BA Staff Up-Skill to Avoid Strikes
British Airways (BA) is to equip staff with the necessary skills to manage services in the event of further strike action with its in-flight caterer.Seven hundred flights were grounded last summer when Gate Gourmet staff undertook unofficial strikes against the airline. BA plans to train its own staff to use the caterer’s loading trucks to […]
Financial Services Back IT Skills
The financial sector is increasing its investment in IT training to satisfy the requirements of regulatory compliance, a survey claims.According to the study by training provider Thomson NETg, financial businesses boosted spending on IT in 2005, the first time since the post-2000 slump.A large chunk of this has funded e-learning programmes, which the training body […]
Financial Sector Gets Skills Boost
The Financial Services Skills Council (FSSC) is launching a programme to solve the skills issues faced by financial services companies.The Skills Bill is a national scheme spread across 18 months, which intends to improve the performance of businesses in the financial services sector.The FSSC plans to quiz employers on what skills they require from their […]
What Happened Next? Fresh Ways To Motivate Staff. By Sarah Fletcher
Finding activities to inspire unmotivated staff can prove difficult. In the next edition of this new series What happened next? we report on the results and lessons learned by a member who sought solace in the Any Answers forum. By Sarah Fletcher Motivating staff – anyone been to circus school?“I’m looking for ways to give […]
New Starter Training Could Save Billions
Poor employee induction processes is costing UK business £2 billion in lost productivity, sapping a valuable skills pool.According to learning solutions provider Thomson NETg, failing to prepare a new employee can create low morale and productivity and can cost companies billions of pounds in recruitment costs.Mike Summers, director of Thomson NETg, suggested that by providing […]
Skills Row Continues
Nearly three quarters of businesses (72%) say workers should gain more skills in order to compete in the marketplace.Around half of the respondents, disagree, however believing that skills levels are sufficient for current needs.According to research by Manpower of around 3,200 UK employers, this difference of perception affects both performance assessment and the emphasis upon […]
Weak Management Blamed for Poor Productivity
The government must rethink its approach to workplace efficiency if it is to allow the UK to close the productivity gap with other countries, warns the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).The UK still lags behind France, Germany and the US in terms of productivity, according to figures due to be published this Thursday […]
Free Thinking: Drawing people in
Martin Shovel of CreativityWorks urges trainers to stop talking and get drawing; read on to learn more about the power of pictures. Imagine this nightmare scenario … you’re caught short in a foreign city, many miles from home. You don’t speak the lingo and they don’t speak yours. You’re desperate to find the nearest loo. […]
Parkin Space: Firing A Client
Valentine’s Day is a great day on which to terminate a long-term relationship that has irretrievably gone sour. I just fired a client, and, as usual, I am left with pangs of guilt mixed with a bittersweet sense of liberation. It happens to all of us on occasion – a customer (external or internal) becomes […]
Train Line Managers or Lose Profits, says CIPD
Employers must train line managers or lose the return on investment from pay and benefits schemes, says the CIPD.According to research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), 51% of companies quizzed believe salary and benefits packages are less effective because line manager skills are poor.Over a third (36%) of companies questioned cited […]
Feature: Beat the Retirement Brain Drain
One of the crucial organisational challenges facing of 2006, and beyond, is the fact that a lot of the working population is coming up to retirement age or already eligible for companies’ retirement schemes. Michael Kelleher looks at how the traditional exit interview can be used to help keep some of that crucial knowledge that […]
Graduate Skills Fail to Meet Expectations
Almost half of recruiters believe current vacancies will be left unfilled due to a shortage of capable graduates with appropriate skills.According to the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), 46% of the 222 organisations quizzed believe universities place too much emphasis on academic achievements at the expense of “softer skills”.Carl Gilleard, AGR chief executive, commented: “Employers […]
E-Learning Programme for Pension Scheme Trustees
The Pensions Regulator will unveil a free e-learning course aimed at pension scheme trustees at an event on 15 February.The programme is the first of its kind and is designed to help trustees with their learning, including studying the information requested by the Pensions Act 2004. This legislation requires trustees to be aware of pensions […]
Lloyds TSB Cuts Time to E-Learning
Lloyds TSB has managed to plan, develop, test and implement an hour-long e-learning course in less than three weeks.The bank’s fastest-ever implementation of e-learning was made possible by a Lloyds TSB-specific e-learning template, which cut the six weeks of testing that the bank usually undertakes when it adds learning content to its intranet.Val Laycock, Senior […]
Review: Time to Think: Listening to Ignite the Human Mind
Title: Time to Think: Listening to ignite the human mindAuthor: Nancy KlinePublisher: Cassell IllustratedISBN: 0706377451Price: £9.99Reviewer: Jacky Pratt, Accredited Practitioner CoachTime to Think is a book that changes behaviour. It has a simple, but powerful message, which is that the quality of our thinking depends upon the quality of another person’s attention when listening to […]
Guide to Employee References and Data Protection
A new guide to how the Data Protection Act applies to employee references is available from the Information Commissioner’s Office.The online guide includes good practice recommendations to help employers decide when employment references should and should not be released.It states that in most cases individuals have a right to a copy of information held about […]
Teamwork is Most Sought After Skill
Interpersonal and teamwork skills are the most highly sought after, according to a survey of 4,500 employers.A report, by Job Centre Plus, found that regardless of occupation, whether unskilled or professional, teamworking and interpersonal skills were highly sought after by employers.Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus Lesley Strathie said that the research would help the organisation […]
Apprenticeship Figures Rise
The number of young people successfully completing apprenticeships has risen by 29%, according to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). Latest figures from work-based learning providers and colleges for the academic year 2004/05 showed that 67,000 learners achieved their Apprenticeship Framework Certificate – 15,000 more than in the previous academic year. There was also a […]
Work-Based Learning Comes of Age – ALI
Work-based learning has “come of age” according to David Sherlock, Chief Inspector of the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI). But he warns that there is persistent under-achievement in key Government initiatives to get the most disadvantaged into employment. In his annual report, Sherlock praised work-based learning, which he said had undergone “a dramatic improvement in quality” […]
New Occupational Standards for Retail
Retail is the latest sector to publish its National Occupational Standards.Sector skills council Skillsmart Retail said the revised standards have been approved in all four UK nations and it is expected that National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) and Scottish Vocational Qualification (SVQ) units will be developed from the retail NOS by the end of January 2006. […]
