December 2010

Welcome to the very first MMA Newsletter. We would like to keep you in touch with items of interest, new support offerings and new consultant arrivals. Our first article takes a look at how the current economic climate is affecting jobseekers going into the New Year.

Adapt to Survive

UK plc is still coming to terms with the fallout from the recent Comprehensive Spending Review by the government. News headlines continue to be dominated by revelations of cuts to jobs and services and reductions in grants, funding and benefits that will affect different groups. As an example, the scrapping of the education maintenance allowance (EMA), originally introduced to encourage teenagers to remain in education, will restrict the options open to many students beyond 16. This together with relaxation of constraints on universities to the charging of higher tuition fees from 2011/2012 has raised fears of rising teenage unemployment.

At the other end of the age scale, from 2016 we can expect to have to work longer as the state retirement age is extended. Taking into account the rising trend of jobless amongst the over 50s and a shrinking job market the picture does not look good for the job seeker. But, is it all doom and gloom? Read more...

Five Career Management Stocking Fillers

Some ideas for stocking fillers on Career Management from Amazon.co.uk

	Make it Happen: The Prince's Trust Guide to Starting Your Own Business By The Prince' Trust
	Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to be the Best... and learn from the Worst By Robert I Sutton
	Creating Success: How to Manage People: Creating Success 89 (Creating Success Series) By Michael Armstrong
	The Leader's Guide to Radical Management: Reinventing the Workplace for the 21st Century By Stephen Denning
	What's Wrong with Work: The 5 Frustrations of Work and How to Fix them for Good By Blaire Palmer

New Consultants

We're very pleased to welcome four new consultants to our nationwide team:

	Pat Hennessy - New Consultant - Ireland With over 25 years experience in the Career Sector, Pat provides career & executive coaching both within organisations and to individuals throughout Ireland. Over the years Pat has worked with a wide variety of industries and sectors and has developed a high level of coaching expertise and skill in addition to an extraordinary level of knowledge and passion about coaching and careers. Pat is finalising his PCC accreditation and holds a degree and diploma in Coaching.
	Margaret Cheng - New Consultant - London Margaret's broad experience spans the Retail, Public, Third and Financial sectors and she has held several senior level HR roles, as well as having extensive experience as a career coach and director of a social enterprise. Margaret is a chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, is qualified to run psychometric tests (level B) and has a careers counselling certificate. Margaret's expertise is in supporting leaders, teams and individuals to achieve success, whatever circumstances they may find themselves in.
	Stephanie Jewell - New Self Employment Consultant - South East Stephanie Jewell is a Business Consultant offering a flexible menu for Business Start-Ups and SMEs. Providing advice and guidance to help individuals to make the best decisions when starting their own businesses or for those who wish to freelance. Addressing the key question "is self employment the best option?" Working one-to-one and in small groups, the following topics are covered: Assessing personal skills, current levels and future options, practical aspects of starting and running a small business, market research, marketing and establishing a brand, business planning and cash flow forecasts, networking skills and how to interact with other businesses. Learning from good practice, motivation and self confidence building, she complements the services offered and provides specialist skills, ensuring the clients needs are met cost effectively and on time.
	Elaine McCann - New Consultant - Northern Ireland Elaine has a wealth of experience in managing and delivering Human Resources solutions both at the strategic and operational level. With 13 years experience in the field of HR, working up to Senior Management Level, Elaine has spent the last 4 years working independently, as a consultant. Elaine has been accountable for designing and delivering several outplacement programmes over the past 3 years within multinational organisations, family owned Companies and SMEs. These programmes have extended to various Industry Sectors including the Building & Construction Sector, Financial Institutions, Manufacturing Sector and Retail Sector. Elaine has a reputation for working in a professional and sensitive manner at all levels in organisations. She uses her skills attained in achieving a Diploma in Counselling Theory and experience to support staff affected by the prospect of job losses and uses her coaching and facilitation skills both in a workshop environment and in one to one coaching sessions, to enable each individual to realise their full potential and move forward successfully.

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