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• Brain Teaser

Learning Leaders
In this edition, we are delighted to feature Ilana Levey - the Founder and Director of the VHL Group. The VHL Group is a learning and development consultancy which brings global expertise and methods to organisational learning, development and change. We asked Ilana 10 questions to share some insight on her strategies for success. To see Ilana's responses - please go to Learning Leaders.

The Importance of Understanding Your Customer/Client Relationships as the Economy Tightens
by Keith Dugdale (FAIPF) IOWEU
Can you answer the following questions: "Forget your competitors, is your growth attributable to a) your great offering; b) how highly your customers think of you; or c) is it because of the incredible economic growth in Australia over the last decade?" Most people don't know. As the economy starts to tighten, we need to know why customers buy from us. [Read more]

Employee Development in an Economic Crisis
Source: www.humanresourcesiq.com
Ask anyone if employee development is important and you'll hear, "Of course!" Ask if identifying high-potential employees is important and you'll hear the same response. But ask many organisations about their employee development plan for 2009, and you'll learn they have backed off considerably because the economic crisis is constraining resources for employee development. [Read more]

Icebreaker Thumball
from AIPF Webstore
The name says it all! One of the best "icebreakers" ever! Learn more about yourself and others with using this icebreaking activity tool. Allows learners to get to know each other. Great for training programs, coaching and counselling. Silver/Black, 32 panels. 6 inch $24.95 [More information]

Terrific Training Materials
by Darlene Frank
This unique new resource will help you improve the visual appeal and effectiveness of your printed materials through the use of graphic design techniques. Whether you're designing a one-page handout or a 200 page leader's guide this book is a rich resource you can turn to for layout ideas and advice.
$69.95. [More information]

Excerpt from 'Who Are "They" Anyway?' by B.J. Gallagher and Steve Ventura.
This great little book is about achieving success through personal accountability. According to Gallagher and Venture, the most important words of personal responsibility are as follows:

The 10 most important words:
I won't wait for others to take the first step.
The 9 most important words:
If it is to be, it's up to me.
The 8 most important words:
If not me, who? If not now, when?
The 7 most important words:
Let me take a shot at it.
The 6 most important words:
I will not pass the buck.
The 5 most important words:
You can count on me.
The 4 most important words:
It IS my job!
The 3 most important words:
Just do it!
The 2 most important words:
I will.
The most important word:
Me

Useful Websites - here are two good websites worth a look at for interesting articles and information - www.clomedia.com and http://www.trainingdesign.be/.

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Neurokinesiology & Learning with Margaret Stuart FAIPF
MELBOURNE Tuesday 21 April 2009
Combining nearly 30 years of work with patients with illnesses, kids with learning difficulties, elite athletes wanting to do better and business performance at all levels Margaret has perfected the art of finding the 'hidden agenda' - the emotions, thoughts and beliefs that are below the level of consciousness but are our driving force in our everyday lives.

Specialising in the art of making good people better, better people best - Margaret has authored numerous acclaimed books including Switch on your Brain which was third best seller in Australia for its genre, was Nominated Citizen of Australia for her work with the mind and keynote speaker at multi-national and national conferences.

What Makes Teams Tick? with Chris Burton AIPFM (TMS)
BRISBANE Wednesday 22 April 2009
Facilitating team development programmes brings its fair share of challenges and rewards? But what are some proven ways of helping teams work better together?

Chris Burton (AIPFM) works with Team Management Systems and will share some practical business tools and simple techniques that he uses in his work with teams. You'll leave this session with a few activities you can run with your own teams; you'll hear about contemporary teamwork theory that is used in companies around the world and you'll receive at least a dozen tips for ensuring your team development initiatives have every chance of succeeding.

Measuring & Reporting Learning ROI with Dennis Hall FAIPF (Direct Dialogue)
SYDNEY Wednesday 20 May 2009
Proving the value of learning initiatives is not an easy task. There's so much to consider - like return-on-expectation, employee retention, performance improvement, client satisfaction and improved fee income, to name a few.

This is a great opportunity to network with other learning and development professionals as well as receive valuable tips from Dennis Hall FAIPF (Direct Dialogue) for measuring and reporting your learning return-of-investment to internal or external clients.

NEW AIPF Webstore - we are very excited to be launching our online webstore (powered by HRD Central). The webstore has a great range of resources (books, toys and novelties, training materials, diagnostic assessments. games and activities) for learning professionals. To have a browse - please click here.

Referral Rewards - We have had a record number of referrals for the last two months. Thank you to all our referrers and we hope you have bought something useful with your $25 gift voucher. The lucky winner of our two Gold Pass Movie tickets is ...Alicen Hershman from SA.

Power Presentations - Justin Bayliss (AIPFM) is providing a great service to help learning professionals make the right impression by revamping their presentations for a more professional and fresh look. Click here for more information.

All suggestions for benefits are most welcome - please Contact Us.

Find out more about AIPF Member Benefits or Member Categories.

HeadsUp - Employee engagement survey
As L&D professionals we have many 'tools' for creating learning. Employee engagement surveys are potentially one of the most powerful since they can create significant organisation-wide learning and change.

Ironically, the way in which these surveys are implemented usually contradicts the values and behaviours that organisations want to strengthen. And, when employee engagement surveys fails to 'walk the talk' they can lead to serious negative outcomes such as frustration, lower commitment, loss of credibility and 'disengagement'.

HeadsUp turns the traditional approach on its head! It's a highly effective process that simultaneously assesses and builds employee engagement. Look at the difference between HeadsUp and traditional employee surveys. Click here for more information.

This is an oldie (in fact is dates back to the 9th century) but a goodie ...

Fox, Goose and Bag of Beans Puzzle
Once upon a time a farmer went to market and purchased a fox, a goose, and a bag of beans. On his way home, the farmer came to the bank of a river and hired a boat. But in crossing the river by boat, the farmer could carry only himself and a single one of his purchases - the fox, the goose, or the bag of the beans. If left alone, the fox would eat the goose, and the goose would eat the beans.

The farmer's challenge was to carry himself and his purchases to the far bank of the river, leaving each purchase intact. How did he do it? Click here for the solution.

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