December 08 Newsletter

Bruce Sullivan Presentation

We were lucky enough to have a brilliant client presentation evening last month with the fabulous Bruce Sullivan – he gave us all an insight into how we can achieve our goals, and ACTUALLY achieve them, not just have the intention to reach them.

Fascinating and funny, he really is an inspiration. You can check out his website here , but keep a look out for further Beaumont client seminar invitations, as we will be having many more in 2009, and hopefully we will be having Bruce back as well.

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Magic Moments

The Staff at Beaumont Consulting volunteered at the Magic Moments packing day on Saturday 13th December, known as the “Basket Brigade”.

Magic Moments Foundation brings relief and a bit of sunshine into peoples lives at Christmas. The Beaumont team filled their wheelie bin full of goodies and all went out to prepare and deliver thousands of hampers to people in need with many other volunteers.

To find out more information on the Magic Moments Foundation, visit their website www.magicmoments.org.au y

Beware of the Silly Season!

The company Christmas party offers employees a time to celebrate a successful year at work and get acquainted with colleagues they don’t usually meet.

But beware, company Christmas parties can also be a time when alcohol can allow normally responsible people to become uninhibited, resulting in embarrassing behaviour that can damage reputations or can even ruin careers. While at the same time valuable opportunities to build relationships that can lead to career enhancement can be lost if an employee refuses to, or can’t, socialise.

Some important rules:

• Don't overindulge . Know your limits with alcohol and stay reasonably sober so you don't let loose with crazy talk or behaviour. Don’t go rushing to the food without inviting whoever you're talking with, especially if they’re a superior.

• Don’t be a killjoy . Even if you generally like to keep to yourself, don’t hide in a corner, get around and mingle with people. Don’t complain about the "lousy food" or "poor choice of venue," particularly if the people who organised the event are nearby.

• Dress appropriately. Dress according to the instructions on the invitation, if there are no instructions lean towards the conservative. Don’t wear anything skin-tight, revealing or weird.

• Don’t make drunken passes . If you’ve had a crush on a co-worker don’t use the Christmas party to express your feelings. It won’t be impressive and at worst an advance could be seen as sexual harassment. Be careful that dancing and festive hugs are appropriate.

• Watch what you say . Be careful not to get into a heated debate or argument over different viewpoints with anyone. Try not to indulge in gossip or spreading malicious news. Don’t tell dirty or tasteless jokes to people you hardly know. Also, there is never a right time to tell your boss what you really think of them, even at Christmas.

• Mingle . Make an effort to meet people you don’t normally socialise or work with. Christmas parties can be a great networking opportunity for career enhancement, particularly if you work for a large company or if clients and contractors are present. In this case make sure to have some business cards on hand.

• Avoid talking shop with your colleagues and superiors . It’s good to chat with your boss and senior managers, but avoid talking about work. Your boss will not want to give you an appraisal or discuss company policy, internal positions or pay.

• Don’t treat your superiors like mates . Don’t call them by nicknames. Don’t get too familiar, like delving into their personal lives or telling them your life story. Treat your superiors with the same respect given to them during the year.

• Be thoughtful with gifts . If your company does a "Chris Cringle" put some thought into choosing a gift suitable for the person you picked. Spend the stipulated maximum and be thoughtful with wrapping. Do not buy anything that could cause offence.

Keep in mind, even though the environment may be different and people are in party mode, you are essentially still at work.

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Best graduates going fast

Despite the economic downturn, the top tier of graduate talent will still be highly sought after, according to psychometric testing company SHL.

SHL Australia and New Zealand professional services director Eric Wilson said the 2009 grad recruitment season would see less places on offer, and a dramatic increase in competition for the top 5% of grads.

He said employers should be looking for graduates who demonstrated high levels of resilience, which would be necessary to cope with the new economic climate.

These employees were goal-orientated, productive and got up to speed faster, while also being able to work through change such as M&A and staff cuts, Wilson said.

He said employers shouldn’t drop the ball when it came to candidate care, and should speed up their recruitment process where possible, as grads were becoming nervous and even the best candidates “may be pouncing on the first offer”.

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Christmas Budgeting

Christmas is a wonderful time of the year and it’s great to spend quality time with friends and family. But often the credit card can become too handy over the holidays when we have more spare time on our hands. Added to the cost of your Christmas shopping, holiday activities, entertaining, eating out and transport costs, the bill can turn into a big debt to be paid off long after the holidays are over.

Here are some valuable tips to help you save over the festive period:

• Establish a budget. To avoid over spending and holiday debt, set a budget that includes all areas of expenses, gifts, food, petrol, airfares, whatever your expenses will be. Setting a budget can be last thing people think about when they begin their Christmas shopping, but it is actually the most important, so establish a budget and stick to it.

• Think and prepare before you gift shop. Shop early, last minute gift shopping encourages inappropriate purchases, impulse buying and limits your ability to find a bargain. Take advantage of lay-by, but always check for cancellation fees and lay-by charges. Write a list of names of people you will give gifts to including gift ideas, so you can stay focussed when shopping, and keep it in your wallet or handbag. This helps to avoid impulse buys and double-ups and reminds you of your allocated budget, while making the most of the limited time people have in this busy period. Pay cash so you only spend what you can afford and avoid credit card debt, and by paying cash you can often ask for a discount.

Just because something is on sale doesn’t mean it is cheap. Shop around for the best deal, this includes online shopping. Visit popular websites such as Amazon, Wishlist, Ebay as well as discount sites such as oo.com.au and bargainshopper.com.au.

Don’t think children need to open a pile of presents in an unwrapping frenzy. They are less likely to appreciate or even remember each present.

Get creative with gifts. You’ll be amazed at what you can make yourself. For example, you can download photo calendar templates for free and print from your own printer. Grandparents would love a calendar featuring their grandkids. You can even simply enlarge your favourite photos of your children, pets or even great times with your friends and frame them for less than $20.

• Save on food and drink costs. If you are hosting a Christmas lunch or dinner, you can ask guests to bring a dish. It‘s also acceptable to make it BYO and you can buy soft drink cans in bulk for the kids. While travelling on the road pack a cooler with drinks and snacks to avoid expensive road side stops.

• Save on petrol costs by carpooling with friends.

Have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year, and try to stay out of debt.

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Opening Hours

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

We will be open throughout the Christmas period for normal trading hours of 8.30am until 5.30pm, except for the following:

24th December - 8.30 - 3.00
29th December - 9.00 - 4.00
30th December - 9.00 - 4.00
31st December - 9.00 - 3.00

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

You can contact our City Team on (02) 9279 2777
You can contact out North Shore Team on (02) 9413 1311

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Temp of the Month

I am pleased to say that it was another month of knock out nominations for our Temp of the Month competition!

The winner for October 2008 is…………Lisa Morris!

This is what her manager at Fuji Xerox had to say about her:

"I would like to nominate Lisa Morris as employee of the month. Lisa has displayed a good work ethic and concern and helpfulness in assisting her colleagues. You can often see and hear Lisa eagerly offering information to Customer Care Reps stuck on calls in order to obtain a resolution. Several times during the month, Lisa has asked if she could stay back and help clear phone queues before going on her lunch. She is always conscious of her start time and break times, knowing that these might impact on the workload of her colleagues. Lisa does this day in day out without prompting from me or any other team leader. Her ability to think outside of the box and her growing knowledge of our processes made her an excellent choice!"

Well done Lisa - that is an outstanding recommendation!

Unfortunately, there can only be one winner. However, we would like to mention a couple of the other excellent nominations that we received this month.

Antoine Aubin

"Antoine has performed all tasks required of him at a very high level, and demonstrated a great willingness to help the team in meeting its targets. His attendance has been perfect to date, including flexibility to work an additional Saturday outside of his allocated hours. Overall, he has been the perfect staff member and shown his commitment to our company, despite being a temp employee here!"

Nancy Wu

"Nancy is such a good worker and a pleasure to have on the team. She has never been later of had a day off sick. She shows initiative and is very motivated. In fact, some days I have to check she is in because she will come in, take her work and just get on with it! Nancy will also take on extra duties whenever she runs out of work. She has little or no errors and is extremely quick to learn. Nancy has a lovely nature, always ready with a big smile and a kind word! "

Well done to Antoine, Nancy and obviously Lisa. You are doing a fine job!

Claire, Michelle, Jo and Nat x

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Whats on in December

Christmas in Sydney

Moonlight Cinema – 4th Dec – 15th Mar

Darling Harbour at Christmas – 4th Dec – 24th Dec

Carols in the Domain -20th Dec

Sydney to Hobart – 26th Dec

New Years Eve – 31st Dec

Have a wonderful Christmas and best wishes for 2009