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 […]
How to: Stop fear getting in the way of speaking in public
Did you know that more people are scared of speaking in public than are afraid of dying? If you’re one of them, don’t worry, with these 10 tips you’ll soon have them eating out of your hand, giving you a standing ovation and demanding an encore. It’s true – standing up and speaking in public […]
Trainer’s tip: Productivity boosters
These six tips from Ehsan Honary to help trainers work smarter come from a thread asking for technology-based time saving tips. Click on the link at the foot of the article to read some more suggestions. There are many possible tips on time management and workflow which is something you need to work on continuously.I […]
Training event aims to start a customer service revolution
Training company, Leaps and Bounds will be stretching people’s imagination with the introduction of an ‘open space’ event, encouraging call centre staff to start a revolution in open thinking.The open space event, to be held on 9 September at the Thames Innovation Centre in the London Borough of Bexley, is cost free and aims bring […]
In-house development that’s a degree better
Munters Limited, a property damage prevention and restoration specialist, is set to offer staff degree level qualifications within the workplace. Using the web-enabled The Working Manager (TWM) platform, employees from the company will be among the first in the country to benefit from working towards Foundation Degrees in Leadership and Management via a work-based learning […]
Breaking down the language barrier
With the demand for being multi-lingual becoming more common in the global marketplace, Chris Moore reveals how to get your message across and ensure training is quick, efficient and accountable. It is no longer sufficient for UK businesses to depend on the assumption that English will be the universal language of business. As offices themsleves […]
News summary
As house prices fall and gas prices rise, there are further arguments for keeping training spend going during the economic storm. It’s also apparent that the credit crunch could provide a temporary bonus for some. In fact, there are growth areas around – as the world’s fastest-growing profession, it’s a case of: project managers – […]
Do you want the bad news?
Most ‘bad news’ training focuses on the reaction of the receiver. But, says Jan Hills, more emphasis needs to be given to training the giver to know how to handle the information they are to impart. We all know how difficult it can be to give bad news and keep someone focused on the positive […]
Soft skills important for graduates
Soft skills such as team working, good communication skills and the ability to appreciate others’ perspectives rank above academic qualifications, according to a survey of graduate recruiters.The study, by GRADdirect, part of Reed Consulting, found that over half of the organisations surveyed stated that graduate recruitment was key to building a greater pool of candidates […]
Stuck in a blog? Gearing up the training appetite
Blogging and Marmite have a lot in common; there’s little room for middle ground in a debate which finds that most either love it or hate it. But are the reluctant missing out? Annie Hayes reports from two very different camps. A marketing tool Training blog tasters Nelson Croom Sticky Training Janet Clarey Karyn Romeis […]
News round-up
Skills training comes to the fore this week following the announcement of the Conservative’s ‘Building Skills, Transforming Lives’ Green Paper, Skillnet joins the government’s apprenticeship task force for London, a report calls for a regional food training network to help plug the skills gap and a new study reveals line managers lack necessary interview skills […]
More line managers need interview skills training, says report
Only 30% of line managers receive any kind of interview training, but the majority want to contribute to the recruitment process, a report has revealed.The findings, collated by SHL, the talent assessment provider, found that despite line managers showing a desire to become involved in selection interviews to ensure candidates are the right fit, they […]
Report calls for regional food training network to help plug skills gap
Training providers offering courses in food and drink manufacturing could boost their businesses by joining forces on a region-by-region basis to deliver dedicated services to local employers, according to a new report.Research by The National Skills Academy (NSA) for Food and Drink Manufacturing in the north-east of England found that many food and drink companies […]
News round-up
A good week for skills training as David Lammy approves the new National Skills Academy for Retail and publishes the first draft Apprenticeship Bill; the government launches a new leadership assurance and benchmarking (LAB) service; and success beckons for female apprentices at this year’s Apprenticeship Awards. Read these stories and more in our weekly news […]
