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Best financial wellbeing strategy - large employer
Anglian Water (entered by Neyber), A Multi-Generation Approach to Financial Wellbeing
This award, sponsored by Wealth at Work, recognises an employer with more than 5,000 employees that uses a proactive approach to its workforce's financial needs and has supported staff in the making of financial, retirement or investment-related benefits decisions.
For Anglian Water it was important to create an environment in which employees are happy and healthy, and this award entry recognises the key role financial wellbeing plays due to its impact on staff mental health. Furthermore, the organisation expressed a need to reach and cater for a wide age range of employees, each facing vastly different financial and life-stage challenges.
The aim of this organisation's strategy was to embed financial wellness within its annual wellbeing plan, increase employee awareness, particularly around retirement planning, money management and debt consolidation, and provide access to useful digital tools.
To do this, among other initiatives, it introduced a nudge programme, delivering information and goal-setting relevant to each individual's circumstances. It also brought in a financial wellbeing hub, offering various tools for budgeting and debt management as well as information on specific topics such as buying a house, and introduced flexible pensions, allowing employees to vary their contributions depending on their circumstances on a rolling basis.
Using personal stories, face-to-face support and public employee pledges, Anglian Water encouraged staff to commit to improving their financial wellbeing, as well as creating a culture of open communication and engagement around a potentially difficult topic. As a result, employee sickness due to financial stress and anxiety reduced by 24% between May 2017 and May 2018.
The judges said: "What we liked about it was that the organisation did employee research and developed a clear plan to increase financial wellbeing; it was a very logical sequence. It built considerable trust with employees to enable those conversations to take place. We liked the pledge wall with personal stories, and the entry showed some good results overall."
Victoria Sloane, internal communications business partner at Anglian Water, said: "We've got quite a diverse approach to our wellbeing strategy, particularly financial wellbeing. We've got a hugely diverse organisation so we target our wellbeing strategy to meet our employees' needs.
"It's amazing [to win], I can't tell you how happy we are. It's great recognition of the work that our team does, the HR and the reward team, but also how passionate we are as [an organisation] about wellbeing."
Lendlease, Preference (entered by Benefex)
Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, Launch of Money Wizard (entered by Wealth Wizards)
Centrica, Engaging employees to save for a brighter future (entered by Standard Life)
INEOS (entered by Wealth at work)
Sky, My Sky Rewards - Sky Pension Plan (entered by Capita)
Virgin Active (entered by Salary Finance)
Best benefits to support work-life balance
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Back-up Care and Work+Family Space (entered by My Family Care)
The award recognises an employer with effective strategies in place to support the work-life balance of employees, for example supporting employees with caring responsibilities.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch understands the importance of reducing unnecessary absence and decreasing stress among its highly skilled workforce, but with headquarters in London being a necessity, financial stress is among the many issues faced by employees. In addition to this, the expense and stress of caring responsibilities, made more acute for those based in the capital, affect at least 35% of its UK workforce.
By tackling and reducing some of the pressures faced by working carers, Bank of America Merrill Lynch aimed to boost engagement and productivity and positively affect attraction and retention.
The organisation introduced a benefits portal, Work+Family Space, which gives staff access to back-up care provisions, guides and resources on work-life balance topics, one-to-one advice services, and resources from the perspective of working fathers, among others.
In addition, Bank of America Merrill Lynch offers its staff enhanced parental leave and pay, maternity coaching, access to a parents and carers network and a flexible working policy. These benefits are communicated via a wide range of media, from roadshows to onboarding flyers, to reach and educate staff as comprehensively as possible.
A particular point of interest in this entry was the organisation's back-up care provision, which is innovative and highly flexible, not only in the type, location and timing of the care options available to employees, but also in how it is used; for example, an employee might opt to use this provision for themselves if they need support following a hospital discharge. Access is actively encouraged, and all employees have 20 days of back-up childcare and 20 more of back-up adult and elder care per year. In a 2018 survey, 98% of the organisation's employees agreed that this policy relieved stress and offered piece of mind, and a further 98% said it allowed them to fulfil their work commitments.
The judges said: "This entry was strong on strategy, and it was clear and data specific. It had the innovation to go beyond working families, from children to adult care; it was holistic, covering all life stages. Bank of America Merrill Lynch had some standout solutions like back-up care, as well as a tangible link back to talent acquisition."
Adam Brooke, vice president, senior benefits consultant, UK and Ireland at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said: "We do try and make things accessible to everyone, it's not just about certain groups, and I think the back-up care support is particularly generous. We really try to help employees with their work-life balance, and it's just fantastic to be recognised by peers. It really does mean a lot. It's fantastic because it's not about the sector that you're in, it's across all sectors and actually to be recognised by peers across all [sectors], it means a lot."
Pursuit Marketing
Arm, FlexPot (entered by Thomsons Online Benefits)
Best employee engagement strategy
Goodman Masson, The Experience
This award recognises an employer that has used benefits within its wider reward strategy to engage employees with the organisation, boosting productivity, satisfaction and retention.
When Goodman Masson rolled out its engagement and retention strategy, The Experience, its ambition was to treat its employees better than any other business.
To measure its success in this regard, the organisation gathers personal testimonials, tracks its performance externally via sites such as Glassdoor, and measures business performance and profitability, recognising the link between engagement and the bottom line.
Goodman Masson's approach to boosting engagement and satisfaction was to provide benefits that addressed key stages in each employee's life, helping them face modern-day challenges such as buying a house, repaying student loans, becoming a parent and accessing loans. In addition, employees are able to reduce and offset the costs of exotic holidays, to cover the full gamut of work-life balance and wellbeing.
With 59 people currently enrolled in the organisation's mortgage fund, 28 individuals taking advantage of home improvement loans in 2018, and 32 exotic holidays booked in the last year alone, employees are evidently making great use of the provisions. In addition, Goodman Masson has shown substantial year-on-year improvement in terms of profit and productivity and cites a staff turnover figure of less than 20%.
The judges said: "The strategy is very clear and the benefits offered genuinely very different, and aimed at helping people at all life stages. They had some really different options and the results were excellent across the board, clearly demonstrating the connection to business performance."
John Lawson, finance director at Goodman Masson, said: "[Winning feels] amazing. We've worked hard to create benefits that are more about giving people what they can achieve immediately, rather than just a salary and bonus scheme. We've tried to be a bit more creative about our benefits, [and] in terms of engagement we have a 98% retention rate for our top earners."
Bethany Ridgewell, Npower
This award, sponsored by Zest Technology, recognises an HR, benefits and reward professional starting out in their career who has already had a positive and impactful effect on their organisation's approach to benefits and reward.
Npower works within a difficult market, facing restructuring and cost-saving measures that can heavily impact on employee engagement and morale. In the face of this, Npower's Bethany Ridgewell has focused on cost-effective solutions, the business case for benefits, and effective communications to boost investment returns.
Most notably, Ridgewell has taken a core interest in promoting recognition strategies, moving them from a nice-to-have to a business essential, even in times of organisational stress, and helping the organisation build up to a 53% increase in the number of recognitions given to employees.
Ridgewell has also promoted the use of cost-effective, high-impact communication channels, ensuring employee interest not only in the recognition scheme, but across the full range of Npower's benefits provisions.
Bethany Ridgewell, reward specialist and benefits lead at Innogy Business Services UK, said: "Making the case for why employee benefits is important in any environment. The energy industry at the moment is going through a really hard time and it's really hard to keep employee morale high. Part of the work that I've been doing is reminding the business that, even though we're going through difficult times, it's important to take care of our employees and make them feel valued.
"It's just a great recognition. I joined the energy industry and the employee benefits industry straight after university and I guess it's just a testament to all the brilliant people that I've learnt from and how exciting this industry can be."
Dani Colvin Laws, The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Lucy Orchiston, EuroCarParts
Rhiannon Davies, hedgehog lab
Rosie Damarell, University of Lincoln
Best staff travel initiatives
London Borough of Waltham Forest, Staff Car Pool Pilot
This award recognises an employer that has an excellent strategy pertaining to staff travel benefits, encompassing company cars, green commute schemes and season ticket loans, for example.
The London Borough of Waltham Forest worked with its employees to create an innovative staff car pool scheme after a major development of the town hall's campus saw parking spaces massively reduce. The scheme, which initially launched as a pilot in February 2018 for 25 planning office staff, provides two low-emission vehicles situated at the town hall for employees to use to attend appointments during the working day. The available cars also include a borough-wide parking permit.
A key aim was to ensure that employees do not have to bring a private vehicle into work, while also aligning with the council's wider sustainability ambitions.
The London Borough of Waltham Forest further worked with employees when designing and implementing the scheme. This is mirrored in the agile delivery of the benefit, which used a three-week 'plan, do and adapt' model to introduce the scheme and improve it based on regular feedback.
In September 2018, the council secured funding to install four electric vehicle charging points; this enabled the available fleet to switch to electric cars. This resulted in car club users saving more than four tonnes of CO2 over 11,000 miles since September, and reducing NOx emissions by 675.9g. Other expansions include the addition of two low-emission vehicles based at satellite offices, and allowing local residents to use the available vehicles on weekday evenings and weekends.
The pilot car pool scheme is now a permanent benefit with 267 members, and car bookings through the scheme have increased from 24 in February 2018 to 236 in October 2018.
The judges said: "We like the agile approach and the fact that there were lots of incentives for employees. Take-up was impressive after just one year. It was a user-led design that was co-designed with the employees' involvement; that's something we really liked. Because the cars come with a borough-wide parking permit, staff aren't wasting time trying to park, so the employer has shown that it's about helping employees do their job and [supporting] people in the community."
Cllr Clyde Loakes, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for the Environment, said: "I'm delighted to accept this award. At Waltham Forest Council we are continually looking for innovative ways to build on the work we're already doing to improve the environment and air quality in borough. "Our Enjoy Waltham Forest improvement programme has reduced the number of households living in areas with dangerously high levels of air pollution by over 50,000 in ten years, and increased the life expectancy of young people in the borough by up to six weeks. "We have also looked at our own behaviour as an employer and how we can encourage sustainable travel amongst our staff. Our Town Hall Campus redevelopment project has reduced the number of car parking spaces on-site – but increased the provision of electric pool cars, electric bicycles, and charging points. "We are making a real difference by reducing emissions in the borough and contributing to a cleaner environment for all."
ENGIE, The Green Car Scheme (entered by Tusker)
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (entered by Tuskerdirect)
University of Lincoln, Linc-On Benefits
Best healthcare and wellbeing benefits - large employer
Winner: Norton Rose Fulbright
This award, sponsored by Simplyhealth, celebrates an employer that has implemented an effective health and wellbeing strategy for its workforce of more than 1,000 employees.
Law firm Norton Rose Fulbright aimed high with the creation of its holistic health and wellbeing strategy, designing a unified approach that connected separate schemes and benefits in order to boost overall wellbeing and, in particular, mental health. This was aligned with its objectives of creating a preventative culture, normalising mental health conversations, reducing absenteeism, improving engagement and reducing healthcare premiums.
Norton Rose Fulbright's strategy centres around an annual calendar of events focused on four key themes: healthy living, mind, body and finances. This breadth is to ensure the strategy is applicable for the firm's 1,300 UK employees, regardless of their demographic or life stage.
The firm trained 75 people to be mental health first aid officers and launched a 'Need Help?' button on each employee's desktop, which links to Norton Rose Fulbright's global resilience intranet page. All business phones also come with an employee assistance programme (EAP) app.
The wider programme includes nutrition, mindfulness, on-site health checks, local gym classes and access to a private GP. The organisation is also implementing a six-week wellness programme, which will address physical and mental fitness.
The results speak for themselves: EAP usage increased from 4.8% in quarter three of 2017 to 7.6% in quarter three of 2018, while anxiety and worry as a presenting EAP issue decreased by 67% in 2018.
The judges said: "This entry has powerful and clever messages. Norton Rose Fulbright was slick in terms of what it was trying to do and how it was going to be achieved. If people have a crisis point it's often at work, especially in professional services, so we liked help button a lot; it's a reminder that help is there. It was a holistic approach, looking at the culture, getting everyone on board, coming from the top and everyone buying into it. It's probably one of the hardest things to do."
Vicky Rose, head of reward, wellbeing and global mobility at Norton Rose Fulbright, said: "We had a really holistic approach to our health and wellbeing, and mental health formed a large part of that, so I think it was just trying to draw on everything that we have in place and [think about] what else could we do that was in the industry that we could utilise, [to] increase the impact. We're delighted that we've won."
Carnival UK, Menopause initiative
Cisco Systems, CiscoPavelka Initiative (entered by Pavelka)
KPMG, Wellbeing Strategy
Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK, Ensemble (entered by Check4Cancer)
Best use of benefits technology
BNP Paribas, Spectrum Virtual Benefits Fair (entered by Blue Goose)
This award recognises an employer that has used and adapted benefits technology in order to implement effective strategies for employee engagement, recognition or reward.
With 12 divisions and more than 40 locations, reaching and engaging employees was a significant challenge for BNP Paribas, added to which is the fact that each division has different pay and benefits packages and separate HR, finance and management teams. These issues meant that, although popular among eligible employees, the organisation's traditional London-based benefits fair did not fit the bill.
To tackle the issue of engagement with benefits among a diverse and dispersed workforce, as well as create a sustainable, paper- and plastic-free approach, the HR, compliance, IT and legal teams across all 12 divisions worked together, alongside more than 20 external benefits providers, to create a live virtual benefits fair. This gave employees 3.5 hours to explore tools, brochures and video content for 25 different benefits, as well as access one-to-one online chat functions.
The fair was designed to be accessible from any device. The information, albeit without the chat functions, then remained accessible for the duration of BNP Paribas' benefits window.
The results were striking, with 9,750 unique stand visits, 4,388 document views and 1,945 video views, leading to access and submission rates for flex enrolment of 89% and 76%, the highest in four years. In turn, the organisation saw an increase of 437 completions of its benefits-specific workplace survey on the day of the virtual fair alone. When asked about their experiences with the fair, 87% of attendees said it better helped them understand their benefits and 81% rated the user experience as very good or exceptional.
The judges said: "This was very innovative. We like the idea about sustainability, and that it's much easier to measure success; 91% said they'd take part next year, so it was proper engagement. This was very clever, and really supports an agile working model. This entry stands out; it was technology at its best, and the future being shown."
Daisy Sherwood, pensions and benefits specialist at BNP Paribas, said: "It's very exciting [to win]. [The virtual benefits fair is] something very new, and that took quite a lot of work to do, probably more than we anticipated, so it's very exciting [to win]. BNP Paribas is made up of quite a lot of smaller group companies, so it was about trying to create something that reached everyone."
Atos, Benefits Excellence (entered by Benefex)
Bakkavor, Bakkavor Benefits Platform (entered by Zest Technology)
Capgemini, My Benefits (entered by Aon)
Reed Specialist Recruitment, Reward Hub (entered by Reward Gateway)
Best benefits communications – large employer
Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust, Launching a Home Electronics Scheme for Christmas (entered by Vivup)
This award celebrates the achievements of an organisation with more than 1,000 employees, which has used effective and innovative communications to engage staff with its benefits offering.
Many of the employees at Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust are shift workers on a lower income and without regular access to a computer while in the workplace. In its entry, the Trust chose to showcase a specific benefit and surrounding communications campaign, focused around helping employees buy affordable home electronics in time for the festive period.
The window was just two months, and prior to its opening, employees had no awareness of the scheme, which allowed them to spread the cost of a range of goods via salary sacrifice over 12, 24 or 36 months. The Trust therefore launched an intensive and comprehensive communications campaign to ensure maximum take-up in a short timeframe.
This approach included the use of printed materials, information on the staff intranet, mentions in the bi-weekly newsletter, social media posts, details on employees' payslips and an extensive programme of emails.
The initiative was designed to reach employees both within work and during their off-work hours, when they were more likely to be able to browse at their leisure.
A particularly innovative element of the approach was the use of payslips, which the judges felt was an inspired method of ensuring employees would read the information and directly consider how it might affect their pay. The Trust also focused on peer-to-peer communication, conducting prize draws that included anyone who referred, or was referred by, a colleague; this was noted to be the second most popular way employees learned about the scheme.
The judges said: "It was a really good campaign focused on one benefit relevant to their demographic. These people aren't paid as well as in other sectors, and in this day and age it's important to have access to technology. Employees typically do not have access to computers during work; they work shifts and use mobile devices. It's one of those smaller initiatives with a big impact, and at no cost to the Trust, as well."
Richard Crum, head of finance transformation, Lisa Mooney, deputy pay, pensions and benefits manager, Tracie Thomas, deputy pay, pensions and benefits manager, said: "The journey [has been] such a pleasure and has brought such reward to our employees. We did a lot of extra hours and worked a lot of weekends to sort it out. Being public sector, you have to understand your employees more. Communications is one of the key things we do with our employees, from our intranet page to promoting it on our e-payslips. We knew all the places our staff would go, and it was the best [scheme] we've had for a long, long time."
AstraZeneca, My Reward (entered by Benefex)
Kier Group (entered by Howden Employee Benefits and Wellbeing)
Unilever, SHARES (entered by Computershare)
Best healthcare and wellbeing benefits - small employer
Saint-Gobain Weber, Wellbeing at Weber
This award, sponsored by Capita, recognises the most effective health and wellbeing strategies implemented by organisations with fewer than 1,000 employees.
Manufacturing organisation Saint-Gobain Weber has a diverse workforce of 195 employees spread across three sites in the UK and Ireland; these encompass production roles, office-based staff and remote employees who conduct field work.
Saint-Gobain Weber's strategy, initially launched in 2015, was designed to support all employees across three key pillars: physical health, emotional resilience and social wellness.
Employees have been at the centre of the values-led health and wellbeing strategy since its creation; the initial roll out was implemented by a cross-functional project team, which consisted of employees from all job types and seniorities, and the initiative is now managed and run by wellbeing champions.
Employees' views, collected in conjunction with on-site briefings, were used to agree two to three different priority actions at each operating site during the year of the initial launch, accommodating the mix of wellbeing needs across different locations and roles.
Activities included health checks, wellness weeks, access to gym facilities and classes, diet advice, investing in plant environment improvements, an employee assistance programme (EAP), mental health awareness training, access to relaxation rooms, charity challenges and quiz nights.
The strategy further aligns to Saint-Gobain Weber's 'zero harm' approach; this aims to eliminate all work-related accidents, injuries and damage to health.
Since 2015, 78% of employees have registered on the organisation's online health gateway platform and there has been an overall reduction in employees' health age of 230 years. The majority (92%) of staff believe Saint-Gobain Weber cares about their health and wellbeing, while employee engagement has increased from 73% to 86%.
The judges said: "There were impressive results, with a reduction in overall health age. It linked the strategy to values with strong supporting metrics; this is impressive because it can be hard to have a direct line of sight from strategy to results in this category."
Padraig Barry, managing director at Saint-Gobain Weber, said: "It's the culmination of three or four years' hard work. We were trying to get people to participate – we can always set a good example ourselves, but it needs to come from [inside them] to work. [Wellbeing at Weber] has worked a treat, and it's getting better. We've got three different sites and lots of people on the road as well, and it touched people in every part of the business."
Carlsberg UK, For a better today and tomorrow
Fire Security (Sprinkler Installations), Implementing Equipsme and Suffolk Mind's Health and Wellbeing Programme (entered by Equipsme)
Havas Media, Havas Equalise
OneWeb
Best alignment of benefits to business strategy
e.surv Chartered Surveyors, part of LSL Property Services, ChoiceMatters (entered by Benefex)
This award recognises employers that have successfully aligned their employee benefits offering with their overall business strategy and goals.
The residential surveying market is facing a particularly demanding war for talent, as the number of trained surveyors has shrunk within the last decade. The average employee in this field is an over-50 male with long service; however, with an influx of new graduates, the industry is also facing a stark generation split that can cause issues when trying to tailor a benefits package to employee needs.
For e.surv, the business challenge lay in creating an attractive package to recruit and retain staff from a compact and competitive talent pool, while also catering to the varied needs of the different generations. To do this, the organisation found that choice was key. This led to the introduction of a flex fund allowing employees to select from a range of benefits on the ChoiceMatters platform, using a pot of between £750 and £1,250, depending on their role.
The organisation set out clear objectives, which it was able to surpass. For example, it aimed to increase flexible benefits logins from 20% to 60%, achieving 73%, and aimed to increase employee National Insurance savings to 5%, achieving 24%. As for business objectives, a goal of 12.1% turnover was reached and surpassed, going down to 5%.
The judges said: "This entry has the right thread from strategy through to innovation. You don't see a lot of entries in that sector, and for e.surv to shine a light on what it's doing around this is quite unusual. It's quite a small organisation, and it's impressive for a small [organisation] to be able to put that much time, effort and money into benefits strategy, and to have some great results. A lot of organisations don't dare to do flex pots, so it's quite impressive that while they don't want to spend too much, they do want to look after their employees. Getting these results with the nature of this industry is something to be commended."
Kayleigh Burn, reward analyst at e.surv Chartered Surveyors, said: "We've done a lot of research and found out what our business really needs from an attrition perspective and how our business goes forward, what we need in a reward system to support that, and to get the people into the business. It's really shown, the work that we've done, and that we are retaining that talent. I'm really pleased [to win this award]."
Capgemini, MyBenefits (entered by Aon)
Virgin Atlantic Airways and Virgin Holidays, Working Well, Living Better (entered by Unum/Aon)
Best financial wellbeing strategy - small employer
London City Airport, A Worry Bigger than the Workplace (entered by Neyber)
This award, sponsored by Wealth at Work, recognises an employer with less than 5,000 members of staff that has a proactive approach to addressing its workforce's financial needs and supporting staff to make financial, retirement or investment-related benefits decisions.
Following internal research, London City Airport found that 22% of its workforce were living from one pay check to the next, and that 21% lacked confidence when it came to managing their financial affairs. The organisation also felt a growing concern that these issues might impact on physical health if stress and distraction led to workplace accidents.
The key objectives of London City Airport's initiative were to embed financial wellbeing into employees' lives and open up the lines of communication, helping people feel comfortable seeking help when needed. It chose to particularly focus on loans and debt consolidation, going further than offering employees access to loaned money, and educating them about improving their finances in the long run.
To do this, the employer introduced a loan and consolidation service, which it launched using internal presentations and one-on-one finance clinics, following up with posters, intranet content and webinars, as well as information on staff payslips. To ensure an eye-catching, as well as friendly and non-intrusive, approach, the organisation used an ice-cream cart to generate interest and reach out to people. These marketing-inspired methods led to 18% of employees engaging with the product, and 57% registering for the wider financial wellbeing hub.
Showing the astuteness of its initial concerns about physical wellbeing, and the importance of financial concerns when it comes to all aspects of health, safety and the employee experience, there has been a year-on-year decrease in accidents at work, while 92% of staff now respond positively when asked if they are confident managing their financial affairs.
The judges said: "We liked the link to safety at work. It is a difficult environment in which to engage staff, a very transient workforce, but London City Airport had a clear strategy and clear evidence. It had a good understanding of the challenges faced by the workforce and was very focused on business objectives, without losing the human side."
Stephanie Powell, HR manager, and Yasmin Satinoglu, HR business partner, at London City Airport, said: "It's fantastic to win. We've worked really hard to improve our financial wellbeing, and it looks like it's paid off and our staff are benefitting from it. [We won] probably because we could see the link between financial wellbeing and preventing accidents at work, making sure our people have got their mind on the job and not on their financial worries. It was about creating that link, and taking care of their wellbeing and welfare as well."
Gattaca, Financial Wellbeing (entered by Smarterly)
Best benefits communications - small employer
Secure Trust Bank, Boost – Benefits with Real Power
This award celebrates the achievements of an organisation with fewer than 1,000 employees, which has used effective and innovative communications to engage staff with its benefits offering.
Building on an existing benefits scheme, with the aim of boosting take-up and engagement, Secure Trust Bank Group created a fun, quirky communications campaign to catch employees' eyes. Putting staff at the heart of the approach was key, allowing Secure Trust Bank Group to not only generate interest and talking points, but make a clear commitment to focusing on employees' needs.
Its 2018 benefits campaign took on the theme of super powers, showcasing each perk and reward in the context of what special advantage it could give to employees when faced with a variety of life events and situations, whether referring to the power to do things they might not normally be able to, or the ability to protect the things they love.
Using a wide range of channels, including posters, intranet banners, articles in the staff magazine, life-sized cut-outs and presentations, Secure Trust Bank Group broadcasted communications centred on images of employees photographed in superhero poses, clearly identified with their name and job role to make sure it was as personal and tangible as possible. This year-long campaign resulted in a 71% average monthly increase in portal traffic.
The judges said: "This was an imaginative campaign that used real employees. It was completely different from what you might perceive as their organisational culture, being a bank and then having employees as super heroes, it's quite a culture change. This was imaginative and high impact, and the results were humorous, plus it got great employee engagement."
Anne McKenning, HR director at Secure Trust Bank Group, said: "[We won this award] because we use real staff, so it's a home-grown campaign using our employees telling us what they actually love about the benefits. As much as in any marketing campaign, really the opinion that matters is the opinion of the people, and the people that take up the benefits. It's amazing, we're absolutely stunned, really chuffed, and couldn't be happier."
Womble Bond Dickinson (UK), Benefits Roadshow 2018
Non-Standard Finance (entered by Computershare)
University of Lincoln, Linc-On Benefits Platform
Most motivational benefits
Reed Specialist Recruitment, Apprentice Awards
This award celebrates the most effective motivation or incentive strategy implemented by an employer, with a clear impact on employee engagement and potential links to productivity.
Reed Specialist Recruitment has a lengthy list of existing incentives, aimed at combatting low productivity rates among new starters in an industry with a naturally high turnover rate; these initiatives include long service awards, cash incentives and peer recognition. The Apprentice Awards were introduced to complement this set of motivational benefits, as well as to publicly reward and recognise employees who complete the apprenticeship programme and encourage them to complete their learning goals in time.
The Apprenticeship Awards were devised to be closely linked with monetary incentives, as this was found to fit best with the preferences of the typical employee in a sales-based organisation, and were also aligned within a clear career development framework. The aim was to encourage employees to both perform well in their roles and grow the skills to develop.
The monetary and progression-based motivation system was then topped off by an annual event with senior input, celebrating employees' progress and development, and combining this public recognition with further learning opportunities by couching it in a day focused on personal development.
Following the introduction of the Apprentice Awards, turnover among permanent and temporary entry-level employees dropped substantially. Furthermore, the proportion of apprentices on track to complete work on time rose by more than 58% after the launch of the new motivation and recognition system, showing a clear return on investment from this initiative.
The judges said: "Reed Specialist Recruitment was very clear on what the issue was, why it was important, and how they planned to address it. Their approach joined up to ensure integration with other policies. We loved the graduation and directors' day, and the fact that their entry led through to a very impressive set of results, which showed increased productivity."
Ian Nicholas, chief HR officer at Reed Specialist Recruitment, said: "We're delighted [to have won]. The scheme means a lot to us, so this is recognition for all the hard work that's gone into it."
Marianne Ginis, head of reward at Reed Specialist Recruitment, said: "Even though it's an apprenticeship scheme, we wanted to reward them the same as other employees. Sometimes apprentices can be low paid, but we made sure they're equally paid and also get additional benefits and reward. We wanted to make them feel special."
Colt Technology Services, Colt Inspire (entered by Xexec)
Sunrise Senior Living, Celebrating Excellence
Best voluntary benefits
Sandwell Council, My Employee Benefits (entered by Sodexo Exchange)
This award celebrates the most effective use of a voluntary benefits plan within an organisation, including staff offers that are available for all employees.
Faced with the challenge of providing a benefits scheme that appeals to 4,500 diverse and dispersed employees, as well as generating savings for the organisation itself, Sandwell Council implemented a new voluntary scheme in 2014, offering a range of perks, from lifestyle discounts to green cars. In 2018, it launched a refresh programme to drive renewed motivation, as well as attract the next wave of younger talent.
This included a rebranding process that aimed to create an inclusive, vibrant feeling, and a communications campaign incorporating pop-up banners, scheme cards, roadshows at key locations and prize giveaways.Best voluntary benefits
In terms of results, take-up of voluntary benefits has reached 45% and staff have saved £300,000 since the scheme was launched; meanwhile, Sandwell Council has been able to reinvest £200,000-worth of its own National Insurance savings into other HR initiatives. These include a new car scheme, talent and leadership development programmes and a two-year 'jobs promise' guarantee for any employee.
The judges said: "Sandwell Council had a well thought out strategy which looked to benefit both the employer and employees, as well as the local economy. There was a lot of good activity, and the really impressive part is re-investing the savings that the council made into funding a whole raft of additional programmes for employees."
Mark Stanley, senior human resources business partner at Sandwell Council, said: "[Winning means] an awful lot. We [have] the viewpoint that it's to give something back to the workforce, so while we've won this for the work that we've done, it's really a recognition of all that we've provided for the workforce to say thank you for all the hard work that they've put in. So it's great that we've got it, but it's also bigger than that."
Deutsche Telekom Services Europe AG (subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom Group), Time to Change
Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Benefits Everyone
Best flexible benefits plan
Aspen (entered by Thomsons Online Benefits)
This award celebrates the most effective use of a flexible benefits strategy within an organisation working to engage employees and deliver against their wants and needs.
Aspen's goal when introducing a flexible benefits plan was to appeal to a diverse demographic, offer increased choice, provide meaningful benefits and save the organisation a considerable amount of money. To ensure its efforts were targeted and effective, the employer undertook extensive research, including marketplace benchmarking, employee surveys and focus groups.
Following this process, Aspen revamped its existing benefits, as well as introducing 12 additional initiatives; these included a car lease scheme, a discount portal, a will writing service, financial education, season ticket loans and a corporate Isa, among others. The organisation also rebranded its benefits portal to provide a fresh, modern look.
Aspen has seen cost savings in excess of £800,000, and National Insurance savings amounting to an additional £210,000; using these additional resources, it has been able to provide staff with a £1,000 annual wellness pot.
Following the rebrand, revamp and an extensive communications campaign, Aspen saw an impressive 92% of employees log in during the annual benefits window, an increase of 39 percentage points since the previous year. This led to 819 new benefit selections, showing that employees are benefitting from the initiatives on a practical level.
The judges said: "Aspen had a clear strategic intent with defined and measurable objectives, a good range of activities which complemented each other, with a really engaging communication plan, and really strong achievements against all of the stated objectives."
Antonia Bello, benefits manager at Aspen, said: "It's great [to win], really exciting. We worked really hard to bring the value of the benefits to the employees and it's nice to get that acknowledgement."
Elliott Rees-Davies, head of reward at Aspen, said: "It was a long project, we wanted to get underneath what would bring value to employees. So we spent quite a bit of time talking to people, doing focus groups and survey data, and bringing it together to see what people really wanted, and then thinking about how we deliver that without costing too much, and while saving some time. We pulled off a bit of a win-win, in terms of being able to deliver a better package while also making some savings."
Tokio Marine Kiln, Choices (entered by Buck)
ServiceNow (entered by Howden Employee Benefits and Wellbeing)
Best pensions communication
IMI, Optimize (entered by AHC)
This award recognises an employer that has implemented an effective communications strategy to engage employees with their retirement savings and financial wellbeing.
Having just refreshed its branding of the workplace defined contribution (DC) and defined benefit (DB) pension schemes, engineering organisation IMI wanted to think outside of the box when it came to communications. The business opted to utilise a direct marketing model, to help improve employees' understanding of the DC pension scheme and encourage staff to take action to better their long-term financial wellbeing.
Each employee was sent a parcel containing a pensions pack; this included a simplified pension statement with a data-linked QR code and a free sachet of ground coffee as a gift. The coffee sachet aligned with the branding of the communications, which focused around how much employees could save if they contributed the price of a daily cup of coffee into their retirement savings.
Scanning the QR code enabled employees to view a pre-populated contribution modelling tool; this featured a colour-coded dial illustrating how near they were to achieving their target retirement income. The modelling tool was made available on employees' mobile devices, and facilitates direct requests to HR to increase pension contributions.
IMI's communications approach created a buzz among the workforce; 40% of DC pension scheme members used the modelling tool and 72% of members who took action after engaging with the modeller increased their contributions by 3% or more.
The judges said: "We absolutely loved the coffee sachet and QR code; it's really innovative but so simple and it led to positive and immediate action. It stood out from a communications perspective and we love the way people get their personalised results. The organisation has got some excellent statistics and results from its approach."
John Jones, head of HR projects at IMI, said: "[I believe we won because] it was just completely innovative and [a] really good solution. It was some really excellent ideas from the consultancy, AHC, that helped us to do this and it really resonated with the people and I think it was a great idea. It's just fantastic. It's great to be recognised for all the hard work that was put into it. We've got a great partnership already with our pensions team and we're going to go forwards, onwards and upwards."
Siemens (Entered by Personal Group)
Youngs Seafood (Entered by Nudge)
BT, The BT Pension Scheme (BTPS) and The BT Retirement Saving Scheme (BTRSS) (Entered by Wealth at Work)
Johnson Matthey, Johnson Matthey Employees Pension Scheme (JMEPS)
Morgan Sindall Group, Fit for the Future (entered by Like Minds)
Best mental health strategy
Royal Mail Group, Because Healthy Minds Matter
This award celebrates an organisation with an exceptional strategy surrounding the benefits, communications and support systems that can influence employees' mental wellbeing.
In 2017, postal organisation Royal Mail Group committed to make a positive difference to the mental health of its 140,000 UK-based employees. This was brought to life through a five-year mental health strategy, Because Healthy Minds Matter, which combines group-wide programmes and local activities to increase the awareness of mental health, decrease the associated stigma and signpost available tools.
Collaboration with internal stakeholders and unions was key in the creation of Because Healthy Minds Matter, as was external benchmarking to ensure the right tools and resources were made available for staff.
As part of the overarching strategy, which utilises both proactive and reactive support, Royal Mail Group has developed a new e-learning course for managers, to equip them to manage those with mental health concerns. A version is now being made available for 130,000 front line staff via the organisation's wellbeing portal, Feeling First Class.
In addition, 1,350 managers have been trained in mental health first aid; the business has now committed to train all of its 5,500 physical first aiders in this, too.
In February 2018, Royal Mail Group launched its mental health ambassador pilot, to create an engaged volunteer network to provide peer-to-peer support. The organisation aspires to have an ambassador in every workplace within two years.
Because Healthy Minds Matter has contributed to more employees seeking mental health support; 100 more calls are being made each month to the organisation's First Class Support helpline, while membership of Feeling First Class has risen by 69% between September 2017 and October 2018.
The judges said: "The five-year commitment to the mental health plan and a connection to the executive board is impressive. It is a very polished and sustainable strategy; it's a plan to make seismic change over time.
"This is a business that faces specific challenges, so needs a strong and bold approach to reach individuals. Considering the organisation has tight budgets and resources, the plan uses good materials with a variety of communications. It's a different approach."
Dr Shaun Davis, global director of safety, health, wellbeing and sustainability at Royal Mail Group, said: "To get recognition for the work that we've done, and the fact that it's such a current topic and something that affects everybody, our employees and their families, is amazing. It's a five-year strategy, so not flash-in-the-pan, [and uses] our people to help our people, tying it back to the workplace strategy about development, retention and engagement.
"When you are accepting [awards such as this] on behalf of your [organisation] and your colleagues, it's phenomenal, so we're really, really thrilled. It makes it all worthwhile. You do it because it's the right thing to do, but when you get recognised as well, it's fantastic."
Skanska UK
Landsec (entered by Unmind)
Three UK, Wellbeing Strategy
Employee benefits professional of the year
Ian Hodson, University of Lincoln
This award, sponsored by Benefex, recognises an individual who has made their mark on the benefits and reward industry, both with innovative work within their own organisation and in the form of external influence.
Ian Hodson has implemented a number of innovative and effective programmes as part of his work for the University of Lincoln, several of which have gained accolades at previous Employee Benefits Awards. He is also a prominent figure externally, including chairing the University Reward Network Group, as well as being a regular speaker and contributor on topics relating to the world of benefits and reward.
Perhaps his most memorable project to date is the Linc-On benefits platform, a bespoke system using a 'top trumps' set-up, laid out on an interactive map of Lincoln, providing an engaging, eye-catching route into the organisation's reward provisions. Furthermore, Hodson has implemented an impressive financial education programme, Financial Fairytales, and has taken a particular focus on benefits linked to the local community.
Ian Hodson, head of reward at the University of Lincoln, said: "Making a transition from accountancy to payroll and then into employee benefits and reward as it's grown as an agenda in the workplace has been fantastic. I've been really fortunate over the years to work with some fantastic teams, who have all been creative. It's more about recognition of what my teams have done and the ideas and the creativity that we've tried to bring in to the employee benefits arena, as much as about anything I've done.
"I'm just incredibly proud to win the individual accolade on the day. It makes me really, really proud. I've always been extremely proud to work in this area, I know how much it impacts on employees, I know about some of the programmes we've done in the community and how much they motivate staff and make them feel valued."
Adam Brooke, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Tom Hiles, BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas (entered by Blue Goose), Spectrum Virtual Benefits Fair
Category: Best use of benefits technology
This award, sponsored by Aon, recognises the best of the best of all of the winners of Employee Benefits Awards 2019.
BNP Paribas was chosen as the Grand Prix winner for a number of reasons, the most prominent being its standout innovation in the face of a difficult challenge.
With 9,500 employees, including a newly inherited 1,000 from a recent acquisition, many of whom are disparate and non-office-based, BNP Paribas had a considerable task in hand when it came to boosting engagement with mature benefits.
The entries for this year's awards showcased numerous examples of creativity, innovation and high-impact strategy, but BNP Paribas' virtual benefits fair, in itself a UK first, represented an exciting glimpse into the future of benefits communications. Considering it also took into account important social concerns such as sustainability, and gained impressive results, this stood out as a clear Grand prix winner.
The judges said: "The organisation really wanted to think outside the box; what really impressed us was that it was really innovative technology, and it harnessed all their suppliers, gave them loads of training and the benefits roadshow was open to all employees.
"They had some really impressive results: a 40% increase on their mature benefit take up, and the access and submission rates for flex enrolment were 89% and 76%, respectively, the highest they've been for four years."
Tom Hiles, group benefits manager at BNP Paribas, said: "It's something that hasn't been done before, at least not in this field, in this industry. It was quite a big task in the end, bigger than we thought, it ended up being a bigger project than our flex work, even though this was meant to just promote our flex system. We like doing projects that are innovative, new, with different types of technology, things which are a bit challenging [and] outside of our comfort zone. There's a big fear that it might not work, particularly on the day when you send out the emails and you want to invite people in, so when it did work and it went so well, it was a great feeling. I'm really happy [to win], it's a good category."
Benefits team of the year
This category celebrates how an in-house benefits team worked together to deliver benefits that meet the HR and business strategies of their organisation.
With fewer than 10 members, Kier Group's reward and pensions team is faced with a steep challenge, as it is responsible for the design and delivery of benefits and reward strategies for all of the organisation's 16,000 members of staff. To add further complexity, Kier Group's workforce is geographically dispersed, and a significant proportion do not have ready access to online services while working.
Under the umbrella of the overarching business strategy, Vision 2020, and in a time of rapid growth for the organisation, the Kier Group HR team was responsible for implementing a series of strategic projects to support engagement, motivation and retention. These included the launch of an online benefits hub, Kier Benefits, standardising reward packages across job grades, creating a range of recognition tools, overhauling the organisation's pensions arrangements and running a year-long 'benefit of the month' communications campaign.
The team's dedication to communication, in particular, can be seen in its efforts engage in face-to-face dialogue with upwards of 5,100 members of staff across 45 locations, providing education sessions that were adapted according to engagement levels and individual needs in each location.
The results are evident in the increase in take-up of various benefits, including a 77% increase in usage following the childcare voucher promotion, for example, and a 52% increase in engagement with pension contribution amounts following promotion of the Kier Retirement Savings plan.
The judges said: "Kier stands out for its education sessions; both the fact that they have them, and the fact that they can be adapted. They also worked quite hard on displaying their teamwork within a common goal."
Mark Bradshaw, pensions and reward director at Kier Group, said: "It's been a tough year for the team, they've worked really, really hard in a number of areas and it's just really nice to get that recognition from their peers. To get recognised is amazing. [We won because of] the hard work we put into getting out there and talking to people. That's helped our engagement and it helps the team understand the business better.
"This is just a testament to the amount of work we put in to just making sure that we do things in various different ways; I think that's what matters to us, actually."
Three UK


text:
Q: Как правильно динамически изменять цвета у элементов recyclerview Необходима ваша помощь. Есть адаптер для RecyclerView. В него приходит объект категории с некоторым содержимым, в том числе с полем, отвечающие за важность (в нем лежит 0 или 1). В зависимости от числа, я хотел бы изменять цвет layout. Изначально реализация была в методе bind.
      void bind(Category category) {
            nameCategory.setText(category.nameCategory);
            sumSpending.setText(String.valueOf(category.amountSpending));
            if (category.importance == 1) {
                nameCategoryBack.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.back_name_necessary_category);
                layoutCategoryBack.setBackgroundResource(R.color.colorSecondaryDark);
            }
            this.category = category;
        }

Также я пробовал другую реализацию в методе onBindViewHolder().
    @Override
    public void onBindViewHolder(@NonNull final viewHolder holder, int position) {
        holder.bind(sortedList.get(position), expenses);
        if (holder.category.importance == 1) {
            holder.nameCategoryBack.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.back_name_necessary_category);
            holder.layoutCategoryBack.setBackgroundResource(R.color.colorSecondaryDark);
        }
    }

Все идет хорошо, но после того как количество созданных элементов превысило число, после которого происходит замена содержимого элементов в RecyclerView, начинается некорректное отображение цвета  layout, но содержимое остается верным. Как я могу правильно реализовать замену цветов фона layout?

A: Как вы думаете, почему RecyclerView имеет такое название?
Вся его крутость заключается в переиспользовании элементов. RecyclerView реализует паттерн ViewHolder, суть которого заключается в том, что одновременно в памяти хранятся только те элементы которые помещаются на экране и несколько соседних.

Вместо того чтоб постоянно вызывать метод findViewById() которой выполняется не очень быстро RecyclerView переиспользует те View которые больше не видны пользователю. И у нас появляется такое понятие как DirtyView - это View на которые уже не используются но на них хранится заданные параметры какого-то элемента.
И тут появляется прикол: если вы пишите в методе onBindViewHolder() какой-то if то в момент когда эта вьюшка переиспользуется она приходит в этот if и если if не true то она просто игнорирует биндинг этого поля. Таким образом там остается старое значение.
Отсюда следует правило: "Если в методе onBindViewHolder есть if то ВСЕГДА должен быть else" в противном случае у вас будут неверные параметры от старых биндингов.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The idea of making a road trip through southern Germany somehow made it to my bucket list for our round-the-world-adventure. It began with the idea of seeing a few castles and progressed to a journey along the Romantic Road before continuing all the way to Cologne. First, I had no clue what the Romantic Road was or what it meant, but once I booked our train to Munich I knew I had to figure it out. It is basically Germany's best known and most popular holiday route that winds through Bavaria from Wurzburg to Fussen. This drive passes through numerous cities and towns welcoming visitors to a wealth of European history, art and culture. I read through tons of articles and blogs to come up with a basic 5 night itinerary to get us from one end to the other travelling in the opposite direction of most tours. Hopefully, I am able to share our story with a few tips along the way and without boring you with too many details of each town.
We picked up our rental car at Munich airport in the early afternoon and headed straight out to Landsberg am Lech for our first night. We were so excited to get on the road and were looking forward to the apartment we booked on Airbnb as it was our very own unit after spending the last few days in hostels in Switzerland. Checking in to our apartment we were strongly encouraged by our host to go downtown to check out the city. This beautiful town sits on the River Lech surrounded by historical city walls. The panoramic view of the city looking over the river set the stage for what was to come over the next few days. There are a number of restaurants along the river that would be the perfect setting for an afternoon or evening drink, so try to squeeze this in if you are passing through.
Technically our first day was a travel day, so I'll just carry on into the next morning as if it were Day 1 just to simplify things for myself. We left Landsberg am Lech early in the morning for Schwangau to see the Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles. We researched each of these previously and didn't feel that touring the inside was particularly of interest to us. However, if this is something you want to do, be sure to book a tour in advance as we couldn't have visited even if we wanted to since they were already sold out when we got there. Our first castle of the trip was Hohenschwangau. It was a short walk up from the main town until we were circling the castle walls. It's always fun to imagine it as if it's your home…until we got to the turnstile and simply circled the building.
From here we could see the picturesque Neuschwanstein in the distance. It was time to hike a couple kilometers to the top. Alternatively, there is a horse carriage that will take visitors to the castle itself for 6 euro (I think), but we walked it ourselves as usual. Without a ticket we were able to walk around the entire outside and even into the courtyard of Neuschwanstein. After seeing it up close, we followed the crowd around to the bridge that overlooks the area to get the famed fairytale view of the castle looking out over the valley.
We made our way back to the car and drove down into Fussen which is the official ending point of the Romantic Road, but since we were driving the route in reverse, it was just the next stop at the beginning of our trip! We happened to arrive during the times of summer celebrations and were welcomed into the downtown with live music, beer gardens and multiple options for our new favorite food, the Bratwurst!
Now that we were officially on the Romantic Road, we began to follow the scenic road with its brown signs leading us in the right direction.
I can't even begin to list all the towns we would drive through as many were only a cluster of buildings and homes, some without any obvious businesses, but all with their own name. The last stop we made on our first day was to see Wieskirche (Wies Church) described as the epitome of Bavarian rococo church. I have yet to be comfortable taking any photos inside a church, but I want to describe this as best I can. Think of all the action figures or plastic dolls that you had as a child. Try to imagine the same figurines about 2-3ft tall with the appearance of men and women 1000 years ago. Or try to imagine every religious painting that you have seen and envision the characters in the paintings as these figures in front of you as you sit in the pews. There must have been a hundred of these built into the monuments that make up the church. Needless to say, this stop was definitely worth it.
The last town we visited was Friedberg just before entering Augsburg. It was late on a Sunday evening so most places were closed. The town had a nice city center that must be more welcoming at other times. We simply stopped in for dinner before calling it a night. Actually, it wasn't that simple; nearly everything was closed as we walked a few of the streets in this town. We ended up having dinner at a Michelin Star restaurant instead of the one bar that was open. Whitney was happy and feeling right at home, but our wallets were not.
We spent our second night in Augsburg arriving late in the evening after a packed first day. We got moving a little slow on day 2 and headed into downtown Augsburg. Our first stop was the information office in the main square where we got a map with a couple options for self-guided walking tours. We simply followed the map to a few of the highlights of the town. For the most part, everything to see is near Maximillian Avenue. We were first drawn to a large church at one end of the Avenue, we then ventured off the main road to see the oldest subsidized housing project in the world, where tenants still pay only about 1 euro a year in rent.
We continued on past other tourist attractions that included a palace, a couple museums (we still aren't excited about museums; New York had enough to go around), and finally another large church at the other end of Maximillian Avenue.
Next, we left Augsburg for Ulm. Whitney came across the Ulm Cathedral online and was set on climbing to the top of the tallest steeple in the world. This was a bit of a deviation from the traditional Romantic Road route, but I was happy to be her chauffer. Happy wife, happy life. There was a lot of construction surrounding this town, however, once into the downtown we were excited to see the area. We made our way down one of the main streets past numerous shops until we were looking up at the massive facade of the cathedral. We didn't hesitate to get inside, purchase our 5 euro tickets to the top and climb the 700+ stairs to the top. The views from above were spectacular.
We left Ulm hoping to get to our next Airbnb in Aalen before dark. Aalen is about 15 minutes outside of Nordlingen, one of the usual recommended stops on the Romantic Road. We arrived a little after 5pm only to find our Airbnb host was not in town to let us in. Instead our host had booked us into a local "hotel" on the edge of town (it was old, dingy and had one 1 bathroom per floor for all the rooms). Once checked in, we made the best of our remaining time in Aalen and wandered back into the downtown area for dinner. We settled on a Greek Restaurant that was quite delicious to complete our day.
Downtown Aalen – Dinner with a view!
We saw so much on this road trip that we decided to split it into 2 parts. Continue to follow along in Part 2 of Exploring the Romantic Road.


❶The last thing a student would want is his money being misused by people. Voice and point of view are important in APA writing.
Since APA papers are utilized in the social sciences, they are inherently scientific in nature and require specific thinking and methods of communication. Use the scientific method when writing your research. A good rule of thumb is to refer to the scientific method when writing your project. It will help you approach it with a methodically sound structure. The scientific method also helps you create the methodology for your primary research. Avoid descriptive sentences, and use precise language while keeping the content concise.
Being overly descriptive or using poetic language will confuse your readers. The goal with APA to write precisely and accurately without overloading your document with too many words. Focus on preciseness in your writing. Subjects can be defined as an internal or external component in the experiment. Participants or respondents are internal components. The wording changes the enter meaning. Voice and point of view are important in APA writing. You should use the first-person point of view when talking about your own research, but should mainly focus on the research itself and not the researcher.
Write all sentences in the active voice. Follow APA formatting guidelines and update Word settings before you start writing. APA documents follow specific formatting guidelines. They should be typed in a clear font such as Times New Roman and double-spaced on standard-sized paper with one-inch margins on all sides. The main body of an APA paper depends on its type and the assignment guidelines.
A page header is also required and should be inserted at the top left of the page with the page number at the top right of the page. In the center of your title page, your title should appear in upper and lowercase letters. It is recommended that your title be no more than 12 words in length, though it may take up one or two lines. All text on the title page and throughout your paper should be double-spaced. This tells the reader where the research was conducted.
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These questions only help guide your structure and items to include in the introduction. When writing an experimental report, you will also want to include basic information about your participants, methods, results, and data analysis in the introduction. Structure the main body according to key points, evidence, and discussion on each point. The main body will begin on the next line right below the introduction. Use H1 heading tags.
Remind readers of your hypothesis and research questions. Provide statistics to support your results and elaborate or qualify the overall conclusion and your data analysis. Discuss the results and importance, and summarize it in the conclusion paragraphs. Do not use H4 headings in APA style unless you use them as headers for tables, graphs, images, etc. Use the conclusion and discussion to interpret your findings, evaluate your hypotheses and research questions, explore unexpected results, and relate your findings to the prior literature on your topic.
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As Surfers we deeply loved boards, the creations that allowed us to connect with the ocean and ride waves.
There was constant curiosity around board building and full respect for the men who built our craft over the years,with whom we had the chance of getting close and share experiences.
Time passed and we came to be Entrepreneurs, having created a disruptive customer related business from scratch where we combined solid management and technology skills, our focus and attention for several years.
The creative bug and the desire to disrupt and make the difference were deep inside us so when the time for a new challenge came we went back to our roots and suddenly the need for a system that that could help and transform our beloved industry came to us. That's how Shaperbuddy was born.
We designed and developed Shaperbuddy from scratch as an all-in-one management system for the Board Manufacturing Industry, knowing about its major concerns and needs, with a mission in mind: help board builders organize and manage efficiently their factories, empowering them to connect globally and grow their business, no matter their size or status.
Partnership, Integrity, Respect, Commitment and Innovation stand out.
We see ourselves as partners working side by side to develop and deliver asolution that and helps you grow in many ways.


Staff members of Gower Funeral Home & Crematory, Inc. are caring and experienced professionals who understand that each family is unique and has personal requests and traditions. These requests and traditions are of utmost importance to our staff of licensed funeral directors.
Daryl Ann (Yanchick) Gower was raised in Swoyersville and Gilbert, PA where she graduated from Pleasant Valley High School in Brodheadsville, PA in 1975. Daryl Ann attended Northampton Community College and received her Real Estate Sales Person License in 1980. She is currently enrolled at Northampton Community College studying for her funeral directors license.
Donald N. Gower is a native of Effort, PA. graduated from Pleasant Valley High School in Brodheadsville, PA in 1973 and graduated from East Stroudsburg University in 1977. He continued his education at Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science and graduated September 1979 with an Associates Degree in Applied Science-Funeral Service.
In June 1981 construction of the facility began and opened the doors in February 1982. Member of the Eastern Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association, Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association, Cremation Association of North America.


text:
A look at the Natural History Museum's colourful new exhibition
The Colour and Vision exhibition, designed by Nissen Richards Studio, explores how vision first evolved in animals and is used by both hunters and predators in the animal kingdom.
By Aimée McLaughlin July 26, 2016 6:32 pm July 27, 2016 10:14 am
Copyright Jim Stephenson 2016
Nissen Richards Studio has designed both the 3D elements and graphics for a new Natural History Museum exhibition, called Colour and Vision: Through the Eyes of Nature.
Based on the use of colour in the natural world over the last 565 million years, the exhibition explores how – without vision – evolution wouldn't have happened in the way that it did, according to exhibition designer at Nissen Richards Studio, Sophie Mitchell.
"The Cambrian explosion was when the eye evolved, which then led to huge diversity in the natural world," says Mitchell. "Our brief was how to get that across as an immersive experience."
"Journey of discovery"
Nissen Richards Studio designed the exhibition around the concept of a "journey of discovery", Mitchell says, starting out in a dark room with out-of-focus surroundings that reflect a lack of vision, before moving through into much brighter zones in order to reflect this transition.
Using more than 350 specimens from the museum's collection – ranging from brightly coloured birds to fossils of the first organisms with eyes – the exhibition shows how the use of colour in the animal kingdom became the difference between life and death.
Four main zones included in the exhibition cover subjects such as sexual attraction, warning, deception and camouflage. Highlights include a light installation created in collaboration with British artist Liz West, which uses dichroic glass, and a Victorian-style tower filled with brightly coloured taxidermy.
Outdoor, press and digital campaign
"Our approach was to use a white-on-white, or black-on-black backdrop so that all of the colour in the exhibition was just coming from the specimens themselves," says Mitchell.
Details such as the wing of a Blue Morpho Butterfly – which reflects light in a particularly way so that it shimmers – are carried through the rest of the exhibition itself, for instance in graphic lettering and on physical panels.
Another consultancy, Krow has created an outdoor, press and digital marketing campaign to run alongside the exhibition. Representing a chromatic explosion, the campaign is made up of an array of colourful specimens arranged into the shape of an eye, to create a visual representation of the showcases.
Colour and Vision: Through the Eyes of Nature runs from 15 July – 6 November 2016 at the Natural History Museum.
25-31 July 2016 Projects Exhibition
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How to ensure steady growth through recruitment
Neil Littman August 1, 2016 at 9:57 am
Very inspiring and informative though I don't remember seeing any chameleons which I thought were one of natures best demonstrations of the use of colour. It was the evolution of the eye that provided the most interest for me and the simulations of how different animals see images and colours. The exhibition is in an air conditioned space which is a relief after walking through the rest of the museum. An a bit of advice, if you have a timed ticket in advance you can jump the massive queues at both main entrances or you get caught up in the school holiday crowd which on the day I went, was literally hundreds of people.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Morsalines és un municipi francès situat al departament de la Manche i a la regió de Normandia. L'any 2007 tenia 222 habitants.

Demografia

Població
El 2007 la població de fet de Morsalines era de 222 persones. Hi havia 92 famílies de les quals 28 eren unipersonals (16 homes vivint sols i 12 dones vivint soles), 32 parelles sense fills, 28 parelles amb fills i 4 famílies monoparentals amb fills.

La població ha evolucionat segons el següent gràfic:

Habitants censats

Habitatges
El 2007 hi havia 169 habitatges, 90 eren l'habitatge principal de la família, 71 eren segones residències i 8 estaven desocupats. 166 eren cases i 2 eren apartaments. Dels 90 habitatges principals, 75 estaven ocupats pels seus propietaris, 12 estaven llogats i ocupats pels llogaters i 3 estaven cedits a títol gratuït; 1 tenia una cambra, 3 en tenien dues, 8 en tenien tres, 28 en tenien quatre i 50 en tenien cinc o més. 63 habitatges disposaven pel capbaix d'una plaça de pàrquing. A 44 habitatges hi havia un automòbil i a 36 n'hi havia dos o més.

Piràmide de població
La piràmide de població per edats i sexe el 2009 era:

Economia
El 2007 la població en edat de treballar era de 129 persones, 91 eren actives i 38 eren inactives. De les 91 persones actives 84 estaven ocupades (50 homes i 34 dones) i 7 estaven aturades (4 homes i 3 dones). De les 38 persones inactives 9 estaven jubilades, 10 estaven estudiant i 19 estaven classificades com a «altres inactius».

Ingressos
El 2009 a Morsalines hi havia 88 unitats fiscals que integraven 205 persones, la mediana anual d'ingressos fiscals per persona era de 14.439 €.

Activitats econòmiques
Dels 4 establiments que hi havia el 2007, 2 eren d'empreses de construcció, 1 d'una empresa d'informació i comunicació i 1 d'una empresa classificada com a «altres activitats de serveis».

Dels 2 establiments de servei als particulars que hi havia el 2009, 1 era un guixaire pintor i 1 lampisteria.

L'any 2000 a Morsalines hi havia 6 explotacions agrícoles que ocupaven un total de 231 hectàrees.

Poblacions més properes
El següent diagrama mostra les poblacions més properes.

Referències

 Résumé statistique Fitxa resum de dades estadístiques de Morsalines a l'INSEE.
 Évolution et structure de la population Fitxa amb el detall de dades de Morsalines a l'INSEE
 France par commune Dades detallades de tots els municipis de França accessibles a partir del mapa.

Municipis de Manche

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


"Do as I say, not as I do." That might as well be the official motto of liberals. For example, they love to lecture the rest of us to use less energy, while flying around the globe on their private jets, and living in massive homes that have equally large power bills.
Democrats are convinced they know best. We're not as smart as they are, you see, so these elites take it upon themselves to pass laws the rest of us have to obey, ones that restrict our freedoms "for our own good." Of course, these same liberals ignore these same rules, because they don't want to impinge on their lifestyles.
Check out: Obama's Spy Scandal ERUPTS…DAMNING New Info Could Land Him In PRISON!
One area where this hypocrisy is most blatant is in the realm of education. Liberals are always talking about America's "wonderful" public school system and while it might have been world class at one time, unionization, political correctness, Common Core and other pedagogical reforms have made public schools glorified holding pens.
Despite opposing proposals to increase market forces' impacts on schooling through the implementation of taxpayer-funded educational vouchers, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) sends his own children to $45,000-per-year private school in New York City, NY.
The Daily Caller says Franken's children attend the Dalton School, which has been described at "uber-exclusive" and "upper crust." Franken himself attended a Protestant charter school called Blake.
But Franken doesn't want other Americans to have the opportunities he did. The left pretends to care about the common man but their actions speak louder than words. What they care about most is maintaining their lofty position in society then handing down their privileges to their own children, but no one else's.
As last November's election results made clear, Americans are sick of being ruled over by these out of touch hypocrites. Surely there are even some on the far left who will look at Franken's hypocrisy on this matter and call him out for it. It won't look good when the time comes for him to run for re-election, or when (as he has threatened to do) run for even higher public office.


text:
Banks face steep climb in MREL issuance
Financial Regulatory Observer – March 2019
Stuart Willey
Paul Alexander
Angelo Messore
The upcoming enforcement of the MREL requirement will require European banks to issue a significant amount of subordinated and senior notes. But political instability and differing levels of investor demand could push up pricing and stifle access in some European markets, write Stuart Willey, Paul Alexander and Angelo Messore of global law firm White & Case.
Credit institutions are required to hold a sufficient amount of MREL at all times, consisting of "own funds" instruments and eligible liabilities
The Minimum Requirement for Own Funds and Eligible Liabilities (MREL) was introduced in 2016 as part of the bank recovery and resolution directive (BRRD). In the event of a bank failure, the MREL acts as a "buffer" that resolution authorities can use when applying the bail-in tool to absorb losses and provide new regulatory capital to the failing institution.
Although MREL has largely remained a silent issue since then due to the prudent approach followed by regulators in its implementation, the time is now coming for European banks to meet binding MREL targets.
The road to MREL
Resolution authorities have so far adopted a prudent stance in applying the new requirements, which have been phased in gradually. This caution was also due to the timing and complexities surrounding the startup of the Single Resolution Board (SRB) and Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM), the ongoing discussions at the EU level regarding the review of the EU's regulatory framework on prudential requirements and bank resolution (the Banking Reform Package), and around the significant impact that MREL targets will have on the capital structure of EU banks.
In 2016, the SRB started developing its MREL policy together with national resolution authorities in the Banking Union and communicated non-binding MREL targets to banking groups under its remit. The purpose was to enable banks to prepare for future binding MREL requirements and at the same time to refine the SRB methodology for MREL calibration.
In 2017, the SRB adopted its first binding decisions on MREL requirements for major banking groups, while the 2018 resolution planning cycle was split in two waves of resolution plans—the second one being based on the updated MREL policy it published on January 16, 2019. In this updated policy, the SRB announced its intention to "raise the bar" on MREL targets to better prepare for the upcoming changes to the regulatory framework deriving from the approval of the Banking Reform Package, on which the European Parliament and the Council reached a political agreement on February 15, 2019.
Bank-specific MREL targets are accordingly in the process of being set by resolution authorities in light of the new rules regarding bank capital that will soon be enacted at the EU level. To ensure a smooth transition to full MREL implementation, the SRB has decided to set individual transition periods of up to four years, taking into account bank and market-specific characteristics. But the SRB will also set non-binding interim targets, and banks will be required to submit an implementation and monitoring plan and provide enhanced disclosure on their liability data.
Updated MREL policy published
MREL, capital structures and funding strategies
Credit institutions are required to hold a sufficient amount of MREL at all times, consisting of "own funds" instruments and eligible liabilities that can be used by resolution authorities to absorb losses and recapitalize institutions that are failing or likely to fail. The rationale underpinning the MREL requirement is reflected in the default formula for MREL calibration, which is based on two components:
The loss absorbency amount (LAA), which is the amount of MREL capital that should ensure the full absorption of losses incurred by the bank in case of resolution. The default LAA is equal to the sum of the bank's Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 capital requirements and its fully loaded combined buffer requirement
The recapitalization amount (RCA), corresponding to the amount of MREL capital that would be used by the resolution authority to restore the capital position of the credit institution following resolution. The default RCA is equal to the sum of the Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 capital which the bank would need to maintain to hold a banking license, plus an additional buffer to ensure sufficient market confidence after resolution (which according to the SRB methodology is equal to the combined buffer requirement minus 125 basis points).
It is important to note that the RCA does not apply to those credit institutions where the preferred strategy of the resolution authority is the liquidation of the credit institution or banking group. Hence, the quantitative impact of the MREL requirement will be less significant for smaller credit institutions or groups, whose failure should not pose systemic risks.
Resolution authorities may set and adjust the LAA and RCA on a case-by-case basis, considering also the possibility of adopting resolution tools other than the bail-in (i.e., sale of business, establishment of a bridge institution or a "bad bank"/ asset separation vehicle) in case of a resolution. Notwithstanding this bank-specific approach, the SRB confirmed that the benchmark level of MREL should be at least equal to 8 percent of total balance sheet liabilities and own funds. This benchmark level should ensure that in case of a resolution, the bank can access financing arrangements such as the Single Resolution Fund in accordance with BRRD rules.
Credit institutions must use qualifying bail-inable instruments meeting the MREL eligibility criteria set forth in the applicable regulations, which will become more stringent after the enactment of the Banking Reform Package. The question for European banks is accordingly whether they hold a sufficient amount of MREL-eligible instruments to meet their MREL targets, as determined by competent resolution authorities.
This could be a challenge for several banks, in particular because many traditional funding instruments, such as sight deposits, short-term deposits with a maturity of less than one year, and covered bonds do not qualify under the MREL eligibility rules. As a result, any shortfall would need to be filled through the issuance of MRELeligible instruments, mostly in the form of senior or subordinated notes.
Will supply outstrip demand?
€171bn
The total MREL shortfall deriving from the application of 2018 MREL policy
In its 2017 Quantitative Update of the MREL Report, the European Banking Authority stated that the estimated funding needs of European banks range between €206.8 billion and €284.6 billion. Meanwhile, the SRB said that, based on a sample of 100 banks representing approximately 95 percent of the total assets of SRB banks, the MREL shortfall deriving from the application of its 2018 MREL policy amounted to €171 billion, of which €67 billion would need to be met through subordinated instruments. Some research reports have put the figure as high as €526 billion because they assume that resolution authorities will require MREL targets to be met largely with subordinated issuances.
Although the outcomes of these analyses differ—not least as a consequence of the multiple samples and variables used—the figures give pause for thought. The geographical breakdown of the shortfall across EU Member States may be even more significant. Commentators have expressed concerns that, despite MREL being applied at the EU level, the depth of demand for issuers across the EU may vary significantly, especially between northern and southern Member States of the European Union, which could result in an overall fragmentation of the market for MREL and, for smaller issuers in Southern Europe, a potential barrier in terms of issuance costs.
In a study published in December 2017, the European Central Bank noted that the debt markets of Southern Euro-area countries (i.e., Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal) are characterized by home bias, with a large portion of bank debt being issued domestically. The market capacity to absorb the issuance required to cover the MREL is accordingly country-specific and depends on the ability and appetite of local investors. This home bias could further hinder the capacity of markets to absorb MREL-eligible securities issued by banks established in Southern Euro-area countries.
Meeting MREL targets could be a challenge for several banks, because many traditional funding instruments do not qualify under the MREL eligibility rules
Political fears
The investment environment may prove to be challenging in 2019, as a consequence of slower economic growth, tighter monetary policy, weaker earnings and higher volatility. Political instability—with the growth of populist parties, the imminent European elections in May and the approach of Brexit—is also contributing to an unfavorable backdrop for the issuance of new debt instruments, especially in Southern Euro-area countries.
Credit institutions already face higher premiums in issuing new debt compared to previous years, so a further rise in the cost of financing could hit profitability. Italy has been caught in the crosshairs of political instability. As the government disputed its deficit plans with the European Commission, yields on Italian sovereign bonds rose, causing Italian banks, which hold a significant portion of the outstanding domestic government debt, to struggle to gain access to bond markets.
Last November, UniCredit, Italy's largest lender, issued €3 billion in senior non-preferred notes, in what has been described as a "one and done" strategy to fulfill their total loss absorbing capacity (TLAC) requirements for 2019. The issue was priced at a 7.83% coupon, 420 basis points over the Euro mid-swap rate, which would imply almost unaffordable pricing for other Italian banks—although recent debt issuances made by Italian banks seem to show a more favorable trend.
The bind of Brexit
If the Withdrawal Agreement is not signed and no extension is agreed by March 29, 2019, the risk of MREL disqualification will become relevant on that date
Banks established in some EU Member States (including Italy and other Southern European countries) have traditionally turned to English law to issue bonds on the international capital markets due to decades of market practice and the confidence investors have in the English legal system. However, in the event of a no-deal "hard" Brexit, or at the end of any transition period agreed between the UK and the EU, bonds governed by English law would thereafter be considered liabilities subject to the laws of a third country for the purposes of the BRRD rules, which may prevent EU banks from counting such instruments towards their MREL capital.
The fact that the draft Withdrawal Agreement negotiated between the UK and the European Union has failed to gain approval from the UK Parliament means the outcome of negotiations remains uncertain. If the Withdrawal Agreement is not signed and no extension is agreed upon by March 29, 2019, the risk of MREL disqualification will become relevant on such date. Conversely, if the Withdrawal Agreement is signed, EU credit institutions will theoretically have an additional period of almost two years to properly adjust their indebtedness, considering the transition period (lasting until December 31, 2020) provided under Article 126 of the Withdrawal Agreement.
EU authorities have already urged EU banks to include clauses on "contractual recognition of bail-in" in their MREL-eligible instruments subject to English law, and to be prepared to demonstrate that any decision of an EU resolution authority would be effective in the UK. However, a large amount of liabilities subject to English law do not contain any such clause (e.g., because they were issued before the Brexit referendum) and could accordingly be subject to disqualification for the purposes of the MREL requirements. To avoid this outcome, EU credit institutions might either amend the terms of existing English law bonds or refinance them via new debt issuances. The costs would, however, be relevant in both cases, and there is no assurance (again) that the market will be willing to refinance the existing stock of English law debt.
The SRB has left open the possibility to provide for an extension of transitional periods for banks that have MREL shortfalls as a consequence of ineligibility of issuances governed by English law. Furthermore, EU banks have been invited to start issuing bonds under the laws of EU Member States rather than English law to avoid MREL eligibility issues. The most recent trend is currently showing top-tier Spanish and Italian banks issuing (or considering the issuance of) MREL-eligible instruments under their own national law—in line with the practice traditionally followed by French and German banks. It remains to be seen whether the same path will be followed by lower-tier banks and the market in general as they navigate political instability amid the new MREL regime.
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Should you believe the headlines about Alzheimer's being contagious?
A new study suggested the "seeds" of dementia could be passed on through surgery, but it's not time to panic.
Headline watchers got quite a scare yesterday as a spate of news outlets reported new research suggesting Alzheimer's can be transmitted through surgery.
As the Huffington Post wrote, researchers at University College London found in a study that the prions, proteins that are linked to causing dementia, can resist sterilization and stay on surgical equipment. Theoretically, this means that the proteins from one person's brain can be transferred to another during surgery.
In the research, scientists were following 8 subjects who developed a different form of brain damage, Creutzfeldt Jakob disease. These patients all had proteins in their brain that the scientists theorized came from human hormone injections they received as children.
The idea that Alzheimer's may be "contagious" spread through the news like wildfire but experts are urging people to be calm. As Sky News explains, the original study wasn't even done on people diagnosed with Alzheimer's. In addition, the brain needs a second kind of protein, tau, to build up dementia, which was not found in any of the subjects.
Finally, multiple safety precautions are in place to prevent just this sort of contamination. Many surgical instruments are only used once.
In short, while more research certainly needs to be done, health experts are advising to continue to receive surgeries without fears of dementia down the line.