Latest Blog Posts

Let the True Leaders Please Stand up
In view of the current climate of unrest in South Africa and the spotlight currently being on gender based violence, I could not help but gain respect for our SARS commissioner, Edward Kieswetter...
Published on 18th of Sep 2019 by Debbie Engelbrecht [ read more ]

Step Up or Step Out!
The sentiment in the country is negative. It’s time for all leaders to step up. The issues of Xenophobia, Femicide and a depressed economy are taking their toll. Wherever you turn women are mentioning their fears, commuters are mentioning their frustrations with inefficient systems and South Africans are simply tired of the huge financial burdens they carry.
Published on 10th of Sep 2019 by Debbie Engelbrecht [ read more ]

Article: Simplifying Learnerships, SETA, SARS and Employers
We are finding that there is still too little clarity around the subject of vocational Learnerships. Learnerships are indeed a win-win for all parties involved.
Published on 5th of Sep 2019 by Debbie Engelbrecht [ read more ]

Listen so Others Will Speak
A huge part of soft skills is communication. Both between you and other people and the 'voice in your head' communication, which helps you regulate your own behaviour.
Published on 29th of Aug 2019 by Carolyn Kessler [ read more ]

Is Diversity and Etiquette an Issue in your Workplace?
Diversity and etiquette in the workplace are hot topics... They're concepts which we have a great deal of interest in and our courses often include both together for the following reasons.
Published on 23rd of Aug 2019 by Carolyn Kessler [ read more ]

Just a Receptionist?
I always think twice before I label the 'face of the company' as a receptionist. Not because I think it's an inaccurate label, nor should it carry any negative connotations. But it can conjure the picture of someone filing their nails...and I just hate that!
Published on 13th of Aug 2019 by Carolyn Kessler [ read more ]

Do You Only Work for the Money?
Gosh - I hope most of you answered that in the negative. The thought of spending 8 hours a day doing something we hate, having to be somewhere we hate, with colleagues we can't stand - well, it's quite frankly terrifying!
Published on 5th of Aug 2019 by Carolyn Kessler [ read more ]

5 Tips for Dealing with Conflict
How do you feel when you hear the word conflict? If you were to write down ten words right now, without analysing the concept, what comes to mind?
Published on 26th of Jul 2019 by Carolyn Kessler [ read more ]

Both These Management Styles Lead to Serious Issues...
Many managers tend to view their role in one of two ways, namely: "I'm going to make sure no one gets one over on me - my staff are going to work hard cos they're scared of me", and the other totally opposite approach: "I am going to make my staff happy in all areas of their work life".
Published on 23rd of Jul 2019 by Carolyn Kessler [ read more ]

4 Ways to Stay Motivated...
Let's talk about that M word... Motivation. Unfortunately, motivation is not always easy to find. The thing you need to remember is that motivation won't always be there, sometimes it comes down to discipline. There are, however, a few things you can do to go from "No Motivation Nelly" to "Super Motivated Sandy"...
Published on 19th of Jul 2019 by Shona Potgieter [ read more ]

4 Ways to Stay Positive
We've all been there, faced with what feels like an impossible task. What follows are feelings of stress, irritability and perhaps even despair. Whether you've been asked to do something at work that you a) don't like doing or b) don't really know how to do, or whether you are facing a challenging time in your personal life, here are a few ways to stay positive...
Published on 12th of Jul 2019 by Shona Potgieter [ read more ]

How do I Learn to Sell Effectively?
Companies are becoming more and more aware that an untrained sales person is a serious liability. The ability to sell is a learnt and extremely valuable skill. No matter how personable your representative comes across as being, if they don’t understand the process, they are doomed to be mediocre or fail completely.
Published on 4th of Jul 2019 by Carolyn Kessler [ read more ]

Business Writing Skills: Producing Professional Written Documents
Our Business Writing, Report Writing and Minute Taking courses have proven to be up there with our most popular workshops over the 19 years Staff Training has been operating. For a number of very good reasons, namely it's very difficult to compile a cogent letter or written document in your second or, very often, third language.
Published on 26th of Jun 2019 by Carolyn Kessler [ read more ]

Training: Intervention or Investment?
Do companies see training as an intervention or as an investment into their staff? In my experience, both of these options can apply. However, the ratio of intervention to investment is vastly skewed on favour of investment.
Published on 20th of Jun 2019 by Carolyn Kessler [ read more ]

Are the Generations That Much Different from Each Other?
I recently worked with a group that comprised largely Millennials. When I mentioned this to a friend, she made the 'poor you' face. I understood where she was coming from, because very few people miss out on the opportunity of bashing this generation - it's almost become an international sport!
Published on 14th of Jun 2019 by Carolyn Kessler [ read more ]

Identifying and Resolving Conflict
Without a doubt, conflict is part of our everyday lives. There's no way to avoid it, and nor should you. Sounds counter-intuitive doesn't it?
Published on 10th of Jun 2019 by Carolyn Kessler [ read more ]

I Know You Do Not Want to Take My Call...
Have you ever been speaking to someone on the phone and your instinctive feeling is the other person isn't giving you their full attention? You just kind of know they are only half focused on what you have to say?
Published on 5th of Jun 2019 by Carolyn Kessler [ read more ]

How Can We Keep Our Emotions In Check?
For those amongst us, who are not particularly emotional beings, life is definitely less complicated. However, the downside of being strongly task-orientated could manifest in our missing emotional cues and misreading situations. For the rest of us mere mortals, who feel strongly about everything, life can certainly be a minefield where we're spending much of our time apologising for outbursts and/or seemingly irrational behaviour!
Published on 27th of May 2019 by Carolyn Kessler [ read more ]

Twitter, Diversity and Emotional Intelligence
It is late on a Friday afternoon and I am sitting pondering the effect of Twitter on the world. Okay not the everyday stuff, but the sports stars, celebrities, influencers and politicians using the medium to air their views.
Published on 22nd of May 2019 by Debbie Engelbrecht [ read more ]

How Much Less Is More?
In an age of information overload, it makes sense that the only way to counter overload is with focus. Information competes for attention. Focus hones the attention on what is important.
Published on 20th of May 2019 by Debbie Engelbrecht [ read more ]

A Beautiful Story About an Everyday Leader!
We spend a lot of time dissecting what attributes a leader must possess to be effective. In fact we speak about it so frequently, the discussion can easily devolve into the recitation of a trite list of attributes which loses meaning.
Published on 15th of May 2019 by Carolyn Kessler [ read more ]

5 Tips on How to Handle Angry Customers
I’ll bet every one of us has been in the situation where we were faced with an angry customer. It’s not pleasant - for so many reasons, particularly given the very wise adage: The customer is always right!
Published on 6th of May 2019 by Carolyn Kessler [ read more ]

Disengaged Managers Create Disengaged Employees
I expected two diametrically opposed view-points when I discussed the prospect of four weeks of public holidays with delegates who had been attending recent workshops with Staff Training. My understanding was that the ‘worker bees’ would relish the time off, whilst management would panic, given the resultant loss in productivity.
Published on 25th of Apr 2019 by Carolyn Kessler [ read more ]

Article: Job Sharing- An Uncommon Practice
One of the challenges we face from an HR perspective is how to empower women in the workplace. After all it is not uncommon for a female graduate to be placed in a new job, work hard and fast, be promoted, meet a partner, start a family and go on maternity leave. Returning a few months later, repeat the hard work, just a bit more stressed as her home duties have increased and two years later continuing to add another blessing to the family unit.
Published on 23rd of Apr 2019 by Debbie Engelbrecht [ read more ]

Pressure – Good or Bad?
Delegates often say they work best under pressure; many of them maintain this is their most productive zone.
Published on 17th of Apr 2019 by Carolyn Kessler [ read more ]

People at Work
I was recently approached by a young man who posed the following scenario. He works at a youngish tech company and they employ a programmer, who also happens to be a quadraplegic. The company has a young vibe and they quite often have after work drinks. The week prior, the director, who is not always on site, breezed in with hamburgers for all to enjoy with their drinks. Sounds really good doesn’t it?
Published on 10th of Apr 2019 by Debbie Engelbrecht [ read more ]

The Number 1 Question you need to ask yourself today!
We all get stressed. Life happens and sometimes it can feel like we’re the bulls-eye for Murphy’s arrow. Constantly feeling stressed and focusing on the negative events of the day can cause additional stress and even depression. It’s a vicious cycle…
Published on 5th of Apr 2019 by Shona Potgieter [ read more ]

When is it OK to Shout at a Colleague?
Let's imagine: "Sheila is responsible for a weekly payroll of 540 staff members. She collects, collates and captures everyone’s hours, sick leave etc. and makes the relevant payments. She is pretty much snowed under and mistakes are creeping into her work. They manifest in the worst way possible – incorrect wages for staff members...
Published on 3rd of Apr 2019 by Carolyn Kessler [ read more ]

Don’t let Latent Prejudice Kill Productivity in your Organisation
Unresolved prejudice amongst employees kills productivity! I run a lot of Diversity workshops and am often amazed by two things. Firstly, how much more open we have become when speaking about prejudice and its many forms and secondly, how political correctness effectively stifles open, effective communication.
Published on 25th of Mar 2019 by Carolyn Kessler [ read more ]

Soft Skills: What's the Big Deal?
Soft skills are the 'oil' that keeps the machinery of companies running smoothly.
Published on 15th of Mar 2019 by Carolyn Kessler [ read more ]

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