Google Ad #1 - desktop - 728x90

Google Ad #3 - desktop - 728x90

Google Ad #1 - mobile - 300x200

Google Ad #3 - mobile - 300x200

ATD_Half_Page

Googel Ad #1 - Side Bar - Content pages

ATD Footer Logo

Karen Berman

The building blocks of business literacy

For years, corporate training platforms were built to deliver content. Upload the course, assign it to learners, mark completion, and move on. But in 2025, that approach won’t cut it anymore.Learning leaders are expected to do far more than distribute information. You’re being asked to prove business impact, keep pace with skills disruption, and engage busier and more discerning learners than ever. Your role has shifted from administrator to strategist, and the tools you use need to keep up.That’s why the learning management system (LMS) you choose matters. The right platform doesn’t just host courses; it helps you shape a skilled, agile, and future-ready workforce. Here are five features to look for in an LMS to help you deliver on that promise.1. Role-Based Learning PathsOne-size-fits-all training wastes everyone’s time. New hires don’t need the same content as senior leaders. Contractors shouldn’t wade through courses designed for permanent staff. An LMS that supports role-based learning paths lets you design targeted, relevant, and consistent journeys without tripling your workload.For L&D professionals, this means you can stop reinventing the wheel for every team or department. Instead, you’re free to focus on aligning learning to business goals, confident that the system will handle the logistics of assigning the right content to the right people.2. AI-Powered InsightsExecutives aren’t impressed by completion rates. They want to know whether learning programs are helping people ramp faster, perform better, or stay longer. An LMS with AI-driven insights transforms data into a clear picture of how learning drives performance.This is what allows you to walk into the boardroom with confidence. Instead of defending your budget, you’re demonstrating workforce readiness, surfacing skills gaps before they become problems, and showing how learning directly drives performance.3. Mobile and Flexible Learning ExperiencesYour learners are juggling packed calendars and competing priorities. If training doesn’t fit into their reality, it won’t get done. That’s why flexibility matters. An LMS designed for today’s workforce supports learning anytime, anywhere, whether that’s mobile-first modules during a commute, asynchronous courses for distributed teams, or blended options for complex topics.For you, this isn’t just about convenience. It’s about engagement. When learning feels accessible and relevant, learners stick with it. And when they stick with it, your programs deliver the outcomes you’ve promised.4. Seamless Integrations With HR and Business SystemsYou didn’t get into L&D to spend your days managing spreadsheets. Yet for too many teams, manual enrollment and disconnected systems waste time and energy that should be spent on strategy. A modern LMS changes that.When your platform integrates directly with HRIS and CRM systems, enrollment happens automatically, data flows where it needs to, and reporting is streamlined. The result is less administrative overhead, more consistency across the organization, and more space for you to focus on designing programs that actually move the needle.5. Credentialing and Skills Validation“Completed” doesn’t mean “capable.” In an environment where skills gaps can slow productivity and derail growth, leaders need clear visibility into what their workforce can actually do. An LMS that supports credentialing—through digital badges, certificates, or role-specific pathways—gives you that clarity.For learners, these credentials act as milestones that motivate progress and prove value. For organizations, they provide a reliable signal of workforce readiness. For you, they’re evidence that the programs you’ve designed build real, transferable skills that matter in the workplace.The Bottom LineAs an L&D leader, every course you design is an investment in your organization’s future. To do that, you need tools that help you prove impact, scale programs efficiently, and meet learners where they are.The right LMS makes that possible. The right platform becomes the backbone of workforce growth, helping you build skills, demonstrate impact, and position learning as a growth engine.

5 LMS Features Every L&D Leader Needs in 2025

Currently, 58 percent of employees in the US are always or are sometimes working remotely—and many companies are expecting this to be the new normal moving forward. This shift means that these businesses are going to need to learn how to operate virtually. HR teams, in particular, have to adapt their approaches during this work-from-home age to ensure they have their employees and organizations set up for success. We’ll explain how in this post.3 Ways HR Needs to Adapt to the Work-From-Home AgeOnce the pandemic began, HR teams had to pivot the way they operated almost overnight. Now that most of us have settled into the world of remote work, it may be time to take a closer look at specific functions and ensure they’re optimized for the current situation.HiringThe process of identifying and hiring talent changed significantly during the pandemic. Companies went from hosting in-person and on-site interviews to having all of these conversations virtually. Teams have also had to get creative with how to virtually welcome and onboard new hires. In addition to all of this, organizations recognized that those offering remote job opportunities were seeing a competitive edge over those that don’t. With all of these changes in the hiring landscape, what can HR teams do to adjust?Be UpfrontHR needs to make it clear—from the initial job posting through the hiring process—what the company’s policies will be in the post-pandemic world. Will remote work be permanent? Or will your employees eventually return to the office? Will the current benefit offerings change after the COVID-19 pandemic ends? These factors will heavily influence a job searcher’s decision to apply to your company, so it’s important to be honest about where your organization stands.Take Advantage of the Remote EnvironmentCertain advantages come with being a remote company. Now that there aren’t any location constraints, you have a much bigger talent pool to select from. So, unless your company is planning to return to the office soon, use this as an opportunity to fill your pipeline with talented candidates.Adapt Your ProcessesAdjusting your interviewing and onboarding processes requires more than just giving everyone access to Zoom. You have to rethink the experience and make changes to ensure that candidates who go through your hiring process get the amount of information, exposure, and context they need to make the best decision. Similarly, you should train all your hiring managers on these new remote processes to ensure everyone is successful.BenefitsMany benefits, such as catered lunches and commuter cards, are no longer relevant to this new world of work. This means that your company likely has some extra budget being left on the table. Instead of letting this money go to waste, consider reinvesting it into new offerings that are more relevant for employees while they’re remote—especially given that 57 percent of employees say their benefits package is more important than ever before to them.Make Data-Informed DecisionsInstead of making assumptions about your employees’ wants, use an anonymous survey to collect feedback directly from your workforce. This data can help you identify where to invest company resources. For instance, you may learn that your working parents are especially stressed out during the pandemic. In this case, consider rolling out additional child care benefits, such as providing reimbursements for in-home babysitters or virtual tutors. As you adjust your benefits, use pulse surveys to gauge the impact of these new initiatives and ensure they have the intended effect.RetentionYour retention strategy might have shifted during this time as well—this is unsurprising. Employees have different priorities in a remote work setting than in an office setting. Company culture can also look different when people are physically apart. This barrier means HR teams have to figure out how to bring the organization’s values, mission, and vision to life across a distributed workforce. If a company doesn’t acknowledge these changes and adapt accordingly, they may risk losing their top talent to others handling the transition more effectively. This, in turn, can cost companies. Some studies predict that every time a business replaces a salaried employee, it costs six to nine months’ salary on average.Offer Additional Support.Right now, your employees are stressed and confused. The last thing you want is for them to feel like they’re alone in navigating these challenges. That’s why we encourage companies to use this time to offer more virtual support, whether that’s in the form of introducing a mentoring and coaching program or forming online ERGs. These resources can provide a space for employees to ask questions, receive guidance, or be heard.Build TrustYou need to ensure your workforce can trust your leadership team to make the right decisions. Specifically, employees want to know how the company is doing, where it’s headed, and what these changes mean for them. Building trust requires transparency. HR teams can adjust their communication strategies by increasing the frequency, diversifying their communication channels, and giving employees more access to leadership. As we all navigate this new world of work together, HR leaders need to think about adapting their practices, perspectives, and programs to align with what employees need today. To learn how our mentoring and coaching programs can support your remote workforce, request a demo.

HR in the Work-From-Home Age

They're creating computer code, carting food and passengers around in their own cars, and popping in monthly for a project meeting. What's their story? Are these occasional workers underemployed, unable to secure a salaried job? Are they Millennials and Generation Z-ers sampling different occupations before they commit to a career? Or Baby Boomers making some extra cash to supplement their retirement savings?They could be any of those―or none of them. Meet the gig workers, a burgeoning population in the labor force that is changing the way company leaders look at workforce planning and the way people view work."As individuals have entered the workforce and evolved, they are asking for more flexibility," says Kurt Heikkinen, president and CEO of staffing company Montage. And, as access to health insurance has become increasingly separate from full-time employment, "workers have really gained a sense of freedom. They look at [their careers] as a series of gigs, a series of projects and experiences, as opposed to a long-term career at a given employer."Figure 1: Gig Workers Look Like the Broader WorkforceThe following charts illustrate the demographics of self-identified gig workers compared with those of the entire U.S. workforce. Source: Morning Consult.But these aren't the typical temp staffers of yore―the "Kelly Girl" secretaries and Manpower workers who filled in for office staff when an employer had a hole in the schedule. Nor are they limited to the classic freelancers in creative fields―writers, editors, musicians, and graphic artists. Nowadays, gig workers run the gamut, from Uber drivers to IT technicians to travel nurses. And they are an integral and growing part of the knowledge economy.Many businesses have embraced this pipeline of on-demand talent. Yet, despite all the promise of the gig economy, it is a work in progress. The rules are still being written as companies and workers alike adjust to new ways of getting work done.Two Types of Gig WorkersGig work itself is not new. "People have always worked this way," but the prevalence and types of gig jobs have changed over the years, says Diane Mulcahy, author of The Gig Economy: The Complete Guide to Getting Better Work, Taking More Time Off, and Financing the Life You Want (Amacom, 2016). "This kind of work is growing at a rapid rate," she says, particularly in white-collar jobs and the tech economy.There are two types of gig workers, Mulcahy says: first, those who are searching for full-time work and need to make some cash and contacts while they job-hunt and, second, those who simply don't want or need full-time employment.The latter group includes a lot of younger people, for whom the idea of a 40-years-and-you-get-a-gold-watch kind of job is something their grandparents did. They aren't attracted to what they see as an outdated model of sticking with one company―or even one profession―for an extended time. But this group also includes retired or semi-retired people who may or may not need the money but who want to stay engaged and active regardless. And there are also mid-career folks who want the flexibility and freedom of doing what they want more or less when they want, drawing on years of experience to cherry-pick appealing projects.In the United States, more than 40 percent of workers are employed in "alternative work arrangements," such as contingent, part-time, or gig work, according to Deloitte's 2018 Global Human Capital Trends study. In a 2016 Adobe survey, 56 percent of office workers predicted that everyone will do some gig work in the future. Asked to look ahead to 2020, 28 percent of business leaders and chief human resource officers said they anticipated an increase in gig workers, the Deloitte study found."The vast majority [of gig workers] are folks who easily could go get [traditional full-time] jobs somewhere," says Lori Williams, vice president of fulfillment at Gigster, a software developer that has 80 employees on staff and works with 1,000 gig workers. "They've chosen this lifestyle."The top benefit of the arrangement for them is autonomy. They have greater control over their schedule and they can avoid routine annoyances such as bad managers, office politics, and interminable staff meetings. They also might learn new skills and gain valuable experience at a temporary stint, ultimately giving them the tools to advance in other gigs or in staff jobs.Employers, too, enjoy the perks of an open relationship, gaining access to skills and talent without having to commit to a full-time hire. And managers can supplement staff with gigsters who have the talent and knowledge not only to advance a project, but to teach regular employees new skills."It's really [about] how can we continue to scale as an organization?" says Vlasta Dusil, senior vice president of HR for computer technology company SAP's Cloud Business Group. "We talk about diversity, with gender, with different generations. In our view, this is another way of looking at diversity."Growing PainsStill, there are some drawbacks―for both sides. The "flexible schedule" so many people crave can lead to them being underemployed. The gig worker might also miss out on the advantages that come from committing to one employer. Among those advantages is professional development."How are these people going to train and develop and grow?" says Jennifer Graham-Johnson, SHRM-SCP, recently retired chief HR officer at WestRock Co., a paper and packaging products manufacturer."I do worry we are going to have a group of people who are . . . unable to advance" if they ever decide they want full-time employment because they haven't had the opportunity to develop their skills and knowledge through training and classes.Then there's the issue of employee benefits.Gig workers don't get health insurance, paid time off, or 401(k) contributions from employers. Offering them the same perks that staff members get could set an employer up for legal challenges and negate savings typically associated with hiring gig workers.It could also harm recruiting efforts. After all, good benefits are one of the selling points companies use to attract full-time talent. Why would people want to join your team as full-time employees if they can enjoy the freedom and flexibility of gig work and get the same benefits as regular employees?The bigger issue may be that offering the same benefits to contractors and regular staff could get the company in trouble with the IRS, which has a 20-point test to determine whether workers are independent contractors or employees entitled to the employer-paid share of FICA taxes. Microsoft and other employers have had to pay millions of dollars in back taxes and damages after being sued by workers who said they were paid like independent contractors but treated like employees.Figure 2: What Motivates Gig Workers? Source: Shiftgig, Profile of a Gig Worker, 2018.Playing Catch-UpGovernment and businesses are lagging on other fronts related to the gig economy, too. Banks, for example, might be skittish about lending money to a potential homeowner who doesn't hold a permanent job. And gig workers don't get unemployment benefits, COBRA, or worker’s compensation.Companies can help fill the gaps. One way is to offer voluntary benefits that are fully paid for by the worker but administered by the employer. E-commerce website Etsy, for example, has partnered with Stride Health to act as a health insurance broker for the people who create the art, jewelry, and other items sold on Etsy.Still, the gig economy is clearly moving faster than the institutions that deal with these workers."I don't think we've caught up to this type of worker," says Arthur Tacchino, chief innovation officer at the compliance technology company SyncStream Solutions. "The workforce is changing. So how are the coverage, insurance, and benefits going to evolve to fit the newer kind of workforce we are seeing?" There's no clear to answer that, Tacchino says."Regulators and courts are trying to apply 20th-century law onto a 21st-century problem," says Richard Meneghello, an employment attorney and partner at Fisher Phillips. "Our hope is that once people realize it's not just a passing fad, regulators and legislators will get more serious."One agency trying to change with the times is the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is taking a fresh look at compensation for gig workers. The agency is considering revising its rules to make it easier for people who are classified as independent contractors to receive stock awards from the companies that employ them, the New York Times reported.While governments and financial institutions adjust, the market for gig workers is maturing, fueled by technology platforms that help both sides of the work arrangement find each other. Online labor platforms such as Upwork, Gigster, TaskRabbit, and Freelancer are not only empowering the gig economy, but revolutionizing the way workers and companies connect."The technology is making the whole market more efficient," says Marion McGovern, author of Thriving in the Gig Economy (Career Press, 2017) and co-founder and former CEO of M Squared Consulting.Upwork, for example, connects computer-industry freelancers in 170 countries to employers who need their services, charging the worker a fee of 5 percent to 20 percent of the job's pay. ShiftPixy and others hire workers (paying the employer share of payroll taxes and taking care of other compliance issues), then "lend" them to clients in the hospitality and restaurant industries. The company has an app that allows people to broadcast their availability and apply for certain shifts in their communities.As Uber was creating its digital platform for drivers, the job market for gig work was exploding, says Scott Absher, ShiftPixy's CEO. "People are looking for ways to recobble their income," and these platforms make that more efficient, he says.Managing the GigSo how do today's people managers handle gig workers, follow the law, and head off potential tensions with full-time staff? Some tips:Decide who will drive the decision-making on hiring. A simple procurement process may be enough to fill an open gig for an IT techie, while a speechwriter for a CEO will likely require input from the chief executive.Pay people promptly. "I can't tell you how many companies are on 60- to 90-day schedules" for contracts, McGovern says. But individuals expect to be paid faster and more often.Know the law—and do not treat gigsters like employees. In fact, don't even use the word "hire" to describe the working arrangement, advised Rebecca Cenni-Leventhal, founder and CEO of staffing and recruitment firm Atrium. People who work gigs are "engaged," not hired, she cautioned.Protect confidential company information. This is especially important when using outside contractors for a business dealing with sensitive client information, such as health data and Social Security numbers.Let your own staffers gig―even at your company. Since many workers crave the opportunity to learn something new, offer full-time staffers the chance to develop by giving them a gig in-house.Keep staffers and gigsters separate, when warranted. "Having [gig workers] participate in regular team meetings or asking them for regular updates and reporting is not wise," says Cenni-Leventhal, as that may cause them to be viewed as employees rather than independent contractors. "Inviting them to one holiday party isn't too much of a risk, but when you start having them participate in team-building activities and attending company functions, it can get tricky."Make your gig workers feel welcome and valued. "Make sure you afford them the correct level of respect," McGovern says. "This is someone who is going to add to the team, bringing in skills or knowledge and experience to help the effort."On top of that, she adds, it's important to recognize the dignity of their career choice. After all, it's a work arrangement more business leaders can expect to manage in the coming years.Copyright 2019, SHRM. This article is reprinted from www.shrm.org with permission from SHRM. All rights reserved.

Gig Workers Challenge Old Order

Cammy Bean accidentally became an instructional designer in 1996 and has since collaborated with hundreds of organizations to design and deliver training programs. She’s worked at small startups, mid-sized training companies, boutique e-learning shops, and as a freelance instructional designer. An English and German studies major in college, Cammy found an affinity for writing and making complex ideas and concepts clear to an audience.In 2009, she helped start up US operations for Kineo, a global provider of learning solutions. Originally Kineo’s VP of learning design, Cammy is currently a senior solutions consultant. In this role she leads the North American sales team, supports clients through the initial discovery process, and manages custom client accounts to help organizations meet their strategic business objectives through better learning solutions. So yeah, not only is Cammy an accidental instructional designer, she’s now also an accidental salesperson.An acclaimed public speaker, Cammy gets fired up about instructional design, avoiding the trap of clicky-clicky bling-bling, and ways to use technology to support lasting behavioral change. You can connect with her on social media in all the usual places—there aren’t many other Cammy Beans around.Cammy is into hiking, kayaking, trail running, swimming, the occasion[1]al triathlon, cooking, eating, reading, and photography. She’s also been a potter, a licensed massage therapist, a quilter, and more. Cammy lives in Massachusetts with her husband, Jon, and their three teenagers, Nate, Eliza, and Kiki. The Beans all agree that their favorite family member is their dog, Mona

Search results for 'Karen Berman'

Categories

Refine By