Managers' Conference - Team Talk

The key topics were:• Communication and saying thank youThank you packs were distributed to encourage a thank you culture and managers were invited to think of other ways to showappreciation for the work colleagues do.• Living our DOES ValuesHow do managers bring the values of DOES to life for colleagues? Whether that may be nominatingsomeone for a DOES award or encouraging teams to become more involved in volunteering.• Having more fun at workCreating a fun working environment can not only enthuse colleagues but can make customers feelwelcome and involved – how can management infuse fun into the workplace?• Inspiring othersWhat do you find inspirational? Discussing what inspired managers about others helped to providetips for becoming more inspirational in their leadership style.The day also acted as an introduction to the new You at Work benefits package we’re launching tocolleagues later in the year, which will provide money off at a range of high street stores. Savvy Sam,the new Your Benefits character, also helped to spread the word about the many other varied benefits of working for Midcounties.Managers were asked to feed back the key information from the conference to their colleagues so if youhaven’t been told about it, don’t forget to ask!Inspiring othersThe keynote speaker for the day was Kanya King MBE, founder of MOBO AwardsKanya, who comes from humble beginnings, believed so strongly in her desire to set up an awardsevent to celebrate music of black origin that she overcame a raft of opposition, including her ownmother doubting her career choice, to launch the MOBO Awards. The hard-working entrepreneurwas keen to share the tips she learnt on the road to success with us.Kanya’s seven ‘P’s for success• Passion - You have to believe in what you’re trying to achieve• Personal power - Know what drives you and makes you want to make things happen• People - Surround yourself with positive people - having a positive attitude means morethan having the right education and background• Problem solving - Problems are ‘feedback from reality’ – they’re telling you need to goback and look at something again, tweak it and make it better• Personal network - Meet people with a similar passion and set about building relationshipswith them – you never know when they’ll be able to lend a hand• Prioritisation - Focus on the key activities that will help you achieve success• Persistence and perseverance - Never give up – the harder you work the luckier you get!Childcare Deputy Managers ConferenceChildcare has hosted its first Deputy Managers Conference over two days in September. Theconference follows two successful conferences for managers held by the group. The idea behindthe conference was to inform Deputy Managers about what is going on in the Childcare businessand the Society, so that all management teams within the nurseries are up to date.Sam Newman, Childcare Customer Services Manager manager, told us, “The activities includedteam building challenges such as high ropes, indoor caving and laser challenges, which was areally good ice breaker and opportunity for the deputy managers to meet each other. This wasfollowed by more serious matters. Everyone had a good time and the initial feedback was that thewhole event was really useful and worthwhile.”Team Talk 23