According to Tony Urwin, occupational psychologist and general manager of BUPA Psychological Services and BUPA Wellness, more consumers could develop difficulties in meeting numerous demands for payment on areas such as utility bills, personal loans and credit cards. Such fiscal problems could be increased even further as the country's consumer debt level "escalates" and the "costly" festive period is just a few weeks away. In addition, the recent decision by the Bank of England to keep the base rate at 5.75 per cent means that borrowing costs on personal loans and other types of credit remain at their highest level for six years. As a result, employees were urged to be aware of the various symptoms that having financial problems can result in.
And with such monetary difficulties potentially causing staff to take days off due to stress, underperform while in the workplace and in some instances turn to criminal behaviour in an attempt to pay off creditors, the psychologist called on employers to do more to help their workforce manage their finances.
Mr Urwin said: "A person whose financial future is uncertain is highly likely to feel pressurised and unable to cope. Their behaviour is, therefore, likely to be similar to that of someone suffering from extreme stress. The visible work-based symptoms of stress can include short temperedness, an inability to plan and control work, poor relationships with colleagues or clients and loss of motivation".
"Other very simple tell-tale signs may be the start of frequent private phone calls - as someone burdened by debt may start receiving regular calls from their bank, credit card company or other organisations chasing payment."
He also pointed to research revealing that conversations about independent monetary advice and financial issues account for three and two per cent respectively of all calls received by employees via assistance programmes managed by BUPA. Meanwhile, debt matters, whether about credit cards or secured loans, make up two per cent of discussions. Mr Urwin pointed out that, overall, money-related problems comprise more calls to BUPA helplines than substance abuse or trauma.
The psychologist added that the provision of independent financial advice can help consumers learn to budget their spending effectively and how to apply for debt consolidation loans so as to get back on their financial feet. In addition, Mr Urwin stated that such guidance could see people become more aware about the implication of filing for insolvency and how being in debt can have an impact upon credit ratings.
Earlier this year, Axa reported that by using the 50 minutes of their working day they spend in social networking websites and making personal phone calls to instead organise their finances, many of Britain's office-based workers could be in a better monetary position in which to pay off bills, loans and credit cards. Spokesperson Pat Brady claimed: "A lack of motivation to deal with financial matters is arguably at the heart of our country's enormous personal debt problem." Meanwhile, after getting a clear idea of their money situation those who find that expenditure significantly outweighs income may wish to consider taking out a debt consolidation loan.
Everybody's doing it. Industry leaders like General Electric and Microsoft ? as well as the start up companies that are looking forward to challenging them ? are outsourcing offshore. After all, every company's goal is a lean, agile research and development department that brings innovative products to market rapidly and profitably. As a business plan, outsourcing enables companies to leverage lower labor costs, including wages and health care, and focus on core competencies. Nevertheless, a ?they're doing it so I will, too? decision to outsource is not a good enough reason. Outsourcing can be a powerful, profitable strategy. However, one of the challenges of outsourcing is identifying when outsourcing embedded product research and development projects will deliver the greatest return on your investment.
Long Circle recommends that you heed these tell-tale signs that let you know: It's time to put outsourcing to work for your company.
Too many projects stuck in the pipeline?
Is your R&D organization under pressure because your sales team is promising your customers products that are stuck in your development pipeline? Leading companies keep innovative products flowing to market. If you've got too many projects languishing and you're facing some of these obstacles, it's time to expand your pipeline and your profitability by outsourcing.
?High-value, full-scale development work lags due to lack of resources ?Not generating raw ideas for new products; innovation suffering ?Too busy handling operations; losing focus on your core business ?When you have got to be the first into the market to gain the edge ?A mission-critical project needs your team's time and energy ?When only 10 out of 20 projects slated for the year get the head count ?A backlog of development work is never touched
Put in the dream team
?There are never enough good people? is especially true in the research and development arm of an organization. Do you have a project that calls for specialized skills which aren't available internally? Perhaps budget constraints prevent you from taking on more employees. Or, maybe your R&D production goes in cycles; sometimes you need more people, sometimes less, and you want to avoid downsizing. Outsourcing lets you keep your development team stable and focused.
If you need a dream team but think it's out of your reach, outsourcing can make it a reality.
Prioritize and delegate
Where are your priorities? Some people would rather play golf on the weekends and let a lawn service or the teenager down the street cut the grass. In product research and development, there are times when it's more productive and profitable to let the right outsourcing firm handle some of these projects.
?Maintenance-level work that you want to offload ?Too many legacy products out in the field to be maintained ?A one-time project ?Projects of low value ?Non-core work
Dollars and sense
Experts estimate savings realized in wages by outsourcing can be anywhere from 50 to 80 percent. Outsourcing enables your company to reduce costs when any of these scenarios occur:
?Competitor's price is lower than yours and you can't drive down your cost ?A new M & A requires additional resources to handle the integration ?Profit margin is diminishing and shows no signs of improving ?Uncertainty regarding capacity expansion ?Potential for downsizing exists
Start ups stalling
Is your business experiencing growing pains? If your company is a startup, you may have the latest and greatest product, but do you have enough time, money, and people resources to deliver your product to the market before your competitors?
When your new business is growing or just leaving the gate, you can't afford to lag behind the competition. Consequently, some venture capitalists maximize their investment dollars by requiring a startup business to have an outsourcing strategy.
Outsourcing is a cost-effective way to make your product research and development scalable and more competitive.
China strategy
With over 1.3 billion people, China is the most populous country on earth and evolving rapidly. China is now a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the host of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Nowadays, ?Made in China? means much more than consumer electronics. China is the emerging market of the 21 century and companies that realize how important this market is for their long term business success are scrambling for ways to gain a foothold.
Because of lower wages and a superior talent pool of engineering graduates, research and development outsourcing is a key technology enterprise that is expanding in China. For Fortune 100 companies on down the value chain, offshoring research and development in China is not only a way to increase profit margins, but a way to enter the promising China market and ensure it becomes part of their global strategy.
Conclusion
From pipeline to patents, companies must find ways to speed up their development cycle and get products to market quicker than the competition ? or face losing market share.
If your company is facing a time, money, and human resource crunch that's impacting your embedded product research and development organization, it's time to take a look at outsourcing.
About the Author
Long Circle provides outsourced engineering services to companies whose products and services rely on embedded software and hardware technology. Long Circle and the Long Circle China Center of Excellence enables U.S. companies to reduce costs, increase engineering bandwidth, and broaden market reach by providing low-risk, strategic access to China's engineering talent, manufacturing industry, and emerging markets.
Long Circle, Inc. 464 Common St., Suite 158 Belmont, MA 02478 U.S.A Office: +1.617.395.4338 Customer Care (toll free): +1.866.529.7725
Long Circle (Shanghai) Engineering Center of Excellence, Ltd 1990 Long Yang Road, Suite 5A Long Yang Business Building Pudong, Shanghai 201204 China Shanghai office: +86.21.5134.8988
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