Totara Talks Talent

From programmes to practice: Developing managers at Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Trust

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 17:00:00 +0000

From Programmes to Practice: Developing Managers at Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Trust

In this episode of Totara Talks Talent, Matt is joined by Stephen Melville from Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust to explore how one of the UK’s largest and most complex healthcare organisations is developing its managers at scale.

Stephen shares how the Learning & Development team at Guy’s & St Thomas’ designed and evolved their People Manager Programme, supporting over 5,000 managers across a workforce of 25,000 staff.

The conversation covers how the programme blends e-learning, facilitated workshops, social reflection, and data-driven insight, how Totara supports delivery at scale.

What you’ll learn in this episode

Why Guy’s & St Thomas’ created a dedicated People Manager Programme
How the programme is structured across seven core people principles
How to design management development that feels useful, not theoretical
What it really takes to scale leadership development to thousands of managers
How Totara and Power BI support smarter reporting and insight
Measuring impact without becoming obsessed with ROI
How reflection, social commitment, and storytelling support behaviour change
Practical advice for organisations building management programmes from scratch

About the guest

Stephen Melville is a Learning & Development Manager at Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, where he co-develops leadership and management programmes that support performance, culture, and patient care across one of the UK’s most complex healthcare environments.

Related resources & links

▶️ Watch the webinar:
Developing Managers at Scale at Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Trust
📘 Book: How People Learn – Nick Shackleton-Jones
📘 Book: Map It / Action Mapping – Cathy Moore
🌍 Totara Community – Connect with other learning professionals

Beyond launch: Strategies to drive LMS engagement

Wed, 09 Jul 2025 15:20:00 +0000

Struggling with LMS adoption? You’re not alone.

One of the biggest challenges in L&D today is getting learners to engage with their organisation’s LMS and its content. Too often, platforms are launched without a clear strategy to embed them into the business or drive learner adoption.

In this episode of Totara Talks Talent, we’re tackling this challenge head-on with Laura Caveney, Head of Marketing at BuildEmpire. We’ll explore the LMS marketing strategies that can turn your learning platform from an afterthought into a must-use resource for employees.

Join us as we discuss:

Why LMS adoption struggles are so common
How to position your LMS as a key tool in your organisation
The marketing strategies that can drive learner engagement
How to make learning a core part of company culture
Practical tips to increase uptake and keep learners coming back

If you’re responsible for learning and development and want to increase engagement with your LMS, this episode is packed with actionable strategies to help.

Compliance Champions in action: How Arriva drove 99% completion across borders

Tue, 29 Apr 2025 06:00:00 +0000

In this episode of Totara Talks Talent, we explore how Arriva has built a compliance training programme that not only meets strict regulatory requirements but also drives engagement, accountability, and high completion rates across multiple countries and languages.

I’m joined by:

Marta Rakszewska, Group Compliance Business Partner at Arriva Group
Samy Menad, Compliance Training Specialist

Together, we discuss:

The role of compliance champions in reinforcing training across the organisation
How to combine human accountability with automation and technology to drive compliance
The strategies that helped Arriva achieve a 99% completion rate across their workforce
The impact of multi-language learning and personalised training for a diverse employee base
The balance between global compliance requirements and local business needs

Arriva’s compliance learning programme is powered by Totara and supported by Hubken Group, a trusted Totara Partner. Hubken’s work with Arriva was recently recognised with a Silver award at the 2024 Brandon Hall Excellence in Awards, celebrating their best-in-class compliance training technology.

If you're looking to build a high-impact, scalable, and effective compliance training programme, this episode is packed with insights to help you get there.

Sales training without borders: Building an extended enterprise

Fri, 14 Mar 2025 06:00:00 +0000

In this episode of Totara Talks Talent, we dive into the world of extended enterprise learning—how organisations can train not just their own employees, but also partners, retailers, and other external stakeholders to drive business success.

The guests for this epsiode are Nicola Griffin, Group Training Manager - Retail at BSH, and Mark Parrish, Managing Director at Cortexa, who share their expertise on designing and delivering effective sales training at scale.

We explore:

What an extended enterprise is and why it’s crucial for modern businesses
The key ingredients of a successful sales training programme
How to keep external teams up to date with product knowledge
The biggest challenges of training a large and diverse audience
Strategies to engage learners and drive adoption
The impact of technology and data on scaling learning programmes
Advice for companies looking to build or improve their extended enterprise L&D strategy

If you're in L&D, sales training, or responsible for educating external partners, this episode is packed with insights to help you scale learning beyond your organisation.

Change matters: The secret to LMS implementation success

Thu, 28 Nov 2024 16:00:00 +0000

In this episode of Totara Talks Talent, we dive into the critical yet often overlooked topic of change management in learning and development (L&D). As organisations continue to evolve, the role of L&D has shifted beyond simply delivering training. It’s now about fostering behavioural change, solving performance challenges, and aligning development with organisational goals.

Our guest, Paul Ferguson, Organisational Development Business Partner at West College Scotland, shares his insights on how to effectively navigate change. With years of experience leading transformational projects, Paul provides practical strategies and frameworks for overcoming resistance, fostering buy-in, and empowering employees to become champions of change.

Key takeaways from this episode include:

Why people—not just systems—are the most important element of change.
The importance of engaging early adopters and using their momentum to inspire others.
Practical tips for ensuring long-term success through reinforcement and ongoing support.
A deep dive into the Prosci ADKAR model and how it can guide organisations through the change journey.
The role of managers in facilitating change through the CLARC framework.

Paul also explains how to handle scepticism, bring people along for the ride, and avoid common pitfalls like underestimating the time change requires.

Whether you’re implementing a new system, teaching new skills, or driving cultural change, this episode is packed with actionable insights for L&D and HR professionals.

Key Resources Mentioned:

Prosci ADKAR Model: A practical framework for managing change, focusing on Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement. Learn more about how this model can help your organisation drive successful change initiatives.
CLARC Framework: A framework highlighting the roles of managers in change. CLARC stands for Communicator, Liaison, Advocate, Resistance Manager, and Coach. This model emphasises how managers can guide their teams and bridge the gap between leadership and employees.

West College Scotland use Totara and their Partner is Think Learning.

Learning without limits: Ensuring accessibility in digital learning

Tue, 22 Oct 2024 12:15:00 +0000

Host: Matt Linaker

Guests:

David Dent, Learning & Development Business Partner, Blind Veterans UK
Maia Miller, Managing Director, Aleph Accessibility
Steve Barnett, Front-End Developer, Intopia
Paul Clark, Head of Experience Design, Totara

Episode Overview:

In this insightful episode, we dive into the topic of digital accessibility in learning and development. Our guests—David Dent from Blind Veterans UK, Maia Miller of Aleph Accessibility, and Steve Barnett, a front-end developer specialising in accessibility—explore how to create more inclusive digital learning experiences. From practical steps to improve accessibility to larger philosophical discussions on inclusion, this episode is a must-listen for anyone passionate about making digital learning accessible to all.

We also get a behind-the-scenes update from Paul Clark, Head of Experience Design at Totara, who discusses exciting accessibility initiatives Totara is implementing to enhance user experiences.

Key Topics:

What accessibility in digital learning really means
Common barriers learners face and how to address them
The importance of "baking in" accessibility from the start rather than as an afterthought
Practical advice for making content more inclusive, even under time pressure
The future of accessibility and dynamic content adaptation, including AI and user feedback
How accessibility applies to compliance training and assessment methods
Encouraging continuous feedback on accessibility from learners

Key Quotes:

"Is it really engaging content if people can't engage with it?" — Maia Miller
"If you display it, say it." — David Dent
"Accessibility is a people problem, not a technology problem." — Steve Barnett
"Progress, not perfection. Focus on small improvements and keep moving forward." — Maia Miller

Resources Mentioned:

About Totara:

Totara develops talent development software to create lasting employee success. Learn more at Totara.com or join our community of learning professionals at totara.community to share ideas and collaborate.

Mastering Skills Mapping

Mon, 29 Jul 2024 05:45:00 +0000

In this episode, we're joined by Brendan Kilshaw, Performance Consultant at the Met Office, and Malcolm Taylor, Head of Capability at the UK Health Security Agency.

We delve into the significance of skills frameworks, sharing insights into the process of skills mapping and its importance in measuring competencies. Brendan and Malcolm guide us through the initial steps of setting up a skills framework, including identifying key competencies for various roles, and the importance of customising these frameworks to meet specific industry needs.

We explore the challenges they faced, strategies for successful stakeholder involvement, and how they integrated skills frameworks into their training programs. They also highlight the metrics used to measure skill improvements, the role of technology in tracking progress, and the real-world impact on organisational performance.

You can learn more about the Met Office's case study here and their Totara Partner Catalyst IT here.

Recognising skills with Open Badges

Thu, 27 Jun 2024 05:00:00 +0000

In this episode of Totara Talks Talent, we speaks with Dr. Doug Belshaw, a global advocate for Open Badges.

We delve into the history, evolution, and future of Open Badges, discussing their significant role in professional development and lifelong learning. Doug shares practical advice on implementing Open Badges, whether starting from scratch or enhancing an existing strategy, and highlights how they can effectively engage teams and recognise skills and achievements.

Tune in to discover how Open Badges are transforming the way we value and acknowledge professional growth.

If you'd like to take a free course on how to use Open Badges in your Totara platform you can access a course in the Totara Community.

Narrative Learning: Crafting courses through storytelling

Thu, 30 May 2024 06:00:00 +0000

Storytelling can transform the learning experience, making it more engaging and memorable. This episode covers how to effectively integrate stories into learning design and the impact they have on learner engagement and retention.

Today's Guests:

Cathy Gillespie: Director and Learning Consultant at Like-Minded Learning Limited
Miranda Verswijvelen: Senior Learning Designer at Learningworld Design and PhD Researcher
Sami Chan: Learning Designer at Learning Nexus

Join us as we chat with Cathy, Miranda, and Sami about the importance of storytelling in learning and development. We'll explore when and where storytelling is most effective, how to craft compelling stories for educational purposes, and ways to measure their impact.

In the episode, Cathy mentions a resource from Chris Banks on storytelling which you can access here.

Totara creates talent development software to create lasting employee success. Learn more at Totara.com or join our community of L&D and HR professionals.

Stay up to date with the latest Totara news, product updates, resources and events by signing up to our newsletter.

Onboarding reinvented: Lessons from the frontlines Part 2

Mon, 29 Apr 2024 06:30:00 +0000

In this episode we're reflecting on how to build out an engaging onboarding experience for all your new starters.

First we hear from Harpal Sandhu, a Consultant at Deloitte UK as we learn all about how they collaborated with Totara Platinum Partner Deloitte Belgium to create their Major Programmes onboarding journey.

You can learn more about the project in the Totara Community here.

Then we hear from Sam Taylor and Anna Bishop about how Catalyst It have designed an engaging onboarding program for all their new starters. Catalyst is a founding Totara Partner, specialising in developing, designing and supporting enterprise-grade open source solutions.

You can learn more about Totara at Totara.com

Onboarding reinvented: Lessons from the frontlines

Mon, 04 Mar 2024 11:00:00 +0000

Join us as we explore the exciting yet often challenging experience of starting a new job. We'll delve into the crucial role of onboarding in ensuring that every new employee feels welcomed and empowered to excel in their new role.

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the way we work has undergone a seismic shift. With many organisations grappling with the transition to remote, hybrid, or flexible work models, the landscape of onboarding has evolved significantly. Now more than ever, it's essential for organisations to revisit and refine their onboarding practices to meet the needs of a changing workforce.

In these episodes, we'll take you behind the scenes with industry experts to uncover the strategies and best practices that drive successful onboarding programs. From innovative approaches to traditional methods, we'll explore a range of perspectives to help you optimise your onboarding process.

In this episode we sit down with Jill Scott, the People & Organisational Development Director at Atlas Workplace Services, a leading facilities management organisation based in the UK. Jill will share her insights into creating a welcoming and supportive onboarding experience that sets new hires up for success.

In part 2 of this episode we hear from Simon Perry and Vanessa Higby, who are at the forefront of onboarding at NEFLT, a National Health Service trust in the UK. They'll provide valuable insights into how their trust has tailored its onboarding program to meet the unique needs of healthcare professionals. We also dive into how they managed onboarding for the nightingale project during the peak of the Covid 19 pandemic.

Atlas workplace services work with Totara Platinum Partner Hubken Group and NEFLT work with Platinum Partner Chambury Learning Services.

Totara creates talent development software to create lasting employee success. Learn more at Totara.com or join our community of L&D and HR professionals.

Stay up to date with the latest Totara news, product updates, resources and events by signing up to our newsletter

Learning with Impact

Wed, 03 Jan 2024 11:20:00 +0000

Join us in this compelling episode of Totara Talks Talent as we delve into the world of impactful learning with seasoned expert, Lori Niles-Hofmann. Lori challenges L&D professionals with a thought-provoking question: "How are we helping the business make money, save money, or mitigate risk?"

As a sneak peek, Lori will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming Totara User Conference which you can register for now taking place online on the 21st of February 2024.

During our conversation, Lori introduces the website 'There's an AI for that,' providing a valuable resource for our listeners. You can access it through the link shared in the episode.

Totara is dedicated to fostering lasting employee success. Explore more about Totara at Totara.com or join our community of L&D and HR professionals.

To stay informed about the latest Totara news, product updates, resources, and upcoming events, be sure to sign up to our newsletter.

What's new in Totara version 18?

Tue, 28 Nov 2023 06:00:00 +0000

In this episode we’re going to be talking about all the new features available to Totara subscribers in version 18 of the Talent Experience Platform.

You can learn more about the latest version of the Talent Experience Platform in a few different ways:

1) Take a look at Totara's help documentation.

2) Sign up to webinars.

3) Watch webinars on demand at a time that suits you.

4) Take Totara Academy courses, showcasing the new features in detail.

Totara creates talent development software to create lasting employee success. Learn more at Totara.com or join our community of L&D and HR professionals.

Stay up to date with the latest Totara news, product updates, resources and events by signing up to our newsletter.

How to avoid a downward L&D spiral

Tue, 17 Oct 2023 06:00:00 +0000

In this episode we’re going to be talking about the current trends in the HR Tech and learning and development landscape. We’ll look at where organisations are investing and what you can do now to invest in your people’s skills. We’ll discuss how you can build a talent experience in your own organisation and reflect on ways to avoid a downward L&D spiral.

Totara creates talent development software to create lasting employee success. Learn more at Totara.com or join our community of L&D and HR professionals.

Stay up to date with the latest Totara news, product updates, resources and events by signing up to our newsletter.