Archive for December, 2011
Working In Roles Where People Skills Are Essential
Posted by admin in Human Resources on December 29, 2011
The jobs market is a competitive arena where skills and expertise are invaluable. While some people might spend years training for a specific role, others may be find they are ‘naturally’ good at something; be it organisation, time management, public speaking or delegation.
People skills in particular is an increasingly valuable skill, whether it involves conversing over the phone, entertaining clients, winning new business via the pitch process or simply dealing with people on a one-to-one basis. There are many jobs in today’s market that require strong people skills so if you’re someone who enjoys working with other people, what kind of roles could you find yourself working in?
The first role that requires excellent people skills is – believe it or not – working as a bouncer. Bouncers or door staff are required to manage and control crowds attending large scale public events such as music festivals as well as smaller venues like pubs and night clubs. Bouncers have the unenviable task of dealing with people management in tricky circumstances such as people who have had too much to drink, are under the influence of drugs and are often faced with this in crowded environments. On the other hand, however, many people thoroughly enjoy the challenege of working with people in potentially difficult environments and also take pleasure from being able to help and protect individuals as part of their role.
Another role that involves people skills is working with vulnerable individuals such as adults with learning difficulties or children in care. In instances such as these, people skills such as understanding, good communication, patience and a caring attitude are imperative. What’s more, people skills that are put to work in social or health care roles are often to be found in abundance and individuals regularly specialise in one area such as working with the elderly as well as the circumstances where individuals need support such as basic tasks like shopping or engaging in recreational activities.
Finally, if working in an office environment is appealing, why not consider a career in human resources? Human resources addresses every aspect of employment; right through from recruitment to training and potentially the circumstances under which an employee leaves a role as well. Human resources often deal with sensitive or confidential information and should consider themselves a ‘people person’. A good understanding of the human psyche is also valuable since working out what motivates an employee and harnessing this is key to increasing profitability and productivity.
Are you good with people? Why not consider this as a career option where you can utilise your talent on a daily basis!
How To Resolve Disputes In The Workplace
Posted by admin in Human Resources on December 28, 2011
Working with others can be an enjoyable experience but unfortunately this can also prove to be a breeding ground for misunderstanding and disputes. Normally disputes are the result of miscommunication or hear-say and can be resolved quickly or without mediation. Sadly, sometimes this isn’t the case and workplace disputes can have an extremely detrimental effect on the productivity as well as mental and physical well being of employees. So how can you resolve disputes in the workplace.
The first top tip for resolving dispute is to ‘be the bigger man’. It’s often easy to fall foul of gossip and tittle tattle but rising above this and choosing not to engage in this kind of behaviour is the first step in resolving disputes. Opting not to fuel the fire and instead focusing your attention on work and other matters allows you to put petty workplace arguments into perspective and set the bar for employee behaviour.
Sometimes opting not to engage simply isn’t enough to either prevent disputes beginning in the first place or escalating. In instances where you feel like a dispute has got out of hand, is preying heavily on your mind or affecting your attendance at work, it’s time to escalate the issue and speak to a member of management or a more senior team leader. It’s tough to stay motivated at work when a rolling dispute is affecting your productivity and this should be the concern of any manager. Attempt to speak in confidence to your manager and have the problem resolved discreetly or brought to a head by a member of management.
In some situations, bringing in a member of management is not always possible or suitable. Luckily, this is the perfect opportunity for an HR expert to act as a mediator between the two parties and resolve the dispute. Human resources consultants will be trained in managing disputes that have become a grievance as well as handling any subsequent disciplinary matters within the margins of employment law. Raising an issue with your human resources department is confidential and discrete and can be a great way of resolving a grievance in the workplace.
Have you experienced a dispute in the workplace? Take steps to resolve the dispute by using the aforementioned tips.Taking control of your experience in the workplace ensures for a more productive, enjoyable and rewarding experience on a personal level as well as creating a better environment for your colleagues.
Travel Benefit – How Recruitment Companies Can Avoid The Pitfalls of Implementation
Posted by admin in Human Resources on December 27, 2011
Travel benefit is a government scheme (travel and subsistence scheme) which utilises the right for a worker to state his or her normal place of work. The worker can then claim for travel and subsistence to and from their work location, and their home.
When it comes to agency workers under the scheme the worker deducts a substantial amount for travel and subsistence from his or her tax or national insurance (NI) contributions. Their respective agency then makes an administration charge, which is also deducted from the workers usual tax or NI contributions. The agency can then return the travel and subsistence payment to the worker as a tax free payment. The processes involved for recruitment agencies is quite complex involving a number of actions and processes which take advantage of government (HMRC) dispensations surrounding travel and other work expenses.
Dispensations are granted to individual agencies by HMRC, covering the expenses and degree to which their scheme applies.
The worker claims for travel related expenses incurred during their working day.
A deduction is made in respect of the agreed amounts of travel and subsistence.
This has the effect of reducing their tax and national insurance contributions (NIC) liability.
The agency applies an administration charge to cover the costs of scheme membership.
The agency then returns some or all of the deduction to the worker as a tax and NIC free payment.
Despite the complexity and work involved this arrangement means both the worker and the agency are better off financially thanks to the travel benefit scheme, there are ways to reduce the chances of errors and falling foul of the regulations by using travel benefit software.
Travel benefit software
The beauty of using a travel benefit software is an agency can automate the whole process described above and ensure that all benefits, payments and dispensations are within the requirements and regulations as laid down by the government.
For instance where payment of travel or subsistence for a specific journey are disallowed because transport or food are provided on-site, the application will suppress the payment for that particular journey. Equally both the level of the deduction and the amount of tax or NIC can be defined by the user. The deductions can be calculated either as a percentage of the pay sacrifice or of the saving in pay as you earn (PAYE) and NIC of the worker.
In simpler terms some great aspects of travel benefit software include.
It will routinely compare the payroll effects of scheme membership for the worker in establishing both savings to be made and also worker eligibility.
Mileage can be calculated either based on HMRC scale rates, or any other agreed rates.
Subsistence can be calculated on a daily basis, using the number of hours worked in a day.
Where applicable, administration fee can be charged either as a daily rate for each day worked, or as a weekly rate.
These are just some of the benefits that can be gained by recruitment agencies when using travel benefit software.
Travel benefit software is something that the author, Ken Pride believes in passionately since the regulations around the benefit changed. The increased burden on recruitment agencies has made it a must to employ such software, preferably as part of an integrated suite of recruitment agency software.