Apprenticeship programs allow workers to acquire the skills and knowledge they need in their field, while bringing a number of business benefits to employers.

As an employer, you’re responsible for providing your apprentices with employment for the duration of their apprenticeship. You also need to ensure you have the right resources to deliver effective work-based training and development to each apprentice.

How do you train the apprentices in your organisation? Or how do you plan to provide training, in your new apprenticeship program?

Traditionally, apprentices would learn through face-to-face, hands-on training and mentoring. These days, thanks to technology, more companies are using online training methods as part of their apprenticeship program.

Here, we look at the benefits of using eLearning to deliver high-quality training and development to apprentices.

Online learning – flexible, engaging and cost-effective

Online learning is a great way to make sure your apprentices are acquiring the right type of skills and knowledge. In fact, many companies, large and small, have switched to eLearning for staff training, as an alternative to traditional teaching methods.

The best thing about eLearning is that training is no longer confined to the classroom or conference. With eLearning, individuals can log into online training courses and modules whenever they like, wherever they like. Many online courses are also able to be accessed through mobile-friendly apps and devices, making eLearning even more convenient for users.

You might also be pleasantly surprised to see just how cost-effective eLearning is for your business. eLearning can save you considerable amounts of money in comparison to traditional training methods. By using online materials to train your staff, you’ll eliminate costs such as trainer and speaker rates, conference or room hire, staff transport and catering. And when you make changes and updates to your learning materials online, there is also no need to re-print materials, making eLearning not only cheaper but also greener!

Choose from off-the-shelf or fully customisable eLearning courses

Keen to learn more about how online training can work for your apprentices, and your business?

With eLearning, you can choose between off-the-shelf courses, or a customised online training program. Off-the-shelf eLearning courses are those that are already created, easy to purchase and ready to roll out to your apprentices, making them a great solution for training in subjects such as onboarding, compliance and workplace safety.

You also have the option of creating your own customised, tailored training program, with bespoke eLearning courses that have been designed for the specific needs of your apprentices. Using the Go1 platform, you can quickly and easily compile your own custom content for apprentice training. The eLearning tool also allows you to upload existing training materials, supporting a wide range of files and making course creation even easier.

Provide real world experience for apprentices

Christopher Pappas, founder of The eLearning Industry’s Network, recommends incorporating real world examples and case studies into your apprentice training program, to allow employees the chance to see how everything they've learned can benefit them in the workplace.

Pappas believes eLearning is the best way to provide apprentices with a broad range of online training resources. “From interactive scenarios and serious games to virtual presentations, employees have access to a variety of online resources,” he says.

With eLearning, apprentices can “login to the online training platform and immediately view product information, task tutorials, and skill-based simulations.” In this way, apprentices are getting the personalised online training they need, regardless of their preferences or learning needs.

Create clear, consistent training materials

When you start using eLearning, you’ll have peace of mind that all your training content is consistent – in terms of branding, strategic direction and writing style. Each apprentice will have access to the same materials, regardless of their geographical location. This has a significant advantage over classroom learning, in which content may differ greatly depending on the delivery of each trainer.

In addition to this, eLearning content can easily be updated at any time. You’ll save time and money on updates to training content, as you simply make any changes online and publish immediately across the system. This provides your company with a long-lasting online training solution that you can continually revise, update, and use for years to come.

With such easy-to-use online course creation, you can have fully branded, customised training materials ready to roll out to your apprentices in no time.

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The benefits of using eLearning for apprentice training

Regardless of a company’s size or industry, there is always room to improve on communication. If you notice an increasing number of mistakes, feel the tension rising at work, or see a disconnect among your employees, there is an excellent chance that you have a communication problem.

When faced with these situations, you need professional help. For both oral and written communication, online training is a fantastic solution. Developed by topic experts, everyone in your organization would benefit from taking courses. Improved communication leads to many great things, including employees who perform at an optimal level, managers who effectively lead, and overall, a company that flourishes.

One thing that makes online training courses so exciting is that fact in addition to providing you with solutions, they cover the underlying causes of poor communication. As a result, you can learn how to implement appropriate change and avoid making the same mistakes in the future.

The following are some examples of what causes communication problems in the workplace and how different online training courses help.

Without question, this is the number one cause of poor communication leading to a host of business issues. Unless you provide every member of your team with a clear description of their roles and responsibilities, you can expect chaos. You will end up with people doing the same job, which means ignoring other responsibilities. You could also expect discord among your employees because they have no idea who to turn to for conflict resolution.

By completing the right online training courses, you recognize areas in trouble quickly. You will gain insight on creating and implementing strategies that correct problems and prevent them from occurring again.

Especially when it comes to major decisions about finances, investments, operational changes, and strategies, you need to communicate with your entire company who is in charge. Because everyone has an opinion, it is essential that you clearly define who the decision makers are in your company.

In addition to learning how to communicate more effectively, there are online training courses that address potential conflict. Remember, you have two types of customers, external and internal. Those on the inside consist of your employees. With online courses, your internal customers can learn to communicate, which builds respect and trust. As a result, you can expect your business to run seamlessly.

Written communication is another area covered by online training. Like all courses, these come from experts who developed proven strategies. You will learn how to create business processes and communicate them to your employees. Ultimately, you avoid redundancy, which is a huge waste of money and time. Well-defined businesses processes will also make it easier for your employees to do their jobs without conflict.

Through different courses, you may discover that instead of refining your business processes, you need to change them completely. You can even take compliance courses to ensure that your business practices line up with mandated laws and regulations.

You want your managers to talk to you freely about concerns with the alignment of their teams. As you go through various training courses on communication, you will come across many that focus on improving leadership skills. If you find that your managers do not share concerns, there is a good chance that you have given the impression of being unapproachable.

5 Myths that Block Effective Delegation in Business – What does this have to do with communication? For you to get the maximum return on investment in people, you need to know how to delegate properly, which is critical for effective communication.

Simplifying Business Processes – With this, you can take complex processes and simplify them. By doing so, you better communicate to your staff what you expect from them in the jobs they do.

Hazard Communication – This course covers mandates by Hazard Communication Standards. This along with related courses will ensure that a team working with potential or known hazardous materials knows the proper way to handle them safely. Other topics include Labeling, Safety Data Sheets, employee knowledge, and awareness, plus more.

As you can see, there is a host of reasons that communication issues exist in business. Whether one of these strikes home or you have a different problem, online training courses can help get you through a troubling time. Along with improving on oral and written communication, many courses cover topics that cause problems. Combined, you have the perfect solution for getting your company on track for achieving even greater success.

Overcoming communication barriers through online training

Can you think of an amazing coach you’ve had in the past? Maybe you had an outstanding sporting coach or perhaps a teacher at school who went above and beyond. Either way, you’re not likely to forget it. Good coaches leave a lasting impression, making learning a positive experience and inspiring each individual to work harder and fulfil their potential.

Can you say the same for the managers you’ve had throughout your career? Just because someone is in a management role, doesn’t always mean they have strong coaching skills.

As with any sport, workplace coaching should focus on improving each employee's skills by setting goals, monitoring performance, and providing feedback.

More and more, organisations are enjoying the benefits of coaching for both employees and the business more broadly. While many employers hire external coaches to work with staff, it’s also a good idea to build coaching into your company’s leadership methodology and ethos. This way, managers can develop their coaching skills and get the best out of their teams long-term.

With this in mind, we'll take you step-by-step through the importance of coaching for leaders. We'll start by sharing how to incorporate coaching into your business philosophy, before looking at adopting a coaching mindset and finally, offering practical coaching tips for managers. 

Incorporating coaching into your business philosophy

Hiring external coaches to work with employees is an increasingly common trend. According to the Academy of Leadership Coaching (ALC), while hiring coaches for leaders is widely accepted, training managers to become coaches within their teams is not as widely practised. Yet. 

“Often it appears as though coaching is embraced only as 'self-help' for the top-level executives to 'better themselves,' rather than a culture that is embedded within the organisation,” says ALC.

On the other hand, when you provide proper training for managers, you’re helping them develop the right coaching skills to benefit the organisation. With this mindset, coaching becomes a critical part of professional development at all corporate levels and a component of the entire business philosophy.

Incorporating coaching into your leadership role will help managers effectively motivate their team and connect with them on a deeper level. As ACL adds, “it helps the leader to develop trust among team members and create an emotionally centred work environment.”

Becoming a manager with a coaching mindset

So, what do managers do differently when they lead from a coaching mindset?

Think about the difference between managers who tell employees what to do and managers who take time to work with employees on their professional development. This commitment to coaching is the key difference between the two leadership mindsets.

Successful managers know how to support and encourage employees, helping them maximise their potential and achieve their career goals. 

Having a manager take on a coaching role will also help employees stay motivated and focused. When there’s someone else you’re accountable to, who has placed a lot of time and energy into your career, you’ll want to consistently deliver your best work.

A good coach can also help identify potential gaps in your skill set and push you to learn new skills and achieve new personal goals.

The benefits of leadership coaching are far-reaching, with numerous studies concluding that leadership coaching has significant advantages for employees and businesses alike. 

For example, a survey by the Institute of Coaching found that 70% of individuals who receive coaching noticed improved work performance, relationships, and more effective communication skills. What's more, 86% of surveyed companies felt they recouped the investment they made into coaching — plus more on top. 

Additionally, Sounding Board's 2021 Leadership Coaching Report outlined the incredible benefits of leadership coaching. According to their research, 67% of respondents said leadership coaching increased employee engagement and satisfaction, while a further 60% said it improved employees’ perceptions of the quality of leadership. 

Moreover, 50% of respondents said leadership coaching improved productivity. Finally, 44% said it improved the quality of work. 

Despite this, many organisations still encountered roadblocks, with a startling 41% saying the organisational culture does not support leadership coaching. Plus, 35% said leadership buy-in is a challenge in obtaining support for leadership coaching. 

Ultimately, these statistics show the wide-ranging benefits of leadership coaching, from increased profitability to improved employee engagement and productivity. However, many teams still have a long way to go to realise these benefits, with organisational roadblocks preventing them from reaping the rewards of leadership coaching. 

Now that we understand the significant benefits of leadership coaching, it's time to start working on your coaching skills as a manager. 

The Academy of Leadership Coaching believes there are specific characteristics that a leader must possess to successfully coach their team.

“Coaching is not just about communication, it is about connecting on a deeper level,” ALC explains. It’s about positively connecting with your employees.

Here are some of the characteristics of a good coach-manager, according to ACL. 

Non-authoritative – coach and employee work cooperatively to reach the predefined goals. The coach is only in charge of the process and structure but is not responsible for setting the agenda or leading the discussions.

Active listener – the coach is mentally present within the coaching conversation. They ask clarifying questions and listen carefully to understand the employee's core concerns and objectives. 

Powerful questions – ask open-ended questions rather than those that elicit a yes or no response. Use questions that start with words such as what, how, when and where.

No hidden agendas – an effective coach does not have an emotional attachment to situations described by the employee. They are honest, direct, and respectful.

Provide direction – the coach should provide the employee with tasks that will help them move toward their goal and produce the desired transformation.

Further, Sounding Board's 2021 Leadership Coaching Report identified the most crucial and hard-to-develop skills for leaders, thereby providing an excellent checklist of skills for prospective leaders to focus on. These include:

They break this down further, explaining, "for emerging leaders, interpersonal skills and execution were also identified among the most important leadership capabilities. For mid-level managers, execution and leading high-performing teams were also reported
among the most important capabilities. For senior and executive leaders, strategic thinking and setting vision and direction were among the most important leadership capabilities. Self-awareness and communication were also reported as the most difficult capabilities to develop in organizations, followed by managing change and strategic thinking." 

Remember, proper training is crucial to becoming a successful coach-leader. To learn more, see Go1’s professional development training courses, including our course on Coaching Skills for Leaders and People Managers, to start building a coaching mindset into your leadership role.

For more insights, subscribe to the Go1 newsletter to stay on top of all the latest L&D trends. Or, you can book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s learning needs.

Leadership is about more than just being a good manager or leader; it’s also about developing people. Learn what makes a great coach!

Why coaching is an important skill for leaders

Just like any sport, coaching in the workplace focuses on improving the skills of each employee through setting goals, monitoring performance, and providing feedback.

Performance and productivity are two words likely to keep senior managers awake at night, as a focus on improvement is no longer optional if organisations want to survive and thrive.

Many organisations recognise that they need to engender a High-Performance culture throughout the organisation, with team leaders required to focus on which team members will work together productively enabling them to achieve great results.

Historically, teams have tended to be small, however, in our online-centric world, teams have grown dramatically, particularly those that are “virtual” in nature.

Believing team leadership is the key to success, MicroLearn embraces the ideas of leadership author, Gary Yukl, who wrote: “a shared process of enhancing the collective and individual capacity of people to accomplish their work roles effectively… the leadership actions of any individual leader are much less important than the collective leadership provided by members of the organisation”

Providing learning content via a resource library, MicroLearn’s courses can be used both for reflection and as a just-in-time learning tool, available at the team’s fingertips and designed to fit around their work flow.

The library helps encourage improved teamwork through the sharing of ideas, debate, collaboration, decision-making and dealing with changing priorities as well as the establishment and achievement of team goals.

In fact, MicroLearn’s suite of Leadership content helps leaders hone the three essential skills groups:

Task Skills—The ability to set goals, establish priorities, assign roles and responsibilities, plan and run effective meetings, and monitor results,

People Skills—The ability to connect with people, resolve conflicts, motivate, and celebrate success,

Diagnostic Skills—The ability to diagnose situations and determine what’s needed to progress.

In addition, MicroLearn’s catalogue also features courses on teamwork, personal development and team management as it looks to support both the team and High Performance Team Processes (communicating, making decisions and accountability).

As your high performing team seeks further challenges, pushes for increased performance goals and demands a higher level of performance from each other, ensure you’re supporting their development with MicroLearn.

For more information on how we can help support your organisation’s workplace wellbeing requirements, or to discover more about other ranges in the MicroLearn catalogue, enquire about Go1 Premium today!

Tracy Capaldi-Drewett is the Group Commercial Director at Microlearn. 

MicroLearn - Creating and maintaining high performers - Go1

MicroLearn – a vital ingredient for creating and maintaining high performing teams

Hiring a new employee is not an easy job, especially nowadays when there is such a wide market of choice and so many people with good qualifications. There are many factors to look at – some even beyond the skills that are required for the job.

This is why many hiring managers or employers make many mistakes in their hiring process. These mistakes could seriously harm their business or even their reputation in some cases. This is why they have to be recognized and dealt with the right away.

Take a look at our list of some of the most common mistakes employers make upon recruiting:

Employers often have a clear image of who their ideal candidate is and they tailor the job description to exclude anyone with slightly different skills or qualities. This may not seem like a mistake right away but it can be if the search is too narrow or offensive. You should never look for new employees based on their race, gender or anything else that might discriminate.

People are different and that doesn't mean that they are not fit for the job. In fact, the most skilled people are usually the ones that companies ignore.

First impressions go a long way, that much is true. However, first impressions can be rehearsed. A firm handshake and good eye contact are all a matter of practice that people often use to make themselves appear more confident. Even the tone of their voice can change in these situations.

StateOfWriting and Academ Advisor are tools that can assist you in formatting. Formatting is famous for giving any written piece more clarity and you should consider it.

UK Writings can help you with editing – it can remove a lot of unnecessary detail and leave you with a concise and understandable description.

Via Writing can offer you writing guides on creating good job descriptions. It provides great directions that will help you make no mistakes.

Boom Essays and Essay Roo are good at assisting with proofreading. They can point out some of the most common mistakes and give you guidance for removing them.

My Writing Way is a grammar checker that can clear your job description of any mistakes.

Paper Fellows, praised by Revieweal, is a great tool if you need some help writing catchy titles.

Freddie Tubbs is an HR consultant at Bigassignments. He is running Oxessays blog and is a regular expert contributor at The Vault and Australian help blog.

7 mistakes employers make when hiring new people

The key to increasing an organisation’s performance and productivity levels is the wellbeing of its greatest asset – its employees. This is why supporting a workplace wellbeing programme and encouraging a work-life balance is highly recommended.

The relentless pace of 21st Century digital transformation and the new 24/7 always-on mentality adopted by most organisations and their employees has contributed significantly to increased stress levels, reduced holidays and the rise of absences related to mental health. Each of which negatively affects individuals, both at home and work, impacting their productivity, health and family stability.

In fact, with long work hours and constant multitasking negatively impacting an individual’s ability to address these problems until they’ve escalated, today’s health-conscious society is calling for mental health to be treated the same as physical health, especially in the workplace.

The new Learning & Development organisation is at the heart of driving the wellbeing strategy within modern organisations, throughout all stages of career development, with research showing that directly addressing the wellbeing of your workforce via the implementation of a workplace wellbeing programme can boost performance, improve engagement, reduce absence levels and retain talent.

The end of 2017 saw almost half of all UK businesses implement a wellbeing strategy, including a number of high profile organisations such as HSBC and Barclays whose ‘This is Me’ campaign, designed to normalise mental health in the workplace, has been rolled out across the capital.

These programmes are typically implemented by top-level management, which can be extremely effective, although research suggests that results improve when individuals take active responsibility for their own wellbeing.

To ensure the organisation is inspiring employees to do this, you might consider creating a wellbeing team to champion strategies, including the use of eLearning, encouraging a natural and inclusive approach across the organisation.

MicroLearn is passionate about helping to promote positive working cultures which is why we created our Workplace Wellbeing range, in collaboration with the Learning Architect, Liggy Webb. Liggy is a global best-selling author and behavioural specialist, with a wealth of knowledge and expertise in the field of mental wellbeing.

This suite of bite-sized resources helps organisations mitigate the risks of poor mental health, stress and sickness by highlighting the warning signs and presenting a range of techniques learners can use to improve their own lifestyles. This includes courses on Mental Health, Healthy Living, Resilience, Everyday Energy, Value & Purpose, Relationship Building, Relaxation and Life Balance.

Promoting workplace wellbeing by offering increased education and support will benefit organisations in the long-term as individuals develop healthier behaviours, both in and out of the office, leading to increased levels of happiness, inspiration and motivation which positively impact the overall performance of the organisation.

The importance of wellbeing for a successful workforce - Go1

A happy workforce is a successful one – the importance of supporting workplace wellbeing

With a stabilized economy, many industries now experience substantial growth. Among those is retail. For 2018 alone, experts predict this market will see a healthy increase between 3.2 and 3.8 percent. Obviously, this is an exciting time to have a retail business. But it’s also a time when proper staff training could not be more important.

No matter the type of product you sell or whether you have an online presence in addition to a brick and mortar location, you vie for many of the same customers as your competitors. That means to enjoy company growth and increased generated revenue, it is imperative that you sell an incredible product and have an extremely competent sales staff.

Dealing with Angry Customers – Even when providing superior service, facing disgruntled customers is inevitable. Depending on the individual and the situation, things could become hostile quickly. Fortunately, there are excellent online courses that offer training for this type of scenario. Your staff will learn that a customer’s anger is more about frustration and that at no time should they take harsh words personally. With a few simple strategies, your employees can calm an otherwise negative situation.

Solving Problems – Solving problems in your retail store goes beyond dissatisfied customers. With proper training, your staff will know how to recognize a conflict of any kind, followed by taking the appropriate steps for a positive resolution. Many of these online courses focus on day-to-day challenges that arise, not just conflict. With training, your employees become more empowered and motivated to solve issues correctly without always running to management.

Motivating Customers – There are even online courses that will help your retail staff motivate customers. With a little bit of persuasion, you will see an increase in sales and a higher level of customer loyalty. Using insider marketing tips gained from online training, your staff can sway customers into buying or returning for additional purchases without them even knowing it.

Working Efficiently – Although hard work goes a long way in the retail industry, your employees might ultimately waste time, effort, and money. With the right online courses, your employees will gain insight into making their efforts more efficient. In addition to boosting sales, they will feel more accomplished in their jobs.

Leadership and Management – When positions open for a leadership or management position in your company, you want trained employees who can step in and take over. Thanks to multiple courses that focus specifically on this arena, you can promote the right employees and see both company and personal growth.

Listening Skills – While everyone hears what you say, not all of your staff listens. A lack of listening skills is a common problem, especially in the retail industry. After completing one or more online training courses, your staff will never again miss important clues from customers or vital messages from management. While your employees become more efficient, your customers feel appreciated and respected. Developing good listening skills is a win-win solution for everyone.

Enhanced Technology – You can use online courses to bring a new employee up to speed on the system you use in your retail store or to help an existing staff member hone his or her skills. Remember, the faster and more efficient an employee is when checking customers out, the more likely it is for those people to return for additional purchases at some point.

Risk Management and Safety – There is no question that one of the most critical of all online training courses for your retail staff has to do with risk management and on-the-job safety. With this, your employees will learn how to spot potential issues and the appropriate ways to deal with them. In the retail industry, criminals use a myriad of techniques to steal merchandise. For a smaller company, even a minor theft could prove devastating. As for safety, it is important for your staff to recognize warning signs for their protection and that of the customers.

Big Ticket Items – When it comes to retail, there is a significant difference in selling clothes versus big-ticket items like cars, boats, high-dollar computer systems, and so on. In exchange for spending a lot of money, customers have a much higher expectation from the staff. If your company sells big-ticket items, it is essential to provide your employees with specialized training. In addition to gaining a wealth of knowledge about the business itself, they will learn the proper way to approach customers, how to dress, and the language to use.

Top courses all retail staff should complete

Are you tired of lagging behind other real estate companies? Are you looking for a way to bolster staff morale, increase productivity, better connect with buyers and sellers, and ultimately, improve the bottom line? One solution can help you achieve each of these goals plus more. By offering your real estate agents access to online training courses, you can prepare to see a marked change in operations.

Along with a multitude of online courses to benefit the support staff at your real estate company are courses explicitly developed for agents. Because this training comes from highly respected industry leaders, your staff will find the information valuable and feel excited about honing their current skills and knowledge base from experts.

The great thing about learning via the internet is the unlimited possibilities. When using the right forum, your agents can continually take educational training. However, for people in this role, there are several essential courses. Each of these will help your agents improve client communication, develop better marketing and negotiating skills, and overall, become more proficient in their jobs.

The following list shows you the top online training courses for real estate agents. However, you should know that there are thousands more.

Written and Oral Communication – While having excellent written and oral communication skills as a real estate agent might seem like a given, surprisingly, many people in this industry struggle in this area. Considering that agents work one-on-one with residential and commercial buyers and sellers, underwriters, title companies, insurance companies, marketing experts, financial professionals, and of course, internal staff, it is imperative for them to know the right way to communicate on all levels. Training courses on this subject go a long way in improving an agent’s ability to perform.

Motivation Concepts – As a real estate agent, it is vital to motivate sellers to sell and buyers to buy. Often, clients need a gentle push in the right direction, which requires a certain level of finesse. Thanks to motivational online training courses, your agents will learn how to persuade clients so they make favorable decisions for them as well as for the realtor and your firm.

Workplace Safety – News stories in recent years have put a lot of agents on edge. With the right training courses, your agents will know what to do when faced with an unnerving or dangerous situation. The safer they feel in the office and out in the field, the more efficiently they do their job.

Social Media Networking – Using online social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and many others, realtors have an incredible opportunity to network. However, some agents, especially those with years in the business, have not fully grasped the correct way to use these resources. Online training courses will introduce the various platforms to your agents, teach them how to use them, and provide insider tips on building a strong networking campaign.

Realtor Mistakes – One of the best ways to learn is by making mistakes. A trusted forum for online training offers a broad range of courses on this topic. With this, your agents will understand the most commonly made mistakes and how to resolve them. In addition to learning these lessons, your agents can use the material to identify potential issues, and thereby, avoid them.

Improving Sales – Remember, when your real estate agents complete courses through a reputable source, they learn directly from highly regarded industry professionals. For agents struggling to identify viable clients and close deals, these courses will help them turn things around quickly. Before long, they will see a significant increase in the number of sales, which in turn, boosts their confidence to do more.

Real Estate Math – Although agents do not need to be mathematicians, due to somewhat complex calculations, they would benefit greatly by taking a course that covers math as it relates to the real estate industry. As a result, they can provide clients with accurate numbers, which avoids confusion and makes them appear like experts even if they are relatively new to real estate.

Continued Education – In addition to online training courses that introduce agents to new trends or help them hone their existing skills, there are many that cover required information for securing or maintaining a real estate license. After all, to work as a realtor, agents must complete a mandated number of hours of continued education. Instead of taking time out of an extremely busy schedule, your staff can complete the appropriate courses at a comfortable pace from the privacy of their homes.

Workload Automation – Speaking of busy schedules, real estate agents often work long, hard hours. Realtors just starting out invest a lot of time to networking and building a client base. An excellent way to free up time for more critical matters is by learning how to automate many of the tasks that agents perform. Along with this, they can complete online courses for time management, thereby becoming more structured and efficient.

With so many available online training courses available through a reputable company, your agents can achieve incredible success in the real estate industry. Along with courses that focus specifically on this sector, they will benefit from personal development courses. One simple decision of giving your agents the opportunity to learn will make a vast difference in your firm’s operations and the revenue you generate.

Although these are all viable courses, you might sit down with your agents to ask them about the areas of interest or needed improvement. That combined with the recommendations plays a major role in your firm’s success.

Top courses all real estate agents should complete

When providing a professional service, clear and concise communication with prospects and existing clients is essential. Excellent communication skills are even crucial when dealing with internal staff. Otherwise, it is easy to misconstrue messages, which can lead to hurt feelings, bad decisions, frustration, and in some cases, loss of business.

The fact is that some professionals speak their own language. For instance, doctors, airline pilots, IT developers, engineers, and accountants, among others, use a lot of terms that most people find hard to understand. However, as professionals that provide a service, they need strong oral and written communication skills.

Take accountants as a prime example. To them, the words they use make perfect sense, but to an outsider, especially someone with little to no mathematical or financial experience, their technical jargon can be confusing. If you are an accountant or have an accounting firm with a team of accountants, you have the opportunity to help with this situation.

Thanks to online training courses, you or your accountants can learn to communicate in a way that connects with people. As a result, your business will grow. In fact, your clients will gain new respect and confidence in your abilities. After all, if people cannot understand what someone says simply due to poor communication skills, it makes them feel uncomfortable and even wary.

By addressing your clients through excellent communication, they can follow along easier. The more they understand what you say, the more they feel confident in their decision to use your accounting service. As a busy industry, you have a lot of competition. Instead of giving clients to other firms, improve on your communication skills, and then enjoy the success that follows.

Remember, along with a unique language, accountants talk about numbers, equations, and calculations. The main reason that people use an accounting service is that they lack that particular skill. Your goal is to lay out an easy-to-follow plan so that your clientele can make well-informed decisions. However, they can only do that if they understand the words you speak or write.

Additional Reasons to Improve Communications

Effective Management – If you have a staff that you manage at your accounting firm, not only will good communication help them perform their jobs better, but they will also have greater respect for you. For your employees to work efficiently and effectively, they must understand your directions. With the proper online training courses, you will have no problem communicating with your internal staff. In no time, you will notice higher production, fewer errors, and overall streamlined operations.

Investors – If your firm has investors, they need to know how the business is doing from a financial standpoint. In addition to passing on oral information, you would prepare reports on a scheduled basis. Although investors have a better handle on the accounting language, they have no interest in listening to or reading jargon. Instead, they want information that they can digest easily. With online training, you will learn the best way to prepare income statements, cash flow statements, and other financial reports in a way that investors want.

Requirements – In addition to online training courses making it easier for you to communicate in a clear manner, they will help you follow mandated reporting to certain entities. For instance, the IRS or your bank may have set requirements. Instead of sending them a report only for them to return it because it was incorrect or hard to decipher, the courses will help you create reports right the first time. As you can imagine, that will eliminate a lot of frustration. It will also save a tremendous amount of time and even resources.

By taking courses prepared by industry leaders, you will learn about fonts and formatting. You will also gain insight into writing reports to ensure they meet tight deadlines. Some of the courses even cover the type of data you need to include as well as the proper way of creating backup documentation for optimal protection.

As an accountant or with a staff of accountants, a great deal of time involves working with financial data in the form of statements, receipts, and reports. To avoid miscommunicating vital information, whether it’s oral or written, take advantage of online training courses. With this method of learning, you have the flexibility to complete the courses on a busy schedule.

Along with improving your accounting business by adopting new communication strategies and honing existing skills, you might consider additional courses for personal development. With online training, you can enjoy a flawlessly run firm. The trust your clients have in you will increase, leading to even more success.

Get ahead of your competition and improve on internal processes with online training courses geared toward accountants. One small investment of time will go a long way in growing your firm.

Why all accountants need communication training

No one likes working in a tense, hostile environment. When conflict arises between employees, it doesn’t just impact the staff members involved, but has a negative effect on the whole team and organisation.

That’s why it’s so important for managers to know how to deal with employee conflict – quickly, effectively, and appropriately.

When you think about it, we spend a considerable amount of time with work colleagues. And just like any family unit or friendship circle, things can’t always be expected to run smoothly.

A certain amount of tension in the workplace can be considered normal. It can even lead to the generation of new ideas or ways of doing things. However, things become much more serious if a workplace disagreement or discussion turns into ongoing conflict between two or more staff. Like any conflict, if allowed to fester, it will soon turn the workplace into a toxic environment.

If left unchecked, inter-office politics can result in bullying, harassment, and a negative work culture. It can also lead to poor team performance, low productivity, absenteeism, and high staff turnover – all of which will affect your company’s reputation and bottom line.

Whatever the reason behind the conflict, its best to deal with it sooner, rather than later, before it impacts further on your team and their performance.

Keeping calm in an environment of conflict

When there’s conflict going on in the workplace, whether it’s the office, sales floor, call centre or job site, it’s vital that managers keep calm and lead by example.

When faced with employee conflict, you’ll need to demonstrate more composure and leadership than ever before, helping staff to stay engaged, focused and motivated while you deal with the issue.

Ingrid Fredeen, specialist in ethics and legal compliance training, says it’s important that managers show a commitment to a healthy corporate culture, fostering an environment of ethics and respect in the workplace.

“Managers should feel empowered to remind staff that conversations can quickly turn offensive – and the danger of damage to working relationships and team morale.”

“Remind employees about key policies, including your harassment, workplace violence and business conduct policies. Explain that the organization’s goal is to provide all employees with a dignified and respectful workplace,” Fredeen advises.

If a discussion turns heated and offensive in the workplace, managers need to take quick action to put an end to conversation.

Taking action and confronting issues head on is part of good leadership. Fredeen recommends taking the following steps to address the behaviour professionally:

Avoid attacking the employees personally or taking sides

Focus on behaviour rather than opinion, instead of pointing out offensive or inappropriate conduct

Be clear that employees (who work for private employers) do not have an absolute right to express personal opinions at work

Help the employee understand the consequences for repeat conduct.

The more that you practice taking action on conflict resolution, the easier it will be over time.

Online training is also a great way to help managers continually remind staff of policies and regulations, letting all employees know exactly what behaviour is expected of them in the workplace.

What can you do when a particular employee keeps stirring conflict in the workplace?

As a manager or employer, it’s inevitable that at some point you’ll find yourself faced with an employee who is difficult to deal with or seems to have trouble working with others.

Sometimes these team members don’t even mean to be challenging or difficult – they may be experiencing low mental health or have other external factors influencing their behaviour. But you will also come up against individuals who are aware that their actions are negative or obstructive for the team.

When an individual team member is displaying challenging behaviour at work, it’s a good idea to try and understand some of the underlying issues that may lead to their behaviour. You can then find the right strategy to support you in in dealing with that employee’s behaviour in the workplace.

Glen Llopis, author of The Innovation Mentality, presents an interesting view of conflict resolution.

“When dealing with conflict resolution through a lens of opportunity, conflict can be a healthy enabler of growth for your business –and professional growth for all of the people involved,” he says.

Llopis believes that we don’t really get to know someone (or ourself) until we experience a little tension with them. In that way, conflict resolution can be seen as an important part of forming authentic relationships with our employees and ourselves as leaders.

If you’re interested in learning more about conflict resolution in the workplace, there are many online courses and resources available, such as these modules on how to handle difficult conversations and developing a respectful workplace.

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