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Curio Stone
Advertising is a part of business. It's a part of business that I wanted to put a creative spin on. I wanted to encourage local spending, minimize environmental impact, and brighten someone's day… your day.
+ If you've found one of my illustrated curio stones, it entitles you to ten percent off any of my services or original pieces for sale. To apply this discount just snap a shot of the stone as proof of possession when you receive your invoice. I will adjust the remaining balance accordingly. Each curio stone can only be used once. Only one curio stone discount per invoice.
If you are up for it, I'd love to hear about your finding it. For the most part, these stones can be found in Parkland County and the City of Edmonton.
If you haven't found one – always keep an eye open for amazing things.


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by Guest Columnist, Susan Stephenson
What are the prerequisites for being a writer? Does a writer need a thick skin? An understanding and forgiving spouse? A sense of humour? Should a writer have the uncontrollable desire to go to work in
If you had to compile a checklist about what writers should do, what would the main points be? How would you finish the sentence "Every writer should…"?
When we're first learning the ropes for being a writer, we learn to write about whatever fascinates us, whatever we feel passionate about. While doing this, we must consider the elements of plot, theme, characterization, motivation, setting, form, genre, point of view, and more. We learn to show, not tell. We learn few writers ever make it out of the slush-pile and writing is hard work.
Later, we learn the importance of planning and revision. Still later, if we seek publication, we discover marketing, self-promotion, how to write an effective query letter and how to cope with rejection. Further down the track, or so I'm told, writers must grapple with problems like how to invest their earnings and what to spend them on. I wish…
While all that's going on, most experts agree every writer should write. Every writer should read. They should do both every day. They should make sure they get out into the real world on a regular basis, or risk becoming out-of-touch with their target audience. Writers should hone their senses and increase their powers of observation, the better to accurately pull a reader into the story, be it fiction or non-fiction.
It is my belief writers should build a magical place where we can read our dreams. I believe a writer's craft is to use her bag of tricks to construct an alternate reality for the reader - a place for escape and entertainment, furnished with words and images, decorated with imagination.
It pays to be a wordsmith. Read. Go to bed with your dictionary. Increase your word power. Collect words and phrases that make your heart sing. Learn to really look, feel, touch, smell, taste and record those observations as accurately and powerfully as you possibly can. And if you're writing for children, spend time with them, find out what they want.
Because so much text about writing for children is by adults, I decided to discover what children want of writers. I surveyed a group of Elementary school children, asking them what a writer should do. Overwhelmingly, they indicated the importance of having a good story to tell. Other responses generally supported writing with action and lots of humour. Several students indicated a writer should "get straight into the story" or "not have a long introduction." Similarly, there were calls for a writer to have a "proper ending" and "an end that leaves you something to think about."
Can you spot the gender differences in these responses? "Writers should tell about boys being scared of things like mice and plastic spiders." "Writers should make sure they have lots of crooks, evil villains and robbers." "Writers should have guns, lots of guns." "Writers should tell you about bullies being scared or doing ballet." "Writers should write about different worlds with evil overlords and mutated humans."
Both boys and girls agreed that writers needed to include "lots of problems and drama" and to write "believably". There were calls for "pictures, even in a novel", providing a spur to writers contemplating creation of a graphic novel. Many children wisely touched on the need for writers to tap into an element of "magic". But my favourite piece of wisdom came from a ten-year-old boy. He told me, "Every writer should make you wonder what will happen next." His words are now a bumper sticker on my computer.
It seems to me kids have strong opinions of what they want from writers. They recognize and appreciate writers who don't waste words, who keep them guessing, who give them opportunities to share the fictive dream. Structure is important to children, as is humour and all those devices that make a story seem real. But what is the single most important quality a writer should have? For kids, it's the ability to tell a darn good story.
Fortunately, what children actually do want from writers meshes with what the writing gurus tell us. So, assemble your guns, plastic spiders, mutated humans and ballet-bullies and start writing. And when the writing process is over, when you've revised and polished and deleted and killed your darlings, remember to submit to publishers!
Susan Stephenson is a writer, teacher and book reviewer who lives about as far east as you can go on Australia without falling off. Apart from pretending to be a chicken at The Book Chook blog, Susan writes stories for children and offers resources for teachers and parents at her website, www.susanstephensons.com.au
Written by Susan Stephenson, Illustrated by K.C. Snider
To make the kids at her new school take notice, Maddie becomes a monster, with fangs and claws and wild, wild hair. They turn their backs. When she realizes her mistake, a kitten shows her the way to making friends successfully.
The Castelane blog will feature guest authors, artists and publishers, writing about marketing, publishing and the joys and angsts of the writing life. If you'd like to contribute to either the Castelane blog or the Knowledge Base, please contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
I'd also love to hear your experiences about your favorite books or interesting teachers. Feel free to post them here.

subset: commoncrawl


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Teen fashion trends for school
Info Guru, Catalogs.com
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What's in in teen fashion trends for schoolWhen school starts, it always means a time for renewal in teen fashion (read: a time to find a great new look!). The first day of school has passed, and hopefully, the first appearance you made after the summer break was a good one, because first impressions do matter. But never fear, there's always room for improvement!
Keep things simple and classic, nothing in-your-face or over the top. It's okay to be a little trendy, but you have to adapt the trends to your personal style, or you'll end up looking like a major trend-chaser. Put on the confidence! If you don't have it, fake it. When you aren't doubting yourself, no one else will doubt you or your clothing choices.
Create the Outfit
If you wore a great killer ensemble for your grand entrance the first day of school, just make sure you back up your outfit and keep your dressing pattern consistent. That is, don't wear an ultra trendy, right-off-the-runway look and then turn around and wear simple jeans and a tee combo the rest of the year.
Look good, but nothing too dressy or attention-grabbing (only exception is if that's the look you're going for the whole school year!).
Here are several teen fashion looks to consider:
Updated Gypsy: Change the vibe of serious chino trousers (low-rise, a little baggy, but still chic) with a hippie-esque gauzy peasant top. Throw on a few beaded bracelets and add a pair of semi-dressy kitten-heeled sandals.
Chic&understated: Black tee with dark denim hipsters, black boots, low-slung black belt, plus an oversized eye-catching necklace in turquoise, silver, or coral. Tres chic! This look (minus the jewelry, of course) is equally cool for guys: black skinny jeans, graphic tees and street sneakers can be the "uniform" for the entire school year.
One part western, one part sophisticated: Distressed boot cut jeans, fitted striped oxford (stay away from plaid to avoid a complete cowgirl look), fringed belt, and pointy-toe boots. Remember to coordinate shoes and belt!
Athletic-inspired: Although a too-cute track suit is absolutely perfect for any other school day, it's just too casual. Instead, wear a just-loose-enough, colorful hoodie with a sharp denim mini, fitted tank, and bright new sneaks.
Add the accessories: Accessories definitely make or break the clothing. The perfect shoe and belt combination, plus jewelry is required for any great look. Here are five things that you need to fully accessorize this school year:
Fringe suede belt: Adds a rustic appeal to hipsters and a sleek tee. Turquoise. There's nothing better than a great turquoise necklace or cuff with black - such a clean, chic combination!
Chandelier earrings: So elegant, yet so easy to pull off! These gorgeous jewels look just as great with an evening gown as they do with a feminine top and denim.
Trendy sneaks: Required both for those stylishly sporty and those just plain stylish. A great pair of sneaks can take you anywhere.
Boots: Whether you choose a sleek black or distressed brown leather style, the look will definitely be hot with some boots!
Important stuff to keep in mind when considering the complete picture of your teen fashion look for school: Your school necessities should be funky and fresh, just like your style. Search for cool


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Quest Events would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the official event advisory panel who contributed their valuable time and expertise to ensure the agenda for this event is timely and relevant for anyone interested in the commercialisation of blockchain technology.
Katrina DonaghyCo-founder, Civic Ledger
Katrina Donaghy is the Business Development Lead and Co-Founder of Civic Ledger – an Australian financial technology company focusing on blockchain and smart contract technology solutions for public sector regulated markets.
Through her early years as a sociologist through to her interest in entrepreneurialism, she has extensive experience in public policy and early stage commercialisation. For more than 20 years, Katrina has worked in both public and not for profit sectors with a specific focus on business development, project delivery and revenue diversification with the view to building resilient and sustainable organisations.
In Australia, she organises Women in Blockchain events and regularly speaks on the topic of why cities and governments should be exploring blockchain technologies. Katrina's interest in blockchain technologies is driven by her curiousity of its potential for governments to create and facilitate new citizen-at-the-centre markets, organisations and economies of the future.
Mike GambleFounder, Adappt.io
In 1992 as a junior engineer working for an R&D firm in Perth, Mike mentioned to his boss 'it looks like there is something happening in CERN'. That something became the World Wide Web, and the products developed by Mike's employer evolved into today's broadband telecommunications networks. Mike is now convinced blockchain is the next big wave: a technology that disrupts trade and trust could be the most profound societal change we will see in our lifetimes. Mike was one of the founding members and a co-host of the Blockchain Developers Meetup in Melbourne. From robots to automonous vehicles to sport wearables, his heart has always been in product development, and he looks forward to bringing a blockchain-based product to market.
Nick GiuriettoChief Executive Officer, Australian Digital Commerce Association
Nick Giulietto is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director at the Australian Digital Currency & Commerce Association. He is a B2B marketing and product professional enthused by the potential for Blockchain technology to transform business models in every industry sector - and in government service delivery.
He has become a champion for the Blockchain industry and led the efforts of the Australian Digital Currency and Commerce Association to accelerate adoption of Blockchain technologies in Australia.
He is proud to have been a founding member of the Global Blockchain Forum which is striving for global regulatory alignment to support a global transformation.
Loretta JosephIndustry Advisory Council, Australian Digital Commerce Association and Fintech Leader of the Year 2017
Loretta is a highly dynamic, skilled banking, financial and consulting professional with over 25 years in financial markets and related sectors. She champions the cause for responsible blockchain adoption with global governments, regulators and industry players . She was the recipient of the Fintech Australia, "FinTech Leader of 2017", "Female leader of 2016" and Sancta Sophia College (Within Sydney University) Alumni Award 2016 for Social impact.
Loretta has a worked for major investment banks at Board, MD or senior management level throughout Asia and India including, RBS (India), Macquarie Group (India), Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse and Elara Capital (India), Spanning a long career, Loretta has tremendous exposure to global financial markets, multiple asset classes and emerging market environments. Loretta has advised many international banks, global hedge and pension funds on managing portfolio and exposure to derivatives and related products. For the last decade, she has been paramount in successful transaction facilitation for Foreign Investors in India and other emerging markets. She has operated in many multi-cultural organisations.
Loretta sits on the advisory board of UWS (Business School), Blume Ventures (India).An adjunct fellow at UWS (Australia).Chair of the advisory board of ADDCA (Australian Digital Currency and Commerce Association) and holds various advisory positions for multiple tech, biotech and Cybersecurity companies
Leon-Gerard VandenbergCTO & Evangelist, RightsFusion - Solara.io
LG Vandenberg is a technology and wireless executive maven who is into Bitcoin, blockchains, and bio-genomics. LG graduated B.A.Sc. in Systems Engineering, University of Waterloo, Canada. He has evolved his green and cleantech skills via a base of defense technologies & security learning curve. From systems design principles and critical thinking, he enjoys tangling conceptual adventures into thought leadership and live projects.
Leon enjoys driving change and convergence using various disruptive fashion. Today this means permissionless and exponential technologies, sensor networks, breakthrough identity and industry security models all inside chips, SIM cards and new IoT devices alongside cloud services, AI and big data.
Stephen WilsonVP & Principal Analyst, Constellation Research
Steve Wilson is a researcher, innovator, analyst and adviser, with over 20 years experience in cybersecurity. He is the Digital Safety and Privacy lead at the independent San Francisco-based Constellation Research. His research agenda includes identity, cryptography, blockchain technologies, the ecology of identity, and infrastructure protection for the data economy. Steve has one of the most distinctive voices in blockchain in the world today.


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External Rendering in Hexham
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26" Artificial Cherry Blossom Flower Arrangement in Glass Vase - Red


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Question about Toshiba DR4 DVD Recorder
Posted by red dwarf on
Those two were the first two that I tryed. I left the unit unplugged for five days. With the "incorrect disc" problem no discs at all will play, incuding a lens cleaning disc. As I stated in my initial request for assistance, I tried every posted solution, and even a few others that I thought of, and nothing worked. The "Incorrect Disc" still flashes everytime the DVD button is pressed. I would like a solution that actually works. After further researching of this website, I read all the other complaints about this unit. I now realize that the toshiba DVR-4 has major deseign flaws. I contacted toshiba customer service and they have no clue as to a solution, nor did they seem to care. This unit cost $250.00. HELP, PLEASE!
The DVD-R that I used was compatible with the DVR unit, according to the manual. As I stated before, the unit will not play discs of ANY kind.As soon as you press the DVD button,the "incorrect disc" starts to flash. It also appears when opening or closing the disc tray. Hittng the "OK" button takes the "incorrect disc" off the screen, but as soon as you try the DVD it comes back on. I was told by an electronics repairman that the unit could cost up to $150.00 to fix and it's possible that it will happen again. Can anyone send me instructions so I can atempt to repair or replace the laser myself, if no one can offer a solution that works? Since the unit will NOT play ANY disc of ANY kind,I've got nothing to lose.
The first thing i would suggest you to do is a hard reset by unpluging the the player for 30min and then try again.
If this does not solve your problem then please see if the player tries to read the disc.
Load a disc and listen.Does the player make squealing noises or is it totally quiet? Squealing noises may indicate that the player is trying to synchronize with the disc but can't due to an obstruction on the lens or in the laser path inside the pickup or a defect in the pickup. This can also be caused by an intermittent signal problem due to a faulty ribbon cable.
Totally silent means that the photo sensor is not getting any usable input from the laser at all, meaning that the pickup is "blind" for lack of a better word.
This can be caused by an obstruction of the beam by foreign matter on the lens or inside the pickup all the way to a marginal or failed laser diode and/or photosensor array. This can also be caused by a bad ribbon cable with one or more severed traces.
You could try to clean the optics. This is the most common malfunction as far as i know in all disc players. It would involve taking the cover off and finding a way to expose the lense, and then cleaning it with a very gentle brush. some players have a cover for the lense that swings to the side during playing, this greatly reduces the chance of dust accumulating, but its still worth the try.
If you actually see dust on the lense, then its just that simple. clean, close, play.
It may also be worth your while to check on the small shafting that guides the carriage of the laser pickup. Dirt, grome, dust and solidified lubricant can cause stoppage of the carriage and the laser eye then fails to read the next track. Please refer to the image below.
If the problem still persists then you will have to get it repaired and thats the only solution..
Posted on Mar 20, 2008
1) What disc do you use for record your dvd?
2) your problem seems your laser. if you read this
DVD-R discs recorded by DVD Video method can be played. Some DVD-R discs may be incompatible due to laser pick-up and disc design. that i found in the toshiba site.
Posted on Mar 18, 2008
Corporate egos got in the way. Unable to agree on one format, the consumer electronics industry spun out six recordable DVD formats: DVD-RAM, DVD-R(A), DVD-R(G), DVD-RW, and DVD+R/RW. All let you write to DVDs. Only –R and +R, at the moment, are readable by most consumer DVD players. And few experts are sure of the qualitative differences between the dash and the plus formats.
Posted on Mar 20, 2008
SOURCE: I have freestanding Series 8 dishwasher. Lately during the filling cycle water hammer is occurring. How can this be resolved
Hi there,
Save hours of searching online or wasting money on unnecessary repairs by talking to a 6YA Expert who can help you resolve this issue over the phone in a minute or two.
Best thing about this new service is that you are never placed on hold and get to talk to real repairmen in the US.
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Good luck!
Posted on Jan 02, 2017
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The Kanmangafuchi Abyss and the Uncountable Monks of Tochigi
A long row of monks and a hidden gorge in central Nikko that's well worth a visit.
July 22, 2017
A long row of monks and a hidden gorge in central Nikko that's well worth a visit.
July 22, 2017
The river is the historic Ara River, known by its Japanese name, Arakawa, and is the source of the water you drank half an hour ago. It flows north down from the Chichibu mountains, then curves east out onto the Kanto Plain until it bends south at around Kumagaya City.
July 20, 2017
Oboke Gorge, deep in the secluded mountains of Tokushima and Kochi, has some of the clearest waters in Japan. The winding stretch of the Yoshino River has a rocky bottom that the bright blue-green water runs through creating—given ideal weather—an incredible rafting experience.
May 6, 2017
Saitama is rare because it is a Prefecture with balance. Sandwiched between Tokyo in the south and the mountains of Gunma in the north, it's easy to escape from one jungle to another.
March 10, 2017
Out of the many tourists destinations to witness in winter, lake Hyo or Hyoko (Ko meaning lake in Japanese) is one the most popular one. To meet and greet those gorgeous guests you better be there between November to March.
March 10, 2017
Baba Brook is a hidden stream which crisscrosses a low-rise residential area in Yokohama's Tsurumi-ku. Walking along the Baba Brook gives you a rarely seen side of Japan.
August 20, 2016
If you go to Sapporo, never skip this beautiful port city. Otaru, situated in the western part of Hokkaido, the city has developed and prospered as "the sea entrance of Hokkaido" over the last 100 years and it has gained the nickname "Wall Street of the North".
June 27, 2016
You have to go to Tokyo. But while you're up that way it would be rude to ignore Kanagawa, the prefecture that sits underneath Tokyo and borders Shizuoka. Here is a 3-day itinerary to Kanagawa.
June 27, 2016
Taking a water bus on the Sumida River, one of the most famous rivers in Tokyo, is a great experience especially for tourists visiting Japan for the first time.
June 22, 2016
The Cormorant fishing festival of Nagara River of Gifu is one of the famous and important summer festivals of the place. It is conducted during the summer months starting from May 11th to October 15th.
June 6, 2016
The Muko river in Hyogo prefecture finds its source all the way up in Himeji city. It falls from a mountain named Mt Shirakami in the Tamba highland range and travels all the way into Osaka bay and splits the cities of Itami and Takarazuka, doing the same to Nishinomiya and Amagasaki, along the way.
February 2, 2016
The Nagara River has long been famous for its beautiful clean pristine waters with many historic towns built along its famous banks.
November 2, 2015
Located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Oshino is a mere 3.5 km from the flank of Mount Fuji. The town is also located in the famous Five Lakes region of Japan.
May 7, 2015
The Meguro River used to be an important water resource for farming in the area. The river used to be very narrow and really shallow, hence frequently caused floods. Now, Nakameguro is a home to more than 800 of cherry trees lined stretch along the quiet river.
April 1, 2015
Yanagawa is a peaceful and historic city at the southwest part of Fukuoka Prefecture, south of Japan. This city was known as a castle town in the late 16th century.
EventsFood & DrinkNatureKyushu
March 30, 2015
Shimanto River is known as one of Japan's fresh water rivers. Explore the charm and highlights of Shimanto River calmly and gently just as the freshwaters over its surface.
December 15, 2014
Omihachiman is popularly known as a castle-town in the Shiga Prefecture.
December 8, 2014
The Mogami River, which runs from the north to the south of Yamagata Prefectural Nature Park, is one of the three fastest rivers in Japan.
October 1, 2014


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STEM Project
ENTHUSE partnerships work to raise attainment in science and other STEM subjects and so close the achievement gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers. Our partnership aims to do this through targeted CPD which will improve both teachers' confidence in planning and delivering fun practical science lessons and teachers' subject knowledge. We also aim to help you to find ways of sharing with pupils the huge part science plays in our every day lives.


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Smart Guy Media
We are a social media marketing company, focused on Facebook and Twitter. Helping brands create buzz and engage users through social media.
- Stage Concept Only
- Industry Internet / Web Services
- Location Montreal, QC, Canada
- Currency CAD
- Website smartguymedia.com
Company Summary
Smart Guy Media offers custom solutions for small and medium businesses to help increase or establish their social media presence. We offer custom theme design for YouTube, Twitter and Wordpress, to have a unified image across networks. In addition to that, we also do custom application development using Facebook's Open API and the Twitter API. We also help with social marketing, increasing Facebook Page Likes and Twitter followers.


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The Co-Lin Blue Wave Show Band is one of the largest student groups and is comprised of some of the hardest working students at Copiah-Lincoln Community College.
"I start with the show concept about a year before the product that our audience sees each fall," said Co-Lin Director of Bands Juanita Proffitt. "My staff and I work together to produce a great product with custom arrangements and drill."
The Blue Wave Show Band honors a Mississippi legend with the halftime show in 2017, Elvis Presley. The music icon continues to have an impact on music and culture, even 40 years after his death. As a poor boy from Tupelo, he never expected to be anybody famous. However as an artist, Elvis drew from all of Mississippi's influences, gospel, blues, country and soul to create a new form of music: Rock and Roll!
The Blue Wave will feed off this infectious genre with Heartbreak Hotel, GI Blue, Teddy Bear, Viva Las Vegas, I Can't Help Falling in Love, and the Battle Hymn.
The Blue Wave Show is famous for their musical excellence and known for their entertaining half time performances. The marching band, rock band, drum major, Colettes, Color Guard, and managers work diligently to produce an entertaining half-time performance each week.
Leading the Blue Wave Show Band this year is Drum Major Shay Branning
Serving as Head Colette is Megyn Rhoads, Colette Captains are Morgan Wallis and Shelby White, and Color Guard Captain is Gracie Byrne.
Thanks to each of you for your support of the Co-Lin Blue Wave Show Band.


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I couldn´t put one certain conflict that made me change. There must have been many ones that provocated changes along the years and hopefully made me a better person, or simply brought me some reflections that I try considering so far.
Perhaps I could point moments of conflicts, would it possibly reach the objective of this query? I shall give a try. But in a peculiar way. If it totally fails, please do not hit me with some drums´s sticks...
"There was a time, when I was so broken hearted, love wasn´t much of a friend of mine..." Sings Steven Tyler. Lives I. A conflic of two years ended the year after, when I decided to have some more of self-respect and waved that year of hell goodbye.
And then it goes like Alanis´ track " You live- you learn, you love- you learn, you cry-you learn, you lose-you learn..." I´ve followed the "you learn" steps until the "Wait until the dust settles"... Finally "You wait and see the smoke clears".
Smoke cleared. That conflict in my life was solved. After that it was peaceful times until love knocked on my door and got in with official note "I´m back". It brought me happiness, but later on turned into a new conflict that is still being processed. To sum up, love has always been the last conflict that made me change, but it's also the current one. It has always been a strong conflict. I think it made me more self-confident & more self -defensive at the same time. I applied the idea of "Turn chaos into Art" which became my life philosophy; as well as "What doesn´t kill you, makes you stronger" and finally " Better be pessimistic and be surprised than be optimistic than be disappointed". The last one is not healthy at all, so I make use of it in a moderate way. I try not to expect, then I simply hope.
I´m very conflictuous myself. Sometimes real battles happen on the inside. Some of them I stuck in and get rid of, hurted but alive. Other, remains and its dissolved in the everyday life. Both carries consequences. All of it made me change somehow at some point I couldnt precisely define. But the main change could be I end up thinking more about my conflicts. Writting this text is a conflict itself. Now I end up thinking, have I ever been a conflic to someone?


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Quick Reference
Ballet in three parts with choreography by Balanchine, music by Stravinsky, and lighting by R. Bates. Premiered 31 Mar. 1966 by New York City Ballet, at the State Theater in New York, with Farrell. A plotless work set to Stravinsky's Variations for Orchestra, which is played three times for three different groups of dancers, the first comprising twelve women, the second six men, and the third one ballerina.
Subjects: Dance.
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An analysis of the key factors that influence the levels of motivation
Disclaimer: This essay has been submitted by a student. This is not an example of the work written by our professional essay writers. You can view samples of our professional work here.
Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of UK Essays.
The purpose of this study are the motivational factors that Shell Pakistan use to motivates its employees to work in different departments. I have taken five departments: Sales, Marketing, Finance, HR and Production department. As around 300 people work in Shell and to motivate them shell uses different motivational theories which may include Alderfer's ERG Theory, McClelland's Theory of Needs, Equity Theory, Expectancy Theory.
These are the following motivational factors that these departments practice continuously to motivate employees.
Employee Appraisal
Intrinsic Awards
Employee Involvement
Skill-based Pay Plans
Flexible Benefits
Benefits programme
Training provision
Time off and time out
Our diverse global community
Sports and social activities
Listening to our employees
After the analysis of complete survey we can conclude that employees of SHELL PAKISTAN enjoys different attributes of Motivation like they have Job Satisfaction as they believe they have personal and professional growth opportunities, they feel they have empowerment.
They have very skillful, high-quality and superior working environment. They believe that their performance is appreciated will result in reward as SHELL PAKISTAN is having EDR system. The one thing that may be a cause of de-motivation is SHELL PAKISTAN does not offer tailored benefits.
Second Largest oil marketing company in Pakistan with an average turnover of over US$3.4 billion and market share of over 24% in black oil and 35% in white oil.
Blue chip organization with market capitalization of around Rs. 44 billion {US$ 755 million} contributing US$ 873 million to the national exchequer.
Regained market leadership in Mogas during FY 04 by elevating market share to 44%
Set financial landmarks over the last 4 years with earnings almost doubled from Rs.2.3 billion to Rs. 7.06 billion maximizing shareholders' value.
Only Pakistani corporation to become member of the World Economic Forum based on stringent and forward looking criteria.
Only company in Pakistan whose turnaround and remarkable performance is cited in various case studies both locally and internationally.
Around 3,800 retail outlets across the country including 1,000 New Vision outlets commissioned within five years.
Vast infrastructure of 9 installations and 23 depots from Karachi to Chitral and a supply chain supported by 2000 strong tank-lorry fleet and 950 railway wagons.
Extensive storage capacity, almost 15% of total national storage, i.e. around 160,000 metric tons.
A company fully aware of HSE standards and using these as part of continuous improvement process.
ISO 9001:2000 certification of major retail outlets, Mobile Quality Testing Units and key installations/ depots and ISO 14001:1996 distinction for Kemari Terminal "C".
Leading National Company committed to support ongoing or innovative social and charitable projects in the field of education, health, welfare, women empowerment, etc.
1.1 Introduction 7
1.2 Vision Evaluation 8
1.3 Values 8
1.4 Responsibilities: 8
1.5 Future Engagements 9
2.1 Definition 11
2.2 Motivation Process 11
2.3 Employee Motivation at Workplace 11
3.1 Alderfer's ERG Theory 13
3.1.1 Difference between Maslow's Hierarchy of Need & Alderfer's 13
3.1.2 Alderfer's ERG Theory AT SHELL PAKISTAN 14
3.1.3 Relatedness 15
3.1.4 Growth 15
3.2 Equity Theory 16
3.2.1 Theory Overview 16
3.2.2 Equity Theory AT SHELL PAKISTAN 18
3.3 Expectancy Theory 18
3.3.1 Theory Overview: 18
3.3.2 Expectancy Flowchart: 19
3.3.3 Expectancy Theory AT SHELL PAKISTAN 20
4.1 Employee Appraisal 21
4.2 Intrinsic Awards at SHELL PAKISTAN 23
4.3 Employee Involvement 24
4.3.1 Employee Involvement AT SHELL PAKISTAN 24
4.4 Flexible Benefits 25
4.4.1 Retirement Plans 25
4.4.2 Health Insurance 26
4.4.3 Unexpected Conditions 26
4.4.4 Rightsizing 27
4.5 De-motivated Employees 27
4.5.1 Counseling 27
4.5.2 Career Development 27
5.1 Job Satisfaction 28
5.2 Work Environment 30
5.3 Employee Empowerment 32
5.4 Performance Appraisal Satisfaction 33
5.5 Flexible Benefits 35
8 APPENDIX A: Survey Questionnaire 39
The history of Shell as a brand name in South Asia is more than 100 years old. Shell brand name dating back to 1899 when Asiatic Petroleum, the marketing arm of two companies: Shell Transport Company and Royal Dutch Petroleum Company began their imports of kerosene oil from Azerbaijan in South Asia. Till today, the heritage of the past is noticeable in a market of South Asia since - 1898
In 1928, to make their distribution capability efficient & effective, the market concentration of Royal Dutch Shell plc and the Burma Oil Company Limited in sub-continent had merged and Burma Shell Oil Storage & Distribution Company of sub-continent was born. After the independence of Islamic Republic of Pakistan in 1947, the name changed to the Burma Shell Oil Distribution Company of Pakistan. During 1970, when 51% of the shareholding was transferred to Pakistani investors, the name changed to Pakistan Burma Shell (PBS) Limited. The Shell and the Burma Groups retained the remaining 49% in equal propositions. In February 1993, as economic liberalization began to take root and the Burma provided opportunity to Pakistani Investors by divesting from PBS, Shell Petroleum (Pakistan) stepped into raise its shareholding to 51%. The years 2001-2 have seen the Shell Petroleum Company successively increasing its stake, with the Group now having a 76% stake in Shell Pakistan Ltd (SPL) - an expression of confidence
Shell has an over 100 years presence in the Subcontinent
(Date:26-11-2010, Time:18:00)
Vision Evaluation
The Vision of Shell as a company related to energy industry have been very strict & focused to competition. The futuristic approach has let to the group in investing & innovating different sources of energy apart from oil & petroleum.
"We set high standards of performance and ethical behaviour that we apply internationally. The Shell General Business Principles, Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics help everyone at Shell act according to our core values of honesty, integrity and respect for people and to comply with relevant legislation and regulations".
http://www.shell.com.pk/home/content/pak/aboutshell/who_we_are/our_values_and_principles/ (Date: 26-11-2010, Time: 21:00)
Shell Pakistan put its total efforts to implement its core values and ethical conduct by fulfilling its responsibilities & expectations to its employees, customers, investors, shareholders & to society.
Shell Pakistan always puts the safety & security of its employees first. This depicts that the organization has a deep concern for its employees & value the work & efforts by which it wants to achieve success.
The organization has a high motive to attract & retain customers by providing them the products that are competitive in price & of high standards in quality. The competition in energy sector has been highly focused by Shell & investments in innovative products have always been there.
It is important for Shell Pakistan that its investor's base remains supportive to the organization so that when it needs to expand or restructure any of its function or component, the business always have financial support to effectively pursue that.
Shareholders are the real owners of the organization. Shell Pakistan makes most of its efforts to protect shareholder's investments & provide them with competitive benefits of long term (capital growth) & short term returns (dividends).
To Society:
There are many aspects of responsibility to society. Some of them are Corporate, Environmental sustainability & concern for general people that the business directly or indirectly effects to.
Shell Pakistan has clear policies for it sustainability & has participated in flood relief in Pakistan by providing aids to the most effected.
http://www.shell.com.pk/home/content/pak/aboutshell/media_centre/news_and_media_releases/2010/flood_2010.html (Date: 26-11-2010, Time: 13:49)
Future Engagements
To engage in backward integration by acquiring a major National Refinery. This has a capacity of 2.8 million tons of which sales to SHELL PAKISTAN are 25%.
To develop a white oil pipeline in collaboration with major POL companies so as to eliminate transportation inefficiencies.
Invest in the business of coal mining to capture a lucrative fuel source to which most consumers are switching.
No other topic in the field of Organizational Behavior (OB) has received as much attention as the subject of motivation. . (FTC, 2009)
Motivation can be defined in a variety of ways, depending on whom you ask. If you ask someone on the street, you may get a response like, "It's what drives us" or "Motivation is what makes us do the things we do." As far as a formal definition, motivation can be defined as "forces within an individual that account for the level, direction, and persistence of effort expended at work," according. (Parsons and Maclaran, 2009)
This is an excellent working definition for use in business. Now that we understand what motivation is, we can look at the factors that help managers to be able to motivate and then a look at some of the theories on motivation. (Latham, 2007)
Motivation Process
Unsatisfied need => Tension => Drives => Search Behavior => Satisfied needs => Reduction of tension => New unsatisfied needs (Adair, 2009)
Employee Motivation at Workplace
Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.
- Jim Ryun
The job of a manager in the workplace is to get things done through employees. To do this the manager should be able to motivate employees. But that's easier said than done! Motivation practice theories are difficult subjects, touching on several disciplines. . (FTC, 2009)
In spite of enormous research, basic as well as applied, the subject of motivation is not clearly understood and more often than not poorly practiced. To understand motivation one must understand human nature itself. And there lies the problem!
Human nature can be very simple, yet very complex too. An understanding and appreciation of this is prerequisite to effective employee motivation in the workplace and therefore effective management and leadership (Latham, 2007)
There is an old saying
"You can take a horse to the water but you cannot force it to drink; he will drink if he is thirsty"
That is also the case with people; they will do what they want to do or otherwise motivated to do, whether it is to excel on the workshop floor or in the 'ivory tower'. The people or employees must be motivated or driven to it, either by themselves or through external stimulus. (Adair 2009 Leadership and Motivation)
Are they born with the self-motivation or drive? Yes and no. if no, they can be motivated, for motivation is a skill, which can and must be learnt. This is essential for any business to survive and succeed. Performance is considered to be a function of ability and motivation, thus
Job Performance = f (ability) (motivation)
Ability in turn depends on education, experience and training and its improvements is a slow and long process. On the other hand motivation can be improved quickly.
There are many options and an uninitiated manager may not even know where to start. As a guideline, there are broadly seven strategies for motivation.
Positive reinforcement / high expectations
Effective discipline and punishment
Treating people fairly
Satisfying employees needs
Setting work related goals
Restructuring jobs
Base rewards on job performance
These are the basic strategies, though the mix in the final 'recipe' will vary from workplace situation to situation. Essentially, there is a gap between an individual's actual state and some desired state and the manager tries to reduce this gap (Latham, 2007)
Motivation is, in effect, a means to reduce and manipulate this gap. It is inducing others in a specific way towards goals specifically stated by the motivator. Naturally, these goals as also the motivation system must conform to the corporate policy of the organization. The motivational system must be tailored to the situation and to the organization. (Adair, 2009)
SHELL PAKISTAN is a huge setup and has about 2000 employees. To keep all of its employees motivated is a very complex task, because of the large number of employees and as each employee has his/her own personality. It becomes virtually impossible to devise techniques that match the personality of all the employees. So for this purpose they have certain procedures and policies jointly for all the employees of the organization.
Alderfer's ERG Theory
Alderfer's theory is called the ERG theory - Existence, Relatedness, and Growth. Alderfer's ERG Theory can well be compared with Maslow's Hierarchy of Need Theory cause Alderfer's has tried to cover all the points as discussed by Maslow's with a little change, which is discussed below. . (FTC, 2009)
Existence refers to our concern with basic material existence requirements; what Maslow's called physiological and safety needs.
Refers to the desire we have for maintaining interpersonal relationships; similar to Maslow's social/love need, and the external component of his esteem need.
Refers to an intrinsic desire for personal development; the intrinsic component of Maslow's esteem need, and self-actualization. (Latham, 2007)
Difference between Maslow's Hierarchy of Need & Alderfer's
Alderfer's ERG theory differs from Maslow's Need Hierarchy insofar as ERG theory demonstrates that more than one need may be operative at the same time. ERG theory does not assume a rigid hierarchy where a lower need must be substantially satisfied before one can move on. (FTC, 2009)
ERG Theory argues, like Maslow's that satisfied lower-order needs lead to desire to satisfy higher-order needs; but multiple needs can be operating as motivators at the same time, and frustration in attempting to satisfy a higher-level need can result in regression to a lower-level need. (Adair, 2009)
Alderfer's ERG Theory AT SHELL PAKISTAN
SHELL PAKISTAN gratifies the need for existence and the employees at SHELL PAKISTAN think that their basic needs are being satisfied but they don't seem to be completely satisfied with it especially with the material rewards that they get. For e.g.
Average Salary
The employees at SHELL PAKISTAN are not satisfied with their salaries and they consider it to be average. This view is strongly found in the lower grade employees and the contractual employees. Though the upper level employees that include the Departmental Heads, General Managers and above seem to be much satisfied with what they are paid.
Excellent Working Environment
Though the average salary seems to be de-motivating factor for the low level employees and the contractual employees but due to the excellent working environment that SHELL PAKISTAN provides, these employees seem to be seldom de-motivated. It was surprising for us to find that there had been various employees who just wanted to work in SHELL PAKISTAN because of the working environment they provide regardless of what they are paid and what job responsibilities are they given. This turned out to be one of SHELL PAKISTAN'S strongest points.
Job Security
Working at SHELL PAKISTAN seems to be a secure job as far as the permanent and high-level employees are concerned but the contractual employees never find it to be as secure. But due to job security being a major issue in Pakistan today, these contractual employees were hesitant to voice their complaint. (Latham, 2007)
Insurance & Medical Benefits
All permanent employees at SHELL PAKISTAN enjoy the Life Insurance and Medical Benefits that are entitled to them. In contrast the contractual employees; realizing the downward trend in the economy, just want a stable job regardless of the insurance and medical benefits provided by SHELL PAKISTAN. (Latham, 2007)
Employee Safety
The employee safely is given top most importance and they also have an emergency evacuation system with which the entire organization can be evacuated within minutes. The employees also given various training and sometimes perform various drills for employee safety. The employee seems to be satisfied with the safety that SHELL PAKISTAN provides to them.
These needs are social in nature and they are about the interpersonal relationships of the staff.
Good Working Relationship
At SHELL PAKISTAN, these needs are quite well satisfied since the employees have a good working relationship even though there is an air of competency surrounding them.
Self Differences between High Level Employee
It has also been noticed that few of the high level employees at organization have some self differences that are developed due to status problems and ownership problems which effect the process of maintaining a good interpersonal relationship but then again the high level employees are professionals and they tend to forget these difference when they meet each other a global level. (Latham, 2007)
Company Events and Privileges
All employees are given the special privilege to join and use the SHELL PAKISTAN club, gym, attend in Company events, dinner etc thus allowing them to intermingle with each more.
The permanent and high-level employees are satisfied with the growth opportunities that SHELL PAKISTAN provides them every now and then.
Employee training workshops are conducted on a need basis. Trainings are carried out in areas such as:
Improvement of Business Communication skills
Usage of new Computer software
Encourages Ideas
Employees are encouraged to put forward any creative, beneficial ideas. If the idea seems to be attractive, SHELL PAKISTAN gives the employees the opportunity to implement the idea. This turns out to be a very encouraging and motivating approach for the employees and later on the employees are rewarded if the idea is implemented well. (Latham, 2007)
Employee Job Rotation
For the purpose of employee growth and increase in motivation, employees are often rotated within or between departments.
Equity Theory
Theory Overview
Equity (or inequity) is a psychological state residing within an individual. It creates a feeling of dissonance that the individual attempts to resolve in some manner (Latham, 2007)
Equity is a social comparison process, resulting when individuals compare their pay to the pay of others. There is no "rational" or single "equitable pay rate" for any given job or individual. Equity is a subjective evaluation, not an objective one. Based on the comparisons that an individual uses, each individual is likely to develop different perceptions of equity. (Latham, 2007)
The comparisons that individuals use tend to fall into four classes of comparison:
Self Inside: -
An employee's experiences in a different position inside his current organization. (Adair, 2009)
Self outside: -
An employee's experiences in a different position outside his current organization.
Other Inside: -
Another Individual or group of individuals inside the employee's organization.
Other Outside: -
Another Individual or group of individuals outside the employee's organization.
(Latham, 2007)
Individuals determine equity by comparing their contributions (job inputs) and their rewards (job outcomes) to those of their comparisons. This comparison takes the form of a ratio and if this ratio is in balance, the individual perceives equity. Inequity is experienced when ratio is out of balance. Thus when an individual perceives that his/her contribution is equal to the comparison and his/her reward is lower or his/ her contribution is greater and reward is equal, inequity is felt. (Latham, 2007)
The individual responses to inequity include:
Leaving the organization
Reduction in performance, generally extra role behavior
Attempting to increase one's pay
Attempting to reduce the performance of others
Rationalization- perceptually altering reward and/or contribution
What do individuals view as relevant contributions? Given the perceptual nature of equity, the answer varies with each individual; however, contributions fall into a number of categories:
Job contributions
Include the factors that differentiate one job from another. They typically include responsibility, skills, education, and working conditions required by the job itself. (e.g., individuals working in jobs requiring greater levels of responsibility generally expect higher levels of pay). (Parson and Maclaran, 2009)
Personal contributions
Include attributes the individuals bring to the organization that they believe differentiate them from others such as experience, longevity and extra education (e.g., individuals with greater seniority often expect higher levels of pay).
Performance contributions
Include the extra effort/results that differentiate one employee from another (e.g., individuals who perceive that their performance is better than others with whom they work, often believe they are entitled to higher levels of pay. (Latham, 2007)
Typical Management interests
Managers generally define pay-related problems in terms of their behavioral consequences (turnover or performance). Therefore, inequity itself is not generally viewed as a management problem unless it appears to be related to turnover of reduced performance. Since the links between turnover and pay are often much clearer than those between pay and extra role behavior, turnover often becomes the only managerial focus. Therefore, typical management interests relate to keeping the employees who it deems valuable.(Latham, 2007)
Typical Employee Interests
From the employee perspective, the perception of inequity is a problem in itself. A union's interests lies in achieving equity for the greatest number of its members, regardless of their ability to leave the organization. In fact, it is a union's responsibility to bargain for the interests of those with limited individual power or marketability.
Low morale is often a consequence of inequity. Even when low morale is not manifested in turnover, reduced performance, to reluctance to take on extra duties, from the employee perspective, it is still viewed as a problem. (Adair, 2009)
Equity Theory AT SHELL PAKISTAN
Employee Performance Appraisal
Employee performance appraisal procedure is highly accountable thus leaving no chance of inequity among employees.
Employee Salary Evaluation
An employee's educational qualification is given highest importance when evaluating salary. It may be possible that a lower grade employee, within the same or different department, has a higher salary than someone in an immediately higher grade.
Thus inequity sometimes arises among employees working in a higher group within the same or different departments. (Parsons and Maclaran, 2009)
Expectancy Theory
Theory Overview:
The expectancy theory argues that the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual. In more practical terms this theory says
"That an employee will be motivated to exert a high level of effort when he or she believes that the effort will lead to a good performance appraisal; that a good performance appraisal will lead to organizational rewards like a bonus, a salary increase, or a promotion; and that the rewards will satisfy the employee's personal goals" (Latham, 2007)
The expectancy is the belief that one's effort will result in attainment of desired performance goals. This belief, or perception, is generally based on an individual's past experience, self-confidence (often termed self-efficiency) and the perceived difficulty of the performance standard or goals. (Adair, 2009)
The extent of individual's belief of performing at a particular level will lead to the attainment of a desired outcome.
The extent of attractiveness of rewards offered by an organization that must satisfy an individual's requirements & retain them by prospect & potential development within career & organization.
Example Include: "Do I want a bigger raise? Is it worth the extra effort? Do I want a promotion?
Expectancy Flowchart:
(Vroom V H. (1964) Work And Motivation)
Expectancy Theory states that the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of expectation that an act will be followed by a given outcomes and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual. (Parsons and Maclaran, 2009)
Expectancy Theory AT SHELL PAKISTAN
At SHELL PAKISTAN the employees believe in maximum effort which leads to good performance which further results in the outcome in the form of rewards like a raise in income, promotion, performance appraisal letter etc that contribute towards their personal goals.
Contractual Employee Views
The contractual employees are also aware of this theory but they don't follow it because it has been found that their basic aim is to become a permanent employee. But becoming permanent employee doesn't entirely depend on the performance. It also depends if there is any permanent slot available. So the contractual employees are aware of the facts that even if they perform well, they cannot become permanent unless there is a slot available. So this serves as a very de-motivating factor for the contractual employees and this is the reason they don't hesitate to switch the job whenever they get even a slight better opportunity or a permanent place in some other organization. (Adair, 2009)
At SHELL PAKISTAN, the employees are aware of the fact that if they work competently and put their efforts, they will be able to attain the task performance, as the effort expanded by them will have a positive result.
When the employees of SHELL PAKISTAN put their efforts, they attain the desired performance level and consequently are evaluated on that ground. (Latham, 2007)
Instrumentality: Instrumentality is also quite high in the company as the management assigns a certain % of work that the employees have to achieve, through which, they are evaluated at the time of dispensing rewards. The % of work is in terms of yearly goals, monthly goals and weekly goals.
When the employees attain certain level of work performance gauged against the goals set at the start of the year, they are positively evaluated and get rewards in shape of annual increment; and organizational performance rewards etc.
Valance: The employees attach a great deal of value to the rewards they get. The rewards are often in the form of a praise or recognition, to which the employees attach a great deal of significance. Monetary rewards are costly and require loads of time and energy. Therefore the management is not too keen on imparting such gifts. (Latham, 2007)
Employee Appraisal
At SHELL PAKISTAN, employee appraisals are conducted annually to evaluate their work related and personal performance. The process of appraisal works in various steps and the HRM department is proud to have such a system instilled in the company where no one objects to the appraisal process as it's considered to be the fairest attempt of grading an employee in the company.
The appraisal process is held in between the months of July and June every year. Increments and promotions are devised after this period that becomes effective from the month of October, the same year. Performance Appraisal at SHELL PAKISTAN is a six step approach.
Step 1:
SHELL PAKISTAN HR department have designed two forms named as Form 1A and form 1B to measure the milestone, target achievements that were made last year. This is done by comparing the goals set last year for each individual employee under their department. Once measured, it is sought out to what extent the company was successful in achieving its target. Also, targets are set for the next year on the basis of this measurement.
Step 2:
In the next step, HRM department does performance analysis by distributing to departmental heads and supervisors Form 2A and 2B (Collectively known as Employee Development Report) to measure the employee's capabilities on 24 different attributes and of the attribute is rated on the scale of 1 to 5; summary of these points is reflected in the table below
Point Summary
Not satisfactory
Below Average
Above Average
The 24 different attributes are divided in to key 4 sections; a summary of those is listed below:
Employee Development Report (EDR)
A - What did the employee accomplish?
Quality of work
Cost objective
Profit objective
Develop people
Commitment to company vision, value and corporate objective
B - Gets the job done
Organizational communication
Health, safety and environment
Problem solving
Working with others
C - How employee manages the job-consider the degree to which the employee's PERSONAL QUALITIES contribute to personal effectiveness
Dependability reliability in assuming and carrying out the commitments and obligation of his position.
Judgment soundness of conclusions, decisions and action.
Leadership effectiveness in developing in other then willingness & desire to work toward a common objective.
Drive basic urge and energy to get things done.
Initiative ability to take action without being told.
D - What is the employee's knowledge? Consider the employee's KNOWLEDGE is functional and related fields and understanding of environment matters necessary for effective performance
Assigned and related work
Development in profession or fields
Company philosophy and objectives
Step 3:
Once the EDR forms are completed, these are submitted to the HRM department by all the departments in the company, employees comments are also taken on EDR forms. In the evaluation process, an employee's EDR report is shown to the employee himself. He/She is also allowed to discuss it with both Head of the Dept. and GM
Step 4:
Bell shape curves are made to classify the employees among the 5 different grading categories
Step 5:
Review Committee Meeting is held to decide the extrinsic benefits based on the performance appraisal data. The meeting is officially called as Employee Leader Team Committee (ELTC) meeting. Recommendation list is handed over to the ETLC group by the HR department after they have completed their analysis and classified the employees for increment plan.
Step 6:
ELTC made finalized decisions on transfers, recruitments, salaries/benefits based on the appraisal data
Intrinsic Awards at SHELL PAKISTAN
At the end of the year MD performance award are given to outstanding employees whose hard work has brought about some difference and created value for SHELL PAKISTAN.
Each of the 30 departments is asked to nominate 5 top employees. Out of theses 150 employees top 50 are selected. From among these 3 finalists are chosen and one of them is awarded as the prize winner, the rest of the two gets runners up nomination where as the entire pool of 50 top employees get recognition certificates from SHELL PAKISTAN.
Recently, SHELL PAKISTAN gained the capability of implementing SAP process in their organization. To recognize the effort of the SAP IT team, a grand party was organized to credit their work.
Employee Involvement
Employee Involvement is a participative process that uses the entire capacity of employees and is designed to encourage increased commitment to the organization's success. By involving employees in the decisions that affect them, increasing their autonomy over work, employees become more motivated, committed, productive and satisfied with their jobs.
Employee Involvement AT SHELL PAKISTAN
SHELL PAKISTAN started employee involvement programs i.e. involving workers in these decisions that affect them. By increasing employee's autonomy and control over their work life, employees will be more productive, more motivated, more committed to the organization and more satisfied with their jobs. But the upper management takes all top and highly important decisions.
Management Participation
Through the participation of management the employees share a significant degree of decision-making power with their immediate superiors. Participation increases commitment to decisions. (Adair, 2009)
At SHELL PAKISTAN the employees can assist their managers in setting work schedules such as flexible compressed week etc. and selecting the right target segment. Such participation programs provide intrinsic rewards for them. It can make their jobs more interesting and meaningful. (Adair, 2009)
Representative Participation
Currently in SHELL PAKISTAN there are 2 employee committees that are aimed towards addressing general employee issues and concerns:
Management Committee
This committee consists of MD and Executive directors who are address problems and concerns of every project presented to them by the Dept Heads and Project Leaders.
Executive Committee
This committee consists of all GMs and Executive directors at SHELL PAKISTAN.
Flexible Benefits
Currently at SHELL PAKISTAN, a large number of people with significantly different set of needs are employed. This is because a large majority is young, while others are newly married and well settled in their lives. A different set of needs of everyone calls for different set of employee benefits. This means the benefit package is largely customized according to every employee's needs.
Unfortunately, a flexible employee benefit system does not exist in SHELL PAKISTAN. All regular/permanent employees are given the same kind of extrinsic and intrinsic rewards, perk and benefits, which is different for different job titles. (Adair, 2009)
Flexible employee benefits are only given to employees working in the Sales and Retail departments. These employees are entitled to use company owned cars
Retirement Plans
One more source of motivation for the employees of SHELL PAKISTAN is the secure future ahead of them. SHELL PAKISTAN offers a good retirement plan. All regular permanent employees will be entitled to long term benefits such as:
Provident fund
Gratuity after 5 years of service in the company
Pension at retirement after at least 10 years of service in the company
Provident Fund
The company provides provident fund that again is voluntary. The company adds to the provident fund as much as the employee does. There are 2 types of provident funds:
Single Provident Fund that amounts to 8.33% of the employee's salary
Double provident fund that amounts to 16.66% of the employee's salary
Gratuity Fund
The gratuity fund is one-month gross salary that is added to the employees account at the end of each year virtually. The employees can only withdraw it after retirement or after resigning from the company.
Health Insurance
The company provides 100% health insurance to not only to employees but also to their immediate family. This doesn't include the maternity cases to either employees or to the family members.
The company also provides once in life time any large problem that might last life long. It can include heart disease or a life long problem like back discs operation and it's afterwards medication.
In one of the cases, one of the managers had a disc relocated operation and didn't come to office for 6 months but was still being paid for these 6 months apart from getting all the expenses paid for his operation and medication by the company.
Unexpected Conditions
SHELL PAKISTAN goes an extra mile to help its employees in unexpected conditions like economic conditions or a plant shut down etc.
The business of furnace oil had a nosedive in recent times and hence one of the plants of furnace had to be shut down. So the workers of that plant were jobless but SHELL PAKISTAN didn't leave them in that condition. It took the responsibility of placing them some where in other plants. By now almost all the employees are place somewhere and during that time where the placement was being done. SHELL PAKISTAN gave them 100% of their pays.
SHELL PAKISTAN doesn't believe in the policy of rightsizing. It has never fired its employees for the sake of rightsizing. The only time it did was called VSS (Voluntary separation service) in order to inject new blood into the organization. It was a 100% voluntary move where the employees were given a chance to leave the organization on their own consent. Around 700 employees apply for this service. The choices they were given were amazing. They were given three times the basic salary earned so far. According to the HRM dept. of SHELL PAKISTAN this was the best ever offer of separation for employees in Pakistan. This step was taken to change the culture at SHELL PAKISTAN to a more professional one by in taking 300 to 400 highly professional staff as the replacement of leaving employs.
De-motivated Employees
There can only be one kind of de-motivated employees in the company, for whom things are not going according to plan and expectations. The possible factors can include project failure, unhealthy relations or poor performance appraisal. For all these kind of de-motivated employees the HRM department and department heads use the following techniques. (Latham, 2007)
Counseling is done with the de-motivated employees and the HRM department and the department heads discuss their problems. Both the parties try to share ideas and views and try to bring the situation to a normal condition. The HRM department believes in Open door policy, any one from any group level can discuss their work related or social issues if any.
Career Development
Career development is done specifically for those who have a project failure. The department head along with the HRM try to find reasons for the failure and try to see where the employee fits the best. (Latham, 2007)
The main purpose of this survey is to study, how employee feels about work environment, Job Satisfaction, Employee empowerment Flexible benefits and Performance appraisal satisfaction. These factors would then enable me to infer either employees of SHELL PAKISTAN are motivated or not? I selected random sample of 50 SHELL PAKISTAN employees to conduct this survey.
Following the analyzed results obtained as a result of the survey
Job Satisfaction
I have adequate information available which enables me to do my job well.
Major number of employees knows about their over all responsibilities in organization. Generally, at the time of appointment there is an orientation process to employees about organization and they also have free access to the Code Book of SHELL PAKISTAN so employee knows about the general rules and regulation to do his/her job. Specifically, departmental heads are responsible to brief employee about his/her job.
I understand the day-to-day goals of my department.
Most of the employees understand the day-to-day goals of the department. Departmental heads provides day to day task to the concerned employee.
I feel valued as a team member
Organizations these days put lot of emphasis on innovations and creativity. SHELL PAKISTAN promotes the idea of innovation. It encourages employees to creativity. Hence, most of the employees feel that their inputs are valued.
Work Environment
Do you feel the premises provide ample recreational facilities to employees at work?
Respondents believes that premises which is having state of the art glass huge building, well space cabins, modern furniture, equipment and the hi-tech gadget in the conference room not only suggested sense of style and esthetics but also provides systematic manner and recreational facilities to employees at work.
2. Do you see immense opportunities for personal improvements & growth?
SHELL PAKISTAN believes that there is only one way to grow here that is 'Performance'. SHELL PAKISTAN provides them high goals to achieve for which they are demanded to work hard, if they do so they have opportunities of growth. Moreover they also provide trainings in different categories so employees can improve themselves.
3. Are relationships at work mature and non-political?
By and large people relationship at work is mature and they deal each other in high professional environment with friendly behavior and the employees of SHELL PAKISTAN act as a family member.
Employee Empowerment
1. Diverse perspectives are valued and encouraged within the department
The results strongly indicate that employees are comfortable working with diverse people and have a positive approach for teamwork.
2. I have the support and authority to make the decisions necessary for accomplishing assigned task.
Results indicate that people share their knowledge and having task delegation which enables them to take desire decision.
3. I have enough involvement in decisions that affect my work
Results indicate that employee is having involvement in decisions, which affect his/her work. It might be possible the involvement level varies according to the task.
Performance Appraisal Satisfaction
My department uses employee feedback to make improvements.
In SHELL PAKISTAN most of the department follows open door policy and any employee is free to express his/her suggestion to departmental head or even in front of MD of SHELL PAKISTAN. Results show that their suggestions are valued.
Are the employees satisfied with the EDR system in the company?
Results shows that mostly employees are satisfied with this system because this system is transparent as employee also know that hoe to rate his/her performance. And also this system provides opportunity to get recognition and appraisals.
Does the company have a fair employee recognition program?
Company offers 2 awards per year on the basis of performance of employees, Shaukat R Mirza award and MD award, which provides sense of recognition in employees.
Flexible Benefits
The Company retirement benefits is important factors in keeping employees on their jobs
SHELL PAKISTAN offers attractive benefits after the retirement and results shows that it is one of the factors among several other factors due to which employee stays in company for long time.
Company grants educational leaves when required by their employees
Company does not provide any leave quota in educational leave case. An employee has quota of 60 leaves per year, he can use it as his own accord. This factor may lead to de-motivation as employees can feel that he does not have personal growth or grooming opportunities in organization.
Company offers flexible work time to their employees
Results indicate that company does not offer customize timings to its employees. It might be possible it is due to nature of work which company has only sales people are allowed to come late but they must be informed to HR department earlier. This factor may de-motivate employees.
After the analysis of complete survey I can conclude that employees of SHELL PAKISTAN enjoys different attributes of Motivation like they have Job Satisfaction as they believe they have personal and professional growth opportunities, they feel they have empowerment.
They have very skillful, high-quality and superior working environment. They believe that their performance is appreciated will result in reward as SHELL PAKISTAN is having EDR system. The one thing that may be a cause of de-motivation is SHELL PAKISTAN does not offer tailored benefits.
As discussed in the earlier section all the employees of SHELL PAKISTAN fall in certain category. The motivation techniques used for all these categories are the same. Whether the employee is an officer (Grade 7) or a General Manager (Grade 1) the same techniques would be used on them but the magnitude of the technique would differ. For example, there is same range of increment on all the employees from grade 1 to 7 but certain perks like company car, furniture, housing and a phone will only be given to grade 1 and grade 2 employees.
It clearly depicts the efforts and the results that are being generated due to the motivation levels of the employees of the company. The HRM dept. should be given a pat at the back for their efforts in this regard.
APPENDIX A: Survey Questionnaire
Survey Questionnaire
Dear Respondent:
I, as an ACCA student carrying out a research study on:
"Motivational Factors working at SHELL PAKISTAN"
Your cooperation in filling out the following questions would be highly appreciated.
Your response will be treated with strict confidentiality and will not be shared with anyone at anytime. The purpose of this research is for academics only & NONE of your personal details will be disclosed.
Thank You.
Shoaib Hassan Ali
You are presented 15 questions. For every question you are asked to select anyone of the rating level you have over the asked question for the devised categories.
Personal Information
Name: _____________________________________________________________________________
Designation: ______________________________________Department:_________________________
Rating Scale
Use the scale shown and write the number of your response in the space next to each question
Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree
1 2 3 4 5
Job Satisfaction
1. I have adequate information available which enables me to do my job well.__
2. I understand the day-to-day goals of my department.__
3 I feel valued as a team member __
Work Environment
4. Do you feel the premises provide ample recreational facilities to employees at work? __
5. Do you see immense opportunities for personal improvements & growth? __
6. Are relationships at work mature and non-political? __
Employee Empowerment
7. Diverse perspectives are valued and encouraged within the department __
8. I have the support and authority to make the decisions necessary for accomplishing assigned task.__
9. I have enough involvement in decisions that affect my work __
Performance Appraisal Satisfaction
10. My department uses employee feedback to make improvements. __
11. Are the employees satisfied with the EDR system in the company? __
12. Does the company have a fair employee recognition program? __
Flexible Benefits
13. The Company retirement benefits is important factors in keeping employees on their jobs __
14. Company grants educational leaves when required by their employees' __
15. Company offers flexible work time to their employees' __
Adaire, J. (2009). Leadership and Motivation. Second Edition. Kogan Page limited. United states.
Kaplan. (2009) Accountant in Business. 2009 Edition. Kaplan. Berkshire
Latham, G.P, (2007). "Work Motivation" Second Edition. Sage Publications, London. UK
Parsons, L. Maclaran, P. (2009). Contemporary issues in marketing and consumer behavior. 1st edition. Elsevier LTD. Oxford. Uk
Vroom V H. (1964) Work and motivation. New York: Wiley
www.shell.com (Accessed on 20.11.2010)
www.shell.com.pk (Accessed on 26-11-2010)
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Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Hey Divas,
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Scrapbooks and more...
The December Kits are ready. We have lots of new papers and embellishments for you to choose from. Can not wait to see you.
Shelly and the gang
Friday, October 15, 2010
I'm Back!
Big thanks to everyone for all your thoughts and prayers while Landry was in the hospital and I recovered from surgery. Everyone has been so kind to us this past month. God has really been working in our lives and blessing us through each of you. I am back in the store and can't wait to catch up with everyone. Have you seen all the new products Shelly ordered while I was out?? Everything is FABULOUS!!!! Come get before all the goblins come in and snatch it all up! Check the NEWS tab to see pictures of the new products and the upcoming class we have.
See you all soon at Scrapbooks and More!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Debby Schuh is coming to TOWN!
Pennies From Heaven Book
Class description from Debby:
Friday 4-6pm
2010 promises to be a year full of adventure and challenges. A few years ago I wanted to change my attitude about the year ahead, so I decided to scrapbook the wonderful things that were going happen to me that year. My whole outlook changed and made the year an adventure as both big and small events became "wonderful things" to be recorded in my album.
The song, "Pennies From Heaven" inspired the new album I'll be using this year. I'm going to be recording the "pennies" that are sent to me from Heaven to help me see all the good things that are happening. By looking at the encouraging reminders I'll record in my new album, the year won't pass by in a blur and little things will gain significance because I will be more aware and will be looking for those "pennies." (Some students already know what "pennies from heaven" means to me from reading my blog, but if you don't, I'll tell you in class!) The theme can easily be changed to any kind of photo journal you'd like to have.
Not only will the album have a significant purpose, it will also be filled with innovative techniques and wonderful products from 7gypsies. We'll make our own album using the Binderie punch with sections for each month of the year: a nostalgic assemblage of pockets (12 different ones… a different pocket for every month of the year!), overlays, papers and bits of this and that.
Student supply list: Please bring the following items to class: Binderie punch, 12" paper trimmer, tape runner adhesive, scissors, ruler, pencil, scoring tool (stylus or bone folder), glue dots, sanding block, Tiny attacher stapler, "Vintage Photo" Distress Ink, ink blending tool, craft mat, acrylic block for stamping (at least 2"x 4 ½"), "Jet Black" Archival Ink pad, quick drying liquid glue.
Saturday 10a-12p
Celebrate the joy and the spirit of the holidays while using the whimsical new Christmas collection from Echo Park Paper Company on this beautiful 12x12" 2-page layout. Filled with techniques to make your pages and mini books more interactive and dimensional, we'll make little books and pockets to include all your treasured Christmas memories.
In addition to products from Echo Park, your fabulous kit will include some of my favorite things from American Crafts, Little Yellow Bicycle, Bazzill Basics, and May Arts.
Student supply list:
12" paper trimmer
dry tape runner adhesive
Crop A Dile or hole punch
Tiny Attacher stapler
Sanding block
Foam squares
Ink Blending Tool
Non-stick craft mat
Distress Ink: Vintage Photo
Scoring tool
Optional: tweezers
Seaside Layout Class
Friday 10a-12p
Saturday 1p-3p
Memories of lazy days spent relaxing at the beach are featured on this two page 12x12" layout that incorporates two mini books on the interactive pages so you can include all your favorite photos and tell the stories you want to remember for years to come.
The fabulous new Seaside Collection from October Afternoon (one of my favorite companies) will be perfect for your beach vacation pictures.
Student supply list:
12" paper trimmer
dry tape runner adhesive
Crop A Dile
Foam Squares
Fiskars border punch (I used the threading water punch)
Anyone who attends all 3 classes will receive a 20% off coupon to use in November
(Just in time for Christmas!)
Also, if you attend any 2 classes, you can crop for FREE
Friday and Saturday night til 1 am!
Call us 225-665-9478
to confirm your classes!
Monday, September 6, 2010
We have winners.................
Here are the winners from the Landry's Crop Raffle drawings;
Congratulations to Melanie Wagoner, she is the winner of the Cake Decorating class courtesy of Party Time on Airline Hwy! Hope you have a blast and learn tons!!!!
Congratulations to Allye LeBlanc, she is the winner of the Scrappin on the River 2011 Crop in Natchez MS! Courtesy of Pam Frank! Allye, have a wonderful time and be good!!!
Congratulations to Cindy Riddle who won the Camp Crop Alot from Tammy with Memory Mania in Prairieville! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Congratulations to all the winners! Thank you to all of you who purchased tickets and to our WONDERFUL donors! Landry will be presenting a check for over $1,000 to MDA. This will send one child to Camp Sunshine and also provide money for Research for Muscular Dystrophy!
Landry loves the quote "When life throws you lemons, make Lemonade!" Well, she certainly has! We love you Landry and we are so very proud of you!!! What a Blessing you are to us and so many others!
Congratulations again to all of our winners!
Shelly and the Gang!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Are you ready for some FOOTBALL.........
What about Live Oak Eagles
or them LSU Tigers!
Oh, I almost forgot....
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
New yummy Echo Park...
Monday, August 16, 2010
On the road again....
OK here it goes;
I know, I know not the best picture in the world...but just imagine...it is tooo cute!
Have you registered? Have you registered your teen scrapper? YES, we have a section just for those crazy kiddos! Whatcha waitin on...pick up that phone and call us NOW! Help Landry rock that MDA tel-e-thon with a HUGE donation!!!!!
Ok, now back to that "on the road thing"......
Guess where we will be going in November??? No clue... Ok, its almost 1,200 miles away by car (or should I say suburban pulling u-haul with 5 women).....
We are going to Great Scrapbook Events in BIRCH, MICHIGAN!
We have teamed up with those gals from Kit-a-licious. It will be a trip to scrapbook that's for sure!
We will also be attending Crop Connection in January in Pearl, MS.
Keep watching, we are adding more dates all the time!
And did I mention what we have arriving this week????
The NEW awesome ECHO PARK and 7 Gypsies lines!!!!
Hurry, things have not been sitting on the racks for long!
Come on by and see us! We love your company and we love to visit!
Shelly and the gang!!!


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Mission House
Our Mission House ministry is located across the street from the church at 2709 Wabash Ave. The UBC Mission House houses our food pantry and our clothes closet. It is open Tuesday and Thursday mornings to assist those families in need in the zip codes that surround our church (76107, 76109, 76110, 76115). We are serving close to 100 families a month, and that number is growing. To have food to distribute, we depend on donations from our church familiy, canned food drives by Alice Carlson Elementary, and the Tarrant Area Food Bank. Our clothes closet's biggest needs are children's clothes and men's work clothes. These donations can be left in the gray box by the west door entrance to the educational building.
Volunteer Opportunities:
Food Pantry - prepare and distribute bags of food
Clothes Closet - assist clients in selecting clothing
Tuesday and/or Thursday
9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Oscar Voirin, leader
|Natalie Yarnell, Missions Administrative Assistant


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Educator Memberships are Free!
The ASA-Midwest is dedicated to supporting area high school and college automotive technical programs in their education of the industry's future technicians. In order to maintain ASA's professional service goals, an Educational Membership is offered to any person actively engaged in automotive instruction at the high school or college level. You are encouraged to participate in the monthly ASA chapter events in your area. There are no membership fees for an Educational Membership.
- Free Membership
- Connect with top repair shops in area
- Member pricing at events
- Receive industry information via our email promos


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Customer Reviews
All reviews are from people who have redeemed deals with this merchant.
April 21, 2014
April 14, 2014
March 17, 2014
What You'll Get
As the saying goes, in wine there is truth, which is why most interrogations take place over candlelit dinners. Enjoy some light conversation with this Groupon.
Choose Between Two Options
- $39 for a wine immersion bootcamp for two (an $80 value)
- $69 for a wine immersion bootcamp for four (a $160 value)
Over the course of a two-and-a-half hour seminar, attendees taste Dirt Road Club vintages picked from the winery and others around the world, while their host describes the crafting process and give tips on such topics as aeration and food pairing. The wines are paired with a sandwich and three varieties of chocolate. Sessions are held on Saturdays and Sundays at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
The Fine Print
Promotional value expires 120 days after purchase. Amount paid never expires. Limit 1 per person, may buy 1 additional as gift. Valid only for option purchased. Limit 1 per group per visit. Online reservation required, subject to availability. 24-hr cancellation notice required. Promotional value must be used in one visit. Merchant is solely responsible to purchasers for the care and quality of the advertised goods and services.
About Little Washington Winery
For Little Washington Winery, location is key. Their perch sits on the edge of Shenandoah National Park, where the mountains scatter the spring winds to fend off frost and other vine-killing maladies. The open air catches ample light for the vineyard's growing fruits, and, perhaps just as importantly, grants a panoramic view of the forests ahead. It is on this lush land that Little Washington Winery cultivates the majority of its ingredients, sourcing others as necessary from their Virginian neighbors.
Virginia Wine Lover recently crowned the vintners with top rankings for their red and white wines, as well as naming the vineyard a premiere destination for picnics due to its surrounding scenery and bounty of naturally occurring checker-print blankets. Inside the tasting room, which is equal parts cabin and art gallery, guests listen attentively as experts walk them through enjoying a curated selection of wines. If guests wish to explore the world of vino even further, they can join the Dirt Road Wine Club, which offers tastes from boutique vintners around the globe.


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Amelia Midnight Medium
The Amelia table lamp is available in three dramatic glass colour options, Emerald, Claret and Midnight. Each piece is expertly handcrafted and features volcanic fit glass detailing ensures each piece remains a unique item. Each piece is complemented by antique brass detailing. This design is individually hand-crafted and will vary from piece to piece. Dimensions shown are approximate.
Finishing Note: The Amelia range features hand blown glass that offers the designer the option to accentuate the colour hue of the lamp with careful placement within a room, paying close attention to to the proximity of other light sources.
|Full height with shade:
|590 mm
|Base Height:
|350 mm
|Shade Height:
|240 mm
|Base width:
|130 mm
|Base Code:
|14" Roman Drum Praline Satin
|Shade Lining:
|White PVC
|Shade Code:


text:
I've been trying to poet off and on
now for awhile - but it's hard for a guy
like me, born and raised in small towns.
I've never really learned to swear,
not like a poet anyway. Not like Bukowski.
I mean, what kind of poet would
the world expect me to be? Except that
I'll admit I can drink with the best.
A Huffstickler I'm not, or a Bukowski,
or Etter, or Kerouac - guys who knew the
big towns, the sluts, the dives, the rehabs,
the back alleys, park benches, soup kitchens,
flop houses, drug pushers — Humm, come to
think of it, we got all those here. But not
the all-important big town poet attitude.
I'm just this hick, delusional perhaps,
trying to fill a blossoming hole inside
of me that grumbles and claws for more,
and there's gotta be more to life than this crap.
I used to try and rhyme, like as
in "poor" and "whore", but there's
no rhyme to life, just grab it and clench.
Just life, death, burial and maybe a little
something for the dog afterwards.
The preacher says there's more,
the devil tells me to forget it,
(I'll listen to him occasionally).
So, for me, I'll probe a little deeper and
scrutinize a little harder, perhaps drink a
little heavier, and maybe find a plug
out there that'll fill the hole inside me.
Maybe even put it in words.
Become a poet.


text:
Weight Watchers Meatball Recipe
weight watchers meatballs recipe – Quick and Easy Recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Find easy to make food recipes recipe for weight watchers meatballs. All your favourite recipes made simple. These recipes will help you get a delicious quick and easy. weight watcher friendly meatballs, Find easy recipes videos and ideas. Forget fussing in the kitchen or spending hours tied to the stove. weight watchers asian meatballs these recipes are super simple. Try quick healthy meals and recipes weight watchers meatball appetize


text:
If you're new to Software Estimation, this course gives you the edge you need with methods and techniques that optimize effectiveness.
Software Estimation Certification Training
Product Description
Our Software Estimation course will train you to prepare precise estimations for executing a software project, make effective cost estimations, and deploy the right number of resources for a particular software project. The course is designed to ensure that you pass the Software Estimation exam on your first attempt. Software Estimation is a highly valued skill that validates a professional's ability to prepare accurate estimates of project time, effort, and cost.
By the end of this training, you will:
- Acquire the relevant knowledge and skills required to pass the Software Estimation certification exam
- Have a keen sense of estimation to help the organization control project effort, time, and cost-effectively.
- Be able to prepare accurate software estimations to help set realistic targets for project completion
There are no reviews yet.


text:
Learn new languages in the Centre for Language and Communication
In the spring semester of the academic year 2017/2018, the TTÜ Center for Language and Communication offers, in addition to the regular courses, basic courses of the following languages: Estonian, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, French, Finnish, Swedish, Russian, Korean and German.
The courses are offered on a fee basis and can be declared as an optional course or through Open University (1EAP fee according to the rates set by the university). The rooms of instruction are displayed in the academic timetable of optional subjects.
Additional information:
Mare Roes
mare dot roes at ttu dot ee
|ESTONIAN, FINNIS, SWEDISH: 3 ECTS 32 academic hours
*HLE0050 Estonian Language and Culture I A1.1 (English based)
|CHINESE: 6 ECTS 64 academic hours
TSK0071 Chinese 1
|FRENCH, SPANISH: 3 ECTS 32 academic hours
HLS1440 French A1.1
MLX8001 Spanish A1.1
|ENGLISH, GERMAN: 3 ECTS 32 academic hours
* HLI0061 Preparatory Course for Academic Communication in English 1 level B1/B2
HLS1040 German A1.1 (English based)
|JAPANESE: 6 ECTS 64 academic hours
TSK0081 Japanese A1.1
|RUSSIAN: 3 ECTS 32 academic hours
HLE0160 Russian A1.1
HLE0161 Russian A1.2
KOREAN 6 ECTS 64 academic hours English based
TSK0091 Korean A1.1


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Wokingham Without Parish Councillors
Cllr Doreen Dye 01344 776403
Cllr Richard Fenny 01344 780563
Cllr Lesley Foxwell Vice Chairman 01344 776946
Cllr Robert Gough 01344 774822
Cllr Cris Lancaster 07702 021528
Cllr Ken Newland Chairman 01344 775096
Cllr Aaron Plume 07713 162958
Cllr Janet Rogers 01344 777129
Cllr Jack Shill 01344 774170
Cllr Peter Sturgess 01344 773619
Cllr Seona Turtle 01344 762826
Currently there are two Councillor vacancies. Please contact The Clerk – firstname.lastname@example.com for more information
Councillors Declaration of Interests – Please contact the Parish Clerk for more information.
Ward Councillors
Your Ward Councillors are:
- Angus Ross
- Pauline Heliar-Symonds
- David Sleight
Residents living in Wokingham Without Parish can raise local issues with their councillors during a surgery that is held the second Saturday of each month at the Howard Palmer Room, St Sebastian's Memorial Hall.


text: Episode Info: This podcast is dedicated to performers who want to be their very best. Episode 25 features a candid discussion by Russell Scott on the good and bad of working with the right singing teacher/vocal coach, what to look for, the pitfalls, and good, the bad and the indifferent! Contains LOTS of useful tips! Each episode focuses…Read more »