A great meeting with Anna & Bal from South London Job Centre Plus this morning to discuss the promotion and support for the next Growing Talent programme in September.
A date for the diary of anyone London-based looking for work!
Fed-up of being ‘ghosted’ when applying for jobs?
Time to disrupt things?
Why not join us? We’ve got proven success over 10+ years of getting people into work – and not a cv in sight!
If you are over 18 – no upper age limit, want to work in London and are seeking a job you can grow into a career – check out the carousel attached.
If you aren’t looking for a job yourself, but know someone who is, pass it on!
9 points you’ll learn if you read the carousel to the end – up for the challenge?:
1. You don’t have to leave your home/favourite coffee shop 😀 2. Instead of a cv…. 😀 3. PPP – all about you 😀 4. What’s cool about slow dating? 😀 5. 1-2-1 meetings 😀 6. Workplace and life skills 😀 7. Talent Hub 😀 8. When to apply 😀 9. Reassurance – Jane knows what she’s doing & she’s bloody good at it! 😀
Absolutely no ghosting in sight!
Are you ready to join us in a little recruitment disruption?
In line with ISO45003 – workplace psychological safety – Grace and Peter now have the tools, steps and effective communication to not only build their mind muscle but be aware of the emotional temperature of those around them.
Its pro-active approach smashes the focus we are brought up with to put everyone else first. How can we do that if we aren’t thriving? Building our own mind muscle is critical – not ‘nice to have when I’ve got time’.
✅ Where they start is not where they finish! They will me leading others in time. ✅ Every employee should be aware of their manager’s responsibilities to them both morally and legally.
Grace and Peter now know how to start flexing their mind muscle with the micro techniques I teach.
What were their thoughts?
“This course gave practical tools to recognise signs of stress or mental health struggles, both in myself and others. It helped me feel more aware, supportive, and better prepared for the emotional demands of the workplace and community.” Grace
“A key learning for me was how to support someone else in the workplace who might be struggling using cues” Peter
We know Grace and Peter will have awesome careers with CIS-Security and be equipped to support their teams and clients. 👏 👏
Cocktails, for me, should be visually exciting and have discernible flavours.
Songs and films are incorrect – although potentially great titles!
Cocktails is potentially correct in the right coffee brewer’s hands! Read on.
They are just some of the awesome coffees on display at Extract Coffee London just off Bermondsey Street.
I’d been invited by @Growing_Talent’s sponsors to pitch the programme and additional resources on ADHD, @I-Act and general team empowerment training to their supply chain held yesterday at this London gem!
Arriving early, as usual, Veena gave me 1:1 insight into Extract’s beginnings, their credentials, their partners – at home and across the globe, their connections with organisations focussing on enabling those who need it to close their own social mobility gap through skills training ready for the world of employment. Which led nicely on to the science of coffee.
You may have heard of WSET – home to the Wine & Spirit Trust – whose qualifications are sought after by the hospitality industry as well as individual wine enthusiasts. Did you know there is a science to coffee too? I absolutely didn’t. I was shown the various different beans, how they are produced by farmers and used in Extract’s coffee in different ways.
Did you know the mainstream coffee shops use only one type of coffee bean?
Some coffees are great for gut health and have a lot of fibre in – who knew!
Seeing the areas used to train people in the diverse world of coffee production, learning the different careers available and the industry awards on offer showed the passionate, social inclusion core of Extract Coffee – and the public can even buy their unique coffees and teas on line! Amazing.
The pitch to the supply chain went really well with lots of questions and engagement.
After the team – including award winning Chloe – showed how coffee can be used in the composition of cocktails and mocktails. Of course, I had to try the martini! I love a fancy glass.
Check Extract Coffee out online and make a difference whilst enjoying your unique cup of morning coffee
Whether I am delivering I-act, or workshops on communication, conflict identification and management, making better connections, building an emotionally intelligent team, empowerment, career development or running Growing Talent, I always lead with kindness and I share the power of doing this with all delegates.
Whatever we say or do, only we know our intention behind that. Those we are speaking with, don’t. They may receive a completely different message based on how we’ve made them feel.
It makes sense in every area of life – work and personal – to lead with kindness.
We don’t always know what someone is dealing with in their life nor the impact it’s having on them.
Leading with kindness enables us to stop, think and empathise – building better workplaces and relationships with little effort or cost.
I was blown away yesterday after speaking with a delegate who had attended one of my I-act courses just over a year ago. They took time out to send me this lovely email (edited to protect them and their organisation).
If anyone doubts the power of kindness, give it a try. The results will astound you.
It’s been a great learning journey on Growing Talent’s Orientation and Holistic week with Gabriel.
Lauren and her team at Honeywell in London Bridge look forward to welcoming Gabriel on Tuesday!
Now an accredited Manager in the global I-Act Managing and Promoting Positive Mental Health and Wellbeing programme, Gabriel is equipped to keep growing and share his knowledge and experience with his new team.
None of us ever stop learning if we open our minds to do so.
Over the years I have worked with diverse people from all backgrounds. Treating people with kindness, respect and honesty has crossed all barriers.
However, I felt I wasn’t always connecting with people with neurodiversity as well as I could. Asking someone “what support do you need at work” isn’t useful when people honestly don’t know what would work for them.
I stumbled across a post on Linkedin from Leanne Maskell and had a ‘lightbulb’ moment. Her struggles through education and into work, with friends and social situations rang true for me looking back at some of the awesome people from this area who I’d worked with on both the Real Apprentice and Growing Talent.
Leanne’s experience of not only how difficult it was for her to ‘fit in’ but also for those around her to support her led to her forming ADHD Works and set about training employers and neurodiverse people to learn what’s really going on for them.
One of Leanne’s quotes on the course stood out to me – and I will be using it all the time going forward! – is ” if a flower isn’t flourishing, you change the environment not the flower” how true.
I know I will be able to work better with neurodiverse people on Growing Talent using the tools I learned with ADHD Works to ensure they have a smoother journey.
It’s shocking to discover it takes on average 7 years to secure an NHS assessment for ADHD meaning many children/young people going through the process of assessment won’t get a result until they are adults. The angst this will cause them, those around them and their employers will be stark and potentially impact mental health and wellbeing levels.
Questions on ADHD are being asked more and more in @I-Act training sessions I deliver. Out of all the mental health and wellbeing licenced products I’ve delivered over the years, @I-Act is the only one that touches on issues which might affect someone’s mental health and wellbeing but not be a mental health issues in themselves. This section includes ADHD. I’ll now be able to deliver this course more knowledgeably too from now on.
Everyone should do the ADHD Champion online course from @ADHDWorks – it really is priceless for inclusion and belonging.
Training should be effective, impactful, deliver life long skills, be uniformed in delivery for the employer – globally as well as nationally – and of course in these times be cost efficient.
But, in reality is it?
Some wellbeing courses are named in such a way that employers believe they are buying an accredited programme that makes their delegates ‘First Aiders’ in Mental Health. The course itself is not accredited but a bolt on, electronic 40 questionnaire gives a trademark ‘First Aider’ status if a minimum of 30 questions are correctly answered – lifelong status!
Having been an Instructor in a variety of well-known mental health and wellbeing courses over the years, I-Act is, in my opinion, head and shoulders above the rest. Here’s why:
It……
Teaches critical proactive techniques to build mind muscle delivering the resilience to support self and others.
Explores how to start and manage conversations involving emotions encompassing validation, reassurance, signposting as well as exploring boundary statements to stay safe as a listener
The actual four hour course is accredited by the Royal College of Psychiatrists – no bolt on required
3 Year life span of accreditation ensures optimum knowledge remains in place through refreshers
3 CPD points which counts towards higher education applications
Utilises tools by Health and Safety Executive including the six management pillars
Gives insight into conditions which affect wellbeing – including autism, adhd, developmental issues, learning diversity, menopause
Global – same Instructor can deliver nationally and globally delivering uniform experience
Robust 168 page manual – also available electronically – for onward reflection and absorption
Designed for the workplace – useable in any setting
In line with International Standards ISO45003
In the image, University academic and operational staff alongside students and all levels of management from a manufacturing organisation are featured.
What were some of their thoughts?
“I will have much more confidence if someone comes to me with mental health issues.”
“It has highlighted the importance of my own self-care. I will change my ways and allow more time in my day for this”
“Really practical tools that can be used everyday for myself and when speaking with colleagues/students”
“I’m going to make a real effort to introduce the 2 minute ‘fun windows’ into my daily routine”
“A perfect course”
“It gave great insight into mental health/mental illness in simple, easy to follow terms”
“Eye opening, informative, ensures clear guidance for managers to follow in these situations”
“Thank you very much for providing such an informative session about self-care, the causes and effects of mental illness and how one can discuss with people potentially facing such issues.”
“I used to ask my team how they were as I walked past them. Amongst everything else I learned, I will now stop and wait for an answer”
If you are considering mental health and wellbeing for your teams – make sure it will deliver the goals you want.
If you are interested in I-Act for your business, why not contact me for an exploratory chat?
A ‘shoutout’ to Georgia – not only took on the task of onward despatch of @I-act training packs to her peers and managers – but kept me posted every step of the way.
OneTeam at this global organisation truly rocks!
How often do you praise colleagues in your workplace for doing their job well?
Just because they are paid to do it, doesn’t mean we can’t say ‘thank you’ – ‘that was a big help to me’.
…Talking about a proactive mental health and wellbeing programme which delivers first responder steps, is accredited, delivers 3CPD points is available in 11 different languages – why would employers choose anything less?
No, I don’t know the answer!
Do they think other programmes deliver more? Have they done a comparison? What is their goal in rolling out mental health and well being training – just a tick in the box? or do they want to really make a difference to their employees and business?
Without answering these questions, the wrong choice will be made.
Early this morning, I had the pleasure to work with delegates based at diverse locations from the same global employer on their journey to become in-house #I-Act instructors. At the end of our session, all became accredited in the manager version of I-act and continue their Instructor training.
I-Act Managing and Promoting Positive Mental Health and Wellbeing can be delivered to global employees at the same time. No need for country licences. All get a uniform experience enhanced by learning what is going on in different countries within their business from peers.
There is a non-managers version available for those who do not manage others – delivering the same critical steps. Understanding and Promoting Positive Mental Health and Wellbeing delivers accreditation as an I-Act Practitioner.
Delivering the lifelong knowledge of how to instigate personal, non-negotiable pro active self-care into hectic schedules across different cultures along with the critical first responder steps of how to start, manage and end conversations with team members who may be experiencing challenging emotional thoughts whilst setting personal boundaries to stay safe was interactive and inspiring.
Employers looking to secure an effective training programme in this critical field of workplace psychological safety – checkout how I-act can benefit you, your employees and business.
