What Did We Learn at Cornerstone Convergence 2019?

So, the first thing on the list, is Cornerstone has released their update to Cornerstone for Salesforce. It’s not the old CFS Connector, but it’s a brand-new product that takes Cornerstone and puts it in the heart of Salesforce. We’re incredibly excited about that product and that activity. We see so many organizations that are doing learning and Salesforce separately, but now you’ve got an opportunity to truly combine those together and get a lot of power and move learning closer to that moment of need.

Cornerstone for Salesforce was definitely the big-ticket item that I saw there. This is a big opportunity for a lot of organizations that are using both platforms.

The second thing that I want to talk about is the maturity and depth of the client base. We’ve seen this over the eight years that we’ve been at Convergence. The growing and evolving nature of the conversations that we have with our clients and with other Cornerstone customers. We see a lot from organizations that are doing a tremendous amount with the technology but even outside the technology. How they’re thinking about learning and talent development and engagement with individuals. How they’re really focusing on talent gaps and talent and analysis.

There is clear pressure and demand on many inside the HR learning and talent portions of organizations to look at the next step of how they’re going to address and deal with people in the future. I think that pressure, intensity, and level of interest is something that is incredibly interesting for me personally, but I think it’s reshaping our industry.

We’re at this moment in time where we’re beginning to see things evolve. Where the development of people becomes a critical value proposition inside the organization. One of the things we’re working on is looking at how you monetize that. How do you see that money value within an organization as a business is working to grow? We have to look at that and how we are adding to the bottom line as learning and talent management human capital management professionals.

Those mature conversations and the depth at which they wanted to dive in and go into the Cornerstone product and how can I do that next thing was really exciting and really interesting.

The final piece is something I mentioned in the Cornerstone for Salesforce piece which is all about how do we move closer to that moment of need for learning and training. I’ll give you a couple of examples around that if you could just think about the Salesforce example. So, I’m a salesperson, I’m in the middle of an opportunity and I’m trying to look at how I’m going to work through a challenger methodology or a particular corporate process. I don’t quite remember that process but I’m in Salesforce. Now I can click on a learning icon a little widget that comes included in the Cornerstone for Salesforce piece and I can immediately get the training on exactly what I’m supposed to do. Now I have the right conversation with the customer at the right point in time in order to be able to evolve that sale to successful completion.

Or maybe I’m working on an airline or I’m working at an automotive dealership as a technician. I’ve got something that’s unique, something I haven’t seen before, so how do I go back and reference that training in that moment of need that allows me to gain just a little bit more depth of knowledge on a skill that allows me to progress and do the right thing for my customer? Or for fixing an airplane, working on a car, or engaging with individuals?

I think the topic of trying to identify those moments of need that require learning, getting into more microlearning, and focusing on how we’re making an impact on people just in time is really an important trend. Something we heard not just from Cornerstone, but we heard from a lot of clients is that they’re being pressed to move that way so that learning is more of a continuous process that’s happening throughout the day.

So those are my three big things from Convergence. The Cornerstone for Salesforce Connector, the maturity, and the evolution of the learning talent human capital management industry and where people are taking things. Then the final piece is learning at the moment of need. How are we going to be able to evolve the industry and get to a point where we’re providing education for people that’s meaningful and impactful right at that particular moment? So, thanks for your time, great to be online with you again, and we’ll look forward to chatting again soon!