• Articles and Books

    Ways to work together with your employees to help keep their skills sharp

    My latest inc.com piece is available at https://www.inc.com/charles-edge/your-employees-want-extra-training-but-youre-going-to-have-to-help-them-get-star.html. It starts off like this, if it’s your kinda’ thing: Employee engagement is dipping, according to a new study by human resources consultancy Aon Hewitt, but as an manager, you can make the workplace more appealing through positive initiatives such as employee training and development. Indeed, I’ve often had people I manage ask for more training. My answer is always an emphatic “yes.” But then something funny often happens: nothing. Giving staff approval for trainingdoesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll do it unless you follow up methodically and even micromanage the process. Why does this happen and what does it show about how employers…

  • Business

    Huffington Post Article On Soft Skills Training

    My next Huffington Post piece is up. This one is on Soft Skills. The original was about twice as long, so eventually I’ll post the rest here. But for now, hope you enjoy. I often hear entrepreneurs say that they hire based on soft skills, because they can’t be taught. I’ve been hiring and guiding people for 20 years, and I vehemently disagree. In some cases, people don’t want the social graces. In others, people (especially really smart people) rarely have the patience. But, provided you are willing, you can train yourself how to work well with others. Just ask Zig Ziglar, one of the best sales people and a famous…

  • certifications,  Mac OS X

    Apple Certified Associate For OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion

    Apple has posted the first of the Mountain Lion certifications. Information about the Apple Certified Associate – Mac Integration 10.8 is available at http://training.apple.com/certification/macosx. This certification requires only one exam, 9L0-408, which can be taken online. There’s no word yet on the ACSP or ACTC for 10.8, although I am certain work on them is in progress. The current table of certifications is as follows: The test is relatively simple. I took it this morning and it focused completely on the client in a heterogenous environment. There were questions about AD binding, sharing files between Windows and OS X Mountain Lion clients, securing the OS (Gatekeeper, FileVault 2), Time Machine, Messages…

  • Microsoft Exchange Server,  Windows Server

    Blackberry Training Courses

    If you do a fair amount of Blackberry Enterprise Server management then you’re gonna’ want to think about the new certifications that are being offered by Research In Motion.  There are now training classes and an accompanying certification:  http://na.blackberry.com/eng/support/programs/training.jsp#tab_tab_admin There’s also a track for users: http://na.blackberry.com/eng/support/programs/training.jsp#tab_tab_users