Blogs for Culture Vultures
Leadership may sound a lot more exciting and glamorous than management. However, what do you think it takes to implement all the innovative ideas and ensure that visions will actually turn into reality? ...Exactly. This will not be achieved without having an effective management strategy in place.
Haven’t you always felt that being a salesperson is your vocation; that you just have in your blood? No? For those of you who do not feel that selling comes naturally to them, but have now found themselves in a sales position, I have good news for you: sales is not simply about pushing your products and services at people.
Due to its front line nature, bad customer service can severely damage the reputation of your business. It does not matter if you are working for a global player or in a cosy little sidewalk café in the countryside. Customer service matters, regardless of the size and location of your business.
Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed by your workload and have no idea where to start and how to get organized? Does the term procrastination sound familiar to you? Can you relate to internal battles with work/life balance? You are not alone.
Urgent action is required to boost the number of ethnic minority managers in UK workplaces, according to an equality lobbying group.
A study by Race for Opportunity - part of the Business in the Community campaign group of employers - analysed office labour market statistics between 2000 and 2007, and found ethnic minorities have not been gaining the share of jobs that their proportion in the wider UK population would justify. The gap between the overall ethnic minority population and those in managerial positions is even greater, with the report warning that, based on current trends, ethnic minority managers will never be in line with their representation in the wider population.
The Race to the Top report showed that more than one in 10 of the UK population comes from an ethnic minority group, yet just one in 15, or 6.8%, were in a management position at the end of 2007.
Read more >> Management
Under the belief that diversity exposes students to a broader field of ideas, experiences, and perspectives, most medical schools in the United States explicitly try to keep their student bodies racially and ethnically varied. The schools also believe that diversity in the classroom better prepares student to provide services to the multicultural American population. However, little research exists to support the claim of educational benefits from diversity in medical schools.
Read more > Medical News
The TUC report said the employment gap had narrowed by 2.2% over the past 10 years and now stands at 15.7%.
This comes despite recent criticism of government efforts to close the gap, with accusations that some specialist schemes were wound-up too soon.
The fastest area of growth in BME employment has been part-time work, with the number doing this more than doubling in 10 years. However, just 60.1% of BME people are in work, compared to 75.8% in the wider population.
Read more > BME
The TUC report said the employment gap had narrowed by 2.2% over the past 10 years and now stands at 15.7%.
This comes despite recent criticism of government efforts to close the gap, with accusations that some specialist schemes were wound-up too soon.
The fastest area of growth in BME employment has been part-time work, with the number doing this more than doubling in 10 years. However, just 60.1% of BME people are in work, compared to 75.8% in the wider population.
Read more > BME
The Ethnic Minority Foundation, called for leaders to be held accountable for discrimination which, it says is "ruining the life chances of young people".
It follows a survey of 200 graduates by recruitment site Milkround.com which found that 86% of had faced discrimination while working.
Race discrimination affected two in five respondents, with age discrimination affecting 14% and gender 12%. Other reasons for unfair treatment included sexual orientation and height.
One respondent said: "People like me coming from a different country or continent to study and then try to get a work placement here are very vulnerable, particularly if they are unfortunate enough to have employers or managers as ignorant as the one I [worked for]."
Read more > Diversity
A "cultural cloak of sensitivity" is preventing figures in authority, including police, teachers and social services, from protecting basic human rights for fear of upsetting certain ethnic minority communities, David Cameron warned yesterday.
In his strongest attack on multiculturalism, which he said had created a "cultural apartheid" by allowing communities to lead separate lives, the Conservative leader claimed that society was caving in to "extreme elements" who should be sidelined. Cameron cited two examples:
· authorities often turn a blind eye to forced marriages - schools in Derby have recently refused to put up posters about the issue - amid fears that they might be perceived as racists;
· Victoria Climbié, the eight-year-old who was tortured to death by her aunt and her aunt's boyfriend, was not properly protected by social services because they did not want to offend a family that had recently arrived in Britain.
Read more > Cameron
The report stated that the employment rate is 60 per cent for the ethnic minority population compared to 74 per cent for the general population.
Read more > Diversity
The eighth annual Race Employment Targets Report shows progress against the Home Office's 10-year race equality employment targets. The Border and Immigration Agency, Identity and Passport Service, the Forensic Science Service and the core Home Office areas all exceeded their aims.
The news comes just days after a new mentoring scheme aimed at preparing black and minority ethnic (BME) staff for leadership roles in the Civil Service has been put into action.
Read more > Home Office
Speaking exclusively to Personneltoday.com, Blears said the role for HR in attracting more BME people into work was to go to the places where different communities live, and encourage them to apply for positions.
Currently, the ethnic minority share of the working age population stands at 9.3% or 3.26 million people, according to 2004 Department for Work and Pensions figures. The latest Office for National Statistic figures (2002-03) state that the employment rate for white people working in the UK is 75.5%, compared to just 57.3% for non-white groups.
Read more> Hazel Blears
Speaking exclusively to Personneltoday.com, Blears said the role for HR in attracting more BME people into work was to go to the places where different communities live, and encourage them to apply for positions.
Currently, the ethnic minority share of the working age population stands at 9.3% or 3.26 million people, according to 2004 Department for Work and Pensions figures. The latest Office for National Statistic figures (2002-03) state that the employment rate for white people working in the UK is 75.5%, compared to just 57.3% for non-white groups.
Read more> Hazel Blears
In its fourth year, the just-released Yankelovich Monitor Multicultural Marketing Study points to the impact of the "commercialization of culture," or repeated use of certain cultural elements to reach broader audiences. In 2004, 37 percent of non-Hispanic whites thought Hispanics were influencing everyone's lifestyle; today, it's 44 percent.
The result may mean less authentic messaging for Hispanics and African Americans, the study reports, if the same marketing strategies are used to reach ethnic consumers. "We're calling it cultural pinpointing. It's about understanding that today there's a lot of borrowing going on from the ethnic marketplace," said Sonya Suarez-Hammond, vice president of multicultural insights for Yankelovich in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Read more: Cultural pinpointing
Their comments come after a General Medical Council (GMC) report showed that doctors trained overseas were twice as likely to face formal disciplinary hearings once a complaint had been made as those who graduated in the UK.
Ramesh Mehta, president of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, told Personnel Today: "There is no doubt that bullying of Asian doctors goes on.
"The small minority of racists in the NHS take complaints [about foreign doctors] to HR. HR needs better training in handling these issues."
Read more: Doctors
Diversity experts have applauded the decision by BBC executives to forgo their bonuses collectively worth £350,000, after the broadcaster failed to meet its diversity targets.
The corporation set itself stringent targets in 2004 of increasing the percentage of black and minority ethnic staff to 12.5% and 7% at senior management level, to be met by 31 December 2007.
Read more: BBC
The Football Association of Ireland has recently launched what has been coined as an "Intercultural Football Plan" - the plan is designed to examine how best, in the context of a more diverse society, the FAI can encourage increased participation in football among people from minority ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The plan also challenges and prevents the spread of ‘racism’ within the game and thus contributes towards a fully integrated and intercultural society.
Read more: FAI
The Football Association of Ireland has recently launched what has been coined as an "Intercultural Football Plan" - the plan is designed to examine how best, in the context of a more diverse society, the FAI can encourage increased participation in football among people from minority ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The plan also challenges and prevents the spread of ‘racism’ within the game and thus contributes towards a fully integrated and intercultural society.
Read more: FAI