How to Invest in Training like Team GB
At the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996, Team GB finished 36th in the medals table, between Ethiopia and Belarus. Twenty years later, and Team GB arrive back from Rio having finished 2nd in the medals table – behind only the USA. The extent and rate of the change has been remarkable. The athletic talent […]
Coffee briefing: Mentoring, neuroscience and the future of video
It's time to gather round and hear our picks of the week's L&D news and opinion – so get yourself a coffee and set aside 10 minutes to have a read-through. Let us know what you've enjoyed reading this week, and what you think of the articles we've shared below. Development – The new frontier for […]
An inconvenient truth: do open plan offices stifle creativity?
They say timing is everything. Our 2016 UK Workplace Survey (WPS) launched against a backdrop of huge political turmoil in the wake of the EU referendum. The UK’s decision to leave the European Union after 43 years – the so called ‘Brexit’ – polarised the nation, and the press exposed the uncomfortable, but obvious differences […]
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 […]
Why soft skills and managerial skills are important across the company
For many businesses, ensuring your sales and marketing staff are properly trained in soft skills is a high priority. However, many make the mistake of ignoring this same principle with staff in other areas. This can mean that valuable resource can be lost across the business due to a lack of efficiency, especially in the […]
Culture and storytelling – learning a key lesson
Robin Hoyle is a writer, trainer and consultant. He is the author of Complete Training: from recruitment to retirement and Informal Learning in Organizations; how to create a continuous learning culture both published by Kogan Page. Robin will be chairing the World of Learning Conference at the NEC on 19th and 20th October, 2016. Sometimes two completely unrelated events spark a […]
Consequences of not effectively tracking your training
At its best, corporate training is a great way to build skills, morale, and loyalty in your workforce and position your organization to achieve its strategic goals. At its worst, corporate training can be a minefield of wasted money and missed opportunity. Every organization has at least one war story about a training initiative that […]
Coffee Briefing: Recognition, language and the benefits of Slacking
Have you been keeping up to date with the latest L&D goings-on? Fear not if you've been too busy to scroll through Twitter or your favourites blogs and websites, we've done the hard graft for you! Here are our picks of the weeks news and opinion from across the industry – feel free to let […]
In praise of procrastination: the good, the bad, the ugly
Are you a procrastination PRO? As a matter of fact, I have never met anyone who never procrastinated in their life, including myself. I write and blog about personal effectiveness and smart working amongst other things, but after accepting Jamie’s [HRZone's editor] offer to write for HRZone about this very topic, I proceeded to postpone […]
The Learning Strategy Story: Larry’s New Job
This is the second post in the series. Please read the introductory post here. The New Job Brian and Larry were at the Starbucks in London Stratford Westfield Shopping Center. "Congratulations Larry, well done for your new job" Larry smiled back at Brian, "Thanks to you. I never would have got it. You know I […]
Coffee Briefing: Digital detox, resilience training and learning how to programme your colleagues
We hope you're sitting comfortably with your favourite beverage, because it's time for us to walk you through our picks of the week's L&D news and opinion. Let us know what you think, and feel free to tell us what you've also enjoyed reading this week. Tech – How technology benefits learning (eLearning Industry) – […]
Breakfast Insight: A Simple Model of Motivation
Breakfast Insight is your short dose of new ideas and food for thought, perfect to watch with your morning coffee. Today we're chatting to Carole Gaskell, founder of Full Potential Group. Contact or ask Carole a question on Twitter at @fullpotentialgr. Carole tells us about: The 'motivation as energy' argument – our 'inner fire' Why helping […]
Optimizing Mid-Year Performance Evaluations
Every company, partnership, firm, organization and government department has goals. Regardless of whether institutions are profit oriented or non-profitable by purpose and constitution, they are founded by a purpose and strive for the realization of particular goals. Any good company that rarely misses its goals lays emphasis on the specifics of its goals. It sets […]
The importance of a financial education
As a financial wellbeing company, we regularly see young people applying for our financial products. In fact, 40% of our customers are under 30 years old. Clearly, this age group needs better access to knowledge than they have at the moment, which will help them to understand and improve their financial situation. But a financial […]
5 Vital Negotiation Skills Every Sales Person Needs to Have
How successful a deal is typically all depends on yourself as a sales person and your skills in negotiation. If a negotiation goes well you could be looking at a lucrative deal that you’re really happy with but, a bad negotiation could lead you to a deal that doesn’t really provide you or your company […]
Book review: Under New Management – How leading organizations are upending business as usual
Burkus is no stranger to controversial approaches to business, having previously penned The Myths of Creativity: The Truth About How Innovative Companies and People Generate Great Ideas. It’s one I’ve already added to my Wish List for future reading, based on how engaging I have found his latest work. Burkus is not a sensationalist. He […]
The Learning Strategy Story – Introduction
Learning and development is a crucial part of medium to large organisations as there is a core belief that the most important resource in an organisation is the people. The aim of learning and development is to ensure people have the required skills and knowledge to do their jobs. This also ensures that if people […]
Evaluating sales training with Brinkerhoff’s Success Case Method
If you've been involved in commissioning or delivering training programmes, then you will hopefully have thought about their evaluation. Has the training made a difference? Did the participants find it useful? Did they learn anything? What was the return on investment (ROI)? When we evaluate training solutions we have to do more than answer the […]
Talent does not exist
With the European Football Championship going on in France right now, we can see the most talented players Europe has to offer on the pitch. Just like football clubs, companies are also looking for exceptional talent to join their team. But is there actually such a thing as talent? Not according to Anders Ericsson. This […]
Coffee Briefing: Slack, machine learning and why we should think slower
We've spent another week (well, two – everyone needs a holiday) trawling the internet for the most interesting and thought-provoking articles we can find. Let us know what you've been reading recently, and tell us what you think of the pieces we've shared in the comment below. Pull up a chair, here are our picks for […]
