The Training Overview
September 1, 2008
Career Expectations
Training is one factor that many graduates actively consider when they are looking for favorable career opportunities. This is why companies and organization should focus on making their “training program” more appealing to the graduate sector.
Your Way, Your Strategy
Simply stating that the company offers extensive training is not enough to attract the quality graduates that your company needs. One thing that graduates usually want is information and making sure that they have this would encourage them to apply. This does not mean that all information should be disclosed, it just means that information which is relevant should be highlighted and included in this list.
BT Training
Based on my research, I discovered two innovative and very informative company websites which provide details on the training that graduates would be receiving once they join the company.
Telecoms company BT provides details of the training schedule for different career paths; and retail giant Macy’s also shows the benefits of training through highlighting the 17 core courses which would be given to graduates assigned to different fields.
In terms of highlighting training for graduates, companies should use different strategies but as I mentioned, one important thing here is information. Training is given for graduates to enhance their skills and at the same time to help the company. Having a detailed and informative training overview could help in attracting and selecting good candidates for the position.
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Is Your Brand Ready for Mobile Advertising?
September 1, 2008
“Mobile Ad Spending Set to Soar”
That’s the headline from an article from eMarketer last week. According to a study by Strategy Analytics, brands across the globe are prepared to invest more than double what they spent in 2008 on mobile advertising in 2009 - from $1.0 billion in 2008 to $2.4 billion in 2009. Is your brand ready for the ad spending shift?
The vast majority of that money is expected to be invested in mobile message advertising with much smaller sums invested in mobile search advertising and mobile display advertising. Read more
WBCSD Measuring Impact Methodology — A Brief Overview
August 29, 2008
In order for a form of measurement to be truly accurate it has to be implemented by a group, not a set of individuals. For instance, it’s much easier for a group of five people to measure a thousand paces (the old mile) than five people counting a thousand paces individually.
This is why the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), in conjunction with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), has recently launched the Measuring Impact Methodology (MIM).
The flaw it seeks to address is one of the oldest in the book: how can different companies produce comparable figures open to close analysis if they all use different methodologies to do the measuring.
The area the framework aims to bring this rigour to is their impact among the most nebulous stakeholders: the communities within which they operate.
Stating the Outcome, Not Guessing the Result
Attempts have been made before to introduce mechanisms into business to measure their impact upon the wider community. The most widely known is the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
These have been around in one form or another for over 20 years. Their place has always been as part of the project planning process in an attempt to gauge the likely impact a project will have on the wider environment.
WBCSD’s Measuring Impact Methodology is different. It aims to measure the impact a business has had upon the wider community after the event.
In this sense it is a crucial part of the sustainability measurement and compliance jigsaw which is being built up. To date there has been no framework governing how companies do this, leaving the whole area open to interpretation and the spin of greeenwashing.
Now, however, companies have a framework to work within when assessing and reporting the impact they have had upon the wider community.
Although only voluntary, companies who choose to operate outside this framework will always draw the cynical journalist who will look for the additional spina company may be trying to introduce.
The 4×4 Solution
The framework itself is remarkably simple and rests upon four steps which a company should go through:
- Set Boundaries; define the project in terms of the business activities to be considered and the geographic area in which they are occurring
- Measure the Direct and Indirect Impacts; identify those impacts under the company’s direct control and those which are not but which are influenced by the company’s activities
- Assess Contribution To Development; engage with stakeholders in the community in order to gauge how the company is supporting their development priorities
- Prioritise Management Response; plan a response to the impact the company has had, based upon the risks and opportunities identified in previous steps
The framework also defines four classes of business activities which companies should report against:
- Governance and Sustainability; the impact the company’s policies and procedures have on the wider community, including anything specifically targeted at environmental management
- Assets; the impact anything “owned” by the company has, including premises and infrastructure and how products and services are created and delivered
- People; the roles people fulfil within the company, their skills and training
- Financial Flows; the financial impact a company has within it community, typically through procurement and taxation
Nice And Easy Does It
The framework includes a detailed explanation of the various activities a company needs to go through in order to complete each step.
However unlike many others the methodology includes a macro-driven Excel spreadsheet. This gives the methodology two advantages in usability over many others.
Firstly it provides a readymade electronic reporting application so the company doesn’t need to produce its own, spend extra money buying one from a consultancy or print out an onerous amount of paper detailing all the check boxes and comment fields..
Secondly it allows personnel to learn about the framework in a very hands-on manner, reading about the steps and going through them in a hypothetical example at the same time.
Indirect Impacts
Overall this is a very welcome addition to the growing armoury of methodologies being published to help companies understand and improve the sustainability of their business processes.
It also breaks new ground in that it measures the impact of company activities after the event, rather than trying to project them and then measure how a company has performed against that target.
In addition, the inclusion of a multi-functional spreadsheet in the methodology is also welcome and one has to wonder whether other organisations will start to provide similar tools as part of their methodologies.
After all, business lives by the rationale that competition between different organisations in products and services is healthy for society. There’s no reason providers of schemes and standards should be any different!
Brands and Social Media Marketing - Samsung
August 29, 2008
Samsung Electronics America is tapping the social web in its promotions leading up to the Super Bowl on February 1, 2009. The Super Bowl is one of the most watched sporting events in the United States and, it is broadcast globally. Brands pay big bucks (over $2 million is not unusual) for a 30-second advertising spot during the Big Game that is likely to be seen by well over 100 million people around the world. Samsung is counting on it with its new marketing campaign.
Samsung has created an entire campaign around its 30-second ad buy during the 2009 Super Bowl Pregame. The campaign is called “That’s How I See It” and is intended to hype Samsung as the Official HDTV of the NFL - a sponsorship title I’m sure they paid heavily for. Read more
Wanted a Chief Governance Officer…With Teeth
August 28, 2008
Th 2008 REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT CORPORATE FRAUD TASK FORCE contains the following statement:
“Since July 2002, the Department of Justice has obtained nearly 1,300 corporate fraud convictions. These figures include convictions of more than 200 chief executive officers and corporate presidents, more than 120 corporate vice presidents, and more than 50 chief financial officers.”
Not a favorable assessment of the state of Corporate Governance practices. While there may have been some advances in corporate transparency, seems there is more work to be done.
The key is not the regulations, laws and other requirements placed on organizations. Commentators have been repeatedly saying that “you can’t legislate compliance”. The problem is in the daily internal operations that take place. Enter the Chief Governance Officer (CGO).
Simply put the role of the CGO is –
As the governance officer, I see my role as a planner, educator and implementor. As a planner, together with my team of five, we are tasked to draw the corporate governance landscape for the company. As an educator, we are mandated to communicate and educate our co-employees and managers on the why, what and how of corporate governance. As an implementor, we will ensure together with Legal, Internal Audit and HR that our policies and processes are followed.An Interview with Atty. Rene G. Bañez, Chief Governance Officer, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. Managing Corporate Governance in Asia Volume 131 September 2005
More substantive job descriptions may be accessed –
This site has many examples of job descriptions. While on the site download “The End of Law The Rise of Values”
If you asked a company leader the purpose of the organization’s values, he or she would probably tell you that they dictate a standard of workplace conduct that will benefit the company and the internal and external communities it serves. At their essence, most organizational values relate to some core behavioral principles: tell the truth, take complaints seriously, follow problems through, treat customers and employees fairly, and watch what you say and how you say it. These are simple concepts, but somewhere along the way, companies seem to be getting off track when it comes to integrating the values into the workplace culture. There are too many scandals and incidences of outrageous conduct to think otherwise.
A must read that sets the tone for the Chief Governance Officer’s philosophical underpinnings.
Some essential aspects of this position –
- It must report directly to the CEO and the Board and set the Board agenda on governance matters
- The position must not be an adjunct to an existing officer, Chief Counsel, CFO, etc.
- It must be a function that has an influence on all corporate departments
- This is a serious position and not merely for window dressing
- The corporate code of ethics and all matters of ethics and integrity are part of the CGO’s role
- The person filling this position must have or develop a reputation of uncompromising integrity
In sum this position has clout and TEETH. A good article on the CGO is “The Chief Governance Officer: To Have or Have Not?”
This position adds to the company’s public perception that it is serious about doing business in a manner that surpasses mere compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.