Business Training Academy

In difficult economic times it is more important than ever to train and develop your staff to make sure your business is competitive and staying ahead of the competition. Customers are more demanding than ever, and they can access the goods and services they need whenever and wherever they wish. Make sure staff development is still very much on your agenda and explore efficient ways of integrating learning and development into the workplace.

Train the Trainer

Most staff training takes place in the workplace, on the job. This is a practical, efficient and convenient solution. Make sure that you have the skills in-house to design and deliver effective training that produces results, prevents problems and ensures that staff are equipped with the skills and knowledge they need.

Introduction to Coaching

Coaching has grown in popularity over recent years for good reason. It is flexible, targeted and carried out well produces good results. Many organisations are turning to coaching as a way of developing skills. It works at any level, and can produce impressive behaviour changes and performance improvements. Coaching works brilliantly alongside other methods of learning and development. This workshop introduces coaching, explains how it works, introduces a simple model for a coaching session and outlines useful approaches for building a culture of coaching at work.

Social Media and E-Methods for In-house Training

We can’t get away from it—the world is moving faster than many of us can keep up. As technology advances and Generation Y enters the workplace, methods for learning and development in the workplace need to adapt. This workshop shows how to optimise the impact and effect of your in-house learning and development by using social media and other current e-methods.

Taking responsibility for one’s own career and development is very much the modern way. Jobs are no longer for life and it’s a competitive world out there. Optimising your personal performance at work means you are best placed to progress your career and achieve impact in the workplace.

Personal Confidence and Motivation

This workshop gives you the chance to address your confidence issues and build new self-awareness. Most people say that they would like to have more confidence. Many more say that having more confidence would help them be more effective at work. What is confidence anyway and how do you build self-confidence? This workshop explores the steps that need to be taken to increase confidence and to know how to project confidence. Linked to confidence is the subject of motivation – and the course explores how to build self-motivation to achieve goals and success.

Skills for Handling Conflict in the Workplace

Is conflict a bad thing? Many people would try to avoid it, yet it seems part and parcel of most work places. Knowing how to use conflict to bring about change and creative solutions is important for businesses. Understanding the causes and effects of conflict enables good decisions to be made about how best to handle conflict. Most people are involved in conflict at work at some point; this course teaches the skills to deal with individuals and teams, as well as developing approaches for creating positive outcomes from conflict situations.

Communicating with Impact

Research shows that face to face communication is very powerful. Knowing how you are transmitting messages to other people means that you can pinpoint different approaches to achieve different outcomes. This course analyses communication and gives plenty of opportunity to brush up on different techniques. Participants will explore the kind of impact they need to create. Communicating face to face, at a distance, by telephone and via email will be explored.

Dynamic Business Presentations

This course will enable participants to develop their presenting skills and gain confidence when delivering information in a formal presentation setting. Participants will learn how to prepare, practice and plan for their presentations. They will learn tools, techniques and approaches for optimising their presentation performance using advanced communication skills and interactive methods.

People are at the heart of your business. Possibly your most valuable resource, they need looking after and the same attention that you would give to other resources in your business. Right from recruitment and interviewing through to on-going performance management, the best businesses are investing in the skills that managers need to get the best from their people.

Effective Recruitment and Interviewing

Get it right first time! Don’t waste valuable time and money on recruiting the wrong person. It could become a costly mistake. This course takes you through the essentials of recruitment from advertising the vacancy through the interviewing process and making a job offer.

Design and Implement an Effective Staff Induction

You’ve invested time and effort in recruiting the best person for the job. Now are you going to leave them to it? Too many businesses leave the induction process to chance, and what we know is that the first few days are critical for a new member of staff in determining how quickly they integrate into the business and become effective in their role. This course takes a critical look at the induction process and gives you a chance to design an effective and efficient induction for staff new to your business.

Performance Management and Appraisal

This course covers the skills it takes for a manager to get the best out off staff via ongoing performance management and the appraisal process. It shows the importance of performance management and feedback as part of the on-going manager-staff relationship. It also teaches skills for using a formal appraisal process to motivate and focus staff.

Motivating to Perform

Psychologists have been studying motivation for decades. From carrot and stick approaches to more subtle psychology, it seems there is still much to learn about how to motivate ourselves and others in the workplace. This course takes a look at a range of approaches and gives the opportunity to integrate learning into your management practice. There is the option to undertake the Apter Motivational Preferences Psychometric tool to give further insights into some of the most recent motivation theory.

Step Up to Management—4 part introduction

Managing Self, Managing People, Managing Information, Managing Decisions

A four stage overview of the management role covering four key areas important to the management role. Linking the modules together, and acting as an excellent catalyst for using new skills and transferring theory into practice, is the inclusion of a management project. The project will run alongside the modules; time will be spent working on the project during the modules and there will be a need to dedicate some time to the project between training sessions.

Essential Skills for Managing Change

Businesses are trading in difficult times currently. The workplace has to adapt and change to rapidly changing market demands and volatile market conditions. The manager’s role in guiding staff through periods of change is integral to business success. Key skills such as communication, feedback, conflict management and coaching will be needed to equip managers to fulfill this role.

Sales and service are essential for business survival. Everyone in the business plays their part in looking after the customer and building their loyalty.

How to Sell—Introduction to Selling

A workshop which explores some of the basic tools and techniques of selling. The aim of this workshop is to give delegates new insights in how to increase their sales, how to increase customer spend and how to develop repeat business from a loyal customer base.

Consultative Selling

Modern selling is relationship based. The key to developing great customer relationships is taking a consultative approach to your selling process. This course develops skills to help you find out what your customer needs, how they define ‘success’ & how much they are prepared to invest in getting success. By becoming consultative in your approach you stand to achieve more from your sales approach,  develop longer lasting loyal client relationships & improve your chances of giving your clients what they actually want.

Negotiation, Influencing and Persuasion

For anyone in business, having the skills to negotiate, influence and persuade are likely to be very important. Most of us need to be able to reach decisions that suit different parties, whilst also ensuring that our own needs are met. A core part of any salesperson’s toolkit, the skills to negotiate, influence and persuade play a big part in sales success.

Design and Manage the Customer Journey

Did you know the UK is ranked 17th in the world for its customer service? We are still lagging behind, yet we know what we should be doing, don’t we? This workshop takes a look at how you design and manage the journey your customer has with your business. If this journey is managed well, your business has a greater chance of satisfying your customers. Mismanaged journeys lead to dissatisfaction, complaints and customers finding alternative providers. Can you afford not to take an analytical look at the journey your customer has with you?

Handling Complaints and Difficult Situations

Research shows that a customer whose complaint is resolved satisfactorily is more likely to become a loyal customer than someone who has no cause for complaint in the first instance! This means that equipping your staff with the skills to handle complaints and difficult situations could be one of the best investments in training that you make. This course explores how to use interpersonal communication skills to resolve difficulties sensitively and assertively.

Networking Skills for Building Great Business Connections

If you are running a micro business, you will understand the importance of building business connections via networking. Networking enables you to meet new contacts, build collaborative relationships and spread the word about your business. A host of networking opportunities take place daily, from business breakfasts, networking lunches to evening gatherings, all staged with the aim of helping business owners to expand their networks and build their businesses. Come and learn the key skills to make networking work for you and your business.

Understanding the role of the team leader is an important distinction from being a manager. It is the leader’s role to ensure the team achieves the workload, whilst developing as a team, and performing as individuals. High performing teams are built and developed, they don’t just happen.

Building High Performing Teams

For anyone in a leadership role, whether team leader or business owner, knowing how to build a high performing team is both useful and important. This course looks at the stages teams progress through as they work towards high performance. It analyses the strengths required for a balanced team by exploring some theories of team roles. The ingredients for high performing teams are analysed and participants work on action plans for improving their own teams in the workplace.