Corporate Learning Week, Apprenticeships Executive Order

The 5th Corporate Learning Week took place this past week from November 13-16 in Dallas, Texas. Made for and by Learning and Development leaders, the mission of Corporate Learning Week is to provide the strategies necessary to increase effectiveness within the business, create a more productive workforce and faster organizational growth. The 2017 Corporate Learning Week placed specific focus on influential tools and capabilities to help professionals transform their learning organization to align with their organization’s main values and needs. It also addressed the learning expectations that are arising due to digitization. (Source: Corporate Learning Week)

What does this mean for professional development?

Attracting VPs, CLOs and Senior Executives from across the U.S., organizations are now racing to keep up with the fast pace of organizational change and the latest trends in training. Following Corporate Learning Week, top organization’s will now be more focused on meeting their business goals, improving employee engagement and enhancing their overall organization through defined learning and development initiatives.

Training Magazine Declares 2018 Training Top 125 Winners

This week Training magazine declared the winners for the 18th annual Training Top 125. This award ranks the quality of companies in employer-sponsored training and development programs. Although the names of the companies are out, the rankings will be revealed on February 12 at the Training 2018 Conference & Expo in Atlanta, GA. The companies that made this list have received a lot of praise from many, including Editor-in-Chief of Training magazine Lorri Freifeld, who exclaimed that they were “game changers” who are “constantly looking for innovative ways to effectively deliver and measure employee training.” Companies are judged on the scope of development programs, financial investment in employee development, and how closely development efforts are to business objectives and goals. (Source: Training magazine) 

What does this mean for professional development?

Professional Development companies are stepping up and creating many new learning opportunities for aspiring professionals and organizations. Companies will be lining up to get the best training from the top providers to help meet their goals in the upcoming year.

Mandatory Sexual Harassment Training Enacted

After a congressional hearing on Tuesday, many representatives came forward with accounts of sexual harassment in their place of work. After the hearing House Speaker Paul Ryan officially announced that mandatory anti-discrimination and anti-harassment training is to be adopted by members of the House of Representatives and staff. This policy is aimed at raising awareness, preventing, reporting and combating sexual harassment, and ensuring that the workplace becomes a safe environment. Sexual transgression has been happening for years in Congress, as it has been in other organizations as well. Steps are now being taken to account for injustices that have occurred for far too long. (Source: HuffPost)

What does this mean for professional development?

The government is not cutting any corners when it comes to addressing and eliminating the problem of sexual harassment in Congress. As stories continue to take light, other organizations will start to draw attention to themselves. Ensuring that your employees and leaders have proper sexual harassment training is the first step in ensuring the quality and safety of your work environment.

Apprenticeships in the USA

In June of this year, President Trump signed an executive order to increase apprenticeships in the United States. This development had high hopes, with the potential to confront some of the largest challenges in the U.S. workforce and economy. Trump proclaimed that he aimed to create thousands of new apprenticeships and would work with business leaders, state officials and governors from across the country to create policies that would help this apprenticeship expansion. There was a lot of excitement around this order, but the buzz has died down in past months since the signing of it. Many people fear that this executive order will not be seen through, including research professor Anthony Carnevale who said it's just a "good PR." Even though apprenticeships thrive in European countries, they failed in the U.S. in the past due to the large wage gap and the willingness of professionals to switch industries based on salaries. Although there is much scrutiny for the apprenticeship programs, it is possible that they can succeed in the US.(Source: The Atlantic) 

What does this mean for professional development?

Even though the buzz around the potential growth in apprenticeships has died down, there is still hope that the executive order can pull through and create numerous opportunities for people in all states. A rise in apprenticeships will make it so all types of people can learn new trades from skilled employers, allowing them to grow professionally and form a stronger working class.