Holistic learning: engaging the mind in learning
How to create learning experiences that mentally engage learners to generate changes in the brain.
Personal development: five ways to improve your critical thinking skills
Rapid technological change has created unique and complex problems to solve, which means critical thinking is now an important skill to nurture – but what are the main traits of a critical thinker? How can you awaken your skills in this area? Lots of people throw around the term ‘critical thinking’, but seem to use […]
Power to the people: creating a learning culture to reach every learner
The rise of the machines is upon us – technology is already changing the way we do business. Companies where employees aren’t adequately trained for this new working environment will soon find themselves left behind. We’re in a time of widespread disruption across the workforce. The development and rapid adoption of technologies such as automation, the […]
Soft skills: the four cornerstones of a great conversation
I believe that the most important things that happen at any organisation are conversations. They are the reason we innovate, collaborate, sell, lead, coach, change, succeed, or fail. A salesperson who struggles to have meaningful customer conversations, a leader who is misunderstood when implementing strategy, or a manager who prefers to avoid coaching conversations are […]
Questioning Skills Exercises/role plays.
Hi, I know it's a bit of an old one this, but I'm going to be running some half-day sessions with some recruitment people who need to enhance their questioning skills as a means to understand their client's needs. I need to get them to be asking questions – a lot – in order to […]
Learning culture: six ways to tell if your employees are learning
Your efforts to create a culture of learning within your organisation are worth nothing if your employees don’t truly embrace learning as part of their everyday activity. Here’s how to tell if the message is really getting through. In every facet of a business, there is a need for continual development and any employer needs […]
UK skills gap: are Institutes of Technology the answer?
The government’s new Institutes of Technology are a step in the right direction for plugging the UK’s skills gap, but there are some key elements missing that must be addressed to ensure their success. The government recently announced that it is creating 12 Institutes of Technology across the country. Backed by a £170 million investment […]
Train, don’t torture: how to avoid another boring, useless training session
Many employees view skills training as a waste of time – so how can you engage and inspire these people and ensure they take something useful away from your session? Skills training is a proven draw for talent, yet it remains a source of dread for many busy workers. Common concerns include: ‘how will I […]
Do we always need learning analytics – or is gut instinct a valid approach?
Learning analytics is essential to assessing the impact of L&D solutions on the performance of both learners and the business. But is there a time and a place for going with gut instinct too? In my opinion, before any major learning programmes take place, data should be collected to inform any decisions about the actions that […]
Learning at work: how to persuade stakeholders and employees of the importance of continuous learning
On Learning at Work Week 2019, we look at some of the common impediments and objections to implementing training in the workplace and how L&D professionals can overcome them and secure buy-in from management and employees alike. A robust learning and development programme is a cornerstone of every successful organisation, especially in the current unpredictable business […]
It’s all about the numbers: how to help your teams have the confidence and ability to develop numeracy skills
Ahead of National Numeracy Day – which takes place on 15th May – KPMG and other leading businesses have joined National Numeracy in calling on the UK business community to help improve the nation’s numeracy skills. Here are five ways L&D professionals can help with this positive drive. Research shows that an estimated 18.5 million […]
Complex diplomacy: how to deal with conflicting demands and information overload
In today’s fast-paced world of work, there is a constant need to negotiate a compromise between conflicting demands across multiple projects. But by implementing the right strategies and not succumbing to the desire to multi-task, project managers and team leads can successfully rise to the challenges of the digital age. Tight deadlines, limited budgets and […]
Getting Your Team Stoked for L&D Success
As a leader and guiding force of your company, you likely have all the usual sound reasons for implementing programs of learning and development. For the health of your business, a focus on training rather than hiring employees is key. When you consider that it can cost up to nine months of an employee’s salary […]
Skills training: why the distinction between soft and hard skills no longer matters
The line is blurring between soft and hard skills, so is it time we came up with a new way of thinking about how we train employees? Appreciation for soft skills always lagged behind the status of technical qualifications and, in the past, those who specialised in the training of soft skills might not have […]
Learning analytics: why we need to get better at measuring performance
Measuring the impact of learning and development programmes is about so much more than the traditional ‘ROI’. Here are some other ways L&D professionals can prove their worth. We’re at a pivotal moment in UK history. In the face of political uncertainty, a rapidly evolving workplace, and trends like automation and artificial intelligence transforming how […]
Three benefits of peer-to-peer learning
Employee-to-employee – or peer-to-peer learning – is something that’s increasingly important in today’s workforce. It’s a great way of developing skillsets, and can be done in-house with all the necessary tools to hand. But, why are more organisations still not utilising its power? Given the ‘war for talent’ is a never-ending fight, businesses have to […]
How to get businesses on board with learning and development
Many businesses are failing to invest in employee training for a variety of reasons, but this can prove a costly mistake. Here are the four most common objections to investing in learning and development and how to challenge them. A third of businesses in the UK do not offer their employees any time for training […]
How to build a sustainable learning strategy
There is a huge skills gap in the UK, but instead of looking to solve it by bringing in new staff, companies need to consider the long-term investment of training their existing workforce. We regularly see influential business people and economists speaking out against myopic strategies. In the last three months, we’ve seen CEOs Warren Buffett and Jamie Dimon […]
How to become more proactive and less reactive
Being a proactive person isn’t just about getting things done, at its heart it should mean taking affirmative action within strategic parameters. Most people, if you were to ask them, think of themselves as being pretty proactive. We have so much choice, information and freedom now, coupled with a strong sense of individuality. We operate within that cozy bubble […]
Instilling a culture of continuous learning
Imagine a world in which all learning stopped when you reached a certain point. There would be no more training courses, no more personal development programmes; just an endless conveyor belt of repetitive tasks stretching into an unchanging future. But what about promotion, what about moving to new jobs, what about responding to customer demand […]
