I was encouraged to read that employment in the UK is looking up this quarter and that people are feeling more positive about their job security and prospects. In fact, the proportion of UK residents in employment has returned to pre-recession levels, with jobs growth in London up by 2.3 per cent since 2008. When taking a closer look at the situation, however, we’ll see that wages on the whole have dropped, and that many candidates have had to take on part-time work when they would have preferred a full-time position. Furthermore, a lot of companies seem to be cutting down on entry-level jobs and expecting their new hires to come into a new job with plenty of experience and the ability to get results from day one. This makes it particularly difficult for new graduates with little work experience, who are hoping for a company to train them up during their few years. Where have all the skills gone? A recent CBI report showed that almost 60 per cent of UK businesses worry that they won’t have enough skilled employees to meet their future needs. For example, around 90,000 new engineers are required each year, but the Institute of Engineering and Technology found that 60 per cent of its members feel their business is threatened by a shortage of engineering professionals. Another issue is our ageing workforce, which makes it difficult for businesses to find employees to fill entry level vacancies. According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of people aged 60 and above in the UK is expected to increase by 13 per cent by 2020. In Germany, my home country, organisations are facing a similar challenge, with skills demand exceeding supply. Around a fifth of Germany-based organisations are now trying to deal with the skills shortage by retraining current employees in-house to carry out tasks for positions they cannot currently fill. More than a tenth are taking on people who don’t necessarily tick all the boxes in the job description, but offer them additional learning and development programmes on the job. Sourcing from overseas For UK-based organisations, one way out of the situation is to seek alternatives from other countries. Many are now looking beyond UK borders to find fresh talent. According to The Guardian, graduates from the EU are becoming an increasingly attractive option for local employers. On average, they are older, more skilled and more experienced than UK graduates, says a CIPD report, and therefore more employable than a lot of UK graduates. A further factor which I consider vital is the level of language skills these EU graduates bring to the country. In the increasingly globalised business world, the ability to speak a second or even third language on top of English is a huge competitive advantage. As we all know, Britons tend to lag behind when it comes to speaking a foreign language, making it difficult to compete for a position in a multinational company, be it in the UK or mainland Europe. Pushing forward As we approach the New Year, it’s time to start thinking about how to address the skills shortage in a sustainable yet cost-effective way. If skills in the market are scarce, new hires will have to learn within the company once they’re on board. For this, learning needs to become part of our corporate culture, which, in turn, is often complex and expensive. Early results from the annual Speexx Exchange 2014 Survey have shown that a third HR and L&D managers are now turning towards corporate MOOCs to train their workforce. 34 per cent already offer some form of MOOCs to their employees and a further 32 per cent plan to introduce them by 2016. The remaining respondents (34 per cent) are not planning any Corporate MOOC initiatives in the foreseeable future. Millennials, who are tech-savvy and will make up 50 per cent of the global workforce by 2020, are more likely to be able to work with this type of tool independently, at a cost much lower than traditional training. Nevertheless, we need to keep our staff engaged by communicating corporate changes and strategies clearly and effectively - this goes for learning and development strategies, too. Otherwise, we risk making our employees feeling like interchangeable numbers, which will eventually cause them to look for opportunities elsewhere. The human factor, such as regular contact with a trainer or coach can make all the difference. What it comes down to is empowering our learners to take control of their own skills development, but still offering regular motivation and guidance by an expert trainer. HR and L&D Managers play an equally important role in supporting learners and staying up to date with their progress and results. Only with consistent communication and engagement will workers feel motivated to acquire the skills they need to help make their company thrive.

L&D spend is under scrutiny as never before. Historic lack of connection between learning and the enterprise creates a perceived irrelevance that risks marginalisation. Yet CEO’s value learning as part of their stewardship of organisations. This article outlines recent research and a suggested way to put learning central to performance improvement and the delivery of stakeholder value. L&D is in a fight for survival as a business function. For too long it has appeared to operate on a different agenda from the operational business priorities, treated as an overhead and feel good factor for employees, not understood by line leadership and seen by them as a harmless irrelevance. Harsh? I don’t think so. I have heard it too many times and seen the outcome as L&D resources are slashed in a world where the value of every Euro spent is critically evaluated. Is there a way forward? I believe there is. This blog suggests a way in which L&D can take its rightful place as a key business lever. Early this year I was invited by a renowned organisation to research and provide some insight onto what C-level Executives should be measuring in learning. The answers surprised and encouraged me - as someone who has fought throughout my career against the current fashion of trying to ROI learning. Ajay Pangarkar’s recent blog excellently lays out the fallacy of that argument. In the technology pervaded 2010’s we can measure pretty much anything we want to - and the temptation is to measure everything! It is the era of Big Data. But in learning, what is it really important to measure in the enterprise context? The world that is now emerging has radically different characteristics to the one that entered the financial crisis. Stability and established paradigms have been challenged and in many ways have disappeared, replaced by behaviours aligned to a new, chaotic, unpredictable, faster moving world - but one in which tracking and measurement are much greater constituents.  So, in our learning world what is it important to measure, what value does measurement add, how can it be done in ways that make it worthwhile as a contribution to performance? The requirements of the 2010’s are for a new and radically different set of skills, set in the context of a world that is more amorphous as a result of social learning, and yet one which paradoxically has the ability for ever greater precision. The new skill set is difficult to measure and is itself changing. The temptation for the talent management  professional is to erect ever greater and more detailed profiles, assessment models, development processes, measurement frameworks and mechanisms. However the Chief Executive seems to have little interest in such detail. Their requirements are quite simple - people who can perform, and they have limited patience with the detail of the talent management and HR world. My research illustrates that C-level Executives use very few words to describe the characteristics they seek in their workforce, but at the same time they are searching for real meaning in those descriptors. Their focus is business performance, and in this context the contribution that learning can make to improvement. Their concern is for the 21st-century skill-set. Many senior executives do not seek measures of learning (other than the expected efficiency and governance data), opting instead for a "felt" level of comfort that their organizations and their people are able to adapt quickly to changes necessitated by business conditions—especially agility and innovation. ROI therefore carries little weight in the CEO’s assessment of learning in their organisation. So too does the generation of efficiency statistics that all too often simply look like the L&D function’s attempts to justify its existence. Another model is needed - and it is one that has to start with the CEO and the leadership team. Together they are charged with creating stakeholder value - and that means value for all the legitimate stakeholder groups in the enterprise, including of course its employees. That value goes far wider than the creation of financial returns, and is hugely greater than the demonstration of compliance. Talent management statistics are sterile, analysing imperfectly a single and mostly static view of the living and evolving community that is any healthy organisation. The measurement model that is relevant to learning is one that provides clear line of sight from those few critical stakeholder satisfaction metrics through to the tactical and operational indicators used to manage the learning function. A simple example - a key stakeholder requirement may be "image in the market place". Clearly employee behaviour is a key component of that image so the metrics chain will drill down to activity (note that I do not mention courses!) undertaken by the L&D function that leads to behaviour recognised in the external world as of a superior standard. Those metrics are as likely to be subjective and anecdotal in relation to employee behaviour as they are to appear in hard facts about the learning function. At an early stage in my 40 years experience in the learning environment I learned a powerful lesson from my client C-level Executive. I proudly showed him some stunning ROI statistics about a very successful training programme that had clearly had major impact on the macro business performance. He thanked me kindly - and dismissed me from his office with the comment "That’s great, but as the guardian of the health of this organisation I actually am investing now in people development that may only show itself in an overt outcome in maybe 10 years time. The cost of what you are doing in learning is miniscule compared to that value". It is not measurable - and need not be if the C-levels believe that it is money well spent! Our challenge in L&D is to look for and contribute to the metrics that will enable the organisation to prosper in an unpredictable world and to survive in the harshness of the current realities. We will only be able to do that when we "join" the business as people with unique and powerful insight and skills to help solve business problems.

As a proud Towards Maturity Ambassador, I’m delighted to see another hugely successful Towards Maturity Benchmark Study this year, if not the most successful one so far. What’s it all about? In case you’re not familiar with the work of Towards Maturity, the TM Benchmark considers a number of performance indicators that represent the impact in the workplace and has developed best practice benchmarks (reflected by the Towards Maturity Model) to support ongoing improvement. In the 2010-11 Benchmark, a new Towards Maturity Index (TMI) was developed as a single benchmark of implementation maturity across the 6 work streams. It is designed to help organisations understand and improve the health of their learning technology implementation. This year, over 600 L&D professionals from 45 countries joined the study, of whom 42% were multinationals and 74% had managerial responsibility. A further 5,000 learners were also surveyed about their learning habits and expectations. What did this year’s results show? Organisations are recognising that empowering learners through technology is more important than ever before. For example, I was excited to see that 26% of respondents are investigating MOOCs as part of their corporate learning strategy. This actually resonates with our own Speexx Exchange Survey, which has shown that 31% already use corporate MOOCs in some areas and a further 32% plan to implement in the next two years. A further question highlighted that 31% rate the potential of corporate MOOCs as "high". The results also show that L&D managers are looking for more flexible, on-demand learning solutions which their learners can use away from their computers and the traditional classroom. 74% of organisations are now using mobile devices for learning purposes, which is extremely encouraging to see. In the Speexx Exchange Survey, we wanted to find out what is hampering mobile learning implementation. The top three barriers cited were "corporate data security issues" (28%), low user adoption rates (19%) and "lack of BYOD policy" (18%). Why does this matter? Today, having a modernised learning strategy means focusing on learning outcomes rather than just inputs. L&D managers need to respond faster, support learning and performance at the point of need and improve efficiency at the same time. Although it’s not only about technology per se, many organisations are finding that modernisation cannot be achieved without it. There is still a large gap to be closed between companies’ ambitions and achievements: this year’s Benchmark showed that only 31% of organisations are actually achieving the benefits they seek in terms of L&D. Next steps The Towards Maturity Benchmark is a great resource I can thoroughly recommend to any HR or L&D professional aiming to drive business growth with a more skilled workforce. It includes transparent information about what the top 10% companies are doing differently and shows which gaps still need to be closed. Get your free copy here. And if you’d like to meet Laura Overton, Director of Towards Maturity, in Person, join us at Speexx Exchange in Berlin this December, where she will be hosting the event and presenting the benchmark findings.    

For some, they’re just an extraneous layer of management. For others, they’re the ‘glue’ that holds a company together: middle management - a breed which often finds itself in a sticky situation. Middle managers make big-picture strategy applicable to day-to-day work. They identify staff needs, make improvements to processes, note opportunities where client interfaces can be improved, and relay information up the ranks. In a nutshell, they act as a go-between between the upper and lower echelons. They are the glue holding the company together. Yet, come a financial crunch, they come unstuck very quickly. Downsizing waves in the ’80s and ’90s revealed that middle managers were the first to be let go. And though flatter hierarchies are more prevalent than ever in the 21st century, when culling season begins, one of the first tiers to be affected is still middle management. In 2011, home improvement behemoth, Lowe’s, announced that it would lay off 1,700 middle managers. At the same time, it laid out plans to hire up to 10,000 part-time weekend staff. Its goal was to improve customer service at peak hours. When the space system division of the aerospace and defense company, Lockheed Martin, decided to downsize its workforce of 16,000, it made 25% of its cuts to middle management. Is it any wonder then that middle managers show very high levels of dissatisfaction? A recent Accenture survey revealed that 20% of middle managers are dissatisfied with the organization they are with. Their primary reason? A lack of opportunities for advancement. In other words, no escape from the ‘extraneous layer’ category. Being slotted into one position, without any prospect of a move, even a lateral one in most cases, was one of the primary reasons for middle managers to seek out new positions. Though ever cognizant of the lay-off statistics, other reasons for dissatisfaction also emerged within the group, including micromanagement and a lack of respect by senior managers. Very often, middle managers find themselves in the unenviable position of having no authority, but all of the accountability. They must constantly navigate through the relationship waters, listening to those above while at the same time being responsive to those below - an especially challenging task during a period of restructuring, when these waters can get very choppy, and middle managers are severely impacted by the changes themselves. So, given the costly nature of high staff turnover, what can companies do to retain middle managers? The first step, according to experts, is to institute a development plan which involves senior management. Sending managers on training programs communicates a willingness to invest in them. Getting managers actively involved in strategy, in changes and in the roll-out of new strategies will increase buy-in and a feeling of ownership so that bearing the brunt of accountability is a little more palatable. Peer-to-peer workshops, allowing middle managers from across an organization to discuss some of the issues they have in common, alleviate the feeling of being the ‘only one’ dealing with issues. And finally, fair treatment and recognition for all. Managers who feel they are being treated fairly are far less likely to jump ship.

We’ve just won the Global E-Learning Award for the Excellence in Blended Technology category, yay! The award ceremony was held in Mumbai last Friday as part of the Global Learn Tech Conference. This is organized by the World Education Congress, which showcases the most successful and innovative applications to the delivery of education and training. The World Education Congress explores how education can help develop mental, emotional and physical skills to help facilitate personal excellence as well as psychological and socio-economic wellbeing, in the challenging times the world faces today. Armin Hopp, our Founder and President commented: "We’re absolutely delighted about winning this award. The recognition reaffirms our commitment to offering excellent blended learning solutions in the ever-shifting landscape of corporate learning. Over the past 20 years, we have won more than 200 prestigious awards including the Worlddidac Award, the International E-Learning Award, the Seal of e-Excellence, the eLearning Journal Award and many more. On behalf of Speexx, I would like to thank our customers for their continued support and the World Education Congress for this fantastic award." Our very own Sanesh from Singapore office flew over to take part in the conference and collect the award in person. A big thanks to the World Education Congress for selecting us! Check out our other awards here.   About the World Education Congress The World Education Congress explores how education can help develop mental, emotional and physical skills to help facilitate personal excellence as well as psychological and socio-economic well-being, in the challenging times the world faces today. The World Education Congress focuses are: To influence the evolving culture of education and educational pedagogy To build on a vision and strategies for higher education To provide exposure to latest education tools, technologies and solutions To encourage collaboration and partnership among institutions For more information, visit http://worldeducationcongress.com/

We all remember Adam Smith’s ‘Invisible Hand’ term from our university days or a business context. According to this theory, if consumers are given the right to select products freely and sellers can decide what they produce and sell, the economy will settle on patterns and prices that benefit the community as a whole. In such a self-regulating market, Smith argued, there would be no or little need for government intervention. Can this 18th Century economic theory be applied to the modern workplace? In some ways, I think it could. Although Smith’s words were written over 200 years ago, I’m somewhat reminded of them whenever I hear about the need for ‘employee empowerment’ or ‘peer-to-peer learning’. Forward-thinking organizations are already shifting towards a dynamic, team-based work approach with flat hierarchies and away from an autocratic management style. I’m not suggesting that managers slam their office doors and leave employees to sort themselves out, hoping the Invisible ‘managerial’ Hand will somehow take care of things. It’s not that simple. New patterns Today’s working generation does not expect to be supervised and told what to do by a manager from 9 to 5. In fact, sticking to fixed working hours has become almost impossible, since employees can easily work from home, on business travel or have to shift their schedules to suit other time zones when working with colleagues from overseas. And this possibility for employees to handle their own workload and schedule is a form of autonomy in itself. Another area that is changing rapidly is L&D. The digital revolution allows our staff to acquire and share knowledge through mobile devices from virtually anywhere in the world. Corporate MOOCs, learning apps and virtual classroom sessions have become the norm. Early results from our annual HR and L&D survey show that 93 per cent of organizations have already implemented some form of e-learning. Furthermore, the top e-learning benefit that HR and L&D managers have registered for their workforce is ‘flexibility and instant accessibility’ (56 per cent). Ultimately, this flexibility is what will drive our employees’ sense of empowerment. Instead of passively receiving information and exercises from a teacher, staff members are now encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning and collaborate with their peers in transferring skills and knowledge. In the light of ever-tightening training budgets and a general skills shortage on the market, this could be exactly the approach we need. Collaboration - nobody said it was easy So where does this leave management? The growing buzz around peer-to-peer learning and working habits suggests that firms need to start decentralizing their decision-making processes and move towards technologies that facilitate employee empowerment and communication. Hierarchical silos are being removed and instead, networked learning is on the rise. This new scenario requires leaders to display very different kinds of skills compared to just 10 or 20 years ago. But are they ready for this? According to a recent study by the APQC, there is a significant gap between the soft skills leaders need for success and those they actually possess. For example, 61 per cent agreed that emotional intelligence is crucial for good leadership and business success, but just 32 per cent believed their organization’s leaders actually have emotional intelligence. 72 per cent rated collaboration as a vital skill, yet only 52 per cent thought their leaders possessed it. This is worrying, but with some practical approaches, managers can start to acquire the skills they need to foster a more collaborative working environment. Whether a manager is working on a project, giving feedback or learning, there needs to be a shift in behavior and attitude. Two-way processes are the way forward. Instead of just disseminating information, leaders must be prepared to learn new things themselves, even if it’s from somebody less senior to them. Moreover, the appraisal should be a chance for employees to express what they like or dislike about their role and working environment, instead of just receiving feedback on their own work. Employees should also be given the feeling that they are trusted to manage their own learning and work in teams without being supervised all the time. It may be challenging at first, but building a culture of open communication and collaboration will create true engagement and give your best talent a reason to stay and make your business flourish.

The first 200 responses to our annual Speexx Exchange Survey are in and we’re excited to share the early results with you in our latest e-learning infographic. This survey was conducted in late 2014 among senior HR and L&D managers, C-level executives, training managers and e-learning strategy developers from four continents. Here’s what we found: E-Learning Spendings 61% of organizations plan to increase their e-learning budget within the next three years. (This time last year, the figure was at 57%). But currently, and similar to 2013, almost half (47%) of our respondents invest less than a tenth of their training budgets in e-enabled learning programs. Just 7% of organizations invest more than 50% of their budgets in e-learning solutions. Mobile and social learning on the rise Mobile and social learning allow students to continue building and sharing knowledge and skills outside of the traditional classroom. 76% of HR and L&D managers we asked about this allowed and/or provided mobile devices in the workplace, yet only 26% actually use them for learning purposes. This represents a significant gap between technology’s potential and its actual usage. We also wanted to know what’s hampering mobile learning - the number 1 reason cited was "corporate data security issues". If you want to find out more about this, read our latest white paper on Navigating Data Protection Regulations in L&D. As for social learning, 75% rate its potential as very effective or somewhat effective, yet just 24% are currently using it. However, a further 19% plan to implement some form of social learning in the coming three years. Top E-Learning Benefits So what are the advantages that HR and L&D managers have registered in e-learning projects so far? The number 1 benefit by far was "flexibility and instant accssibility", cited by 56%. Last year, this benefit also came top of the list, chosen by 51% of respondents. Next in line, although with a much lower number of votes, is "reduction of direct training costs" (cited by 16% this year and 18% in 2013). Furthermoe, 12% of organizations find that e-learning allows them to speed up time to value, compared to 9% last year. Want to have a say in the survey? Join here and you could even win a new smartphone.

Speexx Exchange is over for this year and what an amazing time we’ve had. Thanks to everyone who attended and helped to shape some brilliant presentations and lots of food for thought for tackling HR and L&D challenges. Shanghai, Paris and Berlin: Speexx Exchange 2014 was all about finding practical approaches to new learning strategies that can be applied in the workplace right away. Over 300 attendees from over 25 countries joined, representing global organizations such as Nokia Networks, United Nations, Rentokil Initial, Ericsson, Weber-Stephen Products, E.ON, Siemens, SEW-Eurodrive and many more. Over the course of several weeks, our global events series took us through a unique exchange of innovative ideas and concepts. Speexx Exchange kicked off in Shanghai with more than 70 HR and L&D professionals from some of China’s leading domestic corporations, as well as some foreign organizatoins. The half-day event took place at the Shanghai Radisson next to the People’s Square in downtown Shanghai. We partnered with local HR consultancy Martinsen Group (a subsidiary of UK-based Thomas International) who brought some great new insights into leadership training in China. The journey continued in Paris on December 2 at the Salon des Miroirs. Here, we met with Nicolas Hernandez of 360Learning, Stéphane Pineau ofTraining Orchestra and Olivier Gauvin of Opcalia. Some exclusive research findings and discussions gave attendees a unique insight into the latest e-learning and talent management trends. Find out more. The final Speexx Exchange edition took place in Berlin on December 3 and featured experts Laura Overton ofTowards Maturity, Peter Holmark of Nokia Networks, Ahmed Limam of Global HR Technology, Richard Gregory of Rentokil Initial, Atish Gonsalves ofDisasterReady.org, Nic Laycock of Amos Laycock Consulting, Estella Miranda of SEW-Eurodrive and Harald Stoll of TTS. A full day event, Speexx Exchange Berlin kept delegates engaged from start to finish, with fresh perspectives, loads of networking and a World Café discussion to wrap up.

2014 feels like it’s gone by in a flash and people are already looking back at how their year went and planning fresh goals for 2015. I’ve enjoyed dozens of fantastic networking events and conferences this year and have had the pleasure to meet some brilliant and inspiring people along the way. More than ever before, 2014 has shown me the importance of collaborating and communicating face to face to make great things happen. So what can we expect next year? These are some of my 2015 predictions. Greater fluidity of talent Job hopping is set to grow exponentially next year, with many Millennials and Gen Y employees turning into nomadic job seekers who are unwilling to settle long-term. These generations enjoy strong networks, are tech-savvy and extremely well-informed. Mobile and social recruitment tools are exploding, with more than 80 per cent of job seekers already relying on theirs smartphones to search for new positions and the majority of candidates more inclined to apply for a company that uses social media to source talent. As a result, it will be even more challenging for companies to hold on to their best people. At the same time, there is increasing evidence of a glaring skills gap in the job market, which is unlikely to be closed in 2015. So we’re looking at restless employees on the one hand, and companies who claim they can’t find the right candidates to fill their positions on the other. This isn’t an easy place to be. Companies can only attempt to keep their employees by offering a perks and clearly defined career path with growth opportunities which will fulfil their staff’s needs and help to diminish the skills gap. New allies for HR and L&D With technology seeping through to the recruitment, training and retention of our talent, the need for HR and IT to collaborate is becoming ever clearer. Once considered an "odd couple" who would have little reason to even talk to one another, these two departments will find more and more common ground in the future and realise how important it is for them to work together. This trend is also reflected in HR technology market, which was already worth a stunning £9.6 billion in 2014. I’m not saying HR and L&D managers need to become tech pros overnight, but understanding and leveraging technology to support their goals will ultimately be a competitive advantage for the company. Another potential ally for HR and L&D can be found further up the food chain. In a recent study by Ellie Filler of Korn Ferry, there was a surprising overlap between the skills needed to be a Chief Executive Officer and the skills needed to be a Chief Human Resources Officer. HR is moving away from being a back-office, administrative department to becoming deeply involved in the company’s business’ overall strategies. The aspects with the greatest overlap found in the study were task-focused and social leadership styles, flexible, complex and creative thinking styles, as well as emotional competencies, such as ambiguity tolerance, composure, empathy, energy and humility. So be prepared to see more senior HR professionals entering the board room than in the past. The only thing they might still need to work on is confidence - here, CEOs are still miles ahead in the study. An age of transparency 2015 will call for leaders to display very different kinds of skills from those in the past. Instead of just managing and executing, they will need to break down hierarchical barriers and collaborate with their employees as peers more than ever before. This involves openness and transparency. In fact, Generations Z and Y rate honesty as the most important quality a leader can have. During our annual talent management forum in Berlin, we discussed traits of successful leaders. Here too, our delegates named "soft" traits such as honesty, but also understanding and compassion as crucial. We are heading towards an age in which employees demand to know what is really going on in their company and simultaneously, want their voice to be heard and understood by top management. Some companies are already going as far as letting their staff view everyone’s salaries and bonuses. But for many organisations, this would still be a taboo for the moment. Whatever approach we choose, open communication will lead to better employee morale and give our top talent a reason to stay. The New Year will pose many new challenges for the workplace - such as business efficiency, productivity and growth, but if we’re able to think outside the box and really listen to our people, these challenges can be turned into great opportunities. I’m excited to see how things pan out. Roll on 2015!

Eating is one of life’s greatest pleasures. Don’t we all love gathering around a table for a good meal, not just to pamper our taste buds, but also to enjoy the company of others? And let’s not forget that cooking has become quite the trend in our day and age, not least because of the many cooking shows and channels we see on TV. That’s why, a couple of days ago we decided to escape the Speexx Madrid office early and spend a very special "Let’s COOK Together" evening with our friends and customers. We chose the Kitchen Club as our location, a magnificent and professional place for cooking some fantastic dishes with the best chefs in town. A group of 30 people, we were set to spend an evening chatting, laughing, smelling, tasting and drinking - and of course - cooking! The evening began with a workshop that allowed us to put our skills into practice. This highly interactive session gave us the chance to chat and exchange some ideas about recipes and cooking skills while preparing our aperitif. We learnt a lot of new things and luckily for us, the chefs were very patient, too. Our hard work in the kitchen was rewarded with an elaborate meal for the Kitchen Club cooks. We spent a fantastic evening exchanging not only cooking tips but also experiences in learning and development and above all, networking. For us at Speexx, it’s very important for us to let our clients and friends meet once in a while and create new synergies. In summary, Let’s Cook was a great opportunity for HR and L&D managers of large organizations to share a meal as well as some interesting conversations about what’s moving the world of HR right now. We’d like to thank everyone who took part and hope to see you again soon at our next event. Let’s … Take a look at the evening in pictures: