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0121 569 2070 [email protected] www.wmemployers.org.uk 1 As for perennial challenges, the sector continues to wrestle with the round of pay negotiations and whilst our LGA colleagues say every year “this will be the most difficult for many years”, I don’t think they can be accused of ‘crying wolf’ this time. Squaring the circle of dealing with the 4-6% pay bill impact of the implementation of the NLW; the raised expectation levels following the ‘busting’ of the 1% public sector pay cap and the absence of any additional funding, would suggest an agreement of any sorts may be beyond reach. Whatever the outcome, another ‘new’ challenge for authorities is reviewing their grading structures in light of the ‘new look’ pay spine. Recent network meetings have focused on new solutions to old challenges; the @Future Social Work initiative and the continuing development of a new cross Public Sector leadership initiative that our new Head of OD and Leadership, Denise, is developing alongside local authority, health and WMCA colleagues. Look out for an update on the former later in the year and an update from Denise on the latter in this newsletter. Annual challenges include organising our annual Employment Law Update, taking place on Friday 20 October and we are also gearing up for our 10th Coaching Conference, taking place this November with a great programme of activities for what promises to be a very special event. Looking to the future, we are keen to explore new ways of making connections and engaging our new and future client base, including through our #loveyourhr blog site and plans are being developed for a national networking event next summer. Through all of this we have a significant ‘business as usual’ demand from our service portfolio as we continue to grow the WMJobs ‘business’, look to re-energise the Coaching Pool and secure the consultancy and other income that will feed next years ‘shareholder reward’! On a final note from me, on behalf of all of the WME team, I’d like to express my sincere thanks to Roger Phillips who stood down as WME Chair over the summer (see more details in this newsletter). Without Roger’s leadership, support and influence, WME would not be in the good place we find ourselves today. See you all next year! Colin Williams, Director newsletter Issue 18 - Oct 2017 New senior leadership team out of the starting gates As we speed towards another calendar year, the adage that ‘time flies’ never feels truer. Earlier this year we put in place a model for a new WME senior leadership team and following the welcome return of Manny Sandhu from maternity leave, our new structure is now ‘up and running’. With the fantastic all-round team we have here at WME, we can now put our foot back on the accelerator as we plan for 2018 and beyond. No doubt we’ll be dealing with old and new challenges and on that theme, this newsletter features a report on our second LA Challenge event. If you haven’t heard already, read on to find out the winners! The day was a great success and as ever, I was proud of the team’s efforts in making the day a success and impressed with the range of talent on display from across the participating organisations. I’d also like to thank colleagues from our partners at Breckland Training, our sponsors and all the volunteers who had great fun playing various roles. What’s inside.... Councillor Meeson 2 Love your HR 2 Aspire Wales 3 New OD Network 3 Developments in Cross Public Sector Leadership 4 Resourcing update 5 Employer Branding 5 LAC2017 6 Employment Law 7 Coaching and Mentoring conference 7 Book Club 8 #moralebuilder 8 Key Dates 8 Milk Your Membership 8 Selfie Spot 8 The all new WME senior management team!

New senior leadership team out of the starting gates Midlands Employers...‘business as usual’ demand from our ... I’d also like to thank colleagues from our partners at Breckland

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0121 569 2070 [email protected] www.wmemployers.org.uk 1

As for perennial challenges, the sector continues to wrestle with the round of pay negotiations and whilst our LGA colleagues say every year “this will be the most difficult for many years”, I don’t think they can be accused of ‘crying wolf’ this time. Squaring the circle of dealing with the 4-6% pay bill impact of the implementation of the NLW; the raised expectation levels following the ‘busting’ of the 1% public sector pay cap and the absence of any additional funding, would suggest an agreement of any sorts may be beyond reach. Whatever the outcome, another ‘new’ challenge for authorities is reviewing their grading structures in light of the ‘new look’ pay spine.

Recent network meetings have focused on new solutions to old challenges; the @Future Social Work initiative and the continuing development of a new cross Public Sector leadership initiative that our new Head of OD and Leadership, Denise, is developing alongside local authority, health and WMCA colleagues. Look out for an update on the former later in the year and an update from Denise on the latter in this newsletter.

Annual challenges include organising our annual Employment Law Update, taking place on Friday 20 October and we are also gearing up for our 10th Coaching Conference, taking place this November with a great programme of activities for what promises to be a very special event. Looking to the future, we are keen to

explore new ways of making connections and engaging our new and future client base, including through our #loveyourhr blog site and plans are being developed for a national networking event next summer.

Through all of this we have a significant ‘business as usual’ demand from our service portfolio as we continue to grow the WMJobs ‘business’, look to re-energise the Coaching Pool and secure the consultancy and other income that will feed next years ‘shareholder reward’!

On a final note from me, on behalf of all of the WME team, I’d like to express my sincere thanks to Roger Phillips who stood down as WME Chair over the summer (see more details in this newsletter). Without Roger’s leadership, support and influence, WME would not be in the good place we find ourselves today.

See you all next year! Colin Williams, Director

newsletterIssue 18 - Oct 2017

New senior leadership team out of the starting gatesAs we speed towards another calendar year, the adage that ‘time flies’ never feels truer. Earlier this year we put in place a model for a new WME senior leadership team and following the welcome return of Manny Sandhu from maternity leave, our new structure is now ‘up and running’. With the fantastic all-round team we have here at WME, we can now put our foot back on the accelerator as we plan for 2018 and beyond.

No doubt we’ll be dealing with old and new challenges and on that theme, this newsletter features a report on our second LA Challenge event. If you haven’t heard already, read on to find out the winners! The day was a great success and as ever, I was proud of the team’s efforts in making the day a success and impressed with the range of talent on display from across the participating organisations. I’d also like to thank colleagues from our partners at Breckland Training, our sponsors and all the volunteers who had great fun playing various roles.

What’s inside....

Councillor Meeson 2Love your HR 2Aspire Wales 3New OD Network 3Developments in Cross Public Sector Leadership 4Resourcing update 5Employer Branding 5LAC2017 6Employment Law 7Coaching and Mentoring conference 7Book Club 8#moralebuilder 8Key Dates 8Milk Your Membership 8Selfie Spot 8

The all new WME senior management team!

0121 569 2070 [email protected] www.wmemployers.org.uk 2

Councillor Meeson takes the helm At the last meeting of the WME Management Board, Councillor Roger Phillips announced that he was standing down as Chair of WME after a period of over four years. Roger’s contribution and influence was essential in the transition from the former West Midlands Councils to our establishment as a ‘free standing’ employers organisation. His continued leadership and support has been invaluable to the organisation, as well as the ‘inside track’ we have been able to gain through his role as a lead negotiator for the national employers and as the pensions lead for the LGA. During his tenure, Roger was also the Chair of the National Association of Regional Employers. However, despite all that, this is a good news story all round as whilst Roger will stay on the board as the sub-regional representative for Herefordshire, Shropshire and Telford, we are delighted to welcome Councillor Ken Meeson as our new Chair. Ken has been a long serving Board Member and a supporter of the regional employers function for well over the last decade. Ken has substantial experience drawn from various public sector roles, including being a former Leader of Solihull MBC and brings expertise and guidance which we know will add value. In taking up the helm, Ken reflected on Roger’s time as Chair and his own aims for the continued development of WME:

Love your HR Have you heard the one about the HR manager who walked into a bar…..?! We’ve all heard the HR jokes that do the rounds but here at WME we love HR and we’ve launched a movement to prove it!

This summer, to combat the, sometimes, negative connotations surrounding our beloved industry, we embraced our inner hippie and launched the Love Your HR movement.

To get the show on the road we designed our own virtual campervan - which you can see driving around on Twitter and LinkedIn.

We’ve gathered quite a momentum and attracted some high-profile bloggers since launching in August.

Leadership guru David Ulrich was so impressed with what we are trying to achieve he blogged for us at the end of September and within 48 hours of his blog going live we had over 2000 views and visitors to Love your HR.

In total since launch we have had over 5,000 visitors and 7,000 views. Our aim is to continue to grow the blog and to attract as many people as possible from both within and outside our HR world, reaching nationally and internationally for experiences and knowledge from across the public sector and beyond.

The blog is free to view and we have attracted some great bloggers from all ends of the interest spectrum. All sharing their positive experiences.

Michelle Harte, Head of HR at WME, whose idea it was to create the blog, said:

Keep up with the latest blogs at: www.loveyourhr.blog

Email [email protected] if you are interested in writing a blog – we’d love to hear from you.

“As councillors we like to take credit for the success of our Local Authorities but of course, that success is very dependent on the quality and commitment of our staff and good employment relationships. Under Roger’s leadership WME has played an increasingly effective role in provision of recruitment, HR advice, challenge and professional development across the public sector. Our team is respected as professional and a valuable asset for organisations across the West Midlands and I want to ensure that we hold our position as the first choice in the region when it comes to employment issues and: continue to widen our offer and help more organisations to meet the workforce challenges in a rapidly changing environment.”

“The inspiration behind Love Your HR came from frustration really about the negative perception of the profession both in the public and private sector that we do little to challenge.

“After hearing from the Chief Executives and HR professionals willing to contribute I realised I was not on my own and people wanted to celebrate their job as much as I did.

“Two key moments for me were when Rachel Jones from Dudley MBC wrote #LoveYourHR in the sand on her holiday and most recently Dave Ulrich agreed to participate. We then knew we were on to something.”

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Aspire Wales – celebration event Colin Williams reports on the action from the first Aspire celebration event in Wales…

Working in partnership with the Welsh LGA, on Wednesday 4th October WME helped deliver the Aspire Celebration Day for the first Welsh cohort of our successful HRBP development programme.

Following the ‘football stadium home theme’ of West Midlands Aspire cohorts, the celebration event (as with all modules) was held at Cardiff City Football Club, rather than our usual home at Villa Park. It would appear the Aspire effect has had a more positive impact on the Bluebirds (CCFC) than the Villains (AVFC), as when we started this cohort they were languishing towards the foot of the Championship, yet are now top of the table!

Those attending from across Wales heard an excellent keynote from Alison Ward, the Chief Executive of Torfaen Borough Council about the wider workforce challenges she identified as priorities within her leadership roles as Chair of the Chief Executives Group of the South East Wales Regional Partnership Board and Secretary of the Welsh Public Sector Employers Group.

However, the real stars of the day were the four Aspire cohort groups who all delivered excellent presentations, which fully engaged the audience and an ‘expert panel’ throughout the whole day.

To give you a taste of the diversity of the research projects presented, Group 1 looked to the future and explored how new technologies can be exploited in the delivery of HR services and functions; Group 2 looked forward to what needed to be done to revitalise the ability and capacity of the sector to attract, recruit, engage, retain and develop new millennials; Group 3 looked internally, offering a clear guide on how the HR function needed to identify and develop its own income generation and commercial capacity, and finally, Group 4 looked into the sole and psyche of local government employees to answer the question “what makes people go the extra mile?” Not only were the presentations excellent, but the project group reports will shortly be shared in full (along with accompanying videos) on www.aspirehrbp.org.uk. Take a look at the feedback #aspirehrbp and make sure you take a look at the reports!

Finally, we’d strongly encourage you to reserve the 15th December in your diary for the Celebration Day (back at Villa Park) for the current West Midlands cohort as I’ve no doubt they’ll continue to ‘raise the bar’ (and the free lunch will be accompanied by Mince Pies to boot!).”

As the West Midlands OD Community (WMODC) reaches its first birthday as a cross sector network of OD practitioners, it is publishing the 2018 dates for its quarterly meetings. These will be held on the following dates at a central Birmingham venue (TBC):

• Wednesday January 10th • Wednesday April 18th• Wednesday July 18th• Wednesday October 10th

The format for the 2018 sessions is to have a morning session that might feature a guest speaker or a topic led by a network member or ad hoc sub group. The themes and content for sessions come from network members themselves, meeting their needs and those of the organisations they work for.

It is hoped the afternoon sessions might be a ‘deeper dive’ into the issues aired during the morning or a pop up workshop or consideration of a case study around organisation change or challenges for practitioners individually. The strength of the network has been building through sharing insights, knowledge and know how, beyond organisation and sector boundaries.

Past sessions have looked at wellbeing through an OD lens, as well as the thinking, working and doing around ‘systems’. Other topics have included how the network can organise to meet the needs of its members and the variety of organisations they work for. The network is working closely with WME and the possible cross overs or shared interests with our well established coaching network, aiming to develop into a cross public sector network going forward. It is also exploring wider links with the OD Network for Europe (ODNE) and how that may have mutual benefit.

Some of our Welsh cohort went pitch side at the celebration event

New OD network hits first birthday…

Find out moreIf you would like to know more about the network, get involved or even host one of the 2018 dates, then please get in touch with either Katherine Long - [email protected] - or Steve O’Neill - [email protected]

They would like to hear from you soon and see you at one (or all!) of the 2018 sessions. Steve will be at the WME coaching conference on Thursday 9th November and he would be happy to talk to you about the network on that day.

0121 569 2070 [email protected] www.wmemployers.org.uk 4

Denise Bolger, Head of OD and Leadership, gives an update on the cross public sector leadership initiative Since our last newsletter, work has been ongoing to understand the requirements of our partner agencies and to secure commitment to the development of a cross public sector leadership development initiative.

The principle aim of this initiative is to utilise the 2016-17 shareholder reward, in support of public sector reform, based on the research into the 21st Century Public Servant.

Throughout the summer we have been scoping interest with potential public sector partners such as the Police, Fire Service and Health and researching prospective collaborators to support design and delivery.

We have linked up with the National Leadership Centre, Health Education England’s National Leadership Academy, Birmingham University and the Combined Authority to look at how we can pool our resources and work collaboratively on cross sector leadership development.

We are operating on fertile ground and there is masses of support and interest in this initiative as awareness of the key challenges facing leaders who deliver public services continues to grow.

We are all operating with that shared endeavour and common purpose and the

intention at WME is to corral that coalition of the willing to think about what we can do and how we can change. To this end we are setting up a Steering Group made up of those who are interested in shaping the initiative, stimulate new thinking and work with us to come up with innovative ways to improve the performance of current and future leaders and our respective organisations.

The initiative will be designed to develop good leadership behaviours, work on real problems with real colleagues and design and implement real solutions.

The key message is that we want to design something that will compliment and align to any current leadership offers, with a recognisable framework that can flex according to need and build and grow an ongoing network. We are currently considering delivery models such as a series of experiential workshops, the Common Purpose Co-Lab approach and Masterclasses from thought leaders and we are exploring the feasibility of a launch event early next year to trial some of these ideas.

Priority areas and key themes currently under consideration include agile working, operating in a commercial environment, Digital/Technology, creativity and innovation, commissioning and market shaping, workforce planning, talent management and Trust.

Our next steps are to arrange the first meeting of the steering group, agree and appoint a design/delivery partner and design and deliver a ‘prototype’ that we can evaluate and finesse as we go along. We are going to ‘start where we are’ and ‘go where we can’ and we are aiming for something that is values based, bespoke to the West Midlands and genuinely co-produced across all the sectors.

Public services face profound long term challenges that do not respect traditional service models or sector boundaries and that will re-shape our role and purpose. Finding solutions will require more open, honest and constructive ways of working together and here at WME we are hoping to contribute to that through the design and development of this exciting new initiative.

Developments in Cross Public Sector Leadership

LEADERSHIP

Resourcing update Welcome Return of Manny SandhuManny Sandhu returns to her post of Head of Resourcing this October following nine months of maternity leave.

She returns to find the team in great shape as the jobs board and e-recruitment service continues to go from strength to strength.

The autumn is set to be busy for the team as they continue to roll out the marketing plan and focus on attracting recruiters and candidates alike to WMJobs.

To attract recruiters and grow brand awareness the team will be exhibiting at the academies show in November at the NEC in Birmingham.

A new look application form is launching by the end of the year – making it even easier for candidates to apply for jobs.

There is also a new look WMJobs online newsletter launching this autumn and we will be able to share it with our readers in the next edition.

Brand new news! Employer Branding is a hot topic in recruitment and we are pleased that we are on trend and have been shortlisted for an award!

We have been shortlisted in the category of best employer brand at the in-house recruitment awards – for a project we worked on with Warwick District Council (WDC).

Earlier this year the council asked us to carry out an out an employer branding exercise for them. The brief was simple: create a brand to help the council stand out from the crowd and to highlight its unique proposition as an employer of choice.

As a starting point, the team spent a day with the council and a cross section of staff to understand what they thought about working at WDC and to ‘get under the skin’ of the organisation.

Following the scoping day, the team were then able to take the information gleaned to begin to develop the employer brand. A visual identity for the brand was developed, a strapline that summed up the ethos of the council and a short employer branding film created.

The strapline, ‘Warwick District Council – a great place to work’ was created and used extensively in the recent successful executive recruitment campaign for a Head of Housing post. A simple yet effective strapline derived from the overall Warwick District Council vision: A great place to live, work and visit.

We also produced a short film for the council that you can watch here. The in-house Recruitment awards take place on Wednesday 22 November in London.

Need help with your employer brand? Email the team at: [email protected]

Manny commented: “I’m so pleased to be returning to the WME family and to my role leading the resourcing team. I’ve been watching from a distance the fantastic inroads made in growing and developing the service whilst I’ve been away.

“This has been thanks to the hard work all the team have put in and the strong leadership Cherie Cuthbertson showed whilst babysitting my post while I was literally having a baby!

“We are sad to see Cherie leave but I’d like to thank her for all she has done for the team and I know I am joined by everyone at WME and our authorities in wishing her the very best of luck in the future.”

“I’ll be getting out to see as many as I can in the next few weeks to discuss developments to the service and our future road plan. If anyone would like to book an appointment to see me sooner rather than later please do email me at: [email protected]. I look forward to catching up soon. ”

Zoe Lee, Communications and Marketing Manager at WME, said: “We were thrilled to be invited to work alongside the comms team at WDC to create an employer brand with the sustainability to develop and grow with the organisation.

“Following our creative work-shop we were able to go away and develop an employer brand.

“The creation of the collection of comms collateral is the starting point for the brand and I look forward to watching the council embedding the brand internally and the external roll out.

“The icing on the cake is to have been shortlisted for this prestigious award. We were up against stiff competition to be shortlisted with the likes of RBS, Muller, River Island, the Home Office, Teach First and the Department for Work and Pensions to name but a few all entering submissions at the awards. Fingers crossed we bring the trophy home!”

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Conference 1LAC2017 They came they saw and they certainly conquered! Huge congratulations to all the teams that took part in the LA Challenge this year, held at the Molineux on 28th September.

The LA Challenge is an ever-changing simulation exercise, designed and delivered by Breckland Training, where teams take on the role of a senior management team at one of four fictitious district councils. The event brought together an array of talented individuals representing their employer and a host of volunteers without whom the simulation wouldn’t be so real! This year we had a number of council leaders, chief executives, Chief Executives, senior managers, partners and sponsors who enjoyed themselves in full role play mode!

We had 13 teams all raring to go and we were super impressed with all of them. But only one could walk away with the title – and they did it again, Wolverhampton City Council fought off stiff competition to be crowned the best team of the day!

The win saw them do the double and secured their position as reigning champions.

In addition to the accolade of best team, the winning team also get to take the mother of all award trophies home for a year – Big Bertha. For Wolverhampton City that meant they got to take home Big Bertha and a mini Bertha to mark their win in 2016.

As the LA Challenge is our version of the Eurovision, without the singing and dancing, but with much talent we will be holding the 2018 LA Challenge in Wolverhampton - again!

Although Wolverhampton City walked away with the one and only big bertha they weren’t the only team to walk away with (mini Bertha) awards.

There were 7 award categories and the following teams walked away with awards:

Best Team City of Wolverhampton Council – 2 years in a row! Best CEOSarah Constable – Telford and Wrekin CouncilBest Resident’s MagazineWyre Forest District Council Best PresentationWorcester City Council Best Partnership WorkingTelford and Wrekin Council Best Sponsorship InteractionGambling Commission Best FundraisingWarwick District Council

The event this year was co-sponsored by GC Index, Council Advertising Network, Freeths, Seymour John and Lumesse. We couldn’t have done it without their invaluable support.

Coming soon is a limited-edition LA Challenge 2017 newsletter with even more news and pics and ‘hot goss’ from the day. Watch this space!

Let’s talk conferences

With the arrival of the Autumn edition it means we are well and truly in conference season! Our big three are back and the first has already taken place! Here is our round up…..

Leadership

Goal

Strategy

Success

Teamwork

Our Teams• City of Wolverhampton Council• Gambling Commission• Lichfield District Council• Rugby Borough Council• Solihull MBC• Staffordshire County Council

x 2 • Telford and Wrekin Council • Walsall MBC • Warwick and District Council• Worcester City Council• Wychavon and Malvern Hills

District Council• Wyre Forest District Council

0121 569 2070 [email protected] www.wmemployers.org.uk 6

Marianne Douglas, the event lead, said:“I didn’t think we would be able to top last year’s event but we did – and I think each year will just get better and better.

“Our challengers on the day really got into the spirit of the day and immersed themselves fully into the scenario. Our volunteers with whom we could not bring the exercise to life were equally as fantastic and by the end of the day I actually felt like I lived in the fictitious town of Linkfolk!

“We’ve already begun discussions with Breckland Training for next year’s challenge and will throw in even more surprises to keep our teams on their toes!

“Well done to everyone that took part – they were all amazing I’m sure they have taken back some excellent development tips that they can use in the work place.”

City of Wolverhampton Council were crowned Best Team!

0121 569 2070 [email protected] www.wmemployers.org.uk 7

Conference 2Employment Law – COMING SOON! This annual event is proving as popular as ever with tickets flying off the shelf. We now have only limited places left for the 20th October event held at Sandwell Council House. Our resident employment law expert Darren Newman always attracts a crowd every year thanks to his up to date and informative information, delivered as ever in an engaging and often witty style.

At £110 +VAT for WME members, including a networking lunch, this is a very competitive offer and as ever, we also have our regular 3 for 2 offer for this event, so it’s even better value when you bring your colleagues.

Click here to access our online booking form!

Conference 3It’s nearly time to celebrate!!!After loads of organisational effort, we’re now looking forward to our 10th Annual Coaching and Mentoring conference.

The day is set to be our best coaching conference ever – for a taster of what the day has got to offer, we have a mixture of inspiring key note speakers and interactive seminars.

Key topics to be covered on the day:

Global view of Coaching, Mentoring and Culture – same

or different?

3 Steps to Success from a personal perspective

A Critical review of Coaching practice across Europe

For more details see our dedicated conference microsite.

The day will be chaired by Leslie Matile a much sought after executive coach working with leaders to maximise their contribution and effectiveness.

To celebrate our first decade of the West Midlands Coaching and Mentoring Pool, the day will with an awards ceremony at the close of the Conference to mark some of the individual contributions in the achievements of the pool as a whole.

Make sure you register to secure your place before the 31st October 2017. Places are limited with priority given to group bookings with a 10% discount applied.

In the meantime, you can:• Share a good news story to feature on

our webpage – Click HERE• Follow us on twitter @WMEmployers

and promote the conference through your social media channels - please!.

Karen Pearson, who is arranging the conference said: “We have some excellent speakers, workshops and masterclasses that are aimed at bringing delegates a refreshing, meaningful, fun filled and reflective experience.

As this is our 10th anniversary, we will be celebrating at the end of the conference with our awards ceremony recognising all the excellent work that the coaches and mentors have been doing over the last 10 years.

“If you haven’t already booked your place make sure you do it soon, as places are limited and tickets are selling fast!

“We look forward to seeing some new and familiar faces at what is shaping up to be a great event.”

Hot off the press - Over £6k for Edwards Trust – #LACH2017! As well as developing our future leaders we also took the opportunity to use the LA Challenge to raise cash for a fantastic local charity, the Edwards Trust.

The mission for the charity is to support children and families who are facing loss and experiencing bereavement.

In the two-week run up to the challenge we set the teams a pre-challenge, challenge, of raising as much as they could.

They did not disappoint and between the 13 teams raised a phenomenal £5,363.45

Not to miss out on the action,WME arranged a prize raffle on the night of the challenge.

Prizes included generous donations from companies across the region including Birmingham REP theatre tickets, a night out at the Glee Comedy Club, a spa experience for one at Ragdale Hall, a hamper from Sainsburys and many more fab prizes.

The surprise raffle hit was a hamster cage from Pets at Home that saw our delegates dig deep into their pockets for a strip of tickets.

WME’s very own Denise Bolger was our star compere for the prize draw ably assisted by Abbey Mann, our Business and Customer Services Team Leader (and chief prize blagger!).

Thanks to the raffle we were able to raise an additional £742.45 on the night. Taking the final total up to £6,105.90. Not bad for two weeks and one night of fundraising!

Marianne and Denise presenting the

cheque!

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Book ClubOur book review this month comes from our Business and Customer Services Advisor, Shanda Reid, who is reviewing the change management book – “Who moved my cheese?”

BOOK OVERVIEW:

Who Moved my Cheese?

BY SPENCER JOHNSON

An amazing way to deal with change in your work and in your life.

If my memory serves me right, I read this book a year or so after it hit the 1998 best seller list, because change management is an interest of mine. A quick survey of the internet today suggests that its popularity has not waned. ‘Who moved my cheese’ seems to be a mechanism of analysis, opinion and critique for training and consultancy delivery, and considerations on what self-management and leadership style to apply.

It is based on a simple fact that everyone likes a story whether it is read or told, for in them we find something that can be applied or resonates with our experience (making it ‘deep’ and ‘meaningful’). Even our conversations are stories if you think about it. For example, someone tells you about a good deal they had or a country they visited and that in turns motivates you to discover one for yourself. So, point blank, this book is a simple narrative that mice need cheese and their ways to get (or to not get) the cheese. This is then translated into you and I in our pursuit of ‘cheese’ happiness to be motivated to change to obtain it.

The one niggle for me is that the ‘how to’ of change seems to be possible in four steps, which I’m not totally convinced is so easy peasy. To anticipate change? (isn’t it usually unexpected?), Adapt? (really this should say accept), Monitor (why?) and Enjoy change? (hmm, doesn’t that depend

on what that change is?). Maybe you will typecast these comments as ‘hem’-ing and ‘haw’-ing around the subject matter.

In text speak - *‘OATUS’ - it’s just like a spider and its web creations can be found everywhere (I saw webs on my grass this morning with droplets on it which were so picturesque), so is change – a universal constant?. The analogy therefore is that this yarn is based on what we value the most and that it can be applied to many situations we find ourselves in at work or in our personal realm.

One thing I took away from the book, is don’t waste time on dreaming about the time when you will finally be happy – that nice house, job and so on. Life is today, work on it - step by step to get there – let your focus bypass fear and loss by visualising the end result. You need to choose today and not the ‘when’.

I must state that Spencer Johnson’s motivational literary offering is ‘bite sized’ (pun absolutely intended) and that this ‘nibble’ review reminds the librarian in you that it will be filed under ‘quick read’. Finally, in terms of content, I can assure you that no one moved your cheese, because everyone has their own.

Happy reading!*For those not fluent in text speak – OATUS means on a totally unrelated subject!.

#moralebuilder Seeing so many people get such excellent CPD at the 2017 LA Challenge and then seeing so many tweets with people praising the day certainly boosted our already high morale!

Get in touchWest Midlands Employers offers a range of services aimed at local councils and the wider public sector to support performance improvement at both an individual and organisational level, helping you to make the best use of your greatest resource - your people.

www.wmemployers.org.uk Follow us @WMEmployers

Selfie SpotAbbey Mann with Lucy Goodway from Edwards Trust – celebrating with a pic after we totted up how much we had fundraised on their behalf!

Over £6k

Key Dates21st March 2017 - 15th December 2017Aspire Business Partnering Programme - West Midlands9th October 2017 - 8th April 2018ILM Level 5 Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring - SOLD OUT20th October 2017Employment Law Update - with Darren Newman

09 November 2017 10th Anniversary - West Midlands Coaching and Mentoring Pool Conference

Milk Your Membership MYM TIP #14

Get ready to hire new talent in the new year with this exclusive offer: Buy five featured jobs for £560.00. That’s half price! Normal retail price for subscribers is £1,120 for five featured jobs. Offer valid until December 31 2017. Email WME NL offer to [email protected]. Valid for use 12 months after purchase.