December 08 Newsletter

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 late or 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

Magic Moments

The Staff at Beaumont Consulting will be volunteering 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. We will be helping to prepare and deliver thousands of hampers to people in need.

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

silly

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.

reject

Handling rejection when job seeking

While seeking a new job it’s inevitable that there will be occasions when your application is rejected. Being rejected can be difficult and it's hard not to take it personally, especially if you've had your heart set on that particular job, or you’ve been trying to find a job for some time. But if you take rejection personally it'll be harder for you maintain a positive outlook that's necessary when looking for work.

Some helpful points to remember:

• It's your application that has been rejected, not you personally. Reframe your thinking from "I'm just not good enough" to "They didn't accept my application on this occasion."

• Seek to understand why your application has been rejected. Ask for feedback in a constructive and non-threatening way. "I understand that at this time my application has been unsuccessful and I accept your decision; however it would help in me moving forward if you could give me some feedback on my application".

• Evaluate your performance. Learn from the feedback you receive. Should you update or amend your resume to better reflect your talents and qualities? Do you need to modify your behaviour to be more successful next time?

• Maintain faith in yourself and your applications. This will help you bounce back more quickly from a rejection. Keep in mind that somebody, somewhere, will believe you're the right candidate, but they may not know this if you don’t keep your confidence up.

xmas

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.

open

Opening Hours

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

As this is also our holiday time your favourite consultant may be away, if so please ask for a colleague who will be happy to assist. There will be a Consultant from each Division and Branch in at all times. if you're available for temp work over Christmas just let us know and we'll try to get you something.

Payroll Deadlines:

Monday 22nd December: Process your timesheet as normal, but be aware that your pay will be in your account on Wednesday 24th December, not Thursday as usual.

Monday 29th December: Your timesheet will need to be ready to process at 9 am. We suggest you send your timesheet on your last working day of the previous week (Christmas Eve, Wed 24th Dec for most) when you finish work. Payroll will then be processed on Monday, and your pay will be in your bank on Wednesday 31st December.

For those of you paid through Geoffrey Nathan, your pay will also be in your banks on Wednesday 24th and Wednesday 31st.

We want to get you paid on time during the holidays, so please make sure your timesheets are in on time.

dec

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