Monthly Archives: August 2020

News

MP pledges support to UK Nannies Matter campaign.

Keighley and Ilkley MP Robbie Moore has pledged his support to the UK Nannies Matter campaign. The group are calling for Nannies to be recognised as professionals by advocating and regulating Nannies in all childcare settings within the United Kingdom.

UK Nannies Matter campaign was founded in 2017 by Helen McCarthy who is a Professional Qualified British Nanny (N.N.E.B) with over 29years experience as a Nanny, NCS, Childcare Consultant and has worked in Europe, Asia, USA, UAE and the UK. Helen is proud to offer the only CPD accredited Nanny Conference in the world.

Locally the campaign is managed by Maria Culley who is a professional Early Years Practitioner and qualified Nanny. With 15 years’ experience across the childcare and education industry in United Kingdom, Australia, Philippines and Barbados. Maria joined UK Nanny in 2018 after meeting Helen during National Nanny Recognition Week.

Robbie said: “Nannies provide a vital service for many working households around Keighley and Ilkley, and the nation as a whole. That is why it is important that Nannies receive the security and recognition that they deserve by being properly regulated.

“It is important that Nannies are properly regulated to ensure the safety and protection of both our children and for Nannies. It is not right that in 2020 we are allowing children to be supervised by an unregulated workforce. This would not be allowed to happen in schools or nurseries.”

Helen McCarthy said: “Having worked in the Industry for nearly 30yrs I cannot believe that Nannies are still classed as babysitters and not recognised by many as professionals. A child is the most previous thing a parent owns. Anyone can wake up and say ‘I want to be a Nanny’ which is totally wrong.

 “Children need to be safeguarded within their own home just as if they were in a Nursery or Childminder setting.”

Maria Culley said: “Working across the early years setting over 15 years, the lack of regulation, safeguarding and recognition is shocking for the Nanny industry. There are more checks in a nursery setting when you work in a team and are not left on your own within a setting then as a nanny who works sole charge in a private house

“Children and Nannies need to be protected within the private home. Many parents presume there are regulations that are mandatory shockingly this is not the case!”

Allie Bell, a UK nannie who is part of the campaign said: “I’ve started this campaign with the UK Nannies Matter Campaign team as I am passionate to make a change. The industry desperately needs recognition, guidance and most importantly moved inline with the rest of the Early Years Sector. Training and CPD as well as minimum requirements will all raise the quality of early years professionals based in home based settings, and create a consistent environment for raising and caring for children.”

News

Female led countries’ COVID-19 outcomes “systematically and significantly better”

Female national leaders locked down earlier and suffered half as many COVID deaths on average as male leaders, according to analysis across 194 countries by the University of Liverpool.

With New Zealand now the first country to record zero cases over consecutive days and Germany the first to resume competitive top level sports, their respective female leaders have received plenty of praise, but researchers found that even when outliers like New Zealand and Germany – and the USA for male leaders – were removed from the statistics, the case for the relative success of female leaders was only strengthened.

University of Liverpool Management School Developmental Economist, Professor Supriya Garikipati and her colleague at the University of Reading, Professor Uma Kambhampati, analysed differing policy responses and subsequent total COVID cases and deaths across 194 countries for the first quarter of the pandemic, up to May 19.

Professor Supriya Garikipati said: “Our results clearly indicate that women leaders reacted more quickly and decisively in the face of potential fatalities.

“In almost all cases, they locked down earlier than male leaders in similar circumstances.

“While this may have longer-term economic implications, it has certainly helped these countries to save lives, as evidenced by the significantly lower number of deaths in these countries.”

To reach this conclusion, the academics introduced a number of variables to help analyse the raw data and draw reliable country comparisons.

They considered GDP, total population, urban population density and the proportion of elderly residents; they also looked at annual health expenditure per capita, openness to international travel and general level of societal gender equality.

And with only 19 of the 194 countries being led by women, they created ‘nearest neighbour’ countries across the above demographics to balance out the small sample size, leading to comparisons such as Serbia (female-led) and Israel (male-led); New Zealand (female) and Ireland (male); Germany (female) and the UK (male) and Bangladesh (female) and Pakistan (male).

Professor Garikipati said: “Nearest neighbour analysis clearly confirms that when women-led countries are compared to countries similar to them along a range of characteristics, they have performed better, experiencing fewer cases as well as fewer deaths.”

On average, the researchers found that female led countries locked down “earlier” – at significantly fewer deaths – than male led countries.

While this may play into gender stereotypes around risk aversion, Professor Garikipati counters that “while women leaders were risk averse with regard to lives, they were prepared to take significant risks with their economies by locking down early” suggesting “risk aversion may manifest differently in different domains, with women leaders being significantly more risk averse in the domain of human life, but more risk taking in the domain of the economy”.

Interestingly, when researchers applied the ‘openness to travel’ control, they found that female-led countries did not experience significantly lower COVID cases but did report lower deaths, suggesting “better policies and compliance in these countries”.

And to further check the robustness of their findings, Professor Garikipati and her team dropped the countries most often referred to – Germany, New Zealand and the USA – from the data to check for undue influence, but found this only “strengthened the results”.

They were also unable to include the female-led Taiwan (500 cases, seven deaths in the research period) as the World Bank no longer provides data for it separately from China.

Professor Garkipati said: “Our findings show that COVID outcomes are systematically and significantly better in countries led by women and, to some extent, this may be explained by the proactive policy responses they adopted.

“Even accounting for institutional context and other controls, being female-led has provided countries with an advantage in the current crisis.”

Leading the fight against the pandemic: Does gender ‘really’ matter? was published in CEPR and WEF Press. To read the full report, please visit https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3617953

 

Energy, News, Scotland

New energy collaboration to tackle fuel poverty in East Lothian

East Lothian Council has today launched East Lothian Energy, in association with People’s Energy, the UK’s only Community Interest Company energy supplier.

East Lothian Energy powered by People’s Energy will offer affordable, sustainable and fair energy for all East Lothian residents as part of a joint commitment to help eradicate fuel poverty.

The new initiative sees People’s Energy, in association with East Lothian Council, offering a special variable and fixed tariff that is discounted from its regular tariffs and available exclusively to East Lothian residents. This offer equates to potential savings of up to £200 annually compared with the current energy price cap (as of 30th July 2020), based on Ofgem’s medium typical domestic consumption values energy usage.

East Lothian Energy customers will also benefit from automatic People’s Energy membership which includes a pledge to pay back 75% of profits to all domestic customers through an annual rebate.

As well as significant savings on electricity and gas, East Lothian Energy customers will be also be helping the environment as all electricity from People’s Energy comes from 100% renewable sources.

The collaboration was driven by People’s Energy Company’s commitment to ensure affordable energy is accessible to all and to prioritise the welfare of its communities above profits.

Speaking about the launch, David Pike, CEO and co-founder of People’s Energy, said: “Within East Lothian, it is estimated that almost a quarter of households (22%) are living in fuel poverty, equating to 13,500 homes. With this new affordable tariff for East Lothian residents, we have the potential to reduce the fuel poverty gap in the area quite considerably.

“People’s Energy is a social enterprise that puts people and the planet before profits. We’re delighted to have the opportunity to partner with East Lothian Council to help make a positive change in the same area where People’s Energy first started three years ago.

“This collaboration with East Lothian Council is one of many steps we are taking to help eradicate fuel poverty and we would welcome other local authorities looking to do the same to get in touch.”

Councillor Norman Hampshire, Cabinet Spokesperson for the Environment, East Lothian Council, said: “We are delighted to be collaborating with People’s Energy to launch this exciting new initiative. East Lothian Energy gives county residents the exclusive opportunity to purchase affordable, sustainable and fair energy. We hope this will be attractive to householders across a mix of tenures – including tenants and homeowners.

“As well as saving money and helping to reduce fuel poverty, East Lothian Energy is a great way of enabling customers to support the environment and tackling climate change – a key priority for us as a council. That is because all of the electricity comes from 100% renewable sources.

“East Lothian Energy customers will receive automatic People’s Energy membership – with 75% of their profits being paid back to domestic members through an annual rebate.

“We believe this is quite a unique initiative and I would encourage people living in East Lothian to visit www.peoplesenergy.co.uk/eastlothian to find out more.”

To sign up to East Lothian Energy visit www.peoplesenergy.co.uk/eastlothian

Climate, Environment

Zero Carbon Fund to invest £1.5m+ in hard science startups to alleviate climate crisis

The Zero Carbon Fund has closed to new investment after raising a total of more than £1.5m over the last 6+ months. Zero Carbon Capital, who deliver the fund in partnership with Sapphire Capital Partners, aims to accelerate the development and commercialisation of hard science solutions to the most pressing issues of climate change.

“We’re so excited to start working with companies that are poised to have such a big positive impact on our Net Zero transition,” says Pippa. “We believe that investing in early stage deep science innovation can make climate solutions better and cheaper, and this will accelerate the Net Zero transition”

Over the next year the fund aims to invest in ten ambitious EIS-eligible startups with breakthrough ideas that can scale to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least half a gigaton per year in some of the big unsolved problem areas in the climate space, such as energy storage, cooling, food & agriculture, industrial heat and carbon capture.

With over five years experience in clean-tech investing in both the USA and UK, and twenty years in tech companies such as Google and eBay bringing innovative new products to market, Pippa and Alex Gawley, the founders of Zero Carbon Capital, are aiming to build a portfolio of exceptional companies that will benefit not just from the infused capital but also from the expertise and connections they can bring.

Founders that wish to be considered for investment should get in touch at https://www.zerocarbon.capital/entrepreneurs

For all other queries, please contact info@zerocarbon.capital.

Education, News, Tech

Discovery Education Announces Partnership With Wonde

Discovery Education has partnered with management information system (MIS) integration specialists Wonde to make it easier for teachers to access their digital learning services and get greater value from their subscriptions.

This new collaboration means teachers will now be able to create and assign resources and learning activities to individuals, groups or a whole class and to check students’ understanding through multiple choice quizzes, enabling teachers to more easily differentiate learning, and support every child whether learning is taking place in class or remotely.

This new partnership will also save time for school administrators as schools will automatically be able to create teacher and student accounts for all Discovery Education services, eliminating the need to manually create and maintain teacher and classroom lists.  There is no charge to schools for this new service, and as part of the agreement, schools who do not currently use Wonde can sign up to this element of the Wonde portal free of charge.

This new functionality is available as part of Discovery Education Experience, a brand-new platform available to schools this Autumn. Bringing a fresh new look and the personalisation and assessment tools schools have been asking for, Discovery Education Experience brings together high-quality content from Discovery Education services with customisation, collaboration and personalisation tools to engage with every learner, wherever the learning is taking place. This upgraded experience is available to schools as part of their existing Discovery Education subscription.

Howard Lewis, Managing Director for Discovery Education UK said, “We are always looking for ways to free up teachers’ time and allow them to focus their energies on students, particularly given the challenges of the past few months. This new partnership with Wonde allows us to provide teachers with a simple and efficient way to personalise learning for every pupil and ensure they are maximising the value they are getting from their Discovery Education services.”

Jon Coleman, co-founder at Wonde said: “Wonde is thrilled to be working with Discovery Education to help schools more efficiently use the services they have subscribed to. Wonde specialises in providing schools with a secure way to share data with their suppliers. Both Wonde and Discovery Education are used by thousands of schools and this new partnership will help teachers easily and efficiently support their pupils.”

For more information about Discovery Education’s digital resources and professional learning services, visit www.discoveryeducation.co.uk  and stay connected with Discovery Education on social media through Facebook, follow us on Twitter at @DiscoveryEdUK or find us on Instagram.

Farming, Food & Drink

Six Scottish farms collaborate to develop Scotland’s first gluten free oat supply chain

The market opportunity for gluten free oats drove six Aberdeenshire farmers to investigate a new supply chain that guarantees provenance, assurance and full traceability. The group recognised that, while oats are naturally gluten free, there was no oat assurance scheme that guaranteed that oat storage post-harvest and milling facilities hadn’t been contaminated with gluten from other cereal grains.

The project benefited from a Rural Innovation Support Service (RISS) funded group facilitated by Paul Mayfield of SAC Consulting, part of Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC).

“Very early on we decided that Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), often called Blockchain, could provide the answer,” says Paul Mayfield. “It’s a relatively new technology in the agrifood sector, and although a few global food manufacturers have investigated its use, there have been few projects linking it back to farms.”

As part of the project, Mr Mayfield approached Wallet Services, an Edinburgh-based technology business to map the oat growing and post-harvest storage process.

“Their team used existing data and farm documentation, including field records, storage documentation and photographs taken from the farms to create what’s known as the ledger,” he explains. “This project is the first step in developing this innovation – we are now working on the automation of data collection and the user interface.

“What’s central to Blockchain is that the information within the audit trail gives full traceability and assurance which ensures complete trust in the supply chain, as well as earning farmers associated crop premiums. It also guarantees that the confidentiality of individual farmers’ data and that all records are tamperproof.”

He adds that, when it comes to assurance audits, Blockchain makes it very quick and easy for supply chain partners, assurance bodies and end consumers to find out where and how the oats were grown.

On the back of the RISS group findings, it gave two farmers the confidence to invest in an oat processing mill. Andrew Booth of Savock Farms, Newburgh, and the Dams family of Craigie Farm, Whitecairns, have completed the facility located at Savock. It will process the farmers’ combined annual production. The first pallet of product was despatched last week for customers to sample.

Andrew Booth says: “This is a state-of-the-art plant and we understand it to be one of only two dedicated gluten-free plants in the UK, and the only one in Scotland.

“Our simple idea is that someone will be able to pick up a packet of oats in the supermarket, scan a QR code, and see a whole dashboard of information tracing the oats’ journey from farm to shelf. As farmers we want to produce a premium product that the customer wants.”

The ledger is simple to use according the farmers. All of their records, from shed-cleaning to crop-spraying and harvesting are digitised and can be interrogated by anyone with access to the system.

“It has made recording simpler and provide a means of providing enhanced levels of assurance with respect to food safety and provenance,” Andrew Booth adds.

Paul Mayfield adds that, “using Blockchain for this new venture gives consumers absolute assurance about the provenance and traceability of their oats, whilst also giving the farmers a differentiator to earn a market premium.

“If we can do it for oats, we could ensure the same traceability for potatoes, or soft fruit, organic produce or anything we like. And it tilts some power in the supply chain back towards the producers.”

The farmers have benefitted substantially from the various innovation, local food and supply chain support mechanisms in place across the Make Innovation Happen partnership including, RISS, Market Driven Supply Chains, Connect Local, and the Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund.

Farming, News

The finalists for the 2020 British Farming Awards are announced

The British Farming Awards 2020 has welcomed a record number of registrations this year, a testament to the incredible work being done on farms throughout Britain.

Fifty-six individuals will now battle it out for the 14 categories up for grabs which highlight the innovation and diversity of UK agriculture.

Alongside the core sectors of agriculture including dairy, beef, sheep, arable and contracting, the awards also celebrate new entrants coming into the industry, the wealth of diversification businesses and family farms and recognition to the evolving presence of agri technology within agriculture.

A further two awards – Outstanding Contribution to British Agriculture and Farmers Guardian Farming Hero – will be announced during the awards evening which will be held virtually on Wednesday, October 21.

Organised by AgriBriefing, parent company of Farmers Guardian, Arable Farming and Dairy Farmer, the British Farming Awards is supported by Morrisons.

Innovation

Now entering its eighth year, the British Farming Awards has become a nationally recognised event which has celebrated, showcased and rewarded hundreds of British farmers who have successfully introduced innovation to drive their business forward, despite ever-increasing challenges.

As households around the nation have relied on farmers and local producers to serve the nation during the Covid-19 pandemic, the industry has welcomed a new appreciation from the public and this year’s event is more poignant than ever.

Sophie Throup, Head of Agriculture, Fisheries and Sustainable Sourcing at Morrisons, said the awards was a welcome reminder of the dedication and hard work demonstrated by UK farmers all year round.

She said: “In these unprecedented times, we would like to thank and celebrate the work of British farmers and growers who are helping to feed the nation.

“At Morrisons, we have always valued British farming and being able to buy products directly from farms for our stores and the many food banks who rely on us is now more important than ever.

“The awards provides us with a timely reminder to pause and acknowledge the effort, innovation and skills which go into providing food farmed to high standards that we all enjoy.”

For more information on the awards and information on the finalists visit www.britishfarmingawards.co.uk. For shortlist photos and information visit our media hub at  https://www.britishfarmingawards.co.uk/media-hub-access/

2020 British Farming Awards finalists

The awards welcomed individual entries but also nominations from fellow professionals and peers.

  • Agricultural Student of the Year, sponsored by Kubota

Oliver Chapman, Riseholme College

Megan Edwards, Harper Adams University

Hannah McGrath, Rothamsted Research and University of Reading

Grace Welling, Harper Adams University

  • Agri-Tech Innovator of the Year, sponsored by Clydesdale & Yorkshire Bank

David Farquhar, Intelligent Growth Solutions, Perthshire

Tom Freeman, 18a Productions, Somerset

Seonaid Ross, SoilEssentials, Angus

Marc Skivington, Smart Farmer, Aberdeenshire

  • Arable Innovator of the Year

Richard Anthony, Tythegston Farm, Glamorgan

Charles Antrobus, Greenways Farm, Warwickshire

Edward Burman, Kingstanding Farm, Warwickshire

George Young, Fobbing Farm, Essex

  • Beef Innovator of the Year, sponsored by ABP Food Group

Mark Crapper, New Grange Farm, Yorkshire

Ben Harman, Grove Farm, Buckinghamshire

Andrew Hodgson, Cheverton Farm, Isle of Wight

Jon Smith, Holkham Farming Company, Norfolk

  • Contractor Innovator of the Year, sponsored by Kuhn

Rob Burtonshaw, Farm Services, Warwickshire

Ashley Luke and Chelsea Steel, A J Luke Contracting Ltd, Somerset

Angus Newton, Aon Services, Norfolk

Steven Rolfe, Stevie Rolfe Cattle Services, Lanarkshire

  • Dairy Innovator of the Year sponsored by Arla

George and William Holmes, Holmes Farms, Dorset

Tom Neill, Thornington Farm, Northumberland

Anthony Oakes, Stublach Farm, Cheshire

Tom Rawson and Charlie Crotty, Evolution Farming, Yorkshire

  • Digital Innovator of the Year

 Chris Franklin, Caenhill Countryside Centre, Wiltshire

David Hill, The Greatest Online Agricultural Show, Berkshire

Anna Jones, Just Farmers, Bristol

Jo Martin, Rural Business Network, Co Durham

  • Diversification Innovator of the Year (Small to medium)

David and Felicity Brown, Hoe Grange Holidays, Derbyshire

Andrew and Jenny Jones, Rackery Retreat, Wrexham

Claire Kennerley, Gruff Outdoor Learning, Cheshire

Nicola Sanderson, Senwick Leisure, Dumfries and Galloway

  • Diversification Innovator of the Year (Large)

Edward Dee, West Lodge Rural Centre, Northamptonshire

Patrick Deeley, Flower Farm, Surrey

Ben Hollins, Fordhall Farm Event Caterers, Shropshire

Tim and Kate Mason, Vale Training Services, Buckinghamshire

  • Family Farming Business of the Year, sponsored by Morrisons

The Elliott family, Noborough Lodge Farm, Northamptonshire

The Hamilton family, Plurenden Manor Farm, Kent

The Hodgson family, Great Newsome Farm, Yorkshire

The Nicholson family, Cannon Hall Farm, Yorkshire

  • Farm Worker of the Year, sponsored by ABN

Murray Craig, Swindale Foot Farm, Cumbria

Paul Evans, Aberbrwynen Farm, Ceredigion

Shaun Mckay, The Farm, Shropshire

Andrew Moss, Park Corner Farms, Gloucestershire

  • Machinery Innovator of the Year

Chris Ecob, Nursery Farm, Oxfordshire

Falkiner Small, Cedar Lodge, Co Armagh

Gordon Stephen, Wagglehill Croft, Aberdeenshire

Paul Wilson, Leek Farm, Northumberland

  • New Entrants Award: Against the odds, sponsored by KW

Martyn and Claire Eastham, Newhouse Farm, Dorset

Ben Lowe, Newseat Of Dumbreck Farm, Aberdeenshire

Rachel Yarrow and Fraser Norton, Earth Trust Farm, Oxfordshire

Ross and Kirsty Williams, Upper Tullochbeg, Aberdeenshire

  • Sheep Innovator of the Year, sponsored by Dunbia

Jeremy Durrant, The Hydes, Essex

John Howie, Girtridge Farm, Ayrshire

John Minary, Operation Bo Peep!, Yorkshire

  • Farmers Guardian’s Farming Hero

This award recognises an individual or group of people who strive to make a positive difference to the lives of other people during times of uncertainty or adversity. They may also be campaigning to raise awareness to the wider industry and beyond. The winner will be announced on the evening of the awards.

  • Outstanding Contribution to British Agriculture, sponsored by NSF International

This award is designed to recognise one individual’s dedication to the farming industry; someone who has worked tirelessly for UK farming, through delivering innovation, championing the needs for farmers, spearheading change or promoting the industry to the wider public. The winner will be announced on the evening of the awards.

For more information about the awards evening visit www.britishfarmingawards.co.uk/awards-night

Awards, News, News from Wales

Cardiff-Based Entrepreneur Ben Keighley Shortlisted As ‘Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2020’ Finalist

Against the backdrop of a global health crisis and ongoing economic uncertainty, Cardiff-based Entrepreneur Ben Keighley has received a shortlisting for the ‘Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2020’. The shortlisting process has seen a plethora of worthy nominations from across the United Kingdom, whittled down to only five finalists in each category.

Encompassing the entire UK, the ‘Great British Entrepreneur Awards’ is an annually held event designed to recognise, celebrate and support the achievements of entrepreneurs from the four nations. Cardiff-based entrepreneur Ben Keighley has been announced as a finalist in the Welsh region’s ‘Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year’ category, in a field of strong competition.

Ben commented: “I’m delighted to have been told my nomination has been shortlisted as a finalist in this category. I’m passionate about what I do and genuinely believe in the untapped potential of entrepreneurial minds. Now more than ever, we need to be broadening our thinking and supporting innovation across every industry.”

Ben Keighley is the founder and managing director of ‘Routes 4 Media’ – a full-funnel digital ad agency that uses unparalleled creative, targeted media buying and data, to produce results for ambitious companies. From its inception over 7 years ago, Ben Keighley has shaped the organisation into a forwarding-thinking, results-driven ad agency, that puts clients first.

Ben continued: “The Great British Entrepreneur Awards is a fantastic platform for entrepreneurs to connect, take inspiration from one another and to foster a sense of community. Each category is bursting with talented individuals and I’m both thrilled and humbled to be a shortlisted finalist.”

The ‘Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2020’ regional finals are on the 23rd September and will be held virtually this year. For more information, please visit the official website at https://www.greatbritishentrepreneurawards.com

Careers, HR News, L&D, News, Training News

Gartner HR Research Finds Employees Are Only Applying 54% of Newly Learned Skills

Employees are applying only 54% of the new skills they learn, despite the number of skills required for a single job increasing by 10% year-over-year, according to Gartner, Inc. Gartner TalentNeuron data reveals that 33% of the skills needed three years ago are no longer relevant.

The business impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with other business disruptions like executive leadership turnover, continue to amplify the need for new skills as business strategies shift and employees adapt to new ways of working. In response to the fast-changing skills environment, nearly two-thirds of HR leaders have had to take a reactive approach to addressing skill needs, which results in employees failing to apply almost half of the new skills they learn.

“While the majority of organizations are utilizing a reactive approach to skills building that doesn’t work, most are still striving to be more predictive to get ahead of skill shifts,” said Sari Wilde, managing vice president in the Gartner HR practice. “The problem is that a predictive approach predicated on HR identifying a specific skill set need for the future also fails.”

Moving From Reactive to Predictive Doesn’t Work

HR leaders are under pressure from all stakeholders to get ahead of future skills needs. Gartner’s 2020 Shifting Skills Survey for HR Executives reveals that 60% of HR leaders report pressure from the CEO to ensure employees have the skills needed in the future. The same survey found that, compared with three years ago, 69% of HR executives report more pressure from employees to provide development opportunities that will prepare them for future roles.

Unfortunately, predicting and committing to a defined set of future skills leads organizations to focus on the wrong skills. In fact, when HR leaders take a predictive approach to managing shifting skills, employees apply only 37% of the new skills they learn.

A Dynamic Approach to Skill Development Is Best

The most effective HR functions use a dynamic skills approach focused on structuring HR and the organization – people, systems and strategies – to be able to respond dynamically to changing skills needs. This approach helps HR sense shifting skills needs in real time, develop skills at the time of need and empowers employees to make informed skills decisions dynamically.

Leveraging a dynamic skills approach enables HR to do three critical things:

  • Sense shifting skills in real time. A dynamic skills approach anticipates skill shifts as they are occurring—rather than predicting the future—and adapts to those shifts in an iterative, course-corrective way. To sense shifting skills, organizations can facilitate cross-organizational networks of stakeholders that are sensitive to, and empowered to, address skills as they shift in real time.

 

  • Develop skills at the time of need. This approach goes beyond the realm of traditional learning and development (L&D) tactics, such as classroom training or curated e-learning libraries. To develop skills at the time of need, organizations are able to identify and implement skill accelerators — strategies HR can adapt by leveraging existing resources (e.g., content, people, skill adjacencies) to develop new skills solutions at speed.

 

  • Employees make skills decisions dynamically. A dynamic skills approach calls for two-way skills transparency between the organization (e.g., what skills it needs, what skills it no longer needs, where it’s needs are unknown) and the employee (e.g., current skills and interests). HR is then able to create channels for employees and the organization to exchange skills information, which facilitates a better match between employees and their organization to pursue mutually beneficial and flexible skills development.

 

“Organizations that embrace a dynamic approach to developing skills find that employees are both learning the right skills and extracting the value from those skills in a way they do not within the reactive and predictive approaches,” said Ms. Wilde. “The result is that employees apply 75% of the new skills they learn.”

The dynamic skills approach boosts other key talent outcomes as well, including a 24% improvement in employee performance and a 34% improvement in employees going above and beyond at work.

Gartner clients can read more in the Gartner report, “Building a Dynamic Skills Organization.”

CHROs and HR leaders can learn more about how to lead organizations through the disruption of coronavirus in the Gartner coronavirus resource center for HR, a collection of complimentary Gartner research and webinars to help organizations globally respond, manage and prepare for the next phase of COVID-19.

Case Studies, Industry News, Logistics, Logistics Tech, News

Speedy services drives safety and insurance improvements with VisionTrack’s Video Telematics

Speedy Services, the UK’s leading tools and equipment hire company, has improved road safety, reduced fleet insurance fraud and dramatically cut claims costs using video telematics. Since adopting the VisionTrack solution, the company has reduced road collisions by 35% by gaining complete visibility of collisions, near misses and harsh driving events. Meanwhile, Speedy has successfully defended against all false and exaggerated claims, while cutting the cost of at-fault claims for the business by 40%.

“VisionTrack’s video telematics solution is playing a crucial role within our fleet strategy, protecting staff and other road users as well as targeting reductions in insurance and operational costs,” explains Gareth Jones, Road Risk Manager at Speedy Asset Services ltd. “The quality, accuracy and reliability of the technology means that we have achieved 100% performance in footage use, so we have been able to successfully target our safety-and insurance-related goals.”

A multi-channel DVR system was initially adopted on a fleet of HGVs, providing a five-camera video telematics solution that was connected to the cloud-based IoT platform, Autonomise.ai. Since then, Speedy has installed VisionTrack’s VT2000 connected cameras on all small LCVs and a DVR solution on all new build commercial vehicles. Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) technology has also been incorporated for the company’s overnight trunking fleet to help prevent incidents before they arise.

Speedy can view HD video evidence of road incidents within seconds of them occurring through the alert mode on the platform, so the welfare of the driver can be immediately checked, and liability proved in less than five minutes. Rapid liability decisions by the claims team is enabling the company to take swift action regarding at-fault incidents and share details with its insurers on the same day as an incident, achieving greater control over third party costs and reducing claims costs by 40%. An internal rear-facing camera has also allowed Speedy to investigate, verify and where appropriate dispute personal injury claims, as well as ensure employees are following health and safety guidelines.

With any fraudulent claim being made, Speedy can access high quality footage and accurate supporting data of the event. As such, it has reduced these claims by 100% and successfully combated organised scams such as cash for crash. In the past 12 months, at least five claims have been rejected based on the lack of evidence the 3rd party has produced and the false allegation coming through.

Insight from the video telematics solution is also being used by Speedy to better understand driving styles and identify areas of risk as part of its road safety initiative. Being able to review the footage in detail means the company can delegate the most appropriate training to the drivers as well as understand how incidents can be avoided in future. The ADAS solution is also helping Speedy to understand fatigue within the fleet operation and prevent fatigue-related incidents.

“We understood the need for an advanced and scalable video telematics system that safeguards drivers, prevents road collisions and mitigates fleet risk. We have been working closely with VisionTrack – a technology leader that is driving innovation in connected technology and smart transportation – for over two years to take advantage of their unrivalled ambition, expertise, service and support,” concludes Jones.

Simon Marsh, Managing Director of VisionTrack commented: “As Europe’s leading provider of cloud-based video telematics, we have adopted a unique approach that is helping fleet operators such as Speedy Services to tackle some of the most complex challenges they face.

Our solutions unlock a range of benefits by providing visual insight and data to establish how vehicles are being driven, so customers can ensure they are operating in a safe, efficient and socially responsible way.”