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#MillennialMatters: How to Get Your Coworker Fired
My coworker once discovered that our colleague was blogging about us on his Tumblr account. He wasn't writing anything scandalous — the morning meeting was dull, he timed our bathroom breaks — yet it was in violation of our corporate policy. So as gossip spread through the workplace, we debated whether or not to turn him in. It turns out this predicament is common among my Millennial-aged friends. There's one who sees his friend in Facebook photos smoking pot. There's another who sees her friend hanging out at the beach when she called in sick. With ever-changing digital and workplace guidelines, what is considered acceptable and unacceptable to report to HR? After all, no one wants to be a tattletale, but at the same time, no one wants to get in trouble for not notifying corporate HR about behaviors that might damage their livelihood. It turns out there's no consensus among HR managers about specific social media policies. Larger firms tend to adhere to stricter no-tolerance guidelines, while smaller shops are more lenient, but all agree that HR departments need to be proactive about addressing social media usage. "Many of our employees don't see anything wrong with talking about their lives at work, so during orientation, just as I talk about vacation or healthcare, we talk about best practices," says one HR executive with an entertainment company. Indeed, HR managers believe "don't do stupid things" is the best approach to social media. Coworkers don't need to tattle if their colleagues aren't doing inappropriate things. "It’s really an issue of common sense ... everyone has the right to free speech so from a social media perspective, we can’t tell people what to say or what not to say. And frankly, given the nature of our business, we encourage our employees to be very active on social media — to share experiences, highlight events, share new perspectives, raise awareness," says HR manager Alison Moriarty, SVP, Group Director, Starcom MediaVest Group, a network under advertising holding company Publicis Groupe. There are still times when employees may see things that they wished they didn't. And when that happens, HR managers prefer these workers err on the side of more rather than less disclosure. "As an employer, it is critical for us to protect the interests of our clients, our people and our business," says Moriarty. These violators may face punishment, but HR managers say they won't penalize workers for not telling them about coworkers. Several say that this open, as-you-see-fit policy encourages young employees to come forward. That said, many managers realize that Millennials may not view many situations as problematic — or that they fall into a grey zone of uncertainly. As such, many recommend setting up a way to anonymously report situations that then allow others to take control. "It's all about transparency. Let me know the good and the bad and let me be the judge," says one executive with an advertising agency. Ultimately, anonymity is how my colleagues and I handled our blogging worker. We left a note that led to HR eventually deciding that his behavior was unacceptable and he was let go. Full disclosure: we still read his blog.
The 2021 Cornerstone learning content that may be even more important in 2022
2021 may be behind us, but its learning trends won’t stop just because the calendar changed. And no team was more connected to learning trends than the Cornerstone Studios team. Throughout 2021, we focused on the three trending learning topics that people wanted and organizations needed — diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB), leading in uncertain times and retaining employees. Whether from our in-house content team or together with partners like SkillPill, TED, Madecraft, and more, we created content as applicable to a healthy, strong workforce in 2021 as it will be in 2022. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Throughout 2021, many companies increased spending on diversity, equity, and inclusion training for their employees. We expect this trend to continue throughout 2022. First, employees are willing to pass over jobs that don’t have a diverse workforce. And secondly, diverse and inclusive environments are directly related to a company’s success. Here are just a few of the DEI programs Cornerstone unveiled this year. So we at Cornerstone Studios created two learning series in-house to address this trend — A Seat at the Table and DNA: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. A Seat at the Table had people from diverse backgrounds having vulnerable conversations about how relevant social issues have impacted them in the workplace. And DNA: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is part of our DNA microlearning series built for Gen Z, and in it, we tackled topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, including gender, age, race, politics, and ability. Leading in Uncertain Times If there’s one lesson that the past two years have reinforced, it’s that change is constant. Most recently, companies have been planning a return to offices but COIVD-19 variants continue to push these schedules. On top of that, employees are leaving their jobs and companies are restructuring, leading to a whirlpool of uncertainty. That’s why we created three new learning series — The H-Files: Leading Through Uncertainty, Managing Change in the Workplace, and TedTalks: 5 Ways to Lead in an Era of Constant Change. With The H-Files: Leading Through Uncertainty, Cornerstone Studios aimed to explore successes and failures of the past to educate professionals of tomorrow on everyday topics with techniques for adapting, delegating, communicating, and taking care of yourself during uncertain times. And that was just our in-house effort. We partnered with Grovo to create Managing Change in the Workplace to help managers learn how to lead their teams through change with clear communication, support, and strategy. And we also partnered with organizational change expert Jim Hemerling for TedTalks: 5 Ways to Lead in an Era of Constant Change. He outlines five imperatives, centered around putting people first, for turning company reorganization into an empowering, energizing task for all. You can find those courses and more across many of our Content Anytime subscriptions. Retaining Employees The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs in August 2021. Dubbed “The Great Resignation,” this mass exodus shows no signs of slowing down. There are several reasons people are quitting, but some common motivations include a lack of support and development opportunities. Our partner, Masters of Scale, tried to address one way to keep employees engaged with their course, Every Employee Needs Their Own Story of Hero-dom. In this course, Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn explains why you should recognize employees for their work and help them believe they matter at their organizations. We even addressed this in-house with the Cornerstone Studios series, The Glossary. The series contextualizes common words employees may hear at work. Each lesson is less than 60 seconds, meaning it’s easily bingeable for even the busiest employees. So far, the series has defined terms related to technology, finance, and sustainability. And as 2022 rolls along, we’ll for sure be adding more words to address the ways this year shapes how we work. Here’s to 2022 🥂 The trends that emerged in 2021 are sure to continue into 2022. And as we begin the new year and all the surprises it has in store, Cornerstone Studios and our partners will be there, creating content to ensure you and your workforce can meet the future, ready. To discover more content from Cornerstone, visit the Content Hub to learn all about our content subscriptions and Original Learning series.
How to launch a skills-forward talent strategy
It’s been said that 2020 brought about three years of digital transformation in three months. The initial phases of that transformation centered on adapting to the dramatic and sudden changes thrust upon us, such as enabling remote and distributed workforces to simply work, communicate, and collaborate. What we know now is that this change is far more permanent than many expected. In today’s environment of unrelenting business transformation, roles are shifting quickly, and skills are becoming obsolete faster. Your organization needs to identify, acquire, and develop the skills needed to transform, compete in new markets, and thrive. So how do you upskill your people in a scalable way that keeps you competitive rather than constantly playing catch-up? In short, by providing career growth opportunities. But often, employees think it’s easier to find a new job outside their company than inside. And in many organizations, there are internal cultures holding back career growth and internal mobility. Developing a skills-forward talent strategy can help you unite people growth with business success. This guide outlines four key steps involved in this strategy. Let’s dive in.
Trends at Work
The fully integrated virtual learning solution
Today’s workforce is more dispersed than ever before, making the need to learn and communicate across different locations critical to business success. So your organization needs to support your employees with learning and collaboration capabilities wherever, whenever. With Saba Meeting, you can ensure highquality virtual training and well-connected team interactions. As a fully integrated virtual classroom solution, Saba Meeting helps you create interactive and engaging virtual events with breakout sessions, desktop, split screen and video sharing, collaborative whiteboards, polling, in-session text chat, emoticons, and more.
Three essential elements for a future-ready workforce
The notion of “future ready” can mean different things, but there is one common thread when the topic is discussed within forward-thinking organizations. It’s possible for both employees and the company to thrive even within a very fluid and challenging operating environment as long as the right structural and technological elements are in place. Three key factors help create and maintain this ability to thrive: • The continuous cultivation of employee talent • Self-directed career management opportunities • Technology that facilitates learning and career management To learn more about the three key elements, download the brief by Ventana Research in partnership with Cornerstone.
2022 HR Resolutions: Three Trends Shaping the Future of Work
It’s been roughly two years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In those two years, catastrophic changes have affected the job market. According to ILO Monitor, 114 million jobs were lost in 2020 alone. And more recently, the unemployment level globally stands at about 220.5 million people. While this reality created a grim outlook going into 2021, the businesses that were able to successfully navigate the challenges presented by the pandemic did so by adapting their business strategies to catch up with the high levels of change and brought their people along with them for the monumental transformation. Now that 2022 is upon us, companies are refocusing their attention on establishing a future-ready organization. One that reimagines new ways of doing work that actually work for everyone – their employees, their customers, their partners, and so on. So what will companies be focused on this year to get their organization future-ready? Three Cornerstone executives weigh-in on specific trends they’re seeing from the market and from Cornestone’s own customers. From viewing the “Great Resignation” as an opportunity to usher in the “Great Hiring,” to reinforcing skills-based, self-directed learning among their employees, and greater adoption and integration of AI in HR tech, we leave 2021 behind us with renewed energy and excitement for the future of work. A “Great” Shift: Employee Experience Takes Center Stage in “The Great Hiring” The ebbs and flows of the global economy caused millions to be displaced from their jobs, which was then followed by a wave of those experiencing a level of ‘career curiosity’, causing them to leave on their own accord. Professional burnout, a lack of visibility into career advancement opportunities and pay discrepancies are all playing a role in an employee’s decision to seek employment elsewhere. “It is the responsibility of employers, each and every one of us, to ensure we’re level-setting and creating the necessary opportunities for the continued success of our people,” said Kimberly Cassady, Chief Talent Officer at Cornerstone. “To start, companies can no longer forgo providing a clear view of individual career paths within the organization. When an employee is aware of their growth potential within their company, as well as the learning and development opportunities provided to develop new skills (or even experience new roles!), they’ll be more inclined to see a future with the company and stay.” Take Cornerstone, for example. To maintain employee engagement amid the pandemic, talent leaders designed an environment where employees can meaningfully contribute their talents and grow their skillsets. Starting with our new “Cornerstone Gigs” program, Cornerstone created short-term stretch assignments to allow employees interested in internal mobility the opportunity to expand on existing, transferable skills outside of their usual departments. The gigs are posted by other employees or project managers wanting fresh input and hands-on support, with the intention of enhancing or accelerating a particular initiative or business goal. In its first year, the initiative experienced tremendous interest from Cornerstone employees, 250 of which applied to take part, resulting in 75 gig placements throughout the company. To support organizations in providing growth opportunities for employees, we introduced Cornerstone Xplor earlier this year, a people experience platform that brings a fully integrated and hyper-personalized journey of learning, skill development, growth and career mobility to employees. Powered by the Cornerstone Skills Graph, Cornerstone Xplor uses AI and skills tech to capture a deep understanding of the unique interests, strengths, goals and needs of every individual. It then connects employees to modern, high-quality learning content and creates personalized career pathways that empower them to grow and navigate their own careers in the context of both personal and business priorities. Though opportunities for internal advancement are and should remain a priority, these solutions won’t solve all open job requisitions. New hires will need to happen to fill the 11 million jobs currently open as a result of The Great Hiring. “Those businesses offering remote work opportunities will continue to be the ones to attract top talent,” acknowledged Cassady. “Meanwhile, those unwilling to pivot to a remote work environment will need to reconsider their organization’s overall strategic goals and approach to align with the expectations of today’s workforce.” Targeted Skills-Based, Self-Directed Learning on the Rise The pace of change in today’s work environment is unparalleled. Due in large part to the ongoing business disruptions and accelerated needs created by the pandemic, 58% of the workforce will require new skills to do their jobs successfully according to a recent Gartner HR Research survey. Employees across business segments are now feeling pressured to not just hone in on their existing skillsets, but to develop new ones to keep pace with the expectations required of their role or industry. When given the right learning resources, employees are making a more concerted effort to learn new skills in their own time, or what’s known as self-directed learning. “From 2020 to 2021, there was a four time increase in self-directed course registrations within our content product,” said Summer Salomonsen, VP, Content Product at Cornerstone. “This tells us that not only are learning resources in demand with people leaders, but the individual is now more likely to be seeking courses that will help advance their careers and make them more well-rounded, informed people at work.” The rise in self-directed learning goes beyond an increase in interest to upskill and reskill to advance their careers as we find employees are also focused on people skills, DEIB training and other empathy-related topics. “Now more than ever, employees are motivated to learn,” indicated Salomonsen. “We have an opportunity here to offer L&D content that is both easily accessible and relevant, compelling and varied, while also ensuring employees are getting value out of it.” Cracking the AI code for HR and for People While AI is increasingly being introduced as a tool for HR departments, including for talent acquisition and L&D opportunities, the technology is not being used to its full potential for the entire workforce. However, the potential is there, according to Ajay Awatramani, Chief Product Officer at Cornerstone. “The adoption of AI in HR technology will continue to rise as new tools become available and proven in the market,” said Awatramani. “With time, HR leaders will feel empowered to make incredibly important decisions about their business and people, relying on HR data combined with AI-based solutions, and employees will have access to advanced, personalized, consumer-grade tools that help them be more efficient and grow their careers. It’s a win-win situation.” This is evidenced by Mercer’s 2021 Global Talent Trends study which found “more than 60% of executives say the top HR trend offering impact is using talent analytics to make decisions rooted in data.” With the right application of machine learning and AI technologies, HR leaders can enable action-oriented talent practices that benefit both employee and organizational growth. For example, AI makes it possible to connect learning to growth by not only identifying skill gaps to fill, but then guiding learners toward relevant content to help close those gaps. AI can also target the right growth opportunities to the right people by using it to surface and assign relevant projects. It’s the power of AI that enables both groups to reach their goals much quicker and with significantly more accuracy. The HR Industry is Poised for Resilience While 2021 certainly presented its fair share of challenges, HR has continuously proven its value to the business as the function helped organizations adapt and overcome challenges over the past two years. Here, at Cornerstone, we remain confident in the extraordinary progress already made and the transformative changes expected to be made in the coming year as the future of work is reimagined. If you’re as invigorated by the opportunities ahead and want to learn how your organization can tap into creating engaging employee experiences, finally connect skills development to career progression and meet the future, ready, check out our guide for talent leaders.
Skills Building
Cornerstone Xplor: Skill building for the future of work
The world of work has evolved, and the way people development works must too. Organizations and employees need more insight into their skills, where they can grow, and what will help them get there. Cornerstone Xplor delivers personalized experiences that drive the skill-building and growth you need to keep your organization competitive. Download this datasheet to learn more about how you can build connections between your people, resources, and opportunities for every employee in your organization using the skills AI built into Cornerstone Xplor.
Build a resilient and skilled workforce
How we live, work, socialize, and learn is changing. Skills and roles are rapidly shifting. Developing talent today requires more flexibility to meet the evolving nature of work and skills. So to ensure your organization’s success today and going forward, you need a new model that empowers employees with tools for setting and developing meaningful goals and growth pathways. Cornerstone Xplor is that model. Download this report to learn more about Cornerstone Xplor and how it revolutionizes the way organizations and their people learn, grow, and evolve their skills.
Skills: The new language of the modern workforce
Skills are the common link between our HR systems and our people. As an adaptable AI skills framework, Skills Graph automatically maps and connects skills to content, roles, people, and more. Your organization can then quickly identify the skills required for every position, form targeted career paths, and recommend the training your people want and need to be successful for the organization and themselves. Download this report to learn more about Cornerstone Skills Graph.
Talent Strategy
#MillennialMatters: How to Get Your Coworker Fired
My coworker once discovered that our colleague was blogging about us on his Tumblr account. He wasn't writing anything scandalous — the morning meeting was dull, he timed our bathroom breaks — yet it was in violation of our corporate policy. So as gossip spread through the workplace, we debated whether or not to turn him in. It turns out this predicament is common among my Millennial-aged friends. There's one who sees his friend in Facebook photos smoking pot. There's another who sees her friend hanging out at the beach when she called in sick. With ever-changing digital and workplace guidelines, what is considered acceptable and unacceptable to report to HR? After all, no one wants to be a tattletale, but at the same time, no one wants to get in trouble for not notifying corporate HR about behaviors that might damage their livelihood. It turns out there's no consensus among HR managers about specific social media policies. Larger firms tend to adhere to stricter no-tolerance guidelines, while smaller shops are more lenient, but all agree that HR departments need to be proactive about addressing social media usage. "Many of our employees don't see anything wrong with talking about their lives at work, so during orientation, just as I talk about vacation or healthcare, we talk about best practices," says one HR executive with an entertainment company. Indeed, HR managers believe "don't do stupid things" is the best approach to social media. Coworkers don't need to tattle if their colleagues aren't doing inappropriate things. "It’s really an issue of common sense ... everyone has the right to free speech so from a social media perspective, we can’t tell people what to say or what not to say. And frankly, given the nature of our business, we encourage our employees to be very active on social media — to share experiences, highlight events, share new perspectives, raise awareness," says HR manager Alison Moriarty, SVP, Group Director, Starcom MediaVest Group, a network under advertising holding company Publicis Groupe. There are still times when employees may see things that they wished they didn't. And when that happens, HR managers prefer these workers err on the side of more rather than less disclosure. "As an employer, it is critical for us to protect the interests of our clients, our people and our business," says Moriarty. These violators may face punishment, but HR managers say they won't penalize workers for not telling them about coworkers. Several say that this open, as-you-see-fit policy encourages young employees to come forward. That said, many managers realize that Millennials may not view many situations as problematic — or that they fall into a grey zone of uncertainly. As such, many recommend setting up a way to anonymously report situations that then allow others to take control. "It's all about transparency. Let me know the good and the bad and let me be the judge," says one executive with an advertising agency. Ultimately, anonymity is how my colleagues and I handled our blogging worker. We left a note that led to HR eventually deciding that his behavior was unacceptable and he was let go. Full disclosure: we still read his blog.
How to launch a skills-forward talent strategy
It’s been said that 2020 brought about three years of digital transformation in three months. The initial phases of that transformation centered on adapting to the dramatic and sudden changes thrust upon us, such as enabling remote and distributed workforces to simply work, communicate, and collaborate. What we know now is that this change is far more permanent than many expected. In today’s environment of unrelenting business transformation, roles are shifting quickly, and skills are becoming obsolete faster. Your organization needs to identify, acquire, and develop the skills needed to transform, compete in new markets, and thrive. So how do you upskill your people in a scalable way that keeps you competitive rather than constantly playing catch-up? In short, by providing career growth opportunities. But often, employees think it’s easier to find a new job outside their company than inside. And in many organizations, there are internal cultures holding back career growth and internal mobility. Developing a skills-forward talent strategy can help you unite people growth with business success. This guide outlines four key steps involved in this strategy. Let’s dive in.
Three essential elements for a future-ready workforce
The notion of “future ready” can mean different things, but there is one common thread when the topic is discussed within forward-thinking organizations. It’s possible for both employees and the company to thrive even within a very fluid and challenging operating environment as long as the right structural and technological elements are in place. Three key factors help create and maintain this ability to thrive: • The continuous cultivation of employee talent • Self-directed career management opportunities • Technology that facilitates learning and career management To learn more about the three key elements, download the brief by Ventana Research in partnership with Cornerstone.