APA PAs scoop all prizes

APA PAs have taken all three top slots at the recent Hays and The Times 'PA of the Year 2010' awards.

Laura Richardson FAPA DipPA (pictured right) of Elexon Ltd wins the highly coveted 'PA of the Year' title for 2010.

Emma Jones MAPA of CSCCN came second and Emma Kernan-Staines FAPA DipPA of the FA Group came third.

Gareth Osborne said, "This is an outstanding achievement for Laura, Emma and Emma. They are all worthy winners and a credit to their respective businesses, the PA profession and APA. We are extremely proud to have them as Members."

He added, "I was not surpised that they and other APA Members finished in the top ten but am especially pleased that Laura won. She will be an exceptional ambassador for the profession over the coming year and has already started to make plans for her year in office. I think she's a star!"

APA

Bridging the gender gap

The new Government has vowed to take steps to increase gender equality in the workplace.
Included in the Queen's Speech yesterday was the vow to "promote equal pay and take a range of measures to end discrimination in the workplace".

Commenting on the announcement Gareth Osborne of APA suggested that it was long overdue and claimed that 40 years on from the introduction of the Equal Pay Act, a new approach to closing the gender pay gap "is desperately needed".

"It's important to consult with both employers and employees (and their professional bodies, like APA and CIPD) on any new measures. There may be opposition by some employers but it is important that this is not be reduced to an old fashioned, ‘union-style’ labour debate.”.

He added that increasing the number of women on the boards of listed companies (and all other businesses) is "a definite advantage ", but said this may need a fundamental shift in boardroom attitudes. "Extending the right to request flexible working and promoting a system of flexible parental leave will also bring positive changes to UK workplaces and benefit to millions of employees.”

According to the TUC, the full-time mean gender pay gap is currently 16.4 per cent.

APA

Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow

Slow broadband has been named as one of the biggest annoyances for British consumers, in a new study conducted by telecoms firm O2. Some 41 per cent of those surveyed cited a slow internet connection as the most frustrating aspect of their day.

The next highest annoyances were poor customer service (36 per cent), crime (26 per cent) and job cuts (18 per cent).

Commenting on the survey findings, APA Technology Director Colin Minto said there are a number of issues which potentially affect the speed of a connection. He explained that due to factors such as distance from the telephone exchange, the contention ratio and weather conditions, most people are never likely to get close to 100 per cent of the maximum quoted speed. "Some broadband providers will give you an idea of the expected speed before signing up to their service so it's always worth checking this before signing a contract," Colin suggested.

APA urges all business users to conduct broadband speed tests to see what their actual downloading and uploading capacity is and discuss it with the service providers.

APA

The first cut is the deepest

Dr. Gareth Osborne, Director General of APA, has welcomed the £6.24 billion package of public spending cuts for 2010-11 announced earlier today by the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury:

"These are tough but necessary reductions and made in an urgent attempt to regain financial stability for the UK economy. The Government is right to focus on public sector spending and particularly Quangos, IT expenditure, external consultancy, advertising and civil service recruitment. It makes sense to reduce spending by Regional Development Agencies and on those training and employment measures found to offer a poor return to the taxpayer.”

The Treasury document makes no explicit reference to the impact of today's package of cuts on public sector employment but CIPD suggests the combination of a civil service recruitment freeze and reduced spending in other areas is likely to reduce total public sector employment by around 50,000 in the current financial year. In addition there will be knock-on effects into the private sector on businesses that undertake contract work for the central and local government and other public bodies, plus the wider impact on demand for labour in the economy as a whole resulting from lower net public spending of around £6 billion. Given the current weak state of the labour market this is likely to have a detrimental impact on unemployment.

Questions remain about whether this is the right time to enact these cuts but Ministers clearly consider the risk of failing to take immediate steps to cut the fiscal deficit outweighs that of starting to cut too soon.

APA will be watching closely the impact on business critical departments and especially any impact on its own Members in the public sector. Any damaging consequences will be taken up with Ministers in the forthcoming round of discussions APA has scheduled with the new Government.

APA

Happy Birthday APA, Happy Birthday PAC-MAN

PAC-MAN is a cultural icon whose popularity has crossed the globe for 30 years. An official PAC-MAN 30th Anniversary site has been created and is dedicated to telling the story of PAC-MAN through his games, gear, and accomplishments.

APA celebrates its third anniversary this month as PA-WOMEN & PA-MEN continue to join in droves; like PAC-MAN, they all face the daily challenges of the PA maze and encounter strange creatures and aggressive beasts (and the odd raspberry) along the way.

Just like the cultural icon, APA’s journey is far from over and hopes to achieve the same infamy in its next 27 years. When asked recently by a young PA what she should do to advance her career, an aging hippy Boss said “Join the pack man!”

Gareth, APA

IT rebounds

Global enterprise IT spending across is set to increase by 4.1 per cent during 2010, according to leading analyst firm Gartner. It forecasts that the market will be worth $2.4 trillion (£1.7 trillion) across all industries this year, as businesses invest in technology to support their expansion plans. The firm reports that industries are returning to growth after a difficult 2009, when IT spending by vertical market was down by 5.6 per cent on the previous year.

Among the two largest industry segments, IT spending in the banking and securities market will rebound to $396.9 billion in 2010, a 4.6 per cent increase from 2009; whereas IT spending will recover more slowly in manufacturing and natural resources, growing to $428.9 billion, up 3.1 per cent."

It concluded that 2009 had been "a year like no other before it for IT services providers". And it wasn’t a picnic for the rest of us either.

APA

New Diploma (DipPA) programme starts

Within 10 days of finishing the spring round of programmes for the APA Diploma in Personal Assistance, a new corps of PAs has started the summer round this week. Amongst the group is Alexandra Glazkova, APA’s first member from the Russian Federation to undergo training and who brought a new international dynamic to the course and allowed co-delegates to challenge differences between the role of a PA in UK with that in Russia (Alexandra is based in St. Petersburg).

Shelley Young, APA’s Membership Manager, said, “The Diploma is becoming recognised internationally as the leading programme for PAs and Executive PAs who are looking to extend their skills base, embrace best management practice and develop tools to better assist their Boss. It acts as the perfect forum for established PAs to update core skills or for career PAs to learn new ones. All leave with a host of new practices to ensure they add direct and measurable value.”

There is still time for members (and non-members alike) to enrol for the summer programme which concludes in September but, like buses, the next Diploma programme will follow quickly on its heels.

APA

Pictured are:
Caroline Moody-Jerome from Hays plc
Alexandra Glazkova for Platonov & Co,
Natalie Doney from Cushman & Wakefield LLP
Kate Richardson from Medimmune Limited

Coalition plans for Business

APA has reacted positively to the details of the government's coalition agreement, which were published this week. Central to these plans are corporate tax reductions and incentives for business growth.

Moves to reduce red tape, impose 'sunset clauses' on regulations and review employment law will all be welcomed by small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), APA has said in a letter to Business Secretary, Vince Cable MP.

In addition, companies are to benefit from the automatic payment of small business rate relief, a change that may help thousands of SMEs.

Gareth Osborne, Director General of APA said, “This document will come as a breath of fresh air to small business owners. In many ways, it reads like a wish list of things that we (and many other business groups) have been demanding for several years," he stated. "The regulatory burden imposed on business frequently emerges as one of the main problems facing SMEs and the new agreement promises to introduce a 'one in, one out' rule, for legislation and together with sunset clauses to kill off outdated legislation, will hopefully go some way to tackling this issue. APA is encouraged by the coalition's pledge to evaluate the fairness of employment legislation and its impact on Britain's competitiveness.”

He noted that many SME bosses believe employment law is currently excessively skewed in favour of the employee and needs to be rebalanced.

APA

Beware Social Network insecurity

Social networks are becoming a more important way for criminals to spread their attacks, it has been reported. A senior technology consultant at Sophos suggests that gangs can deliver attacks via social networks just as easily as they can via traditional email.

However, unlike corporate email systems, this sector is typically not being scanned for spam and malicious content. Even worse, many users automatically trust links and videos sent to them by their Facebook friends, not realising that it could be that their friend's account has been compromised by hackers..

Strong, non-dictionary passwords are a must, he claimed.

Sophos recommends that all links and web pages should be scanned for malicious or spam content in real-time, providing a higher level of protection for users. It feels that all social networking users "need a good serving of common sense", and should learn not to put themselves in danger.

A recent survey by Consumer Reports magazine found that 52 per cent of adult users of social networks have posted risky personal information online.

APA

Budget date announced

George Osborne (no relation) has announced the date for his first Budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer. He will outline his deficit reduction plan on June 22nd, and both spending cuts and tax rises could be on the agenda.

The new coalition government announced that £6 billion in cuts would be made this year, as it attempts to realign tax receipts with national spending. Mr Osborne could announce an increase in VAT to fund some of the savings, while capital gains tax may also rise for non-business assets. However, it is possible that the Chancellor could reduce corporation tax rates - a move likely to be welcomed within the small business sector.

APA, along with organisations including the Confederation of British Industry and British Chambers of Commerce have long been highlighting the importance of innovation and productivity to any economic recovery, and the government may respond by encouraging growth and expansion.

As always, APA will comment on any significant issues that could be either beneficial or detrimental to PAs or the businesses they work for. All APA members are encouraged to share their concerns or desires with me, so that I can communicate them to the Chancellor.

Gareth Osborne, APA

The Glass Ceiling

Women are still not seen as being as valuable as men in the workplace, according to one business expert. Toni Eastwood OBE, training director at everywoman (http://www.everywoman.com), said that in her experience, female professionals have to do more to be noticed and valued in the course of their employment.

"Women have to work extra hard, often with gritty determination to prove their worth, to attain top positions," she commented. "It is well-known that there are only 12 per cent of executive directors in the top 100 FTSE companies [who are women] and indeed, this is the case amongst many of the retail giants."

Ms Eastwood suggested that female under-representation at board level has been "a hot media topic" since the beginning of the recession, and continues to be a problem. "It's essential that women remain true to themselves, celebrating their feminine traits in their leadership and management roles, while remaining tough and passionate about what they do," she said. “Having diversity at senior and board levels has proved time and time again to reap bottom line business benefits".

In a study conducted by Friends Provident and the Future Foundation, a third of the British population accepted that wage equality will not be achieved by 2020.

APA believes passionately that gender equality has yet to be achieved in terms of reward and professional respect, not just legislation. Gareth Osborne will be meeting The Rt. Hon. Theresa May MP, Home Secretary and Minister for Woman, in coming weeks, to explain APA’s view.

APA

Diploma Delegates

The latest group of PAs undergoing training for the APA Diploma in Personal Assistance (DipPA) have just completed the concluding session of work and taken their final examination and are now awaiting their results [due before the end of the month].

One delegate, on the day after training said, “A brilliant course and a great group to work with! I’ve already suggested to my Boss that things are going to change around here and he said he’s looking forward to it. Thank you and your team for the great work you are doing for PAs, this was long overdue and I will try my utmost best to continue to support your/our organisation. Keep up the good work!”

Shown opposite (left to right) are;

Claire Howard of the Financial Services Authority (FSA),
Yvette Squire of Transport for London (TfL),
Joan May of Legal and General,
Terry Benson of HS1 Limited,
Maebh McGuinness of the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, Ireland

APA is enrolling applicants for the next Diploma programme NOW.

Gareth, APA

No concord at BA

Unite, the trade union for British Airways (BA) cabin crew, is intending to take strike action between 18 May and 9 June. If the strike does go ahead BA hopes to still operate most of its scheduled flights.

To watch progress and find out which flights are affected go to: http://www.britishairways.com/travel/strike-ballot/public/en_gb

APA

APA action causes scrapping of NICs increase

Scrapping the planned one per cent rise in employers' National Insurance Contributions (NICs) should prove to be a big help to small businesses and the economy, it has been claimed by APA today. With other major business organisations APA has been actively campaigning for months to have this increase, announced at the last Budget for introduction in 2011, overturned.

APA has backed the new coalition government's plan to abandon the Labour policy introduced at the last Budget and due for implementation in 2011. Although the one per cent employers' NICs rise will still affect staff earning more than £20,800, the threshold at which they begin paying NI on employees earning up to that figure will increase by £21 per week. But since the majority of small business employees will now be excluded from the increase, hopes are high that recruitment activity will pick up in the sector.

Gareth commented: "Small businesses did not want this extra tax, it would have been a major barrier to staff retention and job creation and would have hindered economic recovery. For the majority of employers it would have proved to be an unpopular and unworkable tax rise. Although not perfect, the new coalition government's policy on NICs is far better and provides a degree of certainty for business growth now and in the future."

According to research conducted by the Forum for Private Business (FPB), 60.8 per cent of small business owners believe the new government should make tax simplification a priority.

APA

Breakfast in a sunny setting

Seventy Five PAs and invited guests accepted an invitation for breakfast with APA on Friday morning in central London. Hosts, De Vere Venues; APA’s partner venues organisation, provided an exceptional breakfast, a friendly and high quality environment and a gracious welcome for members and potential-members alike.

Patrick McCaffrey, De Vere’s Director of Sales for its West One and Portland Place venues opened the proceedings with a brief introduction; referring to the need for PAs to think now about Christmas event booking and the offering available from his Company in their outstanding location; less than 400m from Oxford Circus. He introduced Gareth Osborne, who spoke about APA’s recent successes, its policy to engage with the new Government and forthcoming training programmes. Finally Andrew Greenwood, from APA Health Insurance Partners WPA, spoke about advantageous family and business healthcare packages for APA members.

Gareth Osborne said, “This was an excellent opportunity for PAs to meet and share professional experiences and current thinking. In a week when the political landscape has created such a radical and seemingly harmonious spirit of cooperation, likely economic outcomes were also on the menu. I hope this style of breakfast meeting for PAs will be repeated in coming months around the country.”

APA

To find De Vere Venues go to: http://www.devere.co.uk/
To find WPA and APA Member offers go to: http://www.wpa.org.uk/apa

APA to meet new Ministers

As the new Government gets down to business, APA has already been securing dates in Minister's diaries to ensure they are fully briefed on issues close to it’s members hearts and issues that could change the shape of future employment.

Gareth Osborne, APA’s Director General and Chief Political Lobbyist, plans to meet both Vince Cable MP, Minister for Business and Theresa May MP, Home Secretary and Minister for Women, to ensure they fully understand the important role PAs play in business, the public sector, academia, charities and the arts and how historic gender biases still stifle the opportunity for them to achieve success and reward in some sectors. Also on the agenda will be employment legislation, maternity and paternity leave and childcare arrangements.

APA Members are invited to email Gareth with any issues that are particularly relevant to them or their business at gareth.osborne@paprofessional.com.

APA

CIPD 9 Employers 1

Nine out of ten employers have no plans in place to help manage staff absence during the forthcoming World Cup, according to a poll by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). The poll of more than 1,000 employers shows that almost all (90%) of organisations have not developed a policy to manage staff absence during the World Cup. Just 5% of organisations have developed a policy while a further 5% are currently developing one.

In view of these results, the CIPD has produced a guide for employers - The World Cup and Absence Management. The guidance suggests different approaches that employers can consider to help employees enjoy the matches that are important to them without compromising the needs of the business. These may include:

• Flexible working hours
• Shift swaps
• Unpaid leave
• Special screening of matches on premises

The guide also advises employers to make organisational policy clear on absence, whether alcohol related or not. Employers should make clear to workers that there are disciplinary consequences for taking unauthorised time off without good reason or for not performing satisfactorily or misbehaving at work.

The CIPD suggests employers should encourage workers to use annual leave, particularly to discourage general absenteeism and poor performance through over-indulging in alcohol.

CIPD adviser John McGurk says: "It's alarming that only 10% of employers are drafting or already have guidance in place to manage absence during the World Cup. Research suggests that when employers demonstrate they care about their staff and their interests outside of work, employees are more likely to go the extra mile for the organisation. Whatever individual organisations decide is right for their employees, guidance should be clear and communicated well."

For a full breakdown of the World Cup and Absence Management guidance, visit: http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/hrpract/absence/_world_cup_absence_management

APA

House prices rose in March

House prices in England and Wales fell 0.6 percent on the month and rose 7.5 percent on the year in March, figures from the Land Registry showed on Friday. The government agency said that left the average price of a home at £164,288.

APA

Splitting the infinitive - to boldly go ...

Stephen Hawking, the famous Cambridge astrophysicist, has claimed that humans might one day be able to use time travel to skip generations into the future. He said spaceships could one day be capable of such high speeds that time would slow down for those on board. He admitted he had avoided talking about time travel previously ' for fear of being labelled a crank', saying the subject had once been 'scientific heresy'. '

These days I'm not so cautious,' he said. Theoretically, such a space ship would allow the crew to repopulate the earth if they found our species had become extinct during their flight.
Hawking said a spaceship capable of travelling through time - but only forwards - would breach Albert Einstein's theories of relativity. Having taken six years to reach its full speed of 98 per cent of the speed of light (650million miles per hour), a day on board the ship would be equivalent to a year on Earth, he said, allowing those on board to reach the edge of the galaxy in just 80 years. But the ship required for the journey would have to be massive to allow for the required fuel.

Brian Cox, the Manchester University Professor and presenter of BBC's Wonders of the Solar System, backed Stephen Hawking’s theories but admitted there were significant impediments to realising them in the foreseeable future.

“PAs can already see into the future,” said Gareth Osborne, “They only have to open their boss’s diary to find out what is going to happen tomorrow and for days to come.”

APA