GPT Challenge Iss1 1992 - Edge Lane

The coolapproacn+^ + r^ i^i^^BY Tony Cooke, PersonnelrFhe lradil o.al l.ainl.!I term 1.. Brcak.. tookI on a whn a ne*meanlng whe.lwas inMos.ow recenlly !ndenakin!som-4 develo pme nt workwrthCOMSTAFI, the R!ssian CPTThe interPreter menl c.edthai il was part cularlycold onoLr openin!l morn nc. lle said'Today maybe 13 m fLs. . . ,whi.h probably a..o!nls fortre tact lhat lhe dooi 10 lheira nln! areawas frozen solidhave heard some prettygood excuses Tor nol lurn nguplo slan a train ng colrsebll1har co!ld berhe best yetMyassi!,nment was tointroduce lhe phllosoph es olpcrfomancc appra sals and,hop--JL ly,lo mplenre.l anellective sysLem nlo lheBusiness skillsprogramme -putting you tothe testI erdersh p tF:mworl.. bu.i.F...pn.- an.lI .ommur,.rrio. e!hnilt!e- drc r!-t d re( olIrhe q!al ties p!t io ihe resl in lcompa.yw de lra.ing in lial !e know r as thebuiif.ss 5k ls programmeArou.d 100 Deople a year are selected lor t reco!rsc vrhich tak.s ahands on approach to th.a^tr- l,'" F'lalp4 ordl"_d1"'lskils The course is aimed at peoplewho have"qFn-'shown an aplinrde lofw der respofs biil es.The proqramme beqi.svr'ilh a bus n-ossapprecial on co!rsedesigned 1o promote a broaderunderstand .q of commerc al praci cc throuqh astldyot key dis.iplnes These n.lu.le markelresearch, prod!.1 desigi, p!rchasing, recruitmenland tEinin!. prodlclion,I nan. a controland sa,psTwo separate dodu es cofs def the mpodafoeoi the market n!, costinq and jinance i!nc1 o.s.ION COUFSEj Howing across a r€seftoirattersuccesslullydesigning and building a rah.The.ommunicat on and nleryiew ng .ourse.overs selection. appraisal and drsc p ifaryi.teryiew ng pl!s meet nq a.d presentai on skllls.Ind vidual panlc palion and role p ay make tor alive y course and lhe skil s acqu red are q!ickly pulinto pract ce back al work.F nal y,l.amwork and leadersh p qualilies afelesled to the l!lli. aweek ongseresoic!tdoofexer. ses slccess n such act v ties as cae ng,canoe nll or enleer nqj m.ufta n res.!e, c mb n!and absei i.g enab es teams to win points whi.harelraded tortood and Fqurnment !sed duri.o aTh s lraining need wasnderlrlied as a Possibledeve opmenilhal co!ld beused lo qradual y ntroducetechniq!es and their potcrtiabenefils inlo lhe workplaceOn.ewe had the trad lionalhandshak ng o!t of lhcvJayeveryone snaKes .and s e!-4rymor.rnaon anlvar weperiormance appra sa lssues.These nc Lded objeclivetechniq!es, dea ing withre lcEnce. rev ew!ng pasrperfornance, preteftednia.aqeria approach. iraln ngallernatives and proiess onalThetlve execLtives o. theco!rse showed panicL arirleresl in some asPectsotthe body lang!age sess onThis was rhe Iirst tlme theyhad been erposed lo thes0bjecl and parrlc!i6ry-anloyedlhe idea thal caref!obseryalion oi body lanquaqecaf, n cerlain cases, releal apersof s irame ol mirdThehahlahloilheprogrannne was rne casestudy work wllh videoO!TCOMSTAR exec!tivesrevelled in lhe r nevlloundro es and actlaly lookediorya.d 10 the exercises.Thc q!ality ol theireiionswas fLly evldefl in thepiaybacks .we co!ld wellwllness a nassexod!s to thewariner climes ol Ho lywoodby acoupleor budd ng lilmstars c!rcnly bLding the rSpeaking from experience . . .Brenda taylor, a Development Group Ianag6r,took part in th€ I99Or9l Business SkillsP.ograftde. On lhe bu5ine.s simulaiionmodule she soon discover€d tnat .unn idg agr€etingscard business wa3 nolas easy as it"on the fifsr day we w€re asked to lisi rhequalities which conrributeto makins acofrpany succe3sful. One ot the issuesw€discussed was comhu.ication.r' said Erenda.!(burwhen w..an ihe erercise we railedfriseralrly inthis rcsp€cl. Alonc poinr we6uldn'r.ren find outhow many card5 we hadDurinq lhe business gam..very coursemember hasto play the p.rt of a m.naEer inon€ coftpanyand a produ.lion ope.alor inanorher, Br.nda recalls how their attitudetTALKING BUSINESS: Peler Zaboji >(righl)chals wilh lhe new sales peopleduring theif inductio..Video links put newstaff in the pictureI t deo.o.iere.. iq across the OPT Nei s aboof]lt nor o. vto blsincss.s a.d outsde clstomers.t but also lo peope concerned with lrainlnaw th.lhe orgaf sanon.A.ecenl eiampLewasthe ndlcl on ol l8 newsa espeop e into cPT Cornmunl.ation systemsLimited (CSL) The proaramme was des 9ned as parlollhedrve to mprovethe q!a rtyol salcs activilywithl. rhe.ompany and to.k n elerythln! lrommarkel n9 s1ra1egy 10 a uokal lhe Natlo.a See ceCenlre in Wellingboro!gh.As parl ot th€ denronslratron .l prodlcls lorthefut!re ink no vdeoconlerenc no and the CT2 - lh-asaespeople werevldeo trrked across lhe GPT Nelchanged according to the role they w€r€playinq. rrAs worke.s wewahted doreinto.marion, butas flanaserswG oould notprovidc it. Th€ course certain ly highlighted theditficulties ol runnins a business.r'Laler. on lhcourdoors module in wal€s.Brend. l€arnr thar she loves abseirihg bulncver wantstoEo down anoihercaveas lonsas sheliv€s. Thc imDort.nce ol leamwork wasalso graphically illus}ared when theyall hadtospend the night under cadvas,rrthroughoutthe week we h.d worked ve.ymuch as indiyiduals, no nal!ral leaderemerg.d," she said.rrHowever! wecould nothave sooccssfully orientee.ed to oor camp site,builr. fire, cooked a meal and erected aientindividually, welrad to rork as a team and rhisiswben wefinallygelled,,'Ț #lron' Beeslon to Klrkca d! and Ma denheadThis approach certan y impressed the!roup andshowed lust how la.GPT lras advanced w th lsOn the nna day ot atve.day i.duction co!rse lhesalespeop ewere asked ro make .divd!apresenial ons to an mag nary board ol direclors -which tuhcd out to bc quilc r.a as CSLmanagl.gdlrector PeterZaboliand iinance and commer. aldlrcctor Kials Pilzuhr bolh madc asurprlsev st andisten.a jn Ailetuards they answered.lrestionsMeaivrhie i. the U.iled Slales, GPT is partoT auniqlelve city m! tipoinl v.leoconleren.e nelworkused by Calilornia Slate Un versity (CSUr lor d sta.ce