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December 30, 2004
Britain set for 200,000 new jobs next year
ALMOST 200,000 new jobs will be created in Britain over the course of 2005 as the general health of the economy continues to improve, according to a new report published today.
However, the findings also suggest that the beleaguered manufacturing sector - which is seeing its own fledgling recovery hurt by the strength of the pound - will suffer from a fall in employment levels to new lows.
The report, by the London-based Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development said growth in job creation will be curbed by the need to improve productivity, especially in the public sector.
Employers will have a challenging time next year trying to improve productivity and tackle sickness absence, and will have to take on migrant workers to fill vacancies, the research suggested.
The study of the world of work in 2004 showed that firms continued to have difficulties in recruiting enough skilled staff - and then being able to retain them.
But the research, among 10,000 employers across the UK, found that there were fewer redundancies this year compared with 2003.
Firms questioned by the CIPD said sickness absence was becoming a "real headache", with workers now taking an average of nine days a year off sick, rising to more than ten in the public sector.
Dr John Philpott, the CIPD’s chief economist, said: "Employers are having to work hard to prevent the tight labour market forcing up wages."
Firms would have to secure greater productivity from their workers next year to improve efficiency, he stated.
"With no sign of an easing in the labour market and better people management, bringing improved productivity is the key to resisting upward pressure on wages.
"Immigrant labour and efforts to get more people off long-term sickness absence and back to work also offer a safety valve, allowing growth in employment and output without forcing up wages and prices."
He added: "Although the increase in employment in 2005 will be slower than in recent years, there is no sign of a contraction in the economy."
Posted by Mark at 10:59 AM | Comments (0)
December 22, 2004
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Posted by Mark at 09:54 AM | Comments (0)
December 15, 2004
Dealing with Debt
There's a discussion board on dealing with debt at the Motley Fool UK website.
Dealing with Debt
Posted by Mark at 11:23 AM | Comments (0)
December 14, 2004
Happy Workers
What will be at the top of your New Year’s Resolution list for 2005? According to a recent survey commissioned by Human Capital Management software vendor Zynap, a new job takes the number one spot on the list for a quarter of the British workforce.
January is renowned as one of the busiest periods of the year for the recruitment industry. The New Year drives people to take a fresh perspective on their lives, often giving them the incentive needed to change an unhappy job.
So, with many people set to leave their employers out in the cold in the New Year, are businesses really doing enough to retain their staff?
83 per cent of the people surveyed planning to leave did not believe their employer to be taking any action to address the reasons why. Employees are looking to their bosses for more than a bit of office tinsel and Christmas fairy lights this year to get them to sparkle in their jobs.
With almost 50 years experience in the recruitment industry, the Kent based Human Resource Group Plc highlights the main areas businesses should focus on to help their employees to feel valued and happy in the workplace. The answer isn’t just to pay more:
-Ensure your employees feel valued
-Give praise for a job well done. It doesn’t take much to say thank you but it goes a long way
-Talk to your employees but also remember to listen to them and any ideas they may have
-Focus on career development whether it be through training, courses or promotion
-Recognise that your employees play an important part in the company, its vision and what it achieves
-Give regular appraisals to set and review personal objectives to give employees a goal to work towards
-Establish a pay review structure or set date(s) for review in the year
-Champion a happy work-life balance in the workplace – be flexible to accommodate personal family commitments where possible and appropriate
By businesses acknowledging these points and taking action now, it could save them millions from losing skilled staff to competitors.
So, don’t just focus on meeting targets. Become a cracker of an employer and concentrate on gift wrapping your star employees to retain them during this period.
Posted by Mark at 05:04 PM | Comments (0)
December 13, 2004
Foreign Exchange
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Posted by Mark at 05:25 PM | Comments (0)
Rejection Letters
Letters of Rejection is a web application designed for venting frustration. The goal of the site is simple; to display failure in a laughable environment.
Letters of Rejection are looking for letters of all types, letters from companies, colleges, former mates, lay off notices, firing notices, anything that rejects you as a person. Also, many times when you apply for a job, you get either an auto emailer or auto mailer which states your resume was received and that someone will contact you soon. Since they never do, that auto reply is your rejection letter...so they accept those too.
What else should a letter contain?:
Each submitted letter must also include some sort of comments, with some sort of venting, or comments defending the letter.
What else do they accept?:
We also accept comments based on letters already in our database. The types of comments we look for are venting or defending a letter in some way. We do not want comments like...this letter is great or this site is pointless. Only objective comments will be displayed.
Posted by Mark at 03:15 PM | Comments (0)
Freelancer Website
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Professionals can create profiles in up to 10 major skill categories. They have a total of over 160 detailed skill categories.
Posted by Mark at 02:50 PM | Comments (0)
Self Assessment
MAPP is Motivational Appraisal of Personal Potential.
Take the FREE MAPP Assessment
These paragraphs are taken from the results of the free test taken by Mark from jobtube:
Preferences for Mark fully support being perceptually, subconsciously, and consciously aware of fantasy, symbols, symbolic relationships, abstract ideas, options, and choice of options as they relate to creative or innovative activities. Perception triggers ideas in Mark's mind, a process that just happens - a process often called intuition. It is not a conscious effort to logically "come up with" creative ideas; instead, the process is best identified with the statement that "a thought struck me." A quote by Carl Jung probably makes complete sense to Mark: "Art is innate in the artist, like an instinct that seizes and makes a tool out of the human being. The thing in the final analysis that wills something in him is not he, the personal man, but the aim of the art."
Mind and mental activity are very central to Mark's vocational activities. (NOTE: "Intuition is very different from thought, from feeling and from sensation, by the major characteristic of insight. Intuition comes from the Latin meaning, literally, `in to you'. Intuitive insight results from `identification with,' rather than `looking at' the object of attention. It is `being a part of.' Intuiting is a process, not of perception, but of experience. There is no need for interpretation in intuition. Intuitive relationship implies contact. So one does not perceive; one experiences." ~~Quote from Robert Ashby) Mark has a preference or perhaps the talent or ability for experiencing abstract ideas, creativity, concepts, theory, assessment, and choice of options. New ideas and creativity must have an important place in vocation.
Philosophical, cultural, scientific, literary, managerial, and/or computational work, more than likely, represent very important types of mental activities for Mark. Being capable in those activities, Mark's mind is naturally receptive to consider abstract ideas, theory, concepts, inquiry, exploration, analysis, logic, systems, and procedures. Factors in this aptitude section, plus the data and reasoning sections show the degree of motivation and talent Mark has for each of those mental activities. High rating for this trait indicates an intellectual orientation that is functional in, or has potential for, academic, scientific, research, literary, executive, or consulting activities.
"Mentor: a trusted counselor or guide." Mark is interested in and consciously prefers to consider the existence, meaning, purpose, potential, and destiny of mankind, people, persons, and self; with self-felt, self-accepted responsibility to influence and/or cause good, growth, and gain in the lives of all concerned. Mark has intuition and philosophical curiosity that causes an awareness of personality, intentions, emotions, ethics, values, and moods of other persons, and of self. By itself, this is not benevolence. If Mark is highly motivated for benevolent activities, this trait is compulsively central to personal and vocational activities. If there is a lack of personal motivation, then the preference for consideration tends to be more philosophical or academic in nature, but still service oriented.
Mark is motivated toward activities involving mechanical engineering, including: 1) mechanical awareness of assembly, fabrication, operation, leverage, motion, force, and power, 2) design and/or draw technical plans, 3) technical, statistical, and numerical analysis, and 4) layout and installation. This highly motivated engineering orientation probably means professional dedication to a major engineering vocation.
"Synthesize: putting two or more things together to form a whole; the combination of separate elements of thought into a whole; the operation by which divided parts are united" (Webster). Mark is motivated by seeing the big picture so much so that (s)he, attempts to see all parts of the picture in that larger context, then sees all parts relative to each other, but still within that larger context. Perception and thinking are therefore holistic and conceptual. Philosophical and intuitive processes are involved. Scientific, managerial, and/or literary preferences may also be involved. Other mental factors in this section are subordinate, secondary, or complementary to this primary motivational attribute. This is an overview and scanning activity that includes ideas, concepts, theory, fiction, hypothesis and assessment.
Mark is strongly motivated to apply thinking to the big picture through holistic ideas, concepts, options, and strategies. This does not mean, suggest, or imply that thinking is kept only in a holistic context but it does mean that the first and constant priority or preference for consideration and focus are on the big picture. (Example: Mark more likely prefers to be an executive rather than a manager, and more inclined to be a manager rather than a supervisor.) Considering how pieces of the picture are brought in to the big picture stimulates motivation for the activity.
Mark is motivated to work with a wide variety of theoretical math concepts; make original application of those concepts; apply knowledge of advanced mathematical or statistical techniques to new areas of challenge, interest, or opportunity. Motivation is derived from conceptual, analytical, curious, and exploratory thinking. Research and theoretical logic probably appeal greatly to Mark's mind.
Mark is highly motivated to consider creative writing and communicating at professional levels. Preferences are holistic, conceptual, imaginative, and creative. "Ideas trigger more ideas" can probably be said about Mark. High motivational levels for this worker trait indicate an interactive combination of literary and philosophical traits. As Dean W. R. Inge said, "Literature flourishes best when it is half a trade and half an art." That probably makes a great deal of sense to Mark. Motivation at this level indicate preferences that probably include writing fiction, poetry, scripts for movies or television, advertising copy, marketing copy, teaching creative writing, etc.
Posted by Mark at 12:12 PM | Comments (0)
B/S phrases for your CV
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Posted by Mark at 10:56 AM | Comments (0)