12th May 2016

We’ve had some great conversations this week with our industry colleagues from across the UK and abroad who attended the CIPD Learning & Development show. Here are the top lines of 3 recurring themes:

  1. Uniting people in their differences
  • sustained high-performance relies on people’s emotional and social intelligence, their readiness to compromise and see others’ point of view,
  • teams perform better when they have the “I’m ok, you’re ok” attitude, are able to suspend judgment and listen to each other without jumping to negative conclusions,
  • many teams are made up of people from various cultural backgrounds with different personalities, some even work remotely, so it’s important we all embrace diversity instead of just paying lip service
  • teams need strong leaders and managers who lead by example, and are given training rich in useful tips and techniques on e.g. rapport, peer-to-peer coaching and self-leadership etc.
  1. Staying relevant
  • organisational competitive edge is a result of high quality customer engagement, the optimisation of the use of technology and continually improving “working smart” processes,
  • L&D programmes which support transformational engagement release new thinking, break down the departmental silos in real-time and increase innovation,
  • employees feel appreciated when given professional development but it then disrupts their busy diaries so they mostly enjoy experiential and jargon-free training which directly and instantly supports their immediate and medium term goals.
  1. Spending L&D budget wisely:
  • the L&D professionals are inundated with offers from many great suppliers so as a client – be clear on your selection criteria and the outcome you want,
  • ensure that your chosen supplier understands your company’s values, goals and any pressure points expected in the near and long-term future,
  • meet the people who will actually provide the training, assess if their style and personality is a good fit with your employees, preview and test all online content if applicable, ask for a complimentary session if in doubt,
  • work with suppliers who “walk the talk”, listen to your needs, are flexible, give you time and space to consider the options and are transparent about how they will measure the return on your investment,
  • finally, engage with suppliers you feel comfortable with and who will support you throughout the programme whilst co-creating great results – there is a lot we can learn from and inspire each other in this industry!

Have a great rest of the week and please feel free to email us on info@lazarusandmaverick.co.uk with any questions.