Archive for 'Professional Development'

With billions of dollars spend every year on professional development and training, how much really sticks?  We have all heard the comments “the training was awesome” and then very little changes. Or how many have attended programs where half the participants didn’t want to be there and the other half didn’t know why they were? I’ll let you judge which half you belonged to! Part of the challenge is with the way many training programs are delivered. And even if the content is rich, Read more »

Professional development is not an easy sell. In fact in many organizations, training is seen as a discretionary cost and, if budgets are tight, it is often one of the first things to be cut. This maybe perceived as understandable as often associated benefits are less tangible and impact is not typically immediate. Of course most progressive organizations recognize that their only way to get better is to invest in their people. After all that is what will keep them ahead of the competition.  Read more »

Most people have had the experience of either presenting to or being part of a group where half the attendees didn’t want to be there and the other half weren’t quite sure why they were there. This of course presents a major dilemma to the poor person who is delivering the training. The following 6 keys strategies are important to turn such a potential tough situation into a powerful learning experience.

1. Anticipate this Challenge – work off the assumption that Read more »

For many organizations annual budget preparations are beckoning and consequently for Human Resource leadership considering what to allocate for professional and organization development. Whether it’s through a talent management review, succession planning or some fundamental training needs analysis justifying precious financial resources for training is never an easy task.

So once the overall budget is agreed the bigger challenge becomes who will actually be conducting the training? When selecting a training organization here are a few tips to take into consideration to ensure you have what is most important – the right fit.

Quality of Content

It may seem obvious but Read more »

Keeping in touch may just be the most important marketing strategy you’ll ever use. You’ll need to connect with potential clients many times before they’ll feel comfortable hiring you or purchasing your products. If you don’t have a systematized and automated keep-in-touch strategy in place, you may end up leaving business on the table.

Keep in mind that there is an important distinction between following up with potential clients, colleagues, and others on a personal one-to-one level, and developing an automated keep-in-touch strategy where you broadcast electronic newsletters Read more »

We hear much about coaching from a personal and business perspective, but it also can play a key role within our education system.

Coaching by its very nature is about assisting somebody to achieve a desired result; it’s about objective support from a trusted adviser to maximize potential and it’s about helping overcome challenges and creating solutions. So bearing this in mind how might effective coaching skills and methodologies help to enhance the educational process?

Let’s perhaps consider the role of the teacher to best illustrate. Read more »

Many organizations are coming to the realization that the “wellness” of employees is a hugely significant business concern given the relative costs of health-care, absenteeism and turnover, not to mention reduced productivity. A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report revealed that work sites with wellness programs have:

Reduced health-care costs by up to 55% Reduced short-term sick leave by up to 32% Increased productivity by up to 52%

Finally organizations that promote employee health and well-being are 3½ times more likely to encourage creativity and innovation, according Read more »

Working with groups rather than individuals when in school was how we all grew up learning. Reflecting on this, could working in groups provide people with a better appreciation of the value of Coaching and also put the coach visibly out there to demonstrate their talents? Perhaps so and it would also make coaching much more affordable and consequently accessible.

One well recognized Coaching Organization, Coachville provides some great resources in terms of the benefits of Group Coaching both in terms of the dynamic and financial benefits.

Blog Contributor Maggie French is a Business Coach and former Financial Executive. She helps people seeking to balance the key elements of running their business.

You are coaching, soliciting new clients, giving workshops and all excited about your new venture. But do you wish to simply offer Coaching Services or run a Coaching Business? What are some of the basics for all businesses when starting out?

New England Coaching is delighted to announce the launch of its new product, The POSSIBILITY Board™

Marlborough, MA, August 19th 2009 – Developed in collaboration with Norwegian company, Life-mastering AS , this is an online, interactive, visual tool that allows individuals create their very own Life Plan.

“This marks a new phase in the development of our business”, said Bill Sex, President and Founder of New England Coaching. “Up to this point, a significant focus of our learning and development has been through more traditional methods such as classroom teaching and coaching. This provides the opportunity to use the internet as a Read more »