Bending and Flexing
The May issue of People Management fits in so well to the theme of this week’s blog! Serendipity or what? So Peter Cheese talks about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how innovation is a growing trend. Some organisations and people have always been innovative. I wonder what makes them like that?
Bobbing and Weaving
I started to think about what makes an organisation or business last so long. Is it resilience or a real sense of purpose? Is it agility or innovation? Is it the ability to roll with the punches of recessions and the fast paced world we live in? Is it about having the right people in the right place with the right skills and the right values?
What makes a team?
So that all sounds pretty heavy and work related. Reflecting on this time I was delighted with the amount of laughter! It was good to be reminded again that work should be fun! I strongly believe that teams who play together naturally produce amazing results. So the message for leaders is to really encourage that natural sense of fun in the workplace – and they should not be afraid of making fun of themselves either.
Doing the Right Thing
It was lovely to see that Ridgeview Estate has won not one award but five at the 2016 TEXSOM International Wine Competition. Recognition spurs us all on and to be exporting English sparkling wine to America is no mean achievement either. Now you could say why am I interested in Ridgeview? Well of course my penchant for bubbly is well known!
Trends, Trends & Trends
Trending for March, our top recommendation is Deloitte’s latest report: ‘Engaging the 21st-century workforce’. And while you’re at it, if you haven’t looked at their earlier reports, it’s fascinating to see a consistent, but constantly evolving message…
The Future Has Arrived
We were reminded of where we came from, the history of how L&D emerged from ancient Chinese, Egyptian and Greek practice, through Vestibule Training, Role Playing, Apprenticing, Sitting with Nellie, Job Instruction Training and now Learning & Development via Process Manuals, CBT, eLearning and blended learning.
A Cooper coup for CIPD and Christmas Celebrations!
What great news from CIPD yesterday! A new President in the shape of Professor Sir Cary Cooper. Anyone who attended the keynote speech at the CIPD Annual Conference this November will have seen the great synergy between Peter Cheese and Cary Cooper.
Diversity, controversy, disparity, flexibility or what?
We are delighted to welcome a new team member this week – Reem Makdese. So today is busy as usual with our lovely Simon Urgilez in to configure my new laptop, sort out other IT related issues and generally catch up. Simon’s company Intersys IT is contracted to us for IT support and we are finding his expertise invaluable.
Air miles? Extra miles?
Those of you who follow the blog will know that the team has been travelling a bit lately! So whether it be our lovely Isle of Man or Gibraltar, or the more exotic Abu Dhabi and Dubai, I reckon we have clocked up thousands of air miles!
This got me thinking as I delivered our last Circle of Peers session in Gibraltar yesterday about what actually gets our people to go that extra mile? To me our last topic this year, Resilience, is an innate ability but it can be developed. So how does that relate to going the extra mile?
Juggling or multi-tasking or just going at warp speed?
Well, today is going to come under the category of Mental!
We have an Investors in People assessment against the 6th generation of the new standards. This is to prepare us for our formal assessment next year, where we aim to gain the Gold standard for the third time. There is now a Platinum standard too, so who knows…?
A tale of two hotels
So here we are in the amazing UAE. Our first stop was Abu Dhabi and we are now in Dubai. The lifestyle and the architecture is fabulous. The two hotels that we have been staying in are really beautiful and it has been interesting to reflect on how the people working in the hotels have…
Up close and personal
It is fascinating to personally experience what you are talking about. You can’t have missed that our next round of Circle of Peers events focuses on the topic of Resilience. The first event was this week in London at the Institute of Directors.
A coterie of Cs
It has been one of those weeks really. I am up at the CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition in Manchester. The welcome was charismatically delivered by Peter Cheese and then the keynote, by Professor Sir Gary Cooper CBE to give him his full title, was excellent.
What makes a great leader?
I so believe in serendipity! I was asked to talk to a large HR team this week. Getting there meant a train trip so I like to have some knitting with me – something to do with a low boredom threshold I reckon! Some people really think I knit!
Daring to dream on a megascale
Is this just me being a hopelessly positive person or is it really possible do something with ideas that seem phantasmagorical at the time. The Back to the Future celebrations yesterday were fun with many serious organisations playing – for me this is just what life should be about.
Cullen Scholefield goes Bolly mad?
Don’t worry no Bollinger – that would be too fabulous! Working hard and playing hard is as applicable now as it was in the 1980’s. I love having fun! It is great to be able facilitate this and participate in fun activities.
Travel – Serendipity – Resilience
We all know that life is never predictable – this is one thing that you can actually predict!! This week it has been great to be in Gibraltar – warm weather always cheers me up. I like travelling and have learnt to be pretty chilled about the serendipitous nature of travelling! So the opportunity to chat with total strangers and the inevitability of delays I take in my stride.
Induction, on-boarding, orientation
The serious bit is that we always feel that after carefully selecting new people, their first 100 days are critical and failure to settle people in is a huge waste of resources. You would not invite someone for dinner and then not have enough food for them would you? Strange to me how many organisations get this wrong and see it as a necessary evil.
Times are a changing
May you live in interesting times – has a number of interesting interpretations! For those of you intrigued by etymology read on! For me it has to be Robert Kennedy in 1966, after all, I am a product of the 60s’!! So getting to the point…. Next week I am presenting at the Haywards Heath and District Business Association (HHDBA) Conference.
Gearing up for 6G
Now do I hear you say what is she up to now? Of course you have read and heard me talking about the 5G workplace, but now we have 6G and it is not the latest iPhone!
I was pleased to be blown away by a really professionally run conference in Manchester this week. Investors in People (IiP) launched the Sixth Generation of the Standard.
