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The Benefits of Work From Home Jobs

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The number of people who work from home are increasingly growing. This shouldn’t come as a surprise considering how the internet business industry has developed and evolved during the last few years. More and more people are seeing the potential of the world wide web as a platform for earning not only residual incomes but full incomes as well. Now, we regularly hear of professional bloggers making a killing online with their blogs alone. Affiliate marketers are raking in millions of dollars. Businesses who used to operate offline are taking their businesses online, expanding their market to a global one. The great thing about the internet is that more work from home opportunities sprout out on a regular basis. Whoever you are and whatever skill you have, there is someone out there, in need of what you can offer. The possibilities are indeed endless.

And of course, let us not forget the benefits or advantages of having to work from home. These include the following:

  • You are your own boss. This is one of the biggest reasons why people quit their day jobs and embark on home-based jobs. You no longer have to work always glancing over your shoulders to make sure the boss or supervisor isn’t watching. The only one who can control you is yourself. You don’t get orders from anyone. The only orders you will receive will be coming from you.

  • You no longer have to commute. No more getting stuck in traffic, rushing downtown just so you can make it to the office in time, etc. You work from home so you don’t have to go anywhere. You don’t have to wake up at a fixed time. You don’t have to take a shower very early in the morning. The hours you spend preparing and commuting for work will be spent at home running your home business or job. That’s like hitting two birds with a single stone.

  • You make your own time schedule. You don’t have to follow any body’s schedule. You can start working at the time you are comfortable with. You can stop working when you want to. You can take as many breaks as you want.

  • If you work from home, you have more time to spend on things that you really love. Things that really matter to you like spending more quality time with your family, your kids, or your friends. The great thing is that you can do all these while working on your home job. You can be tapping away at your laptop while watching over the kids or chatting with a neighbor.

The potential for growth is unlimited. Let’s admit it, the only way you can increase your income from a 9 to 5 job is when you get promoted to a higher job position. But if you work from home, there is no limit as to how you can grow your business and income. You can go from three figures a month to ten figures without being promoted or anything. You just have to work harder and smarter.

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Source by Marie Surles

How to Calculate Your Employee Turnover Rate

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Published on: March 3, 2023 | 


Reading time: 8m

Employee turnover is a white-hot topic these days — and with good reason. According to a recent study by McKinsey, around 40% of employees surveyed considered leaving their jobs for greener pastures within the year. And as the battle for talent rages on, companies are looking to adapt their employee experience strategies to keep their people around for the long haul.

A certain amount of turnover is to be expected at every company. But as an HR leader, you want to avoid losing your top performers by reducing employee turnover on your team. The first step is to learn how to calculate employee turnover and understand your turnover rate. From there, you can take active steps to improve your retention rate, which is the other side of the coin.

Calculate your employee turnover and implement strategies to reduce it

What is the employee turnover rate?

Employee turnover refers to the number or percentage of people who leave an organization during a specific time period (typically one year) and are replaced by new employees.

Turnover can be divided into two categories: voluntary and involuntary. The former refers to employees who decide to leave their positions for new opportunities at a different company, different department, or for retirement. Involuntary turnover, on the other hand, occurs when an employee is asked to leave the organization for a number of reasons, including lackluster performance, problematic behavior, or significant misalignment with the company culture.

Why should HR calculate employee turnover?

Saying goodbye to a colleague is always tough, regardless of how they left. But after employees leave, the fact remains that there might be significant gaps in projects and implications to consider for the rest of the team.

Replacing employees can put a financial strain on an organization. These hard costs are quantifiable and are usually the biggest considerations for C-suite leadership when calculating employee turnover rates.

According to a 2019 Gallup study, it can cost a company one-half to two times the employee’s annual salary to replace them. If the average employee earns $50,000 annually, your organization may be dishing out anywhere between $25,000 to $100,000 to replace them.

The biggest hard costs of employee turnover include:

  • Offboarding costs
  • Hiring costs
  • Onboarding new hires
  • Training new employees
  • Benefit costs

But the costs extend far beyond the dollars and cents, though; these more subtle but equally important ones are called soft costs. If you have high turnover, your team could experience the true employee turnover cost in ways like:

  • Lower engagement and morale: People leaving the team can impact team spirit for active employees. Saying goodbye to colleagues, disrupting regular teamwork cycles, and taking time out of your team’s calendar to help with backfilling roles on your team can all lead to employee disengagement if it’s happening too regularly.
  • Fear and uncertainty: When people frequently leave your team, employees might wonder if they should leave, too. People might even fear that they could be next to be let go. This kind of uncertainty can cause your employees to lose trust in management and leadership. It can also cause your employer brand to take a serious hit.
  • Decreased productivity: Work gets shuffled around and projects are impacted when someone leaves the team. And when employees go, they take valuable skills and knowledge with them. This can even lead to burnout, as team members who stay start taking on extra work.

You can’t always stop employees from leaving. However, knowing your company’s turnover rate will help you identify any problems that might be happening on your team. If you notice that people are leaving your team at a more-than-regular rate, you can spend some time understanding why, and work on your employee retention strategy.

How to calculate employee turnover

Annual employee turnover rate

Math doesn’t always come easy to everyone, but it’s important to understand how to calculate turnover. Follow these steps to measure turnover.

example of a formula to calculate employee turnover
Example of a formula to calculate the employee turnover rate

Step 1: Add the number of employees at the start of the year with the number you had at the end of the year.

For example: 20 employees at the start of the year + 18 employees at the end of the year = 38 employees.

Step 2: Divide the total you got from step one in half (by 2).

For example: 38 total employees ÷ 2 = 19 employees.

Step 3: Divide the number of employees who left during the year by the outcome of the first equation.

For example: 2 employees left during the year ÷ 19 employees = 0.105

Step 4: Multiply this final number by 100, and you‘ve got your employee turnover rate.

For example: 0.105 × 100 = 10.5% turnover rate.

Monthly employee turnover rate

If you want to keep a more active pulse on this number, you can calculate your turnover rate more often in a certain period. All you have to do is follow the same equation, but with shorter time intervals, such as bi-annually or quarterly. Checking in on your monthly turnover rate can also be a good approach.

According to SHRM, you can follow these steps to calculate the monthly turnover rate at your company:

  1. Determine the number of employees who have left during the month.
  2. Take the number of departures and divide it by the average number of employees who are active.
  3. Take that result and multiply by 100.
  4. Voila! Your monthly employee turnover rate.

Here is a quick example:

Five employees left in October and the average number of employees at your company is 80.

5 ÷ 80 = 0.0625

0.0625 × 100 = 6.25%

Your average turnover rate for that month is 6.25%.

What is a good employee turnover rate?

When it comes to employment data, it’s hard to pinpoint a golden number or benchmark. You need to look at your employee turnover rate from a few different lenses to get a real sense of what it means to you.

An average employee turnover rate hovers around 18%. This includes both involuntary and voluntary turnover. However, a turnover rate of 10% or less is what most companies consider a healthy turnover rate.

Understanding your team’s turnover rate

Remember, there is more to this number than meets the eye. It’s crucial that you contextualize your turnover rate within the reality of your team and organization.

Who are the employees that are leaving? Why are they seeking out other opportunities in other industries or companies? Addressing the root causes of your voluntary turnover can help you make improvements to the employee experience after you part ways with a colleague.

Some of the most common causes of employee turnover include:

  • Inflexible workloads and schedules
  • Lack of professional development opportunities
  • Murky understanding of roles
  • Burnout and disregard for employee well-being
  • Misalignment of values

Making time to calculate employee turnover on a regular basis is one way to understand employment patterns and engagement levels on your team. Consider calculating your turnover rate at the end of each quarter, so that you can have a fluid and up-to-date comparison over time. You might spot trends from seasonality or company changes that could give you valuable insights into what contributes to employee turnover.

If you’re experiencing turnover because people are leaving the organization and you’re not sure why — or if everyone is citing the same reasons for their departure — this could be a red flag.

Another good way HR leaders can better understand their team’s turnover is to ask. Make sure you have an exit interview for every employee departure. This can be a formal or informal discussion with a departing employee to get a sense of what led them to make the jump and whether they have specific feedback to impart.

Better yet, conduct a stay interview if you’re sensing that an employee may be thinking of leaving and address the reasons why they are considering moving on.

Pro tip: Don’t just wait until people are packing up their desks, you can also ask employee retention questions to your team to understand the employee experience. Get to know what’s keeping them happy, engaged, and motivated at work.

Lower your turnover rate with proven strategies

If your company is experiencing an undesirable annual turnover rate, it might be high time to adapt your engagement and retention strategies to keep your people happy.

Collect (and act on) employee feedback

Taking a regular pulse of your employees is primordial to the success of any business. Check in on your teams by asking them the right questions to get to the heart of what matters most to your people. But remember, if you collect feedback, it’s vital to act on it. Feedback may uncover challenges on your teams, but this is a great opportunity to work in tandem with your people leaders to improve the employee experience.

Create a culture of recognition

Building a culture of recognition means more than just celebrating big wins — it’s about highlighting the valiant efforts regardless of outcomes. Employees want to know that the hours and energy they put in are being noticed. Receiving recognition instills a sense of pride and will go a long way in keeping employees engaged and happy with their work.

Hold frequent one-on-one meetings

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: check in on your people. By holding regular one-on-one meetings, you and your managers are creating a safe space for your employees to share their thoughts and concerns and ask questions on everything from salary to project clarity. While team meetings serve a specific and important purpose, knowing when to chat privately with an employee who might need a hand is a mark of good leadership.

Offer professional development opportunities

Most people want to grow within their companies and will seek out other opportunities if not given the chance to flourish. Tap into your talented team’s interests and provide career development opportunities like workshops, lunch & learns, or even language courses.

Lean on trusted tools

Like tracking engagement metrics or asking for feedback from your team, calculating turnover is one more tool you can use to understand what matters to your employees. But you don’t have to go at it alone; employee engagement solutions like Officevibe make it easier than ever to take the pulse of your team. By practicing active listening and putting in the hours to make changes, you can keep your top talent engaged and committed to your organization for a long, happy time.

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Hiring, Managing, Motivating Remote Sales Teams for Peak Performance

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Having worked in sales and sales management for a number of LSPs (Language Service Providers) in both the US and Europe, I have experienced a wide variety of approaches to hiring, training and managing remote-sometimes very remote-salespeople. This article will focus on what LSPs can do to ensure success in their sales team.

While I’ve witnessed some spectacular successes, I’ve heard more than a few sales managers express their frustration about not being able to find the right salesperson to spearhead their launch into a new country or market. Fortunately, the growing respect for and maturity of sales organizations in our industry has helped remote salespeople succeed and has mitigated sales staff turnover.

So how do you go about creating a sales force that is highly motivated, engaged and able to achieve or even over-achieve its sales targets? It all comes down to choosing the right candidate, training them properly, and providing ongoing support and motivation.

Hiring: Choosing the Right Team Members

Let’s face it, even when managed well, some salespeople are not cut out for working remotely, and they need the interaction that comes with being based in an office. Someone can be the best salesperson in the world who has always achieved sales targets, but could fail in a less structured, remote environment. But how can you tell?

In my experience, the sales interview process focuses solely on obvious questions such as “how much business can you close” with very little attention paid to “how do you function in a remote environment?” This is a particularly important line of questioning when establishing a presence in a new market or country. Asking a few simple questions can help you to ascertain this:

What experience do you have in working remotely?

What do you like best/least about it?

How do you structure your day?

How do you build relationships with co-workers from a remote location?

Do you mind participating in calls at unusual times to accommodate time zone differences with HQ and other remote co-workers?

Have you ever worked for someone from another culture that has not done a significant amount of business in your home country? How will you handle these differences?

What support do you feel you need from your manager/company in order to be successful in a remote environment?

Beyond assessing a salesperson’s ability to work remotely, I’ve also heard many discussions about whether it is better to send someone from HQ to open a new, remote office or whether hiring locally will achieve greater success. I’ve experienced and seen success in both cases, but there are pluses and minuses for each strategy and much of it boils down to the available candidates, their particular skill sets and the corporate culture of the hiring company.

Sending a Salesperson Abroad

Being an American working in a remote sales office in London, I do have a particular bias that it is possible for a non-local to be successful in a remote office in a foreign country. I’ve seen many others succeed in similar circumstances in both the US and in Europe. I’ve also seen many challenging circumstances and even failures, which I believe were in large part due to unrealistic expectations and a lack of preparation on the part of the hiring company.

I imagine the majority of people who are sent abroad to sell in a foreign country originate from the LSP’s HQ or home market and that they are sent on the belief that their company expertise will help them do well selling abroad. After all, they understand the LSP’s value proposition, know how to navigate internally to get what they need and usually have access to key decision makers from their experience with the company.

However, I have also seen people underestimate the challenges of working remotely in a foreign country (including myself!). Selling in a foreign market and coping with remote employment does present very real challenges. It can be a very isolating experience for someone accustomed to working in the company HQ with all its support and familiarity. Even the simplest tasks can become a quite a challenge if you don’t understand how things work. For example, when I relocated to London for the first time from Dallas, I was surprised to find out how long it took for a phone line and broadband to be installed. It was not days; it was weeks! I spent a lot of time (and money) working from a local internet cafe trying to be productive until I had proper internet access.

Although the vast majority of people in our industry have international experience and understand that things are done differently, in my experience this understanding only goes so far. Understanding sources of information, leads, business groups, and frankly, how to sell, takes a lot of effort and a deeper understanding of the market and business practices. This can greatly increase ramp-up time and cost of sales if underestimated.

Local salespeople, on the other hand, don’t have to think about such issues. They know how to get things done, what works and what doesn’t. They have established sources of information and they understand the nuances of doing business in their home market. Their challenge is to understand the company for which they work.

Hiring locally

Hiring locally should (in theory) provide you with immediate access to the market in which you want to sell.

However, hiring locally means you, the LSP, will need to integrate the new hire into the company, and quickly! Most LSPs have thankfully gotten beyond providing a phone and computer and assuming that’s enough to “get selling.” Fortunately most LSPs routinely train their remote salespeople on why their service offering is unique and why buyers in the new market should buy from them over another company. A new hire absolutely needs to know this in order to be successful, so training is essential. It is also critical that HQ and other personnel are aware that this new salesperson exists (hopefully have met) so they are not surprised when the salesperson asks for support.

I strongly believe that many remote employment arrangements — particularly when hiring locally — don’t work out because there is a discrepancy between what the LSP thinks they want (or what they are willing to pay for) and what they get. This is particularly the case when the remote employee is opening a brand new office in a new country that is 7-10 time zones away from HQ.

Establishing expectations

Some questions LSPs should be asking themselves in order to determine whether they are prepared for the challenges of managing remote salespeople:

Is it really just a sales position, or do you expect them to do their own marketing and deal with business, legal and taxation issues that crop up? If so, does the salary you are offering fairly compensate them for performing these tasks?

Is your compensation plan in line with comparable positions in the target market? For example, I’ve seen European companies offer substantially lower salaries in the US and end up hiring someone who sounded good, but was not the caliber they expected.

Will you provide adequate training about your company’s capabilities, provide access to key production and other personnel, provide a communications infrastructure, provide technical support for equipment problems, etc.?

Do you plan to make regular visits to your remote staff and/or bring them to HQ for strategy and business meetings?

What is your plan for making your remote salespeople feel a part of the overall team?

Training: On-boarding Your Remote Salespeople

Training for a salesperson coming from outside the localization industry is well understood. Processes, technologies, linguistic issues, etc. all need to be covered. However, no matter how experienced the newly recruited salesperson might be, they still need to understand what makes their new company unique. More to the point, since they are selling an intangible service, they are selling the production teams within the company. Knowing members of these teams can help the salesperson present the company much more effectively.

My personal on-boarding experiences have run from fabulous to non-existent to “oh, you’re in sales, what training do you really need?” The companies who have been the best in terms of training remote staff have been mid-size to larger LSPs that had formal training programs. One program in particular stands out. I spent several weeks at HQ learning the organization from the inside out. I had a combination of reading, one-on-one meetings with production team leads, departmental heads, project managers and, of course, my own manager and the marketing director. The initial part of the training focused on the company’s culture, goals and differentiators and addressed key questions such as:

What makes the company unique?

What are the goals of the company?

Who are the key players in the company?

Where does certain expertise lie (software, life sciences, etc.)?

What tools and technology are used?

What is the history of the company?

What sales and marketing tools are available to me?

The remainder of the training focused on production process and technology, which enabled me to meet and build a rapport with production team leads, departmental heads, project managers and support staff. I was required to shadow various staff to learn how we did things and why and then had to manage a few projects myself so I could experience not just production, but also the systems in place that kept the company running on a day-to-day basis. By the time I was released into the world of selling, I could explain our processes and technology quite thoroughly. It was excellent!

When my training ended, I felt instilled with the company culture, understood the company’s goals, the brand, and our differentiators. I also knew all the key people in the company, departmental managers, most of the project managers and the overseas staff with whom I was most likely to be in contact. I came away knowing who the go-to person was for just about any question that popped into my head. This saved me a lot of time later!

In this case I was also trained alongside other remote salespeople who were hired at roughly the same time as me. That helped our team form a mutually supportive bond that we carried on into the remote sales environment.

Support and Motivation

A strong sales team starts with strong leadership, particularly a strong sales manager. From the rolodex of companies I’ve worked for, the best sales managers worked a lot, travelled a lot and thrived on the culture they created. These managers were highly engaged with each member of their remote team, which encouraged the sales team to engage with the company. Our strongest sales team managers possessed some common traits that made this possible:

They communicated often, using all available channels. Communicating with remote employees has never been easier: IM, Skype, conference calls, webinars, webcasts, text messaging and, of course, our industry’s notorious overuse of email all offer opportunities for easy communication. The best of the best avoided the dreaded “round robin” team conference calls, but, rather, had highly structured calls with a particular focus: successes, challenges, solutions and knowledge sharing (e.g. overcoming a difficult situation, brainstorming answers to arduous questions on RFPs, sharing wins and how they were achieved, feedback from clients about service offerings, pricing, etc.).

They made themselves available and were responsive. Most sales managers I know are extremely busy people, but responsiveness is critical, not only in establishing trust with the team, but also for the sake of the client. One of my very overworked former managers established a simple protocol around phone calls. If it was urgent, say so immediately in the voicemail message. This helped him prioritize the dozens of calls he received every hour. As a result, I rarely had to wait longer than 30 minutes for a returned call. Most were returned within 10 minutes! This enabled me to be far more responsive to my clients, and these days, client experience is everything!

They kept me up to date on company developments. It can be discouraging to hear important news through the grapevine or worse, from sources external to the company. Again, it is incumbent upon salespeople to stay informed, but I’ve seen this happen more than once where executives told some, but not all, staff about important news.

They helped educate me on new technologies, value-added services, and partnership arrangements that enhanced our service offering. It is so discouraging to hear that internal teams are receiving training on a new technology/process/service offering/change in strategy and remote salespeople are not included. Not all technical training is relevant of course, but if it enhances the service offering, your sales team should know about it.

They brought the sales team together several times a year to for training or to have brainstorming, team building and strategy meetings, or to participate in broader company meetings. This was fabulous for morale.

They communicated my goals and responsibilities very clearly and focused on my progress in regularly scheduled one-on-one calls.

All of these attributes served to keep me engaged with the company and motivated me to help the company achieve its broader goals. I truly felt like an important part of the company and not a “remote employee.”

Conclusion

Hiring, training, supporting and motivating a remote sales team takes significant investment on the part of the LSPs, but is a necessary part of expanding your reach to win new business.

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Source by Jessica Rathke

Task-Oriented Vs People-Oriented Leadership Styles

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Business leaders around the world have become increasingly aware of the fact that an effective leadership style is more important than ever in the workplace. The wrong leadership style can lead to a lot of problems, including:

  • Low motivation
  • Poor productivity
  • Team disharmony
  • High employee turnover

It’s critical that both local employers who need local workers and non-local employers that need online workers provide appealing leadership. Modern workers are not limited to local job markets and income options. Instead, they can now find unlimited income opportunities online and they are not as tied to their geographic location as generations before them. Remote workers can move easily from job-to-job because they have no physical connection to a remote company. A supervisor’s leadership style often influences a remote worker’s loyalty.

There are plenty of leadership styles that you might use in your business. The task-oriented and people-oriented styles are two of the most popular ones:

What Is Task-Oriented Leadership?

A task-oriented leader is someone who focuses on overall success through the completion of tasks. This type of leader doesn’t care as much about relationship building as he/she cares about workers meeting particular goals within a preset time frame. A task-oriented leader sees a goal, creates a step-by-step plan to reach that goal, creates a work schedule and then expects workers to follow that schedule and finish the task by a specific deadline.

What Is People-Oriented Leadership?

A people-oriented leader focuses on creating overall success by building lasting relationships with employees. This type of leader does care about tasks and schedules, but he/she believes that work culture is more important. A people-oriented leader uses relationship building techniques, such as employee recognition and team-building exercises, to create an environment where employees feel appreciated and motivated enough to invest personally in the success of the business and work at their highest possible levels.

The Pros and Cons of These Leadership Styles

There is little doubt that task-oriented leaders can get results. They provide workers with simple steps and detailed guidance. Yet, many task-oriented people are referred to as micro-managers that make workplaces uncomfortable and non-welcoming. Task-oriented leaders care less about whether a worker has a good idea for making production easier than they do that the worker complete the task as outlined on time. As a result, task-oriented leaders often make workers feel like drones. Eventually, if this leadership style is used constantly, workers feel under-appreciated and less motivated to reach their goals; and then production suffers.

People-oriented leaders create a workplace environment where employees trust their leaders and feel loyalty toward the business and their co-workers. Productivity increases because workers actually want to come to work each day. These leaders also open the door for creating newer, better business processes by accepting and promoting employee and team feedback. Yet, many people-oriented leaders are referred to as weak leaders. They often invest so much time into relationship-building through team meetings, one-on-one reviews and team-building events that production delays occur and cause missed deadlines. Some relationship-oriented leaders give workers so much control over completion of a task with little guidance or monitoring that tasks don’t get completed on time.

Picking a Leadership Style

These two leadership styles are obviously beneficial to a business. Most experts believe that business leaders should create a custom mash-up style that equally focuses on task completion and relationship-building while also emphasizing ways to overcome the obstacles related to both styles.

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Source by Anthony Larman

I investigated the origins of Covid for the UN – I believe the virus leaked from a Chinese lab & here is why

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COVID likely leaked from a Wuhan lab following Frankenstein-style experiments on humanised mice, a top scientist has warned.

Professor Colin Butler, who probed the origins of the virus for the UN, said the lab leak theory has been majorly downplayed despite a mountain of circumstantial evidence.

Guards keep watch outside Wuhan Institute of Virology during a WHO visit

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Guards keep watch outside Wuhan Institute of Virology during a WHO visitCredit: Reuters
Professor Colin Butler believes Covid could have leaked from a lab in Wuhan

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Professor Colin Butler believes Covid could have leaked from a lab in WuhanCredit: The Australian National University

Many experts and intelligence officials suspect bungling scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology accidentally spread Covid during so-called “gain of function” experiments on bat coronaviruses.

Fresh intelligence from the US Department of Energy has also now concluded Covid most likely leaked from a lab in China.

In 2020, Prof Butler was asked by the UN Environment Programme to produce a report on the causes, consequences and implications of the pandemic.

The epidemiologist was initially sceptical of a lab leak – but he told The Sun Online he’s now convinced it’s the most likely explanation.

Wuhan ‘lab leak’ firm STILL doing tests that ‘could spark new pandemic’
Wuhan whistleblower 'trailed by FBI who stalked him with drones and broke into home'

He changed his mind after evidence emerged of controversial “gain of function” experiments at the Wuhan lab, shocking biosafety lapses, hidden data, and a “cover-up” of the possible origins from scientists and governments.

Prof Butler still accepts a “natural origin” is possible – but pointed out there is no sign of any evidence to back up the theory.

He said Covid was likely extracted from bat caves in China and then “trained” on humanised mice in risky experiments before it accidentally leaked.

“You can literally put a bit of human DNA into a laboratory animal – humanised mice,” he told The Sun Online.

“You can adapt the virus to a human in a laboratory. It’s Frankensteinian to me, it’s very dangerous. You can train the virus to infect humans.

“That’s what people think possibly happened with Covid.

“If the Chinese were innocent, they could produce the database, all the lab records, and they’ve never done it.

“If there was nothing wrong, they could produce it. There’s so many things the Chinese cover up. This is just one more.”

The scientist said he believes “gain of function probably did play a part in Covid”.

So-called “gain of function” research involves extracting viruses from animals to engineer in a lab to make them more transmissible and deadly to humans.

“I thought of that quite early on, but I put it to one side,” Prof Butler explained.

“Virologists are looking into viruses to see what makes a disease go pandemic because they believe they can then develop a vaccine.

“But I think they’re playing with fire because the very thing they try to stop, they could cause, and could have already happened in Wuhan.”

And Prof Butler has warned it could happen again as “so many labs around the world are doing this work”.

But he said souping up pandemic-potential pathogens should never even be “contemplated” – and the scientist first sounded the alarm about the risks in a paper published nine years ago.

Dozens of scientists have suggested Covid could have escaped from the Wuhan lab through an infected researcher, improper disposal of waste, or potential breaches in the security at the site.

I read that they were in their space suits for five or six hours, and they can’t go to the toilet unless they’ve got a nappy on, they can’t eat, they’re going to get tired, that’s not good practice

Professor Colin Butler

There was also an “intense” period of “unusual and unexplained activity” in Wuhan in the weeks leading up to the pandemic – raising suspicions about an outbreak and mass sterilisation at the lab.

The city’s airport was locked down for days, there was a blackout period at the lab with no signs of mobile phone activity, and security was massively ramped up at the site.

And fresh intelligence prompted the US Energy Department to conclude an accidental lab leak in China most likely caused the pandemic, Wall Street Journal reports.

The department – which oversees a network of labs in the US working on biological research – made its judgement with “low confidence”.

But China has refused to cooperate with a full-scale probe into the origins and experts said a cover-up is continuing today.

Prof Butler highlighted the shoddy biosafety at the Wuhan science hub as a potential clue of a lab leak.

Shocking leaked photos – which were deleted from website of the lab after the virus emerged – revealed a scandalous lack of safety.

One worker admitted being sprayed with bat blood or urine as images showed staff brazenly collecting samples with no face masks or protective suits.

Some scientists didn’t even wear gloves as they entered caves to collect faecal bat swab samples, beaming for the camera and oblivious to the dangers.

And a bombshell study found grotty sewage systems were potentially contaminating canals with toxic waste from the labs.

The biosecurity lapses have led some to question the official Chinese line that the disease was passed from animals to humans.

“I read that they were in their space suits for five or six hours, and they can’t go to the toilet unless they’ve got a nappy on, they can’t eat, they’re going to get tired, that’s not good practice,” Prof Butler said.

“This is the background on what was making me worry about what was going on in China.

“About a year before the pandemic, there was an article saying safety standards weren’t good – like an expression of genuine distress.”

Prof Butler said he had “very few allies” when he first put forward the theory of a lab leak in late 2020.

And one of the reasons he changed his mind over the origins of the pandemic came down to Jeremy Farrar and Anthony Fauci “hiding their own doubts”.

Farrar, head of the Wellcome Trust, has adamantly supported a natural origin for Covid – even though emails showed he privately believed a lab leak was possible.

He even privately admitted research in Wuhan was like the “Wild West”.

If the Chinese were innocent, they could produce the database, all the lab records, and they’ve never done it

Professor Colin Butler

But Farrar signed a letter in The Lancet in early 2020 which “strongly condemned conspiracy theories” surrounding Covid.

In later emerged that 26 of the 27 scientists who publicly trashed the lab leak theory had links to Wuhan researchers.

The revelation drew furious claims at the time of an “extreme cover-up”.

Prof Butler believes Farrar was a “key figure” in “scandalous suppression of debate” on the lab leak theory.

“There’s a lot of weight given to theory it came from the market, but those papers can be severely questioned,” he said.

“It’s as if people like Fauci and Farrar have told the academic journals, ‘this is the truth and you must enforce it’.

“It’s making it very hard to get a counter view. The journals have had some really biased articles.”

From 2010 to 2013, Prof Butler co-edited the EcoHealth journal alongside Peter Daszak, the head of EcoHealth Alliance.

The firm has come under fire over the last three years over its work on coronaviruses with the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

When he discovered gain of function research was being done by EcoHealth Alliance, Prof Butler said he was “dismayed” – but “not surprised”.

EcoHealth Alliance scientists studied bat coronaviruses with researchers at the Wuhan lab for more than a decade, funded by grants from the US.

The firm has denied any wrongdoing over its experiments – and categorically denied any link to the origins of Covid.

Prof Butler said: “They sincerely thought what they were doing was good, it was their livelihood, and they underestimated the problems and it never occurred to them perhaps.”

But the scientist blasted the “opacity” surrounding those suspected to be at the centre of the origins of Covid.

“Maybe they feel guilty, maybe they’re going to be legally liable, and lose their careers and reputation,” Prof Butler said.

“I suppose some of it is commercial confidence.

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“The other thing is the military side of it. We know this work has evolved from biological weapon laboratories, particularly in America.”

Although the debate over the origins of Covid rages on, Prof Butler said it’s clear that gain of function research has been a “dismal failure”.



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Navy Vocabulary – Understanding What Your Recruit it Saying

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Navy Vocabulary is an interesting mix of words, letters, numbers, and stuff that can’t be printed. Recruits at Boot Camp in Great Lakes become familiar with all the new terms very quickly. Here is a top ten list of Navy vocabulary words that will be learned in Boot Camp:

  1. Petty Officer – An enlisted individual in the US Navy who has the necessary time in rate and has been promoted – after passing necessary training and exams. A Petty Officer starts out as a Third Class E4, and competes for advancement through Master Chief Petty Officer, an E9. The Petty Officers at Great Lakes are quite intimidating.
  2. RDC – Recruit Division Commander. If the Petty Officers are intimidating, RDC’s are terrifying. Recruits are divided into Divisions during Boot Camp, and the RDC is in charge of one division. Their job is to make raw Recruits into a cohesive group of Sailors. By most accounts, RDC’s yell a lot.
  3. Rack – Bed. Recruits spend more time learning to make their racks than they do sleeping in them.
  4. Head – Bathroom. If your Recruit informs you that he or she is in charge of the head, understand that they pulled bathroom cleaning duty.
  5. PT – Physical Training. Recruits do a LOT of Physical training during basic training, starting early in the morning and continuing until all hours. Sometimes, if a Division or a Recruit doesn’t perform to the RDC’s expectations, they get IT.
  6. IT – Intensive Training – Getting IT’d is a consequence for all sorts of infractions. One Recruit can cause the entire Division to get IT.
  7. PFA – Physical Fitness Assessment. There are two assessments that a Recruit must pass in order to graduate. Running, situps and swimming are involved. The second PFA takes place during the 6th week of training. One of the reasons for all the PT and IT is so Recruits can pass the final PFA.
  8. Ricky Crud – Recruit Sickness. A large number of Recruits catch this in Great Lakes. It involves the upper respiratory system, headaches, stomach cramps, diarrhea, and nosebleeds. (Read our Boot Camp guide to find out how to avoid getting the Ricky Crud.)
  9. Chit – A permission slip. In the Navy, Sailors must get permission to do many things – like get a tattoo or go on vacation. Recruits might need a chit to go to medical.
  10. PIR – Pass In Review. Boot Camp Graduation is commonly called Pass in Review. Family and friends are invited to Freedom hall in Great Lakes, Illinois, where they get to see their Recruit’s division perform. It’s a once in a lifetime, impressive ceremony that should not be missed.

Bonus. Two words NOT to use: Ma’am and Sir. In the Navy, enlisted personnel do NOT like to be referred to as Ma’am or Sir. If you ask them why, they will inform you that they work for a living.

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Source by Al Dasch

Strategies To Find Job Search Success in the New Economy

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I read in the news that Apple announced it has sold over five million of its new iPhone 5, just three days after its launch and to sweeten Apple’s products demand, more than 100 million of Apple’s latest operating systems devices have been updated.

Apple’s success is an important indication that the Internet has taken over the new economy. The latest trend of using social media to find job has moved to a dynamic speed. Savvy job seekers knows that they cannot solely rely on traditional means in looking for jobs.

Traditional job search includes strategies such as looking in the newspaper classified advertisements, searching through ‘help wanted’ notices on bulletin boards, going to recruitment or job agencies, and write in for jobs opportunities directly to the companies. All these traditional ways of job search involve an individual reacting to a job that has already been publicly offered.

Although, traditional methods are still necessary, creative, well-informed and socially Internet savvy job seekers will take a step further to stay ahead of their competition by creating an online presence to reach out to more prospective employers. That is because they know that more and more recruiters use the web as a place to search for talent and conduct employment background searches. This trend will set to increase over the years.

Here are 3 ways you can use social media to enhance your job search success:

1) Build your online presence on social network sites.

Make employers find you easily online and thus open doors to more job opportunities. Without an online presence, you will not appear to be as relevant as those who has and you will be passed over for more savvy applicants that have online visibility. Creating online presence include

  • LinkedIn- A networking tool for professional connections. Also used to recommend job candidates, industry experts and business partners. Employers use LinkedIn as a search tool to find talent, and job seekers use it to leverage their network in support of their search.
  • Twitter – Social networking and instant messaging that allows users to post 140- character updates. Employer can use Twitter to post for job opportunities.
  • Facebook – A social network that connects people, to keep up with friends and share ideas. Depending on their privacy level, some job seekers have successfully secured a job through their Facebook network.

2) Create a blog to demonstrate your expertise

Another good way to further boost your image and demonstrate your experience, expertise and passion in a particular field is to create an updated blog. Keep it professional, creative and update it with value add contents for readers. The articles that you post may include tips and advice on issues in your area of expertise, also be mindful that everything you write and post online is up for judgement.

3) YouTube and Pinterest Marketing

Internet savvy job seekers are making use of video marketing to promote themselves. This is a creative approach to job hunting that has become increasingly common in the social media arena. You could create a video resume, such as a short and traditional video that include a general rundown of your work experience, educational background and skills.

While Pinterest is not a networking platform, as it does not allow direct communication, it is becoming increasingly popular with businesses. It is a powerful tool to demonstrate your knowledge, organisational skills, and creativity to prospective employers. You can create boards which relate to specific skills-sets you have and use it as a portal to link to work you want to showcase – like an online portfolio.

4) Online Resume

In the new economy, it has changed the way employers review resumes, the Internet has also made it possible for job seekers to post their resumes online, on their own hosted web sites. This change is particular helpful to those persons whose resume presentation will be greatly enhanced by being able to take advantage of the graphics and interactive capabilities that an online resume on a personal web site can provide.

In a nutshell, in these times, a paper resume is not enough. It is essential to be creative and a well-designed electronic, or online version of your resume combined and linked to a strong social media profile, is usually ideal for a successful job search.

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Source by Regina Cho

Performance Appraisal – A Directive to Achieving Organizational Goals

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We are fast approaching the very end of another interesting and challenging financial year. The buzz words in most organizations would soon be ‘Met Expectations’ and ‘Needs Improvement’. The atmosphere in some work places are reminiscent of school days when kids return to their seats collecting their mark-sheets or report cards, some elated and some crestfallen. However, the tension in the air during the appraisal season is sustained for a longer period, than what we experienced with report cards in our school days. The whole process can be extremely stressful to all parties involved. A better understanding of the objective, processes and key elements of a performance appraisal would make the experience for all more worthwhile and less stressful.

What is Performance Appraisal?

It is a formal and structured evaluation method to elucidate the performance of an individual or a group/team and the potential for development.

Objectives of Performance Appraisal:

There could be a plethora of objectives for conducting a performance appraisal based on the difference in job profile, profile of employee, organizational objectives etc. The following are the most common objectives for conducting a Performance Appraisal.

  • Employee Confirmations: The idea is to evaluate the employee performance against the expectations set forth while the individual joined; and to find out if he is ready to be confirmed as a permanent employee.

  • Employee Promotions & Compensation: Here the employee appraisal gives a clear insight on whether the individual is ready for taking up bigger responsibility and linking the performance to the percentage increase in compensation.

  • Need for Training and Development: Performance Appraisals and performance dialogues identifies those areas which needs improvement in an individual/group and suggests action plans to address these gaps through Training and Development.

  • Employee Feedback & Grievances: The appraisal is also used as a platform to understand the factors that contributed towards deviation from expected performance and understanding the support the employee requires in to meet future expectations.

The following table gives a simplistic view of the objectives of Performance Appraisal:

Individual Understanding

Feedback on performance

Identifying areas of improvement

Identifying areas of strength

Better understanding of future expectations

Organizational Understanding

Salary revision

HR systems evaluation

Retention/confirmation/termination/promotions

Identifying gaps that hinder achieving business objectives

Documentation

The Process of Performance appraisal

Step 1 – Objective Definition of Appraisal

Have a clear understanding of what the Performance Appraisal will achieve

Step 2 – Establish Job Expectations

Have clarity in what is expected both qualitatively and quantitatively from the job entrusted.

Step 3 – Appraisal Program Design

Create a plan with respect to the when and where and how the appraisal is going to be conduted. This includes the tools that are going to be used. Even 360 degree feedback and 360 degree performance appraisals are used

Step 4 – Evaluate

The information collated about the performance is now evaluated by comparing it to the established job expectations.

Step 5 – Performance Dialogue

This step involves meaningful conversations that both appraiser and the appraisee has towards understanding the evaluation and discuss action plans.

Step 6 – Final Data for Action

In this step the results of the appraisal are documented for further action.

The key to the success of any performance appraisal is in the quality of the performance dialogue. The performance dialogue determines the future relationship of employees/team with the management. This is critical for individuals/teams to be motivated to achieve the business objectives for the coming financial year.

Some Current Performance Appraisal Methods

  1. Assessment Centers: This is a method of performance review that was first developed and used as early as 1943 in countries like USA & UK. The objective of this method is to put employees in simulated environments that require employees to display behaviours and patterns that are typical of a working environment in order to gauge employee performance. Trained assessors observe these displayed behaviour and rate them on set parameters. The results drawn from these observations and analysis helps the management to decide on the readiness of an employee to take up new assignments, higher responsibility and also the areas of improvement that needs to be addressed in doing so.

  2. 360 degree Feedback: It is a method in which all stakeholders like manager, peer, customer, subordinate, other departmental staff, including self gives feedback on an individual’s performance. This technique gives a broader perspective to the developmental plan of the individual and allows them a 360 degree performance appraisal. Some of the areas that can be appraised through this technique are interpersonal skills, customer service skills, meeting timelines etc.

“It is an immutable law in business that words are words, explanations are explanations, promises are promises but only performance is reality” – Harold S Geneen

Every manager would serve their organization well if they understood that the essence of performance appraisals does not lie in intimidating an employee but in mutually agreeing on what needs to be done to accomplish business objectives. This is also something that should be focused on in performance appraisal training.

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Source by Pramila M Mathew

Negotiation Strategy Vs Tactics

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I have spent over twenty-five years now studying, practicing, and teaching martial arts. This includes time spent in the United States Army and living in Japan and Korea studying martial arts there. Two important concepts that I have studied, taught, and written about in a martial or military format are equally important when teaching negotiation. These concepts are strategy and tactics. Sometimes I see people mistakenly using one term when they actually mean the other. In this short article, I want to describe the differences between strategy and tactics as well as illustrate the relationship between the two.

Strategy

Strategy is the overall, big picture, plan, which includes goals or desired outcomes. In the military, strategy is the utilization, during both peace and war, or all of a nation’s forces, through large-scale, long-range planning and development, to ensure security or victory. Another definition would be a plan, method, or series of maneuvers or stratagems for obtaining a specific goal or result. A well known strategy used by the Allies in WWII was that of strategic bombing in Europe. The Army Air Corps’ strategic bombing doctrine was based on the theory that a bombing force could pound the adversary until its industrial base was destroyed, and with it, its ability and will to wage war. While this example helps illustrate the concept of strategy, it is unfortunate that many of us have probably encountered negotiators that worked from a very similar strategic doctrine.

Strategic negotiation is simply the act of devising and carrying out a well thought out plan to achieve your desired outcomes. Often, it is your plan to convince another party to give you something that you want and on your terms. The first thing you must determine when developing a negotiation strategy is what do you really want? What is the purpose of the negotiation? Do you want to purchase a house or commercial building? Do you want a raise in your salary? Do you want to settle a matter that is being litigated? Once you know what you want, and have devised a strategy, you can implement the tactics that will help you achieve your desired outcome.

When one is developing strategy, it is often easier to break your planning into phases. Here is a simple model used with martial arts and warfare that you will notice fits with negotiating equally well:

1. Identify your strategic objectives

2. Collect intelligence

3. Plan for environment

4. Program for engagement

Tactics

Tactics are simply the means by which you carry out your strategy. In the military tactics deals with the use and deployment of troops in actual combat, more specifically, it is the military science that deals with securing objectives set by strategy, especially the technique of deploying and directing troops, ships, and aircraft in effective maneuvers against an enemy. In our example above with the Army Air Corps, the tight formations employed by the bombers to make the best use of the bombers’ heavy armament and prevent German fighters from singling out and swarming on lone planes is an example of a tactic used to help carry out the strategy. Another tactic was the employment of high altitude bombing when low level bombing proved to vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire.

One must be very careful not to focus upon activity, means, or tactics at the expense of accomplishment, achieving goals, or desired outcomes. Above all else, obtaining one’s objectives in negotiations should be paramount. Of course, the tactics, activities or means we use should always be appropriate and ethical, but we must remember they are merely the ways to attain desired outcomes. Examples of negotiation tactics include things such as:

1. Giving ultimatums

2. Nibbling

3. Shocked or surprised looks

4. Good cop/Bad cop

5. Walk away

There are many tactics people use while negotiating. There is nothing wrong with using certain tactics to carry out your strategy and obtain your objectives. It is not necessarily unethical, deceptive, or unscrupulous to use negotiating tactics, even though some may want you to believe this. Yes, some tactics may be unethical, and as I stated above, we should always be appropriate and ethical, but there is nothing wrong with being competitive.

No, I have not forgotten the Principled Negotiation strategy taught by Fisher and Ury in “Getting To Yes.” However, I also realize that sometimes we will be in competitive negotiations, and knowing various tactics can give us the edge. As an attorney, I realize some clients hire an attorney to be their pit bull, and while win-win might be the ideal, some of these clients only care about a win in their column. Practically speaking, we attorneys must deliver for our clients if we want to stay in business. In other fields of business, you run across competitive barganing as well, and knowing tactics may be quite beneficial. Additionally, knowing various negotiation tactics, and the counterattacks, prepare us for when others use them against us.

Conclusion

Strategy and tactics are concepts as old as conflict itself. By understanding the differences and relationships between the two, the successful negotiator can better plan and implement the strategies and tactics to reach specific desired outcomes. There is a reason so many successful business people study the ancient military classics such as “The Art of War” and “The Book of Five Rings.” There is a reason why so many successful business people play strategic military games such as Go and Chess. The lessons learned from military sources, especially strategy and tactics, can easily be adapted to help us be better business people, better litigators, and better negotiators.

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Source by Alain Burrese

We were planning son’s first birthday as Russian missiles hit & we fled Ukraine – kind Brits welcomed us with open arms

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SINCE the first Russian attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the war-torn country’s citizens have been fleeing for their lives – and UK families have opened their homes, and their hearts, to help them.

The Government announced the Homes For Ukraine scheme on March 14, and by January 31 this year 158,800 refugees had been welcomed into the country.

A boy stands next to a wrecked vehicle in bomb-hit Mariupol

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A boy stands next to a wrecked vehicle in bomb-hit MariupolCredit: Reuters

Mike Adamson, CEO of the British Red Cross, which organised many of the placements, said: “People who arrived in the UK from Ukraine had their lives turned upside down.

“But the warmth and compassion of the public has meant we’ve been able to provide a place of refuge.”

He also praised Sun readers for donating generously to our special Ukraine Appeal, adding: “Your generosity has helped our expert teams provide practical and emotional support to thousands of people coping with the trauma of the conflict.”

As the first anniversary of the war looms closer, and with no end in sight, Alison Maloney talks to three refugee families and their hosts about their experiences.

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Our tot was set for 1st birthday as missiles hit

ICU nurse Jade Blackburn, 39, and husband Miles, 36, an HR consultant, from Leicestershire, are hosts to Sachin and Yulia Kumar and toddler son Arun.

Yulia, 32, and Sachin, 33, had returned to their home in Vinnytsia in west-central Ukraine from a trip to India on February 14 and were preparing for their son’s first birthday, on February 26, when Russia invaded.

Sachin and Yulia Kumar, Miles and Jade Blackburn with Ainsley, who became a ‘middle child’ overnight

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Sachin and Yulia Kumar, Miles and Jade Blackburn with Ainsley, who became a ‘middle child’ overnightCredit: Paul Tonge

Yulia says: “We heard the sirens all night and we decided it wasn’t safe to stay in our apartment with a one-year-old, because we couldn’t keep travelling to the shelters.

“We moved on to a relative’s house which had an underground bunker but then my husband’s work as a food delivery courier stopped and we decided to go to Poland.

“They put us in temporary accommodation and their first question was, ‘Where will you move on to?’

“As we both speak English, we decided the UK was best.”

Jade and Miles, who are parents to Fraser, five, and three-year-old Ainsley, heard about the Homes For Ukraine scheme and wanted to offer their spare room.

The families talked every day for a month while Jade sorted the visas and travel arrangements.

Yulia says they were welcomed with open arms when they arrived.

She adds: “The room was ready for us with toys for Arun, and the neighbours and relatives all wanted to help, dropping in welcome cards, donating nappies and baby clothes.”

We can get on top of each other but we make it work.

Host Jade Blackburn

The family quickly settled in, although Jade’s younger son Ainsley had some early reservations.

She says: “Ainsley found it the hardest because he was just two when they first came and he’d gone from being the youngest to the middle child.

“Being so young, he didn’t want to share his toys.”

Sachin found work in local warehouses, although that dried up after Christmas and he is now looking for other jobs.

Yulia, a doctor who was on maternity leave when they fled Ukraine, is hoping she will also be able to work once they arrange childcare.

She says: “I miss Ukraine every day and I worry about my mother who is still there, because every day you see missile strikes on average cities and no one knows which area will be next.

“But I am grateful to be living here. I also like your education system and the activities for infants, because in Ukraine there is nothing for babies and small children.”

Although the families are close, Yulia says she and Sachin are keen to rent their own accommodation.

‘We heard the sirens all night and we decided it wasn’t safe to stay.

Mum Yulia Kumar

Jade, who now runs a Facebook page to support Ukrainian families and their hosts, admits they can “get on top of each other and get in each other’s way, but we make it work”.

She adds: “When I started sponsoring, I realised that there was no real help out there so I set up a local support group.

“It’s massively changed my life, because I’ve realised how rewarding it is actually just being able to devote your time to helping others.

“A year on, there is still a huge need for hosts because Ukrainian families are still having to flee.

“So if there are people out there who have spare rooms and think they can help, I can assure them it’s a massively rewarding experience.”

My dad was a World War 2 evacuee – I had to help

KARYNA IVOLHA, 33, fled from her home in Mariupol at the start of the conflict, accompanied by her mother Polina, 51, and children Mylana, eight, and 18-month-old Makar.

They now live with toymaker Tony Trowsdale, 62, in his Derbyshire home.

Karyna Ivolha shares her Ukrainian treats with Tony Trowsdale

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Karyna Ivolha shares her Ukrainian treats with Tony TrowsdaleCredit: Fabio De Paola
Mylana and Polina Ivolha make lunch together

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Mylana and Polina Ivolha make lunch togetherCredit: Fabio De Paola

Recently divorced Tony registered his interest in the Homes For Ukraine scheme when it launched and Karyna and her family arrived in September.

He says: “During World War Two my dad, who I lost in 2016, was evacuated from London to Cambridgeshire and he often spoke about how he was looked after.

“So I felt I had to help. I met Karyna and her children through a charity called LoveBristol.

“We chatted on WhatsApp and then I paid for their flights from Bremen in Poland. Having them here has been an amazing experience.

“They’ve made my house a home.”

Before the fighting reached their city, Karyna and husband Maxim, a policeman, had a “joyful, happy, normal life”.

It’s been amazing. They’ve made my house a home.

Host Tony Trowsdale

But Mariupol, in the Donetsk region, soon became one of the worst-hit cities and is now under Russian control

Karyna says: “The Ukrainian military fought back up till the last while it was a ground offensive.

“But then the air bombing started. The first bomb that hit the city was 300 tons and it devastated a huge area.”

Tony, who has three grown-up children and runs his own business making wooden toys, says the family’s arrival has enriched his life — and expanded his waistline.

He adds: “Polina is a baker by trade and they introduced me to traditional Ukrainian food.

“I love varenyky, which are half-moon-shaped dumplings, like ravioli. I joke that I was 10st when they moved in, now I’m 20st.”

‘They bring a spark’

Karyna, who is taking English lessons with her mum, says: “In the beginning I was uncomfortable but Tony made everything so much easier, telling us to relax and use Google Translate. Or we use gestures.

“In the evening we play games, like Connect 4, dominoes and snakes and ladders.”

Tony says the family have been overwhelmed by the welcome they have received from the local community, who also donated clothes and a cot.

And he takes Mylana to taekwondo and dance lessons every week, with both clubs have waiving their fees.

He also fought to get the youngster into a local school attended by twin Ukrainian boys so she would feel less isolated.

Polina, meanwhile, has landed a job in the local bakery, where she says they treat her as “one of the team”.

In the evening we play games like Connect 4.

Mum Karyna Ivolha

Tony calls having the kids at home a “dry run” for being a future grandad.

“They bring a spark to the house and I am blessed that they are here,” he says.

“It’ll be a great day for them when they can go back — but a sad day for me.”

Neighbours welcomed us with flags and balloons

YANA MONAKHOVA, 21, her brother Tymofi, nine, and mum Olha, 45, came to the UK last July and lived with Gill Woodall, 63, and husband Kevin, 67, in Meopham, Kent.

They have since moved on to a nearby rented flat.

A home from home - Gill Woodall with, from left, guests Tymofi, Olha and Yana Monakhova

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A home from home – Gill Woodall with, from left, guests Tymofi, Olha and Yana MonakhovaCredit: John McLellan

Yana says her life before the conflict was idyllic.

She lived by the Black Sea in the sun-drenched south of Ukraine,

Her dad Pasha, a sound engineer, helped build cinemas in Ukraine and neighbouring countries, while Olha worked as a part-time furniture designer.

Yana, meanwhile, was studying English and French at university.

She says: “I had a very nice life. We had holidays at least once a year.

“When war broke out, we fled to a summer home with my grandparents, and all seven of us slept in one small room.”

They are not just friends, they are part of my family.

Host Gill Woodall

The family’s apartment was close to a military air base, and on the night of the first Russian attacks, they were woken at 5am by the sound of two missiles.

Yana says: “We had been told on the news that this could happen but we were living a normal life . . .  we didn’t really expect it, so it was a shock. Tymofi was  shaking.

“We knew we had to leave but we couldn’t go straight to the border because it was shut.”

Olha, who was booked in to have a hysterectomy on the day of the invasion, also needed medical attention.

In the UK, nurse Gill and Kevin, who owns a flooring business, were keen to offer the family the two spare bedrooms in their Kent bungalow.

A friend who had also taken in refugees put them in touch with dad Pasha, and a flight was booked from Poland.

We didn’t really expect the attack, so it was a shock.

Yana Monakhova, 21

Olha says: “As soon as we met them at the airport, Gill and Kevin wrapped us in warmth.

“When we arrived at the house, the neighbours had put out Ukrainian flags and balloons. It was unbelievable. It made us feel so welcome.”

Since October Gill and Kevin, who have three grown-up children and six grandchildren, have no longer been able to accommodate the family but found them a rental flat in the nearby village of Shorne.

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The two families remain incredibly close though.

Gill says: “They are not just friends — they are part of my family.”

The first Russian attack on Ukraine took place on February 24, 2022

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The first Russian attack on Ukraine took place on February 24, 2022



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