www.impresstraining.com14 Robinson Road, #13-00 Far East Finance Building, Singapore 048545.T. +65 6401 3238 F. +65 6401 0636mail@impresstraining.com

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9versionsOffice 2010

NEW

New8 Specialised CoursesService

INNOVATION

DESIGNTHINKING

Introducing

ContentsFEATURED ARTICLES

INSIDE

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56 The Importance of Retaining & Leading Generation Y

90 Why Aren’t ManagersMore Coach-Like?

84 Becoming A New Manager

74 Invest NowIn Building Brand

70Licensed To Sell...Licensed Not to Sell?

24 Design Thinking

46 Do You Get The Point?

Carbon Footprint

28 Service InnovationGiving You the X Factor

About Impress Training

Our Service Training Model

Meet YourMentors

Saving Plans

SERVICE INNOVATION:

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NEW Cours

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Giving your Organisation

FactorXthe

FEATUREDARTICLESpg24

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Design Strategy For Business

Service Innovation

360º Project Management

Introduction to Carbon Footprinting

PowerPoint Design for Business Presentation (V2007 & V2010)

Excel for Data Analysis & Reporting (V2007 & V2010)

Recruitment & RetentionStrategies of Gen Y

Communication & Interpersonal Skill

Business Writing for Office Professionals

Impressive Business Presentations

How to Sell for Non-Sales People

Building Winning Brands

Employer Branding

Building Championship Teams

First-Time Manager

Coaching Skills for Managers

Time Management:From Procrastinating to Prioritising

Managing a Multi-Generational Workforce

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Design Is More Than Just Making Products Pretty

The design way of thinking can be applied to systems, situations, procedures, protocols, and innovation.

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You can design the way you lead, manage, create and innovate. The purpose of design, ultimately, is to improve quality of life.

DESIGNTHINKING

FEATURED COURSES

CARBONFOOTPRINT

Over the past five years, Wal-Mart has put in place a number of

initiatives including renewable energy at stores, reducing waste in

packaging, and creating a sustainability index of its suppliers.

Although a relatively small percentage of people are willing to pay

a large premium for “green” products, most people are concerned

with health and the environment.

FEATUREDARTICLESpg38

TESTIM

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Very interesting, inspirational, realistic and practical. Picked up good tips to better understand and inspire my staff

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Janice Ng,Human Resource Manager,FCI Singapore Connector Pte Ltd

“Awesome Course!”Tay Wayne, Executive,NTUC Club

Trainer manages to keep me awake. Good representation of what he teaches! Good job

Angie Ong,Content Marketing Manager,Singtel

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“Very refreshing course. Has taught me a lot on how to manage myself and the team better”

Lloyd Tan, Sales Manager, ISE International Pte Ltd

Excellent Course!Never A Boring Moment

I have had the distinct pleasure to work with Impress Training.Professional, Engaging and Informative sessions!

Chia Huan Chern, Assistant Executive,DSO National Laboratories

Cheah Wai May, Assistant Manager, HRD - ST Electronics

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Established in mid-2007, Impress Training has built a diverse client

base from blue chip, private and public sector organisations in our

initial years. Positioned as a boutique business training company

specialising in next generation courses for organisations to

prosper in the new business climate, we have developed solutions

with an Asian perspective in mind for today’s economic needs. Our

philosophy has been to bring in richly experienced mentors with

innovative course areas to develop the thing that matters most;

people.

World-class training doesn’t always mean world-class pricing for great

returns.

By being competitively valued and service orientated we intend to

enrich companies large and small, by cultivating personal and business

skills that can develop people’s potential and create opportunities; for

you, and for us. It’s this basic belief of doing great training that meets

your needs and customers will invariably return. In just 2010 alone,

Impress Training has trained over 2000 individuals, from 200 different

companies.

We were among the first training providers in Asia to introduce new

programmes in the business sustainability sector; and continue to push

this trend in the areas of Business Improvement and Innovation by

bringing in such programmes as Design Thinking and Service Design.

Our core behaviours and working philosophy have shaped the

way we do business:

To our customers, we believe:

That great service matched with solutions that meet your business needs

will foster long-term relationships built on providing you fairly priced,

market-driven, and innovative services. This will be delivered to you in

a professional and friendly manner that enriches the experience of the

process from start to finish. We will provide support and flexibility in

our solutions and provide honest feedback to strengthen the process of

gaining knowledge and raising the potential in your people.

To our trainers, we believe:

In respecting your individuality and personality in delivering solutions

in your own unique way coupled with our defining qualities. We

respect your intellectual property and efforts to aid us in developing

the business. We believe that trainers should be trained too and we

will support efforts to improve and market our trainers in a professional

manner.

To our business partners and government bodies, we believe:

That good governance, transparency and responsibility means

compliance to the law, and following good business ethics without

detriment to others.

New for 2011 and beyond will be the introduction of specialised services

for Impress customers to include Surveys, Research, and New Media

for both corporate and public sectors. Our aim is to focus our research

services on key issues facing Singapore businesses and analyse these

trends leading to solutions for future needs. Social media will also play

a more dominant role with the Impress Training blog featuring articles

from a variety of our trainers and other experts and additional video

tutorials.

At Impress Training, our mission is simple:

Inspiring Change.

AboutIMPRESSTRAINING

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Take a moment to read the interesting

articles and new courses we have

lined up for you in 2011 and contact

us to see what Impress Training can

do for you

• Over 2000 people trained in 2010

• 300 clients join Impress Training courses

• 50% of clients are from MNCs,

30% Private and 20% Government sectors.

• All trainers received an average rating of 4/5 and above.

• Over a 1000 people have joined our social networks.

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Our approach to training is simple

We listen to our customers’ needs and deliver training solutions

that most effectively meet their objectives. We spot business

trends to develop new programmes that encourage both ability

and competitiveness in people and their productivity.

The different ways you can access our training.

Open Enrolment

Public-run courses: Join our publicly scheduled courses that are a highly

cost effective means of meeting training objectives.

In-house

Customised Courses: We create tailored learning solutions designed to

meet specific business challenges drawn from our existing courses.

Seminars

We can completely design a seminar or workshop from bottom-up to

include organisation-specific procedures or processes where appropriate.

Drawing from a selection of topics and specifically designed modules

allows us to tailor courses to specific levels of staff and business needs.

The course offers practical tools at work. Trainer is very engaging and simulates you to think and evaluate accordingly

Samantha Quah,Executive Officer,National Youth Council

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TrainingService Model

Our

Our delivery style

Impress Training managers and trainers will work with your

organisation to design and determine the level of customisation

required to meet course objectives. Providing pre-training analysis in

addition to any top-down development will ensure that objectives

are also met at an individual level, for maximum success. Our

delivery styles are on that is:

Pragmatic : we believe training should not just be ‘feel-good’ but

provide concrete tools and techniques that can equip individuals to

better develop themselves, assess and handle work-based issues.

Asian focused : case studies are geared towards Singapore and

South East Asia to provide a local context for participants.

Small groups : all course group sizes are optimised to allow for

a higher level of interaction and individual attention. Whilst our

training courses may vary, the average sizes of our classes are

between 6 and 20 participants per event.

Materials : these include properly written participant workbooks,

not just PowerPoint printouts. Dependent and appropriate to the

context of the course our trainers will use a mixture of role-play, case

studies, application, video and self-analysis to bring out the best of

the learning objectives.

Take a moment to read the interesting articles and new courses we have lined up for you in 2011 and contact us to see what Impress Training can do for you

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Ever wondered what the course might be like, but then

signed up your staff and found it wasn’t quite what you’re

looking for!

Well we understand that and are so confident that our

courses and trainers can meet and exceed your business

needs; that we’re offering the opportunity for a Human

Resource or Learning and Development *Manager to attend

our course for *free, as a prelude to sending more of your

staff.

Most of our courses are currently eligible under the Skills

Development fund. Through the SDF, employers can enjoy

grants for staff training though the funding rate may differ

for various courses.

*Terms and Conditions

• Only 2 complimentary seats will be made available per

public-run course. This will be subject to our normal terms

and conditions for commencement of courses.

• Only 1 representative per company (who has not otherwise

attended or taken the complementary seats previously with

Impress Training) will be allowed to join.

• This is only open to Human Resource and Learning &

Development *Management personnel only. Managers

are defined in title as Senior Managers and upwards (i.e.

Mid-manager and Assistant Managers and below are not

permitted entry).

*Terms and conditions

• The general eligibility criteria are available at www.

skillsconnect.gov.sg

*FREE Complimentary Seat for HR and L&D Senior Managers for Course Review

*Skills Development Fund (SDF)

We have a series of practical savings schemes that

have been developed to help both individuals and

organisations continue their professional development

and make their training budgets go further.

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Saving

Plans

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Looking for a tailor made course but can’t commit upfront?

Need to ascertain the quality, the content and suitability for

your organisation?

• Pilot run is costed at 10% discount below normal listed

fees.

• Extension of scheme to encompass a minimum of 3 runs

will be costed at 20% discount below normal fees.

Looking for a customised course to meets the needs of your

organisation? Let us meet up with to discuss your learning

objectives and let us build a programme to meet those goals.

• In-house courses are costed at 10% discount below

normal listed fees.

*Terms and Conditions

• Only available for in-house courses.

• Acceptance of the pilot, without leading to an automatic 3

runs will not be entitled to the featured discount of 20%

• Companies that commit to the 3 runs are not allowed to

pull-out and will be subject to payment in full of those

stated 3 runs.

• The 3 runs can be booked within a 1 year period.

*Terms and Conditions

• Only available for in-house courses.

*Pilot Run Scheme

*In-House Corporate Discount

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Azman Benny Ho Bruce Patrick Murphy

Catherine Chai Marion Neubronner Deepa Pillai

Mark Normand Patrick O’Brien Vasu

Paul Sykes Valerie

Meet Your Mentors

Our associate trainers are highly experienced individuals from across

different sectors of industry. They bring with them a wealth of talent and

inspiring techniques that can help you to create change: in mindset, in

skill set, in business and personal development.

Whilst many are now based in Asia, they have either originated or

worked across the globe bringing with them a broad perspective in

the world of business. This enables them to deliver with a practitioner’s

viewpoint of the issues faced in organisations today and present

participants real-word solutions.

Mark James Normand is the Managing Director of Impress Training,

and International Trainer that has traversed much of Asia to deliver

meaningful training experiences.

Born in Chelmsford, England, he has since lived and worked in

Singapore for almost two decades. Spanning more than 10 years he

has worked in the areas of Sales, Marketing, Product Development,

Business Development, Education, and Corporate Training. He holds

an Honours degree in Business Studies and Information Technology

in addition to studying postgraduate qualifications in Training and

Development. Since then he has started two firms, one in training

and consultancy and the other in marketing and design.

He also practises graphic design and amateur digital photography

as part of his outside interests and maintains a popular blog (http://

presentationslides.blogspot.com/) as a way of reaching out to fellow

business professionals who need assistance in their presentations.

He has trained medium-sized and multinational companies at

different levels of management including companies such as

AIG, SingTel, Singapore Tourism Board, PSC Corporation, OCBC,

United Test Assembly Centre, CAAS, PSA Corporation, Sampoerna

Organisation, ST Electronics, Land Transport Authority, National

Environment Agency, Singapore Workforce Development Agency and

many more.

Azman is a lecturer and corporate Trainer who specializes in the area

of English Language instruction and training. He has more than ten

years of experience in the industry, namely Academic and Business

English as well as English as a Foreign/Second Language (EFL/ESL)

During the span of his career, he has accumulated vast wealth of

experience as an instructor to both local and international students,

as well as adult participants from the workforce. He also used to

teach Business Communication at Singapore Polytechnic for a number

of years.

Apart from being TESOL certified, Azman has two Master degrees:

the first is a Master Degree in Communication Studies from the

University of Leeds; the second is in Political Science from the National

University of Singapore. He did his basic degree in Ireland where he

majored in Humanities and Japanese Studies.

Azman has trained corporate clients on business communication

courses such as Business English, Impactful Presentation and Saying

It Right. Among some of the corporate clients he had trained are ST

Electronics, IDC, Citibank, Datacraft, SembCorp, Swatch, National

University of Singapore, Hitachi, Aspial, Ingram Micro, Sonopress and

Julia Gabriel. He is a much-sought-after trainer, judging by the very

good evaluation he received from his past clients.

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Mark JamesNormand Azman

Catherine Chai has over 17 years of experience in branding, marketing,

training and research in Asia, working with many companies across various

industries.

She started her career in advertising before moving to the client side on

brand management. She worked as a Brand Manager for Pernod Ricard Asia,

managing a portfolio of brands in the regional markets and later joined Yeo

Hiap Seng Ltd., managing Yeo’s brand for the international markets.

Catherine joined the brand consulting industry in year 2000 and worked on

a diverse range of projects covering both B2B and B2C sectors. Some of the

projects included Spring Singapore, Dragon Group, Raffles Hotels and Resorts,

National Trade Union Congress, Maritime Port Authority of Singapore, Times

Publishing, Administrative Service of Singapore, Public Service Commission,

Manhattan Fish Market, Han’s Café, Bee Cheng Hiang, National Junior College,

True Heritage Brew, Kao and many more. She currently runs her own firm –

Broc Consulting Pte Ltd.

Catherine is a passionate trainer and has an extensive training background.

She is also in demand as a speaker at many events and conferences and is a

certified consultant with the Intellectual Office of Singapore (IPOS).

Catherine holds a BBA degree majoring in Marketing from National University

of Singapore and obtained her MBA from University of Melbourne.

Catherine’s Specialties:

• Brand Audit

• Brand Strategy

• Brand Design

• Brand Training

• Workshop Facilitation

Paul Sykes is a leading consultant in the field of ‘strategic

design innovation’. He helps businesses use design at a

strategic and corporate level to increase performance and

profitability.

Paul won a prestigious design scholarship after graduating

with Eaton Hall Product Development, and thereafter won the

UK National Innovation for Business Award, and by the age of

23 he held two product patents.

He developed a passion for ‘Sustainable Design’ while with

the Design Council and he has spoken on the subject at

various local, national and international conferences. His

work in the area of ‘carbon foot printing’ utilises his design,

strategy, production and operational experiences over the last

20 years. Paul is also a CIM qualified Marketer.

Between then and now, over the past 20 years, Paul has

worked in multinational corporations and in design and

strategic business consulting in London, Milan, Sydney,

Stockholm, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Paul’s’ talent lies in identifying the Customer Experience and

Service key touch points and core Brand Values in a business

and then being able to create coherent and well planned

strategies for implementation, which are focused on creating

tangible bottom line results.

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Catherine Chai

Paul Sykes

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Benny Ho is a Certified Project Manager (PMP®) and Project

Management Risk Professional Certification (PMI-RMP). Graduated with

a MBA Degree and an Honours Degree from University of Leicester and

London School of Economics respectively.

Benny is a strong advocate of training and continuous development.

Over the years Benny has obtained various certifications such as

Professional Diploma in Training from Atlantic International University

(USA), Certificate in Practical Counseling (Singapore), National Coach

Accreditation Program Certification (NCAP, Singapore), Advanced

Certificate in Training & Assessment (ACTA).

Benny has more than 16 years of working experience in wireless

communication industry undertaking various roles such as system

solutioning, strategic alliance, channel sales management, business

development, sales & marketing, and project management.

Benny was the Head of Training Department and a certified trainer in

the Republic of Singapore Air Force. He has taught more than 120

Air Force specialists on communication skills. In addition to training

the engineers of Nortel and SingTel on the commissioning of a critical

communication network, Benny also authored a system trouble-

shooting and commissioning handbook for them. On top of that,

Benny has also conducted training to some renowned companies

such as Land Transport Authority of Singapore (LTA), Comfort Delgro,

Singapore Police Force, Nanyang Poly, Fu-Yu Manufacturing, Murata,

Singapore Technologies, StarHub, SingTel, Keppel Communications,

Nokia; and overseas clients like Maxis, Digi, Globe and many others.

As part of his hobby and passion Benny developed a Kids Leadership

Program, known as Art of “Excellence”, to impart leadership qualities

and life-skills to children using Tae-Kwon-Do. He was interviewed on

one of Singapore’s famous radio stations, Capital 95.8MHz, about this

program. Art of “Excellence” is also endorsed and accepted by Crestar

Learning Centre, one of the leading learning centres in Singapore.

Vasu comes from a training and financial planning background and

has been conducting training for companies and schools for more

than 5 years. Some of the topics he trains on include, sales and

marketing workshops, entrepreneurship programs, customer service

workshops, leadership and teambuilding camps and programs for

adults and teenagers.

In 1988 Vasu left the Air Force and joined the Life insurance Industry.

In those 12 years he qualified for the industry awards and incentives

and was involved greatly in the coaching and training of new advisers

and recruiting for various agencies. In 1999, after 12 years in that

industry, leveraging on his experience, Vasu left the insurance industry

to successfully run a sales training business targeted primarily the life

insurance industry and property industry in the region.

In 2000 he concurrently ran an e-Newsletter content and CRM

software businesses to again leverage on those industries. In 2004

with clients as far away as South Africa and New Zealand, he sold the

business and spent the next 2 years studying to pursue his passion to

become a master trainer and facilitator.

Vasu now develops, creates and markets effective experiential

based training programs in the areas of building teams, change

management, customer relations, and business and personal

development.

Some of the organisations he has trained in the past 5 years

include – Singapore Computer Systems, HDB, MINDEF, SGL Carbon,

Cargill (Malaysia), MSIG (Malaysia), Sime Darby (Malaysia), Great

Eastern (Malaysia), DiGi (Malaysia), Multi Purpose Insurance Bhd,

RICOH(Malaysia), SINDA and Mendaki, schools like CHIJ Toa Payoh

Secondary, West Spring Secondary School, Pioneer Junior College and

more.

Benny Ho

Vasu Dev

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Marion Neubronner graduated with Honours from the National

University of Singapore and a Distinction from the National Institute

of Education, Singapore. She obtained her Specialist Diploma in

Counselling and Guidance from Temasek Polytechnic, Singapore, and

her Master’s in Education in Human Development and Psychology from

Harvard Graduate School of Education, USA. As an applied psychologist

and researcher from a human development and training background,

Marion is able to advice on recruitment, interviewing techniques, testing

and selecting to fill vacant positions as well as training needs. She

ensures organizations’ plan and conduct employee development which

foster positive attitudes toward company goals.

From her background in coaching and counselling, her emphasis is

on proactive problem resolution, resilience building and departmental

communications. Managers trained in her transformative operational

methods will increase employees’ satisfaction with their jobs

and working conditions. For an effective commitment to culture

development and sustainment, intentional leadership has to be

practiced at all levels of management; as an ongoing consultant and

executive coach, Marion can reflect and review with organization to

keep it on track for its strategic plans.

As a learning specialist with over 15 years experience and having

trained over 2000 adult learners, Marion informs the company’s training

and development through advances in learning theory. She will assist

supervisors improve their interpersonal skills in order to deal effectively

with employees. Culture change and development will begin from the

individual staff’s individualized training plan, to departmental training

objectives and finally organizational change perspectives. Leadership

training programs are designed to develop intentional leaders, and

groom staff to replace those leaving the organization and as part of a

succession plan.

Valene Ang is a Certified Microsoft Training Specialist who

has more than 10 years of training experience and working with

companies to improve their data processes.

Her qualifications include a Bachelor’s in Business Computing,

Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT), Certified Instructor of Microsoft

Certified Application Specialist (MCAS), and Master Instructor of

Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS).

She has trained different levels of management executives from small-

medium size organisations, government offices and multinational

companies such as PSA International, Komatsu Asia Pte. Ltd., DFS

Galleria Singapore, Neptune Orient Lines Limited (NOL), National

Environment Agency (NEA), Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore

(IRAS), CPF Board, Public Utility Board (PUB), Canadian High

Commission, British High Commission, Temasek Polytechnic, Republic

Polytechnic, Baxter Healthcare Pte. Ltd, and many more.

She has also conducted customized training and one-to one coaching

sessions for many companies’ executives on Microsoft Office 2003

and Microsoft Office 2007. She is a much-sought-after trainer,

judging by the very good evaluation she received from her past

participants.

Mation Neubronner

Valene Ang

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Bruce Patrick Murphy

As Strategic Marketing Manager of a Global 500 technology

company, Bruce Patrick Murphy formulates market development

strategies and develops sales effectiveness programmes to drive

business growth in Singapore.

Having worked in various local and regional roles, Bruce has honed

his skills through the exposure and rigorous certification process of

various world-class sales and marketing methodologies. He holds an

Honors Degree in Marketing, as well as a Post Graduate Diploma in

Training & Development.

Not content with what he calls just ‘academic’ and ‘classroom’

theory, Bruce has applied and stretched these theories to their limits

on real life customers. Sales and coaching calls with sales people

have also helped him to better understand the key business issues of

customers.

His sales training programmes are a result of this relentless pursuit for

real and practical sales techniques.

“

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DeepaPillai

Patrick O’Brien

Deepa Pilai is a corporate trainer and coach who is committed to

helping organisations develop effective and cohesive teams as well

as enhance employee relations. Her workshops focus on Business

Communication, Business Writing and Presentation Skills.

Deepa is dedicated to working closely with her clients to help

communicate the need to engage in life-long learning and develop one’s

interpersonal and communication skills. In addition to corporate training,

she is also a lecturer at APMI Kaplan where she teaches the Professional

Development Programme and the Diploma in Teaching and Training.

She also lectures for Kaplan University where she teaches the Effective

Writing for Business module.

Deepa has a Master degree in Communication Studies from the

University of North Texas and a Bachelor in English Literature from the

University of Reading, United Kingdom. She is also a DISC Certified

Behavioural Consultant and Coach and a Certified Master Practitioner of

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).

Deepa has trained a diverse range of companies including Singapore

Power, Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS), Housing and

Development Board (HDB), Jurong Police, Airforce Training School,

Central Provident Fund Board, Orchid Country Club, Singapore Mass

Rapid Transit (SMRT), Jones Lang LaSalle, Surbana Corporation Pte Ltd,

Panasonic Semi Conductors and many more.

Patrick O’Brien Gives People the Confidence to Perform He helps

them build competences that deliver results, and develops their minds

through Training, Coaching & Consultancy. Learning for business

application is his pragmatic passion, as relevant skills bring new value

to individuals, and enable their organisations to create new value

going forward.

Patrick is a leader who brings solid business experience that focuses

learning on delivery of results. This former CEO understands the

language of business, blends his strong professional & educational

background, and directs and applies training energies to his clients’

desired future goals, in an exceptionally practical way.

He facilitates using a unique blend of NLP Techniques, an

Improvisational Focus, and Coaching Approach. Coupled with

an Irish sense of humour, he builds strong rapport that connects

& engages participants with a reality, and intensity. This blending

provides an enjoyable and engaging medium to deliver stimulating

experiential learning sessions that remain sensitive to local needs.

Patrick holds an MBA with major in Finance, a Masters Degree in

Marketing, and an Honours-level qualification in IT. For Facilitation,

Training and Coaching, he is an NLP Master Practitioner, and a

Certified ACTA.

Professionally, he is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute,

a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing with Chartered

Marketer status, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for IT, and, a

Member of the NZ Institute of Directors.

Business ImprovementInnovation, creativity and productivity in areas such as service design,

design thinking and workplace redesign are giving businesses new

avenues to improve.

Design Thinking

Design Strategy for Business

Service Innovation

360 Project Management

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Progression Chart Innovation, creativity and productivity in areas such as

service design, design thinking and workplace redesign

are giving businesses new avenues to improve. Many

companies make incremental improvements to their service

offerings, but few succeed in creating service innovations

that generate new markets or reshape existing ones.

To move in that direction, executives must understand the

different types of market-creating service innovations as

well as the factors that enable these innovations. We have

developed these courses to match rising expectations in

service and product innovation.

IMPROVEMENTBusiness

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courses at impress are very refreshing and can turn your work around

Jason Tan, Unit Head, Learning Centre - RHB Bank

““

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FEATURED ARTICLE

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DESIGNTHINKING

esign is more than just making

products pretty – it’s a Business

Strategy and Innovation tool. Many

professional outside the traditional design

fields recognize the value in understanding

how designers think and work, and then

applying design methods and strategies to

their own work environments.

The interest in and exploration of design

thinking may be traced back to the publication

of the book The Art of Innovation. Author

Tom Kelley, then general manager of the

Silicon Valley-based IDEO, provided unique

insights into the world of product design.

IDEO is one of the world’s leading design

firms and is perhaps best known for designing

the Apple mouse and the Palm handheld,

along with hundreds of other cutting-edge

products and services. Business readily

grasped Kelley’s book because of its messages

about fostering cultures and processes for

continuous improvement and innovation. The

Apple mouse is a good example. IDEO didn’t

invent it, they simply created an innovative,

next-generation version. The question

everyone had was “How do they do it?” The

answer: design thinking.

The design way of thinking can be applied to

systems, situations, procedures, protocols, and

innovation. You can design the way you lead,

manage, create and innovate. The purpose of

design, ultimately, is to improve quality of life.

Design matters. Be it your office chair, the suit

you put on in the morning, the car you drive,

or your computer’s interface, the influence of

design surrounds us. Design can and should

influence how we think and act in identifying

problems and developing the appropriate

solutions. Put simply: We should be design

thinkers.

Design thinking is not only for the elite

employees. Everyone can innovate if they

know how to think creatively, have the support

of the company leaders and managers, are

empowered to bring their ideas and inventions

forward for review and aren’t afraid to

make mistakes. Game changing insight can

come from anyone and often comes from

unsuspected people and places in the company.

Many companies, including those here in

Asia are starting internal programmes such as

monthly innovation and brainstorming days

that invite groups from various departments

and functional levels to work on problems to

find creative solutions.

So what is Design Thinking?

A design mind-set is not

problem-focused, it’s solution

focused, and action oriented.

It involves both analysis and

imagination in problem-

solving. Design thinking

is at the core of effective

strategy development and

organizational change.

D

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Design Is More Than Just Making Products Pretty

his course is for motivated individuals who are looking to take

their business thinking to the next level. Key Decision makers

and business managers from all division categories who wish

to cultivate new creative thinking through design drive improvement

through performance and profit. Participants are not expected to

have any formal background in design related areas but the intent and

authority to use strategic design thinking would be ideal.

Tesign is more than just making products pretty – it’s a Business

Strategy and Innovation tool. Nor do designer thinkers

need to be designers. So what is Design Thinking? A design

mind-set is not problem-focused, it’s solution focused, and action

oriented. It involves both analysis and imagination in problem-solving.

Design thinking is at the core of effective strategy development and

organizational change.

Design is not just an in issue, it is the business issue of the future.

Individuals and organisations that are able to harness design at a

strategic level will optimise their opportunities to maximise profit and

performance in the most sustainable manner.

The Course in Design Strategy equips Participants to become the

next-generation managers and leaders from the perspectives of design

and creative thinking. By meshing the studies of design, strategy,

entrepreneurship, finance, management and sustainability, the

programme will provide the tools for managing in today’s fast moving

markets with a vision of business which is sustainable, meaningful,

ethical, profitable, and truly innovative.

Design Strategy for Business

What Is This Course About?

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UR

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Who Is This Course For?

D

Using Design Thinking, Innovation and Creativity as Business Tools

Take a human centered approach. Along with the business

and technological considerations, innovation should factor

human behaviour, needs and preferences. Human-centered

design thinking – especially when it includes research based

on direct observation – will capture unexpected insights

and produce innovation that will more precisely reflects

what consumers and clients want.

Quick Tip...

26

NEW Cours

e

Trainer: Paul SykesCourse Fee: S$680Duration: 2 Days*SDF Subsidies for all companies

Paul Sykes is a leading consultant in the field of ‘strategic design

innovation’. He helps businesses use design at a strategic and

corporate level to increase performance and profitability. He has

worked in design and strategic business consulting in London,

Milan, Stockholm, Sydney, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Paul won a prestigious design scholarship after graduating with

Eaton Hall Product Development, and thereafter won the UK

National Innovation for Business Award, and by the age of 23

he held two product patents. Paul’s’ talent lies in identifying the

Customer Experience and Service key touch points and core Brand

Values in a business and then being able to create coherent and

well planned strategies for implementation, which are focused on

creating tangible bottom line results.

Who Will Be My Mentor?

Paul Sykes

I really thought that I knew my

customers, and what they needed.

Your work was a real eye-opener.

It helped us position our product,

focused our message to the

marketplace, set pricing, and focus

on the most important product

features

Dennis Lim, Director, Retail Industry

“

“

Recommended Next Course:

Service Design

27

articipants will gain three key insights when embarking on this

course, those being:

1. Acquire adequate knowledge on the integrative nature of business

and design.

2. Acquire practical and theoretical knowledge in design strategy

3. Acquire knowledge on how to apply such innovative thinking to

strategic management of businesses.

During the course, participants will cover:

• A New Language, and new business approach

Construct a specific new language for business interactions that serves

as a foundation for building trust, creating effective teams, a mindset

change, managing efficiently, strengthening leadership, improving

listening and speaking skills, and enhancing interpersonal dynamics.

• Leading by Design

Participants discuss and explore some of the key tasks of a leader,

including creative brainstorming, trend forecasting, investment

in innovation, evaluating business opportunities, commercialising

innovation and communicating these opportunities to a variety of

different stakeholders.

• New Business Models

Participants examine various business models and types of

organisations, by looking to both the past and the future. Also explore

the similarities among effective organisations, regardless of their

business structure or organisational philosophy.

• Market and Communication Insight

Participants learn how to conduct effective research that illuminates

unseen opportunity and enables a deep understanding of customers

and users.

• Customer and User Experience

An introduction to the development processes for products, service

ecologies, and other customer and user experiences, and examines the

relationships among them.

• Operations & Systems Design

This session explore strategies for optimising both development systems

and process, in addition to solution sustainability, innovative operational

design, and systems design.

• Strategic Management

Participants learn practical techniques for short- and medium-term

management, as well as long-term insight and innovation tools such as

scenario planning. In this session, participants will learn how to develop

professional strategic plan for their company.

• Innovation Culture

Assess how leaders can remain mindful of societal and organisational

values as well as how they can manage shifting values to create more

successful, innovative and effective organisations.

What Will I Learn?

NP

FEATURED ARTICLE

28

FactorXthe

Giving your Organisation

SERVICE INNOVATIONervice design is all about making the

service you deliver useful, usable,

efficient, effective and desirable. It’s

not intangible or about the feeling you give

customers or users. It’s about actual things,

which service designers might call touch-points.

So a service design project is a strategic project

which uses design techniques like thorough

client research, collaborative ideas generation

and early stage prototyping and testing to

deliver services that are built around the

real needs of clients, that simplify complex

problems and deliver solutions that are future

focused and cost conscious.

Why use service design?Well, Singapore’s economy for 2011 will be

mainly driven by the services sector as the

gross domestic product growth returns to

a slower but more sustainable pace. In its

latest macro-economic review, the Monetary

Authority of Singapore said that the services

sector is set to contribute about two thirds of

GDP growth, up from around 50 per cent this

year.

However, there are still many service

business and public services missing many

opportunities to distinguish themselves from

competitors by improving their offering, better

communicating what they do or providing

innovative new services.

Simply out, take two coffee shops with the

same product at the same price, but one

distinguishes self by having better service –

which one would you more often go to?

The importance of services to the economy

keeps growing and as our expectations of

value for money from our public services keep

rising, designers have started working with

service providers to help them make their

services better. This approach is often called

service design.

Service design techniquesIf you choose to work with a service designer

there are some common tools and techniques

they will use while developing your service.

They will:

• Observe the situation. They might use

ethnographic research techniques and tools like

digital cameras and video recorders to capture

insights.

• Involve users. Games, brainstorming or

spending a day in their life will help.

• Create a blueprint of your service so you

can see where everyone who delivers it, how

they work and your customers fit into what

you deliver. Find out more about service

blueprinting.

• Analyse the quality of your service. User

feedback will be important here, but designers

aren’t just about emotional responses.

They might consider the cost effectiveness

of the way you deliver your service or look

for opportunities your business could take

advantage of

• Develop and map out ideas in a way that

is easy to understand even if you aren’t a

designer. This will help you evaluate the ideas

• Prototype a new service. By acting out a

service or getting staff members to try out use

newly designed tools on each other designers

can prototype new service delivery methods

like an interactive map or questionnaire and

test them early when failure won’t cost a lot

• Create a toolkit at the end of the ideas stage

to help you service providers procure what you

need to make the service improvements the

designers have created and tested

Why your business should invest in Service DesignThere are at least 10 reasons why every

business should know about service design.

1. If a company produces no new services they

will slowly decline and fail. If they offer a

bad(ly designed) service they can go out of

business far more quickly.

2. Many of your competitors, like China and

India, are realising that services can be a

major income generator and that if they

don’t get on board they will be left behind.

4. Increasingly, services are becoming the major

income generator, even in manufacturing

organisations. They can provide added

value, improve the customer experience and

become the major differentiator between

you and competitors.

5. Companies that provide a better service

are rated more highly by customers. There

is a close link between service design and

customer relationship management and

quality assurance (delighting customers and

retaining customers).

6. Fail early, fail cheaply. Service design can

help you spend development money more

wisely. Design management means making

low-cost mistakes. Ideas are generated,

tested and if they’re not right they fail early

and cheaply.

7. Consumer expectations are rising. People

are being offered more and more choice

of services. For instance the choice of leisure

services is overwhelming. Service design will

help people know what your service offers

and choose it more often.

8. Service design considers the whole life of the

product you offer, its delivery to market, its

use and disposal. It can help you make what

your business offers more sustainable.

9. You can invest in service design without the

cost of having to replace existing

infrastructure.

10. If you gain advantage through service

design you can maintain advantage

through traditional design techniques like

branding or product design.

“Services are a growth area but service design and management is often poorly planned, so it is quite easy for a company to gain a competitive advantage through the application of some simple design techniques.”

As technology develops it changes how and where services can be delivered and received. It doesn’t have to be a Singapore company that delivers services to Singapore residents. Only well designed services will keep their customers.

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3

Decision makers and key enablers in service oriented industries.

People who are looking to acquire new skills and inculcate the

service design culture in their organisations. Participants are not

expected to have any formal background in design related areas but the

intent and authority to use strategic design thinking would be ideal.

D

ompanies have moved from business models where value

comes from physical goods and tangible activities, to models

where value comes from intangible things, such as services,

knowledge and relationships.

Most organisations now strive to create services that deliver a

sustainable competitive advantage. They develop their business,

operations, offering and brands. Some seek growth, and others cost

savings. Some look to expand internationalise. Consequently, plenty of

national and international studies and government and industry reports

have recently discovered an increasing need for service innovation,

service design and service business competence.

Service innovation is an ability to anticipate change in customer wants,

needs, desires and behaviours, and to respond with innovative service

improvements to create profitable new value propositions.

Today customers are looking for comprehensive solutions and

compelling experiences. Customers pay for advice, information,

assurance, human interaction, and human and natural resources. This

shift in value requires continuously improved and new services and the

ability to meet and exceed customer needs.

This course equips Participants to become the next-generation

managers and leaders of services from the perspectives of service design

and creative thinking. By uniting the studies of design, strategy,

What Is This Course About?

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Who Is This Course For?

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Role play new, or even existing, service practices and

innovations to test them out before implementation.

This way, you’ll have a more meaningful understanding

of the importance of touch points between you and the

customer.

Quick Tip...

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Service InnovationMaking Service A Key Business Strategy and Competitive Advantage

NEW Cours

e

entrepreneurship, finance, management and sustainability, we provide

the tools to manage and develop services in today’s fast moving markets

with a vision which is sustainable, meaningful, ethical, profitable, and

truly innovative.

Who Will Be My Mentor?articipants will gain two key insights when embarking on this

course, those being:

1. To develop professional skills for Service Design and Management,

with a focus on the quality of the overall customer experience and on

the design of innovative service ideas

2. To impart upon participants all the conceptual and operational

tools for designing and managing service innovations, such

as, customer experience assessment and improvement; design of

service organizational procedures; service interface design; as well as

envisioning the feasibility and implementation of new service ideas

During the course, participants will specifically learn and practice

conceptual and operational tools for:

1) Developing strategies and insights into a business, its customers,

business environment and future trends

2) Understanding the service sector peculiarities and evolutionary

patterns, with respect to B2C and B2B contexts, use critical and

reflective thinking to conceive innovative business opportunities

3) Design-driven methods and practices for customer experience

assessment and improvement

4) Applying recent theories and methods for service operations

management through specific case-studies

5) Mapping service blueprints and touch point maps

6) Creating innovative, and compelling value propositions

7) Designing and modeling incremental and disruptive innovation for

the service industry through viable and competitive service ideas

8) Managing the service business

9) Fostering the service culture and service leadership

The two day course is the only programme of its kind in Asia, and helps

Participants imagine and create a better world, and better business

through innovative service change.

We advocate the views of business lying in harnessing the triple bottom

line of; economic, environment and social sustainability. We sometimes

refer to this as Profit, Planet and People.

The Course sits in the heart of Asia, in one of the leading cosmopolitan

cities, where growth is leading major changes in business thinking.

The Course in Service Design is looking for motivated Participants who

are looking to take their service thinking to the next level, who are

pioneers, and are interested in collaboration and meaningful change

in business and consumer services. Applicants to the Course should

have strong communication and collaboration skills as well as being

comfortable with quantitative processes.

N

Trainer: Paul SykesCourse Fee: S$680Duration: 2 Days*SDF Subsidies for all companies

What Will I Learn?

P

Paul Sykes is a leading consultant in the field of ‘strategic design

innovation’. He helps businesses use design at a strategic and

corporate level to increase performance and profitability. He has

worked in design and strategic business consulting in London,

Milan, Stockholm, Sydney, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Paul won a prestigious design scholarship after graduating with

Eaton Hall Product Development, and thereafter won the UK

National Innovation for Business Award, and by the age of 23

he held two product patents. Paul’s’ talent lies in identifying the

Customer Experience and Service key touch points and core Brand

Values in a business and then being able to create coherent and

well planned strategies for implementation, which are focused on

creating tangible bottom line results.

Paul Sykes

31

I really thought that I knew my

customers, and what they needed.

The course was a real eye-opener. It

will help us position our product and

customers effectively

Mr John Tan, Managing Director

“ “

Recommended Next Course:

Design Thinking for Business

360° Project Management

CO

UR

SE

Do you have both the hard and soft skills to manage a project?

Successful project management is contingent upon

identifying and managing the risks, work within budgets,

managing project schedule and scope, and more

importantly, communicating well with stakeholders’ and

manage their needs, wants and expectations.

Quick Tip...

What Will I Learn?

• Fundamentals of Project Management

Projects are progressively elaborated with a definite beginning

and start and they are undertaken to attain a set of objectives

and then terminated. Project management is carried out to avoid

problems such as large cost or schedule overruns, unrealistic schedules,

unsatisfactory quality, low morale and many more. This session gives

participants a good coverage on the basics of project management and

about stakeholder management.

• Project Management Processes

Project management is accomplished through initiating, planning,

executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. In order to

accomplish a project successfully the project team must:

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32

project is a temporary venture undertaken to generate a

unique product, service or result; while project management is

the application of skills, knowledge, resources and techniques

to project activities to meet project requirements so as to complete

an endeavour. However understanding and applying the skill sets and

techniques are not sufficient for effective project management.

In order complete a project successfully, the project management team

must understand and apply the knowledge and skills from the following

areas of expertise, namely Project Management Body of Knowledge;

Application Area Knowledge; Standards and Regulations; General

Management Knowledge and Skills which include people management

skills, time management skills and managing of cash-flow, Interpersonal

skills etc.

Project management is a powerful set of tool that improves the team’s

ability to plan, implement, and manage activities to accomplish specific

organization objectives. However project management is more than

just a set of tools; it is results-oriented management style that places a

premium on building collaborative relationship among a diverse cast of

characters.

60º Project Management is a flexible yet powerful program

that is designed for working professionals in the area of sales

and marketing, production, project implantation, customer

service and others. This program aims to impress on the participants

about the successful methods of handling projects and the stakeholders.

What Is This Course About?

Who Is This Course For?

A

3

Who Will Be My Mentor?

Trainer: Benny HoCourse Fee: S$500Duration: 2 Days*SDF Subsidies for all companies

Benny Ho is a certified Project Manager (PMP®) and a Project

Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP®). He has more than

15 years of working experience in the wireless communication

industry working on projects, business development and sales &

marketing. He has spent many years working on several multi-

million dollar projects that are mission critical. He has an MBA

Degree from University of Leicester, an honors management

degree from London School of Economics and Political Science

and a Diploma in Action-Based Learning and Public Speaking

from Atlantic International University, USA.

Rating !!!!! 4.3/5

Average Participant evaluation based on last 10 runs

Benny Ho

• Select appropriate processes that are required to meet the project

objectives

• Use a defined approach to adapt to meet project specifications and

plans to meet project and product requirements

• Comply with requirements to meet stakeholder needs, wants and

expectations

• Balance the competing demand of scope, time, cost, quality,

resources and risk to produce a quality product or service

In this session, the project management processes will be discussed in

detail.

• Project Integration Management

Project Integration Management is a complex process that involves

integrating the respective processes and activities of a project per se;

Whilst the processes are complex and important the key intention

of Project Integration Management is also to concentrate resources,

anticipating potential issues, ensuring that the welfare of the

stakeholders are taken care of, dealing with project issues before they

become threatening, and coordinating work from all parties to ensure

overall success of the project.

The participants will be taught about the principles of Project Integration

Management so that they can identify, define, combine, unify, and

coordinate the various processes and project management activities.

• The Project “Scope-Resource-Schedule” (SRS) Model

Otherwise known as the “triple constraints” model, a project success is

often contingent upon “triple constraints”, i.e. project scope, resource

and schedule. High quality and successful projects deliver the required

product, service or result within scope, on time and within the allocated

resources. The relationship among these three factors is such that if any

one of the three factors changes, at least one other factor is likely to be

affected as well.

Participants will learn how to tackle the constraints and meet the

challenging demands of a project by employing the SRS Model.

• Project Risk Management

Project risk is an uncertain event or condition, that if occurs, has a

positive or negative effect on at least one of the “triple constraints”.

Project risk management describes the processes concerned with

conducting risk management on a project.

Participants will learn about risk management planning, risk

identification, risk response planning, and risk monitoring and control.

• Project Human Resource Management

Project management does not only involve applying the skills and

knowledge of project management. It also involves applying the right

interpersonal skills, team management skills and communication skills,

(or human resource management in general) to the team.

In this session, participants will be introduced about project

team management. This module will discuss about project roles,

responsibilities, reporting relationship and communication channels

within teams in detail.

I like the live testimony quoted

by the trainer to illustrate course

concept

Christopher Loh, Safety Executive, Land

Transport Authority (LTA)

“ “

Recommended Next Course:

Time Management

33

Business Sustainability

Going green is more than just a label and a branding exercise. Find out

more how sustainable practices, reporting emissions and responsible

innovation can develop your organization.

Introduction to Carbon Footprinting

BU

SIN

ESS S

USTA

INA

BIL

ITY

Sustainability

36

Business

Developing aSustainability

BlueprintDuration: to be discussed

We will be working with the company to develop the

Sustainability Blueprint on a consultancy basis.

Helping the company to design and create ‘A

Sustainable Blueprint for Our Business…”

Level 1.Introduction to Carbon Footprinting

Duration: 1 day

Objective: To give all staff a basic, clear, easy to understand introduction to Carbon

Footprinting which will equip staff for the next level course, during which changes can be made at a personal and business level.

Level 3.Getting Ready for Business Changes

Duration: 2 days

Objective: To give key staff the opportunity to work together to develop Carbon

Footprint plans for their departments and projects. This course would be most suitable

for engineers, managers and project managers.

Level 2. Developing Personal

Plans in Carbon Footprinting

Duration: 2 days

Objective: To give general staff the ability to make

changes in Carbon Footprinting at a personal level, both at work and at home. Participants will be

able to create personal plans for change as a result of

attending the course.

Level 4. Developing a

Sustainable Strategy for the BusinessDuration: 2 days

Objective: To work together as a team to

begin to think about and design a sustainable

blueprint for the business focused on a clear plan for

defining Carbon Footprinting. For project

managers and senior managers

Progression Chart Going green is more than just a label and a branding exercise.

Find out more how sustainable practices, reporting emissions and

responsible innovation can develop your organisation. Business

Sustainability, or eco-efficiency, is a combination of economic and

ecological efficiency, and is basically about ‘doing more with less’.

It means producing more goods and services

with less energy and fewer natural resources, resulting in less

waste and pollution and lower costs. These are some of the most

groundbreaking and organisational changing courses in the

market and something that every business in Singapore must learn

to adopt in lieu of potential future legislation.

The course offers practical tools at work.

Trainer is very engaging and simulates

you to think and evaluate accordingly

Samantha Quah, Executive Officer,

National Youth Council

“ “

Very refreshing course. Has taught me a lot on how to manage myself and the team better

“

“

Lloyd Tan, Sales Manager,

ISE International Pte Ltd

“Refreshing and eye-opening

session that can turn your

work around”

Marcus See,

Business Development Manager,

Singtel

“Awesome course!”

Tay Wayne,

Executive, NTUC Club

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FEATURED ARTICLE

38

CARBONFOOTPRINT

ith the recent announcement of

SGX and its urge to companies to

take up voluntary reporting of their

sustainable practices; this is inline with the

Singapore’s government commitment to

reduce overall carbon emissions.

Wal-Mart Stores pushed forward with a risky

sustainability initiative at a time when its

public image was suffering. But ultimately the

company’s rationale for “going green” was

purely economic, according to former CEO Lee

Scott.

Over the past five years, Wal-Mart has put

in place a number of initiatives including

renewable energy at stores, reducing waste

in packaging, and creating a sustainability

index of its suppliers. Its actions have raised

suspicions and admiration from outsiders,

politicians, and employees.

But the effort has endured because the

motivation was purely economic, said Scott,

who was the first featured speaker at the

Fortune Brainstorm Green business conference

here on Monday. If it had been done to repair

its image, the company would have likely

scaled back during the economic downturn

last year.

“What Wal-Mart has done is approach this

from a business stand point and not from a

point of altruism. If we as a company focus

on waste, we can make Wal-Mart a better

company and at the same time, become a

better citizen,” he said.

During a low point in the company’s image

around 2005, Scott and his management team

considered what previous company executives

should have done 10 years ago. Seeking to

avoid more problems down the road, Scott

and board members came around to the idea

that “at some point, the world is going to hold

corporations responsible for the impact they

had on the environment,” Scott said.

What followed was a formal initiative within

the company to lower its carbon footprint

and environmental impact. The company has

installed solar panels on 20 stores as well as

more efficient lighting and is testing other

technologies with a “reasonable payback.”

Originally, though, it was a voluntary effort.

The first project within the sustainability push

was started by an executive who figured out

how to reduce packaging in a Wal-Mart-

branded toy. That change eliminated the

need for 215 shipping containers. From there,

it spread to the point where now people

who don’t have an environmentally oriented

initiative in the company are “outliers,” he said.

As a giant corporation with more than $400

billion in annual revenue, Wal-Mart undeniably

has a huge environmental footprint. For

example, it is the largest private consumer of

electricity in the U.S. On the other hand, large

businesses create demand for green-technology

products, which helps bring down the cost of

energy-related products, such as solar panels,

or consumer goods, such as organic foods.

Although a relatively small percentage of

people are willing to pay a large premium for

“green” products, most people are concerned

with health and the environment. “There’s

almost a reverse snobbery that says that only

educated people care about the environment,”

Scott said.

“We recognized that (employees) were waiting for us. We thought we were leading, we weren’t. We were meeting the expectations of people, particularly the 25- and 35-year-old buyers,” he said.

W

39

re you keen on ‘greening up’ your business but would

like to get moving, change in small or big ways, and also

get your team on board?

Your company has a responsibility to reduce its carbon emissions!

Organisations are under increasing pressure to demonstrate that they

are taking their environmental responsibilities seriously. Individuals

are also become more conscious and sensitive that they make on the

environment.

This one day course helps your business plan for high price energy

markets and environmental demands. It also helps you to do your bit

to help the environment, which will demonstrate your sensitivity to

environmental responsibility. Learn how individuals, corporate business,

government bodies and charitable organisations are responding to

environmental challenges, and the ‘carbon footprint’ agenda.

Introduction to Carbon Footprinting

What Is This Course About?

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SE

A

Don’t Know How Carbon Footprinting Can Help Turn Your Business Green?

The critical first step of waste prevention has been

overshadowed by a focus on recycling. Companies

should focus within their supply-chain to develop a

greater awareness of the importance of the “Reduce”

part of the Reduce-Reuse-Recycle mantra.

Quick Tip...

40

Benefits to your business:

• A thorough understanding of how to calculate your carbon footprint

• The ability to report on your carbon footprint with confidence in its

integrity and robustness

• Identification of opportunities within your business for carbon

reduction activities and carbon management strategies

• Provides the business case, the tools and techniques to mobilise

senior management and motivate colleagues and subordinates

Who Will Be My Mentor?he course is aimed at managers or executives who would

like to develop their knowledge and skills to implement

environmental improvements in their organisations. This could

be at an individual, team, departmental or company-wide level. It is

specifically relevant to:

• Those requiring an overview of carbon foot-printing

• Those looking to calculate and report their own carbon footprint

• Those looking to develop a carbon management strategy

• Those looking to reap the financial rewards of reducing

their footprint

The course is suitable for delegates from all types of organisations

– from large corporate, to small businesses, the public sector, and

charitable organisations.

Who Is This Course For?

T

Trainer: Paul SykesCourse Fee: S$ 425 Duration: 1 Day*SDF Subsidies for all companies

What Will I Learn?

Paul’s interest and expertise in Carbon Footprinting and

Sustainability began 12 years ago when he joined the British

Design Council, as Head of Business Services.Paul was responsible

for developing sustainability modules in design practices for the

clients of the Design Council. At this time, back in 1999 both the

issue of sustainability and carbon footprinting was in its infancy.

The Kyoto Protocol was only being thought of and practices in

this area were minimal to say the least. Paul won the National

Innovation for Business Award, sponsored by SHELL Petroleum in

1989. Paul held two Product Patents by the age of 23, from there

his career developed in business, design and carbon footprint

consultancy.

Rating !!!!! 4.2/5

Average Participant evaluation based on last 10 runs

Paul Sykeshe programme will provide an introduction for anyone who

wants to understand the basics of Carbon Footprinting. From

how it affects their lives, the lives of others, their business

department and their company. We will also explore the issues,

challenges and opportunities of dealing with this phenomenon.

Through Singapore, Asian and Global case study we will explore the

subject in a simple, interesting and easy to understand workshop

format.

Course overview

• Why carbon foot printing is becoming so important for people,

businesses and nations

• Tackling climate change from a personal, and departmental business

perspective

• The benefits of getting involved with the ‘green agenda’

• The key principle of carbon footprinting

• Understanding the ‘jargon’ of carbon foot printing, making it simple

to understand

• Calculating your carbon footprint

• Understanding plans to manage your personal carbon footprint

• Basic understanding of what companies can do to make changes

• Simple case studies of how some companies manage and reduce

their footprint

• What is happening at a government level in Singapore

• How everyone can make a difference

• Developing plans - What can you and your team do to change?

T

Broad- based and easily understood

Keith Neo, Quality Assessor,

Building & Construction Authority, Singapore

“

“

Recommended Next Course:

Build Winning Brands

41

Daily Office Work

From business writing, to spreadsheets, or creating slides for

presentations, these courses will maximise your productivity and show

you how to get most out of your daily work.

Powerpoint Design for Business Presentation

Excel for Data Analysis & Report

DA

ILY

OFF

ICE W

OR

K

Progression Chart From business writing, to spreadsheets, or creating slides

for presentations, these courses will maximise your

productivity and show you how to get most out of your

daily work. By offering the core capabilities we are able

to work with you from the very start and support your

progression over time. We offer a range of applications

that you’ll find in any office environment including the

latest on the market for cutting-edge businesses. Used in a

real-world context our application-based courses are truly

unique offerings.

OFFICEDailyWORK

44

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The course has been highly informative and there was so much to learn. Trainer is very patient which made learning very pleasant

Cheng Zhi, Technical Officer,Building Construction Authority (BCA)

“ “

45

FEATURED ARTICLE

POINT?46

Do you get the

More than just bullet points...

ith the release of the PowerPoint

2010 version, users now find

themselves with a media-rich

application for use in presentations, digital

signage and tradeshow videos. Where the

2007 version upgrading many features like

instant effects and in particular the 3d engine

– the 2010 version has made improvements to

video effects and editing. If your business relies

on have good presentation visuals for selling

a message, creating 3D models for working

meetings such as in the engineering fields or

just upgrading then this version can match all

those needs.

Businesses lose money by using PowerPoint

unproductively, as with other office

software applications, due to wastage in

the preparation time. If you spend one-day

preparing your slides and only five minutes

presenting then you may just fit into this

category. Wastage can come in all forms

such as drawing diagrams that don’t need

to be redrawn, going off the web to source

for pictures, not sure how to cut down

content, can’t find the right buttons to

achieve what you want and the list goes on.

A recent case study conducted by Impress

Training showed that by developing digital

libraries can significantly reduce costs; in one

SME company we demonstrated how that

company was losing about S$20,000 a year

to preparation wastage just using PowerPoint

alone.

The 2007 version has a strong 3D engine to

re-create solid objects that are fully rotatable

and allow users to see objects from any

angle. This has been especially usefully in the

fields of engineering and technology where

visualisation of products, components or

environmental objects is necessary. Whilst

software like AutoCAD takes time to render 3D

objects. Simple solid-state objects can be

developed in just minutes in PowerPoint.

All 3D models are first created in basic 2D

shapes and colours. The 2010 version now

allows custom shapes adding greater flexibility.

PowerPoint 2010 multimedia experience

allows users to effectively harness the

storytelling power of audio and video content,

with completely revamped media playback

technology: insertion, editing, presenting and

distribution.

W

The benefits for the company in terms of reducing preparation wastage, is obviously cost, it adds more professionalism to individual slides and provides a greater standardisation of the brand theme throughout the organisation.

47

any presentations today are done with the aid of Slide software

such as PowerPoint™, however, audiences will be the first

to tell you that most of these presentations are dull, boring,

contain too much text, speaker is reading from the slides and much

more.

The proper use of a visual aid can greatly enhance the sales of a service

or product, interact, motivate and stimulate your audience if used

correctly. So if you find yourself guilty of still using multiple bullet-points

on white and dark-blue backgrounds in your slides; then it’s time to

re-think, upgrade and gain a competitive advantage in the business by

showing impressive presentations.

If you want to showcase your visual talents, have a desire to improve

your slides or just have a keen interest, then this course sets out a

direction that will change the way you design your presentations.

Everything you see and do during the course will be done using only

PowerPoint; no other applications were used in the recreation of the

slides that you see. Be amazed at how professional looking you can get

your slides to be in just 2 days (v2007) and 3 days (V2010)

This course will actively be using PowerPoint. Please ensure before signing up that you have selected the correct version of the application.

In-house courses will receive a free set of 100+ sample slides formatted to the corporate template and colours; including diagrams, 3D visuals, layouts and more worth over S$500.

nyone in business who does a presentation; to convey,

sells, inform, announce and train in a business environment.

These include a wide variety of persons including those from

Sales, Marketing, Product Development, HR, Business Development,

Finance and Learning and Development divisions.

PowerPoint Design for Business Presentation (V2007 & V2010)

What Is This Course About?

CO

UR

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Who Is This Course For?

M A

Isn’t it time to re-learn how visual media is used for presentations?

Build internal design capabilities within the marketing

department so that issues like digital signage and

corporate visuals can be built and displayed throughout

the organisation. With the use of Video, boring PowerPoint

slides can be replaced by high-definition visuals more in-

tune with professional creations.

Quick Tip...

What Will I Learn?

ntroduction

Take a look at the world of PowerPoint and see some ‘Before

& After’ slides. See the mechanics behind their transformation

and how you can do the same. Know the strengths and weaknesses of

using PowerPoint as a presentation tool versus as a reporting tool and

how you can structure your presentation more fluidly.

I

48

Who Will Be My Mentor?

Refreshing and eye-opening session

that can turn your work around

Marcus See,

Business Development Manager, Singtel

Trainer: Mark James NormandCourse Fee: S$590 (V2007) / S$850 (V2010)Duration: 2 Days (V2007) / 3 Days (V2010)*SDF Subsidies for all companies

Mark James Normand is Managing Director of Impress Training,

and International Trainer. Spanning more than 10 years he has

worked in the areas of Sales, Marketing, Product Development,

Business Development, Education, and Corporate Training. Since

then he has started two firms, one in training and consultancy

and the other in marketing and design.

Mark James Normand

“ “

Recommended Next Course:

Excel for Data Analysis & Reporting(Using V2007 / V2010)

49

• Image Editing and Visual Effects

Participants will be shown new picture and shape effects and the

effortlessly way in which they can be applied to their pictures and text.

This topic also provides a brief overview of the new navigation tools.

• Bullet Points & Layouts

Don’t get frustrated with templates; focus on the layouts because this is

what really makes the slides different. Of course, there are the dreaded

bullet points, and this course we’ll show you some practical techniques

to reduce and structure them more effectively.

• 2-D Business Diagrams

Ever looked at a slide and wondered how they created those strategic

diagrams like the Networks, Pyramid, Funnel and Spheres? Participants

will learn to recreate those and learn the secret of using shapes and

gradients to produce stunning corporate diagrams.

• 3-D Visuals & Models

If you’ve ever seen those diagrams in the newspapers and thought

you’d need to be a professional, then you’ll be amazed at how quickly

you can design stunning 3d isometric infographics. These 3d diagrams

create and extra sense of content and realism to business processes

and scenarios. Create fully realizable solid visualisations for solid objects

without sophisticated software or renderings of buildings, tech and

engineering components.

• Business Charts

Ever been bothered by the fact that PowerPoint and Excel never really

came together in older versions; now in the newer versions see how

effortlessly the two applications merge. Charts and financial data is now

even easier to edit, with charts looking cleaner and more professional.

Participants will still learn how charts are constructed by using the right

chart-types, colours, axis and made more readable to audiences.

• Advanced Animation

Simulation, demonstrations and other business animations evolve from

static slides into sleek looking presentations by using motion paths.

Learn the secrets to getting sequencing correct to create multiple

animations. Combining meaning visuals with animation can create

purposeful demonstrations of products, services, processes and events.

• Video Editing & 3D Transitions (V2010 only)

Import your own video clips in addition to producing your own movies

in just minutes with amazing effects. Participants will also be shown

how to record from their desktop, download videos and more for their

PowerPoint. Create stunning 3D transitions between your slides and

incorporate bookmarks to introduce text and images overlaid on video at

key moments.

• Music, Audio Editing (V2010 only)

Insert music and audio and combine it with video to create movies or

product demonstrations that can easily be uploaded to the internet in a

movie format.

• Full Multimedia Slides (3D-Video) (V2010 only)

Combining the power of 3D shapes and Video and can be manipulated

into shapes and overlaid with images and text, participants will begin to

see the how ordinary slides can be transformed into digital multimedia

masterpieces. With video, 3D, audio and images all combined,

participants can use PowerPoint further to develop tradeshow and event

presentation slides, transform them into movies and use them for digital

signage.

• Free Samples and Resources

Participants will also get samples slides ranging from business diagrams,

samples animations, layouts and a host of web-related resources.

Participants are also encouraged to bring along their own slides and the

trainer will provide consultation and tips on how to make over your own

slides.

xcel is a powerful Data Analysis and Reporting tool. You

could use Excel to gain new insights into the information and

data that you work with in your job. The proper use of Excel

features can greatly enhance the design of your report and help you to

analyze your organization’s data more effectively. If you find yourself

struggling with duplicated data, or require an efficient way to analyze

and retrieve your data from Excel table, if you deal with budgets, P&L,

Sales or other administrative data and need to display the data using

interactive Excel charts and reports, if you need to present your data

using impressive report format, this is the right course for you.

This course will train participants how to use Excel to convert raw data

into Excel Table that will enable effective data filtering and sorting,

format data in Excel table or PivotTable, validate data entry to accept

only valid data, protect confidential contents, linking worksheet

formulas and many more.

At the end of each session, a case study which related to the topics

learned will be given. Participants will have chance to discuss the case

study scenario and come out with the solution. These case studies help

participant to have better understanding on the topics learned and

know how to apply the skills in their work. Model answers of the case

studies and samples Excel worksheets will be given to participants for

reference and revision after the course.

his intermediate level course is aimed at anyone who has to

analyze data of any sort and create solid professional reports

for the organization. This includes executives, managers, sales

representatives and marketers who work in various industries such

as retails, food and beverages, manufacturing, Insurance, shipping,

warehouse, and etc...

Excel for Data Analysis & Reporting (V2007 & V2010)

What Is This Course About?

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Who Is This Course For?

E T

Looking For Quick Data Analysis and Effective Interactive Report?

PivotTable is a powerful reporting tool of Excel that let

you quickly and visually group data in different ways

without having to worry about which formula to use.

PivotTable is best created from raw data without any totals

and formatting. The creation of PivotTable is all about

visualizing where your fields should go. You should stay

focus on your analytical objectives and create tables that

help you understand your data better.

Quick Tip...

50

Who Will Be My Mentor?

It’s a very enriching course and the

pace is just right

Henry Lee, Senior Manager

Singapore National Eye Centre

Trainer: Valene Ang Course Fee: S$590Duration: 2 Days*SDF Subsidies for all companies

What Will I Learn?

Valene Ang is a Certified Microsoft Training Specialist who

has more than 10 years training experience and working with

companies to improve their data processes. Her qualifications

include a Bachelor’s in Business Computing, Certified Instructor

of Microsoft Certified Application Specialist (MCAS), and Master

Instructor of Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS).

Rating !!!!! 4/5

Average Participant evaluation based on last 10 runs

Valene Ang

“ “

reating Impressive Spreadsheet ReportParticipant will learn how to organize data using Excel table

and apply appropriate filter to show only require records. In

this module, participant will also learn how to format report using

conditional formatting based on predefined rules and conditions.

• Using Advanced Filter and Custom SortParticipant will learn how to extract specific database records to another

location and extract unique values from a range of data using advanced

filter. Participant will be introduced about sorting records in different

ways based on predefined custom lists.

• Analysing Data using FunctionsParticipant will learn how to calculate total and average, count

number of records that match specific conditions using Database

and Conditional Logic functions. In this module, participant will be

introduced about relative and absolute references and how to use range

name to create user-friendly formulas.

• Extracting Data with FunctionsParticipant will learn how to extract data from database based on

specific fields or criteria using basic Vlookup and Hlookup functions. In

this module, participant will be introduced about creating an interactive

data entry form using drop-down list and functions.

• Building Interactive ReportsParticipant will learn how to develop powerful spreadsheet report that

includes features such as auto-refreshing data, auto fill-down formulas,

calculating subtotals and grand totals based on condition, applying

conditional formatting, sorting data using Custom Lists, advanced

filtering, database functions, lookup functions, logical functions, data

validation drop-down and error alert messages.

• Protecting Worksheet ContentsParticipant will learn how to protect worksheet contents and workbook

structure using passwords. If more than one user is allowed to edit the

content, different range passwords can be set up for different users.

This will allow user to edit cell content only when they type a correct

range password.

• Creating PivotTable and PivotChartParticipant will learn how to interactively create and build cross-tabular

reports from a list of available fields in source data using PivotTable

and then represent data in a graphical portrayal using PivotChart. A

PivotTable helps you to analyze trends in data without having to worry

about what formulas to be written. PivotTable reports turns the data

into small, concise reports that tell you exactly what you need to know.

• Consolidating DataParticipant will learn how to consolidate data in identical location or

different location of different worksheets or workbooks into a summary

worksheet. Consolidating data from multiple workbooks into a single

worksheet helps the analysis process by summarizing large amounts of

data in a single interface so that it can be updated on a regular basic or

more easily. This feature can be used to summarize results from different

regional offices expense worksheets into a master corporate expense

worksheet.

• Importing External DataParticipant will learn how to import data into Excel Table or PivotTable

from external data sources such as text file or Access database in

order to take advantage of the data analysis and charting features, the

flexibility in data arrangement and layout, or functions that are not

available in Access.

C

Recommended Next Course:

Powerpoint Design for Business

Presentations (Using V2007/2010)

51

CommunicationWhether its personal, business presentation or organisational

communications, these range of courses will assist in getting information

out with clarity and impact.

Recruitment & Retention Strategies of Gen Y

Communication & Interpersonal Skills

Business Writing for Office Professionals

Impressive Business Presentations

CO

MM

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Communication

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54

Progression Chart Whether its personal, business presentation or

organisational communications, these range of courses will

assist in getting information out with clarity and impact. In

testing economic conditions, organisations are increasingly

looking to employees to be more effective, make a greater

contribution and make more of an impact in the way

that they work. The courses in this section provide the

interpersonal and communication skills that can make

huge difference to the way that you interact and perform

at work. We have identified the core skills, behaviours and

competencies required at the various stages of the office

professional career. Our courses reflect these findings

and have been designed to provide you with a clear

development path to support your career aspirations.

“WONDERFUL! I have really learned a lot taking the course and been able to benefit from using it at work

Sheela Jayakumaran, Leading Executive, Singapore Management University (SMU)

“ “

55

FEATURED ARTICLE

Generation

56

The Importance of RETAINING & LEADING

eneration Y has been entering the

workforce since a decade ago and they

are here to stay. The strategies used

in managing employees of older generations

are not as effective for Generation Y (The GMP

Group and Temasek Polytechnic, 2009).

Many managers and leaders of companies have

grouses over the new generation of staff. They

say they lack ambition, they are too soft and

they demand more compensation and benefits

than the company can give.

The situation however will not go away, many

had hoped the recent economic downturn

would have the Gen Y crawling to them for

work and begging the managers for their jobs

and even trying to outperform each other to

secure their rice bowl. Such was not the case.

Instead, managers the world over are realizing

they have to change the way they lead in order

to attract and retain the quality staff they desire.

It is not merely the ‘soft’ and ‘lazy’ Gen Y-ers

who are voting with their feet and finding new

jobs in this growing economy; companies are

losing their top hires and seeing their succession

planning go awry. Oh my!

A quick tip to save you and your company from

falling into such a state? Start by listening to

what they want: a study of 80 Gen Y-ers in

Singapore (Neubronner and Raj, 2011, in press)

revealed the following:

Frankly, how would your company and your

management style measure against these?

Leadership and management in organizations have

to fit generational differences. Start developing

customized workplace strategies that take into

account of individual differences and contextual

factors.

Being aware that young workers (Generation Y)

want independence while having individualized

attention and recognition, managers need to pay

attention to relationships along with the focus on

tasks (Hudson, 2005). According to a report by

the GMP Group and Temasek Polytechnic (2009),

Generation Y-ers prefer working with relationship

oriented leaders who are caring, inspiring, and

competent. Whereas managers from the other

generations consider competency, honesty, and

forward-looking as important characteristics while

leading Generation Y-ers.

A wonderful new book “Core competencies for

managing Gen Y” (Espinoza, Ukleja and Rusch,

2010) captures the core competencies of managers

who are successful with managing Gen Y. Shows

how Competent Managers differ from Ineffective

Managers.

Start listening, acting and changing. Getting the

best Gen Y and bringing the best out them is

possible. The War for Talent is a harsh one. Be the

Leader of GenNext – or watch in vain as your troops

dwindle and age.

ration

Start listening, acting and changing. Getting the best Gen Y and bringing the best out them is possible. The War for Talent is a harsh one. Be the Leader of GenNext – or watch in vain as your troops dwindle and age.

57

G

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Frequency (%) N=89

Which of these qualities do you look forin your employer?

(Top 10)

Welcome criticism

Open door policy

Maintains friendly relationship with

Liberty to manage my own work

Ensures fairness

Adaptability Talked about their own need tochange to manage in“today’s world”

Talked about how others needed tochange to make it in the “real world”

Self-efficacy

Confidence

Believed there was something theycould do about the situation

Believed that there was little theycould do about the situation

Allowed their subordinates tochallenge them (ideas, processes,ways of doing things)

Sanctioned or punished theirsubordinates for challenging them

Power Used the power of relationshipversus the power of their position

Felt the only power they had wastheir positional authority

Energy Working with twentysomethingsmade them feel younger

Working with twentysomethingsmade them feel older

Success Saw themselves as key to thetwentysomethings’ success

Saw the twentysomethings as animpediment to their own success

Perspective Effective Managers Challenged Managers

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Fre

qu

en

cy (

%)

N=

89

2

Flexibility

3

Favorable workenvironment

3

Attractiveremuneration

5

Flexibility

5

Type ofleadership

Which of the following reasons wouldkeep you at a company?

Rating (1-most important, 5-least important)

1

Career growth,learning anddevelopment

re you stuck with more job openings and having few or no

suitable applicants?

Have you spent so much time in interviews and come out with none

who match your organization?

Have you experienced Generation Y interviewees taking a job and then

emailing, smsing or calling on the first day of work to quit having taken

another job with a rival company?

Have you had young employees with less than 2 years in the

organization demanding a promotion and threatening to leave if they

did not get it?

Come along to learn strategies on how to attract the “right fit” Gen Y

employees for your company and keep them. Learn to better manage

the younger worker. Learn interview skills which capture the appropriate

staff. As well as how to change the management style and career

progression tracks to suit the needs of the new generation of workers.

ll hiring and HR professionals as well as anyone who is involved

in interviewing and hiring people for their organisations.

Recruitment & Retention Strategies of Gen Y

What Is This Course About?

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Who Is This Course For?

A A

Are you on the hunt for talents to invigorate the organisation?

At the interview, do ensure you give a detailed idea of

how a day, a week and a month in the organization will

look like. In fact the best is that they can stay for a week

before officially starting. The clearer the picture you give,

the quicker the new recruit and the organization can

decide if the place is a match for him/her. The candidates

of Generation Now choose jobs by the culture of the

organization as much as the tasks they will be given.

Quick Tip...

58

Who Will Be My Mentor?

Excellent course and worth the time!

I have several “to-do’s” that I plan to

implement immediately!

Craig Jones, Corporate Finance Director,

Cameron (Singapore) Pte Ltd

Trainer: Marion NeubronnerCourse Fee: S$425Duration: 1 Day*SDF Subsidies for all companies

What Will I Learn?

Marion Neubronner graduated with Hons in Literature from the

NUS and a Distinction from the National Institute of Education,

Singapore. With a Masters in Education in Human Development

and Psychology from Harvard Graduate School of Education, USA

and a Counseling and Training experience, Marion has extensive

research experience working with generational and cultural

diversity. She has trained with experts in Social Intelligence at

Harvard and University of British Columbia, Canada.

Rating !!!!! 4/5

Average Participant evaluation based on last 10 runs

Marion Neubronner

“ “

Retain and Recruit” in a new generation of employees

Why previous and current methods are not recruiting

effectively? What mindsets have to change to suit the new

demands of the young workforce?

• Understand key concepts of the Psychology of Motivation

Learn theories of motivation applicable to the workplace and how to

impact organizational cultural.

• How to profile your ideal candidate

Articulating the company’s desired characteristics in a candidate and

making it explicit so that the interviews are consistent so that

interviews are more selective, informative and thorough.

• How to create a career development facilitation process

with the newer staff

Is there career coaching before they enter the organization and when

they enter and how does that look like? How to create institutional

clarity on career development?

• Effective recruiting strategies to attract Millennials to your

organization and specific Gen Y attractive-terms to include

in recruitment advertising.

We will review as a group your organization’s online presence to see

how and why your current recruitment strategies work or not.

• What Generation Y expects in the workplace

Findings from a study on what Gen Y in Singapore want from

the workplace will be shared. This can better inform the HR and

Managers how to attract and retain Gen Y.

• Techniques to keep Generation Y involved and

engaged at your organization

How does a manger engage gen Y productively and within limits to

be part of the learning organization?

• Retention methods that work with Generation Y

Knowing the generational differences allows you to make better

packages for the Gen Y and also to retain in the organization for the

future.

Recommended Next Course:

Managing a Multi-Generational Workforce

59

“

n today’s fast and multi-tasked work environment, the effective

use of interpersonal and communication skills are vital to

your own success and the success of the organisation. There

is a need to communicate clearly, express opinions assertively, listen

actively, motivate yourself and others around, ask appropriate questions,

manage conflicts, build trust and loyalty as well as be a team player. This

is even more evident today as organisations have become melting pots

of different cultures and perspectives.

It is important to understand that communication is more than simply

talking to people or delivering information. There are a number

of reasons why communication may not be effective. In two-way

communication, it is important to ensure that the receiver has received

and understood the sender’s intended message. “Feedback” is

received in the form of questions, clarification of facts, and sharing of

thoughts. With effective feedback, there is a greater chance for the

communication to be successful.

The ability to effectively communicate is a much needed skill. The more

you become an effective communicator the more likely you are to

achieve what you want.

This course will offer tools to enable you to be a much more dynamic

communicator in the workplace and to be seen as a team member

who is willing to go the distance and be proactive rather than simply

performing tasks.

his course is aimed at Managers, Supervisors, Executives and

any other business professional seeking to handle difficult

work-related situations better.

Communication & Interpersonal Skills

What Is This Course About?

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Who Is This Course For?

I T

Can you achieve better productivity without sounding demanding?

There are three keys to being a successful communicator.

First, you must listen actively. Second, ask questions, clarify

or paraphrase when you do not understand what is being

communicated. Third, always make the effort to establish

rapport with the person you are communicating with.

Quick Tip...

What Will I Learn?

nderstanding Communication PatternsAll of us have our own style of communicating. Patterns in

communication can be evident in certain situations or with

certain people. Some patterns may be more common place, that is,

appearing in most communications regardless of the situation, while

many are situation-specific, that is, used with certain people (friends,

spouse, children, boss) or in certain situations (at work, in conflict, in

fear).

U

60

Who Will Be My Mentor?

Good refresher course on what to

look out for in order to achieve

effective communication

Ally Goh, Assistant Manager,

JTC Corporation

Trainer: Deepa Pillai Course Fee: S$425Duration: 1 Day*SDF Subsidies for all companies

Deepa Pillai has more than 8 years of experience in the

communications industry. She is also an Adjunct

Lecturer at Kaplan Higher Education and holds a Masters degree

in Communication Studies. Deepa conducts

customised corporate training on Business Communication,

Presentation Skills and Coaching Skills for

Managers. She is a DISC Certified Consultant and a Master

Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming.

Rating !!!!! 4/5

Average Participant evaluation based on last 10 runs

Deepa Pillai

“ “

Some examples of communication patterns are frequent apologising,

self-criticism, criticism of others, self-justification and blaming. By

identifying your own communication styles and patterns, you can then

learn to adjust them for positive communication encounters.

• Establishing RapportWhen you have rapport with someone, it suggests you are in sync with

that person and have a connection with them. Rapport is important for

meaningful communication to take place. The more you subtly get into

the style of the other person, the more you will understand what their

motives, attitudes, values, beliefs and feelings are. You will learn how

to build rapport from the places and people you spend time with, from

the way you look, sound, and behave, from skills you have learned, from

your beliefs and by being yourself.

• Active ListeningActive listening is trying to fully feel and understand the words you hear

when another is speaking to you. Listening actively also requires that you

can restate what the person has said by mentioning, “What I understood

is...” Also, once in a while, you may want to ask the person to clarify

what he already mentioned. Most people think they are good listeners

but many listen selectively or practise pseudo listening. Pseudo listening

is when you appear to be listening but in fact are thinking about other

things. Specific listening exercises will help you determine the kind of

listener you are and teach you simple techniques to improve your active

listening skills.

• Clarifying MessagesCommunication is termed effective when all participants in the

conversation understand the content conveyed and the intended

meaning. When the communication process results in confusion and

misunderstanding, this could lead to more serious conflict. Incomplete

information, improper background data and cultural differences all

contribute to communication problems. It is therefore necessary to clarify

messages if you get an inkling that the receiver is confused or may be

confused. Being an effective communicator also requires that you be

able to read people and determine if they understand you. It is therefore

necessary to learn how to construct and rephrase messages for positive

results.

• Understanding Non Verbal Cues People are more likely to believe what they sense, see and feel

rather than what they hear. Never underestimate the power of

nonverbal communication. More than voice or even words, nonverbal

communication clues you in to what is on another person’s mind. You

will learn how to read peoples body language to decipher the true

meaning of the exchange to steer communication towards desired

results.

• Influencing Others If you want to be able to get others to do things intelligently and with

commitment, then it is important to develop your influencing skills.

Influencing is being able to help the person or persons realise that there

is real and genuine advantage to them in moving in the direction you

want. The key to being able to effectively influence lies in establishing

trust. You will also learn how to expand your spheres of influence,

be aware of personal and external situations and use the right choice

of words, tone and body language to persuade and influence while

respecting the other point of view.

• Practical SessionsThroughout this course there will be a number of practical exercises

carried out which will enable participants to put into practice much of

the theory covered. This workshop will be conducted through the use of

role plays, discussions, group activities, games and personal reflection.

Recommended Next Course:

Building Championship Team

61

usiness communication skills are as essential as they have ever

been but grammar, spelling and sentence structure are all too

common mistakes these days.

This course has been specifically designed to address organization’s

needs for powerful business writing. Participants will learn the

language skills and techniques in writing the different types of business

communication such as emails, minutes of meetings, notices and

agenda.

This highly-interactive workshop provides participants with the skills and

principles of effective business writing in a corporate world. It will show

the ways to a clearer and more concise writing, paying attention to style

and tone, among others. Through real examples also, participants will

be shown some of the common mistakes in business writing. By the end

of the workshop, participants should be able to apply what they learn

and thus write more confidently.

his course is aimed at those who wish to employ more

effective writing skills in the office. This course is suitable for

Administrative or Operations Staff, Assistants, Executives,

Managers and Secretariat staff.

Business Writing for Office Professionals

What Is This Course About?

CO

UR

SE

Who Is This Course For?

B T

Do you need to write clear, concise and accurate communications?

In business writing, you write to express, not to impress.

So avoid all those jargons and fluffy phrases if you want

people to understand your writing. Instead think and

write simply. Your reader’s time and company’s money

will be saved.

Quick Tip...

62

Who Will Be My Mentor?

The course offers practical tools at

work. Trainer is very engaging and

simulates you to think and evaluate

accordingly

Samantha Quah, Executive Officer,

National Youth Council

Trainer: Azman Course Fee: S$500Duration: 2 Days*SDF Subsidies for all companies

What Will I Learn?

Azman has more than ten years of experience in the English

teaching and communication industry. He is a TESOL certified

trainer, and currently holds two Masters Degrees: a Masters

Degree in Communication Studies from the University of Leeds;

and in Political Science from the National University of Singapore.

Rating !!!!!" 4.5/5

Average Participant evaluation based on last 10 runs

Azman

“ “

usiness Communication

You need to learn the principles of effective writing to be

able to write good, clear and effective business writing. By

attending this course, you will learn the do’s and don’ts of writing and

apply them to your daily correspondences.

• Business Language

Want to ‘sell’ your ideas effectively? It is not only about what, but

equally important is how. One of the ways is choosing the right word/s

simple but at the same time effective enough to create actions.

• English Energisers

Feeling a bit out of touch with your grammar? Do you feel your writing

is rather dull and lacks variety? One of the things you will learn is the

different sentence structures; and how you could apply them to achieve

a more dynamic piece of writing. The other thing is how to ‘activise’

your sentences.

• Writing Mechanics

Do you feel frustrated for not being able to express what you really

want to mean clearly? Understanding your intentions and putting

them down in writing effectively and efficiently, though not easy, but it

is achievable. In this workshop, you will learn the ways how you could

make your ideas clearer and more succinct.

• Writing Style and Tone

You know adopting the appropriate tone is essential in business writing.

But how can you make yourself sound diplomatic but at the same time

firm? How do you turn a negative idea into something positive? This

workshop will equip you with the necessary skills.

• Business Correspondence

Learn the structures for writing formal letters, emails, minutes and

agenda.

• Content Editing

Learning some of the common pitfalls in writing will help you avoid

making similar mistakes. In this workshop, you will not only be shown

samples of these mistakes but also understand the rationale behind how

such mistakes occur, and at the same time think of ways how to revise

them to make your ideas clearer and grammatically correct.

B

Recommended Next Course:

Report Writing Skills

63

f you want to succeed in today’s highly competitive business

environment, you need to communicate well and present

yourself successfully. The ability to deliver an effective business

presentation to customers, peers, and corporations is an asset that

everyone should strive to add to their portfolio in developing their

careers.

For first time presenters as well as those more seasoned, delivering a

presentation can be a make or break situation. It can accelerate careers

or put the brakes on it depending how well you articulate your points.

For many, we’ll think of a hundred-and-one reason’s to get out of it

until the day comes when you just have to go up and get on with it.

The aim of this course is to take participants through the entire

presentation process from a modern context in delivering business

presentations. The course is very practical and loaded with examples

and role-plays to get participants involved, and deliver an impressive

presentation. In addition participants will be given exercises, discussion

and Asian-based case studies of sales and marketing issues.

This course is aimed at anyone who has to deliver a

presentation in the office or to clients. Covering a broad

spectrum of persons and departments, this course will impart

business-minded skills for conducting modern presentations.

Impressive Business Presentations

What Is This Course About?

CO

UR

SE

Who Is This Course For?

I T

Still finding yourself reading from the slides and failing to sell the message?

Try to end your presentation with a recap of all the

major points. Hence, don’t make your last slide the

traditional ‘thank you’ or ‘the end’; instead make the last

slide a ‘business summary’ and verbalise ‘the end’ of the

presentation.

Quick Tip...

64

Who Will Be My Mentor?

Trainer: Mark James NormandCourse Fee: S$500Duration: 2 Days*SDF Subsidies for all companies

What Will I Learn?

Mark James Normand is Managing Director of Impress Training,

and International Trainer. Spanning more than 10 years he has

worked in the areas of Sales, Marketing, Product Development,

Business Development, Education, and Corporate Training. Since

then he has started two firms, one in training and consultancy

and the other in marketing and design.

Rating !!!!! 4/5

Average Participant evaluation based on last 10 runs

Mark James Normand

One of the best courses I’ve ever

attended

Lillian Ong, Manager,

Singapore Tourism Board

“

“

IntroductionParticipants will be introduced the world of business

presentations and will engage in doing individual as well as

group presentations over the 2-day period. Participants will be recorded

for playback and can take home their presentations for reference and

review.

• Structure Participants will gain insight how they should go about developing

the structure of the presentation to from start to finish and avoid

classic cliques and build professional presentations. Delivering

highly crafted, well-thought-out, meaningful information entails

doing away with old practices, introducing job-redesign for what

constitutions a presentation and increasing office productivity at the

same time.

• Content Participants will be exposed to many facets of content creation and

delivery, including:

− The analysis and delivery of chart data-to-information.

− Using business-speak to convey information in a modern and

relevant context.

− Using business-opening techniques to engage audiences quickly.

− Crafting benefits from features to better provide either strategic

overview or value propositions.

• Business Language Whilst emphasis is placed on volume, in business, it’s the business

language we use that compels, captivates, motivates and sells rather

than how loud we become. How we choose our words can leave

lasting impressions on audience members and great care and

awareness must be used in our choice of words.

• Designing Slides Know the mechanics to developing fantastic visuals, cutting down

text and redesigning slides that make it easier for the audience to

scan information, improve your delivery and avoid the reading-from-

slides syndrome. Participants get a show and tell of different

company before and after makeovers, and see how PowerPoint can

produce amazing 3D visuals and simulations.

• Body language Strong confident language (non-verbal) says just as much as your

spoken word and by carrying and delivering your presentation using

choreographed movements greatly adds weight to your delivery.

• Taking Questions and Answer How to tackle, rebut and bring successful closure during Q&A

sessions and knowing how to structure it properly and remain in

control. Group sessions will introduce the concept of ‘Kill & A’, rather

than Q&A to test their ability to counter, handle and prepare for

tough sessions.

• Group Presentation Sessions Participants will be involved in two major presentations, with the

larger of the two (on day-2) being recorded.

**Bonus Digital Recording (DVD)

All in house sessions will receive a free DVD of the group presentation sessions.

Recommended Next Course:

PowerPoint Design for Business

Presentations

65

Sales and MarketingThe heart of any business is the sale and marketing of products and

services. Finding the right strategy and techniques is important to boost

profits and optimise bottom-lines.

How to Sell for Non-Sales People

Build Winning Brands

Employer Branding

SA

LES A

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MA

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ETIN

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Progression Chart The heart of any business is the sale and marketing of

products and services. Finding the right strategy and

techniques is important to boost profits and optimise

bottom-lines. Whilst any of our courses can be taken in

isolation, these sales courses have been developed to

provide a progressive development path that enables you

to build your capabilities and workplace performance in

the sales and marketing areas. These can be developed up

from an individual basis to organisation strategy.

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68

The course is valuable for my job and the trainer is excellent.

The trainer has presented the course in an interesting manner.

Wong Mun Yih, Senior Executive,Land Transport Authority (LTA)

“ “

“Alice Pang, Assistant Director,Business DevelopmentNational Heart Centre Singapore

It’s a very enriching course and the pace is just right.

Henry Lee, Senior ManagerSingapore National Eye Centre

69

“Good. Learn quite a lot of new techniques. Facilitator is knowledgable.

Nur Farhana Binte Salwar, Planning & Development Officer,Ministry of Manpower

“

“

“ “

FEATURED ARTICLE

70

Licensed to

to Sell?Licensed

Sell…

notor

Is selling the job of sales people alone

or is there a role for non-sales people

to play in sales activities?

We are barely out of one of the greatest

economic depressions since the 1930’s and

the business outlook looks positive. Most of us

have emerged from this crisis, stronger, wiser

and even leaner.

During the crisis, we reduced our expenditure,

tightened our belts and slashed our budgets

for ‘non-essential’ expenses. Whatever that

should have been cut, has been cut.

So now what? What can we do to increase

profits and make up for the down turn that

we had last year?

If we look at the definition of profit, it’s really

revenue – costs. Since we have already slashed

our costs, we have no other way but to look

at how we can increase our revenue. What

better way than to sell more?

One way is to increase your sales force, but

that would also be increasing your costs as

well. It takes time for your sales people to be

hired, to be trained and to be experienced

and competent in their jobs (even if they are

seasoned sales people). And well, during this

time, it may be rather difficult to quantify their

contributions to the company.

Another way, which we see organizations

increasingly adopt, is to train their existing

staff to multi-task and play a part in sales

activities while conducting their core duties.

The selling process can be an extremely long

one and this doesn’t mean having all your staff

involved in every part of the process. Instead,

it means involving them in only certain parts

of the selling cycle. For example, a cashier

asking the customer who is paying for his

purchase, if he or she would like to consider

the latest promotion; or a customer service

representative asking the customer who is

having problems with his ageing equipment,

if they would like a sales consultant to pay

them a visit to discuss the various options

available.

Selling is an important role which everyone

can play a role in and can also provide the

following benefits:

• Provides problem solving mindset – The

proper sales approach uses a problem solving

mindset when interacting with the customer.

Helping the customer to address issues helps to

make customers happy and keep them loyal

• Customer Centric – Adopting a sales

approach encourages staff to think from the

customer’s perspective. Being customer centric

helps to delight the customer.

• Better Branding – Having customers who are

happy and who could possibly share this good

feedback with their friends and family helps

to build a good and strong perception of your

brand

• Generates sales opportunities– Ultimately,

through the course of positive selling, sales

opportunities can be generated, thereby having

a positive impact on your company’s bottom

line.

While selling can provide you with many

benefits, one must be mindful of the potential

pitfalls of allowing anybody and everybody to

have a ‘license to sell’. These responsibilities,

when put in the hands of untrained and

inexperienced staff can lead to plain hard

selling which could put off customers and

cause a misalignment of your company’s sales

and corporate strategies.

N

71

In order to prevent such things from happening,

companies should consider aligning their

sales strategies. This can be achieved through

standardizing of sales training to ensure that

everyone sells in a particular way but at that same

time having something that is flexible enough

to customize so that modules can be customized

according to the job roles that staff play.

his course was designed to develop people who need to know

the skills of winning new customers but lack the training. As

well as for existing sales people who would like to adopt a

more systematic approach for optimum sales results. At the end of this

programme, participants will have a keen understanding of the selling

process as well as how to react at the various stages in order to achieve

optimum results.

These concepts are additionally enhanced with carefully prepared case

studies, role-plays and exercises to aid participants in their quest for

optimum results in their corporate sales careers.

he course is intended for those who would like to move into

sales or would like to understand the principles of selling.

Existing corporate sales and marketing people who would like

to adopt a more systematic approach towards selling.

How to Sell for Non-Sales People

What Is This Course About?

CO

UR

SE

Who Is This Course For?

T

T

Do you know it’s more about selling ideas, than product?

Many people have the perception that to be a good

sales person, you must be able to speak extremely well.

However, just look at the top sales people around you

and you’ll notice that most of them are not very ‘chatty’

people and speak normally like the average office worker.

So what makes them successful in sales? A lot of it is

about attitude and drive coupled with soft skills like

being able to find out important information, as well

as the ability to plan and execute sales strategies. Try

inculcating these qualities and skills into your sales people

through a combination of training and mentoring and

you will see a difference in their selling abilities.

Quick Tip...

72

Who Will Be My Mentor?

Bruce was fun and trained us in real

workable sales techniques unlike

other trainings I’ve attended

Goh Pak Lim Annie,

Operations Senior Executive

Trainer: Bruce MurphyCourse Fee: S$425Duration: 1 Day*SDF Subsidies for all companies

What Will I Learn?

Bruce Murphy is the Sales Training Manager of a Global 500

technology company. Capitalizing on his prior experience in

sales and marketing, Bruce brings to his participants a wealth of

practical experience and knowledge in key areas of Corporate

Selling such as Account Management, Sales Management,

Consultative Selling and Negotiation. Having worked in various

local and regional training roles, Bruce has honed his skills

through exposure and the rigorous certification process of various

world-class sales methodologies.

Rating !!!!! 4.2/5

Average Participant evaluation based on last 10 runs

Bruce Murphy

“ “

he Modern Sales Person

Do you have what it takes to be a modern sales person? Is it all

just about being a ‘smooth talker’ or is there more to it? Find

out more about what the qualities of top sales people are, and

more importantly, what customers are looking for in a modern sales

person. You’ll be surprised about what our research has uncovered.

• Generating Your Own Sales Leads

You’ve been given your target and your list of customers. Worse

still, you may have just been told that the entire country is your sales

territory. How do you get started? Where should you start looking for

business? Learn techniques to generate your own sales leads for more

closing opportunities.

• Consultative Selling

How do I differentiate myself from the rest of the competition out there,

and what exactly are my customers looking for? Learn how to adopt a

consultative approach that addresses customer issues rather than the

old-fashioned hard-sell or product push.

• Power of Knowledge

What do I need to know before I can engage with my customers? Learn

how Product, Competitor, Industry and other key data can help you get

an edge in your interaction with clients. They say knowledge is power,

but remember, it’s only powerful if you know how to put it to good use.

We’ll show you how!

• Selling Techniques

There are so many ways to reach out to your customers to sell them

your products and services. Learn to harness the power of fundamental

selling tools and techniques such as letters, cold-calling, emails, reports,

proposals, appointments, presentations and more.

• Overcoming Objections

You try to go for the close but find your customers throwing objections

at you. What should you do and how can you get past these

objections? Why are these objections being mentioned in the first

place? Learn powerful techniques of persuasion and how to overcome

these objections that can threaten the success of the sale.

• Referral Business and Closing

You have finally closed the sale after a tough and competitive journey.

The paper work has been completed and the product and service

delivered. Is that the end or is there more that you can get out of this

business relationship? Learn how to generate more leads, more business

even after closing with the client.

T

Recommended Next Course:

Building Winning Brands

73

NOW

FEATURED ARTICLE

Time for a Brand Stimulus Package:

very day we are bombarded with

news about the economy—bank

busts, bailouts and buyouts,

rising jobless claims, more home

foreclosures, declining consumer confidence,

the unfolding “stimulus package,” a national

budget crisis...

In the marketing world, we hear a similar

drumbeat about the fallout: dismal corporate

earnings, company layoffs, marketing budget

cuts, advertising gone dark, clients and

agencies and people coming and going,

a brand budget crisis—there is a sense of

turbulence, malaise, and timidity...

We see a diminishing commitment to long-

term brand building. The mission of the

moment is driven by the CFO, not the CMO

(if he or she is still in place), and calls for cost-

cutting and short-term revenue-generating

activities only.

Lead generation is “in.” Immediate demand

stimulus and call to action are the rage (the

term “stimulus” has a sort of currency). Brand

strategy and market research are “out” of

fashion perhaps.

The decline, then, of brands and branding?

Not so fast.

There is a weighty and consistent body of

historical data showing that marketers do

harm, in the short-run and long-run, to their

businesses and brands by kneejerk budget-

slashing and by running scared.

A study of B2B marketing over six recessions in

the 20th century found that not only did sales

and profits decline for brands that cut brand-

oriented advertising during the recession but

also performance continued to lag upon the

subsequent recovery. (The Buchen Agency)

E

Invest

in Building

74

“

“Brand

The 7Ps of Branding

Today’s brand leaders would be wise to

consider and follow these 7Ps of Branding as a

guide during the recession, and beyond...

1. Profit

Marketers now have a golden opportunity to

profit and establish real competitive advantage

by exploiting the current situation. That is,

they can now increase brand value and market

share relatively more easily and cheaply than

during good times.

With competitive noise levels reduced, it

is easier for a brand to stand out in the

marketplace. Media costs are less prohibitive.

Interbrand CEO Jez Frampton argues for

“protecting and growing a brand...a company’s

most valuable asset—and a far less volatile

asset than others during a time of economic

uncertainly.”

2. Persistence

Corporate brand directors need to stay the

course, which means going against the flow,

not following the marketing herd. Even if

budgets are trimmed in some areas, there

should be a core of both strategic and tactical

activities that endure (the former initiatives

tend to be less budget consuming even in

good times).

Such brand perseverance during uncertainty

will provide reassurance to the customer

base—an especially critical target now—not to

mention to internal stakeholders.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter cites current downturn

success stories of IBM and P&G as “role

models” and examples of “persistence despite

obstacles.” (HarvardBusiness.org)

3. Planning

Despite the strong economic headwinds, brand

builders should remain committed to pursuing

long-term visions and executing on plans while

selectively, pragmatically improvising marketing

tactics.

IBM during the recessionary early 1990s and

Southwest Airlines after 9/11 are examples of

brands that never wavered from their long-

range brand strategic compasses and profited

enormously by doing so.

4. Performance

Some marketers have cut and will continue

to cut prices. But brands (and their

communications) will be judged and rewarded

now by delivering on value rather than

merely price. Brand leaders do need to re/

define the value of their offering, but without

compromising the quality and experience that

customers expect or need (despite across-

the-board corporate cutbacks). Harvard

Business School professor John Quelch also

recommends investing in opportunistic market

research, since there is a real need to define

“performance” and “value” and gauge

what is relevant to customers in the shifting

environment.

5. Positioning

Brand owners must uphold and defend their

core positioning and resist the temptation to

sacrifice quality, reduce innovation efforts, or

cut prices.

A study of over 1,000 companies showed

that firms that cut manufacturing and

administrative functions in a recession did

tend to reap the benefits, whereas those that

decreased spend on new-product development,

quality, and marketing suffered. (PIMS)

Leading brands will stay leaders by offering and

communicating their enduring relevance and

point of difference. Recessions and discounts

come and go, but trusted brands and their

appeals tend to transcend and outlast those

events.

6. People

There needs to be an appreciation of the

link between top talent and top-performing

brands. Hiring, motivating, and keeping the

best people (who exemplify the brand) while

competitors are pruning overhead is a key

source of proprietary advantage.

Management guru Jim Collins chronicles the

cases of Boeing, HP, and P&G, which bucked

the trend during tough times by investing

in talent (when their rivals were shedding

critical human capital) and as a result thrived,

outperforming the competition.

7. Principles

Brand leaders should work with CEOs to make

sure that their brands and organizations are

integrated and that employees internalize and

externalize a set of values that don’t change.

Both Quelch and Collins emphasize the

importance of adopting core brand principles

and personality traits, sticking with them

and executing on them, for years and years.

According to Kanter, IBM’s and P&G’s strong

financial results today are partly owed to their

focus on corporate brand values, ethics, and

social mission.

Valued customers and employees will be more

loyal if they are reassured on principles, by the

brand, and by its chief executive and sponsor;

this is especially critical in the B2B world, with

its large transactions and greater numbers

of stakeholders involved in the customer

experience.

By the Numbers

Brands that adhere to the 7Ps of Branding will

ensure they achieve the best return on their

investment:

• Southwest Airlines was the best-performing

stock from 1972 to 2002 (Jim Collins).

• In 1975, Ford and GM used similar

advertising strategies, but Ford cut its budget;

GM’s sales grew after 1975, while Ford’s

declined 14% (Evan Carmichael).

• From 1980 to 1985, much of which was a

recessionary period, those companies that did

not reduce their marketing budgets increased

sales 16-80% (McGraw-Hill).

• Companies that cut brand advertising during

a recession typically see sales and income fall

20-30% over the next two years as a result

(AdWeek).

• IBM’s brand asset is valued at over $59 billion

(Interbrand/Business Week 2008).

75

by Kevin Randall

esearch shows that brands are most influential when customers

lack the knowledge to make informed product choices, or in

commoditized categories. Today’s customers are faced with a

plethoral of choices and fierce competition ensures that there is little

sustainable competitive advantage if brands compete solely on product

features or price.

Having a strong brand is widely acknowledged as an effective tool

to help businesses to differentiate themselves and achieve long

term profitability. However, many organisations lack a common

understanding amongst staff in the branding process resulting in

incoherent efforts across departments. In addition, some companies see

brand building as a “one-time exercise” and fail to nurture and grow

the brand/s over time with new initiatives. The truth is brand building is

a long term effort, in fact it never ends.

This two-day practical and intensive BUILDING WINNING BRANDS

workshop is specially designed to provide organisations with practical

techniques and tips to build strong brands in the market. The workshop

is packed with insights from both global and Asian brands that can be

implemented quickly and inexpensively. This is a hands-on and highly

interactive workshop.

usiness owners, managers and executives who need a brand-

focused orientation; Non-marketing functional managers and

executives looking to acquire strong branding knowledge; and

for those who need to update themselves and seek new ideas on brand

building.

Building Winning Brands

What Is This Course About?

CO

UR

SE

Who Is This Course For?

R B

Do you really know what it takes to build your business brand?

A product has a life cycle but a strong brand can possibly

achieve immortality. A key aspect of the importance of

brands to a firm is their role as a growth engine. Building

a strong brand begins with a clear roadmap, a formalised

brand strategy that guides execution that is meaningful

and impactful.

Quick Tip...

76

NEW Cours

e

Who Will Be My Mentor?

Very interactive and fun. Practical

examples and discussions that

helped us understand branding

Violet Wee, Project Manager,

Transmex System International

Trainer: Catherine Chai Course Fee: S$680Duration: 2 Days*SDF Subsidies for all companies

What Will I Learn?

Catherine Chai brings with her over 16 years of extensive

experience in brand strategy, brand management, marketing and

advertising skills across various industries.

She has helped many MNCs and SMEs to formulate brand

strategies such as corporate branding, product branding, internal

branding and brand architecture. Catherine is passionate about

sharing her knowledge on brand building and hope to inspire

more organisations to be better brand builders.

Catherine Chai

“ “

• What is branding and all its confusing brand terminologies

and lingos?

• What can be “branded”?

• What are the market trends?

• What is the relationship between brand strategy and

business strategy?

• What are the pitfalls and challenges in brand building?

• What are the effective methodologies that can be used to collect

customer insights, both online and offline?

• How to conduct a brand audit?

• How to go about developing a brand strategy?

• What are the key components in a brand strategy blueprint?

• Who in the organisation should be involved in a branding initiative?

• What are the brand strategies of some of the global

and Asian brands?

• How to execute the brand strategy?

• How to align the brand internally and externally?

• How to manage your brand consistently?

• How to protect your brand?

Recommended Next Course:

Powerful Brand Positioning

77

lobally, organisations are increasingly competing to attract

highly skilled personnel in various professional areas. In fact

researchers predict that in future, competition for the best

employees will be as fierce as competition for customers. Organisations

that can attract the best minds will have a distinct edge in the

marketplace. This is because employees are becoming central to the

process of brand building and their behaviour can either reinforce a

brand’s advertised values or, if inconsistent with these values, undermine

the credibility of advertised messages.

In many organisations, branding often meant significant investment

in external communications . If brands are to be an integral part of

corporate strategy, they need to first gain traction internally. Thus,

before any company even thinks of selling their brand to their

customers, they have to sell it to their employees. Only those firms that

embrace employer branding will have a stronger competitive edge.

This one day practical and intensive workshop is specially designed to

provide organisations a roadmap to build a strong employer brand using

consumer branding approach. This is a hands-on and highly interactive

workshop.

usiness owners, managers and executives who need a brand-

focused orientation; functional managers and executives and

particularly HR personnel because building the employer brand

is a company wide initiative.

Employer Branding

What Is This Course About?

CO

UR

SE

Who Is This Course For?

G B

Want long-term talent attraction and retention powers?

There is a direct link between how employees perceive

their company and how they help their company to

deliver the external brand promises, thus it is of critical

importance to engage your employees so they want to

deliver what your business really needs.

Quick Tip...

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NEW Cours

e

Who Will Be My Mentor?

Very comprehensive and engaging!

I can implement some of the

techniques learned immediately

JenniferToh, HR Manager

Trainer: Catherine Chai Course Fee: S$425Duration: 1 Day*SDF Subsidies for all companies

What Will I Learn?

Catherine Chai brings with her over 16 years of extensive

experience in brand strategy, brand management, marketing and

advertising skills across various industries.

She has helped many MNCs and SMEs to formulate brand

strategies such as corporate branding, product branding, internal

branding and brand architecture. Catherine is passionate about

sharing her knowledge on brand building and hope to inspire

more organisations to be better brand builders.

Catherine Chai

“ “What is the link between business strategy and brand strategy?

• What is the link between external branding and internal

branding?

• What is the link between internal branding and employer branding

• What is the importance of employer branding and its benefits?

• What is employer brand strategy?

• What are the characteristics of successful employer brand?

• How to unify organizational identity and employer image?

• How to develop a unique Employer Value Proposition (EVP)?

• What are the employer brand strategies of some of the global and

Asian brands?

• What is employer brand management?

• How to ensure internal alignment to harness employer brand power?

• How to cascade the employer brand?

• How to set up a brand guardianship structure?

Recommended Next Course:

Building Winning Brands

79

•

Management and LeadershipGood management and people skills can make the key difference in

an organisation wanting to recruit and retain talent, push the business

forward and develop people.

Building Championship Teams

First-Time Manager

Coaching Skills for Managers

Time Management

Managing a Multi-Generational Workforce

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Progression Chart Good management and people skills can make the key

difference in an organisation wanting to recruit and retain

talent, push the business forward and develop people.

Developed to provide a defined progression route to

support you through each stage of your managerial career.

These courses can be taken in isolation, however if you are

looking for a development path then progression chart can

help identify which stage and what course is best suited

for you.

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Very interesting and enriching.

Hands-on exercises helped us

understand the different techniques

John Lee, Marketing Manager,

TTC International

“ “

Really enjoyed the workshop. Good mixture of theory and activities to keep the mind active. Would definitely recommend!

Syidah A.Razak, Marketing Executive

“

“

Course made me realize that it is

important to understand your own

style and then be able to adapt to

fit in with the needs of staffs in your

care

Janice Ng, Human Resource Manager,

FCI Singapore Connector Pte Ltd

“ “

83

“Refreshing and eye-opening session

that can turn your work around”

Marcus See, Business Development Manager,

Singtel

FEATURED ARTICLE

84

Becoming

ManagerNEW

But it takes forethought and the ability to be introspective and self-regulatory. It’s not business as usual because now, even though you may already have longstanding and strong relationships at work, the expectations are different. It’s important that you realize that your focus needs to shift and how you communicate with former

peers must change. As a new manager, you need to set new boundaries with former co-workers. While you can still maintain your friendships, you need to draw these new boundaries in order to establish your

authority and credibility. It’s not about becoming demanding and asserting yourself in aggressive ways. Rather, it’s taking seriously your need to refocus your thinking so that you position

yourself as a leader deserving of the respect of others. Here are some quick tips for all new managers to help them along the path of success.

This is the first shock that many new managers

experience and it can be a big one. Making the

shift from being a highly-competent individual

contributor to a new life as a rookie manager

can be a humbling experience. The important

thing is how you react to it. If you respond by

acting like you know it all, you’re going to be in

trouble. If you recognize that your new at this,

and need a lot of direction and support, you’ll

increase your chances of success.

Being as abeginner again“ “

“Learn the Business”You’ll feel tempted to overhaul and start fresh. But there’s so much you don’t know. Rather than risk moving too fast too soon, spend your first months observing, listening, and learning. Keep a log of everything you question. To know what’s critical and what’s clutter, lean on those with institutional knowledge and memory. In short, be humble and grow into the job. Take small steps so your employees have some continuity. You’ll have time to leave your fingerprints as you mature.

Transitioning into a management rolefor the first time does not need to be hard.

85

Manager

“Score some early wins”New managers need to establish some

credibility and confidence among the people

they’re leading. One good way to do this is by

finding a relatively simple project, something

small that can generate an early win. Nothing

builds confidence like success.

“Hard on the issues, easy on the people”Avoid trying to assign blame to individuals but

rather focus on identifying the root cause of

the problem. The error may have been yours

for putting the individual in a situation that

didn’t match their skills.

“Manage by exception”When things are going well, leave them alone.

When a problem occurs, intervene. Monitor

outliers to identify anomalies (good and bad)

rather than focusing on averages.

“Actions speak louder than words”Employees will mirror your behavior more

quickly than they will follow your words.

If you don’t follow the guidelines that

you set for others, they are more likely to

resent you and circumvent the rules.

“People are your most valuable asset”Employees are the only organizational resource that, with training, can appreciate in value. All other resources depreciate. Invest for the future, not for current needs.

Be optimistic. If you think a project is doomed, it’s not likely to be successful. Smile. Your mood is contagious

A trap to be alert to is making comparisons between your new job and where you have just come from. While past experience can be helpful, people will not appreciate you if you keep saying how much better you were at doing things at your old place

“Mindset matters”

“Build Bridges with Other Departments”

“Cultivate a Mentor”You’ve seen it before: One bad manager can

stifle creativity, siphon energy, and poison

relationships. And you’ll have times when

you’ll ask if you’re causing more harm than

good. When this happens, reach out to

someone who’s already gone through that.

Find a mentor who can pick you back up

and put your challenges in perspective. Stay

in touch regularly and take his or her advice,

however critical, to heart.

Chances are, a mentor will be

flattered by your trust.

Eventually he may be the

one who introduces you to

the right people and

champions your cause

“Don’t take things too personally”From office grumbling to

complaints, in every office someone

will find something to complain about.

Because you are the supervisor, many of

these complaints will be focused in your

direction. However, you set the tone for your

office. Coach your team members to adopt

an attitude of problem solving rather than

complaining.

You’re wired into the powers that be.

Your people will adopt your attitudes and

anxieties, conscious or not. So recognize

the image you project at all times. Be the

example: Convey confidence and stay

composed. Own up to your mistakes, so

your people do the same. Follow your own

rules, knowing no job or rule is beneath

you. And stay approachable and positive at

all times. At minimum, your people should

respect you. At best, they should aspire

to be like you. People watch what you

do more than they listen to what you say.

Always walk the walk.

“Be an Example”

“Don’t keep comparing”

Along with being a manager, you’re also an

ambassador. Invest time in building relations with

the other departments. If they’re not coming

to you, go to them. Sit down with their leaders

and rank and file. Take an inventory of how your

department is viewed. Identify areas where you

could improve your performance or potentially

team up with someone to help. Communicate

regularly, so you keep your capabilities on their

radar. It only takes one opportunity, and a mutual

awareness of your unexpected synergies, to forge

a long-term partnership.

his program is designed to help members of the team – from

the supervisor’s level to the management – to be immersed

in an intensive program to further bind them as a team.

Participants are placed in a scenario where the ultimate success of

any mission depends on each individual being totally responsible and

committed to fulfilling his or her respective role within the context of

the team.

The key challenge of the any leader or manager truly interested in

extraordinary performance and results is how to galvanize these

individuals in as a well-oiled team.

Initially a group of people coming together to work together is not

unlike a band of pirates – individuals of different cultures, bias, talents

and abilities, possibly extremely individualistic personalities, speaking

different languages, having different communication skills and values.

By the end of this course, participants will:

• Increase the level of cohesiveness and understanding among

team members

• Understand that each member has a role that directly contributes

to the well-being and bottom-line of the Company

• Create behaviour within the team that supports accountability,

growth and higher performance

• Examine individual’s personal goals and how organisation can set

the context to help fufill it

‘Building Championship Teams” aims to help create powerful and

synergistic teams in organizations.

upervisors and Managers from any industries and if possible

working in the same working group or project team, who

face challenges and need to take their team to a new level of

understanding and performance.

Building Championship Teams

What Is This Course About?

CO

UR

SE

Who Is This Course For?

T S

Because Your Success is Built on Your Teams Success

If you want know why your team works or does not

work, examine how your team members handle

their children. The higher the standards they set for

themselves, chances are, the more successful their

children.

Quick Tip...

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NEW Cours

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Who Will Be My Mentor?

Really enjoyed the workshop. Good

mixture of theory and activities

to keep the mind active. Would

definitely recommend!

Syidah A.Razak, Marketing Executive

Trainer: VasuCourse Fee: S$500Duration: 2 Days*SDF Subsidies for all companies

What Will I Learn?

Vasu comes from a training and financial planning background

and has been conducting training for companies and schools for

more than 5 years. Some of the topics he trains on include, sales

and marketing workshops, entrepreneurship programs, customer

service workshops, leadership and teambuilding camps and

programs for adults and teenagers.

Vasu Dev

“ “

xamining personal needs and challenges

In order to work as a team, personal issues must be ironed

out and clarified first. Unless this is tackled at the start, these

issues could become the hidden and underlying reason for team failure.

Often the feeling that the organisation is benefitting at the expense of

personal needs is a major cause of work dissatisfaction that leads to

mediocre performance and other negative attitudes.

This will be addressed in the first part of this program and the context

will be set out for team members to examine their personal needs and

how changing the mindset about the organisation can help them fulfil

it.

• Understanding behavior st yles

Often miscommunication and misunderstanding stem from each

individual on the team having different behavioural styles and attitudes.

Participants will learn just what makes each individual tick and how

communication and the transfer of information even through the

internet can be more effective by simple understanding the different

behavioural styles. Teams will better understand how to effectively

delegate and communicate tasks, challenges, deadlines, goals and

even rewards to peers and subordinates, without causing upsets and

misunderstanding.

• Creating a Code of Honour

Teams shall go through an exercise that lays the foundation for

creating a set of team code to operate from. Games will be conducted

to drive home the point that upholding standards of this code is the

responsibility of every team member. Teams will understand that a well

thought through set of behaviour standards or code will help each

member in the team to operate at a very high level of productivity and

efficiency. This session also highlights how a natural, mutually agreed

upon team culture and identity evolves and entrenches itself in the

minds of team members.

• Implementing the Code and the challenges faced

Here we examine through exercises and role-play the concerns and

possible outcomes and implications of the Code. Participants shall learn

how responsible team self-regulate without causing personal upsets

and misunderstandings. They will learn how to deal with members who

flout the code in a responsible and mature manner.

• The Crucial Keys to forming a team

Participants will get to experience through exercises and games Crucial

Keys to building a resilient and high performance team. Some of the

keys include:

• Knowing who is on your team

• Everyone must have fun in the team

• Holding behavioral and technical standards very tight and very clear

• Everyone is responsible

E

Recommended Next Course:

Communication & Interpersonal Skills

87

ave you been prepared for the role? What exactly is a new

manager meant to do? Do you have the current skill sets to

develop yourself as well as others around you? Remembering

that your success will depend on your team’s success will change the

way you may have worked previously.

It’s not always easy being promoted to being a manager with staff

reporting to you. Very often you are promoted based on your current

skills sets for a job well done and the expectation that you can

perform to the next level. Sometimes the transition is easy, but very

often managers who now face the role of having to direct others and

communicate too many different levels and departments can soon find

themselves overwhelmed.

This course is about preparing new managers for the roles that awaits

them and how to effectively work with their employees to build a

productive business unit and covers a wide area of issues that new

managers must face.

his course is aimed at those persons from any department

whom are being promoted into a management type role.

Those that have either just started and those that have been

managers for many years but have now taken a team to lead and

direct.

First-Time Manager

What Is This Course About?

CO

UR

SE

Who Is This Course For?

H

T

Is this your first-time leading a team?

What Will I Learn?

ntroduction & AnalysisGet an insight to the current problems facing new managers

today’s given the changed business climate and learn why most

new managers ask the same universal questions: How do you handle

difficult employees? What do you do when they don’t listen to you?

How do I motivate my team? Do these sound familiar?

I

Learn the business. Know the Industry. You’ll feel tempted to overhaul and start fresh. But there’s so much you don’t know. Rather than risk moving too fast too soon, spend your first months observing, listening, and learning. Keep a log of everything you question. To know what’s critical and what’s clutter, lean on those with institutional knowledge and memory. In short, be humble and grow into the job. Take small steps so your employees have some continuity. You’ll

have time to leave your fingerprints as you mature.

Quick Tip...

88

Who Will Be My Mentor?

Very refreshing course. Has taught

me a lot on how to manage myself

and the team better

Lloyd Tan, Sales Manager,

ISE International Pte Ltd

Trainer: Mark James Normand Course Fee: S$500Duration: 2 Days*SDF Subsidies for all companies

Mark James Normand is Managing Director of Impress Training,

and International Trainer. Spanning more than 10 years he has

worked in the areas of Sales, Marketing, Product Development,

Business Development, Education, and Corporate Training. Since

then he has started two firms, one in training and consultancy

and the other in marketing and design.

Rating !!!!! 4/5

Average Participant evaluation based on last 10 runs

Mark James Normand

“ “

• CommunicationWhy are managers in Asia efficient but not good communicators?

Here in Singapore we have the one of the world’s lowest employee

engagements according to the Gallop Poll costing us more than

S$4.3billion. Participants will learn what these issues are and how

they lead to ineffective communication. Participants will learn to use

effective communications with your direct reports and develop clear

measurements such as goal setting.

• MotivationInspire and motivate others whilst mentoring others and providing

work challenges and enrichment. Motivation can take many forms from

many variables such as the company facilities, culture and benefits;

others more intangible like a creative environment, a fun-place to work.

Participants will see overseas and local case samples of companies

motivating their employees by examining work-place design, job-design,

environment, engagement techniques and more.

• Time Management

Use templates for working schedules and see how time saved can be

used more productivity for work or engaging direct reports. Most time

management techniques don’t work because people lack the discipline

to implement them. So time management must start from within and

this course will introduce participants to simple effective techniques to

better use of time from goal setting, schedules and planning techniques.

• Delegation

Getting the balance right can be difficult in determining what to assign

and to whom. A participant often have a difficult time instructing direct

reports to take on work because of the fear of rejection, and may lead

to going in heavy handed and thus affects the quality of the work later

down the line. Participants will learn scripts and what type of work is

best delegated out, and how to monitor the progress.

• Training & Coaching

Based on the most successful companies, 10% of a manager’s time

should be dedicated to training and coaching their direct reports to

fulfill their potential to complete assigned tasks. Managers must assume

more responsibility into furthering the skills for employees in order to

develop more competent staff, reduce turnover and increase recruitment

potential. Participants will learn what types of training they can adopt,

problems with current models, and larger programmes they could

implement company-wide.

• Performance Management

Whilst performance appraisals only look at the end of the cycle,

participants will learn to look at the complete eco-system of

performance management. From the moment potential employees

are interviewed, to coaching them through various roles and then to

promotion opportunities. Participants need to learn the importance of

clear communication and goal setting to ensure better appraisals.

• Work-life Balance

What methods can be implemented both at work and for you personally

to maintain a work-life integration.

Bonus Workbook Chapters include:

• Effective email

• Conductive effective meetings

• Writing Reports.

• Beginnings of Leadership.

Recommended Next Course:

Coaching Skills for Managers

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Why Aren’t

FEATURED ARTICLE

onsidering all of the advantages of

being more coach-like—self-reliance,

enjoying your job more, and better

performance—you would think that managers

would be more open to using coaching skills

with their direct reports. But the reality is that

many managers do not coach their employees

at the levels they could. There are three basic

reasons:

1. They have competing priorities and don’t

feel that they have the time to coach.

2. They believe they are already acting in a

coach-like manner.

3. They aren’t sure that coaching their

employees is necessarily in their best

interest.

Organizations need managers to develop their

people. If organizations want their people to

grow and progress, they need to find ways to

encourage managers to spend the extra time

to connect and coach team members. And,

while it takes time in the short term, coaching

saves time in the long term because managers

are having more productive, more effective,

and more focused conversations.

Most people don’t understand what coaching

is. If you ask 100 people, you get 100 different

answers. That’s part of the reason why so

many managers believe that they are being

coach-like and why they are surprised that

they are not getting different responses. For

example, many people think of coaching like

the athletic model, where a coach stands on

the sidelines and yells.

Coaching means making the shift from

telling people what to do to asking people

for their ideas. If managers believe it is their

responsibility to do all the thinking, or to be

the only one who comes up with options, they

won’t get the benefit of others’ ideas and

solutions. But if managers believe it is their

responsibility to draw out options from others

they will benefit from the creative ideas that

result when people are asked for their opinions

rather than being told what to do.

The result of managers only giving direction

and solving problems is that people working

for these types of managers don’t grow and

develop as quickly as they could. Instead

of gaining skills and moving on to other

assignments within the organization, these

people are held in place.

What is especially bad about this management

style, according to Miller, is that the employee

doesn’t have a choice. “If the manager feels

threatened at all, for any reason, that doesn’t

give the employee the choice to move forward.

It also stymies the organization by keeping

people at a restricted level rather than moving

them toward self-reliance. The only person

really being served in that case is the manager

because the team member is still on the job. I

also think this is one of the reasons why people

leave organizations: there are no growth

opportunities.”

C

MANAGERSCoach-like

Making the shift from telling to asking is one of the hardest shifts that there is, according to Miller. As she explains, “For many managers, solving problems is part of where they get their value. So it’s really hard for some mangers to shift from telling and solving to asking and drawing out.”

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MORE

Becoming More Coach-like

So how can organizations get started on

changing the way they do business? Follow

these three recommendations:

1. Change mindsets:

Encourage managers to see coaching as a part

of their job instead of a threat.

2. Model coach-like behavior:

Organizations can promote coach-like

behaviors in frontline managers by encouraging

senior leaders to be more coach-like. If senior

leadership fully understands what coaching is

and uses coaching as part of their management

style, they can help actively develop the

managers below them so that those managers

can then coach the teams they are working

with.

3. Provide incentives for managers

to develop their people:

Coaching impacts the bottom line of an

organization by improving morale, efficiency,

and productivity. In the same way that

managers are tracked and evaluated on their

ability to manage results, they should also be

tracked, evaluated, and rewarded on their

ability to develop people.

Making the Shift from Knowing to Doing

Looking over the current work environment,

Miller believes that people have a strong sense

of wanting to contribute. Coaching is a way

for managers to help people feel that they are

making a different kind of contribution and

to have a different sense of ownership and

responsibility for their work.

91

t is said that to enhance employee performance, managers,

team leaders and human resource staff should be equipped

with the skills needed to draw out their staff member’s

potential and help them achieve their performance goals. In-house

coaching conducted by a department manager or supervisor can be

instrumental in maximizing staff performance and development.

Through in-house coaching, the employee will be guided to see his

existing reality which could be a performance gap, lack of motivation,

or difficulty in adjusting to new roles to name a few. Coaching involves

the manager using a step-by-step approach to help the coachee identify

his own performance goal and then through a series of coaching

conversations, guide him towards solutions and action steps he can take

to achieve his goals.

Managers, Supervisors, Executives or anyone who is leading or

responsible for a team in their organization.

Coaching Skills for Managers

What Is This Course About?

CO

UR

SE

Who Is This Course For?

I

M

Nurturing People To Their Full Potential

To be an effective coach, you must be able to filter

out your own emotions and be impartial during the

coaching conversation.

Quick Tip...

What Will I Learn?

hat is Performance Coaching?Performance coaching is a professional discipline that is

fast becoming a popular tool to help one realize their inner

potential and guide them toward achieving their professional goals.

There is much literature about the benefits of being coached. Therefore,

in-house coaching has now taken on a new level of prominence where

organizations are training and grooming selected staff members to be

coaches. A coach will work with the coachees and help them identify

their vision and goals in the workplace through a formal and structured

manner using deep listening, questioning and feedback skills.

W

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NEW Cours

e

Who Will Be My Mentor?

Course made me realize that it is

important to understand your own

style and then be able to adapt to

fit in with the needs of staffs in your

care

Janice Ng, HR Manager

Trainer: Deepa Pillai Course Fee: S$500Duration: 2 Days*SDF Subsidies for all companies

Deepa Pillai has more than 8 years of experience in the

communications industry. She is also an Adjunct

Lecturer at Kaplan Higher Education and holds a Masters degree

in Communication Studies. Deepa conducts

customised corporate training on Business Communication,

Presentation Skills and Coaching Skills for

Managers. She is a DISC Certified Consultant and a Master

Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming.

Deepa Pillai

“ “

Qualities of an effective coachAn effective coach aims to draws out a person’s potential rather than

places in aims and knowledge from outside or from himself. He guides

and facilitates rather than tells the coachee what to do. Objectivity is

key along with skills like empathetic listening, the ability to ask the right

questions in the right manner and to read subtle non-verbal cues.

A good coach must also be adept at sense making and challenging

assumptions where necessary. Good personal coaching seeks to help the

other person’s understanding of himself or herself rather than directing

him or her to understand. The effective coach is one who allows the

focus to be on self-realization and reflection so that the individual

decides and discovers their required progression by himself.

Facilitative Questioning TechniquesA coach will need to use facilitative questioning techniques during the

coaching conversation. Facilitative questioning techniques are made

up of sharply focused questions which can help the coachee reflect

powerfully on their current situation, what they have learned about

themselves and more importantly what they now plan to do as a result

of this learning. Participants will learn how to formulate facilitative

questions that can also help their coachee reflect on his beliefs, values

and assumptions. Some examples of powerful questions which could

help the coachee evaluate his position better are:

Is there any other way you could interpret that?

What might have led you to see the situation that way?

What assumption(s) do you think you are making there?

How might you change this to something more likely to work for you?

The Coaching Model and FrameworkIn this workshop, participants will be taught and given time to

practise the five-step Coaching Conversations Model. The five steps

involve establishing focus, discovering possibilities through facilitative

questioning, action planning, removing barriers and a recap of the

session where the coachee is asked to review the session and commit to

the action needed before the next coaching session.

During this performance coaching process, participants will learn and

practise skills such as contextual listening, discovery questioning, rapport

building and checking for assumptions. Participants will also learn how

to create coachable moments where the coachee shows that he or she

trusts the coach and is ready to be coached.

Handling Resistance in Coaching Conversations Participants will learn to identify and understand the source of resistance

when being coached and apply techniques to draw out their coachees

during the coaching conversation. They will have an understanding

of certain organizational learning tools such as Force Field Analysis,

Ladder of Inference and Creative Tension model which can help

minimise resistance to coaching and enhance the quality of coaching

conversations.

Effective FeedbackA good coach needs to know how to give negative feedback in a

constructive way. Participants will learn how to give feedback such that it

serves to help the coachee and not hurt the coachee.

Effective feedback is specific, not general and must always focus on a

specific behaviour, not on a person or their intentions. Therefore the

coach must be able to be detached from the emotions involved and

convey the feedback such that it describes action or behaviour that the

individual can do something about.

Coaching Practice SessionParticipants will be given the opportunity to work in small groups of

three where each member will take turns to play the role of coach,

coachee and observer. Feedback will be given by both the observer and

trainer for learning purposes.

The course ends with a summary of the learning from both days and

with a next steps action plan for development of coaching skills.

Recommended Next Course:

Building Championship Teams

93

IME IS MONEY, and Managing Time is like money in the

Bank. Smart Managers organise efforts around their

investment profile. They create plans that allow them to make

withdrawals & investments, manage risks & opportunities, and so get

more value out than they put in. That’s being Productive.

So, are you finding more & more competing demands on your time

each day? Are you often at a loss where to start? Are you sometimes

shocked that your day has disappeared? And, do you experience

dilemmas when choosing between competing task priorities?

If your answers are “Yes, Yes, Yes & Yes”, it’s Time to stop thinking, and

Time to start practising. Come along to learn techniques that allow you

to kick-start your day, prioritise your way, and realise greater Productivity

from Your Time invested.

nybody, and Everybody, that feels they have no time to attend!

Time Management:From Procrastinating to Prioritising

What Is This Course About?

CO

UR

SE

Who Is This Course For?

T

A

Do you have no time for time management?

If you really wish to boost Productivity, always ask

yourself “What’s the next best activity I can work on, to

take me closer to my goals?

Quick Tip...

What Will I Learn?

hat’s Challenging You?Though we all may think we are pretty good at managing

Time, experience tells us that we all have little areas where we

feel “Time challenged”; don’t you agree?

For some of us, we may spend too much time down in the detail, never

looking where we are heading. For others, we may prefer to remain

always in touch and subject to constant interruption, which means we

never allow ourselves the freedom to be focused on task execution to

completion.

W

94

Who Will Be My Mentor?

Excellent & engaging training. Useful

tips and principles I can bring home

with me

Tay Li Shing, Assistant Director,

Public Service Division

Trainer: Patrick O’ BrienCourse Fee: S$425Duration: 1 Day*SDF Subsidies for all companies

Patrick O’ Brien brings a solid business background that focuses

learning on delivery of results. This former CEO blends a strong

professional and educational background to draw concept

& practice together, and apply the learning in an engagingly

practical, relevant, and humorous, way. Patrick’s facilitation

approach embraces Coaching, as he communicates excellence

using NLP, and, keeps learning actively immersed in the present

using Improvisation.

Rating !!!!! 4/5

Average Participant evaluation based on last 10 runs

Patrick O’ Brien

“ “

Recommended Next Course:

Coaching Skills for Managers

Whatever your style, thinking about competing priorities and preferences

is a good place to start. The more you can discover about those Time

Management aspects that challenge you, the greater your potential for

beneficial improvement.

Eliminate Your Time WastersMost of us will admit to days that seem to fly by, yet, we wonder where

our productive Time went too; right?

Knowing where our Time goes, and choosing how to eliminate the

extravagant wastage, is one of those important early steps on a Time

Management journey.

You will learn how to spot where you spend Time unwisely, and, learn

how to begin choosing more effective Time Management practices.

Get Your Time Clock Ticking ForwardsSometimes, we just can’t make up our minds; can we?

This is the cardinal sin of Time, the ultimate of Time Management

speed traps; we are Procrastinating. Procrastinating holds us all back

at different times and to different degrees, yet, we don’t need to get

caught out.

During this next step, you’ll learn how to overcome Procrastinating, to

get your Time clock ticking efficiently forwards.

Prioritise Your Time Spending HabitsYou already know that the best results come from applying the right

efforts, in the right ways, in the right directions, and, in the right

sequence; don’t you?

Though everything always seems important, reality tells us different;

some things are more important than others! Thus, for more productive

outcomes, it is important that we put those first things first.

You’ll learn how to re-think your priorities around daily activities, so that

you can concentrate on those things that are the most important to

drive performance and hence your business results.

Try Time Management before You Buy As life-long learners, we all know that not all things will be relevant to

us, or to our business context; we’ve been there before, haven’t we?

Yet, we also know that some of the things we will learn may well be

highly advantageous to us, if, we can only overcome the inertia and put

them into practice.

You’ll get ample opportunity to apply the learning and put your new

Time Management skills into practice. In fact, one of the later steps

integrates the Time Management learning journey for you, and helps

you get a better sense of those next areas to focus on to give you the

best pay-back.

Chart Your Course to Time FreedomThe fact that you’ve invested one full day of your Time, means that you

already have some ideas surrounding those areas you want to change;

don’t you?

So, rather than just accepting that the road to hell is paved with good

intentions, we’ll help you keep in mind that you have a purpose in

participating on this soft-skills Training Program.

We’ll help you take the next steps on your Time Management journey,

by kick-starting a very simple personal action plan for your growth.

Commitment to this will lead you on a more fulfilling journey, taking you

from Time poor, to Time rich.

95

ith the current business landscape is facing increasing problems

with an aging workforce and young workers having different

expectations in the workplace.

This program will educate and stimulate positive interaction among

your people across generations. It will also dramatically reduce

workplace conflict and provide managers and supervisors with strategies

for dealing with recruiting, retaining, and motivating, using the

generational differences in a positive way.

Learn the differences across generations and how a proactive human

resource and coaching solution can pre-empt current problems from

the varied generational perspective. The conflicts are real and how can

future-orientated and growth organizations used these as areas for

learning and growth rather than be negatively affected by them.

Apply management techniques for motivating staff despite their

differences. Managers will begin to question how efficient and effective

their current actions with regards to managing cross-generational

teams. A step-by-step model for managing communications and team

rewards will be presented.

Managers will learn to use solution-focused coaching to hold health,

proactive discussions with challenging staff. This coaching style allows

the employee to take responsibility for their part of the issue at the

same time allows both manager and subordinate to collaborate on

solutions to the issues.

rom senior executive level to senior-management, this is aimed

at participants with a desire to better manage their team and

also help integrate the different generations of the workforce

to work more effectively as a team.

Managing a Multi-Generational Workforce

What Is This Course About?

CO

UR

SE

Who Is This Course For?

W F

Engaging The Workforce of Tomorrow For Better Productivity Today

Before allocating any team project, be mindful of the

selection of the members. If you are the team leader, after

collaborations and considerations, make it explicit how

the communications and products will be delivered etc.

Across generations there are different preferences, if you

leave it up to their own choice, there will be tension and

misunderstanding. A leader must be mindful of diversity

(age, gender, culture) and provide direction from the start.

Quick Tip...

96

Who Will Be My Mentor?

Very Good. Insightful. Clears the

fog surrounding the gaps in the

generational issues.

Mohd Azhar Bin Zailan, SPO,

Ministry of Home Affairs, Singapore

Trainer: Marion NeubronnerCourse Fee: S$425Duration: 1 Day*SDF Subsidies for all companies

What Will I Learn?

Marion Neubronner graduating with Hons in Literature from the

NUS and a Distinction from the National Institute of Education,

Singapore. With a Masters in Education in Human Development

and Psychology from Harvard Graduate School of Education, USA

and a Counseling and Training experience, Marion has extensive

research experience working with generational and cultural

diversity. She has trained with experts in Social Intelligence at

Harvard and University of British Columbia, Canada.

Rating !!!!! 4.2/5

Average Participant evaluation based on last 10 runs

Marion Neubronner

“ “

“Retain and Recruit” in a new generation of employees

Learn quick skills for retention and recruitment of Gen Y

• Understand key concepts of the Psychology of Motivation

Apply the effective tools which motivate staff. These include Autonomy,

Belonging and Competence. As well as what compensation and

benefits attract and retain staff.

• What is motivation and how that links to effective

management.

How is your staff learning your corporate culture? What type of

feedback works and which falls on deaf ears.

• Identify the characteristics of the different generations and

how it affects the workplace.

Spot the differences between Veteran, Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y

and beyond.

• Generic Skills to work with and managing across generations.

A step-by-step model for managing communications and team rewards

will be presented. Designing the chain of communication and methods

of communication in cross-generational teams.

What is Effective Communication- Setting the Bar high and setting

expectations.

• Using Solution Focused strategies and learn how to talk with

staff and how not to.

Managers will learn to use solution-focused coaching to hold health,

proactive discussions with challenging staff. This coaching style allows

the employee to take responsibility for their part of the issue at the

same time allows both manager and subordinate to collaborate on

solutions to the issues.

• How to create a career development facilitation process with

the newer staff.

Research studies show what the newer staff require in their onboarding

process.

• Dealing with Team fatigue.

How to reward based on achievement and team-work, working on

collaborations rather than competition.

Recommended Next Course:

Coaching Skills for Managers

97

CA

LEN

DA

R

2011 Training Calendar

Course Title Duration Fee SDF subsidy Trainer

Introduction to Carbon Footprinting

360 Project Management

Service Innovation

Design Strategy for Business

Impressive Business Presentations

Communication and Interpersonal Skills

Recruitment and Retention Strategies of Generation Y

Business Writing for Office Professionals

Effective Report Writing

First-Time Manager

Managing a Multi-Generational Workforce

Time Management: From Procrastinating to Prioritising

Building Championship Teams

Coaching Skills for Managers

PowerPoint Design for Business Presentations - v2007

PowerPoint Design for Business Presentations - v2010

EXCEL for Data Analysis and Reporting -v2007 (Intermediate)

EXCEL for Data Analysis and Reporting - v2010

How to Sell for Non-Sales People

Sales and Marketing for Engineers

Building Winning Brands

Employer Branding

Paul Sykes

Benny Ho

Paul Sykes

Paul Sykes

Mark James Normand

Deepa Pillai

Marion Neubronner

Azman

Azman

Mark James Normand

Marion Neubronner

Patrick O’Brien

Vasu Dev

Deepa Pillai

Mark James Normand

Mark James Normand

Valene Ang

Valene Ang

Bruce Murphy

Bruce Murphy

Catherine Chai

Catherine Chai

$425

$500

$680

$680

$500

$380

$380

$500

$425

$500

$425

$425

$500

$500

$590

$850

$590

$590

$425

$500

$680

$425

for SMEs only

for SMEs only

for all companies

for all companies

for all companies

for SMEs only

Pending

for all companies

for SMEs only

for SMEs only

No

for all companies

for all companies

for all companies

for all companies

for all companies

for all companies

for all companies

for all companies

for SMEs only

for all companies

1 day

2 days

2 days

2 days

2 days

1 day

1 day

2 days

1 day

2 days

1 day

1 day

2 days

2 days

2 days

3 days

2 days

2 days

1 day

2 days

2 days

1 day

98

www.impresstraining.com14 Robinson Road, #13-00 Far East Finance Building, Singapore 048545.T. +65 6401 3238 F. +65 6401 0636mail@impresstraining.com

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