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October and November have been two fun-filled presentation months.  With the all the work done on Engagement, it was time to take the show on the road.  First stop, the Northwest Human Resource Manager’s Conference with Tim Sprake and Murat Phillipe.  These gents did a bang up job of not just presenting why engagement is so prevalent in the workplace as a success factor, but how this becomes impacted by a more diverse multi-generational workforce.

Next stop – the CUPA-HR Conference where we will not only share these important engagement factors, but will also provide some specific data that impacts higher education organizations.  I will be presenting the information there as I get the opportunity to share some of the Chronicle’s baseline data on what we see for engagement at Top Colleges.  Their 2008-2009 report showed common themes that should be the highlight of the presentation.

And finally, with Faculty Conferences quickly approaching, I have been invited to present at least one presentation on Engagement, or some breakout sessions on Effective Collaborative Tools for the Working Practitioner.  In that regard, I am sure that I’ll get use of my current ITMGMT 500 – Managing the IT Career, or the MAL 535 – Leading Diverse Organizations class work.  In either case, whether it is for leadership purposes, or for the working professional, it is sure to get good reach.

Cannot remember a time where so much of my work has been shared.  It brings a great sense of accomplishment to see these collaborative research efforts come to fruition.  Enjoy the show, http://www.screencast.com/users/Ryan.Gunhold-0224/folders/Jing/media/41630e27-7a1d-4d88-86d6-edf2adbbc278

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After planning and testing for months, the Inquiry Learning Model was completed this past week at the University.  Testing groups include our MIT, dual endorsement groups, and soon, I will suggest this learning design for the university-wide training model.

I have never seen groups leverage so much technology, professional design, and unique client learning experience.  Signs of social media within even our own School of Education have been evident.  Examples include use of Google sites, Goodreads, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Delicious sites.  I will be quite interested to see how well this integrates with new Sustainability Programs.

Even more impressive has been the obvious empowerement that has emerged within these groups.  So impressive are the results that many note being able to manage skills gaps in areas of technology that they would not have been able to manage previously.  That kind of growth – though anticipated, has been above anything I have ever observed within learning groups/organizations.  This does help to prove that inquiry design can do a lot to fill gaps throughout organizational learning models.

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Beginning last May, we began the transition to our new Performance Management Systems at City University.  We have presented the final results to our Executive Team as well as to all university managers on the Final Engagement Survey Results, and the next steps in action planning.

Quality action planning will be a key ingredient to ensuring that ongoing initiatives throughout the university help take shape.  We’ll be conducting numerous trainings to help implement ActionPro, the action planning software.  This software is great at being able to pull data into action planning steps based on best practices.  Another great function of ActionPro is its ability to map mentors to these best practices so that those who are getting quality results can be leveraged for their implementation strategies.

The final phase during implementation will occur when we transition those programs into Success Factors, which should take effect this summer.  More competencies, great aligned actions – looks like there will be a greater impact throughout the organization when it comes to great execution.

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All walls are not guarded by men with guns as the statement says in “A Few Good Men.”  However, when it comes to the difference an organization can make, nothing can come close to the honest feedback employees can provide.  In the case of our most recent Engagement Survey, the truth has been collected.  No more pondering, or hearsay.  Just data driven information that tells the real story.

Upon the Feedback Sessions that wrapped up this month, there is a definite sense that our employees have been heard.  The information gathered will be presented in April following the Manager training of Action Pro – the new launch of our Performance Management program.  Though this will eventually migrate into Success Factors, these will be the first steps the university will take in getting actions aligned to organizational outcomes.

A lot of work to get here, and a lot of greatness to still come.  When this work is in place, change will occur more effectively, and more clearly.  And perhaps finally, this organization will begin to reach a potential it had only dreamed of before.

Happy Dreaming,

Ryan Gunhold

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No doubt, in this tough economy, one of the first areas of budgets to be eliminated within organizations is Training and Development.  So, with such fluctuation of organizational needs, what is the value of having training and development respond to your needs, OR instead to help create the foundations of a learning organization?

This will be a key question as we analyze the organizational needs of every department in the coming month.  Of all the outcomes to be explored the most will be Training and Development.  As we better understand our customer needs, some of the questions I’ll be asking is, how can we best offer such learning programs that will ensure success into current action plans?  What will be our best modes of facilitation?  How will managers track the progress they are getting from their teams?

All answers to be explored soon enough.  Should be an insightfully journey especially in a higher education learning environment, but what else would I expect to be getting myself into?

Ryan Gunhold

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Hard to believe in a few hours that we we’ll be saying goodbye to 2008.  So much coming in 2009 to be excited about, but not without giving justice to the work that has been accomplished first.  For years, I have been wanting to write more, and this has been a year to get a lot of that work started.  With three KAM templates begun, I’ll be presenting my Social Change, Organizational Systems, and Leadership in the coming year.  The application of that work comes out with three culminating projects at the university – the new Performance Management System, the use of Social Media Strategy, and future Training Development for our Key Managers.

I’ll also begin teaching for our School of Management in our Masters in Leadership program for the first time in their Masters in Leadership Program.  The theme – Organizational Change in Global Leadership – is one that I will be able to apply numerous practioner models that will showcase my work over the last few years in Training, Development, and Learning communities worldwide.

And most importantly, the Big Picture – the application of business models in academic environments – will have tremendous impact this year at the university.  This work will be forever changing not just for the university, but will serve as a development model for all organizations that value learning.  So much trailblazing to come – cannot wait!

Ryan Gunhold

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With our independent survey contractor, HR Solutions, I am learning a great many things about how consultant organizations are effective in the scope of their work.  In the past, the university had organization wide surveys, but nothing to the level that HR Solutions is able to provide.  They are able to track demographics, departments, and align it all to organizational outcomes.  What did we use to do as an organization?  Get the results, share the results, and hope we learned from the results.  With HR Solutions, they help provide a system to setup action steps for individual employees targeted to get the most out of the results from the survey.  It’s an impressive process that pulls from all the great theorists I have am currently referencing in Human Development.  Looks like another well planned section of my Knowledge Area Module.  If this keeps up, CityU will end up earning my PhD for me

Ryan Gunhold

http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryangunhold

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Following the team development training for City University of Seattle’s Human Resource Department, fellow colleagues were noting the value Social Media would have throughout the organization.  Throughout the university and with the obvious rise of the Web 2.0 revolution, it is becoming a hot topic to be a savvy about.  With over five webcast productions I have attended over the past two months, this form of marketing is truly taking root – especially within professional communities.

The purpose of this training was to examine that notion.  Not only for the purpose of the university, but for greater purposes in areas of study in my second KAM (Knowledge Area Module).  As noted during the training, the increased value added to professionalism is incredible.  For recruitment and other areas of social networking, this form of “advertisement” has greater reciprocal investment that old forms of marketing used in the past.  I’ll even be a keynote speaker today on the topic at Bellevue Community College.

Looking forward to the new opportunities this will present.

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With the new fall term on our heals, there’s a lot of great accomplishments the university can be proud of in relation to the faculty initiative. In every area as far as performance evaluation, learning outcomes, job & career path, recognition, metrics, alignment, compensation, communication, and even mentoring has made progress and established new standards for our faculty. Overall, there is a lot that has been done here that will help to transform our faculty community into one of the highest performing ones using a multi-modality mode in higher education. This community is one that will also be able to integrate the transformational topics we see emerging out of education and business sub-topics using technology. Not to mention, I would only assume that having our campuses connect through various global locations wouldn’t hurt either. We’ll see how this community shapes up in time, and just how much fun we will have supporting it.

Ryan Gunhold, Faculty Recruiter, Teaching Faculty

http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryangunhold

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On the eve of my final on-line course in science and math integration, here is what I posted for my students:

I get to put my arms around this question everyday. I have been serving City University as a Faculty Recruiter over the past year to help improve our hiring practices and the quality of new hires across the university for new faculty – both full-time and part-time. During this time, I have seen a growing trend of new faculty who want to teach on-line. We also see a growing number of students who also want to learn on-line.

You all understand those challenges now first hand. So really, when we are hiring, I often ask what teachers can do to help bridge the gap we see in technology. Often, the answers are not only interesting, but lacking in this area for what they could be. We are certainly in the midst of a learning revolution with web 2.0 on the rise, and the content answers need to be richer than ever.

Watching this video of students today, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o., ponder these questions: Are we really doing the right pedagogy in our classrooms that reflect this type of learner? Are we really training our teachers to be prepared to facilitate learning for these individuals? In the classrooms I have observed, and in the programs I have evaluated, I often find the answer to be, NO. These are the people we must be hiring now to influx the change needed in schools, across districts, and in colleges.

I commend you on working to be one of these teachers – they are greatly needed more than ever. What are you going to do for your school to ensure you get these new individuals? That question is one we all must embrace.

Ryan Gunhold

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