A few weeks after a management training programme, there’s often a quiet question in the background: Has anything actually changed?

It's the question all Learning & Development professionals wrestle with - does the training we use actually result in tangible change? When it comes to changing culture or behaviours, how can we measure that anyway? I've spent the last few days trying to get to grips with the what the research tells us, so you don't have to. And I've found that actually, despite the pitfalls being numerous and widespread currently, the solutions actually help simplify the process - they're ea

The Engagement Crisis The landscape of leadership and management is facing a pivotal challenge in 2024 – an engagement crisis triggered by the pandemic and the widespread adoption of hybrid work environments (as beneficial for work/life balance as that has been). The crash in employee engagement persists, demanding leaders to tackle a fundamental question: How do we foster sustained engagement and trust in an era where face-to-face interactions are limited? The key to the sol

If I could give one piece of advice to leaders and managers, it would be this: Simple things can make a huge difference. If you aren't sure where to start when it comes to improving as a manager, or the things you've read seem quite overwhelming or esoteric, remember that it only takes very small adjustments in behaviour to generate big changes in the engagement and productivity of your team. A great medicine for imposter syndrome is seeing instant improvements too. Think abo

Balancing the Power of Inquiry with the Need for Authenticity and Trust In the dynamic landscape of talent development training and coaching, the use of leading questions can be seen as a way to help the coachee navigate their thoughts and provide a structure for the conversations. However, beneath the surface, a paradox lurks - the potential for these carefully crafted queries to inadvertently stifle conversations and erode the foundation of trust. At ZEN Coaching, we delve

There's a wonderful book by Matthew Syed, "Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice". It could be written as a training and talent development guidebook. It explodes the myth that success comes through innate talent and explores how it is PRACTICE that makes us better. Those who seem like child prodigies are often just the ones who started practising very early, Mozart being a prime example. He was an incredible composer at 5 years old. But then again, he was made

We're always looking to see how the simple view can benefit people at work. Leadership, management and talent development training often involves identifying the focus of the person in front of you to help with influencing them. Here's an example of just that - thinking of those around you as either task or relationship focused can help influence and engage them. Why? Because if you tap in to what they find interesting, what resonates with them, they'll be more likely to list

Unlocking the Secrets of Leadership in Development TrainingWe can gain invaluable insights into business leadership from the director-actor relationship. We're thrilled to share that we had the honour of sitting down for a chat with the renowned actress Niamh Cusack to delve into the fascinating dynamics of the director-actor relationship and its relevance to business management and leadership and talent development training programs. Niamh shares her wisdom, acquired from ye

Happy New Year! I hope you've had a good break and managed to catch up with friends too. Friends of course, we're told, don't make the ideal manager because the relationship can become confused and crucial decisions delayed for fear of damaging the friendship. But what if we could isolate the good bits of being a friend and employ a few of them at work? Might we be able to increase rapport with our team and improve their engagement? Let's take a look at a couple of the skills

Here are 3 common examples of behaviours to be wary of that can send a conversation down the wrong path along with the corresponding simple alternatives that can help guide you to a more productive outcome. Management, Talent & Leadership Development made easy. 1. Leading questions We often use these when we're consciously trying to coach, to ask more questions and seem more engaged and empathetic. It's a lovely intention, but when we are used to coming straight in with a sol

Beware of G.I. Joe and his fallacy....... In ZEN Coaching's recent work with Infogrid on Interviewer Skills we spent some time looking at interviewer biases, what they are and of course, what to do to mitigate their effects. One thing that was mentioned that we feel needs highlighting is the GI Joe Fallacy. This is something to consider for all biases and DEI training too. Simply put, it's the belief that merely knowing about something is enough to change behaviour. In this c

"What was it like?" A simple, powerful question that can unlock a conversation in many contexts. Let's take a look at why it's useful and when it can be utilised within Management, Talent and Leadership Development. Why is it useful? Asking this question signals your intent to look deeper into a situation, to understand the person in front of you more fully. It shows your willingness to engage with them and their feelings, not just the actions and circumstances around any par

Communicating with people who are wildly different to us can be stressful. How will they react? What if they make us uncomfortable? Management, Talent & Leadership Development: Adjusting communication style for different people As a training company, one of the most common fears we hear about from participants at our Management, Talent & Leadership Development programs is trying to influence someone who is more extraverted, louder, more direct than they are. What can we do to

Using Empathy for Management, Talent and Leadership Development "The ability to share someone else's feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in that person's situation." We know what empathy is, and we know (well, most of us know) how valuable it can be in keeping a team motivated, engaged and productive. Simply put, if you feel your manager puts in the effort to understand your situation, trust is built and you're more likely to put effort in for the

Here's 3 quick, easy tips to help managers this week in their Management, Talent and Leadership Development. Try them out and let us know how it goes. 1. Struggling to get an employee to open up about a problem or to describe their thoughts? RIDE THE SILENCE just that little bit longer than normal. Resist the urge to jump in to suggest an explanation or solution. Wait. Quite often they'll fill the silence for you. 2. Trying to use a coaching style but finding it hard to think

Why use roleplay? Let's take empathy as an example. We often read about how it's an invaluable tool in a manager's arsenal, how it can improve results, motivation and engagement. And of course it can. But knowing about it and putting it into practice are not the same. What might it sound like? How does it FEEL to try it out? What behavioural indicators tell me if it's having the intended result? Very rarely do I see the specifics of the behaviours discussed so that they becom

Would you like an uplift in your employees' performance of around 40%? Well, it's not as far-fetched as it may seem. Back in 2002, the Corporate Leadership Council published a report called "Building the High-Performance Workforce". In it, they examined quantitively what factors improved performance and by how much. The results show how feedback skills needs to be incorporated into management, talent and leadership development programs. As the graph from the report below show

The new year is often a time we resolve to do things differently, achieve more or change behaviours. With that in mind, here are a few easy, quick changes you can make that we find can most effectively change conversations and open up possibilities for you within your own Management, Talent and Leadership Development. Management, Talent and Leadership Development in 2022 Don't rush to offer solutions We all know the feeling - waiting for someone to stop speaking so we can off

Influencing Others: Management, Talent and Leadership Development Last week ZEN Coaching ran sessions on Influencing Skills and it's sometimes worth taking a step back to think about the thoughts delegates had, not only on influencing, but also on the roleplay practise itself within the context of Management, Talent and Leadership Development. Two main ideas came across loud and clear: 1) The most useful part of any training is the roleplay practise itself. And this makes sen

Welcome to our new blog. Here we aim to give you hints and tips, raise your awareness around what this type of training can do for you and discuss articles or research within Management, Talent and Leadership Development. And first of all, it's worth noting what we truly believe is the essence of our training - simplicity. Over the years as trainers we've been involved with hundreds of training programmes, many of which introduce complex models and try to replicate in great d