Most Depressing Day of the Year! :(

Is it just me or have the radio stations been saying this for a few weeks now?? Im nearly sure they said the same about last monday, and the monday before that!

Hearing that today is the most depressing day of the year doesn’t really make it any easier to be cheery on a monday morning!

And with all the negative talk surrounding the country it’s no wonder were all suffering from the January Blues!

Role on February!:)

Life choices!!

So another January comes our way. It’s that time of year where people start to question their careers and whether or not they’re truly happy in the job!! With the economy in the state that it’s in i would presume most people, even if they are unhappy, will stay put for as long as possible!

With people being fired left, right and centre, it’s hard to decide where you want to take your career as no one knows where we will be in 5 years time!

 The option of emigrating is very appealing but without relevant work experience we could find ourselves lost in a different country

When will it end??

It’s All ‘Bah Humbug’ in the Office this Christmas

This is usually the week when all the Christmas party revellers get their glad rags on, but according to a recent survey conducted by online job board www.AdminJobs.ie, the usual festivities won’t be taking place for everybody. Out of the 4,000 Irish office employees surveyed, 10% have had their Christmas Party cancelled and a further 15% have had their year end bonus either reduced or withdrawn completely.

 

Irish employers are taking a hard hit this Christmas, there is no question about it, but the Christmas Party seems to be a sacred event for many employees and may prove a cut back too far.

 

Has your workplace got that Bad Santa feeling? We asked what bah humbug attitudes in the workplace annoyed office workers most and were surprised at the number of Ebenezer Scrooge employers out there.

 

Here are our top 10 employer Bah Humbug attitudes to Xmas

 

1. Banning tinsel to cut down on hoovering
2. No decorations allowed in the office
3. Limited spaces at the office party
4. No Kris Kindle/Secret Santa allowed
5. Told to pay for their own xmas party
6. Not allowed xmas music on the last day before the holidays
7. Not being allowed to add Christmas decorations to the staff uniform
8. Refusing a 30 minute break to see a child’s nativity play
9. Not being allowed to wear xmas hats
10. Not sharing out any gifts or xmas drinks managers receive

 

 

Announcing no Christmas party and bonus’s due to lack of funds may be an unavoidable situation for many employers this Christmas. But looking at the list above, it doesn’t cost anything to employers to show a little Christmas spirit in allowing staff to celebrate the festivities, even if they want to hoover while wearing tinsel, Santa hats and listening to music, all at the same time.

 

Kris Kindle at Work

We have just organised our Kris Kindle at AdminTowers. I have heard over the years many different ways of doing this but the most fun is to not tell anyone who you’ve got, as it makes the prize giving more exciting.

Our budget is €15.00 and have to put my thinking cap on to get something really inventive and funny.

If your company doesn’t organise one it’s not too late to start. They are a great way of creating fun around the office and add to the dampened festive spirit we are all experiencing this Christmas.

It doesn’t matter how many employees your company has if only 3 or 300. It’s the thought that counts.

Now what to buy….

Stressed at Work?

Stress leave from work I used to think was a cop out for overpaid and under motivated workers from the early naughties, but then business’s grew and we all got extra resources.

I came accross this funny clip of just how far you can go with bad behaviour at work and put it down to stress!

Bullying in the Workplace

Carrying on my thoughts on The Apprentice, it struck me as I watched the episode on Monday there is a thin line between this reality TV show and abuse in the workplace.

I know the show rates for captivating TV viewing, but has anybody ever been spoken to in the workplace the way Bill Cullen addresses his prey after each task?

I was once, and I handed my notice in, after first seriously considered taking my then employer up for verbal abuse.

For those of you who didn’t see the episode or have been living under a rock for the past 6 weeks while the show has been on TV3 Monday nights, I’ll give a quick run down.

We are down to the last 5 remaining contestants. Divided into two teams. The girls are strong contenders, with only 2 male contestants left. The loosing team of this weeks task face Bill in the boardroom. We have just two on the loosing team, Orla a ballsy marketing executive who is perhaps not as good as she believes she is, and Shane, a clean cut strong overall winner contender.

The boardroom begins with Bill  interrogating each looser for their suggested failures while he makes up his mind to fire one of them. This is where the bullying and goading is delivered by Bill, which I think he is taking his role too seriously for reality TV land. The editing on Monday night’s shows the camera panning in to Orla’s face and she is starting to cry, very unusual for her and seems as if Bill has interrogated her too far. Then Shane, lets not forget a real overall winner contender, pipes up out of the blue that he thinks he should be fired. They try to convince him to stay but he is having none of it.

My guess is Shane witnessing the bullying tactics of Bill’s treatment of Orla decided he didn’t want to work for a man or company that intentionally reduces to tears a potential employee.

He got out as fast as he could.

Here Come The Girls

Ireland is starting to catch in world rankings on the gender gap in the workplace according to an article I read today in The Irish Times.

Ireland has just been ranked 8th place in the world rankings for gender gaps in the workplace. Up from 9th place last year.

To quote The Irish Times

An increase in the percentage of women among the nation’s legislators, senior officials and managers – up from 29 per cent in 2007 to 31 per cent in 2008 – was the main reason for the improved ranking, the forum said. President Mary McAleese’s continued term as head of state also boosted the political empowerment ranking.

However Irish women have yet to achieve wage equality for similar work, taking home just 71 per cent of male salaries.

The Republic still lags behind Britain when it comes to equality in labour force participation, length of paid maternity leave and the ratio of women to men in parliament.

Norway topped the league of countries in closing the gender gap, followed by Finland, Sweden, Iceland and New Zealand. However, New Zealand’s 2009 ranking may be dented by the ousting of prime minister Helen Clark from office last week.

The Philippines and Denmark were also ranked ahead of Ireland.

Here is the list of leaders in the world in closing the gender gap

1. Norway
2. Finland,
3. Sweden
4. Iceland
5. New Zealand
6. Philippines
7. Denmark
8. Ireland
9. Netherlands
10. Latvia

A great achievement you may think, but gender gap by no means represents equality in the workforce. 

I’d take a guess that our climb to the top of this list will increase over the next few years. More women are in the workforce as a direct result from the over-inflated housing economy in existence here for the past 10 years. The stay-at-home mum is a luxury, as young couples need a double income to sustain high mortgage payments.

The extra women in the workforce will progress to more management positions than previously achieved.

Now we just have to start working on narrowing the wage equality gap between male and female salaries!

 

 

On yur bike

Well it’s good news for bike shops all over the country and more bad news for the car showrooms.

One of the incentives of the 2009 budget to reduce our carbon footprint, is the governments new initiative on decongesting our cities.

They have introduced a new Cycle to Work Scheme. Employers can now provide employees with a bicycle and associated safety equipment who agree to use the bicycles to cycle to work.

The purchase is treated as a tax exempt benefit in kind, with a very generous limit on the value of up to €1000.00

Looking for ways to make your wage packet stretch that bit further?

Maybe now is the time to get greener and back to pedalling.

Will we now see inventive ways to make you bike look prettier?. Baskets reminiscent of romantic amsterdam bikes or pink glittery handlebar streamers in the staff car park?

Or perhaps in 2009 we will see Audi or BMW bringing out their new green series of transport for the environmentally friendly at €999.99

The Apprentice

Are we all glued to the TV3 on Mondays with the new series of the Irish Apprentice?

I love every minute of it and await with glee to see who is actually going to shine through on the programme. Bill Cullen gets my vote of confidence in being able to fill Alan Sugar’s shoes on entertainment value alone.

The girls, although they won early on in the series are starting to show signs of weakness.

I’d imagine things will get very competitive with the boys showing ruthless business tactics early in the series and then being silenced by the girls winnings.

Am I the only one who finds Joanna scary?

Budget?!!

So D-Day has finally arrived! Will it be the usual extra euro added to all cigarette packets or will we be tightening our belts for a long time to come? Lenihan is asking for us to give him a fair hearing, he sees it as an important day for us and says that he will steer Ireland out of the ecomomic storm! Here’s hoping! All will be revealed at 3:45 today!!