đ´ For  Comic Reliefâs Red Nose Day we are getting involved here at The OPRA Group! We hope you like the message from our youngest âmemberâ! He very much enjoyed making the video and hopes you will get involved!
đ´ We will be donating to Comic Relief for every interview requested and scheduled by our clients and for every placement made, we will add even more money into the pot!
Following our success last year, The OPRA Group are delighted to announce that we have won another award! The Corporate Livewire Innovation & Excellence, Best New Recruitment Company Of The Year 2024 Gold Award
We were so proud to win New Recruitment Company of the Year 2023 and have since continued to build on our success.
The panel decided that we have again raised our level of achievement, and the Gold Award 2024 was thoroughly deserved.
We were delighted to hear that they have acknowledged our strong online presence, as this has been one of our main focuses. In addition, our use of TikTok sets us apart from others, offering tips and hints along with entertaining content that has been both engaging and amusing.
The judges were âblown awayâ by our testimonials, which we publish on our website and social media, a deciding factor in our win!
The Corporate Livewire Innovation and Excellence Award programme celebrates the success and continued achievement of businesses and individuals across a wide range of sectors and industries. This ranges from a commitment to being environmentally friendly via ethical investment and the realisation of corporate social responsibility.
The OPRA Groupâs HR and screening services were considered because we strive to source businesses and services that align with our values of sustainability and social responsibility. Our services are bespoke in that each business has a tailored service that fits exactly its requirements, ensuring cost-effectiveness and a fit-for-purpose utility.
Our award-winning wellbeing packages are an essential part of employment for both employer and employee. We have worked very hard on this service, gathering a host of experts to cover a myriad of subjects to understand how the content is actually used, sourced and consumed.
We continuously review our processes to assess productivity and efficiency, often finding that technology is the solution to growth and improvement. We keep ourselves constantly updated, and this year, we are implementing a new video system to communicate with clients, candidates and one another.
We will continue our involvement in the community to improve Corporate Social Responsibility. This year, continuing to support the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance Trust, the Armed Forces Charter and special days like Comic Reliefâs Red Nose Day, injecting fun and a charitable focus into our workplace.
Our business values will always include: integrity, innovation, collaboration, inclusion and customer focus, which we feel will keep The OPRA Group on a positive pathway for future success.
We are very happy and proud to say that we have committed to the Good Business Charter (GBC) again for another year. The GBC recognise, champion and encourage responsible business behaviour for the benefit of people and planet. It is an accreditation which organisations of all sizes in the UK can apply for in recognition of responsible business practices.
Accredited organisations include FTSE100 companies, partnerships, local authorities, universities, SMEs, charities and sole traders. As a business, we met all 10 components in order to receive our accreditation which cover employee conditions, tax, the environment and the treatment of suppliers and customers.
Living Wage
We are a Living Wage employer which the GBC requires all employers to pay directly employed staff and regularly contracted staff as set out by the Living Wage Foundation.
Ethical Contracts
We adhere to the use of ethical contracts with fairer hours as required by the GBC. The GBC requires a fair approach to zero hours contracts, including fair shift scheduling and cancellation policy, plus proper consideration given to contracts with guaranteed hours.
Wellbeing
Our award-winning wellbeing packages began with an internal roll out. Our team enjoyed blocks of weekly wellbeing sessions that included a plethora of subjects. Some were presentation style, sometimes with guest speakers, we provided live, active sessions, demonstrating juicing or sampling teas, there was even a Tirapy therapy session. Once we saw the success of these sessions within our own business, with our great team members and also won an award, we decided to collate all we had learnt and develop wellbeing packages for other businesses. The GBC requires clear, fair and transparent policies that support and encourage employee well-being and ban unreasonable penalties for legitimate sickness. We take this very seriously and have a robust HR department that supports our team.
Employee Representation
The GBC requires all employers to engage with worker representatives and to ensure there is a voice that represents employees around the boardroom table.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
The GBC requires organisations to evidence how they analyse and monitor their EDI data against a baseline, using it to address disadvantage and discrimination.
Environmental Responsibility
We are committed to our environmental policy, we run a paperless office, we source as much locally as we possibly can, using local businesses. For the last few years we have donated our Christmas cards and presents budget to the Centrepoint Christmas Appeals, to reduce our carbon footprint and to reduce the excessive purchasing of potentially unwanted and wasteful gifts. We are committed to reducing our environmental impact and continually improving our environmental performance.
Pay Fair Tax
The GBC requires businesses to commit to paying their taxes, not engage in tax avoidance and commit to be transparent in their relationship with HMRC.
Commitment to Customers
The GBC requires businesses to publish their commitment to their customers on their website. Businesses will be expected to gather and monitor customer feedback and report the results to their board.
Ethical Sourcing
The GBC requires businesses to commit to the standards set out in the Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code for sourcing through a process of continuous due diligence.
Prompt Payment to Suppliers
The GBC requires businesses to sign the governmentâs Prompt Payment Code.
As we are committed to all 10 of these very important components, we feel our confident and excited for a successful year ahead.
#GoodEmployerCharter #ResponsibleBusiness #EthicalBusiness
Historically, each year at Christmas, we would send out gifts, hampers and cards to our clients and friends to celebrate the season. For several years now we have chosen Centrepoint to pass this gift on to a more meaningful place. Our feedback from our clients and friends is always favourable, so we are excited to be donating to Centrepoint again this year.
Centrepoint is the UKâs leading youth homelessness charity, which means that, alongside their partners, they support over 16,000 young people every year and are campaigning to end youth homelessness by 2037.
On the Centrepoint website there is a whole host of seasonal gifts you can choose from to show a homeless young person that someone is thinking about them this Christmas. Thereâs things like âA Warm Bed and Safetyâ which ensures a bed at Centrepoint, this isnât just a way to bring a young person in from the cold this Christmas, itâs also a physical and mental break from sofa surfing, the streets, and a safe space to rest, without fear and uncertainty. A âHome-cooked Christmas Dinnerâ is no ordinary Christmas dinner, as itâs also filled with safety and warmth, the chance to sit around a table, share stories and forget about the past for an evening.
The National picture for homelessness for the year 2022-2023 has some very surprising stats, hereâs just a few, 135,800 16-24 year olds were homeless or at risk of homelessness in the UK during this period. 1 in 52 young people are homeless or at risk of homelessness in the UK and 67% of cases of homelessness in England were not successfully prevented or dealt with throughout this year.
Did you know you can âSponsor a Young Personâs Stay at Centrepoint for a Yearâ as one of the gifts this year. Sponsoring a room at Centrepoint, opens the door to a new future for a vulnerable young person, a future free from homelessness. This option is also gifting them the vital support they may not have had before, for an entire year, providing a young person with the complete package of a room of their own, counselling and health support and the one-to-one practical advice of a Key Worker.
We thought that the âGift of Christmasâ, which consists of a warm meal and the company of people who empathise with the situation can be an enormously meaningful gift to give a young person this Christmas. The meal is combined with a good nightâs sleep and a few items of fresh clothing, this gift can help a young person feel re-energised and ready to reflect on their next steps.
Thereâs so many more gifts, we have spoken about just a few, have a look on their website using this link: https://centrepoint.org.uk/virtual-gifts
We will chose some of our favourite gifts and donate to Centrepoint this year. From all at The OPRA Group, we would like to wish all of our clients and friends a warm and happy Christmas, surrounded by the people you care about.
#ChristmasCorporateGifts #ChristmasCharity #ChristmasGiving #CorporateGifts
As we head towards the end of 2023, we want to help you get your businesses âup straightâ before the year ends. We know this time of year can be challenging and budgets tight, so we are offering our existing clients some fantastic discounts on our current services!
WINTER RECRUITMENT PROMO
For all existing clients, if you have any new open vacancies, with a start date of 2023, weâd love to support you and are offering a reduced fee of just 8% for any successful placements made!
COMPLIANCE AND SCREENING END OF 2023 PROMO
When is the last time you re-vetted your existing employees? Anything could have changed since you hired them, so we recommend regular re-vetting!
Do you have any new employees that need pre-employment screening completed? For the rest of 2023, we are offering a HUGE discount on all our compliance and screening services, 25% Off the original price!
HR SERVICES & CONSULTANCY END OF 2023 PROMO
⢠Do you need HR legal support?
⢠Are you struggling with a redundancy programme?
⢠Did you know that legally you must have certain policies in place?
⢠Do you have an Employee Handbook?
⢠Do you need help with onboarding?
⢠Are you struggling with how to deal with certain situations legally from an HR perspective?
WE CAN HELP!
For the rest of 2023, we are offering another HUGE discount on all of our HR services, 25% off the original price! Donât delay! Let us help you get your HR function in order by the end of the year!
To contact us to find out more about these offers, hereâs a list of some of our useful contacts:
Adele Carnera â Director
0203 617 8130
a.carnera@theopragroup.com
Cathryn Kempen â Head of HR
0204 548 5067
c.kempen@theopragroup.com
Joanne Turner â Compliance Manager
0203 617 8135
j.turner@theopragroup.com
Nicola Seal â Client Relationship Manager
0204 548 5070
n.seal@theopragroup.com
#SpecialOffers #EndOfYearOffers #Promotions
The importance and benefits of having a health and wellbeing programme in the workplace has never been more prevalent. Investing in your employeeâs welfare can have a significant impact on individuals, organisations and society as a whole.
We are passionate about promoting wellbeing and it is at the heart of everything we do. There is a much broader understanding of holistic health and wellbeing approaches, however, it is also very clear that there is an implementation gap by many organisations.
Thatâs where we can help!
Only around 8% of UK organisations have a dedicated wellbeing strategy in place.
81% of employees want wellbeing support from their employer.
46% of employees continued working even though they were unwell.
80% of employees frequently feel tired, whilst 38% rarely get enough sleep impacting their productivity.
An estimated 17m working days were lost due to work-related stress, depression and anxiety in 2021/22.
Programmes can help create a positive workplace culture, where employees are encouraged to consider their health and wellbeing. It is important for employers to promote open dialogue and positive relationships with their employees to attain mutual commitment and trust.
They can improve employee productivity, job satisfaction, and retention rates, as employees who feel supported and valued are more likely to be engaged and motivated.
Wellbeing activities can help individuals improve physical health, mental health, and overall quality of life by educating them on how to manage stress, anxiety, and depression, which are mental health conditions that can have a negative impact on wellbeing. Improving employee health can reduce absences which are costly to the business in time and money.
Let us look after your people whilst you look after running your business!
Creating and implementing a wellbeing package is a time consuming but necessary task. Let us tick it off your to-do list for you!
We recently won an Innovation and Excellence Award for Best New Recruitment Agency!
We can offer bespoke packages suited to your business and employee needs.
We have won a host of awards including Best Health & Wellbeing Strategy 2022!
We are a Mindful Employer, promoting better understanding of mental health in the workplace.
Our HR Team are qualified Level 2 Mental Health Workplace Responders.
Our Wellbeing Champion promotes and advocates positive health and wellbeing practice.
We want your employees to be enthusiastic about their work, be invested and proud of your organisation, and for them to feel safe and supported in their environment. At OPRA we have a plethora or knowledge and experience which is evidenced by our own Award winning wellbeing programme, and so can offer you a bespoke package tailored to your individual business needs.
After consultation, weâll gather data, conduct a workplace assessment and evaluate your strengths and challenges. Weâll advise you of the different options available to meet your objectives whether that be to just help get the fundamentals right or if you want to offer benefits that go above and beyond!
âI think its great that OPRA offer wellness workshops, it lifts spirits and makes employees feel like the company cares about their wellbeing out of work as well as in workâ.
âJust to say thank you for providing this service I have never known a company to provide this in my entire working careerâ.
âI feel that OPRA are a very understanding and supportive company and Julie is a great person that I feel I could go to if necessaryâ.
âI think that the Wellbeing programme offered by OPRA is a very good programme which is accessible to everyone in the companyâ.
#WellbeingStrategy #WellbeingProgramme #MentalHealth
This week we visited Gateway Radio in The Eastgate Centre in the heart of Basildon which reflects the interests, tastes, backgrounds, cares and concerns of the vibrant local Basildon community.
Our Senior Head of Operations Greg Brown and Marketing Manager Sharon Butler-Felby were invited to attend a networking session where there were other local businesses including Treehouse Club, Palmers Solicitors, Billericay Dental Care, Morgan Sindall, Leonardo and Debut Training Academy. We had a lively chat about local business over cups of tea and biscuits along with Jim Sims from Basildon Borough Council.
During the networking event we were asked individually to go through into the studio where we were interviewed by Johnny Jenkins, a qualified and experienced journalist who oversees around 100 on-air interviews every month!
It was a fun exchange where Greg and Sharon were asked about the Good Employer Charter in particular and how The OPRA Group interact with the community and the recent drives we have been involved with. The Good Employer Charter mission is to build a network of Good Employers from right across the borough, that do business responsibly, and with the objective of enabling both employers and employees to benefit as the economy grows.
We talked about our donation of sports equipment to Ghyllgrove Community Primary School this year and also our sponsorship of Billericay Town FC Colts Under 9âs team by supplying their home, away and training kits, this was some of the highlights of the conversation. We also discussed our recent award for our Health and Wellbeing Strategy which keys into the one of the charters main mission points: attention to staff wellbeing and development.
Greg was asked about his activities as a referee and how The OPRA Group have sponsored his kit, he explained about how our director Adele is the Essex Chair of the Apprentice Ambassador Network and how we as a business therefore champion apprenticeships.
Sharon spoke about how we recently signed the Armed Forces Charter and attend British Forces Resettlement Services job fairs which are specifically aimed at helping The Armed Forces into new career paths.
It was exciting to hear our interview in the office and look forward to further opportunities to do so again in the future.
You can hear all of the interviews here: https://www.gateway978.com/gateway-response/audio-bites/good-employer-charter-day-at-gateway-97-8
#GoodEmployerCharter #RadioInterview #EthicalBusiness
We decided to make a donation to Ghyllgrove Community Primary School as they were looking for some help to upgrade their sports equipment. With the money we donated they purchased all of the amazing new sports equipment they required to use during their clubs and PE lessons across the school.
PE is a statutory requirement of the National Curriculum, the children at Ghyllgrove School Gym enjoy access to a well-equipped gymnasium and each class is timetabled to use it for a variety of activities during the week. When the weather permits, they can also use both the playgrounds and extensive playing fields and the new MUGA (Multi Use Games Area) for PE and games.
The programme for PE includes gymnastics, game skills, athletics and dance. The children are very fortunate to have a range of specialist coaches (SPEC Training) that come into the school and teach them alongside their teachers. This allows school staff to develop their skills, as well as learn new strategies and techniques.
There are also clubs and we have seen the children enjoying thrilling games of Hockey, Netball and Football so we are delighted to have been able to make improvements, including the MUGA made from artificial grass surfacing that incorporates the different pitch markings needed to accommodate a number of sports all in one place, plus lots of other equipment for the children to enjoy.
We are proud that we are helping to keep the children of Ghyllgrove Community Primary School fit and healthy!
#SportsEquipmentDonation #LocalSchool #LocalCommunity
Our maneki-neko, (Japanese beckoning cat) is clearly attracting good Feng Shui into The OPRA Group! Weâre delighted to announce that The OPRA Group have won another award, The Corporate Livewire Innovation and Excellence Award for the New Recruitment Company of the Year UK, 2023. This programme celebrates the recent success and continued achievements of businesses and individuals across a wide range of sectors and industries. This ranges from a commitment to being environmentally friendly in the battle against climate change to enacting positive change via ethical investment and the realisation of corporate social responsibility.
OPRA Services and Social Responsibility
Our extensive HR and Pre-screening services were taken into consideration for this award because we strive to scource businesses and services that align with the same values of sustainability and social responsibility as us. Our services are offered and taken up in a bespoke way so that each business has a tailored service that fits exactly to their requirements, ensuring a cost-effective utility that is fit for purpose.
Wellbeing, Essential for Businesses and Employees alike!
As 81% of employees want wellbeing support from their employer and an estimated 17 million working days were lost due to work-related stress, depression and anxiety in 2021-2022, we feel that our award-winning, wellbeing packages are not just a frivolous add on to businesses EVPs, but an essential part of employment from both employer and employee perspectives. We have worked very hard on this service, from gathering a host of experts covering a myriad of subjects, to how the content is actually used, sourced and consumed.
How do we stay on top of technological changes?
We continuously review our processes to assess productivity and efficiency often finding that technology is the solution to growth and improvement. We keep ourselves updated by taking part in online system upgrade demonstrations, reviewing blogs, technical news websites, industry publications, attending conferences, workshops and webinars. This keeps us up to date with our CRM, payroll, skills testing, training, HR, pre-employment vetting, job boards and search optimisation tools to make sure we keep on top of developments and streamline our in-house systems.
Current and future innovative strategies
We utilise our Senior IT Consultantâs expertise and networks to improve our technological advancements which have been significant over the past year. We are always open to trying new technologies and tools as they emerge, helping us to understand capabilities, limitations and whether they will be beneficial to the organisation. Our staff complete wellbeing sessions and at least 2 monthly courses to increase skills and knowledge on subjects like green and sustainability training or best ways to support your employer using social media, for example.
We have signed the SME Climate Commitment recognised by the United Nations Race to Zero campaign, joining a wide range of governments, businesses, cities, regions, and universities around the world that are committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions. We are committed to promoting sustainability and aim to follow environmentally friendly practices to reduce the ecological impact of our activities and help our clients and partners do the same. We actively think about how we implement and achieve this in daily decisions by using local services and businesses wherever possible.
Our environmental and sustainability policies promote The OPRA Groupâs awareness and importance of being a green aware company.
We take the following actions:
¡ Waste is kept to a minimum with the majority being recycled
¡ Energy consumption is reduced with equipment only being switched on when in use
¡ Use of laptops means we are more efficient in power consumption
¡ Purchase of environmentally friendly products
¡ Promotion of car sharing
¡ Promotion of walk/cycle to work as part of our Wellbeing Strategy
¡ We minimise our use of paper and other office consumables
¡ No plastic/paper cups can be used for the water machine, we only use eco cups
¡ Minimising plasic merchandise bought for corporate events
¡ Utilising technology to avoid paper and print, utilising digital business cards for the team, for example.
Our Plans for The Future
The OPRA Group currently has 4 offices, City of London, Basildon in Essex, Stirling, Scotland and Bangkok, Thailand, our long-term strategy is to achieve global expansion with a priority to cover Northern America and Canada. We are very excited to continue to promote our award-wining wellbeing programme to our current and new clients.
We will continue our involvement in the community to improve Corporate Social Responsibility. This year we have chosen Essex and Harts Air Ambulance Trust as our chosen charity partner. Our events have included a fun and very busy Quiz Night, a large Family Fun Day and we plan to ride 250kms on 2 static bikes in 1 business day, to raise awareness of the 25th Anniversary of Air Ambulance UK! Teaming up with charities and brining awareness to their cause is close to our hearts. Our business values include Integrity, Innovation, Collaboration, Inclusion and Customer Focused, which we consider in all of our decisions. We have also signed the Armed Forces Charter which gives us the focus to help the armed forces, veterans and their families, choose a new career path and utilise those transferrable skills in other ways.
Comic Reliefâs Red Nose Day was back on Friday 17th March and after a great success last year, our Charity Committee decided it would be important and fun to take part again this year. We joined people across the nation to show that laughter has the power to change lives.
With that in mind we all sponsored one of our Talent Managers Leon Hunter-Rowe, to be quiet for as long as possible, his sponsored silence was a great success last year so we thought we would try and quiet The OPRA Groupâs biggest chatterbox again this year! Well done Leon, you have raised so much money for this brilliant cause two years running now! We are very proud of you.
Our Senior Talent Consultant Young Huynh, suggested he would perform 100 press ups for cash this year, as a new innitiative to the day. Young smashed it and finished his sit ups with ease! Well done Young, thatâs more money in the pot!
The team paid to take part in the âGuess How Many Sweets Are In The Jar Competitonâ with the nearest winning the prize was Lynda Preston with a guess of 94, well done Lyn! Hope you enjoed the sweet treats!
The whole team wore brightly coloured tops, Comic Relief tops, baked cakes to sell and all tried so hard along with being so very busy in the office this week. Well done everyone for putting in the extra effort.
We are proud to say that we exceeded our target by 106% and raised ÂŁ265! We are assured that this donation will make a powerful difference to people here in the UK and around the world.
This is how the money helps:
ÂŁ10 could pay for a day of play sessions for a child with a disability in the UK.
ÂŁ20 could provide resources for an educational session about mental health and emotional wellbeing for a group of young people in India.
ÂŁ30 could pay for a support session for a young person in mental health crisis in the UK.
You can view our Just Giving Page here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rednoseday23-opra-group-ltd?utm_source=copyLink&utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=rednoseday23-opra-group-ltd&utm_campaign=pfp-share&utm_term=fef4125ab78f4c3497a83510fc250ffd
#RedNoseDay #ComicRelief #FundRaising