April 2011

Welcome to this quarter's MMA Newsletter; this month we have news relating to the new retirement age rules, plus some new consultants to introduce and our usual book reviews.

Retirement Age Changes

At MMA we have extensive experience of providing pre-retirement support to employers. By now you may have heard that from this month (April 2011) the UK Government is to phase out the default retirement age (DRA). So what does this mean for you the employer?

Broadly it means that from 6 April 2011, you can no longer issue notifications of retirement, which required a minimum of 6 months notice using the DRA procedure, for any employee who reaches 65 or normal retirement age (if higher) by the 30 September 2011. However there's quite a lot more to it than that - click here to read more...

If you want to know more about our Pre-Retirement Programmes, or any of the other services MMA provides, please contact us for a no obligation consultation. We are here to help you manage your single biggest resource, your employees.

Five Great Retirement Books

Some ideas for an easter gift from Amazon.co.uk

	Choices in Retirement: Your Guide to Essential Information By Ro Lyon
	How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free: Retirement Wisdom That You Won't Get from Your Financial Advisor By Ernie J. Zelinski
	How to Retire Overseas: Everything You Need to Know to Live Well (for Less) Abroad By Kathleen Peddicord
	Plan Now, Retire Happy: How to Secure Your Future, Whatever the Economic Climate By Alvin Hall
	Finance Your Retirement: A Complete Guide to Spending, Saving and Making the Most of Your Pension By Jonquil Lowe

New Consultants

Five new consultants have joined our nationwide team recently - here's a brief introduction:

	Bob Collier - Career Consultant Bob Collier is a Consultant who has some 17 years experience in Outplacement and Career Management/Coaching. Bob has worked for a whole range of blue chip companies and public sector organisations supporting them through a time of change. Bob provides career coaching, training and outplacement support. Bob has also been involved in Survivor Counselling. Prior to moving into Outplacement, Bob had worked in Recruitment and Human Resources with a major city institution, before running his own recruitment business in London for 3 years.
	Caroline Ryan - Executive Coach Qualifying as an executive coach 11 years ago, Caroline's primary focus has been to support leaders to be more effective in their roles, particularly during times of organisational stress and transition, through the provision of 1:1 and shadow coaching. Her clients include multinationals, SME's, as well as public sector organisations: inc: Centrica, British Gas, Network Rail, National Police Force, The NHS, etc. She has also offered career transition coaching. Caroline is an NLP practitioner and is qualified to deliver a range of assessments including MBTI, a variety of 360 feedback tools, Executive Team Alignment (ExecuTAP); Situational Leadership (II); she is also accredited through the ICF (International Coach Federation) and holds a Business Coaching Diploma through the University of Newcastle.
	Judith Underhill - Career Consultant Judith is a commercially focused and customer orientated Executive Coach, Change Agent and facilitator with broad and varied experience from a range of industry sectors. With a positive attitude and insight, underpinned with an ability to analyse strategic issues, Judith coaches' individuals and teams to discover practical solutions and outcomes for transforming personal and business performance. Judith holds an MSc in Change Agent Skills and Strategies from the University of Surrey as well as a Diploma in Performance Coaching, NLP Business Practitioner, and CIPD Certificate in Training practice and is an ILM accredited facilitator and trainer. She is one of just 25 elected to the NHS CEO, Chair and Executive Directors coaching panel.
	Nicola Harding - Career Consultant Nicola is a highly skilled Human Resources professional with over 20 years experience in Generalist and Compensation and Benefits. Has worked in consultancy, corporate and line roles, mainly for blue-chip organisations within a variety of industries ranging from the engineering sector to the charity sector, with an emphasis on Hi-tech companies. C&B skills cover the whole range of Compensation and Benefits activities from setting salary ranges to introducing strategic solutions to allow companies to attract, retain, and motivate their key employees. Generalist skills include career counselling and c.v. review services, training and expatriate policies and practices.
	Sonia Exkhartt - Career & Executive Coach Sonia is an experienced HR and professionally qualified coaching practitioner, spanning 18 years in business. With a wealth of HR experience, her background includes implementing multiple business and operational improvement projects in multi-national companies. In her last position, Sonia was European Director of HR Operations, responsible for a large complex project to introduce SAP and an outsourced HR service across 30 European countries. As well as being a graduate of the Coach University, Sonia has an MSc in Industrial Relations & Personnel Management. Sonia's style is highly supportive and intuitive, empowering clients to make bold changes and achieve career goals.

I hope you have found this newsletter of interest; don't hesitate to come back to us if you would like further information.

Margaret Martin

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