The last six weeks have been an extremely busy period for Call of the Wild. Having come into 2009 not knowing what to expect given the so called experts predictions about the economy the year has actually been better than expected. In the last few weeks we have worked with Prudential, Qinetiq, John Lewis, Network Rail, Michelin, NHS, Barnados, Cable & Wireless and Barclays Bank.
Call of the Wild have added another award to add to the those already in the display cabinet. Our accommodation , known as Merlins, has been awarded a Welsh National Food Hygiene Award. This is pleasing given the amountof time and effort our team put into providing a quality service for all our clients. Well done team Merlins.
Merlins is one of our properties used for certain of our programmes. It contains a meeting room, lounge, bar and dining area. The property also sleeps 38 people.
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.
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.
