February 2006

In January, we were lucky to have Jennifer Naughton, from ASTD national, attend our meeting to explain the new Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP) credential. For those who were unable to attend the meeting, I am devoting this issue of the President’s Pen to an overview of the CPLP program as described by ASTD.

One of our primary goals this year is to integrate the CPLP into both our chapter and the community. We would like to see a large group of training professionals go through certification in the next year. And with perfect timing, ASTD has just released their learning system which will enhance the study groups we will be coordinating.

Overview
The Certification program grants recognition to professionals who have met predetermined requirements as set forth by ASTD. Unlike certificates, the certification program emphasizes testing and prior experience—lending credibility to the program.

Who can apply to CPLP?
Professionals in the learning and performance field with a minimum of 3 years related work experience. If certification fits with your professional goals, this program may be for you.

What is the CPLP?
The CPLP involves passing both a knowledge exam and a work product. For the knowledge test, you need to have a baseline understanding of nine areas of expertise that are part of the broader profession. For the work product, you show that you know by providing a sample of your work as evidence in one area of your choice.

What does the CPLP cover?
• Part 1 - CPLP Knowledge Exam - The CPLP knowledge exam is based on the nine areas of expertise derived from the ASTD Competency Model. This exam contains 150 multiple-choice questions and focuses on breadth. Some areas of expertise weigh more than others. The exam will take approximately three hours (30 minutes of which is for orientation and a post-survey) at a local testing center located in most major cities in the U.S.

• Part II - CPLP Work Product - After passing Part I, you will need to submit a work product in one area. The work products will require samples of your work from actual work situations. Follow-on questions will be asked as well.
More detailed information can be found on the ASTD website at www.astd.org

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Save the Date, Friday March 17, 2006

Van Daele & Associates, Inc.
Intellectual Capital
10 million More Jobs than People
"Learn how to capture Huma Capital to Stay in Business."

The US Buereau reports our county faces a serious worker and skills shortage over the next three decades due to the retirement of more than 61 million workers in the next 30 years. Specifically the workforce may potentially be short 5 million workers by 2011, and 36 million workers by 2031.

Friday,March 17, 2006
8:00 - 8:30 a.m. - Registration
8:30 - 11:00 a.m. – Program
Marott Apartments, Meridian and Fall Creek

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January Meeting Recap

Become a Workplace Learning Professional You Want, Obtain CPLP Certification You Must

The January program served as a kick-off for the exciting events planned for 2006. Jennifer Naughton, Senior Program Manager, ASTD Certification Institute, Competencies and Credentialing Program, presented an overview of the competency model and certification process. She shared research and information on its development and why this program is important to our industry. If you weren’t able to attend the meeting and would like more information on the competency model you can get a general overview of the CPLP competency model by going to www.astd.org/astd/Publications/competency_study.htm

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Member Profile

Vija Dixon
Written by Elizabeth Rubens, Facilitator Staff

This month’s CIASTD member profile features Vija Dixon, Marketing Director for Russell Martin and Associates. (Vija is pictured here with her daughter – Vija is on the right!)

Vija grew up in Elkhart, Indiana and attended Indiana University School of Business where she majored in marketing. After graduating, she began her professional career working for Lazarus in Columbus, Ohio, and later become a store manager for Lazarus here in Indiana. After working in the retail business for six years, she made a career move to Indiana Bell. This would prove to be a momentous decision, as on the very first day of training for her new job, she met her future husband, Ralph! Vija worked at Indiana Bell in sales and marketing for the next nine years through the divestiture process, when she went on to work for AT&T.

In 1990, Vija accepted a position with Russell Martin and Associates and has been with them now for sixteen years. Russell Martin is a consulting and training company specializing in leadership, team development, and project management consulting and training. They offer an array of services and products to improve productivity in the workplace, and Vija mentioned that most of the work that Russell Martin does is now customized for specific clients. Vija enthusiastically recommends a recent book by Lou Russell entitled Project Management for Trainers. She feels certain that CIASTD members would find it helpful (see http://store.yahoo.com/russellmartinandassociates/projmanfortr1.html for details).

Vija continues to enjoy working in the field of professional development as a “matchmaker.” She feels most successful when she has helped a client work with the right Russell Martin facilitator to design a business learning event that truly meets their requirements. To those professionals just entering the field, she recommends listening as the most important tool to get the job done.

When I asked Vija what she felt the greatest challenge was in our workplace today, she mentioned the difficulty people have in finding time to attend to training and development needs. Even though they know they need to work on these areas, they are often so busy “putting out fires” that they are unable to focus enough attention on strategies that would improve performance. “Additionally,” she said, “a two-day workshop seldom cuts it any more… Because of the complexity of today’s workplace, you have to combine a workshop or a training module with a more comprehensive process that includes coaching and/or mentoring if the development efforts are going to be sustained over time.”

When Vija is not trying to solve these vexing workplace issues, she enjoys spending time with her two children. She and her husband have a son, Chris, who is a sophomore at Wabash College, and a daughter, Ashley, who is a junior at Carmel High School. In their spare time they love to travel, and they are passionate about nature and the outdoors. Vija enjoys the water and Ralph enjoys the mountains, so they recently compromised and made a trip to the Pacific Northwest where they toured the spectacular Canadian Rockies and Lake Louise.

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Book In Review

Why Business People Speak Like Idiots: A Bullfighter’s Guide
By Brian Fugere, Chelsea Hardaway, and Jon Warshawsky
Review by Jay McNaught

APA Citation:
Fugere, B. & Hardaway, C. & Warshawsky, J. (2005). Why business people speak like idiots: A bullfighter’s guide. New York: Free Press.

This book practices what it preaches. It advocates clear and concise business communications that is free from jargon. The book is written in a straight-forward manner that is entertaining and conveys a sense of humor. The reader knows something special is in store when the book begins with a dedication to Mr. T. According to the dedication, Mr. T said it best, “Don’t gimme none of that jibba-jabba.”

It discusses the obscurity trap, the anonymity trap, the hard-sell trap, and the tedium trap. Throughout the book, samples are presented from real-world business writing that does an excellent job of illustrating these traps. Here is a sample the authors offer illustrating the use of jargon:

Platform Symphony is a leading enterprise-class software that distributes and virtualizes compute-intensive application services and processes across existing heterogeneous IT resources creating a shared, scaleable, and fault-tolerant infrastructure, delivering faster, more reliable application performance while reducing cost (2005, p. 24).

The authors quip, “Clearly they are targeting the impulse buyer for heterogeneous enterprise-class fault tolerant thingies” (2005, p. 24).

One point in the book really jumped out at me, “… press releases seem to show that the more time is spent on a message, the worse it gets” (2005, p. 12). The authors attribute this to the number of editing and review cycles. I have personally witnessed this phenomenon when I ask for suggestions on communications I draft at work. I am convinced that if I let enough people edit and review a communication, it would eventually say nothing!

I particularly enjoyed the research the authors conducted for this book. They called it the “Starbucks Study.” Their approach was simple. They hung out a Starbucks and showed people various writing samples. “One was straight and clear, the other was typical corporate speak – full of bull” (2005, pg. 17). After the participants read the samples, they were asked to pick words that best described each sample from a list of adjectives. From this study the authors concluded that straight and clear communication is superior to communication that is full of bull. This study has given me inspiration for my own doctoral research.

Overall, this is a solid book that makes excellent observations about communication. It offers practical advice on how communication can be improved. I highly recommend this book for anyone who needs to communicate in business (and who doesn’t?).

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New Members

Marilyn Sadler	Doug Ruggles
Donna Sartini

In each issue of The Facilitator, we will list members that have joined or re-joined CIASTD since the previous issue. Since the last issue of The Facilitator, we have signed members. If you are a member of CIASTD, and would like access to the complete membership list, it is available on our web site at http://www.ciastd.com.

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