December 10 Newsletter

Welcome to our November newsletter

It’s been a wonderful month for us here at Beaumont, with our Company Conference at the end of October then Melbourne Cup Celebrations the following week, life feels a bit like one long party here, and Christmas is just around the corner, phew!

Our company annual conference was held at the Establishment, which is a wonderful venue, one of the highlights was our grand finale session with Human Rhythms. We had 45 minutes of team work, creating an amazing musical masterpiece, all orchestrated by a pair of mad drumming enthusiasts without even a word being spoken. We can certainly recommend it to anyone wanting to add some energy to a team building event or conference, we loved it and it certainly ended the conference on an all time high.

The other highlight has to be our annual awards evening over dinner, please join me in congratulating this years award winners:

• Emily Wheeldon – Branch Manager of the Year
• Justine McKnight – Service Excellence
• Janine Runaghan – Personal Achiever
• Patricia Leach – Outstanding Support Person of the Year
• Amy Braisby – Highest Revenue Producer
• Katie Newell – Best New Starter
• Rebecca Choularton – Values Award
• Janine Hayne – Appreciation of Contribution
• Janine Runaghan – People Choice Award

We welcome some new Consultants to the team this month, Kelly Craddock and Romina Feeney joined our North Shore office specialising in Permanent Roles and Rachel Hassall joined our Not for Profit Division based in the city.

The next few weeks are always busy in the run up to Christmas, we are especially busy here at Beaumont as we have our annual clothes swap to raise funds for Dress for Success and we are also supporting the Magic Moments Foundation which delivers food and gifts and hampers to those less privileged than ourselves at Christmas. If you would like to support or participate, we would really appreciate that, you will find more details in the newsletter.

Enjoy the festive season!

Nikki Beaumont

market

Market News

The number of job vacancies nationwide has risen by 6.9% as the retail sector began temporary hiring for Christmas. Skills shortages continue to be an issue with many businesses upskilling staff internally.
Job vacancies rise 6.9%, IPA says The number of job vacancies nationwide has risen as the retail sector began temporary hiring for Christmas.

Job agency IPA Recruitment said the number of job vacancies rose 6.9 per cent in October, following a 5.7 per cent decline in September.

The survey found skills shortages continue to be an issue with many businesses upskilling staff internally to take advantage of government funding.

"On the candidate front, the talent pool is holding steady but many employers are opening in the boom states to follow people's lifestyle moves and get hold of the best talent," the IPA survey said.

IPA general manager of sales and marketing Darrell Hewton said the increase was typical for this time of the year as many employers prepare for the Christmas period.

"The sentiment amongst retailers is they are definitely more positive heading into this Christmas as opposed to the previous year where the effects of the downturn were still being experienced," Mr Hewton said.
He said skill shortages continue to loom particularly in industries such as health, education and professional services which are showing steady demand in available positions.

He predicts the UK government's massive public spending cuts, coupled with a higher tax rate, are likely to cost 1.6 million British jobs.

"We anticipate an influx of skilled migrant workers which will contribute positively to skill shortages across the nation," he said.
Article taken from the Sydney Morning Herald. AAP

ohs

What are our OHS obligations in regards to Christmas parties?

Functions in the workplace are no different to any other OHS issue a risk management approach needs to be taken. Employers have a duty of care under the OHS legislation for their workers and that includes at Christmas or at other functions whether or not they are held off or onsite.

As an employer, to minimise the risk of injury, you need to perform a risk assessment. You must identify the hazards, assess the risks and implement controls and you need to be able to show you took all due diligence to keep the risk as low as reasonably practicable.

Workplace parties or functions can be important in improving morale and team building within an organisation and cancelling an expected party could result in unnecessary workplace disharmony.
However, as an employer you need to be aware of your responsibilities and implement measures to ensure you meet your duty of care requirements.

Should we serve alcohol at the party?
Excessive alcohol consumption is a major contributing factor to dangerous and inappropriate behaviour.
If you are going to serve alcohol at a work function, the following precautionary measures should be taken to minimise the risk of harm to the health and safety of your employees:
• formally reminding employees about the dangers of excessive drinking and the effects of driving under the influence;
• placing time limits on supplies of alcohol;
• setting reasonable function finishing times to avoid excessive drinking;
• providing soft drinks and light alcoholic drinks and preferably serving food;
• supervising staff to prevent excessive drinking and inappropriate behaviour;
• using taxis, public transport or non-drinking drivers;
• designate party managers to oversee the function;
• make sure there is plenty of non-alcoholic drinks available; and
• ensuring employees below the legal drinking age do not drink.
Further, employers should make sure their alcohol and drug policy and staff social functions policy is clearly communicated.

Are we liable for incidents at or after the party?
Employers can be liable if employees are injured in the course of the function or on their way home, even if they are under the influence of alcohol.
Employers should not only closely supervise alcohol use at Christmas functions, but if workers do become intoxicated, the employer should ensure they do not drink and drive to minimise the risk of a workers compensation claim.

Recent cases
Three recent cases in SA, NSW and Victoria highlight the issue.
In SA, a worker who was injured at a Christmas function at her workplace was granted compensation, with the Tribunal finding it was in course of her employment and that her employer had requested her attendance.
In similar case in NSW, a drunk worker who injured himself after work drinks was been granted compensation, with the NSW Workers Compensation Commission ruling socialising with clients was in the course of his employment.

On the flip side, four Victorian workers were prosecuted after their Christmas party ended with one of the workers suffering severe burns resulting from the employees playing around with chemicals.

Are there OHS issues with reduced staff levels?
Many employees take annual leave during the Christmas/New Year period, leaving few if any workers at the workplace. For those that remain, there does exist safety risks that employers must address.
For example, depending on the type of business, the premises may face an increased risk of robbery or potential for workplace violence during this period.

Although there are no specific guidelines in OHS regulations about working alone, it should be based on a risk management approach, taking into account:
• hazard identification, assessment and control of hazards employees are exposed to;
• providing a safe working environment;
• providing adequate information, instruction and training;
• means of communication in an emergency and a procedure for regular contact.

What are our obligations towards temporary holiday staff?
Employers have the same duty of care obligations towards temporary holiday staff as their permanent employees – that is they must ensure their health and safety.
Many temporary holiday staff, particularly in the retail and hospitality sectors, are young people who are recognised as especially vulnerable to workplace accidents during the festive season. It is the busiest time of year for some employers, who often forget to properly train recruits about safety procedures, particularly if they are only temporary holiday staff.

Inexperience, lack of knowledge and an unwillingness to ask questions or query employer requests also contributes to the injury rate of young and new workers.

To combat this, employers should be planning now for the influx of new and young workers to their organisations and the consequent OHS implications over the holiday period.

offer

Beaumont Christmas Offer

We are delighted to offer you, for FREE, a Beaumont Consulting ‘top class’ temporary employee for TWO hours!!

Our Chatswood and CBD Temporary Divisions are currently running a special offer for Christmas. We will pay for a temporary worker’s wages and all on-costs for a full 2 hours. All you have to do is place an order with us before 31st December 2010 for 7 hours or more!

This time of the year can be very busy for our clients - people are booking holidays to be with friends and family or making the most of the summer sunshine!

A highly skilled Beaumont temporary can assist you with your executive support, reception, administration, customer service, sales and data entry - helping you to get on top of your workload just in time to enjoy the Festive Season!

Beaumont Consulting are recruitment specialists in Sales and Marketing, Office Support and Call Centre.

CALL YOUR LOCAL TEMPORARY DIVISION!!
Chatswood : 02 9413 1311
Sydney CBD : 02 9279 2777

event

Events

We’re busy putting together our calendar of client events for 2011. Our popular Recruitment & Selection Sessions are already filling up, if you or your colleagues are interested in attending on any of the following dates please contact Taheeya Rahman .

3rd February – City Location
10th February – City Location for our Not-For-Profit Clients
1st March – City Location
6th April – North Shore Location
19th April – City Location
5th May – City Location

To kick off our calendar of client breakfasts we are pleased to present you Kim Seeling-Smith who will be giving a keynote speech on “The Critical Path To Keeping Critical People”. Kim has already presented this to staff and managers at Beaumont Consulting and we were convinced that it is a must for our clients who are in a Management or HR position.

Another exciting event also booked in our breakfast events diary is “How To Engage Your Customers Through Social Media”. We know how important social media is to us as a prospective employer and also to our customers and have been working on a strategy to roll out in 2011 with an external consultancy Social Rabbit. We thought we should share them with you and give you some inspiration and insight into what can be a quite daunting subject.

24th February - The Critical Path To Keeping Critical People
14th April - How To Engage Your Customers Through Social Media

If are interested in attending on any of these dates please contact Taheeya Rahman.community

Our bit for the community….

Our recent "Swishing Party" and cupcake sale in aid of Dress for Success was a roaring success, raising over $1100 which will go towards helping disadvantaged women by providing professional attire and development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.

Thank you to everyone that supported our Charity Swishing Party in Aid of “Dress For Success”. We raised $1100 in total which will go towards promoting the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.

Basket Brigade…
The Sydney Basket Brigade is an organisation specialising in Christmas hampers for those in need over the Christmas period.
Every year the staff of Beaumont Consulting volunteer for a day in the build up to Christmas to decorate, pack and deliver the hampers just before Christmas Day.
The Sydney Basket Brigade also source donations of products and money throughout the year, to fill hampers full of food and a present for individuals and families.
The Sydney Basket Brigade team is a 100% volunteer organisation. No-one gets paid for their help and everything we achieve is made possible by donations, good will and people’s time.
Here are some ways in which you can help:
Products donations: talk to your contacts in the industry and see if they can donate:
• staples, such as rice, pasta, pasta sauce, noodles, cereals, tinned foods
• lollies, soft drinks, chocolates, biscuits, dried fruits, nuts
• gifts for children, women and men
Remember that an Official Receipt for the value of the goods can be issued.
Monetary donations: all donations over $2 can be issued with an Official Receipt

Organise your own Fundraiser : if you need help to get started contact Basket Brigade for some ideas

Join their Mailing List (via the Magic Moments website http://magicmoments.org.au/basket-brigades) and follow Basket Brigade on Facebook to get regular updates www.facebook.com/SydneyBasketBrigade

temp

Temp of the month

When clients are nominating Temp of the Month the following criteria is taken into consideration:

Pride in his/her job, technical achievement, consistently high job performance, creativity and innovation, actyions above and beyond the call of duty, performace excellent, outstanding attendance record, leadership, cooperative attitude, commitment, skills improvements, flexibility and teamwork.

This month our $100 Temp of the Month prize goes to ….. Hannah Ashby!

Hannah is currently on assignment at Gow Gates Financial Services as an Administrator/Coordinator.

Hannah was voted by quite a few people for this award. We read the feedback and just couldn’t leave any of it out, so here it is in long form!!

“Hannah meets every single item stated at the top of the page. Our organisation has used Temps in the past and none of them can compare with Hannah.”

“Hannah meets and exceeds all the points highlighted for this award. On top of this she has a great personality. She’s been an excellent addition and help to the office”

“An employee who is motivated and will work hard doing all jobs definitely employee of the month material”

“Has been a consistent team player and performing to the best of her potential”

“Great creativity shown in how to complete tasks more efficiently, definitely improving on a process I had shown her “

“Hannah’s willingness to take on any of the varied tasks asked of her and complete them to a high standard. Ever punctual and reliable. Friendly attitude”

Well done Hannah from everyone at Beaumont Consulting!