College Courses ‘Must Become More Relevant to Work’
College and university courses must become more relevant to the needs of the work place, the government’s Trade and Industry Select Committee inquiry into the future of UK manufacturing has been told. Jack Matthews, chief executive of Improve, the food and drink sector skills council, was giving evidence at a session investigating skill shortages when […]
Thriving Under Pressure By Dawn Smith
Stress Down Day on 1 February aims to encourage people to take small steps to reduce stress in the workplace. Dawn Smith looks at approaches to stress management training, and some of the barriers to success. Recent research from the TUC cited stress as the number one workplace problem, while the Health & Safety Executive […]
Employers Urged to Give Financial Lessons
As the post-festive spending hangovers hit home, employers are being urged to give staff lessons in financial management.In a new report the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) argues that employees who are worried about their finances are less likely to concentrate at work – so providing lessons in financial management pays everyone.The report, […]
Work Experience Boosts Pay and Prospects
Skills learned on the job can have a dramatic effect on a young person’s employability and pay, the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has found.In a survey nine out of 10 (89%) recruiters said they considered relevant work experience an important part of a CV and 13% said they would not interview a candidate without […]
One-in-Three Graduates ‘Did Wrong Degree’
Those looking to study a degree need more information about the skills employers need, a new survey suggests.Graduates in the workplace – does a degree add value? from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, found that a third of graduates feel they did the wrong course. Almost a quarter (23%) of those who graduated […]
Skills Bid to Put Offenders on Straight and Narrow
The government hopes to cut crime by getting offenders into training and jobs.Education and skills secretary Alan Johnson has promised £500,000 funding for pilot schemes in two regions to drive forward reforms to improve offenders’ skills and jobs prospects to stop them re-offending.The scheme is part of the government’s Next Steps document which implements actions […]
‘Phenomenal’ Improvement in Learning and Skills
Standards of publicly-funded training for six million adults in England have improved dramatically, according to the Adult Learning Inspectorate.However In his Annual Report, the Chief Inspector of Adult Learning David Sherlock warned that the progress made over the last five years could be reversed if constant changes to the infrastructure continue.Sherlock also warned that completion […]
CIPD Says Leitch Has ‘Echoes of the Past’
While the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) welcomed the 2020 vision outlined by Lord Leitch, its learning and development adviser Eileen Arney says it remains to be seen whether the review’s blueprint will prove any more successful than similar past exercises. There is much to commend Lord Leitch’s review of skills, but improvements […]
Acas Report Shows Need for Diversity Training
A new policy discussion paper from Acas highlights the need for more diversity and equality training in the workplace.Back to Basics – Acas’ experience of equality and diversity in the workplace, found “vast misunderstandings” among employers with the main barriers being a lack of awareness, entrenched attitudes and embarrassment to discuss the issues.Based on the […]
Ex-CBI Chief Takes on Skills
Former CBI director-general Sir Digby Jones is the man with tasked with warning employers that they are in the “last chance saloon” when it comes to boosting staff skills.The unpaid role of “Skills Envoy” comes in the wake of Lord Leitch’s final report on skills. It will see Sir Digby trying to persuade public and […]
The Way I See it: Quangos – Just a Merry Dance?
Quangos and other government-sponsored organisations can help companies source training and grants, but in the internet age is that enough? Simon Derry, director of Project Leaders International, argues that government quangos need to offer businesses something more. Last week I was contacted by a very nice person who wanted to set up a meeting to […]
Skills Biggest Boost to British Competitiveness
Two-thirds of people believe more investment is needed in skills and education for the UK to maintain competitive, according to a new poll.Sixty-five per cent of those surveyed cited skills as essential to competitiveness, followed by more encouragement for small business start-ups and entrepreneurialism (57% of respondents).The survey also found that most people see offshoring […]
£10m to Develop Women in ‘Men’s World’
A new £10 million project aims to get women into male-dominated industries.Up to 10,000 school-leavers and women returning to work will be offered training, personal development programmes, mentoring schemes and special bursaries for technical qualifications.The two-year initiative is being spearheaded by five sector skills councils and forms part of the government’s action plan to implement […]
Unionlearn Calls for Time Off to Train
Employers and government are failing Britain’s workers by denying them paid time off to improve their skills, according a survey by unionlearn.The report, Making a real difference – union learning reps: a survey, reveals that nearly half (46%) of representatives said that lack of access to paid time off was the biggest barrier to training […]
Graduate Development Programmes: Making it Work
In the last of this three-part series, Mike Morrison reveals how to make graduate management development programmes work for your organisation. Running a development programme for graduate recruits requires a number of decisions – so what works best?In-house, external or accredited? This is the perennial question asked by learning and development managers all over the […]
Flying Start for Train to Gain
The government’s new flagship employer training programme has reached 50,000 employees, Skills Minister Phil Hope has announced.Speaking at the National Business Awards this week, Hope said that Train to Gain, Launched earlier this year, had a “very successful start” with 10,000 employers using the scheme.But the scheme still has a long way to go to […]
Free Diversity E-learning Tool
In just over seven years, only a fifth of the workforce will be white, able-bodied, male and under 45, according to Acas, which today launches its first equality and diversity online learning tool.The e-learning focuses on sexual orientation and gender reassignment and aims to assess an organisation’s position and how any issues can be further […]
Government Launches First Trio of Skills Academies
The first three National Skills Academies have launched today, aimed at driving up the standard of industry training, improving productivity and tackling skills shortages across England.The new academies are in Financial Services, Construction, and Manufacturing. A fourth, representing the Food and Drink sector is also close to being approved.Employers will fund half the academies’ capital […]
HSBC Invests in Learning Pods
HSBC is rolling out specially designed ‘learning pods’ in 1200 branches across the UK in a bid to offer just-in-time learning to its staff.The new workstations are dedicated to staff training and development and aim to offer fast, easy access to a comprehensive range of learning tools covering professional and personal development. HSBC’s head of […]
Opinion: Something Old, Something New – Successful Team Building
With the ever-changing face of the ‘team’ today – project teams, matrix working, remote teams, cross functional working groups and virtual teams – the need for effective team building is without question. So, what’s new in team building? Well…everything and nothing. Steve Marriott of Kaizen Training reports on the latest team building innovations, reflecting on […]
