Archive of articles - February 2013, page 4
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Europe prefers qualified workers
Slovakia’s entry into the European Union in 2004 has opened the gates for Slovaks to jobs throughout the union while making the whole administrative process simpler, mainly thanks to the EU-guaranteed right of free movement of people. Yet, entering the international market means that job applicants aspiring for international jobs must play in a different league. Requirements for the qualifications of job applicants from Slovakia are changing and low-qualified people who do not speak a foreign language often have problems finding a job, according to Alena Házašová, a coordinator for European Employment Services (EURES), a European job mobility portal.
Home births: neither allowed nor banned
MOST Slovaks alive today were born in a hospital. Births that occurred outside a hospital either happened by accident, or were the result of mothers who wished so strongly to deliver their babies at home that they were willing to enter a grey area where the line between what is legal and illegal is blurred.
Volksbank becomes Sberbank
THE THIRD largest bank in Europe, Russia’s Sberbank, has officially launched activities on the Slovak market, the TASR newswire reported on February 15.
Waiting for the fog to clear
IF ANYONE is confused over what is actually happening within the country’s right-wing parties, it’s not necessarily due to a lack of insight into Slovak politics. People who speak languages other than Slovak can find comfort in the fact that the way some Slovak politicians act and the things they say or don’t say (even though they should), is an ongoing source of confusion even for those who face no language barrier.
Glossary: Finding new uses for old buildings
Spectator College provides readers of The Slovak Spectator who are trying to improve their English with glossaries of useful and frequently used words and expressions from stories published as part of the Spectator College as well as in the rest of the newspaper. As well as this special glossary, which relates to the article Finding new uses for old buildings, you can find more expressions in our Glossary for politics & business or in the List of names of institutions in English and Slovak.
Examining the benefits
“Benefits should be conferred gradually; and in that way they will taste better,” wrote Niccolo Machiavelli, Italian thinker, diplomat and the father of political theory. A benefit, as we understand it within the HR sector today, is non-wage employment compensation.
Reichentál’s works shown at GMB
THE CURRENT EXHIBITION of works by František Reichentál in the Mirbach Palace embodies one of the main aims of the Bratislava City Gallery (GMB) – to present authors who were born in Slovakia, have Slovak roots, but left the country for various reasons.
Slovakia seeks national’s return
THE ONLY person who responded to the call to act in the case of Jozef Ličko Jr, who is currently unable to leave Chad, was the Slovak president, who sent a letter to his Chadian counterpart, said the organisers of a petition calling for Ličko’s return, which has already been signed by about 1,000 inhabitants of Krupina, Ličko’s home town. Speaker of Parliament Pavol Paška, Prime Minister Robert Fico and head of European Union’s diplomacy Catherine Ashton also received the petition, the SITA newswire reported on February 18.
Countrywide Events
Western SLOVAKIA
New population register
LESS bureaucracy and faster processing of applications at various state administration offices should be the main benefit of a new register of the population that the cabinet approved in its draft amendment to the law on reporting residency and the population register on February 20, the SITA newswire reported.
Quote of the week
“Unfortunately, our Slovak community in Hungary is literally a minority [community]...”
Residential market reports wary stability
THE GLOBAL financial and economic crisis led to a steep decline in the Slovak market for residential real estate. Prices shrank, many apartments labelled ‘luxury’ languished unsold, and new development projects were postponed or redrafted. Lately the situation has stabilised, and prices even posted an increase during the final quarter of 2012. While some market watchers perceive this growth to have been a statistical error, others see it as evidence of a rebalancing of the real estate market. Nevertheless, expectations remain somewhat pessimistic, with observers pointing to the growing unemployment rate in Slovakia as well as the decidedly mixed economic outlook for the eurozone.
Highway tenders be launched
PUBLIC tenders to build five stretches of highways and dual carriageways in Slovakia are set to be launched within several weeks. The National Highway Company (NDS) also wants to focus on the completion of ongoing public procurements this year. These include three tenders for the D1 highway from Lietavskáa Lúčka via Višňové up to Dubná Skala. This stretch includes the Višňové tunnel.
New construction law in pipeline
SLOVAKIA may finally live to see a brand new Construction Act. The current law is more than 36 years old and even though it has undergone extensive revamps, it is no longer suited to the conditions of the construction industry in Slovakia. The main improvements will make for easier removal of illegally built constructions, i.e. without proper construction permits and licenses and less bureaucratic red tape at local offices. A team of 50 experts from the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development, construction offices, local administration, experts and others are working on the draft bill.
Unemployment continues to rise
The jobless rate in Slovakia continues to increase, hitting new records each month. Analysts and politicians attribute its rise in December 2012 to over 14 percent, its highest level in nine years, to the economic situation in Slovakia and the influence of the whole eurozone, as well as to consolidation measures adopted by the second government of Robert Fico. The government and the prime minister nevertheless remain optimistic about the unemployment rate and are promising creation of new jobs. Many analysts and employers do not share their optimism, however, and do not expect the situation to improve until next year.
Applying neuroscience into leadership field moves assessments to a new level
Many organisations are not flexible enough to adapt to the dynamically changing environment and then utilise the potential of their key people. One of the common reasons for this might lie in the discrepancy between the internal setting of the company and the inner world of the individual employees. And it is this discrepancy that causes unproductive conflict that negatively influences further development of the company.
Can your boss read your emails?
And can he watch you using a camera system? Can he record your telephone calls at work? And can you be dismissed based on what he finds?
The regions and sectors in which people work matter
Pharmaceutical, IT and banking remain the highest paying sectors in Slovakia, while engineering, electrical engineering and automotive pay the lowest below the market average. but the city or region in which people work is a significant factor, as a job in Bratislava can pay as much as a third more than the same job elsewhere in Slovakia, according to a PayWell remuneration study for 2012. The PwC HR Consulting team conducted the study among 296 companies operating in Slovakia, dividing Slovakia into four regions: Bratislava, West, Central and East.
The business books of 2012
In this uncertain and unpredictable world it is possible to find inspiration that can actually help run a business. Apart from learning from each other, one can look for ideas in literature that addresses at least some of the issues that business leaders currently face. Here are some of the books that have been published recently that are worth reading:
Human resources sector highlights
In the near future, companies plan to focus their human resources activities on talent management, internal process efficiency, performance assessment and performance management systems, more effective systems of employee development, design and implementation of competence models, and remuneration and benefit systems, according to a KNO SLOVENSKO survey conducted in 2012. The same survey also identified blended learning, management simulations and neuro-leadership as the most interesting development products among Slovak HR managers.
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