Worldwide Offices
Family businesses could be hit particularly hard by the government's change to child benefits, it has been warned.
A number of families have expressed their disapproval towards proposals, stating that families with a parent earning more than £42,475 a year will no longer be able to claim child benefits.
A lot of the displeasure surrounding the proposals is at the fact that families with just one high earner will be punished, whilst a family with two parents earning £40,000 each will be able to continue claiming benefits.
What's more, accountant Gary Heynes has pointed out those running a family business together may no longer be able to claim if they earn a combined £42,475 a year or more, meaning they could require urgent advice on
Read More
Post a comment
The number of women being appointed on the top boards of FTSE 100 firms has risen over the last 12 months.
The latest Cranfield Report, published today, suggests significant growth for women at board level - from 12.5 per cent last March to 15.6 per cent, cites BBC News. Furthermore, from the 190 appointments made in FTSE 100 boards, 47 were women.
The figures seem to be well on their way to hitting the 25 per cent by 2015 target set by the recommendations of Lord Davies last February.
It appears that women and their businesses are prospering in austerity when it comes to board level promotions but Liz Field, CEO of the Financial Skills Partnership, believes there is more work to be don
Read More
Post a comment
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is urging the government to "pull out all the stops" when it comes to this year's Budget, Fresh Business Thinking reports.
Driving growth and investing in the creation of jobs should be the priority for government, claims the body; plus it seems there are a number of initiatives which could help firms raising finance for growth.
For example, scrapping the upcoming business rate rise - "which is anathema to growth" - could be positive for firms, while introducing a time-limited £1 billion capital allowance scheme for medium-sized firms could be a crucial investment.
In addition, doubling the amount of money available for employer wage subsidies and help
Read More
Post a comment
Research has found that women are just as ruthless as men when it comes to getting ahead in their career, Management Today reports.
Undertaken by Business Environment, a serviced office provider, the study found that contrary to the long-held myth that men are more ruthless in work, women can be just assertive - especially if can benefit their chances of snagging an executive or CEO position.
"It seems that women are just as competitive as men when it comes to getting ahead in their careers, and they appear to hire and fire according to what's best for business' bottom-line, regardless of their gender," Business Environment's MD, David Saul, explained.
"In fact, the evidence suggests that they
Read More
Post a comment
Despite its tough nature, running a family business can prove to be fruitful - if family meetings are conducted in the correct manner.
Henry Hutcheson, a business expert writing for News Observer, believes that effective communication methods - such as a organised family meeting - can stand businesses in good stead for the long term.
Naturally, family firms need to create a code of conduct in order to harness their meetings effectively. Furthermore, planning the meeting beforehand to make sure everyone has a say - almost an extension of the code of conduct - is key. By giving everyone a chance to put their item on the agenda for the meeting, everyone can be assured of getting the chance to speak
Read More
Post a comment
Instead of "parachuting" women onto boards, firms need to nurture female talent from below.
That's according to Mark Palmer-Edgecumbe, Google's diversity head for the EMEA region, who told People Management that an in-house programme called 'Code F' allowed aspiring female software engineers to shadow existing Google engineers in a bid to find the best talent among under-represented groups.
He commented: "For me the whole issue of women on boards is something of a red herring.
"I think the key thing is to challenge the composition of the level below that, the senior executives and managers as they are the people who will be on the board in future. This level should be 50:50 men and women. And we are certainly going in the right direction here at Google," he added.
A
Read More
Post a comment
Flexible working increase business productivity, claims survey
ksimonsen, Mar 02, 2012
Uncategorized
Flexible working in small businesses is on the increase as a number of senior business managers claim the practice has improved productivity, reports Fresh Business Thinking.
A survey of 2,500 managers by Regus claims that 76 per cent of those surveyed believe their firms works more flexibly than it used to, compared with 67 per cent of large businesses - giving small to medium enterprise (SME) CEOs food for thought.
Furthermore, over two thirds of small businesses report their productivity has increased while 63 per cent of SMEs also link increasing revenues directly to flexible working.
Outsourcery.co.uk cites figures which mirror Regus' findings, claiming that more than three-qua
Read More
Post a comment
Family businesses are crucial to boosting the UK economy, claims the Forum of Private Business.
Representatives from the not-for-profit employer have claimed that family run-businesses are now the backbone to the British economy because they represent such a large portion of SME's in the country.
In an interview with Fresh Business Thinking, the forum's chief executive Phil Orford urged the government to do everything they can to help the owners of a family business succeed.
He said: "With such a huge number of small firms acting as the muscle for the UK economy, it's in everyone's best interest for these businesses to grow, flourish, and be able to trade to the best of their ability."
"T
Read More
Post a comment
43 per cent of line managers are considered ineffective, says report
ksimonsen, Feb 28, 2012
Uncategorized
Nearly half of managers believe they are not getting the required standard of work from their line managers.
That's according to a report released today by the Chartered Management Institute, who attempted to find a link between organisation performance and management abilities.
Only 39 per cent of managers in low performing businesses deemed their line manager to be effective compared to a massive 80 per cent in high performing organisations, which could prompt managers of the former to indulge in leadership training.
That's because management and leadership development activities can lead to "increases of up to 32 per cent in people performance" and 23 per cent in overall organisational performance,
Read More
Post a comment
Never mind the business lunch, it seems that face to face meetings of any sort could soon be obsolete. According to 5,000 company bosses who took part in an annual Virgin Media Business study, more than half (60 per cent) of employees will work from home within the next decade. Face to face meetings with customers and prospects will also change with 72 per cent believing getting together in person will soon be a thing of the past. Of course, Virgin Media Business have a vested interest in just such an outcome proving correct but it still makes for interesting reading. The research was carried out by LM Research and surveyed 5,000 directors / business owners from companies with 100+ employees between 12 December 2011 and 16 December 2011. According to the report, businesses are already putting
Read More Post a comment
