Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Muhammad and the faith of Islam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Muhammad and the faith of Islam - Essay Example Islam, unlike Christianity which believes in the Holy Trinity (three persons in one God), held the belief in only one God. They criticized Christians as blasphemous and heretics because of their belief in the Holy Trinity. Islam, however, also teaches salvation, judgment, and heaven. Salvation according to Islam decided upon the hands of their god. Judgment, although cannot be predicted, is absolute to happen. Heaven, for Muslims, is place of joy which Christians criticize to be sensual. Like any other religion, Islam has its own restrictions that uphold morality and peace. The successful expansion of the Arabs to Southern Europe, Spain, and the rest of the Western world proved how powerful their faith in Allah has become. Their first conquests were laid in Syria, Egypt, and North Africa. They easily disrupted the powerful Byzantine Empire and eventually conquered their kingdoms. The Arabs continued their successful conquests in Spain and parts of Asia. Christian kingdoms, meanwhile, moved southward in search of larger lands on which to place their growing population. The greatest contribution of Arabs to their conquered lands was the innovation in agriculture. Like Greeks, Arabs also promoted advances in science, mathematics, and medicine. The advances in learning were promoted in the Arab cities. The Arabs were the first to use the word algebra is a mathematical sense. They also introduced the use of the number zero (0) which made calculations simpler. In the area of medicine, Arab physicians translated numerous medical books of Greek origin and used them in medical practice.

Monday, October 28, 2019

Postwar Transformation of Canadian Identity Essay Example for Free

Postwar Transformation of Canadian Identity Essay Much can be credited on the postwar state of transformation to the state of Canada. It can be argued that, Canada went through a state of political, social and economic transformations that were built by the effects and influences of the postwar period. Amongst the broad array of scholars and historians that have stood to recommend about these transformations, Jose Igartua can be echoed in his book, â€Å"The other Quiet Revolution. † In his anthology, he has developed an attractive package of the historical background that shaped Canada between 1945 and 1971. Broadly, the aspect of Canadian national identity within the postwar period has been a hallmark of events that has continued to frustrate, obsess and fascinate its citizens, politicians and scholars across the span of many years. However, a disparity exists between these different persons in their understanding about the state of Canada as having a national identity. At one arm of the argument, some are at full denial that Canada has had anything like a national identity. The other contrasting fashion of the disparity is that, Canada even enjoys multiple of national identities with a competing portfolio to one another. However, as much as we would choose to neglect the issue of national identity in Canada, a constant reminder about the same is provided by various aspects within the Canadian society. The 20th Century was highly crucial in modeling the nature of the Canadian society. It can be argued that the postwar transformation saw Canada changing from an ethnic into a civic nationalist state. However, an important question would be in digging about when Canada got out of the British colony and thus providing itself with a national sovereignty. However, the Canadian identity changed from its entangles of the British colony which was characterized by ethnicity towards a society that had an equal share of its civic values. During the British colony to Canada, the Canadians who had a Japanese origin went through learning and emulation of the British colony both during and after World War II. This was however characterized of ethnicity between the Canadians and their colony. However, its liberation from the British colony gave it a chance of sharing its civic values where other races such as French Canadians as well as other non British racial groups were now recognized . This provided that all the groups were given the power of participating in the Canadian life parameters through shared responsibilities and resources. Elsewhere, an endurance of the ambiguities that had encroached the culture of the English Canadian identity was provided by the radical establishments of the civic modeled Canada in order to provide a well formulated intellectual activity. However, Igartua has drawn the use of Anthony Smith’s theory in explaining the context of Canadian nationalism. By and large, the Canadian shift of its former ethnic state to a civic nationalism can be argued as important historical events towards the shaping of Canadian identity. In the lieu to bridge an affirmative description to this state of transformation, different scholars such as Richard Gwyn, John Dieferbaker and Michael Ignatieff have soundly come up to explore the legitimate foundations in the change of the Canadian identity transformation. According to Igartua however, the 1960’s was a unique period in the Canadian history where it experienced a state of â€Å"Quiet Revolution† which can be equated more or less to that shaped the modern Quebec. However, the analytical exploration into the state of revolution of Canada by Igartua is established through his â€Å"argumentative statements† and a pursuit of â€Å"conventional wisdom â€Å" about the Canadians identity theory. In his acknowledgement however, though the English Canadians have not finally dispensed a truly indisputable state of national identity, it can be said that they have changed the ideal terms with which state of identity could be developed and discussed. Generally, a great challenge is posited to the fact that the identity for English- Canadian went through a state of gradual process whose beginning point was in the World War I and ended in the World War II. This saw great heights of transformations into its economic and social parameters soon after the World War II. According to Igartua however, the English Canada after 1945 had still the bondage of a British colony state in a commonwealth of British Empire. However, the fight for its liberation went on in 1946 when its liberal government made attempts of introducing a new national flag, changing its Dominion Day to become Canada Day as well as separating its citizenship. Indeed, the same was loosely echoed by the Canadians who associated it with the activities of the French and British Canada towards repudiating its national sovereignty. The same conflict also saw many liberals and conservatives being outraged by the refusal of the Canadian government in backing of Britain at the crisis of Suez Canal. Broadly, the Canadians were shallow of this fury when they noted that Britain had a narrow level of self interest to Canada or even any other commonwealth state. However, Canada was know loosing its capacity as a pure British nation despite the massive chanting and borrowing of pro-British slogans by the conservatives led by Diefenbaker and his fellow conservatives. Elsewhere, Deifenbaker was divided in Canada when he chose to posit that Britain was becoming one of the members in the European Economic Community. This was in the implication to the Canadians that they had sediments of ties to Britain which repudiated a contrasting essence of state phenomena to their obligations. Generally, the basics of Quiet Revolution for English Canadian are centered in its flag debate of 1964 and its consequent implication in its responses towards the implication of the Royal Commission on â€Å"Biculturalism and Bilingualism which was hereafter called the â€Å"B and B Commission†. Presumably, much can be said and handled in these two levels of state revolutions. Firstly, the Canadian flag debate has gone down into the historical books of a period of fountain chronological events. This saw the older and former view posited to the Canada as British state which was highly exposed by its conservative leader Diefenbaker to no longer hold any fundamental interest to the public and newspaper editors over justifying why the state was to be ruled by a conservatives parliament. Consequently, this move was historical and saw many Canadians who included a majority of francphones to have a great sigh of enthusiasm in embracing the new state flag in 1964. However, another portion gave a resignation to the same as an implication of the anti-support campaign towards the conservative rule but followers of the British colony. The rising new flag consequently saw the former â€Å"Red Ensign† and â€Å"Union Jack† which were focused as the long serviced convenient symbols were submerged under the power of the new rule . According to Igartua, this new flag had no trace about the former power of the two â€Å"nations that found Canada†. However, this new flag came as a uniquely â€Å"fitting banner† towards the emergence of a civil Canadian State. Elsewhere, the supplementary role played by the â€Å"B and B Commission† was ideally important when analyzing the state of revolution in Canada after World War II. Historically, this commission was an awakening step for the English Canada towards the Quiet Revolution issues embraced by the Quebec. Historically, many quarters predicted a back clash in their ant-campaign on nationalist philosophies that came from the Quebec City. This was also in the anti-campaign against the liberal government of the federal system. The commission also recognized and anticipated that Canada was not as perceived by many people as bifurcated state that was made of two monolithic racial /ethnic groups. However, it constituted an agglomeration of many individual persons who obliged to equality of their rights. Moreover, Igartua argued that the long held concept about individual equality finally came to loose its connotation when it came to have its ground work meaning modeled into a more universalistic and premise approach to human rights conception. This consequently saw the establishment of support towards Trudeau’s vision towards Canada which was later modeled in its official languages in the Act of 1969. Through out the historical confrontation to build up and restore the sense of national identity, English Canadians went through a back log of defining their optimistic sense of identity as a tool for political survival. The postwar Canada embraced a radical epoch into a fountain state of search for knowledge through emergence of a well structured curriculum of education. Across the board however, its plunge into wide pools of education and issues also saw Canada embracing a unique state of change into its identity. According to Igartua, text books and school curriculum within Canada seldom changed to capture a broad and highly developed state of codification towards the broad state of the Canadian identity. The former structures and modalities on societal modeling envisaged by the pre-war period were averted by the nature of the changing state of education in the country. Consequently, Canada started to enjoy a wide and promoted state of its educational and knowledge background that went even beyond the levels of many postwar countries. Generally, Canada posited a pride in a British heritage as well as imperial achievements few years after the end of world war II. However, its state of national heritage identity was precariously eroding within the 1960s to giving in less ethnocentric and more conservative view about its past . Such past chronological heritage is what was known to give non-British races, Francophenes and natives a short thrift as it was modeled by the nature of the British culture and modes of living . Importantly therefore, the educational transformation for the post war Canada was highly important in shaping its national identity. Historically, such education can be internalized as a tool that provided a positive influence in the decline of the old system of societal establishment modeled by the British colonial system to a more conservative state that was ruled by civic rule of society leadership by itself. Pursuit in the changing state of education offered an attractive state with which the native and other non-British citizens enjoyed a more lucrative fashion towards modeling their life which was not shaped and dictated by colonial majesty. According to Igartua, collective identities perceived by postwar Canadians were responsive and malleable towards the changing state of the Canadian context. To him however, the advanced and more modeled state of education did a lot to improve the state of changing national identity whose focus was from a society governed through rule and dictates to a more rational and civic society where each person played a predominant role towards its progress. It is also important to pinpoint the influence of change in art, sports and literature as an important variable in the changing course of Canadian identity,. However, the Canadians embraced such changing precepts into literature, art and sports that also defined their new status of a changed national identity. The stylistic status and capacity of its cultural imaginery was therefore changing to a more benevolent status that ignited a reservation of a more nationalistic identity. They started developing a more reformed state of national approach and models of culture which was coined towards addressing the change of its former identity towards a more Canadian nationalist identity. By and large, few other variables would be incorporated in the modalities of developing a Canadian identity. This can be factors such as the United States influence in political and economic structures that provided a cutting edge into this revolution. Elsewhere, the change in the nature of Commonwealth Empire was an important factor towards this change. Moreover, the status of immigrations provided a refuge towards a support for a refining factor in the process of Canadian refining identity. Different types of foreign immigrants were found being desirable by the Canadians towards the end of 1940s. To the Canadians, different scopes of immigrants gave them a motivation towards redefining their identity when they brought in various cultural identities from their countries of origins . This consequently influenced the identity of the English Canada. As how Edmund Burke made complains within the French revolution, any a nation could not survive and cohere if it had basis of rights and abstract compactness. However, it had to interact with wide phenomena of social structures that were engulfed and borrowed from different social Diasporas. This was true for Canada in that its Quiet Revolution was initiated by an interaction with a broad phenomena of both state and foreign phenomena which included cultural borrowings, political and social imageries. Summarily therefore, the post war Canada was characterized by a changing phenomena of its national identity that was modeled on a more civic self-ruled and democratic system of government. The same changing identity also saw a gradual change into the British colonial system into a more national state of government modeled by the rules, culture and principles of the English Canadians . It was characterized of a wide scope ideological and culture diversities. It saw a new massive reconstruction into its cultural portfolio that gave in a new framework of relationship between the state and the citizens. There was also a new re-organizement into the labor and the political structures which saw a change in the provincial administration and economic reconstruction. This period was also marked as a period with which great foundations of social and political consensus was formulated. It was provided by tools such as creeping Americanization, diffusion of societal prosperity, and the end of challenged cultural dominance. Equality and equity gradually paved its way into the Canadian societal modalities that provided an equal share of the state advantages between both the marginalized and the huge groups . Seldom therefore, the postwar culture was important and characterized by strong sense of internal tensions that contained elements of national conservatism and a broad reflection of diversity into its cultural , political and economic facets. It had a lot towards providing better structures for a more stable state of Canadian status.

Friday, October 25, 2019

The Voice Of Generation X :: essays research papers

'We have been labeled apathetic, lazy, and selfish just to name a few,'; says Josie Mazzaferro in her essay entitled, 'Turned Off by Politics.'; We have been judged in every aspect of society, especially in the political arena. Is there any way for us to clear up these misconceptions given to us by other generations? It seems that the voice of Generation X is silent when it comes to political issues these days. When we talk about politics we often wonder what relevance it has on our lives. Many of us feel that politicians are no longer trustworthy. 'I am not saying that every politician is corrupt,'; states Mazzaferro, it's just hard to believe what he or she says is true when our generation has witnessed such harsh realities involving political figures. For example: the Monica Lewinsky ordeal that involved President Clinton. How are we supposed to trust a President who lies and commits forms of adultery to run our country effectively? Still many X'ers are too consumed in themselves to even worry about who is elected to our heads of state. They either think that their votes will not make a difference, or that the majority of people will vote for the same candidates that have been elected again and again by their name recognition alone. We as Generation X need to elect people that can associate themselves with the issues that affect the people today, and the new issues that will arise tomorrow in order to change the politics in this country. These types of situations make it hard for X'ers to take a stand and voice their opinions. What we need is a new political dialogue that will enable our generation to control more political power in this country. This new political dialogue can only begin if we start to become more interested in what goes on outside of our daily lifestyles, because it's not about us anymore, it's about them, the future generations to come. We as X'ers need to stop being so absorbed in ourselves and focus on issues that will change the future for the better. 'Instead of killing any chance for political debate by framing our values as mere matters of personal taste,'; states John Leo in his essay entitled 'The Unmaking of Civic Culture';. The only way that our generation is ever going to gain any political power in this

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Employee Retention Essay

Work-life balance is a never-ending struggle for many companies. And then there are those who have been used to the work-life balance mantra that it is now part of their daily office routine. One of those companies is Eddie Bauer. Here, the objectives were not only very specific, it also gave fruit to efficient programs to which they became known and awarded. (Arthur, 307) Why does it make sense for Eddie Bauer to emphasize work-life balance? For Eddie Bauer, helping employees balance their work with their professional lives reduces absenteeism, increases productivity, and avoids high turnover thereby promoting retention of employees. This significantly cuts the problem on screening and recruiting new applicants as well as training these new employees. Where there is high retention rate, there is also continuity in the work processes. (Arthur, 308) Which of the nine key objectives do you think is the most important in their success in this area? Of the nine key objectives, making work more flexible is the determinant on the success of Eddie Bauer in giving work-life balance to their employees. Even if employees earn well, time is something that they can never buy. By introducing to them options from which they can choose the most fitting, they are able to maintain the balance in the personal and professional lives of their associates. Which of the programs do you think is the most important in their success in this area? Customized work environment which allows for flexible work times is the best program of all which Eddie Bauer offers. It allows employees to work at flexible times, have compressed workweeks if they need so, and allows them to choose a part-time position or share a workload with another employee. All these are fully customizable to their needs and preferences. (Arthur, 308) Why would work-life balance be good for employees? With newfound balance in their professional and personal races, employees will feel more content. They will think less about their personal circumstances while at work knowing that they are given time for these things. They also appreciate the efforts of the company, and so there is less chance for them to think of leaving. (Careerwomen. com reveals top five strategies for achieving work/life balance, 2003) Why would work-life balance be good for employers? With employees becoming more content at work, employers have everything to gain. They need not think much about recruitment of new employees to replace resigned employees. They also need not worry about retrainings and the additional costs included in it. They can then focus on expanding through recruiting additional and not replacement employees as well as enjoy the continuity of work with long-term employees. Why would work-life balance be good for customers? As peace of mind is received by employees and employers alike, work becomes more productive. Employees tend to give more to meet the expectations of the employers who have been considerate to them. Employers in return are able to invest more in customer relations. With long-term employee retention customers also get to enjoy personalized service with people who are already identified with the company. This results in a development of relationship between the company through the employee and the customer. As with the study done in Ernst & Young, employees are most likely to quit when they cannot achieve balance at work with their personal lives. (Arthur, 226) This encompasses the reason for the viability a work-life balance program. Companies who have it also have content workforces, employers with peace of mind, and satisfied customers. In the end, there is everything to gain and nothing to lose when there is balance between work and life.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Business issues and the context of HR Essay

The organisation is the background within which the HR function works. Understanding the deep nature of the organisation has to be the main goal for HRM as the nature of the organisation has a huge impact on how people are managed in the business. The organisation is defined as the planned coordination of the activities of a number of people for the achievement of some common, explicit purpose or goal, through division of labour and function, and through a hierarchy of authority and responsibility (Schein, 1980). Historically, there have been many definitions of organisations, depending on whether they focus on: †¢Their size: SMEs, Large and Public Sector. (Curran and Stanworth, 1988); †¢Their prime beneficiaries: members, shareholders, users, the public. (Blau and Scott ,1962 – Maltby, 2003); †¢The degree to which they are mechanistic (highly structured organisation with centralised policies, rigid hierarchical ranks, a strong emphasis on administration and clear boundaries between departments) or organic (a flattened structure, colleague, rather than command and control relationships as the predominant mode, short lived and flexible administrative systems and mobile departmental boundaries (Burns and Stalker ,1966); †¢Their structure meant as the relationships between employees at vertical and horizontal level (tall or flat/lean, hierarchical, matrix, flexible, virtual) (Leatherbarrow et al., 2010). Thinking about a mixed economy such as UK, organisations can be classified in: †¢Public organizations, generally providing essential services such as health, education, social services, policing. They are responsible to central government and those who run them are accountable to the public (Taylor and Wilkinson, 2012). The nature of their funding (taxpayers) requires them to prove their responsibility with the public money. Their HR department tend to be large and able to provide HR specialist support in different areas. Because of the accountability to the public, HR tend also to be bureaucratic and inflexible. †¢Private organizations are those owned  by private individuals/families/stakeholders (Taylor and Wilkinson, 2012). These are industrial and commercial companies that respond to the demands of the market and exist to make a profit for their shareholders. In the private sector, HR tend to be a small department with more room for innovative strategies. †¢Third sector organizations are understood to be non government and non profit. Non distribution of profits to shareholders is a defining feature, as is a degree of volunteerism. They tend to fill in the gaps in areas of state and market deficiencies, and are nowadays growing in global significance (Crampton et al, 2001). They are typically a mix of government funding, gifts, grants and earned income. Examples of third sector activities are found in international aid, culture, recreation, social services, education, religion and health. Staff is frequently very mission-focused and gains a lot of job satisfaction by just being committed to the cause. Large organisations in the third sector are likely to have specific HR departments while smaller organisations are unlikely to have specific HR departments and HR functions may be ‘tagged’ on to the role of managers or staff more generally (Venter and Sung, 2009) The nature of organisations and the style used to manage the people in it are strictly related, as the management style highly depends on the particular business. However, as seen for the definition of organisation, the definition of management and its classification have long been debated. At the beginning of 19th century the most important of the classical Management theories was the scientific approach or Taylorism which involved breaking down the components of manual tasks in manufacturing environments, timing each movement so that there could be a scientifically proven â€Å"best† way to perform each task. Employees could be trained to be ‘first class’ within their job by their managers. In the 60’s, there was a new approach focused on the â€Å"human factor†. In â€Å"The Human Side of Enterprise† by McGregor, he distinguished between: †¢Theory X, that adopts the authoritarian view that people normally abhor working and must be forced to work with punishment for failing to meet the objective. These people actually prefer to be directed and lack ambition. †¢Theory Y,  adopts the participative management style, which operates on the idea that people are inherently motivated to work if they find the job fulfilling The System Theories focused attention on organizations as ‘systems’ and on the complexity and interdependence of relationships of their inter-related sub-systems. This approach attempted to synthesize the classical approaches (organizations without people) with the later human relations approaches that focused on the psychological and social aspects (‘people without organizations). The Contingency theory, developed in 1950s, argues that there is no ‘one best way’ to structure an organization and we face different possibilities when determining how it should be structured and how it should be managed. Successful organizations adopt structures that are an appropriate response to a number of variables, or contingencies (Enoch, 2006). Practically speaking, management is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively. There are several different resource types within management, such as: Human, Financial, Technological and Natural resources. HRM BACKGROUND AND ROLE OF HR HR is part of the overall management of an organization, but again, providing a conclusive definition of contemporary HRM is quite challenging. â€Å"There is no generally agreed framework for understanding and analysing the HR function; there are only competing models. In practice, the HR function within organisations is infinitely flexible, organisationally contingent over time and driven principally by the external contexts of the age; and these often change within short periods of time†. (Farnham, 2010, pg 4). During the years, we assisted to an evolution from what have been traditionally labelled as ‘personnel management’ to a distinctive HRM. The HRM was characterised by a different philosophy and approach to the management of ‘people at work’ (Storey, 1989) and was putting an emphasis on  performance, workers’ commitment, and rewards, based on individual or team contribution. Figure 1: From Personnel Management to HRM: a Summary (Farnham, 2010, pg. 7) The two main developments in the HRM have been the continued delegation of some HR activities to line managers and the outsourcing of large areas of the traditional personnel management. These changes have had particular consequences in the HRM and HR roles, increasing the need of highly specialised HR, technical experts who act as consultants either internally or externally. On the other side, these developments required more investment in training for Line Managers (also coaching) in order for them to be able to face HR issues and communicate with HR specialists. Changes in HRM have led to change in the structure of HR especially in large organisations in both private and public sector. It has been noticed that many organisations adopted the Ulrich’ ‘s ‘Multi-legged model’ (Ulrich, 1997) of HR structures in which HR functions become more focused on outcomes, rather than processes, more specialised and divided in Strategic partners, Expert, Champion for employees and Agent of continuous transformation. (details in appendix 1) This model has been reviewed by Ulrich in the ‘Three – legged model’ with HR divided in: †¢HR business partners (or strategic partners) – senior or key HR professionals working closely with business leaders or line managers, usually embedded in the business unit, influencing and steering strategy and strategy implementation; †¢Centres of excellence –small teams of HR experts with specialist knowledge of leading-edge HR solutions. The role of centres of excellence is to deliver competitive business advantages through HR innovations in areas such as reward, learning, engagement and talent management. †¢Shared services – a single, often relatively large unit, which handles all the routine ‘transactional’ services across the business such as recruitment administration, payroll, absence monitoring and advice on simpler employee relations issues. The responsibility of shared services is to provide low-cost, effective HR administration. (Ulrich and Brockbank, 2005) Behind the division in the HR roles, experts recognise organisations’ request for an HR more involved in the business and able to contribute to the business strategy with a tangible and cost effective results. In the CIPD’s 2001 ‘Next Generation HR: Insight driven’, it is explained that where the ‘Three-legged stool model’ is used, HR’s sphere of influence can be narrowed and there may be less opportunity for teams and individuals to be insight-led. The report highlights that while the main HR role is to maintain people and performance strengths, HR needs to be more integrated to the business. HR needs to speak the business language and need to have a full knowledge of it (of both internal and external factors) only in this way HR will be able to deliver deep organisational insight. Basically, HR needs to understand and fully use the ‘business savvies’: †¢understanding the business model at depth †¢generating insight from data and evidence †¢connecting with curiosity, purpose and impact †¢leading with integrity, consideration and challenge Finally, the report highlights that while the ‘Three-legged stool model’ is more appropriate for larger organisations, the ‘Business savvies’ it is appropriate for all sizes and shapes of organisation. (CIPD, 2001) BUSINESS STRATEGY AND HR STRATEGY (details in appendix 6) DATA SOURCES If the HR objective is to be integrated into the Business, it is then crucial for HR having a clear data sources, a strong competence in interpreting the information and presenting them to the business. HR can find data from internal and external sources. Examples of Internal sources in COMPANY NAME are: Employees (listening and talking to them), Focus Group, Climate Surveys, Employees Data Base, KPIs, Budget, Performance and Leadership Management System, Payroll data. Example of external sources are:  Customers’ reports, Customers’ surveys, Recruitment agency reports, CIPD Magazine, Employment law updates, Industry Magazines, Census Information, EHS Magazine. KPIs Once an organization has analysed its mission, identified all its stakeholders, and defined its goals, it needs a way to measure progress toward those goals: KPIs are those measurements. Key Performance Indicators KPIs, also known as Key Success Indicators (KSI), help an organization define and measure progress toward organizational goals. (Reh, 2005) The role and use of KPIs is crucial in COMPANY NAME. Here, every month a meeting is held during which every department presents its KPIs and discusses any progressions or need to improve them. Also HR has its own KPIs which are related to: hours worked, overtime hours (to be kept at 20% maximum level) and sick days (in order to monitor long sick periods). (details in appendix 6) Performance & Leadership Management (PLM) In addition to the KPIs, COMPANY NAME has adopted a specific system in order to measure, develop, evaluate and reward people’s performance: the Performance & Leadership Management system. This system is a management process that aims to establish a transparent and a bi-lateral communication with the employees to define together how they can contribute to the organization results, if they are working effectively towards achieving the agreed objectives and finally providing them with adequate support to improve and develop. The PLM process consists in 5 main phases: 1.Objectives Setting 2. Half Year Review 3.Self – Assessment 4.Evaluation and Calibration 5.Feedback phases. The PLM cycle is annual and at the end of it, the company may decide to assign a PLM Bonus to employees. Finally, the PLM is also uses to identify Talents, employees with high level of P&L skills, able and willing to accept positions of growing responsibility. This assures continuity to the business and a draw up succession plans for all key positions (details in appendix 7) SWOT and STEEPLE In addition to KPIs and the performance measurement, HR can also collect data and plan for its strategy by using two particular technics: The SWOT analysis and the Steeple Analysis. The SWOT analysis, developed by Ansoff in 1987, it is a data capture exercise which focuses on organisations Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats (for an example of SWOT analysis in COMPANY UK, see appendix 8). The STEEPLE analysis is like an audit of the external environment which is focused on the external factors than can influence the organization and affect its long-term survival. If the organization has a full understanding of the environment and all its factors, it has the possibility to take advantage from potential opportunities and minimize possible risks. Below an example of STEEPLE analysis in COMPANY NAME realised in June 2013 during a Focus Group meeting: †¢SOCIOLOGICAL: Changes in culture, Cultural Barriers, Language barriers, Lack of educated people, Lack of technical skilled people, Immigration; †¢TECHNOLOGICAL: New Payroll System, SAP System, Skype, Conference call System, Computer Software, Blackberries, Outlook; Company Intranet; †¢ECONOMIC: Financial Crisis, Recession, Globalisation, Prices, Employment rate, Unemployment Rate, Banking Crisis; †¢ENVIRONMENTAL: Carbon footprints, Sustainability Report, Sustainability Plan; †¢POLITICAL: Government changes, Pension Reform, Sector regulation, EU regulations; Local regulations; †¢LEGAL: Employment law, European Law, European Court of Justice, Local authority; †¢ETHICAL: Local Community Interest, Stakeholders Interests, Anti-corruption Law, Equal opportunities, Human rights, Promoting employees welfare, Well working environment. HOW HR CAN RESPOND TO EXTERNAL PRESSURE? As shown in the STEEPLE analysis, the Lack of technical skilled people, it was perceived as a big external risk for the business. The role of HR in facing this problem was crucial and requested lots of curiosity, research and resourcefulness. The HR department had to concentrate on a short term need, which basically was focused on finding candidates with the right skill-set for the (many) uncovered positions, but they also had to think about a long term plan able to strengthen the presence and knowledge of COMPANY NAME in the Midlands area. After some research, the HR department found out that, the lack of high qualified people in the Midland, it was due to the fact that the particular skills required were either absent in the area or the few people who have them had already a job. Therefore, HR had to concentrate on different ways to recruit candidates. They then started to: †¢Using social network to advert company positions (in order to reach people in all over the world); †¢Using Skype for first and second interview stage; †¢Increasing the use of relocation and sponsorship for candidates coming from other countries; †¢Advertising all the uncovered position internally first, this in order to give to all employees the possibility to apply personally or to propose someone they knew (Word of mouth) The long term plan to create more visibility and awareness about COMPANY NAME and its business in the Midlands was achieved by: †¢Taking part in Colleges and Universities open days – this in order to attract the future generation of engineers; †¢Use of a work experience program – open to students from technical colleges who can spend one month in one of COMPANY ’s departments; †¢Selection and sponsorship of four graduates to be sent to the COMPANY Business School in Detroit or Shanghai for three months. It is important to highlight that some of the above initiatives, in  particular the ones in recruitment, made COMPANY save money. In 2012, COMPANY spent in recruitment (using agencies)  £30,000; in 2013, the cost for recruitment (using social network and word of mouth) dropped to  £22,000 with a saving of almost the 30% in budget resource. Recently, HR had to deal with another issue coming from the external context: The Pension Reform in UK. HR was particularly involved in designing an effective communication plan in order to spread to the UK team information about the changes. The communication plan was quite a delicate step as it was not only about the legal changes but also about the COMPANY UK’ s decision to change the pension provider (moving from Legal & General to Scottish Widows) and the contributions level (starting from January 2014). The first thing HR did, it was to select two champions among the most senior and influencing employees, trained them on the reform and invite them to share the news with the team. This approach was useful to create a good feeling about the reform and all the changes related to it. Then, during the sixty day consultation period, HR organized workshops during which, financial expert from Capita, presented and explained the reform and its consequences and gave personalized advice to the employees. Finally, HR provided employees with brochure, leaflets and posters. It is important to highlight that, behind the COMPANY’s decision to change Pension provider and level of contributions (well above the minimum required by law) there was the HR idea not to use the Pension Scheme as a compensation and benefit tool anymore, but to consider it and use it as a powerful tool to retain current employees and to recruit more of them by increasing the appeal toward COMPANY UK. Finally, as a consequence of the introduction of the new scheme, in less than one month, the number of enrolled employees has almost doubled, increasing from 34 (enrolled in L&G) to 60 (in SW) on a total of 72 COMPANY UK employees. This was a great result for both the business and HR.