Thursday, March 13, 2008

There may be alot of IT training courses out there teaching you the basic buttons - but what you really need is for someone to show you how to 'design' better slides. Better design, better look, clearer messages, better charts - everything that you need in a proper business presentation.

At Impress Training, our "PowerPoint design for Business Presentations" has become outstandlingly popular becuase it does just this. Below is a just a very small sample of some of the many topics we cover in this course.

Posted by Impress Training at 11:56:47 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Monday, February 25, 2008

Harvard Business Publications recently confirmed what many have always known: effective communication is the number one skill for executives to develop. But this skill is neglected when it comes to employee development. Companies send their managers and executives to all types of continuing education programs. And yet, communication development goes highly overlooked.

Managers and executives need to be acutely aware of their communication within the organization. A Gallup poll of more than 1 million U.S. workers concluded that the No. 1 reason people quit their jobs is because of problems with their immediate supervisor. Also, surveys show that over 80% of work-related problems are due to a breakdown in communication (Felber 2002).

So how can managers and executive improve their interpersonal communications with their employees? Here are 5 easy steps that can be taken:

1. Prepare before you speak. Don't call a meeting if you don't know what you're going to say. It is not sufficient to have a general idea of what you want to say. You should prepare for any employee meeting with written bullet points of the topics you want to bring up and the general structure you want to follow.

2. Offer your employees time to prepare. It is only fair that you allow your employees some time to prepare for the meeting too by giving them a heads-up on what the meeting will be about. Communication is a two-way process. When an employee isn't given time to prepare, they are left hearing your thoughts and unable to provide sufficient input that might be necessary. When you call a meeting without giving them time to collect their thoughts on the subject, you are setting yourself up for big problems.

3. Recap. After the meeting it is always a good idea to send a follow-up e-mail with the bullet points from the meeting. This will help both of you remember what was discussed and avoid any breakdown in communication. bullet points.

4. Rally the troops. There's nothing wrong with holding a meeting to motivate your team and improve morale. Remind them of the important work they are doing. Share how each of them is an essential member to achieving goals. This type of meeting can be casual, formal or even a pep-rally. When you take advantage of motivating your team, there is one cardinal rule you must remember: It's about them, not you. This is your opportunity to remind them of "what's in it for them."

Bring in outside resources. It's always a great idea to find an expert to train either yourself or your management team. To avoid turnover and communications breakdowns, a qualified coach or consultant will be able to identify where conflicts exist and provide easy-to-implement tips and techniques.

Source: Shari Alexander / Harvard Business Publications [2008]

Posted by Impress Training at 15:19:44 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Monday, February 18, 2008

Bad appraisals impact productivity and quality of service, says survey

According to research from people assessment company Talent Q, many managers are merely 'going through the motions' when it comes to appraisals.

Talent Q says its survey found that only 58 per cent of the UK workforce receive a formal appraisal, of which many are conducted badly and fail to achieve their objective of reviewing performance.

Talent Q's research found that good appraisals, followed by effective development planning, were related to 2.7 per cent higher levels of productivity and an 11 per cent increase in quality of service.

In organisations that take the management of their people seriously, appraisals will often have been well thought out and structured by human resource professionals. However, Talent Q suggests appraisals are often still implemented poorly for a variety of reasons, including:

·         Managers viewing appraisal as a ‘chore' rather than a useful activity to manage the performance of their people
·         Due to a lack of commitment to the process, managers do not implement appraisal thoroughly across all of their people
·         The objectives of the appraisal not clear or appropriate, either for the company or the employee
·         Managers not preparing in advance or allowing time for the employee to prepare
·         Appraisal discussions are one-sided, with the employee unable to contribute their point of view
·         Managers fudging results either to make themselves look good to their own senior managers, or to ‘be kind' to the employee.

Alan Bourne, director of Talent Q, said: "There's often a huge sigh from managers when appraisal time comes, however it is actually a well-proven management tool. Research has consistently identified it as a key part of an effective HR system.
Many organisations use appraisals badly and our research indicates that those that do so are just wasting time and won't achieve the intended benefits.

"Appraisal systems are often well-designed by the HR function but fall down when handed over to be implemented by managers who have not been engaged and don't buy in to the process. A bad appraisal does nothing for morale or productivity, and works against the goals of the organisation.

"Clearly, HR professionals need to work more closely with their operational colleagues to ensure well meaning policies actually get implemented effectively in practice. The simple message to managers is that if you don't know how to appraise effectively, consider the business benefits of doing so and get appropriate training. Doing it badly is a waste of your time and counter-productive within your team."

Source: Talent Q Survey

Posted by Impress Training at 22:43:34 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Looking into the past at some older management articles about Singapore sometimes bring up startling insights that seem to hold true even in today’s context. In this article, of which only a summarised version is presented, discusses the lack of good managers available in Singapore.

Even though it was written in 1991, the landscape in 2008 doesn’t seem all that too unfamiliar with the same kind of issues kicking around many companies.

With growing concerns on the increasing amount of foreign talent or ‘taken jobs away form Singaporeans’ (perceived or otherwise – and is not the heart of the debate in this article). One wonders has enough been done to groom local managers to think more creatively, empathise more with a global workforce and simple have enough foresight to look beyond the daily operations.

Here is an extract of the article from 17 years ago.

YOU CAN'T GROW IF YOU CAN'T MANAGE Businesses in Asia are expanding so fast that they are running out of people to lead them. Some are taking unusual steps to develop a whole new generation of executives.

(FORTUNE Magazine) – WHEN THEY COME to compete against you, the Asians sometimes seem ten feet tall. They appear to have everything: brains, drive, determination, and capital. But, increasingly, they lack one crucial element for success. Take the case of Ng Pock Too. He certainly appears to have all he needs to fulfil his dream of transforming his Singapore shipyard and construction company into a diversified multinational corporation. Like other chief executives in Asia, he can count on an abundance of financial resources and business opportunities. From his years as a top government official, he also has that most valuable asset -- connections. What he lacks is what much of Asia's newly industrializing world beyond Japan is also looking for: managers. ''It's the greatest restraint I face,'' says Ng, chief executive of the Sembawang Group. Not just any managers, but flexible, creative professionals at home in an increasingly competitive and sophisticated market. While the nature and severity of the shortage vary from place to place and from industry to industry, no company doing business in Asia can afford to ignore it. The bottleneck both stymies Asia's ability to compete in global markets and limits the growth opportunities of foreign companies in Asia.

It would be interesting to note if these views were still the same or the landscape had changed?

Source:
Fortune magazine, 1991
By Ford S. Worthy REPORTER ASSOCIATE John Labate
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1991/06/03/75092/index.htm

Posted by Impress Training at 23:12:58 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Tempering Turnover

Your company's "revolving door" may be a joke by now, with no one sure who's coming and who's going, but with unemployment rising, and concerns about a possible recession growing, it's more important than ever for employers to control costs related to employee turnover. "In a slowing economy, it's critical employers more closely manage their expenses," says Annie Stevens, managing partner with ClearRock, a Boston-based outplacement and executive coaching firm. "One cost they can get better control over is turnover. It costs between two and three times a worker's salary to replace a departing employee, including recruitment, training, lost productivity, and severance costs." Stevens and Greg Gostanian, managing partner with ClearRock, offer some highlights from the firm's recent turnover research:

The top way to reduce the turnover of front-line employees is to screen them more carefully before they are hired. "Companies need to invest more in pre-employment screening and testing, and better interviewing processes and procedures," says Gostanian.

Better orientation for front-line workers also can help. "New employees need to know, right from the start," says Stevens, "what their roles and responsibilities are, the type of business their employers are in, who their customers are, and how each individual worker fits into the big picture."

Don't neglect exit interviews. "Exit interviews give employers insight into potential problems with management, workplace conditions, and the competitive nature of their compensation and benefits," says Gostanian. "Exit interviews should be offered as often as possible to employees who are leaving, and their comments should be closely considered and evaluated."

Better training of front-line workers can help slacken turnover. "Better training programs are the hands-on component of better orientation programs"” says Gostanian. "In addition to knowing why they are working there, and what their duties are, employees need to know how to do their jobs as best they can, who they can go to in case they encounter any problems, and where to find answers to their day-to-day questions."

Giving better pay and benefits also doesn't hurt—especially when coupled with a bigger-picture approach. "Employers," says Stevens, "are using more broadly based methods that will give them longer-term results than a temporary increase in employee morale and engagement resulting from monetary incentives."