When we talk to participants about how they would like to be seen by others, they often have a clear idea of what that is. They share a range of descriptive terms outlining the behaviours they'd like to be known for, which typically include words such as honest,...

October 5th 2025 may not be a date that is significant for many but for me it marks the 30th “anniversary” of the very first training course I ran and got paid for. I had set up Phoenix Training and Development as a partnership, as it was in those days, with my...

"We might as well put them on the programme, we’re paying for it anyway." Does that sound familiar? When organising training it’s very tempting to seek better ‘value’ by filling up the cohort with the maximum number of participants - even if some don't need it. But...

Whilst not exactly startling news, a recent Gallup survey indicated that 42% of employees who voluntarily left their organisation in the past year reported that their manager could have done something to prevent them from leaving their job. More interestingly however...

From a training perspective, we’ve always disliked the word ‘delegate’ which evokes images of passive attendees, waiting silently for the next break.  Given that, we’ve always preferred using the highly involved ‘participant’. Even more importantly, we now recognise...

I’m often asked for advice by newly established associate trainers which I still find slightly strange as even though I’ve been working at Phoenix for over 25 years, I don’t necessarily consider myself as an expert! Anyway, I thought it would be useful to share the...

‘How was the training and how was the lunch?’  Anecdotally at least, these remain the most commonly asked questions by managers when their team members return from training.  It’s no surprise that they don’t get much of a response! Next time you’re faced with this...

Psychological safety refers to the perception that one can express their thoughts, ideas, and concerns without fear of negative consequences. It's a crucial aspect of a healthy work or social environment where individuals feel comfortable taking interpersonal risks,...

A standard dictionary definition of silver bullet is ‘a simple and seemingly magical solution to a complicated problem’. Last week, whilst working with a variety of management groups I was reminded of how complex the process of learning new skills, developing one's...