Free training course evaluation sheet

You can download our training course evaluation sheet here.

If you really must use a happy sheet to evaluate training then weekly update subscribers can download one from the members only site.

If you are not a weekly update subscriber you can sign up for free here otherwise just download your training happy sheet. (Yes this really was taken from a course evaluation sheet used by quite a large business)

Characteristics of a good manager

Characteristics of a good manager is the first of an occasional series of posts on this subject.

What is it about a good manager that makes them different from an average manager or even a poor one?

Here is one thing which we think is essential.

When making a decision, good managers, collect ALL THE FACTS, take on board the views of all stakeholders and staff etc

Then they make a decision QUICKLY, making sure that the message is CLEARLY passed on to all concerned.

If they are forced to they change their mind SLOWLY.

Unfortunately, most managers we have worked with in the past have done almost exactly the opposite.

They have gathered a few facts from unreliable sources and made a quick decision.

At the first sign of challenge, they have run for cover and changed their minds.

This leaves staff confused & bewildered & they appear indecisive & weak.

How good is your manager measure in the “decision test?”

Photo courtesy of http://www.dezignia.com

Money Laundering awareness for £5

If you missed out on your free money laundering training, don’t dispair. For a limited time only, you can get 5 days access for just £5.

After 5 days, if you like the course and order more than 10 users, we will give you your £5 back.

Take the 5 day test now

Money Laundering - Free access closed

It is now Tuesday 16th September 2008, 5pm

Free access to the money laundering training is now closed.

We will be sending access details to all weekly update subscribers tomorrow.

To make sure you don’t miss out on future free training, just join our weekly email update list.

Simple Training Needs Analysis with Excel

In this blog post we you how to compile a simple training needs analysis (TNA) using excel.

This video is now being made public.

Don’t miss out - If you aren’t a subscriber, you need to sign up now.. You could have been using this simple but effective technique since January.

Sign up here…

Free Money Laundering training

Can we make it any more plain? Free money laundering training

To get your free money laundering awareness training, you MUST sign up to our weekly update by 5:00pm Tuesday 16th September 2008.

This short video explains more

Two types of people

Here is a way of looking at people and life which you may not have heard of before.

Not sure who first coined the phrases - it was wasn’t us - we came across them on a stress awareness workshop a few years ago.

Radiator people are fun to be around. Think of someone who has just passed an exam or got a promotion. They will be bouncing around all over the place. They will radiate good feelings and energy.

Now think of someone who has just failed and examine or had some bad luck befall them Do you think they are likely to be such a bundle of happiness?

No, of course they are not.

They are drain people. They will drain the life and energy out of anyone they come into contact with.

These are the people who will moan about the weather, the state of the country, the nation’s youth, anything.

After a while, constant moaning will drain the life out of you.

We all exhibit both types of behaviour to various degree (most of the time, without knowing it and sometimes, we can’t help it.)

Of course, the trick for managers, is getting more people to be radiator people and radiator behaviour and less drain behaviour.

Weekly update subscribers will get our short guide to managing the third type of person. - To get this valuable advice - just drop your email into the box on the left hand side of the screen.

Strategic Management - Instant ebook download

Strategic management skills are essential if a business is going to thrive and move forwards.

This 10 page ebook asks the reader short and concise questions of their own management style and skills.

There are nine headings

Each one asks the question and poses an answer

Look out for the next 2 eBooks in the series - Frontline management skills & service management skills.

You can instantly download this eBook for only £27.50

Affiliates - You can resell this item on your own website for a 50/50 split - please contact us

Congratulations on your new job

Congratulations on your new job!

This (slightly) tongue in cheek letter to anyone starting a new job could never describe your office or work place. Could it? (You can download this document as a pdf using this link)

Congratulations on your new job.

You will no doubt be looking forward to your first day.
Your new employers will no doubt have got the red carpet out for you at the formal interview process. Everyone will have got their best suits out. The interview will have been a bit of an inconvenience for them, having to take a day away from the email and the office. It may even have come as a surprise to them that the whole place didn’t go to rack and ruin without their presence. Unfortunately, though, it will be downhill from here. Read on to find out why.

What can you expect on your first day?
You are likely to turn up slightly early which is OK because it doesn’t matter what time you turn up, the receptionist is unlikely to be expecting you. You will probably have to wait a while in the public area.

Your immediate Manager will meet you and probably pass you on to a supervisor or Team Leader. The Manager has to go to a vital meeting or something else more important than successfully making a good first impression.

You will probably take your educational and other certificates along with you but don’t worry, they won’t be needed. If they are looked at, that is a bonus. If they are copied by a manager or team leader, you will probably see them later on the manager’s desk, starting to “sink” into their paperwork.
Your immediate supervisor will have a desk which looks like a building site. There will be piles of paper and reports all around the desk and immediate area. Passers by will walk past and toss items anywhere on the desk. The phone will ring constantly, and they will receive numerous trivial interruptions.

They will be trying to deal with some catastrophe that has happened in the last few days (note, never, ever, will you find someone trying as urgently to prevent such a catastrophe).
The main computer system will probably be offline.

A Director or Senior Manager is unlikely come around, but if they do, expect a few minutes of awkward conversation about your previous job, your journey to work and the weather.
Then they will say something like “Oh well, I can see you are busy, I’ll leave you to it” and leave.

You may have some combination of a desk, chair, PC and a phone etc but probably not altogether. Any significant problems you have using a PC or sitting at a desk will be pretty much ignored because the workstation will not have been risk assessed for years. Some of the items may be broken.
If you have a desk, it may have someone else’s personal belongings stored in it.
If you have a computer that works, don’t worry, your password and IT access will not have been setup.

If they have, they won’t work or will have expired or the responsible person you need in IT will be away from his desk, on a course or off sick and no-one else knows how to do passwords.
Of course, you assume that forgot and wrong passwords only happen to you but no – it happens to everyone.

When you do start to get email, the first few will be about lottery groups and other non essential activities.

Your colleagues may be interested in you but only to be nosey and you may feel like you are being interrogated about how many children you have, where you used to work and what it was like. Anything you say now can and will be the subject of cafeteria or lunch time gossip for at least the next week.

Expect people to say to you “you must be mad to want to work here” quite a lot. What they would do if they won the lottery will be the main topic of conversation.

Drink and snack machines will obviously snaffle your money and not give you the correct item.

If there is a notice board, it will be hopelessly out of date. A few tatty menus for local food and drink places and negative press clippings about your new employer will be the “news”
Posters on the wall will be limited to football and Cliff Richard. Calendars will be at least 2 years out of date. There will be nowhere prominently displayed frequently asked questions like opening hours or phone numbers.
Any technical manuals or essential reference books will be out of date.

Lunch time will include some complicated and seemingly cast in stone procedure for deciding who goes at what time. You will have no say in this and will have to fit in. Any requests you have will be ignored.
If leaving time is variable or if the office works flexi time, the same will apply to going home.

A new mum will come in with a baby; no-one will tell you who she is. Although everyone will stop work for half an hour (except you obviously)
In your first few days, someone will ask you for money. This will either be for lottery (in which case it will be at least £3 and some complicated system as to why this is so), race for life or some other charitable event or raffle tickets.

Don’t think about going anywhere out of the public areas because you will not be issued with a security badge/passcard for at least a week and when you do it will have your name spelt wrong on it. It will expire at the end of the month because “other people haven’t stayed that long”

As far as your training for the job goes, you can expect your supervisor to say something like “we haven’t really had time to sort anything out”. You may be left to read the publicly available literature (which you probably have read anyway).

Enjoy your new job – And don’t forget it will be pay day soon – that’s if payroll even know who you are…
From
Sharp End Training

Money Laundering online training set for unveiling

Sheffield based online training company Sharp End Training gets set to launch its latest course on 17th September.

“Money Laundering Awareness” covers the basics of money laundering & risk management.

In these troubled financial times, it is crucial that legitimate businesses don’t waste time and money and exposing themselves to possible legal action.

The Money Laundering Regulations changed in December 2007 and cover accountants, tax advisors, auditors & insolvency practitioners.

However, as recently as 31st July, the respected website financeweek.co.uk suggested

“It is now more than six months since the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 became law and any unofficial grace period from the authorities is well and truly over. Yet there remains a significant number of regulated businesses that have not managed to put their compliance house in order.”

(source http://www.financeweek.co.uk/item/6266 )

Usually covered by boring text books, this online course brings the dull subject of money laundering awareness alive.

This course is aimed at all levels of staff working in accountancy and financial services. It features the highest quality graphics and is written in plain English.

There is no special software to download and because it is online, it is accessible anywhere by anyone.

Sharp End Training Director Jonathan Senior said

“We have worked tirelessly in the last few weeks translating accountancy gobbledygook and jargon into plain English that normal people understand. We want this course to be useful for all staff not just those with accountancy or financial training”

One clear duty on firms is to provide evidence of staff training on money laundering. This course does that easily & cheaply” he added

Prices start at just £25 per user including full online management reporting dashboard to keep tabs on who has done what. However, managers can register for exclusive priority free access in advance of the 17th September launch by registering at http://www.money-laundering-training.co.uk