PR, marcomms, recruitment and all the bits in between

Death by blogging

So we’ve heard about internet addiction, now comes blog addiction. The New York Times have linked the fatal heart attacks of two men in America to an obsession with updating websites and blogs. The paper said “There is no official diagnosis of death by blogging…but friends and family of the deceased…say those deaths have them thinking about the dangers of their working style.” Maybe obsessive blogging disorder will become a more common occurrence as the years go by and the internet progresses further, or maybe there will just always be people who take things a bit too far. As they say – everything in moderation!

Addicted to the internet?

A leading psychiatrist from the Oregon Health and Science University, Dr Jerald Block, has recently said that internet addiction needs to be treated as a clinical disorder as it has reached such a high level across the world. He says that easy access to email, gaming, gambling and pornography are causes of this disorder. In South Korea, 10 people have died from blood clots from sitting in internet cafes for extended periods of time and someone was murdered because of an online game. The country now 'considers internet addiction one of its most serious public health issues'. So beware readers, next time you have that urge to check your Facebook, shake it off, you could be the next victim!

Disadvantages

So they told you that you didn’t get that last promotion because of your account management skills/ your specific experience/a stronger candidate, etc, etc. But could there be more to it than that? A study by the University of Florida suggests that tall people are more successful in life than their shorter counterparts with every extra inch in height being worth £400 in annual salary. Research by Yale university found that 43% of employers and 53% of co-workers discriminate against the overweight, while yet another study came up with the theory that people with the initials ‘A’ and ‘B’ do better than those with the initials ‘C’ and ‘D’ (we assume that if you are called Yvonne Zebadiah you might as well just give up). And if you are a male who is losing his hair, you are also in trouble. A German study found that bald men are only half as likely to get a job as those with luxuriant locks because they are seen as ‘less dynamic’.

The ‘Tiswas generation’

Remember watching Tiswas as a kid on Saturday mornings? Then you’re probably part of what has been named the ‘Tiswas generation’, those brought up on the TV show but also standing for ‘Thirty-Somethings Without Any Savings’.

This generation of under-35s apparently need to be earning at least £320,000 a year if they want to retire at 63 on their current average salary of £27,700. The other alternative? Spend your retirement on £271 a month or don’t retire until you’re 76.

Once we’ve worked out what the Budget has really meant, we may have even less disposable income to stash away for our retirement years. Maybe we should get working on securing that promotion – or think about a career as an investment banker.

Bloggers beware

The joys of blogging and social networking seem to have taken over our modern lives and have created outlets for ordinary people like us to vent our frustrations and let our creative juices flow. But fellow bloggers and networkers, type with caution.

It was only last summer that employees from the well known directory enquiries company were facing the sack after setting up a Facebook group insulting their customers and claiming that amongst other things they had (and I quote) “wrote a few a******* callers’ numbers on the wall of public toilets and pasted them on many an internet site. Haha.” Oops.

Now it has come to light that a mystery civil servant blogger, known only as the “Civil Serf” is likely to face disciplinary action after her attack on the Government (as soon as they find out who she actually is.) She has ridiculed the PM and claimed that politicians are lazy and indecisive, saying “Ministers only take decisions at the weekend (probably) because they have their spouse and/or political adviser to do it for them.”

The lesson we should take from this? Remember that it is a small world out there - but that the virtual world is even smaller! At Hanson towers, we’d advise avoiding disclosing any unfavourable information about your workplace on the World Wide Web. It only takes one person to see it, for it to spread, leading to some uncomfortable conversations with HR and your boss and maybe even costing you your job. Alternatively be very clever and don’t get caught. Bloggers, take note.

Sleep

Or rather the lack of it makes us less able (if not downright dangerous) in the workplace according to sleep expert Dr Neil Stanley of the Norwich University Hospital. Sleep is as important as diet and exercise when it comes to the nation's health,” says Dr Stanley, “but we place no importance on it in our culture. When you are sleep deprived you are putting yourself in a stress situation. In our culture it is socially acceptable to have had no sleep and go into work, even though your ability to function is severely impaired and you could be dangerous.”

The good doctor recommends ‘power napping’ as a way of countering the effects of too little rest. “A 20-minute nap gives you an amazing boost, it's much better than having a coffee,” he says. “Even closing your eyes for 20 minutes is better than nothing, but in the UK it is culturally unacceptable for us to be found napping with our head on the keyboard. However, it's fine to pump yourself with caffeine even though it it's nowhere near as effective.”

Whilst nodding off at work is still largely unacceptable here, across the world in Japan it’s almost mandatory. Know as ‘inemuri’ or ‘to be asleep while present’, the custom is seen as a demonstration of how committed you are to the job (i.e. you are exhausted because you are putting in so many hours for the company). So well regarded is inemuri that many workers apparently fake it even if they aren’t really tired just to impress their bosses. Interesting place Japan. You simply couldn’t make this sort of stuff up.

Work in PR and live forever

Alright that’s a slight exaggeration, but, if figures released by the Office of National Statistics are to be believed, it does look as if you are working in the right profession if you want to live to a ripe old age. According to the figures, men in their late 20s and working in routine jobs such as bus driving, labouring or behind a bar, are five times more likely to die as those in the professions and in managerial roles. All this fits in neatly with the results of the famous ‘Whitehall’ survey carried out a while back by Sir Michael Marmot of University College Hospital. This study linked longevity to social status, reasoning that senior managers and directors are the most protected from stress (and its damaging effects) because they pass on to someone further down the food chain. Whatever you are engaged in, life expectancy in the UK is now apparently at its highest level ever. Boys born in this country can expect to live to an average of 76.9 years and girls to 81.3 years. Which does seem a bit unfair to your (male) author.

Recruiter Awards news...

There was good news in the Hanson camp last week as it was announced that Hanson Search has fought off some fierce competition to be shortlisted for the ‘Best Marketing Recruiter’ category at the 2008 Recruiter Awards in April. For those who aren’t familiar with the Recruiter Awards, some might say they’re the Oscars of the recruitment world - so without sounding too smug, we’re pretty impressed with ourselves! Fingers crossed and watch this space!

Fit for purpose

If, like so many of us, you over-did things during the festive season and are looking for ways to get back into shape, here’s some handy tips from Canadian fitness guru John Douwman, also known as ‘Johnny B. Fitt’ (any alarm bells ringing yet?) Douwman says that a little activity at work can help you feel strong and focused all day long. “There's lots of different things you can do,” he helpfully explains. According to him, sitting on a Swiss ball, instead of a chair is a good way to get the blood flowing, loosen the hips, improve posture and strengthen the lower back. “People can just sit on it and bounce a little bit, or they can do pelvis rotations on it.” He goes on to encourage his readers to use the ball and their own body weight for all kinds of strengthening exercises during the day - everything from heel raises (which work the calves) to squats (by standing up at your desk without leaning on it, and sitting down again on the ball). “Now some of the people in the office might think they're a little strange, but once this becomes more and more accepted, more and more people are going to be doing that," says Douwman, optimistically. Why not try this in your office and then let us know how you get on. And when you will be leaving. You simply couldn’t make this stuff up.

Flee the country

If the doomsayers do turn out to be right there are always plenty of other places to go and live and apparently most of them offer a better standard of living than the UK anyway. According to new research by HSBC an annual British salary would last you four years in Iran and nearly three in India. In Spain and the US it would keep you going for fifteen months, in Germany, Ireland and Australia for fourteen, in Canada for sixteen and in New Zealand for eighteen. In fact, it seems you would be better off practically anywhere else apart from France and Norway where your cash would run out after eleven months. But then the skiing or the wine would be better.