Kenji Yamamoto’s Human Resource department didn’t make it through the reorganization intact. A confident director of the HRD, Kenji had a smooth running operation. Only recently, the HR department’s executive advisory committee had evaluated and approved a new corporate executive development program. Kenji seemed to be doing all that could be expected of a director of a Fortune 500 company.  

A capital-intensive organization, this company had a relatively small workforce. Employees who were selected for participation in HRD programs immediately found themselves on the fast track, receiving quick promotions and generous rewards for their efforts.

The HR department enjoyed being part of and promoting the good years during the bubble economy. Years ago, Kenji purposefully had chosen to maintain a supportive role and a “corporate perk” atmosphere of his HR department. He handled his leadership role with a blend of dignity and celebration, and his department had been successful for some time.

Even if the HR department had focused on the economics of the business, it probably would have been somewhat reduced in size. Without exception, all departments had experienced cuts in staff, but what hurt the most was that the goals of the HR department weren’t really given serious consideration when the cuts were made. Kenji had believed all along that his department was making important contributions to the company.    

Now he suddenly came face-to-face with management’s perception of his department’s minimal worth and contribution to the company. Ironically, just 2-3 months before, Kenji had emphatically rejected an offer from an expert consultant in impact and financial assessment to help him and his assistant talk to top management about the economics of the HR department and impact of their training programs. Kenji confidently reported to the consultant that his department received wonderful support from top management. Further, he thought that the discussion about financial contributions of HRD was not necessary. When the HR department and Kenji finally did hear about it’s worth from top management, it was too late. Kenji’s perception of top management’s support for the HRD department had been a fantasy.

For a free consultation on how your organization can start to develop a focused and measured training program, delivering the benefits you need now, contact CoreComm Learning Systems today.

A number of value-laden myths have entered the HRD profession. These myths may have been partially the result of HRD’s having taken on too many “it feels good” goals without performing a thorough performance and work analysis to back up their HRD programs. 

Some myths that have haunted HRD include: 
1. Social pressure is the basis of HRD 
2. Managers don’t care about HRD 
3. HRD costs too much 
4. You can’t quantify/measure the benefits of HRD    

These myths should be exploded. Hard economic thinking and even harder planning are what is required, not mythology. HRD professionals should be businesspersons first and HRD specialists second (everything important in business and industry is evaluated). This shift in perspective is the first step in exploding the HRD myths. The four HRD myths will disintegrate when the transition to thorough performance analysis and financial assessment becomes commonplace.     

Myth 1. Social Pressure Is The Basis of HRD. 
A quick look around Kenji’s (and your?) corporate world will reveal organization development interventions, personnel training and development programs, and other HR efforts that were put into place because “everyone else is doing it.” Perhaps some companies get trapped in this game in the same way parents are trapped by their children’s wanting things because other children have them. Perhaps some HRD managers have used such childish threats with management as “the company across the street has and so should we.”

We have heard talk within the HRD profession about “employee rights to development,” along with statements that “HRD is a corporate perk.” This kind of rhetoric seems to suggest that social pressure is the basis of HRD. But isn’t it interesting that HRD professionals in organizations that strongly support HRD programs rarely, if ever, use social pressure? Most organizational decision makers who actively support HRD view it in terms of the business, the core work processes, the outcomes, and anticipating economic gains or averting economic risks.  

There is a strong possibility that all four of these myths have arisen from the inside of the HRD profession. If decision makers have also learned these HRD myths, they generally learn them form the HRD people. Executives, as masters of change and opportunity, have the right to expect HRD departments to join them in their struggle to achieve quality and profitability. Most decision makers are not enemies of HR departments. They want to be business partners and to reap the added value that HRD can provide to the organization. All fou​​r HRD myths stand in the way of this partnership.

In today’s cost and performance environment, the HRD professional must take necessary steps to focus on their organization’s core goals, develop an effective assessment system, ensure the best ROI and establish a record of proven assessed benefits.

For a free consultation on how your organization can start to develop a focused and measured training program, contact CoreComm Learning Systems today.

I Don't Like English 

On the first day of the class, Tanaka-san sat at the table with his arms crossed a sharp frown.He was asked, “Is communicating in English difficult?” “Yes, I don’t like it”. He was asked “Why?” The student said English vocabulary was difficult to remember, grammar was difficult and he couldn’t think in English, translating all the time was too troublesome! In addition, because of this, he couldn’t communicate well, he couldn’t improve his TOEIC™ score and so his career had stopped.He then took the CoreComm course and his situation changed.Results

On the last day, at the end of class, Tanaka-san came up to say good-bye to the trainer. He then shook the trainer’s hand, and would not stop shaking his hand. Tanaka-san said “Thank you, thank you so much. Last night, I experienced Japanese like a foreign language. I walked through my office, but I couldn’t understand my colleagues speaking Japanese. For the first time, I actually started thinking in English. Japanese was a foreign language to me- I've never experienced that before. Thank you."

Still Can't Communicate
This client had a problem with the communication skills of a number of key managers who had been chosen for overseas assignment.    

They had already taken many hours (over 250 hours) of English lessons. They were what many companies tend to use- 1 or 2 hour English conversation classes, after work in the evening. The managers found the lessons boring, not effective and not motivating. Another problem was, that many of these managers still could not communicate effectively in English. These managers were being sent overseas to other Asian countries, and were expected to manage the local staff, while also being responsible for increasing business and market share. Yet, could not communicate effectively, experienced high levels of stress when communicating and did not want to do it.

Both the client company and the individual students were very nervous about the upcoming overseas assignments. Because each knew that the managers would not be able to function. And so, they continued using the same English lessons, hoping the situation would improve. It didn’t.   Then the client used the CoreComm System.   The student’s ability immediately changed. By the end of the course, the students were communicating more accurately what they wanted to say, using clarifying and confirming skills as part of their natural style, and were thinking directly in English.

Then the client used the CoreComm System.
The student’s ability immediately changed. By the end of the course, the students were communicating more accurately what they wanted to say, using clarifying and confirming skills as part of their natural style, and were thinking directly in English.  

Results 
The students reported that they now felt confident in their communication skills, felt less stress when communicating and were seeing direct improvements in all key skills including reading, writing, listening and speaking accuracy. They also reported being able to expand on their conversations in a more logical and natural way which would greatly help them to achieve their assignment goals of managing local staff more professionally and increasing market share.  

HR Director Shocked
A group of engineers had been chosen for 2-year overseas assignments to Europe and Asia.   The group had been given over 250 hours of English lessons and Business English lessons at their company. The lessons were usually once or twice a week. But after many months, they still couldn’t communicate effectively in English. And the departure was very close. The Human Resource Director was extremely worried and upset. The company had chosen different lesson providers to get a variety of courses and teaching styles. The Director, a native Japanese speaker, could also speak English and German fluently. She was so shocked by the engineer’s lack of language ability and communication skills after taking so many classes. This was a panic situation.

The Director heard about CoreComm and scheduled a consultation meeting with the CoreComm team. After establishing the student’s, the company’s needs, she agreed to go ahead with the seminar. But, because CoreComm was so unique, she decided to observe the class everyday. She began to do her work from inside the training room. This way, she would be able to see everything that the students experienced and learned.  

Results
When the course finished, the Director and the CoreComm team had a meeting to discuss the results of the seminar. The Director, who speaks 3 languages fluently, said how amazed she was with the student’s communication abilities in just 5 days. She explained that the students told her they could now communicate much more accurately and confidently, she also agreed with the students. 

"Do Not Send Them Back!"

A team of 10 recent recruits from the Japan branch of a global European IT company completed the initial phase of a language and communication training program. The team then attended the company’s global training conference in Europe – training crucial to their career success. However, when they returned to Japan, the global training director told the Japan branch HR Director that the team’s communication, language, and interaction skills were too low and ineffective  for further participation in international events. The Japan branch HR Director was told ‘Do not send them back- they can’t communicate…’. 

The International Training Director told the Japanese team “don’t come back".   The global European IT company’s Japan branch had finished the language and communication training program for 10 recent recruits. The team had been sent overseas to complete their global training. They were scheduled to go back for the second part of the global training in the late fall. This training was very important for their future promotion and development. Also, it was important for the Japan branch to make sure the branch was represented at the global level. 

But, when the team of 10 came back, the global training director told the Japan branch, ‘Do not send the team back- they can’t communicate with others, their language skills, communication skills and interaction skills are too low and very disappointing. We will send the information and they can study on their own time. Please do not send them to any future international meetings, conferences or training”.

The Human Resource Director was shocked. She had to tell the team this terrible news. The team was so shocked when they were told they would not be allowed to take part in any future training courses or international meetings. However, the Human Resource Director was informed there may be a way to help the team, the system was called CoreComm. The Director had a consultation meetings, and asked the CoreComm team to help them. 
The students were amazed. Management was amazed. 

 Results
A the end of the CoreComm course, the team of 10 said how surprised they were at how much they were able to improve their language and communication skills. They also realized they were not translating everything from English to Japanese back to English. Now they were thinking directly in English. Their listening, speaking, reading and writing speeds had all increased. They were also shocked how much more confidently they could communicate, in a natural way, and how they were able to actually communicate what they really wanted to say, with less stress.   The Team was then given one more chance to join the international training program. But this time, they were prepared. Half of the team went for the 2nd round of training in the U.S., the other half of the team went to Europe to complete their training.