Firewalk Night

Gofal Cymru Firewalk Caerphilly (see original article below) was a huge success - there were 14 Firewalkers on the night and in total around £2500 was raised; £250 of that from one of our Solutions boys, Jonathan.

The participants were briefed beforehand on safety and given a session on the powers of positive though. Meanwhile, supporters outside the Pontygwindy Inn watched on as the Firemasters tended to the flaming coals that warmed the frosty night-time air. Eventually the first Firewalker trooped out from the inn, followed by the rest of the Fearless Fourteen. They crossed the barrier, and prepared themselves for the 20 foot of coals at 1200 degrees Fahrenheit that lay ahead. One by one, they yelled their names and battlecries, and marched down the fiery path, cheered on enthusiastically by the crowds. Thankfully no-one was burned, and some even wanted to go around again, if only to keep warm!

All in all, a fantastic night out for a fantastic cause. Congratulations to the crazy Firewalkers, their dedicated supporters, and to everybody who dug deep for Gofal Cymru.

What is quality?

The most successful organisations are those that give customers what they want. Satisfied customers are loyal to the company they feel best understand their requirements, and reciprocate the benefits they bring by recommending the company to friends. Quality is therefore about learning what works well and doing it better; finding out about what has to change to meet and exceed the expectations of the customer. The cost of improving quality can be expected to be recovered manyfold by increased sales, more satisfied customers, fewer problems and a greater competetive advantage.

Good quality management is an organisation-wide approach to understanding what customers need, and consistently and accurately delivering. It ensures the effective design of processes that verify needs, that plan product life cycle, and that design, produce and deliver the product or service.

Quality Checklist

• know what you hope to achieve and decide how you want to go about it
• learn from your experience
• use this new-found knowledge to help develop your organisation and its services
• always look to achieve continuous improvement (rinse and repeat)
• satisfy your customer as a result, and enjoy the benefits!

Environmental management
Step by step

We all have a major role to play in helping protect and enhance the environment, in line with wider goals of sustainable development.

The way in which your business manages its interaction with the environment is coming under closer scrutiny - there is an increasing spiral of new legislation. However, increasingly companies are recognising that the environment is a management issue and not just a matter of compliance.

When evaluating your environmental system, make sure that emphasis is placed on the following: an environmental policy and impact review, clear and measurable targets and objectives, and mechanisms for improvement.

An effective policy does not have to be complicated. It is simply a realistic statement about what you are doing and how you are doing it. An environmental impact review will allow you to assess your company's baseline.

Based on your environmental impact review, you will also be able to make short-term targets and longer-term objectives to ensure that the policy is followed by all employees. Targets can be straightforward, for example 'to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by x% each year', but in all cases you should ensure that targets and objectives are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound).

Remember that small investments can reap large rewards and that environmentally friendly practices can save money while resulting in happier customers and of course a healthier ecology.

Gofal Cymru Firewalk Challenge!

1 in 4 of us will experience mental ill health in our lifetime. Gofal believes no-one should be disadvantaged by their mental health. They want to challenge the way we all think about, talk about and respond to mental health. Gofal makes the difference via services that support independence, health and recovery.

Jonathan Davies is fundraising for Gofal Cymru via their Caerphilly Firewalk Challenge - he will be walking across 20 feet of hot burning coals barefoot! A JustGiving page has been set up to help raise money, as donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and completely secure. It's the most efficient way to donate! Please click the pic or follow the link below and dig deep. Thank you.

Jonathan's JustGiving page

www.justgiving.com/jonathan-solutions-ims

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Don't mind if I do...

Eric & Bob
Post 2, Oct 14 2010

Health and safety signs and posters are a practical way of meeting your legal requirements, and assisting in the process of improving workplace safety. Signage is not only important for informing people about risks and possible dangers, but in many cases it is a statutory requirement.

Not to mention, signs make everything clearer and more professional-looking, right? Here's how NOT to use health and safety signs - courtesy of, who else, Eric Erickson.

 

Click here to see the full-size image
 

 
Eric: You know what this place needs, Bob?
Bob: Well...
(Bob reminisces the past week at ACME Heating & Plumbing...)
 
(Pandemonium on the factory floor!)
Eric: REG!! HIT THE STOP BUTTON!
 
Sally: Now, do you have an environmental policy?
Bob: Of course! Who wouldn't have these days, eh?
Reg: Yeah, when it gets that high we burn it...
 
Eric: WHO'S THAT!?
(Stan lays sprawled on the floor under a ladder.)
Bob: That's Stan, I'm just, erm, collecting him for his training.
Eric: That'll affect his bonus...
 
(After a great deal of puzzling, Bob doesn't have a clue what one thing 'this place needs', except possibly a closure order.)
Bob: ...no idea, enlighten me.
Eric: A touch of professionalism. REG!!
(Eric produces a huge pile of signs as Reg appears.)
Eric: Put up some signs!
Reg: Okay...
 
Signage is very important around the workplace, contributing to the continual improvement of safety and communicating good health and safety around the workplace. But it should not be a substitute for ensuring the welfare of your employees via worker involvement and an effective health and safety policy.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Employer of the week: Eric Erickson

 

The chain-smoking big bad boss at ACME Heating & Plumbing, much like his factory he is unstable, produces very little except in the way of noise and chemical pollution, and seems ready to blow at any given moment. It is rumoured however that Eric was once 'a very nice person', and the workers at ACME often gossip about what it might have been that tipped him over the edge.

Business Management

By the late 70s, the West had started to notice how successful Japanese industry had become. In industry after industry, including steel, watches, ship building, cameras, automobiles, and electronics, the Japanese were surpassing American and European companies. Westerners wanted to know why.

Numerous theories were put forward to explain the Japanese success including:

• Higher employee morale, dedication, and loyalty;
• Lower cost structure, including wages;
• Effective government industrial policy;
• Modernization after WWII leading to high capital intensity and productivity;
• Economies of scale associated with increased exporting;
• Relatively low value of the Yen leading to low interest rates and capital costs, low dividend expectations, and inexpensive exports;
• Superior quality control techniques such as Total Quality Management and other systems.

Although there was some truth to all these potential explanations, there was clearly something missing. In fact by 1980 the Japanese cost structure was higher than the American. And post WWII reconstruction was nearly 40 years in the past. The first management theorist to suggest an explanation was Richard Pascale.

In 1981, Richard Pascale and Anthony Athos claimed that the main reason for Japanese success was their superior management techniques. They divided management into 7 aspects:

• Strategy
• Structure
• Systems
• Skills
• Staff
• Style
• Shared values

The first three of the 7 S's were called hard factors and this is where Western companies excelled.

The remaining four factors were called soft factors and were not as well understood by European and American businesses of the time. Great value was not placed on corporate culture, shared values and beliefs, and social cohesion in the workplace. In Japan the task of management was seen as managing the whole complex of human needs, economic, social, psychological, and spiritual. Elsewhere, work was seen as something that was separate from the rest of one's life. It was quite common for Americans and Europeans to exhibit a very different personality at work compared to the rest of their lives.

What this means
Businesses that succeed do so by:

• Getting to know the customer, and therefore providing better value for the customer than competitors;
• Treating staff with respect and being rewarded with productivity;
• Sticking to what they know well, and keeping things simple.