Lifelong Learning Manager is an electronic newsletter published bi-monthly by Dynamic Works Institute to provide you with information, strategies, and techniques to support training and professional development activities in your workforce organization. We include articles you can pass along to the learners in your organization, and proven techniques that have worked for others implementing training programs in our industry.

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• Make System Capacity Building a Priority for Your Organization 
• Collages Can Help Reduce Stress
• Personal Growth Opportunity
• You're Invited to Watch a Free Recorded Webinar
• Resources

Make System Capacity Building a Priority in Your Organization

Many organizations think they can't afford to spend money on staff training, but the reality is they can't afford not to. An individual staff person may be responsible for only a narrow part of any one of the organizational functions. But, organizational excellence depends on the collective efforts of competent individuals working well together. Developing organizational capacity may lead to the creation of different individual capacities among various staff responsible for a function. Each member of your staff must have his or her own individual development plan. Those individual plans will help direct your training efforts. Strategies for developing capacity include: Traditional classroom training Online Training Peer training Experiential learning Teleconferencing Job shadowing Field trips Conferences Interactive/cooperative Independent study Role play On-the-job coaching and support from managers Identify developmental needs across the organization through use of performance evaluations, surveys, interviews, or focus groups. Individually prepared staff developmental plans can be used to gather individual perspectives about individual developmental needs. These plans should include: Individual development activities that occurred within the last year. Application of learning within the past year. Skills needed over the next 12 months. Staff development activities needed to develop those skills over the next 12 months. The organization's system capacity building plan should not be developed by management in a vacuum. It is best done through a team approach, using staff from throughout the organization. It is essential that individuals are actively engaged in developing the staff capacity building plan and that they have a sense of responsibility for their own development. Learning and learning transference will be difficult if the individuals involved do not buy into the up-front need for training. Develop a plan of action and expectation on how to transfer learning back on the job. This typically involves working with a manager/supervisor of the staff receiving the training to determine when and how to implement the training, as well as identifying any barriers to applying training to the job. On-the-job coaching and support from managers provides an avenue to implement training by helping staff practice the skills acquired. Performance is driven by behavior, and behavior is driven by four factors: Communication - Communicate the system capacity building plan goals, objectives, and reward systems to staff. Training - Carry out the training strategies. Measurement - Measure whether success was achieved. Rewards - Provide rewards for success. Rewards do not have to be cash - some partner agencies do not allow their staff to receive cash rewards, and your reward system should be uniformly applicable across the system to avoid driving wedges between staff. Involve the employees - your team that puts together the system capacity building plan should solicit input from their colleagues. Get recommendations from the people who will actually be affected by the recognition effort. To ensure that your system capacity building plan is sustained over time, you must incorporate its elements throughout the organization's operations. If the capacity building plan is not written into operational procedures and given funding, you will simply be paying lip service to the idea and there will be no sustainability. Make it count! Remember, performance improves when measured. Ask for status reports from each organization on a regular basis, make training an annual monitoring issue, and consider giving incentives to organizations within your system who achieve their capacity building goals. As you develop your budgets for the next fiscal year, make system capacity building a priority for your organization. And, make it an ongoing process each year; continue to review, revise and re-implement your plan as necessary. This article was developed from the Dynamic Works Institute course System Capacity Building, which is part of the Management Services Certification Package. The course was developed by Corporation for a Skilled Workforce. For more detailed information on system capacity building sign up for this course or certification package today!

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Collages Can Help Reduce Stress

As a long time teacher of collage, I find that creating a Goal, Smile, or "Who I am outside of work" collage in an office or cubicle to be a great stress reducer and means of self-expression. Collages also help relationship building with co-workers, revealing common goals and interests. My clients are former Boeing workers in job search and their amazingly beautiful collages all tend to include strong, solitary trees and scenes of lakes, streams, and ocean/beach themes. They put their collages above their work search areas at home to reduce stress. Nora Brownlie Employment Specialist Snohomish County Workforce Development Council

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Personal Growth Opportunity

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Following are recorded Webinar sessions available online to help you with your lifelong learning.

Business-friendly Web Sites: Build a Web Site Your Business Customers Will Love
Sandy Gonsalves, a Greg Newton Associate
Attendees will see:

• Why a web site is important
  
• What business customers expect from your web site
  
• The biggest mistakes – and how to avoid them
  
• Samples of model web sites
  
• Tips for making your web site even better

Leading Edge Workforce Investment Boards
Ed Strong, Corporation for a Skilled Workforce
Attend to learn how some workforce investment boards have taken a leadership role in their communities to become level 3 workforce boards.

Visit our web site to take these FREE sessions today!

Following are resources to help you with your organization's lifelong learning management. If you know of other resources that would be helpful to include here, please let us know!

- a leading association of workplace learning and performance professionals, forming a world-class community of practice.
Corporation for a Skilled Workforce - a national non-profit policy, research, and consulting organization.
Dynamic Works Institute - the leading national workforce training institute providing training and certification solutions for workforce staff.
Geographic Solutions - the nation's leading provider of software solutions for workforce development, employment, and training.
Greg Newton Associates - tap into this unique collaboration of independent consultants with over 100 years of technical know-how and hands-on experience.
HRMS Net Assets - intelligence for Workforce Development Professionals.
Jay Block Companies - career and success coaching.
The Kaiser Group - a respected training, consulting, and administrative services organization providing ideas and strategies to professionals serving the workforce development, welfare reform, criminal justice, and social service fields.
National Association of Workforce Boards - represents business-led Workforce Boards that plan and oversee state and local workforce development and job training programs.
National Association for Workforce Development Professionals - the national voice for the profession meeting the individual professional development needs of its membership.
National Association of Youth Service Consultants - NAYSC hosts a directory of consultants and technical assistance providers in workforce development, education, juvenile justice, mental health, dis-Abilities, non-profits, and more.
Sandra Hastings Associates - Sandra Hastings is a focused, highly motivated professional with extensive experience in training, system building, and consultation/facilitation. Sandra's keen intuition and approachable facilitation and presentation styles have earned her high marks from organizations and training participants.
SG Marketing Solutions - Sandy Gonsalves, a Greg Newton Associate, provides marketing advice and materials.
Workforce Tools of the Trade - a part of the CareerOneStop, solely targeted to fostering the professional growth of those in the workforce development field across all levels of the system.
US Department of Labor - Working Partners - providing information to support your efforts in serving customers with Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse.

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