Spotlight: We Shine the Light this Week on Graham O’Connell
Graham O’Connell is the first member of the training community to step into the Spotlight, a regular feature which we’ll be running in the Insider Wire. Read on and be inspired by his words of wisdom. Name: Graham O’ConnellAge: 53Job title: Head of organisational learning & standards at the National School of Government, which is […]
Ten Top Tips for Balancing Work, Study and Family Life
Bob Bradley, CEO at Computeach, says that the new year is a great time to review elearning strategies. He’s come up with his top ten tips for stress free learning. Here’s his handout which trainers can give to anyone signing up for elearning in 2008.1. Wake up half an hour earlierThirty minutes isn’t a great […]
Adopting the Mindset of Success
How, as a leader, can you lead with strength and dignity, passion and compassion? Ali Stewart, a licensed practitioner of Leading & Developing High Performance, developed by Dr Derek Biddle, explains this approach.What do high performing leaders actually do on a day to day basis? What happens to the team when you are a skilled […]
Top Ten Reads of 2007
TOP 10 FEATURES IN 2007 Training difficult people was the favourite feature of the year, with over 11,300 hits, with an article on elearning hot on its heels, with over 10,000. To read the hottest features of the year again, click below. And don’t forget, I’d love to hear your suggestions for features in the […]
The Rise of the ‘Boss Idol’
Far from loathing bosses, 80% of workers admire them, according to a new survey.Peninsula, an employment law service, quizzed 1,873 employees and 76% said they had a great boss, whilst 62% of respondents felt their boss is a good role model and someone that they would like to aspire to.However, it isn’t all goods news, […]
Vox Pop: Training: How Do You Keep the Flame Burning?
It’s Valentine’s day and love is in the air, but what special something makes TrainingZONE members stay loved up with their jobs? Sarah Fletcher asks how they keep their passion for training alive. Rich LucasWhat I love most: “I guess it’s the adrenalin rush I get when presenting, having a participating group. Having people contact […]
Trainer’s Diary: The Big Picture
When facing a barrage of questions, it is easy to doubt your own ability to communicate. Byron Kalies offers this reassuring tale. A long time ago a colleague was running his very first consultancy session. It was particularly stressful for him as he was training a group of economists in team building over two days. […]
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 […]
Humour: Confessions Of A Suspicious Sickie
Caught drunken, disorderly and in possession of a fast food uniform, our members reveal their horror stories about when sickies go wrong. Their cautionary tales could just make you ill… Wine, women and … burgers“This is why I’ve never pulled a sickie in my life after the first! “I was working for a nameless burger […]
Training Trauma, Training Triumph
From British anti-nudes to swapping wives for donkeys, it’s been another wonderful week. Join us as we look back over the best stories from the past five days. Triumph: For Blair’s IT ignorance Tony Blair has admitted that he “struggle[s] to do more than switch on a computer”, the Metro newspaper reports. This is an […]
Training Trauma, Training Triumph
Training is a bit like drinking a vat of coffee and eating an elephant’s weight in sweets – the high is a buzz of frenzied energy, but the comedown can be enough to have you curled in a ball crying at the sight of sugar. From cyber milk to left handed heroes, it’s been another […]
Training Trauma, Training Triumph
In this new Friday column, we look at the week’s stories that have made us either triumphant or traumatised. TrainingZone invites you to jump aboard the emotions rollercoaster and see for yourself.Triumph: For northerners – If it’s “grim up north”, our pay packets certainly aren’t feeling sad. Working in Yorkshire, Scotland or the North East […]
The Brain Bath?! Becomes a Self Help Guru
Self-service, self-medicate, self-make – there’s no need for the middle man or ahem lady any more and self-help is no exception. According to training body, Effective Training and Development our bosses’ reliance on self-help is weakening leadership skills, resulting in a nation of weak managers to boot.Diane Ingham Cook of the training organisation said: “Leadership […]
The Brain Bath?! Says: Size Matters
If you’re going to make it in training, size matters. Seeking that promotion in a box of chocolate éclairs, however, is not going to cut it, this is not a license to eat your way up the career ladder – it’s your office place, not your waistline, that shows success.According to recruitment consultancy Office Angels, […]
The Brain Bath?! Hears Your Working Hours Horror Stories
The TUC stages its Work Your Proper Hours event today, 24 Feb in response to findings that five million UK employees work unpaid overtime and to mark the occasion we asked our members for their horror stories, including extra hours, exploitation and prison cells. Here are some to make us glad we work in the […]
The Brain Bath?! Is Afflicted By Meetingitis
It’s was no great shock when the journal Group Dynamics: Theory, Research and Practice revealed this week, what we’d known all along: managers spend most of their days in meetings, meetings are getting longer and more frequent.A test of 37 volunteers found that the more time they spent in meetings, the more tired and stressed […]
The Brain Bath?! Is Hit By Cupid’s Arrow
If you’re brushing up on those lurvvvve skills in preparation for the big V-day then don’t miss this week’s Couch with hot tips on how to be romantic and loving with those that know you best – your work colleagues.According to a nationwide survey of 1,000 employees we’re in love with being in love – […]
The Brain Bath?! Asks: Is your boss a seagull?
The Brain Bath?! is amused to hear that bosses haven’t evolved as much as is commonly believed from our roots in primitive ancestry – indeed when we look at the David Brents of the world it can be believed. Recruitment outfit Office Angels quizzed 1,500 office workers and revealed that 93% of UK managers can […]
The Brain Bath?! Gives Your Job to the Baby
The Brain Bath?! team was excited to learn about McDonald’s new plans to allow family members to cover each other’s shifts.Relatives working in the same restaurant will be able to swap shifts as they choose, without first attaining management permission or giving prior notice. Whilst not all of us are lucky enough to work in […]
The Brain Bath?! Takes Time Out
As keen multi-taskers, the Brain Bath?! team were interested to learn that more than a quarter of us are so short of time that we now eat breakfast at our desks.A survey of more than 2,000 workers, conducted by pollsters 72 Point on behalf of the Travelodge hotel chain, found that two-thirds of weekday breakfasts […]
