I had a really interesting conversation over the Bank Holiday weekend with a good friend and former colleague. We were talking about our time together running large scale employment programmes in the North West of England. We delivered support to …
Or any people-based public service… Twenty (!) years ago this year, I was stuck in a dead end job in a call centre. That’s a post in its own right. (Tales from Directory Enquiries, or ‘I’m sorry, sir, I’m afraid …
“It’s the people, stupid.” Lessons in employability and skills… Read more »
This is the final post in a series on how to build compelling bid win themes. Just to recap, in part 1, I talked about how to gather the market intelligence you need. In part 2, I talked more specifically …
Following on from my last post, I want to take you through the next stage of building a set of compelling win themes. You’ve spent time researching and talking to people and you’ve built a good understanding of your customer, …
A while ago, I wrote about ‘why you can’t spend enough time on your win themes’. I thought I should follow that up with a ‘how’ post – in other words, talk a little bit about how you should spend …
A version of this article was first published in the Journal of the Institute of Employability Professionals, as a kind of farewell (for now?) letter to the employability sector, as I embarked on a new adventure. But, it’s applicable to …
Leadership is the Secret Sauce of Continuous Improvement Read more »
Why should you win? What makes your offer most compelling to the buyer? Let’s face it, if you don’t know, there’s very little chance they are going to guess. Lots of organisations get a long way into a bidding process …
Why you can’t spend enough time on your win themes Read more »
In 2015, the employability sector stood on the edge of a precipice, following the Comprehensive Spending Review. Over the next few years, Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) funding of outsourced employability services retreated significantly – in 2013 they invested …
How do employability providers escape the Groundhog Day of boom and bust? Read more »
One year ago, I wrote about the three things I thought were essential in shaping the UK Department for Work and Pensions’ response to the COVID-19 recession. One year later and we have a clearer (though still not clear) picture …
Are we on the right track with Restart (and everything else)? Read more »
Some years ago, I was running large scale employability services in the North West of England. There were three ‘prime’ contractors in the same area and, we decided, it might be a good idea to get around the table and …
Life is too short to be unfulfilled and miserable at work. Working for an organisation with purpose is really important. But working with people who share that purpose and your world view is even more important. You’ll never feel at home until you find your tribe.
In this season of hectic bidding across the employment, education, justice and other sectors, we are seeing the creation of a number of joint ventures. I should know, I’m closely involved the the creation of one of them (Adecco Working Ventures). So, I thought I’d share some thoughts on what makes for a successful joint venture.
A version of this article was first published in the Institute of Employability Professionals Journal #1 The worst of times We were always due a recession at some point, soon. Just as Gordon Brown never really ended ‘boom and bust’, …
3 Things That MUST Shape DWP’s Response To This Recession Read more »
This post imagines what a brilliant back to work service will look like in the 2020s. It will be: 1) Really Accessible; 2) Really Intelligent, and; 3) Really Personal.
I came across a great tweet recently, which really made me chuckle. “Corporate life.. is fascinating. Book an hour long meeting with 40 people with no agenda? No one bats an eye. Ask for a few hundred bucks for professional …
How to avoid the corporate crazy cycle (6 questions you must ask) Read more »
I’ve done a lot of work over the years building and running high performing supply chains for complex public service contracts. Along the way the teams I worked with learned a few lessons about how to do it well. So, …
I got to my desk last Monday morning to find a copy of City AM on my desk, with a kindly Post-it note from our finance director: “George, could you get us 0.1% of this?” There’s been plenty of talk …
I’m a huge fan of the West Wing. We are currently on yet another watch through all seven series. It’s an enormously quotable show – with a knack of capturing truisms for posterity. In a one episode, an Assistant Secretary …
Ten years ago this week, Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States. I celebrated my thirty second birthday. I signed up to Twitter. And I started using Evernote. For those that don’t know, Evernote is …
Why I’m still using Evernote (and you should too!) Read more »
“Nothing of significance was ever achieved by an individual acting alone. Look below the surface and you will see that all seemingly solo acts are really team efforts.” John C. Maxwell Whether professional, personal, sporting, creative – or in any …
4 things that make a great team (or break a bad one) Read more »