Reskill and Recover

The most effective business plans are simple and place value at the heart of everything – that is, the value your business brings to your customers. In this unit, participants will get to explore their business's unique value proposition.

Session

• 15 and 22 June - 9:15 am - 12:45 pm

In this unit, you will cover

Value proposition refers to the product or service a company intends to offer to its customers to meet their needs. It’s unique to each organisation as it sets it apart from its competitors. Great value propositions align a business's products and services to their customers' jobs to be done, pains to be overcome and gains to be made. Approaching a business plan in this way is not only simple and effective, but it keeps you focused on what really matters and how to remain profitable by delivering what your customers really want and need.

Joining this unit will mean participants come away with an actionable, single-sheet business plan that evolves easily with business development and puts customers at the centre of decision-making, for sustainable, long-term growth.

The more you appreciate customer value, the better customer satisfaction and performance will be. This leads to more profit and a higher market share and of course, more loyal customers that will help your business thrive.

Session

• 27 and 28 July - 9:15 am - 3:00 pm

In this unit, you will cover

Valuing customers as investments

• Lifetime value of customers
• Cost of acquisition vs retention
• Strategies to increase the value of customers

Creating a customer-centric business

• The importance of customer insight
• Customer relationship management
• Customer experience management

Delivering customer value add

• Defining a value proposition
• The value proposition framework
• Isolating customer pain and gain points

There are lots of channels or touchpoints through which you interact with your customers. Today more than ever, digital channels are becoming an increasingly important part of how you interact with customers and deliver value. In this course aimed at those with a beginner/intermediate digital marketing skillset, you will learn which tools are worth adding to your digital marketing mix and how to leverage them better. 

Session

• 5 and 12 July - 9:15 am - 3:00 pm

In this unit, you will cover

What is digital marketing?

• Leverage digital channels such as search engines, social media, email, and websites to connect with current and prospective customers

Creating a digital marketing strategy

• Planning and establishing an internet presence through online channels such as organic search, social media, paid ads, and other web-based mediums such as your website
• Goal setting for your online activity

LinkedIn Masterclass

• Enhancing your personal business profile and growing and managing your contacts
• Sharing valuable content, increasing engagement and generating leads

This unit is designed for participants who need the practical skills to manage projects as part of their day job.

Session

• 14 and 21 June - 9:15 am - 3:00 pm

In this unit, you will cover

Introduction

• What is project management, who can use it, and how can it be applied to small projects
• The project life-cycle, and key techniques and tools
• The importance of linking your project to the organization’s strategic direction

Project Initiation

• Identifying and analysing the project stakeholders
• Agreeing on the ultimate project objective and benefit
• Documenting the project business case
• Kicking off the project

Project Planning

• Identifying the detailed project requirements behind the objective
• Documenting the project scope, and everything the team will have to do
• Best practices for estimating the project resources and budget
• Building a reliable project schedule laid out across the calendar
• Proactively identifying the schedule and budget needed to deal with project risks
• Finalizing the project plan and briefing management to ensure expectations are properly set

Project Execution

• Assembling the best project team for the job
• The importance of team delegation and motivation

Project Implementation and Control

• How to manage scope to ensure you don’t miss anything
• How to manage schedule to keep your project on track
• How to manage cost to keep your project within budget
• How to deal with surprises
• How to constructively brief management on progress and request assistance when needed

Project Closing

• Closing contracts and delivering the project result
• The best ways to gather project lessons learned to ensure continual organizational improvement
• Preparing a concise and complete final project report for the stakeholders

Financial management helps a participant to determine what money their business needs to spend as well as where and when it should be spent. It also gives employees an overall view of the financial status of the business, helping to determine business strategy and direction.

Session

• 15 and 22 May - 9:15 am - 12:45 pm
• 12 and 14 July - 9:15 am - 12:45 pm

In this unit, you will cover

• An introduction to financial management and consideration of the difference between financial accounting and management accounting, key financial statements and understanding how to make sense of them
• Discover the difference between maximising profit and building wealth/value in an organisation - how to be responsible
• Explore pricing strategies and how we must understand our cost base and how costs behave to ensure that we maintain profitability and sustain our operation
• Examine the importance of cash flow management. We will consider the use of financial ratios to see how the financial statements can be pulled together to provide insights into our performance that are otherwise less visible to us
• Look at the importance of developing our understanding of problem-solving, cause-and-effect analysis and the fusion of financial and non-financial information
• Review a number of strategic management accounting techniques that pull together all the threads that will drive the opportunity to help with making our businesses sustainable and profitable

Right now, 1 in 6 employees is dealing with anxiety, stress, and depression and this can stop them from performing at their best (MIND, Introduction to mentally healthy workplaces).

Equally important are the positive business reasons for supporting staff mental health. The world of work is changing, with employee engagement, flexible working, resilience, and talent management now common currency. Positively managing mental health underpins these approaches and can reap rewards in terms of staff morale, productivity, and loyalty (People Manager’s Guide to Mental Health, Sept 2018, CIPD).

Smart employers know that organisations are only as strong as their people – they depend on having a healthy and productive workforce. They also know that people perform better when they feel able to put everything into their job and when they are confident, motivated, and completely focused on doing that.

This course will introduce you to the key principles to achieve a positive wellbeing culture in your workplace.

Session

• 15 and 16 May - 9:15 am - 3:00 pm
• 7 and 14 June - 9:15 am - 3:00 pm

Over 2 days you will explore

• The benefits of healthy workplace culture and resilient teams
• The impact of stigma on mental health
• Top tips for developing an effective health and wellbeing strategy
• How to start a conversation around mental health
• Resources and tools that will support you when having conversations with staff
• Ongoing support methods for staff that either remain in work or need to take time off
• Strategies for keeping mental health on the agenda
• Tools you can use for your own mental health and wellbeing

Participants will learn why sustainability in business isn't just good for the environment or society at large - it’s also good for the business itself. It’s becoming critical to address the gap between knowing and doing by embracing sustainable business practices.

Session

• New dates coming soon

In this unit, you will cover

• Why sustainability is good for business, and the importance of good leadership in achieving change
• The role of business and civil society in shaping a zero-carbon economy
• Implementing business models and processes for sourcing, producing, and consuming sustainably
• The role of innovative design, planning, and technology in facilitating sustainable business
• How to effectively communicate sustainability strategies and goals to internal and external stakeholders
• Learn how to be an effective change agent, overcome barriers to change, obtain networking support, and create a personalised sustainability action plan

Crafting engaging messages to promote your business is an essential skill that can help you to sell your products and services more easily. But do you know where to start? This creative course from Reskill and Recover will get you sharpening your business copy and using language more effectively for all your business promotions and material. From long form copy for websites and blogs, to short snappy straplines and email subject lines that pack a punch - this unit will give you all the tools you need to write like a pro and start selling your business across any medium.

Session

• 20 and 27 July - 9:15 am - 3:00 pm
• 19 and 26 September - 9:15 am - 3:00 pm

In this unit, you will cover:

Who are you writing for?

• You will learn how to talk to your customer with ease and creativity. Helping you to craft content that meets your customer's needs and solves their problems

What steps you need to take to become more confident when writing on behalf of your business

• You will learn how to write with enthusiasm and authority as you remove your writing blocks

Where ideas come from

• You will learn how to keep creativity flowing and ensure you never run out of ideas for crafting copy and content for your business

When to use storytelling within your business writing

• You will learn how to write memorable and impactful copy through utilising storytelling techniques that resonate with your audience

Why creating consistently and writing with clarity is important for your business

• You will learn how to create your own style guide; this will ensure every piece of content or copy created follows your brand/business style and tone of voice ensuring your message is never lost

How to find your business voice

• You will learn what your business sounds like on the page as you sharpen your tone of voice, and you'll know how to use this to attract more customers

Do you want to learn the basics of search engine optimisation and give your website a kickstart online? This short course will take you through the necessary steps to understand and simplify search terminology and get stuck in with applying SEO to your online marketing.

Session

• 11 July - 9:35 am - 11:30 am

In this unit, you will cover

• Jargon busting and understanding the terminology of SEO
• How to use free resources to carry out keyword research for your business
• How to use Yoast to implement keywords and key phrases in your website
• Optimising your content elsewhere on the web

A key component of a good marketing plan and a crucial tactic to stay ahead, competitor research is a necessary and regular action for business owners who want to stay in the know and retain the edge in a saturated marketplace.

Session

• 24 May - 9:30 am - 11:30 am

In this unit, you will cover

• Why you need to carry out competitor research and what it can tell you
• What online resources you can use to research your industry and competitors
• How to use 'Porter's Five Forces' framework to understand rivalry in your industry
• Tactical actions you can introduce based in your research

How do you prepare for a difficult conversation that is going to be challenging and tough?

Ask most people how they feel about tackling difficult conversations, and at least 90% of them will feel intensely uncomfortable, recalling a previous time when they had to deal with one. These situations happen frequently, but dealing with them is something that leaves most of us cold at the prospect.

Avoiding challenging discussions can make situations worse causing further issues by eroding trust and damaging relationships.

Session

• 28 June - 9:30 am - 12:30 pm

• 5 September - 9:30 am - 12:30 pm

In this unit, you will cover:

• How to prepare for difficult conversations
• How to build confidence as you learn key tools and strategies to navigate more challenging communications
• How to communicate positively 
• How to build relationships 
• How to become effective in managing, tough and difficult conversations

Applying the workshop insights will:

• Increase your well-being
• Earn the trust and respect from those you work with
• Improve your relationships
• Enrich the overall atmosphere and productivity of your organisation

Managing difficult conversations training will equip your team, leaders and managers with the skills they require to handle a variety of difficult conversations with confidence. 

Whilst it is not always desirable to retain everyone, and employee turnover is not necessarily a bad thing, retention is one of the biggest challenges in modern businesses. The number one reason talented people leave organisations is that they think their career is not going anywhere, this is particularly a challenge in smaller businesses.

Alongside this, the traditional model of work has changed considerably over the last few years and employees are seeking a better or different approach to work-life balance. Offering flexible working options has become almost standard practice and is one way to retain staff however this is not always a practical or affordable solution. Flexible working, promotion, upskilling and career development all affect how employees feel about their work and employer.

Session

• 19 July - 9:30 am - 11:30 am

In this unit, you will cover

• Push and pull factors affecting both employees and employers
• Flexible working arrangements
• Career planning
• Job enrichment 

There will also be a range of other options explored to assess how they can be applied to the workforce as well as the importance of measuring their success.