Heineken International Graduate Programme - workshop 2

This week saw the second workshop take place for the Heineken International 2010 intake. 12 international graduates flew to the UK for the three day event at Toojays' dedicated outdoor activity centre, Yellowfoot in Eton.

Toojays facilitators, Lee Martin and Miral Mahrous, were on hand to deliver the workshop, which focused on the competencies of achieving results and decision making. The facilitated discussions included case studies, competency reviews and the utilisation of decision making tools.

The graduates were also put through their paces with a series of outdoor experiential activities, designed to challenge their thought processes and further embed their learning.

Post workshop comments were extremely positive with graduates expressing their enjoyment in taking part, the value of the exercises themselves and eager anticipation of the third workshop!

"Weir Sunk" - winners of Deeping Raft Race 2011!

Toojays would like to congratulate the crew of "Weir Sunk", whom they sponsored in this year's Deeping Raft Race which took place on 7th August 2011. After a 3rd place result in 2009 and 2nd place in 2010, the four man crew were delighted to finally secure the top spot, beating all other rafts to come in with a winning time of 17 minutes 10 seconds. Starting at Black Gate, Deeping St James, the race proceeded upstream towards the locks, with the rafts being taken out of the river up the bank before being relaunched into the water, and finishing under the Market Deeping Town Bridge.

This year's high profile charity race was organised by the Rotary Club of the Deepings and the organising committee selected Anna's Hope as the main receiving charity, dedicated to giving hope to children and young people diagnosed with brain tumors, and inspired by Anna Hughes who died at the age of 3 years old.

Speaking after the race, Shaun Sinnott said, "We are delighted to be this year's winners of the raft race. The hard work and effort spent on building our raft has paid off and we will definitely be back next year to defend our title! Well done to my fellow team members - John Sinnot, Andy Coventon and Spencer Johnson - we did it, boys!"

Team Development Event with John Lewis Cribbs Causeway

This week saw a two day team development event for John Lewis Cribbs Causeway at outdoor activity venue Yellowfoot in Eton.

The workshop centred on working collaboratively and developing trust within a team and explored the theory behind the Lencioni Triangle model. A series of outdoor experiential challenges served to embed this learning with post activity reflection and presentations. The tasks identified team competencies and underlined the classroom learning to give real, tangible benefit to those participating.

Both interactive and challenging, the event fully engaged the individuals who remarked on the value of their learning.

Increasing awareness with Aim Higher

Toojays were on hand to deliver an Emotional Intelligence and CV Writing workshop during the first week of July.

Organised by Aim Higher, the half day workshop explained how the Strength Deployment Inventory analysis tool can be used to provide individuals with a deeper insight into how and why people behave the way they do.

The attending delegates also explored the dos and don'ts when it comes to CV writing to produce a CV which adheres to the AIDA principle.

Positive feedback from the group centred on their enjoyment of the event and the valuable insight gained from its content.

Segway Success

Toojays were delighted to support our venue partner Yellow Foot Lodge in Eton UK this weekend as they hosted GallifordTry's annual family day.

The event was full of fun activities for adults and children with plenty of BBQ food and drink on offer.

Toojays Segways were a big hit with the crowd. A short course was set up and a challenge of completing it in the fasted time possible was set.

A record time of 47 seconds was set and despite many attempts was not beaten!

If you'd like to know more about our Segway events contact us on 01733 367210 for more information and let us help make your event a success

Rolling back the years...

Toojays MD, Lee Martin, rolled back the years this weekend when he joined former Pearl Assurance colleagues in the Yaxley over 35's Veterans Football Tournament.

The 5 a side tournament, hosted at Yaxley F.C, saw 18 teams battle in the Bank Holiday sunshine for the annual trophy. The teams were split into group stages with winners and runners up from each group playing in quarter-finals, semi-finals and then the final.

The Pearl Vets, sponsored by Toojays, unfortunately didn't make it past the group stages and ended up having P4, W1 D0 L3 - which was one result better than last year's performance!

Lee commented, "It was a great day out seeing so many familiar faces from the local football scene....some I haven't seen for over 20 years! Although we didn't do as well as we'd have liked, we did have two players injured that hampered our chances! But it was nice to say we lost to the eventual winners! Now I just need a couple of days to recover the feeling in my legs!"

Charles Walker, CEO of Focus Search and Selection, friend and business associate of Toojays, played for and sponsored the Deeping Vets team who were also in the same group. Lee commented, " We narrowly lost out to Chas's team...although no doubt he'll recall a different game when we next chat!"

The annual tournament is planned for next year with even more teams being attracted to the event.

Staff Training with Newtown Surgery & Caister Health Centre

The months of March and April saw Toojays delivering two workshop events to existing client, Newtown Surgery and Caister Health Centre. A need to establish a training programme for the non clinical staff had been identified in order to address specific skill gaps.

Following discussions with Assistant Manager, Jayne Baxter, the workshops were developed to cover key objectives and desired outcomes. The two workshops centred on the themes of Customer Services Skills and Communication Skills. Each session combined facilitated discussion, practical exercises, and reviewed the practical application relevant to the business.

Sport Wales HR Team Development Event

Last week saw Toojays in Cardiff, delivering a two day development event to Sport Wales. The national organisation is responsible for developing and promoting sport and physical activity in Wales.

A total of 17 managers received 360 feedback as part of an ongoing process to develop their managerial capabilities. Comments from the managers on the feedback process itself were very positive, with all being in agreement as to the benefit of having an objective "outsider" involved in the process.

Leadership & Management Funded Training

It's back....

I thought you might be interested in knowing about the changes that have been made to the Leadership and Management Advisory Service.

From 1st April 2011, EMB will be delivering the service across three regions, the East of England, the East Midlands and the West Midlands, supporting business leaders and decision makers across these regions to access tailor made learning and development support.

The service is funded by the Skills Funding Agency and provides a cost effective way of providing training and development to organisations. Some alterations have been made both to the eligibility criteria and the scope of activities that are covered by the grant element of the programme. These are as follows:

Eligibility

Organisations in scope for the service are either private sector businesses or social enterprises which employ fewer than 250 full time employees and have at least one employee in addition to the eligible beneficiary

• Beneficiaries must be the owner/MD/CEO of a business or social enterprise if it employs 50 people or less.
• If the business or social enterprise employs more than 50 people, a beneficiary who reports directly to the owner/MD/CEO can be considered.
• Eligible organisations must also be able to demonstrate growth or growth potential.

Funded Learning and Development must address one of the following areas:

• Developing a highly effective personal leadership and management style (including strategic thinking; and effective communication).
• Creating a joint enterprise culture with the workforce (including developing an innovative, creative and productive culture for the organisation; developing productive working relationships; reducing and managing workplace conflict).
• Planning and developing an effective organisation and teams (including recruitment, selections and departure; building and managing effective, creative and innovative teams; conveying vision and objective setting).
• Leading and managing employee high performance (including employee motivation and commitment; delivering value; learning and development).
• In some very limited circumstances, other proposed leadership and management development activity which supports the beneficiary to fully engage and make full use of their workforce may be approved but this will require additional approval from the Skills Funding Agency.

Funding

Funding is dependent on meeting all eligibility criteria and will need to be fully matched by the beneficiary organisation on a pound for pound basis, excluding the VAT element. So if an organisation is eligible and the approved learning and development costs £1500 excluding VAT, the organisation may be eligible for a grant of £750. No unmatched grant funding is available. Previous beneficiaries of this programme may be eligible for further support but must meet the eligibility criteria in the application form, including demonstrating growth or growth potential.

Interested in an application form or just want to find out more?.. then contact us now on 01733 367210.

M-Coaching

A new concept of any time and any where executive coaching

Executive Coaching is an established service with plenty of providers offering personal development.

Toojays M-Coaching is a different concept though. With the increase in mobile learning and knowledge attainable 24-7, the need to access expertise, when and where you want, is essential. Our flexible, cost effective approach to Executive Coaching is unique and puts you in control of your personal development. You choose when and how you wish to engage your coach.

• You choose the service package you want based on hours and fees.
• You choose how you wish to engage your coach. Once you sign up, you'll be given phone, web meeting, video calls contact details...and even details of how to set up face to face meetings.
• You then start engaging with your Coach, benefiting from their expertise and addressing your development needs.

Our service packages are on three levels:

* Basic level - up to 3 hours of Executive Coaching. 1:2:1 discussion and analysis aimed at addressing your development needs. Fee - £375
* Intermediate level - up to 6 hours of Executive Coaching including access to personal development materials. Fee - £650
* Advanced level - up to 12 hours of Executive Coaching including unlimited personal development materials, tools and a Personal Development Plan - Fee - £1,200

M-Coaching deals with everything from soft skills development, operational issues to strategic and business planning.

Indeed, anything where you know extra support and expertise could make a significant difference to how you feel and what you do.

Our M-Coaches have worked with people from every kind of company you can imagine: Global FTSE 100's, Public and Private Sector, SMEs and Charities.

Working within every level of an organisation as well as looking to develop their careers wherever they sit within their company.

Our M-Coaches approach every session with insight, objectivity and empathy; their goal is to bring out the best in everyone they work with, offering practical, tangible skills and relevant advice.

Managing Change with AB Foods

This month saw two further workshops take place as part of AB Foods SSC Team Leaders and Managers Development Programme. The workshops centred on the theme of Managing Change and took place at Toojays' onsite training room.

As in previous workshops, the sessions incorporated a number of core theories, practical exercises and facilitated discussions.

The remaining programme will continue to roll out over the coming months with workshops taking place in April, May and June.

Beyond 2010 - funding for businesses in the East of England

Small and medium sized businesses based in the East of England (Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk or Suffolk) may be eligible for grant support for training opportunities that focus on improving business performance.

"Beyond 2010" is managed by Essex County Council and it has just been announced that current arrangements will continue through 2011.Training can provide a way for businesses to push into a new area of work, improve employee skills or make current activity more effective. It can be used to address a wide range of business needs from management skills to computer design techniques to give that all important competitive edge.

What does the service provide?

This service covers the following sectors and is funded by the European Social Fund and the East of England Development Agency:

• Advanced Manufacturing
• ICT & Audiovisual
• Financial & Business Services
• Food & Drink Chain
• Tourism in support of Olympics
• Life Sciences
• Energy
• Social Enterprise
• Sustainable Communities and the Built Environment
• Transport Gateways and Logistics

If your business falls within one of these sectors, you may be able to access up to 70% funding towards any training which addresses a critical need within your organisation and will help the business to develop.

This could cover areas such as:

- Performance Management
- Appraisal Skills
- Communication Skills
- Project Management Skills
- Presentation Skills
- Change Management
- Team Development
- and many more.....!

How does Toojays help?

As a leading training provider, Toojays Training & HR Consultancy Ltd offers realistic and relevant learning & development solutions. We believe in "learning by doing" through inspirational challenges and tasks to provide tangible benefits and ROI. Our approach is straightforward; you identify a need, we work with you and offer a choice of solutions using our team's management experience, together with excellent training and developmental expertise.

Influencing Skills with AB Foods SSC Team Leaders

The first of a new series of workshops for AB Foods SSC Team Leaders took place this week.The workshops will roll out over the forthcoming months and will focus on a number of key skills and relevant topics for the team.

Delivered in Toojays' onsite training venue, the first workshop explored Influencing Skills and incorporated a mixture of facilitated discussions, core theories and practical exercises.

The session was upbeat and engaging, setting the tone for the upcoming workshops to follow.

Heineken International Graduate Programme 2011

The month of February saw the start of the new International Graduate Programme with Heineken International. Eleven graduates took part in the first of three workshops which was delivered in Amsterdam.

The workshop focused on the themes of Driving High Performance and Developing & Inspiring People. Each graduate started off with a personal presentation on Day 1, before turning their attention to the concept of SDI and its benefits in helping them to understand their own personal drivers and motivational values as well as others.

Day 2 opened with the importance of Driving High Performance. A combination of facilitated discussions and experiential activities underlined the day's learning, closing with individual feedback between the graduates.

The final day of the event saw key figures from within Heineken make an appearance, allowing the graduates to discuss the organisation's latest directions and updates, rounding off with a Q&A session.

Post workshop feedback from the group was extremely positive and the graduates went away with an increased awareness of personal effectiveness and its links into Heineken's Leadership Competencies.

Team Development with InterContinental London Park Lane

The beginning of February saw Toojays facilitating a Team Development event for the Executive Team of the InterContinental London Park Lane. The exclusive hotel is located between Mayfair and Knightsbridge and prides itself on being the epitome of modern elegance.

The objective of the session was to help the team review their future strategy, their current dynamic, and identify their development journey in order to continue as a high performing team. The session combined a mixture of facilitated discussion and theory, with a series of interactive experiential activities to assess their behaviour as a team.

Positive feedback from the managers centred on how much they enjoyed the event, which enabled them to establish clear objectives and actions to work on in the future.

New consultant's international expertise

Toojays has recently expanded its professional team with the addition of a new international L&D consultant. Miral Mahrous joins the company from Heineken International where she was a Learning & Development consultant within the Group Human Resources department based in Amsterdam. Prior to this, she held the role of Training & Development Specialist for Heineken Egypt. With a proven track record of working with global organisations, Miral is well positioned to deliver exceptional business results to Toojays, expanding their international client base.

Lee Martin, Managing Director of Toojays, says: “We are delighted to welcome Miral on-board. She brings with her a wealth of HR experience gained from working within Europe and the Middle East. We already know she will be a valuable member of our team. Her abilities and professionalism will strengthen the existing team, and her considerable international experience in dealing with multi-cultural organisations is a fantastic asset.”

New Online Learning

We have now added to our portfolio of learning solutions...with Microsoft On line Learning!

Click on the title link above to take a look at the variety of courses are written and developed in-house by the Microsoft product team.

The courses are web-based, allowing you to train either at work or anywhere in the world that has an internet connection.

How does it benefit me?
- All online learning courses are official and developed by Microsoft, offering a compelling and authentic training programme that follows the Microsoft curriculum.
- The price for a Microsoft online training course starts from as little as £7.99, offering the most cost effective way of training your organisation.
- Trainees can learn at their own pace, either at work or anywhere where this is access to the internet.
- No paperwork or advanced booking required - you can begin your Microsoft online training course immediately.

How does it work?
A Microsoft Online Learning course is essentially the same as classroom-based IT training courses. The only difference is that Microsoft online training courses are delivered via the internet and offer significant cost savings.

What do I need?
All you need is an internet enabled computer with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or above

Toojays TV on YouTube

Toojays have recently introduced their very own channel on the YouTube website, Toojays TV. Here you will find the latest uploads from Toojays Training & HR Consultancy Ltd. These include videos of recent Toojays events, informative learning sessions, and interviews with successful and influential business leaders.

www.youtube.com/user/ToojaysTV

Staff Development for Move with Us

This month sees the start of a new Staff Development Programme for Move with Us, one of the UK's leading property experts. Based in St Ives, the organisation offers a variety of services, from house valuations and legals, right through to organising new utility suppliers. Move with Us approached Toojays with a request to design and deliver a training programme aimed at developing staff skills as they move from a B2B to B2C focus.

40 members of the Connections and Conveyancing departments took part in the first of a series of interactive workshops, engaging in group discussions to establish best practice and heighten awareness of customer issues, concerns and requirements. Practical exercises and scenario studies allowed individuals to review the practical application relevant to the business.

Feedback from the teams taking part highighted the relevance and enjoyment of the workshop with key competencies as such relationship awareness and managing change being addressed. The next workshop will take place in a fortnight's time.

Find us on Facebook

For those of you who are not already aware, Toojays has its own page on Facebook. Why not add us and send invites to anyone you know who might be interested in our services. Search for "Toojays Training & HR Consultancy Ltd" and click on "like". As a fan, you will be able to keep up with all the latest news and offers from Toojays.