SEO for Bing Optimizing for the 2nd Largest Search Engine

When marketers talk about SEO, they’re almost always talking about optimizing for Google. As Google still owns 63.5 percent of the US market share, it makes sense to cater to the most popular search engine. However, it would be a mistake to ignore the marketing potential of the second largest search engine, Bing, which in June 2018 owned 24.1 percent of the US market share. That’s almost one in four searches conducted on Bing. And it’s still growing. In October 2018, Bing had 1.24 billion unique global visitors, up from almost 1.1 billion visitors in February 2018. Despite Google having almost two-thirds of the search market share, Bing actually leads in terms of longer search queries. In August 2017, for searches containing two words to ten words, Bing accounted for an average of 77.8 percent of search queries worldwide. There are a few other reasons marketers should focus more attention on Bing†¦ Why Businesses Should Optimize for Bing 1. You’ll Face Lower Competition In general, fewer of your competitors are trying to rank on Bing, which means it’s easier to get a higher spot in Bing search results compared to Google. Due to lower competition, it also takes less time to see ranking results. 2. Bing Powers Yahoo From 2009, the Yahoo search engine has been powered by Bing, so optimizing for Bing will naturally boost your results on Yahoo. 3. Bing is More Transparent About Ranking Factors Just check Bing Webmaster Guidelines and case studies and you’ll see that compared to Google, there are less mysteries about how to rank higher on Bing. They also give you the tools to improve your website to suit their taste. 4. Bing Traffic May Convert Better than Google’s According to one website analysis, Bing had a 20 percent conversion rate, while Google’s was 16.5 percent. 5. Small Local Businesses Get a Boost with Bing For local searches, Bing tends to show a greater number of small businesses in search results, whereas Google leans toward more established, larger companies. Optimizing for Bing: 10 Ways to Improve Your Rankings Now we know the benefits of optimizing content for Bing, here are 10 tips for getting better results on the search engine: 1. Index Your Website for Bing First, you should ensure your important pages are indexed in Bing. To find out how many pages are already indexed, in the Bing search box type â€Å"site:† followed by your site’s domain name. There’s no cost to submit your website to Bing. Simply submit your site via Bing Webmaster Tools. You don’t have to do this to be included in the Bing search index, but its toolset will help you optimize your rankings. 2. Clean Up Your Sitemap Bing prefers clean sitemaps, so if there are too many 404 errors or redirects, you’ll get a penalty. Submit a sitemap to Bing that includes all the working links to pages on your site. Bing doesn’t crawl sites as often as Google, so resubmit your sitemap after any site changes. 3. Tell Bing to Crawl Your Site More Often In the crawl settings in Bing Webmaster Tools, you can set the rate that Bing crawls your site. If you have a larger site that changes frequently, you may want to increase the crawl rate. 4. Use More Straightforward Keywords Bing is more old-school when it comes to SEO. Exact-match keywords in URLs, title tags, copy, meta descriptions, and anchor text have more power with Bing. Work your primary target keywords into your content – especially title tags – but don’t be too repetitive as this could affect your Google rankings. 5. Improve Click-Through Rates User signals play a key part in Bing rankings. Their algorithm measures click-through rates from search engine results pages and bounce rates. To encourage click-throughs, write compelling meta descriptions. To decrease bounce rates, make sure your landing pages provide clear, useful, and valuable information. 6. Improve Backlinks Like Google, Bing sees backlinks as a sign of popularity and credibility, but only if they’re from credible, relevant websites. They even encourage businesses to build internal and external links through social media activity. What’s more, Bing seems to value backlinks even more than Google. According to a Searchmetrics study, for websites that ranked in the top 30, around 53 percent of their backlinks contained keywords in the anchor text. This is 10 percent more than the results for Google. What this means is that unlike Google, which is more focused on semantics and broad-matching queries, Bing is more reliant on anchor text keywords. 7. Publish More Multimedia Content While Google does take into account different content formats, it still relies more on text-based content for its rankings. The Bing algorithm pays more attention to multimedia content. Bing likes rich and engaging content that uses images, videos, audio, and so on, because it all enriches the user experience. 8. Publish More Unique and User-Friendly Content According to Bing Webmaster Guidelines, â€Å"By providing clear, deep, easy to find content on your website, we are more likely to index and show your content in search results. Websites that are thin on content, showing mostly ads or affiliate links, or that otherwise redirect visitors away to other sites quickly tend not to rank well. Your content should be easy to navigate, rich and engaging to the visitor, and provide them the information they seek.† Generally, Bing values in-depth, unique, long, and engaging content, so focus on producing useful, well-presented content aimed at helping your target audience. 9. Step Up Your Social Media Efforts While it’s still unclear whether social signals directly impact your search rankings with Google, Bing offers more clarity. If your content has a high number of shares, likes, and retweets, Bing notices. According to Bing, â€Å"These positive signals can have an impact on how you rank organically in the long run.† From this statement, we can see that it pays off to build your following on social media channels. By actively participating in social conversations, you’ll naturally build brand credibility which will encourage audience engagement. And the stronger your social signals, the higher you’ll rank in Bing search results. Consider using content analytics tools to monitor brand mentions, keywords, hashtags, and more. 10. Emphasize Local Details When it comes to local search results, Bing tends to show more small businesses than Google, which favors more established companies. If you have a brick-and-mortar location, make sure Bing knows about it. Include location-specific pages on your website and claim your free business listing with Bing Places for Business. Make sure your company information is up-to-date and uses the same name, address, and phone number as your Google My Business listing. Also, make sure you’re listed on local directories such as Yelp, Yellow Pages, and Foursquare to help Bing index your website correctly. The Biggest Differences Between Bing and Google So, if you’ve been focusing mostly on Google, here are few key differences with how Bing rankings work: 1. Page Authority Unlike Google, Bing favors older, more established websites over newer ones, using ranking factors based on history and reputation. Backlinks are also a less important factor than they are for Google. So, if you own an older domain, your Bing results will already have an edge. 2. Keyword Optimization While Google has become better at understanding the context of search queries, Bing still relies more on keyword positioning and exact-match keywords. Accordingly, onsite optimization and keywords in title tags are more important for Bing. Be careful though – using too many exact-match keywords could harm your Google rankings. 3. User Engagement A key ranking factor for Bing is user engagement. One way they determine this is by measuring â€Å"pogo sticking,† which is when someone clicks on a search result and then quickly clicks back to the search results page. To reduce pogo sticking, make sure your landing page content is relevant to search queries, your pages load quickly and your page design is user-friendly. 4. Social Signals Most experts agree that Bing relies more on social signals than Google. They even embed Facebook and Twitter posts directly in search results. This makes developing your social media strategy crucial for Bing optimization. 5. Local Search While Google focuses more on returning popular results, Bing is more likely to favor local results. Make sure your content is mobile-friendly and optimized for local search. And remember to claim your listing on Bing Places for Business! Bing Webmaster Tools Vs. Google Search Console Although Bing and Google offer similar SEO tools for search marketers, there are some advantages to using Bing Webmaster Tools: Bing’s dashboard provides a wider variety of data regarding your website, such as page errors, pages crawled, pages indexed, search keywords and inbound links. Bing’s keyword research tool is the only search engine tool based on organic keyword data. Bing Webmaster Tools generates automatic SEO reports every two weeks, offering insights into SEO best practices and recommendations to improve your search rankings. To maximize your marketing potential, submit your website to both Google and Bing. This way, you’ll have access to more data and get a clearer picture of your overall organic search performance. Have You Invested in Bing SEO? Ultimately, high-quality content, a user-friendly website, keyword optimization, and organic link building will help you rank higher in Google and Bing. However, if you only focus on Google when optimizing content, you could be missing out. Google may serve a majority of internet users, but the competition is great and improving your search rankings can be a struggle. This is why an increasing number of marketers are taking Bing seriously when it comes to planning content and SEO strategies. With a growing search market share, Bing can give businesses valuable access to a whole new source of online traffic. Hopefully, this guide is a good starting point to develop and improve your search engine visibility on the second largest search engine. So don’t focus exclusively on Google when you could see better results by optimizing for Bing. Hire writers able to create content optimized for Bing! Learn more.

Fear and its Effects in Sula essays

Fear and its Effects in Sula essays In Toni Morrisons novel, Sula (1973), the reader follows the life of Sula Peace through her childhood in the 1920s, until her death in 1941. Sulas interactions with the surrounding characters play a profound role in the constant development of their emotions. It seems that Sulas controversial relationships, especially between her grandmother Eva, her best-friend Nel, and Jude, accentuate feelings of fear, even in herself. In turn, the characters are forced to either cope with their newfound fear or find a way to control it. Throughout the story, however, the reader is expected put aside conventional expectations to enter a somewhat fictional world; a world in which evil may be good, or where murder becomes an act of love. The novel addresses the confusing mysteries of human emotions and relationships, ultimately concluding that social conventions are inadequate in explaining the characters affairs. Sulas impact on other characters is the single most important factor in the developmen t of their emotions, primarily their fears. At the start of the novel we are introduced to Shadrack, a character who lives in constant fear of unexpected death. Even tough he is not mentioned much after the first chapters, his struggle is the start of the symbolism of fear in Morrisons novel. In 1917, 20-year-old Shadrack suffers a traumatic experience in World War I. The shell shock experienced instills a fear that he might die unexpectedly. The horrors of the war annihilated the boundaries that once defined his perception of reality, as can be seen in his weird sense that his, hands began growing out of control. (9) The world now seems to him a thing of chaos, and he is unable to deal with the excess of choices and paths it leaves open to him. In response to his fears, Shadrack develops an intense need to order his own existence. He began a struggle that was to last for twelve days, a struggle...

Poetry explication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Poetry explication - Essay Example The speaker is lying alone on her bed, at midnight. She couldn’t sleep and she listens to the sound of the rain tapping on the window glass. She remembers her past loves and realizes that they aren’t really very significant as she doesn’t even remember the names of her past lovers. The feelings that she remembers are very generic and simple (as opposed to special). She compares herself to a â€Å"lonely tree† (9) during the winter time and contrasts summer in the next two lines. The message in the last two lines are quite sad (and lonely of course, as she is alone) because it echoes the fact that â€Å"summer sang† (13) and â€Å"sings no more† (14). There is sureness in the fact that something will not happen again; that something has ended. The poem pictures a lonely person trying to introspect into her love life. Trying to remember loves and loves lost; trying to evaluate if they were all worth it. Apparently there were a lot of lovers because she has forgotten the people, â€Å"the arms that lain under my head† (2) and the â€Å"lips my lips have kissed† (1), that she has experienced. That these are the â€Å"unremembered lads that not again will turn† (7) and that they will never happen again because that season of her life has ended, when she compared herself to a lonely tree in winter. The loneliness and sadness is very evident in the poem as it portrays a woman alone in bed in a dark, rainy and cold night, realizing that the past loves of her were shallow; probably thinking that all of those experiences are worthless as none of them were special. The last line of the poem, though, can be a bit vague in a sense that she compared herself to a tree in winter. Winter. Winter is a part of a season, and in this poem, the seasons is a metaphor for life. It is told that in life there is always a season for everything; that there is a time for everything. Now it’s also known that the seasons come and go. Now she is at the winter part of

Develop an advertising campaign Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Develop an advertising campaign - Coursework Example The performance campaign will feature well known sports car expert drivers, including Richard Atwood, who is a world class driver and instructor specialising in the Porsche and Ferrari cars. The second expert driver to feature in the campaign is Aaron Scott, who has sported in the GT’s and Formula 3 sports cars for the past fifteen years. He has been a well known instructor for the Carrera Cup and the GT cup. The choice of the two experts was aimed at increasing the effects of celebrity endorsements, which have a profound appeal to the social stature and the sense of belonging of the upcoming buyers of the Nissan Skyline GTR R34 and also sporting car enthusiasts. Through the car, the campaign should leave the mark of excellence, performance and expert status in the ownership of the Nissan Skyline GTR R34. By focusing on the image and the aura communicated by the sporting world, the new buyers and enthusiasts of the car will increase the uptake of the car (Macdonald & Sharp, 2003). The sports car brands that the company is competing with in this segment include Toyota supra, Honda NSX, Mazda RX-7 and Mitsubishi Lancer. Through the advertising campaign, the company hopes to scoop more market from its competitors, by positioning the car as a well-priced sports car fit for racing (Niraj & Pillutla, 2000). 2) Change the perception of the public about the Nissan brand, by demonstrating that it is the number one competitor among performance class of vehicles, with the aim of increasing its presence in sporting events. The purpose of the advertising campaign is that of reassuring the customers, sporting event organizers and media users that the Nissan Skyline GTR R34 is very successful and the best performance vehicle in the world. 2) Increase the production capacity of the GTR R34 sports car in the company by 20 percent, which will cater for the increase in the increase of demand arising from the

Final Project Plan for IBM Company Research Paper

Final Project Plan for IBM Company - Research Paper Example In November 2014 they announced a global partnership with Twitter. These organizations had different but functional information systems that must be integrated into the IBM system. An effective integration of the information systems at the company must be done based on an implementation plan that will ensure support for an enterprise wide business process integration and standardization. ERP systems can be complex and difficult to implement, but a structured and disciplined approach can greatly facilitate the implementation. The IBM Company is a huge company that has several branches all over the world, communication and maintenance of autonomy is one of the major factors that must be considered in implementing the integration of information systems. Additionally, IBM is one of the largest suppliers of technology hence there must be accuracy in the inventory and all transaction activities in all the branches and affiliates of the company. Finally, the company always ships all the purchases to different destinations in the worl hence the need for accuracy and follow up in shipping of all products from the company. Tis report is an implementation plan for the integration of the new information systems at IBM. The works include the overview of existing system and subsequent identification of the applications and resources needed for implementation of the integration plan. It also includes the identification of the tasks, responsibilities and the time frame for completion of the tasks. The project involves an assessment of the current enterprise integration in the company. The identified integration plan is laid out and the steps are clearly elaborated. The different responsibilities are assigned and the resources and time schedules are allocated to the different tasks and activities. Upon completion of the project the results expected include the improvement of service provision at all IBM branches,

Analysing the dimensions of Human Resources

Analysing the dimensions of Human Resources Human Resource Management (HRM) came into popular term over the past decades as a top managerial approach aimed at re-ordering the employment relationship to ensure employee efforts were strategically focused on achieving superior individual and organisational performance and competitiveness in increasingly volatile markets. All companies including British Gas are now paying considerable attention to make strong bond between HR practices and employees and organizational performance. The main purpose of this unit essay is to discuss about HRM as an approach to managing human resources such as labour in British Gas. 1.1 Explain Guests model of hard-soft, loose-tight dimensions of HRM. (P1) The most widely acceptable models of HRM are the soft and hard versions. The soft model is associated with human relation and the hard model on the other hand sees employees as human resource (Gratton et. al. 1999). The soft model assumes that employees respond better when an organisation recognise their individual needs and addresses them as well as focusing on the overall business objectives. The hard model primarily focus to promote human resource planning strategy, align with business strategy, outsourcing, flexibility, performance management and downsizing or work intensification. Some HRM models have been developed by UK academics including Guest and Storey. Guest has identified key features of personal management and HRM that allow for comparative measurement and acknowledging the close links between human resource strategy and general business strategy (Bratton and Gold 2003). The Guest model of HRM is given below: Policies Organisational job design Policy formulation and implementation/management of change Recruitment, selection and socialization Appraisal, training and development Manpower flows through, up and out of the organisation Rewards systems Communications systems HR outcomes Strategic Planning/implementation Commitment Flexibility/adaptability Quality Organisational outcomes High job performance High problem solving Successful change Low turnover Low absence Low grievance level High cost-effectiveness (Adopted diagram from Guest 1997) The model highlights the below key points: Linking to the strategic management of an organisation (Bloisi 2005) Seeking commitment to meet organisational goals and quality of work Focussing on the individual needs rather than the collective workforce to decrease turnover and absence Enabling organisations to devolve power and become more flexible Focussing people as an asset to be positively utilised by the organisation (Bloisi 2005). 1.2 Review the differences between Storeys definition of HRM and personnel and IR practices. (P2) There are some differences between HRM and Personnel Management (PM) and Industrial Relation (IR) practices as there are a lot of different views and contradictions. HRM is a new managerial discipline that has different perspectives of PM and IR, but create a new and broader disciple as a results of different views and contradictions of these two (Beardwell and Holden 1997). The main aim of PM and IR is to serve the objectives of the employer, towards an approach which seeks to gain the commitment of the employees and aims to satisfy the requirements of stakeholders. On the other hand, HRM is a theoretical strategic approach of competitive advantage or organizational success factor of tomorrow and it should be strategically integrated and aligned with the business strategy. Storey (1992) has established a theoretical model based on how an organisation has evolved from PM and IR practice to HRM practices is called a model of shift to HRM. Storey has underlined 27 points of differences between PM and IR against HRM. These points are grouped into four categories: beliefs and assumptions e.g., PM and IR requires the careful delineation of contract while HRM seeks to encourage employees to go beyond contract strategic aspects e.g., PM and IR takes time to take decision while HRM takes customer oriented approach with fast speed of decision making line management e.g., management role with line managers in PM and IR is transactional while it is transformational in HRM key levers e.g., communication in PM and IR is restricted while in HRM it is increased; and pay is evaluation based in PM and IR while in HRM pay is performance based. If these two strategies are not closely aligned, the organisation will find itself pulling in different directions and not making any progress toward meeting goals. 1.3 Analyse HRM from a strategic perspective and its implications for the role of the line manager and employees. (P3) For competitive advantages, an organisation should change old ways of doing business where most of the burden and responsibility of change will fall onto first-line managers of HR. They share the burdens and responsibilities with other line managers and employees. The first-line managers play a crucial role in making strategies for HRM because they are responsible for executing HR practices at the workplace (Nehles et. al. 2006). If these strategies are not identified and created consistency across business units to ensure closely aligned towards the attainment of corporate objectives, the organisation will find itself pulling in different directions and not making any progress towards meeting goals. The challenges for line managers are given below: Rapidly changing of technology that lead to the changing of business environment Pressure to do more with fewer resources to minimise production and other cost Downsizing of the employees to cut labour cost Greater workforce diversity as customers expectations are too high Increasing gap between available skills and required skills for a job. The line managers need employees with up-to-dated skills, multi-skilled, committed toward organisational missions and visions and competency for role play. The line managers also need tools and information systems to make quick and effective decisions. The line manager is directly accountable for the program impact of HR decision, while the HR team or employee is directly accountable for the compliance of the action. HR managers and employees must need a range of skills to cope with the change and make a productive environment. In this case, HR department provides full support and takes the lead in helping managers identify the core knowledge, skills and abilities required to support the companys competitive advantage (Buhlel 1999). For example, for a specific task, HR department may need to conduct an assessment and identify particular training needs. Then HR training specialist will be called up to actually deliver the training program. The HRM should do the following for managers and employees regularly otherwise business objectives will not be met in the long term. Providing training for such as problem solving, decision making and change management Creating positive environment Providing feedback and counseling on the options available to accomplish particular task/program with timely and professional manner Providing assistance with timely manner Supportive attitudes shown by the HR teams Collaborative relationship between line manager and HR team to effect needed action. 2.1 Review and explain a model of flexibility and show how this might be applied in practice (P4). Show how the case company might identify and apply this model to solve their workforce issues (M1). Flexibility refers to adjust and deploy the skills of its employees to match the skills required by its changing workload and production methods. Professor Chai Feldblum said We believe workplace flexibility is good for employers and employees, so its worth the effort to get it right for employers and employees (Gurchiek 2009). HRM can design a job where employees can work with flexibility considering the issues such as scheduling of hours work such as nontraditional start and end times; the amount of hours worked such as job sharing, phased retirement and part time work; the place of work such as a remote location or home; and changing work hours over the month or through the year depending on the demands of the job such as working more hours during busy periods and taking time off in quiet times. Review and explain a model of flexibility and show how this might be applied in practice (P4) Show how the case company might identify and apply this model to solve their workforce issues Workforce flexibility increases productivity and job satisfaction. It helps the company to become top in the markets maintaining the culture of diversity and tolerance. The flexibility depends on the nature of the job. HRM will need to ensure that the organisational culture is tolerant of alternate work schedules. The British Gas can provide 24/7 services to its customers and distribute its workload throughout the day as part of diversity and good customer services. More staff can be scheduled to work at peak time and less staff for off-peak time. The company can employ some staff who can work from home or remote area to reduce cost and provide better services to its customers within possibly less waiting time. The company needs to provide adequate training and support including equipment so that staff can work from home or provide services on demand to its customers. As a result, the company may need to pay less salary to such staff. For example, staff working from home or working on demand doesnt need to travel and/or can look after children home at the same time and as a result, they can work at cheaper rate than staff working at office. The company can employ local and nationwide staff on demand rather than employing them permanently to provide a maintenance and breakdown service for electrical goods and home wiring. The staff can be paid depending on number of services they provide. In order to provide quick and quality service to its customers, many staff working from home or staff working on demand should be employed and trained and reviewed their performance regularly. The company should randomly record and review staff telephone conversations and services provided to its customers operating a customer satisfaction online or postal survey. These resources can be used to train staff as well. 2.1 Review and explain a model of flexibility and show how this might be applied in practice (P4) Show how the case company might identify and apply this model to solve their workforce issues. (M1) 2.2 Describe the need for flexibility and the types of flexibility which may be developed by an organisation and give examples of how they can be implemented (P5). The employees need for flexibility at workplace. As a result, they can work better and more productive way than others. The need for flexibility at work place is given below: employees can look after children at home or spend more time with children and can reduce childcare cost older workers could remain longer if number of hours are reduced makes positive difference in retention and stress among lower-wage employees than their more advantaged counterparts increases moral, job satisfaction and higher level of engagement (Drucker 2010) decrease stress or turnout attract talent people in the organisation reduce consumption of employee commuting time and fuel costs. Flexibility can be different types such as flextime- allows employees to select their starting and ending time within a range of hours, reduced time, flex-leave- allows time off during the workday to address personal and family issues and flex-career- allows multiple points for entry, exit and re-entry. A company like British Gas needs to decide the scope of flexibility and make a plan considering all possible options for flexibility at workplace. The company can implement flexibility in the following ways: develop a business case looking at comparable companies like nPower, EDFEnergy and Southern Electric and their experiences with flexibility (Friedman D. E. 2010) reviewing existing and past programs and company policies to see how well they are working and what needs improving determine flexible work options, negotiate with employees if possible and review. introduce a pilot scheme to see how they work before fully implementing them help supervisors and managers to learn new ways of managing, including how to solve problem and look for win-win solution (Friedman 2010). 2.3 Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of flexibility working practices from both the employees and the employer perspective (P6). Flexibility is a management tool that can benefit employers and employees but it may not be welcomed by all employees of an organisation. Research shows that 78% of respondents reported that having access to flexible work options contributes to their success as employees to a moderate or great extent (Pitt-Catsouphes 2009). So flexibility should be applied creatively and it works best when all employees and customers are involved in the process of developing flexibility. Advantages Flexible workplace helps organisation if employers and employees get flexibility while they take decisions, they can do much better way and can save a lot of cost and bring a lot of revenue for the business. Flexibility in workplace help the employees providing flexibility like working from home and limited employment could ensure that employees are at their optimum working level. Disadvantages Lower wage workers are more likely to report that using flexibility will negatively affect their advancement (Richman 2006) If the employees are not responsible enough and/or they are not monitored regularly, the business might actually face lack of productivity During the hiring of the individuals or employing someone, flexibility options should be discussed in detail and care should be taken into consideration to ensure that only candidates who are serious about their jobs, careers and professions will be employed by the company. Indeed, the success or failure of the implementation of flexibility depends on how well the employees take it, how they use it to become more productive, instead of finding ways to shirk work and how the management assists them to implement it. The company should consider a range of workplace factors such as extent of access to flexible work options, supervisor support of flexibility, negative work-family culture and extent of utilisation of flexible work options to bring full advantages of flexibility at workplace (Pitt-Catsouphes et. al. 2009). 3.1 Describe the forms of discrimination that take place (P7) Recruitment and selection have been considered as areas for discrimination. In general the following two forms of discrimination take place (Bratton and Gold 2003) during recruitment and selection process: Direct where employees of a particular gender, race, age, colour or ethnic group are treated more favourably than other employees. For example, a policy to recruit only young persons to field workers. Indirect where particular requirements treat everybody equally but discriminate to a particular group where the requirement cannot be justified. For example, applicants for field workers should be 1.85 metres tall could result in a low proportion of female applicants. 3.2 Review how the legislative framework and any proposed changes relating to discrimination in the workplace can be applied by an organisation (P8). How has the above case company designed their recruitment policy to apply relevant law to avoid discrimination (M2). All organisations should be aware of legislation concerning discrimination in employment and have a duty to protect their employees from any discriminatory behaviour. According to the law, it is unlawful to discriminate against anyone on the grounds of their sex, age, race, disability, religion or martial status in recruitment, selection, promotion, pay, training, hiring, transfer, dismissal and all other activities and responsibilities related to HRM. An organisation like British Gas should avoid discrimination during recruitment and selection process. This is not only a legal requirement but also it gives the best chance of getting the right person for the job. The following changes can be proposed relating to discrimination in the workplace to avoid discrimination during recruitment: Ensure that best people are recruited on merit and the recruitment process is free from bias and discrimination Application form should contain minimum of personal details and some specific questions to avoid discrimination during selection process such as asking candidates to indicate special requirement to attend interview During interview, certain questions that are relevant to the persons ability should be asked only but must not be asked something that discriminate from other Assessment such as skill test and interview should be fair, reliable and valid throughout the recruitment process Fully investigate if a complaint of discrimination is made against selection Monitor recruitment process and update and review all policies regularly to meet employment law requirements fully Must take care while carrying out necessary checks such as checking necessary documents to ensure that the candidate has right to work in the UK. 3.3 Explain a range of current initiatives and practices which focus on equal opportunities in employment (P9). The HRM should follow rigorous and fair selection process to recruit suitable employees to ensure equal opportunity is everywhere. After employment, each employee should get equal opportunities to get promotion, development, training and to get all other facilities provided by the organisation, and terms and conditions are based solely on job related ability and merit. The British Gas should consider the following initiative and practices which focus on equal opportunities in employment: All managers and employees should have training on equal opportunities Review the effectiveness of the policy and identify practices that may lead discrimination Advise and take swift action if it is expected that discrimination is taking place Make arrangement so that employees can make complaint easily regarding any issue of discrimination and they are kept well informed the progress of the complaint Look creatively at new work patterns, employee practices and flexible working and promote the idea of equal opportunities throughout the organisation All staff should be treated with dignity and respect at work Employers should make an environment to prevent bullying and sexual harassment as they lead to job insecurity, illness, absent from work and even resignation (ACAS 2009) Equal pay and disability discrimination policies should be implemented seriously at workplace Because of ill health, dismissal from job must not be taken place and if it does, it can be considered as discrimination. 3.4 Compare and contrast equal opportunities and managing diversity (P10). In order to promote equal opportunities and diversity at workplace, first thing is to have equality and diversity policy, then it is backed up by action plan to promote the policy at workplace and ensure that it is understood and followed across the business including areas such as recruitment, training and pay to avoid discrimination (Web1 2010). In order to minimise or avoid the chance of discrimination over equal opportunities and managing diversity, the organisation needs to monitor the process following the steps: Collect monitoring data providing separate monitoring sheet with application form, through appraisal, performance evaluation and direct complaint and filling direct monitoring form Analyse collected data confidentiality Review policies and action plan where necessary. 4.1 Explain performance management in practice (P11). Using examples describe how organisation organize and manage performance appraisal activity (D2) and communicate these findings to the relevant human resources manager (M3). Performance management is one of the responsibilities carried out by top management to examine actual practice at workplace (Pollitt 2002). The senior managers should carry out a performance review and provide feedback regularly or at least once per year to their fellow employees providing an opportunity for discussion of career objectives and progressions, identifying training needs, assisting to develop individual abilities and help in succession planning to maximise career potential. The performance appraisal should cover issues such as salary, promotion, retention/termination, recognition of performance, layoffs, identification of poor performance, job requirements, legal requirements and analyzing past and present performance. Performance management is a culture in which individuals and groups take responsibility for the continuous improvement of business processes, standards and quality of products and of their own skills, behaviour and contributions (CIPD 2010). The British Gas should organise and manage the following performance appraisal activities: Arrange appraisal meeting with employees to discuss training required to improve skills, knowledge, standards and procedures and self-appraisal Let employees to fill in appraisal form Identify actions that help lead to improvement including the time and goals for the follow-up meeting Review the agreed activities Give and receive feedback Make effective communication at all levels. Managers and/or supervisors at the workplace should have communications to ensure that each employees performance appraisal activities are done on time. They should use a common information system possible an online system or intranet that will allow easy storing and accessing of performance reports and training needs information and generate automatic reminder messages regarding performance meeting and any activities due to complete. Using and sharing such information system at workplace, trainers and supervisors can provide effective and specific training to improve staff performance. 4.2 Critically evaluate different human resource practice in the workplace (P12). Use critical reflection to the above justify whether human resource practices are followed at British Gas or indeed any other company of your choice (D1) An organisation can use many different human resource practices in the workplace to evaluate employees performance such as performance appraisal, electronic performance, monitoring of quality services, monitoring competitiveness, calculating employee turnover rate, 360 degree performance management feedback system and reviewing safety incident. These practices promote human resource development of an organisation. For example, monitoring of quality service involves the recording of calls, team leader listening to calls, the provision of feedback, coaching on telephone technique and service delivery and the 360 process allows for multiple points of view to be given on any given individual to improve performance and identify training needs. A decent company like British Gas practices many from the above and does almost everything to maintain excellent customer services. The company has many call centres all over the Europe and provides adequate training and monitors employees performance regularly. The British Gas has launched a website called http://www.britishgasjobs.co.uk/ as Careers at British Gas. The website can be developed further to promote human resource development. In order to make aware potential and existing employees, job descriptions of all posts should be available on the website and these should be updated regularly. Potential candidates can be referred to the website. Once there is a candidate, the online system should conduct behavioral and technical tests first, then need a telephone screening, then bring them in for a face-to-face interview. The company can also use self-learning/service software programs within company website to reduce administrative costs and time, to increase information access for employees and managers and improve information accuracy (Price 2007). 4.3 Evaluate the impact of globalization on issues such as human resource planning (P13). Changes in the global business environment such as rapid development of information and communication technology (ICT), global dimension, currency exchange rate and takeover or expansion overseas have major consequences for HR managers (Price 2007). As a result, factors outside of a companys control that will affect its requirements for human resources and ways of managing them change as well and the organizational needs human resource planning based on cost benefit analysis in advance to use and manage human resources to meet organisational needs and add greater value (Friedman 2007). Indeed, the ICT and reduction in communication costs has facilitated the globalisation and increased competition. So human resource planning in any organisation is vital to train and develop employees. It should be strong linked with recruitment, selection, career planning and development, performance appraisal and the remuneration system otherwise the organisation cannot compete. 4.4 Review the impact of different national cultures and practices human resource professionals can employ to manage a cultural diverse workforce (P14). Demonstrate convergent/lateral/create thinking while answering the above questions (D3). National cultures differ mainly in four areas which are labelled by Hofstede (1980) as dimensions and these are power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism-collectivism, and masculinity-femininity. Research shows that a human resource policy can be familiar and effective to a country but it may be unfamiliar and ineffective to another country due to cultural factor. For example, pay for the performance scheme is very popular in the USA and UK but it may not successfully be practiced in another country (Suharnomo 2009). Laurent (1986) found that decision making in Germany is more centralised than in UK. On the other hand, organisations in UK spend more money for employee well-being and middle management development program than many other countries (Suharnomo 2009). Newman Nollen (1996) indicated that organisation performance is better in the organisations where there is congruency between national culture and human resource practices. An organisation must adjust its management practice in accordance with the environment or national culture to achieve successful organisational performance. For example, career development is stronlgly related to national culture in UK and USA. An employee who has good character will likely be able to use their capability in a workplace with other people. So cooperation is very important for every employee to meet organisational objectives. Conclusions Organisations with better learning, training and development systems, reward and recognition, and information systems can promote human resource development and improve organisational performance. These should be measured, monitored and updated staff skills time to time to meet organisational objectives.

Comparison of Michelangelo8217s and Bernini8217s Davids Essay example -

Comparison of Michelangelo8217s and Bernini8217s Davids â€Å"The greatest artist has no conception which a single block of marble does not potentially contain within its mass, but only a hand obedient to the mind can penetrate to this image.† Michelangelo describes in the above quote what it is like to carve a likeness of a person out of a large block of marble. As we know from seeing his work, he did an excellent job with this task. Bernini did just as fine a job on his, but in a much different way as you will see in the following pages. Michelangelo Michelangelo was born on March 6, 1475, in Caprese, Italy, a tiny village, owned by the nearby city-state of Florence. His father was the mayor. He attended school in Florence, but he was preoccupied by art. When he was 13, his father agreed to apprentice him to some well-known painters in Florence. Michelangelo was unsatisfied with these artists, because they would not teach him their artistic secrets. He went to work under another sculptor hired by Lorenzo de Medici. When Michelangelo was 21, he went to Rome, where he was commissioned to carve a group of marble statues showing the Virgin Mary supporting the dead Christ on her knees. His sculpture was called Madonna Della Pieta, and it made Michelangelo famous. A few years later, in 1501, he accepted a commission for a statue of David. He took on the challenge of carving this beautiful work out of a â€Å"huge oblong chunk of pure white unflawed Carrara marble – some 18 feet high and weighing several tons - that had been badly block out and then abandoned by an earlier sculptor† (Coughlan 85). This piece had always fascinated Michelangelo, but neither he, nor anyone else, could think of what to carve from it, until now (Coughlan 85). Thus began a new era in art, the High Renaissance. He began carving this statue for the city of Florence. It would become a symbol of this city, â€Å"a city willing to take on all comers in defense of its liberty† (Coughlan 91). The statue acquired this meaning by the way Michelangelo depicted this biblical character. Instead of presenting us with the winner of the battle, with the giant’s head at his feet and a sword in his hand like Donatello did many years before, he portrays David right before the battle begins. David is in the moment where his people are hesitating and Goliath is mocking him. He is placed... ...that will live on forever, just as their names and sculptures will. Works Cited Ceysson, Bernard. Sculpture: The Great Tradition of Sculpture from the Fifteenth Century to the Eighteenth Century. New York: Rizzloi International Publications, Inc, 1987. Coughlan, Robert. The World of Michelangelo:1475-1564. New York: Time-Life Books, 1966. Gilbert, Creighton. Michelangelo. New York: McGraw-Hill Books Co, 1967. Hartt, Frederick. Michelangelo: The Complete Sculpture. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Heusinger, Lutz. The Library of Great Masters: Michelangelo. New York: Riverside Book Co, 1989. http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Choir/4792/david.html http://www.murrayco.com/eleganza/238David.html http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/euroart/117euroart/berninidavid.html Janson, H. W. History of Art. 4th ed. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc, 1991. Keutner, Herbert. Sculpture Renaissance to Rococo: A History of Western Sculpture. Greenwich, CT: New York Graphic Society, 1969. Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc, 1995. Wallace, Robert. The World of Bernini: 1598-1680. New York: Time-Life Books, 1970. Comparison of Michelangelo8217s and Bernini8217s Davids Essay example - Comparison of Michelangelo8217s and Bernini8217s Davids â€Å"The greatest artist has no conception which a single block of marble does not potentially contain within its mass, but only a hand obedient to the mind can penetrate to this image.† Michelangelo describes in the above quote what it is like to carve a likeness of a person out of a large block of marble. As we know from seeing his work, he did an excellent job with this task. Bernini did just as fine a job on his, but in a much different way as you will see in the following pages. Michelangelo Michelangelo was born on March 6, 1475, in Caprese, Italy, a tiny village, owned by the nearby city-state of Florence. His father was the mayor. He attended school in Florence, but he was preoccupied by art. When he was 13, his father agreed to apprentice him to some well-known painters in Florence. Michelangelo was unsatisfied with these artists, because they would not teach him their artistic secrets. He went to work under another sculptor hired by Lorenzo de Medici. When Michelangelo was 21, he went to Rome, where he was commissioned to carve a group of marble statues showing the Virgin Mary supporting the dead Christ on her knees. His sculpture was called Madonna Della Pieta, and it made Michelangelo famous. A few years later, in 1501, he accepted a commission for a statue of David. He took on the challenge of carving this beautiful work out of a â€Å"huge oblong chunk of pure white unflawed Carrara marble – some 18 feet high and weighing several tons - that had been badly block out and then abandoned by an earlier sculptor† (Coughlan 85). This piece had always fascinated Michelangelo, but neither he, nor anyone else, could think of what to carve from it, until now (Coughlan 85). Thus began a new era in art, the High Renaissance. He began carving this statue for the city of Florence. It would become a symbol of this city, â€Å"a city willing to take on all comers in defense of its liberty† (Coughlan 91). The statue acquired this meaning by the way Michelangelo depicted this biblical character. Instead of presenting us with the winner of the battle, with the giant’s head at his feet and a sword in his hand like Donatello did many years before, he portrays David right before the battle begins. David is in the moment where his people are hesitating and Goliath is mocking him. He is placed... ...that will live on forever, just as their names and sculptures will. Works Cited Ceysson, Bernard. Sculpture: The Great Tradition of Sculpture from the Fifteenth Century to the Eighteenth Century. New York: Rizzloi International Publications, Inc, 1987. Coughlan, Robert. The World of Michelangelo:1475-1564. New York: Time-Life Books, 1966. Gilbert, Creighton. Michelangelo. New York: McGraw-Hill Books Co, 1967. Hartt, Frederick. Michelangelo: The Complete Sculpture. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Heusinger, Lutz. The Library of Great Masters: Michelangelo. New York: Riverside Book Co, 1989. http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Choir/4792/david.html http://www.murrayco.com/eleganza/238David.html http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/euroart/117euroart/berninidavid.html Janson, H. W. History of Art. 4th ed. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc, 1991. Keutner, Herbert. Sculpture Renaissance to Rococo: A History of Western Sculpture. Greenwich, CT: New York Graphic Society, 1969. Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc, 1995. Wallace, Robert. The World of Bernini: 1598-1680. New York: Time-Life Books, 1970.