Category: In Business

Webvan, Boo, Pets.com. Remember them? Long-dead dotcom companies that illustrate the rags-to-riches – and back to rags – tales of the first cyber-boom.

The second annual survey from jobsite Workingmums.co.uk has found that women who ask about flexible working before they go on maternity leave are likely to get it.  However, a large percentage of women are still not making that request.
 
The survey of over 1,100 respondents found that:

• 57% of mothers who discussed the possibility of flexible working either got what they wanted or were able to reach a compromise with their employers
• 70% of these mothers felt that their job ranged from flexible to extremely flexible

You’re Fired! is a phrase heard many times from Sir Alan Sugar during The Apprentice Whilst Sir Alan calls himself Britain’s most belligerent boss we found out that 85 per cent of the British workforce has suffered a nightmare boss just like him, so how can we turn our nightmares into dreams?

This year’s winner of ‘The Apprentice’, sales manager, Lee McQueen, was caught out during the interview stage for lying on his CV about how long he had been at university.’

Despite this, he was still hired, but, as Victoria Band from The One Group explains, real life isn’t like that and lying or even exaggerating to a prospective employer is never a good idea.

“All of us want to make a good impression,” said Victoria. “And it’s only natural that we’re occasionally tempted to tweak the truth to make us seem more suited to a particular job.

Research highlights need for mobile communications as senior staff spend a minimum of 11.5 weeks away from team members every year.

• 60pc of small business senior decision makers that we spoke to spend a minimum of five hours out of the office a week – equivalent to 32.5 working days a year.
• 42pc of small businesses consider they pay too much for their mobile communications plan and yet 77pc do not have a plan that balances the cost of phone calls, mobile emails and text messages.
• 65pc also do not have the means to control the cost of international calls from mobile phones.

The option to have flexible and mobile working can be a deal breaker when choosing a new job according to 70 per cent of respondents to a commuter survey carried out by THUS plc.  An encouraging 72 per cent of employees said that their employers actively promote this style of working within their corporate cultures which demonstrates how UK companies are embracing flexible and mobile working.  However, this still means that 28 per cent of companies are not currently offering flexible and mobile working and risk losing out on the best candidates.

Are you like a Parrot and need colour in everything regardless of cost? Or are you a Cheetah and need everything at speed? Or perhaps you are a Panda or Polar Bear and are happy with everything in black and white?
 
Leading behavioural psychologist, broadcaster and journalist, Donna Dawson, says that office printing habits are the best way to examine the dynamics of the modern workplace, where people’s behaviour can be equated to The Human Zoo.

IF you’re tired of your staff singing the blues help is at hand with a unique team building experience to improve working attitudes.
Orchard Studios, based in the stunning Cheshire countryside, is opening its doors to businesses across the country and offering a fantastic day of team building with a difference.
As well as being an innovative, inspiring and highly motivational experience, a day at Orchard Studios will cost you only a fraction of the cost of most corporate events – and best of all, it’s great fun and it works.

Tenon, the accountancy and business advisery firm is sponsoring The Tenon Award for Entrepreneurial Spirit in the 2008 National Business Awards for the second year running.
Tenon, who has just announced its sponsorship of the Entrepreneur of the Year Award in The National Business Awards for Scotland, has more than 1900 staff in 44 offices and is a leading adviser to entrepreneurs nationwide.

David Cameron has pledged that if the Conservative party win the next election, he will give a third of ministerial jobs to women.

Companies are more at risk from disputes than they think, according to new research.

Bank errors, delays and charges are costing UK businesses almost £100 million every year as companies are forced to waste time and money chasing lost or delayed international payments, according to new research.

Madonna and the Prince of Wales are two of an estimated 3000 select people who are being invited to join the world’s first private flight sharing club in an effort to reduce the environmental impact and cost of private jets that are currently flying empty 40% of the time.
The Flightshare Private Members Guild is the brainchild of Farnborough UK based David Lacy, an aviation veteran of 26 years who was the first to introduce carbon offsets to the European private jet industry last year.

Opus Energy – a leading independent electricity supplier to businesses – have just launched Opus Evolution, a real-time online energy purchasing system that gives customers direct access to wholesale electricity markets.
The system, which, for the first time, gives smaller (non-half hourly) customers the chance to take advantage of pricing deals normally only offered to larger (half hourly) customers, is the first of its type in the UK.