Apprenticeships, you don’t need an apprenticeship strategy, you just hire a young person and sign them up to college – don’t you?
Well yes, you could adopt this approach, but I strongly recommend you don’t. Would you be this flippant with purchasing a new piece of equipment for your business, I doubt it, so why would you take this approach with hiring an apprentice?
Hiring an apprentice is an investment and like any other business investment you would carry out due diligence, and the same approach needs to be applied to your apprenticeship programme.
Grab yourself a blank sheet of paper and start by looking at:
* taken from the House of Commons Library, Briefing Paper Number 06113, 9th April 2020 – Apprenticeship Statistics by Niamh Foley
Networking, meet your local business representatives, managers or owners – enjoy a free glass of wine with delicious canapes – have some fun with our Casino Tables and Magician – Smile for the Camera with Diamond Photographic taking all of our event photos
1. Apprenticeships must be aligned with the business strategy
Take a strategic view of your business needs for the future to enable you to identify the skills you require.
2. ‘Mind the Gap’
How can you prepare for the future if you don’t know where your current skill gaps are within your business? The results from carrying out a skills analysis will identify the training required to fill these gaps.
3. The integrated approach
Take a look at your existing training programmes and map these to the available apprenticeship standards. This will enable you to see which courses, you would normally have to pay for, can be replaced by using the apprenticeship standards whilst taking advantage of the apprenticeship levy.
If you don’t pay the apprenticeship levy, that’s ok, you will only need to pay 5% of the cost of the standard!
4. Finding the right training provider for your needs
Take the time to compile a broad range of questions for the training provider, having this information will enable you to assess if they will be able to meet your needs.
5. Communicate and engage your employees
Running apprenticeship programmes is a team effort, it is so important to make sure the support is there throughout the business, and it is key to engage your employees from the outset and keep them up to date with how things are going.
If you are keen to find out more about running an apprenticeship programme within your business, please feel free to contact Sue via the website or info@spottertalent.com
Our wonderful corporate supporters at Handelsbanken are organising a charity ball for Nelson’s Journey. This event is taking place at Norwich Inn Norwich-North on Friday 20th September 2013.
Tickets are £60 per person, incorporating dinner andentertainment, 7pm arrival with carriages at 1am.
Ticket sales have been excellent, so be quick to secure your place at thisexclusiveevent.
All profits will be used to support bereaved children in Norfolk, who have experienced the death of a significant person in their life.
It was just days before the coronavirus lockdown, at a local networking event where I met Lucy Whittaker, founder and lead trainer of Alpha Vesta CIC, and after listening to her journey from spending many years working as a frontline domestic abuse practitioner, partnered with her academic study and her very strong ethos that ‘we need to do more in order to reach people sooner before their lives often reach crisis point and they end up embroiled in the criminal justice system and social care arenas’, that I realised how little I knew and truly understood about domestic abuse, and especially the impact of domestic abuse within the workplace, and here is where my journey to fill that lack of knowledge started.
I never realised how incredibly complex domestic abuse is. Not all domestic abuse is characterised by patterns of coercive control, and some incidents of domestic abuse are characterised by underlying vulnerability and a toxic mix of unmet needs that occasionally spiral into some form of emotional abuse and violence.
Did you know that one in four women and one in six men will be affected by domestic abuse at some point during in their adult lifetime (HM Government, 2019) and the NSPCC have released a report this year estimating one in five children are growing up in a home where domestic abuse in occurring (NSPCC, 2020).
In a Home Office study released last year on the Social and Economic Costs of Domestic Abuse is estimated to be £66 billion per year with £14 billion of that as a direct cost to the economy in terms of lost economic output.
High absenteeism, lateness, impact on mental health and wellbeing sit very prominently but studies have also shown that one in two victims of domestic abuse said their work colleagues were also affected, and one in ten will have to leave their job due to the abuse (Opinium Research commissioned by Vodafone, 2019) and broader patterns of poor career progression (KPMG, 2019), high recruitment costs, low staff morale and productivity have also emerged.
With one third of a working adult’s life being spent in work, employers are in a unique position to create a supportive workplace with a culture that encourages all health and wellbeing needs and to help break the silence around the domestic abuse issue.
With the funding Alpha Vesta have received from the Essex Police Fire and Crime Commissioner, the Essex Community Foundation and The National Lottery, Lucy has been able to deliver fully funded online awareness sessions and training workshops to put into action Alpha Vesta’s strong foundation and mission statement of ‘Breaking the cycle of domestic abuse through awareness, prevention and early interventions in the Workplace’.
For more information about the impact of domestic abuse in the workplace, please visit www.alphavesta.com
Smith & Pinching are delighted to announce the August date for their bi-monthly networking lunch club in Holt. This is a relaxed and informal event, giving you the opportunity to create new business contacts.
When: Monday 19th August 2013 Where: The Lawns Wine Bar & Hotel, 26 Station Road, Holt Time: 12pm for 12.30pm Cost: £15.95
Far too often, companies that have had their credentials compromised and sold on the Dark Web don’t know it until they have been informed by the police – but by then, it’s too late.
What is the Dark Web?
The Dark web is a hidden universe within the “Deep Web” – a sub-layer of the internet that is hidden from conventional search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. These search engines only surface 0.04% of the indexed internet. The other 99.96% of the internet is made up of databases, private networks and the dark web. Because you can operate in the dark web anonymously, the dark web holds a lot of stolen data and illegal activity.
Does the identification of my companies exposed credentials mean we are being targeted by hackers?
While we can’t say definitively that the data we’ve discovered has already been used to exploit your business, the fact that we are able to identify this data should be very concerning. Businesses should consult their internal or external IT and/or security teams to determine if they have suffered a cyber incident or data breach.
If my data is on the dark web, can it be removed?
The short answer is no. Once the data is listed for sale on the dark web, it is copied and distributed VERY quickly to a large number of cyber criminals. This is why IT and Cyber Security companies like ourselves and our security department Labsec put a lot of effort into making sure that companies are protected in the first place. If your details are found on the dark web; you can spring into action to make sure that your passwords and details are quickly changed so that the stolen data is instantly obsolete.
How can I tell if my details are for sale?
Our Cyber Security department Labsec can quickly and easily tell you if your company details are available for sale on the Dark web. We have access to a tool that scans the dark web for your company domain and alert you to any instances where your details are being sold. We can also tell you exactly what details are available. Cybersecurity doesn’t have to be too overwhelming, expensive or complicated.
The first step to protecting your business is understanding your risk.
Course Title; Level 3 Award in Effective Auditing and Inspection Skills
Aim; The qualification provides skills in the auditing and inspection of food manufacturing processes, in order to effectively verify HACCP and general food safety and management systems. Especially valuable for BRC, SALSA, etc certificated manufacturers and multi-site catering operations where consistency is valuable.
Objectives
*Understanding auditing and inspection- what it is and appreciate the benefits and limitations
*Collecting & verifying of information
*Identify and plan the stages in Audit and Inspection
*Improve the ability to analyse & interpret data
*People Skills- improve your ability to get the right information
*Identify the competencies & characteristics of Auditors
*Understanding the implementation of on-site audits & inspections
*How to prepare written reports
Organisation
Duration; The course is delivered over one day- it is a classroom session- based on a number of syndicate exercises, activities & case studies- no chalk & talk here!
Exam/Assessment; 30 question multiple choice test: Pass mark 20, Merit mark 25
Cost; £185 plus VAT includes notes, refreshments & lunch and the assessment & certification fees (HABC)
Awarding Body; Highfield Awarding Body for Compliance (HABC)
Tutor; Richard Mills
Differentiation; Reasonable (Level 2 or equivalent) literacy, good communication skills, a broad understanding of food safety and its management systems, and experience of food manufacturing or large scale catering processes.
Audience; This qualification is for supervisors, team leaders & QA staff who are involved in the verification of Food Safety through Auditing & Inspection
Feedback; “thank you for your help, guidance and interest in putting on our courses…at such short notice. We all thought you were an exceptional presenterandmade it a mostenjoyable and productive experience. (Wow ! That’s got to be worth a “Brucie Bonus”)” Ernie Woodhouse, QA Team, Youngs Seafoods
For more information on this course please contact us on 01603 473472 or visit our website
A major outcome of the current market is that, in certain locations and disciplines, there are now more job seekers than there are available jobs. This is potentially going to increase as we head to the close of the current furlough scheme.
Many of our clients have shared with us that they are receiving an increase in direct applications. For larger organisations with dedicated HR and talent acquisition teams who have the time to review each application, then this is not so much of a problem. But for small and medium-size organisations with limited resource, it is a big challenge to have the time to sift through 100’s of CVs. An outcome of more available candidates is that the quality of applications is variable and more time is needed to review each application. We have seen qualified chefs applying for administration roles and managers applying for junior roles.
People are becoming understandably desperate and it takes time to review each application and handle these with the care and sensitivity that people need at this time.
As a professional recruitment consultancy, we put people first. Our consultants will help make your recruitment process more efficient.
Our consultants are knowledgeable experts in their specialism and work in partnership with you to provide advice and support beyond the offer and to ensure a smooth transition into the new role. The right people are your most precious business resource and we go beyond recruitment and induction support.
Our consultants can help your recruitment process with:
Advertising and promoting your role to the right candidates
Screening, reviewing and replying to each application
Providing you with a shortlist of 5 people who match your brief
Providing you with an overview of each candidate so that you quickly get an insight into the candidate
Arranging interviews and supporting interview preparations
Providing candidate feedback
Completing all compliance checks and gathering references
Our specialist sector knowledge is the primary reason why companies choose to work with us and our consultants have in-depth experience and recruitment market knowledge specific to your professional sector. They invest time developing and maintaining a strong network of contacts which connects us to the best people and enables us to source high quality and ‘hard to find’ candidates.
From four offices located across the Eastern region, we have a comprehensive understanding of local employment trends as well as within our specialist sectors.
We don’t just find high-calibre candidates, we also support organisations through induction, development and beyond. Most importantly, we work with you to recruit the right people and to support them at every stage of their career.
Let us help you save time and resource in your recruitment process and act as brand ambassadors for you, providing applicants with the best possible experience.
The morning seminar is presented by FSCL’s Mr Amir Akhlaghi, and PSL’s Kevin Magee and provide delegates an overview of the International Standards for Functional Safety Services IEC 61508 (the original standard) and thus its process industry derivative IEC 61511.
IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 are considered risk and performance based standards, whereby the engineering of the Safety Instrumented System (SIS) must meet specific performance requirements based on the level of risk reduction it provides. The main aim of these performance requirements is to ensure the SIS is fit for purpose through systematic functional safety lifecycle.
The presentation will detail the requirements placed on the designer of SIS and how these requirements can be managed throughout the project.
Topics covered will be:
Functional safety design lifecycle management. Managing competencies. Safety requirement specifications. Selection of field devices and logic solvers. Systematic capability. Verification and validation. Proof testing.
FSCL is an independent company providing a wide range of safety engineering and consultancy services to the Oil, Gas, Manufacturing, Nuclear and other industries where safety is of paramount importance. FSCL is recognised worldwide as experts in the field of Functional Safety and the application of International Standards to safety systems; the FSCL consultants are activity involved in the global evolution of Function Safety.
Proeon Systems Ltd. Have been offering specialist systems development for clients for well over a decade in industry sectors including; Energy, Process, Manufacturing, Food & Bev, Pharmaceutical etc where Machinery Safety Systems, Automation Systems, Fire and Gas Systems, Gas Turbine Control Systems, Hazardous Area Control Systems, Telecoms Systems, Subsea Control Systems, Emergency Response Management Systems, often require conformance to Functional Safety requirements and are mandatory for many processes.
The event should last no more than 3 hours and refreshments will be available. Proeon’s facilities will be open following the event for attendees to come and see what Proeon does and talk to team members.
Eur ING Mr Amir Akhlaghi BEng (Hons.) TUV-FSEng MSaRS MIET CEng
Amir has worked in control, protection and safety-related applications for the past 10 years. As a Functional Safety Consultant, he conducts and facilitates, HAZOP, Safety Integrity Level (SIL) determination, HAZAN (LOPA and FTA) studies in the UK and Middle East. Amir has valuable experience in detailed consequence analysis, HIPS studies and QRAs.
Kevin Magee has nearly 30 years’ experience in the design of complex control and safety systems for a wide variety of industries with particular emphasis on the Oil & Gas and energy sectors. Specialties: Engineering Design and Management, Control and Safety Systems Design, Gas Turbine Control Systems, Subsea Control Systems, Functional Safety
The event will be at the Hethel Engineering Centre, Norwich, NR14 8FB, and ample parking is provided.
To register for this free event or speak to us about you Functional Safety requirements, please contact Proeon on +44(0)1953 859110 or email Nicolle Matthews on nicollem@proeon.co.uk
Instagram. It’s great, isn’t it? It allows you to share lots of lovely pictures of your products and your team. But there’s a catch: You can only add one link on the site, and that’s in your bio… So what do you do when you want to share more than one link?
There are several solutions, but the most prominent is Linktr.ee.
In this article, we take a look at what Linktree does, how it works, and how to create an alternative that drives traffic straight to your site.
Linktree is a tool that allows you to share multiple links via Instagram.
What does Linktree do?
It basically creates a simple landing page that hosts multiple links. You pop the link to this landing page in your Instagram bio, in order to drive traffic to specific areas of your site.
How does Linktree work?
Linktree works by creating a landing page on their site, which features multiple links to your site.
You simply copy and paste your Linktree landing page URL into your Instagram bio to raise awareness of other parts of your site.
Is Linktree free?
There is a free version and a premium version, which (at the time of writing) costs $6 per month.
The free version has limited functionality and doesn’t allow you to add much branding. However, you can add a profile picture and change the colour of the background to one of their presets.
How to get Linktree?
You just need to visit the Linktr.ee website and create an account. When we tried it, it took about 5 minutes to set up, front to back.
Linktree alternatives
You don’t have to use Linktree to share multiple links. There is a bunch of other options out there but the best way is to create a landing page on your own site.
Yes, it’ll take you a few more minutes to do, but you’ll be directing traffic to your own site, rather than Linktree. Not does it drive traffic, but it’s free and gives you complete control over the branding.
How to make your own Linktree
You can create your own version of Linktree by building a landing page on your own website. Simply list the most important links on your site in order to direct users to specific information. For instance, you could feature your latest article, your newsletter sign-up page and your contact page. There’s no limit to how many you include.
Give it a short URL, like www.yoursite.com/instagram and then add the link to your Instagram bio.
Some East Anglian businesses don’t want to grow as recruiting staff is too much hassle according to local HR expert
Some East Anglian businesses maybe inhibiting growth as they are reluctant to recruit staff, while for others, adding to the workforce headcount and skills is essential for survival.
Small business are sometimes fearful of taking on staff, as they don’t want the hassle of looking after and managing employees, but often these fears are unfounded says Peter Lawrence, Director of Human Resources Consultancy, Human Capital Department.
Mr Lawrence says:
“We see many one-man and one-woman band businesses in East Anglia who are busy with a full order book, turning work away, but they don’t want to take on people as they are fearful of the consequences and so have limited capacity to grow their business”.
However, there are exceptions: Anglia IT Solutions, have successfully grown each year, recruiting new staff to deliver solutions to clients. Founded in 2003 by Directors, Jason Crown and Terry Windsor with a goal to deliver professional and affordable IT Support to organisations across Norfolk and Suffolk. Their reputation quickly grew as they worked with a variety of clients including the Sandringham Estate, achieving a Royal Warrant five years later, something they proudly retain today.
Finding the right staff and managing their performance can be challenging says Peter. That’s where we come in as the local HR experts, providing “Outsourced HR” or a “One Stop Shop” for Human Resources Management & Development, to organisations that either don’t have an HR Department, or need support and expertise to implement an HR Project.
To help businesses in meeting the challenge of expansion, Peter has organised a series of breakfast seminars in association with local enterprise agency – NWES – in which he explores the the stages of the “employee life cycle” including recruitment and on-boarding, and provides tips to guide businesses in getting the people management and development piece right.
The sessions, which are free, are running at the following locations and dates [from 07:30 – 09:00]:
13/10 – Beacon Centre, Gt. Yarmouth
27/10 – Riverside Business Centre, Lowerstoft 17/11 – Kings Lynn Innovation Centre 24/11 – Rowen House, Norwich.
To book a place contact Peter Lawrence or Rod Lee at Human Capital Department Tel. 01553 609968 Email info@humancapitaldept.com Or contact the local NWES office.