Farmers Insurance claims the No. 2 spot on the Training Top 125 with a forward-thinking training strategy linked to its primary mission: FarmersFuture 2020. It's not surprising an insurance company would have an insurance policy for the future. But Farmers takes that strategy one step further, setting its sights on 2020 with a far-reaching plan to…

Preparing employees for the immediate work in front of them is a challenge. While most companies are still mastering effectively training their own workforce, some, such as "Training" magazine Top 10 Hall of Famer The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, have set up for-profit academies open to the public. When Ritz-Carlton won the national Malcolm…

Creating a balanced learning space for employees is about more than trying different types of seating. It is a challenge that an affect how well employees absorb the lessons and whether they will be able to product better results for the company. The possible solutions are as diverse as the learners. This article describes how three companies…

Innovation has been part of The Economical Insurance Group (TEIG) throughout its 140-year history--its first insurance policy was written on a barn in Berlin, Ontario. Today, the company continues to pursue innovation through its leaders, utilizing a variety of programs to develop the talent needed to guide the 2,500-employee organization through…

A training department revamp is a huge, but not impossible, undertaking, and a chore that may be inevitable every now and then. Taking the plunge and deciding to rebuild one's training structure can offer a sizable return on investment to one's senior executives, and a more effective learning strategy for employees. The tricky part is ensuring the…

Most organizations focus on one-off training solutions to address a single workplace learning need at a single time rather than integrating learning and nonlearning interventions to help staff develop increasingly complex levels of expertise specific to their jobs. Curriculum is a long-term, integrated approach to training in which workers take…

Most companies need a steady stream of talent to enter, then move up in, the organization. But at most companies, the care and feeding of that talent stream is often a bit fragmented; recruitment is largely an HR function, while succession planning--to the extent there is any--is left in the hands of executive leadership. Development of the…

For flooring manufacturer Mohawk Industries, it is not enough to teach employees how to be great. The long-time Training Top 125 contender focused last year on helping employees to blaze their own learning paths while meeting organization imperatives. That meant improving the technology that supports employee performance, as well as creating new…

Discussion of human performance technology (HPT) interventions focuses on requests for solutions to problems that involve conflict between the FEFM ("Fix 'em for me") Virus and the WIIFM ("What's in it for me?") Requirement. Building a relationship of mutual trust and confidence with the client and demonstrating responsiveness…

Discussion of human performance technology and a shift from emphasizing training to emphasizing performance focuses on a review of articles from "Performance Improvement". Results show most articles were focused on processes and particular interventions in business and industry and did not include evaluation that addressed added societal…

The new Hewlett-Packard was the largest merger in technology history. During its merger, the new company faced an intense organizational change and integration of two different corporate cultures. While all these changes were occurring, its Workforce Development (WD) was also facing its own reinvention--a paradigm shift from being just a training…

Discussion of corporate training focuses on the Internet, Web-based training, and the latest trend toward wireless technology. Topics include the emerging workplace, including continuous learning and collaboration and aiding performance; mobile delivery systems for corporate instructional designers; and types of mobile devices, including PDAs…

Describes elements of the three categories that have been implemented by the Sandia research lab corporate training organization as part of their strategic planning. Suggests that applying interventions that are diagnosed and implemented for others to yourself will improve your performance and help sustain your organization into the future.…

Discusses performance improvement interventions, including training, and the need for evaluation to measure training effectiveness. Reviews six evaluation perspectives of corporate training programs and recommends four areas for further study, including overall evaluation models and appropriate uses of the results of evaluations. (Contains 63…

Proposes the need for electronic learning to be redefined to move beyond training toward a wider array of solutions, from performance support to knowledge management. Topics include balancing employees' instructional needs with informational needs; integrating online courseware with knowledge systems; communities of practice; access to experts;…