What motivates you at work?

Most employees not motivated by money
Less than a third of the British workforce say they are motivated by financial reward, according to a recent research by recruitment specialists Brook Street.

Just 28% of those surveyed said they were motivated by financial reward when in the workplace. 16% said they are motivated by a challenge and a massive 37% are motivated by job satisfaction.

Erika Bannerman, Brook Street Sales and Marketing Director believes that the research demonstrates that motivating people at work is about much more than a good salary. She said, "People need to feel satisfied in their job and having a challenge has also shown to be a key motivator. With so many people motivated by job satisfaction it suggests that employers should look at attracting employees by other methods than just financial rewards."

12% of people stated their key motivation at work is getting praise from their boss. Interestingly only 7% of people are motivated by having responsibility.

Erika continued, "We are in an applicant driven market, where applicants are in demand. Employees could improve their recruitment and retention by offering individuals development, training and opportunities for career progression. Regular appraisals can also help to motivate with clear achievable objectives being set and career progression plans outlined. Communication is also key, employers need to acknowledge the hard work that their employees do and identify if they are satisfied within their role."

IT skills - new competency framework

New Guide to IT Skills

A new competency model by e-skills UK is aiming to provide a new, sector-wide approach to IT professional capabilities.

The sector skills council for IT and telecoms says the new model allocates the competencies IT professionals have into subject-based ‘disciplines' and levels. It also includes transferable skills, such as business and personal skills, which apply to all disciplines.

Karen Price, CEO of e-skills UK, said: "The IT Professional Competency model will enable employers to understand clearly what someone should be able to do and the standard of performance they can expect - supporting recruitment, performance management and staff development, among other things.

"Individual IT professionals will be able to use the model to better clarify development needs, career paths and aspirations. Moving forward, the model will also inform the content of qualifications, education and training courses."

The Cabinet Office's Katie Davis, director of the Government IT Profession, said: "There are nearly 50,000 IT professionals working across central government and the public sector in a wide variety of roles. They need and want a government-wide programme that sets high standards of performance and career development. The IT Professional Competency Model will help us deliver this. A common language for skills and experience is efficient, practical and of use to us all."

Jeremy Beale, head of eBusiness group at the CBI, said: "e-skills UK is to be commended for developing the IT Professional Competency Model. Effective use of technology is key to competing in today's global economy, and companies need to take every opportunity offered by IT to enhance their productivity, efficiency and customer service.

"This model, and the development programmes that will underpin it, constitute a vital step in helping companies of all sizes and sectors to recruit and develop the IT professionals they need to build value in today's challenging and exciting global business environment."

e-skills UK says the IT Professional Competency Model is a 'top layer' view of capabilities that links through to skills and development structures including the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) and the British Computer Society's Chartered Professional programme.

It expects that the model will also provide the framework for the creation of new development programmes and form the basis for qualifications reform and simplification.

For further information visit: www.e-skills.com/profit

Experience counts for more than qualifications for IT managers

IT Skills - Experience Rated Over Qualifications

Many organisations see IT management experience as more important than qualifications, according to a new British Computer Society (BCS) survey.

Almost 90% (88%) of organisations surveyed said that it was the experience of their IT managers that was important to them rather than their IT qualifications (41%).

When recruiting IT managers, 69% of companies put a high importance on the IT knowledge of the applicant compared with 51% who rated management knowledge highly. For the majority of organisations the head of IT or the equivalent was the key decision maker in the recruitment of IT managers.

The majority of organisations (69%) did not use a Professional Development scheme for their IT managers. However of those organisations that did use such a scheme, half were based on a scheme either run by or accredited by a professional body. In addition, 59% of the companies stated that they would put a high value on more standardised education and qualifications for IT managers.

spring clean your cv

I like it when the daffodils are blooming, and the blossom is covering the trees. It seems to awaken the "spring cleaning" gene that's usually buried deep. But luckily spring cleaning doesn't have to be just about de-junking those piles of "stuff" that have accumulated over the past few months. It's also a time to think about new opportunities - and start to make them happen.

Your CV is a lot like the computer you wrote it on: it is proficient enough, but will be out-of-date within a year. Because the world of business is so rapidly changing, your CV, just like your PC, needs to be upgraded regularly in order to meet its newest demands. And if the basic model is too old-fashioned to cope with the upgrades, it’s best to throw it out and get a new one, with all the latest new-fangled additions.

Making the decision to have a radical CV overhaul is the easy part. Knowing where to start is slightly more difficult. Do you begin with the skills you most recently attained, or with your fifteen-year-old exam grades?

The answer is: neither. Because before you rebound into writing your next CV, you are going to create a personal Career Data Bank. This stockpile of skills will act as a stepping stone between CVs, which you can add to as your career and CV requirements change.

Creating your Career Data Bank

You can now do this online, in a format that you can reuse again and again. Get your i-portfolio at www.iviva.com and you've got a permanent record that you can access from anywhere, and easily add to.

• On a piece of paper, begin a brainstorm, in whichever format you like. Scribble down, using your last CV only as a reminder, the:
• skills
• attitudes
• knowledge

that you have acquired or used at work.

• With each skill you note down, remember to include examples of its use, and the results this use yielded. Be indiscriminate. Throw anything down that you think a prospective employer may find relevant.

• When the time comes to apply for new jobs, this will be your one-stop-shop for CV renovations. From your Career Data Bank, you will be able to pick and mix from your collected skills, attitudes and knowledge in order to create a focussed profile that will match the job’s candidate specifications.

• Do this now, even if you’re not looking for a new job. If you do, it will be much quicker to create focussed CVs in the future - and speedy CVs are vital if you stumble across a job opportunity close to the closing date.

Leap into your future (UK)

COMPETITION

Striding Out is looking for ten young dynamic people
....with fresh, unique, high growth business ideas,
...who are ready to take the leap and turn their idea into a reality!

The Big Leap competition aims to energize and prepare ten young entrepreneurs ready for business. The participants are taken on a six-month journey to turn their idea into a reality with the help of a package of support, including interactive training, one to one coaching and a network of peers. The training is to be held in the comprehensive Business and IP Centre at The British Library.

At the end of the six months, the participants will create a comprehensive and professional business plan. The plans are submitted for judging and the three finalists with the most impressive plan will be put forward to investors.

Last year's winner, Cath Conway described the experience as "Fantastic. The sessions were very interesting and all the topics are essential for our business plan" She has also found it as a good place to network and has build friendships with other participants, as they share their ideas and are able to help each other. "We're quite lucky being in the Big Leap Competition, because we are able to interact with the professional advisors and get more in-depth information". Cath has gone on to secure investment readiness support from Trapezia Capital through the competition.

The Competition is kindly sponsored by The British Library and UK Skills, organiser of the Skills Challenge - the UK's premier set of skills competitions for students, trainees and employees. Registration is open until 16th March 2007, and the competition runs from March to September 2007.

For more information please visit:

www.stridingout.co.uk/competition.php

tips for memorising pins

So how do remember the increasing PIN numbers and numeric passwords that are now part of our everyday lives?

Create a sentence in which each word has the same number of letters as the number to be recalled.

So, to remember 413563:

Have (4) a (1) hot (3) curry (5) before (6) tea(3)

The cutting edge of games playing

Don't disturb - surgeon in training!

Playing video games makes surgeons better at their jobs.

If you've spent at least 3 hours a week playing games in the past, and you're a laparoscopic or keyhole surgeon, recent research suggests that you'll make 37% fewer errors, are 27% faster, and you'll score 42% better overall than surgeons who've never played on a games console.

And even the research was a game - the study in Israel, which also found a correlation between gaming skills and surgical skills, was conducted under simulation conditions.