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Two things that are very likely to lead to a spike in staff turnover

The latest CIPD Employee Outlook Survey reports two significant findings that, if not addressed, are very likely to lead to a spike in staff turnover:

Simple acts such as team building whether that be after work in the pub, or off site with specialist facilitators are vital as they demonstrate the employer's commitment to its staff

1. In the private sector 1 in 5 employees fear that they will loose their jobs (in the public sector it’s as high as1 in 3). Given that 29 million people are currently in employment, this means that many millions of employees are insecure in their jobs and subject to de-motivation and distraction….

Free Team Building Activity: Spaghetti Tower

This team building task gets teams thinking creatively, communicating and planning.

Planning is important to the success of this team building task

Overview
Small teams are asked to build the tallest, most cost-effective, free-standing tower using a packet of dried spaghetti and a packet of jelly babies within the set time limit.  …

New Team Building Event

Way back in 1997 Fresh Tracks created the Chocolate Challenge it brought team building indoors and replaced military style tasks with a sensory experience that was both enormous fun and conveyed important messages about business and teamwork.

The Chocolate Challenge & Team Machine are events we have created in the past but what will this years be?

Every few years we develop more events, like The Team Machine, and we are currently creating another completely original team building exercise that responds to the needs of the present time….

The Essence of Leadership

So much has been said, written and thought about leadership that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to identify what actually makes a good leader.

One important attribute of leadership is being decisive!

So when the BBC announced it was dedicating two thirty minute radio shows to the subject, by asking leaders from politics, business and sport what they believe makes a good leader, we had to tune in. Listen again to the programme here:  http://bbc.in/fbhJ5S.

Some of the attributes listed by the leaders interviewed included:…

Lord Sugar, The Apprentice and the cost of staff turnover

While several million people were transfixed as Lord Sugar chose his sixth apprentice at the weekend, it’s worth asking if the ‘world’s toughest job interview’ even works.

In the pasts Lord Sugar not been able to keep hold of his 'top' performers. Will this time be any different?

Of the five apprentices ‘hired’ so far, none of them currently works with Lord Sugar! Tim Campbell the first apprentice left after two years, Michelle Dewbury lasted only 11 months in the company. The 2007 winner Simon Ambrose resigned to set up his own business, Lee McQueen won the 2008 show only to quit after little more than a year and the 2009 winner Yasmina Siadatan is now a busy new mum….

New Year, New Job – 6 things to keep the right people in your team

Will your team be the same next year?

No. 2: Recognise and celebrate what has been achieved this past year.

If you are fortunate to be part of a stable and established team, don’t rest on your laurels. All that effort you’ve put in to team building could be lost within moments of the bells tolling the start of 2011. Here’s why:…

The X Factor of teams

As we approach the year end it’s good to reflect on our achievements. It’s even more gratifying to reflect on the achievements of others, particularly those we’ve helped along the way.

Some time ago we were asked to create a team exercise for X Factor runners up JLS. As the video above shows their performance was outstanding and it’s no coincidence that a year later JLS are have become one of the most successful teams in their field.

Our normal candidates for our team building activities are work teams and during 2010 we’ve seen teams from industries including oil, wine and management consulting all raise their game having adopted some of the same principles that pop stars JLS exemplify:…

Five Practices That Help Motivate Individuals and Teams

Have you ever thought that some of the same best practices that support individual employee motivation and performance could also apply to teams?

No 1: A lot of teams flounder because of a lack of direction

Here are 5 management practices we normally associate with driving individual performance and motivation that I think should be applied to teams:…

Tailored Team Building Exercises on Tap

August 2011 will mark Fresh Tracks’ 20th anniversary. During the past two decades we’ve designed, developed and delivered hundreds of experiential team building exercises.

Along the way we’ve created some classics that we use again and again but we still get excited when a client gives us a brief to create something totally new.

For many years we’ve worked with a water company, monitoring their staff engagement and delivering an annual company conference. Part of the brief this year was to create a 30 minute team exercise for the conference that would entertain, involve and educate over 100 people. …

Want your staff to be happy? Here are the four components of happiness

There’s been a lot of talk about happiness and general well-being of late.  Here we explore the four components of happiness and ask if busy executives can ever achieve a happy state.

Unfortunately this is not an option in the real world

Since becoming the Conservative leader David Cameron has argued that we should be monitoring GWB (General Well Being) alongside GDP (Gross Domestic Product).  This is an idea possibly inspired by the Kingdom of Bhutan’s GNH measure (Gross National Happiness), but Bhutan isn’t facing huge state spending cuts and bailing out neighbouring countries….