The Pitter-Patter Of Tiny “Royal” Feet

Baby Love………check out our latest blog, on how best to manage your Maternity and Paternity absences.

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The arrival of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s third child is now imminent. All babies are special but somehow the birth of a “Royal Baby” brings with it an extra something, an extra special sparkle

The Great British public have always rejoiced when a Princess or “Duchess”, is due to give birth. The time spent waiting outside the hospital for any news, fades into insignificance once the baby has been born, as they happily celebrate with the Royal couple.

The obligatory photo-call on the steps, that all-important first glimpse of the new infant Prince or Princess are unique moments, happily shared, documented in time forever.

Yes, it’s reasonable to say a Royal Birth is somewhat unique.

So, what happens once everyone is back at Kensington Palace and the real hard work begins? What of William and Kate as parents to three small children – as maternity and paternity leave goes, this “time off” is pretty extraordinary.

With regards to Prince William’s role, he is a future King and as a full time Royal, he still has obligations. On the flip side however, he is just like any other husband and father; he will still need and want time off, not only to help Kate but to have that cherished bonding time with his new baby.

By having baby number three, are William and Kate, global modernisers that they both are, setting a trend by moving away from the traditional 2.5? Is now the time that we are going to see a return and an inclination towards a desire for larger families?

By putting careers first, people are also choosing to start their families later in life. Fathers are currently more likely to take their paternity leave than ever before. With that information in mind, workplaces and “palaces” need to be confident that they have the necessary processes in place, in order to manage their mandatory leave of absence. Maternity and paternity leave is perhaps going to become a bigger topic in the coming years.

Shared Parental Leave (SPL) is another choice that parents have, something which, depending upon your circumstances can prove to be an attractive option. No doubt this is something, as an impending mother of three, the Duchess of Cambridge would be happy to consider.

Maternity and paternity leave; shared or not, needn’t be a daunting experience for any Human Resource Department. With the right processes in place, this scheduled leave/time off CAN be managed appropriately.

ELF Productivity Limited’s, Time and Attendance Ceequel® software suite is the current forerunner in automated processes; our leading array of software contains a centralised Human Resource module which will enhance your Time and Attendance processes. This module comprises, amongst others, an absence view that encompasses all elements of Maternity, Paternity and Parental Leave. Another division of the Human Resource module is Training and Development. This field will prove to be an extremely useful tool, especially if you require or need extra training for that scheduled maternity cover.

The Graphical Absence View and Planner will also provide you with an overview of an employee’s absence for any selected year – thus allowing time for future planning.

Flexible-working, part-time working, complex shift patterns, TOIL (Time off in Lieu) – no – these are not scenarios from the day in the life of a typical Royal, they are just a few of the other complexities that ELF Productivity Limited can also help you with.

So, with that in mind are you in need of an extra “majestic” safe pair of hands for your company? Do you need a “regal” and sophisticated software system to help you stay up to date with all the Human Resource developments in your company? If so, choose the best Human Resource module on the market, choose ELF.

If you would like to know more about the supreme functionality of Ceequel® Software Suite, including our leading Time and Attendance modules; the downloadable catalogue of brochures can be found here.

Contact ELF Productivity today for a free no obligation quotation and demonstration of Ceequel® software.

They Think It’s All Over……

“It’s coming home, it’s coming home” – Check out our World Cup blog as the countdown to Russia 2018 begins.

“They think it’s all over ….it is now!”

Those immortal words, spoken by Kenneth Wolstenholme at Wembley Stadium on 30th July 1966, were in celebration of the glorious and “only” England FIFA World Cup victory. Months of hard toil by the squad had paid off and the country celebrated like never before.

Yes, it’s that time again! The FIFA World Cup in Russia kicks off in just over three months’ time and football fever is already hotting up!

The England team’s expectations are high and given their polished qualification result, so is their preparation. As we get ready to enter into the most special of football tournaments, what are England’s chances this year? Could this be the year that England show up and deliver the greatest football of THEIR time and THEIR generation?

Every four years, homes and workplaces across the country suddenly become engrossed in the national side. Everyone has their opinion on how the team should play and everybody is an “expert”. Football becomes THE number one discussion, as conversations consist of but not exclusively, to the following:-

The Techno Hipster
This particular persona is often found at their local watering hole, usually dressed in skinny chinos, holding a pint in one hand, whilst pontificating to anyone that will listen about statistics, data analysis and the science “behind” the game – all the time caressing his somewhat striking beard!

The Best Wannabe Manager in the World
“What were they thinking of putting HIM into the line-up ……. HE’S USELESS!!!”

The Irksome Colleague
In their head, this person IS Ronaldo! They love nothing more than accosting people for several minutes/hours at a time in the kitchen, by the photocopier etc. Likes to dissect and relive every second of the match with you………… married to the game!

The Fantasy Penalty Taker
This individual knows the exact run-up, angle, time, distance and grass length it requires to take the perfect penalty. They never fail to relay this information during a match, as unlike the England team, THEIR penalties ALWAYS hit the back of the net!

The Suburban Social Climber
This particular neighbour “suddenly” finds that their dog can dribble and head a ball into any net, open window or doorway. They take great pleasure in alerting the entire neighbourhood to this rare feat; usually regaled at their obligatory World Cup Soiree’. For the duration of the tournament, “said dog” is nicknamed “Maradogga”!

Here at ELF Productivity Limited, we too are partial to a World Cup party. The “ELF Boss” is pretty generous in allowing us time-out to watch the game. He’s partial to, pretty much ALL of the post-match chit-chat that ultimately resonates around the company after a “big match”. Refer to “The Best Wannabe Manager in the World” point.

All joking apart, it is fair to say that England loves and enjoys the “beautiful game”.

The odds on England making it through the group stages have increased this year. The team is vibrant and hungry for success. What if this year WAS England’s time?

So, with that in mind, if England were to get through to the knock-out stages once again, what processes are in place for your workplace this summer; to help not only with a jolly “end of term” atmosphere but to manage the “sudden” absence requests?

Have your current processes, like a lot of Premiership players, turned out to be under-performing gaffes? Is now the time for you to “blow the whistle” and show them YOUR “red card”?

ELF Productivity Limited’s, Time and Attendance software suite is the current market leader in automated processes. Key elements within Ceequel® are two remote applications; Ceequel® Mobile Apps and Employee Self Service. These applications, that have been created for Android, Apple and Windows devices, will ultimately improve your Time and Attendance processes. They not only permit employees to clock “in and out” remotely, allowing for a more flexible working pattern but they will also “pin-point” the exact location of your remote workers.

Ceequel® is constantly progressing and we are currently refining our Time and Attendance software with fresh concepts, designs and ideas.

If you would like to know more about the supreme functionality of Ceequel® Software Suite, including our leading Time and Attendance modules; the downloadable catalogue of brochures can be found here.

Contact ELF Productivity today for a free no obligation quotation and demonstration of Ceequel® software and make 2018 the year that you “strike out” and gain a winning team-mate for your company.

Managed Employee Self Service

Employee self service systems were designed with one focus in mind to help free up time for a businesses human resource department by delegating tasks such as the updating of personal information back over to the employee. This means many people believe that the system therefore requires no management this however isn’t nessiceraly true.

Employee Self Service

Many businesses believe that an employee self-service system doesn’t require managing. In most cases this is true, as employees can be left to their own devices without assistance.  However introducing new technologies or processes into any company requires some management even if it’s just down to effectively communicating its benefits to your employees or educating them on its use.

Ensuring you choose the right employee self-service system for your organisation is crucial. The software needs to be user friendly for every employee and accommodate all of your organisational needs.  Launching a complicated system that’s hard to understand would significantly cost your business time and money as staff would require extensive training and support.  Once you choose the right system for your organisation, employees should not just be expected to “get on with it”. Effective training should always be provided on the new system and companies investing in educating staff from the onset, find its adoption and effectiveness provides a quicker return on investment.

Once your employees have been educated, companies should continue to monitor the system in order to safeguard against its misuse.  CEEQUEL tracks what information your employees are amending through the process of approvals. Managers can configure the system to notify them when employees change personal details, update next of kin and emergency contacts, provide bank details or request any form of absence. Managers are asked to sanitise and approve any changed prior to them being committed within the live system. CEEQUEL is designed to reduce the amount of manual processes employed, and by devolving the upkeep of information, reduces the negative workload many HR Teams have to endure.

For more information on how an employee self-service system can help your company adopt a hands off approaches contact us today!

 

Onwards and upwards – We’re moving!

We are delighted to announce that we will be relocating offices on the 16th May 2016.

Ceequel house

Well, after 16 years at our current location – we’ve finally run out of space.  Another year of double-digit growth, and impressive plans for the business has meant that we physically can’t get any more desks in to our current offices.

We need to increase headcount to enable us to get to the places we want to go and most importantly – continue to offer our customers the first class support they’ve become accustomed to.

Therefore we are pleased to announce that we will be moving offices as of 16th May 2016.

But don’t worry, you can still speak to us on exactly the same telephone numbers as you’ve always contacted us on. Email correspondence will be sent out to our customers closer to the time.

However if you do have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us

Our new office address:

ELF Productivity Ltd,

CEEQUEL House,

2 Smithy Court,

Smithy Brook Road,

Wigan,

WN3 6PS