May I have this dance?….

After many episodes of Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance and one I'm embarassed to say I have seen (Master of Dance)...I was reviewing some workplace trends and discovered a theme...you'll see it in all our blogs this week... please read on...

Dancing close to your partner was an 18th century innovation that we know as the waltz. This metaphor well describes the workplace of the past where staff were expected to align their personal mandate closely with the corporate mandate and to mirror and model their boss to be able to climb the corporate ladder.

Today’s innovative workplaces are closer to another dance of the 17th and 18th century - minuets, where partners dance to the same rhythm but separately and loosely coupled. Today’s staff need the freedom of personal expression and individualism, not reminders to toe the company line. The minuet picked up tempo depending on the dancer and the musician… today’s workplaces must also demonstrate this situational flexibility.

And the future?

Well.. welcome back the Jitterbug! During the early 1900s, the Jitterbug was a dance performed by swing dancers who danced without any control or knowledge of the dance. This term was famously associated with swing era dancers by band leader Cab Calloway because, as he put it, "They look like a bunch of jitterbugs out there on the floor" due to their fast often bouncy movements on the dance floor.

In the future, our workplaces will rely less and less on the inherent expertise of our workers and more on tools and resources of expertise (like the content-rich aspects of the Internet, and the new generation of workplace productivity software). With our future employees expected to be less loyal and more mobile and the boomers aging out of the workforce, organizations will keep dancing but it will be the musicians who know the dance and the dancers who bring their energy and willingness to “jitterbug” that will take us in new, unknown directions.

Good Course - Good Cause

ACT gets up to par!

Tony Procure,Operations Manager with Advance Corporate Training, joined Kent O'Sullivan, Bryan Lowes and Rick Cox at the 5th Annual Drive to Stay Alive Charity Golf Tournament on Thursday June 19, 2008 at the Redwoods Golf Course in Langley, BC.

There was plenty of fun, great food, prizes, networking and a great day of golf, and the rain even managed to stay away.

Net proceeds from the BC Safety Council Golf Tournament will help support our Youth Injury Prevention Initiatives.

Ever wonder if our logo is a "hole in the head?"

Advance Corporate Training Ltd. (ACT) is a brain-based learning specialist - our logo represents the six key secrets to ensuring learning takes hold in the learner and can transfer back to the workplace. Here are the six secrets and why engaging each one of them encourages higher learning levels.

Personal Relevance
(Association Cortex)
When we associate learning with what we already know, we are more open to a new idea. Info that supports our existing knowledge is better retained and transferred on-the-job.

Kinesthetic Learning
(Motor Cortex)
When we are engaged physically while learning, our brain operates more efficiently and we are better able to apply learned skills consistently.

Emotion & Engagement
(Somatosensory Cortex)
Emotion is often missing in many adult learning environments. When we emotionally connect to the material we learn more and deeper. ACT designs all its courses to engage this cortex.

Auditory Learning
(Auditory Cortex)
When we listen and speak we deepen our understanding. This cortex needs time to engage, so the start of all conversations should be “losable” data.

Visual Learning
(Visual Cortex)
We all need to have visual stimulation to be energized by learning. If we visualize our changed performance, we are more able to achieve it.

Broca's Area
Our ability to communicate clearly and to understand complex concepts is controlled here. Without learning that engages this area of the brain, we know but we don't understand and can't share our knowledge. True learning occurs after we achieve understanding, and performance change can not occur without understanding. This area was identified in 1861 by Pierre Paul Broca to be the “seat of articulation”.

ACT Advances with a new appointment

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Shelly Nizar to the position of Staff Trainer/Learner Consultant, and PEAK Program Manager.

Shelly has recently moved back to Vancouver from San Francisco. Through Shelly’s extensive national and international travels, she brings over 20 years of facilitating and management experience; her expertise lies primarily in the fields of workforce development, retail and computers .

She is eager, energized and excited to meet and interact with existing and prospective Retail PEAK Trainers.

Our goal for the 2009 and 2010 year is to grow and enhance learning which will develop an expanding and progressive Retail industry. Shelly will be connecting with all existing trainers to conduct a short survey, to see how we can meet and exceed your needs.

With the Olympics on the horizon, more requests are coming in for front-line customer service, and sales and management development; at PEAK, we will be anticipating the growing needs in this ever changing and dynamic industry.

Model Activity at ACT

We always knew we were THE place to be!

Earlier this week, ACT offices were a buzz with excitement as the home of a rooftop photoshoot for a new clothing line. The clothes were interesting, the photographer active and the models COLD!

Oddest though - was the model who put on a teddy bear hat and gloves after posing beside one - she BECAME the bear!

Check out the shoot!

Click on an image for a closer view.