Electronic Employee Surveillance - Big Boss is Watching You

Electronic Employee Surveillance - Big Boss is Watching You Secrets are lies; sharing is caring; privacy is theft. Listen carefully, and echoes of the Orwellian hymn can be heard in the modern workplace of electronic staff surveillance. From deceivingly innocent gadgets hidden under a friendly veil of a perk, to the outright intrusive advancement in technology has changed the game in staff surveillance, allowing new ways for employers to watch their staff more closely than ever. With such scrutinized eyes monitoring productivity, and opening new frontiers in employee data, questions are raised on the ethical dangers of employee surveillance. Welcome to the modern workplace of 2017 or should that be 1984? GPS trackers GPS trackers have been long-established amongst occupational drivers, but with the development of phone apps like Xora, many more companies have adopted this method to monitor the whereabouts of their workers. This is often to keep an eye on their equipment, tracking when workers clock in and out, or to monitor remote workers. This in itself has a stalkerish nature, but the problem really comes into play once you’ve left work. The downloaded app on your phone will still run after working hours, with some employers requiring a work phone to be on for 24/7 to take client calls. This means employers can track an individual’s every move and know exactly where they are. Your computer is watching you Where computer behaviour is a cause for concern, there’s Worksnaps, a software that takes repeated screenshots of a worker’s computer screen, counts their keyboard and mouse clicks, and can capture webcam images. Some may enthuse at its ability to expose the more apathetic workers, but this is outright invasive, and kills any ounce of trust. Worksnaps has even designed a tool to identify cheating as it was found that staff had been using a program that tricked the software into thinking they were working. Treat employees like they are teenagers, and you will make rebels of them. Wearable trackers Approximately 202m wearable devices were handed out by companies in 2016. Popular wearable gadgets like the Fitbit were given out to workers often as part of an “employee wellbeing program”, and whilst the device serves in its intended purpose of promoting health, the seemingly innocuous gadget strapped to the wrist also allows companies to track data on everything from weight, activity, steps, sleep quality and heart rate. There’s also Humanyze, a “sociometric” badge worn by employees to track physical movements,  record non-linguistic social signs such as excitement and interest, locate wearers and record their interactions with other wearers and electronic devices. The larger picture is to use this data to improve the workplace by measuring personal biometrics with workplace performance data assessing sleeping patterns or stress levels for example, against work performance can allow employers to analyse productivity and plan strategy. Is it right or wrong? People Analytics: Be sure that anything involving “People Analytics” will be trawling uncomfortable grounds of private info. There is certain cynicism to this kind of snooping that must be considered, but there is also some credible reasoning that is perhaps less sinister. Whilst blurring the lines between work and personal life with intrusion to one’s privacy is generally unwelcome, there are those willing to advocate the device if it means improving their wellbeing at work. With that in mind, if sacrificing a part of your privacy for a better workplace is a personal choice that seems a worthwhile deal, then fair dos, and everyone wins.  The question then becomes: how to make a fair system that allows workers to opt in or out? With an even bigger question in guaranteeing the safeguard of personal data. Whether you believe it threatens ethics or not, there is certainly a threat in security. Rapid innovation in technology has still never outrun the hackers, and employers are clambering to keep up with implementing correct formal guidelines to help manage the use of these gadgets. With so much highly personal data, inevitably this data will be abused, whether by outside sources, hackers, or employers themselves. As a very basic, employers must comply to data and privacy laws, but employers have an ethical responsibility with how they use personal data, so they should talk to employees to agree a fair and safe structure around it. All in all, “people analytics” and this micro surveillance for “improvement” feels like a glimpse into a disturbing future of human modifying, where so not to be replaced by robots, we all become robots. Staff surveillance: As for checking on your workers to see if they are in fact working? Surveillance of staff productivity may lull employers into a safe sense of assurance, but if work productivity rests on the fear of close monitoring, then such employers need to ask bigger questions around their management and workforce. We are often reminded the importance of “workplace culture” and these authoritarian regimes threaten this to its core; removing trust, respect and authenticity from relationships. Instead of concentrating on the negative, and measuring “laziness”, employers should focus on the work that employees do. Surely there is more value in the work one creates than the minutes you take on your break, or how long you spend on Facebook. No matter your ethical stance control and constant monitoring is an unsettling vision for the future, and ultimately trust, freedom, and privacy must prevail.

Tips For Using Resume Writing Services

Tips For Using Resume Writing ServicesThe greatest way to bring your resume writing service career to a new level is to start networking. Networking, no matter what industry you are in, will build your brand and help get you started in the job search. You can use different resume writing services to help you with this, or you can seek out a recruiter to assist you. Here are some suggestions on how to start networking your resume writing services career.Look for individuals in various groups and organizations. You will want to identify the leaders and key decision makers. Meet with them and see if they are open to networking with other professionals. Find out how to pitch your resume writing services, and what they are looking for in resumes. If they are looking for candidates who have taken other positions in the past and have the skills and qualifications to excel in that position, it will help them decide if your resume is a good fit.You can also take advantage of online forums, or comment boards to meet with and network with different companies. Look for a resume writing service that you would like to work with. Use your online forum access to post information about your services, or ask for recommendations. If you can't find anyone else in the group, keep an eye out for referrals, and make sure to offer your current services in the area. This will go a long way in building a reputation for your resume writing services.Resume writing services are also used to help complete business applications. You will want to identify potential clients first, and use resume writing services to help you create a professional-looking resume. Then you will be able to impress them by providing references, and asking for their feedback. Being responsive to potential clients is important, because they may want to interview someone soon.When meeting with clients, you should makeit a point to be completely honest with them. There are no secret tricks, only techniques to help them feel as though you are as committed to them as they are to you. Remember, you are creating a brand new history for them, so being genuine will show this. Your resume writing services career will increase exponentially with this, as it will begin to be seen as a company where people turn for information.Now that you know how to build your resume writing service career, you need to use your networking efforts to find jobs. Take advantage of the networking opportunities that you have in place. Join the local Chamber of Commerce or the chamber of commerce. These groups are great for networking and meeting others that may be in the same position as you.Find and use forums that cover resume writing services, and network with those in the field. Start a blog, or provide references, and recruit friends into your network. Remember that the ability to network is often what sets a person apart from the crowd. Find friends, and start taking calls, so that you can help others get their resumes to the top of the pile.You can learn more about resume writing services, and how to find and develop a client base on the Internet. There are several websites that offer tutorials, and also charge a monthly fee for full access to all their resume writing services and information. This helps you maintain your network, build your business, and make sure that you are always on top of the job market.

What You Can Learn from the UKs Top Employers

What You Can Learn from the UK’s Top Employers In the past few years, the war for talent has become more and more competitive. Worldwide skills gaps and low unemployment rates mean businesses are fighting for a limited number of professionals and fishing in the same pools, causing the UK’s labor market to tighten. For businesses, this means really ramping up their efforts when it comes to attracting and retaining talent. And at LinkedIn, we have analyzed the billions of actions by our 24+ million UK members to compile our annual list of the Top Companies professionals most want to work for. This year’s Top Companies list reveals some interesting trends. We’ve seen companies such as Amazon and ASOS.com climb the rankings to overtake high-street brands, as retail moves from bricks-and-mortar to e-commerce. Meanwhile, the UK’s financial services industry has continued to be attractive to talent despite the uncertainty surrounding Brexit with Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays and JPMorgan Chase featuring on the list this year. Here’s the full list of LinkedIn UK’s Top Companies for 2018 Don’t go it alone It’s easy to think that talent branding efforts require enormous marketing and advertising budgets, but that’s not always the case. Although these companies are from a range of different industries, and each offers their benefits, they’re unified by having created a unique talent brand and having communicated it effectively. You need a mix of skills to build a strong talent brand, and these skills usually exist throughout an organization, rather than in one individual team, which is why it’s essential to break down any silos and encourage collaboration particularly between marketing and recruitment teams. By making sure there’s consistent communication between marketing and recruitment teams, you’ll have the best chance of making sure your talent brand is resonating with the individuals you need to reach. Make it authentic No one can explain why you’re a great company like your existing employees. An employee’s voice is seen as three times more trustworthy than the CEO’s when it comes to showcasing what a company is like to work for. Luckily, there are many ways you can encourage your team to get involved. Why not consider making them your brand ambassadors by creating employee case studies for the company’s website, asking them to blog about their experiences, or producing relevant content which they can share with their own networks? Get creative with video In a crowded marketplace, creativity can be critical to cutting through the noise and video has been proven to be one of the most useful content formats for reaching the right audiences. While creating long-lasting video content for your website can be cost-effective in giving people an insight into what the company would be like to work for, another way is to use your brand ambassadors. Encouraging your employees to post about their day-to-day professional lives on social media can be a compelling way of getting your brand values to potential candidates. At LinkedIn, we recently launched our LinkedIn Video feature making it easy for members to capture ‘on the go’ video footage from company events or conferences. This year’s Top Companies list may be the cream of the crop when it comes to appealing to talent, but by investing a little time, effort, and creativity, it’s possible for any company to cultivate a strong talent brand. About the author:  Rebecca Drew,  the Sales Manager for LinkedIn Talent Solutions,  has 20 years of experience in Cloud Software, Recruitment, Management  Consulting, and Social Media.

Formulating a More Effective Job Search

Formulating a More Effective Job Search For most of the worlds professionals, success hinges greatly on the companies you work for. Regardless of natural talent, if you land successive jobs at average companies, eventually you will fall victim to your environment. If you are like many people, winning positions with successful companies rather than average ones means reimagining your view of the recruitment process. Evaluating and identifying what a truly successful job search process looks like is the skeleton key for unlocking your doors into the most successful companies.  How best to begin? Defining a successful job search: The job seekers who have the most trouble are those who don’t set defined goals. Without specific goals, they are unable to gauge how they are doing during the process and whether alterations need to be made in their strategy. Naturally, the main goal of any job search is an acceptable offer of employment. A successful job search is one that yields anywhere from 2-4 solid employment options. This number fluctuates based on a candidate’s experience level, as well as salary demands and the current market in their industry and/or geographic area. For instance, an entry-level candidate should strive for 3 or 4 employment offers, while an established professional asking for a salary over $100,000 ought to be more than satisfied with 2 viable offers. Analyzing the job search process differently: By: newsusacontent Consider the following tips: 1) Learn to step back and see the big picture: Many job seekers only think about what they want and don’t take into consideration the needs of the hiring manger.  Their vantage point is one dimensional and everything from their application to their interviewing techniques suffers. In reality, you don’t interview with a company, instead you interview with a person (or more often people) within that company.  Take a few minutes to see things from their perspective; envision their needs. For instance, the HR manager of a large company is going to be preoccupied with finding someone who has the skill sets to do the job today.  They are not concerned with your creative ideas for shaping the company’s future. Conversely, the CEO of a small business is preoccupied with finding someone who thinks like an entrepreneur and has a vision for how they can improve the firm going forward. Once you can think like a hiring manager, you can easily connect with and impress a hiring manager. 2) Get into the habit of perceiving stressful situations as enjoyable challenges: Efficient job seekers don’t waste time worrying about how they are going to find the job they want, nor do they beat up on themselves for past interview failures. Rather, they have the ability to shift their focus to the obstacles that need to be overcome for them to achieve their goals.  Once they’ve defined those hurdles, they do everything possible to knock them out one by one. Successful job applicants understand that inner turmoil depletes energy, creativity and interviewing prowess.  They learn the necessary skills to cope with that stress and, thus are able to turn negative events into positive momentum. Avoiding the snowball effect: If you fail to put 110% into your search, you’re going to see significant ramifications. Think of it as a snowball effect. If you don’t end up at a strong company, your co-workers are much less likely to be ambitious, creative and positive thinking individuals. If you’re not around the right people, the chances of you thriving at your position drastically decrease.   If you’re not productive and successful, you will eventually end up leaving and the following will be true: You will lack strong recommendations for your next job. You will have no significant achievements to show on your resume. You will remain at or slightly above your current salary. In addition to setting defined, measurable goals in your job search and learning to analyze the hiring process more meaningfully, you can help yourself avoid the snowball effect by working on the following: Regardless of career level, the entire interview process should not be shorter than 3 weeks, but should be complete before 8.  Any shorter than 3 weeks and you risk making an impulsive decision that lands you at a mediocre company you havent thoroughly vetted.  Any longer than 8 and you lose momentum, thus becoming prone to settle for a position that does not utilize your full range of skills and experiences.  You do not have full control over the interview timeline, so pay attention to companies trying to either rush it or drag out the process, as this often signals a real problem reaching effective internal decisions. Hold yourself accountable to your goals and objectives. In your job search, its just you.  A spouse or friend may provide moral support but at the end of the day, you run on your own steam.  Knowing your goal is to achieve a certain amount of strong job offers, and knowing you need to think critically about your interviewers perspectives and react positively to your own stress, you are the one who has to make up your mind to aim for those goals and those tasks each day of your job search. In the end: It’s not enough to be hard working, determined and passionate about your job if you aim to be meaningfully successful.  You must approach your job search with that same hard work, determination and passion. The way to success in your job search, and thus your career, isnt holding yourself to perfection.  Rather, teach yourself to think about the job search process on more varied levels. Pay attention to both current factors, like the hiring managers perspectives, and long-term indicators such as timing. Above all, hold yourself up to the task of improving every day, in your job search just as in your career.

Resume Writing For a Business - Is it Right For You?

Resume Writing For a Business - Is it Right For You?Many people think that they can write a great resume just by reading resumes. But in reality, you will have to write it differently if you're going to do it this way. Resumes are not just read, they are also applied. You will have to make sure that you can apply your resume in the manner it was written and not make it sound like an eye-witness account of your own accomplishments.Writing a resume is a simple term for putting together a well-constructed employment advertisement. It is an essential tool in making a person to hire you for a job. When you put all of the information on the application that's needed to help the company to make a decision about you, they will most likely do that. The main thing to remember is that the only things that they will be looking at are your job history, education, work experience, certifications, and skills.Resume writing for a business is not like the way that people write resumes for themselves. This job is done on a bigger scale. You are not putting together a resume for yourself alone. To be accepted into a business, you will have to be able to prove that you have skills that are relevant to the position you are applying for. For this reason, it is necessary that you write your resume to the company's exact needs.Having a written resume can do a lot for you when you're trying to get into a business. It can get you noticed quickly so that you can get the interview that you need. It can be something that you can use in case you ever need to get another job in that business. For those of you who work at home, this is your biggest asset.Writing a resume for a business can be very time consuming, but the end result is well worth it. A good business knows that having a great worker will benefit them more than anyone else. You need to make sure that you show them that you are a great worker and that you are someone that the business can use more often. You can use a resume to h ave a good first impression about you and hopefully increase your chances for a job interview.Writing a resume for a business can be very time consuming, but the end result is well worth it. A good business knows that having a great worker will benefit them more than anyone else. You need to make sure that you show them that you are a great worker and that you are someone that the business can use more often. You can use a resume to have a good first impression about you and hopefully increase your chances for a job interview.Resume writing for a business is not like the way that people write resumes for themselves. This job is done on a bigger scale. You are not putting together a resume for yourself alone. To be accepted into a business, you will have to be able to prove that you have skills that are relevant to the position you are applying for.If you're going to do resume writing for a business, you will have to make sure that you follow the directions of the application that yo u write. This is how the company will understand what you want them to see in your resume. If you're going to do it this way, you will not have any trouble doing a well-written resume. Remember that resume writing is a process. It will take some time and dedication, but the end result will be well worth it.

Is the Carrot Helping Your Career

Is the Carrot Helping Your Career A Loosely-Defined Career  Incentive The excitement with our job, even our career, can wane over time for a number of reasons. Those reasons include: Learning the job duties and they become routine. Conquering the challenge of the job duty, and losing the anticipation and excitement of learning something new. Dreading the job tasks we once loved because of the stress our work environment or dealing with our boss causes. Having more duties to complete than we can accomplish in a given work day. Whatever the reason, there comes a time in our job when we get that itch to try a new job. This is right about the time the “carrot on a stick” is often introduced. A Loosely-Defined Career  Incentive The “carrot on a stick”, in this case, refers to employee retention the promise of a salary raise, job promotion, or retention bonus that is offered to an employee to (apparently) help them regain their excitement about the job and the company. Honestly, the offer is really to help retain the employee, regardless of their excitement in the job or company. It is much less expensive for an employer to retain an employee, who has learned the industry and the company, than to spend the money to hire and train a new employee. So much data is lost, as well as future potential, when an employee leaves a company, that it is in the company’s best interest to retain any employee that meets or exceeds expectations. Sometimes these carrots are legitimate and worth it. They lead to a new job with new responsibilities and new challenges. These new responsibilities may even get us closer to some of our career goals. The skills we will learn in the new job could benefit us not only now but also in the future. When the carrot is a bonus, it might come just at the right time, in order to pay for car repairs or a summer vacation. We see the short-term value in the perk we received and feel satisfaction with our company. Unfortunately, a salary raise, job promotion or retention bonus doesnt always live up to their original promise. What can be even worse is if these carrots prevent us from moving forward with our career and achieving our career goals. They may have caused us to continue down one career path instead of the one we want to pursue. Sometimes the new job we receive may come with new responsibilities but without additional pay. In other cases, the raise we were promised didn’t meet expectations or never even materialized. These “carrots on a stick” can increase our stress level and our time spent at work without delivering any real benefit. What to do? When you are offered that new job or promotion, just at the time you were thinking of trying a different direction, take some time to think about it. You do not need to give an answer on the spot. Revisit the costs and benefits of accepting this new opportunity. Ask yourself: If you do accept the position, what will this look like in the short-term? What will the long-term impact be? How will this new opportunity benefit you and what will it cost you? Will this new opportunity sway you from pursuing a different course? If so, is that truly what you want? Is this new opportunity masking your true interest and excitement of learning new tasks and taking on more responsibility? Weigh all of this data carefully before making a decision. Sometimes the carrot shows up at the right time and keeps us at our company doing a job we really wanted to do. Sometimes the carrot just delays our journey to pursue another career. What’s important, is to know the potential impact the carrot will have on you and on accomplishing your long-term and short-term career goals.

Ways Your Business Can Do Less and Achieve More

Ways Your Business Can Do Less and Achieve More If you’re working hard and spending every waking moment trying to make a success of your business, watching it struggle can be even harder. However, you need to remember that success is not just down to hard work. And it’s actually the case that your business can start to take steps towards doing less in order to achieve more. This can mean many things, and we’re going to talk about them all today. Of course, it’s not simply a case of doing less and sitting back. But there are certain things you can do that involve doing less arduous work, and you can achieve better results that way. It’s not rocket science, but it can be a bit of a culture shock for some entrepreneurs and business owners. If you want to learn more about all this, read on now. Hire a Good Receptionist If you want to simply do less of the admin stuff that you find yourself getting bogged down in all the time, you could do a lot worse than to hire a good receptionist. They’ll be able to handle your calls and paperwork while you get on with other things. If they’re good at their job, they’ll keep all of this stuff in order and only get you involved when there’s actually something that demands your attention. Otherwise, you’ll be able to leave them to get on with it. Advertise in Targeted Ways You can waste a lot of time and resources advertising to the wrong demographics and the wrong audiences. It happens a lot, and you need to make sure that it doesn’t happen to your business any longer. It’s about finding the right ways to target the right people. Know your target audience, understand their interests and target them using things like Facebook ads and better targeted Google ads. It’s up to you to work on this because no one can do it for you. Offer Rewards for Referrals Referrals should be actively encouraged by your business because it’s a way of allowing your customers to essentially do all the hard work for you. They’ll be the ones pushing their friends and family members to use your services and they’ll get a reward for doing so. It’s a great way to find new customers, so don’t shy away from it. It works as well as it ever did and you could really benefit. All you have to do is advertise the rewards scheme and your customers will do the work from there. Automate More With automation now being used more widely by all kinds of business, you have the chance to have a lot of tasks done for you. There are big and small forms of automation you can embrace depending on what kind of business you’re running. For example, PPC campaign automation can be used by any business because it’s about streamlining your advertising efforts and making them more successful. But if you work in manufacturing, there are much larger forms of automation taking over, and these should be considered by your business.. Encourage Word of Mouth Word of mouth sales are like referrals, but you don’t even need to offer any reward. You simply need to prompt people to tell their friends if they enjoyed your services. It can be done in the form of a follow up email. It shows that you care about how your customer found your services and what their experience was like, and you can finish it off by encouraging them to tell their friends and family about it. People really will do that if they enjoyed something a lot. And it’s completely free. Streamline Office Communication Office communication can be a real hassle, and it’s not something you want people to be spending a large amount of their time on if you can help it. It’s much better for everyone and a lot more efficient if you streamline office communication. Many workplaces now use an instant messaging app so that people can share messages right away. It tends to be much faster than email and the messages get read a lot quicker too. This is definitely something to consider as long as it’s regulated in the right way. Embrace Remote Working and Downsize Your Office Remote working allows you to do less by basically reducing the presence of your business. You won’t need to have a large workplace to accommodate a large team if you’re allowing those who want to to work from home rather than coming into work like normal. You will then have the chance to downsize your office and make it more affordable for the business. That money you save can then go towards doing other things that represent a better use of your resources. Outsource Your Security Requirements Keeping your business safe, both in the physical sense and in the digital world, is really important. But it’s not something you should be spending time on. By outsourcing this stuff, you will be able to ensure you get the very best results from people who know what they’re doing, while also freeing up your time. You can spend more time doing other things while security is taken care of by the experts. Stop Wasting Money on Advertising Methods That Aren’t Working Once it’s clear that your advertising campaign isn’t yielding results, you need to change it or halt it. There’s no sense in persisting with a method that isn’t working. By stopping or changing it, you will save yourself time and money, and allowing you to start work on something that actually will produce the results for you going forward. Admitting defeat is not always easy, but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet. Your business should work on doing things that help to drive sales and increase income. That doesn’t always mean simply doing the things that involve the most hard work. Succeeding in business is more about working cleverly and efficiently than it is about working harder than anyone else.