This year we’re celebrating 15 years of The Hub Events!
Over the past decade and a half, we’ve not only helped thousands of people across the country to learn, thrive and inspire but we’ve also learned a lot ourselves. Here we share 15 things we’ve learned from 15 years of delivering professional development and training courses that give people the skills to succeed.
1. Companies that invest in their people get a big return on that investment.
Investing in your people’s learning pays off for businesses. It’s no secret that people development is key to organisational growth. For 15 years, our training has been helping organisations do just that.
Research carried out by The Association for Talent Development and Gallup shows that businesses with a structured training program can boost profitability per employee by 218% and gain a 24% higher profit margin compared to those investing less in their people’s learning and development.
We’re proud of the strong relationships we’ve built with our clients, many of whom have become repeat customers, turning to us to help their business develop year after year.
2. Our trainers are some of the best in the business.
Our trainers are part of The Hub Events’ extended family. Without them, we simply couldn’t do what we do, and we only work with the best. Our trainers continuously research their specialist areas voraciously and are always looking for new techniques, examples and theories to share in their courses.
What’s more, each trainer combines years of expertise and research with real-life, hands-on experience. Like any good teacher, it’s not just what they know but how they help you grow. Our trainers are committed to providing delegates with practical, usable tips that they can put into action as soon as they get back to the workplace.
“My client work without doubt has a huge influence in the way I shape my content. As a psychotherapist, I can identify things from sessions, anonymously of course, that adds insights into my training. Clinical work can heavily inform what I try and get across.”
Jonny Ward, Hub Events Trainer
And our thousands of five-star reviews of our trainers are a testament to not just their quality but the real impact they have helped people have as a result of their training.
3. Representation in training matters.
“The reason (the course) came about was that we recognised that it was something women were talking about during other training courses...”
Emma Walker-Cotton, Hub Events Trainer
“Really grateful to have had the opportunity to share in a safe and trusted space.”
Delegate, Women of Colour in Leadership
We listen and work hard to ensure our training proactively supports groups as well as being available for all. Courses like Women Advancing in Leadership and Women of Colour in Leadership have been developed alongside our expert trainers to help level the playing field and provide a platform for underrepresented voices in the workplace.
“Whenever there’s visibility, we will get pushback from people. So with the courses, it can be the same thing. As soon as you put something out that is specifically for an underrepresented group, there is that challenge. And as long as it's still being challenged, it reaffirms the need for a course specifically for an underrepresented group!”
Emma Walker-Cotton
4. A great training venue makes a big difference.
We know that finding the right venue to deliver our courses is an important part of the training experience We hand-pick our venues to make sure they deliver the perfect environment for people to learn in. From great locations - right near transport links and hotels to amazing, friendly and helpful staff.
From Vibrant spaces and fully equipped training rooms to Lunch cooked freshly on-site, the best tea and coffee and snacks to keep you powered up throughout the day.
5. People learn from each other (as well as our trainers).
“One of the things we’ve learnt is how much value and knowledge delegates also get from interacting with each other. Obviously they’re learning from the trainer, but sharing experiences with each other, whether it’s during the course over their table, group work, or just chatting over the coffee breaks, is always really nice to see.”
Emma Salveson - Hub Events Founder
We make sure we build time into every course for everyone to be able to speak and participate, if they want to and how they want to, and that includes being able to share and learn from others in the group too. Keeping our training group numbers small gives everyone the time to have their say and ask questions without pressure – and to build some great connections with others in the room.
6. Boosting people’s skills and confidence through training, boosts your business.
Our clients get more than just well-trained people as a result of our courses. It’s not just about the skills and techniques that your people can learn, but about the positive impact that developing your people can have on your company culture. Studies show it can even help with staff retention and reduced absence.
7. Different people have different learning styles.
“Some people are what we call kinetic learners. They need to be squeezing a stress ball or doodling in their book or something similar. But it doesn’t mean they aren’t paying attention – it’s just something kinetic learners need to do while they’re learning.”
James Perryman, Hub Events Trainer
Everybody is different and everybody learns things differently too. Our courses are designed to be interactive sessions, not lectures with slideshows. Our trainers are expert facilitators. They will introduce a number of techniques to make sure everyone in the room gets as much out of the day as possible. It’s all about reading the room, adapting and giving everyone the opportunity to get involved in a way that benefits and is comfortable for them.
“Understanding how adults learn and structuring a session that will work really well. There's quite a lot to that, particularly around pace and energy.”
Larry Reynolds, Hub Events Trainer
8. We continuously adapt and deliver fresh training to meet ever-changing needs.
The world of work has changed over the past 15 years.
The introduction and development of new technology and global events like the pandemic meant that everyone has had to pivot and adapt to change. We’ve been able to make sure our courses and their content stay useful and relevant by adopting new methods like delivering courses in The Virtual Classroom and developing courses to help organisations cope with change. Courses like Managing Change, Beyond the Pandemic: Brilliant Leaders, Thriving Teams and Leading Hybrid Teams are examples of training developed from continuously working with businesses and our trainers to identify what’s needed, what’s coming down the line for organisations and individuals and how we can help them with the right skills and insights to learn and thrive.
9. Preparation for your course is key.
We’ve shared a lot of top tips from our trainers on how course delegates can prepare themselves for the course ahead and also how they prepare themselves and their spaces to create the perfect learning environment.
At The Hub Events, we’re no exception to the rule of preparation. Over the last 15 years, we’ve put 100% effort into making sure everyone is ready, prepared, with the right info and the right equipment in the right place to give a course the best opportunity for success. It’s worth the effort!
“Without any doubt, they are the most professional and customer-centric training hub that I have worked with. Imagine a world where you know enough in advance where a training course will be held, who for (with enough time to connect and build rapport), who will be attending, all the logistics – and then when you turn up to an in-person event, everything is there and ready. It’s like a dream come true for a trainer! And the online sessions are equally well organised.
James Perryman, Hub Events Trainer
10. Never be afraid to ask questions.
We’re always listening. We love to work with organisations and ask lots of questions about what they need from a course, why and what they want to achieve. We’re always asking what’s needed, what’s next. We listen to customer feedback to ensure that courses are constantly delivering content in an engaging and informative way. We encourage our delegates to be curious and enjoy asking questions too!
“I love the participants who ask lots of questions. Even if you are quite introverted, and it feels slightly uncomfortable, I would encourage you to experiment, try to at least ask something during the course.”
Larry Reynolds, Hub Events Trainer
11. We always need to stay curious.
It's an intrinsic value of what we do. In order to improve every day, year on year, we always ask questions, interrogate our methods – and stay curious.
Some of our most important and popular courses such as Presentation Skills for the Reluctant Presenter, are born out of our questioning and curiosity, trying to find new ways of doing things and asking, ‘How can we do things better? Can we make a course that helps this person or solves that problem?’
“The ideas often come from listening to what is being asked for during training, particularly with in-house courses. A business may ask for a certain kind of course, and the key question I always ask is: Why - what's the problem you're trying to solve? That way we can continue to develop courses really helpful and relevant”
James Perryman, Hub Events Trainer
We’re always refreshing and updating our content to make it as relevant and up to date as possible, we love to investigate new training topics.
12. You have to challenge yourself to get the best results.
“Ask yourself ‘Why am I on this course?’ If your narrative is: ‘because I was sent on it’, then you have to change that mindset.”
Emma Walker-Cotton, Hub Events Trainer
We all know what it feels like when you’re sent on a course by your manager and you perhaps don’t want to be there. Well, after 15 years of delivering training, we know that the delegates who come with a mindset to learn and challenge themselves are the ones who will have the most fun and reap the most benefit from the day!
We encourage our attendees to think of a specific problem that they want to solve by coming on a course. Focusing your efforts on this helps you get clearer results, faster.
13. Training only works when you use it.
“Actually do something with the things you’ve learned. You’re not going to transform your personality, habits and practices overnight... Just make sure you do something with the course content as soon as possible!”
Larry Reynolds, Hub Events Trainer
We don’t deliver training just for training’s sake. Since day one, our aim has been to deliver usable solutions to real-life problems that people experience at work. Each of our trainers equips delegates with practical skills that can be used as soon as they get back to work. The key is, to make sure you do it!
“To get the most out of your learning, share what you've learned with someone, maybe a coach, a manager or colleague so it creates accountability.”
James Perryman, Hub Events Trainer
14. We genuinely help people to have a better day at work.
From starting The Hub Events with a humble mission, we wanted to help delegates do better at work - and feel better about work. Over the past 15 years, we’ve delivered hundreds of thousands of hours of training helping people across the country through both our relationships with the businesses we support, and direct feedback from our delegates. We see time and time again how our training courses help solve real-life problems, boost thousands of people’s confidence, and progress their careers.
“That chemistry you can just feel in the room, that people are having ‘penny-dropping’ moments and they suddenly see something that they hadn't seen before. It might be about themselves, it might be other people or it might be about what happens in their workplace. When those moments happen, you can just see that the world has become more straightforward for them, and they suddenly see a path to get them where they need to be.”
Shona Ward, Hub Events Trainer
15. Our wonderful team means we always have a better day at work!
We’ve helped thousands of people feel more confident and empowered in their jobs, but it wouldn’t be possible without our wonderful team of ‘Hubbies’ and we count ourselves as extremely lucky to be part of such a supportive and passionate team, both with our immediate Hub Events team but also our wider family of trainers, venue managers, web experts and more.
The people we work with and the way we work together is something well worth celebrating and we know that if the past 15 years is anything to go by, the future can only mean continuing to have the best days at work!
Cheers to 15 years and we’re even more excited about the training and professional development opportunities we’ve got in store for you this year. So if you want to learn, thrive and inspire yourself you can find out more about business training courses to fit your needs by getting in touch with our team here and check out the range of training we have on offer here.