Three-Quarters of Charities Face Skills Shortfall
Seventy-five per cent of charities see staffing and skills shortages as a risk, while just half invest in training to deal with shortfalls, according to a new report.According to the latest Charity Finance Directors’ Group (CFDG) report the skills shortage is seen as worst at senior management level, with half of charities feeling this is […]
Phone Group Launches Training Academy
Mobile phone retailer Phones 4U is to launch a training academy to deliver learning and development for its 3,500 employees. Chief executive John Caudwell has pledged a £5m investment in the new facility, to be based in the Midlands.Bill Tolmie, formerly head of training at Singlepoint , has been appointed to head the academy. In […]
Training Award for Capita
Capita has won the National Customer Service Award for Customer Service Training Team of the Year 2004 for its contact centres in Darwen, Lancashire and Bristol. The contact centres deal with TV Licensing customer enquiries and transactions on behalf of the BBC. The award recognised Capita’s high standard and wide choice of staff training methods. […]
Development on Agenda for New IoD Director
New director general of the Institute of Directors Miles Templeton has voiced his commitment to developing professional standards and training on his first day in post.Mr Templeman, who has over 30 years business experience, said that as a serving non-executive director he understood that board members need training as much as other employees.Setting out his […]
Warning for SMEs Over New Disability Regulations
As the new Disability Discrimination Act amendments come into force there are fears that many small businesses are still unaware of what it will mean for them.As of today, October 1, the law states that employers with less than 15 staff are no longer exempt from legislation that protects employees with a disability.Richard Smith, HR […]
Managers Need Conflict Training
Managers need greater training in dealing with workplace disputes, a study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has concluded.The CIPD surveyed 1,200 employers and found that managing conflict at work costs the average employer nearly 450 days of management time every year – equivalent to two full-time managers. The survey also revealed a […]
Winning the War for Talent
Professor Simon Roodhouse, chief executive of the University Vocational Awards Council (UVAC) explains why the right sort of professional development programme can help organisations attract the best candidates – and keep them. As we all know, there are professional development programmes and there are professional development programmes. But, without having experienced one at first hand, […]
CIPD Says ‘Train Ex-Offenders to Plug Skills Gaps’
Ex-offenders need targeted training to help them plug the UK’s skills gaps, according to a report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).The paper “Employers and Offenders” states that low unemployment and high demand for skills meant that businesses that don’t employ ex-offenders – who make up 20% of the population as a […]
Billionaire’s Academy to Boost Business Skills
Billionaire businessman Philip Green has set out plans for a £10m retail academy to develop the next generation of business leaders.The owner of the Arcadia Group, which includes the high-street store BhS, said the academy’s 200 students would be aged 16 to 18 and be trained in “every aspect” of retail including marketing, design and […]
Apprenticeships Campaign Targets Big Five
Five industries – media, hospitality, health, business services and retail – are being targeted in the latest apprenticeships campaign.The first phase of the campaign, received 11,000 employer responses over four months, yet only six per cent of these were from hospitality employers – compared with engineering and manufacturing which both accounted for 34 per cent […]
Entrepreneurs Learn the American Way
English entrepreneurs are being given a competitive edge by learning the American way of starting and running a new business. Twenty people, selected from some of the most deprived parts of England, have been sent to Babson College in the US, one of the world’s foremost colleges for budding entrepreneurs. The New Entrepreneur Transatlantic Scholarship […]
Consultants Warn IT Could Hinder Staff
IT solutions within an organisation could actually be hindering staff performance, instead of helping them to realise their full potential, according to change consultancy The Quo Group.David Halliday, senior partner at The Quo Group will tell HR professionals at the Softworld HR & Payroll event next month (20 – 21 October, NEC, Birmingham) that new […]
Training Boosts Job Prospects for 70% of Workers
Seven in ten people who undertake adult education or training to get a better or different job say their course helped them to achieve their goal, according to a new survey.And among those who set out to improve their job satisfaction or progress their career generally, 90% and 87% respectively reported that their learning had […]
Training Investment up in 50% of Firms
More than half of business have increased their investment in training over the past year, according to the CBI.According to the latest CBI’s Employment Trends 2004 survey, 57% of employers increased the amount of job-specific training offered to their staff during the past year and 51% had increased their expenditure on training, with only 7% […]
The Way I See It… Management Development is a Business Priority
Emma Bell a partner at MacRoberts Solicitors believes that developing the people skills of managers is the key to unlocking a business’s full potential. A company’s manager is potentially its most valuable asset, yet all too often businesses promote individuals into a management role with no effective training or support.The inevitable result is less than […]
Training ‘High Priority’ for Blue Chips
Training is increasingly seen as critical to business success, having a role to play in improving productivity, customer service, staff retention and other key drivers of corporate profitability, according to a new study. The survey, by research company SDL, involved in-depth discussions with over 30 senior level training decision makers from the UK’s biggest companies.It […]
East of England Wins £22.5m Training Pot
Training funding of £22.5m for more than 35 projects is up for tender in the East of England.Organisations across the region can bid for a portion of the European Social Fund (ESF) Objective 3 regional funding, which aims to help the unemployed back to work, promote lifelong learning and develop the skills of employed people.ESF […]
Training Can Beat Post-Holiday Blues
Offering employees the chance to learn new skills is a key way to boost post-holiday productivity, according to Investors in People research.The study found that 60% of employees dread returning to work after holidays, and the IIP said that bosses don’t seem to be helping.Some 58% of respondents said they wanted their boss to show […]
Aerospace Takes off for Staff Training
Aerospace firms invest more time and money on training staff than all other sectors of the science and engineering industry, a new survey reveals. They spend £380 training each employee, twice the average £190 training spend across the rest of industry. They also give staff 3.2 days for off the job training, compared with the […]
Getting the Skills Right for the New Breed of Call Centres
Jane Owen, UK sales director, Skillsarena looks at the changing face of call centres and the training challenge that presents. Call centres are an inescapable part of life in the UK. Whether you want to discuss your bank account, pay your electricity bill or find out why your brand new washing machine isn’t working, you […]
