-learning may represent either an evolutionary or revolutionary change for the organization depending on the nature of the organization and the level of other organizational change occurring. In her article in Communication Project Magazine, she raises the essential questions that help determine the scale of change coming to the organization, and the level of change management required for successful implementation:

1. Do you understand the changes e-learning will bring to your organization?

2. Is e-learning part of your organization’s integrated training strategy?

3. Is there appropriate leadership throughout the organization to support e-learning?

4. Are the organizational support systems in place to sustain the adoption of e-learning?

5. Is your technology capable of delivering e-learning predictably and effectively?

6. Are individual learners prepared for distance learning?

7. Do you have an overall Change Management plan in place to transition your organization to e-learning?

Only by deliberate planning will e-learning provide the benefits of decreased training costs and increased skill transfer. With the rate of investment in Web-based distance learning increasing dramatically, wouldn’t it be comforting to think that your investments will be readily accepted by the organization?

For a full discussion of these issues, visit http://www.comproj.com/magazine.htm.

3.     Advancements in Live and Archived Training Platforms

If you’re just doing "talking head" type meetings using Web-based solutions, there are a plethora of options available. In fact, e-learning platforms are rapidly becoming a commodity. For more comprehensive training solutions, a platform’s ability to produce and maintain quality archives is a key factor in selection. Archives need:

• to be easily accessible
• password protection as necessary
• testing and polling features that return results to the learner
• PDF document presentation and print options
• Bookmarking

One platform, HorizonLive Distance Learning (http://www.horizonlive.com) continues to lead the pack on most features. With excellent audio, video, chat, white boarding, and polling features, this thin client solution is worth a look.

4.     What Now Coach?