Consultants Warn IT Could Hinder Staff

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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 […]

Disgruntled professionals plan career swap

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Most office workers are looking for a career that can offer them freedom and greater fulfilment; says a new survey by vocational awards body City & Guilds.Over 1000 workers were surveyed with half working in traditional professions and 535 employed in vocational occupations. The majority of respondents said they are looking to swap their current […]

Case Study: IT Training in NHS Lothian

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With around half of staff lacking basic IT skills, Lothian NHS – University Hospitals Division faced a mammoth task when it decided to get its 13,000-strong workforce up to speed with computer technology. NHS Lothian – University Hospitals Division (NHSL-UHD) provides a comprehensive range of first class acute adult and paediatric care to the people […]

Surveying Apprenticeships

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School-leavers in Greater London are being offered the opportunity to become surveyors, even if their academic qualifications have been less than anticipated.The Chartered Surveyors Training Trust (CSTT) – a charitable organisation set up more than 20 years ago to train youngsters for the property and construction industries – is looking for recruits to its surveying […]

Free HCI Seminar

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Microsoft and Futuremedia are hosting a free seminar on the benefits of the government’s home computing initiative (HCI).The presentations, at Microsoft’s offices in Reading, will include a step by step guide on how to successfully implement HCI programmes.Presentations will come from Peter Wilkinson, Director Learning & Development Royal Mail, and Howard Crabtree, HR Director of, […]

Case Study: The Argos Induction Programme

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How a new induction programme at Argos’ Central Distribution Centre in Staffordshire helped boost team-working and improve staff retention. The opening of Argos’ new Central Distribution Centre (CDC) at Barton-under-Needwood, Staffordshire meant a need for new procedures, new people and an opportunity to introduce a whole new way of working within the business. VisionThe over-riding […]

RNID Offers Free Disability Awareness Course

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SMEs can access free disability awareness training from the RNID.The charity said that the training aims to give businesses and their staff an understanding of disability issues to ensure they do not inadvertently prejudice customers.Irini Korompilia, Projects Manager at RNID said: “Discrimination often comes about from misconceptions of what disability is. To prevent organisational discrimination […]

Case Study: Bitesize E-learning at B&Q

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DIY chain B&Q employs over 36,000 people in over 320 UK stores. It is also the number one DIY retailer in Europe and the third largest in the world. The company sees learning as a critical factor in adapting itself to meet changing consumer demands but meeting the training needs of such a widespread and […]

Case Study: Diversity Training at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust

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Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital Trust has run a series of diversity action-planning sessions for its Board/management executive and for over 100 senior managers, clinicians and professional staff from its 11 directorates. “In the past, diversity had been HR-led and we wanted to mainstream it throughout the organisation,” said Carolyn Norgate, the Trust’s Head of […]

Case Study: E-Learning at Asda

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As part of Asda’s overall blended learning programme, Thomson NETg is supplying over 300 targeted e-Learning courses, which are accessible to over 1,800 employees at Asda’s headquarters in Leeds via the company’s intranet.The implementation of e-learning is intended to meet the demand for a cost effective, flexible and tailored learning solution, which provides instant access […]

Army Training Goes Online

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British Army soldiers will be able to study online for a Certificate of Higher Education in Applied Management.The two-year part-time course has been developed for the Army in partnership with Newcastle Business School.It was designed to take account of the operational and management needs of senior non-commissioned officers along with skills that can be transferred […]

Student Mentoring ‘Could Bridge Skills Gap’

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Mentoring based schemes could provide a cost-effective way of addressing the UK’s skill shortage, according to the chairman of an organisation that links students with industry.East Mentoring Forum chairman Ken Lewis said that schemes such as his give students important industry knowledge while businesses gain fresh talent.Speaking at the Forum’s conference Mr Lewis said: “Technology […]