Management Blog

Royal Marine Commando - It's a State of Mind

Just been reading a piece on the media Agency of the Year Awards and came across the Carat campaign for the Royal Marines. First all the strap line is intersting - It's a state of mind coupled with the content of the campaign which focuses on fear. It reads:-

FEAR

Fear is not be feared, fear is edge, fear keeps you on your toes, fear keeps one eye open when you are asleep, fear adds caution to courage, conquer fear and fear is not your foe, fear is your friend.

Not your average recruitment advert but certainly powerful in terms of its targeting.

Upskill Your Workforce Says PM Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown has urged businesses to continue to upskill the nation's workforce as the economy plunges further into recession.

Speaking at the annual CBI conference in London, the prime minister told companies they were capable of taking the British economy through difficult times and called on them to continue to invest in employees' talent and skills to be able to compete on a global scale with emerging economies.

"Even if there had been no cyclical rise in unemployment, all of us would have to deal with the consequences of a more specialist international division of labour and the resulting restructuring of jobs, and for Britain that means investing in the new talents and skills required for the technological and creative industries," he said.

Brown added that 1 billion new jobs were being created worldwide in the new global economy, and Britain must attract its share of that flow of jobs.

The call to train up the UK's workers came as the CBI urged the government to help prevent small firms collapsing in the economic downturn. CBI boss Richard Lambert warned that without help "there is a real risk we could see healthy firms going under".

VIP Grand Opening of Castle Hotel Bar

Last night we attended the VIP opening of the Castle Hotel's refurbished bar in Neath. You may ask why blog about this. It's because it's amazing what you find out about building you take for granted in your everyday life. The Castle Hotel is steeped in rugby history. The Welsh Rugby Union was inaugurated there in 1881. The Castle Hotel was the meeting place for the founders of the Welsh Rugby Union. The inaugural meeting of the Welsh Rugby Union took place in the Nelson Room at the Castle Hotel on 12th March 1881. There is a plaque outside the hotel commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Welsh Rugby Union, and at that time The Nelson Room name was changed to The Centenary Room. Still displayed in the room are the plaques of the original eleven members of the Welsh Rugby Union. It is reputed that Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton frequented the hotel on a number of occasions. The steps that Lord Nelson reputedly used to get into the four poster bed are still in the hotel today

Heineken in Takeover of S & N

TAKEOVER WOULD MAKE S AND N BOSSES £16M

The top directors at Scottish & Newcastle could collect up to £16m if Heineken and Carlsberg succeed in taking over the historic brewer.

While S&N has gone on the defensive following the unsolicited approach, some analysts believe it is posturing to win the best price for shareholders.

There was speculation Carlsberg and Heineken could pay up to 823p a share for the brewer of John Smith's and Kronenbourg although sources suggested this was too frothy.

A successful bid at £8 a share would net Western Europe boss John Dunsmore, who will step up to the chief executive in a fortnight, as much as £5.6m from shares and share options.

Finance director Ian McHoul could make £5.6m, while John Nicolson, head of eastern Europe, US and Asia, stands to rake in £5m. The three also own stock worth £2.2m at the mooted price of £8 a share.

S&N will be hoping to drum up an auction for its business. SABMiller (1p firmer at 1463p) is considering joining the fray although may be put by the big exposure a deal would give it to mature markets.

America's biggest player Anheuser Busch is seen as another potential bidder. It has made it clear that it would be keen to expand into the faster growing emerging markets.

England Lose To South Africa in Rugby World Cup

England lost the Webb Ellis trophy to South Africa as they were beaten 15-6 in an exciting  match in the Stade de France in Paris. The Springboks won thanks to four penalties while England's points came from the reliable boot of Jonny Wilkinson. In this tight game England thought they had scored a try through Mark Cueto. However after ana gonising wait whilst the TV match official reviewed the replays he decided it wasn't a try because Ceuto, albeit by the closest margin, had touched the line with his toe before grounding the ball.

Nevertheless this was a great performance from a team that had lost 36-0 to South Africa a few weeks ago. So what lessons can be learnt :-

1. Have a game plan and stick to it. For business this means having a business plan or marketing strategy around which all others decisons can be hinged.

2. Self-belief. There will be set backs along the way but learn from them. If you believe what you are doing and in the team around you then look what can be acheived. This is important at the Managerial level. If you can instill this level of confidence and self-belief in your team thenthe performance will follow.

3. The sum is greater than the parts - Each team member brings something different to the table and can make a valuable contribution to  achieveing your sales target or overall objective.

Rob Brydon at National Tourism Awards

Call of the Wild - national team Building Company of the Year 2007. This year, the final adjudication was carried out by an independent judge, David Atkinson.  He is an experienced travel writer with credits that include the Lonely Planet Wales guidebook. He has already visited Call of the Wild.  The winner was revealed by BBC presenter, Huw Edwards. The cabaret for the evning was the comedian Rob Brydon who you can see with our Sales Director in this photo.

Advice on Christmas Parties From ACAS

ACAS is providing advice on dealing with the Christmas period, which considers potential problems for managers and staff, aiming to minimise the risk of employment tribunal claims. ACAS's helpline receives 100's of calls every Christmas from businesses on the issue, so it has produced some frequently asked questions and answers so businesses can be prepared. For ideas for your Christmas parties look at the Call of the Wild website.

ACAS FAQs:

Q. We usually allow our social club to sell raffle tickets for prizes which are given out at the Christmas party - surely there's no problem with this?

A. Generally, no. However, some religions forbid gambling so no pressure should be exerted on staff who don't want to take part. It's also worth ensuring that the prizes on offer are not going to be unacceptable to those who do not drink alcohol or eat meat.

Q. What if an employee who has clearly drunk too much at the office Christmas party is planning to drive home. It's not my responsibility, is it?

A. In fact, it is. As an employer you have a 'duty of care' toward your employees and as it's the company's party, you need to take some responsibility. Think about travel arrangements and maybe end the party before public transport stops running. Or provide the phone numbers for local registered cab companies and encourage employees to use them. Hiring minibuses to take staff home is another option which would probably be greatly appreciated.

Q. We want to make sure that there isn't a repeat of last year when people failed to turn up for work the day after the party?

A. Make sure you provide plenty of non-alcoholic drinks and food. Before the party ensure that all staff realise that disciplinary action could be taken if they fail to turn up for work and there is reason to believe it is due to over-indulgence.

Highest Rates of Unemployment

These make for interesting reading - the worlds's highest levels of unemployment. A European country top of the list with South Africa a close third. Not something I would have guessed.

1. Macedonia - 37%

2. Namibia - 33.8%

3. South Africa - 27.1%

4. West Bank and Gaza - 26.7%

5. Guadelope - 24.7%

6. Ethiopia - 22.9%

7. Martinique - 22.4%

8. Botswana - 19.6%

9. Poland - 19%

10. Dominican republic - 18.4%

Source - The Economist Pocket World in Figures 2006

Smoking Ban

The Health Act 2006  devolved powers to the National Assembly for Wales to make regulations for a ban on smoking in enclosed public places in Wales. This ban came into effect on 2nd April 2007. This mirrors the ban already in place in Scotland and Southern Ireland. The ban, this week, also took hold in Northern Ireland with Engalnd to follow in July 2007.

Here in Wales we've had the ban for one month - so what has happened in the workplace and of an evening in the pub. Well even though it is only a month my experience is that I have notcied a large number of people who have taken the ban as the incentive they needed to give up smoking. I would think the sale of patches and chewing gum has gone up dramatically in Wales in the last 4 weeks.

Call of the Wild own two bars - Merlins and the Bryn. We have seen no marked decrease in turnover since the introduction of the ban. Actually we have seen new faces who have commeneted that they have come back to pubs as a direct result of the ban.

In a work context  we have seen no difference in working practices. We have come across some stories where some smokers are asking for better facilities at the workplace to meet their needs such as better outside seating, patio heaters etc. However I have read that in some places this has led to resentment from the non-smokers who have also asked for relaxation areas.

Watch this space!

John Neal Appointed by WRU

Call of the Wild's Associate John Neal has now been appointed performance coach to the Welsh Rugby Union Squad. John's input was felt from day one with the success of the Welsh team over England in the Six Nations 2007. He will work with the squad in their preparation for the Rugby World Cup in 2007.