Aging Workforce in Singapore Essay Example for Free

Aging Workforce in Singapore Essay Populations in many developed countries are ageing, and Singapore is no exception. The first batch of post-war baby boomers will reach 65 years of age by 2012. The number of seniors will increase from 8.4% in 2005 to 18.7% in 2030 (refer to Table 1). According to the 2010 Population Report,  The proportion of residents (i.e. citizens and PRs) aged 65 and above increased from 7.0% of the resident population in 1999 to 8.8% in 2009. Correspondingly, the number of younger residents aged 15-64 for every resident aged 65 and above (i.e. the old-age support ratio) fell from 10. 1 in 1999 to 8.3 in 2009 (refer to Table 2). (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2010, p. 4) Today, one out of every 12 Singaporeans is aged 65 or above. By 2030, this ratio will become one out of five. On January 2011, the parliament has passed down the new employment law of changing to retirement age from 62 to the age of 65 from January 2012. This is a good news to many Singaporeans who felt that they are still capable of working beyond the retirement age of 62 (Nayak, 2011, para. 3). An ageing population brings both challenges and opportunities, having tremendous effect on all parts of our society – individuals, families, communities, businesses and government. Therefore, we ought to prepare early for the challenges of an ageing population to ensure the well-being of our seniors and their families to provide the first line of support. At the same time, we must be ready to seize the economic opportunities that will emerge from the demographic shift. Aging Workforce in the Hotel Industry With relevance to the major demographic trends, aging population, this revolution will change the face of our labour market. Correspondingly, the workforce is not only ageing, but also growing at a much slower pace. Increasingly, companies are facing problems in recruiting replacements for retiring employees. This is a reality that companies have to grapple with and adapt to. Nevertheless, not all companies are being affected equally nor are they moving at the same rate to identify and address how the ageing trend will be impacting their businesses. Impacts In the hospitality industry, service is the factor that differentiates hotels from its competitors. Therefore with a large amount of aging workforce in the frontline, it will bring down the image of the hotel in terms of appearance; a younger worker would look fresher and have a better appeal to guests. As a guest of a hotel overseas, he or she would be preferred to be served by younger workers than people of an old age. As older employees are naturally more prone to illnesses, they would tend to take more medical leaves thus decreasing the manpower. When one gets sick, it affects the employees’ mood to work and thus less concentration when working. This in turn reduces the efficiency of the operations of hotels. In addition, the needs and interest changes with aging workforce. According to the study by Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP) (2010), â€Å"rising health and insurance costs, concern about physical abilities, and adaptability/willingness were ranked as the top three challenges† (p. 3). With the ever changing preferences and needs of the society, hotels have to constantly upgrade their standard of services. However, older employees may not be equipped with latest skills and knowledge needed to achieve the hotel’s competitive advantage. Thus, there is a need to constantly upgrade the skills of their older employees. Older employees are more resistant to changes and improvements. This may be mainly due to their thinking of already having the appropriate experience and knowledge and there is no need for further training, especially in the situation of â€Å"leapfrogging†, where a younger worker is put in charge of a more experienced worker. Many hotels will have an advantage by having a large pool of elderly employees. It is mainly because there are many job positions which young employees would be unwilling to take up. Most time, foreigners would be hired to fill up the rest of the job vacancies that do not appeal to the young employees; however, hotels can have another avenue of recruitment – the elderly workforce. This will give hotels a great advantage to handpick the best candidates out of the pool of elderly workforce. In hotels, there are certain positions that elderly employees occupy, for example managerial positions. Being loyal to the company, they would not want to leave their positions easily as compared to the younger workforce who usually job hops for a better pay. This relieves the hotel’s need to constantly recruit and train new workers, thus helping to cut the costs during the process of recruitment and training. Challenges A) The Human Resource (HR) unit has a challenge to allocate the older employees in suitable positions that is beneficial for both the hotel and the aging workforce. The HR unit also has to ensure that the hotel would maintain a good image and increases their productivity. There is also a need for the HR unit to create a supportive culture for the older workers in order to manage such diverse workforce. B) Keeping older employees motivated at work along with the right attitude is important when serving their customers. In addition, with the older employees being more prone to illnesses, hotels have to struggle with ways to keep their costs low and at the same time provide adequate medical benefits for them. During such periods it is more crucial for managers and supervisors to show them care and patience. C) Values tend to change from one generation to another as well as during different life stages. The thinking of the older generation is more conservative than those of the younger generation. It would thus be a challenge for the hotels wanting the older employees to improve their values in their job scope. With a more conservative mindset and thinking, they would be afraid to try new things and be more innovative. In turn, the hotel will lose its competitiveness if new changes are adopted. Hence, the HR unit in a hotel has to place their older employees in the most relevant training to help them prepare for changes in their current jobs. Besides that, older employees would normally take a longer time to adapt to changes, thus the management has to work out appropriate schedules to help their employees to have a proper balance with their job and trainings. D) Older employees tend to have more skills and knowledge in the industry due to the experiences they have gone through. Retaining this skills and knowledge is critical for hotels to ensure that the younger generation will also have these basic skills and knowledge as a platform for them to have an advantage over their competitors. E) Although there is a need to retain these skills and knowledge, there will definitely be a time when one has to retire. However, the aging workforce is usually reluctant to leave their positions as they are emotionally attached to the hotel. This would be a challenge for the hotel to find ways to recruit younger employees, without resulting in excess manpower and high costs, especially for positions in the higher management. If the hotel were to retain most of the older employees, they may miss opportunities on recruiting young employees who can be a more valuable asset to the hotels which helps to bring their standards to a higher level. Solutions It is time for employers to start responding to the potential consequences of the ageing workforce on their businesses. If not well-prepared, employers may find themselves suddenly faced with labour loss, experience and expertise that will be difficult to offset, given the relatively small pool of new employees. With many companies facing the same problem, competition for new talents is likely to surface. A) Hotels can have interviews to know which areas older employees would prefer to work in and the languages they can speak. With the information gathered, hotels will be able to know their strengths and weaknesses which help to determine where to allocate each individual. With the proper job assignment, hotels will be able to maintain a good image, by reassigning the older employees with language barriers to the backhouse such as room attendant. This allows them to be in their comfort zone and after getting used to their task, the productivity will be maximized in both the frontline and backhouse. B) In order to keep older employees engaged and motivated, it is vital for the HR department to maintain constant communication with the older employees and understand any problems, issues and concerns that they are encountering. By treating their employees like family members, it may be a major job happiness-driver for them and thus motivating them to do better for the hotel. Besides that, communication and treating each other with respect ensures that the spirit of their employees is always high. Through job empowerment, employees will have more decision making responsibilities and hence they will feel more respected as an employee as they are given a chance to handle more difficult situation on their own. As for medical benefits, hotels can pay a certain percentage of their medical fees. For example, the hotels will pay 50% of their employee’s medical fees while the other 50% is paid by the employees. C) Facing the challenge that older generation is more conservative, companies can focus on creating a positive work environment for older employees by allowing flexible hours, more communication and constantly motivating them. Some of the actions can be allowing the older employees to have an option to consider different jobs and different sets of responsibilities. Some older employees may wish to devote their later career years to jobs that allow them to develop new competencies. Others may want jobs that are less demanding, these older employees may be interested in making transitions to different jobs within the company or make lateral moves or even to lower positions with a pay reduction. Other than that, the hotel can allow them to have a choice over the number of hours worked and provide them with flexible schedule for trainings. For example, older employees work on reduced-hours such as part-time or job sharing, so as to schedule the rest of their time for trainings that are a rranged for them. D) To retain the skills and knowledge, the older employees can train and guide the younger employees before they retire to ensure that the skills and knowledge are passed down. After retirement, they can come back and help out by overlooking and having workshops to give further training that is needed. E) To attract the younger people, creative ways are needed. For example, the hotel can come up with a program like the popular show â€Å"The Apprentice† by Donald Trump to search for the best employee. However, we must ensure there is no excessive pool of manpower and costs are kept low. The hotels can allow their older employees to be on-call workers or have flexible work schedules. On-call workers are employees who are called to work only when needed, although they can be scheduled for work for several days or weeks in a row. In days when the hotels need a massive number of employees, the on-call workers will be called back. By providing flexible work schedules, older employees are allowed to plan their work schedules with the choice over the number of hours worked. This will prolong the retirement period for older employees by allowing them to work but at a lesser duration, so that younger employees have the chance to excel and there will not be a surplus or shortage in th e manpower. Case Study: Royal Plaza on Scott The Royal Plaza on Scott is a 5-star leading hotel in Singapore. 50% of the hotel 300 employees are classified under the mature and older category. The company recognized the importance of mature employees and has sets out strategy as Singapore faces human capital challenge of managing a mature and older workforce. According to Fiat (2010), The mature employees are valuable assets to the organization as they are able to share their wealth of experience with the younger employees. The hotel taps on their expertise by pairing the mature employees with the younger generation of new hires to provide guidance and encourage cohesiveness. The hotel also implemented a buddy system where a new mature employee is paired with a younger co-worker or vice versa to work together and learn from each other. For example, younger employees may learn from mature and older employees on how to handle difficult customers while guiding their older colleagues on the effective usage of technology at the workplace. (TAFEP, p. 45) Royal Plaza on Scott has developed recruitment strategies like implementing Flexible Working Arrangements (FWA), where there is a flexible work arrangement which includes flexi-time, part time, job shares and compressed workweeks. Health benefits and programmes will also be implemented including regular health screening, health talk, yoga courses, sushi-making classes and others. This is to encourage for a healthy work life balance. Another great strategy used is to set up a Recreational Committee that was assigned to take care of the well being of co-worker. This committee will be in charge of organizing health awareness events, initiatives to create awareness of healthy lifestyle as well as to bond employees of difference generations (TAFEP, 2010, p.46).

Napoleon Betrayed the Revolution Essay -- Napoleon Bonaparte French Re

Napoleon Betrayed the Revolution In order to investigate the claim that ‘Napoleon betrayed the revolution’, it has to be determined what is the French revolution? And what are the revolutionary ideals that Napoleon allegedly betrayed? If Napoleon betrayed the Revolution then he betrayed the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity. However if Napoleon did not betray the revolution, he consolidated the revolutionary ideals. The only way of determining whether Napoleon consolidated or betrayed the revolution is to explore his actions such as his military success, Dictatorship and social reforms. The difficulty of this analysis is that Napoleons motives for his actions determine whether he consolidated or betrayed the Revolution. If Napoleon betrayed the revolution, then he betrayed the ideals of Liberty, equality and fraternity. For it is ideals rather than realities that Napoleon allegedly betrayed. The reality of the French revolution is 8 periods of constant change and successions of policies and leaders, with each new leader and party bringing amendments to the revolution. Napoleon’s â€Å"coupd’e`tat of 18 brumaire was an insurance against both Jacobin revolution and Royalist restoration.† The French people expected Napoleon to bring back peace, order and to consolidate the political and social conquests of the Revolution. Napoleon considered these conquests to be â€Å"the sacred rights of property, equality and liberty.† If Napoleon gained power with the promise of upholding the principals of the French Revolution how did he betray the revolution? Many historians argue that Napoleon was an effective but ambitious leader. This ambition led to a dictatorship, which they consi der Napoleons ultimate betrayal. However other Historians such as Tombs and Furet see Napoleon’s regime as â€Å"the most convincing though temporary solution to the political and ideological problems bequeathed by the Revolution.† Napoleons dictatorship can also be considered a natural progression from the authoritarian nature of the French revolution. One idea is that is undebatable is - if Napoleon betrayed the French Revolution, this means that his actions, motives and policies were disloyal to the Revolutionary ideals of Liberty, equality and Fraternity. Napoleon was an outstanding military commander and enjoyed many successful campaigns. Napoleon maintained the Revolutionary syst... ...ad amassed. Bibliography Broers, Michael Europe Under Napoleon 1799-1815 Arnold, London, 1996 Ellis, Geoffrey Profiles in Power: Napoleon, Longman, New York, 1997 Encyclopaedia Britannica, CD Rom, Standard Edition, 1999 Furet, Francois ‘Napoleon Bonaparte’ in G, Kates(ed.) The French Revolution: Recent Debates and New Controversies Clarendon Press, Oxford (1997) Gildea, Robert Barricades and Borders: Europe 1800-1914, Oxford University Press, New York 2nd edn, 1996 Napoleon, Conversation, 1800 Herold, J.Christopher (ed.) The Mind of Napoleon (London,1955), item no.106 Holmberg, Tom The empire between dictatorship and monarchy http://www.iselinge.nl/napoleon/html/body_nap_and_revolution.html, 1998 Napoleon to the French Nation, 15 Dec 1799, Howard, John Letters and Documents of Napoleon (London, 1961) p.428. Lyons, Martyn Napoleon Bonaparte and the Legacy of the French Revolution Macmillan, London, 1994 Schroeder, Paul The Transformation of European Politics 1763-1848 Clarendon Press, Oxford 1994 Tombs, Robert France 1814-1914, Longman, NewYork, 1996 War Times Journal Napoleonic Wars website http://www.wtj.com/portal/wars/modern/napoleonic/

Introduction to Statistics

Random Sample: each member of the population has the same chance of being selected Representative Sample: characteristics should represent those of the target population without bias Observational Study: no intervention by the investigator, no treatment imposed Experimental Study: Investigator has some control over the determinant Variables: Categorical – each observation falls into a feline number of groups Nominal: named variables with no implied order e. G. Personality type Ordinal: grouped variables with implied order e. G. Veil of education Continuous – measured variables Discrete: take discrete values e. G. Number of children Numerical: can assume any value within a certain range/elemental e. G. Height Types of Designs: True experiment: researcher has potential to randomly allocate observations to conditions Quasi-experiment: demonstrate a relationship between an IV/DVD researcher makes use of naturally occurring groups, can't make cause and effect statements Non- experiments (correlation design): question If there Is a relationship between variables, can't make cause & effect statementsBetween groups: two groups being compared on some outcome measure Within-subjects: participants experience each condition of an IV, with measurements of some outcome taken on each occasion Extraneous variables: variable present In an experiment, which might Interfere with the relationship between IV & DVD Confounding variables: mediating variable that can adversely affect the relation between IV/DVD Internal validity: extent to which a casual relationship can be assumed between IV & DVD.External validity: degree to which you can generalize the results of your study to mom underlying population T-test One sample t-test – A: data should arise from a normal population Paired t-test -A: must be independent, arise from a normal distribution & populations of same spreads Independent sample – A: normally distributed, homogeneity of variances, independen ce of the observations Correlation/Regression – A: the relation in the population is linear, the residuals in y have a constant standard deviation and the residuals arise from a normal distribution detests of good fit and test of independence – A: expected count has to be larger than five

Prevention / Containment Measures For Cyber Threats

1. Prevention/Containment Measures for Cyber Threats. Protecting classified documents or valuable information is very hard against any kind of cyber-terrorism, there are no universal safeguards. There is no existence of any agreement or policy to define cyber-terrorism. Threats can come from hackers, criminal group or terrorist group; governments use computers and internet to attack without knowing the victims. It is not easy to stop such attacks but not impossible to stop if following basic prevention steps follows by organizations administration. †¢ Maintain an Accurate Inventory of Control System Devices and Eliminate Any Exposure of this Equipment to External Networks †¢ Implement Network Segmentation and Apply Firewalls †¢ Use Secure†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Security policy must be created and train personnel against attack like not opening suspicious or unidentified emails, keep restriction on unsecured websites etc. †¢ Regular testing for defense software should be conducted 2. Preventing and Detecting Cyber Threats using Commercial Log monitoring software’s. The possibility of signs of cyber security incidents may arise every day and recorded or logged in security software, but it will be difficult to trace each one of threats as high importance and low importance. Based on requirements organization need to identify the most applicable software for detecting and logging the cyber-attack, It is not only the case of logging and monitoring cyber-attack analysis is very important part need to be considered before choosing any software. There are four key phases which need to follow for effective cyber security monitoring as follows: †¢ Collect relevant event data †¢ Fuse events together †¢ Analyze anomalous events †¢ Take appropriate action Figure1: Four key monitoring phases The proper guide shown in the figure 2: Cyber Security Framework how to implement cyber monitoring capability which will support using cyber security software. The capability of security intelligence helps to identify and respond back to security threats. Both company and provider of cyber security software need to focus on monitoring and software, security of company assets, responses and organizational operation.Show MoreRelatedSecurity Threats That Affect Small Medium Enterprises ( Smes ) Essay1747 Words   |  7 Pagessecurity threats that affect Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs), as well as countermeasures and defenses that can be utilised in order to mitigate the ramifications of such threats. Threats to businesses and organisations can catagorised into both internal and external security, with some overlap; the defences against external threats, and the protocols and principals to prevent internal threats will be discussed later in this report. It can be safely inferred that the most costly threats to SMEs areRead MoreOntology Of Information Security In Enterprises. Stephen1483 Words   |  6 Pagesmeasureable strategic outcomes against which business decisions regarding security are made. The proposed model advocates symmetry between security prevention, prediction and fail-safe concepts. To ensure the appropriate use of security, a business value model is defined that is a function of financial, operational and security-based quality assurance measures. The concept of value chain is used to describe the relationship between an organization’s strategy and its resources responsible for the executionRead MoreCyber Deterrence And Its Impact On Western Europe1518 Words   |  7 PagesWhat is Cyber Deterrence? Merriam-Webster defines deterrence as the act of making someone decide not to do something or the act of preventing a particular act or behavior from happening (Merriam-Webster, 2015) . This can be applied to the cyber realm in the sense that we need to deter terrorists, state actors and non-state actors from attempting attacks on U.S. networks. To understand how to apply cyber deterrence we have to look at past policies or theories on deterrence. Deterrence theory firstRead MoreTerrorism Prevention And The Homeland Security1793 Words   |  8 Pagesconcept of homeland security in America. Terrorism drastically evolved, and stapled tried and true practices that were set in place were not effective any more. These types of attack trigger an analysis that is required to close the loopholes where threats could emerge. Ideas like using a Boeing 747 as a weapon was never seen until that day. While there were security checkpoints were in place to prevent attacks at the airport, a much needed change was required to prevent the usage of an airplane toRead MoreDefense Against a Cyber Attack with Malicious Code Prevention Plan3399 Words   |  14 PagesThe name Malicious Code (Malware) Prevention Plan uses a strategy of defense in depth using operational, human, and technical controls for effectiveness. Used properly, the technical controls available to the TVA organization (TVAO) is effective in stopping a majority of malicious code threats. However, the trusted insider normally has the access needed to turn a threat into an operational risk. As to external threats, the TVAO can expect a continued pattern of organized criminal involvement andRead MoreDefense Of Depth : Is It Applicable On Today? S Environment?2799 Words   |  12 Pagesin the late 1100s. The castle had multiple layers of defense such as a moat, walls, a fence of snakes and an 83-foot tower. Today?s defe nse in depth approach regarding cybersecurity involves the use of anti-virus software, firewalls, intrusion prevention systems and the use of multi-factor authentication. The current defense in depth architecture is viewed by some as irrelevant and outdated, but when used in conjunction with other innovative methods, it is still a valuable cybersecurity networkRead MoreQuestions On Blue Moon Financial3400 Words   |  14 PagesOverview 4 1. Responding to the Incident 4 First Steps 4 Begin Logbook 4 Rule Out False Positives 4 Identify Attack Vector and Target 5 Who is Involved? 5 Information Security Team 5 Management 6 Law Enforcement 6 Legal Counsel 6 Additional Protection Measures 7 2. Communication and Coordination Plan 7 Who Calls Who and When 7 Important Internal Contacts 7 Important Local Contacts 8 Incident Priorities 9 Response Priorities 9 Communication during the Response 10 Flow of Information 10 Technical SolutionsRead MoreCyber Security And The Department Of Homeland Security3262 Words   |  14 PagesSecretary Johnson, this memo is being addressed to you on the basis that the foreign policy issue that is threats to cyber security is of interest to the Department of Homeland Security. In brief explanation of the issue at hand, it can be concluded that the major foreign policy problem of cyber security threats has created and will continue to create imitate danger to the United States of America. The act of breaching the security sustained around private networks has become renowned as a type ofRead MoreNsa Capstone Project Essay16270 Words   |  66 Pagesstudents and various locations, a user guide web page will be necessary. We need to make sure that all clients needs and wants are identified and implemented in this project and making sure that client is fully satisfied with the project plan. 1.3.2 Measure Project Quality Constantly making sure that everything in the is following the laws and also that everything is following the needs of the client and that everything is running smoothly and accurately. Constant checks and test runs will accuratelyRead MoreContemporary Issues in Management Accounting211377 Words   |  846 Pages‘ FOREWORD Anthony Hopwood PREFACE Alnoor Bhimani CONTRIBUTORS 1. New measures in performance management Thomas Ahrens and Christopher S Chapman 2. Contract theory analysis of managerial accounting issues Stanley Baiman 3. Reframing management accounting practice: a diversity of perspectives Jane Baxter and Wai Fong Chua 4. Management accounting and digitization Alnoor Bhimani 5. The contingent design of performance measures Robert H. Chenhall 6. Integrated cost management Robin Cooper and Regine