4
news opinion
How useful is social media? If you’re a spotty kid looking for a girlfriend, it might be very useful. But if you are a business person, is it worth the effort?
Keeping profiles updated on Twitter, Facebook, etc, might be of benefit if your end- audience is the consumer. Useful for retailers, then, or anyone with a product to flog.
But if you are in the business- to-business field, is it really worth spending the time and effort on constantly adding information to social network sites? There are many consultants out there who encouraging companies to divert their resources to this task, but they would, wouldn’t they?
Social media is more than a fad, and it will still be here in 10 years time.
It will also
be all-pervasive in a social context. But that’s the key. It’s a social network, primarily, not a B2B network.
However, LinkedIn can be judged differently. It’s a network of business professionals and is growing at the rate of one member per second. More than a glorified address book, it is a channel in which business people can communicate with other business people.
Social media is said to be costing British industry £6.5 billion a year in lost productivity and questionable bandwidth useage. As one financial website wrote recently: ”It’s time to say it: social media for most financial institutions is basically a waste of time...” For financial institutions, read (LinkedIn apart)
...most businesses....
Do you agree? Email:
david@elcot.co.uk
David Murray Publisher
www.businessmag.co.uk
Workers taking fewer sick days
Sickness absence among UK employees is continuing on a downward trend according to a major survey of sickness absence released last month.
The survey of 454 employers, undertaken by manufacturers’ organisation EEF and leading health insurance provider Westfield Health, reveals a steady fall in sickness absence over the past three years, with the average employee taking five days sickness in 2010 compared with 6.7 days in 2007.
Significantly, an all-time high of 45% of employees took no days off through sickness in 2010.
Whilst recessionary effects may have played a part, the report said that the trend began before the recession, with year-on-year improvements over the past five years.
’Minor illness’, back pain and other joint/muscular problems remain the top causes of short-term sickness absence, while surgery, medical investigations and tests, back problems, cancer and mental ill health, excluding stress, remain the main causes of long-term sickness absence, according to the report.
The report also highlights a continued decrease in stress and back pain as causes of long-term sickness absence. This is now a long-term trend, which contradicts public perception and highlights better attempts by employers to address the issues.
The survey shows a clear correlation between those companies with strategies in place to train managers in sickness absence and tougher absence targets, with falling absence rates. More than two thirds of companies are now achieving their targets, compared with half in 2007, while those companies who trained their managers are one third more likely to reduce their sickness absence.
First results on the introduction of the ’fit note’ were mixed. 20% of the companies surveyed said it had helped them reduce absence and 28% said it had aided return
to work discussions. The number of companies reporting the GP as a barrier to rehabilitation also fell significantly, down from 39% in 2007 to 26% in 2010. However, significant concerns remain that employees were being signed off unnecessarily. Only 17% of companies said that it has enabled adjustments to be made so that employees could return more quickly.
A significant number of employers reported that they were paying for private medical treatment. 39% of companies indicated that at least one member of staff had received treatment either paid for directly or through the company (24%), while 15% received treatment through a medical insurance scheme. EEF believes that increased private provision may prove a rising trend as the UK comes out of recession.
Professor Sayeed Khan, chief medical adviser at EEF, said: ”The continued downward trend in sickness absence is welcome recognition of efforts by companies and government to get people back to work. In particular, it is striking that the companies who have proactively contacted their GPs to discuss adjusting people’s working arrangements have seen the highest level of response.
”It is also clear that doing the basics such as training line managers and GPs in managing sickness absence pays dividends. If we are to see the trend continuing to improve and the economic benefit to the UK economy this brings, it is vital that government continues to fund the training of GPs in health and work issues.”
Jill Davies, chief executive of Westfield Health, said: ”The workforce is an employer’s most valuable asset and the falling sickness absence rates show that the right steps are being taken to continue this positive trend – but there is still plenty to be done.”
Details:
www.eef.org.uk www.westfieldhealth.com
Cause for celebration
Award-winning Raymond Brown Group is celebrating national recognition for its significant growth having ranked in this year’s The Sunday Times PwC Profit Track 100. The Ringwood- based construction services company was named the 64th fastest growing private company in Britain, based on profits for the past three years.
The group, which comprises Raymond Brown Construction, Raymond Brown Minerals & Recycling, Raymond Brown Building and Wilkins Builders, has seen year-on-year growth with profits rising 56% a year, from £1 million in 2007 to £3.8m in 2010. In 2010, the group underwent a management buyout by its senior management team led by MD Kelvin White (pictured).
The Group is also celebrating after three of its companies received top industry recognition for impeccable Health and Safety standards. Hampshire-based Raymond Brown Construction won a gold medal award for winning its fifth consecutive gold in the Occupational Health and Safety Awards from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) while Raymond Brown Minerals & Recycling also received a gold award. A third company, Raymond Brown Building, based near Salisbury, picked up a silver award.
In the Jul/Aug issue of The Business Magazine
• International Trade • Focus on AIM • Corporate Recovery
Details: 0118-9745308
sales@elcot.co.uk
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – JUNE 2011
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36