I'm a trainer not flippin' Paul Daniels !

It's not my job to be able to pull rabbits out of a hat and actually I dont consider it to be a fair expectation of me or any other learning and development professional. As the title of this post infers I would have joined the magic circle if I felt that was my vocation.

In my 20 plus years of working within corporate learning & development functions, and more latterly as a freelancer it still amazes me that a training course or workshop  is touted as the answer to global warning. The line manager recognises that a member of their team has a development need and books them on to e.g. a presentation skills workshop. That's it then, the team member after two days in the classroom will emerge as an inspirational presenter, job done.

Well in fact no, because the training is only the start of the journey, let me explain.

1) The manager sits down with the individual explains the reason for the training course
2) The manager goes through a pre-course brief with the individual where they discuss the course content and objectives so the individual is clear about what to expect
3) The individual attends the course
4) Post course, as soon as practicably possible, the line manager sits down with the individual and conducts a post course brief exploring:

• How the individual found the course
• What the individual learnt
• What learning the individual wants to implement from the course
• Next steps - some sort of SMART action plan covering the what, the when and the measures of success which will demonstrate that the individual has changed, improved and developed the skills learnt

5) Then as soon as practicably possible the individual will write a presentation, deliver it (with the manager observing the presentation, so as to be able to give feedback to the individual).

It is this positive reinforcement and process of action planning, feedback and discussion which leads to sustainable change in the individual and the embedding of the new skills. The absence of this process, lack of interest, engagement and reinforcement from a line manager means that the individual, no matter how well intentioned, will revert back to doing presentations the way they were doing them when the development need was identified in the first place.

Training and development of your staff is an investment, and like any investment you want to see a return on your money. If you don't follow this process you might as well get a bunch of fivers and set them alight because that's what you do when you put people through training but don't follow it up.

Can you really afford to fritter money  in this fashion. Training without follow up, means no change and gives rise to the mantra that training is a cost, adds no value and we can save our money and manage without it.

It's my job as a learning & development professional to help my customers understand this, otherwise the beancounters cut the training budget which means that the people and the organisation dont develop and the problems associated with this approach bite the organisation in the bum at some point in the near future..

To quote the late Bill Shankly, this isn't about life and death it's more important that !

It's pants - not that Mervyn King would use those words !

I tweeted today saying that I was going to a briefing in Cardiff on the economic outlook.  A reply from a twitter follower came back " Don't bother it's pants". Undeterred I went and gleaned the following.

43% of our exports are to EU trading partners of which Germany at 10% is our biggest customer.

The Chinese economy is still growing but both Taiwan & India have experienced falls.

The cost of borrowing has gone up and Italy & Spain are the latest economies struggling to service their debts.

The cost of borrowing money has gone up for banks and will affect the price of business or consumer credit.

Manufacturing had shown signs of growth but has dipped since March.

UK domestic growth 0.8% forecast for 2011. Consumer spending has contracted in this recession unlike in previous recessions.

Real incomes - falling over the past two years. Pay rises averaging 2% whereas Inflation at 5%.

Uncertainty of demand means that businesses are investing less in their businesses,

The inflation outlook - RPI 5.2% CPI 4.5%. Prediction is that CPI will fall in 2012 when VAT increases drop out of the calculation and oil prices have reduced. Real incomes should increase if inflation falls.

The first audience question was mine - I recounted the story of the Tweet. Pants isn't a phrase Mervyn King would use but it is pretty grim was the reply.

So there you go - thanks to my blog & the credible economist who gave the brief  you can contemplate your personal and/ or business strategy for weathering this economic malaise. Can it get any worse ? Your guess is as good as mine.

You wouldn't go to a networking event with a paper bag over your head !

So why,  why, why do people not have a photo on their  linkedin profile ?

No photo on your linkedin profile - a missed opportunity, was a discussion I started on linkedin last month. After 50 or so replies/comments there is a groundswell of opinion that says no photo  =  A  MASSIVE missed opportunity.

 Below is a selection of comments :

1) Maybe they have something to hide ?

 2) I want to see who I am talking to (even in cyberspace)

3) People like to see other people. It adds some credibility and potential customers like to have a picture of a face  rather than a faceless company

4)  I also feel that if someone isn’t willing to show the real them then I don’t see why I should connect with them or support them with feedback and ideas.

5)  A photo definitely adds credibility - people like - and need - to see who they are dealing with. People buy people NOT products and first impressions count....it only takes a matter of seconds for people to make a number of judgements about another person...and that's before they even open their mouth!

6) I always think that no photo means a lack of commitment to LinkedIn - i.e. you can't be bothered. Why would someone take the trouble to connect with someone when they haven't filled in their details?

7) Having a photo also helps with recognition if you're looking to build relationships. If you've been to a networking event and collected a number of business cards from people you want to connect with online, having a photo can help them identify or recognise you and they are then (hopefully) more likely to accept your invitation.

 So there you have it  - you wouldn't have a brown paper bag covering your face when you were at a networking event - would you ?

What you waiting for - aim, click and  upload that photo now  !

PS - Thank you to all of you @ South Wales Business Contacts (linkedin group) who contributed to the debate and gave me such a rich source of material.

Ouch, wow, recovery - the Tesco way

My ten year old's face said it all !

We'd been told to bring the bike, we'd purchased from Tesco, back to them on the Monday  and that someone would assemble it. (Spot the crap dad with no DIY skills !)

So at 17.30 my wife rang " he's wanting to know when you'll be back to take the bike to Tesco".  "10 minutes" I said. 10 minutes later I was greeted by an enthusiastic cry of " Daddy" as I put the key in the front door.

A few minutes later I spotted a Tesco Manager close to their bike shop. I approached him  and  explained that we'd been told to bring the bike down for assembly. " Really sorry sir, but Dale is on holiday for 2 weeks" was the reply. My 10 year old's face said it all - his head dropped and he looked sooooo soooo sad ! Ouch !

It was suggested I go to customer services and ask them to phone the Newport store as they had a bike shop. The lady on customer services did this and she was told that as long as we got the bike there that evening they would  be able to look at it.

20 minutes later we were at the bike shop in Tesco Newport. A Manager came over to us and and said she was really sorry but that the bike shop closed 20 minutes ago. Double ouch !!  She apologised to us on behalf of Tesco and was sorry  that we'd been given incorrect information. She said she'd spoken to the Cardiff Store Manager and that he was happy to reimburse our petrol costs.

By this point we'd picked out a set of lights and a water bottle for the bike. "I'll charge those to Cardiff  and you can have them" she said.  Things were improving.

" Where do you live ?" She asked next. " I can take the bike in the back of my car to the Pengham Green Store in Cardiff tomorrow, when it has been assembled , to save you coming over to Newport". Blimey, result. " Yes please if you're sure" I said.  WOW & recovery !

Such a great example of two things
1) An individual going the extra mile - thanks Sian  at Tesco Newport
2) Ouch, Wow &; Recovery.

Research shows that customers whose problems are resolved are much more likely to stay loyal & to tell their friends how the organisation redeemed itself.

I'm still gobsmacked at the service that Sian  gave us. It really did turn a bad situation round, At the moment Tesco can do no wrong !

Me & my new mate @MikejulietBravo (a tale of the power and reach of social media)

The green green grass of home was calling and from the 21:15 Paddington to Swansea train I tweeted " Just leaving London Paddington - please no delays FGW, it's been a tough week".

It had been a hell of a week, 2 days training in Swansea then 2 days in Luton arriving at around 22:00 at the hotel to run a 2 day course the following day. but now it was nearly over and I was homeward bound.

I tweeted as I counted the stations down: Reading, Didcot Parkway and Swindon. It was all going to time. I would be back in Cardiff at around 23:30.

" Ladies and gentlemen this is your train manager speaking" oh oh, I had tweeted too soon. I can't remember the reason for the delay or anything like that. Back to tweetdeck to post something about FGW, when I noticed a tweet from someone who follows me. "stuck outside Bristol Parkway".

"Are we on the same train?" I tweeted.

"Yes" came back the reply. We'd never met before but somehow had ended up following each other on Twitter.

"Shall I come and say hello?" he tweeted. So 2 minutes later we were shaking hands, exchanging pleasantries and business cards. He was travelling to Swansea.

I hope to get to know @MikeJulietBravo a bit better but in the meantime I wanted to share this with you as I thought it showed the power and reach of social media and that was going to be the

end of this blog posting. However ..............

Last Wednesday I was travelling back from Doncaster and got off at Bristol Parkway at 21:30 for the final leg of my journey back across the bridge. Walked into the waiting room, turned round to see @MJB coming through the door. The next hour gave us a chance to get to know each other a bit better and he has invited me to join his network.

Do you know what, I think me & @MikeJulietBravo are going to become friends & all thanks to social media !

What if Mary Portas met Jose Arrogante ?

You've got to hand it to Mary “Queen of Shops” Portas and now the “Secret Shopper”(on Channel 4) – she knows her stuff and talks a lot of sense.

In week one she took on the fast clothes retailers and convinced the owner of Pilot to “try something different” (to borrow a line from Sainsburys). I missed the second week where she did battle with the furniture retailers – the like of DFS I guess. I loved what she did at the Angel Fonehouse branch – long overdue is the idea that you should be able to try before you buy a mobile phone !

In week 4 she tackled the Estate Agents and to be honest I was sceptical that she'd be able to pull this one off but yet again I thought she nailed it !

Have I told you about my mate, let's call him Pete, who is an estate agent ? Anyway, I have this great drive to share with others, stuff that I think is good. So I rang him about an hour before the programme went out & suggested he watch it, thinking it might generate some ideas for him.

Myself Pete & his wife, and a few others all met up on Saturday night to celebrate my wife's birthday.

“So Pete – what did you think of the programme? “ I asked.

“ I didn't watch some journalist scapegoating our industry” (or words to that effect was his ill informed reply). I resisted the temptation to explain to him who Mary Portas was.

I persevered “she was saying through the public that basically all estate agents were dishonest Pete. She worked with a particular London agent on drafting property details that were honest and in plain English and avoided terms like a prestigious turning”

Now, did any of you ever watch the fastshow ? In the last series there was a foreign football manager called Jose Arrogante who was based on Mourinho (the then Chelsea Manager)
Mourinho is now doing his own brand of the special one at Real Madrid, but the problem is that there is a new Jose Arrogante and he is called Pete.

In reply he said “The thing is John, i've been in the estate agency business for over 27 years” and to paraphrase him, he can't be taught something by an upstart journalist.

I wonder how the conversation would go if Jose (sorry Pete) met Mary ?