Author: amadmin

Keeping Security Awareness Sustainable

A good and effective Cybersecurity Awareness Program is not a ‘set it and forget it’ kind of thing. It takes constant care and feeding. If it is important to the organization (and it is), to our clients (and it is), and to our people (and it must), then planning for its sustainability is critical.

Part 3 of this series: Keeping Security Awareness Sustainable.

Practical Ways to Keep Your Program Sustainable:

Let’s remind ourselves of the big picture of the Cybersecurity Awareness Program journey.

  • Stay the course. Don’t stop just because something doesn’t work as you expected.
  • The cybersecurity awareness program MUST be agreed to and modeled by LEADERSHIP. 
  • EQUIP Leadership (at all levels) to be successful in supporting Security Awareness.
  • Bake it into Onboarding. Start a new hire off with an understanding of the importance of security and security awareness at this organization.
  • Keep the tone POSITIVE. There’s only so much negative that people can take. Even negative stories/issues can reinforce the positive actions and awareness people need.
  • Deweaponize your Cybersecurity Awareness Program. If your program just catches people doing the wrong thing or just emphasizes what not to do, it will sour quickly in the minds of your people. 
  • Be mindful of who sends the message. It can’t just be the IT Department. Here are some suggestions:
    • Use multiple voices to get the message out.
    • Leverage top executives for messages or information that is organization-wide or strategic in nature.
    • Leverage direct supervisors to get more specific information to individuals on how this impacts them in their day-to-day work.
    • Use peer-to-peer messaging. It’s always good to hear from the “normal people” in the organization. People will often listen to their peers before they listen to IT or leadership.
    • Use outside experts to assist in your efforts. Sometimes, it takes an outside voice to get someone’s attention.
  • CLEARLY and REGULARLY state: Who to call/email; What to do if you have questions; What to do in the face of…
  • Use your metrics wisely.
    • What you do with metrics matters. Measure security awareness-related activities that show or measure changes in behavior (statistical and anecdotal). 
    • Continue to gather them. Metrics give you opportunities to tie changes in the program to trends in behaviors of your people.
  • Cadence is important. Security Awareness information can’t be a “once a year” thing. A sustainable program creates an environment that expects a steady flow of useful security information, education, and guidance. 
  • Leverage multiple learning opportunities or avenues:
    • On-demand content
    • Monthly topical emphases
    • Live Events
    • Be prepared to distribute “In the moment” communications and educational opportunities in the face of an incident that occurred, a new “Threat in the wild” for people to be aware of, or a testimonial of an organization or client event.
  • Invest in the program. It can’t be fully automated and requires time, attention, and resources.
    • Ask how big of a team the organization can afford or cannot afford.  
    • Know that you can’t do it all yourself.
    • Provide around-the-clock response.
    • Outsource elements of the program if needed.

Security Awareness is essential in today’s world. People are the target and the primary starting point for security incidents. Invest in a program that is Engaging, Relevant, and Sustainable. 

Reminder: If you need help getting your security awareness efforts off the ground or achieving all three goals with your cybersecurity awareness program mentioned in this series, we’re here to help.

About the Author

Kenny Leckie

Alterity | Senior Technology & Change Management Consultant

In his role as Senior Technology and Change Management Consultant, Kenny provides thought leadership and consulting to the community in areas of information security/cybersecurity awareness, change management, user adoption, adult learning, employee engagement, professional development, and business strategy. He also works with clients to develop and deploy customized programs with an emphasis on user adoption and increased return on investment. Kenny is a Prosci
Certified Change Practitioner, a Certified Technical Trainer and has earned the trust of organizations across the US, Canada, The UK, Europe and Australia.

Kenny has more than thirty years of combined experience as a Chief Information Officer, Manager of Support & Training, and now a consultant, providing him a unique point of view and understanding of the challenges of introducing change in organizations. He combines his years of experience with a strategic approach to help clients implement programs that allows focus on the business while minimizing risk to confidential, protected, and sensitive information. Kenny is an author and speaker and a winner of ILTA’s 2018 Innovative Consultant of the Year.

It’s All in How You Say It

When was the last time you were excited about going to a webinar? I have signed up for more webinars than I can count and about 5 minutes before each of them I find I am wrapped up in other things that I decide are more pressing. But what if it was not a webinar you were invited to, but a showcase?

A few times a year, the Alterity team rolls out enhancements to our learning portal. We send a few emails and then hold a webinar to show what we will be releasing. But this time I was not excited about holding yet another webinar. I decided we needed to change it up. We would hold a showcase instead. While it would feature essentially the same content, I wanted it to feel fresh and new.

How is a showcase different? I asked each member of the client support team to present their favorite enhancement. This meant that it was not just me talking for the entire time, it also gave the team a chance to flex their presentation skills and demonstrate their expertise.

The new format also allowed the team to inject their personal style. The team member who always enjoys showcasing new virtual backgrounds found us a fun red curtain spotlight image, so we were all coordinated with the showcase theme. I also had each person introduce themselves with the information they planned to share.

So, did this simple wording change work? Yes! We had the largest registration ever. We also had requests for the recording, even from those who attended.

Sometimes it’s as simple as how you word things from the beginning. Do you want to hold a training session or a technology showcase? Feel free to get a little creative! It’s amazing how a few simple word changes can grab someone’s attention.

 Author: Molly Wolfe, Director of Learning Development and Client Support

Transform Your Workforce: Insights from the HRSouthwest Conference

In October 2024, we had the incredible opportunity to attend the HRSouthwest Conference (HRSWC) at the Fort Worth Convention Center as an exhibitor in the Event Marketplace. As one of the largest regional events for human resource professionals, this conference was buzzing with HR leaders and professionals, making it a hub of experience, knowledge, and networking.

A Diverse Gathering of HR Professionals

We met people from all over the region with titles ranging from CEO, CHRO, VP of HR, HR Director, HR Manager, to HR Generalist. HR leaders wear many hats, and these HR functions are key to organizational success. The overall outlook of each participant was very positive, and attendees welcomed conversations about solving problems and discussing solutions that will help them be more effective and efficient.

Key Themes and Needs

The needs of the attendees were many but can be summarized into three main areas:

  1. Training (the right training and modality) – Empowering individuals through training & development.
  2. Engaging employees – Educating team members with continuous learning, boosting employee engagement.
  3. Delivering enhanced customer service – Elevating the entire organization through serving internal and external customers.

From non-profits to local government agencies, manufacturing, healthcare, and financial institutions, everyone sees the value in developing employees to ensure retention, focusing workplace strategies on their people. Employee growth and engagement were key topics of discussion in the Alterity booth.

Real-Life Examples

An HR Manager who was an “HR Team of One” was tasked with launching a learning and development program for her organization. The idea of having a partner to come alongside to strategize, prioritize, launch, and manage a learning program was very appealing. Filling the gap with Alterity’s Managed Learning Services to create a training roadmap and execute the learning culture for her organization would be a big win!

Another organization had identified a gap in training for the sales staff. The onboarding and sales training was good, but they wanted to make it great! One solution discussed was utilizing Alterity+, a “Practice & Feedback” solution that complements the existing training, allowing the sales team to practice the sales pitch, product knowledge, and objections as much as they want to master the skills. The AI-driven feedback is unbiased and focuses on the key learning objectives and outcomes of the sales training requirements. A solution like Alterity+ fits well within an organization that has a program already in place but wants to take their sales or other presentation skills to the next level.

Partnering For Success

Working in the Learning & Development space, we understand the pain that many HR leaders are experiencing today: growing the skills of employees, retaining good employees, and providing effective onboarding programs that include ongoing training for all employees. With reduced staff, many HR teams are challenged to get more done with fewer resources.

Let’s partner together to look at ways to make your programs better. Whether it’s developing a comprehensive training program, enhancing employee engagement, or improving customer service, Alterity will empower you and your team to succeed.

Let's Talk!

Keeping Security Awareness Engaging

Employee engaged in cybersecurity on his computer

There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to Security Awareness. Since people are involved, it remains an ongoing challenge, but a worthy one. Not everyone is alike or cares about the same things, so it takes a multi-pronged, concerted effort, and a commitment to the journey to keep the program Engaging, Relevant, and Sustainable.

Part 1 of this series: Keeping Security Awareness Engaging.

Let’s start with a big picture reminder of the Cybersecurity Awareness Program journey.

Notice that I’m calling this a PROGRAM… not a project. There is a difference. This journey has no foreseeable end but has a meaningful impact on the organization. It takes effort, considered thought, and a willingness to adjust as things change to keep the PROGRAM vibrant and meaningful.

Now let’s get into some practical ways to keep your PROGRAM Engaging.

Practical Ways to Keep Your Program Engaging:

  • Engage THEM (the people in your organization). It seems like a simple start, but don’t assume you know what matters to them or what they are facing. In the words of Stephen Covey, ‘Seek first to understand, then to be understood.’ Here are some practical ways to engage the people in your organization:
    • Engage each group and role in the organization. 
    • LISTEN with the intent to understand the issues each group faces and what matters to them.
    • Meet them where they are by joining or being a part of existing groups and meetings. Don’t make them come to you. 
    • If you are not allowed to join some meetings, engage the leaders of each group to ASK them for information. Perhaps they may also be willing to convey questions or issues to the group and bring back feedback to you. 
    • Gather lessons learned, explanations, and opinions from people. Examples of feedback from staff at an organization:
      • Keep it short (less than 15 minutes). 
      • We don’t read more than the first line or so of a paragraph (so adjust your communications accordingly).
    • Educate your team to also LISTEN differently to information from people in the organization.
      • Example: a Helpdesk staff made note and complained that someone asked them about a Gmail security question. When in fact, THIS IS GOOD. It means the caller was asking about Security hygiene issue and best practices. This was a teaching moment for the Helpdesk staff.
  • Start from a place of trust
    • The goal is NOT to catch people doing wrong. Don’t set traps and weaponize the results.
    • Always convey that the goal of the program is to raise people’s security awareness and acumen …not send them to detention. If people think you are out to catch them making mistakes …they will stop listening.
    • Your users want to do the right thing. Ask yourself, “how can you help?”
    • Learn how to tell a negative story about your organization in a positive way.
      • Things happen. Be open and transparent when addressing issues that the organization experiences.
      • How you respond to an incident carries a lot of weight both inside and outside the organization.
      • Reuse and leverage the story to promote good security best practices.
  • Delivery / Engagement Tips:
    • Keep regular messaging short, concise, and consistent.
    • Remember the “Rule of 5-7” – people need to hear something 5-7 times before they realize they should pay attention. There’s more than just one way of communicating. Email is not your only avenue.
    • Keep the messages immersive, but not disruptive – meaning get to the point and move on. People need to know three things: why they should care, what they need to know, and what they need to do. 
    • Think “Yes, AND …” there is no “one size fits all” approach. 
    • Equip Leadership – Help Leadership be successful in supporting Security Awareness by giving them talking points, notifying them of Security Awareness activities ahead of time, etc.
    • Always look for creative ideas. Don’t think it all rests on your creativity.
      • Crowd source from your organization.
      • Ask peers.
      • Leverage industry groups.
      • Don’t be afraid to ask for help (Marketing Department, trusted business partners, etc.).
    • Some Additional Ideas to keep people engaged:
      • Drawings / raffles
      • Steady flow of practical tips for home and personal security
      • Make it a part of the organization’s HR review process
      • Tie it to the organization’s and individual’s ethical behavior

Next in the series will be Part 2: Keeping Security Awareness Relevant followed by Part 3: Keeping Security Awareness Sustainable. If you need help getting your security awareness efforts off the ground or achieving all three of the above-mentioned goals with your security awareness program, we’re here to help.

About the Author

Kenny Leckie

Alterity | Senior Technology & Change Management Consultant

In his role as Senior Technology and Change Management Consultant, Kenny provides thought leadership and consulting to the community in areas of information security/cybersecurity awareness, change management, user adoption, adult learning, employee engagement, professional development, and business strategy. He also works with clients to develop and deploy customized programs with an emphasis on user adoption and increased return on investment. Kenny is a Prosci
Certified Change Practitioner, a Certified Technical Trainer and has earned the trust of organizations across the US, Canada, The UK, Europe and Australia.

Kenny has more than thirty years of combined experience as a Chief Information Officer, Manager of Support & Training, and now a consultant, providing him a unique point of view and understanding of the challenges of introducing change in organizations. He combines his years of experience with a strategic approach to help clients implement programs that allows focus on the business while minimizing risk to confidential, protected, and sensitive information. Kenny is an author and speaker and a winner of ILTA’s 2018 Innovative Consultant of the Year.

AI Adoption Challenges for Organizations

The business world is experiencing profound transformation, driven by tools like Microsoft Copilot and custom GPTs. These tools promise the moon with enhanced efficiency, streamlined workflows, and improved client service. However, for many organizations, adopting these technologies presents a series of challenges that prevent them from realizing their full benefits. 

Common Challenges

1. Resistance to Change

Organizations often resist adopting new technology due to unfamiliarity, skepticism about their effectiveness, or concerns about disrupting established practices. Overcoming this resistance requires addressing these concerns head-on and demonstrating the tangible benefits of AI tools.

2. Lack of Time and Patience

Some team members may lack the time and patience needed to test and try prompts. This can lead to frustration and underuse of AI technologies. Targeted, hands-on, instructor-led training with relevant use cases is essential to build the skills needed to use AI confidently and effectively.

3. Data Privacy and Security Concerns

Team members handle sensitive client information and must ensure that AI tools comply with stringent data protection regulations. Concerns about data security and privacy are paramount, and any AI tool used must adhere to the highest standards of confidentiality and protection.

4. Uncertainty About ROI

Organizations may be hesitant to invest in AI tools without a clear understanding of the return on investment (ROI). Measuring the impact and value of these tools is crucial to justify their cost and demonstrate their benefits to stakeholders.

How Alterity Can Help

Customized Training Programs

Organizations may be hesitant to invest in AI tools without a clear understanding of the return on investment (ROI). Measuring the impact and value of these tools is crucial to justifying their cost and demonstrating their benefits to stakeholders.

Change Management Strategies

Successful AI adoption involves more than just technical implementation; it requires managing cultural and organizational change. Our change management strategies help organizations overcome resistance and foster a culture of innovation, ensuring a smooth transition to new technologies.

Data Privacy and Security Awareness Training

Protecting sensitive client information is a top priority. We offer guidance on best practices for maintaining data privacy and security while using AI tools, ensuring compliance with relevant regulations and standards.

ROI Assessment and Justification

Understanding the ROI of AI tools is essential for making informed decisions. We help organizations evaluate the impact of these tools, develop metrics to measure success and provide justification for their continued use.

Conclusion

The successful adoption of AI tools like Copilot or custom GPTs can significantly enhance efficiency and client service — but you must overcome the challenges to realize their potential. At Alterity, we support organizations through every step of the adoption process, from change management to training to security awareness and measurement.

Ready to take the next step in AI adoption? Contact us today to learn how Alterity can help you navigate these challenges and harness the power of AI tools in your organization.

Transform Your Learning Experience with Managed Learning Services

In the fast-paced world of business, managing effective onboarding and continuous learning can be challenging. With ever-evolving business technologies and increasing client demands, it’s crucial to have a robust learning strategy in place. Managed Learning Services offers the solution you need to overcome these challenges and elevate your organization’s learning experience.

Enhance Your Onboarding Process

Managed Learning Services offers a streamlined, effective onboarding experience tailored to meet the unique needs of your new hires. By providing customized learning paths and role-specific training, we ensure that each new team member is equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed from day one. This personalized approach not only improves new hire productivity but also boosts their confidence and engagement.

Foster a Culture of Continuous Learning

Beyond onboarding, Managed Learning Services is designed to embed a culture of continuous learning within your organization. Our comprehensive suite of tools and resources supports ongoing development, keeping your team engaged and up to date with the latest industry trends and skills. Whether through self-paced modules, virtual instructor-led sessions, or on-demand resources, Managed Learning Services adapts to your organizational needs and learning preferences.

Why Choose Managed Learning Services?
  • Comprehensive and Tailored Solutions: From onboarding to continuous development, Managed Learning Services offers tailored solutions that meet the specific needs of your organization.

  • Scalable and Adaptable: Managed Learning Services can grow and evolve with your organization, ensuring that your learning strategies remain relevant and effective over time. We utilize detailed analytics and reporting to track progress and measure the effectiveness of your learning programs.

  • Engaging and Interactive Content: Our learning materials are designed to be engaging and interactive, ensuring better retention and application of knowledge.

  • Client-Focused Approach: Managed Learning Services is designed with your organization’s unique challenges and objectives in mind, ensuring relevant and impactful learning experiences.
“A comprehensive approach to technology training is the key to user adoption. This service model will bring content, trainers, a modernized platform, and learning strategies to provide a well-rounded solution.”
– Managed Learning Services Client

Many organizations have already transformed their learning and development strategies with Managed Learning Services. To learn more about how Managed Learning Services can benefit your organization, visit our Managed Learning Services page or contact us today.

Embracing AI: Empowering Organizations for the Future

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a major buzz word, not only in organizations, but all around. However, the use of AI requires significant investments in training and can pose risks if not used with proper care, especially in organizations. It’s critically important that all members of a company engage in ongoing conversations about AI usage and the ethical implications that come along with it. Accepting this fact means that training becomes a vital piece of ensuring your team is set up for success.

Training is vital in unlocking your organization’s AI potential. Ensuring that your teams have the know how to leverage an effective AI tool is key to taking full advantage of the potential benefits from any AI technologies, while mitigating risk. Proper training can involve learning AI’s potential abilities, its potential pitfalls and best practices to utilize AI tools. Doing so will enhance productivity, boost creativity and innovation across the board, and instill a culture determined to progress.

Equally important to training is helping people understand the social and ethical issues at stake, and to make decisions on how it’s used. AI is a tool made by people for people, to be used by people. It can help us expand our power, not replace it. By prioritizing transparency and accountability, organizations can ensure that AI is implemented in such a way that benefits everyone. Clear guidelines and best practices from the initial rollout will ensure that every person feels empowered to take this life changing technology and utilize it both correctly and ethically.

Ultimately, the successful deployment of AI depends on a shared dedication to learning, ethical integrity, and the never-ending pursuit of improvement. Together, we can build a future in which AI enhances our capabilities, sustains our values, and drives our success.

Alterity is ready to help you implement AI responsibly and effectively across your organization. Learn more about our AI Adoption solutions and Contact Us today to discuss how Alterity can help you seamlessly adopt AI for maximum benefits.

The Most Overlooked Key to Better & Faster Onboarding

In today’s competitive environment, the speed and effectiveness of the onboarding of new hires has become a focus for operations and a key to overall performance, growth, and stability for every successful company. Most onboarding plans include the following aspects:

  • Completion of HR paperwork, benefits, and other documentation
  • Overview of firm culture, history, values, and mission
  • Introductions to key staff and the firm organizational structure
  • Development and training of role-specific skills
  • Assignment of a mentor
  • Initiation of touchpoints and accountability throughout the first 30-60-90 days in the new position

There is one key aspect that is frequently overlooked: the unique and essential business processes that every employee must know and follow to be successful.  These processes may be documented in a handbook or communicated verbally and are typically reactive, after the need is present, instead of proactive as part of the onboarding process and related curricula.  Teaching these processes in advance will save time and resources, not to mention a lot of frustration and rework.

Processes vary by company and even by department or role within a company. Here are some critical processes that you will want to document and teach, as part of an optimized onboarding plan for both new hires and those moving into new roles:

Recruitment and Onboarding Process:

Start: Creation of a job requisition and posting job openings on platforms.

Finish: Employee integration, including document submission, training sessions, and company assimilation.

Offboarding Process:

Start: Employee submits a resignation notice or is dismissed.

Finish: Ensuring continuity, disabling access to internal systems, and conducting exit interviews (if voluntary resignation) to understand motivations.

Performance Management Process:

Start: Goal setting and tracking, coaching, and feedback from managers.

Finish: Formal and informal performance reviews, rewards, and recognition.

Product Development Lifecycle:

Start: Idea generation, market research, and concept development.

Finish: Product launch, marketing, and ongoing support.

Project Management Process:

Start: Project initiation, scope definition, and team formation.

Finish: Project closure, evaluation, and lessons learned.

Sales Process:

Start: Marketing outreach, lead generation, and opportunity identification.

Finish: Deal closure (won or lost), contract signing, and customer handover.

Customer Support Process:

Start: Customer inquiry or issue reported.

Finish: Resolution, follow-up, and customer satisfaction assessment.

Inventory Management Process:

Start: Receiving goods, updating inventory records.

Finish: Stock depletion, reorder, and replenishment.

Financial Closing Process:

Start: Recording financial transactions throughout the accounting period.

Finish: Preparing financial statements, reconciling accounts, and closing the books.

Expense Reimbursement Process:

Start: Employee submits an expense report with receipts.

Finish: Finance department reviews, approves, and reimburses the employee for valid expense.

Purchase Order (PO) Process:

Start: Requester creates a purchase requisition.

Finish: Procurement team issues a PO to the vendor after necessary approvals.

Client Onboarding Process (for Service-Based Businesses):

Start: Client signs a contract.

Finish: Successful integration of the client into service delivery.

Health and Safety Incident Reporting Process:

Start:  Employee witnesses or experiences an incident (e.g., injury, near miss).

Finish: Investigation, corrective actions, and prevention measures.

One of the best ways to teach these processes (and many others) is to create two deliverables, that stand as asynchronous support and guides for each process:

  1. High level visual overview of the process, from start to finish
  2. Learning asset that lives in an LMS, on SharePoint, etc. that can provide all the necessary details, steps and supporting information, links and references
Together, the visual and specific detailed learning asset will help your new hires and those new to a role quickly understand and adapt to specific company processes.  With over 29 years of helping businesses develop key training, developing custom content and now offering Process Training support, Alterity Solutions is your partner to help develop these company-specific processes to support your effective and optimized onboarding and support model.  To see examples of our work and to learn more about how we can help you quickly and effectively visualize and teach your processes, contact our team today.
  1. https://whatfix.com/blog/hr-workflows/
  2. https://blog.clearcompany.com/performance-management-process
  3. https://www.teamly.com/blog/business-processes-examples/
  4. https://www.wrike.com/blog/define-processes-for-your-team/

9 Steps to Creating a Culture of Learning

A Culture of Learning can be defined as a mindset within an organization where learning and improvement are at the heart of how people prioritize their time, do their jobs, and interact with one another.  It’s an environment where people are actively seeking opportunities to develop themselves and others, and to explore new ways for the organization as a whole to improve.

Looking at this another way, the organization seeks to:

  1. Empower individuals to pursue opportunities to maximize their potential and thrive in their roles.
  2. Educate staff, allowing them to pursue career growth, cross train, and stay up to date with the newest innovations, processes, technology, etc.
  3. Elevate the entire organization through an engaged, confident, and competent workforce.

Creating a Culture of Learning is both intentional and embedded in the day-to-day experiences of everyone at all levels of the organization.  Here are 9 specific steps you can take to plan, create, enable, and actualize a meaningful Culture of Learning:

Step 1 – Honest self-evaluation of the current state of learning

Take an honest assessment of learning in your current organization.  Key considerations include:

  • Understand the current state of your organization’s overall culture and how it aligns with learning. Identify existing practices, attitudes, and behaviors related to continuous improvement and knowledge sharing.
  • Evaluate whether your company’s core values and cultural norms actively support learning and development. Do you have a culture that encourages curiosity, experimentation, and growth fosters a positive learning environment?
  • Clarify the strategic goals behind learning initiatives and align them to business objectives. Is it about enhancing skills, driving innovation, or adapting to industry changes?
  • How do you engage leaders, managers, and employees in conversations about the value of learning? Consider if/how it contributes to individual growth, team performance, and overall organizational success.
  • Leadership plays a crucial role in shaping the learning culture; does leadership demonstrate a commitment to learning and encourage others to do the same?
  • Assess whether your organization offers resources, training programs, mentorship, and opportunities for skill development. Do you provide the right tools that support continuous learning?

Step 2 – Document the future vision for your organization’s Culture of Learning

Based on the above evaluation of the current state of your learning culture, gaps will appear and need to be addressed or mitigated.  By addressing gaps, you ensure the first part of creating that future state for your Culture of Learning.

The second component is forward-looking.  What elements of a Learning Culture do you desire to have, are not present today and are ways you want to experience learning in the future?  Researching effective and existing models will help you add to your vision, by “borrowing” the best of what others have already implemented and accomplished.

Step 3 – Determine needed internal processes, offerings and/or services

For each element of the future Culture of Learning vision, you need to create workstreams, identify products and services, supporting technology, etc. that will help deliver and actualize that vision within your organization.  Some examples include:

  • Ensure you have the right technology to deliver asynchronous learning experiences (Learning Management System, etc.)
  • Effective technology training & support
  • Access to live trainers who will plan strategic sessions as well as be present to respond to needs
    • Supplemented with AI-driven technology designed to provide real time, relevant feedback (Alterity+)
  •  Asynchronous content offerings to address both job-specific skills as well as
    • Leadership and manager development
    • Respectful workplace
    • Cybersecurity and data privacy standards
    • Technical training
    • Soft Skills (communication, presentation, time management, organizational, crucial conversations, work/life balance, etc.)
Step 4 – Define key measurement for each new workstream
Each workstream included in your new Culture of Learning needs a key measure (at least one!) so that you can track progress and impact.  Thinking about what changes because of this new service, technology, training initiative, etc. will help you align the key measure with each new initiative.
Step 5 – Create a timeline and rollout model

Once you have the future vision defined and key measures in place, it is now time to consider how to execute the vision most effectively, over time.  Do you begin with technology?  Content?  Live training?  Creating or partnering with a training solutions team?  Updating job roles and descriptions?  Creating career paths and succession models?

The answer depends on what you view as the most critical need, where you can gain the most traction or what workstreams set the foundations for others to follow (for example: you may have to select and implement a learning management system before you can deliver and track asynchronous learning online to your workforce).

The timeline and roll out plan will protect your organization, ensuring that you implement the various strategies in the right order, at the right time and with an understanding of your capacity to get the work done and for the volume of change.

Step 6 – Calculate ROI (the “so what”)

The individual and then cumulative impact of each component of your optimized Culture of Learning should result in some very observable and easily measured outcomes.  These outcomes will almost always include:

  • Reduced Costs: While learning programs require financial investment, a strategic L&D program that aligns with key company initiatives can lead to long-term cost savings.
    • For instance, transitioning from in-person training sessions to online-based learning platforms can scale development opportunities for all employees without exponential cost increases.
  • Increased Productivity: When employees have the opportunity to develop critical skills, they work faster and smarter. A culture of learning encourages continuous improvement, leading to more efficient processes and better productivity across the organization.
  • Higher Revenue: Well-trained employees contribute directly to business success. By enhancing their skills, they can drive revenue growth through improved customer service, sales, and innovation. A learning culture fosters a workforce that positively impacts the bottom line.
  • Improved Employee Retention and Experience: Organizations with strong learning cultures tend to retain talent better. Employees appreciate opportunities for growth and development, leading to higher job satisfaction and longer tenure. Reduced turnover saves recruitment and training costs.
  • Support for Business Continuity: A culture of learning prepares employees for changing business landscapes. When faced with disruptions (such as the COVID-19 pandemic), organizations that invest in learning can adapt more swiftly, ensuring continuity and resilience.

Step 7 – Rollout the initial workstreams

The key here is to assign a lead – someone who is ultimately responsible for each component that is being rolled out within the organization.  This person does not have to do it all, but is ultimately responsible for the communications, roll out, adoption and management of the workstream.

It is also often helpful to start with a smaller pilot group to test the initiative, gathering feedback and optimizing the solution before rolling it out to the entire organization.

Step 8 – Collect feedback

Creating a continuous feedback cycle is key to maintaining a successful Culture of Learning.  Utilizing vehicles such as employee surveys, daily, weekly, and monthly team, departmental and organizational meetings, focus groups, and embedding learning into the performance management plan for your organization are all effective ways to collect feedback from every corner of the business.  This information becomes mission critical as you work to keep your Culture of Learning vibrant, alive, and meaningful over time.

Step 9 – Bi-annual review of the program with adjustments

It is essential that you create a small team whose primary role is to evaluate the workstreams, review the feedback, and ensure that the Culture of Learning initiative is meeting its anticipated outcomes.  This team should meet (at minimum) two times a year to ensure early identification of needed changes, areas of emphasis, reallocation of budget, continuity of execution and consistent leadership for each element of the Culture of Learning.  A senior leader should sponsor this group and ensure that outcomes from this meeting have a direct communication line to the full leadership team.

If you want to explore any of the above steps and/or partner with an organization that has nearly 30 years of experience helping create and deliver an impactful Culture of Learning for their client base, Alterity Solutions is here to help.  We have the right products and service solutions to meet your learning needs.  Please reach out and contact us here and we will be most happy to share our best practices and experiences with you.

Practice + Feedback Makes Perfect

It’s generally believed that to become better at something one must do it often. Just learning about it isn’t enough. That is why we repeatedly practice a behavior to learn and eventually master a skill. And while practice is crucial, it alone isn’t enough. Feedback is also needed to reinforce learning, address gaps, and motivate improvement. In fact, without feedback, learners can develop bad habits from practicing something incorrectly.

Therefore, practice – plus feedback – makes perfect.

Feedback helps learners go beyond simple repetition, allowing them to focus on areas in need of improvement and, even more importantly, to see the results of their efforts as the feedback drives positive change. This is known as deliberate practice, and it’s as important in any business professional as it is in sports, the arts, or any other discipline. From employee development to customer education, providing feedback to help learners understand past behavior, and coaching to improve future outcomes, are essential for growth and success.

Feedback and coaching provide key insights into progress. Here is what we know works best:

The Sooner, the Better

So, when it comes to learning and skill development, practice is good. Practice plus feedback is great. And trainers can further level up the process with immediate, or real-time, feedback. 

When learners receive immediate feedback, they can act on it in the moment. They can change their behavior while it is timely and relevant, allowing for better knowledge retention. With real-time assessment and guidance, learners take ownership of their development, which leads to enhanced performance.

Make it Personal

We’ve all likely been told at one time or another not to take feedback personally. However, when it comes to learning and skill development, feedback can – and should – be personal. 

Every learner is unique. No two individuals have the same skill set, challenges, or needs. When companies understand and address these differences, they can build the most impactful and effective learning experiences by providing highly personalized feedback and coaching. What works for one employee is not always going to be the answer for another.

Addressing this individual need for personalized feedback across the business in a scalable, systematic, and efficient way has been a long-standing challenge. Until now…

Meet Alterity's NEW Alterity+

We’re excited to introduce Alterity+ – a new AI-powered practice and feedback assistant developed to offer around-the-clock feedback and coaching tailored to each unique learner. Alterity+ helps learners refine and elevate their skills anytime and anywhere. 

Alterity+ harnesses the transformative force driving innovation across nearly all industries right now – artificial intelligence (AI). It leverages AI technologies to help leaders dynamically adapt their training initiatives to individual learners’ progress and performance. Alterity+ provides customized feedback and guidance for learners’ video submissions specific to each learner’s unique needs and pace.

Engage Learners, Empower Training

Alterity+ allows learners to meaningfully engage with the learning process through a personalized approach that offers actionable feedback on common areas of improvement. Learners get immediate, specific, and relevant feedback at their own pace. Through deliberate practice and objective feedback, they can change behaviors and make improvements – all in a comfortable, non-judgmental learning environment.

Alterity+ solves the challenges of scalability and efficiency by delivering consistent and targeted AI-powered feedback to a larger audience. This allows trainers to ensure uniform learning experiences while accelerating each learner’s skill development. 

Alterity+ ensures that proprietary information shared during presentations remains in-house, ensuring the privacy and protection of valuable insights. Companies’ data and inputs from employees are not used to train this AI model. Our solution complies with the strictest of global standards.

Scale & Amplify Learning Impact

Alterity+ allows learners to practice asynchronously, guided by AI, and improve their skills before applying them to real tasks and scenarios. Users receive feedback and suggestions on presentation variables like clarity, tone, pace, use of filler words, and integration of keywords, as well as specific insights and advice to help optimize their performance. This new solution allows learners to:

  • develop skills that support career development
  • learn when it works best safely and securely
  • adopt and enhance standard skills and knowledge gained in training
  • meet individual goals for improvement 
  • overcome obstacles to growth or success
  • boost competence and confidence

By combining practice and the power of AI to provide immediate feedback, Alterity+ helps organizations unlock learners’ full potential and drive remarkable growth and success.

Are you ready to harness the power of practice plus feedback to perfect your learning and
development process?

Learn more and request a demo today.