t2 business solutions blog

Senior Managers Urged to Lead From the Front

An interesting article on the ILM website explains that senior managers risk alienating their staff by retreating into their shells during the recession, a new study has warned.

Research by Right Management has revealed that just half of UK workers feel senior leaders at their firm are not "visible to staff". It also revealed that a third of respondents do not think senior managers lead by example.

Recently, a study by the Institute of Leadership & Management and Management Today magazine revealed that a third of UK workers have little or no trust in their boss.

t2 business solutions is currently running a number of ILM Level 7 Award in Strategic Leadership courses nationwide. For more information on these courses, and ensuring that you are using the best leadership techniques available, click here.

School Leavers Face Tough Time In Job Market

An article on the ILM website explains how businesses are more likely to hire the long-term unemployed than school leavers, according to a new study.

Research conducted by KPMG and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) reveals that only 24 per cent of employers plan to hire from the 16 to 18-year-old age group.

It also revealed that 63% will be looking to hire from the 19-24 age range, with a similar number targeting workers older than this.

t2 skills, Newport, offers a Youth Centre to young adults, which puts 16 and 17 year olds through a 4 week programme to develop IT skills, work on their CVs and learn interview techniques. Following this t2 will aim to enrol them on a paid placement in a junior role with a local business for up to 3 months.

For more information on t2's Youth Centre, click here. To read the full article on the ILM website, click here.

Training Must Focus On Skills

An article on the ILM website explains how training and education should be focused on the needs of business, according to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).

Dr Adam Marshall, director of policy at the BCC, claimed that too much attention is paid to pass rates and the real focus should be on whether or not young people are getting the skills they need.

Government figures show that the number of young people aged between 18 and 24 who are not in employment, education or training hit 835,000 in the second quarter of 2009.

t2 business solutions offers the new, simple and streamlined iTQ qualification, which allows candidates to develop their IT skills, while catering the course to their specific needs. A completely flexible and tailored qualification, iTQ can be tailored to each organisation's needs and each learner's requirements and does not involve learning skills that won't be needed or used. For more information, visit t2 business solutions website.

Caerphilly Photographer Captures Light Graffiti

A great article on WalesOnline shows a Welsh photographer who has developed his own style of creating images with light.

Caerphilly artist Michael Bosanko uses coloured torches like a paintbrush to create images. He then snaps the moving lights with a long-exposure camera and covers the lens with coloured acetate to produce different shades.

The effect is known as “light graffiti” or “light sculpting” – making photographs which look like neon sculptures. The appearance is an advanced form of writing your name with a sparkler on Bonfire Night.

For the full article, click here.

 

 

Internships 'must give people the skills they need'

An article on the ILM website explains that businesses which offer internships to young people must ensure they allow people to gain the skills they need to succeed, according to one expert.

Jenni Newberry, head of communities at Working Links, explained that although internships have been criticised by some, they can provide a valuable experience.

However, in order for this to happen, firms themselves must ensure they are putting the work in, she added.

She also called on businesses to work with other organisations to help young people find work during the recession.

To read the full article, click here.

Employers could access training support of up to £1,500

An article on the Train to Gain website explains thatemployers could receive £1,000 towards recruitment costs when they take on a job seeker who has been out of work for over six months. A quarter of a million subsidies of this kind are currently available for employers.

In some instances, the subsidy would be paid in two installments of £500 - the first when the employee starts work and the second when they have been employed for 26 weeks.

As part of the deal, eligible employers across England could also access training support (typically around £1,500) for their employees through Train to Gain.

To find out more, please can contact visit JobCentre Plus.

Fear of Skills Gap for Managers During Recession

An article on the ILM website explains that new research has found that a fifth of managers think their company is suffering from a skills gap because of the recession.

The Vodafone Working Nation report also revealed that it is women who are filling this gap. Apparently female workers are twice as likely as their male colleagues to report that they have had to learn new skills to make up for a shortage in talent.

However, the research warned that many firms are on a knife edge, with 70% of employers stating that further cost cutting would damage their business.

Firms that do scale back training schemes could find that their most talented workers walk out the door.

For more information on management training available and how to get involved, visit t2 Management Training.

Worst of the recession is over

An article on the ILM website says that the worse of the recession is over but a recovery is by no means guaranteed, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) have warned.

It has revealed that confidence has increased and now shows a positive balance for the first time since the third quarter of 2008.

However, David Frost, director-general of the BCC, warned that unless the government takes action to nurture these green shoots, future problems could lie ahead.

Last month, the Centre for Economic and Business Research warned that the recession is likely to be "saxophone shaped" - a phrase it used to describe the sluggish period of growth expected to arrive in 2010.

To read the full article, click here.

Former Wales Rugby Captains to Scale Kilimanjaro

An article on WalesOnline tells how fifteen former Wales rugby captains are to scale Mount Kilimanjaro next year in a bid to raise £1m for lung cancer research.

They will be accompanied by Welsh coach Warren Gatland in the most ambitious fundraising event ever organised in aid of the Stepping Stones appeal by Velindre Hospital in Cardiff.

Lung cancer is Wales biggest cancer killer and almost 2,000 people will be diagnosed every year.

Gareth Thomas, Ieuan Evans, Mark Taylor, Mike Hall, Bleddyn Bowen, Jonathan Davies, Rob Howley, Rob Jones, Jonathan Humphreys, Bob Norster, Eddie Butler and Colin Charvis will all make the five-day climb to the top of Africa’s highest mountain. Current captain, Ryan Jones, will act as a figurehead and chief whip for the event but is unable to take part because of playing commitments.

To support your favourite captain taking part in the Brains SA Captains Climb, visit www.justgiving.com/brainssacaptainsclimb

Copycat Chimpanzees?

After watching video demonstrations chimps build their own tools.

The animals were shown footage of a trained chimp combining two components to construct a tool that enabled it to reach a food reward.

When given the same two components, the chimps made their own tools and used them to drag over a tasty treat.

The chimps were then placed into 5 groups during the test each shown progressively less information with one group just shown the chimp eating the grape.

The set-up was then re-created for the groups to interact with.

Click here to see how they did and to read more about this study.

Welsh Man Attempts To Break World Record

Dale Taylor, from Caerphilly, Wales, is going to attempt to break a World record by almost half, starting this August.

Dale, who is a semi-professional rugby player, plans to walk around the world! The trip covers 18,000 miles, which he plans to complete in 800 days.

The current world record is held by David Kunst, who, in 1970 took four years and four months to complete the walk. 

 

The trip will cost Dale £8,000, based on £10 per day. He aims to raise £18,000 in total to cover travel costs and to donate £10,000 to the school where he works. Miles are being sold for £1 each and you can buy a mile for Dale at his website Toward the Sunrise.

 

Dale will have to walk through:

Wales, England, Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakahstan, Uzabekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Burma, Malaysia, Australia and the USA. The walk will require Dale to walk a marathon a day for over 2 years.

 

We wish Dale the best of luck and will be cheering him on to complete the task in the 800 days! Good luck Dale!

Unemployed Managers to Get Support from ILM

A free support package to help unemployed managers get back into the workplace has been launched by The Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM).

The ILM have said that the recession has hit managers hard in recent months, with unemployment in the rising. The scheme offers managers who have been made redundant six months free professional membership to the ILM.

This includes a number of measures aimed at helping people find work, including access to current vacancies through jobs boards, CV support and interview training. Also included is an online resource which features 42 learning modules on skills such as budgeting, negotiation and innovation.

Recent studies suggest that the number of people losing their jobs could be levelling off. The research also highlighted that prospects for managers and professionals in the UK are better than the global average.

For the full article, click here.

Ouch! by the BBC

Ouch! is a website that reflects on the lives and experiences of disabled people. Including blogs, podcasts, message boards and a downloadable radio show, Ouch! is aimed at those who deal with disabilities every day such as families, friends and, more importantly, disabled people themselves.

 

Read more about Ouch!

 

Ouch! is really into using humour positively so there’s plenty to chuckle at, in fact the Ouch! team are themselves disabled and make clear they never laugh at disabled people; they only laugh with them.

 

Artist Andre Jordan, using Ouch’s positive humour, often creates small simple doodles using humour to cover issues with disabilities in public areas to creating his own Motley Zoo of disabled animals. Click here

 

Example of Andre's work - Motley Zoo - The Owl

2 Million People Unemployed

An article on ILM explains how unemployment has broken the 2 million barrier for the first time in more than a decade.

The Office for National Statistics revealed that the number of people out of work during the quarter to January 2009 hit 2.03 million, the highest figure since 1997.

According to the Office for National Statistics, unemployment will get worse before it gets better, as it always does even after economic recovery begins.

Also, the British Chambers of Commerce recently predicted that unemployment will peak in the second half of 2010 at 3.2 million.

To read the full article, click here.

Pixar Animated Feature Film to Launch Cannes Festival

Pixar’s latest animated feature 'Up' will be screened in digital 3-D and marks the first time an animated movie has opened the event.

 

The film tells of a man who spent his life dreaming of exploring the globe and living his life to the fullest.  Now at 78 believes life has past him by that was until fate and an 8 year old Wilderness Explorer gives him a new lease on life.

 

Pixar's 'Up' will be released in the UK on 16th October. Take a sneak peak! or read more about the story here.

Youngsters to Design Official London 2012 Education Logo

  Youngsters in full- or part-time education are invited to create a new design to infill the London 2012 Olympic logo. This identity will be supplied to schools, colleges and local authority education providers who join the 'Get Set' network, the official London 2012 education programme.

The closing date for the entries is 5th June, where four to six finalists will present their designs to a panel of judges including BMX World Champion Shanaze Reade. The winning logo, which will be used in print and digital media, will be unveiled in September.

For more information on the competition, visit www.london2012.com/logocompetition

Comic Relief 2009!

 

It’s Red Nose Day on Friday 13th March... which means it’s time to Do Something Funny for Money!

Looking for inspiration on how you too can raise money for this worthy cause then look here for some inventive ideas that may even spark off an idea of your very own.

Keep up-to-date with events from the BBC (click here).

Scheme to Battle Long-Term Sickness Introduced

ILM website recently published an article discussing the newly launched scheme to battle long-term sickness.

The £13 million scheme launched by the government is aimed at getting people back into work following sickness.

The 'Fit For Work' pilot scheme looks at various ways of offering help and support to those who are off work due to ill health, with the aim of aiding their recovery.

Among the things on offer will be skills and employment advice, vocational rehabilitation services and conciliation to overcome disputes between employees and workers.

For the full article, click here.

Wallace & Gromit Exhibition Aims to Encourage Creativity in Children

Aardman Animation is designing a £2m exhibition at the Science Museum titled Wallace & Gromit Present a World of Cracking Ideas.

The exhibition, due to open in March, has been commissioned by the UK Intellectual Property Office as part of its "Cracking Ideas" programme. The project aims to encourage creativity in children.

Aardman's live events agency SGA Productions is building the interactive, sound and lighting elements to the exhibition at the Science Museum, which will include a mock-up of Wallace & Gromit's house.

The animation company has created two minutes of film featuring the duo working on a new invention.

Around 80 interactive idea stations will be in the house allowing people to create their own inventions.

Other elements include a giant water wheel, a slide running from the house to the garden and a soft play area.

Work past retirement age to boost health

An interesting article on the ILM website explains that working past the statutory retirement age could boost health!

According to the article, remaining in work allows people to keep mentally and physically active. It has also been recommended that employers should give those coming up to retirement age the option to stay in work.

It also explains that earlier this week, a number of peers from all parties expressed support for an end to the default retirement age during a debate in the House of Lords.

To read the full article, click here.