Category: Uncategorised

Apprenticeships – What business owners need to know

Have you ever considered bringing in new talent to your business with apprenticeships? Following Labour leader Ed Miliband’s recent pledge to guarantee them for all school leavers who get the grades by 2020, should his party win the general election of course, it’s a subject that’s once again back on the table. Miliband argued that better training and higher wages were what would be needed to give the work schemes a much-needed overhaul, and suggested that they could play a significant role in boosting productivity and driving the economy forward.…
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Why taking a lunch break as a boss is important!

Research by Bupa has revealed that almost two thirds of British workers are too busy to take the twenty-minute lunch break that is required by law when they’re working shifts of six hours or more. In fact, a whopping 28% are not taking any breaks at all during their working day. Take a second to think about how this applies to your business. Is there a culture of employees being chained to their desks until the end of their shift? And have you really taken the time to consider what…
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Lessons To Take Away From The Secretary Job Advert Disaster

Recruitment firm ICS faced a massive backlash recently after advertising a job role with a raunchy image of a woman bent over in a short skirt. The advert was posted on social media and included the caption ‘Secretary required in Mayfair. Stockings optional! £35K. Ready to assume the position?’ Unsurprisingly, the firm was inundated by messages from angry Twitter users. ICS tried to defend its position saying that it was simply a reference to the 2002 erotic movie Secretary, about a sexually submissive office worker, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal. By then…
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Who owns your LinkedIn contacts?

You probably agree that LinkedIn can be a fantastic tool for any business owner or ambitious professional seeking to make a mark on their industry. You can touch base with old contacts, keep your network updated about what you have to offer, join groups of likeminded people, and even generate qualified leads for your business. And, of course, it feels like a much more productive use of your time than Facebook! If you and your employees are reliant on the social site though, there’s a very big issue that you…
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How flexible are your flexible working policies

Though more than half of workers are aware of their right to request flexible working, less than a quarter have made a request with their employers, according to a recent study by O2 Business. The main reasons cited by employees were a lack of trust (chosen by 31% of the 2,000 survey participants), a business culture that just doesn’t encourage working outside of the usual office setting (28%), and a lack of the appropriate technology to facilitate it (20%). It’s time to think about how you could make flexible working…
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Are You Doing Your Bit For Youth Employment?

A recent study by CIPD suggests that whilst organisations as a whole are improving when it comes to the opportunities that they offer young people, small and medium sized businesses are lagging behind. Almost 50% of companies now offer apprenticeships, and 80% employ at least one young person. SMEs though were much less likely to pull their weight in these key areas. Graduate recruitment was another indicator that smaller businesses didn’t measure up. Just one in ten offered a graduate training programme, whilst 51% of bigger companies used this as…
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Facebook For Recruitment: Are You Being Left Behind?

Whether you use it to plan your social life, keep abreast of the latest news, or just to keep up to date with friends and family, it’s likely that Facebook plays a pretty significant role in your life. The social network giant has over a billion registered users, and during December 2014, there was an average of 890 million active daily users. In short, it’s an integral part of modern life, and there’s no denying that it’s shaped the way we communicate and interact. All things considered then, why do…
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How do you deal with office romances

We spend a massive chunk of our lives at work, so it’s not surprising that many people have enjoyed an office romance at some point or another. Close friendships are often formed when working alongside the same people day in, day out, and this can sometimes blossom into more. In fact, a survey from CareerBuilder.com found that 30% of workplace romances ended in marriage, suggesting that it’s not always just a quick fling – many are in it for the longer term. When you’re the boss though, it pays to…
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