TipTopJob Blog

We have come to our last TipTop video featuring a bunch of very cute children. This final video asks the children what they want to be when they are older in the TipTopMe campaign.

You can find the video on YouTube here.

Some of the children have responded saying they want to be: a teacher, a gymnastics instructor, a pediatrician, a fisherman, a ballerina :)

Ask your child what they want to be, take a video and share it with us on any of the following social media platforms:  YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google+ or Instagram.

It is National Stress Awareness Day today, Wednesday 4th November.

How do you deal with stress?

It is such a big factor in everybody's lives today that it is good to experiment with different ways to deal with and overcome it.

Do you take yourself off for a cigarette? Have a bath? Meet friends outside of work? Take a day off?

Whatever it is, share with us here. You may be able to give other people who are struggling some ideas on how to cope with the stress of everyday working life.

You are sitting with your friends having a catch up when they start talking in riddles and using abbreviations or random words you have never heard before! Corporate jargon otherwise known as corporate lingo, workplace jargon, business speak to name a few is often commonplace among large corporate companies and especially those originating in the USA. For some, it can be frustrating to be lost among such language so we have collated some common terms and provided you with an explanation for each. There are many references to such jargon which include using abbreviations, nouns, verbs and adjectives. Here they are………. 

Abbreviations

COB – close of business

CSW – completed staff work

EOD – end of day

FTE – full-time equivalent

FY – fiscal year

HIBBIS – heads in beds, butts in seats

KPI – key performance indicators

NDA – non-disclosure agreement

PCP – previous corresponding period

POS – point of sale

PQQ - pre qualification questionnaire

RFP - Request for Proposal

RFQ - Request for quote

RIF – reduction in force

SBU – strategic business unit

SME – subject matter expert

TCO – total cost of ownership

TTT - this time tomorrow

WC – week commencing

WE – week ending

YTD – year to date  

Nouns

Blue sky thinking: Idealistic or visionary ideas 

Cascade: Array of possible actions to take in response to a problem: protocol

Check in the box: complete the task

Flavor of the month: the current popular activity/person as directed by the company/client/management

Hub: an idea which other ideas are linked to

Joined-up thinking: Discussing the viewpoints of each organization and coming to an agreement or compromise

Kill two birds with one stone: doing one action will result in achieving two goals

Low-hanging fruit: Tasks that have the greatest positive effect for the least effort, used when promoting new projects to show the advantages

One belly button to push: Reduced number of suppliers

Raft of measures: A collection of proposals or schemes

Tent pole: the task or item most likely to delay a project or consume the most resources

Silver bullet: One solution for everything

Under-pinning: The foundations of an idea, which helps another related scheme or proposal

Womb to tomb: An idea or program that is killed before it has a chance to grow or flourish 

Verbs

Baked In: Same as "included," in principle. Something which has been "baked in" is implied to be impossible to remove

Boil the Ocean: An effort or task which is perceived by the speaker to be impossible or impractical

Build Capacity: Take actions which produce no useful output immediately, but increase the amount of useful work which can be done in the future

Cover all directions of the compass: Try to make things acceptable for all stakeholders

Create the storyboard: Outline what the solution will look like

Deep dive: Get into the detail

Eating one's own dog food: Use the same product that is sold to your customers, especially if it's a bad product

Land and expand: To sell a small solution and then grow it within the client's environment

Moving forward: Making progress on an idea or scheme

Pick the low-hanging fruit: Go for the easiest option

Power to the elbow: Get additional backup information to make your case stronger

Pushing the envelope: Going outside normal boundaries to achieve a target or goal

Sing from the same hymn sheet: Show a united front or everyone understanding and saying the same thing to customers or service users

Touch base: To meet up with a colleague to discuss progress 

Adjectives

Cross-Functional: resume jargon, music to management's ears

In the loop: knowing what's going on and being kept informed

Off the shelf: buying in a product or service already completed 

You can also read this article on our website.

Relationships at work are key to motivation, enjoyment and productivity for the business. You have to spend most of your working day with your co-workers, so let’s see how you can build and better these relationships.

Communication
People communicate in their preferred method, whether that is by email, face to face, phone or instant message so if you know that someone prefers a face to face discussion, take that approach over calling or emailing them. Work with what you have and what you know.

Email etiquette
Always try to include the people that matter in on an email and explain the reason for including them. Try not to send an email to a co-worker in an emotional state, flying off the handle about something that has just happened, cc’ing your boss in. Wait until a situation has cooled down and try discussing with your co-worker directly. Be sure to have a clear subject line so your email does not get lost amongst the spam!

Try yourself first
If you have a question for someone in HR or IT or elsewhere, try to see if you can have that questioned answered before going straight to them. For example, if you need to know how much holiday you have, check your contract first and then if you are not sure visit HR to get that confirmed. Sometimes, others may get frustrated that they are having to answer questions that are already written in available documentation with all the questions answered and will likely say “what is the point in having them if they are not being used?!!”.

Courtesy to others
Instead of ignoring the person who enters the office after you in the morning, who politely greets you with “morning”, be polite and greet them back. Be aware that you are working around these people for the majority of the day and you do not want to upset them or give them a reason to dislike you. Avoid burping, do not take other peoples food and drink, try to wrap up smelly left over food so it does not stink the office out for the afternoon and avoid leaving the toilets in a mess. When talking to others, address them by their name and avoid any potential sexual/racial upset. A little common courtesy goes a long way.

Welcome the new
Think about how you felt on your first day and how it would make you feel if your new co-workers welcomed you into your new role nicely. When a new employee is hired, welcome them and make them feel like they are part of the team from the outset.

Time
It is important not to pester other co-workers should you need something doing. If they are busy with someone else, try not to hang around until they have finished as it puts pressure on them. Likewise, if someone is eating their lunch or having a break, try to avoid discussing a work related issue until they are back into work mode. This also goes for bumping into someone at the weekend or evening. You do not want to become that annoying, pestering guy!

Monitor social media
In order to safeguard your job and professionalism, it is probably better not to engage in social media relations with co-workers.  Think about maybe using Linkedin for business connections and keeping Facebook for your friends and family. Drunk pictures and inappropriate behaviour will not go down well with some people that you do not know very well and have to keep a level of professionalism with.

Avoid moaning at work
It will appear unprofessional and negative to moan about what is going on at work. It is normal to vent but ideally keep that for when you are “not” there and “not” with your co-workers. It is especially important for a manager or leader to avoid negativity in front of their employees as this gives a bad vibe that travels around the workplace.

Honesty & Trust
Honesty and trust go a long way with everyone, not only in the workplace but through life in general. If something has happened it is better to own up as you will get more respect than lying and being found out at a later date or others finding out and whispering about you. Trusting your co-workers will lead to a more healthy relationship and allow you be able to put more focus on your own task and let others do their thing.

Although some of these areas seem to be common sense, they should give you more understanding of how other people work and how to build and better your relationships with others. If you have any other ideas OR if you have any working examples on how any of the above points have helped you, let us know below…

In a recent survey conducted by TipTopJob, it was found that 20% of people have taken their office fling to the furthest step and had sex with another individual at work.

TipTopJob asked over 1000 respondents if firstly, they believed in love at the workplace and if office romances really exist. 54% believe so yet 46% do not.

Furthermore we looked at how far individuals have taken their office fling. On a sensible and reassuring note, 71% have never had an office fling and sadly no fling has developed into a relationship. On the other hand however, 6% have had a cuddle, 3% have had a kiss and more interestingly, 20% have actually had sex!

Stuart Rea, International Sales Director comments, “With Valentine’s Day this weekend, we thought it necessary to talk about workplace relationships and the extent of them.” He continues, “Funnily enough we have several ‘relationships’ going on in our office but no ‘office flings’ as far as we know at the moment! The day before Valentine’s Day this year is Friday 13th, unlucky for some, lucky for others. Will you get lucky this year?!? :) ”

Read the press release on our website:
https://www.tiptopjob.com/displaycontent/sectionid/27/contentid/1510_-20-have-had-sex-in-an-office-fling …

Industry Stats - Jobseekers
Leading industries on TipTopJob in terms of jobseeker numbers remain to be IT, Engineering, Health and Office. The Ex-military and the Charity industry however saw the largest growth from December to January.

Industry Stats - Jobs
The Catering industry has the highest number of jobs being registered in January followed closely by the IT and Health industries. The largest growth was seen in the Ex-military industry.

Country Stats – Jobseekers
The UK attracted the highest number of jobseekers in January and has the largest database out of the full list of Countries. Mexico however attracted the second largest number of jobseekers followed by India throughout January but the USA still remains to hold the second largest number in the database.

Country Stats – Jobs
The highest number of jobs posted were into the USA through January, followed by Germany and then the UK.

55% of offices are using air conditioning in the hot weather to cool off their employees. 42% open up their windows and only 3% use fans.

Air conditioning, on the downside, blows any lingering colds and bugs around and can spread illness but it is definitely the best option to quickly cooling down a hot and stuffy office. By an afternoon, fans and windows just do not cut it.

Do any of you have disagreements within the office about how cold it gets using air-conditioning? In our experience, those sitting by the air-conditioning always get freezing cold and those sitting further away from it, don’t see the benefits. Sometimes, people are never happy are they?!?