We've noticed here at TrainingZone.co.uk that you like quirky news – give you a story about wearing slippers to work and you're hooked! Perhaps you just like to have something to lighten your day, in between our fantastic reads about 360s, TNA and L&D. Or perhaps we are all drawn to the unusual and the bizarre. Whatever the reason, here's a new occasional column just for those quirky bits.
We have a bottle of champagne to give to the person who can come up with the best and most original name for our column, but please make sure that it hasn't been used before. If more than one person suggests the final name that we choose, then we will draw the winners name from the hat from those entries. The editor's decision is final. Closing date 22 February. Send your suggestions to editor@trainingzone.co.uk. I look forward to hearing your ideas.
All you Need is... Teamwork
Liverpool-based training company, Fab4Training have come up with a novel approach to teambuilding - 'with a little help from their friends'.
To coincide with the 2008 European Capital of Culture celebrations, The Beatles phenomenon is being used as a unique source of inspiration in a teambuilding event based around the pop group's phenomenal success.
Fab4Training are offering a number of different teambuilding packages that will be hosted from the newly-opened Beatles-themed Hard Days Night Hotel in Liverpool.
Each will draw on Beatles-related examples to examine team development issues such as identifying individual strengths of team members, clarification of group roles, improving productivity by working together and allowing team members more responsibility for their actions.
For further information, contact Fab4Training by email info@fab4training.com
Love on the Job
The results of several loved-up surveys landed on the TrainingZone.co.uk desk recently. One survey by Reed claimed that a whopping 71 per cent of workers polled said they wouldn't mind if their colleagues were having an affair in the office and 89 per cent even said it was none of their business. Meanwhile, another survey by Peninsula revealed that 82 per cent of employers believe workplace romances are a bad idea, with eight in 10 bosses discouraging relationships in the workplace. So, don't tell the boss!
Reed surveyed 2,000 office workers while Peninsula polled 3,162 employees and 921 employers. Neither say how long the surveys took, or how much they cost... we can only speculate. The earth shattering results of the Peninsula poll are that David Beckham and Angelina Jolie top the charts for romantic fantasies amongst workers. And they asked over 3,000 people to discover that?
A third survey revealed that the same loved-up workers are costing businesses an astounding £10 billion a year....it all makes sense now, no wonder bosses don't approve. This is according to HR experts Croner, which found that 37 per cent of people use communication lines at work, including the telephone and email, to conduct their personal relationships.
Lily Allen Animated Star of Training Film
Lily Allen is the 'star' of a new animated film called Kate and Umar's Incredible Learning Journey. Featuring cartoon characters of Lily Allen and the Levellers, the ten-minute animation is intended to reach new audiences and encourage individuals to return to learning.
The film celebrates the contribution trade unions are making to tackling the skills crisis in the UK and how they are improving individuals' skills. It will be shown at Glastonbury Festival and broadcast to a wider audience through You-Tube, MySpace, and Facebook.
Clips can be seen at:
http://www.unionlearn.org.uk/Clip_KateAndUmar.wmv
Monday Mornings Not so Blue
Dreading the end of the weekend and the start of the working week is overrated, with as many as 28 per cent of workers actually looking forward to Monday.
This is according to a new survey of 5,000 jobseekers by recruitment website www.reed.co.uk. Only 13 per cent of respondents said they actively hate Monday, with 29 per cent saying they are ambivalent about them.
The weekend does give rise to thoughts about jumping ship, however, and Reed statistics analysed in January showed that Monday lunchtime is the busiest time for logging onto its website to hunt for new jobs.
When asked what would improve Monday mornings, a third of workers said a new job, 20 per cent wanted more money and 13 per cent wanted an extra hour in bed to sleep off the weekend excess.
Eight per cent said work worry meant they had trouble sleeping and 5 per cent even said they think about work all day and all night.
