4-CONSULTING E-ZINE

Welcome to the first of our e-zines for 2008. We wish all of our clients and readers a happy and prosperous New Year.

In this edition, we look at some of the increasingly important issues that our clients are dealing with today. Funding constraints on public sector organisations are forcing them to look for more ways of improving their efficiency and financial performance. Shared service arrangements have been around for a while but the emphasis is now moving to the delivery of front-line services.

Recent surveys on staff sickness and unplanned absenteeism highlights some surprising differences in attitudes between the UK and the US.

Our consultancy team have lots of experience in these and other interesting areas and we're keen to share our knowledge with our readers.

We hope you’ll find the articles of interest and, if there is a topic you would like us to cover in a future issue, please let us know.

Please feel free to forward this e-zine to a colleague.

For more information about 4-consulting click here

In this issue

Shared Services for Improved Financial Performance
Sick of being Ill?
Making the Most of Word and Excel
Recent Successes
Tell us your view

Shared Services for Improved Financial Performance

Shared services arrangements have been around for a while in the private sector, often as a part of larger joint ventures between businesses. In the public sector, there has been a drive over the last three years or so to develop shared services in the back-office. There is now a growing interest in developing shared services arrangements for the delivery of front-line services.

We look at some of the issues that have to be addressed and the barriers that can cause these initiatives to fail.

To read the complete article, visit:

http://www.4-consulting.com/News/Ezine_14/Ezine_14_01.htm

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Sick of Being Ill?

Recent surveys in the UK and US highlighted significant differences in workforce attitudes to taking sick leave when members of staff are genuinely unwell. On the other hand, unplanned absenteeism, ("sickies") are a growing cost to businesses on both sides of the Atlantic. We've some thoughts from the US on a survey looking at the effectiveness of carrots and sticks that employers can use to dissuade workers from taking unauthorised absences from work.

To read the complete article, visit:

http://www.4-consulting.com/News/Ezine_14/Ezine_14_02.htm

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Making the Most of PowerPoint and Excel

Our regular "tricks and tips" features offers practical advice on getting the most out of your word processor and creating better spreadsheet workbooks.

To read the complete article, visit:

http://www.4-consulting.com/News/Ezine_14/Ezine_14_03.htm

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Recent Successes

Since our last e-zine, we completed the development and publication of the ICT Strategic Plan for the University of St Andrews and we've been commissioned to carry out an evaluation of the Edinburgh Criminal Justice Project

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Tell us your view

In our last e-Zine, we asked if you thought ageism is prevalent in the workplace. We had the highest ever response to the survey and every reader agreed with the question.

We hope that you will take a moment to answer the following question:

Do you think that an ailing bank, whose traditional customers are small savers and mortgage holders, should be propped up by central government with loans worth almost twice the UK's annual defence budget?

Answer our question and let us know – all responses are confidential.

If you would like to suggest a topic for future e-zines or have any comments about this one, please send it to: ezine@4-consulting.com.

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For more information about 4-consulting visit our web site at: www.4-consulting.com. Please feel free to forward this e-zine to a colleague.

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