blog

Budget cuts leading to rise of informal learning

Wed, 09 May 2012 13:09:21 +0100

Has your training budget shrunk in line with less business growth and profit? Are you trying to achieve more with less funds?

Employers are turning to informal training methods to help reduce learning and development costs, according to research by XpertHR.

Two-thirds of the organisations taking part in the survey have taken steps to cut back on training expenditure in the past year, and among these, 80% have turned to informal learning as a cost-cutting measure.

Along with the reduced use of external providers, informal learning methods such as work-shadowing, secondments, coaching, mentoring and social networking, are considered to be the most effective ways to reduce expenditure by the HR professionals taking part.

Charlotte Wolff, XpertHR training editor and author of the report, says: "Although L&D budgets have been seriously challenged in the past year by adverse economic circumstances, the effectiveness of training has not necessarily been diminished. We were interested to find that 31% of employers making cutbacks have actually seen improvements in the effectiveness of L&D, and a further 47% said that efficiency remains unaffected."

Other examples of measures taken to reduce outlay on training include:

more cross-organisational collaboration
increased involvement of managers in the delivery of training
more rigorous training needs analysis against business strategy

Charlotte adds: "Some organisations are seeing better results from their training, because of the increased involvement of line managers, which can make the learning more relevant to the needs of the organisation. Applying a more analytical approach to the planning and application of learning and development is also likely to be a positive move for employers."

The survey also found that the average annual L&D budget per employee is £357, only slightly higher than three years ago, in 2009, when it was £334. Over the past year, 32% of employers saw their L&D budgets decrease, and 38% said it was frozen.

To take advantage of informal learning, through coaching, group learning, facilitated sessions, mentoring, etc. do contact me to see how we can shave vital pounds off your training budget this year!

I peter@peterwelchcoaching.co.uk
I website: http://www.peterwelchcoaching.co.uk

Invitation to coaches and mentors in The Weald

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 16:40:00 +0000

Come and join the Weald Coaching & Mentoring Community which has just been launched!

Community url is: http://www.meetup.com/WCC-Coaching-Community/

A new local coaching and mentoring community in your area aimed at local coaches and mentors, whether self-employed or employed, to join and to form an active community that meets regularly, without having to travel to London!

Our Weald region covers Sevenoaks, East Grinstead, Tonbridge, and the Wealden area which includes Tunbridge Wells, Crowborough, Uckfield, Heathfield and Hailsham.

Joining this community is a wonderful way of being supported and of developing yourself as a coach or mentor, to sustain your CPD.

The One Hour campaign

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 09:36:53 +0000

With the clocks going back this weekend (30th October), everyone in the UK gains an hour, so I've launched the ONE HOUR campaign. The idea is that I spend this spare hour helping someone to experience some wonderful coaching or supervision! You could do something similar too...

If you are a business contact, associate/colleague, neighbour, friend or even a family member who could use some coaching right now – contact me for ONE HOUR’s free coaching support! (offer ends mid-November)

Sunlight on Leaves

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 14:24:00 +0000

Sunlight on Leaves by Ian Mackenzie

So I’m sitting with Edna on a summer afternoon in a tea garden in Lewes. The sun is warm and bright and we are talking about presence and mindfulness and other things. Edna says “You should write a blog.” “I wouldn’t know what to write about”, I reply “Whatever you think is important” I look out across the garden, and say “I think sunlight on leaves is important…”

So this is a short blog on sunlight on leaves. Now, you may well be thinking “What’s this doing on a Coaching Supervision website?” Well, before I get into that, I invite you stop and look around you. What do you see? No, really. What do you see? Not what do you think, feel, like or dislike about it. What do you see? What do you hear? If you get out of the way – what’s there?

As I develop as a coach and supervisor, I become more and more aware of the difference between the stories I tell myself about what’s going on, and what’s really happening. Not that the stories have no value – at their best they enable me to evaluate, plan analyse, respond. But the moment I think they’re any more than stories, or when they take up the majority of my perceptual field, then I’ve lost contact with what’s actually going on in the room. And in a very important sense, that’s all that’s real.

So this is about Presence “ …a deep listening, of being beyond one’s preconceptions and historical ways of making sense” – Peter Senge “The ability to be fully conscious and create spontaneous relationship with the client” – ICF competency framework.

To me, it seems that Presence has two aspects which are closely linked: the ability to be fully present with ourselves – to be aware of our own process, feelings and thoughts without identifying with or becoming attached or averse to them, the ability to be present with others – extending the same non-judgemental awareness.

As supervisors, we clearly need to be fully present with our supervisee – we need, most of the time, to be more aware of the supervisee than we are of ourselves, with our full attention on their issues, process, emotions, etc. We also need to be able to help the supervisee discover that calm, open awareness in themselves. And then to be able to work in that open space with their own clients.

It is in this space that the coach’s “inner supervisor” can manifest. It is also in this space that we become aware of transference, counter transference, projection and parallel process. My own belief – and experience of myself and others – suggests that we all have that ability, but we don’t always access it. There are various approaches that can help us re-discover it – and I’m hoping to say more about those in future blogs.

But one key element is confidence – or perhaps even faith. Faith in one’s intrinsic ability to let go of the need to be safe, or to be right, or to be able to fix things, or to be in control, or please the client, or give value for money, or have the right tool or process. Faith to let the skilled, appropriate response arise from a space of not-knowing. So – sunlight on leaves. Today the rain is falling. It is as it is. Ian e: ian@ian-mackenzie.co.uk

Executive Coaching - the challenge begins

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 13:30:00 +0100

Do you believe that even senior managers and execs could benefit from a little coaching?! I thought you might but executive coaching brings special challenges: - Execs want to change certain behaviours, often quite quickly - yet these behaviours have been learnt and established over several careers and may have become ingrained, making change harder.

Execs also don't always see the effects their behaviour has on others. To bring about change, they need to first become aware of their impact, so raising awareness is one role of the coach.

Execs need to be assured that the coach they are choosing is well-rounded in experience, has the credibility to challenge them, and has the resources to support them. I've just started a new 6 month contract to provide executive coaching for a Board member, for a Horsham-based organisation. For more information about how I can support your senior managers with confidential 1-1 support, please contact me.

How to develop team leaders?

Mon, 17 May 2010 13:11:00 +0100

Developing internal talent is not always easy to do, so I've designed a cost-effective programme of intensive learning that will bring the best out of the people there and take them to a higher level of performance. Using self-directed learning principles at its core, this programme blends together the best tools for accelerating the learning by using a range of support for team leaders to access.

You need a place to start to benchmark skill levels, so we began with each team leader completing a self-assessment against management competencies, and a psychometric assessment using Thomas International's GIA (general intelligence assessment) profile (see article on Thomas International). From this, we analysed the current needs and created a series of short workshops to provide essential skills and practice, and provided 1-1 coaching along with peer learning groups, to maximise the learning opportunities. Individual work-based projects will provide the focus for the learning.

External learning resources are available to the team leaders through People Alchemy (see People Alchemy article) to meet individual learning needs. Participants will be encouraged to keep a learning journal or diary as they go along. Evaluation stage will repeat the self-competency assessment, as well as project presentations. Overall performance change will be gauged through performance appraisals after the programme ends. For more information about how this type of learning programme could be adapted to meet your organisation's need, please contact me.

Mentoring programme for NHS Trust underway

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:15:00 +0100

The initial workshops for mentors participating in the NHS Trust Mentoring Programme 'Step Ahead', were well received. The programme will run for approx. 9 months and is focused on developing talent and careers within the Trust. The workshops were aimed at preparing the mentors well for their initial meetings with mentees, and included the topics of: Mentoring principles and foundations for good practice mentoring.

The 'getting started' phase included contracting, matching expectations, role clarity, creating an initial agenda - and focused on the key skills of rapport building, questioning and listening.

Some simple models were also introduced, like GROW and the Learning Cycle, to help the mentors get started. Further learning models, tools and skills were introduced to assist the mentors in the development phase, and to deepen the relationship. Mentor/mentee pairs have been matched in contrasting occupational roles to bring an element of 'stretch' to the relationship. If you are interested in more about creating an effective mentoring programme for your organisation, or in being mentored yourself, please contact me.

Coach Supervision Group in Tunbridge Wells

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 13:32:00 +0100

Calling all active coaches and line managers who regularly coach their staff, plus HR/L&D professionals who coach others, internal coaches, trainers, project leaders and consultants who coach, professional coaches, life/personal growth coaches, business coaches, sports/performance coaches. I'm providing a series of local group supervision meetings to support coaches in finding the resources they need to thrive, and to deepen their practice. Certificates of supervision will be provided, based on regular attendance and an active CPD log.

We will meet at The Opera House, 88 Mount Pleasant Road, Tunbridge Wells TN1 1RT - please contact me for dates. Cost is £5 to become a group member; £120 for 6 months supervision, comprising 3 group meetings plus telephone/email support. Special offer via the website: £99 for 6 months supervision! Booking essential as places will be limited. Do contact me now via MeetUp: www.meetup.com/Tunbridge-Wells-Coach-Supervision-Group

Joined the Association for Coaching

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 13:05:00 +0100

I've recently joined the Association for Coaching as a full member, and am going for full accreditation as a coach in July. Having recently attended AC's 'Going Global' international conference, I was very impressed at their professionalism, organisation and friendliness.

AC is fast becoming the association of choice for many of my peers and coaches I respect, so I'm delighted to have joined their ranks and can display the AC logo in my marketing. AC's website is worth checking out if you would like more information: http://www.associationforcoaching.com/home/index.htm

Mindfulness and Presence workshop ran for the London Coaching Group

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 15:50:00 +0000

We ran a successful workshop for the London Coaching Group last night (25th March). Ian and I teamed up to run a 'Mindfulness and Presence' workshop for approx 25 lovely coaches. We really enjoyed working with these informed coaches and some of their feedback included: "A lovely, collaborative energy in the room" "Enjoyed opportunity to experience this and try it out" "Great to hear two thoughtful and inspiring coaches!" "Good relaxed pace and discussion with few Power-points" "The exercises were quite powerful - liked speaking/listening exercise best" "Enjoyed this talk and will be taking this forward to develop my own presence" "Really enjoyed the session - fantastic discipline to review" "I would have liked to hear how the speakers developed their mindfulness and presence more" "Brilliant! Thank you" To view the slides we used, please go to Articles and click on the link there. We are keen to run a full day event on this topic, and we were offered space in London to run this by one of the group! So please contact Ian or me to arrange a suitable date soon.