The art of closing – feature
This feature was contributed by Gavin Ingham of Performance Coaching International. One of the questions I often get asked as a sales coach by sales people, brokers and customer account/relationship managers alike is, “How do I close sales better? What closing techniques would you recommend?” In my experience, closing is one of the three most […]
Small Business Council recommends incentives for training
The Small Business Council has produced its second Annual Report, which includes some interesting reflections on national training policy. Ths Skills section opens with the declaration: “The current system is not working because the educators largely decide the type and quality of skills provision that is available. The Government needs to stimulate a demand for […]
Employers to get more say on training policy and management development
Adult Learning and Skills Minister Ivan Lewis has pledged that employes will get more control over moves to tackle skill shortages in their sectors, as part of the further expansion of Sector Skills Councils. Mr Lewis also praised the leadership shown by employers spearheading the five trailblazer Sector Skills Councils set up so far. Education […]
Public speaking: ‘daunting but essential’
According to research by The Aziz Corporation, 67 per cent of company directors find public speaking their most daunting business activity. 45 per cent find addressing a large conference difficult, compared to 26 per cent who are bothered by reviewing financial data and 15 per cent preparing business plans. However, despite this widespread fear of […]
WOLCE preview
This year, WOLCE’s 10th anniversary sees a change of name, reflecting a change to encompass all channels of professional learning: it’s now the World of Learning Conference and Exhibition. The event comprises a two-day conference and exhibition with an evening Gala Dinner Ceremony (after dinner speech by England Rugby Captain, Will Carling), for this year’s […]
Management training is inadequate and suffers from poor attendance, finds survey
According to a survey by learning innovator Cambridge Online Learning, UK businesses are wasting up to 20% of their training budgets due to employees failing to attend designated business courses. Over half of those organisations who calculated wastage admitted to losses (which could total somewhere between £217m and £871m per year), and only a fifth […]
Demand for unskilled workers falls
The CBI and Mercer Human Resource Consulting annual survey of employment trends shows 29 per cent of firms will recruit fewer people without qualifications over the next three years. But demand for well-qualified people will grow, with 47 per cent of firms expecting to take on more graduates.According to government data, the UK has around […]
Why management training isn’t working
Gail Brown, the managing partner of ExecPlus, looks at the current state of management training. What was your last management training course like? Let me guess… you got given a case study, you took on the roles of the characters (with the regulation embarrassed giggling and shuffling), the rest of your group pulled you to […]
Bespoke versus off-the-shelf? Weathering the economic storm – opinion
Ian Steward, associate director, CMG Training, shares his view about whether there is a real slowdown in training spend. During boom times when organisations had money to spare, few had call to review the effectiveness of the training strategies they had in place. However, when things started to take a turn for the worse, the […]
Languages: recruitment v training – feature
Catherine Cook, founder and managing director of Inter-Monde, looks at the advantages of training in languages above recruiting. The world is unarguably becoming smaller, with globalisation dragging the continents closer together with every new advance in technology. Companies are finding themselves competing on a much smaller battlefield against increasing armies of competition. As cultures assimilate, […]
Shortage of graduates with sufficient skills
A survey conducted amongst 104 HR Directors/graduate recruiters and sponsored by Park Human Resources and the Guardian has given a snapshot of recruiters’ dilemmas. A decline in the quality of graduates has caused recruitment difficulties Thirty percent of recruiters felt that recruiting the right calibre of graduates had become harder over the past 12 months. […]
Job-related training – opinion
This letter from Mr George Edwards was first published in The Times. Sir, Britain is not entirely “lagging on job-related training” (report, early editions, July 31). The recent report from the Adult Learning Inspectorate refers predominantly to government-funded National Vocational Qualifications and Key Skills. Most employer-funded training, which is widespread and thriving, at least in […]
How do employees rate leadership?
‘Lessons in Leadership’, a survey commissioned by consultants Opp identifies a common failure by leaders to match employee expectations.Main findings– Only four in 10 respondents are satisfied with the quality of leadership in their organisations.– Trust is key to good leadership,with 69 per cent of respondents believing this to be an absolutely essential quality. Yet […]
Training: To levy or not to levy?
The long-running issue of whether companies should be required to pay a training levy raises its head again in the Scotsman.Writing for the publication, Keith Aitken takes a look at some recent research undertaken by Dr Christine Greenhalgh for the Institute of Fiscal Studies, which compares the systems in France, where an employer training levy […]
Action Learning: a practical guide – review
Title: Action Learning: a practical guideAuthor: Krystyna WeinsteinPublisher: Gower, 1999Format: Paperback, 256 pagesISBN: 0566080974Buy this book from the TrainingZONE – Blackwells bookshop.This book is just what it says it is a practical guide on action learning. It provides, in a straightforward style, very good coverage of the subject, which will be of benefit to anyone […]
Colleges respond to ALI report on work-based learning
In response to the Adult Learning Inspectorate’s report, Judith Norrington, Director of Curriculum and Quality at Association of Colleges, commented: “This is the first time that 3,000 private training providers have been subject to the same public inspection demands as colleges. While inspection reports so far show that 95% of lessons in colleges are satisfactory […]
LSC gets poor review from IoD
The Learning and Skills Council for England (LSC), has made little impression in its first year, according to the Institute of Directors (IoD). The IoD policy paper, Skills, reports the results of a survey of 302 IoD members.Results– The LSC or one of its 47 local subsidiaries had contacted just 13% of IoD respondents. This […]
IoD calls for more plumbers and fewer media studies graduates
In a new policy paper the Institute of Directors has called for several major reforms to the education and training facilities in this country.Main recommendations include:– the replacement of the one size fits all secondary school system by a clearly selective system with a proper vocational pathway developed alongside a tightened-up academic pathway– the scrapping […]
Engineering sector moves towards a skills council
The Sector Skills Development Agency has approved the first expression of interest for SSC development. The proposals came from employers in the engineering, science and engineering technology sectors and involved a high level of employer support and financial commitment from all parts of the proposed sector. Following the announcement, Christopher Duff, chief executive of the […]
LSC chief calls for confidence in training policy
John Harwood, the Chief Executive of the Learning and Skills Council said today that for the sector to achieve the step change in participation levels it must create the confidence for that investment to take place.Mr Harwood said that raising participation of 16 – 18 years olds to over 90% was the vision of the […]