Identity Compass® 2009

We are glad to announce that 2009 brings excellent news concerning the evolution of Identity Compass® on national and international level. March has a flying start with the licensing training organized in Arad and sustained by Adela Cristea during the 12th – 14th March, and also the first Worldwide Trainer & Consultant meeting.

This Worldwide Trainer & Consultant meeting will take place to Barcelona (Spain) during 21st – 22nd March, bringing together Identity Compass® trainers & consultants from Germany, UK, Spain, Italy, Russia, Sweden, Indonesia, India, Brazil, Poland, South Africa, Venezuela, Portugal, Croatia, Serbia, USA, Romania, who will have the opportunity to discuss with Arne Maus and Dr. Scheffer about latest insights.

Jordan Sheppard Romania, the local branch of the British headhunting company JordanSheppard, launches the program “Consultancy at Crisis Time”, targeting both companies who wish to better adapt their HR strategy to the current economic context, as well as professionals who wish to have a realistic insight into the labor market and to be assisted in their careers.

The program will be in place for two months. Further details about it can be obtained contacting the office of Jordan Sheppard Romania, tel: +40 21 569 3672 or by email, contact person: Elena Ionescu.

The moment when a new member of the team is being recruited within the company, the employer assumes, beside the salary, some other expenses as, for example, the assurance of a safe and well organized working place, expenses related to the materials he-she will consume and obviously the mandatory taxes for the state budget.

We will analyse further on the situation of the Republic of Moldova regarding the taxes which the employer has to support for his own employees.

Thus, in agreement with the legislation from the Republic of Moldova, each employer is obliged to calculate and retain each month different taxes regarding his own employees taking into account the exemptions claimed by the employee, the contributions or the bonuses calculated in accordance to the decisions made by the Major Fiscal State Inspectorate, The Medical Insurance National House and The National Social Insurances House of the Republic of Moldova.

Starting January 2009 the new manager of Ascent Group’s office in Bucharest is Elena Manera. From this position Elena will coordinate the whole activity of one of the most important Ascent Group’s offices. Elena took over the management of the office from Luciana Căciuleanu, recently promoted Group Training Manager of Ascent Group.

Elena Manera joined Ascent Group’s team in August 2008 as coordinator of the projects department.

Starting with January 2009 Elena Marina became managing partner of Ascent Group in Bulgaria.

Elena has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Human Resources Management from the New Bulgarian University.

Her professional experience comes mainly from management consulting, executive search and training. Elena was working with JordanSheppard Eastern Europe delivering client services locally and across CEE and managing high-end recruitment and consultancy projects. She is a certified Human Synergistics® consultant in organizational diagnostics.

Starting December 2008 Luciana Căciuleanu became Group Training Manager of Ascent Group. From this position Luciana will coordinate the whole training activity of Ascent Group in Romania, Bulgaria, Republic of Moldova and Serbia.

Luciana joined Ascent Group’s team in 2006, holding during the time various positions within the organization, the most recent one being manager of Ascent Group’s office in Bucharest.

Luciana has an University degree in Economics and Public Administration within Ştefan cel Mare University in Suceava, her professional experience including 7 years of activity in various fields, especially company’s reorganization and restructuring processes, human resources, business consulting and training.

Ascent Group has constantly developed in the last years high quality training programs. As a result of the feedback received from the customers and also of the recurrent demands from the actual and potential customers, we decided to start some open trainings in all the countries where we have offices: Romania (Bucharest and Arad), Republic of Moldova (Chişinău), Bulgaria (Sofia), Serbia (Belgrade).

The trainings will contain many new topics for the Romanian training market such as: Operational management, Supply chain management, Transports management, Finances for sales people, Cost controlling, Performance as assistant manager.

The open trainings will also cover general topics such as: Communication, Presentation techniques, Leadership, Time management, Project management, Conflict management, Stress management.

The Administration of Timpuri Noi society that owns a 5 hectares plot of land in the center of Bucharest asked last week the approval of the shareholders to obtain finances either by selling plots, either by accessing of loans from institutiuons or from natural persons.

Bucharest’s provider of engines, turbines, equipments and spare parts is about to be relocated, thus he put up for sale the land on which there was the plant’s platform at the price of 100 million euros, without VAT. The plant’s managing board received last year many offers for the land situated in Unirii area after the shareholders authorized him to capitalize, by negociating, the Company’s building. But the offers were rejected because it did not carry out all the criteria.

Although the number of the transactions contracted on the real estate market diminished drastically in the second half of the year, the representative of Timpuri Noi declares that the demand for his lands did not decreased.

The state has decided to increase the capital of the CEC Bank with 900 million lei and Eximbank and the Guarantee Loans for SMEs want to fully ensure the loans for small business offered by commercial banks in order to relaunch the process of financing for SMEs .

The trend to generate new products for small and medium enterprises is a reason of joy for companies. These loans are specially offered to finance current business, not for major investments in such cases banks preferring to maintain a strict control.

These loans are coming to meet the needs of small business owners. For this reason the loans offered without any material guarantee provides, first of all, the advantage of obtaining the necessary amounts of a good management of current payments. Most entrepreneurs who are facing difficulties in this regard have available funds for short term expenses. The cost to access such a product bank is similar with the one of a normal credit.

Already for many years now I handle negotiations with trade unions. Especially when related to renegotiations of collective labor agreements, but in many cases throughout the year. I had the opportunity to meet many representatives of trade unions and to negotiate with them. And I do not want to hide the fact that very often I felt frustration, because of the total unconstructive attitude of union’s representatives, because the total lack of understanding of economic realities by some of these, but mostly because of a completely wrong understanding of the role that they should play as a Union…

The employer “must” give us! The employer “must” understand us! The employer was mostly for the trade unions the “black man” who should be charged for all our failures, who must solve all our problems, whether he has or not the capacity to do so.

The evaluation for oil barrel price made by Goldman Sachs analysts is very optimistic – the oil price could decrease till 30 dollars in the first quarter of the next year.

The orders decrease as a result of the global crisis and the recession from some very industrialized states are the main reasons of this evaluation.

Also, it’s possible that OPEC will reduce at the beginning of the next year the production with a million barrels/day over the expected decrease of this month.

Now, the oil is quoted at 46,28 dollars per barrel in New York and 46,41 dollars per barrel in London. The values are with approximately 100 dollars less than the record quotation from July, 147,27 dollars per barrel.

Starting 15th of December 2008 the value added tax rate decrease from 19% at 5% for dwellings transactions with a maximum value of 100 000 Euro.

The measures intends to unblock the real estate market and has a double target: to prevent spreading the effects of economic crisis and as social protection measure.

The new 5 % of VAT fated to relaunch the construction and real estate sector but is a difficult process without a sustained lending process, a first good step might be the restart of financing process by banks.

The decrease of VAT, on long term will actuate and diversify the offers for the low sector of real estate where now the request is high for 100 000 – 120 000 Euro dwellings.

On the 10th of December 2008 Romanian Government has adopted Decision no. 1682, that amends and supplements the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 148/2005 of family support to raise the child.

This decision brings a series of news for mothers or future mothers whom revenues exceed the amount of the fixed monthly allowance of 600 lei.

In this sense the rules for implementing the above Ordinance provides that from January 2009 the child allowance is granted in the amount of 600 lei, or optionally, the rate of 85% of average professional income achieved during last 12 months of last year before child’s birth or where appropriate, the date on which the child was given for adoption, or the child was adopted or child has taken in placement or in placement in a matter of urgency, as well as the date on which the person was appointed guardian, according to law.

Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MMDD) launches the second selection session for projects in the field of nature protection, to provide non refundable financial assistance in the Sectoral Operational Program „Environment”, namely Priority Axis 4 – „Implementation of Appropriate Management Systems for Protection of the Nature”.

The projects should be developed in line with the objectives and strategy for financing related priority axis 4 – „Implementation of Appropriate Management Systems for Protection of Nature” of the POS Environment.

The requests for funding (the application form) and the Applicant’s Guide is available on the website of MMDD (www.mmediu.ro). The Applicant Guide contains details about the conditions of access the funding system and the instructions for completion and submission of funding requests.

According to a bill that is to be introduced within the Romanian Parliament, starting with next year the employees might receive vouchers for holiday from the employer. The maximum annual value that might be granted will represent the equivalent of six minimum gross wages per economy.

In accordance with the agreement between the Government, the syndicates and the associations of employers, beginning with the 1st of January 2009, the minimum gross wage granted will be 600 RON, therefore the employer might receive at the most 3600 RON per year for the holidays.

In this way, the law allows to the employer to offer a supplementary benefit to the employees, under the form of a payment for the holiday, out of which the state will return the taxes. The condition for the employer to benefit of this facility is that the company registers profit.