office

Free On-line Classes from HP for IT professionals and office workers

These are some great classes offered free online by HP learning Center, I regret that I don’t have enough time to take some of these classes.

This is the link to the main page of HP learning Center :www.hp.com/go/learningcenter

Some of the classes I found there this morning:

1- Combating spam and spyware (with podcast)
2- Disaster preparedness through virtualization (quick lesson)
3- How to build a midsize IT core infrastructure
4- IT infrastructure and its challenges: outsource or hire? (quick lesson)
5- Practical Wi-Fi security (quick lesson)
6- Create marketing materials that align with your goals (quick lesson)
7- How to build your first website (with podcast)
8- Save money, be energy efficient

Please visit their site for some other really good classes.

What business are you in, IT or Customer service?

In his book “The Truth about Green Business”, Gil Friend writes about how railroads companies for many years considered themselves in the railroads industry rather than in transportation industry.

When I used to work as help desk support representative for a major hardware manufacturer the emphasis was on providing great customer service rather than fixing technical problems, we were trained to think as service agents rather than technicians.

Unfortunately, many customers cannot distinguish between the customer service rep and a technician. When I used to make on-site visits to fix technical problems, many customers would expect me to help them with customer service related issues in addition to fixing their technical problems.

It’s becoming harder to distinguish between the duties of customer service agent and support technician, especially at first level support, companies usually combine the jobs of the two into one position to streamline operation and cut costs.

I think it’s important for IT companies to define the industry they belong to, airlines, hotels and restaurants can be classified as service industries, but IT is clearly not all about customer service, but rather it’s about technical services.

Advancement in technology may increase global travel

Video conferencing and remote collaboration are gradually reducing the need to travel in certain industries or for certain professions but at the same time this same technology is liberating many professionals from the boundaries of their offices and is giving them the freedom to take long vacations without affecting their work. Only with the recent technology people are able to work from homes, hotel rooms, airports and even the beach. This freedom of movement created some extra demands on global travel.

I know a business owner who was able to take a month vacation far away from his home town after working for almost 4 years without time off. He was able to stay in touch with his clients while traveling by using the latest in internet and communications technologies. Millions of people now can leave their offices for extended periods of time without losing productivity this in turn will give them the freedom to travel and move around

How long an employer must keep your records?

Few days ago, I have contacted few previous employers for reference letters; I needed them as a record of my whereabouts for the last 10 years.

One employer said “they don’t have any records of my employment with them and wanted me to send them pay-stubs as to show my employment period with them and any benefits that I may have received.” I found that to be really odd and I felt strongly against sending them anything.

I was under the impression that companies must keep records of their employees for a period of 10 years or so.

I am not sure what the labor law in the US says about this, but any feedback on this matter would be appreciated.

Thanks

City in Montana wants job applicants’ passwords to social websites

As reported by the associated press: “Job applicants with the city of Bozeman are finding that their private Internet discussions and pictures may not be so private after all.
The city is asking job seekers for the user names and passwords to Internet social networking or Web groups to which they belong. The decision is sparking an outcry from those who say the policy goes way too far.”

Why would an employer ask for such information? What benefits an employer can get from knowing your online habits? Do they want to know your personality by analyzing your online habits?
I am sure many of us, including myself, are outraged by hearing such news, but wait a minute…..aren’t companies already using such practices? Many employers want to check your credit history, your martial status and even run a background check on you.
This news created a negative publicity for the city and strong objection by the public, but it’s a clear sign of how the internet and social websites are shaping our lives.

Keep the entrepreneurial minds in your company

Who wants a computer on every desktop? This was IBM reaction to Microsoft business model of having a computer on every desktop. This was way back in the early 70’s or so.
With the fierce competition we face today as the global scale, can companies afford not to listen?

In your company, you may have the guy who is consistently suggesting new ideas and he is often frown upon by his peers or even by the management. Some managers look at this type of employee as “trouble maker”, big mistake.

In my own job as manager, my over all productivity got have tripled have I had an innovative minds in my staff. I want my staff to stop me down the hallways and throw ideas at me, but that is not happening.

A famous quote by someone “Innovate or die”, it’s very true to our global economy today, each day pass on you where you don’t make that step ahead, millions of people around the world would have taken it and gotten a step a head of you.