Mark Tobin

For the 3^rd consecutive year we are delighted to have donated £500 to the York Food Bank, raised as part of our annual Christmas card email campaign. We don’t send Christmas cards – for every person we email we donate £1, and for every reply from our clients and contacts we receive we also donate a £1. Thank you for all your support in aiding us to contribute to this excellent cause.

We know that in difficult times essentially food and shelter are the most crucial parts of our lives. Steve and Mark live in and around York, so were able to do a whole lot of shopping for food, drink and basic toiletries and then deliver the consignment to York’s storage facility. It is easier of course to just donate the cash raised, but we like to meet the volunteers and of course being recruiters are nosey to learn more about the operation and see it in the flesh. The summer school holidays are the most difficult time for many families with children who normally would receive a free school meal.

Have a look to learn more about York Foodbank, and also the Trussell Trust which supports the national network of foodbanks, social enterprises and campaigning. Please read York’s acknowledgement letter.

During February to April we delivered our regional Officer Career Management courses for the 4^th year. Alongside officers attending from repeat unions, we have welcomed new unions sending their officers plus others sending their interns and society Chairs in recognition of their contribution to their organisation. This is perhaps a sign of an increased desire to enhance employability and understand how to match skills and achievements, through crafted applications, to what employers want from graduates.

We often describe officers as ‘Grad+’ due to their greater experience gained during their year(s) in post. However, commonly officers struggle in capturing their achievements, understanding what they offer and how to pitch this to employers. While careers services and union management can sometimes provide objective advice we are straight talking in our approach, giving a recruiter/employer perspective.

Feedback has been positive once more, scoring 4.8 out of 5 on “meeting expectations of the course” and many officers have stayed in touch for further tweaks, advice and guidance as they have been applying for roles, something we encourage them to do.

This year courses were hosted in Leeds, Manchester, Teesside, Nottingham and 2 in Leicester, with plans underway for courses in the South West, Scotland and London/South East in 2016.

Below are a selection of reflections from officers attending this year’s courses:

Really great, insightful and informative course. everything I wanted was covered in depth and with the opportunity for further discussion about specific areas.

Thoroughly enjoyed learning about the process for recruitment and look forward to improving myself. This course is brilliant in the depth of information it provides. Thank you.

Intense day but highly useful for CV building and interview techniques were very useful!

Like the “no bull” approach, helped a lot and liked the inside knowledge. Loved the CV section of the day.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the course and appreciated all the information we have been given. It has helped me think about interviews and CVs, especially as I can now evaluate my approach to them and how to do them effectively.

We recently finished the latest stage of the Leadership Development programme delivered to a large Yorkshire local authority Corporate Leadership Team. The programme, run over 8 months, involved a number of workshops, group and one to one discussions intended to support the Council’s move towards its new visison and strategic objectives.

The new vision included a whole place transformation programme intended to ensure the delivery of the Council’s two strategic priorities (Economic and Health focus), with the most effective service delivering in the right way, at the right time, through the best provider.

Building on earlier work, the Leadership Development Programme focussed on developing higher level skills amongst the council’s senior leadership, embedding corporate working and supporting innovation, service change, improved communications and improved personal and team effectiveness.

The Programme combined structured discussions around current concepts of leadership and team effectiveness, team and individual goal setting around personal development and individual behaviours, and group discussions on council’s specific challenges to improved performance. All participants set challenging learning objectives that were reviewed and supplemented throughout the programme.

After the programme the Council’s leadership described itself as more cohesive, more focused and better able to drive and lead the implementation of the programme intended to achieve the new vision.

Anyone interested in more information about the programme or wanting a discussion about our bespoke approach to corporate leadership development should email stephen.cooley@proventureconsulting.co.uk or call Stephen on 07747 698829.

For the 4th consecutive year we have now started the delivery of Career Management courses held around the country at various university students’ unions. Attending these courses are some of the brightest and most capable young leaders who have been elected into representative roles by their peers. These salaried student officers spend between one and two years in office (usually following graduation) working alongside management to deliver support services for many thousands of students at their institution. Many of these unions are registered charities, turning over between £2m – £12m, therefore represent significant levels of responsibility for student officers who whilst sitting on the Board of Trustees develop significant leadership and management skills by contributing to both strategic and business planning.

We really enjoy assisting these ambitious, capable and progressive individuals, who through the experience gained in their roles have much to offer their next employer. Where they sometimes struggle is how to understand what they can bring to an employer and how to promote themselves in order to stand out above the rest of the graduate market.

To learn more about students unions generally visit SUpeople or contact mark.tobin@proventureconsulting.co.uk to find out about our career management courses.