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Laine Mears is the BMW SmartState endowed chair of automotive manufacturing, and professor and founding faculty member in Clemson University’s automotive engineering department. He teaches and conducts research in manufacturing quality estimation, intelligent machining systems, manufacturing process design and control, and manufacturing equipment diagnostics at the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research.Mears has published more than 160 peer-reviewed articles and is the recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER award, SAE Ralph Teetor Educational Award, and the IMechE George Stephenson Gold Medal and Thatcher Bros. Prize. Prior to academia, Mears had more than 10 years of manufacturing industry experience in bearings and automotive engines and drivelines. He has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech and a master’s degree and PhD in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech. He is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and a senior member of both the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and the American Society for Quality. He is an ASQ Certified Quality Engineer (CQE), BMW Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, and a licensed Professional Engineer.

Laine Mears

June 2019 - TD Magazine

New University Program to Help Address Manufacturing Skills Gap

Founded in 1928, Maersk Line is now the world’s largest container-shipping company—no small feat in such a cutthroat industry. There are approximately 400 liner services in direct competition with one another. To survive, Maersk Line must attract new business constantly and retain its 59,000 customers worldwide.In 2013, when Maersk Line received a weak Net Promoter Score that indicated the company had 10 percent more detractors than promoters, its customer service excellence (CSE) team knew a change needed to be made. The team called in Cary Bailey-Findley, head of Maersk Line’s learning and organizational development (L&OD) team, to determine the root of the problem, and it became clear that the organization’s call center managers needed to better train their agents to deliver positive customer experiences.Working together, the L&OD and CSE teams created the CARE PROgram in 2014. Designed to improve the coaching and facilitation skills of Maersk Line’s customer service managers, the program would train the managers to develop their call center agents’ relationship management skills.

Maersk Line: Coaching Skills for Customer Service Managers

Cary Bailey-Findley is head of learning and organizational development at Maersk Line.

Cary Bailey-Findley

Here’s the brutal reality: Most HR teams are often playing defense when they should be playing chess.Just like in chess, a winning HR strategy means thinking several moves ahead, anticipating shifts, and shaping outcomes before they arrive.The most strategic teams already operate this way. We call them HR Anticipators—and they drive 33 percent more high-quality leaders and 2X greater likelihood of top-tier financial performance for their companies.The difference isn’t resources—it’s mindset. While HR Reactor teams scramble to fill today’s gaps, Anticipators are already building tomorrow’s leaders.So, what sets them apart? It comes down to four nonnegotiable behaviors that the best HR teams execute relentlessly. The Four Behaviors That Define HR Anticipators 1. They Align Talent Strategy With Tomorrow’s Business HR Reactors fill vacancies as they arise, taking chances that the right person is in the pipeline or that they strike gold with an external hire.HR Anticipators take a different path. They map three- to five-year business strategies directly to the leadership capabilities they’ll need, using it to guide talent and development decisions now.The payoff? A 24 percent higher success rate for high-potential leaders who deliver real results after promotion. In today’s fast-paced environment, that speed to impact is critical.This foresight and its results don’t go unnoticed. Anticipators are 2.1X more likely to have executive sponsorship—crucial backing that fuels programs with the resources and influence they need to succeed.To get there, Anticipators create nested alignment by tying every leadership capability to specific business outcomes at each level. This builds the bench strength they need to support long-term strategy.If your talent strategy only reaches next quarter, you’re already behind.2. They Forecast Capability Gaps Before They Become Crises Accurate forecasting helps avoid costly missteps and limits the damage when disaster does strike.That’s why Anticipators are 2.7X more likely to use systematic forecasting. Placing talent in the wrong roles is expensive, but it’s avoidable. The key is to plan early and often. These teams run scenario planning monthly or quarterly, not just once a year. This is where they gain an edge. When disruption hits, they have leaders ready, instead of scrambling to find someone “good enough.” Consider this your wake-up call. By the time you feel the leadership gap, it’s already too late.3. They Design Development That Solves Real Business Problems In the HR evolution CEOs are calling for, generic box-checking leadership workshops are out.What’s in? Development tied directly to strategic initiatives—the kind that delivers measurable business outcomes and is tailored to each leader’s current needs and future growth.When development solves real business problems, it becomes a multiplier: Every dollar builds both leader capability and business results.4. They Measure What Matters Anticipators focus their measurement where it matters most: business outcomes.They’ve ditched vanity metrics like completion rates and satisfaction scores in favor of power metrics that resonate across the business: readiness rates, time-to-productivity, and revenue per leader.For example, Anticipators are 2.3X more likely to measure actual succession program effectiveness and results, rather than just participation.If you can’t connect your talent initiatives to bottom-line impact, you’re measuring the wrong things. Conclusion HR faces a critical choice: anticipate or get left behind. Every day in reactive mode is a missed chance to build the leadership advantage your organization needs.Becoming an HR Anticipator demands a full mindset shift: from order-taker to strategic advisor, from filling roles to building capability, from activity metrics to business impact. That’s how you elevate your role and claim the chessboard.The shift from Reactor to Anticipator is proven—and the business impact is waiting. Ready to transform your HR impact? Get the complete Anticipator framework in our HR Insights Report 2025. Read the full report.

From Cost Center to Profit Driver: The HR Evolution CEOs Are Demanding 

Cal Wick is the Founder of Fort Hill Company. He was named "Thought Leader of the Year" by the Association of Learning Providers. For 30 years Cal has studied how people learn and apply new capabilities in work. Cal's research led to the concept of Follow-Through Management(R) and the development of web-based Follow-Through Tools(R) that improve results by increasing learning transfer. Cal recognized the finish line of learning is not the last day of class, but months later when improved personal and business outcomes can be measured. This new finish line is becoming the standard of the learning industry.

Calhoun Wick

In this day and age, becoming obsolete is a common fear among the employed and unemployed in equal measure. Rapid innovation and business model changes can disrupt whole industries. What used to take decades to accomplish seems to happen overnight.So, what can we do to inoculate ourselves against obsolescence? Here are some useful things you can do to keep yourself up to date.Know yourself. What are your strengths and what type of work environment allows you to do your best work? Knowing these things about yourself—and finding a position that brings out the best in you—will make you more valuable to your employer. Employers want to keep their top performers, and will invest in your future. Staying in a position where you’re not using your best skills or remaining at company that isn’t a good fit doesn’t help you OR your employer.Keep your skills up-to-date. As a talent development professional, you know how important it is for employees to keep their skills sharp. But what have you done to update your own skills lately? Attending a conference or taking an online course are all good ways to stay current. Just make sure that the skills you’re sharpening are in demand.Stay abreast of business news. It’s easy to get so busy with daily work that you lose sight of what is happening in the wider world. Reading your local paper or business journal is one way to stay up to date on what is happening in your region. Subscribing to news feeds online or perusing national business news on a regular basis will help you to stay current on business trends. If you find yourself frequently asking others what they’re talking about when they mention a fresh trend, new company, or business disruption, you may be getting out of touch.Update your technology skills. With so much new technology, it’s easy to get behind on the latest developments. While it’s not possible to be up on every new app or program that is out there, make sure that you take steps to stay current. Some people subscribe to technology news feeds like Techcrunch.com or Mashable, and others follow technology leaders on Twitter. Personally, I ask my kids about the latest apps and download them so that I’m current on the latest "hot" new thing.Whatever you do, don’t shy away from brushing up on your tech skills. Many people feel embarrassed to admit that they don’t know how to use certain technology. If you’re uncomfortable asking for help at the office, have someone outside of work coach you until you feel confident about your skills. Don’t know who to ask for help? Don't forget YouTube. It's a great source for free technology tutorials. Network. It’s easy to get so busy that you neglect your network and become get out-of-touch with what is happening in your region. What have you done lately to stay abreast of local and national trends? Attending functions of your professional association is a great way to stay up on the latest news in your industry.Although this may sound self-serving now that I work for ATD, I have always recommended to my clients that they stay active in their professional associations—whether or not they are actively looking for a job. Bottom line: through your association or other means, it’s important to build and maintain strong relationships with others in your field and region who can help you to solve problems, find resources and stay on top of the latest news. So, if you’ve let your network languish, start today by setting up lunch with a friend or colleague.Perform a career check-up. To help you identify skill gaps and other threats to your professional success, I developed the June Bonus TD at Work, “Keeping Your Career on Track.” It is designed to help you to identify your best skills and evaluate how your background compares with requirements in today’s job market. The TD at Work provides some great tools to help you pinpoint your best work environment and uncover any threats or opportunities you may have missed.Not sure if you have time to do a full check-up? Join me for a webcast on July 8 at Noon, How to Avoid Becoming Obsolete, for more steps you can take to keep your career on track.

How to Avoid Becoming Obsolete

March 2025 - TD Magazine

Build a leadership succession pipeline that flows from frontline management to the C-suite.

Who's Next in Line?

Business Results Made Visible: Design Proof Positive Level 4 Evaluations (Part 5): Using Trend-Line Analysis to Analyze Business Impact and ROI

Needs assessments can align with a bottom line—if done correctly. Further, there are two bottom lines that are important: one is the conventional one and the second is the societal one. Both are important but success can be further assured by aligning and contributing to both bottom lines.  Defining and Delivering Success: The Primary Role of Needs Assessment A proper needs assessment—identifying and prioritizing gaps in results on the basis of the costs to meet the needs as compared to the costs to ignore them—increase your success, as well as the continuing success of your organization. It provides evidence for strategic planning, decision making, design, development, implementation, and evaluation/continual improvement. To best assure that a needs assessment will add value to at least one bottom line depends on which approach you use. There are, indeed, two bottom lines: the conventional one displayed on a corporate profit and loss sheet (usually quarterly and yearly) and the societal bottom line that documents what value has been added to individuals, the organization, and our shared society. There is a choice of needs assessments approaches, and which one you select from the “cafeteria of options” will determine what value you add and to whom the value is added. Hope is not an option in selecting a needs assessment approach; mother advised, during my more formative year that “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” So select your assessment on the basis of what results you will get, as compared to the usual “this is what others use and they say it will it is good.” I believe that only evidence-based approaches that have proven merit should be considered. Needs Assessment, Strategic Planning, and Measurable Success There are three levels of planning, and thus three levels of needs assessment.  Needs assessment will provide the basic evidence—data—for strategic thinking and planning. Which level you start with will determine if you get results at the conventional bottom line or also at the societal bottom line. Here are the basic questions any organization should ask and answer and a format for obtaining commitment.  Do you commit to deliver organizational contributions that adds measurable value for your external clients AND society?  (MEGA/Outcomes)Do you commit to deliver organizational contributions that have the quality required by your external partners? (MACRO/Outputs)Do you commit to produce internal results that have the quality required by your internal partners? (MICRO/Products)Do you commit to have efficient internal products, programs, projects, and activities?  (PROCESSES)Do you commit to create and ensure the quality and appropriateness of the human, capital, and physical resources available? (INPUTS)Do you commit to deliver:products, activities, methods, and procedures that have positive value and worth?the results and accomplishments defined by our objectives? (EVALUATION/CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT) Based on the questions, there are three levels of results: Societal results and contributions (Mega)Organizational results and consequences (Macro)Individual or team results and consequences (Micro). Needs and Needs Assessment Needs—gaps in results and consequences—should and may be collected at the three results levels of Mega/Outcomes, Macro/Outputs, and Micro/Products. This data will allow strategic thinking and planning to move forward based on evidence; making useful and valid decisions and providing the basis for evaluation. It is vital that “need” be defined as a noun, as a gap in results, not as a gap in resources or processes. NEEDS are gaps between current results and desired results at three levels (Mega, Macro, and Micro) NEEDS ASSESSMENT is the identification and prioritization of NEEDS for selection elimination or reduction   Needs may be prioritized on the basis of the costs to meet the needs as compared to the costs of ignoring them. Needs when identified can be captured in a summary form that identifies the gaps in results and also identified possible means to close those gaps that should be considered after selecting the needs to be met. These data points will allow for useful strategic planning and decision making. If you are to add to both the bottom lines, start at the Mega level. If you only intend to add to your organization’s bottom line, start at Macro or Micro level. But be aware that that limited focus might not add value to society or sustain your organization for long.Editor’s note: This post is adapted from the ASTD Handbook (ASTD Press, 2014). The second edition of the ASTD Handbook is the most valuable resource you can own as a training and development professional. Written by 96 of the best and brightest thinkers in the field, its 55 chapters cover everything you need to know about the profession today. Find key statistics from the book in this infographic. Join me online February 25, 2015, for the Essentials of Conducting a Needs Assessment Certificate.

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