Tom Stone, Sr. Research Analyst, i4cp

There is seemingly no end to the dizzying array of Learning and Development technology concepts, acronyms, and vendor solutions. To gather fresh data on this head-spinning landscape, the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) recently conducted a study of L&D related technologies in the workplace. The study focused on a broad range of categories and vendors, and provides insights on user satisfaction levels to critical feature and priority considerations, to barriers and challenges. In this session, i4cp Senior Research Analyst Tom Stone will share the key findings from the study, and provide recommendations for how to prioritize and align L&D technology decisions.

Sarah A. Scala, President and Principal Consultant, M. Ed & OD, PCC (She/Her/Hers)

This workshop will explore both formal and informal mentoring. Mentoring is one of the best ways to strengthen skills or to take a leadership role in developing future leaders or followers. Mentoring can also be very cost effective for organizations. Through interactive group activities and the sharing of best practices, this program will provide examples of mentoring successes with a strong return on investment. Examples of New England and national companies we have partnered with on designing and evaluating a mentor process will also be shared.

Kymberly Dakin, M.Ed, Director, Voice Into Learning, LLC

Effective listening is the unsung superpower. If we have ears, we assume we can listen. If we’ve been instructed in “active listening”, we believe we are all set. As trainers, coaches and mentors, we may know how important nuanced listening is in our exchanges with trainees, co-workers, clients and mentees, but until we can identify our own listening habits and modalities - we are missing more than we think in our daily interactions.

How we listen and the filters and biases we use in listening can determine much about what we absorb, the nature of our trainings, the quality of our partnerships, and the actions we decide to take personally and professionally.

Here’s a chance to discover our natural inclinations as listeners - what we listen for, what we listen with, and how we can strengthen our listening skills to become more effective, productive and engaged trainers, coaches and program developers. Amplified listening skills improve performance through more accurate information gathering and assessment, enhanced peer to peer trust and active EQ applications.

Jennifer Buckley, M Ed, MBA, CPTD

Every TD Professional needs a toolkit of go-to resources that are free, cheap, and/or easy to use. This review of what's available, with participant input, will enable TD pros to take a few shortcuts to make their work a little bit easier. From graphics, text, fonts, and design to productivity, research, and video, a (somewhat) comprehensive list and review of what tools and websites are available will engage and enable anyone working in the Talent Development space.

Jon Haverly, Master Practitioner with The Wiseman Group

Based on the New York Times best-selling leadership book “Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter” by Liz Wiseman, this highly engaging and interactive program provides an understanding of the research behind Multipliers and practices that participants can apply immediately. The main topics of the session are:

1) The Multipliers Effect

2) The Accidental Diminisher

3) Becoming a Multiplier

Susan Russell, M.S., Global Learning and Development Manager

In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, attracting and retaining top talent is a critical priority for organizations of all sizes. The ability to compete for talent in the digital marketplace requires a comprehensive understanding of the latest strategies and best practices. This workshop offers invaluable insights and practical guidance to help you develop and implement effective talent acquisition and retention strategies.

This interactive workshop, designed for HR professionals, talent acquisition specialists, hiring managers, and learning and development professionals seeking to gain a competitive edge in the digital talent marketplace, provides a deep dive into the techniques and approaches that will set your organization apart in the competitive digital marketplace. Participants will gain actionable knowledge and learn proven strategies to attract, engage, and retain high-performing individuals. Join us to enhance your talent acquisition and retention capabilities, and position your organization as an employer of choice in today’s competitive talent marketplace.

Jeff Boudro

The workshop is a blend of experiential activities, reflection, and group debriefs along with strategic frameworks and application to the work setting. In a dynamic, experiential activity participants are put in small groups and given a set of culture rules to follow as they complete tasks.

Groups with different culture rules are merged and need to connect across differences to complete a task. The exercise gets to the heart of issues created when two cultures meet. Reflection and strategic frameworks enable participants to identify the costs of failing to connect across differences as well as a concrete road map for creating a robust, new culture.

Nancy Settle-Murphy, President, Guided Insights

In this interactive workshop, I’ll start by sharing the results of my recent research with CHROs, Learning and Development and Talent Managers to find out what leadership skills they see as most crucial in today’s hybrid world, explore why so few managers have those skills, and brainstorm ways learning and development organizations can help cultivate those skills in a world where managers are consumed by fighting fires almost every day.

We’ll explore the skills, competences, attitudes and behaviors workshop participants that are essential for hybrid leaders, and then brainstorm different ways we can cultivate and apply those skills and shift behaviors, depending on a variety of factors such as: senior management commitment, number and location of managers, existing coursework and tools that can be leveraged, skills most needed, etc.

We’ll conclude by having each participant map out an action plan, including one tangible step they can take in the next month to close the leadership skills gap as quickly as possible.

We’ll use a combination of small-group activities and large group discussions.

David V. Dec, Director of Professional Development

Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are already using Artificial Intelligence (AI) within their applications. Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Docs, and Sheets all use AI and Machine Learning to help you create courseware as well as improve your training delivery. These tools will help you create material that will best engage your learners and talent, while making your work more efficient and exciting.

Barry Richman, Learning Technology Consultant

Like the weather, everyone talks about their LMS but they don’t (or can’t) do anything about it. Ever wonder why this is the case? The ‘bad’ reputation earned by a learning system is often unrelated to the system itself, but more to the way in which it is used, administered, configured, and designed.

There are many reasons for this, and most of them can be resolved simply by attending this session!

But seriously, during our time together, we’ll dive into those reasons and some of the steps you can take to either rehabilitate your existing system, or select a new one.

We’ll talk about creating User Stories and Use Cases and how to turn those into Business Requirements. We’ll discuss how carefully constructed Personas can help shape those Requirements and connect them directly to Key Performance Indicators that positively impact the Business.

You’ll leave this session with a number of practical tips and tools you can use immediately to ensure that your technology solution leads to a more impactful learning program for your organization, through either a rehabilitation or a selection process.

Lisa Crockett, CPC, PMP, Learning Experience Designer, Career Coach, and Webcast Host

Miko Nino, Ph.D., Asst. Vice President for Adult and Online Education
Jenifer Giroux, Vice President for Corporate Relations and Professional Studies

In this presentation, participants will explore a ten-step process for the development and management of online learning programs, from the initial idea to the final evaluation. Participants will engage in small activities and exercises that will result in an action plan that they can implement in their organizations to develop, manage, and evaluate learning programs. The content of this presentation is based on project management and learning management strategies. In addition, this presentation will provide a list of resources and considerations needed before deciding to develop or enhance an online learning program.

Julia Geisman, Founder & CEO.

In this engaging workshop we will explore why an inclusive mindset is the key to unlocking higher levels of engagement, improving employee retention, and fostering a culture of innovation. By encouraging diverse perspectives, experiences, and ideas, teams and organizations can tap into a wealth of creativity and problem-solving capabilities.

Using practical strategies and techniques this highly interactive session builds upon known behaviors that promotes an inclusive and learning work environment enabling individuals, teams and organizations to thrive.

Through interactive discussions, case studies, and practical exercises, participants will leave workshop equipped with actionable insights and tools to develop and nurture an inclusive mindset within their organizations. Join us and unlock the potential of an inclusive mindset to create a more engaged, resilient, and innovative workplace.

Amber Watts, Director of Learning & Talent

Monique St. Paul, Training Program Specialist

In the aftermath of a worldwide pandemic, talent development professionals get the Herculean task of engaging learners that are zoomed out and have stamped out roles and responsibilities that no longer serve them. There’s only one problem - the trainers are just as exhausted as the learners. If this sounds even a smidge too familiar, come to this session to get back to the basics. Reconnect with your motivation to train, and use that to develop training that will keep your learners from checking their email the whole time. Finish up by creating a plan to stay motivated, keep learning, and decompress. You owe it to yourself to engage with your training foundational knowledge as a way to beat burnout with the basics.

Anna Annette, CEO, Teacher and Coach

People at all levels of their organizations across all industries and of all sizes have experienced tremendously challenging conditions over the last few years leading to stress, depletion, anxiety, apathy, and mental and emotional instability. In this state of being and in addition to continued changes many organizations are undertaking to respond to the business environment, sustaining engagement, collaboration, productivity, engagement has become very difficult.

In this workshop, participants will learn why and how the global pandemic impacted our emotional and mental well-being so deeply and discover and experience powerful techniques rooted in psychology, human energy, nature, and art, to restore inner peace, balance, joy and inspiration for present and future leading to self-motivation, collaboration, innovation, and fulfillment.

Dan Collier

According to recent Association of Talent Development's State of the Industry reports, the vast majority of the percentage of in-person training occurring in organizations has been predominantly focused at leadership, management and professional skills programs.

In March, 2020, that paradigm became disrupted. Organizations around the world grappled with conducting daily operations (performing work, managing meetings, hiring and managing team performance) in an online, virtual environment. Our kids came home from college and school and took their classes from their bedrooms. Words like Zoom, Teams, Connect took on new meaning. The challenge in 2020 was how to adapt. How do we not only deliver content through a new modality, but do so while creating and engaging and effective learning experience? Multi-day programs were deconstructed and reconstructed 60-120 minute bites. What used to be accomplished onsite in a couple of days was now redesigned and delivered over weeks. We discovered the obstacles created by "multitasking" and the value of "cameras on". Virtual facilitation and the need for class producers became the standard.

Then slowly, after almost two years in the darkness, the sun came out. Masks were coming off. People were congragating, meeting in person, socially distanced at first. Planes began filling up again and our kids went back to their schools. And almost immediately, there was a demand to bring our development programs back to the physical classroom. L&D teams scrambled to buckle together weekly Zoom sessions into days-long, interactive learning experiences as if COVID never happened.

What were the lessons we learned from the dramatic swing back and forth in just a couple of short years?

How should we be looking at design and delivery differently from these lessons?

Are there benefits in both virtual and in-person delivery that can be leveraged for improved programs going forward?

This workshop is designed to share my personal experiences while facilitating the participants journeys' into a shared conversation.

Lisa S. Griffith, CPO

Where does work life end and personal life begin? In today’s post-pandemic world, it can often be hard to distinguish. With so many of us working from home, working in a hybrid situation, or back to working full time in a brick-and-mortar office, it’s easy to let our paid work bleed into our unpaid, personal time. Answering emails at midnight, SENDING emails at 2 am, scrolling through your phone at all hours of the day and night, juggling family and home responsibilities – all can lead to a serious case of burn-out.

If your state of mind is in constant overwhelm from trying to balance your personal and work lives, this presentation will help you find your way out from under the overwhelm. We will discuss the five obstacles that can get in the way of your ability to balance work and personal obligations, from dealing with your physical space, to managing your time, energy, and focus. Learning how to effectively manage that seesaw-like “sway” between the personal and professional will lead to increased productivity, an improved perspective, and hopefully a less stressful, more fulfilling and well-rounded life.

Stan Skrabut, Director of Instructional Technology and Design

Are you looking for an innovative way to enhance your talent development programs? Look no further than ChatGPT. This session will introduce you to the capabilities of this powerful language model, and show you how it can be used to support your talent development efforts.

In this session, you will learn:

• What is ChatGPT and how it works
• How to use ChatGPT to support your talent development initiatives
• Examples of how ChatGPT has been used in the talent development space

By the end of the session, you will have a clear understanding of the potential of ChatGPT and how to use it to support your talent development efforts. You will also have the opportunity to set up an account and ask ChatGPT questions to see the technology in action. Don't miss out on this exciting opportunity to transform your talent development programs with the power of ChatGPT.

Jamie Millard, Co-Founder & Executive Partner
Frank Satterthwaite, PhD, Professor

Discover the secrets to energize your employees and unleash their can-do spirit so they are excited to come to work every day. Help your managers learn to check the VITALS of their people to identify and tap into the motivational triggers that lead to high levels of performance, job satisfaction, motivation and retention. Learn proven, practical tips to motivate and fully engage people.

Wendy Picard, Learning & Development Consultant

Ever wonder what’s happening in that unconscious of yours? In this session we’ll peak in real time to see how your brain uses shortcuts, why we need it to, and how to make sure it’s not making big decisions without you. We’ll share some tips and tricks to use that will quite literally change the way you think and how to use this superpower change your world.

Mariah Bradbury, MBA, MSOL, Learning & Organization Development Manager
Cameron Mastrodomenico, Learning & Organization Development Manager

In today's competitive business landscape, organizations recognize that employee engagement is crucial for achieving lasting success. Engaged employees are motivated, committed, and enthusiastic about their work, leading to higher productivity, improved performance, and a positive work environment. This workshop, "Ignite and Inspire: Unleashing Employee Engagement for Lasting Organizational Success," is designed to equip leaders, managers, and HR professionals with the knowledge, tools, and practices to cultivate a highly engaged workforce.

In this session, we’ll cover:

• Understanding the Importance of Employee Engagement
• Assessing Current Engagement Levels
• Creating a Culture of Engagement
• Empowering Employees
• Effective Communication and Feedback
• Building Trust & Connection
• Nurturing Employee Well Being
• Sustaining Engagement through Change
• Measuring & Monitoring Engagement
• Action Planning

Stefanie Heiter, Founder & CEO, Bridging Distance
Kim McGonagle, PHR, SHRM-CP, Founder and Principal, Alchemize People Strategy Solutions

The game has changed, and no doubt your role and responsibilities have too. With the corporate initiatives to support hybrid work environments, talent managers are tasked with developing and instituting more effective ways for distributed teams to lead, manage and grow their employees. The ongoing push and pull of remote, hybrid, and in person work creates new demands for how to onboard and develop key talent. You need real-time insight about how your organization is doing, with particular focus on how hybrid impacts who joins, who stays, and who goes in your organization. This is all the while navigating the shifting realities of employee expectations.

We get it. Our Hybrid Optimization model provides a foundation for examining and understanding the complex dynamics of your hybrid workplace experience–your people, processes, policies, and technology. We make the ambiguous concrete, with actionable ideas for strengthening hiring, onboarding, and promoting your top talent.

Join us for a session to learn to map your challenges onto our proven model, focusing on skills and abilities in performance management.

As organizational psychologists and social scientists, working with executive leaders, managers, and thousands of virtual and hybrid teams across the globe for over 25 years, we have developed a best-in-class capability to evaluate your organization’s mindset/culture and performance to identify critical gaps blocking you from achieving your goals.