Custom Training Needs & Project Work

We can partner with you for bespoke training projects from 1-day to 1-year

From Retail to

Emergency Services

to Banking

We have the experience, capacity and experts to help.

We partner with organisations at any stage of the process to develop, review or deliver training programs for any need that you have.

With over 1000 trainers, who have diverse experience sets and expertise, we can add value to just about any training-related project. We have partnered with organisations for projects as diverse as emotional intelligence (EQ) and critical thinking, new systems roll-outs, sales team development, leadership programs and company-wide personality profiling.

A note on Tailoring

This section refers to 'Custom Projects' which is beyond our standard tailored training delivery, however, it's important to understand that at PD Training we tailor every course we deliver.

That means we focus the delivery on the needs of the organisation and use relevant examples and terminology that reflects your own internal 'speak'. We tailor content as a standard part of our delivery and this is a fundamental aspect of what we consider a "good training experience". Frankly, if you want to read a book or view a set of PowerPoint slides, you're welcome to do so, but that's not what we call training, and that's not what's going to happen in any of our courses.

Examples of Bespoke Training Solutions provided by PD Training

Emotional Intelligence Awareness Program for Supply Chain Team

Need:	To bring awareness to the importance of emotional intelligence, be self-aware of their state of emotion and be sensitive to others so that they could drive better outcomes at work and in personal life. The training need was identified as part of Cisco's IWise program (a program for female employees at Cisco).
How We Helped:	Implemented the Leading Dimensions Profile (LDP) survey to help participants identify their personality types and others at work. The LDP tool has opened up significant data on how an individual recognises and responds to their own emotions, as well as the emotions and behaviours of those around them.
Duration:	1 Day. The client's other offices are now considering the same course (Australia)

Customised Train-the-Trainer (TTT) course for Marine and Oil & Gas Trainers

Marine, Oil & Gas

Need:	Skills improvement and TTT refresher, including individualised assessment of each trainers' facilitation skills
How We Helped:	PD Training led an advanced and customised TTT course by giving each participant an opportunity to present a 30-minute training session in order to provide tailored coaching and feedback. One of this program's intentions is sharing participants' overall scores with their Managing Director, which will be used later on for recognising training gaps within the group. PD Training appraised the participants' quality of training delivery, body language, visual aids, audience participation, technical competency as well as demonstrated preparedness before conducting their own session.
Duration:	10 Days

Lean Six Sigma for Engineers

Rail

Need:	We provided Lean Six Sigma Green Belt training for rail engineers to achieve sustainable and cost-effective improvement in their business processes.
How We Helped:	We focused on delivering Six Sigma concepts, tools and implementation of Six Sigma that were immediately relevant to the rail engineer's program. This program hopes to rejuvenate and engage with a rail-engineering workforce that is future-ready, through encouraging continuous improvement.
Duration:	On-going

Leading with Emotional Intelligence for Managers

Industry Aviation

Need:	Gaining EQ skills to lead a team and to be a "super EQ" leader
How We Helped:	We designed, developed and customised an instructor-led program that equips participants with the knowledge and skills to increase their emotional intelligence when managing themselves and others. We utilised a psychometric reporting tool (LDP) to help them gain insights about their eiQ's score and the six eiQ's dimensions, including Consideration, Perception, Assertiveness, Adaptability, Affiliation and Openness. Due to the evident success of the initial training program, the client has already secured additional sessions for 2016.
Duration:	On-going

Advanced Facilitation Skills for Managers

Insurance

Need:	L&D and Communications managers were interested in using a facilitative style when running training programs and holding meetings.
How We Helped:	Assisted in developing their own unique facilitation style to engage and inspire their groups in Asia. Participants applied facilitation tools and processes as well as practical planning tools to reach optimum outcomes.
Duration:	1 day and delivered other courses in other countries (Malaysia and Singapore)

Negotiation Training for Government Staff

Government

Need:	Increase negotiation techniques of participants who are always communicating with high-ranking officials.
How We Helped:	Given that participants were new to their roles, we focused on how they could apply negotiation strategies to solve issues at work and how to apply basic negotiating concepts to settling an agreement. PD Training equally emphasised the importance of knowing different negotiation methods when dealing with clients who have diverse backgrounds, cultures, beliefs and ethics.
Duration:	1 month and other courses are under consideration

Presentation Skills for Account Servicing and Project Management teams

Marketing & Communications

Need:	Offer essential tools to present and sell their ideas well to clients.
How We Helped:	PD Training taught participants to conduct powerful and engaging presentations by allowing them to "have a go" and be assessed before the end of their training session. In addition, they applied practical tricks to add variety and interest to engage the target audience including producing compelling PowerPoint slides.
Duration:	1 Day

Effective Time Management Using Outlook for Officers

Government

Need:	Teach officers relevant skills and tools on how to manage emails, schedules, meetings and tasks in a more productive and organised way.
How We Helped:	Officers learned basic to advanced functions and tools available in Microsoft Outlook. They also applied the "Do, Dump, Delay and Delegate" productivity tool when managing their emails, hence, giving them more time to complete other tasks at work.
Duration:	1 Day

Assertiveness for Managers

Energy

Need:	Managers needed to acquire specific communication skills to set work standards, handle difficult employees, resolve conflicts at work, coach and counsel staff effectively and appraise them to motivate and to improve working relationships.
How We Helped:	We equipped participants with fundamental assertiveness and self-confidence skills specifically when providing constructive feedback during performance reviews and also provided coping techniques when dealing with difficult behaviours.
Duration:	On-going

Critical Thinking for Branch Managers, Operations and Administrators

Banking & Finance

Need:	Apply critical thinking to improve work quality, modify unnecessary processes and decrease customer complaints through thinking ahead and identifying possible business errors that may arise.
How We Helped:	The staff were taught the whole end-to-end process of Critical Thinking Skills as identification of the problem, evaluating available options and reaching an appropriate solution. Training methodologies such as case studies and group discussions were infused throughout the day to encourage thinking and "speaking out" to substantiate the individual's and group's points-of-view.
Duration:	2 Days and other courses are under consideration

Banking System Roll-out

Banking

Need:	Support national banking system upgrade and roll-out, and provide training to all customer facing users (bank tellers).
How We Helped:	Contributed to the final review and edits of the end user training materials. Provided a team of trainers for Train the Trainer, then delivered all end-user training nationally.
Duration:	Originally a 6 month project. The client has now been ongoing for 2.5 years

Furniture Sales Team Development

Retail

Need:	Help a national retail chain improve the conversion rate from foot traffic to buying customers and increase the average sale value.
How We Helped:	Undertook a training needs analysis through collaboration with the internal training team and a mystery shopping service to develop a custom training program. Delivered the custom Sales Training during the national conference over 2-days. Provided follow up training to stores as requested by proprietors who had attended the original training. Provided training materials and quick reference guides for stores to deliver the training internally.
Duration:	3 months

Emotional Resilience/Leadership & Self Awareness Program

Call Centre

Need:	Team leaders (200+ of them) who support phone operators in an emotionally draining environment needed to be able to support team members under stress, and be able to identify when and how to refer them to internal counsellors
How We Helped:	We wrote and then delivered a custom program titled "Leadership and Awareness" to the entire cohort of Supervisors.
Duration:	5 months (including extended roll out due to success and demand)

Cosmetics Sales Team Development

Retail

Need:	Deliver custom retail sales training to young, part-time staff to help them develop confidence and skills to pro- actively recommend, cross-sell and up-sell products. Sessions had to be held in-store after hours, and be engaging and well received by a young audience who were not 'comfortable' with selling; they are generally in the job for the love of the product.
How We Helped:	Wrote and delivered custom sessions designed for delivery in store, including specific product recommendations and role plays to build confidence.
Duration:	1 month, including delivery to all staff in two locations

Weight Loss Sales Team Development

Retail

Need:	Deliver custom retail sales training to increase customer engagement; specifically to focus on the client support aspect of the sales relationship to help people achieve weight loss results, and therefore value the service more.
How We Helped:	Wrote and delivered the custom training materials, delivered a pilot to rave reviews, then delivered sessions across all states to 100's of staff with extended training sessions requested by franchisees.
Duration:	6 months

Customer Service & Communications

Government

Need:	After a major state department systemic failure, which led to a public enquiry, a commission identified a need for recommended customer service and communication training.
How We Helped:	In this highly scrutinised public scenario, we created a custom training program that was designed to be flexible and adapt to each individual business unit. Delivered a pilot, then delivered training across multiple offices and multiple cities as required - based on internal demand generated from feedback and word of mouth from other departments.
Duration:	2 months

Microsoft Office Upgrade

Banking

Need:	Upon implementation of a major Microsoft Office upgrade the bank identified 2 needs - general staff training and a need for the senior executives (and their EA's) to learn how to take advantage of new workflow and tools available such as OneNote, to re-design their personal processes to adopt and benefit from the tools.
How We Helped:	We wrote and delivered custom training materials and then delivered instructor-led training to 100's of staff, and provided one-on-one coaching to the executives and their assistants.
Duration:	40 days

Emergency Services Operators

Call Centre

Need:	Operators in an Emergency Services environment needed training and development on Emotional Intelligence, Phone Skills and a sensitive Customer focus to improve KPI's and resilience in their roles.
How We Helped:	We wrote and delivered custom training materials and then delivered instructor-led training to 100's of staff state wide.
Duration:	18 months (6 months, then extended for 12 months)

Customer Focus Culture Program

Tertiary Education

Need:	A major university recognised the need to ensure a consistent high level of customer service across every touch point in the university - especially recognising the culturally diverse needs of foreign students.
How We Helped:	We wrote customised training materials, job aids, 12 months of reinforcement emails and provided all deliverables in an html format for the internal eLearning team to finalise and host on the internal eLearning platform.
Duration:	24 months (6 months development, 6 months delivery, extended for another 12 months)

Leadership Development

Construction Industry

Need:	The mid-senior leadership team needed improved skills specifically for managing a complex construction environment with project work including staff, contractors and other external stakeholders.
How We Helped:	We wrote and delivered a customised, leadership development program, delivered a pilot session, then rolled it out across the entire organisation.
Duration:	6 months (extended beyond original scope due to success and feedback)

Field Worker Job Logging and Geospacial Software

Utilities

Need:	Field workers, who worked in drainage installation and repair, required training in the new software and hardware being rolled out to improve job logging and maintenance schedules. Training content and a specific delivery style was needed to accommodate people who chose a career outdoors, instead of one behind a PC in an office.
How We Helped:	We developed a customised training program that taught the required technical skills and delivered the program in a manner which suited the field staff's technical abilities.
Duration:	30 days (awarded in successive years due to successful project delivery)

Managing Crime Scenes

Federal Police

Need:	High emotions and competing policies, processes and focus often lead to sub-optimal outcomes. Training was needed to help teams collaborate and see eye-to-eye.
How We Helped:	We wrote and customised a communications and awareness program for delivery by the internal training team.
Duration:	20 days

Supporting Outplacement Program

Convention Tourism

Need:	The demolition and redevelopment of a major exhibition and convention facility meant that the large team needed to find alternate work; as part of the process they were provided training to up-skill in preparation to re-enter the employment market.
How We Helped:	PDT delivered a wide range of training courses on an as-demanded basis.
Duration:	6 months