PR, marcomms, recruitment and all the bits in between

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.

Freelance update

The government seems intent on making life as difficult as possible for the self-employed, what with IR35 and the recent crackdown on many of the ‘umbrella’ companies and the possible effects of this on the small army of freelancers working in PR. 2007 saw a small victory for the forces of resistance in the seemingly interminable Arctic Systems case where HMRC failed in its bid to stop husband and wife limited companies from sharing dividends to maximise tax savings. However celebrations are likely to be short-lived. Exchequer Secretary, Angela Eagle, has now stated that she is looking to “bring forward proposals for changes to legislation”, which will take away this right. The campaign to push freelancers onto permanent payrolls goes on.