Why you need to stop focusing on efficiency
Working longer, harder and faster doesn’t always lead to bigger and better. Peak productivity isn’t a simple, linear formula whereby if we put more in we’ll get more out. The reality is, it’s more of a bell curve. If we keep using the same strategies to get more stuff done, if we keep pushing harder, […]
Building a SADEL Organisation: a look at teams
Building a Self-Directed, Agile, Digital, Exponential, Learning (SADEL) organisation is critical to survival in a digital world. In part 4 of a 5-part series, organisational behaviourist and learning strategist Kerryn Kohl takes an in-depth look at building teams in a SADEL organisation. In part 3 we explored the core of this framework, the mindset and […]
How to make the gig economy work for HR
There are some seismic and much debated changes going on in the way people want to work. Seismic is undoubtedly a big word but the evidence is compelling. For instance, it is predicted that by 2027 there’ll be more contingent workers than permanent in the US workforce. In the UK, 1.2million workspaces per annum are now […]
We know about IQ and EQ, but what about PQ?
A species evolves by developing new ways of understanding and responding to its environment. Over the last 20 years or so, the office-dwelling species has taken an evolutionary leap by recognising EQ alongside IQ. Prior to this, corporate employees were largely recruited, assessed and valued on the basis of their intellect… Then Daniel Goleman offered […]
5 Lessons I Learned My First Year of Freelancing
I always knew that I’d be a writer in some capacity. With that said, I also knew that I wanted to earn a steady income and acquire my own sense of financial security. Writing came secondary to my full-time job, but over the past year, I’ve been able to make a considerable side business in […]
Make your soft skills training programs mandatory
Should you make a training program mandatory? As project manager, I regularly chat with clients to help them implement an online soft skills program. In the first meeting about training implementation, I usually start talking about making the program mandatory. This is often seen as an obvious thing to do, but sometimes it meets with […]
Brain agility: maximise your learning investment and future proof your talent
Arie de Geus, Shell Oil, once famously said in the 80s ‘A company’s ability to learn faster than its competitors may be its only sustainable competitive advantage in the future.’ This quote has never been truer than it is today as organisations face one of the toughest eras of disruptive change – the fourth industrial […]
Four reasons why you should train your people out of their job title
We know that for today’s employees, the chance to learn and develop skills is becoming the most important factor in choosing a job. In fact, it’s been estimated that almost a third of employees think their skills are redundant now or will be in the next 1-2 years. So it’s no wonder that a report […]
Learning through the ages: making it work for all
One of the main challenges faced by UK businesses comes in meeting the L&D needs of their multi-generational workforce that takes account of their different motivations and learning styles. What we must increasingly consider is how to make training work through the ages. Increasing the skills of the UK workforce could generate £80 billion for […]
5 Tricks to Boost Team Performance & Increase sale
Better team performance and high productivity are the most essential contributors towards increasing sales and hence, revenues. The problem, however, that most businesses face is achieving required performance and productivity is easier said than done. One logical explanation to this is the majority of business owners or sales managers solely focus on the bottom line, […]
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 […]
Let us take L&D on a transformation journey in 2018
Something has to be said that has been said many times before: L&D needs to transform itself. We are in an age of constant business change and L&D needs to keep up. Better still, L&D needs to be helping drive business transformation, creating a culture of agility and continuous learning that ensures organisations are at […]
What should your talent management strategy look like?
Over the last 10 years there’s been an epic shift in talent management strategies. The silo view of each HR core function (i.e. workforce planning, learning and development, recruiting and hiring etc.) is slowly disappearing to be replaced by a holistic, integrated set of HR and talent management systems. But why? Companies worldwide are fighting […]
The benefits of training with CMI
Being the only charted professional body of leadership and management, the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) provides assurance that CMI qualifications are of the highest quality. If you are thinking about training with CMI, take a look at the following ways a CMI qualification will give your career, your employees, or your team a boost. Every […]
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 […]
How to energise your entire workforce
Most learning and development professionals know that a highly-engaged workforce will perform better – in fact, 50% more according to the report ‘Engaging Hearts and Minds’ by Hay Research Group (2015). But how can you tap into that energy that will ignite the fire within your people? The missing ingredient to most engagement programmes is […]
Big data is affecting your Business – Need to know
There can be no doubt that in today’s digital-heavy world, data is king. It has an impact on so many aspects of our everyday lives, and with the Internet of Things concept gaining traction, big data isn’t going anywhere. With so much data being produced and distributed – IBM estimates that 90% of today’s data […]
Key Trends and Best Practice for L&D in 2018
With the New Year nearly upon us, training and development professionals alike are preparing for 2018’s key L&D trends and best practices. Learning and Development is a key factor for businesses alike and (as discussed in our previous blog) must keep up with modern adaptations such as VR/AR, mobile technology and social learning tools to […]
What common mistakes do new managers make?
It is an invigorating experience to be in the presence of a newborn manager, when they tend to approach their promoted roles with much enthusiasm. They demonstrate an eagerness to get stuck in, and to prove themselves to many people: to prove their abilities; that their seniors made the right decision by choosing them for […]
Avoiding burnout at work
We’ve all either experienced it, witnessed it or been on the receiving end of it. The one too many late nights or weekends working, the pressure to meet never-ending deadlines, the juggling act to keep the plates spinning in the air whilst you swap hats between being boss, leader, work colleague, mother or father, sister […]
