Tag Archives: Management

Employee Surveys Encourage Leaders to Put Their Best Foot Forward

One of the most important things about being a leader is being able to take honest feedback through employee surveys. While opening up oneself to the criticism and judgment of others is no small feat, it is essential in improving one’s growth as a leader.

A leader may strive to have all the qualities expected of him in order to set a good example in the workplace. He may be inspiring, challenging and he may possess a good humor. He may be punctual, sets meetings at the right time and he may delegate tasks well. In his mind he may be living up to the best of his abilities and to the expectations of his colleagues and subordinates. But this is only in his mind.

A good leader is willing to open himself up to the criticism of those around him, especially those that he works with. Employee surveys are one way to gauge the true effectiveness of a boss or manager. They are questionnaires usually given out at different intervals of a fiscal year. Everyone from the delivery man up to the accountants and the top sales manager are required to fill in a survey that may pertain to a particular person holding a position of management.

Do keep in mind that these employee surveys are in no way meant to attack a person’s character. The questions that are normally listed down on these have to do with the abilities and qualities of the said person in relation to the workplace. Most of the questions serve to examine whether he is in conduct with the workplace code and employee handbook. There will also be queries on whether he is performing his tasks well or living up to his job title. These questionnaires are usually fuss-free and should be done in an hour or less.

A survey conducted on the effectiveness of employee surveys showed that companies that have integrated these into their development strategies have seen a marked difference in their top management’s performance. The rationale behind this is individuals tend to perform better when they know that they will be evaluated afterwards. It is also the concept that makes shows reality shows very compelling to watch. As the contestants know they are being watched, they tend to put on their best foot forward

All in all, employee surveys should be given a chance by all workplace environments looking for an increase in office productivity and top level management performance.

Via EPR Network
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New Staff Development Program Takes a Different Approach with Startling Results

93% of study participants reported an improved sense of wellbeing at work after completing Life Code Matrix, a new program that takes a fresh approach to staff development.

Dr Kathryn Owler who conducted independent research on Life Code Matrix, found the program differed from other wellness programs in that it appeared to create intrinsic motivation and the potential for sustainable change.

“People came out of the program with a clearer sense of identity and were able to align themselves more positively with their work” she said.

“They experienced their work more creatively with a sense of discovery. They were being fully ‘there’ at work.”

Unique aspects of Life Code Matrix that Dr Owler identified were that the process did not require mental effort; rather participants once they had identified who they were through the process were able to effortlessly be that person.

It was also efficient in that the process did not require constant repetition or reinforcement to create sustainable changes in behavior and attitude.

Life Code Matrix was initially developed by experienced business and life coach Cilla Sturt as a result of identity issues she experienced growing up in a different culture. Limitations she observed professionally with traditional coaching and staff development models led to the programs unique approach.

For more information go to http://www.lifecodematrix.com/research-results/.

Via EPR Network
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Promethean Group Announces New Board Appointments

Promethean Group, a global leader in interactive classroom solutions, and its principal company, Chalkfree Limited, has announced the appointment of two new, non-executive directors, namely Dante Roscini and Philip Rowley.

Mr. Roscini, age 51, serves as a senior lecturer in the Business, Government and the International Economy Unit at Harvard Business School. Prior to joining Harvard in 2008, he was the Country Head of Italy and Chairman of European Capital Markets for Morgan Stanley, as well as the board director of Morgan Stanley International Bank, In 1999, Mr. Roscini joined Merrill Lynch as Head of Global Equity Capital Markets and, f r o m 1988 to 1998, he was the Head of European Capital Markets for Goldman Sachs. Dante holds a summa cum laude Laurea degree in nuclear engineering f r o m  the University of Rome and an MBA f r o m Harvard.

Mr. Rowley, age 57, currently is a non executive director of ARM Holdings plc, HMV Group plc and Misys plc and has previously served a non executive director at Tradus plc. F r o m 2001 to 2007, Mr. Rowley was with AOL Europe, where he became Chairman and CEO. In 1998, Mr. Rowley joined Kingfisher plc as Group Finance Director. Prior to relocating to England, he held the posts of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at EMI Music Worldwide and was the COO and CFO of Golden Books. Mr. Rowley holds a degree in chemical engineering f r o m Imperial College, London, and qualified as a chartered accountant with Peat Marwick in 1976.

“We are delighted to welcome Philip and Dante to the board,” said Graham Howe, Chairman of Chalkfree Limited. “Their impressive track records and experience will strengthen our Board and are highly relevant as we plan our continued expansion and as more and more countries turn their attention to bringing interactive learning technology to their classrooms.”

Additionally, Promethean’s CEO, Jean-Yves Charlier has also been recognized for his significant accomplishments in driving the company forward over the past year when he accepted the British Venture Capital Association (BVCA) Award for the best CEO of private equity backed companies in the UK. The award recognises the achievements of CEOs throughout 2008 and nominees selected f r o m across the UK were judged on their company’s performance.

Mr. Charlier was recognized for his leadership, further consolidating Promethean’s strong market position across the 90 countries in which it operates and for driving the company’s revenue growth up 49% in 2008, following a 25% growth the previous year. This growth can be linked to key initiatives instigated by Mr. Charlier in 2008 included focusing the business solely on the education software sector, adopting a global indirect sales model and accelerating new product development investment.

Via EPR Network
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Barrett Group Fields Complaints of Employee Internet Job Screening

Businesses spend a great deal of time and energy to develop strong reputations in their industries. As a result, employers are conscientious about the types of individuals they employ as their reputation may have an impact on the reputation of the business. Among others, The Barrett Group, a career management service, has witnessed a shift in job screening. It used to be that prospective employers would have a cover letter, a resume, references, and letters of recommendation that essentially encapsulated the candidate for hire.

With the ease of information access, more and more employers are using the Internet to screen potential employees. As a result, career management service businesses like Barrett Group llc. are becoming more mainstream and more valuable than ever. Studies have shown that 66% of hiring professionals use the Internet as a first screening and 50% report they disqualified a candidate based on the discovered data. As a result, it is becoming more and more important to be aware of one’s Internet presence.

Text-based media is notorious for miscommunication. Oftentimes comments and information found on Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter may be damaging to a job seeker when discovered by prospective employers. Frequently, the damaging Internet data is a mistaken use of words or information that is completely unknown to the job seeker. As a result, Waffles Natusch, President of The Barrett Group recommended on an NECN TV interview that their clients ‘google’ themselves annually under normal circumstances. “If you are in a job search, we recommend our clients check every single week.”

During the NECN TV interview, Waffles Natusch, discussed ways in which individuals can, “Remove the ‘derogatories’ or things you don’t want people to see or that are erroneous.” Many individuals are amazed as to how many people have their same name, which can create additional problems for one’s reputation. There are methods to resolve these issues. The three recommended steps are:

1. Search for one’s name, its variances, and nicknames on various search engines and remove unflattering content,
2. Click on and place positive content on the Internet through Twitter, blogs and circulating articles
3. Setup google alerts so that an email notification is sent when new content is placed on the Internet.

The bottom line is that there may be erroneous or misleading information on the Internet that can have a negative effect on one’s ability to find employment. Waffles Natusch explained that “…somebody may indeed post malicious things about you.” which may, “…interfere with career aspirations.” Many individuals can manage their reputation themselves and for others it is advantageous to seek out professional assistance.

The Barrett group serves a broad spectrum of business professionals by providing premier career management consulting. With a proven track record of success since 1990, Barrett Group clients receive professional career management services by engaging and highly experienced consultants that produce results.

Via EPR Network
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PML Risk Management Will Be Accepting PEO Workers Compensation Submissions For Underwriting Quotes On An Invitation Only Basis

According to company owner Jim Shelton, “After more than three years of hard work and several set-backs, our program is finally ready for the PEO markets we have been trying to help”.

“The mid-market PEO will be able to breathe a refreshing sigh of relief with this program designed specifically for the PEO. In particular, smaller PEOs struggle to keep a workers’ comp policy, let alone afford it. Why? Simply put, workers compensation carriers have attached a negative stigma to PEO’s, requiring high collateral, deposits or “fixed” premiums based on an estimated annual premium, hurting the already beleaguered cash flow needed for the PEO’s day to day operations. Larger PEOs tie up precious cash flow and credit; that won’t happen with PML’s program”.

PML Risk Management, Inc. is trying to change the relationship between workers comp carriers and the PEOs who honestly and effectively manage their risk.

PML Risk Management, Inc, is not a professional employer organization (PEO), but the company owner has over 24 years experience as a PEO owner; fully aware of the workers compensation challenges and pitfalls facing the mid-market PEO, as well as the larger PEO.

This unique PEO program will offer qualified and accepted PEOs “Guaranteed Cost” Individual or Master Coordinated policies; all fifty states, No Collateral, little or NO deposit and a monthly reportable Pay-As-You-Go plan.

As an incentive, the program offers the PEO a profit-sharing dividend for keeping their loss ratio 40% or less. This program is the competitive blast of fresh air PEOs have been looking for.

If you would like more information about our PEO specific workers compensation program being offered through PML Risk Management, Inc, please visit www.peoworkerscompensation.com or call our licensed managing agent for more details ((210)) 380*2051.

Via EPR Network
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Acas Urges UK Businesses To Tackle Mental Health In The Downturn

Acas, the employment relations service, is encouraging UK businesses and managers to prepare for the longer term effects of the recession and implement policies and procedures to help cope with mental health issues in the workplace.

In a recently published policy discussion paper, Acas looks at some of the lessons that can be learnt from tackling workplace stress. It advises business and managers to look at how they can anticipate and identify mental health problems in the workplace and what steps should be taken to respond to them.

Figures show that mental health problems cost UK organisations around £26 billion each year*. The latest figures also reveal that the total number of unemployed has now reached 2.47 million**, which could have a further adverse impact on employees’ wellbeing.

Ed Sweeney, Acas Chairman, said: “The economy may hopefully have seen the worst of the recession but the impact on workplaces will be felt far into the future.

“Implementing procedures to effectively deal with mental health issues in the workplace has strong benefits for individuals and organisations. Early intervention can play a critical part in reducing the problem of ill health at work and this ‘prevention over cure’ approach will ultimately help businesses and employees save time, stress and money.”

Measuring the impact of the recession on employees’ mental wellbeing can be difficult as the stigma associated with mental health creates barriers to measuring the true extent of the problem.

Acas is urging organisations and managers to implement effective policies and procedures to help managers deal with the long term impacts of the downturn and safeguard the health and wellbeing of employees. This might include:

- workplace training – to raise awareness of stress and
mental health so that line managers, in particular, can tell if an employee is
suffering from additional or excessive pressures

– Good interpersonal skills – to help nurture trusting relationships with staff who
may be anxious about disclosing their mental health problems

– A supportive organisational structure – that guides managers by providing clear
policies and procedures for managing mental health

Via EPR Network
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HR Consulting and Safety Compliance Services By National PEO

National PEO LLC (Professional Employer Organization) offers safety compliance services along with a full spectrum of HR consulting expertise to a wide range of industries including food services, manufacturing, health care and construction.

HR Consulting and Safety Compliance Services

Human Resources has been for years a frequently understaffed or overlooked department, especially in small and medium sized businesses that are focused on production and revenue rather than administrative requirements. However, it’s often at this stage that companies are in most need of HR best practices to facilitate strategic growth and manage various regulatory compliance issues. National PEO offers programs that can help companies with any of their HR needs, including:

• Employee development and training.
• Staff programs, safety programs and employee handbooks.
• Compensation analysis.
• Regulatory compliance, including safety and environmental compliance.
• Regional taxation rules.
• Strategic planning.

National PEO clients benefit from the experience of a company that was founded ten years ago and has remained committed to remaining at the leading edge of professional employer organization best practices and well as emphasizing unparalleled customer service.

Arizona Environment Progress, Inc., a National PEO client has this to say: “The staff is courteous and helpful, and goes the extra mile for their clients. Their Human Resource Department is such a pleasure to work with. We can always get answers to our most difficult questions, and most times have the answer within one hour. We would recommend them to any company.”

National PEO goes far beyond what typical a HR Consulting Firms offer, including the availability of bilingual support staff. Safety compliance includes providing a full safety inspection of the client’s facility, following OSHA inspection standards, accompanied by a written report and photographs. Going beyond the level of a trial inspection, a full safety audit is also available. This includes an inspection, review of OSHA 300 logs for the past five years and a comprehensive review of the company’s accident reports, safety training programs, environmental programs, hazardous material management plans and other relevant documentation. National PEO then assists the client to achieve abatement and compliance once an OSHA compliance inspection is completed.

For further information about National PEO’s HR Consulting services, including safety compliance programs, payroll processing and employee benefits programs, please call 480-429-8098, or visit www.nationalpeo.com.

About National PEO LLC
National PEO LLC was founded in 1999 and has enjoyed a decade of steady growth, becoming a leading provider of PEO services to hundreds of companies throughout Arizona and the United States. National PEO’s executive Safety Compliance Services team exceeds a combined thirty years of experience in the field and continues to steer National PEO toward exceeding expectations of a HR Consulting Firms through innovation, leadership, customer satisfaction and setting the trend for PEO industry best practices.

Via EPR Network
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ISV Partner Is Dedicated To Oracle Human Capital Management

Applaud Solutions today announced that it has become a Partner in the Oracle® PartnerNetwork. Applaud Solutions are a new cross market Independent Software Vendor dedicated wholly to producing solutions for Oracle® E-BusinessSuite HCM.

applaudsolutions

Formed in 2008, the founders of Applaud Solutions have all had over a decade’s worth of experience in Oracle HCM and have worked on some of the largest UK projects in sectors including Local Government, Central Government, Retail, Finance and Telecommunications. Their goal is simple: create integrated solutions that are in demand f r o m Oracle HCM customers, built to the same world class standard as that provided by Oracle development.

Early solutions proving popular with early adopters include integrating Microsoft Outlook with Oracle® Learning Management and a new graphical user interface for Managers to schedule holiday bookings f r o m within Oracle® Self-Service HR.

Applaud Solutions are embarking on validating the integration of their solutions through Oracle’s Application Integration Architecture (AIA) for Partners validation process.

Via EPR Network
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Silverdoor Grows Its Team With Eight New Starters

Eight new members of SilverDoor staff have started or are due to start within the next few months, bringing the head count at the company’s head office in Chiswick to more than 35 staff.

Eva Bogowicz has been appointed as finance manager, managing a team of five and reporting into Marcus Angell, SilverDoor’s founder and managing director. Her background is as a management accountant at VGC Group. As well as Bogowicz, Nimisha Dabasia has also joined the finance department as an accounts clerk. Dabasia’s background is with Nationwide Building Society as a senior banking officer.

Following on from the appointment of Segun Babalola as IT director earlier this year, the IT department also sees Hanish Vithal starting as software/technical support technician. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth with a BSc in Computing and Information Systems, he has been working as an IT consultant at Eurowide Media.

In addition to the permanent new recruits, SilverDoor has also taken on a number of 12 month university placements. James Hood, Danielle Lyons and Rafaela Baraldi are all from Bournemouth University, where they are studying Business Studies, and have been assigned various roles within corporate sales and marketing or finance. Priya Jotangia is also joining as a corporate sales and marketing placement from De Montfort University, Leicester, where she is currently studying an HND Business course.

Sofia Oragano also joins the corporate sales team. Oragano was previously a lettings manager at Foxtons.

SilverDoor represents more than 30,000 serviced apartments globally, with new serviced apartments in Belfast recently being added. Lucas Apartments located just ten minutes away from the city are housed within the iconic Lucas Building, a landmark Victorian factory that was completely renovated in 2001. Each modern serviced apartment features one or two double bedrooms, a luxury bathroom (with an additional en suite in the two bedroom apartments), a fully equipped kitchen and a furnished living area.

SilverDoor has also recently added new serviced apartments in Dublin. The New Street apartments are situated in central Dublin, just a short walk from St Stephen’s Green and other popular attractions including Temple Bar, St Patrick’s Cathedral and Dublin Castle.

The apartments range in size and layout and all are spacious and stylishly furnished and feature comfortable living rooms with contemporary furniture. The fully equipped kitchens offer modern appliances and the majority of the bedrooms feature double bedrooms with the option of converting to a twin bedroom if required.

About SilverDoor
SilverDoor International Serviced Apartments was incorporated as a limited company in March 2000 under its original name of Hotdigs. At the beginning of January 2006 the company changed its name to SilverDoor. The company was formed and continues to be led by managing director Marcus Angell. SilverDoor boasts an impressive client portfolio which includes many FTSE 100 companies such as Cadbury, MAN Group PLC, ICAP and Serco Group as well as relocation and hotel booking agents. SilverDoor offers serviced apartments in over 160 locations globally such as London, Paris, New York, Abu Dhabi and Toyko. SilverDoor has also just added to its portfolio with some new serviced apartments in London and a selection of Edinburgh serviced apartments to its portfolio as well as new serviced apartments in Manchester. SilverDoor is based in Chiswick, West London.

Via EPR Network
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Bigmouthmedia Hires MTV Executive, Richard Tan, As Chief Financial Officer

Formerly Senior Vice President of Finance and Operations at MTV Networks UK & Ireland, Richard Tan brings a wealth of global business experience to the new role. Responsible for the group’s financial structure and performance across 10 international territories, he will play a key strategic role in the continued development and expansion of bigmouthmedia, Europe’s largest independent digital marketing agency.

“As the group continues to press forward with its ambitious growth strategy, we have identified the need to recruit a CFO capable of injecting fresh impetus and expertise at a senior group level. Richard’s breadth of experience working with growing international businesses, implementing acquisitions and driving group synergies made him the ideal man for the job,” said Steve Leach, bigmouthmedia CEO.

Working at MTV Networks from 2004, Tan held responsibility for all financial and operational affairs across the brand’s portfolio including Paramount, Nickelodeon and the Nordic Region. Playing a key role in helping to drive business and commercial strategy, he oversaw the company’s business and performance analysis while managing all aspects of its infrastructure and service areas.

Previously, Tan spent eleven years progressing through several Sony Divisions including Sony Corporation of America, Sony Music Entertainment Europe, Sony Music Independent Network Europe (“SINE”) and Sony Music Entertainment UK. In his last position he was simultaneously Director, Finance of Sony Music Entertainment UK as well as Finance Director, SINE, where his responsibilities included driving UK e-media financial and commercial strategy and the management of Sony’s independent record company relationships.

Originally qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte and Touche, Tan’s appointment marks the latest in a series of senior executive appointments at bigmouthmedia. UK Managing Director Lyndsay Menzies was recently promoted to Chief Operating Officer while International Head of Sales and Marketing David Hardy, International Head of IT Rob Noronah and Head of Client Strategy Phil Stelter have all joined the company in recent months.

“I’m delighted to have joined bigmouthmedia at such a pivotal stage of the digital marketing industry’s development. The company is well financed, has an impressive international footprint and is uniquely positioned to capitalise on the market changes set to take place over the course of the near future,” said Tan.

About bigmouthmedia
Founded in 1997, bigmouthmedia is Europe’s largest independent digital marketing agency. With a team of over 200 staff located across 13 offices in 10 countries on 3 continents, the company maximises exposure for major brands online through a variety of fully integrated digital marketing channels: Search engine optimisation, PPC, Online Media Planning, Affiliate marketing, Social Networking, Brand Monitoring, Online PR and Web Analytics. Bigmouthmedia also provides up to date daily digital marketing news to ensure clients are fully informed and aware of all industry developments.

Via EPR Network
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Bigmouthmedia has announced the appointment of Lastminute.com CEO, Ian McCaig, to the company’s board in a non-executive role

Bigmouthmedia has announced the appointment of Ian McCaig to the company’s board. Joining bigmouthmedia, Europe’s largest independent digital marketing agency, in a non-executive role, the lastminute.com CEO brings a wealth of client side international business experience to the position.

“Digital marketing plays an increasingly important role in the success of online commerce and it is a particularly exciting time for this growth sector,” said McCaig. “The industry is set to take an even more prominent place on the global stage and, as a leading-edge brand with a great history and pan-European footprint, bigmouthmedia is perfectly positioned to remain at the forefront of this fast evolving industry.”

McCaig, who will remain in his lastminute.com post, has a history of involvement in companies poised to make a major impact on the international markets. He was appointed COO of lastminute.com in 2003 and has been responsible for the group’s operations throughout Europe. Since joining he has worked on the growth and development of lastminute.com and has successfully led the integration with Travelocity since its acquisition in July.

Aged 41, Ian was previously Vice President of 3G operations at Nokia and spent seven years overall in the telecommunications industry.

“We are particularly excited by the addition of Ian to our board”, commented Steve Leach, CEO of bigmouthmedia. “While his extensive experience in the online and technology sectors will deliver obvious benefits, his mastery of the mergers, acquisitions and integration process will be of great value as we enter the next phase in bigmouthmedia’s development.”

Bigmouthmedia GmbH was formed in 2006 with the merger of bigmouthmedia limited and Global Media GmbH to form the largest privately held digital marketing agency in Europe through the backing of The Carlyle Group. Nazo Moosa, a director at Carlyle who sits on the board of bigmouthmedia, said: “We believe these challenging markets provide an opportunity for the leaders in each industry to consolidate their position. We are committed to supporting bigmouthmedia in its aim to lead the fragmented digital marketing sector in Europe, and are confident Ian will play a key role in achieving this.”

About bigmouthmedia

Founded in 1997, bigmouthmedia is Europe’s largest independent digital marketing agency. With a team of over 200 staff across 13 offices in 10 countries on 3 continents, the company maximises exposure for major brands online through a variety of fully integrated digital marketing channels: Search engine optimisation, PPC, Online Media Planning, Affiliate Marketing, Social Networking, Brand Monitoring, Online PR and Web Analytics. Bigmouthmedia also provides up to date daily digital marketing news to ensure clients are fully informed and aware of all industry developments.

Leading the digital marketing strategies of a third of the UK’s most trusted brands, bigmouthmedia services over 300 big-brand customers globally including: Adidas, Hilton, British Airways, Tesco, Aer Lingus, BP, Barclays, Castrol, Conrad International, Dorling Kindersley, Early Learning Centre, , Fasthosts, Jumeirah, Canon, Samsung, Starbucks, Top Man, Debenhams, Which?, Lacoste, Euler Hermes and Wall Street Institute.

 

Via EPR Network
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Welcome to EPR Human Resources News

EPR Human Resources News is a new blog, part of EPR Network, that is going to be focused on and will be covering the human resources news and stories from press releases published on EPR Network.

EPR Network (EPR stands for express press release) is one of the nation’s largest press release distribution networks on Web. The EPR’s nationwide network includes 12 State based PR sites, one major PR forum and a number of industry specific PR blogs and what started as a hobby on Internet years ago turned out to be a rapidly growing business today. EPR Network is also known as one of the most trusted (human optimized, published, edited and monitored, spam/scam/low quality PR content free) PR sites on the web with more than 10,000 company and individual press releases distributed per month. EPR Network is putting your press releases on top of all major search engines’ results and is reaching thousands of individuals, companies, PR specialists, media professionals, bloggers and journalists every day.

EPR Network has thousands of clients around the world including global 500 corporations like Hilton Hotels, Barclays Bank, AXA Insurance, Tesco UK, eBay/Skype, Emirates, just to name a few. The network’s PR web sites are currently reaching from 150,000 to sometimes 500,000 unique visitors per month while our viral reach could possibly go to as much as 1M people per month through our presence across various social media sites. EPR Network was established in 2004 and as of May 2008 it had more than 800,000 press releases (pages) published on its network.

If you have a press release to be distributed, you can do it over here: press release distribution