The debt stigma – how trainers can help
There is a stigma in UK workplaces that employers are rarely tackling, but must. It focuses on the vast levels of debt that millions of UK employees are carrying and which is shown, through mounting evidence, to have a debilitating impact on an employee’s wellbeing, their work and, as a consequence, a businesses’ overall productivity. […]
How defensive behaviour can cost your business
Have you ever been in a meeting where people’s behaviour creates an atmosphere that just isn’t productive? Or chatted on the phone to a customer services adviser and the person on the line just doesn’t want to help you? Creating the right climate between people within an organisation can increase business productivity by 22%; research we’ve […]
Why HR needs to support leaders to take a full break from the office
Taking time for a proper break and switching off from work is vital for our mental health, but why are so many leaders bad at doing it? Did you notice if the busy leaders you support looked refreshed after their holiday? This is vital for organisational health because we know the damage if leaders in terms of say […]
The algorithm for finding your Self-realization
What is a success, and how to achieve it? Despite the fact that written and said a lot, each of us goes its way to the goals. It’s not always easy, not all elections are obvious. We want to help you find yourself and give you the most useful advice on how to achieve your […]
Change: Are you a Driver or a Passenger?
This year, my partner and I drove more than 2,000 miles to Andorra and back on a tour of Western France. It was one of my favourite holidays ever. I loved the freedom, the ability to choose our own destination unfettered by timetables and fixed routes, to detour and stop at any scenic point to […]
Drawing the line for line managers in conflict management skills
It’s a perennial problem that most of us have either witnessed or even been a part of. You are good at your job and get promoted to a position where, very soon, you find that you are no longer doing ‘your job’. Instead, you are managing teams of people with little support or understanding on […]
The Gamification of Learning
“My friend came to stay this weekend and we were talking about work; she said she really hated training days until they got a new trainer in. She was telling me about a game they’d played, with the new trainer. It turned out to be Hold the Front Page!” What a fantastic email to get […]
Apps that Help Productivity in the Workplace
Managing time at work is never easy – especially if you have a high pressured, hectic job. There some impressive project management mobile apps out there that you may not be aware of – here are some of them… Asana Asana is available on Android and iOS platforms and features high-level views of projects through […]
Change or Die? There’s an Alternative
There is a particular word that has become very popular in recent times within business-change speak, that was thrown around a lot on the 1980s American pop psychology scene back in the day: it’s ‘transformation’. At a seminar I attended back in the ‘80s, the facilitator held up an apple and said, “If I were […]
SME Struggling to record on-the-job training
Hello! We have been going backawards and forwards for years over how best to record on the job training. We have very nice looking log sheets and we do yearly appraisals, at which we record any training needs identified and plan training accordingly (and at some point it gets logged in-great). Our main problem is training […]
How to boost performance through learning
In the third article in our series looking at how learning professionals can deliver on five key business outcomes, Laura Overton, CEO and founder of Towards Maturity, provides insights into how the most successful organisations are boosting performance through learning. Which one of us doesn’t want to help colleagues do their jobs faster or better? […]
“I enjoy team workshops as they’re often where we discover what’s really going on in a business.”
We’re always curious to hear how our members and contributors tackle the challenges that the ever-changing world of L&D throws at them. We’ve got a wealth of experience and knowledge across the site, and what better way to showcase the diversity of our community than to get them to walk us through an average day? Want […]
5 Reasons Employee Well-Being Is Key To Motivation
Employees are often encouraged to push themselves in order to prove they’re working hard. Skipping lunch, sleeping less and otherwise throwing yourself into your work “proves” that you’re more dedicated to your job. UK workers don’t know how to take a break. Couple that with a national trend towards poor health, and what we have […]
Change or die? There’s an alternative: change by choice
There is a particular word that has become very popular in recent times within business-change speak, that was thrown around a lot on the 1980s American pop psychology scene back in the day: it’s ‘transformation’. At a seminar I attended back in the ‘80s, the facilitator held up an apple and said, “If I were […]
How to see change as a potential for growth
We may not always enjoy it, but change is an inevitable part of life that we all must experience at some point or other. This becomes evident quite early on in life, as we lose teeth and grow out of our favourite clothes. But while we often assume that progress and change go hand-in-hand, this […]
Imposed v chosen change: strategically manage change in your business
Human beings are pretty amazing, and one of our many impressive elements is how adaptable we are. In our everyday lives we may find solace in routine or familiar surroundings, and may feel all at sea if our routine is interrupted, but it is evident that it is our ability to undergo significant changes that […]
Laughable lines from learners in training sessions
I’ve been a trainer for the best part of 25 years. I’m STILL amazed by the lines some learners come out with in the training room, thinking me and my colleagues haven’t heard them before. Can you relate to any of these humdingers?! A delegate barges into the training room for the first time, […]
How to deal with participants from hell
There’s a common nightmare amongst those of us who run development workshops. It is guaranteed to rouse us from a deep sleep and transform us into feverish, agitated blobs of jelly. It concerns encounters with ‘participants from hell’! Whether you are a novice to development, or an experienced workshop leader, we can all be scared […]
Making board meetings shorter, sharper and more productive
Meetings. The bane of executive life. It’s the all-too-frequent gripe of middle managers that they waste time in meetings when they should be focusing on the business. But once you’ve joined a board, meetings are your work. Often there is precious little else, other than getting ready for the next round of meetings. From years […]
How to start online business
If you have entrepreneurial blood, you will at some point consider beginning a startup business. A startup is defined as a business recently launched with the hopes of tremendous growth. I’m sure your primary goal for starting any type of business is to earn. Of course, you want to offer services to the world. But […]
