This newsletter is distributed to anyone selling in a Slivers-Of-Time
marketplace. Also, to those waiting for a market to start in their area who have registered at www.sliversoftime.com
It will keep you posted on developments in this exciting new way of working. |
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IN THIS ISSUE |
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SELLER IN THE SPOLIGHT |
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How to Work? |
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Elaine: Hard Work finding
Work. |
Government research tells us millions of people need “bits of work” to fit around other commitments in their life. Sometimes we find out how hard it is to meet that need without Slivers. Elaine Adams is waiting for a market to start in South Wales. She wants top-up employment to support her son through university.
“The flexible work I can find tends to be in Cardiff in the evenings, the travelling makes it not worthwhile” she explains. “Locally I've tried selling at car boot sales, but the returns are minimal”.
But, like so many people who need very fluid working, Elaine doesn't give up easily. “I also sell cosmetics door-to-door, but it's very hard to do well because similar products with well known brands are available so easily in the supermarkets”. Elaine has also responded to homeworking adverts but found they all demanded upfront payments. “I just don't know how to get the extra work I need” she says.
A marketplace for Slivers-of-Time will be the solution to Elaine's problem. But it can't get going until local employers who will start buying in the early stages are found. We're working on South Wales!
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SLIVERS FUTURES: |
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Leading Leeds |
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In the Lead: Lorna |
Leeds Council is leading the city into a Slivers marketplace launching in September 2007. It all started last December with an article about Slivers working in the newsletter from SOLACE (Society of Local Authority Chief Executives). HR Manager Lorna Thompson remembers “The Head of HR put the newsletter on my desk and said ‘we ought to check this out'.” Next step: a presentation was arranged for senior managers from one of the Slivers launch team.
Quickly, Slivers became part of the council's Narrowing the Gap initiative, a project to make sure all citizens benefit from the city's economic success. The council decided to act as launch buyer. “We can create a viable marketplace with Leeds City Council co-ordinating on behalf of the city” says Lorna, “We will provide the first opportunities and then extend to our partners and local employers”. The council already had a framework agreement with twenty temping agencies. Six of them expressed an interest in supplying Slivers sellers and one, Leeds East Driver Hire Ltd., were chosen as the lead agency.
The first department to start buying will be City Services. They provide all the facilities staff for council run buildings. Others will follow. Lorna and colleague Will Lamprell organised Buyer's Workshops to explain the system. “People around the council have been really enthused” she says. “Our colleagues in Jobs and Skills, and Libraries are helping by actively promoting the initiative to local residents and supporting sellers”.
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TIP: |
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Change your base |
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Cartoon by Shamima Aktar Koli, Slivers-
of-Time seller [Bookings: 68, Hours Sold:
213, Buyers: 4]
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Selling your Slivers-of-Time and going away for a while? If a market has started at your destination you can carry on selling.
Go to the My Terms screen  select Advanced Options  select change your base postcode enter the postcode you'll be staying at.
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CASE STUDY: |
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Dancing Small Steps |
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Gill Fenney used to work in computing for a financial services firm. But her heart was elsewhere. “Ever since I was 2, I've been passionate about dancing” she says. Eventually, Gill slipped her corporate bonds and set up Liverpool based Footlights, a Dancewear shop.
The business thrived. So did Gill's dance teaching, freelance choreography and school workshops. That made it hard to run her shop and a second outlet on the Wirral. “I used part-time workers at first” Gill explains “but it was difficult to work out who was available when, and they had to be kept below 16 hours work a week because I couldn't take on the overheads of putting them on PAYE payroll.”
Earlier this year, Gill was invited to a lunchtime session by the Merseyside Director's Club. There was a presentation about Slivers-of-Time Working. “I just thought, this is the answer to my problems” she says. Gill offered her staff the chance to sell their Slivers to her. It's worked for them, many have dance commitments of their own which change their availability. And many of them are now working more than 16 hours each week when they want to do so. Slivers handles all their payrolling through South Liverpool Recruitment. Now Gill is planning to expand into Costume Hire. That could create a lot more demand for Slivers on the Mersey.
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August 2007
Published on the last Friday of the month |
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Slivers-of-Time: the basics
Marketplaces for Slivers-of-Time are for:
who wants to work around other things in their life, such as:
-childcare
-studying
-part-time work
-caring for adult
-medical commitments
- Organisations who need top-up workers at short notice, for short periods:
-councils
-caterers
-retailers
-logistics supplier
Benefits:
- Sellers: do whatever odd hours of work they want and quickly build skills, experience and a track record they can print at any time.
- Buyers: access a self-selecting pool of local people who choose to work in a way that demands flexibility and rewards reliability.
Signing up:
Anyone who wants to know when a market-place is starting in their area should enter their details at:
www.sliversoftime.com
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