Lee Solomon

Lee has just returned from four years in the UK where he has been working with all sorts of organisations, helping them to deliver staff capability.

Returning to Brisbane in late 2010 after a 30,000km trip around Europe in his campervan, Lee has been working with SoftEd ever since, "My role at SoftEd focuses more on professional development at an inidividual level - a very different experience to organising training for an entire department - but it's rewarding to talk to people after they complete a course and have them say that it was just what they were looking for!"

Lee's specialisation is in helping people to better understand their own needs by looking at all the development opportunities relevant to their role and individual career aspirations. "People shouldn't just train for the sake of it! I hate the 'sheep-dip' approach to 'employee development'! It's important that any training undertaken serves a purpose other than looking nice in one's employee file! I am passionate about continuing professional development and getting technical workers engaged with professional development opportunities is a tough challenge that I really enjoy."

Lee firmly believes that staff training and development should not be treated as though it occurs in a vacuum, but as an integrated part of the work experience, "It's really important from a communications and organisational development perspective to make sure staff know what training is available to them and why, and to present opporunities in a way that fits with the ways of working for the team. If you can get this part sorted, any training initiative you undertake will increase performance, quality of output, and those 'touchy-feely metrics' like 'satisfaction', 'self-determination' and 'fulfilment' which are often translated into words like 'retention' or 'reduced turnover'. Work and training should not be treated as seperate things!"

In addition to helping people and departments access better learning and development oppourtunities, Lee also enjoys long walks along the beach, basket-weaving, and cliched lists of personal interests.