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Staff Management, Trusts, Pensions Used By John Lewis And Marks And Spencer

Introduction

Marks and Spencer (M& S) is a company based in Britain. It is one of the most successful retailers in the United Kingdom with about seven hundred and sixty stores all over the world. It was founded by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer and has Sir Stuart Rose as its Chief Executive. Some of the countries in which the retail sores are found include Japan, Switzerland, Kuwait, India, Poland, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkey, and Jersey among others. Most of the stores are found in the UK i.e. they are five hundred and twenty in number. The company deals in the sale of clothing items and also in the food sector. Other items that the company sells include household items, furniture, electronics and other technological devices, it also engages in the sale of coffee. The company has been relatively successful in the industry and even recorded a profit of one billion pounds about nine years ago. It was however faced with a crisis in the year 1998, but it has since recovered from this crisis and is no on a stead rise again. (Faragher, 2007)

The company has been well known for some of the policies it offers to its consumers. One of the policies was that items can be refunded back to customers as long as they had receipts even if the products had been purchased a long time ago. The Company recorded a profit of slightly over half a billion pounds in the year 2006. M& S also boasts of having a large employee base-it has close to seventy one thousand staff members under its wing.

John Lewis was a company is also another retail chain of stores that is slightly smaller than the former mentioned Company. John Lewis (JL) has one hundred and twelve super markets and twenty six stores under its name. There are sixty eight thousand employees working for the Company. JL is well known for the way it shares profits, partnership with emeployees and equity.

Marks and Spencer

Staff management at Mark and Spencer

Marks and Spencer is well k own for the kind of management system that it adopts. This is one of the major contributors towards its corporate identity. Corporate identity is a crucial part of any business because it is what customers recognise about the Company. M& S prides itself in the fact that it has a very strong corporate culture. This simply means that the Company has been having a strong sense of culture and management skills. This has even led to some emulation from certain companies with reference to M&S. However, this does not men that staff management at the Company has not had some flaws. This was especially visible when the Company was forced to close down stores in parts of France. This occurred due to the fact that there were inadequacies about the benefits and job protection offered by Marks and Spencer yet the same incentives were what the Company had become identified with. The Company also failed in communicating adequately to staff members prior to closure. This meant that the Company had found itself in bridge of the law and had therefore revealed weaknesses in its management system. (Dale, 2001)

Trainee Management Schemes in Staff management

This kind of scheme has earned the Marks and Spencer Company an award from the Times. This was ion recognition of the fact that the Company employs a high number of graduates to work for them. It was given position seventeen in this category for this role.

This kind of scheme normally involves provision of training for graduates who may be new to the company or those who may have worked for the company before but are interested in developing themselves within the organisation. This training lasts for a period of twelve months. But before one becomes an accepted trainee within the company, they pass through rigorous training and selection before gaining access into the Company.

First of all, applications are done openly and transparently through the internet. This method is quite appropriate because it ensures that all people who are interested gain access to the process without segregation. All applicants do this through a Communication Centre belonging to Marks and Spencer.  After sending their applications to the Centre, applicants are required to do a psychometric test. Those who pass the test will be deemed capable of performing managerial tasks.

The tests come in two categories. The first is numerical while the other is verbal. The purpose of providing two types of tests is to give a fair chance to differing personalities. This is a very crucial aspect of any fair recruitment process. Reason being that some people are bubbly and talkative and may seem quite impressive during the verbal tests yet such people may be very poor at performing tasks. The numerical tests are also important in analysing other types of personalities. Some people may be shy and withheld during verbal interviews. Others may panic suddenly and consequently loose composure. This other types of tests allow M& S management to zero in on the most suitable candidates and overcome initial barriers in selection. (Berry, 2007)

Applicants are then subjected to an Occupational Personality Test. This type of test aims at investigating what type of personality the applicant possesses. This is because managerial positions can only be done by certain types of personalities. Not everyone is cut out for this kind of position. People who take up managerial positions must be leaders. This means that they must be influential and must be able to affect the actions of other members of staff towards achievement of the goal. This is the reason why the test is done as the last thing during the application.

Finally, members who get accepted into the Company undergo rigorous training for a period of one month. The reason why the duration is slightly long is because the Company would like trainees to be well equipped for the challenges that lay ahead in the managerial positions which they will hold. This Company has the advantage of having young members of society working for it thus encouraging injection of new ideas and brainstorms. A company that is characterised by young people working for it is quite progressive and always incorporates new and creative ideas of doing things. The Company also has unconventional ways of management because of recruiting young staff members to work for it.

Customer service training in staff management

The Company uses a method called Mary Gober to train its staff members. This helps members of staff to be on top of their game when it comes to treatment of customers. This implies that staff members become very well versed in treatment of customers and service delivery is improved. What the training normally provides members of staff is that they are able to treat customers in a friendly way; they are also able to give courtesy to customers and to show them that they are interested in serving them. In addition, members of staff are also equipped with the knowledge to serve customers in the best possible way. This means that they are able to answer any questions asked by clients and their abilities are maximised. (Thomson, 2003)

Members of staff are required to attend seminars where they are informed on how to deal with consumers. These kinds of seminars are common in most of the stores that are affiliated to the chain stores. Consumers and other parties have it easy when they require details about certain issues in the Company because they are able to identify members that have undergone training because they normally wear a brooch on items of clothing.

Charity Awards for volunteer employees – staff management

Marks and Spencer has a programme that has been put in place called Mark and Start. This programme aims at involving most members of staff in volunteer efforts especially towards the disadvantaged in society. In so doing, employees identify with the Company and it creates a strong sense of loyalty and commitment to Mark and Spencer.

The Company gives awards to those who have performed well in charity work. This can be regardless of the fact that the volunteer work was done outside of work time. Awards are also given to those who support a Breast Cancer Campaign or to those who work with local issues that may need assistance. Normally what the Company does, is that it receives applications from is employees. These employees are the ones who feel that they have participated well in Charity events. In the year 2006, there were about three hundred and fifty applicants interested in receiving awards. The Company then follows set criteria to determine who is most suitable for an award and in which category will that person fall under. This process is done with the assistance of experts in that area, one such example is the Charity Aid Foundation. This latter mentioned group also examines applications and gives its recommendations to M&S management concerning judgements. (Staff writer, 2007)

Such awards are a conscious effort in use by the M& S Company to ensure that its employees feel appreciated as any awards given to them are an indication that the Company recognises their efforts ad is willing to boot these efforts through awards. Employees will reciprocate this sign of care through more output in the Company.

Payroll giving Schemes – staff management

The M&S has receives awards from the charity Aid Foundation (CAF) for having payroll giving scheme in place. These awards are given to employers who engage in causes that are geared towards employee motivation and support. For an employer to qualify for an award, they need to be offering a payroll giving scheme. The first thing given to such Companies is a logo to indicate that it has implemented such a scheme. Then the company is given an award depending on the degree which it rewards its employees. This can be ranging from bronze awards. These are awards that are given to employers who pay relatively few employees using this scheme, then there are the silver and gold awards given to employers who engage slightly more than the bronze category and also for those who engage the highest percentage respectively. M& S fell in the gold category and has shown commitment towards staff management and motivation.

IT systems that protect pension scheme details

On 5th May, this year, the Company lost a laptop that had a lot of information regarding staff member’s pension scheme details, names, addresses and other personal details. This potentially put all the people who were enlisted in the laptop at risk of identity theft if a person with a hidden agenda accessed the information in the laptops. But the Mark and Spencer Company had come up with a strategy in Information Technology to protect their employees. The Company had installed passwords to protect the laptop and this meant that information could not be easily accessed without having a go ahead from relevant authorities. This simple yet effective method of protecting personal information ensured that no one faced identity theft and that they were secure. Such kind of protection by the Company contributes towards a feeling of security among employees and consequently leading to motivation.

Personal loans and other types of loans

The Company offers a number of loans for its employees towards the system. The Company offers a low interest rate on such loans for its employees. This is 8.9 % for loans that range between ten thousand and twenty thousand pounds. The firm does not charge any extra charges for the loan regardless of time. This is a relatively fair deal for its employees because most people complain of spending most of their time and resources towards servicing the loan rather than clearing the whole debt. M& S recognises this inadequacy in loaning systems and solves it by providing affordable cover. (Berry, 2007)

The Company has also instituted a number of buying plans for employees who are need of purchasing certain items. One such example is the Car buying plan. The loan is replayed at a very low rate. This is probably because these payments can be deferred. M& S allows up to sixty percent of the loan to be differed.

There are several other types of loan schemes offered by M and S that are all designed towards ensuring that employees can plan for their future or they can implement important projects in their lives. This kind of commitment by the Company gives members of staff the feeling that they have strong back up and that the Company is committed towards their progress. Some other schemes that available in the Company include Holiday Home Safe, Fixed Rate Savings, Save and invest, Travel Money and other types of buying plans.

Provision of good pension schemes and bonuses to employees

The Company rewards its employees through bonuses after the Company has recorded a rise in profits. This was witnessed this year when the Company recorded approximately one billion in profits. The profits were an indication of the sales recorded this year and they were around eight point eight billion pounds. These profits need to be enjoyed by the members who contributed the most to its delivery, these are the employees. Mark and Spencer took a large portion of this amount and gave back to staff members. It gave them eighty million pounds in bonuses.

The bonuses will be enjoyed by all members of staff in the country. There are about seventy thousand of them. However, the Company will give different amounts to different members of staff depending on the weight of their job. For example the Chief executive is due to receive about 1.23 million pounds more that his personal salary which is close to a million pounds. What the Company is doing is not an isolated incident as it offered similar bonuses in the year 2006. Last year it gave seventy three million pounds in bonuses to its employees. (Staff writer, 2007)

M& S do not mind such generous contributions to go to their members of staff in terms of bonuses because the team has predicted increases in he profits they receive. Besides, the company’s shares have almost doubled in the Stock exchange indicating that it is in steady rise and can afford to give mouth watering schemes and bonuses to employees.

The Company has a problem when it comes to pension schemes. This is due to the fact that the Company recorded a deficit of about seven hundred and four million in 2007. This means that there must be strategies to solve the problem. The Company has put in place a scheme that allows it to deal with all the one hundred and twenty three members’ expecting pension payments from it. Members of staff normally receive a specific fraction of their salary for every year that they have worked for M & S. (Sparrow, 1994)

The company has done this through collaboration with the M & S pension scheme fund. Here, M& S gives out property to the pension scheme fund then this same property is leased back to the retailer as the company pays back the pension deficit for a period of fifteen years. This scheme will enable the pension fund to be self sufficient because if the retailer is unable to make payments, then the property is redirected to the fund. This is the breakdown of payments made by the Company with regards to pension schemes for the past two years

2006- forty million pounds in the first quarter

2007- five hundred million

Another plan which the company has implemented towards the pension scheme is through direct or indirect contribution from emeployees’ salaries. The Company has issued out three alternatives to members of the pension scheme; members could decide not to contribute any amount at all to the pension scheme and could consequently receive very low rates on their pensions, or members could give about seven percent of their salary in the next three years and lastly, members could also choose to neglect payments but they must put a limit on the level which their pensioned salaries will reach. This method of solving the pension deficit problem puts the choice in the employee’s hands. If they choose to contribute from their salaries, then they will earn more pensions in the end and if they decide not to, then the amount received will be very low.

John Lewis

Staff management at John Lewis through cooperation with staff

John Lewis most outstanding feature when it comes to employees is the fact that the Company is a worker-coop. This means that members of staff are part owners of the Company. There are set rules and principles on operation o the Company by the employee trust. There are several benefits that have resulted from such an arrangement, the first one being that employees perform to their maximum potential. This is because they will not look at consumers and buyers as a means towards an end, but they will consider them as an income source. They give them utmost attention because they realise that there are direct benefits that come from increased sales. (Guerby, 2006)

The motivating factor behind this kind of treatment is the fact that employees realise that success of the business means success for them. Other types of emeployees simply do not care because they know that whether sales are low or high, they will still get their salaries. Productivity of members in John Lewis staff is quite high because of the reasons mentioned above. This model was adapted after it had been discovered that most professional businesses that were successful were partly owned by workers, these included accounting firms, law firms, medical practitioners and others. Other benefits of co ownership include;

Standards have been raised in the retail industry because of co ownership and competition
Retailers are able to have professional autonomy
Retail workers can come together and exchange ideas on best retail practises
It places a lot of emphasis on human capital as the most vital asset thus showing that property rights theories in economics are true.

John Lewis has served as a role model in this regard for companies who plan on adopting this kind of partnership. One such example of a company is the cosmetics company and chain store Lush which is preparing to follow the JL direction. (Armitage, 2007) Most people may be misguided by the term co ownership and may mistake this to mean that decision making is slow and more emphasis is placed on sustaining the relationship of the company members rather than getting any work done. On the contrary, decision making is not delayed in the Company because the company does not have any stakeholders externally. This means that it can focus on long term decisions instead of making choices that suite the short term. (Guerby, 2006)

Pension scheme arrangements

John Lewis has some challenges in the administration of pension schemes. This is because in the year 2002, the Company had a deficit of about two hundred million. Yet at that same time the company’s assets in the pension scheme fund were about one billion yet liabilities were 0.18 billion more. The Company was however optimistic that those differences were caused by changes in market forces. (Cope, 2002)

Some of the workers in the company began registering complaints that John Lewis was focusing mostly on pension schemes as the amount that was going into the fund was rapidly increasing. However, this was not the case with bonuses. So they were requesting for more funds into the bonus schemes rather than pension. The Company decided to examine the issue and change payments because members whose ages were far from retirement preferred receiving more bonuses and fewer pensions than vice versa. The Company had close to sixty thousand emeployees under its wing. All the emeployees are considered as co owners in the Company. (Cope, 2002)

Salaries and payments to workers

JL has put in place a policy that allows employees to receive a level of performance salary plus the commercial rate that is prevalent at that time. In the year 1998, workers received a bonus of approximately two thousand pounds more than their salaries. This was a considerably good level of pay because most workers in retail worked for very long hours and earned little. This meant that the government had to chip in to be able to cover this difference in payment through income support payments. But this was not the case for JL employees who are catered to adequately. Shown below is a summary of earnings in that year

Total employees 41,100

Full-time employees 24,800

Part-time employees 16,300

Total employees, weighted for part-timers 31,000

Partnership bonus GBP 57.0 mill

Pay (before bonus) GBP 371.3 mill

In the year 2007, the Company had one fifty five million in bonuses for all its employees. This was about eighteen percent of what partners receive in their salary. This was a record increase of twenty nine percent of what partners got in the year 2006.

The Company has also instituted a mechanism for distributing profits as follows; JL removes a percent of the profits earned, this is fifteen percent of the amount earned in profit. The rest is then invested back in the business and used for operation costs or expansion processes. However, there are also net assets that are left behind and these are the one that should be allocated to shareholders.

Acceptance of critism from employees at JL

The Company has instituted a system that attempts to control how managers perform. This is done through anonymous letters that are published internally in a magazine belonging to the Company. Employees can be able to register any problems or complaints that they may have and can therefore bring about change in the Company. (Maund, 2001)

Managers themselves are required to respond to these anonymous letters in a manner that is truthful. They are also supposed to treat each member with respect regardless of their status in the Company. Such an attitude contributes towards employee satisfaction and ensures that all staff members feel like they are part of the team in spite of the amount they earn or skills they posses.

This level of transparency could be the treason why the JL partnership is quite a success at this moment. Managers who accept public scrutiny and critism ensure that they are at their best behaviour to minimise these critisms and to make a good name for themselves. Consequently, critisms raise the standard because managers know that they are subject to correction.

Consultation with staff management

John Lewis is well known for giving its staff the ability to influence decisions and actions in the company through creation of democratic bodies. One such body is the Partnership Council that is made up of all the members of staff. This body has a board and together, members have been granted the power to change management they feel unhappy with after intense consultation. This is especially due to the fact that the Partnership Council even has the mandate to vote out a Chairman. This type of management style ensures that there is accountability as managers are kept on their toes. Some administrators like Personnel director Tracey Killen have even pointed out that they have to rigorously adjust to such a method because every move they make is subject to scrutiny.

In line with this kind of attitude, John Lewis gives its line managers relative autonomy to go about its business. Most of the decisions are independent and it is only when the matter is very serious when the line managers involve the Human Resource Department. This also means that the company is not trying to create an image as being a good employer to the rest of the world or to other competitors; instead it focuses its energies on internal practices.

Other benefits offered by the Company

John Lewis caters for its partners through introduction of certain schemes designed to boost employee’s plans and ensure that they can achieve some of the goals that they have set. The first benefit is the ‘Bonus Save’ scheme. Here employees are allowed to invest some or their entire bonus as shares to the respective contributor. The maximum allowable investment is about four thousand five hundred pounds. (Faragher, 2007)

The ‘golden Jubilee trust’ is another benefit that comes with the Company. Here employees are allowed to work for any charity vent for long durations and may still be paid for the duration when they were away. The company also gives awards for participation in charity events and therefore shows care and concern towards its emeployees that establishing a sense of loyalty amongst them. ‘Once in a lifetime’- This is a trip that can be undertaken by members in the partnership who have formed a group or clubs and societies. Members who apply for funds can go to a destination of choice which they have never visited all their lives.

Incentives to retired members of the Company are also given. Here, members are given benefits even after retirement. Some incentives include access to financial loans, a monthly magazine and also a reunion lunch. Lastly, the Company allows all members of staff to ask for flexible workers hours regardless of marital or family commitments. This means that even if one does not have children or other commitments, they can be granted flexible working hours. (Faragher, 2007)

Conclusion

The two companies examined above have played their parts in providing pension benefits to their employees, engaging them in trusts and also in management styles. John Lewis is identified with a flexible management style and coop ownership. Mark and Spencer is identified with provision of good benefits to its emeployees and allowances. (Maund, 2001)

Reference:

Cope, N (2002): John Lewis weighs final salary pensions revamp; the Independent (29th April)

Guerby, L. (2006): John Lewis and school reform; Retrieved from http://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbling/ accessed on 1st January 2008

Armitage, J. (2007): Lush to adopt John Lewis set up; retrieved from http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/ accessed on 1st January 2008

Faragher, J. (2007):  John Lewis Partnership; working in partnership; Personnel Today Magazine (17th April)

Staff writer (2007): Marks and Spencer: neat pension fund arrangement; Insurance Business Review

Berry, M. (2007): Mark and Spencer to revamp final pension scheme; retrieved from http://www2.marksandspencer.com/thecompany/mediacentre/pressreleases/2007/fin2007-01-23-00.shtml accessed on 1st January 2008

Dale, M. (2001): The Art of HRD: Developing Management Skills        , Vol. 3, Crest Publishing House, New Delhi

Sparrow, P. and Hilltop, J. (1994): European Human Resource Management; Melbourne Press

Maund, L. (2001): An Introduction to Human to Human Resource Management: Theory

And Practice: Macmillan, Palgrave

Maundy, L. (2001): An Introduction to Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice: Macmillan, Palgrave

Thomson, C. and Rampton, L. (2003): Human Resource Management. Melbourne press, New York

Sparrow, P. and Hilltop, J. (1994): European Human Resource Management in

Transition: Prentice Hall, New York

Maund, L. (2001): An Introduction to Human Resource Management: Theory And Practice: Palgrave, Macmillan,

More IT Staff Articles

Self Defense and the Power of the Staff

   Self-defense, involves defending oneself, one’s property or the well-being of another from physical harm. Many styles of martial arts are practiced for self-defense or include self-defense techniques.

   Some styles train primarily for self-defense, while other martial art styles can be effectively applied for self-defense. Self-defense for many modern day martial arts schools now use a combination of martial arts styles and techniques, and will often customize self-defence training to suit the participants’ lifestyles, occupations, age groups and gender, and physical and mental capabilities.

   Self-defense, involves defending oneself, one’s property or the well-being of another from physical harm. Everyday objects, such as baseball bats or aerosol spray cans, almost anything can also be used as improvised weapons for self-defense, but these weaponsse are not as likely to be as effective as weapons made for this purpose.

   Some non-lethal weapons as the Kubotan have also been built to resemble everyday objects, such as keychains so they can be carried on you at all time. Let’s face it, it is a little hard to walk around with a sword or a pair of nunchaku and not draw attention from the law. 

   This article is about the grandfather of all long weapons, the staff. A staff is a large, long, thick stick or stick-shaped object that can be used as a weapon. Learn this weapon and you can improve your martial arts empty hand techniques and when uses can increase your odds of surviving an attack on the street. So grab a pole, broom handle or any type of long object,it does not need to be round, and improve your odds.

   The Chinese martial artists of old had a saying that “When fighting with only the fists, be concerned about running into someone young and strong. When fighting staff against staff, worry about an opponent who is old and wise.” When it comes to strenght against strenght, the younger and stronger of the two will often defeat an older,less powerful adversary.

   A staff changes everything. The older ,more experienced staff fighter has the upper hand and he wins not because of his physical condition, but by his knowledge of staff techniques. In the old days,in northern China,empty hand training was the most important form of training, follow by staff training.

   The chinese in the southern part of the country placed more emphasis upon staff expertise. Kung Fu schools were run by martial art instructors,in the old days, who were hired by the village by judging both his empty hand fighting ability and his staff fighting knowledge. The basic fighting knowledge of a possible instructor for the school was apparent by his empty hand fighting techniques. If he was an expert with a staff, that showed the the poeple of the village the instructor had overall experience and proficiency at focusing power through a weapon that lacked a cutting edge and this was much desired.

   The staff requires powerful swings and jabs to be effective as a weapon. To use a staff for self defense effectively, a martial artist must know how to use his body to produce sufficient power and be able to tranfer that power through the staff. Mastering the staff makes learning all other long handled weapons easier to manage.

   Training with the staff build’s forearms muscles and teach full energy extension. Being good at staff fighting means you should be able to knock any weapon out of an opponents hand. The staff is an extension of the martial artist’s hands. So staff training will benifit your empty hand techniques.

   True staff power is expressed in whiplike strikes, with the tip of the staff vibrating as the power travels throught it’s lenght. When staff techniques are performed right the staff will make a humming sound. When using the staff to jab at your opponent the power should travel through the staff like a solid straight punch.

   Training with a staff isn’t limited to only forms. After learning a form, using a staff, you can then take a partner to practice full power contact training. The two person form method demonstrarate the application of techniques using one technique at a time. This practice involving striking the staff against staff to train both martial artist to both give and take the force generated by a properly wielded weapon.

   Staff contact training, which is different than two person form training, is the actual practice of using the staff at full power using 3 or more techniques. The martial artists practices until they can use the staff techniques at full strenght against each others staff and be able to perform the combination.One person attackes the other defends than returns an attack ,going back and forth through the techniques.

   Another staff training method is called internal staff training and involves two person contact training. With this type of training the staff is used using smaller circular striking patterns and the actual strike to the body is more of a push than a strike. This type of practice is designed to make the martial artist more sensitive to the weapon and give him a higher level of expetise at using it.

   No matter what martial art you study a background in staff techniques will improve your empty hand techniques. From your fist training you learn to use your hands, from the staff you learn to use your body and natural power.

News Paper Reading Habit Among the Professional College Staff Members for Various Points of View: a Survey

INTRODUCTION

News papers have collected information from all directions. It helps to improve reading habit, knowledge skills and current awareness about world. Most of the people wish they read more. It is an activity that is both fun and enlightening. It can help us be more knowledgeable and successful. However, it is an activity that many people don’t engage in very much. According to the 1999 National Household Education Survey, 50% of the U.S. population aged 25 and over read a newspaper at least once a week, read one or more magazines regularly, and had read a book in the past 6 months. What does this mean? It means that 50% of the population hasn’t read a book in the last six months! And most of the staff members read the news papers for various purposes it’s clearly defined this article. So now a day news papers reading habit important for all the staff members because more information’s exist and to identify the latest development in their subject or field.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Begum and Ramesh (1991) investigated the Factors inhibiting the public library use; A case study of city central library, Mysore. This article “Factors inhibiting the public library use” analyzed the responses gathered from the users of the City central library, Mysore, India. Assesses the reading interests, factors inimical to the use of City central library, availability of reading materials and the necessary improvements suggested by the users to the existing conditions of City central library ., Mysore.

Somsong(1999), Reading habit promotion in ASEAN libraries. This paper described the different activities that ASEAN Libraries had undertaken to promote reading by increasing awareness among their people. Firstly, factors limiting reading habit in ASEAN Libraries had been approached. Secondly roles of local institutes or organizations in helping libraries conducting reading habit promotion had been acknowledged. Finally some suggestions on effective methods and successful programs of reading habit promotion by ASEAN Libraries had been collected

Bndaka(2007) investigated the using newspaper articles to develop students’ Reading skills in senior high school that the aim of this paper is to present a reading lesson which was initially designed for the students of Peiramatiko Senior High School (Experimental Senior High School) of Patras, Greece and more specifically for class A of Senior High School. The main aim of the lesson was to develop the students’ reading skills using a newspaper article and help student’s gain confidence when faced with authentic texts. The planning of the lesson was based on the belief that students should be exposed as much as possible to authentic reading texts so that they are given the chance to encounter real language and not only the language made up of course books

RESEARCH DESIGN

This topic deals with the content and the meaning of the undertaking study in terms of objectives and process of analyzing the formation of hypothesis. It also explains the methodology of study with respect to sampling from interview schedule, sources of data, method of data analysis and limitation of study.

Objectives

The main aim of the study is to analyze the News paper reading habit among the professional college staff members for various points of view: A survey. The following are the subsequent objectives:

1. To study the socio economic conditions of professional college staff members.

2. To study the news reading habit among the professional college staff communities.

3. To observed the professional college staff members read the news paper for various purpose

4. To make suggestions for the effective reading of news papers in the professional college staff community.

Methodology

For realizing the objectives of any study data, it is required and in turn, for the collection of data, a field is selected to realize the objectives of the study to collect data required for the purpose, the researcher choose News paper reading habit among the professional college staff members for various points of view: A survey

Method of data collection

For collecting the data the researcher has prepared interview schedule for the users and distributed to them. The empirical research design and random sampling technique was applied to select the sample.110 questioners were distributed to the sample and 105 were received back. Out of the 105 samples taken from professional college staff members in Einstein college of Engineering, Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu. 11 samples were from professor and 24 samples were from Asst. professor. 39 samples were from lecturer, 28 samples were from Non teaching staff and 3 samples were from others staff community.

Data Analysis

The collected data were entered in the master table and sub-tables were created. The statistical tools like average and weighted percentage have been used.

ANALYSIS

SOCIO ECONOMIC BACKGROUND OF THE STAFF MEMBERS

Table.1

Distribution of professional college staff community according to Sex.

S.No Occupation Male Female Total

1 Professor 6

(54.5)

5

(45.5) 11

(10.5)

2 Asst. Professor 14

(58.3) 10

(41.7)

24

(22.8)

3 Lecturer 31

(79.5)

8

(20.5) 39

(37.1)

4 Non teaching staff 22

(78.6)

6

(21.4) 28

(26.7)

5 Others 2

(66.7)

1

(33.3) 3

(2.9)

Total 75

(71.4) 30

(28.6) 105

(100)

Note: * Source computed

** Entries within parenthesis denote percentage

The data in table 1 indicate the distribution of professional college staff members according to sex. Out of all the respondents, 71.4 percent are male followed by Female (28.6).

Among all the professional staff members, more than 75 percent of the respondents from male are seen in Lecturer (79.5) and Non teaching (78.6) staff communities and more female respondents are seen in Professor (45.5) and Asst. Professor (41.7) staff communities.

It is clearly seen from the above discussion that the more than 75 percent of male staff members in lecturer and Non teaching staff are reading the news paper then female.

Table.2

Distribution of professional college staff community according to their occupation wise.

S.No Occupation No. of Response No response

1 Professor 11(10.5) -

2 Asst. Professor 24(22.8) -

3 Lecturer 39(37.1) -

4 Non teaching staff 28(26.7) -

5 Others 3(2.9) -

Total 105(100) -

Note: * Source computed

** Entries within parenthesis denote percentage

The data in table 2 indicate the distribution of professional college staff according to their occupation wise. Out of all the respondents, Most of the respondents are lecturers (37.1) and followed by the non teaching staff (26.7), Asst. Professor (22.8), Professor (10.5) and few respondents (2.9) are others staff member

NEWS PAPER READING HABIT

Table.3

Distribution of professional college staff members according to the habit of reading news papers.

S.No

Professional college staff Habit of reading news papers

Total

Yes No

1 Professor 7

(63.6) 4

(36.4) 11

(10.5)

2 Asst..Professor 19

(79.2) 5

(20.8) 24

(22.8)

3 Lecturer 30

(76.9) 9

(23.1) 39

(37.1)

4 Non teaching staff 26

(92.8) 2

(7.2) 28

(26.7)

5 Others 1

(33.3) 2

(66.7) 3

(2.9)

Total 83

(79.0) 22

(21.0) 105

(100)

Note: * Source computed

** Entries within parenthesis denote percentage

The data in table 3 indicate the distribution of professional college staff members according to the habit of reading news papers. Out of all the total respondents, 79.0 percent are having the habit of reading news papers and (21.0) respondents do not have the habit of reading news papers.

Among all the professional college staff members , majority of respondents are from non teaching staff who are having the habit of reading news papers followed by Asst.Professor (79.2), and Professor (63.6). More respondents from others (66.2) do not have the habit of reading news papers.

Table.4

S.No Frequency Response Percentage

1 Daily 35 33.3

2 Twice or Thrice per week 31 29.5

3 Once in a week 22 21.0

4 Very rarely 17 16.2

5 Never 0 0.0

Total 105 100

Distribution of professional course staff members according to frequency of reading news papers

Source: computed

The data in table 4 indicate the distribution of professional course staff members according to the frequency of reading news papers. Among all the total respondents, 33.3 percent are to read the news papers ‘daily’ and followed by the persons are Twice or thrice per week (29.5), once in a week (21.0), very rarely (16.2) and no one (0.0) never read the news papers.

Table.5

Distribution of professional college staff community according to the reading habit of news papers from various points of view.

Professional college staff Reading News papers for various point of view

Total

Main heading Important news Political news Employment

news Entertainment news

Professor 2

(28.6) 2

(8.6) 2

(28.6) 1

(14.2) 0

(0.0) 7

(8.4)

Asst..Professor 5

(26.3) 4

(21.1) 0

(0.0) 10

(52.6) 0

(0.0) 19

(22.9)

Lecturer 7

(23.3) 2

(6.7) 6

(20.0) 15

(50.0) 0

(0.0) 30

(36.1)

Non Teaching staff 0

(0.0) 0

(0.0) 2

(7.7) 16

(61.5) 8

(30.8) 26

(31.3)

Others 0

(0.0) 0

(0.0) 0

(0.0) 0

(0.0) 1

(10.0) 1

(1.3)

Total 14

(16.9) 8

(9.6) 10

(12.1) 42

(50.6) 9

(10.8) 83

(100)

Note: * Source computed

** Entries within parenthesis denote percentage

The data in table 4 indicate the distribution of professional college staff members from various points of view. Out of all the total respondents, 50.6 percent read news papers for employment news, followed by the Main headings (16.9), Political news (12.1), Entertainment (10.8) and important news (9.6).

Among all categories of the college staff members, more than half of respondents are lecturers (50.0), Ass. Professors (52.6) and Non teaching staff community read the news paper for employment news. Others staff community read entertainment news only. Few respondents who are professor (28.6) and Asst.Professor (26.3) read main headings and important news in the news papers.

FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION

SOCIO ECONOMIC BACKGROUND OF THE STAFF MEMBERS

The findings on distribution of professional college staff members according to sex revealed the following facts. The staff members from male read the news papers than female.

NEWS PAPER READING HABIT AND VARIOUR PURPOSE

The findings on distribution of professional college staff members according to habit of reading news papers revealed following facts. More than 75 percent of the professional college staff members are having the habit of reading news papers. More Non teaching staff communities have the habit of reading news paper. More others group staff community do not have the habit of reading news paper.

The findings on distribution of professional college staff members according to frequency of reading news papers revealed following facts most of staff members read the news papers daily and twice or thrice per week. Some staff members read the news papers once in a week and very rarely.

The findings on distribution of professional college staff members according to the reading habit of news papers from various points of views revealed following facts. More than half of the staff members are Non teaching, Asst. professor and lecturer read the news papers for employment news purpose .Others staff community read only entertainment news from the news paper.

Constraints:

Most of the staff members have felt that news papers must be read completely but time is too short for them to read the news paper.

SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.

In order to maintain and raise the News paper reading habit among the professional college staff members for various points of view the following suggestions may be found useful.

1. To promote news paper reading habit among the others staff community in professional college.

2. Electronic news papers are more help to read all information very short period.

3. Online news papers may help to find out latest development in various field, employment news, and other important news.

4. Now day’s professional college staff members must read the news papers for improve their knowledge skills.

5. The educational institutions should motivate and give opportunity to the professional college staff members for read online news papers and improve their knowledge skills.

6. The following are some suggestions to help you strengthen your reading habit ways to find and make more time for reading, always have a book around, set a reading goal, keep a log, keep a list, turn off the television, listen when you can’t read, Join a reading group or book club, Join a reading group or book club, build your own strategy and drop everything read

CONCLUSION

In this study the researcher concluded that the staff members from male read the news papers than female. More than 75 percent of the professional college staff members are having the habit of reading news papers. More Non teaching staff communities have the habit of reading news paper. Majority of the staff members read the news papers for employment and entertainment news only.

REFERENCES

BOOKS

Allen, Harrell.T. New methods in Social Science Research. New york: Praeger Publishers, 1978

Kothari, C.P. Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques. New Delhi: Wishwa prakashan, 1990.

Kumaresan, S.C and Swaminathan,S. Library science unleashed. Trichy: Rock City Publications, 2003

JOURNALS

Begum, Khaiser Jahan and Ramesh, C.P. “Factors inhibiting the public library use: A case study of city central library, Mysore.” Library Review. (1991): 332-350.

Bertot,John Carlo, Mcclure, Charles R and Ryan ,Joe Statistics. “Performance Measures for Public Library Networked Services.” Library and Information Science Research.23 (3)2001:299-300

Bndaka ,Eleni. “Using newspaper articles to develop students’ Reading skills in senior high school”. The Reading Matrix 7 (1)(2007)

Somsong, Sangkaeo . “Reading habit promotion in ASEAN libraries.” 65th IFLA Council and General Conference Bangkok, Thailand. 28August1999.

Yilmaz ,Bülent. “Reading and library usage habits of the students whose mother tongue is Turkish in Vienna, Austria.”66thIFL council and General conference Jerusalem, Israel. (2000): 13-18.

Offshore Staff, Virtual Staff: Why Hiring Outsourced Staff From Business Process Outsourcing Companies Considered the Perfect Business Solution

In today’s modern world, working with IT offshore staff – or any other kind of outsourced staff, online staff, virtual staff, for that matter – is no longer an impossibility. It doesn’t matter if they’re half a world away now, the wonders of information technology or business IT and split-second communication has facilitated the phenomenal growth of the Business Process Outsourcing BPO solution industry which effectively opened up tens of thousands of companies to explore the offshore labour hire option.

If until now you are still holding back or cringing at the very thought of staff outsourcing, here’s hoping that this article would make you rethink any preconceived notions you may have about contracting virtual staff.

Why Outsource Staff?

Contrary to popular belief, outsourced staff is not limited to telemarketers or call center agents. Besides IT offshore staff, more and more receptionists, copywriters, accountants, customer service specialists, marketing and personal assistants, SEO or search engine optimization services, web designers, developers, and administrators as well graphic designers and artists are becoming part of the much sought-after offshore staff labour hire force.

In the past, only large multi-national companies took notice of staff outsourcing, but company size is no longer an issue -even small and medium businesses now stand to enjoy the benefits of offshore IT staff labor hiring. Saving on labour cost is still the first and primary reason for outsourcing. Imagine contracting a qualified and experienced IT offshore staff for about 30 percent the normal cost. You can have a remote staff, online staff, IT staff, virtual staff or even a whole team of outsourced staff working efficiently on your projects even while you sleep. And take note, the quality of the output is second to none!

Another good reason for turning to offshore staff is the huge vacancies or gaps in the labour market. Since IT staff is very much in demand, there is often a shortage of applicants. Rather than settle for a newbie or wait a long time, some companies instead opt to BPO solution service of hiring an IT offshore staff to immediately fill in the position.

What Benefits Can I Get from Staff Outsourcing?

A major advantage of outsourcing staff from Business Process Outsourcing Companies are it levels the playing field between huge corporations and small and medium business owners. BPO solution of Offshore staff are providing them professional skills and talents they would normally be unable to afford.

One of the most wealthy and successful business owners Sir Richard Branson once said: “Building a successful business is about using your own skill strengths and employing people who possess the skills you do not have.” A business really cannot survive if essential skills needs are not met. Through outsourcing staff, any type and size of business can have unlimited and easy access to seasoned professionals – IT offshore staff are finally bringing them up to par with big name players – at minimum cost, and without sacrificing quality.

By outsourcing staff, you are also improving the quality of life of millions of other people across the globe. Although the cost of hiring offshore staff is relatively cheap for dollar-based economies, outsource staff consider this several notches higher than the income they would be receiving from their home country. Take the Philippines as an example, contracting an expert IT offshore staff from there would cost 70 percent less than hiring one from the US or Australia – but to them they would be making almost twice as much as the average salary – without ever having to go abroad.

How to Make the Choice Easier

Outsourcing staff from Business Process Outsourcing services can sometimes really be a worrying decision. These what ifs can take very long to resolve. Bear in mind however, that indecision may forever hold you from taking the leap and being in the league with companies who utilize outsource staff.

Here are some points to consider if you’re thinking of outsourcing staff:

Determine the staffing needs of your business or company before scouting for offshore staff.
Consider that there are companies which can provide you with dedicated IT offshore staff. This means that you don’t have to place ads and interview people – there are ready-to-hire outsourced staff who have already passed through the scrutiny of HR professionals.
Offshore staff are experienced and skilled – it will only take them a couple of days to get acquainted with the company and meet the demands of the job. You don’t need to teach them how to do the job.
Ask input from companies who have experienced hiring offshore staff – or any other kind of outsourced staff. See if they have positive or negative comments about the offshore staff they’ve contracted.
You may try outsourcing staff according to your company’s needs, be it part-time or full time. But you also must consider that dedicated outsource staff is more advisable if you have continuous workload.

Of course, even outsourced staff needs to feel that they belong to a team. Even your virtual staff would need motivation and encouragement from you and the rest of team to continuously deliver on time and top-caliber work. By embracing outsource staff as members of your team, they’d be more inclined to work and be more committed to you and your business.

Deciding now

With today’s current trends, you’d definitely have more to gain when you measure the cost-benefit of contracting offshore staff from a trusted Business Process Outsourcing Company. These are just some of the advantages of outsourcing staff to make your business more successful. The real deal will be apparent when you yourself experience the life changing effects of having these virtual staff working for your projects. More and more technological advances are now being used to ensure quality work for your money’s worth. You can be assured that many offshore staff providers equip their clients with tools to specifically to help them manage and work effectively with their BPO offshore staff.

Some of which are:

An HR manager for every outsource staff they provide you.
Tools such as the screen capture designed to check the progress of your offshore staff; and
Online sheets and communications tools.

The benefits you can get through outsourcing staff from a trusted Business Process Outsourcing Company are very significant; they are real and are really accessible even for small business. It allows companies to cut costs, provides benefits to consumers with lower costs good and services, causes an economic expansion that brings down the level of unemployment and brings up the level of productivity and job creation. Hiring offshore staff is just one of the things that globalization has brought along, best to embrace it and make it work to your advantage. So go ahead and try out one or two outsourced staff for starters. Who knows, maybe outsourcing staff really is the best solution for company’s problems!

Staff at the Democratic National Committee share their stories, to remind young people across the country that it gets better.
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