Organizational Learning Communities


Book Description

Learning communities transform organizations through sharing knowledge, spearheading practice, solving problems, seeding innovation and supercharging development. So how can you develop a culture of learning in your organization? Organizational Learning Communities answers this question and explains how and why this approach can improve individual employee performance and drive overall business results. Written by a leading voice in the learning profession, this book contains everything that Learning and Development (L&D) practitioners need to know to successfully embed learning communities in their organizations. Following the 7Cs model of Cause, Culture, Conditions, Cadence, Content, Contributions and Credit, the book establishes the key factors that underpin thriving learning communities as well as the benefits of social and collaborative learning in the company. This practical guide establishes strategies to drive community impact and report success to stakeholders, drawing widely on evidence-based research and real-world examples. Each chapter ends with reflective questions to support transfer to the reader's context. This is essential reading for those involved in facilitating learning communities, or planning on pioneering one, to empower their organization's productivity and performance.




Constructing Leadership 4.0


Book Description

The Fourth Industrial Revolution signals a sea change in the way we lead our organisations. Moving away from relational leadership and horizontal, organisationally-led development, it is imperative that business leaders are able to adapt to more networked organisations and shift away from dated assumptions of positional power. Constructing Leadership 4.0 breaks new ground by explaining the urgent challenges facing managers and business leaders. It will teach you how to: Approach leadership development as a system rather than a programme Develop an organisational ecosystem to support leadership 4.0 Build collaborative networks Cultivate a responsive mindset through sensemaking Use non-classroom based learning methodologies for educating leaders Rooted in leadership development methodology and underpinned by cutting-edge research, this book calls for businesses to cultivate responsive leaders through a theory of connectivism and swarm intelligence that reflects the coming cybernetic revolution.







School, Family, and Community Partnerships


Book Description

Strengthen programs of family and community engagement to promote equity and increase student success! When schools, families, and communities collaborate and share responsibility for students′ education, more students succeed in school. Based on 30 years of research and fieldwork, the fourth edition of the bestseller School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action, presents tools and guidelines to help develop more effective and more equitable programs of family and community engagement. Written by a team of well-known experts, it provides a theory and framework of six types of involvement for action; up-to-date research on school, family, and community collaboration; and new materials for professional development and on-going technical assistance. Readers also will find: Examples of best practices on the six types of involvement from preschools, and elementary, middle, and high schools Checklists, templates, and evaluations to plan goal-linked partnership programs and assess progress CD-ROM with slides and notes for two presentations: A new awareness session to orient colleagues on the major components of a research-based partnership program, and a full One-Day Team Training Workshop to prepare school teams to develop their partnership programs. As a foundational text, this handbook demonstrates a proven approach to implement and sustain inclusive, goal-linked programs of partnership. It shows how a good partnership program is an essential component of good school organization and school improvement for student success. This book will help every district and all schools strengthen and continually improve their programs of family and community engagement.




Career Development and Counseling


Book Description

"This is a must-have for any researcher in vocational psychology or career counseling, or anyone who wishes to understand the empirical underpinnings of the practice of career counseling." -Mark Pope, EdD College of Education, University of Missouri - St. Louis past president of the American Counseling Association Today's career development professional must choose from a wide array of theories and practices in order to provide services for a diverse range of clients. Career Development and Counseling: Putting Theory and Research to Work focuses on scientifically based career theories and practices, including those derived from research in other disciplines. Driven by the latest empirical and practical evidence, this text offers the most in-depth, far-reaching, and comprehensive career development and counseling resource available. Career Development and Counseling includes coverage of: Major theories of career development, choice, and adjustment Informative research on occupational aspirations, job search success, job satisfaction, work performance, career development with people of color, and women's career development Assessment of interests, needs and values, ability, and other important constructs Occupational classification and sources of occupational information Counseling for school-aged youth, diverse populations, choice-making, choice implementation, work adjustment, and retirement Special needs and applications including those for at-risk, intellectually talented, and work-bound youth; people with disabilities; and individuals dealing with job loss, reentry, and career transitions Edited by two of the leading figures in career development, and featuring contributions by many of the most well-regarded specialists in the field, Career Development and Counseling: Putting Theory and Research to Work is the one book that every career counselor, vocational psychologist, and serious student of career development must have.




The Road to Results


Book Description

'The Road to Results: Designing and Conducting Effective Development Evaluations' presents concepts and procedures for evaluation in a development context. It provides procedures and examples on how to set up a monitoring and evaluation system, how to conduct participatory evaluations and do social mapping, and how to construct a "rigorous" quasi-experimental design to answer an impact question. The text begins with the context of development evaluation and how it arrived where it is today. It then discusses current issues driving development evaluation, such as the Millennium Development Goals and the move from simple project evaluations to the broader understandings of complex evaluations. The topics of implementing 'Results-based Measurement and Evaluation' and constructing a 'Theory of Change' are emphasized throughout the text. Next, the authors take the reader down 'the road to results, ' presenting procedures for evaluating projects, programs, and policies by using a 'Design Matrix' to help map the process. This road includes: determining the overall approach, formulating questions, selecting designs, developing data collection instruments, choosing a sampling strategy, and planning data analysis for qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method evaluations. The book also includes discussions on conducting complex evaluations, how to manage evaluations, how to present results, and ethical behavior--including principles, standards, and guidelines. The final chapter discusses the future of development evaluation. This comprehensive text is an essential tool for those involved in development evaluation.




Proving the Value of Soft Skills


Book Description

A Step-by-Step Guide to Showing the Value of Soft Skill Programs As organizations rise to meet the challenges of technological innovation, globalization, changing customer needs and perspectives, demographic shifts, and new work arrangements, their mastery of soft skills will likely be the defining difference between thriving and merely surviving. Yet few executives champion the expenditure of resources to develop these critical skills. Why is that and what can be done to change this thinking? For years, managers convinced executives that soft skills could not be measured and that the value of these programs should be taken on faith. Executives no longer buy that argument but demand the same financial impact and accountability from these functions as they do from all other areas of the organization. In Proving the Value of Soft Skills, measurement and evaluation experts Patti Phillips, Jack Phillips, and Rebecca Ray contend that efforts can and should be made to demonstrate the effect of soft skills. They also claim that a proven methodology exists to help practitioners articulate those effects so that stakeholders’ hearts and minds are shifted toward securing support for future efforts. This book reveals how to use the ROI Methodology to clearly show the impact and ROI of soft skills programs. The authors guide readers through an easy-to-apply process that includes: business alignment design evaluation data collection isolation of the program effects cost capture ROI calculations results communication. Use this book to align your programs with organizational strategy, justify or enhance budgets, and build productive business partnerships. Included are job aids, sample plans, and detailed case studies.




FYI


Book Description