Are you ready for the shift in the way Learning and Development will be delivered?  How will you deliver the knowledge and skills development of your people in 2010 and beyond?

In a new report from Bersin & Associates in December 2009 some very interesting findings have emerged about the way learning and development impacts organisations.  The report also focusses on what future training trends will bring.  These include although are not limited to a shift towards a blend of e learning, social network learning and performance assignments and feedback - known as embedded learning.   Whilst the days of formal classroom based training are certainly not gone, there is an increased demand for flexible delivery methods.

The study also found organisations with Superior Talent Management have significant advantages:

26% higher revenue per employee

28% less likely to have downsized during 2008 -2009

40% lower turnover among high performers

17% lower overall voluntary turnover

87% greater ability to “hire the best people”

156% greater ability to “develop great leaders”

92% greater ability to “respond to changing economic conditions”

144% greater ability to “plan for future workforce needs”

In order to acheive these figures you need to have some decent Learning and Development in place across the business.  As a Learning and Development provider, dta WORLDWIDE has been working with  organisations for a number of years and is shifting its thinking toward blended learning. 

One of the most concerning aspects in the report relates to managers.  We come across this issue frequently and this research states:  "One of the disturbing trends we continue to see is the struggle by organisations to build leadership, coaching and management skills among first-line managers.  In fact, our research continues to show that HR leaders rate their first-line managers as their “least ready” workgroup in the company, even less capable than their entry-level employees"

  How many high performers do you have - and how many might you lose - or have already left?  Do you want higher revenue per employee?  What are you doing about developing the talent in your business?

At this time of year people are talking about New Year Resolutions.  Whats yours?  How often do you look back and see if you achieved them?  What about making 2010 the year of New Years Revolution? 

Now is the time to get rid of the thoughts and feelings of 2009.  The lack of budget and resource.  Maybe even the lack of ability to develop anything within the business, let alone your most precious asset - the people.  How about making your revolution one which pushes the boundaries of working with the best. 

Look at how you might reinvigorate your people.  Improve their skills, increase their sales, reduce the conflict and tension in the workplace.  Now is the time to make your revolution in learning and development happen.

dta WORLDWIDE will be working with more partners globally in 2010 than ever before.  We will be bringing in new products and solutions to upskill people to take advantage of the improved business conditions we are all expecting in 2010.  We look forward to working with you during the coming year and helping develop the achievers in your business.  Contact us now to see how we can work together to make 2010 the best possible year for you and your business.

Coaching is currently a hot topic in business right now.  A lot of people are involved in providing ‘Life’ or ‘Executive’ coaching and some are very good at it.  Recently, at dta we have been on the receiving end of some excellent business coaching from Mags Bell at CPR - Creating Powerful Results.  Business coaching in its true sense may well involve aspects outside of business itself and which impact performance.  Whilst dta WORLDWIDE has it’s own coaching workshop; perfomance COACH, we often underestimate the need to be coached.  dta’s programme provides skills to first and second line managers to coach the people in their teams.  CPR takes a different approach in that they provide one to one business coaching in a way that gets to the centre of business issues.

Mags Bell excels by using a robust ‘real world’ approach to coaching that focuses on the cause of business challenges rather than the effect.  In that way the real issues are tackled and a more positive and effective outcome is achieved.  Many coaches who purport to coach at executive level coach the effect - leaving the cause to exist and continue to aggravate the effect.  Whilst we provide training to become a better coach, we strongly recommend CPR and their method in getting the best coaching at a business executive level.  Take a look at the CPR website here.

Again, another busy day at the office at dta WORLDWIDE yesterday, on day 4.  The majority of the day was spent doing some major changes on the dta website.  Although it is a long process, it needed to be done and the end result is great.  The changes make the website look a lot better, easier to navigate and understand.  Loads of new links have been added as well, and the home page has been completely transformed.  I think that it all looks really good, and hope that you agree!

Some other things I did yesterday included learning about invoicing; how to process them through the computer and send them off to the client, and of course some more accounting!  Most of day 4, though, was mainly focussed on improving the website, which continues today on day 5.  You can have a look at the changes, and read about them when I am back in the office on Monday.

Yesterday was another busy day at dta WORLDWIDE on my work experience at the headquaters.  After the usual accounting necessities out of the way, I was taught how to score the interactionPROFILEs in preparation for a course being delivered by a client.  Using the scoreBOARD software, the results were analysed and scored for each person.  I then packed them into envolopes ready to be sent off and delivered to the participants.  We also set up a new leadershipPROFILE for a client.  Then I helped to write a proposal and learnt about what it is for and how to make it effective and appealing.

Afterwards, I continued with the reconstruction of the website. I added many new links and sections to explore and learn more about what dta does, so you can take a look at those.  The hits have been going up and we hope that it can continue!  The reconstruction is still in progress today on day 4, which you can read about tomorrow.

It was day 2 at dta yesterday, and I have learnt just as much as the first day, and been busy again.  After doing a little bit more updating of the accounts, I was eager to check how many more responses had been completed for my interactionPROFILE that I set up for myself on day 1.  I was also taught how to track the scoring of other projects and what to look for in the data that was there.

Later on in the day I made up some more salesFLEX workbooks.  After that, the rest of the day was mostly spent working on the dta WORLDWIDE website.  The boss and I looked at who and where the hits from the website had been coming from and set to work on a bit of reconstruction on parts of the site that could be improved.  I added some more references to the testimonials page about the work that dta have done for their recent clients, added a place for you to send a message to dta, and even added a tip of the week to get you thinking. 

Another busy day today on day 3, which you can read about tomorrow.

Hi, my name is Ben and I’ve been hired for the week to work with dta WORLDWIDE at the Headquaters in Australia.  I am in year 10 and doing work experience with dta, learning about the company and helping out around the office.  Yesterday was my first day, and first of all I had a full run-down from the boss about what the company does and how it is run.  I helped out with some accounting, and learnt about the different assessments and courses.  Later on I made up some workbooks for an upcoming course.

My first day was a very interesting experience in which I learned how much work goes into the business and how it operates.  I learned a lot about how companies are run and how they interact with clients.  My day at the office today is sure to bring more new things to do and learn about.  You can read about those tomorrow.

It is always good to receive feedback - it is the lifeblood of high performance.  It is even better to get references and recommendations from clients who are delighted with the work that has been carried out for them.  Here are a selection of the most recent references from clients.  Thanks to all of those who have taken time to provide the references about our work.

“I had the privilege of working with Malcolm as a senior colleague from 2000 - 2003 and later thru dta was a superb service provider from 2006 - 2009. Malcolm individually has a tremendous ability to analyse, understand and implement practical and effective development solutions for organisations. I have utilised dta on many occasions under Malcom’s direction to create and deliver with brilliant effect,Sales Skills Training, Managerial Modelling and Leadership Analysis and Development tools. Malcom’s interpersonal skills are superb and his ability to garner the best from any group is unmatched. When I need to think outside the box to create a better way forward, its Malcolm to whom I would turn.” September 24, 2009  From Ted Longhurst

 Top qualities: Personable, Expert, Good Value

“Malcolm listened to what we were trying to achieve and then delivered a solution based on these needs; exactly what we were looking for in a consultant. We’ll be calling Malcolm again in the future!” September 25, 2009  From Robin England

 Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, Good Value

“Malcolm ran a two day training course for our senior team on developing better client relationships. The course was interesting, very well structured and certainly thought provoking. I believe we have seen the results in the past few months of the substantial improvement we have made to the way we prepare for and conduct client meetings. My thanks to Malcolm for the excellent course and we will be continuing to work with him as we strive to exceed our client’s expectations.” November 5, 2009 - Laurie Axford

Top qualities: Great Results, Personable, Expert

“Malcolm is an exceptional contributor to the success of our business at an L&D level. Coursework delivered by Malcolm and his team is well tailored to our needs and is of a high standard. Malcolm really wants your business to benefit and it shows.” - Gary Prince

In a recent blog we discussed workplace bullies following an article about research on the subject.  It seems the challenge of managing workplace conflict continues.  In an article published in the October 2009 edition of ‘Training & Development in Australia’ - the journal of the Australian Institute of Training & Development - some further evidence emerged.

In the survey discussed in the article, ‘86% of respondents felt that their company’s manager had a low or variable skill level to deal with internal complaints’ and went on to say ‘organisations’ priority for improving and building these skills should be directed to line managers.’

It is common in our experience at dta to encounter similar feelings about the issue of developing the skills of managers to deal with conflict in the workplace.  Indeed it is probably one of the most frequent areas in which we are asked to help.  The article continues "…many line managers don’t have the confidence or skill to resolve inter - personal conflict and are reluctant or slow to respond when issues arise."

The greatest asset in any business are its people.  Doesn’t it make sense to invest in managing the relationships that are the cause of many disputes.  These ultimately lead to expensive loss of good staff and increased recruitment and training costs.  We would be interested in hearing your views on this topic.

An interesting article in the Sydney Morning Herald on 8th September 2009.  It was entitled "Bullying rife in workplaces, survey finds."  It is not the first time such an article has been written, nor without doubt the last.  The article reports that of 800 employees surveyed,  25% had experienced bullying whilst 50% had witnessed such behaviour.  One quote from the article states - "Organisations need to do more - as a minimum they have a statutory duty of care to manage and control this inappropriate and damaging behaviour."  dta WORLDWIDE comes across this type of issue frequently as a cause of high staff turnover, poor performance and high absenteeism.  In a recent piece of leadership research, it was shown that interpersonal skills of leaders is often lacking - probably a major contributing factor to this problem.  To find out more about conflict resolution take a look here.  A full copy of the article on workplace bullying can be found at here