Kubo Recruitment meets MK Storm

At a recent MK Lightning match, some of the staff at Kubo Recruitment managed to meet a few of the players of the new under 16s girls' ice hockey team - MK Storm.



Kubo meet some of the girls from MK Storm 

Kubo are sponsoring the girls shirts, so it was nice to see them proudly wearing them, sporting the Kubo Recruitment logo. Kubo really enjoyed meeting the girls and watching them in action during their demonstrations in the breaks of the MK Lightning-Guildford Flames match.



It looks like the girls managed to recruit two more players, as the daughters of the Kubo staff were keen to get in on the action and support the girls.

Kubo sponsor MK Storm under 16s girls ice hockey team!

The Milton Keynes Junior Ice Hockey Club (MKJIHC) has been able to enter an Under 16s girls team in the league, proving that the MK girls certainly can play ice hockey!

Kubo are the proud sponsors of the new girls team and will be attending the Milton Keynes Lightning home game this Saturday at 7pm. During one of the breaks, the girls will run a demonstration to display their skills and encourage more girls to take up the sport.

Tickets for the MK Lightning home match against the Guildford Flames are available online now at www.mk-lightning.co.uk/tickets, in person from the Arena reception or by phoning 01908 540020.

We look forward to seeing you at Phuse next month!

Kubo are pleased to announce that we will be at the 2015 Phuse Conference in Vienna from the 11th - 14th of October!

The theme of the 2015 PhUSE Annual Conference in Vienna will be “Clinical Data Science - From Data to Knowledge”.

Throughout the 3 days conference there will be seminars, debates, hands on workshops and 3 very inspirational keynote speakers talking about their achievements both inside and outside of business. 

Keynote Speakers

Alex Flynn Previously a Lawyer, after being diagnosed with the degenerative disease Parkinson's in 2008, Alex Flynn set himself a '10MillionMetres' challenge. He completed the gruelling Marathon des Sables (250km race across the Sahara Desert), ran in excess of 135 miles across  the Bavarian Alps and ran from London to Rome in 30 days to meet the Pope. 

John Sall John Sall is co-founder and Executive Vice President of SAS, leading the development of JMP, serving scientists and engineers with an easy-to-use graphically interactive statistical software. John is a fellow of both the American Statistical Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is also an elected member of the International Statistical Institute.

Simon Weston
Simon Weston headed out to the Falklands war in 1982 unknown, and returned following the bombing of the Sir Galahad recognised by the world, not only for the 46% burns he endured, but for the optimism he radiates. Simon's message is one of the single-minded determination to not only accept what is, but to turn that to your advantage, his own career demonstrating how a positive mental attitude can achieve great business goals. 




The Phuse Conference looks set to be a great event that will motivate and inspire not only those  in in the life sciences industry, but those who admire the dedication and courage of others! 

Kubo will be continuing our support of World Cancer Research Fund, by donating for every business card we receive at the event. so make sure you stop by stand 26 and drop your business card into us! We look forward to seeing you there!

Kubo meet their new MK Lighting player!

As you know Kubo are avid sponsors and supporters of the MK lighting Hockey team. Every year we are proud to sponsor one of the team. Last Monday Kubo braved the bank holiday rain and met our new MK lightning player forward Markku Tahtinen, this season we will be sponsoring Markku's "Away" shirt. 

After meeting and having our photo taken with Markku, the kids had a chance to ask him and the other players a few questions before we were treated to seeing the team take to the ice for a team practice, lead by GB men’s coach Russell.

It was a great chance to meet everyone and have a catch up, as this will be our 3rd consecutive year sponsoring the team.

We look forward to seeing how the new team get on this upcoming season and we wish them luck in their first game today against the Basingstoke Bisons!

Lack of young talent in the life sciences industry is worrying!

Mature workers greatly outnumber newer employees in the UK life sciences sector – which could possibly lead to a shortage of essential skills, according to a new survey.

Figures by Cogent Skills from the national Labour Force Survey in the past 12 months show that in life sciences, there are 28% more employees aged 40-64 than 16-40. New or recent school leavers and graduates make up only 5% of the total workforce. More than 80% of companies in the industry have vacancies affected by skills shortages with more than 70% struggling to attract applicants with the skills they need to satisfy “hard to fill” vacancies.

Mark Botting, board member of the Science Industry Partnership, says: “The age gap across the life sciences sector is a clear signal that science sector companies need to have succession planning along with skills and talent development on their agenda now. Skills shortages ultimately affect an organisation’s ability to compete in an increasingly global market.
“The figures we have collated suggest that a greater proportion of people currently working across industrial and life sciences will be leaving the workforce in the next 25 years than those remaining behind. The sector needs to do something now to address the brain drain. 

Cogent Skills, the UK’s strategic body for skills in the science industries, highlights Actavis’ Trailblazer apprenticeships – which are bespoke for the company’s skills requirements – as an example of how this can be addressed. Actavis' Technical Transfer Manager Hilary Jeffrey's said "Though employers may previously have struggled with the concept of employing apprentices rather than graduates, they are now understanding the opportunity apprenticeships offer to individuals and the company, 

Hilary continued “The qualifications combined with the experience apprentices gain are very relevant to employers. With bespoke apprenticeships such as the Trailblazer we will develop people with the right skills because we’ve been directly involved in defining and shaping what is required to enable the employee to do the role by the end of the course.”

This all seems a bit worrying for the future of the life sciences industry and shows just how important new talent really is. Maybe we need to be going right back to the start of the process and telling children about the life sciences sector and what is involved, when they are thinking about their career options at school? I remember talking to my teenage brother about the industry when i first started at Kubo and he had no idea about how much went into the prescriptions and healthcare he takes for granted everyday. Maybe its a lack of knowledge in the industry rather than a lack of interest? 

Lack of engagement from employees is having a major affect on businesses!

Research conducted by gallup.com showed that 15% of workers in Germany are disengaged in their jobs. A more worrying report by Gallup reported only 13% of employees are actively engaged in the US. Disengagement is not as simple as saying someone is unhappy at work, disengaged employees take less pride in their work, have less loyalty to their company and take more time off, thus costing businesses billions every year! 

Disengaged workers costs the German economy 73 billion to 95 billion euros annually in lost productivity. Each day when someone is away from work in Germany it costs a business 252 Euros! Disengagement costs the US $2,246 per disengaged employee per year!

Seeing those figures should surely make any company sit up and be more aware of their employees. So why are people feeling disengaged? 

Employee disengagement is primarily driven by how supervisors - from team leaders to line managers - manage people. Given the state of employee engagement in Germany today, it's evident that most managers aren't creating environments in which employees feel motivated. 

The main reasons for disengagement as reported by staff were; 

• Stress and isolation, 
• Lack of training,
• Skills and accomplishments going unrewarded. 
• No raise or financial incentives,
• Lack of respect,
• Lack of communication within the company.
• Too many restrictions and rules. 

You might think staff leaving and moving on might be a good thing if they are disengaged. However, the cost of staff training and the fact that employees have desirable skills and knowledge, is enough reason to keep staff within your company.  If you don't take full advantage of your employees another company or competitor will! 

Word of mouth and social media all play a part on how staff express their disengagement with a company. If customers are considering a service or product, they will take recommendations from their friends, family, media and digital technology. If they are seeing negative feedback about a company that will affect their decision. 

So can companies really afford not to take employee disengagement seriously?

Best, Worst and most Stressful jobs in the UK?

A study conducted by search engine Adzuna.co.uk in September 2013, analysed over 2,000 job titles to highlight the best, worst, most stressful
in the UK. Each job title was scored based on 25 different criteria including earning potential, working conditions, competitiveness, unemployment rates and job security. These scores were then combined to produce an overall list of the top 10 best and worst jobs in the UK.

So what were the results? 


The Worst Jobs of 2013 – Miners and Couriers have the worst jobs in the UK the study has shown. High-pressure deadlines, the lowest income growth potential in the survey and long hours pushed these roles to the top the of  the“worst” list.  Sous chefs, Electricians and HGV Drivers round out the rest of the worst jobs.

The Best Jobs of 2013 – On a positive note the best jobs on the market are Translators, Web Developers and Surgeons. These roles boasted the highest levels of job security in the study, some of the highest average salaries (exceeding £85,000 p.a.) and excellent income growth potential of up to 8 times starting salary. Lack of competition, employer demand, rising wages and excellent working environments also resulted in Web Developers being voted one of the most stress free jobs in the UK today.

The Most Stressful Jobs – And finally the most stressful jobs have been revealed unsurprisingly to be Pilots & Oil Riggers, with doctors and fireman making an appearance on the list, scoring top for emotional and physical stress. Journalists rank as the 4th most stressful career choice, primarily due to highest pressure working environments and a deadline driven culture. Low levels of competition, few deadlines and little physical work have resulted in Librarians and Translators being named the least stressful jobs on the market.

Which list would you put your job in? 

References- Adzuna.co.uk