Latest news with #LearningAndDevelopment
BBC News
29-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Berkshire fire service opens new training centre
A state-of-the-art fire training centre has opened in Reading, replacing a previous facility damaged by flooding in Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) officially unveiled its new Learning and Development Centre in Whitley Wood on modular building - constructed offsite and installed in just four days - features solar panels, LED lighting and electric vehicle charging chief fire officer Wayne Bowcock said the centre was "befitting of a modern fire and rescue service" and would help staff "effectively serve the people of Berkshire." The facility is designed to host realistic training scenarios. Mayor of Reading Alice Mpofu-Coles, local MP Yuan Yang and councillors from across the county joined for the opening celebration for the new and chair of Royal Berkshire Fire Authority Jeff Brooks said he was "very pleased" with the new centre."This fantastic new facility represents a significant investment by the Fire Authority into our staff and will help prepare the Service to meet the changing needs of communities across Berkshire for years to come," he said. You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Zawya
17-07-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Shaza Hotels strengthens leadership excellence with emotional intelligence workshop for corporate team
Dubai, UAE – In line with its ongoing commitment to fostering people-centric leadership and enhancing organisational excellence, Shaza Hotels recently conducted a dedicated learning and development session for its corporate leadership team on 'Emotional Intelligence (EQ) for Hospitality Leaders.' The workshop, held earlier this month in Dubai reflects Shaza's recognition of the evolving demands placed on leaders in today's hospitality landscape. With a firm belief that effective leadership begins with self-awareness, empathy, and purpose, Shaza Hotels continuously invests in equipping its teams with the tools needed to lead with clarity, authenticity, and resilience. Facilitated by industry experts from DeANTS – Your Outsourced Learning & Development Department, the programme offered practical, real-world insights into the application of emotional intelligence within the hospitality sector. Covering a broad spectrum of leadership competencies, the session guided participants through topics including understanding individual brain talent profiles, leveraging emotional literacy for self-regulation, and aligning noble KPIs with personal values to ensure a purpose-driven leadership approach. The highly interactive session was designed to help leaders enhance their ability to connect with their teams, navigate change with confidence, and make thoughtful decisions that positively impact both people and performance. These qualities are deeply aligned with Shaza's organisational values, which prioritise the human essence of leadership in creating meaningful guest and colleague experiences. Through exercises focused on emotional resilience, communication, and alignment with personal strengths, Shaza's leadership team gained renewed perspective on how to lead with intention while remaining adaptable to the fast-evolving hospitality environment. The session further reinforceed Shaza Hotels' commitment to continuous learning and leadership development as key drivers of business excellence. The brand extended its sincere thanks to DeANTS and esteemed coach Tripat Mehrotra for delivering an impactful and thought-provoking programme that resonates with Shaza's values of authenticity, connection, and purposeful leadership. About Shaza Hotels Shaza Hotels is a luxury hotel management company renowned for delivering authentic Arabian hospitality. Drawing inspiration from the rich traditions and cultures along the historic Silk Route offering an unparalleled experience defined by exquisite Middle Eastern décor, tranquil ambiances and impeccable service, crafted for the most discerning travelers. With an impressive portfolio of iconic properties, including Shaza Doha in Qatar, The flagship Mysk Al Mouj in Muscat, Mysk Al Balad in Madinah and Mysk Al Fateh, Bahrain. Shaza continues its rapid expansion. Its upcoming openings this year in KSA, UAE and Orlando will further reinforce the brand's position as a leader in luxury hospitality. As a proud member of the Global Hotel Alliance (GHA), Shaza Hotels provides guests with access to an extensive portfolio of upscale and signature hotels worldwide. For more information, please visit About Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) & Discovery Loyalty Program Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) is the world's largest alliance of independent hotel brands with 45 brands and 850 hotels in 100 countries. Its award-winning loyalty programme — GHA DISCOVERY — provides 30 million members recognition, D$ rewards and exclusive experiences across its hotels and partners, both with and without a stay. GHA DISCOVERY generated US$2.7billion in revenue and 11 million room nights in 2024. Through membership in GHA, brands expand their global reach, drive incremental revenue and reduce dependence on third-party channels, all while maintaining management independence and individual positioning. For more information, visit or For further information please visit: Shaza Hotels Website: Follow us on: Facebook: Twitter: @ShazaHotels @MyskHotels Instagram: @ShazaHotels @MyskbyShaza LinkedIn: #ShazaHotels #IamShaza #MyMysk For media please contact: Hina Bakht Managing Director EVOPS Marketing & PR
Forbes
13-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
It's Time For Agentic L&D
Getty If there's room for Agentic AI in the headlines, there is room for something else these days: Agentic Learning and Development or Agentic L&D for short. Over the years, organizations have allowed the Learning and Development function to become too polite. L&D is overly eager to serve at the edge of business instead of operating at the center. This situation is no longer acceptable in an era dominated by AI. The L&D function doesn't have to get rude, but it should get ready to start swinging. Agentic L&D is a necessary new term for an essential new way of thinking, one that positions Learning and Development not as content delivery, but as a capability sherpa. It sits inside the work, not around it. It influences business outcomes, not just training metrics. It behaves as though it's part of the business strategy, not simply trying to keep up with it. If you've seen the recent job description for Microsoft's Director of AI-Era Skilling Transformation, you've already seen what is coming. The job doesn't mention instructional design. Not at all. It talks about embedding learning into the systems, sprints, and day-to-day moments that define real work. "This role exists to deliver transformative skilling experiences that intrinsically motivate individuals and teams to skill through exploration, demonstration, and real-world experiences," states the posting. In other words, it's calling for Agentic L&D, whether the company uses the term or not. EY's GenAI Academy is already doing it: contextual learning embedded into role-based journeys. Not bolted on nor tucked away in an LMS. It's lived, applied, and then measured. If organizations are serious about preparing teams and people for what's next—and for what's already arrived—then the days of learning as an accessory are over. It's time to stop reporting on completions, taking orders, or just offering content. It's time for L&D to move from passive support to active influence. It's time for Agentic L&D. From Around the Work to Inside It L&D has trained an entire profession to operate like instructional caterers. Stakeholders place the order, L&D delivers a menu of options, and everyone gets their post-course certificate. Meanwhile, the real work—the problems, the decisions, the friction—keeps happening elsewhere. Agentic L&D doesn't hover at the margins. It embeds and operates at the source, at the point of the work. As author Harold Jarche wrote back in 2013, "Work is learning and learning is the work." Agentic L&D takes that idea seriously and operationalizes it at scale. EY's GenAI Talent Academy, as mentioned earlier, pushes in this direction. Their role-based pathways don't require sign-up. They shadow actual workflows, adapting to projects in motion. L&D stops being an interruption (or outpost) and becomes an enabler inside the work. From Content to Context People do not necessarily need more learning content. It's available at the fingertips of your next AI prompt. The digital shelves are now full of content, let alone what already exists in the various learning and content portals. What's missing is context; learning that lands where the friction actually lives. Agentic L&D begins with a different brief. Not "build a course," but "find the pain." Where are employees struggling to act? Where are decisions being delayed or reversed? Where are teams improvising because the current system no longer fits? Where are the skills or role gaps? Microsoft's recently released AI-Era Skilling job brief is clear. Don't upload content; instead, embed and then align to capability. Change how work is accomplished, not just how it's taught. "Champion the shift from episodic learning to continuous, AI-augmented skilling embedded directly into the flow of work through business aligned co creation," also states the job brief. This change means there will be a need to rewrite default behaviors and expectations for L&D practitioners. More in-line decision trees. Fewer generic case studies. More job-embedded prompts and "what do you think" open-ended questions in the flow of work. And yes, that potentially also means fewer formal courses and more short-form AI nudges that help to change and calibrate behavior. Both AI and human L&D performance coaches are going to crush it. Agentic L&D does not try to keep up with the business; instead, it walks beside it, listening, adapting, and building learning directly into the flow of work. While content may be present—and it should—it also starts with context. What is the business context of the performance gap? From Input to Outcome If the L&D function is still reporting on attendance and satisfaction, they have missed the point. It's not about participation; it's more about assisting in human potential transformation, which involves a better understanding not only of what goes into the learning (and the team member) but also of the outcome. Agentic L&D measures capability velocity, which is the time it takes to move from friction to fluency or from confusion to competence. At a minimum, it is about shifting from an in-role skill or task to the next level. According to Continu, organizations using data-driven L&D see retention increase by 46%, productivity by 37%, onboarding acceleration by 34%, and per-employee revenue jump by 29%. These are business outcomes! Ultimately, Agentic L&D ought to be tracking retention uplift, error reduction, skill uptake, competence gap analysis, and even career or role mobility optionality. LinkedIn's 2024 Workplace Learning Report suggests organizations that link learning to talent movement don't just keep people; they grow them. Isn't this the actual point of L&D? What Comes Next The thinking around Agentic L&D is not about a rebrand; it's a full-scale L&D reset. (And I don't have it all figured out yet. I'm still noodling.) Learning isn't solely a calendar of events or content on a platform. It isn't simply a set of course completions with colorful dashboards. It is an embedded 'guide on the side' agent who is woven into the culture, decisions, rituals, systems, and workflows of the organization. It is part AI and part human, but led by the humans. Agentic L&D consults, curates, and activates. It doesn't just take orders. It is the fulcrum of performance change across the organization. If AI has earned the adjective agentic, so should the L&D function. But the function itself needs to be reset—and led—accordingly. Because if L&D does not become 'agents in the business' (or Agentic L&D), the work will move on without it. And this time, it won't come back.
South China Morning Post
09-07-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong firms invest in AI proficiency despite employee training budget cuts
Hong Kong firms cut their budgets for employee training amid economic uncertainties last year, but training hours increased as employers want staff to be proficient in new artificial intelligence tools. The findings were announced on Wednesday by the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management, based on a survey of 115 local companies and organisations across 17 industries. The survey, conducted between January and April, aimed to understand the staff training needs of Hong Kong employers last year. In 2024, employee training budgets accounted for 4 per cent of the total annual base salary for the surveyed employers. This represents a 0.3 percentage point decrease from the previous year, though the figure remains above the pre-pandemic level, which hovered around 3.4 per cent. Actual training expenditure was 3.1 per cent of the annual base salary, down from 3.8 per cent in 2023. 'The economic situation in Hong Kong and around the globe was not certain and not ideal,' said Chester Tsang Wing-cheong, co-chairman of the institute's Learning and Development Committee.
Zawya
26-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
BENEFIT launches second cohort of Ruwaad Leadership Program to empower future fintech leaders
BENEFIT, the Kingdom's innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has announced the launch of the second cohort of its Ruwaad BENEFIT Leadership Program, building on the success and impact achieved by the inaugural cohort last year. The Ruwaad BENEFIT Leadership Program delivers a comprehensive, four-month experience aimed at accelerating the development of emerging leaders. Participants will be equipped with advanced skills, strategic insights, and practical experiences essential for excelling in their careers and driving impact within Bahrain's dynamic FinTech landscape. Ms. Muneera Al Jaber, Manager of Learning & Development at BENEFIT, said: "The launch of the second cohort of "Ruwaad BENEFIT Leadership Program" marks the culmination of the outstanding success achieved by the inaugural cohort and the notable progress demonstrated by its participants. At BENEFIT, we firmly believe that investing in the development of young talent is a cornerstone for fostering sustainable leadership and excellence within the financial sector. This program stands as one of the key initiatives through which we aim to cultivate a new generation of leaders equipped to meet the evolving demands and aspirations of the future". Ms. Al Jaber affirmed that this initiative reflects BENEFIT's commitment to nurturing leadership talent and equipping emerging professionals with the skills and expertise necessary to shape the future of the financial sector and drive innovation within the company. "Ruwaad BENEFIT Leadership Program forms part of a broader series of successful initiatives dedicated to strengthening the capabilities of Bahraini youth by providing them with practical experience and high-calibre skills in the field of FinTech, including Internship Program "Masar" and the FinTech Drivers Program. Efforts to develop and empower emerging talent will continue, ensuring their active contribution to the growth and advancement of Bahrain's FinTech sector." said Ms. Al Jaber. -Ends- Media Contact: Aisha Buhiji Administrator, PR & Corporate Communication ayshab@ The Benefit Company B.S.C (C) P.O Box 2546, Seef District, Kingdom of Bahrain
