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The one-page brief that could save your next training video
Creating effective training videos takes more than just good filming and editing. Liam Mead shares five essential questions L&D teams should answer before production begins, from defining learning objectives and understanding audiences to managing approvals and deliverables, helping organisations avoid costly mistakes and create videos that genuinely support workplace learning. What if your training video is destined to fail before anyone even picks up a camera? Organisations can spend considerable time and money producing polished, professional learning videos, only to…
Change doesn’t need more intensity, it needs more precision
Organisations often respond to mounting pressure by adding more activity, yet execution suffers when people are overwhelmed. Dr Ravinder Tulsiani argues that effective change depends on precision, consistency and reinforcing a small number of critical behaviours in real work, helping leaders turn urgency into sustainable performance rather than organisational noise. AI is making many CEOs feel that slow adaptation is no longer a strategic inconvenience: It’s a survival risk. Move fast or fall behind. Therefore, responses become predictable. More investment,…
Corporate training is broken and immersive learning could fix it
What if better workplace learning meant less instruction and more experience? Jo Living challenges traditional approaches to L&D, arguing that meaningful behaviour change comes through practice, reflection and real decision-making. From poker simulations to immersive experiences, she explores how organisations can bridge the gap between knowledge delivery and workplace performance. Companies invest billions each year on learning and development, yet much of it fails to change behaviour in any meaningful way. The issue is not resources or intent, it’s that…
What to Do If…? – book review
From those difficult conversations to everyday leadership challenges, navigating workplace dilemmas takes confidence and reflection. Steph Charlesworth reviews Anne-Maartje Oud’s practical guide to handling everyday professional challenges, exploring how its bite-sized advice, relatable stories and flexible strategies can help readers develop new skills and find solutions throughout their working lives. Book: What To Do If…?: How to Handle Any Situation at Work and Come Out WinningAuthor: Anne-Maartje Oud Anne-Maartje Oud has distilled her extensive career on workplace behaviour into 268 pages…
Is your learning video leaving people behind?
Accessible video is about more than meeting compliance requirements. It creates better learning experiences for everyone. Jayne Davids explores how thoughtful design, accurate captions, clear visuals and meaningful testing can remove barriers, build trust and help L&D teams create content that truly empowers people to learn and succeed. What if someone in your organisation cannot hear the audio track, see the visuals clearly or read the words on screen of your content? For some people, these may seem like minor…
The sound of authority is changing. Are our assumptions keeping pace?
The way we speak can shape how others perceive our intelligence, credibility and leadership potential. But should it? Cath Baxter challenges the everyday assumptions behind accent bias, explores its damaging impact on careers and confidence, and explains why being understood matters far more than sounding like someone else at work. For the first time in more than a decade, the UK is being led by a voice that sounds unmistakably like where it’s from. Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s voice is…
TJ interviews: Mark Agnew on the four questions that turn uncertainty into a shared challenge
Resilience is easier to sustain when people find meaning in the challenge itself. Mark Agnew talks about reframing setbacks, strengthening camaraderie, developing mental fitness gradually, all based on adventuring experience. This helps teams focus on shared purpose, intrinsic motivation and practical choices when uncertainty threatens performance at work under pressure. Plans can become useless within hours in the Arctic. During Mark Agnew’s human-powered kayak expedition through the Northwest Passage, headwinds, shifting sea ice and the threat of failure forced his…
Culture is not an afterthought, it’s a commercial imperative
Culture is not a people profession side issue. It shapes retention, productivity, innovation and commercial performance every day. Sandi Wassmer asserts that leaders must treat culture as a strategic priority, role-model the right behaviours and create psychologically safe workplaces where people can contribute fully, learn openly and perform sustainably together. When leaders treat culture as an afterthought, rather than a core business imperative, they don’t just put the well-being of their people at risk, they put commercial performance on the…
Final days to nominate for the Ethnic Minorities into Leadership Awards 2026
Nominations are closing soon for awards celebrating people who are helping ethnic minority talent progress into leadership across the civil service and wider public sector. With 10 categories recognising mentors, managers, networks and emerging leaders, the awards shine a light on work that is vital but largely unseen and uncelebrated. Nominations close on Friday 16 October for the awards recognising those opening up routes to leadership for ethnic minority talent across the civil service and wider public sector. Run by TJ’s…
L&D was not built for this speed of change
Traditional learning models struggle when roles, knowledge and context shift faster than training can keep up. Dr. Ravinder Tulsiani argues for a two-layer capability model combining structured preparation with real-time support, helping organisations strengthen decision-making, reduce costly errors and position L&D for improved performance rather than content delivery and completion. Learning and development was not designed for continuous, high-velocity change. It was built for environments where roles were stable, knowledge had a longer shelf life and change was episodic, not…
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