The HR and L&D sectors are built on a foundation of outsourcing. Often, the secret ingredient to ensuring those products and services add value is… the person buying them! So, this week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , we ask: what are the characteristics of a client who has a high likelihood of gaining value from their supplier? Ross G and Gemma are joined, from our sales team, by Lara Kidd and Samantha Nicks. We discuss: · why the client is so important to the implementation of any HR o...
Jun 13, 2023•38 min•Ep. 348
In The Resilience Handbook , occupational psychologist and author Sukh Pabial outlines three elements which can make us more resilient: positive psychology, emotional intelligence and mindfulness. But is this something we can only develop on our own, or can L&D build the resilience of others? In this week's episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Sukh joins Ross G and Owen to discuss: · how inner work is a pre-requisite to being able to help others · the extent to which L&D teams run...
Jun 06, 2023•40 min•Ep. 347
You had an idea for say, a product or service. You created it and rolled it out to a small target group. It worked - a success! It's now time to expand, to unleash it onto the world. How do you make sure it continues to be a success? This is the question John A. List sets out to answer in his book, The Voltage Effect . In this book club episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Gemma is joined by Owen and Ross Dickie to get to grips with List's suggestions for successful scaling. We discussed: ...
May 30, 2023•36 min•Ep. 346
You might offer employees the best content libraries, training or toolkits in the world, but if they don't know what's there, or when or why they'd access it, it's useless. In these situations, you need a creative approach to grab learners' attention and give them compelling reasons to keep them coming back. In this week's episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Gemma is joined by the team behind a successful engagement project at Heathrow Airport: Steph Constantinides, Charlotte Blake and C...
May 23, 2023•37 min•Ep. 345
For over 20 years, Debbie Carter has been working at industry magazine Training Journal , tracking the changes that have taken place in our field – and occasionally railing against them! In this week's episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , she joins Ross G and Owen to discuss: · the state of L&D in the early 'noughties' · the big changes that have shaped our profession · the constants that have remained the same. You can check out Training Journal at: trainingjournal.com/ You can read ...
May 16, 2023•34 min•Ep. 344
You can map employee networks in all sorts of ways: formal hierarchy, online interactions, geographic location. But, in this episode, we look at how surveying colleagues unlocks insights into who is a key relationship node – and who is isolated. In this episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Ross G and Owen are joined by Jeppe Hansgaard, CEO of Innovisor. We discuss: · techniques for mapping employee networks · the role that the 3% play in maintaining a strong network of · the impact of net...
May 09, 2023•46 min•Ep. 343
Adults do not learn as children learn. They have prior experience, they have real-world problems to solve and, crucially, they can get up and walk out if they lose interest! In this week's episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Ross G and 'Ross Dickie' are joined by Dr Carrie Graham. In amongst talk of bridge building, we discuss: the core principles of Adult Learning Theory how to apply Adult Learning Theory in the workplace why keeping the life of the learner front-of-mind is so important...
May 02, 2023•38 min•Ep. 342
In case you've missed it, 2023 has become the year when automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) started displacing cognitive and creative work. Chat-GPT, DALL-E and other tools are becoming ubiquitous, so this week we're asking how L&D and HR should respond. To answer this question, Owen and Ross D are joined on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast by Ashley Recanati, author of AI Battle Royale: How to Protect Your Job from Disruption in the 4th Industrial Revolution. We discuss: where the les...
Apr 25, 2023•47 min•Ep. 341
In an uncomfortable first for The Mind Tools L&D Podcast team, we're handing over this week's hosting duties to friend-of-the-show Matt Pleger, Organizational Development Consultant at UMass Memorial Health. Matt has been a long-time client of Ross G's, and this time HE'S asking the questions. Owen, Ross G and Ross D discuss: how we got started in L&D what we've gained from doing the podcast our L&D 'hot takes' (something we believe about L&D that is provocative and maybe has som...
Apr 18, 2023•44 min•Ep. 340
Used effectively, video can be the most emotive part of a learning experience. So how do you get it right? In this episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Ross D and Gemma are joined by Samson Owolabi, Creative Director at Bearded Fellows, to discuss: what 'high-impact video' means in a learning context how to go about designing videos that will resonate with your audience how to overcome common challenges in the creative process You can find out more about Bearded Fellows on their website: b...
Apr 11, 2023•33 min•Ep. 339
Does everyone have a book in them? How hard it is to take an idea to publication? In this episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , authors Andy Lancaster, Nelson Sivalingam, Michelle Parry-Slater and Gary Cookson join Ross G to share their experiences. We discuss: · why they wanted to write a book in the first place · how to get started · advice for overcoming the stress of a deadline. Andy's book is Driving Performance Through Learning. Nelson's is Learning at Speed . Michelle's is The Learn...
Apr 04, 2023•46 min•Ep. 338
The opportunities we have access to in life are shaped by our background, our environment and our networks. It is difficult to create equitable organizations if a single homogenous group are making most of the decisions. In Reverse Mentoring: Removing Barriers and Building Belonging in the Workplace, coach and author Patrice Gordon describes how connecting senior decision-makers with more junior mentors can help them understand one another. This week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Patrice jo...
Mar 28, 2023•42 min•Ep. 337
Learner surveys get a hard wrap: at best they're a waste of time, at worst they actually mislead us. But what if we just did them well? This week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Gemma and Ross G are joined by Dr Will Thalheimer to discuss the second edition of Performance-Focused Learner Surveys – a book so exciting that Will wrote it twice! We discuss: why most learner surveys suck, despite L&D pros insisting they want to evaluate learning how to create effective questions that give you ...
Mar 21, 2023•44 min•Ep. 336
Can we improve our workplace performance through learning outside of work? Are there benefits to this? How might we go about it? This week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Gemma and Ross Garner are joined by David Hayden and Steve George, authors of 'Adjacent Learning' to discuss the possibilities and practicalities of learning elsewhere. We cover: what adjacent learning is how we can learn purposefully from other places how can we reflect on what we know and do outside of work that will help ...
Mar 14, 2023•35 min•Ep. 335
What do business leaders think about L&D? What do they expect? What's the reality for L&D? This week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Gemma is joined by Nahdia and Anna to discuss our latest Leadership report – Turning pressures into opportunities . We cover: · what questions we asked · the headline takeaways from this year's report · the practical implications. To read the report in full, download it from our Research reports site: mindtoolsbusiness.com/research-and-reports/turning-p...
Mar 07, 2023•39 min•Ep. 334
What are L&D practitioners excited about in 2023? Is it the rise of artificial intelligence? Or is it the Metaverse? What about skills-based talent management? Or learning analytics? This week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Ross D is joined by Donald Taylor to discuss the results of the Global Sentiment Survey 2023. We cover: · what the GSS is (and what it isn't) · the headline takeaways from this year's survey · regional differences in the data If you're interested in reviewing the res...
Feb 28, 2023•39 min•Ep. 333
How do you pick from the hundreds of platforms out there? What questions might you ask to refine your options? If you're looking for a learning platform, then you've got quite the decision to make! Not only is the market huge and complicated, but it can also be an expensive purchase. Help is at hand this week in The Mind Tools L&D Podcast. Ross G and Gemma are joined by EdTech Consultant Stella Lee, an expert in navigating the decision process. We explore: · key questions to answer before yo...
Feb 21, 2023•42 min•Ep. 332
What do employees and managers care about in 2023? How do we keep them feeling happy, interested and safe? A new report from Reward Gateway offers six human-centred strategies to build strong, resilient teams. So, this week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Ross G and Owen are joined by Chief People Officer Nebel Crowhurst to discuss their findings. We explore: · - whether it's important that your manager 'cares' about you · - the role of mental, physical and wellbeing support in engaging empl...
Feb 14, 2023•38 min•Ep. 331
Ten years ago, Henry Stewart wrote The Happy Manifesto , outlining 10 principles for happier workplaces. Among them: Make your people feel good; Be open and transparent; Celebrate mistakes. This week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Henry joins Gemma and Ross G the relevance of these principles in 2023. Spoiler: They're even more important. We discuss: how the workplace has evolved the emergence of 'self-managing organisations' the factors that stop leaders creating a happy workplace. During ...
Feb 07, 2023•37 min•Ep. 330
With inflation high, and high profile redundancies hitting the headlines, L&D is once again under pressure to demonstrate the value it offers and to have an impact in our organisations. So what can you do if your budget is slashed? This week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , David James shares his experiences of managing the L&D team at The Walt Disney Company during the 2008 financial crisis. David is the Chief Learning Officer at 360Learning and host of The Learning & Development...
Jan 31, 2023•37 min•Ep. 329
Last week on the show we had James McLuckie join us to share his advice for winning an award, and this week - as we're approaching Oscars season - we thought we'd host our own award show: where the nominees haven't entered, the winners don't get anything, and the only criteria is what we think was interesting or cool in 2022. So, in this episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Ross G, Gemma, Nahdia and Owen are going to reveal their winners from the following shortlists: Book of the Year The...
Jan 24, 2023•37 min•Ep. 328
Industry awards offer a chance to reflect on your work, raise your profile and win some prestige, but they also take a lot of work. So if you're going to enter, you want to maximise the chances of winning. In this episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , former co-host James McLuckie of MAPAL joins Ross G and Ross D to share his insights and entrant and judge. We discuss: how the process works advice for structuring your submission how to deliver a persuasive presentation. If you're intereste...
Jan 17, 2023•38 min•Ep. 327
In January, many of us like to take stock, reflect on the last twelve months, and make plans for the year ahead. In this spirit, we're kicking off 2023 with a few early insights from our Learning Performance Benchmark. On the podcast this week, Ross D is joined by Gent Ahmetaj and Anna Barnett from our Insights team to discuss the state of the profession, and what this means for L&D practitioners. We cover: what the Learning Performance Benchmark is, and the value benchmarking offers organiz...
Jan 10, 2023•42 min•Ep. 326
Back by popular demand (ish), the Mind Tools L&D Podcast team are wrapping up this year with a tenuous spin on festive favourite Home Alone ! This time it isn't Macaulay Culkin getting left behind: it's Ross G, Ross D, Nahdia and Owen! What would WE do if left for Christmas in the L&D department of a large organisation? When our colleagues return, what will they find? We discuss: the laughs we'd share if we could get hold of IT admin privileges how stock photography haunts us still the b...
Dec 20, 2022•35 min•Ep. 325
In this episode, we'll be chatting about the common jargon used in the Learning and Development field. We'll break down these phrases and explain what they mean, so you can understand and use them in your own L&D conversations. Here are some of the phrases we'll be covering: Blended learning: This refers to a combination of different learning methods, such as online courses, face-to-face training, and e-learning modules. Microlearning: This is the use of short, focused learning sessions to h...
Dec 13, 2022•43 min•Ep. 324
'Big data' promised us an end to uncertainty, but we realise now that this is a myth. Uncertainty will always remain, and intuition can help us navigate it. That's the claim of Oded Netzer, one of the authors of Decisions Over Decimals: Striking the Balance Between Intuition and Information . On this week's episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Oded joins Ross G and Ross D to discuss: Why looking for a 'perfect' answer isn't helpful How 'quantitative intuition' (QI) can help us make decisi...
Dec 06, 2022•43 min•Ep. 323
This October saw cities across Scotland play host to the first ever 'Scottish Games Week', a nationwide event featuring a conference, an education symposium, and awards show. What lessons from that event can the organisers share with the L&D community? This week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Gemma and Sam are joined by organisers Brian Baglow and Julie Drybrough to discuss: the elements of a good 'learning' game; some of the problems that come when we design games with an explicitly 'l...
Nov 29, 2022•43 min•Ep. 322
At Mind Tools, we pride ourselves on our ability to create visually rich learning experiences that drive performance. Often, these experiences will include a mix of video, audio, and illustration. But why do these things matter? And how do they serve the outcomes we define with our clients? This week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Ross D is joined by Tracey, Claire and Alison to discuss the use of multimedia in learning design. We cover: the role of multimedia in effective learning design c...
Nov 22, 2022•40 min•Ep. 321
In learning science, there are certain ideas that have leapt the fences of academia and seeped into the public consciousness. Often, these ideas gain traction because they feel intuitively true. But what does the data say? And how should we apply these ideas as learning professionals? This week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Ross Garner and Ross Dickie are joined by Jane Bozarth, Director of Research for the Learning Guild, to discuss three research papers that challenge the received wisdom...
Nov 15, 2022•42 min•Ep. 320
In the UK, 84% of workers who had to work from home because of the Coronavirus pandemic have said they plan to continue working at home, at least some of the time, in the future. That poses a problem to those of us responsible for workplace learning. This week on The Mind Tools Podcast , Ross G and Ross D are joined by Phill Miller, Managing Director of Open LMS, to explore solutions. We discuss: The impact that a shift to hybrid and remote working has had on L&D professionals The advantages...
Nov 08, 2022•43 min•Ep. 319
