Management Blog

Welsh Assembly Government Transforms Way It Supports Business

The Welsh Assembly Government outlines new policy to transform the business environment in Wales

On Monday 5 July the Welsh Assembly Government announced plans to transform the way it supports businesses and the Welsh economy.

'Economic Renewal: a new direction' is a vision to make Wales "one of the best places in the world to live, to work and to thrive".

It sets out the role the Welsh Assembly Government can play in providing the best conditions and framework to enable the private sector to grow and flourish.

In the future, resources will be focussed on investing in infrastructure, skills and improving the conditions within which businesses operate. It aims to create the right environment for businesses to succeed.

The policy has been developed following extensive consultation with business, academia, trades unions and other key organisations and individuals.

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For more information on personal and organisational development visit the Call of the Wild website

Survey of Learning & Development Plans Post Recession

During the third quarter of 2009 the directors of Call of the Wild were whiling away their valuable time discussing what effect the current worldwide financial crisis has had on the training and development plans of our clients. After much speculation around where the spending focus of a reduced L&D budget should be, a flash of inspiration came to us. Instead of speculating, why not ask our clients what their plans are?

We came up with a short customer survey containing the following four questions:

1.    Has the current recession had an impact on your learning and development budget for 2009?

78.7 % of respondents thought that the recession had a negative effect on L&D budgets

2.    Has the current recession had an impact on your learning and development budget for 2010?

60.5 % of respondents thought that the recession had a negative effect on L&D budgets

3.    What areas of learning and development will you be focusing on in 2010?

42% of respondents thought that leadership development should be the focus and 60% of respondents thought that team development should be the focus

4.    What areas of learning and development do you see as essential to focus on post-recession?

51.1% of respondents thought that leadership development should be the focus and 81.1% of respondents thought that team development should be the focus

The response rate was considerably higher than expected with 17.4% of those e-mailed replying. The results of the survey illustrated that the crisis has had indeed had an overall detrimental effect on L&D budgets for 2009 and 2010. However it was extremely encouraging to see that the large majority of respondents thought that the main areas of focus for L&D for 2010 and post recession should be Leadership and Team Development.

What is obvious is that our clients see that great leadership and teamwork is even more important in the current financial climate, where more needs to be done with less resource. It appears that they are using the current situation as an opportunity to think carefully about what areas of L&D are really important to their organisations.

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Interesting vieo on how to grow your barnd on twiutter.

Growing Your Brand on Twitter: Strategies and Tactics From the Trenches from Parnassus Group on Vimeo.

Good Leadership & How to Slash Government Costs

A maverick mayor elected after promising to slash council spending, clear the streets of yobs and ditch politically correct services is the torchbearer for how towns should be run.

On his first morning as Mayor of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, Peter Davies cut his salary from £73,000 to £30,000 then closed the council’s newspaper for "peddling politics on the rates".Now three weeks into his job, Mr Davies is pressing ahead with plans he hopes will see the number of town councillors cut from 63 to just 21, saving taxpayers £800,000.

Mr Davies said: "If 100 senators can run the United States of America, I can’t see how 63 councillors are needed to run Doncaster".He has withdrawn Doncaster from the Local Government Association and the Local Government Information Unit, saving another £200,000. Mr Davies said, "They are just talking shops".

"Doncaster is in for some serious untwinning. We are twinned with probably nine other cities around the world and they are just for people to fly off and have a binge at the council’s expense".

The mayor’s chauffeur-driven car has also been axed by Mr Davies and the driver given another job. Mr Davies, born and bred in Doncaster, swept to power in the May election with 24,244 votes as a candidate for the English Democrats, a party that wants tight immigration curbs, an English Parliament and a law forcing every public building to fly the flag of St. George.

He said, "Politicians have got completely out of touch with what people want.

"We need to cut costs. I want to pass on some savings I make in reduced taxes and use the rest for things we really need, like improved children’s services".

Mr Davies has received messages from well wishers across the country and abroad as news of his no-nonsense approach spreads.

Is the Recession Over?

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research, a leading economic think-tank, has suggested that UK GDP bottomed out in March and started to rise again in April and May, for the first time in a year. The publication Management Today explains if it’s right, that would mean a return to growth even earlier than Alistair Darling predicted – a forecast, you may recall, that was greeted with derision at the time by most economists. This tallies with some of the other positive numbers that have started to emerge from the manufacturing sector and the property market this week. But is this really a recovery, or just a brief rally before another slump?

 

The NIESR suggested a couple of months ago that output had stopped falling, and according to its latest figures, the ‘trough of the depression’ came in March. The economy then grew 0.2% in April, apparently, and another 0.1% in May. With news this week that manufacturing and industrial output is also starting to creep up again, and the Council of Mortgage Lenders adding to the green shoots bonanza this morning by reporting that the number of new mortgages jumped by 16% in April (albeit to historically low levels), we’re seeing more and more indications that at the very least, the worst of the recession may be behind us.

For more information on personal development visit our website

Our MP's Can Learn from Oliver Cromwell

It is interesting that figures were released last week the fact that the number of students choosing to take History as a subject at GCSE and 'A' level are falling. However there are always important lessons to be learnt from history even in the 21st century. Here's an excellent example with Olver Cromwell's speech to Parliament just before it's dissolution in 1653. How prophetic the words are and relevant to the expenses scandal in which our MP's are now embroiled .

Oliver Cromwell's Speech on the Dissolution of the Long Parliament Given to the House of Commons 20 April 1653

"It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonoured by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of very vice; ye are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government;

Ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money.

Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess?

Ye have no more religion than my horse; Gold is your God; which of you have not barter'd your conscience for bribes?

Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth?

Ye sordid prostitutes have you not defil'd this sacred place, and turn'd the Lord's temple into a den of Thieves, by your immoral principles and wicked practices?

Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation;

You Were deputed here by the people to get grievances redress'd, are yourselves gone!

So! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors. In the name of God, go!"

For more information on leadership, team development and manageemnt training visit our website.

Recession bites harder as report finds net employment outlook at record low

The jobs market will continue to shrink in the next three months as the number of employers planning to make redundancies continues to exceed the number of employers planning to hire according to the CIPD/KPMG Labour Market Outlook, a survey of more than 500 employers.  The key indicator in the quarterly report covers net employment intentions*, and this quarter the figure has fallen to another record low of -19, down ten points compared with the winter quarter.

In a sign that the recession is hitting all sectors of the economy, the net employment intentions figure is now negative for all three main sectors of the economy for the first time.  Although the private sector is most pessimistic, with a net employment intention figure of -30; the public sector is now also recording a net figure of -3 due to a rise in the number of redundancies in local government in particular.  The figure for the voluntary sector is -12.

However there are some positives to note with some data  showing signs that the freefall in economic activity may be coming to an end and an expectation that private sector net employment intentions will start to improve in the near future

Government orders budget cuts of £180 million in Universities

Universities will be forced to cut jobs and hold back pay to meet budget cuts of £180 million for 2010-11 announced by the government.

The cuts were revealed yesterday in a letter to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) from John Denham, the universities and skills secretary.

The Department for Innovation, Universities & Skills (DIUS) is making the cuts as part of the government’s £5 billion public-spending efficiency drive set out in the budget. The department must save £400 million, but Denham wrote: “I am confident that we can find efficiency savings while protecting the quality of teaching and research.”

Click here for the full article.

Banks and Bonuses

After the Parliamentary enquiries the last few days into the Banks and their part in bringing about the  global financial crisis I fail to see how they can justify the payment of massive bonuses to their staff. Just look at the figures:-

RBS Losses:£28bn  Bail-out: £20bn   Bonuses:£1bn

HBOS Losses:£5bn  bail-out:£11.5bn  Bonuses:£4.5m

It seems as if this crisis was fuelled by an endemic culture of incentivised risk taking. The bigger the risk the bigger the reward. All this taking place in an arena with only minimal internal and external regulation of the markets.How can individuals now be rewarded for not only bankrupting their banks but also the Country? Without the bail-out from the Government these individuals wouldn't be in work anyway.

Tips for Staff Development in a Recession

 

Getting the most out of staff development in the credit crunch

 

This month we focus on getting the most out of your training and development budget, whilst this is always important it becomes essential during times like these!

 

All too often, potential benefits from training and development programmes are lost because the supports required for the application of learning are absent. And let's face it -- nobody can afford to send people for training just for the fun of it. We all expect that training will somehow impact upon a person's present or future ability to contribute to the employing organization. How do we "make it so"?

 

General Principles

Staff Development that adds value tends to be integrated with other management systems. That is, training decisions and actions are carried out with reference to performance management systems, strategic planning processes, and career development initiatives. Training must be managed so that it is planned, and deliberately and clearly linked to workplace outcomes. When training is used as a reward, or its goals aren't clear to all concerned, it is rare that it has any positive impact.

Second, development that adds value actually has three components. First there is the planning component. Then the inputs occur. Most important is the third component -- follow-up. Mechanisms must be in place to provide reinforcement to the learner for his or her efforts to implement what has been learned.

Finally, development that adds value occurs when there is an infrastructure in place that supports the learner's application of what has been learned. For example, if people attend a workshop on situational leadership, this will only add value if  support systems and measurement are available and in place when the person returns to the workplace. While we normally think of infrastructure as relating to things, it can also refer to elements like time. For example, people attending a seminar on the use of effective management techniques will only be able to use what has been learned if they have sufficient time to do so.