Transport company picks up award for innovative training using local actors

A Scottish public transport company’s cultural change training programme has scooped the 2009 Arts and Business People Development Award. Translink walked off with the gong for its You Are the Difference programme - aimed at bus drivers and inspectors of Metro, Belfast's public bus service, which was designed and delivered by Echelon Learning. View More >

What would management be like if staff chose their managers?

Workers should be able to choose who manages them, according to an award-winning training company. Henry Stewart of Happy People, which specialises in organisational development, claims such a move would improve employee engagement, motivate staff and increase productivity, as well as highlighting who the good managers are within an organisation. View More >

Organisational development spreads to Malawi

Harrogate-based organisational development consultancy, Primeast, has expanded its operations to Malawi in South East Africa. It is now working on opportunities with a number of African businesses and NGOs in the region including UNICEF. View More >

Hostile staff and bad leadership: the challenge for change management

Hostile, uncooperative staff are one of the largest barriers for businesses attempting to manage change, a study has found. This combined with poor leadership and cautious, bureaucratic work cultures leads to “reduced profitability and competitiveness” according to researchers from Lane4, a leadership development and coaching firm. View More >

Award winning manufacturer reveals training ethos

An award winning manufacturing company has opened its doors to visitors to show them how training and employee personal development are the keys to its business success. Power Panels (PP) Electrical Systems has won a raft of Cranfield School of Management Best Factory Awards including Skills Development and Factory of the Year awards in 2008. View More >

Training programme turns company around from brink of closure to benchmark site

A staff training programme has been credited with saving workers jobs in the North East. Three years ago a Chesapeake packaging site in Tyne & Wear was earmarked for closure. Following restructuring an agreement was reached with employees that saved the plant but left morale in tatters. View More >

High skills jobs needed for low carbon future

The first-steps in Britain’s transition to becoming a green economy were announced by the government this week. The plans for moving the country to a low-carbon economy are part of the government’s strategy for getting the UK out of recession by creating more ‘green’ jobs. View More >

L&D practitioners urged to "step up" to challenge of organisational development

The boundaries between learning and development (L&D) and organisational development (OD) will continue to blur as learning is embedded into the way organisations work, according to Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development research. The findings, from a CIPD survey of 4,500 people developers, are backed by OD consultancy Echelon, which says that L&D professionals have to “step up to the plate” to ensure the training they deliver develops specific competencies required for an organisation to succeed. View More >

L&D professionals urged not to fear Generation Y

L&D professionals should not fear Generation Y as they share many similar values to previous generations, according to the award-winning head of people development at British Telecom. Caroline Waters (pictured) scooped the HR Director of the Year Award at the HR Excellence Awards this week and says Generation Y, considered to be people born between 1980 and 1995, have fundamentally similar aspirations to Generation X and the Baby-Boomers - but use different ways to communicate and learn that must be adapted to. View More >

Interim solution for skills shortages

Customer Consulting Ltd (CCL), a change management company, has launched an interim division providing staff to organisations facing skills shortages during the recession. The company, which specialises in customer and change management is drawing on its pool of some 350 consultants, each averaging around 20 years experience, to help businesses and their teams make the most of their internal resources. View More >

Recession nearly over says skills commission

The recession is almost over according to the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES). UKCES chief executive, Chris Humphries, made the comments during a speech to L&D practitioners at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s (CIPD) Resilience through Recession conference in London yesterday (11/06/09). View More >

US leadership guru honoured at awards

The American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) yesterday honoured organisations and individuals that made an outstanding contribution to workplace learning. At a ceremony held in Washington DC, John Kotter (pictured), rated by BusinessWeek in 2001 as the top leadership guru in the US, collected a lifetime achievement award. View More >

Are you telling staff your main business aim this year is survival? It's not good enough, experts warn

Businesses need a “cause greater than just survival” if they are to sustain employee engagement during the economic upturn, warn leading HR practitioners. David Smith (pictured), formerly of Asda and Philippa Hird, formerly of ITV, were speaking at the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development’s (CIPD) HRD conference in London on Wednesday. View More >

Companies urged to embrace Web 2.0 to engage staff

HR is suffering a credibility crisis because it has not addressed the big agenda of innovation, according to a panel at the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development’s (CIPD) HRD conference in London. And employers wanting to engage fully with their staff must embrace Web 2.0 technology now, or risk losing contact with employees, warned Graham White (pictured), director of HR at Westminster City council. View More >

B&Q scoops worldwide employee engagement award for the third time

People working at B&Q are among the most engaged employees in the world – for the third year running. View More >

UK must innovate to survive recession

The UK needs to embrace emerging markets to survive the recession, NESTA has warned. View More >

Business transformation and HR consultancies merge

Complete alignment of their client bases, values, ambitions and commitment to good service has prompted the merger of Business Synchronicity (BSL) and Adept People Solutions (APS). View More >

Staffordshire acquisition aims to improve individual potential

The Aspire Housing Group has bought training company Project Management in a deal announced this week. Project Management, which helps disadvantaged young people in north Staffordshire find work, will retain its own identity within the Group and will operate as a social enterprise. View More >

Talents and skills of all needed to ride out recession, says minister

The talents and skills of everyone in the UK must be used to the full if the country is going to weather the current economic storm, says the government. The new UK Commission for Employment and Skills has to work to make the most of the abilities of every single person in our society or the country will find it much more difficult to survive the tough economic conditions. View More >

"Avalanche of redundancies" warning from the CIPD

A rise in interest rates could trigger an avalanche of redundancies later this year, economists are warning. The Bank of England is due to announce its latest decision on interest rates today (10 July) and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is predicting that, if rates rise, there will be serious repercussions for the jobs market. View More >

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Change News

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