Why "Adding Value"

Training budgets always seem to be under constraint, and with any worsening of market conditions they often feel the pinch first. In April TrainingZONE is looking at ways in which value can be added to training, and to training departments. We welcome contributed features, questions, answers, advice and opinion pieces.

What you do to improve the effectiveness and focus of training, and its impact on productivity? How important is learning management now, and how is it handled? How can the value of training to trainees be enhanced?

What constitutes best practice in running a training department? Training managers, how can you maximise the impact and the status of your department? What helps you to market your function internally?

What can training providers offer their clients to enhance the value and implementation of products and services? How can they stand out?

Among the issues we will be talking – and asking – about are accreditation, internal marketing, the provision of career development advice, tendering processes, TNA, tracking of training, and training support services.

Latest features

In a feature article, Nigel Wood, Business Psychologist at PMSL discusses what you should look out for when weighing up the pros & cons of booking a training course.

To make training more effective, training managers need to recognise that the needs, expectations and styles of candidates vary considerably, according to new research.

Should organisations appoint a Chief Learning Officer? Sue Harley suggests that training needs to emulate IT to gain influence and find ways to be more involved with business aims and strategy.

Sue Harley looks at the reasons and methods for evaluating the return on e-learning investments.

Viv Cole suggests five ways to get more out of your training budget.

The CIPD annual survey looks at expenditure and trends in training. How does your organisation compare?

Barbara Greenway sets out six straightforward steps to achieving effective and convincing ROI calculations, and so give stability and support to an organisation's skills strategy.

Claudine MacLean looks at how to create the right conditions within an organisation for coaching and mentoring to thrive.

Robert Chapman launches our series on Adding Value with ten tips for making training more effective.

Roy Davis addresses Adding Value in Training with some observations on best practice in training management, and Graham O'Connell has added an impressive list of the qualities required in good training managers.

Any Answers on Adding Value and Best Practice in training management

The government thinks it's the main priority in addressing national skills needs, but what are your experiences and opinions on implementing basic skills training? Let us know.

Implementing a graduate training scheme

Measuring success in coaching

Dealing with no-shows at training events

How do you stimulate interest in IT training?

Should trainers be expected to bring their own materials into a post?

How do you integrate e-learning and knowledge management?

Related news

Training managers are looking to focus development ever more accurately, and it appears they aren't the only ones. Government policy is to improve skills development by getting organisations to take a greater part in planning provision in their own regions and sectors. Margaret Salmon, Chair of the Sector Skills Development Agency, explains.

Michael Stark, head of Skills at the LSC, outlines the importance to skills provision of better information on current training patterns. What we need is a TNA of the whole country!

Feature Guidelines

For more details or to send your contribution, email the editor.

Our editorial policy is not to use material directly promoting an organisation or goods and services. However, we do include a link to contributors' nominated sites.

Length: 300-1000 words. People tend to scan read on the internet. It is a habit we are all developing in response to the massive amount of information available. So it's good to alert readers quickly to what you are going to put before them by using headings through a long piece, and splitting the text into relatively short paragraphs. People are accustomed to scrolling down to a point, but there is a limit to how much they are at ease with that, so pieces over 1200 words can work better split into two.

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