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Staying Ahead of the Learning Curve—Q&A with Jodi Glickman

Part III of our interview with Great on the Job author Jodi Glickman, the Engagement and Retention Edition. Jodi is an entrepreneur, author, public speaker, consultant and regular blogger for Harvard Business Review. She is a faculty member of the Johnson School’s Leadership Program at Cornell and a contributor to Fortune.com and Business Insider. Her new book: Great on the Job, What to Say, How to Say It, The Secrets of Getting Ahead has been described as a veritable master class in workplace success.

Q: There seems to be a real disconnect between what employers think employees value at work, and vice versa. What advice would you give employers who are struggling with engagement or retention in their workforce? Again, this seems to illustrate a communication gap, perhaps even the absence of a feedback mechanism.

Engaged employees are happy employees and the research shows time and time again that companies with higher employee engagement perform better financially. Employers have to make real effort to reach out to employees and find out what is going well and what needs changing. The shift has to start with the top—senior management needs to demonstrate a commitment to listening to employees.

On a more basic level, line managers need to be held accountable for keeping their teams and divisions challenged and engaged. Knowing what your employees want to work on, are great at doing and are hoping to learn will help you come up with work plans for individual employees. People will work harder for a manager who is focused on their professional development.

There’s also a huge misperception about incentives at work.  The vast majority of employees cites recognition as one of the main motivating factors at work—not more money or cash bonuses.  Calling out a colleague for work well done goes a long way to maintaining morale and making employees feel valued.

Q: In terms of engagement, how do feel about employees having a real, tangible stake in the company’s success or failure, i.e. accountability for profits, revenue, customer satisfaction and so on? Are these rewarding places in which to work?


Jodi: I often think about how fun it would be to work at Apple (even after reading the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson which showed him to be a tough boss, to put it nicely). Can you imagine how amazingly gratifying it would be to make such awesome products? To know that people literally LOVED your company and your products and couldn’t wait to get their hands on your latest innovations? And to know that your stock options had quadrupled in value over the last ten year?

So yes, I think it’s hugely important for employees to have a real, tangible stake in a company’s success or failure. People take real pride in creating great products or delivering superior customer service. People are motivated by far more than money, so it’s never money alone… but certainly employees should be rewarded for their company’s success and feel like they have a real stake in the outcome.

And as an entrepreneur myself, I am always conscious of how I am going to reward my employees as the business grows—I always want them to know that when we do better as a company they will do better financially. It’s part of the bargain—put your best foot forward, give your job your heart and soul and you’ll be rewarded with a raise or a bonus and a job that is over time, more challenging and rewarding.

Be sure to read parts I and II as well.

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Staying Ahead of the Learning Curve—Q&A with Jodi Glickman

Part II of our interview with Great on the Job author Jodi Glickman. Jodi is an entrepreneur, author, public speaker, consultant and regular blogger for Harvard Business Review. She is a faculty member of the Johnson School’s Leadership Program at Cornell and a contributor to Fortune.com and Business Insider. Her new book: Great on the Job, What to Say, How to Say It, The Secrets of Getting Ahead has been described as a veritable master class in workplace success.

Q:What are some communication skills that are closely identified with what we call high-potentials? How can adopting the traits of a highly effective communicator help one get ahead?

Jodi: Time and time again I’m asked about the most important qualities needed to get ahead in the workplace. In my opinion, dynamic and honed communication skills are the keys to success at work.

One of the most distinguishing features in a strong communicator is generosity. A generous communicator shares information readily, shares credit broadly, and gives of their time and expertise selflessly. A generous communicator always leads with the punch line—sharing what’s new, different or important up front—so that your listener doesn’t have to guess at what you’re talking about or spend 10 minutes listening to you when they only have two minutes to spare.Read More

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Staying Ahead of the Learning Curve—Q&A with Jodi Glickman

Part I of our interview with Great on the Job author Jodi Glickman. Jodi is an entrepreneur, author, public speaker, consultant and regular blogger for Harvard Business Review. She is a faculty member of the Johnson School’s Leadership Program at Cornell and a contributor to Fortune.com and Business Insider. Her new book: Great on the Job, What to Say, How to Say It, The Secrets of Getting Ahead has been described as a veritable master class in workplace success.

Q: Let’s face it, the workplace is vastly different than it was just 5 years ago. In the “over-work economy”, people are expected to do more for less, job security weighs heavily and many are feeling stuck in their jobs. How can people overcome feelings of resignation and helplessness and create options and real opportunities for themselves?

Jodi: In today’s economy, you’ve got to take charge of managing your learning curve, developing new skills and staying relevant within your organization. No one cares more about managing your career more than you do—if you find yourself stuck doing unexciting, uninteresting or unchallenging work, you need to speak up and find a way to make a change. Start by making a list of additional projects you’d like to work on or alternative ways you can contribute to your organization. Then, approach your manager with several ideas of how to put your skills and talent to use.

Here are four ways to frame the conversation with your boss and potentially re-direct some of your workflow:Read More

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The Wall Street Journal Weighs in on the Value of a Certificate Program

In Search of Cachet
Online programs from top-notch schools gain, as students look to add luster to their résumés

Many people are finding there’s a way to get some of the benefits of an M.B.A. degree from a top-flight school but at a fraction of the usual cost. They’re heading online.

Instead of sitting in a classroom, they’re taking career-specific courses and certificate programs over the Web that enable them to put a prestigious name on their résumé without breaking the bank or upending their schedule.

Consider Benjamin Berry, a project-management consultant in Eugene, Ore. Late last year, the 45-year-old noticed that the market for his type of work was drying up but the price tag and time commitment deterred him from going back to school for an M.B.A. So, he enrolled in a $3,200 certificate program from eCornell, the online arm of Cornell University.

Mr. Berry, who received his undergraduate degree from Presbyterian College in Atlanta, says the program was an inexpensive way to gain Ivy League credibility. “A lot of people out here have never heard of Presbyterian College, but everyone knows Cornell University,” he says.

A Full Class

In addition to Cornell, such well-known schools as Boston University, Pennsylvania State University and the University of California at Berkeley have introduced business-related certificates to their online offerings. A handful of other big schools, such as the University of Notre Dame, the University of San Francisco, Tulane and Villanova, are offering certificate programs through partnerships with University Alliance, a Tampa-based group that provides the marketing and technology for schools’ online efforts.

University Alliance has seen jumps in enrollment at all of its partner schools recently, according to Amit Sharan, the group’s assistant brand manager for business-certificate programs. The people choosing these programs “need relevant skills that they can attain, and apply, immediately,” Mr. Sharan says.

What’s more, large companies are partnering with prestigious schools to develop online programs to train and retain employees. At eCornell, 60% of students take classes through corporate partnerships, says eCornell’s president and CEO, Chris Proulx. “Our students are professionals looking to advance their career in an accelerated way,” he says.

One of the school’s most popular certificates is in hotel revenue management. Cornell University’s hotel-management program is widely regarded as top tier, and the certificate gives nondegree students the opportunity to engage with professors from the full-time program. The 23 eCornell certificate programs cost $2,000 to $6,000 about the same as students would pay for similar in-person programs.

For Mark Delisi, director of corporate responsibility at Computer Sciences Corp. and former head of the company’s Leadership Academy, a partnership with eCornell over the past six years has been a success. Initially, he says, the company was looking for an Ivy League executive-education program for senior executives in the company who are spread out around the globe. Later, Computer Sciences expanded it to include managers.

“Content-wise, access-wise, [the online program] is as good if not better than the in-person experience,” Mr. Delisi says. Inside the company, he adds, the program is seen as “clearly adding value; it’s helping our executives and senior-level people do their jobs better.”

At Your Convenience

For workers, the programs offer a number of advantages. Chad Pollitt, who works for DigitalHill.com, a Web-design and marketing firm in Goshen, Ind., says an online certificate was the only way to advance his marketing career, because there weren’t any schools nearby offering a program. He could “study any time of day and anywhere in the world,” he says.

The Internet marketing certificate, through the University of San Francisco and University Alliance, cost $6,000 and took about 100 hours and 12 weeks to complete. Students could choose to participate in real-time class sessions or review the lectures later on their computers.

“My boss was skeptical at first because our industry is constantly changing,” says Mr. Pollitt. “Once I started bringing the ‘latest and greatest’ strategies and methodologies from the program to work, he became a believer.”

Mr. Pollitt credits the program with helping him double his sales, and he adds that early on in his course work, co-workers began coming to him with their Internet marketing questions. “It’s made me, our team and our company more successful,” he says.

Another upside of programs from well-known universities is the perception that they are more rigorous and high level than some other online offerings something critics often argued was lacking from upstart online programs. “These are not ‘book in a box’ programs,” says University Alliance’s Mr. Sharan. “They are taught by the university’s faculty, and in order to receive a certificate of completion, the student must complete a mastery exam.”

Of course, not every online program is worthwhile, and online certificates aren’t for everyone, says John Fernandes, president and CEO of AACSB International, the main accrediting body for business schools. Students should have a clear understanding of what they want to achieve, he says. “You need to do your homework. Ask yourself, ‘What is this course yielding for the starting point of future employment?’ “

Executive recruiter Nancy Keene agrees. “No matter what school, it is important to know the brand of the school, what it might add to your [qualifications] package and how it will be received by your target hiring managers,” says Ms. Keene, a director in Stanton Chase International’s Dallas office.

She suggests contacting hiring managers and graduates of the program to find out how valuable the certificates have proved in the workplace before signing up. If the program checks out, Ms. Keene adds, a targeted certificate can be especially valuable when recruiters ask what you’ve been doing while laid off.

In the early summer of 2009 eCornell was approached by the Wall Street Journal requesting interviews from our students on the value of a Certificate vs. a Degree:

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Obama’s Great Course Giveaway

Clues to a grand online-education plan emerge from the college and the experts that may have inspired it

Logan Stark’s classmates scramble for courses with professors who top instructor-rating Web sites. But when the California Polytechnic State University student enrolled in a biochemistry class on the San Luis Obispo campus, he didn’t need to sweat getting the best.

It was practically guaranteed. That’s because much of the class was built by national specialists, not one Cal Poly professor. It’s a hybrid of online and in-person instruction. When Mr. Stark logs in to the course Web site at midnight, a bowl of cereal beside his laptop, he clicks through animated cells and virtual tutors, a digital domain designed by faculty experts and software engineers.

By the time Mr. Stark steps into the actual lecture hall, the Web site has alerted his professor to what parts of the latest lesson gave students trouble. That lets her focus class time on where they need the most help.

Mr. Stark’s class is one of about 300 around the world to use online course material—both the content and the software that delivers it—developed by Carnegie Mellon University’s Open Learning Initiative. If the Obama administration pulls off a $500-million-dollar online-education plan, proposed in July as one piece of a sweeping community-college aid package, this type of course could become part of a free library available to colleges nationwide.

Read the full article.

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Career Advancement Accounts (CAA)

Career Advancement Accounts (CAA) are available to some military spouses to use for education and training
that lead to an industry-recognized credential.

The Career Advancement Account program was designed to help military spouses acquire skills that are
portable and will help them find a job if their family gets transferred to another area for military reasons.

There are specific high growth/ high demand career fields that these accounts have to be used for.  eCornell offers certificate programs in two of these fields; Human Resources and Hospitality.  We have had military spouses enroll in both of these programs over the last year.

The amount for a CAA account is $3,000 for one year.  The
accounts may be renewed for one additional year, for a total two-year amount of $6000.

Participating States and Installations are:

California

  • Camp Pendleton (Marine Corps)
  • Naval Base San Diego Metro (Navy),

Florida

  • Eglin AFB (Air Force)
  • Hurlburt Field (Air Force)
  • NAS Jacksonville (Navy)

Georgia

  • Fort Benning (Army)

North Carolina

  • Fort Bragg (Army)
  • Pope AFB (Air Force)

There are eligibility guidelines that must be followed.  Questions about these guidelines should be direct to the military installation’s Family Support Center, Voluntary Education Center, or at a One-Stop Career Center

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Relative Advantages of Associate Degrees and Certificates

A new in-depth study of the educational and employment outcomes of low-income students suggests that low-income students who struggle in high school get more of an earnings boost by earning a certificate than they do achieving an associate degree at a two-year college. The study, “Pathways to Boosting the Earnings of Low-Income Students by Increasing Their Educational Attainment,” is based on data produced by the State of Florida’s unusual system for linking its citizens’ education and employment records. Among its findings:

  • Access to college depends heavily on students’ financial backgrounds. Only 55 percent of students who qualified for free and reduced lunch (a federal proxy for low family income) attended college, compared to 62 percent of other students. Twenty-five percent of free and reduced lunch students attended college within two years (compared to 39 percent of other students) and 17 percent completed a year’s worth of college, compared to 30 percent. Non-free and reduced lunch students were also more than twice as likely as their less-wealthy peers to earn a college credential within six years.
  • Students who achieved a higher credential earned more money. Those who earned a certificate had median earnings that were 27 percent higher than than those with no college credential; those with a bachelor’s degree earned about 35 percent more than those with no credential; and those with graduate degrees made about 62 percent more. Interestingly, though, students with just an A.A. degree did only 8 percent better than those with no credential at all—quite a bit less well than those with certificates. “… These results suggest that it is feasible for students who attend two-year colleges and do not go on to complete four-year programs to increase their earnings substantially by completing the courses needed to obtain a certificate,” the study’s authors wrote.