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Is Enterprise Rent-A-Car the place for me?

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Is Enterprise Rent-A-Car the place for me?

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Graduate Recruitment - Enterprise Rent-A-Car

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Meet some of the team from our East England group: John, our Group Daily Rental Manager; Sarah, an Assistant Manager; and Jason, one of our Branch Managers.

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dun, dun, dun! :)

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HP's new and improved, takes over the job with a bang!

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HP's new and improved, takes over the job with a bang!

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OH NO!! The floor underneath my pedal doesn't work!!

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OH NO!! The floor underneath my pedal doesn't work!!

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Be sure your Toyota is safe, take it in for an inspection.

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Be sure your Toyota is safe, take it in for an inspection.

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I still haven't taken mine in :/

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They must be motivated, and I must lead by example.

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Two and a half years ago Hewlett-Packard Co. was in disarray, in red ink, facing a loss of investor and customer confidence amid the departure of its CEO over a controversial US$10 billion acquisition.

At its annual Discover infrastructure conference here on Tuesday, where HP's 75 th birthday was honored, executives declared the worst is behind after huge cost-cutting and layoffs.

"I can tell you with pride that HP has turned the corner," CEO Meg Whitman said in the keynote. "We are on a clear path and we have done the hard things to keep us in the lead. The company is back on solid footing," she said to solid warm applause. "We've re-established relationships with our most important constituents, our employees, our investors and most importantly you our partners and customers. We've re-ignited the innovation engine ... We have a clear and compelling strategy that will take HP into the future."

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Interestingly, though, rather than wow the audience of some 10,000 customers and partners with big announcements, products were revealed first to reporters and select customers yesterday or before the keynote - the Apollo supercomputer; cost-effective ways to manage and encrypt data; and an all-flash array with larger drives that uses compression and de-duplication to achieve a cost performance equal to arrays with spinning disks.

A big announcement for Wednesday was hinted at, with Whitman saying some in the company call it "the project of our careers."

But industry analyst Neil Macdonald of Gartner found the audience mood receptive to the claims by Whitman and other executives on stage that "HP is back."

The customers and partners were more upbeat than they were two years ago, he noted in an interview.

Company founders Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard (the order of the name was picked by a coin toss - but for luck, it could have been "PH") were saluted by Whitman, who rhymed off a number of company triumphs including creating the first desktop calculator in 1968, creating the first wearable technology in 1977 (she wore one on her wrist), the first desktop laser printer in 1980, and having an HP Ethernet switch fired into space for the International Space Station.

But, she added "we simply cannot dwell on the past, we have to be proactive ... We haven't always travelled on the easiest path," she admitted, "or the most comfortable course, but have taken steps to protect our competitive advantage and better serve all of you."

Executives took the stage to go through HP's prodigious enterprise catalogue, and how, as one put it, HP is helping IT departments be "superheroes" in an era of cloud computing, big data and rapid change.

So officials talked about everything from HP's commitment and recent announcements on software defined network, converged infrastructure, business intelligence and security.

Also announced was

-version 1.1 of HP OneView data centre management suite, which now has improved support for VMware vCenter as well as support for OpenStack, Microsoft Systems Center, HP Helion, Red Hat Management and 3Par StoreServ.

It can now also manage HP's ConvergedSystems stack of compute, storage and networking nodes;

-enhancements to the ConvergedSystem for Virtualization lets customers now deploy HP CloudSystem 8 software to extend the system's functionality from virtualization to hybrid clouds;

-an on-premise option for its Data Center Flexible Capacity service for organizations that would rather leave data centre management to HP ( NYSE: HPQ). The original offering let organizations shift workloads to HP's Helion public infrastructure as a service cloud. For those who want to keep sensitive data on-prem now they can hire HP to run those workloads on a pay per use model.

"No other technology company has the breadth and depth of cloud, big data and security solutions," Whitman said.

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Two and a half years ago Hewlett-Packard Co. was in disarray, in red ink, facing a loss of investor and customer confidence amid the departure of its CEO over a controversial US$10 billion acquisition. At its annual Discover infrastructure conference here on Tuesday, where HP's 75 th birthday was honored, executives declared the worst is behind after huge cost-cutting and layoffs.

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I'd much rather be a part of a team than a group.

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I'd much rather be a part of a team than a group.

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Let's work together and not apart.

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These should be the people finding executive talent within the job.

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These should be the people finding executive talent within the job.

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Would I be the manager my employees want to work for?

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Would I be the manager my employees want to work for?

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Find out in the survey

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Headhunters Jacksonville, Executive Recruiter Jacksonville, Jacksonville FL Executive Search Firm

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Jacksonville Leading Executive Search Firm serving more than 40 vertical markets with over 20 years of Industry experience. Proven recruiting strategies that delivery results.

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Too overpriced for something that I can do myself.

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Too overpriced for something that I can do myself.

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Employee satisfaction surveys and facilitated focus groups help the employer identify areas of employee satisfaction and dissatisfaction. For accurate, reliable results, employee satisfaction surveys or focus group questions need to be:

developed by professionals who understand how to put questions together that obtain unbiased information;

administered appropriately with care and consideration for the organization's culture and communication; and

analyzed by people who understand survey research and can provide effective analysis.

Further, in the interest of building a relationship of honesty, integrity, and trust, among organization employees, the results should be communicated effectively and acted upon by the organization. Finally, the organization's managers need to track progress and communicate implementation successes and failures.

This article does not attempt to provide a comprehensive guide to performing employee satisfaction surveys and leading employee focus groups. It does pinpoint five practices to embrace when conducting employee surveys and focus groups.

Communicate the Fact That While Employee Responses Are Confidential, the Data Gathered Will be Used to Improve the Workplace

I have mixed emotions about confidential or secret surveys. On the one hand, I want the employees comfortable responding truthfully. On the other, the reason employers do employee satisfaction, or customer satisfaction surveys is to telegraph their openness to employee input.

The second is to understand what is on their employees' minds genuinely.

While I recognize that some employers have differing motivations, companies that are employee-oriented, are unlikely to use the information gathered negatively. If you start with an open process, employees will learn that their employer can be trusted to use the information in their best interests.

As an external consultant, I always explain to employees that my purpose in talking with them is to share information for the common good. Consequently, my promise about confidentiality is that I will use the information to assist the company to make positive progress.

The Questions Asked Really Do Matter

No one is as familiar with your company culture as the people who work in the company every day. A small group of employees should determine the topics of the questions to ask. These questions will relate to the perceived likes, dislikes, and challenges your employees might experience in your organization.

Once you've determined the topics of the questions to ask, develop questions. Your questions should be evaluated to make sure they are not leading to a desired response, vague, or open to interpretation, depending on the employee reading the question.

Leading questions or statements are a problem when unqualified individuals develop the survey questions. An example of a leading statement that will also receive a biased answer is: My manager's door is always open to me. An example of an unclear statement is: My career development and job satisfaction are improved by the performance development planning (PDP) process.

Some professional survey firms have developed databases of questions that have been determined to be effective through years of employee or customer satisfaction surveys in different organizations. You might tap into this service even if you don't want to employ an external company to administer your survey or lead your focus groups.

Hold Employee Focus Groups or Survey Processes at Your Work Site

If you take employee groups offsite to participate in surveys and focus groups, you are sending a clear message that it is not "safe" to talk about employee satisfaction in the company. It is exactly the opposite of the message that you really want to send. Your message? It is safe to share what you think. The company cares about what you think, and the employer is providing the space and privacy necessary for your participation.

Never Lose Control of Your Data

While you don't want to know that Mary made that observation, you do want to know that three versus thirty employees made the observation. If you work with a consultant to administer an employee satisfaction survey or run employee focus groups, make sure you will have access to the data.

This access to the data and analysis will allow you to assess the degree to which various opinions permeate your workforce. The data will allow you to make your own assessment of employee satisfaction. Particularly correlation analysis and other data charts and graphs are important for you to access.

I was once asked to analyze the data from an employee diversity survey that superficially appeared to indicate that the Human Resources department surveyed had serious diversity appreciation issues. With statistical analysis, not my specialty, I hired a statistician to professionally analyze the data for me, and we found the opposite. No statistical proof of a lack of diversity appreciation existed upon data analysis. So, maintain access to the data and the analysis.

Never Allow Employees to Self-Select for Participation in Surveys and Focus Groups

Employees should never self-select to participate in an employee focus group or survey. When you allow self-selection, you'll generally find that less satisfied or very satisfied employees sign up for the group. Or, your more communicative employees are more comfortable expressing their opinions in a group. Your less communicative staff is guaranteed to be unrepresented.

In a recent debrief of a client's employee focus group process, several of the more negative findings were stated in the exact words a disgruntled employee had used to express the exact sentiments to me the week before. How many employees actually feel that way?

We'll never know for sure. Access to the resultant data and the selection process for participation in the focus groups was controlled by the external consultants.

For valid and reliable results, either every employee should be included in the survey process, or a random selection method should be employed to decide who to include. To ensure widespread participation, perhaps offer an incentive, either company-wide or for individuals.

Conclusions About Employee Satisfaction Surveys

You can use a simple paper and pencil instrument, an online survey, or a much more sophisticated process to assess your employees' satisfaction. I've used everything from a data analysis by the internal IT department of an online, internally produced survey to an outside survey consulting firm with tried and true questions.

Some fundamentals for successful, trustworthy employee satisfaction surveys and focus groups exist in each instance. I have reviewed five important factors here. Ignore them, and you may obtain a false understanding of your employees' satisfaction.

Your results may skew positively or negatively based on the skills of your facilitators or survey producers and the employees who decided to participate. Worst, you may have sent the wrong message to your employees about the safety and worth of communication in your company. Do this at your peril.

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5 Recommendations to Improve Employee Satisfaction Surveys

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Employee satisfaction surveys and facilitated focus groups help the employer identify areas of employee satisfaction and dissatisfaction. For accurate, reliable results, employee satisfaction surveys or focus group questions need to be: developed by professionals who understand how to put questions together that obtain unbiased information; administered appropriately with care and consideration for the organization's culture and communication; and analyzed by people who understand survey research and can provide effective analysis.

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Let's solve the problem, one step at a time

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Let's solve the problem, one step at a time

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Where does the accountability lie?  With the worker, manager delegates responsibility.

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Where does the accountability lie?  With the worker, manager delegates responsibility.

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Learning what can make or break a company.

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Learning what can make or break a company.

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I learned that this company should expand more eastward. The company has a great foundation, and great morals.

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Make the right position for the right position.

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Make the right position for the right position.

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Minds coming together to make it work!

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Investis Digital, Formerly Vertical Measures

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I learned of the great work that some people in a higher position are capable of doing. His heart seems to be sincere, and he cares for his employees

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Building hotels globally to help those in need.

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I learned how important it is for diversity to be implemented within the workplace. Especially gender diversity.

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In this module I learned whistle blowers are essential in corrupt organizations

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WASHINGTON - An independent investigator found that Veterans Affairs officials glossed over problems pointed out by whistle-blowers - such as improperly cleaned medical instruments or psychiatric patients who go for years without evaluations - by declaring that the problems cause no potential harm to public health or safety.

"The VA, and particularly the VA's Office of the Medical Inspector, has consistently used a 'harmless error' defense, where the department acknowledges problems but claims patient care is unaffected," Carolyn Lerner, who leads the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, wrote in a letter to President Obama on Monday. "This approach has prevented the VA from acknowledging the severity of systemic problems and from taking the necessary steps to provide quality care to veterans."

Lerner wrote that veterans' health and safety had been "unnecessarily put at risk."

For example, at a VA facility in Jackson, Miss., last fall, whistle-blowers detailed improper credentialing of providers, inadequate review of radiology images, unlawful prescriptions for narcotics, non-compliant pharmacy equipment used to make chemotherapy drugs and unsterile medical equipment, she said. The facility faced a provider shortage and subjected veterans to long wait times for appointments.

The Office of Special Counsel is an independent federal agency responsible for - among other things - protecting whistle-blowers in the federal government from workplace retaliation.

The OSC letter details a "pattern of responses" to whistle-blowers showing that no one responds when they highlight a problem and that they are often punished. There are 50 pending cases, she wrote, "all of which allege threats to patient health or safety."

"Despite confirming the problems in each of these (and other) patient-care areas, the VA refused to acknowledge any impact on the health and safety of veterans seeking care" at the facility, Lerner wrote.

Lerner cited a VA investigation into falsified appointments in Fort Collins, Colo., designed to make it look as if patients' wait times were shorter than they were. That investigation concluded there was insufficient data to conclude that the longer wait times resulted in a danger to public safety.

In Brockton, Mass., a psychiatrist detailed neglect in long-term psychiatric patient care. One patient was in the facility for eight years, yet had only one note from a psychiatrist in his medical files. A second patient entered the facility in 2003 but had his first psychiatric exam in 2011.

Despite these findings, VA's medical inspector "failed to acknowledge that the confirmed neglect of residents at the facility had any impact on patient care," Lerner wrote.

The Office of Special Counsel report documents a dozen similar cases, including:

*In Montgomery, Ala., a pulmonologist copied notes rather than writing new ones, but VA said it could not substantiate that this endangered patient health.

*In Grand Junction, Colo., VA found a facility with elevated levels of Legionella bacteria - which causes Legionnaire's disease - because of poor maintenance, but VA found no substantial danger to public health.

*In Ann Arbor, Mich., untrained employees improperly handled surgical instruments, leading to "unsafe and unsanitary work practices." When VA officials partially substantiated the allegations, the whistle-blower said it was "not clear" whether corrective actions improved the situation. There was no follow-up, Lerner wrote.

"I am deeply disappointed, not only in the substantiation of allegations raised by whistle-blowers but also in the failures within VA to take whistle-blower complaints seriously," acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson said in response to the letter. He ordered a review of how recommendations are implemented.

He responded to charges that when whistle-blowers come forward with complaints about how veterans are treated, those whistle-blowers are often punished.

"I reminded all 341,000 of our employees that we must protect whistle-blowers and create workplace environments that enable full participation of employees," Gibson said. "As I told our workforce, intimidation or retaliation - not just against whistle-blowers but against any employee who raises a hand to identify a problem, make a suggestion or report what may be a violation in law, policy or our core values - is absolutely unacceptable."

Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., who heads the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, said VA appears to believe that in spite of the documented problems, "serious patient safety issues apparently have no impact on patient safety."

"It's impossible to solve problems by whitewashing them or denying they exist," he said. "This is a lesson VA should have already learned as part of its delays in care crisis, but President Obama needs to help reiterate it to each and every new VA employee."

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., chairman of Senate Veterans Affairs, said "If the VA is going to do its job effectively, it needs to respond quickly and appropriately to employees within the system who alert the administration to problems. The concerns of whistle-blowers must be addressed promptly and effectively and legitimate concerns must not be covered up or papered over by administrators.

Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1izm9S0

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WASHINGTON - An independent investigator found that Veterans Affairs officials glossed over problems pointed out by whistle-blowers - such as improperly cleaned medical instruments or psychiatric patients who go for years without evaluations - by declaring that the problems cause no potential harm to public health or safety.

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I learned about how to work hard and make something of myself! I learned how to think like an innovator.

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I learned about my classmate, and how she likes to sew and crochet.

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The start of the semester. Module 1 broke down how to think like a good manager.