Students studying for accountancy qualifications at the Colchester Institute were given a free career advice session from Pure.
Craig Cordle, accountancy recruiter at Pure’s Ipswich office, delivered the session to 35 Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) students. The event, held on 19 May, was organised to help ensure the students understood how they could make maximum use of their qualifications and to give them an overview of the region’s current financial job market.
The students were also given advice on how they could stand out against other candidates when competing for job roles. Topics discussed included CV structure and content, interview preparation, interview skills and what to expect from potential personality profiling or psychometric tests.
Craig Cordle said: “Accountancy and financial services are two of Pure’s key specialisms and we are keen to help develop and support the region’s up-and-coming talent in these areas. As the saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Drawing on more than a decade of experience in placing accountancy candidates, both in house and in public practice, we were able to provide some top tips on how to make a winning first impression when competing for jobs in this sector.”
For the fifth consecutive year, Freebridge Community Housing employees took part in a highly successful Week of Wellbeing.
The week, which is designed to promote and encourage wellbeing, saw Freebridge employees from across the company take part in an array of activities with knitting, creative writing, guitar lessons and coaching and mentoring comprising just a small part of the list of events on offer.
The week, which took place from 16th- 20thMay, is designed to promote and support the six strands of wellbeing – Career, Physical, Mental, Social, Economic and Community Wellbeing – for its employee team of over 200 people.
While many of the week’s events were run by Freebridge employees a host of local organisations and businesses, including Paul Johnson Motors, Caffe Nero, King’s Lynn Corn Exchange, Snettisham Park, The Maltings Q Club, Strikes and Planet Zoom also lent their support.
Local businesses generously donated prizes for a charity fundraising raffle. Proceeds will be going to East Anglian Air Ambulance, Macmillan Cancer Information and Support Centre at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and King’s Lynn Samaritans, who are all Freebridge chosen charities for 2016.
Michelle Gant, Director of Engagement at Freebridge, said: “At Freebridge we are committed to improving the wellbeing of our staff. This week affords employees the opportunity to learn new skills that we hope will have a positive impact in both their work and personal lives.
“It is our belief that by looking after the wellbeing of our workforce we can provide a better service for all our tenants, who remain at the heart of everything we do at Freebridge.
“The support that has been offered by local businesses has been greatly appreciated, many of the activities offered would not be possible without their efforts.”
Whether it’s the first time, or the 100themployee survey that you have put in place, sometimes the hardest team to convince is the senior management team. TheBest Employer Eastern Region Surveyhas been designed to put you in control – you can decide to use the standard questionnaire or choose to customise the survey to suit your business. However, you may find yourself facing barriers. Here are three tips to help handle those objections:
1. Surveys are useless. Nothing was ever done with the previous results so why bother?
If you have done a feedback survey in the past, then really push the results of the last one. Find the nuggets that came from the previous time that you asked the team and show how they can help add colour to a strategy at the same time as empowering employee feedback. These demonstrable areas, coupled with projected improvement figures might be enough.
2.Our teams won’t do it. They won’t believe that it will be anonymous.
Naturally some employees may be dubious. Assure them of the anonymity of the survey as much as possible and share how you are going to group the results -it is only sometimes necessary to understand how different demographic groups perceive the organisation never individually. When communicating the results however ensure that any written comments do not identify the employee – monitor and edit.
3. Most of the line managers don’t believe in it so why should their teams?
One of the biggest threats to the success of a survey is that the direct manager does not support it. This can be that they were not even aware of the survey or have been told it is too long and complicated. Walk through the survey with them. Take the time to share with your department leads the importance of the survey and what it will mean to the organisation. Make them engagement champions, re enforcing the message that by actively encouraging employee participation helps to create a better more effective place to work.
How can Best Employers Eastern Region help your business?
The Best Employers Eastern Region Survey is ideal for the understanding, interpretation, management and development of your organisation’s Culture, Values and Employee Engagement. It provides a reliable and accurate benchmark for future decision making and action planning, and is designed to help deliver strategic and long term organisational change.
Norse Commercial Services has achieved the Gold Award in the 2016 Occupational Health and Safety Awards.
The company won the Gold Award in the ‘Achievement Awards’ category, at the prestigious annual scheme run by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).
The awards, marking achievement at merit, bronze, silver and gold levels, are non-competitive and are based on the organisation’s individual occupational health and safety performance, assessed against the judging criteria.
Entrants must provide evidence of a good health and safety management system by answering key performance questions and supporting the answers with a concise portfolio of relevant documentation.
Simon Toseland, Head of Health and Safety at Norse said: “At Norse health and safety is firmly embedded in our employment and work place ethos, and in our practices and procedures. It is one of the reasons why the company boasts a 97% retention rate amongst our 8,000-plus staff across the UK.”
“To be awarded RoSPA GOLD with Norse has got to be one of my proudest achievements to date. It was a real team effort and testament to the progress made on our health and safety journey.”
The scheme is open to businesses and organisations of all types and sizes from across the UK and overseas. Judges consider entrants’ overarching occupational health and safety management systems, including practices such as leadership and workforce involvement.
Julia Small, RoSPA’s head of awards and events, said: “To win an award at such a highly-regarded event as the RoSPA Awards is a great achievement for our winners. It recognises their commitment to maintaining an excellent health and safety record and raises the bar for other organisations to aspire to. We offer them our congratulations.”
Norse will be presented with the award during a ceremony at the ExCeL, London, on June 21, 2016. Winners receive a framed certificate and are entitled to use the award logo on their organisation’s letterhead and website and to fly the RoSPA Awards flag.
The Naked Element team have been busy recently! On Wednesday we went to a networking evening with a difference and the following day we attended the swanky Norfolk Chamber Anniversary event.
The networking evening included food (as you might expect) and meeting new people, but it also included a spectacular view of Norwich, not seen by many.
TheThrive networkingevent was held in the Narthex of theCatholic Cathedral of St John the Baptist. Our evening began with a glass of Grapefruit ale fromSt Peter’s Brewery(the taste of the fruit was evident but not overpowering) then a walk to the top of the tower. Although it was a grey, and slightly rainy, day the view was still amazing. We also got to see the inside of the cathedral from the rafters which was spectacular in itself.
After taking 200 or so steps up (and then down again) we were treated to food and more beer tasting courtesy of theThirst Consultants. I got to try local ales including Moongazer, Humpty Dumpty, St Andrews Brewhouse, Panther and Lacons. Sommelier Cheryl Cade took us through how to taste a beer like a pro and what to look out for when trying new drinks. After a few more tasters and talking it was time to stumble home, hopefully avoiding a fuzzy head the next day at work!
The Norfolk Chamber Anniversary event was held insideNorwich Castle, a venue many of us hadn’t been to since we were children. Wine flowed and delicious food was served as councillors spoke about the success of theNorfolk Chamberand of the region in general. The main hall of the castle was full of local business man and women and the atmosphere was buzzing! It was a privilege to have had two interesting evenings in two of the city’s finest historical buildings in just one week.
Naked Element are looking for a new apprentice to help with our company administration.
The successful candidate will be involved in the following areas;
Company administration – learning how to run a company, including keeping up with legislation, wages, income tax returns, VAT returns, invoicing, other administration (including social media and marketing)
Project Management – learning how to review projects daily and liaise with clients and the internal development team
The role will include client interaction and networking and will require the candidate to be reasonably flexible with respect to the times of day they can work. Within the 3 to 6 months, the candidate will also be trained in sales and shown how to identify and contact clients. There will be an element of ‘warm’ calling as part of the role.
Confidentiality is a crucial aspect of any employment relationship, in relation to both junior and senior employees. In today’s business market as employees are more mobile and stay with companies for shorter periods of time, it is more important than ever for businesses to protect their confidential information from being exploited by competitors.
The need to protect confidential information commences even prior to the start of the employment relationship, with increasing numbers of businesses considering non-disclosure agreements when seeking to recruit senior staff from competitor businesses, or engage individuals on a consultancy basis.
During the employment relationship it is crucial that the information relating to employees themselves is monitored and processed properly in line with the Data Protection Act 1998, with changes afoot by the introduction of a new EU Directive this summer. Confidentiality and data protection principles can also impact references in terms of the drafting of them and dealing with them orally when requested by a new employer.
Following termination of employment, for whatever reason, businesses need to ensure that their confidential information remains confidential, and the changing nature of how individuals do business, in particular in relation to the challenges posed by social media, mean that businesses need to be sure to evolve constantly in order to protect themselves. Businesses should consider Settlement Agreements and Restrictive Covenants, but also consider utilising procedures such as garden leave to ensure that they retain control over an employee whilst keeping them out of the marketplace during a period of re-establishment.
For more information on the above, join us at the HR Forum on Wednesday 22 June 2016 to hear from our speakers Ross Strowger, Jessica Piper and James Tarling of Ashtons Legal.
The Eastern Technology Alliance was warmly welcomed at its official launch event on 18 May; a memorable evening that saw the three companies within the Alliance – Breakwater IT, EBS Ltd. and Swains Plc. come together to entertain a host of guests.
It was the clients that came along to show their support for this enterprise that made the evening a real success though – toasting the future of the Eastern Technology Alliance with a selection of wines and canapes, whilst taking in the impressive views from the Weston Room at Norwich Cathedral.
To add a dash more entertainment to the traditional tasting event the wine experts, HarperWells, were on hand to challenge quests with a quiz as they sampled some enjoyable wines – with clients leaving happy in the knowledge that they knew which winemaking country gave its name to a dinosaur…
a)Argentinosaurs b)Francosaurs c) Chileraptor
One lucky quiz winner, Ben Shread from Inspiration Trust, certainly knew his wine facts and received a voucher for a meal for 2 at Roger Hickman’s restaurant.
The Eastern Technology Alliance looks forward to working with organisations, across the region and beyond, with a mutual resolve to deliver the range and quality of technologies businesses require. Simplicity is at the core of the Alliance’s service offering – with IT, print and business telecoms all managed through three companies working seamlessly together.
The Norfolk Hospice, Tapping House, has been providing care and support to residents of West Norfolk and the Fens for over 30 years. 18 months ago, after a hugely successful fundraising campaign, the charity moved into a state of the art hospice building in Hillington, just outside Kings Lynn.
Since the move there has been an increase of some 75% in the number of patients receiving free care from the charity. By working in conjunction with other care agencies The Norfolk Hospice can now provide a ‘one-stop shop’ for people living with life-shortening conditions. All referrals for Day Therapies, Hospice at Home and Bereavement support is now accessible from a single source.
Recruitment of skilled healthcare workers has already been under way, in order to meet the demands of providing the extra services. Latest additions to the staff include a Social Worker who is focusing on developing care plans to preventre-admission into hospital, and an Education Lead who will work with GP practices to promote the use of the charity’s services.
Recruitment is now set to continue as The Norfolk Hospice is vigorously fundraising specifically to open the area’s first dedicated Inpatient Unit, which will provide 24-hour care to patients, either for respite or terminal care.
Lyndsay Carter, Chief Executive of The Norfolk Hospice said this week, ‘Once full funding for the Inpatient Unit is confirmed a recruitment drive for 20 nurses and healthcare workers will get underway’.
A buying group which began with a meeting between two pub landlords more than 30 years ago has grown to support scores of inns, hotels and leisure outlets with a combined buying power of more than £5m.
Norwich Inns was hatched in 1982 in a bid to get a better deal for soft drink prices at a time when most pubs were tied to brewery deals.
But it has grown to cover a wider range of drinks from wines and spirits to cola and Champagne.
And its customers, and their stories, are now appearing in a new magazine, Innscribe, produced by Great Yarmouth-based company TMS Media, which has also designed a new website for the group.
Norwich Inns now has 50 members with more than 60 outlets within a 35-mile radius of Norwich, mainly in Norfolk but also edging into Suffolk. They range from local pubs to major hotels and golf clubs and even a railway station.
The pioneers back in 1982 were long-standing Norwich licensees Roger Cawdron and Mike Lorenz, who currently run the Ribs of Beef and Whalebone.They met to discuss forming one of the first buying groups of its kind in the country by pooling their buying power.
At the time the founder members were tied to Norwich Brewery for all purchases apart from soft drinks. The first Norwich Inns agreement was with Coca Cola Schweppes’ Norwich depot and was a ground-breaking arrangement.
The biggest break came when tenants of the big six brewery tied pubs were allowed one ‘guest beer’ under The Supply of Beer (Tied Estate) Order of 1989.This enabled the group to widen its membership, and after some negotiation the William Younger Brewery won the tender and members of Norwich Inns enjoyed a “foreign” beer – Theakston’s Best – on their bars.
Roger Cawdron said the original idea of forming a buying group came out of a Sunday lunch discussion discussion with his father-in-law who was part of an electrical buying group.
“I thought the same principle could be applied to the licensed trade. After meeting Mike Lorenz Norwich Inns was born and we never looked back.”
Mr Cawdron added: “I never thought that it would grow to be one of the largest groups of its type in the region.”
As well as enabling members to compete with the “big boys” they had also forged many life-long friendships.
Mike Lorenzadded that the original idea, at a time when most licensees were tied to one of the major breweries, was “exciting and pro-active”.
He said: “The thought that the group would grow to around £5 million of collective purchasing power was probably not on the radar in the beginning but we knew it was innovative and it was the way forward.”
Current Norwich Inns secretary Craig McLaren said: “The group started from small beginnings, but is now a powerful tool helping many hospitality businesses reduce their costs, while pursuing our joint aim of providing the best customer service.”
Norwich Inns also has a social and charity side. Social gatherings are well attended a couple of times a year. And members annually vote for a deserving charity and have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for local causes.
This year it is Norwich-based It’s On The Ball which promotes testicular cancer checks among young men and supports patients.
Member brewery Norfolk Brewhouse at Hindringham has made a special ale Tobi’s Tipple to raise funds and awareness of the cause.
Picture captions:
Norwich Inns secretary Craig McLaren with the new Innscribe magazine
Norwich Inns founders Mike Lorenz and Roger Cawdron
As part of our charitable status we strive to offer the Energy Sector with support tomaintain individuals with the training needed to work offshore. To do this we have introducedThe Petans Refresher Grant.
The Petans Refresher Grant has been introduced to help benefit individuals who are either at notice of or have been made redundant with maintaining the skills needed withinthe Energy Sector past the core FOET level. Offering up to 40% off of the standard price of courses.
Please click here to find out more about The Refresher Grant
This week (16 to 22 May) is Learning at Work Week, an annual awareness campaign organised by the Campaign for Learning to put a spotlight on the importance and benefits of learning and development in the workplace.
“Here at Pure, we are strong supporters of an active learning and development culture. We provide opportunities for our own staff to learn and develop new skills through initiatives including apprenticeships and graduate training schemes. As a result, we have been presented with awards for People Development and achieved the Gold Investors in People standard,”- Abby Dillon, Pure’s Learning & Development Manager.
We run annual training programmes to constantly develop and motivate our talents. These programmes are made available on “Pure’s Training Menu” for employees to attend based on their quarterly performance review requirements.
We are also passionate about supporting learning and development within other businesses. We provide training initiatives including our Women in Leadershipand Finance Leadership programmes which employers can use as part of employee learning and development plans. We also support and celebrate workplace training initiatives held by employers in conjunction with providers such as Kaplan and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).This all helps us to further develop and enhance the success of the fantastic organisations in our region and to put the Eastern Region on the map as a great place to work.
Why is learning in the workplace so important?
The opportunity to learn at work has a significant impact on employee motivation and engagement levels. In turn, a high level of employee engagement increases productivity and makes a noticeable difference to the bottom line. Here’s just a few other examples of employer benefits stemming from a strong culture of learning and development:
Opportunity to discover and recognise new talent
Creation of an effective progression pipeline
Chance to build internal skills needed to achieve business growth
Enhanced employer brand, helping to attract and retain the best talent
There are many different ways employers can implement workplace learning from traditional classroom based activities to interactive webinars. It can also be carried out completely in-house by sharing knowledge between teams and enabling employees to learn and experience different parts of the business. Learning initiatives don’t even have to be work-related to make a positive impact on employee engagement. Encouraging employees to share their own knowledge, passions and interests with others can create engaging team activities.
Questions to ask yourself about learning opportunities in your organisation
If it has been a while since you’ve spent time looking into the learning opportunities available within yourorganisation, use this week as a prompt to investigate and introduce changes if needed. This will help reinforce your organisation’s commitment to staff development and create a culture where learning a work is celebrated all year round. Take the time to find out answers to questions including:
Is there an inclusive approach to learning in your organisation?
Are there any perceived barriers? These could be personal barriers or historic organisational structures which meant that development was only focussed on particular staff.
Are your employees aware of the learning and development opportunities available to them?
Are learning and development plans aligned to the business plan, ensuring you are developing the internal talent and skills needed to achieve the objectives set out?
If you would like to find out more about the perception of learning and development within your organisation, sign up for our free Best Employers Eastern Region Survey. The confidential employee survey, which would normally cost in the region of £2,000, is available to local organisations of all sizes and sectors. It captures the data employers need to monitor how engaged their employees are, and to establish what employees really think about topics including development opportunities as well as leadership, communication, team work and much more. It also comes with a tailored report summarising the findings and an action plan for further development.