Ask a Manager
Ask a Manager

Author: Alison Green

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Published: 2018-05-01

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 0399181822

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together

Department for Work and Pensions
Department for Work and Pensions

Author: Great Britain. National Audit Office

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 44

ISBN-13: 9780102954784

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Department for Work and Pensions has made progress in reducing the number of leaflets that it produces for its customers and in making application forms simpler and shorter. The Department has significantly changed the way in which it provides information in recent years with a growth in telephone enquiries and in online provision. The Department has reduced the quantity of leaflets that it produces for customers, from 208 different leaflets in 2005 at a cost of �10.3 million to 53 leaflets in 2008 costing �1.7 million. It has also reduced the length of most of its forms, though some are unnecessarily long and guidance notes are complicated and the Department's computer generated letters are overly long and confusing for customers. The Department has put telephone calls at the centre of its application process. It is also increasingly using the internet to communicate with customers. In response to the rise in applications for the Jobseeker's Allowance, up by 81 per cent in the six months to January 2009, the Department plans to implement systems giving customers the option of full online applications for contributory Jobseeker's Allowance from summer 2009, rather than February 2010 as originally planned. Cost efficiencies from online provision have still to be realised fully. Though forms can be downloaded from the internet it is not yet possible to apply for most benefits online, meaning that staff and customer time is taken up handling claims over the telephone or face to face.

Department for Work and Pensions
Department for Work and Pensions

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2012-05-15

Total Pages: 64

ISBN-13: 9780215045041

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Work Programme, designed to help long-term unemployed people into sustainable employment, started in June 2011, replacing virtually all welfare to work programmes run by the Department for Work and Pensions. Over the next five years, the Programme is expected to help up to 3.3 million people at a cost of £3-5 billion. 18 prime contractors, each with sub-contractors, are contracted to deliver the Programme across England, Scotland and Wales. The Department has done well to introduce the Work Programme in 12 months. Prime contractors receive the majority of their payments once a participant has stayed in a job for a set period of time, with the length of time varying according to claimant group. Although some financial risks have been transferred to the providers, the test of whether the Programme is achieving value for money will be whether more people are in work as a result of the Programme than would have been if it had not existed and that the wider social benefits which underpin the cost benefit analysis are delivered in practice. The Department should seek assurance on a range of issues: that sub contractors are treated fairly, not misled into accepting inappropriate contracts, and receive the number of cases and funding they were promised; that harder to help claimants are not parked and ignored; and ensuring proper value for money. The Department relies on contractors to set minimum standards of service but has no measurable indicators against which the quality of service can be judged

Department for Work and Pensions
Department for Work and Pensions

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Public Accounts Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 36

ISBN-13: 9780215529282

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This report examines recording and acting on complaints, and on the adequacy and costs of the complaints process, in the Department for Work and Pensions (the Department) and Jobcentre Plus and the Pensions, Disability and Carers Service (the Agencies). The Agencies provided services to over 22 million customers in 2007-08 and around 70,000 complaints were recorded (down from 103,000 in 2003-04). A three-tiered process has been introduced, and Agencies aim to resolve most complaints at frontline staff or manager level, so as to minimise the number reaching Chief Executive level. Additionally, dissatisfied customers have two independent resolution routes if internal processes fail: the Independent Case Examiner and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. Whilst only about 200 cases reach the Ombudsman, the proportion upheld at that stage is around two thirds, suggesting that there is scope for improvement in handling the most difficult cases. Staff attitude is the most common cause of complaints. Another common complaint is the cost of calling the Agencies, particularly from mobile phones. The Department has no consistent system across its operations for recording complaints, although it is currently piloting a simplified system with the intention of moving to a common system. There is also limited central monitoring of the quality of replies to customers. The cost of handling complaints is estimated by the National Audit Office to be between £4.7 million and £6.2 million, although the Department does not monitor such information. Resolving at the front line a third of the cases which currently reach 'tier three' (Agency Chief Executive level) could save the Department around £700,000.

The Work of the Department for Transport's Agencies - Driver and Vehicle Operator Group and the Highways Agency
The Work of the Department for Transport's Agencies - Driver and Vehicle Operator Group and the Highways Agency

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2006-07-27

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 0215030303

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Driver and Vehicle Operator (DVO) Group is part of the Department for Transport and is made up of four agencies: the Driving Standards Agency, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) and the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA). It was established in 2003 to promote closer collaboration between the agencies and to develop modernised co-ordinated services in order to deliver improved customer services and value for money. The Highways Agency is an executive agency of the Department for Transport and is responsible for operating, maintaining and improving the strategic road network in England. Issues considered in the Committee's report include how the agencies contribute to departmental objectives and policy, issues of accountability and transparency, agency funding and accounts, shared systems and co-ordination.