Overview This course has been created to help safely navigate attendees through the minefield of absence management, paying attention to issues of systems, procedures and organisational culture along the way. Using a selection of exercises, activities and sample documents, the course examines some traditional methods of management as well as some more contemporary and innovative ways of keeping a lid on casual absence. Attendees will take away a number of practical tools and ideas to enable them to target performance improvement when back at their desks. Description It’s estimated that absence from work costs the UK economy over £13 billion per year, with the ‘average’ employee taking around seven days off sick annually. The need for managers, HR people and leaders to control absenteeism is critical if a company is to survive and prosper. But just what is ‘absence’? And how do we go about managing it and reducing it wherever we can, without falling foul of employment law? As well as the usual training material, attendees on this course also receive several useful handouts and exercises relating to absence management. Topics covered: An Absence Management Model – this section identifies a simple model for managers to apply when dealing with absenteeism Defining Absence – the text book definition will help learners clearly understand what is meant by absence Types of Absence – unravelling the different types of absence and distinguishing between absence and leave Classifying Absence – by classifying types of absence, the learner can begin to get a steer on how to manage it Statistics – identifying the real cost of absence and looking at regional and sector differences Reasons for Absence – considering the high-level issues that have an impact on absence, like culture and job design Causes of Sickness – here the national league tables of sickness causes are discussed, giving the learner the chance to reflect on their own team or company Absence Management – Stage 1 – contracts, policies, procedures and legal entitlements are all examined here, to allow learners to get a grasp of what they have to know to Absence Management – Stage 2 – record keeping, costing absence and benchmarking provide the chance for analysis and understanding in the context of the learner’s own organisation Absence Management – Stage 3 – setting out the skills and interventions that managers need to apply in the effective management of absence, including: communication, professional advice, workplace issues and return to work interviews Traditional Approaches – an examination of performance management, sick pay, discipline, recruitment and selection and how these can lend themselves to effective absence management Reducing Absenteeism – through less traditional approaches, looking at ‘carrots and sticks’, targets, employee assistance, unusual initiatives and organisational culture. Recent Developments – considering the impact of ‘fit notes’ and potential pandemics. Who should attend This course has been designed for anyone that deals with absence or needs to have an awareness of the absence management process. This could include; Team leaders, supervisors, managers, HR professionals and anyone else involved in the management of people or organisations. Requirements for Attendance None.
Can be run as a one day or two day course. Whereas the one day course concentrates on Speaking Skills in delivering a talk and allows time for participants to prepare and deliver a very short talk, the two day course offers the opportunity for participants to deliver a longer (15 minute) talk and includes consideration of other situations where speaking skills are important such as talking in meetings, talking at interviews etc.
Overview Networking has become a crucial factor in the modern workplace. It is the most effective method of developing your business or career and is a key component of your personal brand. This one day course will teach you how to be able to build strong business relationships, develop a level of personal credibility and increase your network of contacts in order to enhance your visibility and create opportunities for yourself and your organisation. Description This training course will help your participants build a professional reputation and develop a network of connections through the two key methods available to them; face-to-face and online. Attendees will discover how to effectively combine these two approaches and create a strategy for networking success that will generate their own community and actively grow their personal network. This will result in an improved performance in their approach to networking and consequently provide opportunities and prospects that will increase their business success. The training provides them with the tools and techniques to both plan a successful, strategic approach to networking and develop their personal communication skills, which will ensure they build effective business relationships. Topics covered: Why Network? – Establishing the importance of networking with some shocking statistics and an activity that defines the importance of networking to the individual. This is followed by some insight into the key aims of a networking strategy, what puts people off, as well as some personal revelations about networking. Increase Your Business Presence – Looking at the components of a strong business presence, including; credibility, personal brand, visibility and social capital. Developing a Networkers Attitude – An exercise that clarifies the perfect attitudes and behaviours of great networkers and comparing the participants against this. Thus identifying areas for development. Face to Face Networking – An overview and insight into the main types of face to face networking opportunities available with the benefits and pitfalls of each. Online Networking – An overview of the different social media and online networking tools and how to get the best out of them. Includes; LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and online forums. Communication Skills for Networking Success – Ensuring a good first impression, creating an opening sound bite and writing an online profile that promotes and engages. Developing a Conversation – Building on the opening sound bite and developing a conversation through good questioning techniques and following a selection of key networking rules. Including an activity to test and practice the skills. Working a Room – A fun activity that embeds and develops learning while encouraging practice and communication. This activity covers 10 of the main skills required to work a room. Breaking into a Group – Identifying body language to spot when a group or pair is open to new people entering the conversation or would rather not encourage participation. Knowing how to break into a group, what to say and how to remain professional. Exiting a Conversation – Developing some techniques to extricate oneself from a conversation without causing embarrassment or rudeness. The Follow-Up – Using a structure to identify the most important contacts created and establishing when and how to follow up with each group. Includes example follow-up email and a chance to develop their own. Creating a Network Plan – Participants are provided with a networking action plan to review and complete. This sets them on the journey of developing their networking skills and ensures they have a strategy and goals to target. Who should attend Anyone who is looking to improve their networking performance, or the networking performance of a management or sales team. Requirements for Attendees No pre-requisites required.
Overview Networking has become a crucial factor in the modern workplace. It is the most effective method of developing your business or career and is a key component of your personal brand. This one day course will teach you how to be able to build strong business relationships, develop a level of personal credibility and increase your network of contacts in order to enhance your visibility and create opportunities for yourself and your organisation. Description This training course will help your participants build a professional reputation and develop a network of connections through the two key methods available to them; face-to-face and online. Attendees will discover how to effectively combine these two approaches and create a strategy for networking success that will generate their own community and actively grow their personal network. This will result in an improved performance in their approach to networking and consequently provide opportunities and prospects that will increase their business success. The training provides them with the tools and techniques to both plan a successful, strategic approach to networking and develop their personal communication skills, which will ensure they build effective business relationships. Topics covered: Why Network? – Establishing the importance of networking with some shocking statistics and an activity that defines the importance of networking to the individual. This is followed by some insight into the key aims of a networking strategy, what puts people off, as well as some personal revelations about networking. Increase Your Business Presence – Looking at the components of a strong business presence, including; credibility, personal brand, visibility and social capital. Developing a Networkers Attitude – An exercise that clarifies the perfect attitudes and behaviours of great networkers and comparing the participants against this. Thus identifying areas for development. Face to Face Networking – An overview and insight into the main types of face to face networking opportunities available with the benefits and pitfalls of each. Online Networking – An overview of the different social media and online networking tools and how to get the best out of them. Includes; LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and online forums. Communication Skills for Networking Success – Ensuring a good first impression, creating an opening sound bite and writing an online profile that promotes and engages. Developing a Conversation – Building on the opening sound bite and developing a conversation through good questioning techniques and following a selection of key networking rules. Including an activity to test and practice the skills. Working a Room – A fun activity that embeds and develops learning while encouraging practice and communication. This activity covers 10 of the main skills required to work a room. Breaking into a Group – Identifying body language to spot when a group or pair is open to new people entering the conversation or would rather not encourage participation. Knowing how to break into a group, what to say and how to remain professional. Exiting a Conversation – Developing some techniques to extricate oneself from a conversation without causing embarrassment or rudeness. The Follow-Up – Using a structure to identify the most important contacts created and establishing when and how to follow up with each group. Includes example follow-up email and a chance to develop their own. Creating a Network Plan – Participants are provided with a networking action plan to review and complete. This sets them on the journey of developing their networking skills and ensures they have a strategy and goals to target. Who should attend Anyone who is looking to improve their networking performance, or the networking performance of a management or sales team. Requirements for Attendees No pre-requisites required.
This half day course is designed to help participants plan and promote events, whether for fundraising, social or educational purposes. It provides practical tips on a wide range of subject areas from choosing events to determining budgets and publicity methods. The course can be adapted to take in any type of events or can concentrate on particular areas such as organising fundraising events, conferences or cultural events.
A half day course for those who find themselves taking and presenting minutes for different kinds of meetings. The session will provide practical tips on how to write minutes that are clear and more concise and how to save time during the minute-taking process. It will be a useful session for both novice and experienced minute takers.
Overview This one day Building Better Work Habits training course has been developed for everyone in your organisation who may struggle with their own personal effectiveness. They may not have control of their own workload or blame others as to why they’re not achieving certain tasks and projects. Alternatively, it might be that high performers want to understand how they can organise themselves in a new way to give themselves more stretch in their roles. The training course will help the learners build self-awareness and will highlight the important parts of working smarter to achieve end goals. Description We are all busy, and sometimes it seems we do not have enough hours in the day to complete deadlines and projects. It can then eat into our home life, meaning we often end up stressed, or in worst-case scenarios, unwell (both physically and mentally). The reason behind this is often how we work day to day, as opposed to others giving us work at the last minute. These training course materials have been designed to help your participants work more effectively for the long term. This isn’t about how to manage a diary or emails, but rather look closely to see what are the blockers which get in the way of success. These small changes in day to day work will have a dramatic impact in both productivity and personal effectiveness. Topics covered: Productivity: the science bit – A chance to explore what we mean by being productive and how that helps us build better work habits, as well as the opportunity to look at some of the science behind myths and bad habits we’ve probably already formed. Includes a link to a YouTube video. Procrastination, why put off to tomorrow what we can do today! – Participants will explore what we procrastinate about, how we procrastinate in our own lives, and what we can do about it! Eat That Frog – An introduction to Brian Tracy’s book “Eat that frog” and how it can help us improve our working habits. Includes a link to a YouTube video. Eat That Frog: Thinking on Paper – A chance to put into practice some of Brian Tracy’s methods and how to use them in our real lives Eat That Frog: Rocks, Pebbles and Sand – Taking our goal setting further, we explore Covey’s methodology around prioritising our tasks. Eat That Frog: The Pareto Principle – The final part of the “Eat that Frog” section looks at how effective we in terms of how we spend our day Prioritising: how do we spend our day? – Participants explore how proactive they are, and what the danger might be in letting a situation rule their time Prioritising: The Priority Matrix – Taking the Rock, Pebbles and Sand methodology further, participants explore what truly is urgent and what is important in our day to day Prioritising: Company Performance Tensions – We may know what our own personal objectives are, however, our business objectives have certain tensions that could impact these. How can we balance these two different objectives to ensure we’re successful day to day? What’s my mindset? – Sometimes we can get in the way of our own successes and plans due to our mindset; utilising Carol Dweck’s work, it is a chance to reflect on our own mindsets when we’re building new work habits. Includes a link to a YouTube video. What’s my mindset? Energy Cycles – Our energy can impact our mindset and how productive we are. A chance to look at what gives us energy, and how we can work more effectively depending on where our energy levels might be Who should attend Anyone interested in understanding in being more effective at work. Requirements for Attendees None.
Overview This one day Building Better Work Habits training course has been developed for everyone in your organisation who may struggle with their own personal effectiveness. They may not have control of their own workload or blame others as to why they’re not achieving certain tasks and projects. Alternatively, it might be that high performers want to understand how they can organise themselves in a new way to give themselves more stretch in their roles. The training course will help the learners build self-awareness and will highlight the important parts of working smarter to achieve end goals. Description We are all busy, and sometimes it seems we do not have enough hours in the day to complete deadlines and projects. It can then eat into our home life, meaning we often end up stressed, or in worst-case scenarios, unwell (both physically and mentally). The reason behind this is often how we work day to day, as opposed to others giving us work at the last minute. These training course materials have been designed to help your participants work more effectively for the long term. This isn’t about how to manage a diary or emails, but rather look closely to see what are the blockers which get in the way of success. These small changes in day to day work will have a dramatic impact in both productivity and personal effectiveness. Topics covered: Productivity: the science bit – A chance to explore what we mean by being productive and how that helps us build better work habits, as well as the opportunity to look at some of the science behind myths and bad habits we’ve probably already formed. Includes a link to a YouTube video. Procrastination, why put off to tomorrow what we can do today! – Participants will explore what we procrastinate about, how we procrastinate in our own lives, and what we can do about it! Eat That Frog – An introduction to Brian Tracy’s book “Eat that frog” and how it can help us improve our working habits. Includes a link to a YouTube video. Eat That Frog: Thinking on Paper – A chance to put into practice some of Brian Tracy’s methods and how to use them in our real lives Eat That Frog: Rocks, Pebbles and Sand – Taking our goal setting further, we explore Covey’s methodology around prioritising our tasks. Eat That Frog: The Pareto Principle – The final part of the “Eat that Frog” section looks at how effective we in terms of how we spend our day Prioritising: how do we spend our day? – Participants explore how proactive they are, and what the danger might be in letting a situation rule their time Prioritising: The Priority Matrix – Taking the Rock, Pebbles and Sand methodology further, participants explore what truly is urgent and what is important in our day to day Prioritising: Company Performance Tensions – We may know what our own personal objectives are, however, our business objectives have certain tensions that could impact these. How can we balance these two different objectives to ensure we’re successful day to day? What’s my mindset? – Sometimes we can get in the way of our own successes and plans due to our mindset; utilising Carol Dweck’s work, it is a chance to reflect on our own mindsets when we’re building new work habits. Includes a link to a YouTube video. What’s my mindset? Energy Cycles – Our energy can impact our mindset and how productive we are. A chance to look at what gives us energy, and how we can work more effectively depending on where our energy levels might be Who should attend Anyone interested in understanding in being more effective at work. Requirements for Attendees None.