Have a merry Hills Christmas
THE Christmas in the Hills event on December 19 at Bella Vista Farm is shaping as one of the region’s popular Christmas events.
Land of the GIANTS
By Mike Walls
Richard Griffiths, chief operating officer of the GWS GIANTS speaks exclusively with WSBA editor, Michael Walls about the direction and priorities of the club.
Forum for big business thinkers
THE second Think Business Forum, hosted by Deloitte will offer Western Sydney business leaders perspectives on how to bring big ideas to life.
When the inside voice says NO
By Anya Haldey
HOW many times have you stopped yourself from doing things you wanted to do, only to hear that voice in your head –“can’t be done”.
Wealth creation leveraging property
SUCCESS in creating wealth through property requires knowledge.
Leader in corporate training
ONE of Australia’s leading corporate education companies, PD Training, has targeted Western Sydney as a region of strong potential for its training programs after announcing it has been accredited by the prestigious International Association for Six Sigma Certification (IASSC).
The accreditation means that PD Training is the only Australian based firm qualified to deliver the globally recognised business benchmark training.
“The Six Sigma Accreditation has been a global business improvement movement for more than 20 years, but Australia has lagged behind without a domestic provider of the global standard of accreditation,” said PD Training CEO, Paul Findlay.
“The accreditation will enable us to deliver world class business improvement training programs to Australian businesses resulting in improved capacity to compete in a global environment.”
Six Sigma is one of the most popular business management methodologies in history. Its global implementation has seen a tremendous return on investment for participating businesses.
Mr Findlay said Western Sydney is one of Australia’s most dynamic markets in terms of diversity of business and regional growth. He said the region had a sophisticated business culture that demanded world class education.
PD Training is an Australian business success story; having been started by its two founders just four years ago from their kitchens. In the years since foundation the business has grown its annual turnover 9-fold every year and their staff 5-fold.
The business recently opened its first office in the US, one of the world’s most competitive corporate education markets. With around 6,000 training organizations in Australia, how does a business evolve in just four years from start-up to become a leader in a field with global export aspirations?
The key, says Mr Findlay lies in the systems the business has developed and its unfaltering focus and investment in technology and teaching talent that enables clients book their course effortlessly, anywhere, anytime and then engage in a world class learning experience.
The systems developed by PD Training mean that everything is systemised with a single click through its website and back-end cloud based custom built systems.
The administration process of getting the initial quote, to choosing a trainer, courses, room bookings, invoicing, and feedback from both the participants and the trainer takes about 45 seconds and can be done on a tablet.
“In this way, we can look at a job from every perspective and get 360 degree feedback,” said Mr Findlay, who worked as a management consultant before starting PD Training with corporate trainer, Karen Winfield.
“Our administration is cloud based and paperless. This greatly reduces our overheads and allows us to focus on delivering outstanding services to our clients.
“From a business continuity point of view, if our office burnt down tomorrow, it would have no affect on our ability to trade.
“We’d just go down the road and buy some tablets and resume business, because all of our information is held in the cloud.”
PD Training has successfully married technology to a people based business.
“Our focus is on people - both staff and clients. We are constantly working to meet our client’s needs to provide the best possible training experiences,” Mr Findlay said.
For more information about PD Training options email west@pdtraining.com.au or visit www.pdtraining.com.au
Family businesses key to west
By Mike Walls
GREATER Western Sydney is home to thousands of businesses who have evolved with the region.