The Human Resources Function in the Wycombe District Council Essay Example for Free

The Human Resources Function in the Wycombe District Council Essay I have elected to use the Wycombe District Council as a large organization to base my analytical report on its Human Resources function. The council is apart of the public sector. A Human Resources or a Personnel Department is vital to a business in order for it to keep track of its employees and help employees resolve any problems that may occur while working. There are four main reasons for having a HR department: * It encourages employers to develop clear links between their business plans and their HR plans so that they can integrate the two more effectively * Organisations can control staff costs and the number of employees more effectively. * Employers can build up a skill profile for each of their employees. This makes it easier for employers to give work where its can be most valued for its organisation. Also plans for training and updating skills can be applied. * It creates a profile of staff (relating gender, race, disability), which is necessary for the operation of Equal Opportunities (which my chosen firm incorporates) Having a HR department has shown the following contemporary changes to businesses: * A decline in the proportion of employees that reside by trade unions. * A decline in the proportion of employees whose pay is set by unionised collective bargaining * A rise in the range of employment issues that are lacking in originality, from a managerial outline * A corresponding rise in the amount of part time, short term, contracted out employment Human Resources (Personnel) is responsible for many of the ins and outs of the business, as you may know in this particular business, Personnel and Human Resources is integrated. This adds a greater pressure for the Council to act diligently, but simultaneously, it can give more flexibility. Personnel keeps, information on all of the councils employees i.e. address, telephone and history of that certain individual. With the integration of Human Resources staff turnover can be forecasted and relevant actions can be taken to evade losses. Although there is an element of integration the usual HR officers are still deployed. The officers typically analyse the output of the employees within certain departments and takes notes on how to improve performance output. There is another method used in this particular business, in the way of monitoring how much work, is done by each individual, this method is deployed by joint effort of Human Resources and ISD (computer section of council). The council has a special operating system called QSP, now in order to use the computers a login procedure is upheld. First in the Windows Networking interface, you have to logon, at this point the HR department/officer can now tell who is using which PC, in which department. At this point only Microsoft Word documents can be monitored as most official council documents are scripted in Word. Next the computer user has to login within QSP, once he/she is logged on the monitoring is present. With this type of technology present the HR officer can tell who is the hard worker and who is being complacent. This is very effective as the council is very computer based. Although manual work it self e.g. handwritten letters, have to be manually monitored. With theses resources at their exploitation the council can use these very efficiently to improve and strengthen its taskforce. The ways that have been stated are ways that human resources are active within the business. Human Resources although integrated with Personnel play a very crucial role towards the running of the council on a daily basis. Although work can be monitored, ethical issues are a concern but this issue has no foundation, as most of the employees know that its apart of the Contract of Employment. Human Resources/Personnel department is regarded highly within the branches of the council due to that all employee records are shown at this particular department. There are 4 main branches within the council: * Property and Housing * Planning Transport Development * Leisure Health Community * Corporate Services Human Resources is found in the Corporate Services branch, it is placed highly, overall within the Corporate Services branch, managed under Personnel department. The Human Resources department is sub divided within the Personnel department. All functions (applicable) of Human Resources are integrated within Personal. Personnel has four other departments within: 1. Recruitment 2. Training and Development 3. Staff Welfare 4. Terms and Conditions The recruitment function in personnel employs recruitment officers and managers to analyse recruitment processes within the council. They are responsible for recruiting and interviewing job applicants and trainees. Other tasks include working with certain departments when vacancies appear to, to draw up a job description. Usually in certain businesses these are fabricated beforehand. But materialising such documents is time consuming and an expense. The council has a very thorough and well thought of Training and Development programme. Each year the Training Development programme is analysed and then revised to coincide with the existing technology of today. The current Training and Development Programme is starts at April 2001 and expires March 2002. The current instalment has six main areas of which training/development is given: * Management and Development * Customer Care * Personnel Development * Communication Skills * Health and Safety * Computer Skills I will now give training titles for the courses under each title: Management Development training incorporates: 1. Leadership Coaching 2. Recruitment and Selection 3. Managing Performance 4. Project Management 5. Introduction to Supervision Customer Care training incorporates: 1. Customer Service Workshop 2. Disability Awareness 3. Transactional Analysis 4. Serving a Cultural diverse community Personnel Development training entails: 1. Assertiveness 2. Creativity Innovation 3. Preparing for Retirement 4. Planning your future 5. Time management 6. Induction 7. Managing meetings 8. Negotiation Skills 9. Dealing with Violence and Aggression 10. Coping Positively with Pressure 11. Minute taking Communication Skills training 1. Presentation skills 2. Effective report writing 3. Writing Plain English 4. Media Skills 5. Communicating with Deaf Hard of hearing people Health and Safety training 1. Health and Safety induction 2. Workstation safety 3. Manual Handling 4. Fire Safety 5. Basics of Risk management 6. Personal Safety Computer Skills training 1. Word 97 Introduction 2. Word 97 Intermediate 3. Word 97 Advanced 4. Excel 97 Introduction 5. Excel 97 Intermediate 6. Excel 97 Advanced 7. Lotus Notes 4.6 The Staff Welfare department looks at whether the employees, are in environments that comply with Health and Safety laws. The day-to-day happenings, in the work area are also monitored. For example if discrimination of any kind happens they are reported to this department and then investigated further. Relevant action is then taken according to what was committed. The Equal Opportunities policy is also, along with the rest of the HR department fabricated from this department. This department is mainly there to help resolve problems that occur in the workplace and make improvements for staff when working. Possible improvements of the workplace, food and drink are also put forward in this area. The Equal Opportunities Policy is the councils way of saying that they have a complete policy for people of an ethnic background and discrimination will not be tolerated of any kind. Below is the Equal Opportunities Policy; along with the Training and Development Programme, the Policy is updated yearly. The last department in Personnel is Terms Conditions this department looks at various contracts, set by the council to each individual. If any concerns are expressed over certain contracts, this department has a look at possible changes that could be made, to accommodate needs. Other Terms and Conditions that are monitored include dismissal conditions, promotion conditions, contract of employment.

Bus Transport Essay -- Economics

Bus Transport A) The nature of the competition in the bus transport market is very specific. The article suggests competition is used to keep out new entrants to the market thus maintaining market share for the larger firms, "active competition takes place between small operators or between a large and a small operator." Further evidence suggests the competition was not of substantial benefit to the consumer and only used to get one over on the firms rivals, "more services run on routes which where already reasonably well serviced." However some methods of competition showed reasonable benefits to consumers, "charged lower fares than the incumbent." Yet in the long run predatory pricing is not a good thing, as it will eventually push out competition, creating a monopoly where the price will soon go back up again. Non-price competition is lacking in the market, " difficult for suppliers to differentiate their products." As long as the price is reasonable consumers will act on which service requires them to wait for the shortest amount of time, i.e. the first bus to arrive or the most reliable service, "not prepared to wait for a later bus which maybe more comfortable." Cumulatively this type of competition in a market has negative effects, "can lead to congestion, pollution, and instability of services." Large companies that actively compete are likely to loose out in the long run due to the nature of the Kinhed demand curve theory suffering, as...

Russia’s Economic Future

Russia's economic future Nowadays, Americans always come up with the rise of China and India as new economic powerhouses on the global stage. It’s easy to forget that another superpower in Asia – Russia – occupied the central spot in our nation’s foreign policy consciousness for almost five decades after World War II. But Russia still matters. In August, global wheat prices surged to two-year highs after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced a ban on exports due to weather-driven supply shortages there.And the country remains a dominant supplier of oil and natural gas to the world market. Unlike China, however, the former Soviet Union has not been nearly as successful in making the transition from the communist era to a more market-based economy. According to Russia expert Bruce Parrott, not even the Russians are sure just what they want to be going forward. Although, the Russian economy faces serious challenges.Russian industry is not likely to regain a n important role in a global economy that demands peak efficiency. Consequently, the export of primary commodities and raw materials is likely to remain the bulwark of economic development. Primary commodity markets are relatively more susceptible to fluctuations than are industrial markets. Russia is likely to continue to be influenced by economic trends that it cannot control.International investors, including the major investment banks, commercial investors, and companies interested in expanding their businesses in world markets have remained on the sidelines, scared off by Russia's long-standing problems with capital flight, reliance on barter transactions, corruption of government officials, and fears of organized crime. The Russian government and leading economists in the country have developed an agreement on the need for various kinds of administrative changes.Failures such as corruption are not moral failures, but a failure of administrative structure. There is a consensus that the country needs to strengthen the institutional and legal underpinnings of a market economy. Improving the legal and regulatory structure would provide a reliable framework for improving governance, strengthening the rule of law, reducing corruption, and attracting the long-term capital needed for deep restructuring and sustained growth. The country also needs to improve its tax system to encourage greater tax compliance and a realistic appreciation in the opulation that the people must pay for the costs of a modern society. The government must avoid pressures to use central bank money to finance its budget deficit. Further reforms are needed in the banking sector, including a legal framework to make it easier to close down troubled banks. Any measures aiming to reduce poverty levels among workers are primarily associated with the increase in the official wages drawn by the lower paid workers, the majority of which are women, and also with the identification and taxation of i ncome in Russia's informal sector.A positive sign was that in mid-year 2000, the Russian government adopted an official development strategy for the period 2000-10. The strategy identified economic policy directed at ensuring equal conditions of market competition, protecting ownership rights, eliminating administrative barriers to entrepreneurship, making the economy more open, and carrying out tax reform. The strategy identified the creation of an effective state performing the function of a guarantor of external and internal security and also of social, political, and economic stability.The strategy spoke of a â€Å"new social contract† between the more active sections of Russian society and the reformed government. Analysts of Credit Suisse bank believe that in the next 10 years the Russian economy will grow by more than 60 per cent. They base their forecast on the Russian abundant natural resources, the active development of its energy infrastructure, as well as on the c ountry's strong scientific and technological base in certain industrial sectors.We foresee a bright future for the Russian economy, and we forecast an increase of 4. 9 per cent in 2011 and of 4. 6 per cent in 2012, said the Credit Suisse bank analysts. They believe that the Russian economy will thereafter be growing by 5 per cent annually and they believe that the major reason for the increase in the Russian economy is due to the well developed oil sector, which is still developing steadily.Head of the Russian Academy of Sciences' institute of economy's center for comparative study of transitional processes, Leonid Bardomsky has this to say about the forecast of the Swiss analysts: â€Å"The Swiss analysts have made a conservative forecast, taking into account that in the last decade the Russian GDP has doubled. The experts have cautiously predicted an increase of 60 per cent, in view of the fluctuation of oil prices on the global market, where there is the expectation of an increa se of 60 per cent which is normal for the sector.Income from oil can guarantee the mentioned 60 per cent increase, but reaching 100 per cent will require the development of nanotechnology†, said Bardomsky. He believes that the Swiss bank has no trust in this and hence its conservative forecast is based on global extraneous developments. Meanwhile, Russia's economy has many problems also. For example, it remains very vulnerable to external shocks and has not yet been able to develop a stable base for continued growth and poverty reduction.While the data are not yet sufficient to carefully assess the impact of the economic recovery on the enterprise sector, it appears that the rebound in the non-oil/gas traded goods sector has so far been driven by the real depreciation of the ruble and the greater availability of capital. Furthermore, there are indications that industrial growth is beginning to slow. Therefore, maintaining a realistic exchange rate, while controlling inflation, must remain a policy priority for sustaining the recovery and future growth of the real economy. Strong fiscal discipline needs to be maintained.A large swing factor is, of course, the level of capital flight, the reduction of which depends on progressive improvement in the investment climate in Russia. Finally, over the longer-term, Russia's deteriorating infrastructure is a matter of concern. Russia's basic public infrastructure—including roads, bridges, railways, ports, housing, and public facilities such as schools and hospitals—was built during the Soviet period. After independence, investment in maintenance and new construction of public infrastructure has fallen dramatically.Russia's aging physical plant is likely to become an increasing constraint to growth unless an improved investment climate can ensure substantially higher levels of investments than is presently the case. According to these problems, Russia should diversify its economy and not rely solely o n oil and gas if it wants to achieve a significant breakthrough; it should continue to keep the ruble weak in relation to other world currencies, to get the best from, the export of its raw materials.The Managing Director of the Department of Global markets of The New York-Mellon Bank, Michael Wolfork, says that in the first half of the New Year, prices of the Russian raw materials will increase as a result of high demands, and it will come about due to the lower exchange rate of the ruble against the dollar. European countries, the U. S and Japan will be buying more Russian goods if the ruble remains weak, said Wolfork. I think the world wants Russia to have a strong economy, to bring benefits not only to Russians, but also to the rest of the world.If the potential of the Russian economy increases, the economies of the rest of the world will likewise be boosted. Financial experts believe that by 2030, the Russian economy will become the strongest in Europe, and this view is backed by experts of Price Water House Cooper in a report circulated in the City of London, the financial center of Britain. It is believed by experts that by 2030, the Russian economy will become the 5th strongest in the world.

Plato Vs. Rhetoric Plato And Rhetoric - 2524 Words

Plato and Rhetoric Plato is one of the greatest philosophers in history. Often his words and sayings resonate to this day. But, considering all what Plato has done, what is most peculiar about him is his condemnation of poets and sophists. Plato is in a constant fight to see that the way of true philosophy replaces these false arts. But even much more interesting is that Plato goes even further, and condemns the use of rhetoric, the art of persuasion, as a whole. He not only does this adamantly and with hearty conviction, he fights rhetoric with rhetoric itself. It is a contradiction that which seems laughable and intriguing. Through his works of the Phaedrus, in which Plato’s voice is heard through the mouth of Socrates and The Republic, Plato’s ultimate goal for civilization, the perfect place for society to function together. In these works, Plato demonstrates his dislike for the practice and implementation of rhetoric but also aims at taking sophistry and poetry down along with it. The Phaedrus is the ultimate attack on rhetoric from Plato, and its practices. It follows Socrates and Phaedrus as they discuss love, and other ideas. But it sets up somewhat of a villain within the work as well. There is a man named Lysias, trying to win Phaedrus’ heart, just as Socrates is. But they both employ different methods of doing so. There is the use of rhetoric, which Lysias uses to persuade others, he is popular amongst his peers and others as well. And then there is Socrates, aShow MoreRelatedEssay Clouds vs. The Apology1649 Words   |  7 Pages Clouds vs. The Apology In Aristophanes Clouds and in Platos Apology we see extensive fictional representations of the historical figure, Socrates, who left us no literary works under his own name. 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