The latest L&D news, reports, research and updates, personally compiled by TJ’s Editor, Jo Cook. This week: Cyber cover-up issues, apprenticeship confusion, first aid gaps, and Copilot’s mixed impact reviews all feature, plus a four-day week pilot that boosted morale – but still got the ministerial cold shoulder. Curious? Read on.
Companies aren’t cantering training in their goals, but they need to, report says
As companies move to focus on sustainability in their supply chains amid disruptions, only 12% of nearly 700 of the world’s largest companies have at least one change goal focused on people, according to a study released last week by the World Resources Institute. Additionally, only 3% have goals related to investing in worker skills, the study said.
“Your lack of LinkedIn profile is killing your opportunities” says TJ Editor
If your digital body language, AKA your LinkedIn profile, how you show up on Teams, even your chat style, isn’t credible… trust can evaporate before you’ve even spoken.
Jo Cook, Editor of Training Journal, is the guest speaker on the free webinar ‘Is your digital body language killing team trust?’ for managers of remote and hybrid teams, that trust gap can damage collaboration, influence, and performance.
Nearly half of workers feel they’re stagnating, SurveyMonkey data shows
43% of workers said there are “little to no growth opportunities” at their current job in a SurveyMonkey survey of more than 3,500 full-time employees conducted in late July and early August.
Generation Z led in dissatisfaction, with only 28% saying they were satisfied and content with their current situation. Thirty-eight percent of millennials and 47% of Gen X workers agreed. Gen Z was also most likely to jump ship for another company, SurveyMonkey found.
Forget productivity – energy is the real KPI for meetings, says new survey
A new survey of U.S. knowledge workers from Funmentum Labs has flipped the script on what makes a meeting great: it’s not preparation, not productivity, and not even purpose. It’s energy — and more than half of employees say shared laughter and spontaneous creativity are the fastest way to get it back.
Key findings reveal:
- Only one in three employees say their meetings are excellent
- Less than half (47%) say work meetings make them feel energised
- 37% feel joyless and drained, blaming too many meetings that go nowhere
Inefficiencies in career pathways cost the U.S. economy an estimated $1.1 trillion annually
Pearson and Cognizant announced a global strategic partnership aiming to accelerate early-career development, strengthen mid-career transitions, and equip the global workforce with the skills needed to thrive in an era of rapid AI-driven change.
A recent study by Cognizant and Oxford Economics projects that AI could reshape up to 90% of existing jobs, while driving as much as $1 trillion in annual growth for the U.S. economy by 2032.
Concealing cyber-attacks risks penalties and trust, compliance expert warns
As nearly 70% of UK CISOs face pressure to conceal security incidents and breaches, one of the UK’s leading compliance experts warns how this could risk regulatory penalties and erode trust.
The warning comes as discussions around tougher cyber incident disclosure rules gain momentum, with Marks & Spencer chairman Archie Norman recently urging mandatory reporting after two major UK cyber attacks allegedly went unreported in the past four months.
Lack of clarity around the responsibility for conducting assessments in apprenticeships
Lifetime Group has launched ‘Blueprint or blind spot: how will foundation apprenticeships play out for the learner and the employer?’ exploring employers’ perspectives on foundation apprenticeships. The publication follows the August launch of the first foundation apprenticeships, designed to build employability skills in 16-21 year olds and contribute towards addressing skills and youth unemployment crises, whilst increasing opportunities in key sectors such as health and social care, software and data, and engineering.
A third of employees anxious about lack of first aiders in workplace
New research from health charity St John Ambulance shows that a lack of trained workplace first aiders is causing feelings of anxiety among employees. The study reveals that almost three in ten (29%) employees have experienced times when no one present in their workplace was first aid trained.
Concerningly, of first aid trained employees, over two in five (43%) have reported being the only person on site with first aid skills, meaning that if they were to have an accident or emergency at work, there would be no one available to help them.
Copilot saves staff time but does not improve productivity, DBT pilot finds
An evaluation by the Department for Business and Trade of Microsoft Copilot, involving 1,000 staff, found that it saved most users time but did not find evidence that the large language model artificial intelligence (AI) tool improved productivity.
The study found that users undertaking written tasks made the largest time savings, but those scheduling and generating images spent longer than they would have otherwise. This was usually because Copilot was not able to produce high-quality outputs or because the task was only taken on because users had access to the tool.
Read more on our sister publication PublicTechnology.Net.
Minister rules out four-day week despite pilot finding productivity and wellbeing benefits
Scotland’s public finance minister, Ivan McKee, has ruled out the possibility of the Scottish Government moving to a four-day week, despite a pilot programme finding that switching to a shorter working week brought both productivity and wellbeing benefits.
The percentage of staff feeling “very satisfied” with their work-life balance rose very sharply, from 4% pre-pilot to 84% nine months in. It also found 83% of staff reported a “very positive” or “positive” impact on stress (meaning a reduction in stress) and 98% believed the pilot had led to a “very positive” or “positive” improvement in motivation and morale.
But McKee said the Scottish Government and its agencies “will not be moving to a 32-hour week”.
Read more on our sister publication Civil Service World.
