Archive for the ‘General Learning & Development’ Category
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Social Networking Inside Organisations
Friday, August 28th, 2009
I’ve spent the last few years fairly well engaged in the various social networking sites and have been using live chat programmes for even longer. There is no doubt that generally people like to know other people’s stuff and keep in touch, however strong or loose the connection might be. The explosion of sites such [...]
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When is it time to stop developing?
Friday, May 15th, 2009
It’s great that in all this doom and gloom of recession, job cuts, bankruptcy and MP’s expenses there are still companies who continue to develop their people. After all, we’ll need all these well trained staff and fantastic managers and leaders when the upturn comes! So, the other week I was running a leadership programme [...]
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Edge of the Box Thinking
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
Innovation Happens at the Edge By Tom Stevens (c)2007 In a knowledge-driven economy, chances are greater than ever that the value you offer comes from making use of expertise. Conventional wisdom will tell you that you get the best from your expertise by deeper learning your field, by keeping up with new developments and understanding [...]
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Why You Should Study The Best Leaders
Sunday, March 1st, 2009
Good leaders learn from the best. Why? Because you can see further on the shoulders of giants. In the business world, the best thinkers are often labelled “gurus”. But who are the best? What exactly makes someone a guru? How and why do you apply the best ideas of leading thinkers to your situation? This [...]
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The Courage To Be Extraordinary
Sunday, March 1st, 2009
“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” – Peter F. Drucker At a recent networking meeting, I had the opportunity to hear Pernille Spiers-Lopez speak. Danish born, Pernille immigrated to the United States about 26 years ago as a young woman. After a few jobs that didn’t pan out for her, [...]
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The Problem with “Touchy Feely”
Sunday, March 1st, 2009
There is no term that communicates quite so much irrevocable dismissal by managers in the business world than labeling an action or activity, “touchy-feely.” It is the most prevalent way of discarding information about people. The term suggests all those really icky “hygiene” demands of employees, dealing with the stuff of relationships in the workplace [...]
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Are you still “sheep dipping”
Friday, February 27th, 2009
It is a sad fact that many employees are still being subjected to the age old training ritual of “sheep dipping”. This is a process by which employees are “refreshed”, “cleansed” and “re-invigorated” by ensuring they attend set training courses or, perhaps, are placed on the ubiquitous “refresher” course. This refresher course is, of [...]
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Training – A potential waste of money?
Friday, February 27th, 2009
I regularly look at what local training companies are offering in the way of coaching and sales courses and I noticed recently that a local provider was now providing a “Management Development Programme” spanning eight half days and covering eight management subjects from “team leadership” through “coaching others” to “delegation” amongst other topics. The eight [...]
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Getting a return from training
Friday, February 13th, 2009
In 1959, Kirkpatrick1 first outlined four levels for training evaluation:
reactions – ‘liking or feelings for a programme’
learning – ‘principles, facts etc absorbed’
behaviour – ‘using learning on the job’
results – ‘increased production, reduced costs, etc’.
For the next 45 years the evaluation of training moved on very patchily in terms of research and new ideas, and poorly in terms of practical application. In 2007, however, the CIPD produced a new ‘partnership of learning model’ which emphasises the need for all those involved in learning interventions actively to play their part.