December 07 Newsletter

Charity Begins at Home (Well also at Work in our case!)

You may recall our MD Nikki Beaumont has been on maternity leave for the past 5 months but instead of just putting her so called ‘feet up’ enjoying her baby, she has been hard at work fundraising once again.

Working her little fingers to the bone making a range of beautiful jewellery (yes she is multi talented), she held a second fundraiser for the Intensive Care Unit of Adelaide Hospital now raising over $ 7,500 for vital equipment. As if that wasn’t enough, she also had a jewellery display at a major RCSA event (our Recruitment Industry Association) where, along with a range of other generous donors they raised over $36,000 for the Down Syndrome Association.

Finally, to top off a very busy year, Nikki had another jewellery party at her home last weekend to raise more money, along with Beaumont Consulting’s annual charity donation, for the Magic Moments Association “Basket Brigade” (http://www.magicmoments.org.au/ ).

You guessed it, we are very proud of our Nikki, she is truly a kind and generous soul. If you want to see any of Nikki's jewellery range, just email her for details nikki.beaumont@beaumontconsulting.com.au .

How to get the most from your staff over Christmas and New Year

Want to improve your staff productivity over the festive season? Here are just a few tips and ideas to ensure the job gets done, whilst at the same time not coming across as a scrooge over Christmas:

Ruth Spellman, Investors in People chief executive, said: "The key to getting the best from your staff at a time when they may be distracted by planning for Christmas is to ensure they continue to enjoy coming to work. Wise men and women understand that staff motivation is vital to all-year-round prosperity."

Promote healthy working by making time to check in with staff. Make sure they are not struggling in to work with a nasty cold or flu, or suffering from lack of proper cover or support

Ensure any extra time staff work over Christmas is logged in their next review and make sure your employees know it has been noted

If you are not able to award staff bonuses, why not at least give each member of staff working over Christmas a small festive gift as a token of appreciation

Show your own face – if you're not prepared to put in the hours during the festive period, how can you expect your team to deliver?

Think outside the Christmas box – allow your staff to take an extra half hour at lunchtime for present buying and make up the time at the start or end of the day

Pay extra attention to those employees who work shifts during the Christmas period Bank Holidays - at a time when everyone else is celebrating with friends and family, it is important that managers keep staff motivated in their work.

For more info on motivating staff over the Xmas period go to: http://www.management-issues.com/2006/8/24/research/two-thirds-reckon-colleagues-slack-off-at-christmas.asp

Beaumont Consulting - why are we different?

Beaumont Consulting regularly surveys candidates and clients regarding the difficulties they face in dealing with recruitment professionals. We pride ourselves on setting the bar when it comes to the level of service we provide.

Feedback from our clients and candidates has indicated that there are some recruiters in the industry that not only don’t follow up when they say they are going to, but they also interview candidates and then never speak with them again.

Giving honest feedback to a Candidate can be difficult as we don’t want to hurt a person’s feelings. In the case of dealing with clients, there is the fear that it may be seen as a weakness to say we are unable to help you at this time. On the contrary we believe giving honest and open feedback is the sign of a quality ‘Consultant’.

At Beaumont Consulting we have only highly skilled and experienced recruitment professionals. They have one common factor that sets them apart from others and that is that they are all ‘Consultants’. By that we mean open communication is essential in order to gain an understanding of candidate needs, client needs and the market so we can provide the relevant information people need to make informed decisions. It is essential that we are honest and open with both candidates and clients so as to set realistic expectations.

We are proud to say our Consultants gain regular repeat business from many clients by being honest enough to say “right now I don’t have the type of candidate you’re looking for”. We have also built long-term relationships with candidates that have been given honest and constructive feedback about personal presentation, interview skills, resume presentation, communication techniques and market expectations. Beaumont Consulting is committed to providing the best possible service. It’s not about ‘bums on seats’ but working closely with the people who put their faith in our experience and professionalism to achieve a ‘win win’ outcome.

Christmas Cooking!

The night before Christmas cake

Ingredients (serves 8)

175g unsalted butter, softened
225g brown sugar
275g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
175ml buttermilk
2 eggs
Grated rind of 1 lemon
Grated rind of 1 orange
225g fruit mince
2 tbs brandy

Florentine topping

50g hazelnuts
50g blanched almonds
85g brazil nuts
140g red glace cherries
100g golden syrup
Icing
2/3 cup (100g) icing sugar
2 tsp lemon juice

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Grease and line base of a 20cm springform cake pan. Beat butter and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer until light and fluffy, sift flour and baking powder and stir into butter mixture with buttermilk and eggs. Stir in rinds with fruit mince and brandy. Spoon into pan and bake for 1 hour.

2. Meanwhile, for Florentine topping, place nuts, cherries and golden syrup in a saucepan and warm over a medium heat. When cake has cooked for 1 hour, remove from oven and spread topping over. Return for a further 15-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

3. For the icing, mix together sugar and lemon juice, place in a piping bag with a small nozzle and drizzle over cake. Decorate with ribbon, if desired.

Christmas message from our Temp Team

T'was the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring not even a mouse!!

Well, this is not entirely true as the temp team will be busily working away to make sure that all of your temp orders have been filled!

With the festive season almost upon us, we wanted to let everyone know that it is business as usual in the temp team.

Apart from the public holidays we will be all hands on deck!

We have fantastic candidates available who can start immediately and have some wonderful skills. You can rest assured that Santa's little helpers are only a call away!

You can contact our City Temp Team on (02) 9279 2777

You can contact out North Shore Temp Team on (02) 9413 1311

Miss Motivator – Brighten up your day!!!

Have you ever heard of chromo dynamics? This is the term used to describe the way in which colour affects us and our feelings – colours can stimulate, excite, depress, increase appetite and create a feeling of warmth or coolness. Warm colours (red, orange, yellow) are known to be active and stimulating while cooler colours (blues, greens) are passive & calming.

Colours are used in branding and advertising to send certain messages to us and affect the way we feel about the products they market and they are used in restaurants and bars etc to affect the ambience and mood. In the same way we can all use colours around us in our every day life to motivate us and lift our mood. Try some of these ideas to get some colour in your life and increase your motivation through the working week:

Wear bright colours – the clothes that you choose to wear in the morning are often indicative of the way that you feel. Next time you wake up feeling a bit lethargic - instead of reaching for the safe old black number, chose something colourful and bright. This will make you feel more confident and will add a splash of colour to your whole day.
Choose bright stationary and desk accessories at work. Pin up a few of your favourite greetings cards which are colourful and inspiring. A few splashes of colour here and there can really make a difference.
Treat the office to a fresh bunch of flowers each week (or ask the boss to!) Choose something really bright and cheery to motivate you at work and bring some natural colour and beauty into the office!
Eat naturally colourful food – summer is the perfect time to create some really fabulous salads and eat lots of fresh fruit. A plate full of greens, reds and yellows looks really appetizing and is tasty, fresh and healthy to boot!

Weird and Wonderful Christmas Trivia

If you are stuck for conversation over Christmas dinner, her are a few trivial facts to get the conversation flowing!

A traditional Christmas dinner in early England was the head of a pig prepared with mustard.
After "A Christmas Carol," Charles Dickens wrote several other Christmas stories, one each year, but none was as successful as the original.
Before settling on the name of Tiny Tim for his character in "A Christmas Carol," three other alliterative names were considered by Charles Dickens. They were Little Larry, Puny Pete, and Small Sam
Christmas trees are edible. Many parts of pines, spruces, and firs can be eaten. The needles are a good source of vitamin C. Pine nuts, or pine cones, are also a good source of nutrition
In 1996, Christmas caroling was banned at two major malls in Pensacola, Florida. Apparently, shoppers and merchants complained the carolers were too loud and took up too much space.
It is estimated that 400,000 people become sick each year from eating tainted Christmas leftovers.
Yuletide-named towns in the United States include Santa Claus, located in Arizona and Indiana, Noel in Missouri, and Christmas in both Arizona and Florida.

Quote of the Month

Don't get discouraged; it's usually the last key in the bunch that opens the lock. - Unknown

And finally...

We wish you all a wonderful and safe Christmas and New Year! Most importantly...

ENJOY!!!!