New year, new horizons: harnessing enthusiasm, managing expectations
How L&D professionals can support employees’ resolutions.
How bringing nature into the office improves wellbeing
Bringing nature into our work environment can improve productivity.
Time management training: five ways to get people to really change their habits
Five ways to manage your time better in 2020.
The new rules to leading people through change
Five rules for leaders to implement effective change.
TrainingZone’s 10 most popular articles in 2019
Find out which TrainingZone articles caught the attention of your L&D peers across the year…
Who owns your organisation’s objectives?
One of my favourite bits of the year is getting the team together for our annual review and strategic planning. In recent years, we’ve combined this with our Christmas party, which provides a nice celebratory climax to proceedings. The team is spread between Cumbria, Gloucestershire, Cornwall and Devon, so these events provide a priceless opportunity […]
Values vs the Customer Experience
I’ve been in dispute with one of our suppliers. It’s a rare event that causes the frustration that sometimes results in tweets that make me appear slightly more cantankerous than Victor Meldrew and slightly angrier than Mr Trump on one of his angry tweet days. (I’ve realised that I really only use my personal Twitter […]
Directors need training too
What skills do you need to be a successful board director in today’s agile environment? Some skills such as leadership and communication almost go without saying, being intrinsic elements of a lifelong learning commitment which leads towards a position of responsibility. However, there are other skills which are equally important but perhaps do not receive […]
Employee experience: the value of feeling valued
Show your people what they’re worth.
5 presentation mistakes to avoid as a presenter
It is widely quoted that as many as 30 million PowerPoint presentations are delivered every day, whereas the application itself is installed on over 1 billion computers. This by no means is a figure worth marveling over, since the quality of presentations made using PowerPoint and other presentation applications has been the center of much debate, […]
Stress Awareness Day: why stress is the enemy of creativity
In the early 1990s, I used to write adverts for those new-fangled internet businesses. Most of them had the same promise: “Our technology will do all the hard work for you, so you’ve got more time to do what you enjoy!” The clients wanted us to show images of people relaxing or playing golf or […]
VIDEO: how to prepare for difficult conversations
How to avoid firing off emails in the heat of the moment.
Forgetting ‘normal’ – showcasing the positive differences of dyslexic team members
One in 10 people in the UK is dyslexic, myself included. I’ve experienced first-hand so many outdated attitudes towards dyslexia and other learning differences. Yet I feel proud of the innovation and creativity dyslexia allows. Dyslexia is classed as a disability - which automatically generates preconceived notions of the person suffering from it – “you’re […]
Employee onboarding: is compliance killing your L&D brand?
Learning and development has a real image problem. A training department’s first contact with staff is often dreaded compliance, as part of an uninspiring induction, and that’s what L&D will be remembered for. Yes, compliance is necessary, but don’t lead with it – build a relationship with your people first. If you did a straw […]
Communication skills: annoying workplace phrases to avoid and what to say instead
It’s no wonder we’re confused. We’re told to be diplomatic and efficient at work, but when we try our efforts seem to have the opposite effect, alienating and annoying rather than enlightening and appeasing – so what’s going wrong? According to an academic study on global communication skills and its relationship with emotional intelligence by Jadhav […]
VIDEO: how to set challenging goals
“I lived in Hong Kong for ten years, and while I was there I set up a dragon boat team called The Sea Gods. We were a fun team, and we did a lot of drinking! We were a group of friends. When we started we just paddled, and over about just three or four years we got a […]
Recruitment Agencies for Trainers
Does anyone know of any recruitment agencies that specialise in placing/finding jobs for Trainers and/or Freelance Trainers? I'm finding it difficult to locate any.Thanks& Regards, Riti Patel Does anyone know of any recruitment agencies that specialise in placing/finding jobs for Trainers and/or Freelance Trainers? I'm finding it difficult to locate any.Thanks& Regards, Riti Patel
How your personal style makes an impact on your brand
As training professionals, most readers here will understand the impact of first impressions. When entering a room of learners or meeting a prospective client, you’ve got a very short time in which to win them over. In fact, research suggests that first impressions are made in just seven seconds. Within that time, people have already […]
The new languages of virtual working
From discussing progress and having annual reviews to booking holiday and asking questions about a task, face-to-face conversations have always taken preference. With the rise of the gig economy, however, and businesses looking to reduce costs, more and more people are working remotely, making these conversations arduous. How, then, can business managers effectively communicate with […]
Why managers need to learn to be impartial
One of the biggest pitfalls for leaders and managers in business is a rock-solid belief in their own impartiality. Long experience and intimate knowledge of situations and people mean they must know best. It’s a problem when it comes to relationships and diversity – in how different types of people are perceived and treated; when […]
