A recent article on Forbes.com gets right to the point about how to manage your company during difficult economic times.   In his article titled "Secret Weapon In a Downturn, Focus on People", Dennis Zeleny states that "...CEOs must align people with purpose in an exercise that expresses corporate objectives in the performance expectations for every executive and manager...". (http://www.forbes.com/leadership/managing/2008/02/06/people-strategy-personnel-lead-manage-cx_dz_0206zeleny.html).  And he couldn't be more right. This is possibly a great opportunity for training departments to show their true talent, by showing the value of training as it affects the bottom line of the corporation.  But these departments need to move fast.  The first quarter of 2008 is almost over.  CLO's can still make a difference this year by shifting gears toward reachable, cost effective and measurable goals for employees. This article in Forbes is a great read for the CLO who wants to show positive results in the 2008 training year.