The gender debate rages...
23-Jul
Yes indeed, the contentious subject of gender discrimination has raised its ugly head again and has got people all hot under the collar on the TrainingZone pages.

Two of the most read features last month included Smashing the glass ceiling which looked at three top female players in the L & D sector who made it, in spite of their gender, while The Gender Debate got you all discussing whether or not women and men do have different approaches to learning.

Of course the topic has become headline news following Harriet Harman's controversial Equalities Bill which suggests that women and ethnic minorities should be given employment priority over others with the same level of experience – something that hasn’t gone down well with the men in the office.

Do we need to intervene in this way, aren’t things ticking along nicely without it? Can knowing what each person earns really make that much difference? And will those die-ard old boys' networks ever change their ways? Surely ‘favouring’ one social sector over another will help fuel long standing resentments and serve to marginalise those who feel that they no longer matter in the eyes of the government?

We invite your thoughts and comments,

Verity Gough, TrainingZone features writer

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How much time should trainers train?
21-Jul
I am searching for some kind of formula or way to determine the amount of classroom training time each trainer should be expected to fulfill in a government agency's internal training program. I know we need to build in prep time, delivery time and evaluation/maintenance time. But what is the rule of thumb for this equation? I have a training team that wants some criteria to determine if they are meeting expectations. Thanks for your help!

Lauren Walker

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Does the coaching industry need guidelines for setting fees?
16-Jun
Olivia Stefanino plays devil's advocate as she looks at the tricky question of how to set your fees as a coach in her feature

Does it depend on your experience, your own self worth, or what the 'market' itself dictates? Do higher fees give the impression of success - and the coach giving better quality? She asks and she poses the question: Is it time for coaching institutions to set guidelines regarding the fees coaches charge?

As a journalist I have often had to charge a daily fee. Sometimes this was set by the company that I have worked for, with no room for negotiation. On other occaisions I have been asked what my fee is - and this has usually resulted in a calculation of how big the company is, and what I think they can afford, the job that I will be doing, and how much I think that I am worth, coupled with what I think is the industry norm - usually worked out through discussions with other journalist friends. In my very early days of freelancing, I did ask the NUJ what the suggested daily rates were - but even then, few people paid them.

Journalism isn't coaching, I know - and journalistic fees have changed little in more than a decade - but isn't this the way that most people work out a rate for quite a lot of jobs, whether they are painting your house, or coaching employees?

As coaching is increasingly popular -according to CIPD research, 71% of organisations use coaching - would fee guidelines be useful? If you are a manager using a coach, would you find them helpful? If you are a coach, do you find it difficult to judge exactly how much to charge? Is this something that coaching organisations are already contemplating?

We'd love to hear your views. Please post your comments here.

Susie Finch

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Legal right to training: Tell us your views
15-May
What do you think of Gordon Brown's plans to give everyone the legal right to time for training? The plans are designed to 'empower' employees to ask – indeed legally they will be able to demand – time for training from their employer. Although there has been no mention of need. Donald Taylor very eloquently argues in his feature feature on site that training not only isn't always the right answer, sometimes it's the wrong answer. It's early days for the Education & Skills Bill but so far there has been no mention of training needs analysis, evaluation of training, continuing development or return on investment. What are your views? We'd love to hear what you think of the announcement. Is it good news for employers? Is it good news for the training industry? Will it help address the impending skills gap? Tell us what you think by posting your comments here.
Susie Finch, Acting Editor

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Creating a coaching culture
7-May
Hi,

I am a trainer within a customer service environment and we have been given an objective/challenge to create a coaching culture within customer services. We have firstly selected a group of people, both managers and agents to create a coaching forum where we get together every few months (the first one to commence in June!)to discuss what coaching can be seeen within the area and the pro's and con's of what we are doing. However, we need to put a plan together of how we are going to implement this and the way in which we can measure the success or lack of!
Can anyone offer any suggestions and ideas please??

Frances
Frances Kane

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