The watercooler: How languages boost employability
Tom Griffiths, entrepreneur behind gapyear.com, explains how a second language can boost young people’s employability. Young people could bolster their employability and open up opportunities at home and abroad by learning a second language at GCSE level and beyond. There are serious mismatches between the expectations of young people and employers about what makes school […]
A week in training: A vision of the C21st trainer
As an L&D professional are you firmly rooted in C21st? Find out how the CIPD would view you as it presents its vision of the modern trainer. Meanwhile the government invests millions in advertising Train to Gain and it turns out that coaching doesn’t always mean a lucrative contract. CIPD sets out its vision of […]
The Browser: L&D blogs you can’t live without – part two
Blogwatcher Karyn Romeis selects the final 10 of her favourite L&D blogs. Read the previous list here. Are there any unmissable blogs we’ve not included? Add a comment below. Continuing where I left off last time, and still in no particular order:1. eLearning Technology. Tony Karrer’s focus is on corporate learning and he has excellent […]
Free thinking: Telling tales
Can the use of a story in a serious presentation ever be justified as anything more than ornamental – a sprinkle of sugar to help the pill go down? Martin Shovel asks if you’re sitting comfortably, as he looks at how adding some storytelling art to your arguments can make an impact. "This presentation had […]
Hard cash for soft skills: Making a business case for training
There always seems to be more demand for training and development than budgets to pay for it. So how does one make a case for a training programme that would satisfy the sternest of finance directors? Richard White has some suggestions. If you are looking to make a business case for training that will impress, […]
Agenda: Can we learn our way to happiness?
Gemma Middleton reports on a recent conference on happiness run by the Campaign for Learning, and comes away with some insights into misery as well as some tips on how to embrace and spread a little sunshine. When TrainingZone.co.uk asked me to attend the Campaign for Learning conference called ‘Can we learn our way to […]
Opinion: How creative is your training?
Forget the misapplied training of the 1980s and 90s, says Bob Selden – creative training has now ‘grown-up’. He takes a look at what is on offer, and finds that acting and music can enhance the learning experience. As a young trainer, I was fortunate to work with a group of extremely talented and creative […]
Ask the expert: Technology time saving tips
In response to Rus Slater’s request for technological time saving tips, Simon Hurst reveals his favourite rules, tricks and short cuts. Rus Slater recently asked on our Any Answers forum: I was recently told that you can set up a special inbox into which all email will go if you are a cc or bcc […]
Reaching the top of the training career ladder
Scaling the sheer face of a training career takes more than just experience and qualifications, says Donald H Taylor – business acumen also plays a part. So, you’re a trainer, or maybe you’re thinking about becoming a trainer, and you’d like to know what the profession has to offer in terms of a career structure? […]
A week in training: News round-up
This week, just as TrainingZone.co.uk publishes its definitive guide to training qualifications, there’s a new kid on the block, courtesy of the Institute of IT Training. Meanwhile, a third of pharmacy staff are judged ‘poorly trained’ by Which? and a global survey finds that seven in ten workers feel under-trained. IITT offers trainer assessment and […]
Full of Middle Eastern promise: Top tips for smooth working in the Middle East
Although the Middle East is still struggling with political turmoil and conflict among differing ideologies, much of the region is thriving, with immense opportunities for foreign investment and continued economic growth. Cathy Wellings gives her advice on getting the most from any business dealings in the area. The diverse countries of the Middle East each […]
How to: Be a masterful communicator
By using some of the core tools of neuro-linguistic programming, you can transform your impact and your ability to communicate, says Clive Lewis. If you were asked to improve your communication, how would you go about it? Would you try to develop your PowerPoint presentation skills? Pay more attention to the way you write emails? […]
A week in training: Open season for learning
As little cherubs across the land trudge back to school, the National Institute for Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) is hoping their parents will do the same. Drawing on the ingrained desire for learning that September brings, NIACE are running the Sign up Now campaign to get adults learning. Inspiring stories include the tale of 36-year-old […]
The audience is never wrong
According to film director Billy Wilder ‘an audience is never wrong’. It’s clear that as a trainer you have to forge a connection with your audience by pitching appropriately. The question is: when do you make those decisions about pitch – at the point of delivery or at the point of planning? Louise Birkett investigates. […]
Free thinking: Memories are made of this
Why is it that we can remember some things without even trying, while other things never seem to stick? Martin Shovel examines what grabs people’s attention and explains how to make your communications and presentations hit the spot. Why do we remember some things effortlessly and yet struggle desperately to remember others? It’s as if […]
Redcoats graduate to university training
Famously a training ground for stars, Butlins has now teamed up with a university to offer its Redcoats a degree in musical threatre.Redcoats in the Sussex coastal resort of Bognor Regis will be able to train for a two-year foundation degree run at the University of Chichester, also in the town.Students will be able to […]
Fitness guide for mobile workers
BT Business has launched a downloadable guide – Get fit for mobile working – to help mobile workers to avoid back, neck and arm problems.Official figures show that back, neck and arm problems are the most common occupational illnesses in the UK. BT says that a fifth (20.6%) of its employees’ sickness absence is caused […]
A week in training – the long view
As a sector well and truly bitten by the Credit Crunch, it seems counter-intuitive for ConstructionSkills to be urging its industry to invest in thousands more apprentices. As the sector contracts, is there any reason to train new starters for a job that may not be there for them when they finish their apprenticeships? But […]
IT offshoring trend sees UK skills shortages grow
The trend for offshoring lower-level IT jobs is creating skills shortages within the UK, according to research.The Pay in IT 2008 report by Incomes Data Services (IDS) found a leap of 9.5%-13% in average pay for mid-level jobs over the past year. Salaries for IT user-support technicians increased by 13% to £24,177, while systems engineers’ […]
ConstructionSkills urges its sector to keep training
As the downturn in the housing market deepens, employers in the construction sector are being urged to continue to take on apprentices.With thousands of would-be apprentices struggling to find employers ConstructionSkills, the Sector Skills Council for the industry, said that the economic downturn was affecting its industry, particularly house building sector, thousands of new staff […]
