So spring has sprung (apart from the snow showers last week) and nature is renewing and growing again. This situation is reflected in many organisations who are closing their books for another financial year and looking forward to the challenges in the year ahead.

Many or you will by now have been allocated your budgets for 08/09 and be considering how to make best use of them. Research shows that investment in the development of your employees gives great return, both in terms of increased skills and motivation / loyalty. If you are looking to maximise your available training budget with an integrated programme of activities, or simply looking for one-off workshops, then contact Pearlcatchers for a no-obligation discussion / proposal.

Or you may be interested in our Active Learning Forum or our programme of Active Learning Days in the coming months.

Learning and Development Questionnaire

Part of our process of renewal is to launch a programme of research to understand what our customers (and potential customers) really want from Learning and Development. The first stage in this process is to ask as many of you as possible to complete our questionnaire. It only asks ten questions, can be filled in online and everyone on our mailing list who completes the questionnaire will receive a FREE FLASH DRIVE / MEMORY STICK. Please click here to access the questionnaire, which we anticipate will take no more than 10 minutes to complete. We look forward to receiving your responses and will publish our findings in a future edition of this newsletter - as well as using it to inform our product and services design for the future.

We hope you enjoy this exciting edition of Learning Matters with articles including sustainable development, developing internal consultancy skills and managing your boss.

Pearlcatchers and our partner the Best Practice Club are delighted to invite you to join us for our Active Learning Forum on Tuesday 20th May 2008 at Studley Castle, nr Birmingham. This exclusive event combines the opportunity to network with other managers from a wide range of sectors, with an exciting workshop programme. As well as plenary sessions to discuss some of the key challenges affecting your organisation (such as leading change / learning and development), each delegate will have the opportunity to choose to attend three workshops from our 'menu'. And all this for just £75. Click here for full details of the programme and how to register.

Increased regulation / competition, diminishing workforce and resources and constant change programmes are just some of the issues facing managers and leaders in business today. These challenging times require managers to develop a range of new skills and knowledge - such as leading change and innovation, surviving mergers & acquisitions, building cultures that thrive and understanding new 'lean' methodologies and quality management standards. But how do you develop these skills amidst your hectic schedule? Click here for details of the latest events in our programme of Active Learning Days from April to July 2008.

Dear Pearlcatchers

I am getting rather confused with all this talk about sustainable development. I have been asked to investigate this as part of our strategic planning and have read lots of quite scary (and seemingly contradictory) facts and figures about climate change and the impact on our planet.

Please can you explain in layman's terms how global warming / sustainable development relates to the business world and what we might be able to do in terms of establishing 'sustainable development policies'.

Click here for our response.
Or if you want to know more, why not attend the taster workshop on our Active Learning Forum on 20th May
- OR - the Active Learning Day - Securing Your Organisations Future through Sustainable Development on 22nd April.

Managing Your Boss

Your relationship with the boss is one of the most important and sometimes one of the most challenging aspects of your working life. It directly affects your ability to be effective in your role - no matter what your level in an organisation. However, employee/boss relationships do not always run smoothly. Click here for our full article, in which we consider how to make your relationship with your boss more constructive and useful.

Adopting a consistent approach to managing change

When creating a brand new team of internal consultants from both across the business and externally, how do you ensure consistent processes and skill levels, at the same time as engendering common goals and sense of purpose? This case study shows how a modular approach to change and internal consultancy training also helped form a sense of common purpose and identity. Click here for the full article.