Newsletter March 11 - Management and IT Training Courses

PENTLAND - TRAINING YOUR WAY | MARCH 2011 Issue:3

Spring into Spring!

Welcome to the 3rd edition of the Pentland newsletter!

Here at Pentland, we have had an incredibly busy start to the new year, and that looks set to continue as we move towards Spring. Many of our clients are in the process of identifying training requirements for the forthcoming year ahead, and of course we are well placed to assist with the delivery of that training as we are active in several areas of expertise; Project Management , Business/Systems Analysis, Technical IT Training, Business Applications , and Management & Personal Development.

For every client that has an embedded and widely used process for developing team members and identifying training needs, there are two that take a more ‘informal’ approach! With this in mind, we have focused this months edition around ‘Personal and Professional development’.

We are specifically looking at how you can ‘get the best from your team’ with the use of skills gaps analysis, and are also encouraging you not to forget about yourself with our article on ‘personal development planning’.

The new year always brings a timely opportunity for self development. So if we can help you with one of your resolutions, or you would like some further information on getting the best out of your team with the use of tailored training solutions, please do get in touch.

We look forward to welcoming you on a Pentland programme soon.

This Month's Highlighted Course

2-day Communication Skills

Our Communication Skills course is highly popular as the majority of jobs in any organisation include an element of communication to some degree or other.

It’s a highly practical course that allows attendees to really think about the communication style that works for them, identify the communication style of those around them, and really explore how to develop the confidence to get the best out of individuals using their language and influencing skills.

The course is not only ideal for those in customer facing roles, but also for anyone who works as part of a team or in a role that requires the development of other non-verbal skills (eg. Body language, listening skills etc.)

Take a look at the full course outline ...

Experts View – Stephen Covey

"We are the creative force of our life,

and through our own decisions rather

than our conditions, if we carefully learn

to do certain things, we can accomplish

those goals"

Getting The Best From Your Team

Learning and talent development are key aspects of sustained organisational performance, not just tools for HR, and creating an effective learning strategy is never more crucial than in the current times of constrained finance, restructuring and redundancies. Identifying your teams training and learning needs should be at the heart of everything you do.

The use of Training Needs Analysis or Skills Gap Analysis is basically a health check on the skills, talent and capabilities of your organisation. It is the systematic gathering of information to find out where there are gaps in the existing skills, knowledge and attitudes of your employees. It involves collecting information about existing employees’ capabilities you’re your organisations demands for skills, and the analysis of how this will impact the future plans for your business. It should always flow from the business strategy, and its aim is the production of a plan for the organisation to ensure that there is sufficient capability to sustain business performance.