The Art of Participatory Leadership
An innovative new training programme has been launched to help business owners better engage their employees and communities using the art of participatory leadership.
Andy Lippok, of Resolis Associates Ltd and Connecting Scotland, says Scotland is in the midst of significant change, and businesses need to better understand how to deal with that change.
Andy says: “We are in the midst of significant change. Scotland’s citizens have found their voice and have claimed their right to use it. Today, we are calling for a better nation and organisations grounded in a culture of meaningful participation. Simultaneously, there is deepening complexity and challenge, as global crises of people, economy and planet play out in our services, institutions and neighbourhoods.
“As citizens, communities, organisations, if we are to unlock the potential of our people, if we are to better navigate the deepening complexity, and if we are to move from crisis to opportunity, then we need new ways of working together, more effective engagement processes, new forms of leadership and the ability to transform conversation into wiser action.
“The Art of Participatory Leadership training is an intensive 3 day training course which will develop your skills and experience in using a range of participatory processes and practices. It provides models and tools to enhance your abilities to work with complexity, uncertainty and change. We believe this would be suitable for leaders and managers in organisations of all styles, shapes, and sizes.”
The next Art of Participatory Leadership in Scotland takes place between 29th September and 2nd October 2015. Follow this link for more information. http://www.aoh-scotland.org/next-training/
Katrina Mather
Katrina Mather, founder of The Body Toolkit, has created a short workshop to help business owners and their employees prevent stress and illness.
“Simple Ways to Bulletproof Your Immune System Against Stress and Illness” is a 45-minute workshop covering simple, but powerful things to do to bolster immune systems.
Katrina says: “This seminar will give you techniques that you can begin straight away to minimise the effects of stress on the body, help prevent illness and ultimately be the best you can be.
“With more and more of us, even children, experiencing stress and ill-health on such a large scale, we are being forced to really appreciate and understand what it means to feel truly well. Health is so much more than avoiding illness, I would argue that it’s about having more energy than you know what to do with, reaching your potential and being the best you can be. The way I approach health is simple and empowering, it’s about making small changes that can make significant differences to how we feel.
“I believe that most of us are only operating at 60% of our potential, given our modern lifestyles and reliance on caffeine, energy drinks and sugar to achieve what we want to achieve.
“I would love to see what Scotland could achieve if we all had the energy to do everything we dreamed of. Rather than just surviving, I would love to see our nation thriving.”
Jim McColl
Jim McColl is considering a takeover of one of Europe’s largest dry docks, on the Clyde.
Mr McColl has looked at Greenock’s Inchgreen dry dock, with a view to building ocean-going commercial ships.
In an interview in the Herald newspaper on Wednesday, Mr McColl said he was already getting “requests” to build ships that were bigger than the Ferguson yard could handle.
He also said he was looking at building a “broader range of ships” than the ferries Ferguson has focused on in recent years. including military vessels and ocean-going commercial carriers.
Inchgreen was recently put on the market for a lease by owners Peel Ports.
You can read more on this story on the BBC website
Scotland leads the way in female employment
Scotland is one of the top countries on the continent for female employment, according to a new report by Eurostat.
During the period between January and March, Scotland’s female employment rate stood at 71.1%, only beaten by the Swedish with 72.4%. The UK rate is four places behind the Scottish with 67.4%.
The figures also showed that Scotland had the second lowest female unemployment rate at 5.2 % amongst the EU 28 countries. Germany had the lowest female unemployment rate at 4.5%.
In an article for BQ Magazine Minister for Youth and Women’s Employment, Annabelle Ewing, said: “Our improvements across women’s employment, unemployment, activity rates and closing the gender gap have been steady and consistent.
“Scotland continues to be a better place to be a working woman than elsewhere in the UK and these latest figures confirm that we are performing better than the majority of the 28 EU countries.
“We have all seen the challenges that have had to be overcome through the recession and we have made creating a fairer, more equal workforce a key to our economic recovery.
“Our commitment to leading the way on 50:50 gender representation on boards; to giving young people real hope and prospects for employment and a career and championing a true living wage that are bound together under our goal of fair work for all employees.
“We have made real progress on breaking down the traditional barriers that we inherited, but calling out and condemning inequality in the workplace in all its forms needs to continue until the playing field is truly equal and your gender or background is irrelevant because you are judged on your abilities and potential.
“Once again, these Eurostat figures are worth celebrating. Attitudes and business practices are changing for the better and Scotland continues to be among the best countries in Europe to be a woman in work.”
Argyll, Scotland
Scotland’s social enterprise development agency Firstport is launching a new programme in Argyll and the Islands to help boost local economies and create jobs.
Applications are now open for people looking to take advantage of the campaign which aims to stimulate and support budding social entrepreneurs to come up with ideas that will have a positive impact on their communities.
The Vital Spark programme has already been working with residents in three local towns to find out what people thought was good about their areas and what could be improved.
Five strong themes emerged from those consultations and the programme invites local residents to apply for a place in the programme with an idea that relates to one or more of those themes.
The best ideas will gain access to a programme of one to one business training, mentoring from industry experts, funding and free workspace in a local hub.
Read more here
Boost for Scottish video games sector
The Scottish video games industry has seen a surge in the number of people it employs and the amount of money it generates, according to research. The TIGA representative body said the sector in Scotland has also recorded a rise in the number of studios trading, investment and contribution to UK GDP.
TIGA said the number of creative staff in Scottish studios grew almost nine per cent between 2013 and 2014 up from 964 to 1,050 while jobs indirectly supported by games companies was up by a similar percentage from 1,762 to 1,920.The Scottish sector’s contribution to GDP grew by more than nine per cent from £99 million to almost £108m with tax revenues said to have increased from £41m to £44m. The number of game development studios rose from 94 to 97 while investment was stated to have grown from £45m to £49m.
TIGA said Scotland represents 11.1 per cent of the UK’s total number of games companies which is down slightly from the 11.4 per cent recorded in 2013 but still well ahead of the 8.8 per cent in 2012. Scotland also has 9.7 per cent of the UK’s total developer headcount, the same as in 2013 and up from nine per cent in 2012.
The research, carried out for TIGA by Games Investor Consulting, suggested further growth is likely in the coming years particularly as Games Tax Relief measures are starting to come through.
TIGA estimated over the next five years the tax breaks will help to create more than 260 new studio jobs as well as safeguarding 140 existing ones. Along with that around 400 indirect jobs are expected to be created and 260 protected.
TIGA believes the relief could also help Scotland’s gaming industry double its GDP contributions to more than £210m.
