Member Blog

Paid search advertising is the only form of marketing I can think of where as a marketer, we can put our message in front of a potential customer at exactly the time they are seeking our particular product or service.

If this is such a powerful form of marketing, then why do people sometimes say to me that Google AdWords does not work for their business?

Having been managing Google AdWords Campaigns since 2001, I have worked with many businesses and in my experience; there are some common reasons why Google AdWords Campaigns might not be working as well as they could for the advertiser.

Poor objectives What is the purpose of driving qualified visitors to your website? You are paying for each click, so you need to consider the reason for incurring the click cost.

For example, are you seeking to:

• Generate enquiries for your sales pipeline?
• Increase your opt-in marketing database?
• Secure direct orders from your website?

No conversion cost calculation Paid search is completely measurable and advertisers should calculate the value of each converted click (a completed goal on their website) to their business. This then enables a sustainable campaign to be developed, as each click is contributing to a positive Return-on-Investment (ROI).

Not considering the ‘lifetime value’ of an action that originates from a paid search campaign For example, a customer who has clicked on an advert in Google might place a small order as a result of that click, but they will then be a customer who you can communicate with over time and who will buy again and again.

Do you know the typical order value of your customers, how frequently they buy and the length of time that they may remain a customer? From this information you can calculate your customers’ ‘lifetime value’ to you and this may enable you to bid more aggressively in your paid search campaigns.

Poor keyword targeting While it may seem obvious that keywords relevant to the advertiser’s business should be selected (positive keywords), equal consideration should be given to keywords searched upon that you would not wish an advert to be displayed for (negative keywords). For example, if you specialise in selling ‘running shoes’, you may wish to use negative keywords such as ‘baby, tennis, ballet, dance,’ etc. to prevent your adverts displaying for searches that are not relevant to your business.

Correct keyword matching options are also important for effective keyword targeting.

Poor relevance of keywords to adverts Paid search advertising is all about relevance. A person searching for their particular thing is more likely to click on an advert that promises the exact thing they are looking for, rather than an advert that uses very generic text. Ideally your advert will include the keywords searched on as part of the text.

Poor relevance of advert to website landing page Having gone to the effort of setting up properly targeted keywords that display a relevant advert, the relevance theme has to be carried through to the landing page that the person will be taken to when they click on an advert. If they have searched for ‘red roses’, link the advert through to a red roses page, rather than a page with all the different types of roses that you supply, or worse, to a page listing all the flowers that you have.

Your campaign should do the work for your potential customer. Pick your targeted keywords very carefully so that they trigger a relevant advert, which clicks directly to the page that the searcher needs, without any further clicks or navigation needed on your website.

The advertiser thinks that paid search marketing is ‘set and forget’ Google AdWords is very simple in concept (selected keywords trigger adverts to be displayed that link through to relevant web pages) but can be very complex and sophisticated in execution. Campaigns need continual development to achieve maximum ROI from the ad spend, through testing and refinement of keywords, adverts and settings.

Competitive activity and search trends will also affect campaign performance over time, so regular campaign review and development is essential. To give you some idea, we review most of our campaigns at least weekly and some daily.

Google AdWords paid search engine advertising is a very powerful and sophisticated marketing tool, but it has to be set-up and managed correctly. Stay on top of your campaign development and you will be rewarded with profitable paid advertising campaigns and discover new opportunities along the way.

Telling taxpayers that most people pay their tax on time reduces the number that do not – telling people from, say, Norwich that most people from the city pay their tax on time reduces late-paying still further. Painting green footprints leading to bins reduced littering by 46% in Copenhagen. Changing the layout of a Cafeteria so junk food is not as easy to reach as healthier options improves eating habits more effectively than, for example, increasing the price of junk food. The cost of these interventions (or ‘nudges’) is tiny but the benefits are significant.

In the five years since the publication of ‘Nudge – Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth and Happiness’, Thaler and Sunstein’s influential work on the application of Behavioural Economics their ideas have been enthusiastically adopted by Governments around the world. Here in the UK, David Cameron established the Cabinet Office Behavioural Insights Team – better known as the Nudge Unit. The attractiveness of low cost interventions against a background of constrained spending are obvious but an appreciation of Behavioural Economics extends well beyond public policy to embrace choice behaviour in all areas.

So, what is Behavioural Economics? It is an emerging science; a blend of concepts from economics, psychology and sociology. The classical economics starting point of a rational decision-maker is at odds with real-world observation and this new science tries to better understand what lies behind our choices. In the fifty years since it started to be seen as a discipline in its own right Behavioural Economics has moved to the centre of economic debate.

Early pioneers such as Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky identified a number of underlying traits that lead us to routinely misjudge situations. These traits are driven by heuristics, the mental short-cuts we use to make life easier for ourselves. We tend to treat superficially similar problems in the same way; we are herd animals, if we see a bandwagon we can’t get onto it fast enough; we tend to be over-confident and we feel the pain of loss far more acutely than the joy of an equivalent gain.

One explanation for these responses is that our brain operates as two separate systems.

Here’s a couple of maths teasers:

2 x 2 =

23 x 17 =

As you looked at these the answer to the first question would have come to you straight away – an example of you using System One – our fast-thinking, automatic response. It can be thought of as an evolutionary development that meant that when our caveman ancestors heard a low growling sound behind them they ran rather than waiting to work out whether it really was a sabre-toothed tiger eyeing them up for lunch.

The second question (unless you’re a maths genius!) would have required a different approach. You may have been able to arrive at the answer quite quickly but the point is you would have had to work it out rather than just ‘seen’ the answer. For this you would have engaged System Two, the part of our brain that gives us our considered response. System Two needs time to weigh up the pros and cons and will probably come up with a better answer – if System One doesn’t jump in first.

Of the two, System One is dominant. It takes a conscious effort not to follow our first instinctive response and our rough and ready System One frequently ‘crowds out’ our more polite System Two so we don’t even start to think problems through properly. Nudges and other forms of ‘Choice Architecture’ can be seen as ways of redressing the balance between System One and Two by encouraging our brains to engage System Two.

Increasing our understanding of how and why we make decisions holds out the hope that we will be able to make better choices in the future.

We run regular Masterclasses introducing Behavioural Economics – why not come along to one and find out more about this fascinating field?

For more information and to book a place visit www.chadwicks.co.uk

Howdy ~ my name is Shannon, I am 21 years old and I am a new Swarm apprentice. My new job role is Operations Assistant.

Well so far I have constantly been enthralled by everybody’s enthusiasm to get things up and running and it has been quite exciting. I am glad to be in a training position again because I just feel that there is so much more that I need to learn. I also met Robert Ashton a couple of days ago, and first impressions…well, let’s just say that he is quite a character; someone with a quirky and spirited personality. Everybody here is kind of like that, really. This will make life working at Swarm much more interesting, yes indeedy.

Before I applied for the first apprenticeship I did, my perceptions of being an apprentice were very much outdated. In fact, when I thought of the word apprentice, a blacksmith came to mind… so you can probably imagine how surprising it was when I saw how many different ones there were and discovered what they were actually like.

So before I enrolled with Swarm, I thought that being an Enterprise apprentice would just be the same as any other apprenticeship role. But no, it is actually better in a lot of ways (not that my last one was rubbish, of course). I really enjoyed the last one and learnt a lot from it – I could have just got a normal job afterwards – but I chose to be a Swarm apprentice instead because it will give me the confidence to reach my potential, and do the maximum that I can do, not the least that I can get away with.

Well, it’s better than just sitting there doing nothing but converting oxygen into carbon dioxide until your boss gives you another mundane task to finish off, at least until they trust that you can do some of the more complicated stuff – which is understandable I suppose, but not really challenging enough.

Doing an apprenticeship then joining Swarm has also really opened my eyes, helped me to set goals for myself and the business, and given me more understanding as well – that you can’t just come out of some university and expect to be doing a high-powered job that will get you earning a huge amount of money. It just isn’t going to happen. Most employers these days want EXPERIENCED employees, so obviously it’s not good enough just to have a wealth of knowledge on a particular subject but not have a clue what you have to do when it comes to actually doing the job. So I also have the chance to get a good job that would usually be given to a highly-trained experienced expert before a university graduate. (It’s not that I’m against doing a university degree. It’s one of my future goals.)

My goals for the Swarm business within the next five years are to help raise awareness of the value of doing an apprenticeship, and of course the benefits. I would also like the business to find ways of supporting young people by using other means. Basically though, I would just like to help Swarm become a well-known organisation throughout the country.

My personal goals for me are to eventually pass my driving test, gain a thorough knowledge of the Swarm Apprenticeships business, complete the enterprise qualification, and as I mentioned earlier – start doing a degree with the Open University.

So, in conclusion… to any employers, please think about taking on an apprentice. To anyone who has just finished doing their GCSEs, their A-Levels, or perhaps just want a fresh start in life doing something else… I say go for an Apprenticeship, you won’t regret it – or at least think about it, because you would really be missing out on something great!

Shannon Watkins

Statutory Compulsory Pension Contribution Legislation came into effect from October 2012 and affects ALL employers withone or more employees upwards. It requires employers to make compulsory pension contributions and to auto-enrol mostemployees, with certain exclusions, into an appropriate pension arrangement.

It affects the largest employers first, rolling out to small employers between April 2015 and August 2017. The amount ofcompulsory pension contribution starts at a minimum level, rising to the required statutory minimum levels by October 2018.

The Pension Regulator has statutory powers to oversee this process and ensure all employers comply with this legislation.Failure to comply will be treated as a criminal offence, with the possibility of severe financial penalties, ranging from £50 to£10,000 PER DAY for non compliance.

All employers are required to carry out the following duties:-

• Assess their entire workforce
• Indentify who to automatically enrol
• Choose a pension provider(s)
• Register with The Pensions Regulator
• Make appropriate contributions
• Process relevant OPT-OUT notices
• Process relevant OPT-IN or JOINING notices
• Avoid inducements
• Keep ACCURATE records
• Provide all workers and other relevant bodies with information about pension changes

Not only is there a direct cost implication in respect of compulsory employer pension contributions, but there are additionalcost and time implications in managing the process and providing relevant reports to The Pension Regulator, proving you arecompliant with the legislation.

The new compulsory pension reforms have two important elements:-

• Compliance with the legislation
• Pension provision

To help employers with assessing the requirements to meet the legislation, Smith & Pinching have put forward an autoenrolment assistance programme. This service will deal with compliance in respect of the legislation and advice in respect ofpension requirements either from existing arrangements or if not qualifying for auto enrolment an appropriate alternative plan.

If you are uncertain about any aspect of the new legislation, or you would like some advice as to when you should start toimplement the required changes, please feel free to contact our pensions expert Paul Rayner on 01603 786812 or email himat [email protected]

If your website doesn’t work well on mobiles and tablets, you’re missing out. If users are forced to ‘pinch and zoom’ to read your content and click your links and buttons, they’ll soon get fed up and go elsewhere. So how do you create a mobile-friendly website?

There are basically two options: have a mobile template, or build your website using responsive design. In the simplest terms, a mobile template is designed as a completely separate entity to your desktop website. Responsive design on the other hand requires you to have just one website which is coded such that it adapts to the screen size it’s being viewed on.

For example, you might see two columns on your desktop screen with a navigation menu across the top. When you view the same page of a responsive site on your mobile, content might realign itself to a single column, buttons resize and the navigation menu might become a drop down list so everything is easier to see and use on the smaller screen.

Why is this so important?

1) Mobile usage is massive

Stating the obvious, I know. It’s predicted that this year, mobile internet will take over desktop internet usage so ignore mobile users at your peril. The proportion of mobile searches is even higher for local search so if you’re trying to reach a local audience, this is even more significant.

2) Positive user experience has a direct impact on your sales

According to Google’s Think Insights, a user who has a positive mobile experience on your site is 67% more likely to buy a product or use a service. That’s pretty compelling.

3) 55% of social media consumption happens on mobiles*

Part of your digital marketing strategy might be to get people to interact with you via social media by Tweeting about your recent blog posts, for example, or getting visitors to share your content on Facebook. If mobile users follow your links from social media and end up on a website that’s not mobile friendly, chances are that they’ll bounce right back out again which is a waste of your efforts. *source: study by ComScore

4) Responsive is usually a better bet than a separate mobile site

There’s been some debate in the web design industry over whether responsive or mobile is best. I sit on the side of responsive for a number of reasons. Because responsive design sites adapt to screen size, your site will still work well with brand new phones and tablets which may have different screen sizes, and even with other devices that haven’t been invented yet. That saves you the extra work a separate mobile site might require. A responsive site also has a single URL which makes it easier for search engine bots to crawl the site. This typically means a responsive site will perform better in search than a separate mobile site. You also only have one site to maintain which can save you time and money.

How do you get a responsively designed website?

As a small business, you might be wondering what you can do to your current website to make it responsive. It is possible to do a bit of a coding bodge to help improve your current site to make it more responsive. However, it’s likely to be a better idea to start again. There are likely to be other improvements you can make to the content of your site at the same time to improve it for the mobile audience.

If you’re starting from scratch, creating a responsive site is easier than you might think. WordPress, for example, has ready-to-use themes which are responsive and will take care of everything for you. Why not use this change as an opportunity to have a complete revamp? It’s likely to prove a very worthwhile investment.

I will apologise inadvance for any pork based puns. As the Pig Idea campaign gains momentum (an initiative to raise the ban on feeding food waste to pigs), it’s got me thinking a little bit more about how much waste actually costs.

There is evidence that up to 30% of all our food is wasted, whether by us as consumers, during transport, storage or processing. Hardly surprising some might say given the length and complexity of food chains and as consumers become more affluent, this only makes the problem worse.

We, as consumers, have to pay for this. It would be ham-fisted (sorry) to suggest that we are overpaying on our weekly shop by 30% to compensate for this excess, but pay for it we do. On top of this, those businesses in every area of the supply chain need to pay for the waste to be removed, incur additional regulatory and legal obligations and pay for the extra labour.

As the Pig Idea suggests, the waste from supermarkets, restaurants etc could be used to reduce feed costs, reduce air miles, produce energy and could even generate jobs. It seems to make sense to me – if we can’t effectively reduce our physical waste perhaps we should put it to good use. And what’s good for Pork seems to resonate throughout the sector.

Large scale nationals struggle with the challenges of managing waste but regional producers can use this to their benefit. As our region is blessed with many small local producers, the same levels of waste can be avoided as the final product doesn’t pass through many hands.

Local producers also have the significant benefit of knowing who their suppliers are, who they are doing business with and how the food is being produced. This leads to greater information sharing, a closer food community and an atmosphere where good food becomes a “norm”.

Local producers do not have the buying power of the supermarkets, so the cost of production may be higher for our Norfolk and Suffolk businesses. But this potential 30% saving highlights why regional businesses can continue to thrive whilst delivering quality.

Disclaimer: Please note that this article is provided for information only. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy, information contained herein may not be comprehensive and you should not act upon it without seeking professional advice.

A third of leisure travellers say they would not return to a hotel that offered inadequate wireless access, and this number rises to two-thirds of business guests.” – Hotel Industry Magazine

These are pretty scary numbers for hotel owners. In other words, you can provide great food, a shower that wakes you up in the morning, crisp white bed linen, but if the average business traveller can’t get their emails, then they simply won’t return. There’s an image that often floats around on LinkedIn which uses Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to identify the importance of good Wi-Fi in our lives – it jokingly shows Wi-Fi as more important than food, warmth and a roof over our heads. I’ve been on holiday with two tweenagers and the first thing they ask for when we hit our accommodation is “what’s the Wi-Fi code?”. The desire for us to be in constant communication is driving an insatiable appetite for a good quality network connection.

So, why are certain hotel owners, public venues, coffee shops still getting it so wrong in Norfolk? Here are my top three theories :

Venues don’t use the bandwidth they have to ensure each visitor has a consistent experience. Here in Norfolk, we all know about limitations on broadband and general connectivity, but you have to work with what you have. For instance, if a hotel only has a 10Mb/s broadband line coming in, why allow one guest on a Breaking Bad Netflix all-nighter take up the whole lot? If you had visibility of your Wi-Fi network, then you’ll have the ability to provide users with individual bandwidth limits or restrict things like Netflix altogether. That way, everyone can get their emails, login to Facebook, keep up to date on WhatsApp and Instagram – all minimal bandwidth stuff to maintain happy visitors.

Getting logged in is really tiresome. I’ve given up even trying to log into certain Wi-Fi locations simply due to a dreadful login process. Why would the provider want to collect all sorts of information? We’re happy to give up our email address so that you can let us know about great offers, but home address and mobile numbers are just a step too far in return for a bit of bandwidth. Make it as simple as you can for your guests and they’ll return for more. Providing a simple splash page welcoming your guest or even telling them about your special offers on dinner for the evening would provide a pleasant experience. Even better, might be to use social media logins, such as Facebook. That way, your guest will be telling everyone that they’re enjoying coffee or staying at your venue.

Weak Wi-Fi signal. A lot of venues and hotels jumped on the Wi-Fi bandwagon 10 years ago and invested heavily in “future tech”. The problem is, the IT world has seen enormous change in that period. I typically carry three devices around with me, each with a different purpose, but all with the capability to connect. We also have a massive array of devices with huge amounts of power and intelligence that are now incompatible with older Wi-Fi platforms. To add to the complexity, 10 users with 3 devices each means 30 connections and older access points just can’t cope with the density.

The good news is that Wi-Fi technology has come a long way to cope with this changing connected world. There are multiple vendors out there offering technologies that can solve the issues mentioned above and provide you with valuable data analytics to grow your business. For hotel owners, it sounds as though it’s as important as getting the dinner menu right, providing a clean bathroom or ensuring you have the right staff to say hello in reception.

This edition is all about innovation, and as much as I am a big technology fan, I’m going to leave the techy stuff to the other contributors. I want to talk about creating the culture of learning and innovation in your business. This culture well help organisations unlock ideas to drive forward the business and also help empower and motivate team members.

In their 2008 Harvard Business Review Article, “Is Yours a Learning Organization?”, David A. Garvin, Amy C. Edmondson, and Francesca Gino, explore the three building blocks of becoming a learning organisation as follows;

1: A supportive learning environment. An environment that supports learning has four distinguishing characteristics;

i. Psychological safety. Team members need to be safe to ask questions, try things out and make mistakes, without fear of reprisal

ii. Appreciation of differences. Recognising the value of alternative views increases energy and motivation, sparks fresh thinking, and prevents lethargy and drift.

i. Openness to new ideas. Learning is not simply about correcting mistakes and solving problems. It is also about crafting novel approaches. Employees should be encouraged to take risks and explore the untested and unknown.

ii. Time for reflection. Supportive learning environments allow time for a pause in the action and encourage thoughtful review of the organisation’s processes.

2: Concrete learning processes and practices. A learning organization is not cultivated effortlessly. Learning processes involve the generation, collection, interpretation, and dissemination of information. They include experimentation to develop and test new products and services; intelligence gathering to keep track of competitive, customer, and technological trends; disciplined analysis and interpretation to identify and solve problems; and education and training to develop both new and established employees.

3: Leadership that reinforces learning.Organisational learning is strongly influenced by the behaviour of leaders. When leaders actively question and listen to employees-and thereby prompt dialogue and debate-people in the organisation feel encouraged to learn. When leaders demonstrate a willingness to entertain alternative points of view, employees feel emboldened to offer new ideas.

The three building blocks of organisational learning reinforce one another and, to some degree, overlap. Just as leadership behaviours help create and sustain supportive learning environments, such environments make it easier for managers and employees to execute concrete learning processes and practices smoothly and efficiently. They foster learning and to cultivate that behaviour in others.

To read the article in full, please visit www.hbr.org

Consumer Contract Telephone Helpline Changes If you are in business selling goods and services or digital content to a consumer – these regulations will on the whole apply to you. Whilst there are some exemptions we would recommend that you study the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 and plan accordingly for the 13th June 2014.

What Does This Mean? By the 13th June 2014 all telephone numbers which you provide for Post Contract queries (customer services, payments etc.) must cost no more than “Basic Rate”

• Basic Rate means not more than a geographic or mobile rate, the following number types wouldcomply:

– Geographic numbers starting 01, 02 or 03 – Mobile numbers starting 07XX – Free to call numbers such as 0800 or 0808 • Sole use of Premium rate (09XX) and other revenue sharing ranges (e.g. 0844, 0871) for postcontract lines will no longer be legal.

• Reduction (or complete loss) in revenue share when using 0844/0871

What Can I Do? • Issue new “Basic rate” numbers for use on Post-Contract calls and ensure they are advertised as prominently as the normal ones. These “basic numbers” can run in parallel with your existing numbers but remember you will need to tell customers who ring the old number, that a cheaper number is available.

• Companies using numbers starting 08XX, can apply for an equivalent 03XX number from their service provider. There’s no need to remember new numbers just substitute the 8 for a 3.

• Where calls are answered using Automated Attendant or IVR type systems, messages can be played to the caller telling them of the alternative number to ring for post- contract queries.

• Separate post sales calls and allocate new numbers ensuring you advertise these

• Choosing 0800 numbers for post contract calls may result in mobile customers being charged and then customers requesting a refund of the additional costs. This is due to change in 2015 when OFCOM change the mobile rates for 0800 and calls to such numbers from mobiles become “free to caller”.

For further guidance on these changes visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/fil…

Work at Height Regulations Do’s and Don’t s

Firstly what do the Work at Height Regulations cover?

There are many myths around Health and Safety- and the most commonly quoted is that Ladders are banned, or that the Work at Height regulations only apply to work above 2 metres: both are wrong.

The Regulations do have a code of practice/ guidance document that explains their meaning in more straight forward terms; but essentially under the Regulations, you must ensure:

• all work at height is properly planned and organised- Risk Assessment is key!
• those involved in work at height are competent- not just trained, but have the right knowledge and attitude to work safely, and are able to protect those who may be affected by the work at height
• the risks from work at height are assessed, and appropriate work equipment is selected and used; the equipment needs to be fit for purpose and used correctly
• the risks of working on or near fragile surfaces are properly managed- whether roofs, loft spaces or sky lights
• the equipment used for work at height is properly inspected and maintained- a simple checking regime is essential

We have compiled some simple Do’s and Don’t based on the Code of Practice

Do….

* as much work as possible from the ground- this is safer – take advantage of new technology & equipment

* ensure workers can get safely to and from where they work at height- this is often forgotten – the whole task needs to be planned

* ensure equipment is suitable, stable and strong enough for the job, maintained and checked regularly- User checks are essential.

* take precautions when working on or near fragile surfaces

* provide protection from falling objects

*consider emergency evacuation and rescue procedures; things can and will go wrong, so plan for this

Don’t…

* overload ladders – consider the equipment or materials workers are carrying before working at height. Check the pictogram or label on the ladder for information, Use team members, tool belts etc

* overreach on ladders or stepladders- a common cause of injury; it takes a few seconds to step down and move the ladder

* rest a ladder against weak upper surfaces, eg glazing or plastic gutters; plan safe work at height- generic assessments will not suffice

* use ladders or stepladders for strenuous or heavy tasks, only use them for light work of short duration (a maximum of 30 minutes at a time) Longer periods of time would suggest that a safe system of work is available

* let anyone who is not competent (who doesn’t have the skills, knowledge and experience to do the job) work at height- or who is suffering from a medical condition which affects their balance – or has a habit of working with their shoe laces untied!

To conclude- Work at Height needs to be planned, in simple terms you need to think of the Environment where the work at height is going to undertaken, the task that is going to be undertaken,and all the equipment that will be required, and who will be doing the work, and who could be affected by the work that is being undertaken.

Norfolk County Council is keen to promote sustainable travel in Norfolk and Norwich, especially business travel. We have put together our Business Travel Pack, which is part of the Better Bus Area (BBA) initiative. Norfolk County Council has been successful in securing £2.583m from the Department for Transport’s Better Bus Area Fund (https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/BetterBusArea).

The Business Travel Pack is a useful business resource to find information about car sharing, cycling to work, buses, as well as tips on avoiding roadworks to make your daily commute as stress-free as possible.

We listened to what local businesses told us they wanted help with and there are a number of benefits to getting involved:

• Reducing car park pressures
• Reducing business expenditure
• Helping you attract and retain staff
• Active travel increases productivity

We have a team that is dedicated to helping you with the travel needs of your business. Visit the Business Travel section to download your Business Travel Pack by clicking this link: https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/BusinessTravel

Please join our LinkedIn group – the Business Travel Network for Norwich, which we regularly update with helpful information for business on how to promote sustainable travel. The link is: www.tinyurl.com/BusinessTravelNetwork4Norwich

One aspect of the Business Travel Pack is personal travel planning (PTP). Liftshare.com has produced a handy tool called myPTP which automates PTP, taking out the research time and administration and making it a much easier service to deliver to staff and customers.

Norfolk County Council have purchased a number of myPTP credits from Liftshare.com and are in the process of offering these (at no cost) to businesses in Norwich. We’re initially offer up to 250 free credits but may be able to extend this depending on demand from other businesses.

If you are interested in obtaining your free myPTP credits for your business, please download our simple PDF form, save it to your PC, complete it, and email it to me ([email protected]). Don’t miss your chance to get this great tool for free! The link to the form is: https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/view/ncc148924

Feel free to contact me on my details below if you have any further questions and I’d be happy to help!

Kristen Jones Sustainable Travel Plan Officer Travel and Transport Services Environment, Transport and Development

Tel: 01603 223370 Email: [email protected] Norfolk County Council County Hall Martineau Lane Norwich NR1 2SG

Digital technology is not only changing how we shop, book holidays and watch films, but it’s also changing what we do for a living. In fact, a recent report by O2 claims that between 2013 and 2017 we’ll need a whopping 745,000 additional workers with digital skills to meet employers’ needs and to support the economy. A fifth of these jobs could be filled by employees aged 25 and under.

Enter our graduates: educated, enthusiastic and ready to learn! University leavers are among the ideal candidates for jobs in sales and marketing in the digital industry. At the moment, recruiters are seeing a boom in vacancies in this field across the East of England, and job seekers are suddenly finding themselves spoilt for choice. A sharp contrast to the last few years of recession!

There’s a lot of information out there about how we can arm young people with key skills for the long term, but if you’re looking for graduate talent now, you need to know how to attract these selective job seekers. As your trusted recruitment consultants in Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk, we thought we’d offer some advice! So, with inspiration from Conscious Communications, (introduced to us by the lovely Creative Front – a noisy voice for the creative industries in Cambridgeshire), we’ve come up with some tips for recruiting first-rate graduates into the digital industry.

1. Show that you’re a responsible business Pure is big on corporate social responsibility and cites this as one of the most important factors in attracting young talent. Graduates want to work for an organisation that contributes to its local communities. Whether it’s an annual charity fun day or a more strategic partnership, graduates want to be part of an organisation that is a responsible corporate citizen.

2. Be flexible with your requirements First-class degrees aren’t necessarily the sign of a great employee. It’s just as important to attract candidates who ‘get’ your organisation and its culture. Since the digital industry is forever changing, it’s essential that the young recruit can adapt and have vision. Top-scoring students may be smart, but are they also flexible? So, be open to education, existing skills and experience, otherwise you could miss out on the most suitable candidates – and that would be a real shame!

3. Provide a positive workplace If Google’s success is anything to go by, the company’s indoor slides, sleeping pods and Swiss chalet meetings rooms seem to bring out the best in its workers! However if ‘chillaxing’ on inflatable sofas doesn’t fit with your corporate culture, look at other measures. Social events, staff awards and free massages could attract young starters who work hard but who also want something in return that goes beyond a salary.

4. Visit your future employees Students start thinking about their career a lot earlier than they used to so it makes sense to meet them before they actually graduate. Build a strategic partnership with a university; give workshops, exhibit at career fairs and generally have a presence on campus. You get to tell students that you’re recruiting and you also get insight into what they’re looking for in a career.

5. Give them a springboard into full-time work Graduates benefit hugely from internships, work experience and job shadowing. Running programmes like these can help them get to know your organisation and industry, while doing a valuable job for you.

6. Take their careers seriously Tell graduates that you’ll take their career development seriously. It’s essential that you have a structure in place that supports careers from day one. Bright, young people are more likely to join you and stay with you if they know they can develop their skills, and invest them in the company’s development. Get this right and your graduates may one day become your directors!

Final exams will soon be over and our graduates will be ramping up their job hunts – good luck and we hope our tips have helped!