February 2010, Toastmaster magazine — In this month’s issue of Toastmaster magazine, reporter Lin Grensing-Pophal writes:

“Some people seem to have a knack for automatically connecting with others in any setting. For those who don’t, learning how to interact quickly and comfortably with others is critical.”

She interviewed Dr. Alice Waagen, president of Workforce Learning, who said it is critical to have a goal in mind.

Networking should be considered a professional activity and not a casual event, says Waagen, adding that it’s important to start with the end in mind. “The most important lesson I learned early on is to establish for yourself your goal or objective before you go to the event,” she notes. “That way you keep focused and don’t get distracted by the hors d’oeuvres, the drinks or your best buddy across the room.”

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Jan. 8, 2010, The Calgary Sun — In an article today that focused on helping desperate job seekers, reporter Dawn Klingensmith explained that many career advisers warn that in today’s oversaturated job market, filling out an online application and waiting with fingers crossed to hear back is tantamount to hurling your resume into a black hole.

“Don’t count on your resume to speak for itself. Follow-up is essential if you want to make an impression,” said Klingensmith, who questioned if it’s possible that a forceful job-search strategy makes the candidate appear pushy, overeager or off-putting? “Taken to the extreme, yes. Even in a fiercely competitive job market, it is possible to come on too strong.”

For more information, Klingensmith asked Alice Waagen, president of Workforce Learning to identify warning signs that will alert job seekers to the fact that they are coming on too strong.

“Some applicants send flowers or candy. This is not a date — it’s a job,” says human resources consultant Alice Waagen.

And if you don’t hear back, take the hint, Waagen advises. “If you’ve left messages and e-mails and don’t get a response, that’s either a strong indication you’ve been rejected or that the hiring manager is a poor manager lacking basic skills,” she says. “It’s time to move on.”

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July 28, 2009, Philadelphia Inquirer — In an article published today on the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jobs.com website, reporter Dawn Klingensmith interviewed Workforce Learning president Alice Waagen for an article entitled, “Are you coming on too strong?” Alice said, yes, you might be seen as overly aggressive if you send more than a succinct thank-you note after an interview, and you can’t take the hint.

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February 24 2009, SHRM — In her article for SHRM, reporter Lin Grensing-Pophal interviewed Liz Lynch, author of Smart Networking (McGraw Hill, 2008) and founder of the Center for Networking Excellence who said: “As an introvert who was new to networking, it was intimidating and overwhelming to walk into a room where 200 strangers were already well on their way to getting to know each other,” she says. Over the years, she has gained confidence and now finds herself at home at events of 5,000 or more.

“Lynch is not alone, and most HR consultants can empathize,” Lin Grensing-Pophal added. “Networking is not a skill that comes naturally to many people.” She turned to Alice Waagen, Ph.D., president of Workforce Learning, LLC, a leadership training firm that helps C-level executives and managers improve relationships, who explained that it can be helpful for HR consultants to read the many books and articles available on the topic of networking, if for no other reason than to gain confidence in knowing that they are not alone in their aversion to the thought, says Waagen. “It’s against our innate human nature to go up and talk to strangers, so everybody feels an aversion at these events,” she says.

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January 2009, Human Resource Executive — In the HR News section of this month’s Human Resource Executive magazine, reporter Scott Westcott interviewed Dr. Alice Waagen, president of the leadership development firm Workforce Learning, for his article, “Layoff Landslide.”

Westcott wrote: “With the economy in an official recession, HR leaders unfortunately will get plenty of practice to hone their skills in presiding over reductions-in-force.”

Dr. Waagen commented: “In HR, we’ve been through this before so there should be lots of lessons learned in how to handle layoffs in a humane and dignified way. The key tenet is massive amounts of open and timely communications — both for the employees leaving and those staying.”

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November 13, 2008, Ethical Human Resourcing — Alice Waagen was featured prominently in an article posted today by reporter Scott Westcott. He wrote: “Bleak jobless reports in September and October have HR departments nationwide immersed in the process of laying off employees, and trying to keep the remaining talent motivated and engaged in their work. The nation’s unemployment rate jumped to a 14 year high of 6.5 percent as the Labor Department announced last week an additional 240,000 jobs were cut in October. The cuts pushed 2008’s total job loss beyond 1.2 million. October’s rate was the highest since March 1994, and marked the 10th straight month of payroll reductions.”

Alice Waagen explained: “In HR, we’ve been through this before so there should be lots of lessons learned in how to handle layoffs in a humane and dignified way,” says Alice Waagen, president of Workforce Learning, an HR consultancy in Herndon, Va. “The key tenet is massive amounts of open and timely communications, both for the employees leaving and those staying.”

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November 14, 2008, SHRM — “Because organizations often look for non-biased, third-party perspectives to address issues that impact their workforces, the outsider status of HR consultants provides them with opportunities,” writes SHRM reporter Lin Grensing-Pophal in her article entitled, “HR Consultants’ Outsider Status Opens Facilitator Roles.”

She interviewed Alice Waagen, president of Workforce Learning, LLC, in Herndon, about the importance of providing value. Alice said the main value that outside facilitators provide to an organization is objectivity. Since facilitators are not part of the contracting organization, facilitators are believed to be objective third parties who can keep things on track and ensure that all voices are heard, she added.

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Human resources expert Alice Waagen, PhD, president of Workforce Learning of Reston, VA, is the HR Career Feature writer this month on Employment Crossing / HRCrossing, one of the leading job-opening research companies in the world and the go-to website for executives, administrators, managers, assistants and entry-level workers, providing access to thousands of lucrative job openings in the human resources field.

Alice’s article, Know When — and How — to Hire the Right Staff, describes the three steps to hiring success:
1. Know when it’s time to hire.
2. Determine what type of help you need.
3. Decide if you should go the full-time-employee or contractor route.

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Herndon VA, October 13, 2008 — Alice Waagen, PhD, president of Workforce Learning of Reston, VA, was featured today in “Entry Level Careers,” a regular column by Washington Examiner reporter Heather Huhman.

“Gen Y is experiencing more difficulty transitioning from the classroom to the workplace than previous generations,” Huhman wrote, noting a recent JobFox poll which found that Gen Y workers are perceived by recruiters as being the weakest performers among the four generations that now make up the US workforce.

To help make Gen Y’s transition into the workforce seamless and successful, Waagen provided a list of pointers for both Gen Y employees themselves and for the companies that hire them.

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November 1, 1999, KMWorld magazine — In this month’s issue of KMWorld magazine, Dr. Judith Lamont writes about the cost-effectiveness of computer-based training (CBT) and Web-based training (WBT) vs. traditional classroom training is well documented and convincing.

“Less money is spent on travel, training time is generally shorter, and the expense of a trainer is either eliminated or greatly reduced,” she says. “But are those fast-growing forms of training as effective as classroom training?”

Dr. Alice Waagen, the president and founder of the management training firm Workforce Learning, says:

“Tying training to performance improvement can be difficult, particularly for the soft skills such as management skills, but it’s important to do. “Even for those areas, there are ways of evaluating training effectiveness.” Differences in learning styles also should be considered, she said. A self-paced CBT that works well for one individual might bore another.”

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