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Case Studies
Collective
responsibility - we are all in it together.
When it came to organising an
"afternoon away" for the entire team,
Carters turned to Fife Chamber members Mentoring
Direct for something different.
With such a succinct brief, Mentoring
Direct drew on their experience and put together
an afternoon which blended practical exercises with
thought provoking discussion.
Jeremy Bull, Mentoring Direct: "The
Carters team came to the seminar with open minds
and a refreshing willingness to participate fully.
From the feedback, we know that they grasped the
message that everyone in the business - no matter
where they work - contributes to the customer experience.
It is this customer experience that influences whether
business is won or lost. Appreciating that everyone
is part of a team and has a valuable contribution
towards the overall 'sale' is the key to competitive
advantage."
Ian Donaldson, Carters: " We
were very pleased with the way the seminar was put
together and it certainly hit the right spot. There
was a real buzz throughout the afternoon and everyone
left highly motivated."
Mentoring Direct and Carters CA originally
met as a result of a networking evening visit to
Newburgh Clothing and Textiles organised by the
Fife Chamber.
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Robertsons
Interiors
Brian Cram of well known Dundee firm
Robertsons Interiors contacted Mentoring Direct
in late 2004 seeking guidance on the plethora of
new employment legislation about to come in to effect.
Mr Cram’s concern was two fold. What was the
impact to be on his business and how on earth did
he find the time to implement the changes.
Mentoring Direct’s HR professional,
Morag Bull: ‘Mr Cram was aware of the legislation
and was keen to ensure that a firm as well established
as Robertsons kept within the law, but at the same
time maintained a paternalistic approach with their
employees.’ Morag's approached helped Brian
to focus on those policies that actually apply to
the organisation rather than producing an unwieldy,
catch all handbook. Brian Cram: ‘There are
so many H.R. Legislation initiatives coming out
from government that it is impossible for someone
like myself to cope.’ At their meetings Morag
was able to talk Mr Cram through the various aspects
of the legislation and by drawing on her extensive
practical experience provide answers to the concerns
that he had. Brian Cram ‘Your practical approach
and actually doing all the work helped enormously.’
Mentoring Direct are well aware of
the concerns that medium sized organisations have
about keeping within the law without having to spend
a considerable sum of money. The solution that seems
to suit is to agree a fixed price for the work with
no hidden ‘extras’. Final word to Brian
Cram ‘Thank you for your efforts, without them
this task would never have been completed’.
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BEAR
Scotland
BEAR Scotland Ltd were looking for
an experienced Human Resource professional to provide
twelve months maternity cover. BEAR Scotland is
a joint venture business set up to manage and maintain
Scotland's vital Motorway and Trunk Road network
in the North East and West of Scotland. The role
required not only experience of operating at management
board level, but supporting the individual depot
managers across the regions and experience of dealing
with trade unions.
Morag Bull: ‘The role was quite
different to others that I have done in the past,
with the added dimension of the number of different
employment agreements with the workforce as a result
of the TUPE legislation.’ Being a relatively
young organisation BEAR Scotland had limited experience
of using Interim Managers and one of the concerns
was would it work? Alan Mackenzie, Chief Executive,
said ‘Morag settled into the role immediately,
requiring very little in the way of induction or
support and was very quickly making a valuable contribution
to the team.’ Having experience of interim
management Morag was aware that success depends
on becoming effective very quickly through building
relationships and that this is achieved by going
out and getting involved rather than sitting in
an office.
Interim Management is a resource
that is undervalued by a lot of organisations because
they do not understand the benefits that can accrue
by bringing in an experienced individual. Too often
the existing team is unnecessarily stretched by
being asked to provide cover in addition to their
existing roles. Last word to Alan Mackenzie, ‘Morag
brought a whole new dimension to the role of the
H.R. Department which the operational managers found
invaluable.’
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Graduate
story
The work that you have done
on my Resume has improved it immeasurably. It started
off as a Spartan piece of paper with very little
useful information for possible employers. It is
now crammed full of information and I am sure must
project a more confident and capable Ian Stewart.
The whole process not only taught me how to write
a better CV but also how to look at my life experiences
and draw out the positive aspects. I feel a lot
more confident in myself and in approaching prospective
employers.
I have always had confidence in my talents as a
designer and the positive feedback I have had from
my early networking reinforces that. However I realise
that there is still plenty of hard graft to be done.
I feel strongly at this juncture that I must take
responsibility for the next stage of the process
though I fully acknowledge that you are mostly responsible
for my confidence in doing so. I certainly want
to keep you informed of my progress in networking
and if I can consult with you from time to time
that would be of great help.
Ian Stewart
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The Care
Commission
The Care Commission based in
Dundee were introducing an integrated HR/Payroll
Management Information System and required someone
to manage the implementation phase. Heather Garland,
HR Manager, "We needed someone experienced
who understood the practicalities of what information
a cutting edge HR function required to access from
such a system whilst being able to take the responsibility
to meet critical deadlines."
Morag Bull of Mentoring Direct: "Experience
has shown that the system providers and the system
users require an intermediary to act as an 'interpreter',
someone who can provide the right information at
the right time, check the output for accuracy and
validity, handle queries, arrange and attend meetings
and most importantly take responsibility."
This means the rest of
the team keep their eye on the equally serious business
of the day to day running of the Care Commission.
Final word to Heather Garland: "From our perspective
Morag ensured it was a seamless implementation when
we cut over to the new system. The secondary phase
of defining the management information system requirements
was completed within the tight time scales."
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Loretto
School
Anne Cruickshank, Head Of Careers
is passionate about preparing pupils for their future
beyond Loretto School. Anne has facilitated this
process by developing a Careers and Higher Education
Resource Centre which includes organising Careers
and Gap Conventions and Careers Experience Courses.
Meeting with Anne, Jeremy Bull of
Mentoring Direct realised that he shared a similar
passion to help pupils prepare for the future. "While
young people are gaining valuable skills and experience
from extra curricular activities, what they may
not be able to do on their own is to identify the
‘soft skills’ they have acquired and understand
how to present these when it comes to application
forms and interviews". Recently Jeremy was
invited to take his extensive management experience
and training skills into Loretto running seminars
for those in the final years of education. "Our
young people have the potential to succeed –
but it needs to be unlocked. By bringing real workplace
styles and techniques into the classroom young people
will be much more readily able to recognise the
transferable skills they have acquired and how to
present them."
Last word to Anne Cruickshank: "It
is so important that the pupils get the basics right
to support their academic achievements. This covers
everything from the spelling on their CV, to whether
they have shiny shoes! Jeremy was able to get these
messages across in a practical, motivational style
which appealed to the majority of pupils and meant
the message struck home."
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The
Care Commission: Administrative Support
When the Care Commission unexpectedly
found itself without a project manager at a crucial
stage of implementing a review of its administrative
support function they turned to Jeremy Bull of Mentoring
Direct for help. Tom Waters, Director of Finance
and Administration “The background consultation
work with the employees had been implemented by
the Steering Group, but we needed it to be pulled
together to produce a proposal. I felt we needed
someone from outside the organisation who could
take an apolitical view.”
The brief was very clear in setting
out the parameters. It should be
cost-neutral or beneficial, take account of the
Care Commission’s e-agenda and make better
use of the current workforce skills. Most importantly
the proposal had to be delivered within a very tight
time scale. Jeremy Bull of Mentoring Direct “It
became apparent very quickly that they did not require
a ‘big bang’ approach, but a solution
that put in place key building blocks that allowed
them operational flexibility to meet future business
requirements. The workforce are highly motivated
and one of my key recommendations was the appointment
of a Senior Lead Officer who would ‘champion’
administration and drive the implementation of the
building blocks.”
Based on Jeremy’s extensive
customer service experience in the privatesector
the proposed building blocks recognised the need
to maintain the high level of accuracy for completing
the Registration, Inspection, Complaints and Enforcement
activities whilst making better use of technology
to generate operational efficiencies at the same
time as allowing them to meet the expanding demands
made of a regulatory body.
Last word to Tom Waters “Jeremy
brought a different perspective which made us think
about the way we currently provided administrative
support. His proposals were both practical and compatible
with the needs of the business and provided options
which may otherwise not have been considered. Most
importantly the solution was self funding.”
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