The article by Alice Lipowicz said, ”[T]hose results suggest that agencies are taking advantage of social media primarily for promotion and communications with the public, rather than applying those tools internally with their staffs. Consequently, many employees may not be aware of what their agencies are doing in this sphere.”

Read the full article on www.fcw.com.

The Federal Community Social Media Report takes a comprehensive look at the use of social media among federal agencies and suppliers and includes detailed case studies of how agencies use social media to connect with citizens and expand their audiences.

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“The most popular social media tools among federal contractors are wikis, followed by commercial social networks, followed by blogs.

“LinkedIn was cited among the most popular social media sites for federal contractors…”

View the full article on www.washingtontechnology.com.

The full Federal Community Social Media Report takes a comprehensive look at the use of social media among federal agencies and suppliers, including analysis of the use of a variety of social media tools and planned investments in social media.

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Confirmed Panelists:

Michael Donovan – Chief Technologist, Strategic Capabilities, HP Enterprise Services
Donovan is responsible for leveraging HP and partner capabilities to meet the needs of federal, state and local governments. He is currently involved in development of cyber security, cloud computing, and information management to better serve the needs of U.S. Public Sector clients.

 Bev Godwin – Director, Center for New Media and Citizen Engagement, Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies, GSA
Godwin is establishing a Center on New Media and Citizen Engagement in the Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies at GSA.  She recently returned to GSA after a 6-month detail to the White House Office of New Media. Prior to these posts, Godwin served as director of USA.gov and Web Best Practices for GSA and Deputy Director of the National Partnership for Reinventing Government.
Follow Bev @govnewmedia and @BevUSA.

Doug Mashkuri – Director of Business Development, GovLoop and President and Founder, Mash Digital Strategies LLC. As a member of the GovLoop team, Mashkuri works closely with government contractors to create social media marketing programs that focus on best practices, contextual marketing, and provide the GovLoop government community with timely, relevant product and services information.

Get event details and register

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Tuesday, July 27, 2010
8:00 a.m. Networking and breakfast
8:30 -10:00 a.m. Presentation of survey findings and panel discussion
The Tower Club, Tysons Corner
8000 Towers Crescent Drive
Vienna, VA 22182

Register today!

Attendees will:

• Take a closer look at which agencies are using social media to connect with their communities
• Find out what agencies and contractors perceive as opportunities, challenges, and risks
• Learn what agency employees feel they need in order to adopt more social media usage
• See how organizations serving the federal government use social media to connect with these audiences

Register now! Seating is limited!

Related articles:

Why LinkedIn, Why Now, by Mark Amtower

Listen to Market Connections’ John Kagia discuss the 2010 Social Media Study findings on Federal News Radio.

More about the 2010 Social Media Study.

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The Lockheed Martin Cyber Security Alliance and Market Connections presented the webinar Securing Data in the Cloud on June 23, 2010. The live event shared findings from a recent research study of federal government IT decision-makers and influencers involved specifically in cyber-related activities. The presentation detailed awareness of and attitudes on cloud computing and cyber security in federal agencies, in addition to considerations when moving to a cloud computing environment.

Download a PDF of the slide presentation.

View a recording of the webinar.

Speakers included:

• Melvin Greer, Lockheed Martin Information Systems and Global Solutions’ (IS&GS) Cloud Computing Strategist, moderated the session.
• Cynthia Poole, Director of Research Services and expert analyst at Market Connections, presented the results of the research study commissioned by the Lockheed Martin Cyber Security Alliance.
• John Pescatore, Gartner Vice President, Distinguished Analyst and Cyber Security expert, provided additional insights on security considerations and best practices for government agencies moving to a cloud computing environment.

Download the related white paper, “Awareness, Trust and Security to Shape Government Cloud Adoption.”

More on the Lockheed Martin Cyber Security Alliance.

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In an economy where every dollar is cautiously and carefully spent, the most important investments become apparent. Companies admit the secret to their success is their employees. Even in a down economy, investments in employee programs are on the rise.

Organizations with strong employee development initiatives achieve a critical competitive advantage. A global workforce survey conducted by Towers Perrin found that companies with the highest levels of employee engagement achieve better financial results and are more successful in retaining their most valued employees. In fact, companies with the largest percentage of engaged employees experienced an increased operating income of 19 percent. By engaging employees with development and training programs, they believe the company values their efforts and feel a part of the organization’s overall success.

For four years, Helios HR has hosted the Apollo Awards, a program dedicated to recognize employers that invest in employee development initiatives. In parallel, leading market research firm, Market Connections, collects survey data from all nominees. This data is analyzed in a best practices program overview. Through the Apollo Awards, executives and human resource (HR) professionals can learn about the actions of enlightened and innovative organizations, which exemplify strong HR programs. Certain commonalities become evident, this year a clear trend emerged: leading companies are offering their employees customized training programs in skill development (i.e. personal, time management, technical) via a diverse array of learning channels. Download the Apollo Awards event presentation and transcript.

Offering Multiple Channels of Learning

The finalists for our awards program take very unique approaches to employee development, but one common thread is in offering customized training through different channels. Most of these top organizations offer a variety of employee development opportunities such as peer-to-peer mentoring, attendance at events, seminars, online training and instructor-led classes so that employees can select the training that will be individually most effective.

The benefits of offering different learning approaches can include increased retention, a positive effect on company culture and productivity, improved ability to effectively recruit, enhanced quality of work, and increased organizational expertise. Reduced opportunity cost also occurs when employees are assimilated into an organization more rapidly. Two of these forward-thinking organizations, Dewberry and Métier, offer customized programs, with a variety of channels to cater to individual learning styles and preferences.

Dewberry’s Blended Learning

Dewberry, a professional services firm, recognizes that people learn different ways; therefore, they utilize a blended learning approach. This approach offers employees a variety of learning channels as part of The Dewberry Learning Center including: classroom, software, mentoring, coaching, one-on-one, seminars and brown bag lunches, among other approaches.

One key to Dewberry’s blended learning success is in involving internal resources such as corporate leadership to host or participate in the programs. The active involvement of top executives impresses upon employees the seriousness of the training and demonstrates that their efforts are valued.

Métier’s Development on Day One

Métier, a project portfolio management solutions provider, doesn’t have an assembly line. Tweaking and fine-tuning the organization is all about polishing their greatest asset – the employees. Métier considers each employee’s learning abilities and needs with customized development beginning on the employee’s first day. Every new employee attends a two-week orientation known as Boot Camp, where each individual’s strengths and weakness are assessed to provide a benchmark for their career-long professional development activities. The Boot Camp also provides instructive and interactive orientation in a variety of learning ways such as instructor-led, computer-based, seminars, webinars and on-the-job-training.

Métier’s approach paid off: the company witnessed greater employee camaraderie and improved knowledge retention. In fact, when Métier shifted Boot Camp from one week to two weeks, the percentage of employees with tenure of one year increased 25 percent and tenure of two years increased by 12 percent.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Dewberry and Métier are just two companies finding value in offering their employees multiple development opportunities. It’s no surprise that both organizations are service providers that understand their success is tied to the performance of their employees. Both provide innovative employee development initiatives. We can look to these companies as models in implementing strong programs.

Companies that don’t explore developing their greatest resources – their employees – will loose a competitive advantage that can be a costly loss. Organizations are quickly finding that there is no “one size fits all” approach to learning.

Hubert Humphrey, former Vice President of the U.S. put it very simply, “There are incalculable resources in the human spirit, once it has been set free.” And it was Oliver Wendell Holmes who quoted, “The mind, once stretched, never regains its original dimension.” Innovative employee development practices offered through multiple learning channels provide an organization the opportunity to stretch beyond “its original dimensions.”

See related post: Market Connections Presents Best Practices in Employee Growth and Development

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Market Connections research manager John Kagia presents this year’s best practices overview to a crowd of over 400 at the Apollo Awards on June 3 in Falls Church, VA.

Helios HR, a provider of outsourced, consulting and recruiting human resource (HR) services that optimize workforce and HR operations, on June 3 announced the winners of the 2010 Apollo Awards, the premier award recognizing employers in the Washington, DC-area that promote employee development initiatives.

Market Connections surveys all nominees and analyzes the results in a best practices program overview. This year a clear trend emerged: leading companies are offering their employees customized training programs in skill development (i.e. personal, time management, technical) via a diverse array of learning channels. Download the presentation and transcript. 

“This year’s winners are truly extraordinary in designing and implementing employee development initiatives, despite a challenging economy,” said Kathy Albarado, president and CEO of Helios HR. “We see organizations offering an increasing number of leadership development opportunities through support of philanthropic efforts in their community.”

This year’s winners demonstrated excellence in the following criteria: professional development opportunities made available to employees, their performance management process, and the quantifiable impact of their employee development initiatives on the organization. The judging panel was made up of independent, recognized workforce development and HR authorities in the greater Washington area.

2010 Apollo Award winners:

Emerging Company: JustinBradley

Small Company: VISTAtsi

Mid-size Company: Apple Federal Credit Union

Large Company: Dewberry

Zeus Award: Métier, Ltd.

Helios HR provides human resources outsourcing, consulting and recruiting services that optimize the workforce and HR operations. For more information, visit www.helioshr.com.

See related Post: Taking Care of your People Takes Care of your Business

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Date: Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Time: 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm 
Place:  Tower Club, Tysons Corner, VA
Cost: $60 prior to July 12; $70 at the door 

Click here to register.

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Thursday, June 17, 2010
6:00 PM  EST – 8:30 PM  EST
Ritz Carlton Tyson’s Corner
1700 Tysons Blvd, McLean, VA 22102

Register online now!

Government is changing and the challenges and opportunities it faces are different from the past. A panel of government executives will explore a range of topics including open government and transparency, acquisition reform, human capital, sustainability, social networking, and agency-specific priorities and challenges.  Join us for a provocative and engaging discussion with these government thought leaders during these extraordinary times of change and opportunity.

SPEAKERS:
Linda Cureton, Chief Information Officer  NASA
Kimberly Hancher, Chief Information Officer  EEOC
Susan Swart, Chief Information Officer  Department of State
Kathleen Turco, Associate Administrator, Office of Governmentwide Policy, General Services Administration
Molly Wilkinson, General Counsel, Minority Staff, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate

MODERATOR:
Amy Morris, Executive Editor and Anchor at Federal News Radio, 1500 AM

$35 for member
$55 for non-members
$10 more at the door

More details and registration

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