speaker Archives - Ella Bates Corporate Training

Mind the Skills Gap!

Posted on 2023-10-13 by Ella Bates

In today's dynamic and ever-evolving business landscape, the success of any organization heavily relies on the collective skills and competencies of its workforce. Identifying and addressing skill gaps among your team members is not only essential for improving individual performance but also crucial for achieving your company's strategic goals. At Ella Bates Corporate Training, we're here to guide you on this journey of skill discovery and development. Let's explore how you can uncover skill gaps in your team and how we can assist in bridging those gaps to empower your workforce.

Step 1: Understand the Importance of Skill Gap Analysis

Before diving into the process of identifying skill gaps, it's vital to recognize why this exercise is so critical. Skill gap analysis can:

Boost Efficiency: Addressing skill gaps can enhance efficiency by ensuring that your team members have the necessary skills to perform their tasks effectively.
Drive Innovation: Filling skill gaps can lead to innovation as your team acquires new competencies and perspectives.
Increase Employee Satisfaction: Employees feel valued when their development needs are addressed, which can boost morale and retention rates.
Enhance Competitiveness: A well-rounded workforce is more competitive in the marketplace, enabling your organization to adapt and thrive.

Step 2: Identify Skill Gaps

Now, let's delve into how to discover the skill gaps within your team:

1. Self-Assessment: Encourage team members to perform self-assessments. They can evaluate their current skills and identify areas where they feel less confident.

2. Managerial Feedback: Managers play a crucial role in assessing their team's performance. Regular one-on-one meetings and performance reviews provide an opportunity to discuss skill development.

3. Peer Evaluations: Colleague feedback can provide a holistic perspective. Peer reviews can highlight areas where individuals may need additional support.

4. Skill Tests and Assessments: Administering skill-specific tests or assessments can pinpoint technical or job-specific skill gaps.

5. Project Performance: Evaluate the quality and outcomes of projects your team is involved in. Identify any recurring challenges or issues that may stem from skill gaps.

Step 3: Partner with Ella Bates Corporate Training

Once you've identified skill gaps, the next step is to bridge them effectively. This is where we can step in to support your team's growth and development. Here's how we can assist:

1. We will Tailor the Training: We offer customized training programs designed to address specific skill gaps within your team. We work closely with your organization to create the best program that aligns with your unique needs and objectives.

2. Blended Learning Approach: We understand that different individuals learn in different ways. Our training methods incorporate a blend of online courses, workshops, hands-on exercises, and mentorship to cater to various learning styles.

5. Ongoing Support: Our commitment to your team's growth extends beyond the training sessions. We provide ongoing support, resources, and opportunities for continuous learning, ensuring that skills are continually honed and applied in real-world scenarios.

Step 4: Empower Your Team

The journey to bridging skill gaps is a collaborative effort between your organization and us. By investing in the development of your team's skills, you empower them to excel in their roles and contribute significantly to the success of your organization. Moreover, it fosters a culture of continuous learning, innovation, and adaptability.

Contact Us Today!

Are you ready to unlock your team's full potential and bridge those skill gaps? Contact Ella Bates Corporate Training today, and let's embark on this transformative journey together. Our experienced trainers and tailored programs are here to help your organization thrive in an ever-changing business landscape. Don't miss out on the opportunity to empower your team and stay ahead of the competition. Contact us now, and let's get started on your team's skill development journey!

What do you not know, they know

Posted on 2023-08-28 by Ella Bates

Recently, one of my participants declaring they spoke 4 languages and the client being surprised. This got me to thinking, what do you not know about your staff that they know?

The past experiences and skills of your team are the foundation to success, but the ability to identify and embrace these transferable skills is the catalyst for high growth.

Every single person who walks through your office doors brings with them a unique blend of skills and experiences that make them a valuable asset, you need to be able to tap into this goldmine of potential, so how? The answer lies in understanding and leveraging the concept of transferable skills.

Identifying Transferable Skills: The Key to Unleashing Potential

Not all skills are created equal, and not every skill a team member possesses might directly align with your business. However, the art lies in recognizing those hidden gems within seemingly unrelated experiences. Imagine a team member with a culinary background from their food truck days. While it might not be directly applicable to your finance business, dig deeper and you might uncover event planning expertise, social media prowess, or even creative design capabilities. These transferable skills can be a treasure trove waiting to be unlocked.

Consider making the identification of these transferable skills a part of your recruitment process. Pose questions that explore the unique strengths and interests of candidates.

Listening: The Gateway to Uncovering Hidden Talents

Regular interactions, be it during meeting breaks, weekly catch-ups, or performance reviews, provide an opportunity to delve deeper into their aspirations. Ask open-ended questions that encourage them to share their feelings about their current roles, future interests, and personal career goals. By truly listening, you not only make them feel valued but also gain insights into their untapped capabilities.

Leveraging Their Skillset: Nurturing Growth and Innovation

Identification is merely the first step. The true magic happens when you transform this knowledge into action. Tailoring tasks and responsibilities to align with individual strengths can lead to a happier and more productive team. This might mean reorganizing teams or introducing new projects that resonate with their skills and passions. But it also offers an avenue to venture into uncharted territory. Empowering an events enthusiast to host virtual events or enlisting tech-savvy members to elevate your online presence can lead to novel opportunities and a vibrant workplace culture.

Investing in Development: Cultivating Excellence A culture of continuous learning can be a powerful catalyst for individual and organizational growth. Research shows that training and development opportunities directly impact employee satisfaction.

By customizing training to align with their interests, you demonstrate that their growth matters. From in-house projects to external courses, virtual classes, workshops, and professional qualifications, investing in their development pays dividends in employee retention and overall productivity.Ella Bates is your Employee Learning Specialist, specializing in Leadership Skills, Communication and Productivity, see more here

Are they a Toxic or Difficult Employee?

Posted on 2023-05-042023-05-04 by Ella Bates

So you have a difficult employee. The word toxic is trending and its important we don't label our employees but ensure we give people the resources and support to have great interpersonal relationships.

Not everyone is easy to work with but lets look at the difference:

TOXIC

A toxic employee is someone where their behavior negatively affects the people around them, for example they may spread negativity, create drama, and engage in destructive behavior such as gossiping or bullying. They may have poor work performance which impacts the productivity and success of the entire team. It's really important to note that toxic behavior is not always intentional, but it can be difficult to address and correct!

DIFFICULT EMPLOYEE

This is someone who may have a personality or work style that is challenging but not necessarily toxic.

For example, they may struggle with deadlines, communication, teamwork, adapting to change which can be super frustrating.

The good news is, this employee is SUPER MANAGEABLE!

Toxic behavior has significant impact like lowering the morale of their colleagues which leads to stress or worse, burnout. When less severe, it can still cause a feeling of tension and super friction, which lead to frustrating misunderstandings and conflict.

So whats the plan? Have a clear plan:

Identify the behavior that is causing problems

When dealing with toxic or difficult employees, it's important to have a clear strategy in place.

Step One

Identify the behavior, behavior (not the person), they aren't a bad person. They are a person who is demonstrating difficult behaviors that are causing problems which need to be addressed with the employee. Possible options are setting clear expectations, providing resources and offering feedback focusing on specific actions and solutions. When we are supportive, it becomes a collaborative, corrective relationship. Remembering some may not realize that their behaviors are challenging.

Step Two

Get to the root of the problem, there is always an underlying problem, which may or may not be directly related to their job. It may be personal. With a diverse team, its our responsibility to discover the problem and try and resolve it. Possible options: welcome feedback, actively listen to their side of the story without judgement or prejudice. They may simply need someone to patiently listen and understand them, in some cases this is all they need for a behavioral and attitude change.

Step Three

Be really clear, when we want change to be made, the person you are guiding must clearly understand what you want from them, what success looks like. A large part of success in these conversations is encouraging them to be more receptive to your questions and observations and lower their guard.

Step Four

Again with the collaborative approach, work with them to create the behavioral changes and expectations. When you draw up a plan that includes objectives, clear time frame and periodic check-ins of their progress including any consequences - the employee will take it that much more seriously.

Step Five

Remember we cannot manage what we cannot measure (cheesy but true) you MUST monitor their progress. This helps them achieve the goals within the timeline you set together, it looks like: Getting feedback from others, evaluating the quality of their work, having regular 1:1's, using that information to evaluate the employees success.

TAKE CAUTION

Negative feedback can be difficult to embrace for some and people who may feel threatened can react in unpredictable ways. So what can YOU do to support this? Remain calm, avoid being critical or judgemental, especially if you decide its time for them to leave the company. Keep a neutral tone and watch your body language. When we are professional, honest, respectful and focus on facts, it can leave the employee feeling valued despite the challenges.

Good luck! And remember this is skills advice, not designed to over ride your HR policies!

Remember difficult employees challenges CAN be uncovered and CAN be managed. You've got this.

Oh and one last thing! Be proactive, let's get you and your teams ready for feedback, create that culture of feedback being the norm, for continuous improvement being the norm. We have a feedback workshop for that and holding those difficult conversations, we'd love to be part of your up-skilling plans for your employees! Lets connect.

Ella Bates - Skills Trainer

The one who knows, no-one deserves a bad work day. We help organizations from Fortune 500 companies to Manufacturing plants bringing high-impact learning experiences that create more joy and better results at work. Connect with us

Why cant you just tell people what to do?

Posted on 2023-03-142023-03-14 by Ella Bates

Thankfully we aren't in an autocratic society, nor is it 1965, but it would be easier if we could just tell our staff what to do. We know 100% that this doesn't

maintain motivation
inspire hard work
retain staff
create an enjoyable workspace

So we can you do instead?

As a manager, there are many ways to help your team members grow and develop their skills. Teaching and telling is certainly one approach, coaching can be a more effective way to support your employees in achieving their goals and improving their performance. Here are a few reasons why you might consider this for you as a leader:

More PERSON Focused We often assume everyone learns the same way, coaching is more personalized to be able to identify together their strengths and weaknesses and make any task/goal/plan individualized.

It builds RELATIONSHIPS Coaching is more collaborative: Teaching can often feel like a one-way transfer of knowledge, with the manager being the expert and the employee being the student. When you ask great question in a collaborative way, you work together which creates more commitment and accountability.

Its hugely empowering, if you give someone the answers they need to take action/solve a problem, it creates dependence on you! Help your employees develop their own problem-solving skills so they can grow and improve on their own.

If you are ready to use this powerful tool and be a leader that coaches (you can learn how here) you can support your teams to achieve the goals and improve their own performance with simple questions. Download your FREE guide to asking great questions here.

Ella Bates - Skills Trainer

Future Proof Soft Skills for 2023

Posted on 2022-09-092023-06-07 by Ella Bates

Its more important than ever before in that we help our employees build their skills set, grow their career and push your organization forward! there are 5 critical soft skills that organizations like yours are looking for.

How can you close the gaps as quickly and efficiently as possible?

Read our recommendation on books, videos, and micro-learning experiences that can take you there.

#1 Creativity

What does it mean for your teams to be creative? Are they delivering really useful, original solutions to the problems your organization is facing whether on a higher level or micro level with the processes they are currently following?

My recommendations are

Book The business of creativity by Moeran, Brian A great book showing how creativity emerges from collaborative engagements among people, genres, institutions, materials and technologies

Learning Experience™ Being able to empower your employees, require a leader who can coach and guide them to achievement is critical with Coaching for Success

Video A great Ted Talk: Your Elusive Creative Genius Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses -- and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person "being" a genius, all of us "have" a genius.

#2 ABILITY TO PERSUADE

The art of Persuasion is truly influencing thoughts and actions of someone to do something a different way. I agree with LinkedIN, that this one of the most powerful communication skills that all employees need in their skill-set PLUS a CRITICAL skill for Leadership.

My recommendations are:

Book Influence & Persuasion by Harvard Business Review this book presents both comprehensive frameworks for developing an influence and small, simple tactics that you can use to convince others every day.

Learning Experience™ As leaders, you don’t have time not to manage. Career trajectory has meant that the key core skills of leadership have been lost in translation. Building Strong Teams

Video What he learnt from 100 days of rejection by Jia Jiang

#3 COLLABORATION

Working with others to achieve the same goal, effectively and efficiently. Collaboration is everything, as they say "success is NOT a single sport"!

My recommendations are:

Book Ken Blanchard always gets to the point with getting out of Silohs with his book Collaboration begins with you

Learning Experience™Leading Like a Tribe Establish a proven technique of shifting culture mindset of the relationships formed inside a highly effective Team

Video There is a rhythmic beauty in collaboration as demonstrated by dancers in this video from Shadé Zahrai

#4 AGILITY & RESILIENCE

We know that change is constant. We are hearing words like Agility and Adaptability all over our news-feeds right now in current trends of our employees. We want employees who thrive in an environment that is dynamic and get back on their feet in the face of a challenge.

My recommendations are:

Book Adaptability: The Art of Winning in the Age of Uncertainty This book harnesses the essence of human survival – the ability to adapt – to help people succeed in business and all other aspects of life.

Learning Experience In times of conflicting priorities and ever changing days, you can explore various time management, organizational tools and techniques to build a customized productivity plan for you Productivity Bootcamp

Video This video shares three ways to measure your "adaptability quotient" -- and shows why your ability to respond to change really matters.

#4 EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

While it may be new on this list, it certainly isn’t new with my clients requests from us! IQ is important, yet low on the totem pole of recruiting for leadership and skill-sets of our teams. A great Emotional intelligence is when you are able to respond to your own emotions and the emotions of others. Using this emotional information to guide thinking and behavior and managing those emotions to adapt to environments.

My recommendations are:

Book E.Q Applied teaches you how to channel your strongest feelings in a way that helps, not harms you—or others—enabling you to break down barriers and improve the quality of your relationships

Learning Experience™ This bite sized learning Embracing The E.I Factor Be a great influence by discovering what Emotional Intelligence is and why more and more successful people are raising the EI bar to stand out from the crowd.

Video Daniel Goldman, author of “Emotional Intelligence” talks about why we should be more compassionate.

Enjoy the experience of up-skilling/re-skilling and helping you and your teams boost their careers and create more joy and results at work. Because everyone deserves a great work day, every single day. For more skills, contact us, we would LOVE to be your choice for Soft Skills Training in your organization.

Black and Red Letter SM Elegant and Luxury

Skills Trainer Ella Bates

Ella Bates Skills Training to create a Great Work Day, more joy and better results in the workplace for over a decade. From Aircraft Hangers to Cruiseliners (its a great story!) We are ready to support you and your organization. We would love to hear from you. Reach out CLICK HERE

Want to feel more Engaged at Work?

Posted on 2022-02-202022-02-20 by Ella Bates

Employee engagement is a major factor in business success, so it’s obvious why your boss hopes you’re passionate about your work. Still, you have a lot at stake too.

If you’re like the average professional, you spend about one-third of your life at the office. That’s almost 90,000 hours. Feeling committed and connected is important for your health and happiness.

The only way to be concise in your Emails

Posted on 2022-02-202022-02-20 by Ella Bates

How many emails do you get a day? According to research the average person gets a sends around 121 business emails per day (see where I found this crazy statistic here). Time being the most precious resource in this world, it is more than ever more important that we get concise with what we have to say.

5 Reasons for a Lunch & Learn This Season

Posted on 2021-11-192023-03-14 by Ella Bates

Make sure to read to the bottom, we have a FREE resource for you too!

Reason One MAGIC OF BEING INFORMAL Attendees are much more open to discussion, remember and digest the knowledge better and they can become popular if you make them quick, engaging and fun!

Reason Two REINFORCES COMPANY CULTURE If you create quick engaging and fun skill building sessions like a lunch and learn (virtual or LIVE), they will remember them and likely attend more which helps skill build, overall satisfaction and in turn brings in great results!

lunch and learn

Reason Three Our Lunch & Learn Sessions ARE ON SALE! For December ONLY we are offering ANY Micro-Learning Experience Virtually with NO cap on participants for only $500 a session!!! START THE CAR! Contact us before end of the day Cyber Monday!

Reason Four GREAT USE OF TIME! Time is limited. Networking, Social Learning, being Engaged and having fun?! Who doesn’t want that in their day? Time is limited and associate learning and all these fabulous feelings with lunch and you have created a wonderful use of time.

Training Session

Reason Five ADVANCES OTHER INITIATIVES Do you have compliance sessions coming up? Succession plan training? Upskilling etc… This is an opportunity to showcase how interesting and informative and IMPACTFUL learning can be.

We have over 100 Lunch & Learn and Micro Learning Experiences, from Embracing the EI factor to the Enigma of Efficiency, check them out here

Ready to learn more? Download our FREE Lunch and Learn PDF on how to make it the most impactful session for your teams!

Download Free Guide - Lunch & Learn

Ella Bates - Skills Trainer (The one who knows no-one deserves a bad work day)

We provide high impact learning experiences to create more joy and better results in the workplace

5 Reasons for a Lunch & Learn This Season

Posted on 2021-11-082021-11-08 by Ella Bates

Make sure to read to the bottom, we have a FREE resource for you too!

lunch and learn

Training Session

We have over 100 Lunch & Learn and Micro Learning Experiences, from Embracing the EI factor to the Enigma of Efficiency, check them out here

Ready to learn more? Download our FREE Lunch and Learn PDF on how to make it the most impactful session for your teams!

Download Free Guide - Lunch & Learn

Learning Expert, Master Trainer & Growth Coach

Ella Bates Helping busy people since 1998, create the best day possible with our high impact learning experiences at ebacademyonline and creating the best day at work at ellabates.com

Enter your text here...