Partner Article

401 Marathon Man headlines regional payroll conference and encourages delegates to #findyourhappy

HR and Payroll specialists from around the country gathered to hear the latest on major legislative changes affecting the industry this year, but were also truly moved and uplifted by the candour of keynote speaker, Marathon Man, Ben Smith.

The Cintra HR & Payroll Services Annual Conference boasted a capacity audience, hosted at the iconic BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art. The programme brought together industry experts to give Cintra clients the most up to the minute information and guidance possible – with an added Cintra twist! Which other conference would show delegates how to manage stress and build resilience using cabbages and sprouts?! And round off a company update with a game of ‘Play your cards right’?

In addition to a thorough presentation covering HR and payroll updates, delegates were given an insight into developing resilience by learning to sweat the right sprouts: an interactive and highly topical session delivered by Stress(ed) Guru, Dave Algeo. A real hit with delegates, Dave shared his insightful and practical approach to identifying and managing stress with his unique use of cabbages and sprouts.

Delegates were also encouraged turn traditional thinking on its head by Guerrilla Worker, Phil Jackman and Cintra HR & Payroll Services Director of Transformation, Lysa Morrison. Phil challenged the way we think about work, encouraging delegates to reflect on current practices and how they potentially constrain companies and individuals from achieving their full potential. Following on from this, Director of Transformation Lysa Morrison focused on an alternative approach to developing staff: mastering motivation by building on strengths.

Cintra CEO, Carsten Staehr gave an update on what the company has achieved over the past twelve months and an outline of its ambitious plans for the future, culminating in a few fun and interactive rounds of ‘Play your cards right’, to demonstrate how Cintra has chosen to celebrate staff birthdays this year. Always a break from the norm, Cintra is proud of its innovative approach to staff engagement and its birthday celebrations really embody the fun and interactive nature of many staff initiatives: sharing this with the audience is a great way to bring this to life.

Delegates included many of Cintra’s clients from around the UK and Europe, including major names, such as key London insurance brokers Hiscox Syndicates, together with many others from the Education, Housing and private sectors.

After a day of in-depth presentations which gave delegates much food for thought, the conference ended on a high, with a truly inspiring presentation from Ben Smith.

Ben is the founder of and inspiration behind The 401 Challenge. Founded in 2014 it saw Ben run 401 marathons in 401 days all around the UK. The project not only aimed to inspire people and challenge them to do things they never thought they could, but also raise awareness of the harmful effects bullying can have on your confidence and self-esteem; something Ben had first-hand experience of and which led him to attempt to take his own life on two occasions. The challenge was a huge success, achieving all its goals: raising over £330,000 for anti-bullying charities and inspiring over 13,500 runners to join Ben on his adventure, which covered 10,506.2 miles (the equivalent distance of London to Sydney or climbing Mount Everest 15 times!). The project won numerous awards including The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award 2016, A National Fundraising Pride of Britain Award and many more. Ben joined the Cintra conference just before embarking on his next challenge, USA 2020 which will see him run a marathon in each state in the USA, as well as cycling between each running location, in an effort to raise a grand total of one million pounds for mental health charities.

Carsten Staehr, Cintra HR & Payroll Services CEO commented: “Cintra’s conference is a diary highlight for both us and our wonderful customers. We love welcoming them to the region, to show them northern hospitality at its finest. Adding value to our client relationships is very important to us: making sure that we keep clients up to date with the latest legislative developments and industry trends as well as giving food for thought on broader issues. We strive to make happy happen for our clients and the feedback from the conference would suggest that we’re on the right track!”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Cintra HR & Payroll Services Ltd .