MindLeadersUK Resource Centre and Toolbox

One of the ways we like to work on and improve our services is by talking to trainers about their common problems with the program. One of the common issues is getting ‘buy-in’ from the managers and executives. Alongside this is the fact that they want to make e-learning part of the normal corporate culture, but aren’t sure how to go about it. They have suggested that having more information and tools to hand could be helpful. This would help them do more with their training programs in less time.

We have just released a couple of products to help with this called, ‘The Training and Development Toolbox’ and ‘Resource Centre. Some of the things the ‘Toolbox’ does is address areas such as building and marketing, learning programs, calculating ROI, selling managers on employee development and fixing a struggling learning program. This is done through a set of eighteen video segments and each of these features a treasury of downloadable tools. These include checklists, Powerpoint, presentations and quick reference sheets.

The Resource Center is the home for the Toolbox and even more resources for maximizing your training program - over 130 items total, including product walkthroughs, technical support FAQs, information to give to students, and promotional tools.

We hope that you are happy with the improvements to this service and encourage you to contact us with any suggestions.

Take Control of Your Future

With five million adults in the UK without any qualifications (Leitch Review – Skills in the UK 2006) the government are starting to take action to ensure that there are more opportunities for education. They have launched a campaign to provide the necessary information for both companies and individuals to start looking towards skills development.

There is more emphasis being put onto specific skills training as opposed to sheer academic studying to try and reach more people. It has been noted that 143, 000 jobs are left unfilled due to lack of correct skills (LCS’s National Employer Skills Survey 2005). Alongside this is the fact that two out of three jobs in the near future will require better qualifications. This highlights the problem and the ‘Learning and Skills Council’ is trying to address this before it spirals out of control.

With the Olympics around the corner and a further mass of jobs being created, there is an even greater incentive for people to be thinking about personal development. There are many possibilities online with E-learning now and there is an opportunity for everyone. Hopefully more people will be inspired by the new jobs that will be available and will start using their computers to their full potential; gaining themselves more qualifications and making them more employable all at once.

If you would like to learn more about Learning and Skills Council visit : http://inourhands.lsc.gov.uk/index.html

Further Education: It's a Balancing Act

When recruiting for a position within their company, employers will place weight on the amount of qualifications a candidate has. It is a balancing act between technical skill and personal attributes needed to fulfil a role, where skill level will almost always tilt the scale.

For potential staff, the need to be constantly learning and gaining new skills, will greatly increase their likelihood of getting the job they want.

The need for further education does not just appear amongst job-hunters, it occurs within the workplace as well. A race is on between employees, to become the most qualified so that when promotions occur, they will have the best chance to progress within the company. Healthy competition benefits both employee and employers, as increased staff skills build an employees personal development, whilst also increasing staff productivity.

Employers need to encourage further education as the benefits to their company are endless. In the short term, they will be able to get the best staff for each position and hopefully, by providing the most up to date resources, retain their valuable team members.