Wednesday, March 20, 2013

employee prefer absenteeism over technology breakdowns: Survey

The worst notion of Man versus Robot might just be coming true, at least at the workplace. Small business owners prefer a sick, sniffling employee to call in absent from than to face a computer’s blank screen from a computer crash.
About 75% of small business owners found a computer breakdown to be more disruptive to business than a sick employee, and 77% reported that malfunctions caused them to lose out on opportunities or miss deadlines, thus negatively impacting their business.
A company’s productivity to technology comes hand in hand: Eighty-six percent mentioned that these technological breakdowns caused productivity losses at some point in the business. Small businesses take a major hit from this especially, considering how 31% of respondents are willing to trade in a week’s worth of vacation to prevent any technological mishaps.
Despite this anxiety, technology-related investments are still relatively important as a business investment, with about 51% of respondents citing technology tool-related capital investments such as new software, mobile apps and cloud computing services as their priority.
The Brother SBO 2013 Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research among 500 U.S. small business owners of companies with less than 100 employees, between 21^st February 2013 to 4^th March 2013, using an email invitation and online survey.

BISHWA SRIVASTAV
PGDM 2nd SEM

DMK puts UPA in crisis: Govt fails to get all-party support for Sri Lankan Tamils resolution

The prospect of sending out a collective message from Parliament on the Sri Lankan Tamil issue looked set to be a non-starter Wednesday after opposition parties as well as allies refused to back a resolution proposed by the government in the backdrop of the DMK pulling out of the UPA on the issue.
Barring the backing of Tamil Nadu parties such as the AIADMK and DMK, the government failed to secure the support of the BJP, Left as well as parties such as the SP for a strongly-worded resolution that virtually sought to pin Sri Lanka for alleged atrocities committed against its ethnic Tamils.
"The meeting was inconclusive," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath told reporters after an all-party meeting convened by Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar. He said the meeting had been called to end the impasse in Parliament over the Lankan Tamil issue, but "it has not produced any results".
The government, however, looked prepared to move amendments to the US-sponsored draft resolution on the issue that is to be taken up before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Friday.
Sources said the amendments could be in the nature of getting Colombo to agree to set up an independent investigating agency which meets international approval, to look into the alleged atrocities.
This formulation appeared to be a step forward from the US-sponsored draft resolution which calls for an independent and credible investigation. Dilip Sinha, India's permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, will consult the US and other interlocutors who are part of the UNHRC on India's proposal, the sources said. But there is a good chance this may not carry, they added.

BISHWA SRIVASTAV
PGDM 2nd sem

Living office life by the numbers: Survey

Ever thought that numbers were only for your finance and accounting departments? A new survey by CareerBuilder accounts for the everyday office worker in a new way – by collecting statistics about the life of an everyday office worker in America.
The everyday office worker is no longer dressed to the nines. About 33% of employees are allowed to sport jeans at the office, while 43% come to work in business casual wear. Suit and ties are not in style, with only four percent wearing formal business suits.
Moreover, distractions are aplenty at the office, but the one which tops the list would be chatting with colleagues about non-work related stuff, with 34% of respondents citing that as the top distraction. Others include internet searches (22%), loud co-workers (18%) and personal calls or emails (17%). How do you drown out these distractions? Music soothes the soul – at least for younger workers, apparently. About 40% of workers aged 18 to 24 groove along to the daily grind of office life plugged into some music source.
Workers are walking the talk. At least 51% of workers climb at least one flight of stairs when they reach the office, and 14% make a greater effort to climb five or more flights of stairs. More than that, they are making healthy choices during after-work happy hours, with 31% of respondents opting for water. However, 35% of employees still prefer the traditional beer for their happy hour.
This survey was conducted online within the US by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder among 3,991 full-time employees
ANAMIKA SINGH

PGDM 2nd sem
20/3/2013

Young job expectations ‘don’t match’ future labour market

Employers in certain sectors ‘will struggle to recruit’

The career aspirations of young people “have nothing in common” with the future demands of the job market, a survey has revealed.
A major piece of research, conducted by the Education and Employers Taskforce (EET), suggests that this mismatch will be a “significant problem” for employers.
Results from the EET’s survey of 11,000 13- to 16-year-olds, outlined in its report ‘Nothing in Common’, show that teenagers do not understand the breadth of job opportunities across the economy. This leads them to identify limited career aspirations and skills, which hamper their career progression.
“For young people, misalignment in the character of ambitions and the availability of realistic employment prospects makes it much less likely that they will experience smooth school-to-work transitions,” the report warned.
The research also identified a lack of understanding about the potential earning power for different jobs. While the average wage of the top 10 occupations (£36,000) is higher than that of the 10 least popular occupations (£25,536), the report said, it should not be assumed that young people are responding to salary alone.
In fact seven of the 10 least popular jobs among young people (including HR, locksmith and surveyor) typically pay more than the UK’s average salary (£21,473), and in some cases substantially more, the EET findings showed.
But more than a third of the teenagers surveyed (36.3 per cent) were interested in just 10 careers, teacher, lawyer, accountant, actor, police, IT consultant, doctor, sportsperson, army/navy/airforce/fire fighter and psychologist. And half of respondents career interests were in just three of 25 broad occupational sectors.
“While some employers will be spoilt for choice in considering new recruits, others are very likely to be struggling to find young people who are aware of the job opportunities they have to offer and well prepared by their educational choices for them,” the report said.
Career guidance, or a lack of it, has previously been highlighted as a reason for the gap in information.

Last year, Michael Heseltine conducted a review to identify how the UK could better promote economic growth. One of his recommendations was a call for greater levels of employer engagement in education.
The EET’s report also highlights the importance of schemes like the CIPD’s Learning to Work programme and the work of UK Commission for Employment and Skills to encourage greater employer engagement in education in general.

Issues of inadequate careers advice were raised by the CIPD last week, in its Employee Outlook: Focus on Apprenticeships. This research suggested that the benefits of apprenticeships have not been relayed to school children meaning many could miss out on those opportunities.
BISHWA SRIVASTAV
PGDM 2ND SEM
IIMT COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT

hr news hr leader

HR leaders rank talent acquisition as top priority in 2013

New research shows the impact of North America’s slow, but steady, economic recovery on recruitment: 90% of businesses in North America are planning to recruit in 2013.

The study comes from the Michael Page Global HR Barometer 2013, a survey of over 4,300 Human Resources leaders across the globe carried out by worldwide recruitment specialist Michael Page.
The research also found that a solid recruitment and talent acquisition strategy was the top priority for 2013 for HR leaders in North America.
The study reveals that talent acquisition is also the most common function among HR leaders globally. Despite being a key area of focus for HR professionals, for half of businesses the search for good candidates remains "difficult" or "very difficult".
As a result, North American HR departments and companies are adopting multiple channels to source the best talent: 96% use online job-posting sites, and 88% use their own company websites, but only 75% employ recruitment consultancies.
The percentage of North American HR leaders who rely on external recruitment help is lower than the global average, which is closer to 83%. One thing that HR leaders agree on across all regions however is that recruitment consultancies are the best route to finding and recruiting at managerial levels and above.
Richard Vickers, regional managing director of Michael Page North America, comments: "It's not easy to find good people, and it can be equally tricky to retain them. Thankfully, HR leaders now have a range of recruitment channels available and aren't shy about using them.
"Recruitment consultancies, in particular, have the experience and the practice to make talent acquisition easier and more effective. They have access to the widest range of suitable candidates and can help HR leaders select the most appropriate person for the job.

"Despite the economic recovery being slower than most would have like in the region, a large majority of North American businesses are still planning to recruit signaling an increase in optimism. It means that acquiring the best talent in all areas is more important than ever. In particular, companies need to attract quality HR leaders so they can in turn help them bring in better managers in other departments."

mukesh kumar

pgdm 2nd sem

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According to HHS, these regulations represent “the most sweeping changes to the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules since they were first implemented.” The regulations are based on changes under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA).

New provisions

Although the new regulations and the changes to the HIPAA rules mainly affect the healthcare community, there are some things employers that sponsor HIPAA-covered plans need to think about:

Privacy notice updates. The HIPAA final regulations require several updates to the privacy notice required under the HIPAA Privacy Rule.
Business associates. The new regulations also change the HIPAA rules by expanding the definition of a business associate to include subcontractors and altering what business associate agreements must contain.
Breach notification requirements. The final regulations provide that an acquisition, access, use, or disclosure of protected health information (PHI) in an impermissible manner is presumed to be a breach unless the covered entity or business associate demonstrates that there is a low probability that the PHI has been compromised based on a risk assessment of at least four factors set out in the regulations.

Other provisions and deadlines

The new regulations also make various other changes. For example, they increase penalties for noncompliance with the HIPAA rules. They also expand the rights of individuals in several ways (e.g., by allowing patients to ask for a copy of their electronic medical records in electronic form and by setting new limits on how individuals’ information is used and disclosed for fundraising and marketing reasons).
The new final regulations are effective on March 26, 2013, and covered entities and business associates must generally comply with the applicable requirements of the final regulations by September 23, 2013.
Jessica Webb-Ayer, J.D., is an attorney editor for BLR’s human resources and employment law publications. She has written and edited countless publications on labor and employment law and is the editor of the Benefits Compliance Advisor online newsletter and the benefits manual, Benefits Compliance: Strategies for Plans, Programs & Policies. Ms. Webb-Ayer has also worked on various Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and workers’ compensation/safety products. She graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Psychology from Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, and graduated cum laude with a law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in Knoxville, Tennessee. Ms. Webb-Ayer is licensed to practice law in Tennessee.
ANAMIKA SINGH
PGDM 2nd sem 20/3 2013

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

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Jharkhand Academic Council apprises teachers of evaluation process

TNN | Mar 17, 2013, 02.37 AM IST

READ MORE Jharkhand|HRD department secretary|Anand Bhushan|Jharkhand Academic Council

RANCHI: Chairperson of Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC), Anand Bhushan and HRD department secretary, D K Tiwari convened a meeting with all district education officers (DEO) and directors of matriculation paper evaluation centres in Jharkhand on Saturday to discuss the evaluation process.

Bhushan said, "Step marking has been introduced for the first time by JAC so it was important to inform all about the procedure. We also informed them about the other general rules of evaluation which have to be followed by the teachers." He added, "If a student has solved a maths problem and his first step is correct but the answer is wrong he will be getting some marks for the correct approach. This way the students will be encouraged to understand what they study rather than mug up what they have to write in the examinations."

Tiwari said he does not want students to feel cheated. "The meeting was convened to ensure that the examiners are informed about the rules and regulations. JAC had earlier organized several workshops for the teachers to inform them about step marking. This meeting will ensure that teachers are more aware about the marking process and do justice to students," he said.

Names of blacklisted teachers, who will not be given evaluation charges, have also been handed over to DEOs in the meeting. "We informed the DEOs about the dos and don'ts and also about their duty during evaluation. Model answer papers have been distributed among DEOs to be circulated among the teachers which will help them in understanding the process of step marking," said Bhushan.

Evaluation for matriculation examinations will start on March 21. Bhushan said, "More than 22.5 lakh copies will be evaluated in 37 evaluation centres across the state. The results will most probably be declared by May 21."

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Global Events Company Opens in Miami

Away from its stunning beaches and Keys, Miami offers a strong business culture, the region's leading financial center, and access to one of the world's fastest growing markets, Latin America. No wonder that Spencer Green, Chairman of the high-end global media and event company GDS international is developing its next office here, in the heart of Florida.
UK-based GDS opened its first US office in New York City and has never looked back. Now Spencer Green is looking to tap into the sophisticated metropolitan business culture of Miami and develop his next generation of business leaders.
"All our research points to Miami," says Spencer. "The people here have the drive we need to take our already strong Americas project portfolio to the next level. I am very excited about this new growth opportunity. Having a strong presence in one of the fastest growing markets globally is a core focus for us."
GDS has been developing its global presence from offices currently open in New York City, Wales, Malaysia, Australia and corporate headquarters in Bristol England.
"Miami will be a great addition to GDS," says Spencer. "We grew 42 percent in 2010. I hope to reach that again next year, and Miami has a huge role to play."
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ANAMIKA SINGH
PGDM 2nd sem
19/3/2013

IIM-A society to meet today to discuss newly-proposed legislation

AHMEDABAD: The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) Society will meet on Saturday to discuss the newly-proposed IIM Bill 2012, amid fears that the proposed legislation will erode the autonomy of the premier institute.

The society has the highest number of individual donor members - 130 - while in other IIMs the central and state governments are major stakeholders. What is pinching the most is that the role of the society is missing in the proposed legislation. It means that the society will lose its relevance if the Bill is passed.

Under the new legislation, the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) proposes to foster excellence in management education, on the pattern of Indian Institutes of technology (IITs). This will allow IIMs to assume university status in order to give MBA and doctoral degrees, instead of the diplomas.

But there is a huge flipside. Most society members are worried about the provisions, including the proposal for introduction of senate system in IIMs, replacing the faculty council.

The society members are apprehensive that several outsiders - even those with political affiliations - will become senators and influence important academic decisions.

Now under the new rules, Type-IV and above quarters will have fancy vitrified tiles and flats below Type-IV will get ceramic tiles. These flats will also get plastic distemper.

They fear interference of University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). The Act before parliament gives a say to MHRD in the constitution of search committee to selecting a director and chairman. This was done by the board of governors so far.

The Bill is also silent on accountability of the IIM board of governors and who do they report to. The society may suggest significant amendments in clauses which have the potential to compromise the autonomy of IIM-A.

"The current model of governance of IIM is time-tested and has produced good results. These changes will take autonomy of the institute closer to the university culture and structure which may adversely reflect on academics, programmes, curriculum and new activities. In the final analysis, the quality of education and Brand IIM-A would suffer," said a source familiar with the development.

BISHWA SRIVASTAVA

PGDM 2nd SEM

IIMT COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT

Human Resource Management