NEWS: BAA’s new training service takes off
BAA and Capita Learning & Development have signed a Managed Training Service contract that will see them deliver learning services to approximately 13,000 staff across BAA’s UK airports.With over 300 learning service suppliers, BAA chose Capita L&D to implement a Managed Service that will significantly rationalise their supplier base. Implementing a range of innovative services, […]
Learning 2009: Mission critical
Drawing on research by the ASTD, Gordon Bull argues that for their own, and their organisations’ survival, learning leaders must be more business aware. This article looks at the importance of L&D during a recession and what learning leaders need to do to help their organisations survive the downturn. It is a certainty that many […]
Leadership development takes centre stage at HRD 2009
Leadership and leadership development dominated the HRD conference and exhibition last week. Neil Davey reports back on why it has become the burning issue – and what the speakers had to say about it. Earlier this year, CIPD research indicated that the vast majority of training managers believe that the development of leadership is the […]
Networking: A great tool in the bid for survival
Roy Sheppard has some practical pointers for great business networking, which, he says is essential for survival in these recessionary times. Mark is 22. He works for me as a freelancer. Recently he casually asked “So, what is a recession exactly?”That’s when it really hit me. A huge proportion of younger workers have no experience […]
Video: Professor Cialdini turns his persuasive skills to training
Master of persuasion Professor Robert Cialdini discusses why UK businesses need to improve skills training.Prof Cialdini, author of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, says that businesses that continue to invest in training during recession fare better during the downturn and eventual upswing. Master of persuasion Professor Robert Cialdini discusses why UK businesses need to improve […]
The engaged learner
If staff are unmotivated and unengaged then that will have an impact on learning. So why is the motivation of the learner so often overlooked among L&D’s assessment and evaluation? This is Nigel Paine’s diagnosis. I read recently that 69% of adults of all ages in London are bored! I have no idea of how […]
Diary: And now for something a little bit different
As the new restructuring beds down, training manager and diarist Nathaniel Wallace faces up to the challenge of providing some innovative learning solutions in 2009. He starts by hiring a trainer who is just a little bit odd… We have reached the final lap of the financial year. Heads and senior managers are putting the […]
Eight ways to provide support during IT upgrades
When employees are faced with a new software package they can find it incredibly frustrating when they are no longer able to carry out simple tasks. This is particularly problematic with large-scale implementations, which are often phased, leading to a significant time-lag between training and everyday use. Mike Summers argues that businesses are failing to […]
Best read features of 2008
It’s that time of year when we reflect on the highs and lows on TrainingZone.co.uk in 2008. Here’s the list of what grabbed your attention most on site in the last 12 months. Most of the features in our top reads have been written by our own staff – experienced feature writers Louise Druce, Verity […]
2008: That was the year that was…
2008 is a year few of us will forget in a hurry. But as the credit crunch rolls into recession, it has been interesting to hear so many voices stress the importance of investing in skills. So how has L&D fared over the past 12, turbulent, months? Rebecca Midgley asked some key industry figures about […]
Agenda: Spread a little happiness
In these gloomy times it is perhaps not surprising that research suggests the majority of staff are miserable at work. So what has this to do with L&D? Far more than you may first imagine, says Nigel Paine. The writer and presenter Robin Sharma talks about five different kinds of wealth. Only when you possess […]
A week in training: Education and Skills in the spotlight
It’s all about education and skills this week following the landmark Education and Skills Act 2008, Sir Alan Sugar signs up to back the push for apprenticeships, Universities Secretary John Denham’s University Challenge looks set for success and a new report suggests women may make better leaders than men. Almost a decade after last addressing […]
A week in training: The £65m skills booster
This week: there’s a £65m pot for boosting skills in science, manufacturing and engineering, managers show support for extending flexible working to all, learndirect launches an interactive game to boost literacy and numeracy, and staff show a lack of trust in their senior managers. £65m skills boost for science, manufacturing and engineeringSemta, the sector skills […]
A week in training: A vision of the C21st trainer
As an L&D professional are you firmly rooted in C21st? Find out how the CIPD would view you as it presents its vision of the modern trainer. Meanwhile the government invests millions in advertising Train to Gain and it turns out that coaching doesn’t always mean a lucrative contract. CIPD sets out its vision of […]
A week in training: Beat the bullies
This week: Studies paint a worrying picture of bullying in the workplace. The almost 50% of workers claim to be, or have been, bullied, while managers and organisations seem largely ineffective in dealing with it. Elsewhere, the government pledges yet more money for skills and MEPs vote against the UK’s EU working time directive opt […]
A week in training: The skills to survive recession
This week: More evidence that training and development is the key for companies wanting to survive the recession, the CIPD warns of redundancies to come and the CBI highlights the advantages for business of working with universities to boost skills. As the recession bites harder, a new Nurturing Talent report from Cranfield School of Management […]
Agenda: What’s innovation got to do with training?
In the days of recession, creativity and the ability to come up with new ideas are set to be more important than ever for organisations to survive the downturn. What has this got to do with L&D? Well, just about everything says Nigel Paine, who reviews here a new book on the subject: Innovation to […]
A week in training: Will cash strapped councils axe training?
The collapse of the Icelandic banking system may well have some unexpected effects with warnings that, in the short term, cash-strapped councils may have to suspend their training initiatives in order to pay staff wages. Skills minister David Lammy left his post in the recent cabinet reshuffle warning employers they could still be hit by […]
Modern apprenticeships: Dream v reality?
Gordon Brown’s apprenticeship drive appeared to be the shot in the arm needed to help seal the skills gap but is the continuing economic downturn, looming redundancies and mountains of red tape jeopardising the government’s apprentice dream? Verity Gough investigates. Whether it’s the latest national academy opening or impressive statistics indicating that the government […]
A week in training: Innovation, what innovation?
This week’s round-up includes Train to Gain turns two, news of delegates compulsively consulting their smart phones, preliminary findings from a trainer rates survey and the CIPD finds that management innovation is low on the priority list for many businesses. Management innovation ‘not a business priority’A CIPD study of 500 senior managers found that organisations […]
