Why focus on engaging teams?
Now's the time to re-energise your teams for a more productive workforce, says Vernon Bryce. Of the many adverts using the latest 'must have' messages like 'you need', 'have you heard', 'the essentials of' and, 'new to our current ongoing portfolio of e-lessons', the words 'team', also 'engagement' must feature strongly in any of the […]
The art of learning: Why engagement is everything
I’ll give you an hour of my time, but will I give you an hour of my engagement? There’s a difference between the two and Julian Stodd wants to explore what it is. Sitting in the room or taking the elearning is not enough; we need learners to be engaged. But what does engagement mean? […]
Challenging Coaching pt5: How to hold accountability in coaching
Continuing their series on challenging coaching Ian Day and John Blakey, co-authors of ‘Challenging Coaching: Going beyond traditional coaching to face the FACTS’, take a look at how to hold the right people accountable. In our book ‘Challenging Coaching’ we introduce the FACTS coaching model to help coaches and leaders adopt a more challenging style […]
HRD 2012: Vox pops
Last week we made the short trip to Olympia for HRD 2012. This year's vox pops question: 'What's your top tip for engaging an increasingly diverse workforce?' bits://v/cwfsLgNI-JeYudoL6 For further info about HRD click here Last week we made the short trip to Olympia for HRD 2012. This year's vox pops question: 'What's your top […]
Getting in touch
Keen-eyed users may have noticed a recent addition to the navigation bar at the top and bottom of every page. While they’ve existed on the site in one form or another, we’ve brought the guidelines covering various aspects of posting and commenting together into one clear page to help with any potential queries you might […]
Make the most of getting out of the office
David Thomas of Spy Games shares some tips on how to make the most of getting out of the office… In light of the recent financial limitations, now is a good time to reappraise the value of team building and training activities. Too often, companies invest in rewards and development when times are good. […]
To engage or not to engage? Your choice
Forget management buy-in, what about employee buy-in? Cris Beswick talks us through ‘Hintrapreneurship’. I’d like to issue a challenge to HR practitioners; actively start encouraging ‘intrapreneurship’. There’s no suggestion here that this isn’t already being done but if it isn’t please start and if it is, please turn up the volume. It’s a term which […]
Social learning for sales effectiveness, customer engagement and better onboarding
Social learning can help boost a business in many ways. Naren Patil explores three areas that will help keep your business learning and growing. Why care about social learning? "80% of learning and knowledge transfer occurs through informal, tacit learning activities."The Business Impact of Social Computing on Corporate Learning, Carol Rozwell, Gartner In a rapidly […]
Focus on career development will help leaders build engagement
Demonstrating what a career in the organisation looks like can help leaders start to build engagement, says Elva Ainsworth. For business leaders, employee engagement is the Scarlet Pimpernel of the corporate world. Much talked of, admired and sought after, but very few can honestly claim to know, or at least agree on, what it actually […]
Coaching case study: rejection – the motivation killer
Our resident coach Richard Hawkes looks at how to tackle the issue of rejection. Let me introduce Barry. Barry has been working as the number two in a medium sized organisation for ten years. It has always been intimated that when Jeremy his boss retires or leaves, Barry will slip into the number one position […]
Leading through healthy selfishness
How do you lead stressed employees? Steve Knight says you have to get your own house in order before you can help others. In today’s productivity-obsessed and cost conscious workplaces, many employees are feeling emotionally disengaged from their organisation. Who can blame them? They’re rarely involved or considered in decision making. In fact, they’re almost […]
How to get people to listen to your podcast
Wakey wakey! Hannah McNamara gives us the essentials on getting optimum engagement from your podcast. Whether you’re creating a podcast as part of a mobile learning programme or to showcase what you can do as a trainer, it’s wasted effort if no one listens to it. Just as in live training sessions there are certain […]
Towards sustainable engagement
Tim Casserley explores the importance of personal purpose in engaging employees. The steady rise of ‘engagement’ as a way of capturing the hearts and minds not just of employees but of customers, local communities and other stakeholders has been mirrored by ever-decreasing levels of public trust in organisations. The past two years of […]
The leadership interview: Simon Cohen
In this month’s leadership interview, Mike Levy talks to Simon Cohen, CEO of global tolerance. The banking crisis and the subsequent global downturn have put the H word into the spotlight. According to Simon Cohen, that H stands for Honesty but it could also stand for a word you seldom hear in business life: Happiness. Cohen, a […]
How do you engage customer-facing employees to improve performance?
Educating and engaging staff within the workplace is key to improving performance. Ian Luxford offers tips on sharpening customer service skills at the front end. If outstanding customer service is a must for successful businesses today, it’s also one of the biggest challenges they face. Despite cuts in training, owing to the challenging economic climate, […]
Losing your grip on staff engagement?
Stephen Walker reviews 10 key ways to identify which of your staff feel less engaged and therefore less willing to work for your success. Every organisation has a mix of people ranging from a few star performers to fewer (hopefully!) marginally useful people with the majority of us in the middle. Equally the general environment […]
How to use embodied leadership to engage your employees
How do leaders maintain engagement of their key talent? How do you apply the ‘ecology of talent’ to business? Colin Reeve explores the idea of embodied leadership. In today’s fast-paced, impatient and often stressful world, leaders need to find a way of leading that liberates people to contribute their unique talents willingly – thereby giving […]
Nurturing your leaders
Marielena Sabatier discusses the merits of executive coaching to bring out the latent leadership skills and build team trust in your organisation. According to figures showing the economy grew by 0.1% in the last three months of 2009, the recession is officially over. However, for many businesses it doesn’t feel like it. With job losses, […]
Seasonal solutions: Training exercises with a festive focus
With Christmas almost upon us, we have trawled the Any Answers forum for the community pick of the best seasonal training exercises. The Christmas Panto ‘Annah’ suggested a fun panto exercise she has used on a project management course as a team building activity: “My aunt had the whole family around one Boxing Day and […]
I’m a trainer – get me out of here!
Being in a recession is a bit like being in a jungle – the more you look at it; the harder it is to see a way through! TV presenter Ken Hames tells Ruth Moody how expeditions have given him inspiration as a leader and a trainer. Ken Hames has spent years in the jungle […]