Training & Development

A growing body of evidence points to the financial benefits of superior human capital management practices. Russell Investment Group has tracked the stock price performance of publicly quoted companies on Fortune’s 100-best list for several years, and its findings are persuasive. Someone who invested equal dollar amounts at the beginning of 2005 in the stock of publicly traded companies on the list would have ended the year up 12 percent, versus 4.93 percent for the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index.

Over the longer term, the link between a high-quality working environment and stock market success is even more compelling. Russell found that the 100-best portfolio, adjusted annually to reflect changes to the list from 1998 to 2005, provided an annualized return of 15 percent, versus 5 percent for the S&P 500.

European companies were also scrutinized to see if there was a correlation between good employment practices and a consistent margin of outperformance in the stock price. Russell showed that if an individual had invested £100, or $175, over five years in the publicly traded companies on the 2005 list of the best workplaces in Britain, this investment would have produced nearly double the return on investment than the FTSE all-share cumulative index, or £157.48 versus £83.48.

“Companies that devote resources to their human capital have a competitive advantage as a result of the high trust relationships between employees and management,” said Ann Watson, head of human resources at Russell. “This advantage manifests itself in higher levels of cooperation, greater commitment, lower employee turnover and improved customer support.”

IHT

Training experts say companies continue to repeat old mistakes. They offer off-the-shelf courses or seminars that aren’t aligned with employees’ everyday responsibilities. They schedule classroom training when the trainer is available rather than when employees need to enhance their skills. They offer lectures, even though adults generally fare better with interactive learning.

They pluck trainers from within the ranks, even though these subject experts are unlikely to be skilled facilitators. They allow managers to skip the training sessions offered to lower-ranking employees, which means they won’t know how to reinforce what their employees have learned.

Worst of all, companies don’t follow through; they offer a training program, check the task off their list, and forget about it.

“Organizations do that all the time,” says consultant Marc Rosenberg of Marc Rosenberg and Associates, in Hillsborough, New Jersey. “They launch programs or events with great fanfare and then say, ‘Well, we delivered it, we gave them a feedback form, and they liked it.’ Then people go back to the same bad work environments, where they don’t have the tools or reinforcement they need to carry what they’ve learned over to their jobs, and no experts to turn to if they have a problem. Those organizations are not designed or structured to support what employees have learned in class.”

It doesn’t have to be that way. Training professionals have plenty of experience with what does and doesn’t work, as do many companies. General Electric Co.’s management training program is legendary. (Action Learning Based . Ed)

CFO.com

Today is our last day – we shall start bright and early with a visit to the market in Toulouse.

Fond memories of the cold carrot soup at Le Companie des Comptoires before we head back for Copenhagen

Today we head of to visit the Moulin Jean-Marie Cornille

Following that we shall visitMas Doutreleau in St. Martin de Crau (Claudine & Yves) who produce some fabulous goats cheese.

Luch today will be at Restaurant Alexandre.

“Par un coup de baguette magique Monique et Michel Kayser ont transformé cette belle maison en un petit royaume où simplicité et fantaisie se côtoient paisiblement.”

From there we shall drive to Montpelier. And after a city walk we shall visit La Companie des Comptoires for dinner in their charming courtyard.

Education, in all its forms, pays off when it is focused, sincere, and ongoing. Most world-class organizations quickly indicate training and education as keys to their success. However, it isn’t simply a matter of sending employees to classes and checking training off your to-do list. It is about using educational opportunities to strategically deepen the culture of the organization. The information in this article is applicable to all training efforts including orientation, on-the-job training, and ongoing training efforts.

Effective education/training in an organization should accomplish three objectives:

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Today we embark on the fist day of our French Food Safari.
A group of 12 Chefs and F&B managers will join us on this 3 day total immersion in the delights of the Provence cuisine.

The group will arrive in Marseilles Airport this afternoon and the first stop will be Oustau de Baumaniere .

Tonnie gives the participants the final briefing before departure from Copenhagen