How to make my training program mandatory?
In my previous article, I discussed how making training programs mandatory boosts participation, causing participants to learn more and put this into practice. Despite the fact that some clients find this scary, practice shows me that participants don’t nearly mind as much as their managers expect. The question is: how to make sure your training program […]
Promoting employee wellbeing
Are your people advocates for success? In particular, what steps are you taking as an organisation to encourage, empower and engage your people? The good news is that UK business must be doing something right. Engagement is very closely linked with productivity, a measure which has caused considerable disquiet since the financial crash but which […]
How to turn digital learning content into revenue
With so much information freely available online, are there ways of harnessing your digital learning content to generate financial returns for your organisation? After working on just these challenges for many years, I’ve noted what I think are the top five opportunities that may give you a few useful ideas: 1. Sell your updates, training […]
Change is Emotional
People sometimes question why we use so much story in our training materials, and why we put so much emphasis on emotionally engaging learners, rather than simply delivering facts and figures, in what some consider a more ‘academic’ way, with supporting PowerPoint. Well there’s a simple answer to this. We’re not interested in delivering information; […]
Risk is a state of mind
Leading an organisation can sometimes feel a bit like a game of snakes and ladders. You aim to be successful, to lead your organisation up those ladders towards growth and profitability and success whilst avoiding all those potential pitfalls which can see your hard work come to naught. And let’s face it, those potential pitfalls […]
Use learning as a perk and see your people and your business grow
Integrate learning into your rewards and recognition offering and you will see a learning culture grow within your business, argues Rajeeb Dey, CEO of Learnerbly. If I mention employee rewards, or perks, what springs to mind? Many employers will think first of financial incentives and bonus schemes, or maybe they’ll point to the most traditional trade-off for […]
Is L&D forgetting about the learner?
Learning strategies, business alignment, new technologies, analytics, budgets, stakeholder engagement… the list of things we need to be considering in L&D goes on. We now need to juggle more than we ever have before, and while this is exciting and brings great opportunities, it doesn’t come without risk. In our efforts to provide great ROI, […]
How To Turn Your Employees Into Brand Ambassadors
Every company wants their employees to be good representations of their brand when they’re on the job. However, it’s even better when your employees are bonafide brand ambassadors who praise your company and act as walking advertisements even when they’re off the clock. Turning your employees into brand ambassadors isn’t about forcing them to meet […]
Taking the pledge on gender diversity
In February 2018 the Chair of the Treasury select committee, Nicky Morgan, wrote to 33 financial services firms calling on them to sign the Women in Finance Charter*. Originally drawn up in 2016 the charter represents a joint commitment by HM Treasury and the financial sector to work together in order to deliver gender balance […]
“But it’s different here!”: Helping learners to embrace the new
I wish it wasn’t true, but I’ve heard it too many times to be able to ignore it… “Ah, but things are different here at XYZ ltd.” Or “That’s all very interesting, but it’s an idea from the private sector and we’re a charity.” Or “Here in the public sector, we have very specific ways […]
How to enhance training and development аt work
It is quite expensive to fund training and development programs for employees, and it can be frustrating when the desired results are not achieved. In many cases, the training and development programs do not promote the propagation of valuable information in the workplace. In many organizations, the managers discover that it is quite difficult to […]
In a leader’s world, let’s champion the manager
There’s a new and worrying trend in our industry – the denigration of “management” in favour of “leadership”. Comparisons of the two like to contrast – for simplicity – a controlling, top-down, authoritarian management style with a humble, authentic, self-aware leader who inspires others. But hold on, we need good managers. They’re the ones who […]
The Best Ways to Avoid Burnout At Work
Burnout: physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress. Today, burnout is one of those hot buzzwords floating around every trendy professional sphere. We’ve all heard about it, we’ve all talked about it, but most of us still don’t really know what to do about it. Burnout is a serious epidemic, one that continues […]
Ulrich Boser: The 10 commandments of ‘learning to learn’
TrainingZone reports on the key takeaways from bestselling author and educational journalist Ulrich Boser’s opening address on day two of Learning Technologies 2018, which took place in London in February 2018. In day two’s keynote, Ulrich Boser explored how people really learn, arguing that ‘a lot of the conventional wisdom on learning is wrong’. Both in […]
Pensions: Is your best and most costly employee benefit your least appreciated?
The government’s recent review of auto-enrolment found that 12 million workers are not placing enough importance on saving for their pensions. When it comes to engagement analysis, the government’s review was particularly enlightening, offering guidance covering ways in which employers can refocus pension engagement strategies to encourage a higher level of adoption and lower level of drop […]
How to include the whole team in your company blog
Is your company blog usually reserved for special announcements from the CEO? Or do you outsource blogging completely? While both of these approaches are common, learning to include the entire team in your company blog is an excellent way to improve your content and show staff that you value their opinions. Staff who feel valued […]
Why video is your saving grace in 2018
As early as 1982, Shepard and Cooper made the connection linking visual cues to the memory process and the recall of new knowledge. Later, in 2006, Allam observed that the use of moving images and sound made communicating a topic engaging and insightful. This was confirmed by the boom of video over the past decade. […]
Starting Every Session with Fresh Energy
It’s tough not to get burnt out when you’re teaching the same thing for the thousandth time. It’s even harder to bring fresh energy to a group when the last one’s negativity has dragged you down. Anyone that’s been doing this for long enough, sees the ebbs and flows of training. The good doesn’t stay […]
Survey: What’s stopping employee engagement?
We often hear about employee engagement statistics being stagnant – its not increasing despite all the effort companies are making with social and CSR events, development and internal communications etc. So, what is holding employee engagement back? Please take our short anonymous survey (approx 15 minutes) and let us know what you think. Let me […]
To lose one employee….
January 2018: Plans for the year are in place; you have devised a training scheme which will develop the skills needed to deliver the plan and everything is on track. Then the first resignation letter arrives, followed by another and another. All of a sudden your hopes for the year are thrown into disarray in […]