What does it Mean to Pay it Forward?

The “pay it forward” movement is not a new concept. According to Wikipedia, it dates all the way back to 317 BC where it was used as a key plot concept for a play in ancient Athens. There are small documented events of the “pay it forward” notion throughout history; however, it became a widely popular concept after the 2000 movie of the same name, which was based on the novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde.

The simplest way to define “pay it forward” is that when someone does something for you, instead of paying that person back directly, you pass it on to another person instead. One of the easiest examples of this is buying a coffee for the person in line behind you at the coffee shop and then they buy a coffee for the person behind them and so on.

What is the point of all this? Why do so many people live their lives according to the “pay it forward” principle? It has been proven that acts of kindness build exponentially in a community and because people believe that one good deed deserves another. “Paying it forward” can make the world a better place. That was what Leah Doperalski thought when she used her nursing skills to help make life better for Jamaicans living in the Blue Mountains. But even if you don\’t go to the Blue Mountains, nursing is just one wayto live your life paying it forward.

Paying it forward can be part of anyone\’s daily life. Whether you decide to take up a life of service to the community or join the business world, you can incorporate the philosophies of the Pay it Forward Movement into your career. Paying it forward can be rewarding in other ways too. By volunteering to help a manager or a supervisor from another department with a project, you might stay in the back of their mind when an opportunity for a promotion comes up. Even as you build your professional network, people who you’ve paid it forward to will certainly hold you in a higher light than individuals they’ve never met or even have had bad experiences with. So paying it forward can enhance your personal life and your professional life as well.

Have you ever done anything to “pay it forward?” Has anyone ever done a good deed for you? Tell us about it and how it made you feel in the comments below.

References
Pay it Forward. [Online image] Available http://yourcaringangels.com/blog/?p=1010, February 26, 2009.
For more information on Pay it Forward from Wikipedia, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_it_forward.

Healthy Habits Make Academic Success

School, work, home – it doesn’t take long to get spread thinly between the major responsibilities of your life. Healthy habits are crucial to support that school-work-home flow that fosters academic, professional and personal success.

“The most important aspect is to ensure an appropriate balance between work, school and life — that is so, so important,” said Brandy McDonough, associate dean of instruction for Bryant & Stratton College – Online. “Being able to balance those things creates a much more well-rounded person.”

To do that, you’ve got to make the most of the time you have for each of those major life components. McDonough recommends meticulous, honest time management to keep on top of school, work and life in general. She syncs personal and professional calendars between computer and phone. She even carries a – gasp – paper version to keep herself on track.

“With that, it helps me to remain focused,” she said. “It really takes finding the time sit down and plan out each week. You really have to go day by day by day and say, ‘This is what I hope to accomplish’ and not getting down on yourself when you don’t meet that (goal).”

Another good habit: being realistic about your course load and how you work your way through it.

“The course itself is a determining factor,” she said. “If you have to take a course in an upcoming semester, it’s very important if that’s going to be a difficult course, then you might want to take only one or two courses. If you’re taking courses that all build upon your areas of strength, you could probably take a full course load.”

Be honest with yourself about your work habits. Do you need frequent breaks, or do you prefer to buckle down and complete a task without looking up? When your mind starts to wander or you’re not absorbing the material, that’s a signal that it’s time to step away from your studies.

“When you read something and you get absolutely nothing and you’re re-reading the same passage or sentence over and over again, or you get frustrated, that’s the time to walk away,” McDonough said. “Get a glass or water, take a short walk – stepping away for about 10 minutes and coming back to it from a different angle often is extremely helpful.”

McDonough recommends you start your study by tackling reading materials first.

“That will give you that theoretical foundation to build upon,” she said. “Before you complete a project, (or write a) paper, it’s really important to get that theoretical foundation first so you have that understanding utilizing a lot of resources.”

Understanding your full range of resources is another key to scholarly success, McDonough said. Beyond the digital world at your fingertips, remember family, fellow students, professors and the entire academic support staff at Bryant & Stratton.

“There’s nothing wrong with talking to peers, family members who’ve been through their education, working professionals as well,” she said. “Leveraging conversations with coworkers and peers those can be very valuable.”

Look to people who want to see you succeed to bolster your optimism and academic stamina.

“You have to have a very positive attitude and be surrounded by people who have that positivity,” McDonough said. “Have people you can reach out to on hard days – that’s healthy from a different perspective.”

TALENT MANAGEMENT HELPS SUPERMARKET CHAIN LIVE BRAND PROMISE

More retailers are enjoying the advantages that effective talent management processes, supported by technology, can offer. This includes strategies for attracting, developing and retaining employees, ensuring a pipeline of qualified people, and building a culture of engagement and productivity. Gallup research shows companies with higher-than-average employee engagement also have 27 percent higher profits, 50 percent higher sales and 50 percent customer loyalty.1

United Supermarkets, a family-owned retail grocery chain in based in Texas, is an example of an organization leveraging talent management to live up to its brand promise, maintain customer loyalty and control costs. While there may be slight differences among their 50 locations, one element remains consistent: United Supermarkets still embodies the philosophies of its founder.

“United’s mission is to provide ultimate service to our guests, ensure superior employee performance and make a positive impact in the community,” said Tom Weis, director of training and development for United Supermarkets.

This is especially important during the winter holidays – the busiest shopping season of the year. With increased store traffic and sales, it presents an opportunity for team members to “wow” first-time shoppers with superior service and fair-priced, high-quality products – and hopefully convert them into return customers.

Saving Time and Money

In 2007, United Supermarkets decided to invest in Cornerstone OnDemand’s learning and talent management software solution in an effort to streamline training and performance evaluation processes for its 10,000 team members.

“Our performance review process was paper-based, making it very time-consuming and difficult to track,” said Weis.

Automating the review process has allowed United to make employee evaluations more streamlined and reportable, so that managers can more easily complete reviews without getting behind on other responsibilities. Additionally, they now conduct 45-day reviews for new salary and hourly team members, which has helped to increase retention rates.

United’s training program presented a different set of challenges. “We needed to figure out how to reach employees across all of our stores with targeted training while also minimizing out-of-store time,” said Weis.

In previous years, United team members had to travel to one of the chain’s five hubs for training –requiring nearly three hours of driving round-trip for a three-hour class for most employees. With the new, Web-based learning management system (LMS), branded “United Spirit University,” the company now offers online learning courses that can be accessed anytime, anywhere via computer or in-store kiosks.

The ability to easily distribute mass training to large groups of people has saved the company an estimated $120,000 in new hire training alone the past year. The learning portal also makes it easier for United’s learning and HR team to track course completion. For example, United rolled out a new in-store labeling program, which they communicated to employees via a 13-minute online video accompanied by five questions. Using the system, administrators were able to monitor employee response and share results with management, which showed an 88 percent course completion rate within the first month.

Custom Courses Embrace Team Culture

For United, one of the benefits of online training has been the ability to create and share custom courses tailored specifically to support the company’s business objectives and instill United’s philosophies in its employees.

To emphasize solutional selling in its stores, United created video vignettes featuring real employees in suggestive selling situations for specific departments, such as the bakery or deli. Employees can view the vignettes through the LMS and then work with their managers to utilize these skills in their respective departments.

“Being able to customize our training modules to include our own team members has really helped management and senior executives see value in the programs and create more buy-in,” said Weis. “This was particularly important to our CEO, for which fostering a sales culture is a top priority.”

For the holiday season, United is distributing an online training series featuring the company’s COO to reinforce basic service concepts. “He’s worked on the front lines and is well respected by our team. For him to say directly to our team ‘Let’s not forget who we are,’ makes for a much more positive, credible and impactful message to our employees,” said Weis.

Expanding Initiatives

With positive returns on United’s investment in talent management software to include its learning and performance processes, the company is expanding its use to support succession planning and leadership development initiatives. The company also is creating a new onboarding curriculum to help new hires embrace United’s history, culture and mission from day one. Initial use of the new LMS as part of the orientation process has already resulted in increased time-to-productivity of new hires, as well as an over 80 percent employee retention within 90 days of hire.

“We believe our growth and success are tied to our commitment to service. By aligning our talent management processes to support this commitment, and using the right technology solution, we’re more capable than ever of living up to our brand promise throughout the organization.”

1. Crabtree, S. Engagement Keeps the Doctor Away, Gallup Management Journal. January 13, 2005.

Tracking Time for Better Results

Going back to school can be quite overwhelming. One of the biggest obstacles new college students face is managing their time appropriately. Time Management can be particularly tricky for online students because although you have the flexibility of logging into your courses at any time, many of you will be working full-time jobs and have family obligations that you must fit your schoolwork around.

So how do you get into the groove of being a new online student?

It all starts with making a conscious effort to use your time wisely. It can be as simple as placing Post-it notes around the house so that you are consistently forcing yourself to be conscious of time. Another option is to keep a journal to log what you are doing with your time throughout the day. Keeping a time journal can be very eye-opening. You might find that the time you spend on the sofa watching television each night adds up to over 12 hours each week!

Or you might find out you spend too much time on Facebook, playing Xbox, surfing the web, playing FarmVille or even sleeping. Don’t panic- I am not saying to give any of these things up. I am trying to help you be more conscious of how you are spending your time, so you can manage it better and also keep up with your schoolwork. There is nothing worse, or easier, than procrastination. Admit it. You have been there at some point in in your life.

The evening is dwindling away; your assignment is due at midnight and you are thinking of all the other times that you could have (and should have) been getting your assignments done. By making an effort to be aware of how you are spending your time, you will be more likely to plan ahead so you don’t end up a victim of procrastination. It is important to remember that to be successful at managing your time, you will need to reward yourself.

Set your boundaries and make sure that for so every so many hours you spend being productive, you also allow yourself an hour to do something you truly enjoy. I hope this helps you get on the right path to being more productive and having less stress in your life.

Please add any additional questions, comments or tips that you have about time management in the comment section below.

Instructor Blog: Study Tips for New Students

Are you Studying Effectively?

Picture this. You have spent hundreds of dollars on new textbooks for your classes and you are eagerly waiting for them to be delivered. You come home from work and slice open the box to find three brand new, brightly colored textbooks that are shrink-wrapped and just begging you to open them!

You flip open your laptop and check your course homepage to make sure you have the correct books and you hit the jackpot – all 3 books are what you need so you rip off the protective covering and spend the evening snuggled up in your reading chair, sipping your favorite drink while enjoying your new books.

While reading your texts, you carefully highlight everything that is important – at least half of each page — and then re-read each chapter 2 more times. A couple days later, confidently you open your quiz and then all of a sudden your heart stops beating – you cannot remember anything that you read, even though you spent hours combing through your book, and you end up failing the first quiz! You are now panic stricken and don’t know what to do.

Does this sound like you? If so, you are not alone! One of the most common emails I receive is from a frustrated student who failed a quiz even though she spent hours reading her textbook. The good news is there is a better way to learn.

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, found “that when [students] re-read a textbook chapter, they have absolutely no improvement in learning over those who just read it once.” So what should you do?

How to Study Effectively for College

First, put down the highlighter and follow a new plan.

Get the Most from Reading the Textbook

Ask Questions: Before you read the chapter you will want to ask yourself questions like “What do I need to learn from this chapter?” and “How does this new knowledge build on what I already know?”
Read with Purpose: While keeping these questions in mind, read the chapter while answering the end-of-chapter questions in a notebook or on your computer. Focus on making connections in your brain between what you already know about the topic and what you need to learn.
Use Drawings: Some students find it helpful to draw pictures showing the connections between old and new information.

Review Regularly

Reviewing your course materials regularly will strengthen your ability to recall information.

Flashcards, apps, and online resources from the textbook are all easy to use and effective tools to strengthen your ability to recall information.
Practice often during small periods of time during your day and avoid cramming the night before the test.
Skip scheduling large blocks of time to study (who has time for this anyways?) as your brain needs time to make new connections and you need to practice retrieving the information on demand.

Next time you are tempted to read your textbook like a novel or with a highlighter in hand, remember these study tips to help you maximize your learning and success in your classes.

Check back often to get more tips for college on our blog or if you are thinking of applying, contact the Admissions office for information about degree programs at Bryant & Stratton College.

A NEW POSEIDON ADVENTURE: FLIPPING SUCCESSION PLANNING UPSIDE DOWN

Organizations make significant investments in efforts to hire the right candidates – the people who have the right experience and cultural fit. By carefully managing the performance and potential of these people over time, the organization can grow its leadership pipeline, keep a steady inventory of needed skills and competencies and remain nimble in the face of change (which we have plenty of all around us these day) – all of which can have serious impact on the bottom line.

However, much of this pie-in-the-sky stuff relies on being able to locate and cultivate high-potential and high-performing talent across the board. Without an integrated succession management solution, recognizing and developing talent can be an ever-elusive process.

The questions we are seeing asked today include: does the traditional top-down approach to succession management still make enough of a difference? Does managing succession for a slim strata of senior executives take full advantage of the kinds of talent data we now have at our fingertips?

It doesn’t have to be so. Succession management can be an interactive process between senior leadership, managers and employees at all levels of the organization. And, if we trust them, we can actually let employees become active participants in their own career development. (Shudder.)

Career Management (Succession Planning Flipped Upside Down)

This “bottom-up” approach is gaining momentum because who better to tell us about employee career path preferences than employees themselves. Organizations actually have talent management and other HR systems in place that allow for collecting and analyzing a whole slew of data around:

Career history
Career preferences
Mobility preferences
Professional and special skills
Education achieved
Competency ratings
Performance scores
Goal achievement
Training and certifications
Etc.

In short, pretty much everything we’d want to know to make well-informed succession planning and talent pooling decisions.

For some, the leap is simply putting some power into the employee’s hands. The talent management system of 2011 is capable of displaying a clear internal career path for employees and then, on the basis of all that data bulleted out above, showing a “Readiness Gap” – what do you need to do to make the step to the next level? And if your talent management environment comes armed with a real Learning Management System, you can take it to the next level with a dynamically generated development plan that gets the employee on the right path to actually closing those gaps. Faster development, faster mobility.

Organizations that seriously favor internal mobility don’t just make employees stick on pre-defined career paths – they can search for ANY job in the company and check their Readiness levels. I might be in accounting today, but what I really want to do is move to marketing. Giving employees the chance to explore various career avenues within the organization helps assure that “water finds its level” – that is, that the right people with the right skills and the right levels of motivation and engagement find the right job roles internally.

Employee participation is key, but make no mistake – managers play an important role in this interactive process. They must be prepared to provide career coaching, identify development opportunities and recommend employees for job openings. The candid discussions require that employees have open access to information so they can best understand the criteria necessary to move to the next level.

A Two-Way Street

Employee-driven career management is just one tool. The more traditional top-down approach to succession management remains indispensable. But organizations that value talent mobility and the ability to be able to shift and mobilize talent resources quickly will find that attention to career pathing can be vital.

For employees, of course, the impacts are immediate and include boosted levels of engagement, higher retention, increased productivity and more.

Following Tragedy, One Mother Finds the Courage to Continue Her Education Online at Bryant & Stratton College Online

On April 1, 2011, The LA Times ran a special Online Education section produced by MediaPlanet. We are very proud to have online student Marlena Unz, featured. In April, Marlena Unz will be a college graduate at age 46, earning her associate’s degree online from Bryant & Stratton College Online as a medical administrative assistant. While for many of her classmates a college education was a way to gain the skills and training required to get a job, for Unz it was also an opportunity to prove something to herself and her children. A stay-at-home mother, who ran a small in-home daycare, Marlena lost her husband just a few months shy of their 25th wedding anniversary unexpectedly. Since her husband worked to provide for the family, it was now her sole responsibility to create a financially secure future for her family. Click on the thumbnail below to read more about Marlena\’s courage.

Where to Find Career Information and Advice

Information about career management is everywhere. But, what information can you trust and what\’s best to pass over?

You can think, getting advice from your mom, brother, aunt, friend or neighbor might seem like a good idea but these well-meaning, \”inner circle\” confidants may lead you astray. If you\’re looking for sound advice, it\’s probably best to trust experts. The career services department at your college can be a useful resource but you can supplement the information they give you in other ways. Reading blogs or following the tweets of career experts is a great way to get resume help, interview tips and other career management advice. A few great places to start are the CareerRookie blog managed by CareerBuilder, the \”News\” section of LinkedIn, Evil HR Lady or the blog at FlexJobs.com. Another avenue to try is visiting your local library (or Amazon.com) to check out career advice books. To get you started below are four of our favorites.

Best Answers to the 201 Most Frequently Asked Interview Questions – Matt DeLuca and Nanett DeLuca continue their popular series with this updated edition highlighting advice for interviews. The guide opens the door on the interview process to readers so they understand what is going to be asked and why the question is being asked.

Getting from College to Career – Career Expert and Global Spokesperson for LinkedIn, Lindsey Pollak packs in plenty of practical tips for anyone navigating the gap between graduation and that first job. She also answers that universal question of \”How do you get a job without experience and get experience without a job?\”

Me 2.0: 4 Steps to Building Your Future – Author Dan Schawbel is a noted expert on Gen Y and creating a personal brand and in this book he teaches readers how to use social media tools to find a job, change careers or get ahead at their current position. The book walks readers through discovering, creating, communicating and maintaining a personal brand that is key to being successful in the modern workplace.

StrengthsFinder 2.0 – Written by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton, this follow-up to Now, Discover Your Strengths, builds on the authors\’ idea that it is more valuable to build on an employees strengths rather than focus on an individual\’s weaknesses. The book includes a personal online assessment, which helps readers identify their own strengths as identified by the \”Clifton Strengths Finder\” and actionable ideas on how to build on these strengths

SUCCESSION PLANNING IS A CHALLENGE, BUT WELL WITHIN REACH

When it comes to talent, it’s all about the pipeline. That is, keeping it pulsing along with the best possible employee bench strength to fill critical positions as business conditions change, new products are launched, etc. To get there takes a proactive and intelligence-driven internal succession planning strategy, though for many employers this is easier said than done.

In fact, the challenge of selecting and developing future managers is keeping many HR leaders and business line executives up at night. A study by the Corporate Leadership Council found that 72 percent of companies surveyed predict they\’ll have an increasing number of leadership vacancies over the next three to five years. At the same time, 76 percent are \”less than confident\” in their abilities to adequately fill these positions.

That is the harsh reality. High unemployment rates notwithstanding, top talent can still be very scarce, so looking inward and developing a smart succession management process is table stakes in today’s talent challenge. It all comes down to identifying top performers and closing existing knowledge gaps to create a high-performance culture.

One step in the right direction that I recently blogged about is utilizing today’s talent management software solutions and creating processes to expand your succession planning model throughout organizational ranks, one that both sides of the equation can embrace. Employers who can proactively engage the workforce in career management and development create a clear win-win. For employees, added career development opportunities ensure that people are moving up, not out.

For example, when workforce management services firm Kelly Services launched self-service career management tools to its global employee base, the company’s HR executives were pleasantly surprised by the level of participation. Creation of career profiles was voluntary, but the tools had a 72 percent participation rate in its initial launch. Kelly’s management saw this as a clear indicator of the interest their people have in not only managing their careers, but also in other opportunities within the company.

Why critical roles and competencies matter

It is clear that a workforce needs to be aligned with the overall business strategy and business objective achievement. Yet, you would be amazed at how many organizations lack awareness of the critical roles and key competencies that drive business success.

Simply defined, critical roles are the positions that an organization relies on most to meet its key business objectives. Competencies are the knowledge, behavior and skills that correlate with organizational success and performance. For example, customer satisfaction may be a leading business driver in a retail organization, and as a result, key competencies may include customer responsiveness, relationship building, account management experience and other areas.

Naturally, critical roles and competencies are tightly interrelated. A business can define its critical roles with job profiles, then use competencies to measure success and replicate the qualities of a successful employee in others throughout the workforce.

External factors

Organizations certainly face a number of external factors that make it difficult to acquire and retain top talent. For example, as Baby Boomers retire, Generations X and Y don’t have the sheer numbers or job experience to fill the gaps. Also, the ongoing “doing more with less” business mantra has left companies with the burden of developing key talent now to prevent a mass exodus of top performing employees in the next 12 to 24 months.

Not to pile on, but there also is a global shortage of technical and leadership skills in such areas as engineering, accounting, skilled trades and sales and executive/management functions, which has the potential to slow the economic engine.

With these hurdles, organizations need to get the succession planning ball rolling. Helping talent flourish within the organization takes time; it also requires a razor-sharp focus. Having a solid system in place to identify and develop top talent and critical roles allows an organization to reap the rewards of a healthy, flowing talent-laden pipeline.

To read more about my thoughts on using career management technology solutions to expand succession planning throughout organizational ranks and foster career mobility, check out my blog post, “A New Poseidon Adventure: Flipping Succession Planning Upside Down.”

To read more about succession management and career management best practices, download the white paper, “Two Sides of the Same Coin: Using Succession Management and Career Development to Improve Talent Mobility.”

Meet Ed Dennis; Military and Corporate Relations Manager for Bryant & Stratton College Online

Ed Dennis joined Bryant & Stratton College Online in June 2010 to lead the Military Relations Department at Bryant & Stratton College Online. Prior to this, he served for 21 years in the United States Army, starting as a Private and retiring as a Major. Throughout his career he used the Army Continuing Education System to continuously develop himself personally and professionally. His extensive knowledge and first-hand experience with the armed forces brings invaluable expertise to Bryant & Stratton College to support the needs of active duty , veteran and military spouse students.Tell us about your military background.

ED: I entered the Army as an enlisted military policeman in 1989, and served in four different units before attending OCS (Officer Candidate School). Upon completion of OCS, I was commissioned as an Ordnance Officer and served as a maintenance officer for four years before attending EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) training. I spent the remaining 9 years of my career as an EOD Officer both overseas and in the United States until I retired in 2010. In that time, I served in leadership positions from team leader to Commander, with three years as an Instructor/TAC (Trainer Advisor Counselor) for LT’s and CPT’s in the Ordnance Corps. I found joy in teaching others, and now continue utilizing that passion as an Adjunct Professor for Bryant & Stratton College Online. Upon retirement from the Army, I wanted to enter a career that assisted fellow veterans and provided a sense of fulfillment. I had already served 21 years in the Army, and respect the work that is done by the Department of Defense Civilians, but wanted to apply my skills in the private sector. Throughout the job search process, I had to choose which path I wanted to take. My interview with Bryant & Stratton College Online really impressed me and the following dialogue with senior managers reassured me that this was the direction that I wanted to pursue.

Tell us about your work in the Military Relations Department at Bryant & Stratton College Online.

ED: Bryant & Stratton College Online understands that military servicemen and women have unique lifestyles and that they need personalized attention. They looked to me for guidance on how to help meet those needs. I approached this with three goals in mind: continuously improve our internal procedures, provide staff education and training, and form strong relationships with ESO’s (Education Service Officers). Since I served for more than two decades in the military, I know first-hand that career and education are two important (and often challenging) issues for military students and their families. I first took a look at the internal procedures and policies currently in place and how it related to the process military members use to request tuition assistance, in order to make that process as military friendly as possible for them. In addition, I looked at the policies for withdrawal, deployment, and any other unique circumstances service members could face. I then worked with the senior leaders at Bryant & Stratton College Online, to update the policies to benefit service members, family members, and Veterans. Based on the new changes, classes were developed and staff training began. My goal was to not only inform the staff of the new changes, but also give them a lesson in Military 101. Finally, once our internal procedures were in place and the staff informed about military affiliated students, I started to work on building relationships with the ESO’s by attending service level education events to meet with Education Service Officers and share with them the opportunities for service members and families at Bryant & Stratton College Online.

How can you help not only military service members but also their families in their education journey?

ED:With the high OPTEMPO (Operational Tempo), the military focuses much more on families than they did when I started in 1989. This is because it is not only the service member, but the family that endures the hardships of deployment. There is a very valid concern among spouses that they may need to enter the workforce at some point due to family support issues, or they desire to enter the workforce for personal and family goals. I think that in many cases it is harder for spouses during deployments, so I treat them the same as I would a service member or veteran when providing assistance.

Why is Bryant & Stratton College Online perfect for military families?

ED: Bryant & Stratton College Online provides a high level of support to all students and strongly believes in personalized education. This fits well with military families because there is accountability at every level. Students are not referred to a bank of “Academic Advisors,” but instead they are given an assigned Academic Advisor who focuses on guiding that student in achieving their personal career and educational goals while they are enrolled with Bryant & Stratton College Online. In addition, we are a career college that focuses on high academic standards. For students this translates into being better prepared for the career field they want to enter, and a higher degree of success. Finally, we offer several portable degrees that adapt well to the constant moves that military families face every couple of years.

Finding time to make a change

Realizing it’s time for a career transition doesn’t need to come from a major life change like losing a job or turning 30. In fact, many people decide that it’s time to pursue a new direction even when they’re in a great situation.

That was exactly the situation Yen Klikna found herself in when she decided to enroll in the Medical Reimbursement and Coding online associates degree program at Bryant & Stratton College.

Klikna was working full time as a manager at a dispatch authority, making a quality living for her family. However, the job required that she needed to be on call most days. Combined with the commute to and from the job, her time was limited at home with her family. So she decided to start doing research on a career change that could give her more time at home.

“My priorities changed,” Klikna said. “I have a 3 year old daughter and I wanted to spend more time with her. I was tired of being stuck in traffic every day.”

After spending time determining that a career as a medical coder could lead to the opportunity to work from home, Klikna took the steps necessary to enroll in school. That led her to Bryant & Stratton and in December 2012, she completed her associate’s degree.

At that point her focus shifted to finding a steady job in the field that could eventually lead to her doing her work from home. Through her own diligence and the assistance of the Bryant & Stratton Career Services department, her job search began in earnest.

Klikna credits Career Services Representative Mike Lester for giving her the necessary guidance throughout her job search. Lester provided her with support in formatting her resume to ensure that it was tailored properly to the jobs she was applying for and he even assisted in sending her potential leads on a weekly basis.

While her job search was not a short one, Klikna began a part time position partway through 2013 and recently took on a full time position in March. Her new position also allows her to work from home twice a week, a perfect situation for a mom who was hoping to spend more time with her young daughter.

The preparation that Klikna received at Bryant & Stratton certainly played a major role in obtaining a job that fit her desires so well. She specifically mentions the AAPC exam she took after graduation as the one factor that truly told her she was ready for this career.

“That showed me what the coding world is all about,” she said. “You definitely need to do additional preparation for the test but Bryant & Stratton gave me a very strong foundation.”

That foundation included a close bond with many of her instructors and classmates. In fact, Klikna says that the interaction with those individuals helped convince her that this was the career path she wanted to follow. She hasn’t kept in close contact with many of her classmates since graduation, although a small group did correspond as they were preparing for their respective AAPC exams. The group used LinkedIn to communicate on the different tactics they were using to prepare for the test.

Today, nearly two years removed from graduation, Klikna finds herself in a terrific position. She has a position that she truly enjoys which provides her the opportunity to do work from home while spending more time with her family.

Even though she didn’t have a singular moment that indicated a change was necessary, she finds herself in a better place because of her choice.

If you are wondering if you can make a career change at 30 or even before, check with the Admissions office at Bryant & Stratton to see if there are any programs that could make your life better.

SEVEN TIPS FOR IMPROVING THE PEDIGREE OF YOUR SUCCESSION MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

In my last blog post, I talked about how technology-supported succession planning and career development initiatives can pump talented employees into the pipeline — but not unless employers clearly understand that it takes the right people with the right skills to fill critical roles connected to key business drivers.

So how can business leaders and line managers “see” into these roles – and the associated skills and competencies – to know if the current workforce is ready to take on greater responsibility when needed, or to decide if additional development is necessary?

One forward-thinking way is by creating talent pools, rather than just replacing individuals. The objective here is to develop and coach these “pools of talent” continuously in order to bridge the talent gap and increase the workforce’s overall talent mobility.

Here are seven other tips for lifting succession management and career development programs from ineffective and lackluster to ones that exhibit a “best practice” world-class pedigree:

Tip 1: Provide multiple paths. Climbing the ladder of success isn’t always a journey straight to the top. Modern organizations require diverse capabilities and skills, so employers should offer multiple routes in a career journey to create a culture that encourages risk-taking and innovation.
Tip 2: Reward managers. Organizations that value talent create effective incentives for managers to recommend employees for promotions and new assignments.
Tip 3: Use enterprise learning as a performance lever. Gaps in knowledge, skills and behaviors can be addressed through development plans that tie directly to learning. Career development can drive engagement and retention, as employees see clearly how the organization is helping them grow and advance professionally.
Tip 4: Understand that senior management is just one way to achieve. Not every valuable employee is destined for the C-Suite. Creating a career track for technical experts and non-management positions allows employees with specialized skills and knowledge to build a career while focusing on what they do best.
Tip 5: Train managers to coach, but give them the tools. Line managers may excel within their functional areas, but may not have a clue how to be a career coach. Whether through learning (classroom or online) or access to development tools within a talent management system, focus on cultivating the leadership skills of those who have a direct impact on workforce development.
Tip 6: Allow employees to move horizontally or vertically. Employees have different needs at different life stages. For example, a new parent may not be willing or able to access a foreign assignment. Or a young and rising star may want to attend graduate school. Providing opportunities for employees to make horizontal (as well as vertical) moves can drive both retention and engagement.
Tip 7: Make transparency a priority. Effective succession management and career development thrives on providing information access. Example: Executives need insight into talent gaps and opportunities. Managers and employees need to be aware of measurement criteria and career opportunities. Technology can facilitate this openness.

Combine these suggestions with the right programs and talent management software solution, and succession management and career development will become dynamic processes that empower both the workforce and the organization. An employer who can make this happen will foster a strong talent pipeline, eliminate any talent gaps and ensure world-class succession planning.

Cast Your Vote Today! Help Select the Pay it Forward Scholarship Recipients!

Pay It Forward Scholarship Program The Pay It Forward Scholarship program is designed to recognize and reward individuals who are not only interested in improving their own lives with education, but who also want to share the gift of education with someone else. Unlike most traditional scholarships, the five chosen recipients will not only be awarded a full-tuition scholarship for an online associate’s degree program at Bryant & Stratton College Online, but they will also be empowered to \”Pay It Forward\” by giving away a matching scholarship to someone they choose, such as a friend, family member, someone they work with, or even anonymously to someone they think is deserving.

All Essays Are In!!! Bryant & Stratton College would like to thank everyone who entered the Pay It Forward Scholarship over the last few months. Completed applications had to be received by midnight on December 31, 2010 for consideration. We received hundreds of applications with compelling essays of inspirational stories, detailing the kindness and generosity of giving back to the community and how each person would \”Pay Forward\” a full time scholarship to someone deserving in their life. Bryant & Stratton College Online has selected ten finalists whose stories, we found to be in the best \”Pay It Forward\” spirit and have met Bryant & Stratton College\’s basic enrollment standards. Of the ten, the top six were chosen and have agreed to be a in the running to receive and \”pay forward\” a full scholarship for an online Associate’s degree at Bryant & Stratton Online.

Voting Has Started!!! Each of the six finalists had a video crew visit them in their homes and have shared their stories of inspiration and kindness and why they should be chosen as a recipient of the Pay It Forward Scholarship. At the end of the two-week voting period, the top five finalists who have the most internet votes will each be awarded a full-tuition scholarship for an associate\’s degree program at Bryant & Stratton College Online, and will receive a second scholarship to \”pay forward\” to an individual or organization of their choice.

Cast your vote now!!! The remaining finalists who do not receive full-tuition scholarships will be awarded a $5,000 partial scholarship for an associate’s degree program at Bryant & Stratton College Online. Additionally, Bryant & Stratton College Online will select a deserving individual from all the applications submitted to receive one $10,000 partial scholarship for an online associate’s degree program. Voting will close on May 13th, and we will announce the winners on May 16th.

Key Points for Students Considering Tuition Assistance

Going back to school as an adult brings up many questions, but perhaps the biggest one is “how am I going to pay for my degree?” Luckily student financial aid comes in many forms. Scholarships, grants, loans are all options but there is another way. Many employers offer tuition assistance programs that help employees pay for college.

Tuition assistance or tuition reimbursement programs vary from company to company but they typically focus on giving their employees the opportunity to develop or improve skills that will help them excel in their careers. The programs are beneficial to employees and employers alike. Employers are able to invest in employees so they have the types of skills that will help keep the company profitable. But, employees are the real winners. Tuition assistance programs help employees earn an education while having the cost partially or completely covered. Since going back to school also helps them learn new skills employees are able to become better at their jobs or prepare for career advancement.

But, tuition assistance isn\’t free money. Companies design their programs to have some stipulations. Sometimes there are limits to how much a company will pay for the type of degree that’s being earned, designating different amounts for associate’s degrees, bachelor’s degrees, graduate-level education and professional certificates. There may also be rules around what types of courses or degrees a program will cover. Many employers will only cover classes that are related to an employee’s current responsibilities while others may extend the offer to cover responsibilities of that are designed to position an employee for a promotion.

Another consideration is whether or not the tuition remission benefits will be taxable. If you are wondering if tuition reimbursement is taxable, check with a tax professional or the human resources person at your company.

If you are thinking about going back to school, check in with your employer about tuition remission benefits. If you aren’t sure where to start, below are a few questions that will help you figure out what is available and how it may benefit you.

Does my employer offer tuition assistance? This might seem like an obvious question, but not all employers do. Check with your manager or HR department to be sure.
Are there tenure restrictions? For some companies you have to be an employee for a certain length of time before you are eligible for tuition benefits.
How much will my employer pay? Employers often have a hierarchy for how they fund different levels of education. Find out if there are tiered amounts and whether there is full or partial reimbursement.
Are there grade average minimums? Tuition assistance could be dependent on academic achievement, for example it may only be awarded if the employee earns a B average or higher.
What classes are covered? As mentioned above, it would be unwise for companies to pay to train employees on skills unrelated to their jobs. Most programs only cover classes that are related to current or future job responsibilities.
What are the employment retention requirements? Again, companies don’t want to pay for someone’s education only to have them leave for a better offer. So, many organizations put retention stipulations on financial aid for college, requiring employees to stay for a certain amount of time once they earn a degree.

Bryant & Stratton College aims to help all students understand the financial implications of attending college. This article and others are intended to address affordability issues and inform students of the variety of student financial aid available.

Interested in learning more about the online degree programs offered by Bryant & Stratton College? Call 1.888.447.3528 to speak with an admissions representative.

FIXING THE LEAKING LEADERSHIP PIPELINE

Cornerstone has penned a new whitepaper on the issues surrounding leadership development and building a sustainable pipeline of leaders in your organization. We urge you to download a copy. I think you’ll find that our new paper is an even-handed exploration of the issues confronting organizations and their plans for developing future leaders.

New Definitions: No Employee Left Behind

“Leadership development” itself might be a bit of an outdated term – not that it’s not relevant in the modern organization, because it surely is. Instead, we mean to say that the term “leadership development” comes with some baggage. As typically defined over decades of use in human resources departments, the idea too often is meant to only concern a narrow strata of senior leadership roles.

Don’t get us wrong. Any effective leader is an employee worth developing and hanging on to. It’s just that contemporary technologies and processes, alongside new (often flatter) organizational hierarchies and ready access to talent management data, mean that we no longer have to consider “leadership development” in the narrowest sense of the concept. It’s no longer reserved exclusively for that hand-picked batch of high-performance / high-potential / high-fill-in-the-blank folks who need to be coddled and cared for like incubating eggs.

As companies look down the chain to develop and build future leaders from within, HR professionals need to consider that leadership and training curricula must be designed for each different level, from executives to employees. On other words, it’s no employee left behind. In our new whitepaper we examine the challenges at each level (not just your senior leaders).

New Definitions: How Has Leadership Changed in the New World of Business?

Present-day thinking about cultivating leaders hasn’t only changed in terms of how we define who a potential leader is. The very skills, competencies and characteristics of leadership are evolving as our business and cultural environment keeps shifting.

Although traditional competencies such as integrity, vision, judgment and people development will likely always be relevant, organizations needing to develop leaders today must be ready to look beyond the conventional. They must create an environment that allows high performers to grow professionally and, ultimately, develop new skills that will lead businesses into the future.

Our new whitepaper describes just this shifting sense of what real leadership skills are and asks interesting questions. What were the core attributes of a leader in the 20th century and how have those qualities transformed over the last decade alongside rapid change in the world of business?

Of course, it’s not enough to ponder these changes in leadership development without making some suggestions for what the new world order looks like in practice. In other words, how does your organization tackle the challenge of building a durable pipeline of successful leaders?

Developing and building leaders at all levels of an organization is hard work. However, the rewards are worth it: lower employee turnover, higher workforce empowerment, increased work productivity and successful execution of business goals. Check out our new whitepaper to find out more.

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Saving Time and Money

Custom Courses Embrace Team Culture

Expanding Initiatives

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Career Management (Succession Planning Flipped Upside Down)

A Two-Way Street

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Why critical roles and competencies matter

External factors

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New Definitions: No Employee Left Behind

New Definitions: How Has Leadership Changed in the New World of Business?

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