In these tough economic times what keeps managers awake at night? The obvious answer is customer retention or cost reduction – less obvious, however, may be maintaining a motivated, skilled workforce!

Motivated, skilled employees may be your “last best hope” of getting your organization safely to the other side of the recession. After all, motivated, skilled employees are the ones who drive customer retention and cost reduction!

A new tool to help organizations develop an informed and skilled workforce is an Employee Learning Portal. Many large organizations have already invested in more expensive learning content management systems to communicate and train their workforce, however, until now, few small to mid-sized companies have been able to afford this technology.

Now, technology, training, and communications have finally come together with the advent of Employee Learning Portals – technology which allows employees to access powerful on-line tools at the fraction of the cost of more traditional methods. A new generation of employees, located anywhere in the world, who are used to finding instant answers on Google or Yahoo, can now access one web site and find:

1. Key Messages from Senior Management – Company Vision, Mission, Values, and Goals
2. Policies and Procedures – On-line Employee Handbook, Benefits Information, Forms, etc.
3. Employee Performance Information – Job Descriptions, Performance Review Procedures, etc.
4. Employee Development Library – Training Materials, On-Line Assessments, On-Line Learning Modules, Reference Materials, etc.

Using an on-line Employee Learning Portal, a standardized template can be adapted to deliver “best-in-class” content such as training materials, competency models, and company policies to fit the needs of small, medium, or large organizations.

And the cost – depending on the number of employees covered, the cost can be as little as $2 per employee/month – well worth it for a good night’s sleep!

The Newtown Chamber of Commerce recently did a write up of Aspen Organization Development Consulting. Here’s what they had to say:

Aspen Organization Development Consulting (Aspen OD) helps clients with their hiring, organizational transition and change, and employee development needs. They use state of-the-art tools to assess new hires regarding their fit with the job and the organization. They also provide individual and team coaching and training to build new skills and improve performance among employees.

Aspen OD specializes in helping employees develop:

• Personal effectiveness skills:communication, time management,team skills and creative problem solving
• Supervisory skills: coaching, managing performance, resolving conflict
• Leadership skills: strategy development and implementation, building motivation and morale

Kevin Nash, Ph.D., founded the company in 2007. He has had over twenty years of consulting and corporate experience in a broad range of industries and has held senior management positions in Human Resources and Marketing.

Running his own business is very demanding and it is difficult to take time away, but Kevin and his wife don’t let that stop them. “We do take vacations, but I always have my blackberry and laptop handy. I try to respond to clients the same day,” says Kevin.

Kevin belongs to multiple organizations including The Society for Industrial
and Organizational Psychology (SIOP), The Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) and The Institute for Behavioral and Applied Management (IBAM).

Kevin’s business generally comes from referrals and networking, so in 2008 he joined the Chamber to increase his networking opportunities and become more involved in the community. “I want to use my Chamber membership to help fellow Chamber members
benefit from the skills that I utilize,” says Kevin.