Mentoring and Coaching in the Workplace Published on 21 Aug 2023 by Julia MillidgeTopics: Fish Food Payara loves to upskill its team – and we have set ourselves an ambitious challenge of investing over 100 hours of Learning and Development time for each team member each year. Over the past couple of years traditional ‘course / qualification’ based learning has been replaced by online sessions which better suits both individual and business needs … and it’s here to stay! So, what is the place in this online landscape for Mentoring and Coaching ? Is in-person knowledge sharing still beneficial ? Continue reading “Mentoring and Coaching in the Workplace”
The Importance of Workforce Planning at Payara Published on 02 Aug 2023 by Julia MillidgeTopics: Fish Food As a SME (Small to Medium Sized Enterprise) competing for talent in a highly competitive market, the People team focus on working alongside Team leaders to increase their understanding of how to approach ‘future state’ team organisation, identify roles, and develop the existing team members. To do this we use a mechanism called Workforce Planning. Continue reading “The Importance of Workforce Planning at Payara”
Do You Want a Collaborative Workforce? Invest in Cross-Team Challenges Published on 14 Jun 2023 by Julia MillidgeTopics: Fish Food, Payara LifeTagged Fish Food In today’s remote working but interconnected business environment, effective teamworking is crucial for achieving organizational success. Team building activities play a vital role in fostering Initiative, Trust, and Community, some of our Core Company values, among team members. An innovative approach to team building is through cross-team challenges, where individuals from different teams come together to tackle shared tasks. Continue reading “Do You Want a Collaborative Workforce? Invest in Cross-Team Challenges “
Launching Payara’s New Bonus Perks Scheme Published on 08 Jun 2023 by Julia MillidgeTopics: Fish FoodTagged Fish Food, People Team At Payara we aim to make working with us a great experience for everyone, but as a globally distributed SME this can be challenging. Culture, languages and time zone difference all need to be managed to make the experience beneficial for everyone. Continue reading “Launching Payara’s New Bonus Perks Scheme”
Payaran Bonus Perks – How We Built a Tailored Perks Package Published on 26 Apr 2023 by Julia MillidgeTopics: Giving BackTagged culture In April 2023 Payara rolled out 19 company wide tailored Perks to all Payarans, but how did we decide what Perks to include? What did we focus on to make sure we were getting our offering right? Continue reading “Payaran Bonus Perks – How We Built a Tailored Perks Package”
Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR) Published on 08 Feb 2021 by Julia MillidgeTopics: Fish FoodTagged Fish Food … or Best Laid Plans! Writing this, I’m sitting in a country faring badly during the Covid-19 pandemic. Lockdowns, curfews, restrictions on personal freedoms, mask wearing and armed police on the streets … not to mention the strain on mental health and, of course, risk from the virus. However, one thing I am NOT worried about is our business. Why is that? Simple: we have a well-constructed, flexible, simple, tested Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery plan. Continue reading “Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR)”
Degree Apprenticeships in the Workplace Published on 02 Dec 2020 by Julia MillidgeTopics: Fish FoodTagged Apprenticeship Program, HR HURRAH! Our 2 new Digital and Technology Solution (DTS) Degree Apprentices have finally joined the Payara Engineering team ….and it’s been such a wait! Recruitment of UK (DTS) Degree Apprentices is an unusual challenge as the business must think and act like an academic institution. Instead of the usual short hiring cycle, hiring a Degree Apprentice often takes longer than a full academic year as initial advertising has to take place at the start of the school year (September) to fall in line with Year 13 options around University education. Candidates apply for Degree Apprenticeships at the same time as University places, and interviews/offers need to be timed to coincide with University offers during the following Spring. Once the successful applicant has accepted the offer, there is a long wait until November of the following Academic year before they start with Payara… so there is a lot of work done to keep in touch during that time. Continue reading “Degree Apprenticeships in the Workplace”
Sponsoring the Future Winners! Published on 17 Jun 2020 by Julia MillidgeTopics: Giving Back Payara will be renewing its company sponsorship of Emma Witherford for 2020 – 2021, enabling her to carry on achieving in her sport at a time when it is most challenging. Continue reading “Sponsoring the Future Winners!”
Thinking of Returning to the workplace? Published on 12 Jun 2020 by Julia MillidgeTopics: Fish Food Its been a turbulent time so far this year for most businesses, and the latest Coronavirus pandemic has changed so much around the work environment that we are now talking about ‘the new normal’’ an environment created to slow down and reduce the transmission of this virus …… accepting change is going to be a necessity. Continue reading “Thinking of Returning to the workplace?”
Covid-19 Operational Statement Published on 24 Apr 2020 by Julia MillidgeTopics: Fish Food, News & Events The COVID-19 pandemic is currently having a profound effect on the world, and all industries are feeling the effects regardless of location, size, or type. At Payara we are closely monitoring global developments and have implemented our Business Continuity Plan to help us, our customers and our community through this difficult time. Continue reading “Covid-19 Operational Statement”
Members of Payara are Enterprise Advisers Published on 06 Apr 2020 by Julia MillidgeTopics: Educational Projects Julia Millidge (HR Manager) and Dominika Tasarz-Sochacka have been appointed as Enterprise Advisers for The Chase High School in Worcestershire, UK. Continue reading “Members of Payara are Enterprise Advisers”
Payara offers Internship Placements Published on 24 Mar 2020 by Julia MillidgeTopics: Educational Projects Worcestershire County Council recognised that students needed to get a clearer understanding of the workplace and created the Junior Internship Program. It offers placements to students at local sixth form colleges the opportunity to work with an employer for up to 2 years, gaining experience of an industry that interests them, and being mentored by employees keen to help develop young people entering the work force. At Payara, we have 3 JIPs who have all been assigned mentors who are currently Degree Apprentices. The apprentices offer monthly mentoring sessions and will work with the JIP student during the work experience block. See what Olga, one of our JIP students has to say! Continue reading “Payara offers Internship Placements”
Payara Hosts Coding Workshop Published on 24 Mar 2020 by Julia MillidgeTopics: Educational Projects On Wednesday 12th February, Payara held a programming and coding skills workshop for a number of students at local high school, Dyson Perrins CofE Academy, Worcestershire ,UK. Led by two of our Degree Apprentices, Cuba Stanley and Matt Gill, the Devoxx4Kids seminar provided a group of students aged 13-14 with the opportunity to expand their tech and electronics knowledge through a range of fun activities, including creative programming and coding music. Continue reading “Payara Hosts Coding Workshop”
Why are HR Policies and Procedures so Important? Published on 19 Mar 2020 by Julia MillidgeTopics: Fish Food It looks like we are in the middle of a global crisis – COVID-19 – and politicians, health officials and your social media influences are all shouting ‘Doom to the world’. There is so much information out there, most causing fear and panic rather than help and advice. In a world where any news can be called ‘fake’ its very hard for anyone to know good information from bad. Continue reading “Why are HR Policies and Procedures so Important?”
UK National Apprenticeship Week Published on 14 Feb 2020 by Julia MillidgeTopics: Educational Projects Apprenticeship Week is always a great opportunity for Payara to showcase what we do well – encourage and support new talent! This week our current apprentices attended a local High School Apprenticeship Fayre to raise awareness of Payara’s role as a Degree Apprenticeship provider. This face to face opportunity to share knowledge and first-hand experience of apprenticeships with both parents and students is great for recruitment and raising our business profile locally. Continue reading “UK National Apprenticeship Week”
Christmas Jumper Day 2019 Published on 19 Dec 2019 by Julia MillidgeTopics: Giving Back, Payara Events Who doesn’t love the opportunity to wear a festive sweater and raise money for a fantastic charity at the same time? Payarans this year had great fun coming into our Malvern office, donning their varied Christmas sweaters and donating towards – https://www.savethechildren.net/ Continue reading “Christmas Jumper Day 2019”
Christmas in the Workplace Challenge Published on 05 Dec 2019 by Julia MillidgeTopics: Fish Food Christmas for most people is a time of fun, presents, and slight over indulgence ..but for some it can be a time of worry, increased stress, or loneliness. The HR team needs to be aware of these aspects of Christmas as not all staff are going to be feeling the traditional Christmas cheer. In the multi-faith workplace, HR also need to be aware that not everyone will want to celebrate the Christian festival. Continue reading “Christmas in the Workplace Challenge”
Finalist in Best Small Family Business Category Published on 04 Sep 2019 by Julia MillidgeTopics: News & Events HURRAH! Great News ……Payara Services has recently been nominated and shortlisted for the Best Small Family Business category of the Midlands Family Business Awards 2019. Continue reading “Finalist in Best Small Family Business Category”
Worcestershire Apprenticeships Awards Published on 04 Sep 2019 by Julia MillidgeTopics: News & Events We are thrilled to announce that for the second year running Payara is a finalist in the Worcestershire Apprenticeship Awards in the SME Apprentice Employer of the Year category. The finalist ‘Black tie’ event will be held at the Tree Tops Pavilion, West Midlands Safari Park on November 14th. This year, Marc Woods, British Paralympic Swimmer and Gold Medallist will be the host. Continue reading “Worcestershire Apprenticeships Awards”
Fruity Friends Published on 06 Aug 2019 by Julia MillidgeTopics: Payara Life Our health is something many of us don’t really appreciate until we lose it! Continue reading “Fruity Friends”
