Day 2 Thursday 10 June 19:00 - 10:30

The Remarkables - Making a Positive Impact

We live in an increasingly challenging world. Compared to years ago, when things were somewhat predictable, our world today is constantly shifting and changing. Markets are unstable, the workforce is evolving, and it doesn’t look like things will ever again be the way they were. Managing talent can greatly assist us work through shifting times, but it is a complex business that requires strategy, assessment, change management, business alignment and talent management.

On day 2, Thursday June 10 we have assembled a line-up of four remarkable presenters hailing from Singapore, America, Canada and Australia. This is a great opportunity to meet and listen to Learning Leaders who are at the forefront and peak of their professional careers. You will be introduced to the wide range of issues and solutions that impact employee performance.

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Ramesh Nava

Vice President & General Manager - Prometric Asia Pacific, Japan & Africa

Ramesh Nava is Vice President and General Manager, Asia Pacific, Japan and Africa at Prometric, the US-based global leader in technology-enabled testing and assessment services. Ramesh focuses on developing strategies and leading Prometric’s service business growth in the Asia Pacific, Japan and Africa regions. A veteran of the ICT industry, Ramesh has been involved in the development of the use of technology and business growth across the Asia Pacific region for over twenty years. Prior to joining Prometric, he worked at several leading multi-national organizations including System Access, iCentric Software, Hewlett-Packard, Netscape and Sun Microsystems, all based in Asia Pacific. Ramesh Nava is a subject matter expert on business growth in the Asia Pacific markets and has been successful in developing and executing expansion strategies for businesses across the region. He has presented papers on the adoption of technology as well as strategies for the development and expansion of education and certification businesses across the Asia Pacific region. A native of Singapore, Ramesh received his Bachelor of Engineering from the National University of Singapore and an MBA in Strategic Marketing from the University of Hull, United Kingdom. He is also the recipient of the inaugural Learning Leader Award at LearnX Asia Pacific 2008. Ramesh is based in Singapore.

Best Practices in Test Development

With the advancement in technology, use of computer-based training and testing has gone beyond the early adopters in most parts of the world. Regardless of the advancement in delivery modes, the fundamentals of testing and assessment remain – how valid and reliable is your test? Learn about how global certification programme owners use technology as an enabler to design and construct an assessment tool that produces results that are both consistent and reproducible.

Learning Points

-- How do you ensure that a test is reliable?
-- How does technology come into play in achieving test reliability?
-- What are some of the methods global certification owners use in test design and construction?

Jan Bayliss

Consulting and Technical Services Manager - Skillsoft Asia Pacific

Jan Bayliss is SkillSoft’s Consulting and Technical Services Manager, Asia Pacific, and is responsible in overseeing the entire Consulting and Technical Services operation in the region. This includes managing her team of Learning Consultants and Application Engineers who support every element of an e-learning program cycle from pre and post sales, program implementation, marketing and management, to client satisfaction of SkillSoft’s products and services. Jan ensures that her team’s knowledge and expertise are relevant to today’s business challenges to provide consultation to clients in their e-learning initiatives. Jan is committed to on-going process improvement, ensuring her team deliver the highest standards in practice and service, while fulfilling clients’ changing business requirements and expectations. With more than 20 years of expertise in corporate training, Jan has held many positions in training and development and e-learning. They include Advance Bank – St George Bank, Franklins Limited, Pollack Partners, and ANZ bank. During her time within the Banking and Finance Industry Jan also held positions in customer service and skills development.

Infusing learning into the culture of your organisation

Today’s corporate environment calls for every person to be counted upon to contribute to their organisation’s business goals. Organisations must therefore, pay special attention to talent and knowledge management and ensure that a culture promoting learning is infused within their companies at all levels. This ensures a long term strategy of investing in and enhancing the organisation’s competitive advantage – its people. The workforce of today faces unprecedented pressures – a rapid rate of change, a world that is growing in complexity, the nature of work going global, enabled by borderless technology. These dynamics are driving organisations to think more strategically about talent development, encouraging employees to think out of the box and lead in innovation.

Learning Points

-- share insights on why it is imperative that learning takes place within a corporate environment and
    culture that encourages and values it
-- showcase how successful communication on the benefits of your learning program involves planning,
    designing, and executing a well thought out marketing strategy that encompasses the business needs
    and objectives of different departments and teams within the organisation.

..............................................................................................................................................................................................

Mike Skinner

CEO and President - Operitel Corporation

Operitel Corporation is one of Canada’s fastest growing E-Learning/E-Commerce providers. Mr. Skinner has guided Operitel through the many stages of corporate growth including seed investment, management team assembly, resource training, competitive research, product development, client adoption, product marketing, client support and client retention. Mr. Skinner has also played an integral role in building the consulting services division by establishing Operitel as an Independent Software Vendor for Microsoft, as well as a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. Michael developed the methodology and standards for rapid web development that are currently used throughout the Operitel Application Engineering Division. In addition, Mr. Skinner coauthored the Chapter "Changing your LMS from hype to happiness" which has been published in the "Plan to Learn: Case studies in eLearning Project Management" and "eLearning Project Management: Canadian Perspective". Mr. Skinner also coauthored two whitepapers on elearning: Effective Management of Distributed Educational Content and e-Commerce and e-Learning.

Importance of governance and change management

Today’s corporate environments are changing at an alarming rate and training organisations are constantly being forced to adapt and change as well. In order to successfully manage this change a concrete change management process needs to be defined and adhered to. Also the training team needs to clearly establish a governance policy for how training is going to be managed and how external stakeholders will be consulted.

Learning Points

-- Review the principles of good change management policies that are effective but not too onerous
-- Review best practices for governance policies and understand how to engage external stakeholders.

..............................................................................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................................................

Beth Gilbert

Online Training Solutions Strategist - Citrix GoToTraining

Beth Gilbert joined Citrix Online in 2007 and is responsible for directing and executing the go-to-market strategy for GoToWebinar and GoToTraining. One of Beth’s main focuses over the past two years has been to understand the evolving needs and trends in the Web events and corporate training space. Prior to joining Citrix Online, Beth was a Product and Marketing Manager at InfoGenesis, where she developed and implemented the global product strategy for one of their hospitality product lines. In this role, she proactively supported sales and marketing efforts through ongoing training, coaching, customer presentations and Webinars. She earned her M.A. in Organizational Design and Effectiveness at Fielding Graduate University.

Training for success: Align employee learning with your organisation’s business strategy

Get prepared to contribute to the long-term success of your company by aligning your training program with the organization’s “big picture” vision. Training is an essential element in any successful organization. When budgets are tight it is vital to find ways to train smarter. In today’s global business environment, organisations have no choice but to seek new ways to optimize their budgets, respond nimbly to change and improve productivity. For trainers, this often translates to reaching trainees in more places, more often – but without additional budget. Join us in this session to hear both the hard and soft benefits of moving your training online and learn how to promote the value of online training within your organization.

Learning Points

-- Easily reach more trainees without increasing headcount
-- Quickly get your trainees engaged and participating
-- Use simple online tools to assess trainees’ knowledge
-- Educate and update employees in a timely manner

...............................................................................................................................................