Canadian HR Reporter

CanaDian hr rePorter august 11, 2014 FEATURES 13 HR edUCATION Executive education goes flex Business leaders are still looking for quality training, but traditional education models don't necessarily fit their schedules By Amber Wallace T he world is changing rapidly — CDs have given way to single-song downloads and the days of cable Tv are waning as competitive streaming options such as Net- flix offer content in a new way. Business education is also feeling the effects of an evolving world and adapting accordingly. The driver of this change is high expectations from business leaders, who are seeing increased stress placed on their time and capabilities. While they still desire training, they are telling educators that some aspects of the tradition- al teaching model have to be ad- justed to fit their busy schedules. "Our executive education par- ticipants can't get away from their workplaces like they used to," says Salman Mufti, associate dean and executive director of Queen's School of Business Executive Edu- cation in Kingston, Ont. "Education providers need to offer more choice in terms of length of courses and make sure to deliver an experience that leaders feel is worth their time away from the office." More than three-quarters of executives have had formal lead- ership training and two-thirds have had more than one month of leadership training since as- suming their first leadership po- sition, according to a 2014 survey with 400 respondents by Environ- ics Research Group. e majority of the costs of that education are covered by their employer. "Leaders want to continue to be educated and, in fact, seek out opportunities for high-calibre courses," says Mufti. "But the top- ics they are seeking to learn about have changed dramatically." leadership, strategy, innovation and execution Recent research conducted by Queen's School of Business re- veals that while the fundamen- tals are still important (such as marketing and sales), there are four areas executives are particu- larly interested in learning about: leadership, strategy, innovation and execution. "is is a big change. By telling us that they want to learn more about execution, that shows that leaders are involved in imple- menting their strategies more than ever before," says Mufti . While in past decades, com- panies instinctively turned to consultants to provide corporate strategy, the onus has shifted as organizations have realized the importance of developing people with the capability to innovate, lead and deliver strategy, and investing in their own people in- stead of relying on outsiders, ac- cording to Peter Chadwick, CEO and co-founder of IEDP, an inde- pendent organization that is an information source for the execu- tive education industry. "Firms are realizing that if you develop your own people, the strategy can be better and can be more easily aligned with the ex- ecution," he says. e trend is toward develop- ing attitudes and ethical values as opposed to technical knowledge, says Chadwick, and rather than imparting factual content, which can increasingly be delivered online, it's about helping execu- tives understand complex systems and interpret them intelligently, through discussion and experien- tial learning. "Some banks have realized that teaching leaders about deriva- tives isn't as important as teach- ing them how to lead ethically," he says. Mufti's research further con- firms that a high-quality teaching faculty that offers depth and can facilitate discussions is important to students. "e time at a business school is where you have conversations, where you meet and learn from other people — these are the things that embed the learning," says Chadwick. Canadian content important Increasingly, course content that includes Canadian case studies is the key to attracting leaders. "For our executive education participants, reviewing a case study about Loblaw's acquisition of Shoppers Drug Mart is much more valuable than reviewing a U.S.-based business," says Mufti. Equally important are courses that are specifically tailored to executives' needs, also called "in- dividualized experiences." One- on-one coaches, discussions of specific and current business problems related to those par- ticular participants, and followup all are part of the new trend to- wards servicing executives with an education that is practical and valuable. "Coaching comes as part of the focus on developing the per- son. Even at Harvard Business School, famous for its academic case-study-led approach, they now provide a coaching element to their executive programs," says Chadwick. "Coaching provided by busi- ness schools in conjunction with open or custom programs is a wel- come development." Executive participants are also asking to be teamed up with like- minded participants, says Mufti. For example, if someone is from the oil and gas industry, she wants to be paired with someone else from the same industry. is gives her a chance to focus more on sector-specific challenges. Some business schools are of- fering experiential learning for executives, such as sending se- nior leaders to Nigeria to work on projects that expose participants to interesting and complex proj- ects, says Chadwick. Another positive trend is companies moving away from developing only those people considered high-potentials be- cause, from an employee engage- ment perspective, this can be demotivating, and the value of employee engagement to perfor- mance is now increasingly well- understood, he says. As an example, one firm ran an internal university and in- vited high-quality speakers to do presentations, says Chadwick. Originally, the option was only offered to the top 200 people at the organization but the company has since opened it up to several thousand people, realizing there is more to gain by delivering qual- ity education to other levels in the firm. "Companies want to engage people right down the line — it's an inevitable trend — and de- veloping this wider community would appear to be a potential opportunity for business schools in the future," he says. Delivering what managers require and responding to that change is essential for business schools today, says Mufti. "Delivering customized content that executives want and evolving to the changing demands — Dar- win would be pleased." Amber Wallace is director of com- munications and external relations at the Queen's School of Business in Kingston, Ont. For more information about its executive education courses, visit www.execdev.ca. COST: $69 + applicable taxes LIVE WEBINAR TIME: 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. ET REGISTER ONLINE: www.HRReporter.com/CPDCentre For more Live and On-demand Webinars, visit us online. MOBILE DEVICE MANAGEMENT FINDING THE PROGRAM THAT FITS MANAGING DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS IN THE WORKPLACE Balance the benefits with the legal obligations of employees using mobile devices for work. PRESENTER: Ryan Treleaven & Carol Chan | Sherrard Kuzz LLP DATE: September 4, 2014 Do you understand what makes a conversation difficult? Refine the skills and techniques you need to discuss difficult issues and deal with difficult people effectively. PRESENTER: Oliver Martin | Stitt Feld & Handy Group DATE: August 28, 2014 WEBINAR SERIES Oliver Martin Ryan Treleaven Faculty of Education Centre for Adult Education and Community Outreach Faculty of Education Centre for Adult Education and Community Outreach "Firms are realizing if you develop your own people, the strategy can be better and more easily aligned with execution."

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