An intro to evalu8d and our blog

My name is Phil LaViolette and I run a company called evalu8d, based in the North East, but with a UK team. We specialise in coaching and bespoke training programmes. Established in 2005, we set up our office from home in a true attempt to get that work/life balance and so far, it’s working – if proof were needed, I’m sat writing this, my first blog, from the comfort of my favourite chair, whilst the kids play happily in the garden ― bliss.

So, where to start? Well, the beginning is as good a place as any. People often ask: why did you call yourself evalu8d? Well we were going to call ourselves ‘Train by PowerPoint, not make a difference, but get paid anyway Training Company’ but actually that name wasn’t as catchy and we thought many other training companies had already captured that particular niche in the market. We wanted to be different. We wanted to be straightforward and effective and, taking inspiration from the Ronseal advert, we wanted to ‘do exactly what it says on the tin’. And, much like painting a 40-foot fence with a 3-inch brush, it certainly was going to be a challenge.

You see we really did want to make a difference – I know that sounds like a dreadful cliché but good training really is our passion. Not an easy undertaking though. Despite the fact that there is clear evidence linking a well-trained team with high staff retention and increased profitability, training to many is still considered to be something of a chore. ‘Why am I here?’ they’ll say, ‘I’ve got better things to do’― and that is just the trainer!

Good training isn’t just about knowledge sharing, it’s about changing attitudes, behaviour and mindset. I remember some years back I asked a delegate ‘So why are you at the workshop today?’ His reply was all too common at the time: ‘I don’t know, my manager told me to be here!’ Evidence ― if ever it were needed ― that changing the attitudes to training ― and the importance of the motivation to learn ― needed to start right at the top. And, that’s where the idea for evalu8d came about. It was simple really, both myself and Emma (my wife and co-founder of evalu8d) had an epiphany if that’s not too strong a description. What if we offered a more consultative approach to training? What if we actually worked with and alongside the people who were responsible for training? Surely then we could get to the heart of a business and conduct training that was truly beneficial to the staff rather than supplying the usual ‘off the shelf, training by numbers’ training programmes that were available at the time.

With these thoughts ringing in our heads, Emma and I set up the company. We made the decision to break free exactly at the time of the birth of our youngest and we’ve never looked back. Funny really, for us it was all about seizing opportunities and growing as people, as professionals, and you could say that today that’s something that we’re helping other people to do within their own organisations.

I hope you enjoy this blog, which will have instalments from me and the evalu8d team - in the meantime if you’d like to know more just click here: www.evalu8d.com