Rethinking Your Employee Benefits For Better Retention Rates
Benefits packages play a very large role in employee retention and satisfaction. Perks and benefits are so important that in a 2015 survey conducted by Technology Advice. 56% of respondents reported that they would be willing to forgo a salary increase for certain benefits. If you find yourself combating high employee turnover rates, a look […]
Your people, your differentiators
How do you see your people? Are they paper shufflers and process followers; part of that vast army of ‘heavy-on-the-costs’ entities which are tolerated at least until the machines can take over? Or are they the centrepiece of your organisation, the guardians of the culture and the drivers of differentiated innovation? Unnecessary question? Well, even […]
Politician analysis: Donald Trump
Donald John Trump, the man that Barack Obama has recently labelled “unfit” to be president of the US could potentially hold that very office on Tuesday November 8th 2016. We ask, how does a man who is widely reported to be brash, rude and more than a little economical with the truth, get to be […]
Believe in leadership
How much do you believe in leadership? Do you see it as a destination or a journey, a right or a privilege? Do people engage with you because of your title or because of who you are and what you can bring to the organisation? It’s a question which sits at the heart of leadership. […]
Book Review: Designing The Purposeful Organisation
Clive Wilson’s Designing the Purposeful Organisation is a striking and compelling argument for placing ‘purpose’ at the heart of every organisation. Told in an almost personal narrative style, the author’s voice resonates throughout, embedding the key message that ‘for organisations to be successful, they must be purpose-driven’. Although arguably a simple enough premise, Wilson guides […]
Coffee briefing: Brain maps, negative feedback & talent management at Disney
It's time for another of our weekly updates on the news, opinion and blogs from across the world of L&D, we hope you're sitting comfortably! We're really enjoying your feedback on the series, so do let us know what you think in the comments or over on Twitter, and feel free to tell us which […]
Coffee Briefing: ‘Modern work’, Pokemon Go and the power of unconscious communities
Here we are, ready to start your week with another helping of L&D news, blogs & opinion. Grab your favourite hot beverage and get comfortable – here's your weekly briefing of what you may have missed… Culture – Round-Robin brainstorming (Mind Tools) – Unconscious communities (John Wade blog) – Why 'Modern Work' culture makes people […]
Coffee briefing: Flow Theory, storytelling, & leadership across cultures
We've got a slightly breezier round-up for you this week, but hopefully no less interesting. Here are our picks of the best news & opinion from across L&D and beyond – enjoy! Leadership – Meet the 31-year-old who mentors the CEO of a $44 billion company (Business Insider UK) – What leadership looks like in other […]
The five stages of Brexit
If you want to know how resilient we are as a nation, you only have to look at how quickly we went through the five stages of grief when the result of the Brexit referendum was announced. There was little time for denial as the results came flooding in from counting stations across the country. […]
The psychology of innovation
Okay, let’s roll our sleeves up, sit down and talk business. This is just between you and me so we can be honest with each other. So tell me, have you ever stopped to wonder about how so much of strategy planning seems to take place on the intellectual (move pegs around the board) level? […]
Coaching – a partnership of trust
Whether in the sporting arena or in the office it is all too easy to see the coaching relationship in terms of hierarchy; between someone who needs help and someone who can provide the answers. Whilst that level of relationship may work on certain superficial levels, the best coaches operate on an entirely different plane. […]
Improving Your Decision-Making Strategies – 5 Tips
In 1979, Bill Gates was 23 years old and looking for someone to invest in Microsoft for about $30 million. Ross Perot turned it down as “unreasonable.” Obviously, years later, Perot told The Seattle Times, “It was the worst decision I ever made.” Other poor decisions have been made by “big boys” in the corporate […]
Ignore managers at your peril! Your L&D strategy won’t work without them
Managers are a crucial link between the business and employees but how many organisations focus in on them when designing or deploying learning strategies? In this article Stephanie Morgan of Bray Leino Learning looks at how L&D can leverage the relationship with managers to develop more impactful interventions. If you're interested in getting to grips […]
Leadership development: a leap of faith?
Justin Hughes writes on issues relating to team and organisational performance. A former Red Arrows pilot, he is now Managing Director of Mission Excellence, a consultancy focused on improving clients' execution – their ability to close the gap between what gets talked about and planned, and what gets done. Justin previously spent 12 years as an RAF […]
Managing Creative Talent – Training Exercise Needed
I am running some leadership development sessions for a marketing agency. One of their problems is managing really creative people. They have a high turnover of staff and often lose talented people to competitors, clients or other agencies. Most of the executive team have good delivery or creative skills but not so good man management […]
Three reasons why building from within builds customer service heroes
Business growth creates new staffing opportunities but it can also bring recruitment challenges. Think about the lengthy notice and inductions periods, for a start. Strong succession planning provides a more seamless process and ensures a bank of motivated individuals who are ready to step up when needed. They are immediately up to speed and in […]
Growing business? Grow your people
As a leader, what are you doing to grow your people? No, we’re not talking here about sticking them out in a field and hoping that with the right soil and the right water they will suddenly become more proactive, more innovative or more engaged. Having said that, with the Glastonbury festival on at the time […]
Building on strength
Your people are your greatest asset. This may be a cliché, it may even be one which is overused but have you ever stopped to think what it means in practice. After all, your assets are things which you use to make the business work or to represent the worth of the business but should […]
Coffee Briefing: Positive psychology, learning networks & the potential of QR codes
Welcome to the first week of (questionable) British summertime! We've got another handy round-up of L&D blogs, news and opinion for you to peruse over your coffee break. Let us know which articles you've enjoyed reading this week, and let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Leadership – 'Power over' and 'power to' (Anne […]
Leadership, bullfighting, the Pope & spectatorism
‘Spectatorism is a modern disease from which many suffer. Symptoms include a stubborn refusal to act, combined with a strong preference for observation and criticism rather than participation…’ ‘Among spectatorism’s victims are those academics and writers who like to theorise rather than take part…’ The above quotes (and the final one below) were from Luke […]
