Better Business Coaching

The problem of student’s graduating from university with excellent academic qualifications but little or no practical skills is one that has been experienced for many years and unsurprisingly still continues today.

Cossetted by the confines of continued schooling many graduates find themselves at odds with the real world when it comes to breaking their ties with university to look for their first employment.

This problem has recently been highlighted by entrepreneur James Caan, who believes that universities should do more to help the students to connect with businesses to gain much needed work experience.

While the Association of Graduate Recruiters have recently reported an 8.9% rise in the number of graduate jobs available, there is still nearly one in three unemployed graduates and 45 students competing for every one graduate job available.

The Dragons Den judge James Caan said:

“The job market has never been tougher. It is imperative that students are able to utilise and demonstrate all their skills as soon as possible to make them employable.

I have found over the years that graduates can fill three pages with details of their dissertations yet tell prospective employers nothing about their practical experience.

Universities should do as much as they can to help students connect with businesses for work experience , especially SME’s. Some universities do more than others to help this process which inevitably means there are students who miss out on work placements because they don’t know how to find them.”

Some Universities are already considering methods of incorporating work and business skills in their degree programs. University College London (UCL) is believed to be looking at ways of translating job skills into degree credits and Durham University may also award additional marks for work experience. Paul Jackson, director of student support and development at the University of Leicester, said the university was ‘looking closely at how to embed corporate skills into the curriculum at the undergraduate stage’.

Today, many businesses choose the internet to advertise current vacancies. However, there are still some who choose career fairs using display boards customised to suit the individuals’ requirements.

These companies will be in the process of organising presentations and booking slots at career fairs up and down the country to attract the younger generation. After all, It is coming up to that time of year when students are doing their GCSE’s and A Levels soon to move in to full time education or employment.

Most people would argue that advertising on the internet would be more effective than careers fairs as more students use the internet with the excessive use of social networking. However, is this really the case?

A lot of colleges and schools make it compulsory for students about to leave education to attend careers fairs to show that there is a wide range of options for them to look into when they finish their exams. Such as:

• Going on to college or university
• Working part time and studying part time
• Learning on the Job
• Army/RAF/Marines

Businesses who attend the fairs find display boards for exhibitions effective because you can display a whole range of information on them but they are so much more versatile than that.

Posterboards can be easily assembled without the need for tools. They can also be configured to suit different spaces and areas and can be accompanied by a range of products and accessories, which include:

• Full size doors – these can be lockable.
• Lockable cupboards and lockers – the company can store their possessions.
• Acrylic panels
• Curved panels – for a creative feel.
• Shelving
• Table Tops
• Lighting – this can be a range from track lighting to gantry lighting.
• Flooring – flooring, if needed, can be metal, laminate or even carpet for a homely feel.

Most companies that offer shell scheme or exhibition products will have the ability to use whatever colour scheme you require to create corporate zones, also adding gantry across the front of your booth to create a company fascia.

If you don’t have the time to install the panels yourself you can arrange for an installation service. This will significantly cut down on installation times and breakdown times at the end of the exhibition, leaving you with more time to prepare.

So, if you have vacancies in your company or looking to take on interns, consider attending a careers fair rather than taking the unsociable route of the internet.

Promotional and personalised exhibition items can be an effective way to sell products and increase revenue within your business. The best way to promote such items is to use strategically placed dump bins.

Using dump bins as a method of advertising is cost effective and a valuable way of getting products on to the sales floor quickly. Used in retail or trade fairs more than offices and call centres, these items are ideal for sale items, seasonal offers and limited edition products. They grab the shopper’s attention and you can place wherever you need them.

There are many other reasons to choose to use dump bins:

Any product, anywhere
Dump bins can hold any product within reason and can be places anywhere you need them on your shop floor. Place them next to the tills to encourage customers to impulse buy.

Any size or shape
Dump bins don’t just have to be the classic square or round shape, they can now be shaped specifically for your product. For example, you could use different shapes for books, bottles, cans, lollipops and biscuits.

Any colour or style
Bespoke dump bins are readily available from most companies. They can be self branded for your company or be specific to the product you wish to place in them. There are no limitations on the creative aspect of the item.

Strong and versatile
If you need a solution for bulky or heavy products drop them straight in to the dump bin and let the customers buy away.

Smartly designed and strategically positioned dump bins can create the perfect opportunity for you to deliver effective sales messages in key locations. Most retailers, you will notice, have two key locations to place the bins; in the first aisle so it is the first thing the customer sees or next to the checkout.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with the products you can place in the bins. They work all year round and can be successfully used for all kinds of products. The most popular are:

• Magazines
• Newspapers
• Clothing
• Confectionary
• Beauty and skin products
• Beverages

So, if you own a shop or attend trade fairs with your company to promote products think about investing in some dump bins, you will be surprised at just how effective they can be. Don’t forget to be creative and a personal touch either to your business or to the brand name you are promoting.

As the festive season approaches the majority of businesses in the UK will be looking forward to the annual Christmas party an event that has pretty much become a fixture for many companies as another year comes to its end.

The office Christmas party is often seen as a reward for the efforts that the staff have made during the year and depending on the size of the business can take various forms.

The most obvious venue for a small business with a handful of staff is a local restaurant or pub, where food and drink flow smoothly and possibly some form of entertainment is provided by the establishment.

For larger companies with hundreds of employees the needs would obviously be quite different and Christmas parties are often arranged to take place in venues offering larger capacity such as conference rooms in hotels or sports arenas.

The cost of the annual company get together is obviously relative to the size of business in terms of outlay and planning and for larger companies who are likely to stage other events such as large scale sales meetings throughout the year the advantage of employing a corporate events management team are obvious.

Corporate events come in various forms including corporate entertainment, such as the Christmas party, client hospitality where business relationships can be built in unique and stylish surroundings designed to impress your clients or planned events as a reward for hard working staff.

There has been much growth in recent years in the area of corporate team building, many forward thinking businesses now see this activity as an essential part of company culture and as such include it in their long term plans rather than as a one off quick fix solution.

Corporate team building activities are designed to stimulate the workforce, strengthen the team and boost morale, it is a great way of forging a bond amongst a workforce that after all spends much of its time working together in the same environment for the best part of their lives.

It sometimes appears strange how we spend so much time in a work environment with the same people without really knowing too much about them and team building activities away from work allow us all to learn more about the strengths and weaknesses of those around us.

It is a fact that a happy and contented workforce make for a great business, if the staff feel valued they will give so much more back to the company.

Self Motivation

It isn’t easy to maintain self motivation 365 days a year. We are all human and this means we have human experiences that can easily interfere with the self starter we all have within us. The winter has finally arrived and this can have a major impact on many of us. Duvet days beckon, but we need to listen to the alarm clock, it is telling us it is time to get up and seize the day.

If you are suffering from the dreaded procrastination bug, then there is only one thing you can do to overcome this affliction and that is to call up the self motivator in yourself and what ever it is you are putting off until tomorrow ‘just do it‘ today, in fact, why not ‘just do it’ NOW!

The Procrastinator

Imagine every day as you leave the house, the walls leading toward the front door need painting. Every day you leave the house saying to yourself  ”these walls need painting, I must get round to it”. However, every day you walk past the walls and continue to tell yourself you need to paint the walls on exit and entry to the house.

Imagine then you go to the nearest DIY store and select the colour and purchase the pot of paint.  You then return home and put the pot of paint down by the walls that need painting and say to yourself  ”I will paint the walls tomorrow”.  You feel fairly satisfied that you have at least purchased the pot of paint.  However, the following day you leave the house, walking past the pot of paint and repeat the mantra ” I must paint these walls”.  The days continue with the following mantra!  So you now have choices. You can either paint the walls or sell the pot of paint!!

The Self Motivator

Leaves the house that morning saying ” These walls need painting” Proceeds to the nearest DIY shop the same day. Comes home. Paints the walls.  The next day, leaves the house looking at the walls saying to themselves ” that looks so much better” and feels very pleased with themselves and the sense of achievement helps them have a better day as they leave the house and very welcoming as they arrive home!

This scenario fits every task, be it at home or at work.

Set yourself goals, remain focussed, visualise the outcome and just do it..simple but very effective!

Joy Andrews Business Coaching