Primeast

As a quick browse of our website will tell you, here at Primeast we are very proud of our ISO 9001:2000 QAIC/UK/511 accreditation for ‘the design and delivery of learning interventions’ - not least because we were one of the first businesses in the world to earn such accreditation.

But why mention this as news? Well, following a successful QA audit last month, we are happy to announce that this year marks our 10th anniversary of receiving this accreditation, an achievement that allows us to wear our commitment to providing a quality-assured service to our clients on our sleeves. And that is something we definitely feel is worth celebrating!

Clive Wilson at CMI Conference 2007Most of the appearances Primeast speakers and coaches make are at client events. However, we do occasionally appear at open events with professional institutions. Below is a summary of those engagements remaining for 2008. We’d love to see you there.

Primeast has been recognised for its views on unlocking the human potential of our workforces, having been asked to contribute to the April 2008 edition of The HR Director magazine.

Primeast LogoIn an article entitled “Standing Out From The Crowd”, leading figures from the HR and recruitment world were asked for their views on how companies can be a magnet for the brightest and best graduate talent, with Primeast MD Clive Wilson discussing how talent liberation can unlock the potential of graduate recruits to business.

The HR Director magazine website can be found at www.thehrdirector.com.

Here at Primeast, we are always looking for opportunities to spread our message, so when director Russell Evans recently happened to hear a discussion on the Chris Evans BBC Radio 2 show about the value of mission statements for companies whilst on his way to deliver a workshop, he knew that this was a chance too good to miss. Following a quick call to the office, Primeast MD Clive Wilson was leaving the simplest of messages with the radio station - “If you want to know anything about mission statements and how they inspire organisations, you need to speak to people with 20 years of experience in mastering leadership, change and teamwork - call me”.Clive Wilson

This offer was too good for the show’s researcher to resist, who proceeded to book Clive for an interview on the show for the following afternoon, which in turn kick-started a frenetic amount of activity in the Primeast office. Research was carried out, vocal cords were exercised, and radios were tuned in, but sadly the world will have to wait for Clive’s first broadcast, because the media world is a fast-moving one, and the show’s producers decided to cut the item on mission statements at the last moment.

So until the time Primeast get the opportunity to grace the airwaves again, Clive and the team will be more than happy to discuss leadership, change and teamwork in the more traditional way - indeed, if you have a corporate need in any of the subjects Clive was going to talk about, and would like to share a cup of tea with him, just let us know and we’ll ask him to give you a call direct.

Primeast senior consultant Clare Gallagher is offering a unique opportunity to learn new strategies and experience first-hand the benefits of Neuro Linguistic Programming, or NLP, in a series of free half-day workshops throughout February, one of which will take place at Primeast’s head office in Harrogate.

International NLP Trainers Association logo Neuro Linguistic Programming is the study of human excellence, with proven success for over 30 years, and is increasingly becoming known as the ‘ultimate communications strategy’. NLP provides many practical tools and skills that can help you to both influence with purpose, and be outstanding in your chosen field, so if you are interested in attending, please click here.

Primeast has helped to create a groundbreaking initiative in the world of responsible business practice.

Members of CSR ConsortiumThe CSR Consortium, involving 18 consultancies at its launch, will provide strategic and tactical expertise across all areas of responsible business practice.

Areas covered include CSR strategy, performance management, health and safety, environmental management, organisational change, community engagement and regeneration, customer service, HR performance, diversity, training and development, socially responsible recruitment and supply chain management.

A PR agency and a design agency have also been brought on board to ensure that clients’ messages are communicated responsibly.

Primeast was invited to help create the consortium because of its commitment to the CSR agenda, and hosts the consortium’s meetings at our Harrogate offices.CSR Logo

Warwick Abbott said: “We are delighted that our knowledge and expertise has made us an obvious choice for helping to create this groundbreaking initiative. It comes at a time when the responsible business agenda is truly gaining momentum.”

As well as providing a single point of contact, the CSR Consortium service providers will help demystify corporate social responsibility and show how a responsible approach is good for creating sustainable businesses.”

Wotton House, SurreyOnce again Chris Burford, Pari Rickard and Russell Evans find themselves at the beautiful Wotton House Conference Centre in Surrey, working in partnership with IIR MD Ltd to deliver the 5 Day MBA for Managers’. The programme itself is based on the core topics of a traditional MBA but delivered in a no-nonsense practical way. Participants range from managers wanting to broaden their business knowledge to Directors with full MBAs who are looking for a quick refresher of the critical elements. The programme is so successful that it is now being offered 4 times a year.

A popular part of the programme is a ‘real time’ project where competing teams have to create a business plan, including research, marketing plan and 3 year financial projections for a new venture and present in a ‘Dragon’s Den’ environment. The Dragons include programme facilitators and a real Private Equity investor. The current programme includes participants from around the UK as well as Nigeria and Qatar.

Group working at table Earlier this month one of our team travelled to Sakhalin Island off the eastern coast of Russia to lead a series of workshops on achieving excellence in team work. The client operates gas production facilities on the island and the participants were drawn from various parts of the organisation including logistics, drilling, safety and commercial. Most of the participants were Russian nationals with an occasional ex-pat.

The key theme for participants was learning techniques and behaviours to accelerate the performance of any team they lead; or to which they belong. It focused on understanding their own responsibility, understanding how teams develop, handling differences of opinion, planning and using diagnostics to better understand themselves. The whole package was facilitated in an ‘experiential’ style with lots of practical exercises and review discussions which certainly was popular with the participants.

The on-site training co-ordinator said: “feedback both formal and anecdotal has been fantastic and people are now really keen to put what they have learned into practice. We will be looking into how we can do this more frequently.”

The power of a visionClive Wilson (third from right in photograph) writes: When Primeast invited me to be MD in 2002 one of my first tasks was to establish a credible and stretching vision for 2008. We sat down as a team, shared our dreams and came up with a series of goals that formed this vision, including a quadrupling of the business, moving to new premises, more involvement of our associates, the establishment of a customer service team to face our clients and more. We posted this on the walls of our old offices and I’m pleased to say that the formal delivery of every aspect of this vision was signed off by the directors this month, fifteen months ahead of schedule. The purpose of this note is not to blow the Primeast trumpet, but to share how we did it.

Here are our top four in order of significance:

• We put together a great team of directors (who are all practitioners) and customer service executives who really care about our clients.
• We kept the vision on the wall, in our minds and under constant review - even though it never changed.
• We shared our vision with clients and associates.
• We worked hard, challenged each other often but remained committed.

So we’ve had much to celebrate this year. Our corporate 20th birthday, the delivery of our 2008 vision and a new home. We’ve also established our 2012 vision in consultation with all our staff and associates. The next chapter begins.