Improve New Hire Productivity Using Visual Thinking
with Amanda Blake, Barrie Levinson and Jan Foster

June 12, 2008

Note:  Senior Training Directors' Forums are targeted for training and development professionals who have a minimum of 10 years of training and development (or equivalent) experience and are responsible for developing training and development strategy. Director level professionals are also responsible for decision making in their organizations. These programs are designed to offer strategic insight and time for round table interaction with peers.

Overview

An employee’s first impression of a company is a lasting one. From the time an employee accepts the offer through their first few weeks of employment, impressions are formed that either reinforce their decision to join or cause them to question it. If not handled well, the employee will be confused and unproductive, increasing the cost of ramp-up time and putting employee retention at risk. Handled well, a new employee will be delighted and productive.

Join your peers in an experiential exploration of how to maximize those initial impressions. This is a highly participatory session using unique facilitation methods that are good for tackling a wide variety of challenges in your organization. XPLANE will facilitate the discussion of how to best capture employee enthusiasm and engagement during those critical early weeks. The format will utilize proven facilitation tools including the Who/Do and BigHead techniques. Do we have your interest?

XPLANE, www.xplane.com, helps clients understand, synthesize, and clearly communicate complex information. From process maps to value propositions to strategic visioning and beyond, XPLANE makes abstract concepts visual and concrete so people can understand issues quickly and make better decisions. Headquartered in Portland, XPLANE has a global presence with offices in St. Louis, Atlanta, and Madrid. Clients span a diverse array of industries and include Microsoft, Nike, Intel, Tektronix, BP, and McDonald’s as well as many smaller companies.

During this session, we’ll explore the questions and challenges that new employees face through the eyes of the new hire and other key stakeholders. Then we’ll dive into those questions in more detail to surface best practices for addressing them. You’ll leave with the group’s compiled wisdom of best practices for onboarding, so you’re better prepared to offer more effective support to your new employees during those confusing early days.

Takeaways will include:

• List of best practices for onboarding
• Handout on personnas (people involved in an experience) that can be used in your own workshop facilitations
• New ideas for how to facilitate more effective and collaborative meetings

Alignment with National ASTD Competency Model

9 Focus Areas Areas in BOLD will be addressed in this presentation.

1. Designing Learning 2. Improving Human Performance 3. Delivering Training 4. Measuring and Evaluating 5. Facilitating Organizational Change 6. Managing the Learning Function 7. Coaching 8. Managing Organizational Knowledge 9. Career Planning and Talent Management

Speakers

Amanda Blake, General Manager, XPLANE Tools, is responsible for the development and proliferation of tools and training to enable visual thinking. As a business leader, Mandy has played a key role in the establishment of four business ventures. Mandy has a broad base of business experience spanning product development, marketing, leadership development and training in both world-class technology firms and innovative start-ups.

Barrie Levinson, XPLANE Director of Consulting, Barrie Levinson is director of consulting at XPLANE, with over 15 years experience in business and technology settings. She is a Certified Professional Facilitator from IAF (International Association of Facilitators) Her success in numerous roles includes consulting, facilitation, management and project management. Barrie has in depth experience in systems development, product development, organizational change, and internet operations. She has extensive experience in the high tech industry and has also worked in consumer software and non-profit industries.

Jan Foster, XPLANE Senior Account Manager, has been in the training field and a member of the Senior Forum Steering Committee for six years. Jan joined XPLANE in October 2007 and works with many of its major accounts including Nike, Intel and Microsoft. Having joined several new companies in the past 10 years, she is passionate about making that initial experience a positive one.

Details

Return to Top