Warning: file_exists() [function.file-exists]: open_basedir restriction in effect. File(/home/neoprog/www/rss/news.search.yahoo.com,news,rss_p=paper+money) is not within the allowed path(s): (/home/mojribo/:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php:/tmp) in /home/mojribo/public_html/carstuningpictures/datas/rss.php on line 84
The Fate of Paper Money (GoldSeek.com)
The first well-documented widespread use of paper money was in China during the Tang (618-907 A.D.) dynasty around 800 A.D. [1] Paper money spread to the city of Tabriz, Persia in 1294 and to parts of India and Japan between 1319 to 1331. However, its use was very short-lived in these regions.
Commercial Paper Market Rises to Most Since September (Update3) (Bloomberg)
Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Corporate borrowing in the commercial paper market expanded to the highest level since before Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s bankruptcy filing in September as companies took advantage of the lowest rates on record.
Canada’s Commercial-Paper Market Will Disappear (Update1) (Bloomberg)
Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The Canadian market for asset-backed commercial paper will “essentially be gone” within two years as investor demand for the short-term debt dries up, Bank of Montreal Chief Executive Officer William Downe said.
Tax-Free Money-Market Rates Fall to Lowest in at Least 16 Years (Bloomberg)
Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Municipal money-market rates dropped to the lowest in at least 16 years, as investors reaping cash from Jan. 1 bond payments helped to push assets in tax-free money funds to $500 billion.
Paper,money
Copyright 2005 Bill Roche
Do you know exactly how your employees feel when Monday morning approaches?
Are they eager to get back to a satisfying workplace and to perform important tasks?
Or, do they sit home Sunday night dreading another week of unimportant work performed for an ogre of a boss?
The truth is probably somewhere in between; but without actual knowledge of the facts, its hard to improve anything.
The ideal workplace provides employees with empowerment and direction when needed, but shies away from unnecessary micro-management. Employees feel they are contributing to meaningful goals in a significant way. The ideal workplace offers compensation and benefits that meet the needs of employees and cause them to remain loyal to an organization for the long term.
If you don't know where your employees morale level stands, you can't make life better or productivity higher. Better morale means greater productivity which translates into an improved bottom line. Unhappy employees miss more work and produce inferior work.
By measuring your employee morale level through an Employee Satisfaction Survey, you can learn how your employees feel provided your employees believe that their honest input will result in appropriate change where needed. The danger of conducting Employee Satisfaction Surveys, of course, is that if you do not allow change where change is needed, you may well cause employee morale to drop even lower.
Suppose, for instance, that one result of a survey is that your employees feel your management style inhibits effective production of quality work. Would you be willing to alter your management style and more proactively empower employees?
If youre not willing to change, you will likely be wasting time and money by performing surveys. If youre willing to keep an open mind, surveys can lead your organization to greater heights and result in decisive morale increases.
Some questions that can reveal a great deal about employee satisfaction include:
(1) Do you feel that management listens to your ideas on how to best accomplish tasks?
(2) Is there a recognizable tie between how well you perform your job and your monetary compensation?
(3) Do you often feel you could do a better job if management would only get out of the way?
(4) Do you feel, once assigned a task, that you are empowered to perform that task?
(5) Do you feel that innovative thinking or "outside the box" thinking is encouraged and rewarded?
(6) Are there enough recognition programs for recognizing outstanding accomplishments on the part of employees?
An effective Employee Satisfaction Survey should not be too lengthy; 20 to 40 questions ought to reveal what you need to know about your employees. Whether you select yes/no questions or choose a 1 to 5 scale (where 5 means complete agreement and 1 means complete disagreement with a survey statement), you should, upon survey completion, compile the results using a database that will let you to analyze the results and convert them into bar charts or other graphics which make them easier to understand.
Once youve analyzed the survey results, feedback to the employees is crucial. Otherwise, they will likely conclude that what they have to say doesn't matter, resulting in an additional hit to morale.
Hopefully, some of your survey results will indicate areas of high employee morale. Those areas are not likely to need significant attention. The areas where employee morale gets low scores offer the greatest potential for improvement. Develop an action plan and implement that plan with full knowledge of employees. Better yet, involve employees directly. Employee involvement in the development of the action plan and its implementation can lead to positive outcomes and creative solutions to identified challenges.
Most importantly, be aware that you can only fix what you know is broken. Once youve identified areas of low employee morale, you can zero in on those weak spots and achieve measurable increases in employee morale, productivity, attendance and loyalty on the part of your employees.
About the author:
Bill Roche is the publisher of "Boosting Employee Morale," a free ezine that provides readers with tips on how to improve employee morale. For regular tips to move you toward a more positive and productive work environment, sign up for your own subscription at:
http://www.TopResults.com
