New Bersin & Associates Research Proves That Organizations That Excel at Social and Informal Learning Outperform Their Peers in Global Talent Development

Bersin & Associates, the premier research and consulting firm empowering HR organizations to drive bottom-line impact, today announced new research proving that organizations that excel at social networking and informal learning significantly outperform their less sophisticated peers in global talent development. Senior Analyst Janet Clarey will unveil preliminary findings regarding this new High-Impact Learning Organization research as part of her, “Going Global with High-Impact Learning,” at IMPACT 2012: The Business of Talent®.

Globalization is now a top priority for large organizations. This new research found that organizations with strong informal learning capabilities, including the adoption and use of social learning tools and the development of a global learning culture, are three times more likely to excel at global talent development than organizations without those competencies. The research suggests that for companies to succeed at building a globally integrated enterprise, they must adopt social and informal learning strategies and solutions. The findings underscore the value of “Building Business Agility through People,” the theme of Bersin & Associates’ fifth annual conference that takes place April 10-13 at the Vinoy® Renaissance® Resort & Golf Club in St. Petersburg, FL.

“The world of work has changed dramatically,” said Josh Bersin, chief executive officer and president, Bersin & Associates. “People are highly connected, they operate on a global basis, and jobs are far more specialized. These changes have created a whole new management model for companies, one we call ‘The Agile Model of Management.’ This new management model dramatically changes the role of HR, the types of programs and strategies HR develops, and the technologies HR uses to solve problems. At IMPACT 2012, we will demonstrate how HR professionals will drive impact in the new world of work.”

Bersin & Associates analysts will provide a preview of findings from several other recent and soon-to-be published studies, including:

  • Driving Agility: The Truths and Myths that Make a Difference: Bersin & Associates’ CEO and President Josh Bersin will introduce the Agile Model of HR as a new way of managing people and share research-based examples showcasing how traditional myths in HR and Talent Management are being shattered as “new truths” that drive transformational business performance emerge.
  • Making Better Decisions: Data, “Big Data” and You: To address the opportunities for BigData in HR, Bersin & Associates will be introducing the company’s new Talent Analytics Maturity Model at this conference. Katherine Jones, director and principal analyst, will host a panel including James Raybould, director of Business Analytics, LinkedIn, Sean Dineen, vice president of Talent Management and Organizational Development, Luxottica, and Prescott Nichols, senior director of Recruiting Solutions, Strategy, and Operations, Capital One
  • Getting Away from the Score: Creating Better Ongoing Performance Feedback: Senior Analyst Stacia Garr will share Bersin’s newest research on the case for ongoing performance feedback, including the specific tactics companies use and the results they see. Garr will be joined by Terry Hauer, who will explain Kelly Services’ journey to improve the quality of ongoing performance feedback – a journey that led Kelly Services to abolish performance scores.
  • Driving Business Impact and Alignment with Leadership Development: Senior Analyst Laci Loew will discuss Bersin & Associates’ newly released Leadership Development Framework, which provides direction for designing leadership strategy and leadership development solutions that link to business strategy. Laci also will share examples from world-class organizations which have successfully implemented leader strategies that drive organizational performance.
  • Measuring and Improving Quality of Hire: Kim Lamoureux, senior director of Research Practices and principal analyst, Talent Acquisition, Bersin & Associates and Karen O’Leonard, director of Research Methods and Analytics and principal analyst, Benchmarking, Bersin & Associates share the measurement approaches successful companies use, as well as recommended key changes to recruiting processes, sources, training, and systems for improving hiring quality – the ultimate goal of any talent acquisition function.

An on-site Demo Center will feature nearly 30 solution providers with technologies and solutions for a variety of areas, including talent acquisition, assessment, recruiting outsourcing, e-learning, learning, global learning, performance management, payroll and benefits administration, rewards and recognition, and leadership development.

For full conference details, including the conference agenda, keynote and session descriptions, speakers and information about the workshops, visit http://impact.bersin.com/

Those interested in learning more about Bersin & Associates and its WhatWorks® membership may email info@bersin.com or call (510) 251-4400.

For media queries, email laura.evenson@bersin.com or call (415) 465-2711.

About Bersin & Associates

Bersin & Associates empowers HR and learning organizations to drive bottom-line impact through world-class research and consulting. The company’s WhatWorks® membership gives human resources, learning and talent-acquisition professionals the information and tools they need to drive change in their organizations as strategic business partners.

Members use Bersin & Associates’ insights and tools to benchmark themselves against best practices, design and implement programs across the HR and learning spectrum and select and implement systems. A piece of Bersin & Associates research is downloaded every other minute during the business day. More than 5,000 organizations worldwide, including more than 60 percent of the Fortune 100, use Bersin & Associates research and consulting to guide their learning, talent, and human resources strategies.