How do you know what motivates your employees? What motivates the team? And, how motivated are they? More importantly, what can you do to improve motivation and is it worth the effort ie will it impact on the bottom line!
Motivational Maps ® is a mapping tool that helps self-awareness, and can be undertaken at an individual level or aggregated at team level. It can specifically help organisations to understand where they have pockets of demotivated staff and provide practical solutions to address the problem areas. It is particularly effective as a tool to assist in recruitment and as well as helping people to understand their key motivators; it can also assist in career advice and transition. If the employee is in the right role, i.e. one that meets their motivational needs, it correlates directly with improved productivity in the company. It hits the areas that have a meaningful impact and has already been used by thousands globally, including many blue chip companies.
Turning Factor is now licensed to assess and deliver Motivational Maps®. Kathryn Horton, Director, said that it is incredibly rewarding to see such a positive impact on individuals. It also fits well with how we support companies at a strategic level. Motivational Maps ® is a fabulous tool that has already made an impact in the companies that have used it.
Amara, the luxury interior design company based in Rayne, and insurance brokers Pound Gates, based in Ipswich, were crowned the region’s Best Overall Employers at the Best Employers Eastern Region Awards 2016 yesterday (Thursday 6 October). Further awards were also presented to organisations across the region which excel in Customer Focus, Employee Engagement and Innovation.
The Best Employers Eastern Region initiative was founded by professional recruitment specialists Pure and people development and psychometrics expertseras ltd. It aims to celebrate the region’s best employers and supports organisations across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire to create inspiring, innovative and engaging places to work.
The 2016 awards conference took place at Hengrave Hall in Bury St Edmunds and was attended by more than 100 members of the region’s business community. The morning was dedicated to sharing ideas and inspiration on employee engagement and discussing its impact on business performance. The guest speakers at the event were Chantal Misquitta from AstraZeneca, Daemmon Reeve from Treatt plc, Norman Pickavance and James Brown from Grant Thornton, and business transformation consultant Steve Turpie. These five high profile business leaders, all from very different organisations, shared their journeys to creating great places to work. Key themes included authentic leadership, the challenge of maintaining employee engagement in a growing organisation and the benefits of a people-focussed approach.
Lynn Walters, co-founder and director at Pure, said: “All our guest speakers are from local organisations already doing great things around employee engagement. We’re really grateful to them for giving up their time. With many people in the audience being SME owners, the opportunity to hear from a growing business like Treatt, alongside large, established organisations such as AstraZeneca and Grant Thornton, was very thought provoking. Steve Turpie’s insights into his experiences of supporting leaders to take a more authentic approach also really hit home. Our aim is to bring the region’s employers together to share ideas and problem solve challenges. Working together will put our region on the map as a great place to work. Being able to attract and retain talented employees is a key factor in achieving business growth, which will ultimately support the overall growth of our regional economy.”
Lynn Walters, alongside Margaret Burnside, Director of People Development ateras ltd, also led discussions on the latest employee engagement trends and shared the key findings from this year’s Best Employers Eastern Region survey. The results of the employee survey also determined this year’s award winners, with accolades being presented to the organisations with the highest scores, based on their own employee feedback.
This year the award for the region’s Best Overall Large Employer award has been sponsored by East of England law firm Birketts. Jeanette Wheeler, partner and head of employment law, presented the award to Amara, and also presented the award for the region’s Best Overall Small Employer to Pound Gates. This is the second time Ipswich-based Pound Gates has been honoured with a Best Employers Eastern Region award, having previously received the same accolade at the inaugural awards event in 2012.
The full list ofBest Employers Eastern Region 2016 winners:
Large employers (organisations with more than 50 employees)
The Birketts Best Overall Large Employer Award: Luxury interior design companyAmara,based in Rayne, Essex
Customer Focus Award:Arthur Rank Hospice Charity (ARHC),based in Cambridge
Employee Engagement Award: Merchant services providerCashflows,based in Cambridge
Innovation Award: Sports equipment manufacturersHarrod UK, based in Lowestoft, Suffolk
Small employers (less than 50 employees)
Best Overall Small Employer Award: Insurance brokersPound Gates, based in Ipswich
Customer Focus Award: Financial plannersBeckett Investment Management Group, based in Bury St Edmunds
Employee Engagement Award:Allia, a social ventures charity based in Cambridge
Innovation Award:LSI Architects, based in Norwich
The Customer Focus award recognises the organisations which have motivated employees to go the extra mile for their customers. The Employee Engagement awards honour the employers which have worked hard to develop high levels of staff morale. The Innovation Award is presented to the businesses which have shown the best ability to innovate and harness the creative talents of their employees.
Margaret Burnside, Director of People Development ateras ltd, said: “The winners of these awards have been selected based on the feedback from their own employees, gathered through the survey. Their staff have effectively voted for their organisation to win by sharing their experiences of what it’s really like to work there. This not only makes these awards more unusual, they also feel extra special and very genuine.”
Lynn Walters added: “A massive congratulations to all of our winners. It’s great to see such a spread of different organisations. It feels very representative of the type of companies we have here in our region. Those taking away awards will be in a stronger position to attract, recruit and retain talent for many years to come. I’d also like to thank everyone who has participated in the initiative overall. Not everyone participating has the intention of winning an award. However, all the organisations involved have the shared aim of improving business performance by developing exceptional employee engagement strategies and creating fantastic workplace cultures.”
The Best Employers Eastern Region initiative has also raised over £3,200 to date by donating a proportion of ticket sales to local charities. This has been shared between; Brightstars, a support group for disabled children and young people in Bury St Edmunds (founded by guest speaker Steve Turpie), West Suffolk cardiac support group Upbeat Heart and St Helena’s Hospice in Colchester.
It is estimated that up to 35% of properties in the UK could be unlettable by 1st April 2018 if action is not taken to improve the property’s energy efficiency rating. The Energy Act 2011 contains a provision for minimum energy standards, andfrom 1st April 2018 it willbe unlawful for a landlord to lease a non-domestic property with an EPC Rating of less than ‘E’.
An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is required before a property is marketed for sale or rent in the UK. An EPC gives a property an energy efficiency rating from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient).
It is not just those properties that are currently rated F/G that will be impacted by these new regulations. EPCs have a validity of 10 years. A property with an EPC from 2008 may last through threebuilding regulations updates before the owner is legally required to produce another. In which time, the EPC could have dropped by a whole three rating bands. It is possible for a ‘C’ rated building to decline dangerously close to, or below, the ‘E’ threshold by 2018.
As building regulations continue to set more challenging minimum efficiency standards for the building fabric and services, those buildings with inherent problems with the building construction will find it increasingly difficult to achieve compliance. As such, early action is key to keep the costs of compliance low and maintain rental income.
Properties with an EPC Rating of F/G may still be marketed post 2018. However, the prospective tenant and landlord must agree on measures to improve the efficiency of the building prior to the lease being granted. This provides an additional level of risk to landlords, with tenants potentially being able to demand that more expensive works are carried out at the landlord’s expense.
From 2018, only new tenancies and renewals will be affected. However, from 1st April 2023 all existing tenancies will be subject to Minimum Energy Performance Standards, with F&G rated building phased out of British building stock. This could lead to landlords losing tenants, and tenants business operations being heavily disrupted as they look for new premises.
Exemptions to the rule
Buildings that do not require an EPC:
Places of worship, temporary buildings, building with
With our recent focus on the growth of the Delta-Simons Environment, Health & Safety team, we are pleased to welcome new Senior EHS Consultant, Alex Hammonds. Alex joins Delta-Simons from Ramboll Environ, bringing with him over five years’ experience as an EHS Consultant. He has worked with prestigious clients across a wide range of sectors and specialises in compliance, management systems and training. He will be based in theLondon office.
Alex is experienced in the design and delivery of health and safety management systems, policies and procedures and has conducted hundreds of audits across the UK and internationally. He has also provided an EHS advisory role to clients in the retail and higher education sectors, and has conducted high level Health & Safety reviews for construction, property management and manufacturing firms.
Alex went to the University of Plymouth where he completed a BSc (Hons) Geography degree and an MSc in Global Environmental Change. Following this he completed a a PGCE at the University of Oxford. Alex holds a NEBOSH Diploma in Health and Safety and is a Graduate member of IOSH.
Comfortable and safe work places can increase productivity by 16%, and improve job satisfaction by 24% (source:RiskRight). Delta-Simons are deliveringRiskRightTMEHSsolutions designed byAntea Group, which aims to reduce and proactively manage Environment, Health & Safety risk factors in lower-risk environments i.e. non-manufacturing such as offices, data centres and retail stores. As RiskRight EHS practitioners, we work to understand a business’s culture to ensure the successful implementation of EHS or enhancement of the EHS services in place. This could be from air quality through to employee wellness – providing a rapid response to compliance issues such as the completion of fire risk assessments, to the delivery of a strategic health and safety program to address global risks.
Rosanna Webb, EHS Operations Director, said of Alex’s appointment “We are delighted to have Alex on board; the need for EHS services within lower risk environments is growing rapidly, and as such Alex’s appointment further enables us to support our clients’ specific requirements going forward”.
East Anglian business Alan Boswell Group has announced that it raised more than £6,000 in one weekend for Big C thanks an ongoing relationship with the Norfolk Province of Freemasons – and its employees’ participation in a wide range of fundraising events.
On Friday 23rd September a cheque for £1,625 was presented to Big C following a fundraising initiative by the Norfolk Province of Freemasons, which saw their members pay to park at Alan Boswell Group’s head office during Norwich City FC home games.
The idea was spearheaded by Robert Price MBE on behalf of the Freemasons, who has been managing the initiative for more than six years.
“The relationship began in 2010, when The Grand Lodge of England granted us the opportunity to raise funds for our chosen charities,” Robert explains. “A chance conversation revealed that Alan was open to using the car park on match days to raise money and it went from there.
“This season our beneficiary is Alan Boswell’s Charity of the Year, Big-C. We’re thrilled to make a donation to a local cause and would like to thank Alan Boswell Group for its generosity.”
Says Big C Director of Income Generation and Communications, Clive Evans: “We’re grateful to Alan Boswell Group and the Freemasons for their support. Working with other organisations is a great way to maximise everyone’s efforts and drive extra interest, ensuring Big C can continue to provide support in the future as well as today.”
Alan Boswell Group Marketing Manager Lee Boswell further comments: “The generous donation from the Freemasons was received at the beginning of a bumper weekend of fundraising activity and we’re delighted to have an ongoing relationship with the organisation.
“Every member of staff at Alan Boswell Group has been challenged to raise £100 for charity this year, and over the course of the weekend our employees raised a further £6,000 by taking part in the Bullards Tour de Norfolk bike ride and huge charity raffle. We’re grateful to our relationships with local organisations – and everyone that’s helped us to maximise our efforts.”
If you would like to donate to Alan Boswell Group’s fundraising efforts visit https://abg.bz/ABGCotY
Congratulations Panel Graphic Ltd. of Loddon on the successful certification of their quality system by BSI to the updated ISO 9001: 2015 standard.
Back in March, Panel Graphic determined that their quality system needed a shot in the arm to meet the needs of their ever expanding blue chip clientele. They are the leaders in the field in the provision of design, manufacture and improvement of protective and contrast enhancement front windows and panels for electronic information displays, and optical quality coatings for plastics.
Being Chamber members they scanned the Chamber directory for a local specialist in quality. They found John Campbell, a Norwich based consultant, with success in this area, and an action team was born.
After six months of planned improvement actions, The British Standards institute (BSI) awarded Panel Graphic Ltd. the certificate to the international quality management requirements standard ISO 9001: 2015.
This well respected certificate indicates that Panel Graphic Ltd. have a robust structure in place to give their discerning clients confidence in their products and services.
FLYBE SUMMER ’17 SUN ROUTES FROM NORWICH NOW ON SALE
Flybe, Europe’s largest regional airline, has today (6th October 2016) put on sale the first phase of its 2017 Summer schedule that includes the return of popular sun routes from Norwich to Alicante and Malaga that will both operate twice weekly. Seats can be booked now at www.flybe.com with one way fares from £49.99 including taxes and charges and currently available for travel between 27th March and 13th August 2017.
Flights to Alicante operate on Tues/Fridays with those to Malaga on Monday and Thursdays.
The year-round flights returned earlier this year following the announcement of a partnership between airport owners Regional & City Airports (RCA) and Flybe that resulted in one of Flybe’s E195 118-seater jet aircraft being employed to service both routes.
Flybe, Europe’s largest regional airline – 218 routes serving 10 countries from 75 departure points, 40 UK/35 European airports* (all routes on sale May’16 – Apr’17); operates more UK domestic flights than any other airline (UK CAA May’15 – Apr’16); one of only two UK-based carriers in top 20 global airlines punctuality league table by OAG (Jan ’16) and named top UK airline for punctuality in report issued by UK consumer watchdog Which? (Dec 2014); named ‘Best Short-Haul Airline’ at the 2016 Business Travel Awards (Jan ’16); is the largest scheduled airline by air traffic movements at Belfast City, Birmingham, Cardiff, Exeter, Isle of Man, Jersey, Manchester, Newquay and Southampton airports (UK CAA Apr ’16); operates fleet of 76 aircraft – 51 Bombardier Q400, 9 Embraer 195, 11 E175 & 5 ATR 72s; codeshares with BA, Air France, Etihad, Finnair, Aer Lingus, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Virgin Atlantic, Air India and Air Berlin; has three franchise partners, Loganair, Stobart Air and Blue Islands making it only UK airline brand with 70% coverage of reporting airports (UK CAA Apr’16); has own globally recognised Training Academy in Exeter with flight deck and cabin crew simulator facilities, 26 classrooms and 150-seat conference facility.
East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) is very excited to invite you to the inaugural EACH Gala Dinner at the Natural History Museum on Wednesday, 30th November 2016.
The dinner will be hosted by EACH and Sir Martyn Lewis and will take place in the beautiful setting of the Hintze Hall at the heart of the Natural History Museum. It will be attended by more than 350 guests from East Anglia, London and around the world, including many of our supporters, a number of our ambassadors and patrons, and a host of celebrity guests and will include a surprise performance Ed Sheeran and will attract global press coverage.
EACH supports families and cares for children and young people with life-threatening conditions across Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk. Our family centred approach includes specialist nursing care, symptom management support, short breaks, wellbeing activities, therapies and counselling; all meeting the individual needs of the child, young person and family. Due to high demand and restricted facilities in Norfolk, we have launched a fundraising appeal to deliver a new purpose-built hospice, called .
Since its launch in November 2014, supported by our Royal Patron, HRH The Duchess of Cambridge, has secured £3.5 million with a further £6.5 million needed to make this much-needed facility a reality. We hope the Gala Dinner will bring in £500,000 for . We rely on donations for the majority of income, with your help we can transform the lives of children, young people and families. Your support is vital.
We have a variety of sponsorship, advertisement and table packages that can be tailored to what you need including using the your logo and advert in the EACH Gala Dinner brochure and on our website.
Fountain Partnership Limited are a digital marketing company based in Norwich, established in 2008. With a team of experts, Fountain are able to identify a company’s growth opportunities and build a customised strategy for the best results and command market share. Their strategies drive browsers to client’s websites, increasing opportunities to convert browsers into customers and then increase customer value by testing and measuring. In order to do this, they specialise in the optimization of search engines and conversion rates, as well as pay per click advertising. In order to do this, Fountain uses a combination of pay-per-click advertising, search engine optimisation and conversion rate optimisation.
The problem Fountain were faced with was a time consuming one. When advertisements needing changing or updating it was a painstaking process. They had to upload a new set of adverts from a spreadsheet, going through each one manually to pause all of the old adverts in order to make room for the new ones. it would take days in some cases.
“What was taking 20 hours of work is only now taking an hour.”
Naked Element were chosen to build a script which would allow Fountain to manage one of their largest clients in Google AdWords, saving time and ultimately money. This particular client currently had 75 individual accounts. What the Fountain team were doing to update these was logging into an account, creating the new adverts, then log out of that account, then log into the next one 75 times over!
So what was Naked Element’s solution? In simple terms a script was created that allowed the user to specify AdWords accounts, campaigns and ad groups and then to enter a search, replacing each with a phrase or word. When running, the script would look through all of the ad groups in the campaigns specified and would copy the ads found with the search phrase, update the field with the updated phrase and pause the previous ads.
For example: A client has a campaign called ‘Car Sales’ with three ad groups – blue, red and black. Within those groups there are ads with the description “newest model”. The search phrase “newest model” is entered, followed by the update phrase “drive away today” and the script is run. All of the previous ads with “newest model” will be paused and replaced with the new ads containing the phrase “drive away today”.
“By developing this software to improve process efficiency, Naked Element has saved us four weeks worth of work per year!” said Laura Jennings, Strategic Director at Fountain. “The script they built us is saving up to 95% of our processing time. What was taking 20 hours of work is now only taking an hour – a big saving. ” When software produces such immediate benefits, the advantages are clear.
“The process of working with Naked Element was really straightforward, they tried hard to extract the correct information from us. Lewis, the developer, came out to see us several times. Documentation was also really easy to understand.” The only issue Fountain had was during the creation of the script, as it didn’t always work quite as expected. “However Lewis was quick to identify and resolve the problems. It was never too much trouble to sort out an issue and assistance was always available via telephone.”
KLMUKE’s Finance Department were busy baking over the weekend so they could take part in MacMillian Cancer’s Worlds Largest Coffee Morning, they did a great job and raised £237 for the charity. Many thanks to all the bakers for the tasty cakes!
The Enterprise Centre at the University of East Anglia (UEA) was named Best Corporate Work Space and “Best of the Best”, the most highly-rated of all winners, at the British Council for Offices (BCO) awards ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House last night (4 October). The judging panel of the BCO, the country’s leading forum for the office sector, commented that the involvement of local tradespeople and use of local materials and extensive recycling has produced a building that Norfolk can be proud of. The Enterprise Centre is one of the UKs most sustainable buildings and a leading hub for entrepreneurs, innovators and businesses that are committed to creatinga low-carbon future. It offers flexible work space and has achieved a near 100% occupancy – chiefly SME and start-up businesses – since opening in June 2015, helping it to become one of the region’s most successful green business centres. Tenant Michael Stiff, from Michael Stiff Animation, said: “The Enterprise Centre is a fantastic place to work. The variety of business based here is growing rapidly, creating a brilliant environment for us to grow.”
The Enterprise Centre also hosts exhibitions, events and conferences, with facilities including a roof-top terrace, 300-seater lecture theatre, seminar and meeting rooms. Fergus Rolfe, Team Manager for The Enterprise Centre, said: “We’re delighted to have been successful in two categories of these highly-prestigious awards. The building is already award winning but this recognition, from an organisation solely concerned with excellence in office space, is particularly exciting. Our building truly is inspiring and innovative, so we were delighted to have been successful alongside quality competition.”
Adapt Low Carbon Group that manage The Enterprise Centre will be exhibiting at the B2B Exhibition come and visit us on Stand 72 to find out more about this exciting workplace and venue.
As a partner in the Future50 business growth programme for Norfolk and Suffolk, UEA hosted the inaugural F50 Live conference at the Enterprise Centre on 22 September.
The conference was attended by delegates from Future50 member companies, representing sectors from computing to catering and energy to education, including UEA alumni company Lambda Films, and Iceni Diagnostics, a spinout company based on the research of Professor David Russell, from the School of Chemistry.
UEA Vice-Chancellor Prof David Richardson opened the event, speaking of the part that UEA plays in helping the region’s growth and how businesses help the University to develop its entrepreneurial activities.
Keynote speaker Josephine Fairley, co-founder of Green & Black’s, spoke about her business journey, and the ethical side of entrepreneurship, explaining how “doing good is good for business”.
Robert Jones, Brand Consultant at Wolff Olins and UEA visiting professor (who established the popular Brand Leadership Masters course) gave delegates an insight into how to develop a successful brand and integrate it into all activities.
Lynn Walters, founding director of Pure Resourcing Solutions, spoke on the importance of recruiting and retaining the right people for the job and the organisation, emphasising diversity, succession planning and creating an engaged workforce as key success factors.
Martyn Jackson, Group CEO of Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation Services Group, shared his experiences of transforming a business facing collapse, into a successful and profitable one overcoming people management issues and difficult decisions.
Future50 recognises Norfolk and Suffolk’s most innovative companies, seeking out the region’s ‘ones to watch’ and driving to accelerate their growth ambitions through business advice, networking opportunities and access to grant funding. The programme is funded by the Government’s Regional Growth Fund, and delivered by Nwes and Archant, with partners Barclays, Birketts, Lovewell Blake and UEA adding ongoing support throughout.
Future50 is one of several business initiatives in the region that UEA supports. To find out more about opportunities for collaboration, visit www.uea.ac.uk/business.