Management Learning with Style
Bob Selden, MD of the National Learning Institute in Australia, looks at how understanding individual learning styles can help managers tap into the development opportunities most suited to them. Training courses! The most recent had been termed “Management for Senior Officers” and had been a minor disaster – all psychology and how to be nice […]
Disparity in Personal and Organisational Definitions of Success
Managers across the UK believe there is a discrepancy between how individuals and their organisations judge success. According to the results of surveys conducted by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), managers achieve personal success by making an impact at work and developing their colleagues, but think their organisations are more focussed on market leadership and […]
Google: Recruiting and Developing Top Talent. By Sarah Fletcher
Google’s HR director Liane Hornsey spoke at the HR Directors’ Summit this week on attracting and developing talent. Sarah Fletcher reports. Unless you’ve been living like a hermit on a remote island with no access to the world beyond, you’ll be aware of Google’s meteoric rise since its launch in 1998. Speaking on Monday at […]
How Bosses Can be Good for Workers’ Health
New research has discovered a range of behaviours that bosses can use to prevent and reduce stress among their team members.Although the research has identified 19 key ‘stress management behaviours’ it’s so new that the relative importance of each has yet to be determined.Key behaviours include: managing workload and resources, having a friendly style, good […]
Ask The Expert: Compliance Training
What’s the most effective way to deliver compliance training, and how can you be sure that the staff retain the information? Mike Ditchburn offers his opinion. The question! am looking to implement a process where key compliance training courses (DPA, AML, etc) are attended by new starters within their first month and then they complete […]
Thriving Under Pressure By Dawn Smith
Stress Down Day on 1 February aims to encourage people to take small steps to reduce stress in the workplace. Dawn Smith looks at approaches to stress management training, and some of the barriers to success. Recent research from the TUC cited stress as the number one workplace problem, while the Health & Safety Executive […]
School Tables Reveal ‘Shocking Truth’ of Basic Skills
The latest league tables of schools in England show the “shocking truth” about basic skills, the director general of the British Chambers of Commerce has commented.Annual performance tables, released this week, showed that 45.8% of English pupils at key stage 4 achieved the equivalent of five GCSE A* to C grades when English and Maths […]
Development Key to Retaining Ambitious Staff
Ambitious employees expect to have to jump ship in the New Year, but better development opportunities could keep them where they are, according to a new poll.Research for Investors in People (IIP) shows that nearly half of employees (48%) feel they deserve to be promoted within six months, but 60% feel they will have to […]
The Way I See it: Train to Retain
Research from City & Guilds reveals that nearly a quarter of British businesses don’t have adequate structures in place to train and develop their employees. The Train to Retain report highlights growing competition from developing nations and recommends a simple way to maintain productivity: providing sufficient training and development opportunities for employees. Judith Norrington explains […]
‘Marital Disharmony’ of Managers and Staff
Relationships between employers and employees in many British workplaces resemble a marriage under stress, characterised by poor communications and low levels of trust, according to research released today.In turn this rocky relationship leads to under-performance, low productivity and high levels of staff turnover.The conclusions are drawn from a new survey of 2,000 UK employees commissioned […]
Lucrative Career Rewards for Apprentices
Time-served apprentices are likely to earn more money, stay longer with their employer and rise to a management job than people who don’t do an apprenticeship, according to a new study Career paths of former apprentices’ found that those who complete an apprenticeship earn an average £23,400 a year – nearly £4,000 a year more […]
The Way I See it: Quangos – Just a Merry Dance?
Quangos and other government-sponsored organisations can help companies source training and grants, but in the internet age is that enough? Simon Derry, director of Project Leaders International, argues that government quangos need to offer businesses something more. Last week I was contacted by a very nice person who wanted to set up a meeting to […]
The Promises and Perils of Talent Management Software
According to suppliers, software that helps you hire and develop the best people can reduce costs by up to 10%. Sally Flood provides some practical pointers on talent management systems. It’s a business cliché that your most valuable asset is your people, but one that is true for most organisations. So it’s not surprising that […]
Free Diversity E-learning Tool
In just over seven years, only a fifth of the workforce will be white, able-bodied, male and under 45, according to Acas, which today launches its first equality and diversity online learning tool.The e-learning focuses on sexual orientation and gender reassignment and aims to assess an organisation’s position and how any issues can be further […]
Appraisals for Room 101
Andrew Mayo, director of human capital management consultancy Mayo Learning International, looks at why appraisal systems so often fail to meet their own objectives and recommends getting back to basics. A recent IRS Study reported 78 per cent of organisations have made changes to their appraisal system in the last 12 months. One would think […]
Virtues of Talent Management Praised but not Practised
New research reveals that while well-designed talent management activities are almost universally believed to have a positive impact on an organisation’s bottom line, just half of the organisations undertook this form of development.The report Talent management: understanding the dimensions, from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), found that developing high-potential individuals (67%) and […]
Whole Organisation Approach Required for Learning and Skills Boost
A new report reveals that the most successful learning and skills strategies are those which involve the whole organisation.The report, Skills for Life and the Whole Organisation Approach published by unionlearn, says this approach enables all those in the workplace to develop their skills whether this is basic literacy and numeracy or at undergraduate level.Establishments […]
Is Blended Learning Old Hat?
Kay Baldwin-Evans, VP of Research at global online learning provider, SkillSoft, suggests that blended learning is now so widely used that it’s old hat. According to SkillSoft, the most advanced learning organisations are now focusing on do-it-yourself learning; ensuring that their employees have the right tools to be able to blend learning options themselves – […]
Book review: Change Management: a Critical Perspective
“As change becomes a constant in business life, there are also many elements to the book that will be useful for training management teams who are about to embark upon major organisational change.” Title: Change Management: a Critical Perspective Author: Mark HughesPublisher: Chartered Institute of Personnel and DevelopmentISBN: 1-84398-070-3Price: £32.99 (CIPD members £29.69)Reviewer: Sharon CooperI […]
The Way I See It: Preparing for Age Equality Regulations
Training consultant and project manager John Allan explains what business must do to prepare for the incoming age discrimination legislation. Back in January this year, I responded to the piece HR Radar: How are you handling age discrimination laws? with some thoughts on how to prepare for the age discrimination regulations. This described an awareness […]
