Things to do at HRD 2013 - Free Learning and networking at HRD 2013.

There are 50+ learning sessions taking place at the HRD Exhibition covering a wide-range of topics including L&D, OD, coaching, leadership, talent, e-learning, learning technology and more.

With so much on offer it's difficult to know which sessions to attend, so we've had a good look through the programme and can suggest the following:

1. Firstly the 'must attend' session has to be 2pm on Thursday (25th) with our own Bob Bannister presenting the topic Are Businesses Serious About 70:20:10 Development?  This session will explore what an effective 70:20:10 model looks like, how to establish the relevant learning culture in your own organisation and the 7 key requirements for successful adoption.
2. Making Innovation HR’s Business looks like a promising session looking at the integral role of L&D in ensuring the continued innovation of organisations; training and development of staff to facilitate agility and to help foster innovators; encouraging knowledge sharing and crossboundary working, to realise business benefits.  That's also Thursday at 1545hr.  
3. Finally just because we love the creativity of the title (and therefore we hope the presenter will be equally as fun), there is Mi5takes aer Prabobly Costnig you a Frotune!  Pick up simple, powerful tips to develop accuracy skills and promote attention to detail in your organisation. That's 9:15 am on Thursday too.  

If that's not motivation enough, here are 10 more reasons why you should attend HRD 2013:

1. Focus on specific areas such as coaching or talent or get an update across all areas of L&D.
2. Benefit from sessions in three different formats and find a learning style that suits you.
3. Get practical tips and advice to improve individual and organisational performance.
4. Hear from L&D and business leaders, who are experts in their chosen fields
5. Work through your business issues in practical workshops with like-minded peers.
6. Benchmark your existing approaches to learning and development.
7. Hear from leading organisations who are tackling the same challenges as you.
8. Meet top L&D suppliers and get tailored advice to issues you're facing.
9. Take a look at the latest products and services in learning and organisation development at the free exhibition.
10. Get professional development advice and try speed networking and make new contacts.

For all the other stuff and free registration here's a link to the HRD site.  

Hope to see you there. 

Bob Bannister
@bbbannister

After you...

It's a funny thing when a book published in the 1980s has a lasting impact on the way you live and work. Especially when the idea is so very simple, and it's application so easy to do. For me this is definitely the case.

I am referring to the practice of understanding before you are understood, or to put it another way diagnosing before you prescribe. The book I'm sure will be known to many of you as Covey's Seven habits of highly effective people.

Perhaps there are many good insights in this book, but I have for years found this advise 'to let the other person have their say first' exceptionally helpful. After all who would value a doctor that writes out your prescription before asking you what was wrong?

Understanding before you are understood works in almost every single situation you can imagine. I can't think of a time when I have not benefited from leading the other contributor to have their say first.
Immediately you are put in a position of strength, able to reflect and select your reply in the light of the others position. Able to answer more specifically the need of the other person, able to think for a few seconds more about the response that you make.

Whether this is a new idea to you or just one that you'd forgotten about, give it a chance today. Make the simplest of all behavioural changes and let them go first.
Bob.
Bob Bannister

Do you really care about Health & Safety?

"Health and safety training" I say', "Groan" I hear.  

Few would disagree that mandating health and safety training is a good thing, but many might agree that the frequent repetition of the same old training solutions drives complacency. Sometimes it's even worse, where the training has morphed into a total tick box exercise to ensure legal requirements are covered. 

What we need in the UK is to meet our legal obligations, but beyond this generate a meaningful H&S mindset. 

In the late 80's (yes I am that old) I spent a very enjoyable 8 years of my career with what then (and perhaps still is) the safest organisation in the world.  That organisation was DuPont, a company that has lead the field in H&S since early disaster resulted in blowing up a large number of staff!  

Some of their history reads like this:  

Safety in the workplace, a long-standing hallmark of the DuPont Company, emerged during the trials of World War I. Being an explosives manufacturer had historically made DuPont more safety conscious than most other manufacturers. Especially significant progress in reducing accidents had been made in the years just prior to the war. However, the influx of tens of thousands of untrained workers into the munitions industry during the war created the potential for disasters. Explosions did occur in several American plants, killing hundreds. During the war DuPont made safety an essential and permanent part of engineering and employee relations. After the war, the new company president, Irénée du Pont, intensified the company's safety consciousness and began to award individual prizes for long accident-free performance. Irénée became a major spokesman for the growing safety movement in America generally. By the 1930s, it was established company policy that safety is just as much a part of industry as any other operating feature (quality and quantity of finished products, efficiency, methods, etc.).

When I worked with DuPont it was said you were safer at work than at home.  My overriding impression from that period was that this was true.  The other interesting observation was that we didn’t seem to spend hours attending training on H&S matters, instead as suggested above, it was simply an integrated aspect of business life, just like quality, quantity of finished products, efficiency, methods, etc.  Safety was ever present in all aspects of work.  

When my career moved me on to a different but equally world renown corporate brand (who I will not name) I was for some time shocked by the level of unresolved hazards and near misses.  The apparent lack of attention focused on H&S (which had become something of a comfort factor during my DuPont years) seemed astonishing.  In short I had moved from an organisation that truly considered safety to be part of everything they did, to another that may have believed they were safety conscious, but in fact were ticking boxes not creating a valued culture of health and safety.  

The dilemma brought about by mandating safety training is that the very solution that’s there to support staff and promote safe working becomes over familiar.  Perhaps organisations need to be smarter at varying the training products offered, making sure that they are always engaging, relevant and fresh.  Then start building a safety culture that is give the same prominence within the organisation as other business initiatives and operations.  

So what is your H&S legal training obligation?

Stress awareness training:

• The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 together ensure that employers have legal responsibility to ensure the health and safety at work of all employees. And this includes minimising the risks of illnesses or injuries relating to stress.
• Health and safety policy should address the issue of stress at work and effective risk assessments relating to stress should be carried out and regularly monitored.
• The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (13(2)) require that every employer must ensure that their employees are provided with adequate health and safety training:
• When employment is started.
• Be repeated where risks may be increased due to changes of responsibilities or changes in working practices.
• And that training should; Be repeated on a regular basis, Be adapted to take account of new risks to health and safety, Take place during working hours.
• The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 states that:
• 2. General duties of employers to their employees
• (2:1) It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.
• (2:c) the provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of his employees;
• (2:e) the provision and maintenance of a working environment for his employees that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe, without risks to health, and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for their welfare at work.
• 7. General Duties of employees at work.
• It shall be the duty of every employee while at work -
• (a) to take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at work.  

Manual handling training:

The Regulations state that training should be provided:

• When employment is started.
• Be repeated where risks may be increased.
• Should be repeated on a regular basis and be adapted to take account of new risks to health and safety. Under The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 Manual Handling is taken to include the lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling, carrying and movement of anything by hand or bodily force.
• Identifying manual handling risks and knowing how injuries can happen.
• Guidance in good manual handling technique.
• Advice on how mechanical aids can help.
• Whatever the type or size of your company all your employees should have Manual Handling training. 

Fire awareness training:

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) order 2005 states that the responsible person must ensure that their employees are provided with adequate safety training:

• At the time when they are first employed
• On being exposed to new or increased risks because of:
• Change of responsibilities
• Introduction of new equipment
• Introduction of new technology
• New system of work
• Suitable and sufficient instruction and training on precautions and actions
• Be repeated periodically where appropriate
• Adapted to take account of new or changed risks
• Provided in an appropriate manner to the risk identified
• Takes place during working hours.

Slips, trips and falls training:

The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (13(2)) require that every employer must ensure that their employees are provided with adequate health and safety training:

• When employment is started.
• Be repeated where risks may be increased due to changes of responsibilities or changes in working practices.
• And that training should; Be repeated on a regular basis, Be adapted to take account of new risks to health and safety, Take place during working hours.
• The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 (12 Conditions of floors and traffic routes) state that:
• (2a) The floor, or surface of the traffic route, shall have no hole or slope, or be uneven or slippery so as to expose any person to a risk to his health and safety;
• (3) So far as is reasonably practicable, every floor in a workplace and the surface of every traffic route in a workplace shall be kept free from obstructions and from any article or substance which may cause a person to slip, trip or fall.
• The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 states that :2. General duties of employers to their employees.
• (2:1) It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.
• (2:c) the provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of his employees;
• (2:e) the provision and maintenance of a working environment for his employees that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe, without risks to health, and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for their welfare at work.
• 7. General Duties of employees at work.
• It shall be the duty of every employee while at work -
• (a) to take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at work.

Computer and ICT training:

The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 (2,4,6,7) require that:

• All employees are provided with adequate health and safety training in the use of any workstation upon which they may be required to work.
• Employees are provided with adequate information regarding all aspects of health and safety relating to their workstations.
• Employers should ensure that work on display screen equipment is interrupted by periodic breaks or changes of activity.
• Employers should perform health and safety risk assessments of workstations.
• The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (13(2)) require that every employer must ensure that their employees are provided with adequate health and safety training.
• When employment is started.
• Be repeated where risks may be increased due to changes of responsibilities or changes in working practices.
• And that training should; Be repeated on a regular basis, Be adapted to take account of new risks to health and safety, Take place during working hours.
• Regardless of the size of your company
• Whatever the type or size of your company all your employees who sit at a computer for any part of their working day should have DSE - Display Screen Equipment training.

Asbestos training:

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 which came into force on 6th April 2012 require that the responsible person (or duty holder) in all non-domestic premises is responsible for ensuring that people who work there or visit the premises are protected against ill-health from exposure to asbestos.

• This includes all non-domestic buildings – industrial, commercial or public buildings – for example offices, schools, hospitals, factories, shops and warehouses.
• The Regulations state that an employer must not undertake work in demolition, maintenance or any other work which exposes or is liable to expose employees to asbestos unless a suitable and sufficient assessment has been carried out and that the assessment has ascertained whether asbestos is present, and if so, what type it is, where it is and its condition.
• The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012Section 10 : INFORMATION, INSTRUCTION and TRAINING stipulates that every employer must ensure that any employee who is liable to be exposed to asbestos is given adequate information, instruction and training so that they are aware of :
• The properties of asbestos and its effects on health, including its interaction with smoking
• The types of products or materials likely to contain asbestos
• The operations which could result in asbestos exposure and the importance of preventative controls to minimise exposure
• Emergency procedures, use of protective equipment, decontamination and asbestos waste handling.

Perhaps your staff have become over familiar with the repetitive nature of meeting your legal health & safety obligations? 

This often happens resulting in a lacklustre user experience and a sense of 'going through the motions'. There is a significant danger with this; it reduces the level of learning that takes place within the organisation. Using our interactive health & safety eLearning courses you will deliver fresh and current learning that will engage your staff and enable a richer learning outcome. That means you will meet your legal requirements, generate increased user interest and most importantly make your staff more safe.

Arrange a free demo of our leading Health & Safety eLearning solutions from only £3 per person per course.  

A five staged performance framework

In previous blogs we have spoken about the need for a robust performance measurement framework when assessing objective achievement.

Here is one we've developed as an example:

Achievement level	Guidance notes
Exceptional achievement	Delivering above expectations in all set objectives.	Where all agreed objective targets have been exceeded.
Additional achievement	Meeting all set objectives but delivering above the expected level for some.	Where all agreed objective targets have been met with one or more achieving above the expected level.
Fully achieved	Achieving a high standard of work meeting all set objectives.	Where all agreed objective targets have been achieved. Or where there is a spread of partially achieved objectives and additional achievement objectives.
Partially achieved	Meeting expected level for some objectives but not all.	Where one or more objective measure has not been fully achieved.
Not achieved	Not delivering against any set objectives.	Where no set objective has been achieved.

Managers can still use their professional discretion, but on the basis of a clear datum provided in these descriptions.  The further they stray from the guide, the more they will need to justify the chosen level.

Working with this style of framework at least ensures that all managers start from the same point of understanding.

Happy Christmas

Well it's nearly here, and we just want to say...

Have a great holiday and we hope a prosperous new year.

Best regards

Bob

Why does everyone think all business relationships have to be partnerships?

Referring to suppliers as ‘partners’ has been common practice within many organisations for a some time, but is that at all helpful?  Even the most well intended arrangements seem to begin operating in a ‘partnership style’ but quickly decline into ‘N.A.T.O. style’ that’s No Action Talk Only!  Many more decline even further, some into open warfare before the contract term is out. 

Wouldn’t it be better for organisations to at least ask the question; should this arrangement be a partnership?  The answer to that (by the way) is a resounding ‘yes’, simply because not every arrangement works best as a partnership.  This is the case with any buyer / supplier scenario, but is especially relevant in the sphere of commissioning and outsourcing where the de facto approach is to attempt partnership working.  

Part of the problem is that people don’t realise that  there are alternative ways to approach these big commercial arrangements.  We’ve identified at least four which we call, the colleague, the capitalist, the collector and the controller.  They each have distinct ways of working to bring about best value from the relationship; without too much thought you can probably decipher the intended focus just by considering their name.  Each approach has different visions, behaviours, structures, goal setting, systems, rewards and contracts.  So it makes a lot of difference which one you select and apply to your arrangement.  

In addition it is also really important to understand the differing market conditions which make these alternative approaches the most suitable.  You can be guided as to which is the correct approach by understanding the ease or difficulty of a market, alongside the level of expenditure you command in that market.  

It really is no wonder that some major commissioned services disappoint, when they are being managed with a style which encourages the wrong responses, practices and behaviours on both sides of the relationship.  Smart organisations are tuning into the fact that each major service provision needs to be managed via a different approach strategy.  When they start doing that, they start delivering real value. 

Are managers able to assess staff training needs? Sometimes an external view is needed.

Over the summer we have been involved in carrying out a number of training needs analysis for some of our clients.  It’s one of those activities that most organisations carry out, but then often realise that the results are not very satisfactory.  

Often when HR professionals are faced with summarising the training needs following around of appraisals or personal development plans, they can be left pulling out their hair  in frustration at some of the suggestions being made.  We have probably all seen it; lists of bespoke software training courses, the blandly generic comments like “This person needs assertion training”, and the obligatory “French classes” even if there’s no need for French!   Perhaps in a school teacher kind of way you may have looked at the suggestions, wanted to put a big red cross over it and write “Must try harder next time” before returning to the offending manager.  

Effective training needs analysis can be a challenge in any organisation especially if linked to the performance management cycle.  Learning solutions can easily be based on the wrong indicators of training needs.  We follow four simple training needs analysis steps to deliver assessments based on genuine organisational learning need.

Here they are for your own consideration:

First, define the competence menu.  Many organisations have a competence framework from which to build this assessment menu, but be careful that it is granular enough to gain the insight you need.  We have our own menu, and often find we merge this with client organisations own to create the right level of understanding.  

Second, select the target population.  In practice it is difficult to engage everyone in training needs analysis.  We recommend searching out a target population of people that are representative of the business, but also have a good understanding of the challenges and difficulties faced by them and their colleagues. 

Thirdly, we set up focus group sessions.  These have the purpose of completing the competence assessment, surfacing any areas of business challenge and begin identifying the potential learning needs.  

Fourthly, summarise findings and make recommendations.  You will need a quite room and a few hours to summarise your findings and make  your training recommendations.  You will be sure however, that they are based on genuine needs arising within the business.  

If you are tired of the results delivered from your traditional performance management cycle training needs analysis maybe it's time to do the bold thing and recommend something new? Feel free to ask us at iManage for any support in how to refresh your training needs analysis, if you like we’ll even have us carry it out for you with no cost or obligation.