All articles by Candid – Page 3
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Confessions of a benefits manager: Careful with that axe
Candid finds herself party to some sensitive information about potential redundancies and feels compelled to interfereToday, I have been given a secret list to work on. Well, everyone seems to be aware the list exists, but not many actually get to look at it. It is a list of potential ...
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Confessions of a benefits manager: Flawed performance
Tasked with rolling out a new performance management system, Candid fails to convince staff that the experience will be rewardingPerformance management isn't really my thing. Technically, it falls under Creepy Caroline in the so-called talent team but, out of the blue, Big Bad Boss has decided it comes to me ...
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Confessions of a benefits manager: A woman’s work
Candid attends a conference for women in management and concludes that work-life balance is tilted in the wrong directionIt was Big Bad Boss’s idea for me to go to the Women In Management Personnel conference. So, of course, I should have been a bit more suspicious from the start. Since ...
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Confessions of a benefits manager: The blame game
Candid finds herself under pressure from above as an inter-office email sets a series of unsettling accusations in motionLike so many bad days, it started with an email. I didn’t send it, and it wasn’t even addressed directly to me, but nevertheless, it got me into deep do-do. It was ...
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Confessions of a benefits manager: VIP for a day
A series of talks is going on all day, but only one looks vaguely interesting to me. Well, let me rephrase that: it is about automatic enrolment, so perhaps interesting isn't the first word that springs to mind. However, it is something I need to gather information on while I ...
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Confessions of a benefits manager: If the face-time fits...
A mystery meeting with the company's president of Europe takes Candid to Italy and a chance to improve her international statusNow I've heard it all. Big Bad Boss wants me to go to Italy to look some bloke in the eye. Eh? It sounds nice, but our Italian office is ...
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Confessions of a benefits manager: Present and correct
Presentations can be a pain in the neck for Candid, and a conference call with the US gives rise to unseen complicationsI don't mind making presentations. I don't get particularly nervous. At least I don't seem to, but I do get this funny neck-ache that appears as soon as I ...
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Confessions of a benefits manager: The road to ruin
US headquarters do not understand company cars, so Candid has her work cut out selling her new vehicle policy for EuropeBig Bad Boss is dead against me looking at the car policy again. He says the US will never allow us to make any changes, so any analysis is pointless. ...
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Confessions of a benefits manager: The IT crowd
Computer problems compel Candid to enter the strange world of the new technology department, now appropriately named GITI have had a rather peculiar email from the IT department. Well, considering it is from IT, who are the embodiment of peculiar, I guess it is not all that odd. It tells ...
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Confessions of a benefits manager: Executive stress
A global executive evaluation project opens Candid‘s eyes to some ‘rationalisation opportunities’, but the results prove irrationalMost people would be excited to be given such an important project. Global executive evaluation sounds very grand and, I’ll admit, it will look good on my CV, but I have a nasty feeling ...
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Confessions of a benefits manager: Missed connection
The new HR director’s request for a conference call sends Candid into an endless cycle of frustration – and in her own time, tooEvery hour at work is an hour when I am not doing something more interesting instead. Therefore, people who cause me to work late and miss valuable ...
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Confessions of a benefits manager: A demanding job
The potential new European legal director is pestering Candid about her reward offer, but negotiations seem a little one-sidedIf you were to ask me what our reward philosophy is, I would have to say the phrase is an oxymoron in this place. ‘Philosophy’ means higher thought or wisdom, and there ...
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Confessions of a benefits manager: Freedom of speech
The annual employee survey might seem a cosmetic exercise, but perhaps it’s a chance to express some home truths, says CandidIt might be a waste of everyone’s time and money, but, come what may, we send a survey to all staff every year. It is not exactly the same survey ...
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Confessions of a benefits manager: Beauty parade
Candid is tasked with interviewing potential suppliers of an online benefits system, but suspects it may be a pointless exerciseI would like to make this clear from the start: it wasn’t my idea. I had no intention of buying an online benefits system for this company. We don’t need one ...
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Confessions of a benefits manager: If it ain't broke...
Organising the corporate medical plan sees Candid embark on a confusing dialogue with the brokers’ ever-changing personnelI keep getting calls from Healthcare Helpers, which wants to help me optimise my medical plan. Among many others, I also get calls from Middleman Medical Intermediaries, which notes that my plan is due ...
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Confessions of a benefits manager: Secret service
Candid gets drawn into a top-secret project involving Eastern Europe, and suspects reward outsourcing is also on the agendaThe first I knew something was up was when some woman called Princess emailed me a confidentiality agreement. Poor woman; only Americans and rock stars give their children names like pet rabbits. ...
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Confessions of a benefits manager: The dead zone
A visit by two juvenile pensions advisers opens Candid‘s eyes to the alarming world of longevity risk among pensionersThey say when you get old, policemen and doctors start looking young, but they don’t warn you about pensions advisers. To me, pensions consultants should be dusty old men, peering through their ...
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Confessions of a benefits manager: Love is in the air
St Valentine's Day presents an opportunity to pursue amorous intentions, but for Candid, mischief and intrigue are on the cardsI have done a very silly thing. You see, I have left a valentine card for Big Bad Boss. No, of course I haven't got a thing for him. It was ...
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Confessions of a benefits manager: Trials of temptation
It is a bit of a shock to be back at work after more than a week of sloth and merriment. Big Bad Boss is still merry; he keeps humming In the Bleak Midwinter, which, more than 12 days after Christmas, is surely bad luck. Lazy Susan is still, well, ...
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Confessions of a benefits manager: Organising the Christmas party
Filling in for the department secretary, Candid is tasked with planning the team Christmas meal, so practical research is called forWhen did I volunteer to become back-up for the department secretary? Because since Scary Mary took leave to visit her new grandchild in Australia (pity the poor daughter-in-law, I say), ...
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