This week’s guru
Virtual assault on senses gives training a lift
Guru was unimpressed by his latest taste of corporate training.
It included a team-building exercise involving a block of wood, 16 six-inch
nails and a tricky balancing act. Guru was ostracised by the rest of the group
after his attempt to solve the puzzle using intense Zen meditation was
misunderstood.
So he was glad the latest generation of corporate training initiatives
promise to be much more advanced.
CAJES Business Solutions has teamed up with US firm Helitrainer to design a
course involving the use of virtual helicopter attack pods.
The pods immerse pilots in a virtual reality environment and physically move
the pilots to simulate flight so they can take part in interactive simulated
air battles.
Flying the flagship magazine
Andy Parker was so captivated by a Personnel Today article on employment law
that he risked the wrath of his flying instructor while piloting a bi-plane
above the Northants countryside.
Andy, group personnel administration manager with ATS Euromaster, had his
picture taken for our extreme photo competition at 4,000ft.
He told Guru he remained fully focused on the magazine, even when the plane
stalled and went into a violent spin.
As he finished the article, he could see the whites of a startled cow’s eyes
as his instructor pulled the nose of the aircraft up 100 ft from the ground.
And if you believe that, then you can image the local pigs were also airborne.
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Bringing home the bacon
Workers at a struggling firm in Bosnia have been offered pigs to boost their
wages. The agricultural supply firm in Nova Topola came up with the novel
payment method when fed-up staff threatened strike action if their wages did
not improve. Company bosses at Mladen Stojanovic, who have struggled to pay
employees since the end of the war, responded by coming up with the idea of a
bacon bonus. A spokesman for the firm said the number of pigs each worker gets
depends on how long they have worked for the company and how loyal they have
been. Guru has always had a soft spot for pigs but he can see a few flaws with
the initiative – how do you cash in a 23-stone sow called Mabel to pay for your
weekly shop? Guru would advocate the use of piglets as manageable small change.
