Probabil ca ati observat ca DespreFirme s-a schimbat saptamana asta. In afara de look-ul nou, am facut site-ul mai intuitiv si mai prietenos. Modificarile esentiale s-au facut in structura forumurilor noastre. Am adoptat un standard mai “ortodox”. Veti vedea cum toate mesajele sunt acum categorisite intr-un topic separat, alaturi de comentariile directe si feedback-ul altor useri pornind de la mesajul postat initial. Multe dintre mesajele vechi din forumuri au fost puse in topic-ul “general”. Oricum, daca ai un comentariu sau o intrebare noua despre o firma, posteaza-le intr-un mesaj nou sub un topic nou. Astfel, comentariul sau intrebarea ta va avea o vizibilitate mai mare pentru ceilalti utilizatori.

Una din schimbari a generat deja feedback. Printr-un simplu click pe pseudonimul unui utilizator, poti vedea o lista cu toate mesajele sale de pe site. Credem ca aceasta optiune este foarte importanta pentru ca ofera posibilitatea utilizatorilor de a judeca credibilitatea fiecarui mesaj. Oamenii iau decizii reale, importante in cariera lor bazandu-se pe feedback-ul citit pe site-ul nostru, iar noi suntem aici sa va ajutam sa gasiti informatii cat mai oneste si corecte pe care sa va bazati. Asadar, aceasa imbunatatire va ramane, cu parere de rau pentru cei care cred in teoria conspiratiei.

De asemenea, introducem reclama pe site. Am semnat cu mari servere de publicitate care vor adauga reclama pe site, undeva la sfarsitul acestei luni. Cei carora le vom face publicitate NU vor avea nicio legatura cu managementul companiei noastre iar reclama nu va afecta sub nicio forma continutul sau buna desfasurare a site-ului. Vom continua sa mentinem o redactie complet independenta, indiferent de costuri, si va garantam anonimitatea ca si pana acum.

In continuare, vom lucra din greu la imbunatatirea anumitor optiuni ale site-ului, in mod special la notarea companiilor si la statistica salariilor. Avem o echipa care trece prin toata baza de date pentru a verifica toate rezultatele date de statistici pentru ca acum nu suntem foarte multumiti, nu credem ca acestea individualizeaza utilizatorul.

Pentru final, va apreciem feedback-ul si va rugam sa ne anuntati oricand observati ca apar probleme, bug-uri pe site-ul nou. Suntem aici pentru voi asa ca spuneti-ne ce va doriti ca sa putem face site-ul dupa gustul si nevoile voastre. Ne pare rau, nu dam pizza gratis si nici premii de 1000 Euro, doar fapte reale despre piata muncii. Multa bafta tuturor!

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Changes

You may have noticed some changes at DespreFirme this week. Aside from the new look, we have been working to make the site more intuitive and user friendly. The essential changes are to the structure of our forums. We have adopted a more orthodox standard. You will see that all messages are now catalogued in a separate topic, with direct comments and feedback from other users following on from the initial posting in that topic. Most of the old messages from the forums have been thrown together under a ‘general’ topic heading. However, if you have a new comment or question about an employer, post it in a new message under a new topic. That way your comment or question will have greater visibility to other users.

One change has already generated some feedback. You can now click on the screen name of a user and see a listing of all the posts that that user has written on the site. We feel that this feature is key in allowing the user community the ability to further judge the credibility of each user that has posted their thoughts. People are making real and important career decisions based on the feedback they read on our site, and we are here to serve the greater good of those individuals looking for more honest and accurate information upon which to base those decisions. Thus, that change is here to stay (sorry conspiracy theorists).

We are also introducing advertising to the site. We have signed up with major ad server that will be inserting advertising in the site, sometime by the end of this month. The advertisers will have NO interaction with the management of our company and the ad’s will in no way affect the running or the content of the site. We will continue to maintain a complete and total editorial independence, regardless of the cost, and guarantee your user anonymity as before.

Going forward, we will be working hard to improve certain features in the site, particularly company ratings and salary search. We have a team going through those databases to fine tune the feedback that those modules are given, as we are not at present very happy with the results, and do not feel they offer much value to the individual user.

Finally, we appreciate your feedback, so please take the time to let us know of any kinks, bugs and failures you see in the new site. We are here for you, so let us know what you want and we can better tailor the site, and your experience on it, to suit your needs. Sorry no free pizza, and no 1000 EUR prizes, just cold hard facts about the job market. Good luck to all.

Banca Nationala preconizeaza pentru acest semestru o crestere a economiei de 10% datorita recoltei din acest an ce pare a fi mai mare decat se anticipa. Banca a facut o treaba foarte buna ingreunand conditiile de obtinere a creditelor, dar economia continua sa creasca.

Nu e nici un secret in faptul ca preturile si salariile au crescut intr-un ritm extraordinar in ultimii doi ani. Avem de-a face cu acel tip de inflatie de care economistii se tem cel mai mult: anticiparea cresterii preturilor va creste si pretentiile salariale? Sau este vorba despre povestea unei economii care se dezbraca de hainele neproductive si subevaluate si se aliniaza nivelului european?

Iarna ne va raspunde. Bula de sapun imobiliara se va sparge complet si multi dintre noi care se simteau milionari in pamanturi si apartamente se vor simti mai putin bogati. In afara de asta, consider ca Romania isi va surprinde vecinii europeni prin cresterea continua. Pe langa toate acele povesti despre coruptie si incompetenta din Guvern, Romania are doua mari avantaje fata de verii europeni.

In primul rand, romanii muncesc mai mult decat restul Europei. Studii recente au aratat ca romanii muncesc, in medie, cele mai multe ore din toate Europa. Veti rade stiind cu ce viteza sunt construite autostrazile, dar hei!, daca un muncitor sta in lopata timp de atat de multe ore pe zi, tot invata sa sape la un momentdat, nu? Serios vorbind, am incredere ca productivitatea va continua sa creasca mai repede decat va scadea numarul de ore muncite.

In al doilea rand, romanii sunt mai tineri si mai intreprinzatori decat restul europenilor. Asta s-ar putea sa nu tina mult din moment ce tinerii fac cativa copii, migratia muncitorilor imbatraneste artificial populatia, dar Romania tot este locul cel mai prietenos pentru afaceri pentru tineri fata de vestul Europei. Intr-o tara bogata (majoritatea oamenilor isi detin casele fara credite) este mai usor sa-ti gasesti locul si sa pornesti la drum. Romania este locul perfect sa risti atunci cand esti tanar. Suntem crescuti si traim sub un stat care are grija de noi (cu un sistem social ce ofera sprijin), dar nici unul din noi nu crede ca statul va fi de partea sa atunci cand vom fi batrani, bolnavi sau pensionari. Deci, deocamdata, fara sa platim foarte mult la sistemul social, putem sa ne investim fondurile in noi aventuri (sau haine noi, masini noi, macar sa ne bucuram de clipa si de cresterea economica).

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The economy grows MORE!

The National Bank is predicting that the economy may grow at a rate of 10% this quarter as the profits of this year’s harvest look to be greater than anticipated. The bank has been doing a great job of making loans harder to get and more expensive for people to afford, but the economy keeps on growing.

It is no secret that prices and wages have been rising at an amazing pace for the last two years. Is it the type of inflation that economists fear most: spiraling anticipation of further price hikes fuelling greater wage demands? Or is it the story of an economy shedding its unproductive and undervalued skin, catching up to its European peers?

This winter will bring us the answer. The property bubble is going to burst quite completely, and many of us who thought we were millionaires in land and apartments are going to feel a lot less wealthy. Aside from that though I think Romania is going to surprise its European neighbors by continuing to grow. For all the corruption and incompetence stories told about the Government, Romania has two major advantages over its European cousins.

First, Romanians work more than the rest of Europe. Recent studies have shown that Romanians work, on average, the most hours per week of any European nation. You may laugh given the snail’s pace at which roads are built, but hey, if a guy hangs on to his shovel for that many hours a day, he must learn how to dig some time, right? But seriously, I am confident that productivity will continue to increase faster than the amount of hours people want to work decreases.

Second, Romanians are younger and more entrepreneurial than the rest of Europe. That may not be the case for long as young people are having few kids, and worker migration is artificially aging the population, but Romania is still a much more business friendly place than most of Western Europe for young people. In an asset rich country (most people own their homes without debt) it is easier to find space and get started. Younger people have the perfect metaphysical existence to take risks in Romania. We are raised and living under a caretaker state (all encompassing social system), but one in which none of us has any faith that it will be around when we are old, sick and ready to retire. So, for now, without any overburdening costs of a social welfare system, we can invest those funds in new ventures (or new clothes and cars, at least living for the moment and enjoying the economic growth).

In Statele Unite, recesiunea a inceput sa influenteze serios profitul firmelor care pana acum au rezistat turbulentelor din ultimile 18 luni. Asa cum consumatorii din SUA cheltuiesc mai putin, companiile se asteapta la o crestere a veniturilor mai lenta sau chiar la o scadere a vanzarilor. Cum majoritatea castigurilor din productia de baza a scazut, a aparut un nou fenomen: taxarea angajatilor.

Acest fenomen este un procedeu contabil obisnuit prin care se administreaza procesul de alocare a costurilor. De exemplu, hartia pentru imprimanta poate fi cumparata de catre o companie mare intr-un mod centralizat. Costurile hartiei trebuie sa fie corect atribuite pentru fiecare departament in parte. Imprimantele din fiecare departament afiseaza numarul de hartii printate lunar si astfel se poate observa cat “cheltuie” departamentele respective. In acest fel, se pot administra in mod eficient profitul sau bugetul.

Recent, aceasta eficienta a fost dusa la un nou nivel in companii, atribuind un cost direct fiecarui angajat. Sumele care sunt considerate ca fiind folosite in interes personal sau peste limita bugetului, intra in responsabilitatea angajatului. Aceasta procedura este foarte buna in teorie dar conduce la cateva surprize. BBC scria despre o companie care dadea angajatilor sai din departamentul de vanzari cate un Blackberry dar le scadea din salariu costul telefonului si factura lunara a convorbirilor. Ca sa nu mai vorbim de impactul moral pe care il au aceste incercari de a face economie, de senzatia ca cineva iti sufla in ceafa. Aceasta procedura este imorala deoarece le cere angajatilor sa plateasca pentru echipamente si servicii care le sunt vitale pentru indeplinirea activitatilor atribuite.

In Romania vedem de ani de zile cum companiile incearca sa-si tina angajatii prin obligatia de a-si plati trainingurile. DespreFirme sustine ca aceasta practica este imorala pentru ca le cere indivizilor sa plateasca pentru a dispune de toate cele necesare indeplinirii sarcinilor job-ului.

In ceea ce priveste “taxarea angajatilor”, noi avem un punct de parere diferit. Consideram ca firmele sunt responsabile de inradacinarea ideii conform careia resursele companiilor sunt privilegii. Aceasta idee denaturata a dus la nasterea unui mediu propice abuzului. Intr-un cerc vicios, multe companii din Romania au restrictionat accesul la resursele sale, facand astfel ca acestea sa para un lux si, astfel, dezirabile.

Romaniei i-ar prinde bine o doza mare de control software pentru a stabili o transparenta a sistemului care taxeaza efectiv personalul pentru faptul ca se folosesc de echipamente. Oricum, mana in mana cu investitiile in software ar trebui sa existe si investitiile in training-uri pentru a stabili faptul ca resursele firmei sunt o responsabilitate si nu un privilegiu. O taxare transparenta a angajatului i-ar oferi acestuia o putere mai mare de apreciere a costurilor afacerii si constiinta ca trebuie sa produca pentru a obtine profit.

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Employee Charge Back

The recession in the USA is beginning to bite into the profitability of firms, which until now have stayed resilient to the various turbulences of the past 18 months. As consumers in the US are spending less, companies can expect slower revenue growth or more probably a drop in sales. As most of the obvious productivity gains have been squeezed out of the system, an interesting new phenomenon is appearing: Employee Chargebacks.

Chargeback is a standard accounting practice to manage the process of allocating costs. For example, printing paper may be purchased centrally by a large corporation. The cost for the paper must be correctly distributed to each of the companies departments that used printers. Data collected by each department’s printer shows exactly how many pieces of paper were printed over the period of the invoice, and thus the cost of each piece of paper is Charged Back to the department. In this way, each profit, or budget, center can effectively manage its costs.

Recently, this efficiency has been taken to new level in service companies, affiliating each direct cost with an individual employee. Charges that may be then considered personal use, or above the budgetary limits, fall to the responsibility of the employee. This practice is fine in theory, but has led to some unexpected shocks. The BBC reported on a company that distributed Blackberry’s to its sales force and then deducted the cost of the phone and the data service from their paychecks. Not to mention the morale impact these cuts have, with big brother breathing further down our necks, this practice is unethical, as it asks employees to pay for equipment and services tat are essential to them to effective do their job.

In Romania we have seen for years that companies have tried to hold on to employees by making them responsible for their training costs. DespreFirme argued that this practice was unethical in that it required individuals to pay to have their hard drive and cpu (brain) used as data storage center for a company’s core business knowledge and processing center for the company’s core business practices, respectively.

With regards to Employee Chargeback, we have a different view. It is our opinion that companies are responsible for sponsoring the idea that company resources are a privilege. This perversion has fostered an environment for the expectation of abuse. In a vicious circle, thus expecting abuse, many Romanian companies have further restricted access to resources, making them look more select and thus desirable.

Romania could do well with a large dose of cost control software to establish a transparent system that effectively charges back personal use of equipment to its employees. However, hand in hand with the investment in software should be investment in training to establish that the use of company resources as a responsibility and not a privilege. A transparent charge back would give the employee a greater sense of the cost of business and the value that they need to create to achieve profitability.

Acum câteva luni am avut o întâlnire total surprinzătoare cu Managerul HR al unei companii mari de electrocasnice. Le propuneam să-si promoveze brand-ul de angajator aici, pe DespreFirme.com. Ei sunt sus’tnători ai proiectului nostru si înteleg că avem nevoie de venituri pentru a-l continua. Au avut o singură întrebare simplă: Noi ce obtinem din asta?

Am fost socat. Ce întrebre directă si simplă. Ce beneficii vor avea ei în urma investirii într-o pagină pe DespreFirme.com despre practicile de recrutare si oportunitătile de carieră în compania lor? Răspunsul nu e atât de simplu, iar dacă l-as avea, a-ti vedea mai multă reclama pe acest site!

Speranta mea este că firmele folosesc aceeasi scală a responsabilitătii atunci când evaluează relatia cu resursele lor umane, si nu doar furnizori. Oamenii fac companiile să functioneze. Oamenii buni fac companiile bune. Companiile bune sunt afaceri bune. Nu e nevoie să ai oameni buni pentru a avea o afacere de succes pe termen scurt, dar pe termen lung, competitia va dezvolta produse si servicii competitive si le va vinde mai bine, cu oameni mai buni.

Cum aduci oameni buni într-o companie? Prezentând compania ta în fata a cât mai multor oameni talentati, selectându-i pe cei are arată cel mai mare interes si potential, si apoi tratându-i la fel de bine pe cât te astepti ca ei să lucreze. Asteaptă-te la rezultate pe măsura investitiilor. Această investitie începe din prima zi, de la primul apel telefonic, de la primul interviu. Dacă veti selecta cel mai buni candidati (investitia), veti avea parte de cei mai buni angajati pe termen lung (rezultatul).

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Return on Investment (Thank You Flamingo International)

Several months ago I had a truly surprising meeting with the HR Managers of a large domestic company. We were asking them to spend money to advertise their employer brand here at DespreFirme.com. They are fans of our project, and understand that we need revenue for the continuation of the project. They had only one simple question: What is the ROI?

I was shocked. What a direct and simple question. What return will they get for the investment of sponsoring a page in DespreFirme.com about the employment practices and the career opportunities at their company? The answer is not so simple, and if I had it, you would be seeing more advertising on this site!

My hope is that companies are using the same prism of responsibility when assessing their relationship to their human resources, not just suppliers. People make companies work. Good people make good companies. Good companies are good businesses. You do not need to have good people to have a successful business in the short term, but over the long run, the competition will develop competitive products and services and deliver them better, with better people.

How do you bring good people into a company? By putting your company in front of as many pools of talented people as possible, selecting from them ones that show strong interest and promise, and then treat them they way you expect them to work. Expect a return in proportion to the investment that you make. That investment begins day one, from the first phone call, and the first interview. If your systems are in place for selecting the right candidates (investments), you will see the most long term quality hires (return).

Vacanta

Ciresele au aparut, s-au trecut, iar canicula verii a venit peste noi. Plajele si muntii ne asteapta sa le vizitam. 21 de zile de odihna si relaxare. Traditia ne lasa sa ne odihnim în timp ce grâul creste pe câmp, anticipând zilele si noptile lungi de munca din timpul recoltei. Cu totii stim ce ne aduce toamna: programe, proiecte, întâlniri, responsabilitati.

Paduri de tei sau rafale de brize sarate, sub o bolta de stele sau lumini halogene de discoteca… asta înseamna vara pentru mine. Nu reîncarcare de baterii pentru înca un an de munca grea ci odihna pentru mine, cel de odinioara. Fa-o cu entuziasm sau fa-o stând pe spate, dar încadreaza-te în timp si profita la maxim.

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Vacation Time

The cherries have come and gone, and the summer’s heat is upon us. There are beaches and mountains to be seen. 21 days of rest and relaxation. Tradition has us rest while the wheat in the fields grows, anticipating the long days and nights of work to bring in the autumn’s harvest. We all know what the fall will bring: schedules, projects, meetings, responsibilities.

Through forests of Tei or gusts of salty breezes, beneath a canopy of stars or halo of disco lights, summer is for me. No recharging batteries for another year of grind, but a repose of what my former self wanted to be, had I not grown up. Take it with relish, or take it lying down, but get in your time, and stretch it till it splits.

NATO… OTAN… ORANGUTAN… Whatever you want to call it, this event is going to create a nightmare on the streets of Bucuresti – and is probably going to reduce office productivity to zero. How about you? Planning to try and get to work?? At the end of the day, probably best to plan your escape route – and get out! That is our plan!

For those who choose to remain, we recommend following these guidelines:

• Do not smile. Do not laugh. Do not make jokes. No sudden movements.
• Make all your mobile calls before April 1st – it may be your last chance for a few days.
• If you have a medical emergency… well… TRY NOT TO!
• If a thief is in your home or you need the police for any other reason – ummmm… GOOD LUCK!
• Just stay at home and visit our website! Login to DespreFirme.com and share some stories about the companies where you have worked.

Finally, for your viewing enjoyment, our crack team of over-paid and under-skilled consultants have been working hard – and we present you with the DespreFirme.com view of the traffic restrictions in Bucuresti during the NATO Summit. Have a great week!

We have to be honest and tell the truth. We are aliens. We are plotting to take over THE WORLD. Since Google.com was already taken, we founded DespreFirme.com to gather all the personal data that we require to control you. We now know who you are, and soon we will be knocking on your door.

Well, not quite, but I need to tell you all a story. Driving home from work last night I was stuck, you know, in that thing humans do to camouflage yourselves as ants – um, traffic, that is it. Anyway, I was stuck in an unmoving line watching car after car go whizzing by me on the wrong side of the road, only to tuck back into the right lane up ahead. Of course, they were actually now causing most of the traffic they were breaking the law to avoid, and thus, making the traffic stand still for all of us suckers behind them obeying the traffic laws

But then a hero appeared. Some guy in a very large 4×4 pulled out into the left hand lane and did not move. He was obviously on his way home as well, and frustrated by all the a**holes cutting the line, he decided to put a stop to it. He sat there as several cars piled up behind him and began honking and swearing. But every car that passed him on the right gave him a smile and a thumbs up. Here was a guy sacrificing his time to make the world work a little bit better for the rest of us.

So, maybe that guy is the true alien. We live in a world where people do not trust each other and do not often go out of their way to help each other. We all know that in these years of transition, Romania does not have sufficient infrastructure to satisfy demand, or efficient public administration to respond to the citizens needs, or even competent officials to apply the laws. Aside from demanding change through the political process, we could all help the situation by standing up to those individuals who would abuse the system to selfishly get ahead.

We are asking you to be heroes. Take the time to fill in the demographic information we request so we can use it to provide all of our users with valuable statistics about salary levels, career paths and company ratings. Take time to write about your work experience in a way that will help others make informed decisions about their career goals. Take the time to participate in a genuine and honest way.

If not, I will not be the guy in the 4×4, I will be the green one with the large eyes floating off into SPACE, AND BEYOND!