The Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead, only 20 minutes north of London, is offering  The Mountain Challenge. VParticipants are split into teams and, with help from their local mountain guide, they have to devise the quickest route to reach the summit of The Snow Centre’s slopes and raise a flag. Before they can start the climb, the teams have to undertake a series of challenges to raise the necessary funds to compete in the expedition. Instructors Steve Cross and Greg Price developed The Mountain Challenge to help teams improve their team working skills, negotiation, budgeting, project management, creativity and lateral thinking.

The Snow Centre also is a popular off site local destination for breakfast and lunch meetings and corporate events , offering a unique view, wireless Internet and Costa Coffee. There are two fully serviced conference rooms for 45 or 55 people available. The site offers free car parking and full disabled access. Both conference rooms have air conditioning, wireless Internet access, overhead projectors and a TV and DVD player with all the necessary computer leads. The delegate rates include room hire and a hot or old buffet lunch. Refreshments such as tea and coffee will be brought to your room.

Businesses can also take out a range of snow side activities such as Ski and Snowboard Lessons, Recreational Lift Passes for all abilities or the World Cup Slalom. This last activity is an excellent method of promoting a competitive atmosphere as well as stimulating the team spirit. The World Cup Slalom includes race training from a highly qualified instructor. The group will be split in two teams after the training, and these teams will be pitted against each other to race through the gates and see who wins. After the entertainment on the snow, visitors can head back to their conference room or to The EDGE for food and drinks.

The Snow Centre offers corporate memberships. The discount depends on how many people sign up at the time of purchase.

More information about the Snow Centre available at www.thesnowcentre.com

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Other key findings in the survey show that managers do not understand how to design a lone worker solution.

The survey took place in Scotland and was commissioned by Argyll in line with the 4^th annual General Services Association conference that was held in Edinburgh on June 14^th.

The GSA is made up of multiple agencies including members that are from social care, health, and education settings that all take placed in the private, voluntary, and public sectors.  The aim of the Association is to bring members together to develop an international and national network of support, information, and guidance while promoting the best practice when dealing with violence prevention.

The survey was conducted in order to help Argyll comprehend the real risks of working alone and the current protection methods that are in place within the NHS in Scotland along with the Local Authority and Housing Association sectors.

CEO of Argyll, Tom Morton, stated that there are technologies on the market that can help minimize the risks of working alone.  He stated that there are many effective and cost effective technical solutions out there but warned that the Internet is offering many options that can be confusing and may not meet the compliance requirements of the government.

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Business Coaching can help keep your staff motivated which usually results in a more productive work force, and improved workforce atmosphere. Business coaching or life coaches as they are commonly known, offer solutions on how to improve moral and motivation.

Life coaches can help with many issues that may arise within a work environment such as:

• Conflicts between staff members
• Staff lacking focus
• Stress due to fear of redundancy
• Work/life balance
• Employees not realising their full potential, feeling undervalued
• Increase staff commitment
• Poor staff moral

Life coaching for business provides all staff members with an outlet for their feelings and thoughts towards the business. The coach can set goals and targets to help everyone reach their potential, either as a group or individuals. For this reason business coaching is often offered in-house on a group basis or one to one sessions.

To find a business coach in your area why not visit Life Coach Directory. You can search by your postcode, town or county to find advice and support in your area. Every coach listed on the site is fully qualified and insured so you can be assured of their professionalism.

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The FSB stated that legislation around maternity leave needs to be simplified so that SMEs are properly informed if they need to hold a job for an employee or not, as maternity rights as they stand do not force an employee to clearly state their intentions.

Instead, the FSB is calling for an overhaul that will make pregnancy leave much more flexible and simple for both parents and employers.

Research from the FSB discovered that half of all small businesses found that maternity leave is too hard to administer properly, and many business owners often question if their employees will actually return back to work.

In their vision, a maternity leave system should be created that would offer parents an upfront large sum in return for an agreed upon length of absence so that the employer in return has a clear idea of when they can expect the worker back on the job.

At the moment maternity leave is 52 weeks with women entitled to 90% of their salary for six weeks and an additional 33 weeks at the set rate of £124.88 per week.

Fathers on the other hand are allowed two weeks of pay at the £124.88 rate which must be taken consecutively and within the first 56 days after a birth although new April reforms may allow fathers to take another six months of leave.

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The CWU represents thousands of workers such as call centre staff and engineers.  If the engineers choose to strike the BT network will fail to keep its high standard of support.  If these types of problems occur, then tens of thousands of consumers including business consumers will lose internet connections.

Last week the CWU moved to ballot its BT members after a two percent pay increase was offered to them, the results of which will determine if BT staff will walk out in frustration.

A CWU spokeswoman stated that the strike would be felt the most on the engineering side because if network failures occur while the engineers are not there then large problems will ensue.

The spokeswoman continued to say that call centres would also have problems resulting from the strike but BT can use Indian operations to make up for the striking workers.

A spokesman for BT stated that the company is hoping to avoid the strike but has made plans for its occurrence which will see staff cover for those that are on strike.  BT can also turn to its third part options such as Openreach which is supported by third party firms Telent and Carillion.

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Guidelines are already circulating about how company’s can best deal with this problem suggesting tips such as the fact that all employees that call in ‘sick’ on match days be required to provide evidence of a GP visit or other medical evidence.  In order for this to be effective however, employers will need to implement the policy across the workforce, which may affect many who have genuine health problems.

Businesses are also reminded that employees are not able to claim it is their right to take their annual leave during the World Cup, and that all holiday requests can be refused for applicable reasons such as being shorthanded by the employer.

Given the World Cup only comes once every four years, it may be tempting to allow the time off for company employees, but keep in mind that not all football fans are English and male thus fair treatment needs to be given to all employees regardless of which team they support.  Along the same lines, annual leave requests from those who do not fit the mould and those who have no interest in football but simply want a leave should be equally weighed.

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The survey shows that even a basic request in French or German will stump most UK businesses. UK staff who deal with frontline enquiries are falling spectacularly behind their European competition and very few have the training and support to respond in languages other than English. However, in mainland Europe things are very different, with the vast majority of French and German receptionists able to communicate fluently and clearly in a different language.

Commissioned by specialist language recruiter, Euro London Appointments, the survey involved calling the British offices of 116 FTSE 250 companies and asking for their postal address in either German or French. Only four companies were able to answer right away in the caller’s language. A further 12 asked the caller to hold and found someone who could speak the correct language. However, 17 companies simply hung up.

Comments from UK receptionists included “Sorry, I’m not with you, can you speak English?” and “We only speak English here!” shouted loudly down the phone. Others resorted to “If you can’t speak English I just can’t help you, I thought you all learned English!” and “Oh, for God’s sake!” before the phone was slammed down.

In comparison, when 116 similar companies in Germany were called, 114 were able to answer in perfect English; 85 were able to answer in French, and a large number could also speak Spanish too.

Responses from French companies also put the UK to shame with 112 immediately switching to English and 68 able to answer in German. Of the non-German speakers, a large number were able to switch to Spanish when that was offered as an alternative.

Steve Shacklock, Director of Euro London Appointments, which recruits multilingual staff across a range of industry sectors in the UK and continental Europe commented: “The comments from the English receptionists might seem funny, but it’s a disgraceful situation really. As business is now done on a global basis, investing in language skills, whether by hiring multilingual staff or installing training initiatives, is not only a way to protect your reputation, it’s an effective way to ensure your company’s growth in world markets. With the Olympics coming here in 2012, we’re going to see visitors from all around the world, with money to spend. The good news is that this still leaves plenty of time to invest in languages and companies that do so will certainly reap the benefits.”

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A CBI survey found that last year U.K. workers took 180 million days off because of illness, or an average of 6.4 days each.  This was down by about 330,000 from 2007, and the lowest since the survey was first taken in 1987.

Overall, the public sector has a much higher incidence of employee sick days than the private sector.  Last year the gap was narrowed a little, but public sector workers still took an average of 8.3 days off during the year, compared to 5.8 in the private sector.

According to a report based on a survey in 241 public and private sector organizations,

part of the problem is malingering.  Roughly 15 percent of the absences due to sickness were the result of employees calling in sick when they really weren’t, and the bogus sick days cost about £2.5 billion in one year.

The leading causes of health-related absences from work have been established as mental health, back pain and other musculoskeletal disorders, said the U.K medical director at Pfizer, Dr. Berkeley Phillips.  In the case of many workers in the public health sector, i.e. hospitals and other medical facilities, the sick-day ratio is generally highest, with the reasons often being stress and depression.

Both CBI and Pfizer said that this issue must be addressed, with the aim of bringing public sector absenteeism down to the same level as that of the private sector.  If this can be done, they estimate that the U.K. economy could save as much as £5.5 billion in the next five or six years.

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Rachael Floyd

Ensuring successful overseas assignments for employees is no easy task. The potential pitfalls businesses face are many – not least in terms of health and welfare.

Businesses frequently have to contend with a variety of issues from full scale medical emergencies to employees that fail to adjust to the cultures of foreign climes.

A study conducted by PMI Global, a new service which offers an integrated package of insurance and healthcare support for employees abroad, recently highlighted the need for a greater duty of care amongst many employers that assign staff overseas.

The survey of UK-based HR professionals revealed that 48 per cent of companies fail to conduct full health assessments of the destinations they send staff to, while 44 per cent don’t organise vaccinations for their employees, where required. A further 20 per cent of companies that send employees abroad for prolonged periods fail to provide them with international health insurance.

According to Rachael Floyd, PMI Global’s Operations Director and registered nurse, good planning is everything and precautions taken at an early stage can, quite literally, save lives. She has revealed 10 things that will ensure your staff are fit for business before they jet off on overseas placements.

1. Check to see if health insurance is mandatory. Hefty bills can result from medical problems abroad and so adequate cover is vital. When sending staff abroad for more than six months, you should provide them with international health insurance – for some countries, particularly in the Middle East, it is mandatory. If an employee is being posted to Saudi Arabia or Abu Dhabi, for example, residency visas and work permits are dependent upon having appropriate health insurance.

2. Business travel insurance is no replacement for International PMI. For short business trips, business travel insurance will cover urgent medical treatment with the additional benefit of insuring personal possessions and including limited kidnap and ransom cover. Policies have a maximum number of days that individuals can travel under them each year. As with the EHIC – which covers emergency healthcare treatment – cover is restricted and it should not be viewed as a replacement for an international medical policy.

3. Don’t rely on EHIC. In the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland, the EHIC (the European Health Insurance Card) has a number of restrictions. It is not normally available if you are living in another country; it will only provide access to emergency, state-provided treatment and it doesn’t pay for emergency evacuation or repatriation. It can’t be viewed as a replacement for an international medical policy.

4. Seek professional advice: not all health policies are created equal. When arranging employee health insurance, don’t assume all international policies are the same – take expert advice. The flexibility of cover benefits, for example, is a key consideration. Maternity cover accounts for around 15 per cent of a premium and will be unnecessary for single male assignees. Excluding the USA from a worldwide policy meanwhile can halve premium costs.

5. Forewarned is forearmed when making a medical claim. In addition to the numerous financial considerations employees have to deal with, from setting up local bank accounts to arranging money transfers, they should also be aware of the medical insurance claims process. For out-patient treatment abroad, the employee will in most cases pay the bill and then claim it back from the medical insurer. Be sure to check what the insurers’ procedures are for outpatient claims are – how long will it be before the claim is paid back by the insurer, for example, does the claim require preauthorisation and will it be paid directly into the employee’s account? If a claim is paid by cheque, this can take 6 to 8 weeks to process abroad and employees should be mindful of this.

6. Ensure employees are fit to travel. A pre-travel health check can go a long way to ensuring employees remains fit and healthy while they’re abroad. A report on their state of health can enable staff to take control of their own wellbeing before they pick up their passport. Underlying medical conditions can be identified and addressed before travelling, with medical care received from doctors in a familiar healthcare system without language barriers. A pre-travel screening can also highlight any recommended working adjustments and reduce the risk of a secondment being cut short due to illness.

7. Don’t expose your business to the risk of an uninsured claim. Check the small print of your Employers’ Liability policy. Standard Employers’ Liability insurance does not normally cover staff working abroad for extended periods and country-specific policies may be required. In many countries it is a statutory requirement for an employer to have liability insurance to cover employees who are injured or contract a work-related illness. It is also advisable to conduct full health risk assessments on the destinations you send staff and fully brief them on the local issues before they set off.

8. Take steps to avoid preventable illnesses. An array of tropical diseases lie in wait for employees travelling abroad, from Cholera and Typhoid to Hepatitis and Yellow Fever. Vaccinations and anti-malarial drugs should be arranged where required but be mindful of the fact that many vaccines take several weeks to become effective. In the case of Yellow Fever, some countries in Asia require a mandatory International Certificate of Vaccination against the disease.

9. Healthy mind – healthy business: look after employees’ emotional wellbeing. Industry analysts suggest that up to 40 per cent of placements abroad fail due to psychological distress.  Employees and their families often fail to adjust to foreign cultures, feel alienated or isolated but some simple steps can be taken to help ease the transition. Employee Assistance Programmes can offer employees access to confidential support, practical information and expert advice throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and North and South America. Studies show that for every £1 spent on an EAP, an organisation can recover anywhere between £3 and £20. For vital international placements, the return on investment may be even greater.

10. Protect your assets against extortion. Kidnapping of company employees is a very real risk and generates hundreds of millions a year in ransom payments for guerilla and criminal groups around the world. With UK government policy not to pay ransoms, employers should seriously consider Kidnap and Ransom insurance cover when sending staff to volatile regions particularly areas of Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. Security consultants are made available to protect your employee and provide practical help on the ground should a problem arise.

“Sending employees abroad can have a huge impact on their occupational development and help boost a business’s profile and standing oversees,” Rachael added.

“Moreover, it’s encouraging that, according to our research, a large number of UK companies are well equipped for sending employees abroad. However, for those that are not, the business and financial implications can be considerable.”

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