Welcome to 2023! To get the new year started, we have launched a new 12 Months of Learning campaign, featuring new playlists, while keeping (and updating) a few standout topics from last year.  If you aren’t sure how to keep your learners engaged, check out these playlists for ideas on courses and topics you can use to help your learners keep their upskilling top of mind all year round.

What content partners should you check out this month?

Topic coverage: Health & Safety; Compliance; Mental Health; Soft Skills; Cyber Security

250+ courses, the majority of which are 15 minutes of less in duration; some titles are documents with recommended follow-up resources.

Playlists are available within the Go1 Content Hub

Courses are CPD accredited or IOSH approved

Top Courses: Remote Working 101, The GDPR Guru, Warning Signs

Topic Coverage: Harassment, Sexual Harassment

19 courses, ranging from 30 to 120 minutes

Courses are divided into real-life and relatable micro video sessions which are educational and entertaining

Languages: US-English, courses available with Spanish narration

Top Courses: Sexual Harassment and Abusive Conduct Prevention for Non-Supervisors and Supervisors (coverage for all 50 states available)

Topic Coverage: Leadership, Management, Personal Development, Soft Skills

1000+ courses, with a variety of durations

Interview style videos with experts in their fields

Plus, the Cutting Edge series, using scenarios to help learners connect their learning to real-life situations

Top courses: Appreciate Diversity and Inclusion, Accepting Change, Pick Me Up 

What new content partners have we added to the Content Hub?

Based in the UK, MindGym uses behavioral science to create content that equips companies to deliver business results. 

Topic coverage: General Management; Business Skills; Soft Skills; Personal Development; Collaboration; Managing Stress; Networking; Managing Change; Influencing Skills; Coaching; Goal Setting; Motivation

Offers a consistent UX with a modern look and feel, all under 15 minutes.

A few course recommendations:

What great new content have our current content partners added to the Content Hub?

Upskillist has added 139 new courses to the Content Hub. This collection of courses, each of which is 30 minutes in duration, ranges from hot topics in technology to how-to programming. Some example titles include E-commerce; Introduction to Prototyping; All about AI; The Evolution of Cryptocurrencies; Python Basics; and Advanced CSS.

Packt continues to grow their offering, adding 29 new in-depth courses to the Content Hub. With durations ranging from 4990 minutes (that’s three and a half days!) to 85 minutes, these courses provide up-to-date learning experiences with titles such as 101 UX Principles; CompTIA Security+ Certification SY0-601: The Total Course; Cyber Warfare – Truth, Tactics, and Strategies; and Job-Ready SQL in an Afternoon.

Marcom contributes a new series of six Safe Lifting courses tailored to different industries. The courses, each 30 minutes in duration, cover safe lifting in the following environments: Transportation and Warehouse; Office; Industrial; and Food Processing and Handling. They also cover the Healthcare environments for Medical Personnel, and Office and Maintenance Personnel. 

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to take courses in our library on topics that I’m not familiar with.  This week I took a course of becoming a physiognomist.  Not sure what that is?  I wasn’t either! This three-part course by Coorpacademy provides guidance on how to better remember people’s names and faces.  This course provides the science behind memorizing faces and name and actionable ways to increase your ability to do so. Definitely worth checking out.

For more insights, subscribe to the Go1 newsletter to stay on top of all the latest L&D trends. Or, you can book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s learning needs. 

False

What content partners should you check out this month? This edition highlights our 12 Months of Learning campaign to help learners keep upskilling at the top of their mind.

The Go1 Content Insider - January 2023 edition

Welcome back to our product release update blog! Read on to learn more about our new content curation tool and improvements to the playlist experience. 

In October, we launched a new way to help you quickly find the right content to support your learning programs. 

The Content Curation Tool allows Admins to generate hand-curated Playlists in the Go1 Platform to share, export, and deliver learning that meets your needs. 

Leveraging the Go1 Content Curation Team's expertise and staff picks, you can be confident that you are being recommended the best quality and most relevant content. 

You can now access all your Playlists in the new 'My Playlists' tab from the Dashboard. 

Within a Playlist, you can now reorder learning and add learning using our new Explore sidebar, among other updates. 

The Go1 research group aims to understand our customer's goals and objectives and how we can best help you achieve your desired business outcomes.

Sign up to give feedback on our Platform or learning in the flow integrations, and see what our Product team is working on by joining the Go1 research group.

For more insights, subscribe to the Go1 newsletter to stay on top of all the latest L&D trends. Or, you can book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s learning needs.

Have a peek at what’s recently been released here at Go1 and learn all about the new features, including an exciting new curation tool and an improved playlist experience.

Product release round up October - December 2022

Today we are announcing that Go1 has acquired Anders Pink, an award-winning content curation provider based in the UK, to accelerate our ability to deliver and discover the world’s best learning content for learners, teams and organisations.

The massive proliferation of digital content designed to close skill gaps has illustrated the critical role that curation plays in achieving individuals’ learning goals. Anders Pink was built to directly support the demand for the curation of content assets from multiple content libraries and the web. It does this by creating targeted feeds of content on the topics and skills you want to track, keeping up to date in your learning platforms automatically.

Chris and I have known the founders of Anders Pink since 2019 and have a shared purpose in the value of curated content and intelligent recommendations to create the best learning experience.

For Go1 partners and customers, we will continue to keep you updated as we begin to integrate our new capabilities into our products.

Together, Go1 and Anders Pink will provide the world’s best learning content, served in an automated and focused feed, to help teams and organizations achieve their learning goals.

Go1 has acquired Anders Pink, an award-winning content curation provider for learning. Hear more from Go1 CEO Andrew Barnes.

Go1 acquires Anders Pink to provide best-in-class content curation capability for learners

We’ve all been there. You have a mountain of work to complete, and you’ve finally sat down to begin. Headphones in. Eyes forward. Phone set to silent. You’re fully focused. Then, suddenly, you feel a tap on your shoulder. A colleague needs to ask you an urgent question. Five minutes later, you’ve given a satisfactory answer, and you’re back to it. That was a bit frustrating, but not too bad. It was urgent, after all. 

Twenty minutes later, you receive an email from your boss that needs a quick reply. Then, it’s a Slack message. Then, your phone lights up, and you can’t resist the temptation. Then, you need to attend a meeting. Before you know it, two hours have passed, and between all these distractions, you’ve barely started on the work you desperately need to complete. 

Does this sound familiar? Unfortunately, for many of us, it should. According to a study by Time Magazine, the average office worker is interrupted a whopping 56 times per day. That’s right, 56. Even worse, 80% of these are considered trivial interruptions. As you can imagine, these interruptions add up quickly, leaving just 8.5 minutes between distractions on average in an 8-hour workday. 

So, we’ve examined the importance of focus time for workplace productivity. We’ll start by analysing the frequency of workplace interruptions, before looking at the relationship between distractions and productivity, and finally offering three concrete tips to reduce distractions and carve out some much-needed focus time. 

As we mentioned, the average employee is interrupted a lot. According to a study by ReclaimAI, the average worker spends 1.96 hours per day on unproductive tasks, with other studies finding that office workers spend 41% of their time on ‘low-value activities’. These findings make sense, as a typical worker is interrupted a whopping 56 times per day leaving an average of just 8.5 minutes between distractions.

Unfortunately, these statistics are only the tip of the iceberg. Research by Clockwise finds that 53% of employees waste at least one hour per day dealing with distractions — and one hour is a conservative estimate. 

Ever had that one Thursday afternoon meeting that you dread? It’s right in the middle of the day, just as you’re getting in the zone. Worse still, there’s no clear agenda, and most people leave feeling they’ve thrown half an hour down the drain. It’s the all too common cliche of a meeting that could have been an email. Now, imagine stacking those back to back, day after day. 

Unsurprisingly, meetings are a major source of workplace distractions. According to Indeed, the average employee attends 62 meetings per month. However, just 11% of workers believe that all of their meetings are productive, leaving far too many as unwanted  — and unnecessary —  distractions. 

It’s not just external distractions, such as meetings and colleagues, that interrupt employees — many employees are also guilty of interrupting themselves. We’ve all done it, with studies showing that 44% of the time, employees interrupt themselves by checking things such as emails or social media. 

For instance, the average worker spends 1 hour and 5 minutes reading news sites, 44 minutes browsing social media, and 90 minutes reading and replying to emails or Slack messages. In total, the average employee receives 200 notifications per day. That’s a lot of distractions!

More specifically, research by the University of California found that workers attend to a task for just three minutes on average before switching to something else, usually a form of electronic communication.  

All of these distractions add up quickly, with potentially disastrous effects. One study found that it takes the average employee 25 minutes and 26 seconds to completely refocus after being distracted. Other estimates put this figure at 23 minutes. Whatever the exact number is, it takes a long time to completely refocus, costing organisations hours of productivity every day. 

Not only that, but a study by Michigan State University found that even short interruptions, such as checking a text message, make you twice as likely to make mistakes in your work when attempting to refocus. 

The bottom line? The average employee is interrupted an extraordinary amount every day. These distractions result in a significant decrease in productivity and an increase in the likelihood and frequency of mistakes.

When focus time increases, so does productivity

Given this, it should be no surprise that there is an inverse relationship between distractions and productivity. When workplace distractions decrease, productivity increases. 

For example, Clockwise found that 78.9% of employees say the ideal length of uninterrupted time at work is 1-3 hours, while 82.7% of people add that they need at least this much uninterrupted time to get real work done. Moreover, 89.4% of people say they are more productive when they have blocks of uninterrupted time at work. 

Perhaps most importantly, 76.9% of employees agree with the statement: “my company brings in more revenue when I and my team have more blocks of uninterrupted time at work.” Not only does reducing distractions make employees more productive, but it also increases the bottom line. 

Additionally, Hubspot found that 86% of people prefer to work alone to minimise distractions and maximise productivity. Finally, Clockwise found that 75% of people feel more productive when distractions decrease, while 57% say they feel more motivated, and 44% say they deliver higher-quality work. 

Three essential tips to reduce distractions and increase focus time 

At first glance, this may seem counter-intuitive. How does taking more breaks help to reduce distractions? Aren’t you just working less? The answer is twofold. 

Firstly, by taking more breaks, you can address potential distractions, such as your phone or a chat with a coworker about the latest episode of your favourite show, during your break. As such, you will be free to focus once you return to work. 

Secondly, and more importantly, our brains need breaks to maintain productivity. Put simply, our brains are designed for sprints, not marathons. They need time to rest, reset, and consolidate knowledge. Without this, our brains cannot function optimally. 

For example, a 2016 study by psychologist Karrie Godwin found that, during longer lessons, primary school students were distracted about a quarter of the time. However, during shorter lessons with more frequent breaks, attention and engagement skyrocketed. Ultimately, they determined that it was more effective to give students more breaks, settling on several 10-minute lessons rather than fewer 30-minute lessons.

Despite this, a survey found that 39% of people occasionally, rarely, or never take breaks during the workday, while 22% feel guilty or judged when they take a lunch break. Not only is that unhealthy, but it's also a poor way to improve focus!

On the other hand, a study by Microsoft found that participants who took meditation breaks between meetings showed brainwave patterns with positive levels of frontal alpha asymmetry, which correlates with higher focus and engagement. In contrast, participants who didn’t take breaks had (you guessed it!) negative levels of frontal alpha symmetry, suggesting negative engagement during the meeting.

For further insights into this phenomenon, see our article on why our brains need breaks to maintain productivity. 

While scheduling focus time might sound straightforward, anyone who has worked in a busy office can attest that carving out dedicated time to focus is often anything but. As we’ve demonstrated, distractions and interruptions abound. 

So, how can you schedule focus time and actually stick to it? According to ClockWise, “blocking out time in your calendar for focus helps signal to yourself and to others that this time is valuable. To maximise focus, make it clear that you’re not available to meet or won’t address interruptions during your Focus Time.” 

While this may sound simple, the very act of intentionally blocking out ‘focus time’ in your calendar (or even telling colleagues about it directly) sends a strong message. With any luck, this may have dual benefits. Firstly, you will get the focus time you desperately need. Secondly, by setting a positive example, you may start a trend of blocking out focus time throughout the office, thereby reducing distractions overall.

Other helpful tips to reclaim focus time include: 

Using noise-cancelling headphones to block out distractions

Actively telling your colleagues not to interrupt you during a particular timeframe

Using online time management tools such as Reclaim AI or Clockwise, which can help to schedule focus time

3. Address the problem head-on with time management training 

Finally, we suggest getting everyone on the same page by providing dedicated time management training. Again, this may sound straightforward, but effective time management is something with which many people struggle. 

As Indeed explains, “many people don’t know how to manage their time effectively. Offering training in strategies such as the Pomodoro technique, time blocking and batching tasks can help your team start to develop focus time. This can help them gain a greater understanding of the need for dedicated concentration time and how to obtain greater focus.” 

By offering dedicated time management training, you will address the problem head-on and ensure everyone is committed to minimising non-essential interruptions. Often, time management training can be enlightening as people become more aware of distractions and time management errors they previously took for granted. 

They also become more aware of common time management mistakes (and the impact these have on others), such as chatting to a colleague when they’re trying to focus, booking unnecessary meetings, or checking emails too frequently. Usually, these actions aren’t malicious or intentionally distracting, but a symptom of poor time management or a lack of awareness. Ultimately, addressing the elephant in the room and educating everyone on these common pitfalls can be highly beneficial. 

To get started on better time management training for your team, check out Go1’s selection of world-class time management courses. 

We’ve examined the importance of focus time for workplace productivity, offering concrete tips to reduce distractions and carve out some much-needed focus time.

Reducing interruptions: why 'focus time' is essential for workplace productivity

Are you geared up for another thrilling year of professional learning and growth? Are you excited to dive into new challenges and opportunities, or are you feeling a bit apprehensive about swapping beach reads for textbooks and sandals for sensible shoes? Regardless of how you’re feeling, we’ve got you covered! 

At EC, we’ve been busy preparing some awesome resources over the holiday to help you hit the ground running and make the most of your school year. From effective teaching strategies to school leadership and coaching frameworks, and even tips for maintaining your wellbeing, we’ve got everything you need to start the year off on the right foot. So, let’s get organised and inspired for the journey ahead!

Which awesome content partners have we added to the platform?

Harry Wong, the leading expert on teacher effectiveness in the US, has released a must-have course which is perfect for new teachers! Discover practical and easy-to-implement strategies for your classroom, including behaviour management, academic instruction, and setting high expectations for yourself and your students. You’ll have your new class running like a well-oiled machine in no time; get ready to transform your students into organised, independent learners.

Are you committed to promoting wellness in your daily life and work environment? Look no further. The Wellness Strategy, founded by Amy Green, has just launched a course based on her latest book, Teacher Wellbeing: A Real Conversation for Teachers & Leaders. This engaging video series will provide you with the tools and strategies you need to establish healthy habits early on and maintain them throughout the year. Get ready to feel your best, both inside and outside of the classroom!

Just landed a leading role? Are you looking to sharpen your coaching skills? Leader As Coach by At My Best is the perfect course for you. Take a dive into the importance of building trust and identify your strengths and areas for improvement to boost your effectiveness as a leader and as a teacher, and get ready to up your game and take your leadership skills to the next level.

Which great content partners are coming soon to EC Premium?

Elevate your teaching efficacy with the expert guidance of one of the UK’s top authorities on assessment, Dylan Wiliam. In his course, you will gain valuable insights into best teaching practices and discover why formative assessment is crucial for student success. You’ll also learn how to effectively implement feedback strategies to help your students reach their full potential. 

Maree Burgess brings her corporate expertise to help school leaders and teachers master the art of delegation and strategic influence in her new course. Based on her book, Level Up, this online learning offers a wealth of strategies, tips and tricks to help you become a high-performing leader and lead your team to success. 

The team at Balanced Choice run programs with young people focussing on social, emotional, psychological and physical wellbeing. They work alongside these young people to show them how their choices develop who they are. The courses showcase how educators and support staff can engage, emotionally regulate and uplift students in the classroom.

Check out a short preview of the course by Amplify Music Education: Integrating Music in the Primary Classroom, where their mission is to democratise music education so that all primary teachers feel comfortable teaching music.

Amplify

Our Featured Playlists are included in all schools’ Learning Hubs and are a great way to see a variety of high-quality content from different providers, all with just one click!

This month, we’re arming our new teachers with all the tools they need to start their first year with a new class with confidence! We know that being a new teacher can be overwhelming and challenging, with a huge amount of information overload; you’re probably feeling like you’re treading water, just to keep your head afloat. Don’t let the length of this playlist deter you, we have included a variety of topics to help you succeed in your new role.

Our self-paced learning resources cover everything from classroom and behaviour management with Harry Wong, to restorative practices, effective feedback, parent communication, stress management, formative assessment, student wellbeing, keeping assessment spreadsheets and even email writing skills. We’ve got you covered for every step of your journey! 

Our team of passionate Education Success Managers has been working diligently over the holiday break to ensure a smooth launch of EC Premium for 45 schools in 2023. From exciting Latte and Learn events, to engaging in Flipped Professional Learning sessions, we’re thrilled to kick off the new year with a bang! Our team is eager to support and guide these schools in their journey to professional success.

Jenna leads our Education Success Managers to ensure that every school has a great professional learning experience with EC Premium. She brings a decade of experience driving whole system leadership and professional development programs in the K-12 sector. With an academic background in psychology and coaching, she leads our school success team, ensuring that EC Premium is as effective as possible for educators.

Fun fact about Jenna: Jenna grew up in Kununurra, which is pretty much where Crocodile Dundee was filmed. 

Welcome back to 2023! At EC, we hope you are bloated, suntanned and daydreamy. All signs of a wonderful holiday break, full of friends and family.

The EC Premium Content Insider – January 2023 edition

Communication skills are important in every industry, however in healthcare, where lives are literally on the line, ensuring communication is clear and precise is critical.

Not only do medical professionals communicate with each other, but also patients and their families from a wide variety of backgrounds. As a result, part of developing communication skills in healthcare is knowing how to adapt your approach — including how you listen.

By neglecting communication skills, doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals risk misunderstandings, and in a field such as medicine, those misunderstandings can have potentially life-threatening consequences.

Below, we’re going to take a look at why communication in healthcare is so important, the benefits of effective communication, and how healthcare professionals can develop these valuable skills.

What are the 4 types of communication in healthcare?

There are four main types of communication in healthcare. It’s important for medical professionals to be proficient in all four, as each contributes toward them being well-rounded and effective communicators.

Verbal communication is when healthcare professionals speak aloud, whether in-person, on the telephone, or on a video call. This can be to colleagues, patients, or patients' family members.

There's more to verbal communication than the words that are said — it’s equally as important to be conscious of how they’re spoken. This includes the tone and pitch. It’s easy to forget that we pour emotion into our speech.

When speaking, it’s important to remain professional and courteous to others at all times — even when emotions are high and tempers fraught. This is why verbal communication skills in healthcare settings should be a developmental priority.

Non-verbal communication, such as body language and facial expressions, can affect how a patient absorbs information. For example, negative body language could unnecessarily exacerbate a patient’s anxiety, which may affect a professional’s credibility.

A big part of working in medicine is conveying empathy, confidence, and reassurance, which is why solid non-verbal communication is so important.

There’s a stereotype surrounding doctors’ messy, scribbled handwriting, with many joking that it can be illegible. In an industry where communication is so critical, written communication should also be developed.

Written communication should be thorough yet succinct, as well as clear and accurate. Whether it’s a prescription, a referral letter, records, an email, or even personal data, all forms of written communication must be to a consistently high standard.

When dealing with sensitive subjects such as a patient’s health, formal communication should be used often. This includes avoiding medical jargon, to make sure everyone can understand what is being said.

Why's effective communication so important in a healthcare setting?

The number one reason effective communication skills are required in healthcare is to ensure the health and safety of patients. However, this can be broken down into smaller contributing factors.

Caring for a patient is a two-way street, so understanding what the patient needs from their point of view is just as important as a learned medical opinion. Individual needs may relate to religious or dietary requirements, for instance.

It can also include understanding a patient's emotional state, which may already be heightened by being in an unfamiliar medical environment. In order to do that, listening to a patient is just as important as offering information.

To help track and communicate changes in care

In healthcare, changes happen frequently - and not simply related to patients, either. Administration, medications, tests, procedures - any part of the process can experience changes. As a result, clear and accurate communication must be used to effectively convey those changes. Failure to do so can cause delays and lead to improper patient care.

To create synergy between practitioners and team members

To deliver the best care, every staff member should be aligned, which means communication skills between healthcare professionals should be faultless. This avoids unnecessary stress and distrust for patients who don’t want to repeat themselves or face the same questions multiple times. It'll also increase efficiency and shorten the length of time a patient remains in care.

What are some other benefits of effective communication in healthcare?

On top of helping to deliver exceptional healthcare, effective communication can have many other benefits that help those working in the industry. 

While those who work in healthcare are busy, making personal connections with patients - as well as colleagues — humanizes you and can help patients relax. Similarly, once connections have been established, it builds trust and compassion.

Working in medicine introduces professionals to people from all walks of life, including those with different beliefs, backgrounds, disabilities, and lifestyles. With open and honest communication, medical staff can learn about different cultures and prevent awkward interactions and possible faux pas.

While doctors and nurses may not always be able to deliver good news, effective communication can lead to greater levels of patient satisfaction. By showing that you care, you can decrease complaints and even readmissions.

What are some ways to improve communication?

The most cost-effective and convenient way for medical professionals to improve their communication skills is via eLearning courses. Courses are self-directed, so can be taken during periods of downtime or even during the commute. This way, they don’t disrupt patient care, but do allow doctors and nurses to improve their communication and, as a result, the quality of their care.

eLearning courses in communication cover the following topics:

Active listening is the process of showing someone that they’re being listened to, such as by maintaining eye contact or nodding. By doing this, healthcare professionals showcase to patients and colleagues that they’re listening and absorbing what is being said. If someone isn’t active listening, they may lose trust or come across as insincere.

Sympathy is easy to give, whereas empathy is somewhat harder - it’s also much more effective. It includes active listening, offering support, asking questions, and being non-judgmental.

Healthcare professionals may think they have a good memory, but chances are it’s not quite as good as they think it is. To avoid errors and important points, detailed notes should be taken. This will also help with synergy between team members, who can refer to those notes so care isn’t delayed or disrupted.

Sometimes healthcare professionals may have to give patients and their families bad news - but doing so directly, concisely, and openly is better than trying to skirt awkwardly around the subject. However, in doing so, professionals must ensure empathy and understanding - it’s a difficult but important balancing act.

Where can you learn more about communication?

Without solid communication, healthcare professionals won’t be able to deliver the sort of high-quality care patients expect. This is where online communication skills training for healthcare professionals can help.

For more information on how Go1 can help your organization with online people and communication skills courses and more, book a demo with a member of our team today. 

Communication skills are an integral part of patient care and should not be overlooked. In this article, we'll explain why these skills are so important in healthcare.

Communication skills in healthcare | Go1

Many might consider the skills needed to work in the construction industry to be rather simple, requiring workers to prioritize physical strength and endurance over other skills. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth, as construction workers need to possess a wide range of skills and knowledge to ensure work is completed safely, on time, on budget, and to a high standard.

What skills are essential in construction?

Construction skills are the skills needed by professionals to work in the construction industry. These skills are generally required of all workers, from those just starting their career to senior level staff. These skills vary wildly, from undertaking manual labor through to communication and problem-solving.

Below are the skills construction workers need in order to start and progress their careers.

First and foremost, two of the major skill sets required for construction are building and engineering knowledge; after all, this is what many in the industry spend the majority of their time doing.

Without the correct training or knowledge, deadlines may be missed, work won’t be completed to a high standard, and may not be completed at all. Not understanding the correct processes and tools required to complete a job can also lead to safety risks.

While it is of course important that deadlines are met and budgets are not exceeded, the health and safety of everyone on a construction site, including any visitors, should be top priority. On top of being a moral requirement, it’s also required by law that every effort is made to keep people safe. Identifying risk, knowing safety processes, and basic first aid knowledge should be known by everyone who works in construction.

Without knowledge of codes and regulations, it’s impossible for construction workers to know what they can and can’t build. This includes safety codes, environmental regulations, and labor laws. A lack of knowledge in these areas could potentially lead to major problems down the line - including major expenses.

As the old saying goes, time is money. As a result, if deadlines are missed, it’s going to cost - and that will have a big impact on profits. For that reason, construction workers must have good time-management skills, as there are often numerous deadlines within an overall project, which if missed can have a knock-on effect.

In order to have strong time management, construction workers also need strict organization and planning skills. A worker may be efficient, but if they’re poor at planning then this will impact their time.

Communication is one of the most important skills needed by a construction worker. Without solid communication between colleagues, there is a higher risk of mistakes and misunderstandings, which can lead to delays and the need for reworks.

In a fast-paced industry such as construction, problems can arise on an almost daily basis, and range from major to minor inconveniences. Being proactive and knowing how to solve problems can ensure delays are kept to a minimum and the safety of everyone on the site is kept a priority.

Before any type of manual work can start, plans, documents, blueprints, and measurements must all be carefully considered. This requires reading and math skills: and not just at basic levels. Skills such as geometry and algebra are needed to ensure enough materials are ordered for even a simple construction job.

Very few construction projects require just one worker, with larger-scale projects requiring hundreds if not thousands of staff who may all be on-site at the same time. Because of this, collaboration is required from all members of the team, regardless of seniority.

On top of these skills, there are also many tech skills that are equally as important. For more information, check out our post on tech skills that are helping the construction industry.

What skills are essential for construction supervisory and management roles?

As well as possessing all of the above skills, senior construction workers such as supervisors and managers will require additional skills.

A key skill of a senior-level construction worker is project management. Project management requires strong leadership skills, which includes having to delegate, motivate, and inspire. On top of this, many other skills are necessary for good project management, including:

These responsibilities, and more, all contribute toward making sure that a project runs smoothly. Upskilling project managers is also a great way to further boost your teams.

Being able to confidently and competently make decisions is important so projects remain on time and on budget. It’s also important that some decisions are made quickly, however, will need to be done so based on clear rationale. Wrong or poorly-considered decisions can cost a project time, budget, quality, and even relationships.

Despite meticulous planning, there can sometimes be unforeseen delays. When changes do occur, the ability to adapt and be flexible will minimize the impact. As part of this flexibility, it may also be necessary to re-strategize and communicate these changes to various teams.

Construction is a stressful and often exhausting industry to work in, which means conflicts can sometimes occur. When they do, senior workers will need to oversee these conflicts to resolve them and make sure they don’t happen again.

Where can you learn more about construction skills?

As we’ve highlighted, the skills required to work in the construction industry are vast. It’s also important for workers to upskill and regularly refresh their knowledge so they can remain at the top of their field. One of the main causes of performance issues in the construction industry is inadequate training.

Go1 has a wide range of online courses available to access right now, from project management through to health hazards in construction.

In this article from the Go1 experts, we’ll look at what skills are needed to work in the construction industry, and why they’re so important.

Skills needed for the construction industry | Go1

Skills needed for the construction industry

Working in hospitality is challenging at the best of times, but during this extended, post-pandemic period in which staff shortages and turnover are exceptionally high, working in a service role is harder than ever.

According to a report, an average of 6% of hospitality staff resign every month. As businesses struggle to find suitable replacements, this puts remaining staff under increased pressure.

But despite the industry adjusting to a post-pandemic world, what is currently driving these hospitality staff shortages?

What causes staff shortages in hospitality?

As we’ve already highlighted, the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic isn’t the only reason for staff shortages. While it has contributed, there are a number of other factors that are to blame. Of course, pay is one of them - it will always be a major consideration for employees - but there are many other reasons that the industry is struggling.

Due to many businesses in hospitality opening into the night and even the early hours of the morning, committing to these hours is a challenge. A survey found that 54% of staff shortages are caused by unsociable hours.

Hospitality is an “always on” industry, and as a result, there can be little room for flexibility. However, this also means that job seekers are turned off from applying for roles where flexibility isn’t a priority - particularly as many businesses in other industries have found ways to offer it more.

More specific to the UK (but still also applicable worldwide), since its exit from the European Union many foreign nationals left the country. As a result due to the drop in applicants from EU countries the applicants that do apply often lack the relevant skills and suitability. 

A major contributor to staff shortages in hospitality - and one that can be fixed relatively quickly - is the lack of recognition employees receive in their roles. This means even when hospitality businesses recruit staff, many leave again due to this oversight.

In the midst of a hospitality staff crisis, in which businesses are already struggling to recruit and retain employees, an already stressful job is being made more stressful. Understaffed businesses struggle to keep up with demand, which leads to irate customers, and creates stressful environments to work in. And employees will soon grow weary of working in a high-stress environment.

Many employees want to grow their careers, and one of the biggest reasons employees leave jobs is due to the lack of those opportunities. A report released by LinkedIn revealed that 94% of employees would stay with a company longer if there was room for progression. So if there is no room for growth, employees will seek a job where there is.

What are the effects of hospitality staff shortages?

We’ve explored why there are staff shortages in hospitality, but what effects do those shortages have not just on individual businesses, but the industry as a whole?

It’s estimated that in the UK, shortages and high staff turnover have cost the hospitality industry an estimated £21 billion. These numbers are staggering and come at a time when the industry is already struggling, following numerous lockdowns and restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

With fewer employees to serve customers to a high standard, or even none at all, shorter operating hours might be necessary, which costs your business money.

The smaller a team is, the harder it is to deliver consistent customer service, which is going to negatively impact the business’s reputation.

With an increase in unhappy customers and operational costs, there will be a significant impact on profits.

With a lack of downtime and added pressure, it leaves little room for training and can disrupt employees’ work-life balance, as they work harder to meet demands.

How to improve employee retention in hospitality

Paying employees more isn’t the only way to improve retention. Fair pay is of course a big draw for potential employees, but what are some other ways businesses can improve staff retention in the hospitality industry?

For many working in hospitality, it can be a stressful and high-pressure environment. That’s why creating a strong company culture that allows for downtime, the ability to recharge, and even a little fun from time to time, is important. With a better work environment comes more engagement and improved morale.

In order to alleviate unnecessary stress and work as efficiently and effectively as possible, teams need to work closely together. Organizing team building and bonding sessions will go a long way to improving collaboration

Working in hospitality can cost staff a lot of time and energy - not to mention the unsociable hours. Acknowledging the effort that goes into hospitality can go a long way, especially if it includes rewards or bonuses to truly show hard-working employees gratitude.

Without open and honest communication between senior employees and their teams, there will always be a certain level of disconnect and a lack of engagement. Regular and open communication will help build trust and allow employees to see that they’re valued members of the team.

In this article, we look at the current state of hospitality staff shortage and turnover, along with some great tips for employee retention.