Whilst practices to protect employees at work within the UK are robust, particularly around Health and Safety Legislation, businesses often overlook that their Duty of Care to staff extends further than these shores.

With increasing volatility around the world, particularly in emerging economies and market territories, it has never been more important to make sure your employees are educated, trained and protected whilst travelling. Not only does this ensure staff are safe as possible, it ensures Corporate Governance Standards are met.

Every corporation with global operations, with personnel based in or travelling to high risk countries, should protect itself and its staff against the risk of kidnap, extortion, detention and hijack.

In addition, it is important to consider emerging threats to any assets or balance sheet exposure overseas such as those from a terrorist, political or act of war perspective, and the impact that such activities would have on business operations in specific territories.
An attack on or even near your business facilities could result in human casualties, property damage, business interruption, relocation costs and long-term damage to reputation and share price.

Actions by foreign or domestic governments can deprive an organisation of its assets, prevent or restrict performance of a contract and affect repayment of loans to banks and lenders.
Never has it been more important to fully quantify risk exposures overseas, and ensure robust crisis management plans and procedures are embedded within business practice.

Also, with specific regard to UK exporters, who are having to consider new markets as the traditional markets such as Europe stagnate, the Purchasing Managers' Index for September showed a contraction of export orders in September which can be attributed to problems in the Eurozone.

While businesses may be familiar with dealing in Europe there is a need to really understand new markets for new export opportunities. It will be necessary to review the terms of payment and to explore all types of trade instruments.
Payment terms need to reflect as much as possible what is expected in the destination country.

All answers are for general guidance only. Each case must be handled on the individual facts. Quoted from Gavin Carson; Insider Media.

Your desire, or need, for training should not just be centred around the economic climate. Any request for development should ultimately have its roots in three key areas: your ability to provide a viable business case; proof that the development opportunity is aligned to your organisation's needs; and evidence of how a return on investment can be measured.

Make sure you demonstrate how the training you want to undertake will have a long-term benefit. Many people think they can attend a training course, come back to work and make immediate improvements. Of course, some tangible benefits should be evident in the short-term, but you need to inject a sense of realism into any request you make. Show what you expect to be able to contribute to the business over a longer time-frame, as well, as a way of demonstrating return on investment and, at the same time, your commitment to supporting your employer.

Whether the economy is strong or unpredictable, employers are understandably concerned about the cost of training their staff. Yet, whilst there is a financial outlay to be made, provided the learning is relevant to your role, your employer should also look at the cost of not building your capabilities - the cost of lost business if you don't have the right skills to win or retain clients.

Your employer may also be aware of the mistakes of the early 1990s when many businesses reacted to the slowdown by cutting training budgets. The problem was that they didn't have the resources and skills to cope when the economy improved. To some degree, the decision to halt management and leadership development could be blamed in part for the skills crisis that we are currently experiencing.

Fewer than 10% of managers expect to see a rise in their available budget, according to the CMI's latest Economic Outlook report. And it is something managers have to cope with and budget reductions present an ideal opportunity to take stock of your business plan for the year.

Begin by looking at the activities you have planned and ask yourself which are essential to the plan and which are 'nice to do', then drop the latter. Reassess your team's objectives. Are they realistic and achievable, given your new financial constraints?

Numerous reports suggest that employee engagement and motivation levels are at an all time low right now so the last thing you want to be doing is heaping unrealistic pressure on an already concerned workforce. But do this carefully. Many organisations assess progress against targets on a quarterly or bi-annual basis.

You must ensure the organisation operates in the context of market conditions. Manage the expectations of your senior colleagues. Make sure they know what can and cannot be achieved given the circumstances.

That way, at the end of the financial year, accusations cannot be leveled at you that the team has not delivered the original plan. Look also at how efficiently the team is running. Most people automatically assume that 'efficiency savings' is a euphemistic reference to redundancies, but this need not be the case.

There have been several stories of late about companies making huge savings by making simple, practical changes to workplace behaviour, such as changing computer settings so everything was printed double-sided.

Good budget management is an ongoing process. Just because you have solved one problem, it doesn't mean another won't crop up, so however you achieve savings ensure that you have a contingency plan should anything arise in the future.

A record number of people are taking up new courses and there are tens of thousands to choose from, including many tailored to suit those in full-time work.

However, if you do need to change your working hours you'll need to persuade your employer. If the course is related to your job you should make a business case to your employer.

Demonstrating that it is in your bosses' interest for you to train should help to persuade them to change your hours. Some employers provide funding for staff taking up courses so it is worth asking about financial support. Your employer may also be able to access Government subsidies, albeit rumor says funding will be cut in 2010.

Even if the course is not related to your job it is still worth asking as many employers recognise that out-of-work learning can improve morale, confidence and job satisfaction. From next year, employees will have a right to request time off for training, similar to the current right to request flexible working.

Hi there, thanks for your question.

To get some ideas on how you can get customers, grab yourself a sheet of A4 paper and a pen and then get ready to be creative. Now, put yourself in your customer's shoes and on the paper, write down as many places as you can where you would go if you were looking for translation services - it doesn't matter if these ideas are wacky or different or completely mad, just get them all down on the paper.

Try not to filter your ideas either - it's easy to think "well that's not going to work" and not write the idea down. Try to get all the ideas you can down on paper. Do this exercise with a friend and you'll get even more ideas. Try not to stop writing ideas until you have at least 20 things on that piece of paper. This exercise should give you a really good insight into where your potential customers are likely to go when they're looking for translation services and then I would recommend you start using your ideas to look for customers. Hope this all makes sense.
Best of luck.

Any projects you work on consistently and already know how to approach and complete, can be delegated to others. The best way to do this is to come up with written checklists for these types of projects. A written checklist, along with verbal instructions, will help you train the assigned person properly.

Of course, you're still responsible for the work getting done, so it is highly recommended that you meet with the assigned person regularly to be sure he or she is meeting the deadlines you've assigned, so the project keeps moving ahead.

If you have a brand new project that you're not exactly sure how to tackle, it is generally advised that you work on it yourself independently, or along with another staff member. This way, potential problems can be resolved and a training checklist can be developed for the next similar project.

Would you use paper made entirely out of waste paper from your company's recycling bin? What if I told you it was greatly benefiting the environment and still extremely high quality?

Buying recycled paper, made of 100% post-consumer recycled content, may cost a bit more (sometimes not), but the benefits can be truly worthwhile. Here are four reasons to buy recycled:

1. Recycled papers of comparable quality to virgin-made papers are becoming increasingly easy to find, especially in large office supply stores such as Staples.
2. When your company buys recycled paper, it demonstrates concern for the environment. This is an excellent message to pass on to employees and your customers.
3. Making recycled paper creates less air and water pollution than making new paper.
4. The fewer trees that must be cut down to make paper, the less chance that valuable wildlife habitats and ecosystems will be lost.

I think it's well worth it, simply for the facts listed above. Plus, it gives you the benefit of knowing that you're doing something good for the environment.

Here are my top-5 favorite ways:

1. Use email, read reports and manuals on the screen in PDF format, and don't print unnecessarily. Doing so will reduce your company's paper consumption - which will result in less paper needing to be purchased.
2. Before purchasing something new, be sure you don't already have something in your office that can do the trick.
3. Confirm business appointments BEFORE you leave the office. You'll reduce wasted time and wasted fuel.
4. Don't disregard inexpensive storage options such as simple shelves. Whether you get wood, steel or wire shelving, shelving will help you make excellent use of all the wall space that typically goes to waste.
5. Need more filing space, but can't afford filing cabinets? Cardboard file storage boxes and banker's boxes are awesome for paperwork that can be archived, especially since they stack so beautifully!