The National Defense University's IRM College formed over 30 partnerships with schools across the country, including Syracuse University, Learn more about why the IRM College formed their 30 plus partnerships and how they establish successful relationships.

As the need for businesses to develop human capital becomes stronger, corporate learning executives are increasing their reliance on universities to help educate and develop workforce skills and competencies. Companies are beginning to see the importance of these relationships, and the CorpU Awards program is the chance for your learning organization to share what you do. So tell us: what’s your story?

You’ve created a new program that everyone is raving about, or developed valuable partnerships with suppliers or colleges to create new learning opportunities for employees. It’s time to be recognized for your accomplishments. Applying to the 10th Annual CorpU Awards program is the way to get that recognition.

Having a dedicated learning facility with the company name on it conveys a sense that developing people is an important corporate value, a key message for companies to send to all kinds of stakeholders. Is it time for learning organizations to build a brick-and-mortar facility?

If you have seen Field of Dreams then you know the saying: “If you build it, they will come.” If that were the case, the marketing department in almost every company would serve no purpose. As nice as it would be to live life in a movie, nothing is ever easy and people have to have the mentality of “what’s in it for me?” when making a decision – that’s the approach taken when it comes to marketing and branding the corporate university (CU).

When Mars was in the process of launching their corporate university, they used communications of all sorts – including meetings with managers and employees at all levels – to explain in detail what the new organization was going to mean to the company.

The term CLO is a miniscule component within the overall functions of a learning organization. With 6 key competencies that identify the CLO’s individual roles and responsibilities, why can’t these terms also be used as informal titles for the CLO?

Nick Howe, VP of Hitachi Data Systems Academy, focuses on their partnerships and relationships with employees, reseller partners, and customers. Howe emphasizes that you cannot underestimate the power of these relationships.