Rediscover the art of conversation at work in easy steps February 22, 2015 Making an effort to build new relationships pays big dividends. How often do you walk into your office and it’s quiet enough to hear a pin drop? Are your colleagues constantly plugged into their headphones, heads down, and cracking through their to-do lists? Do you even know their names? While we all need space [...]
Why competence will always beat charisma at work February 19, 2015 In an age when soft skills are all that matter, Elena Shalneva still prefers ability and rigour. A headhunter calls about a job. It’s in Amsterdam, starts next month, requires fluent Dutch and pays about half of what I used to earn when I last worked in an office. The job is fairly basic, but [...]
Why the soft skills generation is an asset – ACCA Comment February 18, 2015 It’s easy to criticise the young for their lack of business savvy but we may be missing a trick. Our young people aren’t up to the job. They just don’t have what it takes.” It’s a familiar refrain, isn’t it? Hardly a day goes by without a high-profile business leader expressing grave concern that the [...]
Could your staff benefit from team coaching? February 18, 2015 Hitting on the ideal group dynamic is hard but transformative. Team coaching is a complicated but rewarding task. For starters, it’s difficult to define: is it individual coaching with team members, or is it team building exercises? Is it coaching in a group, or organisational development? The point is that it’s all of these things: [...]
Eastern promise: Keys to investing in Asian markets February 17, 2015 Emerging Asia was one of the best performing regions in the five years leading up to the financial crisis, delivering a 20 per cent return per year in sterling terms. And despite the fact that, over the past two years, the region has underperformed developed markets, it remains a favourite place for UK investors to [...]
Ideal interview: Why preparation is indispensable February 17, 2015 If life boils down to a few decisive moments, a job interview is surely one of them. Arguably, your time, money, health, social status and happiness can all be determined in part by the work you do. So when going for the job of a lifetime, how can you give yourself the best chance of [...]
UK house prices: A return to optimism? – CNBC Comment February 16, 2015 The UK housing market is a favourite topic of conversation – a national pastime, even. But an abundance of different data types mean that statistics can swamp and confuse anyone looking to gauge the current climate. Property website Rightmove just announced its busiest ever month for house hunters, while Halifax saw its biggest January monthly [...]
How to choose the market that matches your convictions – DailyFX Tips & Picks February 16, 2015 MOST people have a fairly good idea of what is driving the financial markets. But much of the time, only a few are any good at choosing the right market to express their views of what’s going on. A good example of this is the overly bearish view of the Eurozone throughout 2013 by professional [...]
Three new ways you can improve your networks February 16, 2015 To expand your contacts, you may have to refresh your tactics. There are countless anecdotes that teach the importance of building a strong network. And whether you’re talking about old boys clubs or the ever expanding world of social media, the adage “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” has never been more [...]
How employers can deal with office lovebirds February 15, 2015 In some instances, you can require that staff disclose a relationship. Do you know how many people in your office have had an in-house romance? Valentine’s Day might have been and gone, but trysts are a staple of the UK workplace. According to research carried out by the Institute of Leadership and Management, 41 per [...]