We've notched up a 9th successive year of CPD accreditation

Every Monday morning we Woodies lace up our brain trainers and work our grey matter into shape for the week ahead with our fast paced 15 minute workouts.  One week we’re coming up with ads in 60 seconds, the next thinking about our most recent customer service experience and how well those employees were living their brand. 

This is just one of many initiatives we run for our people at Woodreed which has helped us notch up a ninth successive year of CPD accreditation from our professional body - the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising.

CPD accreditation reassures our clients they are dealing with professional, qualified and trained individuals.  After all our people are our business.

Just because times may be tough is no reason to draw back from investing in your people - in fact quite the opposite.  We achieved our results with minimal investment of actual cash - just time and carefully considered thinking to develop a training and development framework which supports our business objectives.

The result – an engaged, happy and productive bunch, working hard for our clients.

Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet?

Over recent weeks I've become aware of increasing debate about the EE words for example Neil Morrison's 'Nobody wants to be engaged'. EE - not the bizarrely rebranded telecomms company but Employee Engagement. A simple term which I think most people get - employee engagement as opposed to customer engagement or audience engagement, engaging the internal audience rather than the external.

There are discussions about whether EE as a term is an obstacle to the message. Whether we can think of other things to call it. Is it happiness, wellbeing, wellness or what?

This seems like so much noise, just at a time when a groundswell is beginning to build in the wake of corporate scandals and with the support of the Engage for Success movement.  To me this is typical of so many movements in the past which end up tearing themselves apart over semantics, focussing inwards instead of outwards.

What are we doing? When there is still such a mountain to climb to convince boards to invest time, resources, intellectual capital and understanding in the need for EE why do we create a distracting sideshow that can only undermine our pitch? Someone, the unerring advocate of the importance of the inside culture Ian Buckingham I think, said "Angels on pinheads" about this the other day and I have to agree.

How can we expect people to take the important concept and its practitioners seriously when we resort to squabbling amongst ourselves?

Of course debate is healthy and should be encouraged but let’s focus it where it can achieve results – on
helping overcome the barriers, on helping people see that EE isn’t something you do to people or have done to you, that EE isn’t a tick box exercise, or a series of 'initiatives'. That EE isn't an outcome. It’s about building a healthy culture within an organisation where every employee (which means all those who take a salary from the organisation so leaders and managers too) is motivated to give of their best more often that they’re not; an environment where the people with the skills to leave choose to stay.

Surely it's far better to have a word which, ok may not be perfect but at least we all understand? A word to badge the concept and act as a shorthand for something we all need to grasp - quite simply organisations with high levels of employee engagement outperform organisations who don't on so many KPIs - net profit, revenue growth, customer satisfaction, productivity, innovation, employee turnover...

These KPIs are the important evidence we have to use to convince board level decision makers of the need to take this seriously - but you know, irrespective of these I know what kind of an organisation I'd rather work in.

Kilimanjaro - an abundance of things that inspire and things that are dire....

On the 28th February 2013 at 8.40am I did it, I summited Mt Kilimanjaro! I must admit it was the hardest, most emotional experience of my life but also one of the most amazing.

I have raised an incredible £4,847.79 for Build Africa with your generosity - there is still time to sponsor me if you haven't done so already by clicking here. If it wasn't for the wonderful Ben Ogden whom this climb was dedicated to there were a couple of points where I simply wanted to sit on a rock and give up, but I wanted the photo with him at the summit even more!

Our trek was organised through Discover Adventure whom I highly recommend if anyone wants to go on an epic adventure. All 30 of us 'novices' were met at Heathrow by our incredible leaders Dave Matthews and Dom Rudd and our wonderful Doctor Freyja Brown. Without whom I don't think any of us would have made it to summit!

Our trek was 6 days long, day 2 was my killer day! The altitude sickness kicked in, headaches so violent I could hardly see but as soon as it passes... it's gone - with a little help from some magic pills I was given by doc! The terrain was so beautiful, from rainforest, to plains to alien world! The fact you were above cloud level pretty quickly was quite surreal too. The views were to die for, the Barranco wall of day 3 an incredible challenge, and the laughs and giggles priceless.

We were also supported by an incredible ground crew - all 90 of them! Our lead guide Whitey and my personal guide for summit night Aristide were just fabulous, we had endless Christmas songs to keep us going, I owe Aristide a pair of shoes after being sick all over his on summit night and how the porters, cooks, toilet boys, tent guys, guides and of course our ambulance man Michael (he carried the huge medical kit everywhere) made our trek seemless was faultless. You can only imagine how they managed to feed and water all of us on a mountain with 2 burners! Yup - I still can't imagine it.

My fellow team mates will all be friends for life, Brian brought his Olympic Torch all the way to the summit, the first one on Kili! Jaqui was my partner in toilet crime, altitude does wonders for clearing your bladder at the most inappropriate of places. John adopted my camera on the days when I didn't have the energy to get it out of its case! Katie, my fab tent buddy and earplug lifesaver - we did have a couple of epic snorers - no names!!! There are too many inspirational people to mention in person here, just know there is no way I could have done this without them all. Last but not least - our wonderful Benon Banya. Benon so tragically died on our last summit walk. It was a traumatic experience for all, it did make our summit bittersweet but we were all so proud to have met Benon, to have spent time with him, got to know him and to have climbed Kilimanjaro with him.

Summit, yes the summit! I knew it was going to be hard but nothing can quite prepare you for it. We were woken at midnight (after a day of walking) and in the pitch black with our high vis jackets started the long plod to the summit. The only way I can start to describe it to you was that it felt like walking with concrete boots on, with the flu, after drinking a bottle of whiskey and a plastic bag tied over your head. The last 40 minutes from Stella Point are truly horrific, I was just trying to stop myself from passing out - so thankfully Aristide had the kindness to grab my camera otherwise I may well have forgotten to get those all important photos at the top!!! Talking of photos, those that know me well, know I like my photos! I do have an album so if you click here you can take a look at them (i've edited them down don't worry!)

In all it's very hard to try and sum up my experience, it's definitely life changing. Africa is the most wonderful country, it has tested me to my limits, i've found hidden strength I never knew I had and confidence to go for things you never thought possible. As a person you realise that even when you take yourself out of your comfort zone, forgo materialistic items, don't eat, push your body, see tragedy unfold in front of you and a meteor shower the sky with light - anything is possible when you have your friends and family beside you, behind you, in front of you, supporting you all the way. Thank you to everyone who made this journey one I will never forget. And to Kilimanjaro - maximum respect x

Recognition and reward - the great missed opportunity

One of the best ways to create and sustain a brand-hearted culture and a motivated team

Yet Woodreed’s Brand Inside survey identified that 20% of participants had no recognition and reward process in place, while 37% simply offered adhoc, generic tokens.

So in an attempt to put that right we’ve added a leading online motivation system to Woodreed’s offer. iD points can be used to support a range of campaign objectives – from employee recognition, reward and behaviour change to sales/dealer incentives and B2B customer loyalty.
iD points takes the hard work out of building and running a reward programme. Branded and tailored to a client's needs, it's quick and simple to set up – with no ongoing management fees.  Participants redeem points from a wide choice of leading brands and experiences. 
The web-based system is flexible – simple enough to manage in house or it can be incorporated into a wider communication programme with strategic and creative help from Woodreed if required. For more details visit www.id-points.com

So you're fed up with our weather............

Well spare a thought for the people from the Russian Village Oymyakon where the average winter temperature is -45C. It also holds a world record low of -68C recorded in 1933 (the coldest temperature ever recorded outside Antarctica). It is situated in the heart of Siberia and is home to some 500 people.

Life is very tough in Oymyakon and I can't even begin to think how we would cope with the extreme weather there. With very few modern conveniences and definitely no mobile coverage. Whilst our schools close with just a few inches of snow on the ground Oymyakon's school only shuts when the outside temperature falls below -52C!!!

There is a short summer season where people can grow things but mainly it's a diet of  reindeer and horse meat.

If you really do fancy going to see how cold it is, travel companies do offer tours to the village but I think that I, for one, will probably give that experience a miss. I know where I'd rather be as (hopefully) our snow will be gone within the week.............

Kilimanjaro

Every now and then something, someone, an event, a comment or simply a photograph can inspire.

Christmas 2011 was when I first stumbled across this photograph.




This is a school in Kenya.

There are people who are trying to make this reality a distant memory by building schools in rural areas, one charity being Build Africa http://www.build-africa.org/ Build Africa works exclusively in rural areas of Uganda and Kenya and combine learning and earning opportunities which offer children and their families long-term solutions to poverty. Since 2004 they have helped 115 schools and benefited over 150,000 children.

So I decided I wanted to help too and what better way than put myself completely out of my comfort zone, sign up for a challenge that would require a year's blood, sweat and sometimes painful tears in order to get myself physically fit and then embark on an adventure that would be not only physically but mentally challenging. Why i'd climb Mount Kilimanjaro of course!

Now my reality is kicking in, I leave on the 22nd Feb to climb the Macheme route of Kili which is 5896 meters high over 7 days, 6-7hrs a day which means no showers for 6 days - yikes! And fingers crossed I don't get hit by the dreaded altitude sickness too early on!

If this photograph has inspired you too and if you would like to help me to help Build Africa help even more children in Africa please take a look at my fundraising page http://www.justgiving.com/Catherine-Lamb2

The generosity I have seen so far has been overwhelming so thank you to all those that have sponsored me so far.

Catherine

When a balance sheet becomes more important than a brand

I am so desperately worried about the sale of 49% of the Virgin Atlantic brand to Delta Airlines.

Whilst I appreciate that it has had serious losses for the last year, it still doesn't alter the fact that when major brands are either bought out or merged, the brand and its values are totally compromised.

Look at Habitat, HMV, EMI, and Safeway's amongst others, all serious brands that have all ended up at the receivers because of uncompromising and ruthless take overs and mergers.

I am a huge fan of Virgin Atlantic, from its swashbuckling business activity to its fantastic advertising campaigns. All based and powered on its brand values; fun, innovative, caring, honest and value.

I can almost say I use Virgin the generic brand because of what it represents, so I am a passionate and committed customer, one that will be disappointed and sad if it disappears like American Airlines did.

Richard Branson has bet a remarkable £1m with Willie Walsh that Virgin Atlantic will still be intact in 5 years time. A brave and re-assuring move.

But I have horrible feeling that this huge brand, just like the huge empires from history, will end up in the hands of a group of greedy accountants, and not in the hands of a group of innovative marketeers.