Thursday 26 April 2012

Employers clinging to outdated methods of training says survey

A new survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)  has found that Britain's employers rely on outdated methods and techniques to provide training to their staff.

The CIPD/Cornerstone OnDemand Learning and Talent Development Survey 2012, found that traditional methods of workplace learning are considered amongst the least effective ways to up-skill employees - but still dominate many L&D programmes. When asked to choose the most effective ways of delivering training, just 16 per cent of learning and talent development professionals opted for "formal education courses", and the same number for "coaching by external practitioners". Only 11 per cent pointed to "e-learning". Yet despite doubts about its effectiveness, less than a fifth (17 per cent) of the report's respondents plan to reduce their reliance on "classroom and trainer-led instruction" over the next two years.


When asked what methods are most likely to work, most learning and development professionals pointed towards training that is integrated into the normal course of their jobs. Half of respondents (52 per cent) responded that "in-house development programmes" were amongst the most effective ways of delivering training, while almost as many (46 per cent) cited "coaching by line managers". Two-fifths (39 per cent) pointed towards "on-the-job training".


Dr John McGurk, Learning and Talent Development Adviser at CIPD, comments:

"Many of the learning approaches used by organisations are legacies of a learning environment where the classroom, courses and 'sheep-dip' learning were the order of the day. However in today's environment, the skills of continuous collaborative and connective learning are paramount. Even compliance learning and advanced skills learning needs to be re-thought with the advent of gaming and simulation. We need to take into account how generations learn and share knowledge and we need to understand anew the process of learning and knowledge.

We need to lift our awareness of the emerging science on learning and in some cases we need to slaughter some of the sacred cows which have informed practice. Quick evaluation will become even more critical in this environment as will a fusion of coaching, leadership and change management. L&TD professionals need to lead the debate, and need to take a different perspective calling on their own resourcefulness and creativity to push learning in new directions."

Vincent Belliveau, General Manager EMEA, Cornerstone OnDemand comments:


"When it comes to investing in L&D, it's critical that organisations understand their people and the learning approaches that suit them best to meet their needs. By doing so, they'll get the best return on investment as employees will be more engaged in the learning and transfer the skills into their day-to-day activities, which will ultimately support the business and its bottom line.
"It's vital that organisations don't take a 'training for trainings sake' attitude but instead adopt approaches which are known to be effective ways of delivering training. It's also important that this investment can be measured, so that they can align training with business objectives. The effects of a well thought-out learning strategy can be widely felt throughout an organisation, with employee engagement, job satisfaction and retention benefiting."

Further findings from the survey:


• A third of public sector organisations anticipate greater use of e-learning across the organisation over the next two years, compared with a fifth of other organisations.


• Fewer organisations than last year report they undertake talent management activities. In two-fifths of organisations, talent management activities cover all or most employees, but most focus on high-potential employees and senior managers.


• Two-fifths of organisations report that innovation and creativity are critical to their organisation and that everyone is involved.


• Half of organisations report that their economic circumstances have declined in the past twelve months, rising to three-quarters in the public sector.


• The median annual training budget per employee was £276, less than last year's figure of £350. The median number of training hours employees receive per year was 24, again a reduction on last year.


Source CIPD April 2012 - So why not open up your training to outside specialists like jml Training and Consultance. Here you can have tailor made in house Management Development Programmes and Excecutive coaching carried out be very experienced coaches bring new ideas to your organisation.

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Friday 20 April 2012

Women aged over 50 defy jobs recession so make sure they are well trained

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) issued a press release a couple of days ago "'Madonna generation' of women aged over 50 defy jobs recession"


The organisation said that In its latest Work Audit report, published on the 18th April 2012, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) looks at how the jobs recession that began in 2008 has affected men and women across the age spectrum:
The report Age, gender and the jobs recession, which is based on official statistics from the Labour Force Survey, finds:


• There are 271,000 (8%) more women aged 50-64 in the labour market than at the start of the recession and 200,000 (6.2%) more in work. The number of men in this age group in employment has risen by only 3,000.


• Women aged 50-64, and men and women aged 65 and over are the only age groups to have registered an increase in both the number in work and employment rates since the start of the jobs recession and have also registered the smallest increases in unemployment.


• People aged 25-34 are the only other age group to see a rise in employment over the course of the jobs recession, with the number in work increasing by 249,000 (4%), much of the increase likely to be due to inward migration.


• Across all age groups there are 387,000 fewer men in work (a net fall of 2.4%) than in the first quarter of 2008. By contrast the number of women in work is only 8,000 (0.05%) lower.


• Although the number of unemployed women has increased by almost half a million, to reach a record level of 1.12 million, this is not primarily due to fewer jobs for women but instead to a relatively large rise (of 438,000) in the number of women participating in the labour market. Even accounting for this, the gender unemployment gap (i.e. the difference between the male and female unemployment rate) has increased from 0.8 percentage points to 1.3 percentage points.

• The relatively stronger employment outcome for women is mainly the result of a substantial rise of 172,000 (16.3%) in the number of women in self-employment. The number of women working full time as employees has fallen by 220,000 (3%), partly offset by a small rise in part-time employment (up 44,000 or 0.9%).


• Women have seen relatively strong net employment growth in managerial, professional and technical occupations but have done much less well in traditionally feminised occupations. The number of women in administrative, secretarial, sales and customer services roles has fallen by almost 400,000 since the start of the recession. Somewhat surprisingly, the number of men performing this kind of semi-skilled white collar work has increased, the net fall in male employment resulting from substantial job loss in skilled and semi-skilled blue collar occupations - skilled trades and plant, process and machine operation - and unskilled work.


• The older people get the more likely it is that they will remain out of work for longer when unemployed, although long-term unemployment rates have increased more for younger than older people since the start of the jobs recession. Men have much higher rates of long-term unemployment than women in every age group although the share of women who are long-term unemployed has increased in all age groups.


Dr John Philpott, Chief Economic Adviser at the CIPD, comments:


"When it comes to work, older people have clearly fared better than young people during the jobs recession. But what's also clear is that older women have done best of all. While a combination of population ageing and fewer people wanting to retire early, either for financial reasons or because of a broader desire to prolong their working lives, is boosting the older workforce, it is older women that are getting most of the available jobs. Just why this is happening requires further examination, though with the modern generation of 50 something women more likely to view Madonna than Grandma Grey as a role model, the economically active older woman is well on course to be ever more prominent in British workplaces in the coming years.


"However, the relatively good outcome for older women during the recession is no cause for complacency about the need to continually stress the business case for an even more age diverse workforce as the economy starts to recover, especially with so much public policy action understandably focused on cutting youth unemployment.

Simplistic talk about older people staying in jobs at the expense of the young must not be allowed to put a brake on progress toward nudging employers to do even better in coping with demographic change. An ageing workforce presents both challenges and opportunities for employers, who at some point in the not too distant future will struggle to fill vacancies unless they recruit and retain older workers, women and men, in even far greater numbers.


"While policy measures such as the removal of the Default Retirement Age in October 2011 are helping to maintain progress, lingering opposition to that positive move demonstrates just how difficult it can be to change the business mindset.

It's vital therefore that the relative fortunes of old and young people during the jobs recession is used to stimulate discussion about how best to improve employment prospects overall, so as to avoid pointless and unnecessary talk of an 'intergenerational jobs war.' This is precisely why the CIPD recently published guidance, Managing a healthy ageing workforce, which helps organisations to respond appropriately to the ageing workforce in order to gain competitive advantage in terms of recruiting and retaining talent and supporting the well-being and engagement of employees of all ages." Source CIPD


As an employer you need to ensure that ALL your workforce is kept up to date with it's management training. This applies to men and women of all age groups.


A well trained employee will be more productive and training therefore pays for itself.

jml Training and Consultancy offer a very comprehensive selection of “in-house” quality courses that are tailor made to your organisation’s requirements. Simply follow this link to find out more about jml Training Here