Is there such a thing as free open source quality training materials? On an ASTD thread (http://tinyurl.com/2kl2sa) today I caught up with a discussion on free course material. The debate was an interesting one and where one individual raised the comparison with the software market – where great programs like Open-office etc are available free. So having reflected I wondered if this could work for the training and consultancy fields. Open source – would it work for training … [Read more...]
Friday Fun – LEAN working, Agile, and proactive leadership #408 #ff
LEAN working, Agile, and proactive leadership. A little something before the weekend: Friday Fun - LEAN working, Agile, and proactive leadership #408 #ff This cartoon has been produced by Jon Carter www.cartertoons.com with thanks … [Read more...]
Friday Fun – Employee Retention, People stay for the people they work with #407 #ff
It is said that in Employee Retention, People stay for the people they work with. A little something before the weekend: Friday Fun - Office humour, cartoon - Retention, people stay with bad jobs because the value their colleagues #407 #ff You know, This work is misery, but I really like the people I work with. This cartoon has been produced by Jon Carter www.cartertoons.com with thanks … [Read more...]
Director of oomph
Does your business have a director of oomph? For a business to be successful not only must it have a marketable product, but it needs to be effectively led and managed. Many larger organisations lack ‘oopmh’ within. In our experience many organisations would benefit from ensuring that all staff were not only fully engaged but that strategies are put in place to create a level of oomph to motivate and encourage productivity. A director oomph may be recruited from anywhere in the … [Read more...]
Friday Fun – Employee of the month award #406 #ff
Employee of the month award - A little something before the weekend: Friday Fun - Office humour, cartoon - Employee of the month award #405 #ff They finally gave me the employee of the month award, but it kind of loses its meaning when every single other employee has already gotten it five times. This cartoon has been produced by Jon … [Read more...]
Friday Fun – going the extra mile #405 #ff
Going the extra mile - A little something before the weekend: Friday Fun - Office humour, cartoon - Analogue and digital workers #405 #ff Here, you can see is where we went the extra mile, breaking the space time continuum This cartoon has been produced by Jon Carter www.cartertoons.com with thanks … [Read more...]
Diagnosing organizational culture
Today I read a thread on Diagnosing Organizational Culture, where someone was asking for recommendations on tools to use to undertake this task. If you are only looking for isolated culture tools then the following should be considered (in no particular order): Diagnosing Organizational culture – Harrison Denison Organizational Culture Survey – Denison Corporate Culture Questionnaire – SHL The Creatrix – Byrd (http://www.creatrix.com/ ) looks at the culture for innovation and … [Read more...]
Friday Fun – analogue & digital workers #404 #ff
A little something before the weekend: Friday Fun - Office humour, cartoon - Analogue and digital workers #404 #ff You've done a good job for the company Roger, but we need someone who's a little less...analogue This cartoon has been produced by Jon Carter www.cartertoons.com with thanks … [Read more...]
Friday Fun – Employee suggestion schemes and engagement #403 #ff
A little something before the weekend: Friday Fun - Office humour, cartoon - Employee suggest schemes #403 #ff Management have been reading more books on employee suggestion schemes This cartoon has been produced by Jon Carter www.cartertoons.com with thanks … [Read more...]
Assess the health of your business – FAST!
Assess the health of your business As the economy stays tight for many businesses, now is the time to carry out a health check to look at what is and what is not happening in a healthy way. Its easy to focus on the day-to-day, but taking a short amount of time to work on the business rather than work in the business can pay dividends. Many smaller firms talk to their accountants on a regular basis, and sure this can help, but its not just financial health you need to keep an eye on. While … [Read more...]
Friday Fun – Data and Customer Intelligence #402 #ff
Friday Fun - Office humour, cartoon - Data and Customer Intelligence #402 #ff Cartoon - I brought Simmons here on board to use his powers of levitation on our customer intelligence This cartoon has been produced by Jon Carter www.cartertoons.com with thanks … [Read more...]
Marketing template & plan for small businesses
Small company marketing audit Many training, consulting and professional services firms make an assumption that marketing will take care of itself. It won’t! We need to periodically look at what we do and plan our approach. Every now and again it is worth looking at your business, what you do and where you do it. This simple tool will provide you with a basic structure to review your marketing activity and what it is doing for you. Where is your business now? – Current position of your … [Read more...]
Friday Fun – Company Vision #401 #ff
A little something before the weekend: Friday Fun - Office humour, cartoon - Company Vision #401 #ff In terms of vision, this company has lost its way. Is anybody here good with google maps? This cartoon has been produced by Jon Carter www.cartertoons.com with thanks … [Read more...]
TNA template – Training needs analysis for "common business needs" and skills
Training needs analysis for "common business needs" and skills Identifying training needs or identifying learning needs are topics we are often asked about. To help individuals undertaking TNA or LNAs we have developed a series of templates to act as a starter for you. Often the content of the needs analysis template may be all you need, however, we do not know your particular organization or culture. Use these templates as a starting point. Not all performance issues can be solved … [Read more...]
The Priming Power of Advanced Organisers or Before you train – priming people
Before you train - priming people by Joy Wilson - Spectrain Recently I received a book in the post from an old and learned friend. It came with a note which said “read this prior to our next meeting and we will discuss”! I studied the front and the back cover and felt confused – how did book relate to me? Have I read the book – No, I have found no reason to! Reasons for Learning Think about how we embrace opportunities to learn and develop, it’s a little like choosing a self help … [Read more...]
Employee Retention & Alumni Solutions for talent management programmes
Lots of organizations run leadership, talent and graduate development programmes. How can we increase the opportunity of employee retention after participation in a development programme? many provide a 1 year development programmes and wonder why people leave the organization 2-5 years later. The following was recently asked on a social group: Hi Everyone, I was wondering if anyone has any experience with setting up an Alumni Strategy for employees who complete any type of talent … [Read more...]
Post graduate education and books – are we throwing away knowledge?
In many professional fields like Accountancy, Human Resources, management etc it is common for professionals to take qualifications. These qualifications may be essential to become registered with professional associations, institutions or just because they are expected in the job market place. Many of us spend thousands on these courses over several years. They are a significant investment in both time and money. We often buy valuable resources such as books and other tools to help us … [Read more...]
Could Millennials’ New Approach to Sales Help Improve Your Organisation’s Results
The performance and effectiveness of sales teams should be a topic of serious concern for most sales organisations. After all, research published by CSO Insights in its Sales Performance Optimization Study shows that the percentage of salespeople achieving quota has declined year-on-year since 2012, while revenue plan attainment fell from 89.2 percent in 2012 to 82.7 percent in 2015, even in spite of greater adoption of sales enablement strategies. Some have blamed millennials for this … [Read more...]
TNA template – Managerial and Office Skills Training
What do you look for when doing a Training Needs Analysis for office and managerial skills? Identifying training needs or identifying learning needs are topics we are often asked about. To help individuals undertaking TNA or LNAs we have developed a series of templates to act as a starter for you. Often the content of the needs analysis template may be all you need, however, we do not know your particular organization or culture. Use these templates as a starting point. Not all … [Read more...]
Difference between team working and team building
So what is the difference between team working and team building? Are they 2 phrases for the same thing? I have seen the terms used interchangeably in articles and in the workplace, but does that help or hinder? In our article on collaboration how is it different from team work we explored the definitions of some terms. It often helps to start with some commonly accepted definitions: Definition of Team Working Team Working, The earliest definition I could find is: Source - … [Read more...]
