Peer-to-Peer Social Learning

Congratulations on getting our EU peer-to-peer learning blog off to such a great start! The videos were a joy to watch and learn from. I laughed, I cried (well, I didn't really cry). Based on the comments posted to each video, it sounds like all of the posts would have been genuinely useful to you as first-year students, and many are applicable today!

We can see a variety of production tools and a range of production quality on our posts. Hopefully this assignment gave you a feel for what tools might be useful to you in the future for producing media and building a social learning system. 

This week's social learning adventure brings together the 70/20/10 learning model with Meister & Willyerd's (2010) social learning ecosystem. The video above is from a UK-based company that sells a social learning platform. They provide a nice overview of the 70/20/10 model, supplementing the material we've read in Meister & Willyerd (2010). 

How would you link this week's project with the 70/20/10 model and Meister & Willyerd's social learning ecosystem? Which quadrant does our peer-to-peer learning experiment fit into?

Now that you've taken part in building a basic social learning system, take some time to go back a read Meister & Willyerd (2010) chapter 6 again. How are some of these social learning examples be used at your case study company to support the delivery of the sources of competitive advantage? And if they are not being used today, how might they be used?

Reference

Meister, J.C. & Willyerd, K. (2010). The 2020 workplace: How innovative companies attract, develop, and keep tomorrow's employees today. New York: HarperCollins.

Helping People Win at Work

We saw in today's discussion board how many of Ken Blanchard's Simple Truths (Blanchard & Ridge, 2009) have shown up in our own experiences. The simple truths that have been exhibited most frequently in our own experience are:

• # 1: Performing well: what makes people feel good about themselves.
• # 3: It all starts with performance planning.
• # 12: Celebrate success.

These are the simple truths identified as most frequently missing from our experience:

• # 2: To help people perform well, an effective performance management system must be established.
• # 6: The ultimate coaching tool: accentuate the positive.
• # 8: Deliver reprimands with caring candor.

Blanchard's simple truths are not revolutionary. In fact, they appear to be pretty common sense, yet it's surprising how often they are missing in our workplaces. Your personal stories illustrated how important each simple truth is. You also illustrated how all of these simple truths work together to create a workplace where people win. Austin provides an excellent example of what can happen when one simple truth is exercised at the expense of another. 

Proper, integrated application of all 12 simple truths is important. This proper application is perhaps best captured in simple truth 11: servant leadership is the only way to go. See Kyle B. and Andrew B.'s posts for helpful observations on servant leadership.

The short video above features Ken and Scott Blanchard introducing situational leadership II, the model discussed in some detail in simple truth 4: the biggest impact on performance comes from day-to-day coaching. You'll want to take a few minutes to watch this. The Blanchards' discussion integrates just about all of the simple truths in today's reading. Can you identify the simple truths and their importance to helping people win at work? You'll also want to check-out Katie and Kyle N.'s posts to see the contrast between two very similar performance management systems, and what happens when effective day-to-day coaching is absent.

The video below is from a lecture ken Blanchard gave at BIOLA University a few years ago. It goes more deeply into his perspective on servant leadership and the positive impact it can have on the organization and its customers. It's an hour long, but worth watching. Ken Blanchard is one of the most significant management writers/consultants of our time.

Reference:

Blanchard, K. & Ridge, G. (2009). Helping people win at work: A business philosophy called, "Don't mark my paper, help me get an A". Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Recruiting Using Social Media

This article provides a helpful overview of the advantages and risks associated with sourcing candidates using social media. Check it out.

http://www.talentmgt.com/articles/7162-hiring-in-the-age-of-transparency?interstitial=ST031315

Social Media Basics for College Grads

We won't have time to discuss these resources in detail during class time, so I want to pass them along to you here.

This first video from KPMG provides a very good introduction to managing your online or virtual brand. Check the KPMG YouTube channel for other videos offering excellent career search advice for new college grads.

Social media used by recruiters and hiring managers goes well beyond LinkedIn, but if you're not on LinkedIn, you're not in the game. This video from  LinkedIn provides a helpful overview of how to get started. See LinkedIn's YouTube channel for a rest of this series geared for new college grads.

Abercrombie & Fitch Employment Discrimination Case

View image | gettyimages.com

Abercrombie & Fitch's "look" policy comes under fire in this employment discrimination case currently before the Supreme Court. the heart of the issue is religious discrimination under Tile VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Nina Totenberg of NPR provides an excellent review of the core issues in the case and the arguments presented to the Court on February 25 in this story. You can also listen to complete audio of the February 25 oral arguments here, provided by C-SPAN.

A ruling is expected by the end of June, 2015.