All posts in Management

How To Start An Event Management Business Important Steps Of Achieving Success

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Daydreaming about starting an event management business? Maybe you have already worked in the events industry and think about working for yourself. Or perhaps your organized meetings in the past and feel it your lifes passion. Both are good reasons for acquiring the profession.
Starting an event management business is similar to starting a relationship its required to possess appropriate skills and follow some important steps to achieve success.
Gain Event Management Skills and Experience
Scoring a success is based on event manager solid grasp, steady skills and experience:

Verbal and written communications

Organization and time management

Negotiation and budget management

Marketing, public relations and more

Determine Your Event Management Market
Lets say youve been working in the event industry for many years, know all ins and outs and eager to coordinate all kinds of events, from weddings to festivals.
Stop. This is a common mistake many event managers do. First of all, people have different energy levels and different capabilities. And, one cant be a master of all trades. Recognize that there are distinctive differences between corporate, association, nonprofit and social events. Determine your market accordingly. Its much easier to concentrate on a certain domain and become a professional.
Develop a Business Plan
Someone once said, “If you fail to plan, you should plan to fail”. Like everything else, starting an event management business requires a business plan. There are a couple of resources that can help you. For example, U.S. Small Business Administration publishes materials about writing business plans. You can find more with Google!
Obtain Business Insurance
Business insurance is mandatory. Event management business should secure general liability and other forms of insurance to protect the business owners interests.
Several forms of insurance exist. Speak to an insurance advisor to learn the requirements.
Develop Network of Suppliers and Staffing Resources
Event managers usually work with a wide range of suppliers communications consultant, stationery designer, promotional products distributor, party rental supplier, caterer, florist, photographer and more. You will also need the staffing resources for sales, marketing, accounting and administrative functions. Itll be necessary to establish an infrastructure that will support your events from all sides.
Establish Your Fee Structure
You should be conscious of the various ways to cover expenses and make a reasonable profit. Most event planners charge is based on the following:

Flat fee

Hourly rate

Percentage of expenses

Percentage of expenses plus hourly rate

Commissionable rate

Business Development and Marketing
With a prepared business plan, established fee structure and determined event manager market its time to begin working with marketing materials. Choose the right name for your business; create business cards, stationary, proposals, client agreements and a web-site.
Launching a web-site is an easy step with a turnkey solution like PG Events. Get more details at eventsoft.pro/overview.php

Strategic Human Resource Management

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Executive summary
Previous findings have suggested that human resource management practices and beliefs play important roles in the management of businesses today especially when it comes to planning, recruiting and motivating employees to commit themselves for the organisation. Comes to issues of Therefore, there is a unique relationship between the human resource management practices and techniques employed by an organisation and its overall performance. Certain sets of human resource practices are critical for any organization restructuring and if they are not implemented, they will lead to poor performances.. This paper will examine various functions of human resource management in relations to APS business objectives and evaluate the human resource management aspects of the company.

introduction
Strategic human resources management, alignment with mission achievement, strategic alignment these terms are some of the phrases, which are being used to explain the latest, evolving function of human resources management (HRM). Different people will give different meaning for these terms. Consequently, it is imperative to ascertain from the starting what we are really talking about. Human resources management alignment implies integrating decisions concerning employees with decisions regarding the outcomes a business is attempting to reach the objective of the company in relations to its business targets. (Hunger Wheelen, 2003) This report will address strategic human resource management in APS Company. The report will take a critical evaluation of the human resource and offer the best strategy to follow.

A critical evaluation of the role of strategic human resource management in contributing towards the success of APS

With human resource rising as the primary asset of an organisation, human resources (HR) management are being faced with new challenges to come up with strategic approaches that can add value to the organisations when sourcing for new employees. To address this issue the human resource have to formulated strategies that will add value to an organisation in pursuit of identifying, recruiting, developing and retaining highly talented employees who can take the company to new heights and provide a competitive advantage to the company (Armstrong, 2006)

Recruitment and retention
Beardwell Holden (1997) states that; employee recruitment is very important in an organization. It consists of administration, performance and staffing. All these are interrelated activities that are carried out in an organization. Management and staffing activities help in ensuring that employees with right or desired skills are recruited. The employees have also to be in the right numbers desired by the organization. Employee recruitment aims at ensuring that employees are at the right place at the right time. Human resource manager in this case is concerned with ensuring that employees perform their best. Best recruitment processes insure that the organizations get the best staff that can improve and add value to the company. The human resource has to provide better employment terms to retain employees who are experienced in the organization. This will highly help the restructuring processes. (Beardwell Holden, 1997)

Training and development
Each employee requires more learning in order to improve his /her skills, no matter how best a candidate is, he/she can not be 100% percent qualified. Thus, the human resource management should implement learning management system (Beardwell Holden, 1997)

In general the human resource management is supposed to come up with training and education programs for its employees. Training can be termed as systematic enhancement of knowledge, skills and attitudes of the needed by an employee in order to perform a given task. Development is the growth of an employee in terms of capability, understanding and awareness. In an organization training and development is important in order to;

1. Develop a workforce that can perform higher-grade assignments

2. Increase efficiency, effectiveness and standards of performance by the employee

3. Keep the employees informed

4. Provide the usual training of new recruited workforce

Employee performance management
The most important aspect of human resource management practice is employee evaluation. The performance of any organisation is determined directly by the performance of the employees. It is possible to monitor the evaluation if the employees of any company via the use of human resource evaluation systems. These systems are done continuously with a view to retaining useful employees. Some organizations, because of their soft approaches, have incurred huge losses due to the fact that most employees are joy-riders in the organisation. These employees are considered a liability to the organisation because they contribute very little for the productivity levels. This means that their cost benefit ratio is high (Hunger Wheelen, 2003)

Regulatory compliance
In the recent days, human resource management practices have extended its functions to include regulating employees in the organization. The human resource management will have to ensure that employees comply with the company rules and regulations. In addition the manager will also have to ensure that good working relations do exist between the employees. In case an employee breaks the company rules or regulations, then the human resource management has to take steps in disciplining the employee so that he/she can comply. If the employee persist being disobedient to the company rules, then the human resource management can sack him/her if that the only step that remains to be undertaken. Complying with company rules is directly related with improving production. (Hunger Wheelen, 2003)

Compensation and benefits
Workers need to be compensated for their performance in order to encourage them to keep up or improve on that performance. The moment the human resource establishes the performance of the worker, managers should reward to commensurate with the worker’s achievement. These will ensure maximum production and effectiveness of the worker; current compensation programs should include a mix of basic pay, equities and variable pay. (Hunger Wheelen, 2003)

Employees need to be motivated in order for the company to get the best out of them. An employee who is well motivated will easily stay in the organization and be more productive. For this to occur human resource have to attend to the financial and psychological needs of the workers by rewarding them well. Hunger Wheelen (2003) observers that, better conditions for service and financial rewards are examples of measures applied to motivate employees within the organisation while in some, it could be in terms of annual, leave, insurance or shorter working periods. The human resource manager of the organization needs to come up with good employment policies that are desirable to the employees. It is important that the workers when paid accept their pay package as “fair and just” in order for them to be motivated. (Hunger Wheelen, 2003)

Propose a strategy you would propose for managing HR in APS showing how it aligns to the published goals

Sound Manpower planning
The best method in which APS Company can directly improve its performance in successfully in relation to its objectives and missions, is through Manpower planning

Human resource management main function is manpower planning. As observed in APS organization, it lacks proper planning in its human capital which has been it undergo costly penalties. Having the right staff, in terms of numbers and skills is a task that the human resource may strategies well. When it comes to sourcing the human resource must source well so that it can get the maximum benefits from its workforce. The human resource has to understand that overstaffing is a waste and expensive to the organisation and does not add any value to the organisation but, instead reduce the competitive advantage of the organisation. (Armstrong, 2006)

In planning of the workforce, an assessment of current and future needs of the organisation has to be taken into account, compared to the available resources together with future predicted resources. Then appropriate strategies can be undertaken to balance demand and supply of the work force. Thus, before sourcing for more workers, the human resource has to take analyse the current workforce profile in terms of numbers, ages, skills, experience, gender, flexibility, forecast capabilities, etc. the human resource then can adjust this for say 2 or 5 years ahead so as to amend for normal employee turnover, retirements and staff movement in accordance with the business plan in relation to the corresponding time frames. (Armstrong, 2006)

The result from this will give the human resource a lot of information on how to come up with sourcing plans that will be able to add value to the organisation. The human resource will have a well “though out” and sound sourcing demand programme for different dates in future which then, can be compared with the rough supply programmes. The evaluation will then show the steps that have to be taken when sourcing in order to strike a balance. (Dainty, 2000)When human resource undertake such workforce planning program it will save the organisation a lot of money at the same time add competent staff to the organisation who can take the organisation to new heights and surpass the set targets.

Developing human resource strategy
Faced with the need to add value to the organisation, human resource need to come up with a more coherent and focused approach in sourcing practices. According to Armstrong (2006) to develop such strategy, two issues have to be addressed.

1. What type of workforce does the organisation need in order to manage and also run the organisation so has to meet the organisation strategic business goals?

2. Which type of workforce programs and schemes must be planned and implemented so as to attract, develop and retain a workforce that can compete effectively?

For these questions to be answered the human resource has to address four key areas of an organisation these are;

* The sourcing culture of the organisation; norms, beliefs and the management way of the organisation has to be structured in manner that it encourages sourcing or recruitment based on merit alone and on any other factors

* Human resource has also to address the organisation structure; this will define proper job descriptions, reporting lines in the organisation and job descriptions.

* The workforce; the human resource has to address the issue of level of skills, management abilities of individual employees and staff potential

* The human resources will have also to address its systems; the human resource should have a workforce focused mechanism that will deliver a plan of workforce selection, training, communication, career development and rewards.

If the human resource need to add value to the organisation in terms of quality and better services then, it has to retain its workforce, reward them, carry out appraisal, open communication systems and then re-examine the organisation human resource management plans. These strategies will ensure that the APS is able to get and retain a workforce which will drive the organisation to new heights. (Armstrong, 2006)

Provide a critical analysis of the tools you use for this environmental analysis to show why these are important to APS

An environmental analysis of the company
They are several tools, which a company can employ when analyzing its environment both internal and external. The most common are STEP or PESTEL analysis procedure. McGahan (2004) This analysis is worth because it determines whether the organization will be fairing well or not. For the purposes of this paper we shall use PESTEL marketing tool to analyze the APS

PESTEL analysis
PESTEL analysis is used to investigate the vital factors, which affects an industry and the influence they have on a particular company or companies operating in that particular industry. PESTEL is means political, Economic, Social, Technological and Legal factors. Political factors entail government policies, which are related to the industry, this includes tax policies, regulations and laws, tariffs and restrictions and other factors. The economic factors include the wider economic performance for example economic growth, exchange rates, interest rates and inflation. Social factors on the other hand relates to cultural issues which includes health, population growth, demographics, changes in consumer behaviors and other aspects. Technology factors include the adaptation of new available technology and new ideas such as automation, information technology and rate of technology change. Legal factors comprises of legal procedures, licensing, product legal descriptions and other legal factors. (Grant, 2005)

Political factors whereby the company have to deal with the political interferences that may be practiced by the government. According to research, political systems of nations affect the conduct of businesses, for example, some countries practice collectivism while others practice capitalism political systems. For instance in UK, the government practices capitalism in that it allows factors of production to be privately owned and the government performs only limited duties that the private sector cannot perform unlike in collectivism and communism that stresses collective goals. Therefore, APC Company has no restrictions and hence we can conclude that it enjoys good external political environment. (Grant, 2005)

Economical factors which mainly deals with financial forces in the economic environment. Such factors include foreign exchange rates, currencies and global monetary systems like the use of Euro currency, inflation, counter trade, balance of payments, monetary policies, and fiscal policies among others. After carrying out careful analysis of these factors APS Company can determine if the economic factors of the country it is operating in are favourable or not. The economic factors have a significant impact on the market segment of and share of the company. (Kotler, 1996)

Social factors are other factors that the company has to consider before formulating its marketing strategies in relation to the society aspects. Forces within the society such as religion, family, social structure and education may influence positively or negatively the way APS Company will market its products. Social factors affect our attitude, opinions and interests on the way we view products from certain companies. (Kotler, 1996)

Technological factors are another key factor to given consideration before going getting products on the market. Many companies because of the concept of globalization are now experiencing advanced technologies. Globalization has taken centre stage and now many firms have increasingly utilized the use of e-commerce or Internet marketing. The technology of production has continued to develop leading to more premium brands being produced by the company to fulfil the new demands of the customers that keep changing with time. (Hollensen, 2004)

Legal factors are other factors that must be analyzed before entering into a market. The way the company operates in terms of operating rules of law for example how APS Company will have to cope the legal rules in the a country more importantly because it avoids conflicts and will enhance the success of the organization. The company has to be ethical in its practices.

Critically evaluate the ethical requirements for managing human resources within APS and show why this particular area is of paramount importance within a counselling firm.

Ethical norms are the moral standards that help us judge good from bad or right from wrong and living morally. They involve articulating the good habits or character that we should have, the consequences of our behavior on us and others and the duties that we are supposed to follow. As company, treating employees ethically implies being fair to them in all aspects of human management. Basically, ethics and ethical conduct is about being professional and transparent. The NCDA code of ethics has been formulated as a guide to counselors. The code of ethics offers defined principles, which can be used in different situations and settings. The code serves both the careers professional counselors and those who are getting services from the counselors so that they are in a position to understand their responsibilities and rights as consumers. (Grant, 2005)

Ethical requirements stipulates that the Employee’s relations which are the relationship that exists between the employee and the employer. Or processes by which employees and their companies contract of work needs to be fair to all parties.. A good working relationship is required from both parties to maintain high production in the working place. For the employer to have a good relationship with his employees, the employer has to avoid disagreements with the employees. This can be achieved through, both parties honoring their agreements and the company offering better working terms can achieve this. In conuselling company ethical practices are more important because they will ensure that employees are also in a position to be ethical with the clients of the company. (Grant, 2005)

Counseling is very important in this 21st century when many people want information about personal development and enhancement. However, it is important the a company observe ethics in the profession so that they can offer better services for their clients. Ethics dictates that proper and professional ways be followed when the career counselor in performing his/her duties. (Grant, 2005)

Conclusion
Human resource management (HRM) practices are vital tools for any organisation. To manage the most important asset for any organisation-its human resource-requires extensive research, commitment, financial base and implementation strategic practices. All issues affecting the workforce will be affecting the organisational performance directly. It has been found that issues of recruitment and retention, training and development, employee performance management, and other human resources aspects ar of grave concerns and are usually addressed through effective human resource management systems and are important in strategic processes of any organization.

Employee planning and strategic human resource management have a challenge of coming up with strategic human resource managemnt ways that can add value to the organisation. The human resource has a function of delivering strategy insights in the organisation so as to enable the organisation to be more effective in sourcing, evaluating and motivating employees in this increasingly unstable business environment. In addition the human resource has to continue providing administrative services which are dependable, responsive and cost effective to the needs of the organisation.

Appendix

Chart 1: consultancy industry growth

The Chart compares different types of counselling consultancy and their growth over a span of five years. As shown in the graph, the consultancy services have been on an increase. Source (Hooves, 2007)

A SWOT analysis

In reviewing the SWOT analysis: which are strength, weakness, opportunities and threats; the APS Company can be seen to have these aspects;

Strength; immerse capital in terms of human and financial; also have a well-developed marketing share and aggressive marketing team.

Weakness; current weakness may be inability to have effective management structures which have led to poor management and high turnover of staff.

Opportunities; there exists new opportunities in the market which have not been exploited, the company can exploit those markets. Also, the company can create new products and services for the industry as there is still need for more products.

Threats; APS Company is facing threats from new entries in the industry that are creating tough competition in the industry.

Reference:

Armstrong. M. (2006): Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, 10th edition, (Kogan Page) London,

Beardwell, I. and Holden, L (1997): Human resource management; a contemporary perspective; London; Financial Times

Dainty, A (2000): Improving employee sourcing within construction organisations, Proceedings of the ARCOM 2000 Conference; Glasgow; Vol. 1

Grant, R.M. (2005): Contemporary Strategy Analysis; Blackwell Publishing Ltd., Oxford (U.K

Hoovers.com. (2007) Retrieved 10 February, 2008 on the World Wide Web: http://www.hoovers.com

Hunger, J. D Wheelen, T (2003): Essentials of Strategic Management, New Jersey, Pearson Education Inc

Kotler, P. (1996): Human Resource strategies; 4th European Edition Prentice Hall. Harlow (UK)

Legge, K (2004): Human Resource Management: Rhetoric and Realities, Anniversary Ed. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan,

McGahan, A. (2004): How Industries Evolve – Principles for Achieving and Sustaining Superior Performance”. Harvard Business School Press, Boston

Video Source: Youtube

Online Anger Management Classes- Your Consumer Guide

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Not all anger management class programs are the same. Like anything on the internet, consumers must be aware that programs vary in quality, acceptance, and effectiveness. Distance learning programs also vary greatly in their sophistication. For example, an organization might refer to their program as “online” simply because they have a website when in fact their program is simply a book that you order or a PDF that is downloaded. This is not an online class, but rather a product purchased over the internet that must either be printed or shipped in printed form.

Here is a simple checklist of items to make sure of before starting an online anger management class:

* How long has the agency been offering their course? What kind of training qualifies them to offer the course? Did they just launch a website, but have no history of actually offering or teaching anger management?

* What credentials or qualifications does the course provider have? I found one class that actually had a videographer as the owner. I found another that had no credentials at all. Consumer must be careful!

* Can a judge, probation officer or attorney contact the agency to verify credentials? Is there a qualified person that can accept phone calls and provide documentation?

* What curriculum is being used? Does it have any approvals? What is really being taught? Is there any substance to the course?

* Does the course include skills in empathy and emotional intelligence, forgiveness, stress management, assertive communication, expectation management, improving judgment and impulse control, and learning to respond instead of react?

* Is the course really “online” or is it just a bunch of downloads, printed materials that are mailed, or home made videos?

* Online means that everything is delivered online, with interaction with a qualified instructor.

* Do they have a refund policy if their program isn’t accepted? Distance learning programs are new, and not every judge in every court throughout the country is going to understand them.

* If something seems too good to be true, it probably isn’t. A quality program is going to cost more for a reason, because it’s legitimate.

Anger management skills can be learned in a variety of educational settings. For some, an online format best suits a busy schedule, for others a live program might be a better match. Either way, make sure the program you choose measures up.

Open Source CV Management To Progress The Job Opportunities

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Resume or CV is the vital tool to represent oneself in the market. CV is the mirror of your qualifications and personality. Hence, it should be created with lot of thought and should reach the right place to get desired opportunities. Today, there are varied means, by which you can create and update your CV.

Few years back, open source CV management system was followed by many corporate companies, due to high price. The software is used to create and update the CV to get appropriate candidate for the job. But now the software is used by all small and big companies, which have made the hiring process very easy and affordable.

The open source resume software is a form of resume management system, which works more advanced than working on optical character recognition. It works beyond OCR system. The advance form of resume parser open source can work in different formats. Hence, it works on different variety of resumes in different formats and contents.

Other then keywords, the software can also take out other information, according to the requirement. This helps to get appropriate candidate for the required job profile.

With the help of CV management, an individual can create CV and even organizations use the software to create the CV, according to the organization’s recruitments. You can buy the software and create your CV and keep on adding the updates or you can also subscribe for the software, which is cheaper than buying. The CV management software can be accessed through web browser via internet. The software is a vital tool in any organization, today.

The CV software is a great boon to HR personnel. It has saved the recruitment department from handling the tedious process of hiring candidates by manual means. The software is very useful in handling many recruitment facilities and keeps track of every resume and filters it out and in according to the requirements.

With the latest technology, the CV management has become more sophisticated and efficient. Now, it is not limited just to the OCR pattern. Now, the software performs the contextual search in the resumes. The software is able to parse the meaning of sentences in the resume and hence is able to select the appropriate candidate for appropriate job requirement.

The profit of any organization depends on the skilled employees. There are numerous candidates applying everyday for the job requirements. It becomes difficult to categorize each and every candidate, according to their skills and then select them for the post. It is time consuming and financially very expensive.

The HR department along with CV management recruiting also performs many important tasks, which is vital for company’s growth. With the advent of open source CV management system, the task of keeping track of CV and hiring has become very convenient.

There are different vendors available in market that can provide you with CV management software systems. Such software helps to create your CV profile according marketing strategies. It is a management software that increases the job opportunities and provides skilled staff to company

Why Shift to Electronic Payroll Management Systems

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Theres no other business process thats more unfavourable towards employee satisfaction than incorrect and improper payroll management. And this very same business function can help reduce the impact on the environment through a paperless system. Introducing electronic or online payroll programs does not only make your payroll management more efficient, it is also a move to go green. With an online payroll solution, you ensure timely processes and become more earth friendly, aside from increasing staff productivity and cutting costs.

Benefits of Online Payroll Programs

Shifting to an online payroll service offers many benefits to the employees, the employers and the environment. Whether youre a big enterprise or a small and medium business with several staff on the payroll, an electronic payroll management system is a good investment for you. Here are some of its benefits:

Record-keeping
o Employees can quickly retrieve their payroll statements from previous months since these are archived electronically. Employees dont have to stuff their file cabinets with paper payroll or worse, risk losing or misplacing a particular weekly payroll statement.
Security
o Employees can rest assured that their payroll statements and other personal information are secured. With an online system, theres no risk of having your payroll statement fall into the wrong hands or be seen by the wrong eyes.
o Employees are happier because they would receive prompt and correct payments.
Time-saving
o The HR staff can have a one-stop resource for all the employees payroll, benefits, vacation leaves, tax information, superannuation, government requirements, etc.
o The HR and accounting staff will not use up a large amount of time to manually complete several complex computations.
Productivity and Efficiency
o The accounting staff, secretaries, administrative assistants, and other office assistants can focus more on other productive and specialised duties to keep the business running smoothly and efficiently, rather than spending overtime hours computing each employees leave credits, overtimes, under-times, etc.
o The headache of tax computation and reporting is gone. Everything gets calculated without human error and this precision in data ensures that the government wont be coming at your doorstep for erroneous or incomplete records.
Accuracy
o Errors are minimised and efficiency is increased because details are recorded accurately and on time. There is less chance of reprocessing or recalculating.
o HR and accounting staff receive less payroll-related enquiries because all data are accurate and consistent.
o Salary change, tax tables, etc. can be automatically updated for immediate necessary adjustment.
Planning, Forecasting and Reporting
o CEOs, directors and managers can easily request for automated labour hours productivity, department expenses, year-end reports, and other different types of reports for business planning, revenue targeting and expense budgeting.
Environment friendly
o Print payslips or hardcopies of the payroll statements are no longer needed.
In todays economic times, its important that you eliminate unproductive labour hours, unnecessary costs, and impact to the environment. From small to large businesses, streamlining your processes and introducing cost-efficient procedures are important to success. The payroll management software, like e-PayDay, is one of the innovative methods technology has to offer, for more efficient payroll systems.

Develop Effective Modern Kitchen Management Skills

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If you think that technology and management have entered only our industries and management institutes, you are wrong. These have entered our kitchen also in a big way to change life, especially for women. In fact, the modern kitchen has greatly helped in the empowerment of women.

The changeover from traditional firewood/kerosene to LPG, has revolutionised cleanliness and the environment, and the pressure cooker has helped housewives to reduce cooking time drastically. With the use of the refrigerator, mixer-grinder, microwave oven, electric chimney, etc, the kitchen has totally changed – and so has the way we used to cook and preserve food in the kitchen.

The design and layout are to be taken care of by the architect or the civil engineer while constructing the kitchen. But other things are to be taken care of by the person operating the kitchen. A safe kitchen is one of the first steps in protecting yourself and your family from food-borne illness and the potential dangers of harmful bacteria as well as protecting the person working in the kitchen from LPG leakage and subsequent explosion.

The most common problem in food safety is the attack from bacteria and contamination due to lack of proper cleanliness. To avoid this:

Wash hands often.

Keep raw meat and ready-to-eat foods separate.

Cook food at proper temperature.

Refrigerate food promptly to below 4C.

Hands should be washed in warm, soapy water before preparing foods, especially after handling raw meat, poultry and seafood. Never forget to wash your hands after switching tasks, such as handling raw meat and then cutting vegetables. Also, it is important to wash hands after taking out garbage, sneezing or petting your dog or cat, etc.

Other precautions

– Always use two cutting boards: one strictly to cut raw meat, poultry and seafood; another for ready-to-eat foods like breads, fruits an vegetables.
– After each use, wash cutting boards thoroughly in hot soapy water.
– Discard cutting boards that are worn out with cracks, crevices and excessive knife scars.
– Wash plates between uses or use separate plates: one plate for holding raw meat, poultry and seafood; another for cooked roods.
– Place raw meat, poultry and seafood on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator so that the juices don’t drip onto other foods.
– Place washed produce in clean storage containers; not back into the original ones.
– Use two separate clean towels/cloths: one to dry off the kitchen surfaces and another one to dry your hands.
– Use one spoon or laddle to taste food and another to stir and mix food.
– Make sure that you use clean scissors or blades to open bags of food.
– Wear latex gloves if you have a cut or sore on your hand.

Sponges are safe only when cleaned properly. Bacteria live and grow in damp conditions. Wash dishcloth, sponges and towels often in the hot cycle of your washing machine.

Disinfect sponges in chlorine bleach solution. Replace worn-out sponges frequently.

In the cupboard

Clean and cool, dark and dry, are how you should describe your cupboards. Storing non-refrigerated foods in the cupboard between 50F and 70F is the smartest way to keep the bugs away.

Keeping canned foods on hand is smart and practical, but make sure that your stock is rotated. Remember the FIFO method – first in, first out. That means older cans should be up in front so that they are used first. The safest place for a can that is leaking, bulging or cracked, is in the garbage!

Once you have opened a package, make sure that the leftovers are stored in containers that are dry and airtight. This keeps insects out and the flavour in.

Store food safely. Keep chemicals and cleaning agents away from food.

Inside the refrigerator

If there is more mould on your bread than in a pound of blue cheese, or you suddenly notice the remains of last month’s pot roast at the back of your refrigerator, it’s time to get organised. Step one is to keep your refrigerator cold. Most people have no idea what the actual temperature in their refrigerator is.

Since harmful bacteria thrive in warmer temperature, it’s best to keep your refrigerator temperature below 4C. Spending a few dollars on an inexpensive thermometer is a worthwhile investment. Place it in the centre of the middle shelf for an accurate reading.

The internal temperature of your refrigerator is based on many variables – for example, the amount of food in storage, the frequency of opening the refrigerator door, and the temperature of your kitchen. The best way to monitor the inside cooling temperature of your refrigerator is with a refrigerator thermometer.

Keep raw meat containers on the lowest shelf. This helps to keep any juice from dripping onto other foods. If your refrigerator is overloaded, take the time to get rid of the unnecessary items. Cold air should circulate.

Any fridge can benefit from a thorough wipe-down. Get rid of any splatters. Once any food has passed its prime, get rid of it. Get into the habit of dating your leftovers and get rid of anything that has been stored for more than four days.

Food should not be out of refrigeration for more than two hours. Because, if it is exposed to temperature above 4C, harmful bacteria will multiply rapidly. In hot weather (above 32C), the time is reduced to one hour.

If you are not sure that an item is safe to eat, trust your instinct and discard it. Don’t taste it! If there is any sign of mould, that’s another strong reason to dispense with it.

In the freezer

The FIFO method works in the freezer, too. Make sure that your foods are rotated so that you use older items first. An organised freezer makes it easier to find things, too.

Always be prepared

You never know when you will need a little extra on hand. So, stock a supply of non-perishable foods for unexpected needs. Canned fruits, soups and vegetables, peanut butter and nuts are simple staples. Make sure that your emergency stash gets a review every now and then.

Drinking water

Drinking water is the major cause of disease. Full care should be taken. Water for drinking should be boiled as boiling kills all the bacteria and virus. Instead of boiling, ultraviolet water filter can also be used for purifying drinking water in the kitchen.

To ensure safety from LPG leakage:

Use ISI-mark LPG tubes.

Always keep the cylinder in a vertical position.

Regularly check for cracks in the LPG rubber tube.

Keep the kitchen airy with cross-ventilation.

Place the gas stove on a raised platform because LPG is heavier than air and tends to settle on the base.

Do not operate a stove near or facing a window.

Switch off the regulator when cooking gas is not in use, especially at night.

Do not repair the gas stove or cylinder yourself. Whenever required, call the expert from the gas agency.

When it leaks…

Do not operate any electrical switch if you smell LPG leakage.

Never use a lighted lamp to locate the leak. Use soap water solution.

Open all doors and windows.

Call your LPG distributor or Emergency Service Cell.

Close regulator and burner knob.

How to make your kitchen fuel-efficient:

– Organise your cooking. Keep all ingredients ready for cooking. This will help you cook without delay and thus save gas.
– If you have to stop cooking for a short while, shut off the gas.
– Use a pressure cooker to save gas and reduce cooking time.
– Use the small burner. A large burner consumes 15% more gas.
– Always use flat and shallow vessels.
– Cover the vessel while cooking
– Use the required quantity of water while cooking. Surplus water requires more heating and, therefore more gas.
– Bring out frozen materials well in advance to reach room temperature before cooking.
– If the flame is blue, everything is fine. If the outlet holes are blocked and the flame is yellow, clean the burner or get your stove checked by a mechanic.

With the increase of solid waste generated in the kitchen, it becomes a major source of pollution. Solid waste disposal is also becoming a part of kitchen management. Try kitchen manager (the olden days title of ‘cook’ is obsolete for the new housewife) has to take care of solid waste disposal also. For this, the waste generated in the kitchen should be segregated in the kitchen itself into the biodegradable and the non-degradable. The non-degradable should be put in a separate bin. The biodegradable part may be used to produce bio-fertiliser/organic fertiliser in a pit for the kitchen garden. If the facility does not exist, the biodegradable part may be separately handed over to the garbage collector who will use the same for vermiculture to produce organic manure. With water becoming a scarce commodity in the cities, the kitchen manager should also take care to recycle the waste water generated in the kitchen to be used in the kitchen garden, flower beds, etc.

SALIENT FEATURES OF MODERN KITCHEN MANAGEMENT

Scientific design and layout of the kitchen for light, cross-ventilation etc.

Better arrangement of kitchen appliances like gas stove, fridge, water filter, racks, cabinet etc.

Good housekeeping.

Cleanliness and hygiene.

Safety (food safety and personal safety).

Preparation of food without destroying its nutritious values.

Preservation of vegetables and cooked food.

Good cooking habits and conservation of fuel.

Proper disposal of solid waste generated in the kitchen.

Recycling the waste water from the kitchen in the kitchen garden.

Debt management program Your way to financial freedom

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Debt management program helps people to mange their debts effectively. With debt management program you can easily do away with all your debts with minimum effect on your credits. This program is carefully charted out based on your current debts and financial situation so that you get out of debts and remain debt free in future also.

Debt management program includes debt elimination, debt negotiation, credit counseling and debt consolidation. With the help of these you can easily reduce your pending burden.

Debt elimination requires you to pay only a minimum amount to close all your debts. By closing all your existing debts you will be free from paying interest to all those sources. The money saved in this way may be used to repay the existing loan which will be having a little bit more interest. By doing this you can relieve yourself from all your debts.

Debt negotiation is also an important part of the debt management program. In this case you can with out any help or with the help of an expert interact with the lenders to agree for a reduced amount for lump sum payment. That is the lender will reduce the total amount so that you can repay it completely and come out of your debt.

Your financial advisor will give you tips to effectively repay debts so that your credit score increases while your debts are eliminated. You will get benefited from the vast experience of your advisor to manage your debts within your budget. With credit counseling you can learn to remain debt free and handle your financial obligation in a better manner.

Another important part of debt management program is debt consolidation. Debt consolidation allows you to merge all your outstanding debts and unpaid expenses into one loan. This new loan carries lower interest rate so that it becomes easier for you to settle all your debts. The monthly installments on this loan are low and manageable.

A debt management program is a simple and effective way of solving your financial mess. Once all your debts are settled in full your credit score will also improve and will be able to enjoy a life without debts.

Alex Jonnes is associated with Easy Debt Consolidations. He is Masters in Business Administration and writes on various finance related topics. To find Debt management program ,debt consolidation loan bad credit, online debt consolidation loan, easy debt consolidations visit http://www.easy-debt-consolidations.co.uk/

Effective Equipment Management Is Critical To Profitability

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Successful Construction Companies Use Business Management Software to Manage Equipment and Ultimately Reduce Expenses, Improve Utilization, and Minimize Downtime.

Effectively managing heavy equipment can make the difference between a profitable company and an unprofitable one. Successful construction companies are always looking for ways to increase profits, reduce maintenance and operating expenses, optimize utilization, and minimize downtime. This can be achieved through better equipment asset management.

Equipment Asset Management provides information to make decisions about rebuilding or replacing machines, balancing fleet average age, and adjusting fleet size and composition to meet changing company demands. In practical terms, this means getting as much production as possible from the equipment, at the lowest per hour cost, over the longest period of time, while obtaining the highest sales value at the end of life. This is achieved through the use of business management software to effectively manage equipment.

The equipment asset in a heavy construction company accounts for about one-third of total corporate assets, and the cost of owning and operating the fleet is frequently larger than any other expense. This makes it the largest expense in a construction project, more than labor and materials costs. This makes effectively managing heavy equipment even a more critical factor for project profitability. Equipment must be at the right place at the right time; it must achieve stated levels of reliability and uptime; and total owning and operating costs must be kept to a minimum, thereby giving the contractor a competitive advantage.

Common Challenges Before Using Software for Equipment Management

Prior to adopting software, most companies do not know what the hourly cost of a piece of equipment charged to a job really is. Therefore, they do not know if they are recapturing the cost of each individual equipment piece, which makes it difficult to make well-informed business decisions about investing in software to manage that aspect of the business.

Very small companies with only a few pieces of equipment might be able to get away with not knowing their equipment cost, fuel cost, and utilization information. But as a company grows, they have to use the best practices available to ensure they make money. One of the problems is that a job may be showing a profit due to incorrect equipment costing and rates, but this can negatively impact the bottom line.

Typically, companies that can benefit from the use of equipment management capabilities of business management software share similar conditions. These often include:

– Do not know if an individual piece of equipment is profitable or not and lack information to make repair-replace decisions.

– If software is being used to manage equipment, it’s not integrated with job cost information or the accounting system.

– There is no preventive maintenance scheduling or it is done manually.

– No ability to track parts inventory.

– Do not create purchase orders or they are written by hand, which inhibits workflow and accuracy of procurement, scheduling, A/P, and A/R.

– No tracking of utilization or equipment hours.

– It takes much time and effort to product reports for owners because it requires gathering information from various places and then more analysis to tabulate what’s needed. Equipment rates are set for a machine based on someone else’s price.

– Projects are charged the same no matter which equipment is used or brought to the job.

– Don’t track fuel used or burn rates for equipment or per projects.

Benefits of Using Software to Manage Equipment

Construction business owners interested in improving profitability by using software for better equipment management can anticipate positive improvements in a variety of areas. When evaluating software options, consider and compare these capabilities that your solution should include for optimum benefit:

Equipment Utilization

Nothing impacts the economics of equipment ownership more than utilization. The number of hours a machine works in a year determines the rate at which fixed annual costs are recovered. Underutilized equipment does not have costs accurately reflected in Job Cost while greater utilization increases revenue.

Invest in software that continually monitors the utilization of each piece of equipment and puts the equipment manager in a position to measure the impact of low utilization and to develop strategies to control and correct it.

Equipment Downtime

Equipment downtime is one of the most significant problems faced by construction companies that specialize in heavy and highway jobs. When a piece of equipment unexpectedly breaks down, not only is the project schedule disrupted and costing money, but multiple employees’ schedules are interrupted since everyone is in crisis mode. The company has to scramble to get mechanics on the job site and get parts delivered to fix the breakdown. An unexpected repair is much more expensive to perform than to monitor and schedule maintenance.

Identifying and predicting necessary maintenance is critically important for any equipment software solution. Invest in software that will provide the equipment manager with information to predict repairs, which helps avoid equipment breakdown and thus saves cost and ensures reliability.

Repair – Replace – Rebuild

The process of reviewing the equipment fleet; deciding which units to sell, replace, or rebuild; and developing a capital expenditure plan are the most important tasks an equipment manager performs. Frequently it takes days to gather the required information (from multiple places) to make decisions about Accounts Payable, Finance, Payroll, and so on.

Invest in software that automatically synchronizes the operational, financial, and mechanical history of each piece of equipment and makes the data easily available in one place, with the ability to drill down to the lowest level of detail. You will be confident that the information is always up-to-date and at the equipment manager’s fingertips, allowing intelligent and timely decisions.

Preventive Maintenance

Some companies view preventive maintenance as an investment as opposed to a cost. Effective preventive maintenance improves reliability and reduces future repair costs.

Be sure that your software choice includes preventive maintenance scheduling and you’ll be equipped to improve quality and consistency on every job.

Warranty Tracking

Many times a mechanic will unknowingly replace or repair a part that is still under warranty. Today’s software helps you track parts under warranty, which allows you to recoup repair costs and not spend money unnecessarily.

Fuel Tracking

The ability to analyze equipment fuel use can reduce fuel losses, resulting in major savings. This equipment management feature should be a component of your business management software.

Improve Profitability With Better Equipment Management

In conclusion, effective equipment management can dramatically improve the profitability of any construction company. With the increasingly competitive business environment, contractors must look at every opportunity to reduce expenses, optimize utilization, and minimize downtime. Software for equipment management has proven to be a valuable tool that can make the difference between being a profitable business or taking a hard financial loss.

Anger Management Courses Holds The Secrets To Calm.

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Good anger management courses help people who want to learn how to express and control their anger properly. The problem is that it is two entirely different things between wanting to and being able to control your anger. A person with anger issues may be committed in his heart and mind to making changes in his behavior, but without turning intent into action there are no good results to be achieved. People in this position need encouraging. If this describes you, realize that your situation is not unique. There are millions of people just like you, and it is not your fault that you have difficulties controlling your anger. However even though not your fault, it is still your responsibility to fix the problem, and the good news is you have company and proven techniques in this endeavor.

Anger management courses may be advised for people looking for help with their problem. These courses are designed to work in group settings. The courses may take a day, and sometimes anger management courses are turned into multiple day retreats. Throughout the courses, you are taught effective principles that are very useful in controlling anger. You are also taught to deal with your feelings and emotions, and to find out what it is that brings out your fits of rage. Some courses concentrate specifically on one single topic, like letting go of negative emotions, or releasing bad energy and transforming it into success and freedom. However, there are many lessons to be learned when doing anger management courses.

anger management courses are not only for adults. There are programs like camps and retreats for children, teenagers and adolescents too. For example, teenagers might take an anger management course that is provided at an anger management camp that is designed specifically for them.

Besides sitting in on classes and lectures in regard to the anger management courses, there would also be opportunities to interact with other youth, and also form friendships and take part in fun activities. An anger management course for a teenager could have the empowering results of a person forming their own support system. In an anger management course you can also meet people to call on if you are starting to feel overwhelmed by frustrating situations. Anger management courses provide so much more than just information.

The most powerful tool you use to fight your anger issues, could be an anger management course. When you are working hard every day to fight your negative emotions and deal with your anger, it is important to be a part of programs which give you support and understanding. Attending an anger management course would prove to you that there are still people who care about you, and are committed to getting you through your problem. In a group setting, you would feel like a part of a team, you would not be singled out and should not feel intimidated or humiliated. The reason is because the whole group is seeing similar problems, and there will be a general sense of compassion and empathy.

Fleet Management System Drives Your Fleet Positively

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For any transportation company it is highly necessary to constantly monitor its transportation fleet. Negligence may lead to increase in transportation costs including fuel consumption, vehicle maintenance, and delivery delays. Installing a good fleet management system can help you eradicate such losses and drive your transportation business positively. Fleet management software easily keeps track of, manages, and maintains your transportation fleet. Fleet management is a combination of powerful technologies like the GPS (Global Positioning System), two-way wireless communications, an on-board processing, communications unit, and a hosted web application that demonstrates mapping and vehicle telematics data to the end user. The GPS tracking system helps the transportation companies in locating their vehicles and monitoring their speed and direction.

When companies try to install such fleet management software in limited budgets they tend to incorporate just specific features and functionalities of it. In fact the transportation companies should not hesitate in spending some extra money over getting a comprehensive solution as in the longer run this fleet management system will benefit them by saving a lot of transportation and vehicle maintenance costs hence increasing profitability multiple times. Overall the initial installation costs are always negated by superb cost savings through using a vehicle tracking system.

Some of the impactful advantages of a Fleet Management System are:

Reduces Transportation Costs
The fleet managers at the transportation company can track and report real time data on fuel consumption, route efficiency, vehicle diagnostics, and even driver’s performance and driving habits. As the fleet managers can analyze and calculate cost effective transport routes the delivery time is reduced and moreover since the drivers are constantly under managers vigilance they drive more responsibly without taking unnecessary breaks. The initial investment may be expensive but on the longer run the fleet management system saves a lot of transportation costs by analyzing and reporting real time transportation data.

Fleet Vehicle Maintenance
The fleet tracking system also keeps a track of the physical conditions of the fleet vehicles. The fleet maintenance system helps in scheduling maintenance services and jobs for each vehicle and prevents wear and tear of the vehicle. It takes care of Fleet registration, usage, fuel consumption, mileage and performance. Has the flexibility with booking engine to book trips and reschedule the trips if demand arises. The preventive maintenance and breakdowns are scheduled as per the due dates and on emergency respectively. All permutation and combinations of assignments of fleets to the drives and Shifts are handled leading to optimum utilization of Fleets Performance.

Reduces environment pollution
The green environment laws have made it mandatory for the companies to check on their emissions and carbon footprint. The fleet management system helps in controlling the fuel consumption and hence reducing the emissions from the exhaust pipes of the fleet vehicles. Shorter routes and smarter driving skills add to in controlling the environmental pollution. A proper vehicle tracking system provides specific features and functions to help in keeping the eco-system green.

In addition to the benefits mentioned above fleet management system also aides the transportation company in improving customer service, and hence increasing productivity and profitability. The fleet management software enhances driver safety with optimum resource protection and utilization. Reducing unnecessary transportation costs significantly the Fleet Management System helps to keep track of unexpected repairs, problems, and accurately determine the cost effectiveness of the transportation fleet.