Valid CSS on training courses

We are delighted to announce that we have completed testing courses with valid css.

If you are not technical, this will mean nothing to you, other than your course is likely to load onto your screen faster.

We will be cascading this through all courses in the next few weeks - please bear with us if there are a few problems and log calls through your normal support channels.

[tags] valid css, online training, upgrade [/tags]

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Final batch of signs of a failing organisation

Here’s the final batch of signs of a failing organisation.

Empowerment is a pronouncement not a practice frontline people are afraid of making decisions without approval, this slows things up, and irritates customers.

Employees are ‘managed’ or judged by people not competent to do so

Problem people or issues are left untouched, meaning that conflict is avoided at all costs, instead of being managed positively.

Former employees wouldn’t return for any money.

Employees talk about the organisation in terms of ‘them’ and ‘they’ instead of ‘we’ and ‘us’.

Managers only manage people as well as they themselves are managed too often not very well. This means a negative spiral of poor management develops - hard to break.

Hidden agendas proliferate, and internal politics drain time and energy.

The arrival of really effective, ‘wave-making’ people is treated with derision by a significant number of people who decide to ‘ride him or her out’, and who keep their heads down, and wait for them to leave - ‘it won’t take long’ - and for things to revert to normal.

Employees are asked to do things near to, or beyond the limits of their ability without support and encouragement needed.

Senior management abuse their positions by (in the eyes of employees), going on ‘jollies’, or spending large sums on themselves. This is particularly galling when wage restraint and cost cutting is being trumpeted by those same senior people.

Nex week we will be starting a series on basic training design and how to put together a training course

[tags] customer service, organisation development, staff development [/tags]

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Developing and measuring training the six sigma way

Developing and measuring training the six sigma way - Kaliym Islam - Pfeiffer 078985333

Stumbling on a post in the flashforlearning.com blog, we decided to give this book a try. We have looked at some lean techniques in the past and thought it might be interesting.

For the uninitiated, six sigma is a tool box of management and problem solving techniques and methodologies. Original developed by Motorola engineers for product development, it is now used by most large corporations worldwide (Ford, Toyota et al) with the goal of zero defects. Some of the higher concepts involve complex spreadsheets and mathematical calculations but this book makes use of the problem solving and group techniques.

There are two critical concepts in six sigma VOB “ The voice of the business” What is good for the business overall, and VOC “ The voice of the customer. In six sigma, everything begins and ends with the customer.

So how on earth you say, does this relate to training when most lean text books are about car plants or factories? Pretty early on, the author points out that when we design training, we are designing a product for other to consume so why shouldn’t production techniques apply.

Once you have this straight in your mind the book is an exceptional and enlightening read.

The author makes pretty short work of demolishing Kirkpatrick, traditional ISD & ADDIE methodologies for one simple reason - None of them address either the VOB or the VOC. Nowhere in Kirkpatrick’s work does it make mention of what is good for the business.

The author holds our hand through the development of a sample project and each chapter with what we will discuss the appropriate six sigma tools and what the required outcome will be.

It should be added that this sort of methodology will mean A LOT of work and is perhaps only suitable for large projects as the discipline required to keep to the schedule and requirements (as the author admits) is onerous.

However, having done all this work, of course, the outcome is that the training will meet the requirements, no questions at all “ zero defects”

The book concludes with a case study of six sigma design in a learning setting.

Happy to discuss more on or off line

Buy this book

[tags] training evaluation, ADDIE, kirkpatrick, six sigma, book review [/tags]

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10 more signs of a failing orgnisation

Employees, competent or otherwise, feel loathed to leave if they are likely to get substantial redundancy if they just stay on for a little longer. This means those that contribute little, and those that really want to move on stay because leaving would cost them money.

Change, if it happens at all, is reactive, in response to events, and rarely proactive.
Customer complaints are taken personally, or dismissed as the rantings of a few unrepresentative maniacs - if a procedure for handling these exists, it seems designed to parry this valuable customer feedback, so little is learned from complaints, or changed in response.

There is inequality of opportunity especially regarding access to learning and development.
Too many people do not earn the value of their salary or wage, in terms of the contribution they make to profit or effectiveness.

Income generation is confused with profitability - the true sources of value creation for customers is not sufficiently well known, which can cause a focus on the wrong activities.
Employees are unaware of or care about, their legal duties and responsibilities.

Key managers are like the Olympic Torch - they never go out creating a feeling of detachment from staff who never see them.

People doing the same job are rewarded differently, and in a way that is seen to be unfair.
Systems and procedures are administered rigidly, without flexibility that both employees and customers expect and need.

Stressed people keep this to themselves, fearful of the consequences of making it known that they need help.

[tags] customer service, business audit, staff development [/tags]

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