Totaljobs backs APA

Totaljobs.com, one of the UK’s largest job boards has today told its audience of PAs that membership of APA will definitely give them the edge when job hunting or looking for promotion.

In a recent survey by London Economics for CCPMO it concluded that professional qualifications and membership of a professional body adds substantially to your earning potential over your working life. For Managers, the report suggests, this can be as much as £152,000 (or equivalent to 2.5 years extra income). For PAs this could be as much as an extra £65,000 in potential earnings over their full working lifetime for those with membership and professional qualifications.

Totaljobs.com is the UK's most visited commercial recruitment website holding the Number 1 market share position since January 2006*. Typically it carries over 150,000 live vacancies at any one time; generating around 1 million online job applications from 2 million unique users that visit the website over 3.4 million times per month.

Now that IS an endorsement.

Colin

London Connections

If you work in London or visit the Capital regularly here is a chance to meet people from many different networks across London and to enjoy an evening of networking, knowledge and nibbles!

Organisers, Business Scene, promise this will be an excellent opportunity for developing contacts in the area or gaining even more exposure through their low cost exhibiting & goody bags!

Speaker Warren Cass will be sharing tips on how to make the most of networking online and social media to raise your business profile, generate more traffic and increase sales!

When: 15th September, 18:00hrs
Where: Regus, New Broad Street, London

For more details go to: http://www.business-scene.com/event_detail.php?e=10671

APA

Talking Turkey

Over the last few weeks I have become increasingly frustrated by, what I call, ‘lazy communication’ and have concluded it must be a facet of modern life. I wonder if the daily use of emails and texts has reduced us to glib gibbering.

Now, I would be the last to suggest we take a step back to flowery Dickensian language but somewhere along the way we have lost our thread. I personally think we have a responsibility to listen to what people are saying to us, consider the content and then construct a response based on our judgement, knowledge and opinion.

What is really starting to bother me is that people are responding to serious requests with ‘single word answers’ – where possible with no more than three letters. When I was taught the art of serious communication; actually radio telephony (RT), as used in aircraft, I was taught to consider ABC (Accuracy, Brevity and Clarity), while also applying Relevance and Logic.

I always remember being told that if (as a Pilot) you are asked by a paratrooper if it is safe to jump now, you must never start the sentence with ‘Yes’ if you then intend to go on to say ‘In just a minute when we are over safe ground’. If you do, then you’ll be speaking to yourself and have a stick of injured soldiers to deal with!

So next time you ask someone if they like the report you wrote and they answer ‘Yes’, don’t take it at face value and ask then if that was a qualified yes or with certain reservations! Join me and outlaw ‘Lazy Communications’.

Gareth

Chocolate Heaven - low fat, no meltdown

It could be the perfect summer chocolate. Swiss scientists say they have stumbled upon the formula for a chocolate which doesn’t melt in your hands — while also being ultra low fat.

The Zurich-based firm Barry Callebaut claims its Vulcano chocolate can withstand heat up to 55C, nearly double the temperature at which normal chocolate melts, while containing 90% fewer calories. Vulcano will be sold as an ingredient to confectionary giants such as Nestlé and Cadbury’s, meaning anti-melt and low-calorie versions of household brands such as Kit Kat and Dairy Milk could go on sale within two years. Although the firm is keeping the formula secret, experts believe its scientists may have substituted some cocoa butter — which is fatty and melts at about 30C — with starch. Previous attempts at creating melt-proof chocolates have resulted in unappealing, rock-hard bars.

“Like many great discoveries, our engineers actually stumbled upon the technique by accident,” said a spokeswoman for Barry Callebaut, the worlds largest chocolatier. She added that the texture is “more crispy than creamy”.

Sounds interesting, although I think a tasting session is mandatory before declaring it a success.

Shelley, APA
Based on an article in the Sunday Times 26th July 2009

Getting the best for your Broadband bucks

Businesses have been urged to check whether they could save money by switching to a new broadband provider.

Ed Dawson, editor of Broadband.co.uk, said that despite the recession heightening the need to reduce expenditure where possible, 50 per cent of web users have not switched provider during the last four years. Consequently, they will be paying the same rate for the service, he suggested, despite the many advances made in the industry during this time. He added: "They get stuck on a tariff, and can find they are paying twice or sometimes three times as much as they could be. They also end up with slower download speeds because they signed up to a cap four years ago. Download limits are generally more generous." He suggested that it may not even be necessary to switch to secure a better price, as simply negotiating an improved deal with the current provider may suffice.

According to a Consumer Choices report, the average cost of broadband has fallen by at least 37 per cent and the average speed has increased by at least 700 per cent over the last four years.

It's well worth asking if this has been considered in your business, it could be a considerable saving in difficult times.

Gareth

Eureka - Trade Marks Online

You can now apply to register trade marks for businesses, goods or services in the UK through businesslink.gov.uk - protecting what makes your business unique.

BusinessLink has worked with the Intellectual Property Office to make the process as smooth and simple as possible. Find out more or apply to register a trade mark today at: www.businesslink.gov.uk/trademarkapp

This is useful and definitely worth remembering when the business does something it feels needs protection.

Gareth

The economy is like our weather

Cool for the time of year with occasional heavy downpours

There was hope for some rest from the relentless round of economic gloom and doom today with the FTSE rising again, and for the last 9 days. Although pessimists shrugged it off as a market over reaction to a few passing sunbeams.

Sales in UK shops shot up 1.2% in June following as a few hot, early summer days boosted clothing purchases, official figures show. The jump was much more than the 0.3% rise expected by economists. Retail sales had fallen 0.9% in May. And Mortgage approvals by the major banks increased to a 15-month high in June, according to the British Bankers' Association (BBA). Some 35,235 mortgages were approved for house purchases in June, up from 31,919 the previous month, the BBA said. The figures reflected the banks' increased ability to lend and was 65% up on the same month a year earlier.

However the Bank of England concluded today that the UK economy contracted 0.8% between April and June, this was more than double the figure economists had expected.
While an improvement on the previous quarter, the figures may indicate that the recovery could take longer than previously had been thought.

The contraction was much less than the 2.4% seen in the first quarter but was still above analysts' 0.3% prediction. The latest figures take the annual rate of decline to 5.6%, the biggest fall since records began in 1955.

Liam Byrne, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said that he was cautious but confident that growth was going to return at the end of the year. "We are not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination, but what today's figures show is that the pace of the downturn is easing," he said.

Industry groups, including APA, called on the Bank of England to continue its actions to stimulate the economy.

Gareth

Jones the Cash

Is he starting to annoy anyone else, or is it just me? Peter Jones, the Jolly Green Giant of Dragon’s Den, is running a serious risk of taking that fatal step from credible businessman to celebrity; and worse believing his celebrity status, and going for the showbiz dollar. When he was presented with a CBE in April by the Queen at Windsor I thought it was great news for innovators and business, little did I know it stood for Celebrity with Burgeoning Ego.

In Dragon’s Den where he is unquestionably a genius he has won hero status but to go from there to singing for Children-in-Need, while worthy, was a seriously bad judgement call. But his worst decision to date has to be his foray into advertising for moneysupermarket.com where someone has conned him into losing all his dignity and riding around a set on a shopping trolley. He should have applied some of his wisdom shared with investees when assessing this one – “You haven’t thought it through, it isn’t a serious business opportunity”.

I have to admit he would make a great Darth Vader but I really wish he hadn’t had to cross to the Dark Side to get the role. In my mind the score so far is Business Credibility Nil, Celebrity Fees 1. Definitely a home goal Peter!

What does anyone else think?

Gareth
Photo by John Stillwell/WPA/Getty Images

APA Business Leaders Survey 2009

It’s that time of year again and APA is preparing to send its Annual Business Leaders survey for 2009 out to the unsuspecting masses. For the first time in its history (albeit relatively short) APA will be sending its survey to almost 500,000 (yes, half a million!) named individuals.

Blog readers are invited to take an early look at the survey and complete it if they wish; please take a steer from your Boss and ensure the responses are theirs or your interpretation of theirs. You can find the survey at the top left hand margin of the Blog Page above the APA logo.

The results will be published in September.

Gareth

The height of Diplomacy

Places are filling quickly for the next APA Diploma in Personal Assistance (DipPA) course starting on 1st September 2009. But a few remain and PAs interested in elevating their knowledge to the next level and adding the prestigious DipPA letters to their name are encouraged to register now.

In some areas of the UK Companies may be eligible for funding from Business Link or the Learning and Skills Council of up to a £1,000 towards the cost of the training.

Gareth Osborne, Director General of APA and one of the presenters on the course says, ”This is a challenging programme and really tests the knowledge and skills of a PA but passing it will set them amongst the professionals elite and genuinely lift their knowledge base above that of a qualified manager. The Diploma is currently the highest achievement in the profession and sets the scene for the new Foundation Degree; under development at this time and due to be launched in 2010. There is no better time for businesses to invest in training and prepare for the return to a growing economy with all the tolls and skills in place to take full advantage of it.”

PAs wanting more information about the programme can visit the Training Zone featured on the navigation bar on the APA Home Page or email shelley.young@paprofessional.com.

Shelley

Dressing Appropriately

Visible bra straps, teeny tops - this woman boss has had enough! Dress for the office girls, not a hen night!

The young woman sitting opposite me had submitted a pitch-perfect application letter and one of the best CVs I'd seen. She had been one of almost 70 applicants for a job on the magazine where I'm editor, and her application alone should have been my star candidate, but the minute she walked into my office, and before she even opened her mouth, she failed the interview.

Cleavage or bust: Women are wearing low-cut tops and revealing far too much flesh in the office, according to one female boss. She was wearing a 'spray-on' dress, cut low enough to reveal yards of cleavage and high enough to barely skim her thighs, with shoes so high she had trouble walking in them. Those clothes spoke volumes more than the carefully crafted CV and told me two essential things: this woman is not intelligent, and she does not respect me or herself.

The way we dress for work has become a minefield. We live in less formal times, where dress codes have been all but abandoned and the old 'power dressing' rules for women were killed off when we stopped wanting to behave or look like men at work. As women became more confident and more powerful in the workplace, we felt free to be more feminine and more individual. Our dress codes relaxed. But relaxed has turned into confusion and led to a workplace awash with women who look as if they've just dropped in on their way to a hen night.

The way we dress has a huge effect on the way we perceive ourselves, and on the way we're perceived. Sadly, the two don't always match up. My star candidate in the sexy dress, for example, may have looked in her mirror that morning and seen 'confident, individual, fashionable'. I saw 'bimbo, trying too hard, someone who doesn't have the sense to dress for the context in which she's going to be seen'. The more ambitious you are, or the more your job matters to you, the more seriously you should consider the messages your clothes and personal presentation are giving off. Not for the office: Hen night attire should be left at home

Peter Glick, a psychologist at Lawrence University in the U.S., has researched the way women dress for work, and found some depressing - if unsurprising - results. Sexy clothing and over-high heels, for example, are considered inappropriate for both senior and junior staff, but the senior woman will be more harshly judged for it, and seen as more threatening and untrustworthy, and less competent or intelligent - and that's by male and female colleagues alike.

Of course it shouldn't matter what we wear - we should be judged solely on what we say or do. But it does matter how we dress - that's the world we live in.

Shelley, APA

Taken from an article by Maureen Rice, Daily Mail 20 July 2009

Professional PA

Only one month remains for PAs wanting to book a place on APA’s highly successful PA Professional Course; which makes them eligible, after testing, for the award of the Certificate in Personal Assistance.

The PA Professional course is the perfect step up for an established PA (with more than 3yrs experience in the role) and will enable them to take greater responsibility and accept bigger personal challenges. Its content ideally suits those looking to refresh their skills and learn current best practice or returners to the workplace. It is also open to Business Degree graduates looking to secure a role as a PA.

Places for the two remaining programmes of 2009 (1st September and 3rd December) are filling fast but some remain. Further details can be found at http://www.paprofessional.com and select ‘Training’ from the navigation bar.

Discounts are available for APA Members.

Shelley

0870 Numbers – New legislation from 1st August

0870 numbers are used by many businesses and organisations to provide a wide range of information and advice including many customer service lines. But consumers are often charged more for calling these numbers than they would if they called a 'geographic rate' (01, 02 or 03) number. And because they cost more, businesses and organisations are also able to take a cut of the call charges - a practice known as revenue sharing. This practice has been the subject of huge concern over recent months and OFCOM has acted to curtail misuse.

Intent on re-building confidence in Non-Geographic Numbers, OFCOM have announced that inbound calls to 0870 numbers must be charged at the same or less than calls to geographic numbers (starting with 01 & 02) with effect from 1st August 2009.

From this date there will be no further revenue share paid to organisations receiving calls delivered from 0870 numbers. Conversely calls delivered from 0870 numbers will be chargeable on the recipient and some providers will charge up to 2.75 pence per minute.

It is worth checking to see if your business uses 0870 numbers in any guise and if so to ask if you have to change protocols or expectations.

Gareth

Pandemic Strategy

As the spread of the swine flu virus (officially known as influenza A H1N1) accelerates, business readiness is growing in importance. You should keep updated on what your business can do to help your employees get treatment and to prevent further spread of swine flu. You should be scheduling a meeting now for senior managers to debate what actions you can take to limit the impact on trading and create a strategy should the pandemic escalate.

Probably the best source of information at present is the Business Link site, follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/kktg5f

In the meantime you should advise your employees that they should contact their GP immediately if they think they have swine flu symptoms.

Follow NHS guidance

Businesses should follow detailed NHS guidance for employers in the workforce and this can be downloaded from the following source. It will also help inform your strategy: http://tinyurl.com/kw4mqy

Email your employees the official leaflet

The official government swine flu leaflet explains how to prevent transmission of swine flu and how to access treatment. It can be downloaded from the link below.

APA recommends that you email this leaflet to your employees and suggest that they share it with family and friends; especially anyone who may be considered to be in the ‘at risk’ groups. http://tinyurl.com/cefghl

Please stay healthy.

APA

The new Equality Bill

The Government Consultation on Specific Duties for the new Equality Bill was launched on 11 June. The Government Equalities Office (GEO) sets out its proposals for how the new single Equality Duty will be underpinned by a range of proposed specific duties. The consultation is open until 30 September.

The Equality Duty will apply to public authorities who are also classed as contracting authorities, but clearly there will be an impact on the businesses and suppliers with whom they engage. This is why we are drawing your attention to this aspect of the consultation.

Public procurement is worth around £175 billion a year and we believe that contracting authorities should consider how they can more consistently use public procurement to help deliver our equality objectives. The consultation outlines the proposed specific duties we think will help to achieve this.

The consultation contains 3 procurement-related proposals. One is for contracting authorities to set out within their equality objectives how they will ensure that equality factors are considered in their procurement activities. The remaining two proposals focus on the use of equality-related award criteria and contract conditions. It also asks about the principle of excluding suppliers who have breached discrimination law, and about the principle of the approach to a possible national equality standard linked to procurement.

They are interested in your views as well as speaking to some businesses in more detail. If you would like to hear more about the procurement aspect of the Equality Bill, or to participate further in this consultation please contact: Jenny.harland@geo.gsi.gov.uk

The Consultation is available at: http://www.equalities.gov.uk/pdf/Specific%20Duties%20Consultation%20DocumentWEB.pdf

APA will be responding so please copy us in if you respond directly or feel free to discuss the matter with me personally.

Gareth

Christmas is coming ....

“It’s never too early to start planning for the Office Christmas party” and, according to Carrie Larwood, Director of new APA business partner, Function Fixers, "If you haven’t started by now it may well already be too late to get the pick of the venues." Many companies actually booked their 2009 party back in January to make sure that they got what they wanted, but there are still some great venues available and great deals to be struck.

Christmas parties are one of the most difficult events to organise for any business; especially in a recession. Getting it right can be the difference between causing a pre-festive crisis and rewarding the whole business team for their effort and tolerance in difficult times. You can’t be too flash with the cash but you want to have some fun and frivolity.

Function Fixers starts offering its services to APA Members later in the month (more to follow) and specialises in finding UK venues. It is a free and impartial venue finding service and prides itself on it quick response and wide range of choices. It will help Members find venues for conferences, training courses, all kinds of business meetings and corporate hospitality events as well as weddings and private parties.

As part of our aim to offer you a professional and friendly service we believe Function Fixers will be a valuable addition to our portfolio and help you to find the right venue for your event.

Ho Ho Ho,
Gareth

Is it a bird.. is it a plane .. Izzy a toddler?

You hear that a woman has collapsed as a result of an allergic reaction and as she gasps for air a heroic, super intelligent and calmly composed young person rushes to her aid, dials 999 and directs the emergency services to her side and you automatically think, she must be a PA!

Well there are many years ahead for her to prepare for a career in executive support but young Isabelle Keeling is in fact a 2-year old toddler who learned her skills and saved her mother’s life thanks to that well known training source, Tweenies. She had watched an episode recently describing what to do in an emergency and her Mum had played games wit her to amplify the point. Well done Izzy.

If any APA members or readers have kids who have done similarly outstanding deeds we would love to hear.

Gareth
Photograph Copyright The Press Association

Alpha Females

For women, it does not pay to be nice: 'Alpha females' earn £40,000 more in their lifetime

By Daily Mail ReporterLast updated at 7:44 AM on 14th July 2009

Women who adopt a 'masculine approach' in the office earn up to £40,000 more in their working lives than their 'nicer' female colleagues, a study has revealed.

It found 'alpha females' earned 4 per cent more than their 'passive' co- workers, while 'neurotic' women - those deemed to be anxious or moody - suffered a drop in salary of 3 per cent.

At the same time, 'conscientious' women who displayed self-control and persistence on the job generally earned up to 5 per cent more than their lazier colleagues.

But although the research found that personality traits are just as important as intelligence in determining a woman's salary, it also revealed that they barely affect a man's earning potential.

The study, entitled Does It Pay to be Nice?, was unveiled yesterday at a conference at Essex University by researcher Guido Heineck. Mr Heineck, from the Institute for Employment Research in Nuremberg, Germany, said it showed that personality traits such as 'agreeableness' were not beneficial in the workplace. 'Personality traits can have the same impact on earnings as intelligence,' he added. 'Our statistics show that being nice does not pay for women, whereas working hard does. 'This is probably, in part, because agreeable people are too passive in conflict situations and are poorer wage negotiators.

'Traditionally, women are more passive and likeable at work. This shows that to be successful in the workplace, women have to adapt to more alpha male-like behaviour.'

It found that alpha females earned on average 4 per cent more than their quieter coworkers - or £40,000 over a lifetime based on a 40-year career with an annual wage of £25,000.

Shelley, APA

The 2010 (Non-Domestic) Rating Revaluation

The Government published on 8th July the first results of the 2010 rating revaluation in England together with proposals for transitional arrangements for the 2010 rating list. As a result of revaluation and the relief arrangements the majority of businesses (60%) will see a fall in next year’s bill and one million businesses will see an average decrease of £770.

The proposed schemes for transitional arrangements would help nearly half a million businesses providing a total of £2 billion of relief for those facing increases. The Government is asking for views on a £2 billion relief scheme to support the minority of businesses (presumably the other 40%) who could see their rates increase as a result of the revaluation.

APA has been asked to comment and will be taking advice from professional advisors and Members before responding.

Gareth

A really good read for PAs

One magazine we genuinely look forward to receiving in the APA office is The Business Travel Magazine published by BMI. Not only is it extremely well written and wonderfully produced it is packed full of useful facts, tips and offers for, what it calls, corporate travel and meetings arrangers; in many businesses aka the PA. The features are provided by a host of industry experts and talented journalists and the publication is edited to make it easy to read, lively and attractive. Full marks to TBTM.

APA would recommend it as a must read publication for PAs and you can subscribe for free by visiting http://www.thebusinesstravelmag.com/ for either a hard copy or an online edition.

Gareth
APA has no affiliation to The Business Travel Magazine nor has it received funding or advantage in issuing this endorsement.

Head and shoulders above the rest

Places are filling quickly for the next APA Diploma in Personal Assistance (DipPA) course starting on 1st September 2009. But a few remain and PAs interested in elevating their knowledge to the next level and adding the prestigious DipPA letters to their name are encouraged to register now.

In some areas of the UK Companies may be eligible for funding from Business Link or the Learning and Skills Council of up to a £1,000 towards the cost of the training.

Gareth Osborne, Director General of APA and one of the presenters on the course says, ”This is a challenging programme and really tests the knowledge and skills of a PA but passing it will set them amongst the professionals elite and genuinely lift their knowledge base above that of a qualified manager. The Diploma is currently the highest achievement in the profession and sets the scene for the new Foundation Degree; under development at this time and due to be launched in 2010. There is no better time for businesses to invest in training and prepare for the return to a growing economy with all the tolls and skills in place to take full advantage of it.”

PAs wanting more information about the programme can visit the Training Zone featured on the navigation bar on the APA Home Page or email shelley.young@paprofessional.com.

Shelley

Brain Fatigue

Information Overload is an increasing problem both in the workplace and in life in general. Those that learn to deal with it effectively will have a major advantage in the next few years.
Information Overload is when you are trying to deal with more information than you are able to process to make sensible decisions. The result is either that you either delay making decisions, or that you make the wrong decisions.

It is now commonplace to be getting too many e-mails, reports and incoming messages to deal with them effectively. It will become increasingly important for PAs to know how best to support their bosses by minimising e-waste and maximising essential content.

APA hopes to play its part in this by including practical solutions in its new training programmes and by regular updates on best practice in the news section.

The root of the problem is that, although computer processing and memory is increasing all the time, we humans that must use the information are not getting any faster. Effectively, the human mind acts as a bottleneck in the process. We will also be addressing the subject of brain training and whether you can learn the techniques of human search engine optimisation.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Gareth

Expenses and Benefits

Businesses should be aware that the filing day for 2008/9 P11D and P11D (b) forms is looming: 6th July 2009.

If you aren't sure what these forms are, they relate to expenses paid to any employee (and director) who earns over £8,500 per year. The P11D is submitted to the relevant tax office and employees given a copy. Some may also need to complete Form P11D (b), which shows Class 1A National Insurance contributions on expenses and benefits.

Those employees who filed paper P11D (b) form last year should have been sent new paper forms and a payslip. Businesses who submitted online forms last year will have been sent an online reminder to file the form before the deadline.

It is worth checking if it has been done in your business.

Gareth