In This Issue:
	Training Tools Build A Leadership Development Program Maximize Employee Productivity in 2004 Get The Most Out of Training Day

Build A Leadership Development Program

Today's leading organizations recognize the importance of attracting and cultivating top talent and are increasingly choosing to implement an internal Leadership Development Program (LDP). An enterprise- wide LDP can encourage your leaders to maximize their potential and contribute more to your organization's growth and profitability. To create an effective, internal LDP that positively impacts your employees and your Bottom Line, you may want to consider following these three simple steps: STEP 1 - Determine leadership competencies. What are the leadership competencies, behaviors and attributes necessary for long-term success in your organization? What is the leadership prototype that you want to promote? Before you launch into constructing your Leadership Development Program, begin by asking yourself what type of leaders you want in your organization. Create leadership proficiency benchmarks for all levels of your organization that motivate employees to model certain behavior. Then, redesign your performance appraisal system to measure staff proficiency. STEP 2 - Identify your promising leaders. Once you have a framework to assess leadership potential in your employees, you should identify the employees who demonstrate leadership qualities so that you can groom them for leadership positions. Acknowledge the current and aspiring leaders in your organization, and provide them with the resources, challenges and recognition they need to stay energized and advance in your organization. When you identify and cultivate these leaders, you will also set a high standard for other employees in your organization to follow and you will improve the likelihood of becoming an employer-of- choice, where top job candidates will seek to work-- and remain-- in your high-performing culture. STEP 3 - Construct a leadership training plan. You have established leadership proficiencies for your employees to aspire to and you have identified those staff members who exemplify the leadership qualities you consider most important for individual and organizational success. But how do you raise your current leaders to the next level of their potential, and help your remaining employees to develop new leadership proficiencies? To close the gap between proficiency expectations and current abilities, you should consider developing a leadership training plan. This training plan should include targeted internal and external courses, linked directly to your leadership proficiency benchmarks. A strategic training plan, clearly focused on your organization's leadership development goals, will help to ensure that your investments in employee training yield the highest returns on performance, productivity and organizational growth. »

Maximize Employee Productivity in 2004

In 2004, companies are still hoping to get more work from their existing employees rather than aggressively recruit new hires. An article in this week's Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. worker productivity continued to grow in the fourth quarter, by a rate of 2.7%. How can you communicate to your employees that you expect more from them? One creative, inexpensive way to let your employees know that you want them to be more productive is to offer them a quick training program. Consider offering a lunchtime training session that explains your organization's changing business needs. Sometimes simply communicating your new expectations will encourage employees to take on more work responsibilities. You may also want to create a quick case study that highlights a character that is not producing at the highest level. This approach can prompt an objective discussion about what it takes to be a productive employee. And don't forget to provide your employees with a list of resources (e.g., IT training programs, links on your company's intranet) to help them become more productive. If you don't have the time to create a training program for your company, you may consider Point of Action's customized workshop on "Maximizing Productivity in a Changing Business Environment." »

Get The Most Out of Training Day

*** Click on the link below to read Point of Action's article, "Get the Most Out of Training Day," which offers more tips and tactics for measuring the value of your training programs. Article Link... »