Many firms cut back on training in 2009

New International study provides a thought-provoking and worrying insight into the situation facing many Northern European companies. In spite of a great need – and a great interest in skills development, many employees have not been granted the necessary professional training in 2009.

The online study was conducted by us at FindCourses Global in November 2009, across four active markets – Denmark, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The results clearly show how the crisis has forced many Northern European companies to cut the budgets for training. More than half of respondents (53%) claim they have not received any Professional Training in 2009, and only 15% have had 6 days or more, compared to an average of 6 days per employee in 2008 (CIPD Training and Development Report, 2009).

Fredrik Andersson, Chief Information Officer at FindCourses Global says:

“The results are fortunately directly contradictory of what we generally see among visitors to our sites, and in fact 2009 has been our busiest year ever. The study is still worthwhile to bear in mind though we certainly hope it is not a sign of a prolonged trend.”

Industry analysis shows that turbulent markets make it necessary for companies to adapt to new demands, and develop personnel’s skills accordingly. Lord Peter Mandelsen, Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills, recently stated his belief that for Britain’s economy to recover and achieve long term success, developing the UK’s skills base is critical (Skills Investment Strategy 2010-11).  Numerous studies show that firms which abandon training and development are two and a half times more likely to fail than those that don’t.

Fredrik Andersson continues, “The importance of skills development is undeniable – the downturn is the time when you need training and development the most. Northern European countries which are constantly under productivity pressures need investment in staff development, to maintain competitiveness.”

Findcourses.co.uk has seen record numbers of people searching for personal and professional development training courses, the number of visitors is up by 60% in just the autumn. The most sought after training courses have been in the areas of Leadership training, Management Development courses, Coaching courses, Communication Skills, and Personal Development.The trend for 2010 however, is that more and more employees will be responsible for their own development.

Findcourses.co.uk, the UK’s largest search engine dedicated to Professional Development is part of the rapidly growing Swedish company FindCourses Global, which also operates www.searchMBA.com, www.utbildning.se, www.koulutus.fi, and www.finduddannelse.dk.

Links to survey results:
Denmark
Finland
Sweden
United Kingdom

Library & Information Services Staff look no further for training…

Training and courses for Library Information Services Staff now listed on Findcourses.co.uk
Keeping the UK’s Librarians and Information Services Staff up-to-date with the latest training is in high demand, and the team at Findcourses.co.uk have been hard at work helping to make sure that Information Management training courses are listed, and available for viewing.

With everything from Content Management, Data Management, Records Management, Copyright, Marketing, Internet Skills, Financial Budgeting, Project Management, Researching Skills, to Copyright and Classifying included we hope the librarians and information services staff will be able to find what they need to keep the good work up.

For more information and all other categories of Professional Development see Findcourses.co.uk. If there’s a type of course not there and you’d like to find out more, just let us know, or leave a message here.

Thanks,
Findcourses.co.uk

Effective Excel Tips & Training

Once of the most powerful tools at our disposal in the modern office environment is Microsoft’s Excel spreadsheet software. Unbelievably powerful, often underestimated, Excel has incredible depth and can also be incredibly complex as a result.

Your productivity can increase and your frustration can decrease if you just knew how to use Excel better – for example, understanding the basics of Excel functions, what’s possible in Excel or how to structure Excel worksheets best for your needs.

Training for Excel is a new site that gives some useful Excel tips and tricks and good advice for Excel training and courses.

Have you mastered Excel’s pivot tables? Have you got a great way for running Excel filters? What’s your favourite Excel trick? What peeves you most about Excel? Let us know!

Online advertising most popular form of advertising in UK

Advertise online or risk losing out on business
According to a report by the Financial Times, which refers to a study conducted by PwC for the Internet Advertising Bureau, the Internet has overtaken television and has become Britain’s biggest advertising medium. Britain is the first major media market to see such a gap – and businesses are acting fast to get online if they aren’t already.

Online advertising grew by 18.7 per cent in the latter part of 2008, and now in 2009 is accountable for almost a third of companies marketing budgets. This trend, though expected, took hold a little earlier that expected as a direct result of the economic crisis. Being online is not just about having your own website – it’s about positioning your site in the right way, and attracting the right audience.

Training providers were on to this years ago, thus the door-wedge black book is long gone, and trainers go to town on developing their website and providing information about their courses – but to get them seen – that’s the question. Based on this trend is Findcourses.co.uk – the online search engine service which our team has been growing since May this year. And what a good year it has been – stats on year end visitors, and click through rates coming soon. Professionals in the UK are increasingly looking online to find coaching, training and courses , with less time to visit exhibitions or plough through pages and pages of directories, an online collection of courses is just what is needed. Free information is available on Findcourses.co.uk about how you can gain exposure of your training courses, and we strive to provide the latest training news, and course updates in the Findcourses.co.uk blog and forums.

See you there!

Adobe courses proven to increase productivity

New Site makes it easier to find Adobe Courses

Adobe, the publishing and editing software for publications and graphics, developed by Adobe Systems in the US, is used by 82% of the UK’s business community on a day-to-day basis. Not only did Adobe software and services revolutionise how the way world engages with ideas and information, in a way that Adobe likes to call anytime, anywhere, and through any medium.

Taking a course in adobe will help you become more focused on the adobe program that suits you. Adobe offers a variety of programs and there are a number of training courses in all the Adobe programs, for you to develop your ability to work in programs such as Adobe Photoshop. In response to the great demand of Adobe courses, a new site is now operating to aid people in their search – and to make it easier to find the right course for them – see AdobeCourses.net now.

If you’re thinking about taking an Adobe course, consider also other IT-User courses that may make your daily computer usage that bit easier, for training-is-gaining and when it comes to IT you can never have enough skills training.

Meet FindCourses team in Manchester 17th & 18th November!

Members of the Findcourses.co.uk  Team will be in Manchester tomorrow and Wednesday (17th and 18th November 2009) attending the annual CIPD Conference and Exhibition.

The Findcourses Team are looking forward to attending this CIPD event in the coming days. Not only is it a day out of the office, but with hundreds of Professional Development training providers exhibiting, and thousands of HR personnel visiting, this event is an excellent opportunity for all involved to share knowlege about Learning and Development.

The Findcourses Team, our very own expert advisers and Business Development Managers Sarah Deery, and Tanis Jaques, will be networking with peers, introducing our Professional Development search engine service to new training providers, and spreading the Findcourses word to HR personnel. Our  Business Development Managers are looking forward to meeting you at the conference and exhibition – so if you know you’ll be there watch out for the girls, or leave us a message so we know to expect you.

>> See the team here so you know who to look out for at the CIPD conference and exhibition

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) Training are also now listed on Findcourses.co.uk. Now the HR Training professionals CIPD Training have listed a number of their courses on Findcourses.co.uk. For all involved in HR, Admin, Management and Business Development, these courses are the must-haves to allow your business to succeed.

>> Click here to see CIPD Training’s HR training courses now

>> Click to find out more and request information from CIPD Training

INSPIRE young people – talk about your job and career

At Findcourses.co.uk, we recently partnered with the not-for-profit organisation Growing Ambitions to help INSPIRE young people. We know that when the findcourses.co.uk team and their friends were at school the possibilities of the real world were rather daunting. Remember the careers information you got at school? Careers advisers continue to be under-resourced and need the input from the world of work. Their young people need information to help them make informed career choices.

This unique UK-wide volunteering initiative  puts real people, doing real jobs, in front of young people as Career Speakers, telling them what their careers are really like and give them great ideas for their future. The youth need more real careers  information and we know our site visitors are in the perfect position to give this.

The concept is simple: volunteer a half-an-hour talk about your job and career to young people near you. Sign up as an individual – and if you are an HR manager, consider offering this easy volunteering opportunity more widely among your staff.

Working people keen to make real differences need an easy, quick and effective way of putting something back into their local communities. This is it.

» Register Now (sign up takes just a few minutes). Volunteers can speak just once, or as many times as they like and can opt out at any time, with a few mouse clicks.

 

 

Do you receive enough workplace training

We’ve launched a new monthly poll on findcourses.co.uk asking “How much professional training have you received in 2009?“

The monthly polls we run on findcourses.co.uk are interesting for us as we get the chance to hear your opinions and make our site better or offer new material for you as needed. For instance, we see this poll helping you understand how much training you receive when compared to the other users of findcourses.co.uk.

If, in these grim financial times, contract discussions can’t increase your salary, there’s often a chance to receive additional training. Both you and your employer appreciate workplace training because your productivity will increase, in turn making you more important to your department. Therefore, the average number of learning and development opportunities you receive each year can be a strong bargaining point when discussing contracts and salaries.

Check back later in the month to see how your answer compares with the average.

>> Take the November poll

Working towards the New Asian markets

As a western business working with, or a western manager working in China, Japan, Korea and East Asia, it can be both culturally difficult and problematic. Culture can be described as “the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization or group”. We all know that such cultural values can vary from city to city, country to country and, even more so when compared across continents.

The term “Asia” is originally a concept exclusively of Western civilization, as the peoples of ancient Asia (Chinese, Japanese, Indians, Persians, Arabs etc.) never conceived the idea of Asia. This was simply because in their perspective, they were vastly varied civilizations, contrary to ancient European belief.

East Asia Business helps bridge that gap and lack of understand between western culture and the local cultures in Asia. The in house courses that East Asia Business Training run provide a comprehensive view of the local business culture, help explain and develop negotiating skills, and learn how to work with and to do business with Chinese, Japanese and Korean counterparts.

East Asia Business specialises in intercultural management training and team building to ensure you avoid common cultural problems and to ensure your business ticks all the right boxes with your Asian partners.

Not got time for training? Professional Development at your desk!

E-Learning / Online Learning – Training at a time and place that suits you

E-learning, also known as electronic learning, or online learning refers to training courses that are web-based, or on a distance basis. In a nutshell – E-learning makes use of information and communications technology to provide innovative ways to learn. The real bonus is E-learning training courses give you the freedom and flexibility to learn when and where you want, and at your own pace. These days, as people are ever more busy, E-learning courses are offered at a variety of training institution, and include a wide range of subjects at any level, which is ideal if the subject you’re interested in isn’t available nearby. Additionally, e-learning courses are generally designed to guide you through information or to help you perform specific tasks – all from the comfort of your desk / sofa etc. There are various sorts of ways in which the information is transferred in e-learning courses, from information-based e-learning where content communicates information to the student, to  performance-based content, where the lessons build off of a procedural skill in which the student is expected to increase proficiency.

Sounds good … and add to this Distance Learning Courses – Distance courses, similarly and complimentary are ideally suited to the needs of working adults, as students do not need to travel to attend any classes. As with online / e-learning courses students are able to study for specific courses or university degree entirely online, from home, work, on the move or wherever else is convenient, and at times to suit themselves. Distance courses also include periodic face-to-face interaction, and delegates are given the opportunity to attend classes when they need them or meet with their tutors during their online study period to assist with their learning.

» Learn more about Distance learning courses

No excuses to not get some Professional Development training now – and what’s more it’s affordable – costs are famously reasonable!

Read more about the kinds of Online / Distance / E-Learning training -  and see if this alternative form of training suits you ….