Wellbeing in the workplace: Get happy and thrive July 16, 2014 Remember the three Cs and you could see a boost in productivity. The idea that employee wellbeing can impact a company’s bottom line isn’t a new one. Back in the 1970s, the US Worksite Health Promotion movement campaigned for firms to think of staff health and happiness as an essential ingredient in productivity. [...]
Holiday insurance pitfalls to avoid: From smartphones to stepchildren July 16, 2014 Don’t get caught out by your smartphone, stepchildren or because you’re taking multiple breaks. With the summer holidays fast approaching, many of us will be turning our minds to the exciting trips we’ve got planned – and, of course, the travel insurance they’ll require. According to numbers from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, [...]
Facebook isn’t just for procrastinating: How using social media could be a career booster July 16, 2014 It's all too easy to put the words “social media” and “career” together and immediately think “disaster”. Well-publicised mishaps, not least former US congressman Anthony Weiner’s alleged salacious tweeting back in 2011, have led to the conception that Facebook, Tumblr and the like are nothing but a minefield for professionals. But this is a misconception. [...]
Lessons from the German 2014 World Cup winners July 14, 2014 You don’t need everyone to be a star player for your business team to be successful. Businesses can learn a lot from successful sports teams. After all, the balance between group and individual, consistency and novelty, and working under a common goal are things both must do well. An estimated 1bn people [...]
Scottish independence: Why the referendum matters July 14, 2014 Even a “No” vote will mean radical shifts in political power. Warnings of market complacency have come thick and fast recently. Just yesterday, Bank for International Settlements chief Jaime Caruana said investors are ignoring the prospects of coming rate rises amid a giddy hunt for yield, while the geopolitical crises tearing through the [...]
CNBC Comment: Portugal’s banking crisis sends it back to cloud cuckoo land July 14, 2014 Can it be three years since I was last in Cloud Cuckoo Land – sorry, I mean Portugal – talking about the fundamentals in one of the former problem children of the European debt crisis? It seems to have flown by. It’s good to know, though, that last week’s risk hiccup over a medium-sized [...]
What the CIA style manual can teach you about writing July 13, 2014 Be frugal with adjectives – nouns and verbs do the heavy lifting. Spies aren’t exactly known for their literary exploits. But, as in business, intelligence work requires a precise, lucid writing style that can easily be ruined by failing to adhere to a few critical rules. And sloppy writing can be costly. Communications [...]
Work in Progress: Living in a postcard at One Tower Bridge July 11, 2014 While many new homes boast of their panoramic views across London, none are quite as iconic as the sight from One Tower Bridge. This landmark development from Berkeley is being built right next to one of the world’s most famous river crossings. It’s a mixed use site so, if you’re not planning on living [...]
Transparent pay: Could it work in your company? July 10, 2014 Profit margins may suffer, but accountability is likely to increase. Few issues provoke as much ire among colleagues as a gaping pay discrepancy. When Pimlico Plumbers made staff salaries public as part of a reality show for Channel 4, communications manager Karl Plunkett says the topic blew up “like a landmine”. Historical contingencies [...]
Focus On… Wimbledon: A game of two halves July 10, 2014 AS THE Championships drew to a close last week, it wasn’t just Novak Djokovic who was counting his prize money. Savvier residents in the leafy, south west London suburb who rented their property out for the fortnight also earned themselves a tidy profit, according to estate agents Hamptons International. “Many home owners choose to let [...]