Corporate Training Events

To coincide with the opening of John Lewis’ prestigious new store in Cardiff, Call of the Wild have been appointed to create and deliver a series of events and development interventions for the new management team. The impressive new store which is due to open in September 2009 is one of the anchor stores in the St. Davids 2 Shoping Centre in the heart of Cardiff City Centre

The intervention will be delivered on an incremental basis with all levels of management working with the Call of the Wild team over a series of four experientially based learning events. Each event will focus on a clearly defined set of outcomes such as familiarisation with the management team and the also the City of Cardiff

The events will take pace in Cardiff, the SWALEC Stadium and the Team Working event will take place in Call of the Wild’s Training Centre. The centre itself sits in 70 acres within the Brecon Beacons National Park. The grounds also provide a truly inspirational “classroom” from which to run the experiential learning element of the programme.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is becoming increasingly important to many Companies. Call of the Wild are being asked to get involved in designing programmes to complement the CSR initiatives of  such Companies. There are many definitions of what Corporate Social Responsibility actually is and what it means in reality. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development state it is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large.

In Europe it is very much focused on operating the core business in a socially responsible way, complemented by investment in communities for solid business case reasons. Call of the Wild have designed a number of such programmes with the latest being to Tanzania in July 2009. Dave Thomas our Director, led the group, which included a trek up Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. It also included a big game safari.

These programmes can include charitable projects in Tanzania. The country is one of the poorest countries with more than 12 million people living below the poverty line. Participants can get involved  in projects such as school renovation, irrigation schemes, community building, orphanage support, teaching and soil conservation work. Such project can be integrated into existing personal development programmes which can help to embed and focus learning in practical surroundings.

The pleasing thing about this latest trip is that Dave successfully led the whole group to the top of Kilimanjaro without altitude sickness preventing any of them summiting. This was a once in a lifetime experience which the group will never forget.

EDF Energy approached Call of the Wild to design and deliver a team development programme for their Senior Managers working in their London Office. The intervention was to form part of an EDF conference. The objectives were to get these managers working closer as a team , to build realtionships within the team and to familiarise these managers with  EDF  renewable energy services.

Call of the Wild, in liaison with EDF, came up with the idea of using one of the sites owned by the Company to hold the event.  The idea was formulated that we would use a wind farm owned by EDF in Mid Wales. It was considered this would best meet the brief as it would not only provide a unique team building venue but also allow the Managers to familiarise themselves with the site. EDF took up the idea and the event went ahead on 2nd July for the 40 Managers.

The event was a great success.

Dave Thomas, one of Call of the Wild’s Directors, is off to Tanzania from 4th to the 15th July leading another trek up Kilimanjaro. This will be his 4th trip to Kili. This is Africa’s highest mountain at 5,896mThe Rongai Route approaches Kilimanjaro from the north and retains a sense of untouched wilderness lost on the more popular trails. It has a relatively gentle gradient and shorter daily stages, compared to some of the other routes as it winds its way from the starting point just south of the Kenya-Tanzania border. It passes through farmland and forest, past Alpine moorland to the beautiful summit cone. There are magnificent views throughout, with possibilities for wildlife viewing, the exploration of lava tunnels and an extra day to aid acclimatisation as the trail climbs beneath the towering spires of Mawenzi. The final ascent is arduous and made in darkness, but the reward is a spectacular dawn view of the glaciers and ice cliffs of the summit and across the East African plains far below.

Corporate social responsibility is becoming increasingly important for many Companies. Call of the Wild can organise trips to Africa which involve charitable project work which can be linked to Companies CSR programmes and also personal development plans.

Call of the Wild  are delighted to announce that David Thomas has been made a Director of the Company. David has been promoted from his current position of Head Facilitator. In addition to his new management responsibilities he will continue to prepare and deliver our management training, team development and leadership development programmes.

David is a professional management development practitioner. He has many years’ experience, both in the UK and overseas. He has worked with a wide range of clients from SME’s to multi-nationals and companies worked with include Vodafone, Orange and Panasonic. He has a Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring. Dave participated in the planning and execution of the first successful winter crossing of Iceland on skis, from the West coast to the East. Attempted six times previously by various nationalities the Island of Iceland was deemed uncrossable. Dragging sledges each weighing 240 pounds the four-man team skied in arctic blizzard conditions for 47 days over 500 miles

“I am absolutely delighted with this promotion and look forward to the new challenges it brings. I hope to continue to consolidate and improve upon the quality of our work in the fields of management training, team building and leadership development which has already been recognised as some of the best in the country. ” stated David Thomas.

“We are always looking to add excellent people to our team. However it is particularly rewarding when we are able to promote from within. Not only is this excellent for staff motivation but reassures our clients that we value business relationships and continuity. This illustrates our ambition and shows our aspiration is still  to grow the business even in these challenging times. David is a valuable asset and his experience will be invaluable when making strategic business decisions.” stated Managing Director, Geraint Lewis.

We are pleased to announce  that Martin Davies, MSc, has joined the Call of the Wild team as  an Associate. Martin has  nineteen years experience in Human Resource Management within the Training & Development field. He has worked both in the public and private sectors, including international experience in Germany, Canada, and China.

In both the pre and post privatized Rail Industry, he was instrumental in establishing competence management systems; together with developing the first Rail Industry Modern Apprentice framework, and, a Graduate Training Scheme accredited by the Institute of Electrical Engineers.

His real passion lays in designing and delivering Leadership Development programmes. He has successfully delivered bespoke programmes both in the UK, and in China. In 2004, Martin presented and published a paper on Leadership Development at the Asian Conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD) in Seoul, S. Korea.

He is currently an External Examiner for the CIPD courses at the University of Wales, Newport; and Swansea Metropolitan University.

Through its partnerships with Staffordshire and Birmingham City Universities, Call of the Wild is able to offer fully accredited programmes of study at undergraduate and post graduate levels and to meet professional CPD requirements.

These accredited programmes, which are supplied as an added service on a client organisation’s bespoke academy, are all accomplished by distance learning thus bringing the academic standards and educational expertise of the Universities into the heart of the individual learner’s workplace.
In addition, the vocational nature of the programmes offered, ensures that academic study is blended with on job application and real-time project work, to bring immediate returns in the workplace for the employer.

Available Programmes

Call of the Wild’s accredited academic programmes range from Foundation Degrees in Leadership & Management to Retail Management and also Customer Service. All the Foundation Degrees have automatic access to full Honours Degrees in Business, through shorter CPD awards and post-graduate certificates in Innovation and Entrepreneurship to Masters Programmes in business and management subjects

Call of the Wild have this week been informed that we have been awarded  the prestigious Investors In People Standard. The Investors in People Standard is a business improvement tool designed to advance an organisation’s performance through its people. Developed in 1990 by a partnership of leading businesses and national organisations, the Standard helps organisations to improve performance and realise objectives through the management and development of their people

Call of the Wild, being one the foremost business tourism and staff development companies in the UK already provide innovative solutions for Companies to develop their people. Our mission statement contains at its heart our objective of delivering business improvement through the continuing professional development of our own staff.

Kevin Gould, Director of Learning and Development, said “We want to formalise our existing training culture and demonstrate a continued commitment towards developing ourselves and others. By achieving this Standard it will reinforce to our clients that we are a progressive Company fully committed to delivering business improvement through people development.”

Call of the Wild see this as the next step in its development as one of the UK’s leading providers of MICE, team building, leadership and management development training. Over the last 12 months we have achieved the prestigious title of National Team Building Company, Welsh Small Business 2008 and become an Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) Accredited Centre.

Call of the Wild  Ltd’s Development Academy, our web enabled learning platform, is currently on a 3 month trial with one of the UK’s largest public sector bodies. Not only is this a coup in itself but it is being trialled with Harvard Business School’s online learning facility.

Harvard Business School in Boston, USA, is one of the world’s pre-eminent Business Schools drawing on its experience in working with organizations worldwide, and the insights gained from their research to educate generations of leaders who have shaped the practice of business in every industry and in every country around the world.

Call of the Wild’s e-learning online development academy is our exciting  interactive website. It is a facility designed to both enhance our face to face development services and also to act as an invaluable learning resource which our clients can use throughout their managerial career.

It provides practical online management education that is geared towards business managers. It is most successful as a blended learning approach i.e. linked to a company’s values, behaviours, competency frameworks, performance reviews and/or off-line training initiatives This has been stimulated by feedback from our clients. A number of recurring issues kept arising:-

1. Firstly time away from the office and its associated costs is of paramount importance in the current economic climate. Therefore the more this can be eliminated the better.
2. You’re all busy people with heavy workloads but with the desire to further your vocational knowledge to enable improved performance and progression. E-learning is an excellent means of achieving this difficult balance.
3. Retention of learning. Course material can be posted on the site together with pre and most importantly post course material.
4. CPD – For continued learning after the programme and throughout your career.

“To be competing with the likes of Harvard Business School is a real compliment  and reflects the world class quality of the service we offer our clients,” explained Kevin Gould, Director of Learning and Development at Call of the Wild.

The client will be assessing the attributes of both online systems over the next 3 month period after which they will decide on the best system to suit their requirements. It will then be rolled out across the organisation as a staff performance development tool.

Award Winning Call of the Wild

Barclays Outstanding Training Organisation Award

This caps an outstanding 18 months for the Company having won a list of accolades.
In December we were named finalists for the Outstanding Training Organisation Award at the Barclays Bank Finance Academy  Supplier Awards 2008. This is for development programmes designed and delivered for the Barclays Graduate Development Programme across the UK.

“We are absolutely delighted to named as a finalist in this prestigious award category with one of the largest financial institutions in the UK. It is recognition of the effectiveness of our work with Barclays. It was our innovation and creativity in offering not only results but something different for our clients that was commented on by judges. This, combined with the other awards won in 2008, puts Call of the Wild up there as Wales’ premier personal development and events company competing on the UK stage” explained Director Kevin Gould.

National Team Building Company of the Year

We are currently the National Team Building Company of the Year. This demonstrated that our work in the fields of management training, team building and leadership development is recognised as some of the best in the country.

Welsh Small Business of the Year

Although we were delighted to win the National Team Building Company of the Year Award, in May 2008 we were also named the Welsh Small Business of the Year.

If possible, it was even more pleasing to win this award. This is because this award is not just restricted to our market sector. “We were competing against all business’ in Wales  and therefore the award means so much more in terms of overcoming the fierce competition in this category, ” explained Geraint Lewis, Managing Director.

The Western Mail Business Awards for Wales, is  now in its eleventh year and continues to honour and acknowledge the very best in Welsh Business. This award is to recognise the achievement of  outstanding business performance in recent years. The company’s potential for growth, innovation and commitment to Wales was key to winning this much sought-after award.

Managing Director, Geraint Lewis said “We are absolutely delighted to win all these awards. This is further recognition that our innovative and creative approach  is recognised as being the best in our sector. It has been an extremely proud year for the Company which coincides with our 10^th birthday. This has been a real team effort and illustrates that we have  fantastic staff who are both professional, passionate and committed to their work.”

Call of the Wild was set up in 1998 by three old school friends from Neath, who gave up their professional careers and returned to their hometown to pursue their dream of owning and running a training company with a difference.

The Company has grown to be not only one of the biggest in Wales but also the UK regularly delivering programmes for clients across the UK and Europe. It has a client base which includes companies such as Orange Mobile Phones, Panasonic, Admiral , BMW and Vodafone.

Call of the Wild Ltd, management development, team building, corporate event and incentive travel Company based in Wales are thrilled to announce they have won yet another accolade to complement the long list of awards won during 2008.

We have been named finalists for the Outstanding Training Organisation Award at the Barclays Bank Finance Academy Supplier Awards 2008.

“We are absolutely delighted to named as a finalist in this prestigious award category with one of the largest financial institutions in the UK. It acknowledges the effectiveness of our work with Barclays but also our innovation and creativity in offering not only results but something different for our clients,” explained Director Kevin Gould.

The award relates to our innovative graduate development programme designed and delivered by Call of the Wild. Our blended learning approach was applauded as one of the best programmes delivered by external suppliers in 2008.