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Jonathan Hill
eLearning Specialist with a background in HR/L&D and adult education, currently producing training materials for the insurance industry.
Location Birmingham, West Midlands
Achievements
Activity
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
The phased return bit is really important - and it's key thuis bit is not rushed or glossed over. A common error is to apply the same time frame to full-time and part-time staff, when arguably part-time staff need longer to readjust, particularly in physically demanding jobs.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
We're a happy and dedicated bunch in my department and don't suffer from non-authorised absence (to my knowledge). However, being a relatively small company working in quite close proximity to one another, if one of us catches a cold, we all get it! I think I'd rather my colleagues work from home, where this is possible, than pass on a cold and affect the...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
In a very small team such as mine, frequent or prolonged absence could have very significant impacts on our service and productivity. We have a ckear Absence Management Policy, but this should perhaps be supported by greater capacity and succession planning to minimise 'Single Points Of Failure'.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
We have access to a counselling and advice hotline as part of our company healthcare plan, can buy and sell up to 5 days holiday and work flexibly to accomodate personal commitments. We also support a different charity every year and hold lots of events and fundrasing activities to support this.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
I think I'm pretty supportive in each of the five domains, but could perhaps do more in 'health' to encourage regular breaks, ensure my staff are taking a full lunch hour and using holiday and flexible working to encourage a better work/life balance.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
I attended a very interesting presentation on this topic at this years CIPD Festival of Work. Looking forward to studying this in more detail.
As a manager I only have so much latitude around this - for instance, we have clear policies on absence and sick pay - but I know from experience that my company is as supportive as they can be when an employee has...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
This is really helpful - although for a small team like mine there is a lot of overlap between the first two steps.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Very thorough summary - I'm a strong believer in co-created objectives. They help to build engagement and foster commitment to the goals from the outset.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
We're pretty good at this. We have monthly 1-2-1s and twice yearly appraisals that follow a formal structure and 'rating' process. These are pretty transparent and easy to follow, but the comments in the video above about unconcious bias interest me. Even with such a clear, seemingly objective process, can bias still creep in?
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
This was a more positive and constructive experience all round, for the customer and employee, with the manager acting quickly to resolve the situation without escalating tensions and turn it into a teachable moment.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
I would have addressed the issue before the wrong order was sent out, but done so in a more discreet way, without embarassing the employee. I would then have found a quiet moment later in the shift to discuss what happened and coach the employee on how they could have handled the situation better. Key to this would be establishing whether the employee...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Wow! The manager handled that very badly. He embarrassed the employee, probably dented their confidence and undermined his own credibility as a leader. For the short-term 'gain' of saving face in front of the customer, he has likely damaged his relationship with the employee.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
My best experiences of performance management have always been when the goals are mutually agreed from the outset, easily tracked and measured and regularly reviewed. The best managers take time out to celebrate hitting targets and reaching key milestones to encourage further development.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
"On the same page, all of the time" resonated with me, as I feel that sums up what a high performing team looks like in my organisation. Communicating effectively and working efficiently to a common purpose
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Very enjoyable week with lots to think about. Wish I'd learned some of this sooner.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
The 'Alternative' and 'Change Plan' aspects of this model cannot be overstated. Having the bravery and self-awareness to recognise when you need to differently and committing to that change is often where coaching falls down.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Really useful overview and, like Karolina, I immediately noticed the parallels with the GROW model too.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
This reads almost like a cross-section of my audience!
Anika would definitely benefit from a clearly defined 'learning pathway', with support from her manager, coupled with access to online courses that allow her to build and test her knowledge and track her progress.
I think Karim would respond well to job-shadowing and being assigned a short-term...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
I'd like to delve more into Communties of Practice in our workplace, which I have a lot of experience in my own professional development. Using platforms like Yammer and Microsoft Teams to create spaces where peer-to-peer learning can take place.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
I design eLearning for a living, but ackowledge that it's not always the most appropriate format for learning. One of my most memorable learning experiences was classroom-based, but utilised technology to conduct live polling and quizzes throughout the session. I'm a strong advocate of bringing tecnhology into the classroom in ways that 'gamify' the...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
We quite deliberately provide a blend of learning delivery styles and formats, although my own preference is towards elearning and social/peer-to-peer as that is my job role.
Using a variety of delivery styles and formats has clear benefits in terms of engagement and retention and also means in a small organisation we can respond to change quickly.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
This is a really useful template - thanks! Me and my team have had a very successful 12 months, even winning an industry award. But that's all the more reason not to become complacent and focus too much on our strengths. Coincidentally, we're in the process of revising our appraisal criteria across the company, taking a much more rounded view - akin to a...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
I think the last development conversation I had with my staff member hit all of these points, but I could probably been more structured in my approach to it and placed more emphasis on the individual's aspirations and needs.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
What's that old chestnut? 'What if we train them and they leave? But what if we train them and they stay!'
People are a resource like any other, requiring maintenance and investment to continue to get the best out of them.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Interesting week. As I've mentioned before, our recruitment tends to skew towards school leavers or younger professionals already working in the sector, so our Induction process tends to swing between being quite full on to relatively hands off. But both audiences still need certain types of support and being consistent in our approach to Inductions - while...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
I think there is a great opportunity to use simple technology such as video messages to personalise the Onboarding / Induction process and make new starters feel part of the company from the moment they accept the job offer. A series of short messages welcoming the new starter, identifying key personnel, introducing their immediate manager and even showing...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
I will always remember my induction at my second ever job - at a now defunct insurance company - which was terrible! On my first day I spent an hour with the Head of Department in his office being lectured about the importance of pensions, then I was sent to help the Admin team with the filing for the day, as my desk wasn't ready and I had no computer. This...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
This is timely as I am hoping to expand our team. Any induction programme for my department would include:
- Onboarding via our eLearning platform prior to walking through the door, providing basic Compliance and Health & Safety training, an overview of the company and - importantly - a first look at the platform they will be working with.
- They would...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Again, another really instructive exercise and I don't feel I can share the results of this, as they're pretty damning in some ways. Small teams such as mine are particularly vulnerable and identifying who is a 'flight risk' and having succession plans in place is clearly very important. If I fell under a bus tomorrow I'd like to think I would be missed!
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Coincidentally, this is something I have been thinking about a lot recently, as we consider whether we need to expand my small team. I would say one of the most important reasons someone would want to work for me on my team is I would give them the space and trust to make key decisions about 'what good looks like' based on their professional experience and...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
This is a really instructive exercise. I imagined the first candidate to be be 'Late 20s, early 30s, female, degree educated, with ann open, friendly, nuturing personality'. I imagined the second candidate to be 'Mid 30s, male, with a technical qualification equiv to Level 5, with an organised, analytical and detail-minded personality.'
And I did this...
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Yes! I second this. I work in a sector where this is a danger - jargon can vary from company to company. 'BI' in commercial underwriting terms is the abbreviation for 'business interruption'. But in general insurance, it's more common for this abbreviation to be used for 'bodily injury'.
Using 'BI' in a job specification for a ill-defined insurance role...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Yep! I suspected all five of the job descriptions were in some way troublesome, but it's amazing how often you see adverts that include phrases like these!
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
These are interesting examples and many here have already highlighted the issues with some of these candidate descriptions. The one that leaps out at me though is the potentially 'ageist' fashion retail sales assistant post.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
When I was interviewed for my current role I was asked to talk more about my attitude and approach to my work and my hobbies and interests, than give specific examples of my work, as I had already provided a copy of my portfolio ahead of the interview.
In creative fields such as my own (eLearning Design) I think it's a really good idea to do this, as the...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Broadly speaking, my organisation already does a good job of following these principles when recruiting new staff and has recently begun to make better use of tests and competency based questions to ensure candidates have the correct level of knowledge and experience, while also identifying individuals who have a willingness to learn and grow.
Again, all...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Economic and Social factors have the biggest impact on recruitment for my organisation, with some quite specific local workforce issues shaping the quality of candidates and their salary expectations. As I mentioned in the last section, focussing on school leavers rather than graduates or already qualified professionals means the quality of candidates can vary...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
The sector I work in, financial services/insurance, despite being regulated and overseen by professional bodies, does employ a high proportion of school leavers and 'grows its own workforce' with a learn by tote approach to training.
The better organisations offer sponsorship of professional qualifications and career development, but it is fair to say...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
I lean towards facilitating and coaching but have found I have to alter my style when dealing with key stakeholders who do not report directly to me, but need to be directed to achieve mutual goals.
I feel that wider use of 'intent-based leadership' would be helpful to my organisation.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
This rings very true to my current situation, moving from delegating to facilitating as I support a member of staff through her CIPD qualification. I am most comfortable working in these roles, alongside coaching, and less comfortable directing people.
However, I acknowledge there will be occasions where I need to direct rather than facilitate, for a range...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
One of the best managers I've had in my career took a very compassionate and supportive stance when I was going through some personal problems. Almost 20 years later I still remember him, his structured and throughtful approach and the support he gave me during that period. I remained in that company for many years, progressing to a more senior role despite...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Without realising it I've been following the 'intent-based leadership' approach, being a very small team, each with clearly defined roles. I am fortunate that my team member is highly skilled and can be trusted to make technical decisions. In fact, I rely on her to make such decisions in several key areas where I acknowledge she has more...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Part of my role as a L&D learning system administrator is to, quite literally, use technology to share knowledge, so this comes quite naturally to me and is my default style of leadership.
Storytelling and metaphor are also important, especially when describing complex and often abstract processes. Thinking of datasets in terms of 'pots' or 'baskets' can be...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Again, coming at this from the perspective of having only one person who directly reports to me, who I regard as an equal in most of our areas of work, trust is really important.
I trust her to do her 'day job' and she in turn trusts me to do mine, 'pulling rank' only when necessary and appropriate. I am very transparent about my approach - that our...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
On a team of just two, with each of us having very clearly defined roles and responsibilities, delegating is difficult for me - particularly as my job is more 'technical' and the software I use isn't licensed for multiple users. It is also often the case that any task I can delegate take longer to explain than the task itself.
Nonetheless, I have created...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
"A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down."
The ability to guage your audience, use empathy, be discreet and understand what drives your staff and their needs is fundamental to people management. There are many less pleasant aspects to people management and your message may not always be positive, but it can always be delivered in a positive and...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Big fan of the FutureLearn MOOC approach to learning. The support offered by not only the educators, but other students here in the comments, has been invaluable on previous courses I have studied.
If anyone would like to connect outside FL, my LinkedIn profile is here:
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
I'm an Associate CIPD member but, as I'm fond of saying, "Every day is a school day."
(What's more my CIPD qualification is not in management, but L&D.)
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
One of the best managers I've had in my career took a very compassionate and supportive stance when I was going through some personal problems. Almost 20 years later I still remember him, his structured and throughtful approach and the support he provided me during that period. I remained in that company for many years, progressing to a more senior role...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
I come from a Learning and Development background where I have been the 'team leader' for groups of new starters during their induction.
More recently I have become the Team Leader of a very small team - just the two of us! - and the most interesting aspect of this new role, for me, is the ability to dedicate much more time to help the person I am managing...
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Jonathan Hill replied to Carly Jones
I agree with this. A very steep learning curve between weeks 1 and 2 and the lack of hands on practice was noticeable. However, I have been encouraged to continue my studies in this area.
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Jonathan Hill replied to David Marples
I'd echo these comments, but also add that, for me, this course has taken some of the mystery and fear out of programming and encouraged me to explore this area further. Thanks for your tip regarding the adventure game course here in FutureLearn David.
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Jonathan Hill replied to Kay Southgate
@DavidMarples thanks for the tip!
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Again, the concept seems logical and physical easy to follow, then I look at the code!
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
I use this concept a lot in eLearning with tracked variables changing the content of the course based on what are essentially 'If Statements'. Nice to see this in its purest form.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Very logical - again, I understand the concept but I have been spoiled somewhat by graphical interfaces and timeline/state based game design in rapid authoring software such as Storyline and Unity. Need to get to grips with the code!
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Coming from an animation background, this reminds me of the repeating background in an old Scooby Doo cartoon. I understand the concept, but getting to grips with expressing this in code will be a challenge I think. But one I'm looking forward.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Very clear breakdown highlighting the logic behind programming. I follow a similar thought process in the rapid authoring tools I use to create eLearning, essentially using a graphical interface and plain English instructions to 'program', but I would dearly love to understand programming in the purest sense.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
The only Python I'm familiar with is The Life Of Brian and Holy Grail, but looking forward to getting to grips with this.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
I'm amazed that more software houses don't make regular use of ethical hackers or employ an in-house team to thoroughly test a new product and discover any weaknesses before release. I guess it comes down to production time and cost?
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
The 'CIA' triangle - nice acronym, evocative and easy to remember.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
'Black-hat' hackers are the 'bad guys', in short. They are acting without permission to disrupt and/or profit. They also be linked with other criminal activity.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Thanks for a really enjoyable course. This is my third Digital Skills course with Accenture/FutureLearn and I will definitely be returning for more.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Lots to take in and lots to consider before I progess to week two. Thought the first question with the free text answers was a bit unfair, in that it did not allow synonyms or slight variations to the phrasing. I added many variants of the correct answers and ran out of chances.
When designing similar questions I tend to allow for some variation in the...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
This is also an area I'd like to become more adept in, as I currently build levels in a much more labour intensive manner within my eLearning software. I've been experimenting with Unity Engine.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
That's fascinating!
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
I've toyed with this concept in my eLearning designs as the software I use allows objects to change state when they intersect with certain other objects, including invisible hotspots, within a slide.
Understanding and applying this concept in its truer code driven form is something I need to get to grips with.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Being able to change the way a sprite moves over different surfaces can really change the environment and dynamics in a game. I'm think specifically of the way Sonic moved and accelerated differently when underwater. It was a subtle but important indicator that the rules of that zone were slightly different and increased the level of challenge.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Seems ... straightforward? But I know I'd make the mistake of not multiplying gravity by delta time unless it had been pointed out here..!
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
That's a lovely spritesheet of Sonic. The artistry when working at this scale with just a handful of pixels always impresses me.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Interesting! I've designed sprites from a series of PNG files in the past to mimic the look of classic computer games. As a moving GIF the sprite maintains a mixture of transparent and non-transparent areas. However, this is once again to mimic a game in the rapid authoring tool I use to create eLearning courses, so I'm keen to learn more about the actual...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
This has answered a long-standing question I had about how to standardise the speed my sprites across different screens/devices. Thanks!
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Really interested to find out more about 'double buffering'.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
"Start at the back and work forward" - I've learnt this the hard way in my past attempts!
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
I'm accustomed to thinking in these terms, as the rapid authoring software I use to create eLearning (Articulate Storyline) allows for objects to have different states that are influenced by events and interactions, including user input. I think my challenge will be create and apply this logic using base code, rather than graphical interface and plain English...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Very clear summary and what is evidently a fundamental concept. I can now see the Matrix!
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Hello, I am a eLearning designer with a penchant for using 16-bit game design and characters in my courses. However, I have little formal game programming background and I'm keen to expand my knowledge of this area.
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Jonathan Hill replied to Rab McC
Yes! Great analogy. Don't be like Dougal, I think the message is?
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
My intention from studying this course is to learn how to test the security of the websites and online platforms that I am responsible for administering. I would grant permission to a white-hat hacker for this purpose, but I wouldn't take too kindly to being hacked without permission, just so the hacker can 'increase their knowledge'.
Yet I also acknowledge...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Hello, I'm an eLearning designer based in the UK who has been stung a couple of times in the past by browser and website vulnerabilities affecting the delivery of my online learning courses. I'm interested in learning how to spot these risks sooner.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Very clear breakdown. In the past I've also found it useful to copy and paste job specs into a Wordle, which then graphically highlights which words are most heavily featured in the advert. This can sometimes reveal hidden emphasis on secondary skills or behaviours that are not obvious on first reading.
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Jonathan Hill replied to Jonathan Hill
@HelenaMarkusic that really depends, I think, on whether there is much of an existing community of social work and related fields on LinkedIn. My experience suggests it is skewed towards the private sector, as I think public sector employees tend to face more restrictions about using social media.
I'd definitely recommend digging around in the groups on...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Virgin Media seem to be pretty good at this, often engaging with criticism from customers on Twitter in funny and disarming ways. The Dave TV channel and BBC Radio 6 are also good at using 'What is your favourite...?' conversation starters on Twitter, which garner a lot of responses and, presumably, data, on their customers likes and dislikes.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
KPIs are really important, as without being able to measure and assess the impact of a campaign we would be doomed to 'repeat the same experiment, expecting different results.'. And that's madness!
The marketing department at my company is very good at identifying, collating and analysing these 'metrics', as they refer to them.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
The first name that popped into my hard was Khloe Kardashian who has built a considerable social media presence alongside/to promote her make-up brand. I'm completely outside her target audience, yet even I have heard of her!
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
I was spotted by a recruiter on LinkedIn and if it wasn't for that I would not be in my current role, which is unimaginable to me. I didn't realise it at the time, but I was stuck in a rut in my last job and without much of a plan I started posting articles on LinkedIn sharing my thoughts on my industry (L&D) and examples of my work.
Then I studied another...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Arresting visuals, humour and a frequent, regular updates grab and hold my attention on Twitter.
I'm not sure I entirely approve of the 280 character limit, as I felt the 140 limit really forced tweets to be concise and to the point. I used to set my design teams a 'Twitter Challenge' to break up copy provided by subject matter experts into smaller, more...
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The hashtag is a very big component of building campaigns on Twitter, but they can sometimes take a life of their own.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
LinkedIn, most definitely. It's fast becoming a hybrid of other social media platforms, with the recent adoption of 'reactions' and the ability to post GIFs and short looping videos.
The business focus remains but the methods of grabbing customer's attention and interacting with them are quickly evolving. (Or finally catching up with social media,...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
I think business that use social media well do so in a way that doesn't just scream 'buy this!', instead creating a relationship with customers (and potential customers) that tells the story of the brand. I'm extremely leary of any marketing that is as blunt as 'buy this', but appreciate the more nuanced approach used by brands such as Lego. Their social...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
I think our marketing team use HootSuite... will investigate further!
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Sounds like a great job!
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
What I really admire about my colleague who manages our company's social media presence is how organised he is. On top of being a good communicator with an eye for detail (typos can ruin a marketing campaign!), he plans campaigns so well that they run like clockwork - even when he's out of the office. Mastery of the relevant software is also clearly...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
I'm a big fan of the Twitter-based artist @ColdWar_Steve, who is virtually a one-man band in terms of content creation, curation and management of his Twitter account.
He has a terrific workrate and tweets a new artwork at least every 2-3 days and often spends the following hours interacting with his fans in comments. He has a full-time job in the public...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
I don't really follow any brands as such, as I'm a bit leary of the data mining and targeted advertising that goes on and use a lot of ad blockers.
However, picking up from the last question, @ByDonkeys on Twitter have combined short videos, images and longer 'infomercials' to really good effect, alongside a billboard campaign that extend their message to...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
My absolutely favourite example of this is the campaign group Led By Donkeys, who have combined a real-world billboard advertising campaign with a strong online presence, particularly on Twitter, where they have used images, video and memes to put their message across very effectively.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
8 seconds! Wow. Based on that it has to be a channel that is 'instant' - such as Twitter or Instagram and, to a lesser extent, Facebook. Twitter feels like the place where things are more likely to go viral thesedays, as it less prone to filter bubbles of like-minded people talking to/sharing with each other.
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
College students - definitely Twitter, Instagram and possibly YouTube
Young professionals - LinkedIn
Women aged 40+ - definitely FacebookThere is a clear age divide emerging between Facebook and Twitter. I've been on FB for over 10 years and don't really have many friends below my age there. In recent years I've seen many more and more older friends and...
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Jonathan Hill replied to Jonathan Hill
The format this approach can take varies a great deal, but in one of its more obvious examples, my eLearning mirrors computer games with progress through a course based on lots of small challenges. Failure is acknowledged but not emphasised, and the user can immediately continue from the point they...
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Jonathan Hill made a comment
Really useful resources, thanks. A lot of this is common sense but the structure and tools (for scheduling and the like) are clearly very important to achieving your intentions.
