Welcome

Welcome to the Robertson Cooper quarterly newsletter

Contents

  • Free Networking Event in partnership with Russam GMS - World-Class Leadership Development – the Route to Civil Service Reform
  • Her Majesty’s Inspector meets Robertson Cooper clients
  • Shortcuts – short news items including Robertson Cooper's first Australian project.
  • The Quarterly Quiz – win £25 of gift vouchers!!
  • New reduced prices to help you deliver better value stress management training!

Announcing a major networking event in partnership with Russam GMS

Following a successful evening seminar at The East India Club in March 2006, Robertson Cooper and leading Interim Management company, Russam GMS, have announced a new event for the Autumn…

World-Class Leadership Development – the Route to Civil Service Reform

17th October, 2006 at the East India club, London

At the event, delegates from the public sector will have a chance to hear the views of top leadership coach, Steve Radcliffe who works at the highest levels of the Senior Civil Service, as well as coaching the Chief Executives of Boots Plc and Unilever.

The aim of the evening is to provide a unique insight into the coaching approach to leadership development and how it is being applied to help to deliver Sir Gus O’Donnell’s key themes of the “The Four Ps” - Pride, Pace, Passion and Professionalism

Steve will draw on his extensive experience of working with the best to provide an insight into some of the ingredients of world-class leadership and how Executives can always be coached to move to a higher level of performance. There will also be a chance to participate in a question and answer session with Steve, enabling you to drive the focus of the evening.

Also on the bill is our Managing Director and Leadership Expert, Professor Ivan Robertson, who will explore Failing Successfully as the key to effective leadership.

True leadership can be a risky and lonely undertaking and no true leader gets it right all the time – meaning that when failure occurs leaders typically have to draw on all of their resources to avoid lasting negative impact. Leadership development programmes often emphasise the need for leaders to be bold and tackle issues head-on, but very few examine the issue of failure – its challenges and opportunities. Ivan will explore this fascinating area.

So, if you have a stake in the successful reform of the Civil Service, if you are one of those responsible for driving home the change agenda and making the ‘Four Ps’ a reality, come along to the event and meet the experts. To book your place email Ben Moss with your name and contact details.

Her Majesty’s Inspector meets Robertson Cooper clients

The Robertson Cooper Police Well-Being Network Summer Event was held in Birmingham in June and Robin Field–Smith, Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary presented his vision of well-being in a changing Police Service.

Representatives from more than twenty UK police forces attended and the feedback we received indicated that this was an excellent opportunity for networking, knowledge sharing and discussion. Delegates also told us that the presentations from the impressive line-up of speakers were stimulating and useful.

For those who couldn’t be there, we have put all of the presentations from the day on the Robertson Cooper website, where they are available to download for free. Among the highlights are:

  • Well-being and Change by Robin Field-Smith, Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary
  • Building with People: Realising the benefits for performance and shared organisational development by Carolyn Woolley, HR Services Director from City of London Police
  • Improving Wellbeing in the Police by Mark Collins, Health and Safety Executive

To download all of the presentations from the Well-Being Network event, please click here.

If you would like to be added to the invitation list for our next Police Event, please email Ben Moss

Robertson Cooper Director, Professor Cary Cooper Hits No. 12 in new Top 100 Most Influential List.

HR Magazine recently published the results of an innovative poll to find out the 100 most influential people in HR world-wide. They asked their readers to nominate the HR Directors, Academics, Authors, Consultants and Suppliers who they thought were most influential in the world of HR. After that, the top 100, themselves, voted on their peers to determine the order of the Top 100.

Our founder and Director Cary Cooper was ranked at Number 12 in acknowledgement of his overall contribution to organisational health, his prolific media profile and his authorship of over 100 books. Those who topped the poll included Sir Digby Jones, Director General of the CBI, Peter Senge, the management thinker and Clare Chapman, Group HR Director at Tesco.

At Number 1 in the poll was the HR management guru, Dave Ulrich at the University of Michigan, who authored the seminal book, Human Resource Champions and has had an enormous influence on the current state-of-the-art in the world of HR.

For more information on the HR Top 100, click here

Queensland Police Service Become Robertson Cooper’s First Australian Client

Having recently opened an office in Sydney, Australia we are delighted to announce the successful completion of our first major project there. The Queensland Police Service (QPS) asked us to audit their staff so that they could better understand the factors impacting the ‘Quality of Working Life’ of their employees. During May 2006, an online ASSET survey was conducted where 971 employees were invited to give their views about the workplace situation in the QPS. The response rate was a very respectable 59%, indicating a general interest among the workforce in improving well-being at work. Various sources of pressure at work were identified and certain hotspot groups fell out of the survey. QPS are using the results to improve various aspects of working life in the organisation. Barry Muller, Manager of the Health Services Branch at QPS said:

“This was the first survey of Quality of Working Life that we have undertaken and the experience has been a very positive one. ASSET highlighted the key areas that needed attention in a cost-effective way and Robertson Cooper provided the expert support we needed to get the most out of the audit process.”

Like more and more organisations these days, QPS have made a commitment to well-being at work because they understand that it is a factor that can lead to sustainable performance improvement.

The Quarterly Quiz

In the last edition, we asked you how many people from the 23,349 people in our ASSET database said they smoked. The correct answer was 4054 and the winner of the Bottle of Lanson Black Label Champagne was Steve Clark from City of London Police. Steve – your Champagne is on the way.

Now for this month’s quiz question: Robertson Cooper has now carried out stress audits in 17 UK police forces and this means we have a wealth of data about the stressors that Police employees face. Control Rooms, where 999 calls are handled, are one of the more stressful places to work in the Police Service, but which of the following pairs are the top two stressors for workers in Police Control Rooms?

Choose one option A, B, C or D
  1. Work overload + Pay & Benefits
  2. Work relationships + Resources
  3. Work-Life balance + Lack of control & influence
  4. Job security + Physical working conditions

Click here to complete submit your entry. All correct entries answers will go into a hat and the winner will be drawn at random. The winner will receive £25 worth of vouchers to spend at Marks & Spencer.

New offices for Robertson Cooper’s London Team

After 3 years in offices next to Liberty’s near Oxford Circus, Robertson Cooper’s London Team are on the move to more spacious premises. The new offices are in the equally glamorous location of Covent Garden and are managed by the Executive Offices Group. The property was actually commissioned by Country Life Magazine as their headquarters in 1904 and is a Grade II listed building. For more information about the new offices click here.

New reduced prices to help you deliver better value stress management training than ever…

We are now offering Under Pressure* for just £30 - a saving of 75% if you place an order for 10 copies or more.

Robertson Cooper’s leading interactive learning resource on stress management, Under Pressure, is now available at a substantially reduced price. This high quality, engaging resource has been used by the likes of the Metropolitan Police and The BBC for more than four years and provides a practical, self-help tool that encourages independent learning.

As part of our continuing commitment to offer the best products in this area we are currently reviewing our e-learning offering and this gives us the opportunity to offer the current version of Under Pressure at this great value price.

The single user copies are ideal as takeaways from stress awareness training courses, counseling sessions or to provide to a particular department as a resource to help staff take responsibility for managing pressure more effectively.

Key features and benefits of using Under Pressure for your staff:
  • A blend of media including audio, graphics and video
  • Questionnaires to help you assess your vulnerability to stress
  • Learn how to adopt the 'mindset' which will underpin your ability to control and manage pressure
  • Gain essential information about how fitness, diet and lifestyle can affect your susceptibility to stress
  • Learn stress busting relaxation techniques you can carry out at your desk
  • How you can manage heavy workloads by using techniques that put you in control

To place an order call 0870 3333 591, or e-mail sales@robertsoncoooper.com and quote the code UP-OFFER.

* This price is for the single-user license CD-ROM format, supplied in a jewel case. If you are interested in multi-user licenses, the version for Training Resource Libraries or the Trainers DVD please contact us for details of the latest prices which have been reduced by up to 50%.

We would like to hear your feedback on this issue of our Newsletter, so if you have any comments or requests for future editions, please email Ben Moss at ben.moss@robertsoncooper.com.
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