Leitch skills targets branded “wishful thinking” by CBI

Government skills targets have been branded “wishful thinking” by the head of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Richard Lambert (pictured), the director general of the CBI, says that the ambitions set out in the government commissioned Leitch report - that the UK should be in the upper quartile of OECD countries for skills by 2020 - are currently unattainable. View More >

Training company scoops apprenticeship award

Scotland based GTG Training has scooped the award for Learning Provider of the Year at the Scottish Modern Apprenticeship Awards. The Modern Apprenticeship programme is managed by Skills Development Scotland, which was set up by the Scottish government to improve the country’s skills performance and helps companies part-fund and train apprentices. View More >

Sector Skills Councils found to provide a 20-fold return on investment

Sector Skills Councils can achieve up to 20 times the return on investment in them, researchers have found. A report by business advisors Baker Tilly, which sampled four out of the 25 licensed SSCs, says the findings “show the depth, reach, and significant public benefit from the SSCs’ activities”. View More >

Public services suffering due to people management crisis

A crisis in people management is threatening the delivery of public services, according to a report released this week. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) says the sporadic and inadequate quality of front line management is resulting in high levels of absence and an inability to tackle poor performance in the public sector. View More >

Government highlights value of older workers’ skills

Older people bring skills and experience to the workplace and are an asset to business, the government says. Speaking at a Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) seminar in London on Wednesday, business minister Pat McFadden said older people's spending power could also boost the wider economy. View More >

Call for nominations for distance learning awards

The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is seeking submissions for its 2009-2010 Excellence in Distance Education Awards. The awards will be presented at the sixth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning in Kochi, India this November. View More >

UK organisations waste almost £10bn a year on poor training

UK organisations are wasting almost £10bn on ineffective training each year, according to research. The striking figure is the result of a study by KnowledgePool, a managed learning organisation, which found a quarter of all training fails to yield a significant performance improvement. View More >

E-learning company boss set to scale highest mountain in the world

The head of a Yorkshire training company is swapping his office shoes for climbing boots to scale the peak of Kilimanjaro later this month. Simon Hayhurst, who is the director of adult learning provider IB2K Ltd, will along with his father climb the world’s highest free-standing mountain in aid of Yorkshire Cancer Research. View More >

Developing middle managers tops L&D priority list for 2010, says new survey

Organisations are pouring their resources into employees with the potential to lead them into an uncertain future, says a new survey released yesterday (Tuesday). Rather than abandon learning and development in the face of the recession, organisations are looking to the long-term and making developing middle managers’ leadership and change-management skills a priority. View More >

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