Working Environment of Lloyds TSB

Working Environment of Lloyds TSB Introduction: Lloyds TSB group is the UK‘s biggest organisation. More than 66000 are working for this organisation in UK and in 27 countries around the globe. The business serves around 16 million customers operating in a range of financial markets, including personal and private banking, corporate banking, insurance and mortgages. Lloyds TSB is working globally and competes within rapidly changing markets for the delivery of financial services to personal and business customers. Customers expect a high range of services to be available 24 hours a day and delivered with first class customers service. In order t remain top in this demanding market, Lloyds TSB has acquired the services of innovative human resource management policies to ensure Lloyds TSB is a great place to work and that its staff are happy, motivated and committed to give highest levels of performance to the organisation and its customers. In 1998, the Group conducted reseach with employees, which showed that one of their main concerns was being able to balance a demanding job with outside commitments, such as family life, hobbies and leisure activities. This led to the Group designing and introducing a unique flexible working policy, called Work Options one year later. This gave a chance to workers to structure their working arrangements in a way that helps them to achieve a better Work Life Balance. According to this policy all staff has got the right to request a different working pattern form standard 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lloyds TSB is widely recognised as one of the best employers for providing flexibility for its staff. Because of this positive and flexible approach, Lloyds TSB is able to attract, appoint, motivate and retain the best staff available, which in turn keeps customers happy and keeps the organisation at top of the financial services field. The Changing Work Environment Lloyds TSB has always given importance to change in work environment and this proves the key to drive the bank out from the crises Lloyds TSB has rejected the traditional. Work routine of the 20th century. Lloyds TSB has offered flexible work options to all of its staff and put into place it own procedures to allow every member of staff, not just with young children, the right to request to work flexibly. This Lloyds TSB stands out from other employers. By 2010, it is estimated that 85% of the growth in the UK workforce will be women. 62% of the Lloyds TSB workforce is female and around 2,000 staff takes maternity leave each year. Of these, around 87% return to work for the company after their leave. This is an important statistic. In a tightening labour market, business must attract high calibre staff and then retain their services. Lloyds TSBs reputation on flexible working is a very important factor in achieving this. The Business case for Flexibility Flexible working is not merely of benefit to staff but it makes excellent business environment too. Lloyds TSB believes its ability to deal efficiently and effectively with the need for flexibility strengthens its position as an employer of choice and enables the group to deliver levels of service that differentiate Lloyds TSB from its competitors. Customers take advantage by getting to deal with professional, friendly enthusiastic and well knowledgeable persons. In an increasingly competitive market place where retailers, supermarkets and other companies can also offer financial services. Lloyds TSB needs customer service excellence around the clock to stay in competition. Lloyds TSB developed its own flexible approach in 1999 to help attract and retain the best staff. The Group‘s own leaver surveys (questionnaires completed by people leaving the business) showed that flexibility was the main reason for them joining them initially. This is also supported by a national survey which showed that flexible working was a more important factor that pays for graduates in choosing an employer. Employees need motivation and commitment. Research shows that people are more productive and experience less stress when they have control over the hours they work. So flexible working helps Lloyds TSB to gain the long term commitment and motivation of well qualified and experienced staff. It is far more expensive to recruit and train new staff than to retain existing ones. Flexible working generates cost savings too. Traditional work patterns usually involved fixed hours between 9.00 am to 5pm. Work beyond these hours was paid by employers overtime rates like time and half or more driving up staff costs. With the introduction of flexibility, Lloyds TSB has been able to extend staff cover at no added cost. In todays world, people with lifestyles require financial services at any time. Peak customer demand does not follow a traditional 9.00 am to 5pm working day either. For Lloyds TSB flexible arrangements allow employees personal benefits to suit their own lives and deliver a more complete service to customers. So from the above it is clear Lloyds TSB was ahead of the game when it came to introducing flexible working patterns. The Group was aware that economic and social changes meant that people often live complex lives in and out side of work. Far sighted management at Lloyds TSB saw the benefits to the business of recruiting and keeping excellent people, who would be willing to build a career in the Group. The impact of credit crunch on Lloyds TSB The phase means a severe shortage of money or credit and this comes about when banks and other lenders lose confidence and are no longer wiling to lend to each other or to other borrowers. According to report published at Yorkshire Post dated 06 May 2008, Lloyds TSB revealed a further  £387 million hit from the credit crunch but signalled there would be no need for a cash call to investors. In a another report published in Herald Scotland dated 30 July 2008, writes that credit crunch hammers Lloyds TSB as bank profits drop 70 % But Lloyds TSB has worked according to a certain plan faced the situation well. Continuous Improvement and Lloyds TSB Lloyds TSB believes in excellent customers service and smooth and transparent banking. Lloyds TSB has introduced online banking, provided numerous ATM machines to their customers and made the banking relatively easy and convenient. Lloyds TSB and IT transformation Realizing that the effort to improve its IT capabilities would require faster, deeper change than it could manage in-house, Lloyds TSB partnered with Accenture to create an IT competency that aligns IT delivery with the banks strategic priorities. Processes, tools and methodologies were brought closer to best practise, and the skills and experience of IT staff were improved. Lloyds TSB is making significant progress towards creating a high performance IT environment that aligns IT delivery with the banks strategic priorities. The Accenture/ Group IT team is confident that the improving IT initiative will help Lloyds TSB create a high performance business propelled by consistent increase in customer satisfaction and competitive differentiation.

Catch a Fire Essay

The book â€Å"Catch a Fire† is a beautiful description of the Jamaican culture, the Rastafarian faith, the growth and development of reggae music and how it all added up to make Bob Marley’s life. All of those elements of what made Bob Marley â€Å"human† will be talked about and explained in this paper. The best artists are the ones who have passed but there work still lives on and Bob Marley left an unforgettable mark on modern music, both as a reggae creator and as a cultural icon. His beliefs and values helped him become a part of the Rastafarian faith and grow into a great musician whose music is still listened to today. The author, Timothy White, did an amazing job describing Bob’s background giving his readers a much greater appreciation for Marley and his music. Jamaicans are often stereotyped as carefree and fun loving. While most Jamaicans do value a sense of humor, as well as music and dance, they also have a tradition of hard work and a strong respect for education. Bob Marley, the son of a black teenage mother and much older white father, was born in Jamaica in the village known as Nine Miles. Born early in 1945, Bob was raised by his mother and relatives and was always surrounded by tales of mysticism and spiritual beings of the Jamaican culture that influenced his daily life. Around the time Bob was born, in 1944, Jamaicans gained the right to vote because of the new constitution. (1) During this time the population grew and there weren’t much job opportunities, leading to an expanding slum population. Class, color, and ethnicity were a big deal in Jamaica and would play a huge role of where you would fit in, work, or even shop. Bob once said, â€Å"I don’t stand for black man’s side, I don’t stand for white man’s side, I stand for God’s side. †(2) The Jamaican history has not been a peaceful one, but its struggles have created one of the strongest cultures. The Rastafarian faith was one of the biggest influences of why Bob’s music and the way he lived was the way it was. It all started with Marcus Garvey, who was responsible for bringing Rastafarianism to the islands. Garvey was famous for the saying â€Å"Look to Africa†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (â€Å"Catch a Fire† pg. 8) This statement set the stage for what will be the making of Rastafarianism. Rastafarianism got so popular that when Haile Selassie came to Jamaica in 1966 over 100,000 Rastas surrounded his plane. The late 1960’s is when Bob truly began to find himself and accept his religion and put its beliefs into his songs like â€Å"Rastaman Vibration† and â€Å"Jah Live. † Not only did the Rastafarian faith help Bob with his music, it helped him find who he really was and grow as a person. He finally started to see the beauty in life. Marley started making music in ska and Rock Steady then eventually moved towards reggae as his music evolved. Much of Marley’s early work was produced by Coxsone Dodd at Studio One then he signed to Chris Blackwell’s Island Records label in 1971. Marley’s music was one of the main reasons reggae was accepted outside of Jamaica. Although Bob couldn’t escape all the troubles of the ghetto, without music, he would have been right there in Kingston with those rude boys and bad men causing trouble. Music brought out the best in Bob and showed him the true values of life. The â€Å"King of Reggae†, Bob Marley made such an impact on the music industry with his creativity and passion he put into his music and performances. As you can see, Bob would have never made it happen without his Jamaican cultural background, his Rastafarian faith or his love for music. His thinking and beliefs were always voiced in his songs speaking of love, peace, equality and his spirituality. And, after almost three decades since his death, his music is still listened to by millions of people around the world.

Time Management for Right-Brained

MANAGING TIME USING THE RIGHT BRAIN As we prepare ourselves to meet the challenges of the new century, we need to be concerned about the most critical of all resources, Time. As the pressure to become more competitive builds up, this resource is becoming more and more scarce. One can create and destroy any resource, but not time. However, the way time is managed differs from person to person. It is not how much time one has that is important. It is what do one does with one’s time. Most people have ambitions and aspirations in life. Every one wishes that he or she manages the goals in life successfully.But the critical issue is only a few succeed in reaching them in full. Why is that? There are different words to describe an outcome or an end result : ‘wish’, ‘desire’, ‘need’, ‘wants’, ‘goals’, are some of them. Of these, the word ‘goal’ presupposes a time frame and quantification and some efforts. B ut there is one more dimension to a goal in terms of its strength and intensity as understood by the mine. It is called ‘empowerment’. Empowerment is the process of giving an inner strength and wherewithal to reach the goal in spite of obstacles. It results in a mindset of restlessness and urge to reach the set goal.We need to look at the concept of time management from a different perspective. The process of what goes on in the mind is more important than what is exbibited outside a person in terms of setting priorities and pursuing various activities. To make a success of time management, it should be first be understood that it is a mind driven concept and not a system driven practice. To understand why some people manage time well, we should locate the seat of all our goals and aspiration in life. For this we should understand the working of the human brain.The human brain has two halves : the left and the right. The left brain is involved in language skills, it is analytical and it processes information in a linear fashion one after the other. It is logical and verbal. The right brain is the intuitive part of the brain, which is holistic and non-linear. This imaginative and creative part is responsible for the dreaming function. One this aspect of the brain is understood, it is easy to interpret what goes on in the mind of a successful person who manages his time effectively. In fact, there is no such thing as time management.The issue is self-management through pursuing an empowerment through emotional commitment. Any one who attaches a deep sense of emotion to the goal finds out a way of setting priorities to realise the same. He is able to withstand all the pains of initiating the controlling the various actions towards reaching his goal. For transferring the goal to the right brain, the visualisation skill of the right brain should be used. Before trying to manage one’s time, one should start with a powerful picture of the goal in his mind. One should visualise the goal with emotional attachment.It could all start with what others may dub it as a fantasy. After all, when you think about it, all inventions are a result of some one’s fantasies! 1 When the goal is powerfully represented in the mind through a bright picture of the future, the effect of the same involves the person so emotionally that it gets into his subconscious mind. The right brain alone can understand a person’s emotional attachment to his goal. When confronted with problems while reaching one’s goals, the left brain is logical and analytical and reasons out how it is impossible to reach the goal given the difficult circumstances.It reasons out how intense will be the problems to be surmounted, and, if allowed to prevail on the mine, will make the person to give up his goal. The way the right brain interprets the goal is different. It is not logical but intuitive. It is emotionally involved in the process of goal setting and will not give up. The right brain is not logical but creative and thinks about innovative ways of reaching the goal. It has already visualised the final scene of the goal achievement and hence ‘knows’ how nice it is to be in that situation of achievement and will not rest until newer and alternative methods of reaching the goal are found.A limiting belief makes you feel you are not capable of performing, as you want to due to some things present in the external system. Actually, limitation is not outside the person. It is within the mind. This is mainly due to the interpretation of the situation by the left brain, as it understands the situation. In such a situation, the right brain has to be used to get emotionally connected with the goal. This process will make the person believe in himself and his abilities to reach the goal. (Source : N. C. Sridharan’s article in The Hindu) 2 Related article: Â  Time Management

The Theory Of Science And Architecture - 2038 Words

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