Tales From The Corporate Frontlines: Job Security in Today's Workplace
Tales From The Corporate Frontlines: Job Security in Today’s Workplace
This article, Job Security in Today’s Workplace, is part of AlphaMeasure’s compilation, Tales from the Corporate Frontlines. It tells the story of a manager who decides to look for ways to bolster the morale in his company when it crashes after an extensive layoff.
Anonymous Submission
I’ve worked for the same company for ten years now. At the end of last year, we expense reorganized, and in the process, over 10% of the workforce was terminated. In the wake of the layoffs, morale hit an all time low. My colleagues in upper management were becoming especially depressed. Every meeting I attended began with a discussion about low morale and productivity, complete with a round table of horror stories to illustrate the nightmare.
Our company couldn’t afford to see this happen—we’d just restructured out of financial necessity.
Sick of hearing the horror stories and dire predictions for the company’s future, Люкс Про Одесса I decided to do a little research; Sony Ericsson Z555i I was sure that I could find at least one solution
to the declining morale problem. At the next staff meeting, I’d pass what I learned along to my colleagues. The big question was: What could the company do to heal the hard feelings маринатор Симферополь created by the layoffs and restore a sense of security? Here are some of the answers I found by reading through magazine articles, newspapers, websites, etc.:
* First of all—be honest with our employees. They are smart enough to know that NO employer is going to Вытяжка купить issue a written guarantee Sony Ericsson К770i of job security for any length of time. Employers that address the future dishonestly only fuel more feelings of mistrust and insecurity.
* Encourage employees to take advantage of available company sponsored training. A broad based skills set makes them more adaptable to changing conditions and more valuable to the company.
* Empower employees by encouraging individual responsibility. When they feel that they are making a maylene alabama real estate real contribution, employees are more confident and worry less about job security.
* Encourage networking. If by chance the worst does come to pass, employees can build a safety net by keeping in touch with видеокамеры Sony business associates, sales reps, suppliers—all professionals in Стивен Кинг Собрание Сочинений their field who may become valuable contacts later on.
* Provide a means of record keeping. People rarely update their resumes unless they are forced to use them. Find a way to help employees keep record of new skills mastered, courses, seminars and workshops completed, so that this information is accurate and close at hand if needed.
My colleagues were happy to finally have some answers, and agreed to work with their people to bolster the morale in their departments. Although some of the recommendations seemed harsh, we all saw the reality of the situation— it’s a different kind of workplace—-and helping our employees to deal with that reality is the best way we can provide the job security they need.
© 2005 AlphaMeasure, Inc. - All Rights Reserved
This article may be reprinted, provided it is published in its entirety, includes the author bio information, and all links remain active.
Measure. Report. Improve your organization with AlphaMeasure employee surveys.
Josh Greenberg is President of AlphaMeasure, Inc.
AlphaMeasure provides organizations of all sizes a powerful web based method for measuring employee satisfaction, determining employee engagement, and increasing employee retention.
Launch your employee surveys with free credit reports AlphaMeasure.
Bank Secrecy Acts and Confidentiality Ordinances
The first Bank Secrecy Act in the Caribbean was adopted in the Bahamas in 1964. Until then, Switzerland had always been the “renowned banking haven” – known throughout the world for its “private banking”. The Cayman Islands government soon followed the Bahamas Bank Secrecy Act, with almost identical legislation a year later. The growth of the Cayman Islands into the top offshore banking center was spurred on originally by their Secrecy Act.
Today, all the tax havens have Secrecy or Confidentiality Ordinances. One exception is Bermuda, which never officially adopted a secrecy act – as Bermuda’s “common law” and isolated “jurisdiction” had always served it well.
As it turned out, the Secrecy/Confidentiality Acts and Ordinances were a boost to offshore businesses for the Caribbean and Pacific tax DAKON P 26 lux Z havens, and for the most part, they still are.
While the original idea of Banking Secrecy was a good one for the offshore havens, it was not (and never will) well received by the US Treasury Department and their enforcement agency – the IRS.
While no one would argue that these countries have every right to adopt and promote their bank secrecy, it has caused problems, including attracting a criminal element; drug money laundering issues, and tax evasion issues for citizens from Industrial nations like the US, UK, Canada and Australia.
Bank Secrecy alone has worked well for the end users for over forty years, but under US law (and the laws of other industrialized nations – Japan, UK, Canada, Australia) it is income tax evasion (a felony) just having an offshore bank account and not reporting the income on one’s tax return. In the U.S., the mere existence of the bank and security accounts are reportable on a Form TD 90-22.1. Few Americans want to report. http://www.ustax.ch/pdf/2005_f9022-1.pdf
But Secrecy and Confidentiality Ordinances offer protection against creditors and “others”; and where taxes alone are not the issue, bank secrecy along with “jurisdiction” add up to “asset protection’, privacy and more.
Privacy: One author writes: “People can’t find your offshore assets.” The Bank Secrecy Acts in the Bahamas (Cayman, Anguilla and the BVI) are said to impenetrable.
Exception: All these countries have Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties with the United States and other nations which allow for cooperation in criminal matters (i.e.,