It's Learning and Development's Time to Shine!

October 7, 2008 12:14 PM EDT

BOSTON, MA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 10/07/08 -- Learning, which traditionally has been siloed from human resources, now finds itself at the epicenter of talent management and at the core of workforce development, retention, and planning strategies. At least these are among the key findings of the latest research on learning and development from Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS). To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=5301.

In the new benchmark report, "Achieving Real Business Value with Learning and Development," Aberdeen Group found that Best-in-Class organizations leverage learning and development to achieve unparalleled performance gains including an average 22% year-over-year improvement in employee performance, and an average 18% decrease in the time it takes to bring a worker up to a desired level of competence. This benchmark report is a compilation of surveys and interviews of human resources, learning, and line of business managers from more than 500 organizations worldwide. It highlights how Best-in-Class performers are integrating learning and development with key organizational processes and programs to create the most productive and flexible knowledge worker and establish a performance culture that aligns the workforce with organizational objectives.

"The organizations that achieved our Best-in-Class designation make learning and development central to their ability to achieve competitive differentiation," said Kevin Martin, Vice President and Principal Analyst, Human Capital Management at Aberdeen. "Best-in-Class organizations view learning and development as critical enablers to impacting business needs such as the development and retention of high potential workers, as well as the ability of the workforce to adapt to business change. For these organizations, the days of measuring training departments against classroom seats filled or courses taken are a thing of the past."

For organizations that achieved Aberdeen's Best-in-Class status (the top 20% of aggregate performance scorers) in learning and development, the study shows that it starts with a focus on creating internal processes and delivery mechanisms that help the organization to:

--  Identify all stakeholders that can benefit from learning and make them
    aware of what's available
--  Establish a well-defined process to identify specific knowledge gaps
    that can be resolved through learning
--  Integrate learning with performance management, make learning readily
    available and aligned with individual development plans
    

Aberdeen's research also revealed that 73% of Best-in-Class organizations integrate their learning and development strategy with their organizations overall strategy. And, while 81% of Best-in-Class organizations perceive classroom-based (instructor-led) training as the most valuable mode of learning, three of the top five delivery modalities will see the most growth over the next 12 months (in terms of budget and use) center on Web-based delivery, primarily synchronous and asynchronous learning technologies, in addition to Web 2.0 and social networking tools.

A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the following underwriters: Bellevue University, Cornerstone OnDemand, Infor, SAP, SilkRoad technology, and SkillSoft. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=5301.

To access all of Aberdeen's complimentary research please visit http://research.aberdeen.com.

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company

Aberdeen is a leading provider of fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having benchmarked more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is uniquely positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen(TM) for insights that drive decisions.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement - Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen http://www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 723-7890, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to http://www.harte-hanks.com.

© 2008 AberdeenGroup, Inc., a Harte-Hanks Company
451 D Street, Suite 710
Boston, Massachusetts  02210-1928
Telephone: (617)854-5200
Fax: (617) 723-7897
www.aberdeen.com

Media Contact:
Kevin Martin
Aberdeen Harte-Hanks
(617) 854-5314
Kevin.martin@aberdeen.com

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