Skills and Training Directory 4th edition

Citation

(2004), "Skills and Training Directory 4th edition", Education + Training, Vol. 46 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2004.00446bae.002

Skills and Training Directory 4th edition

Skills and Training Directory (4th edition)

Kogan Page2003ISBN 074944052X

The latest edition of the Skills and Training Directory provides a guide to the current "best practice" and new thinking to support and inform the human resource development professional. It caters for employers working at all levels and includes a directory of the range of sources of information and support available to managers.

The book is structured into two main parts. Part one addresses a range of skills and training issues, covering everything from training in small firms, through modern apprenticeships and e-learning to corporate universities. Ruth Lea (Head of Policy of Policy at the Institute of Directors), for example, contributes a chapter entitled "More plumbers and fewer graduates", while George Edwards (Head of Strategic Development at the Institute of Leadership and Management) revisits supervisory management in a piece entitled "Rumours of the demise of supervision remain unfounded". These contributions are short, but nevertheless focus on critical issues, albeit from the perspective of their particular interest.

Part two is the Directory proper. This provides key contact details for over 1,000 organisations that offer education and training information and provision; including both private providers and public sector colleges. A great deal of this information is then repeated, this time under a set of themes:

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  functional skills (e.g. accounting and finance, e-business, sales and marketing);

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  organisational skills (e.g. change management, multi-skilling, teamworking);

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  personal skills (e.g. assertiveness, leadership, time management);

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  sectors (construction, food and drink, retailing); and

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  trainer support services and qualifications.

This is more intuitive and ultimately the more useful approach.

A concluding section provides some limited follow-up reading. It is a pity that such a feature was not integrated more effectively into the short pieces in Part One. Overall, though, this is a useful resource, hopefully contributing to a more considered and well-informed response to the skills and training issues of the day.