Learning Agility

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

   PDF

2. What is Learning Agility?

   • Linda S. Gravett, Sheri A. Caldwell

   Pages 1-8

3. Why Organizations Should Concentrate on Learning Agility

   • Linda S. Gravett, Sheri A. Caldwell

   Pages 9-17

4. Interviewing and Testing for Learning Agility

   • Linda S. Gravett, Sheri A. Caldwell

   Pages 19-35

5. Developing and Fostering an Environment for Learning Agility

   • Linda S. Gravett, Sheri A. Caldwell

   Pages 37-69

6. Metrics and R.O.I. of Learning Agility

   • Linda S. Gravett, Sheri A. Caldwell

   Pages 71-77

7. Applying Learning Agility: Some Case Studies and Role-Plays

   • Linda S. Gravett, Sheri A. Caldwell

   Pages 79-94

8. How to Sustain a Culture of Learning Agility

   • Linda S. Gravett, Sheri A. Caldwell

   Pages 95-107

9. The Future of Learning Agility

   • Linda S. Gravett, Sheri A. Caldwell

   Pages 109-115

10. Back Matter

    Pages 117-146

    PDF

This book concretely defines the concept of learning agility and offers a business case for why organizations of all types should concentrate on building and sustaining this approach. It provides readers with a holistic approach towards the topic, and helps leaders leverage the learning agility of individual employees to sustain a learning-agile workplace culture. 


Synthesizing academic research and practical approaches, this book takes leaders through ways to interview and assess potential employees for learning agility, develop and foster an environment for learning agility, and measure the results of a learning agile workplace. The authors present an innovative learning agility assessment which has been developed, tested, and implemented by clients and outline metrics which can measure the results of a learning agile workforce. This little-understood but highly advantageous approach is crucial for leaders to understand if they wish to deliver results and impact their organizations' bottom line. 

• Human Resources
• Recruitment
• Retention
• Agility
• Performance

“This remarkable book is your guide to recruiting and retaining the best! A must-read for any HR professional or executive looking for top talent! Organizations must hire and retain exceptional employees to succeed and to survive and, as Gravett and Caldwell prove, no trait is more important than learning agility - the ability to learn and adapt both immediately and through the long haul regardless of what comes down the pipe. Understand how to spot learning agility in recruits, and how to cultivate it in your current workforce from this important book.” (Marshall Goldsmith is the World’s #1 executive coach, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Triggers - Creating Behavior That Lasts – Becoming the Person You Want to Be,  MOJO and What Got You Here Won’t Get You There and top 5 Management Thinker 2015!)

“Learning Agility may be one of the greatest current books for business leaders and professionals to read due to the outstanding concepts and research interwoven intothe content.  It methodically introduces an important critical success factor of Learning Agility for businesses that are committed to a culture of learning, innovation, change, and growth in today’s many competitive markets. This critical key factor pertains to a four-dimensional business model that impacts all facets of an organization, including its human capital.  It’s masterfully rich in content and written in a refreshingly logical manner.”  (Beverly McCarthy, President, BC McCarthy & Associates, LLC)

“I believe that change is the work of leadership, and all the rest is management. In Learning Agility: The Impact on Recruitment and Retention, Gravett and Caldwell have researched and written on a timely and strategic topic. They define agility as the ability to adapt to the rapid demands of change, and then they skillfully proceed to unwrap the concepts of learning agility. They raise our awareness of the broad and deep value of it as a core individual and organizational competency that impacts the operation, recruitment and retention of high potentials and ultimately your company’s bottom line. Ideally, a CEO’s self-awareness of her or his own learning agility will set a tone and direction that demonstrates the importance of creating a corporate environment that invests in the professional development of their emerging leaders, thus planning for a long living organization. I suggest that Gravett’s 2014 Palgrave publication, Leadership in Balance: New Habits of the Mind would be an ideal companion read.” (John F. Kucia, Administrative Vice President, Xavier University, USA)

• Just the Basics, Inc., Gravett and Associates;, Cincinnati, USA

  Linda S. Gravett

• The Andersons, Inc., Maumee, USA

  Sheri A. Caldwell

Linda S. Gravett is founder and Senior Partner of Gravett and Associates, consulting with both private sector and nonprofit organizations since 1991 and helping them leverage the talents of a diverse workforce to gain a competitive advantage in a global society. She is a frequent presenter and speaker at conferences for the Society for Human Resource Management and is often asked by Canadian and US newspapers to comment on leadership topics. She is the author or co-author of five outstanding titles: HRM Ethics: Perspectives for a New Millennium, Bridging the Generation Gap, Using Your Emotional Intelligence to Develop Others, Just a Couple of Women Talkin’, and Leadership in Balance.


Sheri A. Caldwell is Adjunct Professor of Human Resources at Lourdes University, USA and the former Vice-President of Human Resources at Hickory Farms. She is a past president of the Toledo Area Human Resource Association (TAHRA), a member of and speaker for the Employers’ Association and has spoken multiple times at the national conventions for The Society for Human Resource Management.  She has also commented on HR and leadership topics in leading US newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal. She is the co-author of Got a Solution? HR Approaches to 5 Common and Persistent Business Problems, Got a Minute? The 9 Lessons Every HR Professional Must Learn to Be Successful, and Using Your Emotional Intelligence to Develop Others.
 

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