Archive for the ‘Work-life Balance’ Category
Monday, April 28th, 2008
It finally seem like Irish firms are becoming a bit more creative in the war on talent. In a bid to attract new staff and retain existing staff Irish firms are offering new benefits such as free laundry service to cleaning homes. If this was offered to me I would smell a rat – obviously they will be working you that hard you won’t have time to do it yourself.
On a serious note salaries remain high on the agenda when employee enter the job market but there is increasing evidence that lifestyle perks are increasing in popularity with job-hunters. The whole work life balance issue is a popular topic particularly in Ireland with the ever increasing demands on workers.
So how can employers differentiate themselves outside of salary?
Pensions
Further Education
Health Cover
Flexi-time
Holidays
Gym membership
Onsite creches
Free bicycles to travel to work (I wouldn’t risk it)
Free housekeeping
Free dry cleaning service
So what next on the perks front? If you have an additional perk that you would like to share with us just post it below.
Tags: Attracting Staff, Creche, Employee Benefits, HR Issues, Ireland HR, Irish Employees, Irish workers, Staff Retention, Worklife Balance
Posted in Recruitment, Staff Retention, Work-life Balance | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008
This article is for the poor unfortunates who drive to town and don’t get free parking. It is also for those of you with business meetings in town and regularly use street parking. If you cut corners and don’t pay your parking it could cost you 80 euro a pop. Below are the latest figures with the clamping hotspots and the number of people caught. I don’t know if these are 2007 figure or 2008 to date. Lets hope they are the totals for 2007 or else somebody is making a killing financially.
North Great George’s Street 1,055 fines
Waterloo Road 810 fines
D’Olier Street 717 fines
Noel Purcell Walk 641 fines
Barrow Street 620 fines
Smithfield 580 fines
South William Street 505 fines
Gardiner Street Lower 443 fines
South Circular Road 428 fines
Synge Street 414 fines
So if you are doing business in Dublin city or you work in city center then ensure you put money in the machine at these locations BUT also make sure you top up.
Tags: Barrow Street, Clamping, Congestion, D'Olier Street, Dublin, Gardiner Street Lower, Ireland, Noel Purcell Walk, North Dublin, North Great George's Street, Revenue, Smithfield, South Circular Road, South William Street, Southside, Synge Street, Transport, Waterloo Road
Posted in HR, Work-life Balance | No Comments »
Friday, March 21st, 2008
With many Multinationals heading for the Irish exit door and redundancy announcements filling the newspapers one would be entitled to feel a bit pessimistic. You have two choices – feel sorry for yourself or you can take control of your own destiny and create your own dreams. This can be by landing a dream job or going it alone.
I have worked with many employees who have suffered redundancy and while a good percentage of them are negative there are many who respond positively to the event. One such response is to go it alone.
This option is not the right option for everybody BUT for those of you who are thinking of taking the leap and starting your own business here are some tips.
- Take all the advice you can get. There are many sources out there and much of it is FREE. Financial Institutions & Banks, friends and family. Often overlooked is the competition.
- Have a plan – great companies are very rarely built on great ideas. They are a combination of planning and people. A strong business plan will provide valuable direction and help you secure financing.
- Avail of free funding and financial support – for example the County Enterprise Board offer a variety of support.
- Training – all though not essential a “start your own business” course will give you some good advice. There are various other relevant courses for entrepreneurs.
- Financing – You can spend your own money BUT I prefer to borrow. Even with the turmoil in the Irish market the banks are relatively supportive.
Success – whatever direction you take.
Tags: Banks, County Enterprise Boards, Enterprise Ireland, Entrepreneurs, Funding, Irish Enterprise, Start Your Own Business, Starting A Business In Ireland, Training
Posted in Entrepreneurs, Jobs, News, Redundancy, Work-life Balance | 1 Comment »
Friday, March 7th, 2008
None of the government transport 21 projects will come in on time. Hmmmmm… I guess this reflects the daily commuting experience.
Key projects delayed include
a) City center Luas link up – Due 2008 – now no completion date
b) Metro from city to airport – Due 2012 – now 2013
c) Luas extension Connolly to Dockland – Due 2008 – now 2009
d) Luas extension Tallaght to Citywest – Due 2008 – now 2010
Looks like commuter hell in Ireland will continue for the foreseeable future.
Tags: Citywest, Commuting, Connolly, Dockland, Dublin, Dublin City Center, Government, Luas, Project, Tallaght, Transport
Posted in HR, News, Staff Retention, Work-life Balance | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 5th, 2008
Is this a change of Business in Ireland as we know it.
I could never see the attraction of firms locating in central Dublin. High costs, congestion, expensive sarnies and coffee. Do they pay for expensive offices in city center Dublin to get the staff??
Hmmmmmmm
I though most employees were living in Navan, Cavan, Kinnegad, Drogheda, Dundalk, Naas, Newbridge, Wicklow, Gorey, Bray ….. basically everywhere except Dublin.
Looks like there is even more incentive for firms to locate outside the capital as survey today announced that most commuters from Wicklow would be willing to take a paycut to work closer to home. This means that all commuters would be willing to do so.
Commuters spend on average 2hrs per day on trains planes and automobiles. I guess the penny has actually dropped that the extra 10k for working in Dublin is not worth 10-15 hours a week.
I am going to start a bring the jobs to the people campaign encouraging employers to relocated to the leafy suburbs cutting stress, traffic congestion, costs and improving life for us all.
Tags: Arklow, Bray, Careers, Carlow, Cavan, Commuters, Congestion, Drogheda, Dundalk, Gorey, HR, Jobs, Kildare, Kilkenny, Kinnegad, M50, Meath, Naas, Navan, Newbridge, Newry, Offaly, Travel, Westmeath, Wicklow, WLB, Worklife Balance
Posted in HR, Jobs, News, Work-life Balance | No Comments »
Friday, February 29th, 2008
Did you know that the average smoker spends almost a full year of their working life having smoking breaks? That’s a lot of cigarettes. The average smoker takes three 15 minute breaks per day which equates to 195 hours per year. The introduction of the smoking ban has meant that many smokers now have to travel further from their desks (I guess the exercise will help).
Anyway this is a huge cost on employers. I do know of some employers who have started to monitor this more and put in measures to reduce smoke breaks. Many employers see them as negative and a breeding ground for gossip. Fellow non-smoker employee will also not be too happy with these finding as the will carry the additional workload.
Why do we smoke?
Could it be that 1 in 4 workers find their job stressful? A combination of increased working hours and commuting hours has seen stress levels rise in Ireland. Over a third of Irish workers are spending more time working and commuting than they used to. Well work life balance day will soon be upon us to resolve all this stress.
Tags: Cigarettes, Commuting, Employees, Employers, Irish Firms, M50, Smokers, Smoking Ban, Smoking Breaks, Stress, Travel, Work-life Balance
Posted in HR, Work-life Balance | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, February 20th, 2008
Organisations have been introducing a variety of initiatives in the last decade in a bid to improve employee health and work life balance and to take the pressure off poor Mary Harney. Gym memberships, onsite gyms, massages, yoga are all very common place at work.
Why are they doing this?
Well as the header indicates – healthy staff equal productive staff. Initiatives like these can help reduce stress and sickness. There is another flu pandemic on our doorstep according to David Williams but obviously organisations who look after their staff will not be affected. If you have been slack and want to ensure your staff don’t fall victim to colds and flus here is a 10 step guide from today’s Indo.
1. Get enough sleep (use your time on the M50 constructively and catch a few zzzz)
2. Stay active (Ok perhaps do some exercises in the car and forget the sleep)
3. Eat Well (Domino’s have announced 7 new stores for Ireland – problem solved)
4. Look after your emotional health (this does not apply to males – keep them bottled up as before)
5. Have a massage (yes please)
6. Get some herbal help (Book a trip to Amsterdam)
7. De-stress (How?)
8. Quit smoking (What about point 6)
9. Laugh a lot (There is much to laugh about such as recession, negative equity and so on)
10. Drink in Moderation (I was out in Dublin last Thursday and the prices sorted this problem)
Tags: Colds, David McWilliams, Domino's, Employee Health, Flu Pandemic, Flus, Gym, Health & Safety, Healthy Staff, Ireland, Massage, Quit Smoking, Sickness, Stress, Work-life Balance
Posted in HR, Work-life Balance | 2 Comments »
Sunday, February 17th, 2008
Eircom is still the most popular internet services provider in Ireland but rivals are eating up market share. Eircom’s home internet market share slipped in 2007 according to figures released by ComReg. Those increasing market share include Clearwire, Perlico, Irish Broadband and BT Ireland.
Most of you reading won’t really care about market share as long as you get broadband facilities in your homes. The broadband topic has a huge impact on the whole work life balance issue for employers and employees. It is crazy to think that I spoke with a colleague just last week who was struggling with broadband coverage making his dream of remote working difficult.
I work from home and I use Eircom whom I find very good. My problem is electricity as we have had a large number of problems in the area. No electricity means not internet or landline. And all this means no business.
Who is to blame for all these problems? I don’t think another Tribunal would answer that one.
The bottom line is that infrastructure, technology, roads etc is impacting business.
Tags: Broadband, Business, Clearwire, ComReg, Eircom, Electricity, Infrastructure, Internet Services Provider, Ireland, Irish Broadband, Perlico, Roads, Technology, Tribunal
Posted in News, Work-life Balance | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 12th, 2008
50 Best Companies To Work For in Ireland is a yearly award which generates much interest and prestige in Ireland. Organisations who go to great lengths to achieve employee satisfaction will register on this list. Happy employees are great BUT happy customers are just as important. What about an award where customers rate companies? (If there already is such and award – excuse my ignorance).
I am very quick to complain but slow to compliment – so here goes. I just had a great customer experience with Statcounter. When an organisation is led by an individual (Aodhán Cullen) who takes time out of his busy schedule to resolve your issue it leaves a lasting impression. I guess this is related to the above award as I am certain a company that looks after its customers will surely look after its staff.
For those who have not seen the 2007 Results – 50 Best Companies To Work For in Ireland
Airtricity was 2007 overall winner and the following companies ranked this year Abbott Laboratories Ireland Ltd, Accenture, AOL Europe Operations Ltd, AXA Insurance Ltd, BDO Simpson Xavier, Brightwater, BUPA Ireland, CB Richard Ellis Ireland, Children’s University Hospital Temple Street, Clontarf Castle Hotel, CPL Resources, Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport Hotel, Deloitte, Diageo Ireland, eBay, Euro Car Parks, FedEx Express, GE Commercial Aviation Services, GlaxoSmithKline Ireland, Globoforce, Google Ireland Ltd, GTECH Ireland Operations Ltd, Halifax Insurance Ireland Ltd, Hibernian Group, Hooke & MacDonald, Irish Life Corporate Business, Irish Stock Exchange, KPMG, Man Investments, Marathon Oil Ireland Ltd, Matheson Ormsby Prentice, McDonald’s, Mellon Ireland, Microsoft Ireland, O’Mahony Pike Architects, PEI, Philips Electronics Ireland, PM Group, Pramerica Systems Ireland, Premier Group, Public Appointments Service, Quintiles and Innovex, Radisson SAS Hotel & Resorts, RCI, SAP SSC (Ireland) Ltd, Sherry Fitzgerald Group, Sigmar Recruitment, Tourism Ireland Ltd, Unicare Pharmacy Ltd
Tags: Abbott Laboratories Ireland Ltd, Accenture, Aodhan Cullen, AOL Europe Operations Ltd, AXA Insurance Ltd, BDO Simpson Xavier, Best Place To Work, Brightwater, BUPA Ireland, CB Richard Ellis Ireland, Children's University Hospital Temple Street, Clontarf Castle Hotel, CPL Resources, Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport Hotel, Deloitte, Diageo Ireland, eBay, Euro Car Parks, FedEx Express, GE Commercial Aviation Services, GlaxoSmithKline Ireland, Globoforce, Google Ireland Ltd, GTECH Ireland Operations Ltd, Halifax Insurance Ireland Ltd, Hibernian Group, Hooke & MacDonald, HR, Ireland, Irish Life Corporate Business, Irish Stock Exchange, KPMG, Man Investments, Marathon Oil Ireland Ltd, Matheson Ormsby Prentice, McDonald's, Mellon Ireland, Microsoft Ireland, O'Mahony Pike Architects, PEI, Philips Electronics Ireland, PM Group, Pramerica Systems Ireland, Premier Group, Public Appointments Service, Quintiles and Innovex, Radisson SAS Hotel & Resorts, RCI, SAP SSC (Ireland) Ltd, Sherry Fitzgerald Group, Sigmar Recruitment, Statcounter, Tourism Ireland Ltd, Unicare Pharmacy
Posted in HR, Staff Retention, Work-life Balance | No Comments »
Saturday, February 2nd, 2008
www.worklifebalance.ie
The above link is an Irish focused work life balance website with useful information for employers. I believe a panel of consultants has been formed and funding made available to assist employers who want assistance developing Work Life Balance initiative. It would be worth checking out – hopefully there will be more duvet day initiatives launching shortly.
Tags: HR, Ireland, Managers, Website, Work-life Balance
Posted in Staff Retention, Work-life Balance | 2 Comments »
