As management science grows ever more sophisticated training has become inextricably entwined with performance management and undertaken largely by line managers with a subsequent reduction in external training.

It does not matter if your employment policies are state of the art if training is not given to staff at the appropriate levels in their use and implementation. As the case of Corus Hotels PLC v Woodward and Rushton shows, employers can face discrimination claims from prospective employees who consider the interview process has been unfair. It is not sufficient to have an impeccable equal opportunities policy if all staff from telephone and reception staff to the very senior managers are not made aware of equality issues. You must ensure that everyone involved in the recruitment process, not just those directly involved in HR, fully understand the implications of the Discrimination legislation. In fact this applies to most aspects of personnel management; see Discrimination.

Our monthly breakfast forums have enabled employers as diverse as Eurotunnel and Santé Verte to keep up to date with employment law issues. We also run seminars from time to time of general relevance to the business community, and more importantly also undertake private coaching for smaller groups of those responsible for people management. Numbers can be as few as 5 or as many as 20. Training can be designed to deal with specific shortcomings identified in our audit process as well as areas that may be of particular concern to the company management.