SkillSoft Offers Free Access to Courses to Help Stamp Out Bullying at Work

Camberley, 6th November 2008 – SkillSoft, a global leader in e-learning solutions, is supporting Ban Bullying at Work Day on 7 November 2008 by offering complimentary access to three courses designed to help employees tackle workplace bullying, harassment and aggression.

Ban Bullying at Work Day is organised by the Andrea Adams Trust and aims to raise awareness of harassment issues people face at work.

Entitled ‘Difficult People in the Workplace’; ‘Harassment at Work’ and ‘Working with Aggressive People’, the courses discuss bullying issues faced by both large and small organisations. They can be accessed online at anytime – completely anonymously and without the need to go through any registration process.

Each course is free-of-charge and unabridged, containing three to four hours of instruction if completed in one session, although people typically opt to just dip in and out to find the information they need.

Explaining SkillSoft’s decision to open up these courses, Kevin Young, Managing Director of SkillSoft EMEA says: “Whether malicious or not, bullying in the workplace has a negative impact on people’s lives both in and out of the workplace. It affects UK productivity too – not surprising, a recent survey by the Ban Bullying at Work foundation (http://www.banbullyingatwork.com) found that 56 per cent of those surveyed feel that bullying in their workplace is a very serious problem.

“Most concerning of all is where people feel they have to leave their jobs as a result of the bullying behaviour they are experiencing. Couple the ongoing war for talent with rising recruitment costs, and it’s not difficult to understand the financial argument that also exists with respect to this growing issue.”

To access the complimentary courses – which are being made available from November 2008 to November 2009 – visit www.skillsoft.com/bullying

-Ends-

PRESS ENQUIRIES:

Nina Michell

SkillSoft

+(0) 1784 419922

Nina_Michell {at} skillsoft(.)com

Michelle Anker

The Whiteoaks Consultancy

+(0) 1252 727313

michellea {at} whiteoaks.co(.)uk

Notes to editors

SkillSoft has also prepared two brief practical guides to dealing with bullying behaviour which can be used with the information above.

The free courses tackling bullying at work are listed below. These courses are FULL AND UNABRIDGED. For technical reasons they have been made accessible via the demonstration area of the EMEA section of SkillSoft’s website, but they are NOT DEMO COURSES.

1. Harassment at Work – duration approximately 4.5 hours

This course tackles the issue of bullying and harassment in the workplace. From jokes to violence, you will explore the range of behaviour that can be described as harassment, and understand the nature of the problem. You will explore the way that harassment is now defined, and the forms of harassment that are most common, and identify ways of dealing with and preventing harassment, including understanding the legislation. Nobody quite knows the extent of harassment in the workplace, but figures which suggest that 73 per cent of workers have experienced bullying, and 45 per cent have experienced sexual harassment, show how big the problem is. Is it happening in your workplace now? Do you want to know how to stop it?

2. Working with Aggressive People – duration approximately 3 hours

Aggressive people are arguably the most difficult type of people to work with. Hostile-aggressives openly antagonise people; passive-aggressives work behind the scenes with hidden agendas. This course details the characteristics of the six most common types of aggressive people and provides effective ways you can cope with their behaviours.

3. Difficult People in the Workplace – duration approximately 3.5 hours

If you have to deal with difficult people at work on a regular basis this course will guide you in your journey to coping effectively with them. You’ll learn step-by-step methods and processes to help you identify difficult people and learn how to deal and communicate with them.

About SkillSoft – www.skillsoft.com

SkillSoft EMEA, headquartered in Surrey, is a division of SkillSoft PLC (Nasdaq: SKIL), a leading SaaS provider of e-learning and performance support solutions for global enterprises, government, education and small to medium-sized businesses. SkillSoft enables business organisations to maximise business performance through a combination of comprehensive e-learning content, online information resources, flexible learning technologies and support services.

Content offerings include business, IT, desktop, compliance and consumer/SMB courseware collections, as well as complementary content assets such as Leadership Development Channel video products, KnowledgeCenter™ portals, virtual instructor-led training services and online mentoring services. SkillSoft’s Books24×7® product offering includes access to more than 20,000 digitised IT and business books, as well as book summaries and executive reports. Technology offerings include the SkillPort® learning management system, Search-and-Learn®, SkillSoft® Dialogue ™ and virtual classroom.

SkillSoft courseware content described herein is for information purposes only and is subject to change without notice. SkillSoft has no obligation or commitment to develop or deliver any future release, upgrade, feature enhancement or function described in this press release except as specifically set forth in a written agreement. SkillSoft, the SkillSoft logo, SkillPort, Search-and-Learn, SkillChoice, Books24×7, ITPro, BusinessPro, OfficeEssentials, GovEssentials, EngineeringPro, FinancePro, AnalystPerspectives, ExecSummaries, ExecBlueprints, Express Guide and Dialogue are all trademarks or registered trademarks of SkillSoft PLC in the United States and certain other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners, countries.