January 07 Newsletter

News . . .

We would like to extend a very warm welcome to our latest addition to the Banking and Finance Team. Tamla Anderson has almost ten years recruitment experience from Sydney and London. With a strong background in Accountancy recruitment, Tamla will be focusing on this area within our banking, insurance and wealth management clients. To contact Tamla, send her an Email, or give her a call on 02 9279 2777.

Clues . . .

It seems that we mention staff retention tips in every newsletter, but with good reason, as it regularly arises as one of the greatest issues facing Managers today.

As we begin the New Year it's worth remembering that, according to a poll released in December in the US, nearly three quarters of employees are looking for new challenges with a new employer.

As the first quarter of the year is traditionally characterized by high churn in Australia, there is every good reason to believe Australian figures are not far off – staff return from their Christmas break with a plan for the new year and, all too often, this involves a change of role!

The job market was uncharacteristically strong in December so the next few months must be considered a danger period in terms of staff retention. All companies will suffer to some extent but organizations with comprehensive retention strategies will fair better than most.

Over 25 years, the Gallup Organisation has surveyed over 1,000,000 employees to discover what employees felt were the important elements needed to attract, focus and keep the most talented staff. The Gallup Organisation found that measuring the strength of a workplace can be simplified into 12 questions.

Employees want to know:

Do I know what is expected of me at work?
Do I have the resources I need to do my work right?
At work do I have the opportunity to do my best every day?
In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for good work?
Does my manager, or someone at work, care about me as a person?
Is there someone at work that encourages my development?
At work, do my opinions seem to count?
Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel like my work is important?
Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
Do I have a best friend at work?
In the last six months have I talked with someone about my progress?
At work, have I had the opportunities to learn and grow?

These 12 questions measure the strength of the workplace to retain and encourage top people. Each one is linked to four business outcomes: Productivity, Profitability, Retention and Customer Satisfaction.

Source: First Break All The Rules. What the world’s greatest managers do differently. Authors, Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman, Publisher, Pocket Books; The Olivier Newsletter.

Views . . .

You may have noticed by now that we love to receive feedback - and to share it with you! Here is a lovely comment from a valued client:

"We first heard about Beaumont Consulting though a colleague who told us that Beaumont was a great recruitment agency. From the first phone call I found their service extremely efficient and helpful. They were able to fill our vacancies quickly and matched the candidates that would suite our unique office dynamics. We have also been very impressed with the follow-up service and assistance provided after the placements. We would not hesitate in recommending Beaumont to any company looking to fill their vacancies."
Chantel Townley, Office Manager, Steve Watson & Partners Pty Ltd

And Entertainment!

Each month our fabulous Food Critic Michelle Maye will be sharing her views on some of the fine and not so fine dining experiences around this great city. So stay tuned for lots of fabulous tips - and please feel free to let us know if you have any of your own!

Restaurant Review Restaurant Review Restaurant Review

Summit Restaurant

I've lived in Sydney for seven years now and am very embarrassed to say that my inability to stomach gazing at the city from a height has led me to avoid climbing the harbour bridge, balk at sky touring in the Sydney Tower and even snub cocktailing in the Shangri-la. I decided that it was high time to address this Sydney altitude avoidance issue by tackling it head on in one of the highest restaurants in town!

The occasion was my partner Matt's birthday. I did a random flick through my Entertainment Book's fine dining section (yes, I love a bargain!) and landed on the Summit Restaurant in Australia Square. My initial reaction was to keep flicking until my eye was caught by the martini steamed blue swimmer crab and the twice cooked pork belly. I bit the bullet, booked us in and spent a frantic night praying for low wind count and preferably heavy fog to block out the reality of the 47 floors.

What ensued was the most wonderful evening. We started the night in the very retro Orb bar with a couple of potent cocktails - and as the fresh strawberry daiquiri seeped into my system, we managed to move our chairs from the lift right the way over to the window. Did I mention that this place revolves? Don't leave your handbag on the window ledge!

We moved from the bar to the restaurant and after choosing our dishes, I settled into coming to grips with what I saw. I'm not sure if I'll ever not feel like a tourist in this town. I sat transfixed as the Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, Kings Cross, the Sydney Tower, Darling harbour and Lunar Park floated gently past our window like a picture show. The only thing that dragged me away was the enticing smell of my wok fried blue swimmer crab with red chilli salt, coriander, sweet mint and roasted peppercorns. This was absolutely delicious and quite light - I was starving so there was a danger I could have written myself off with the starter if the portion had been any bigger! Matt had the organic Quail which was crispy and nicely complemented by the citrus mayonnaise and a soft herb ravigote. I had the roast snapper for my main which would have been perfect other than the fact I was having a severe case of menu envy. Matt had the Pork Belly and what I can say - it's absolutely sublime. Yes, it will probably stay with you forever but each artery blocking morsel is just divine. We finished off by sharing a tantalising triple chocolate creation by the infamous Sydney pâtissier Mark Stone.

So, by the end of the night the heady mixture of Pinot Noir (Coldstream Hills, Yarra Valley), exquisite food and Sydney viewed from its best possible vantage left me intoxicated and truly ready to tackle more height defying adventures. The only problem at the end of the night was that I couldn't find the lift ....

Summit Restaurant and the Orb bar are situated on the 47th floor of the Australia Square building. The dinner menu is $68 for two courses with additional courses at $17. If you're looking for the experience but not the meal, The Orb bar has happy hour cocktails every week night from 5pm - 9pm. More information can be seen on their website www.summitrestaurant.com.au.

Trivia trivia trivia trivia trivia trivia trivia trivia trivia trivia trivia trivia trivia

For those of you with more than food on your minds, our resident Google Trivia Buff extraordinaire Kathryn Young will be delivering a monthly menu of completely useless information. And as with the food tips, please feel free to send in any useless info you think needs to be shared!

DID YOU KNOW:

An office desk has 400 times more bacteria than a toilet.
Barbie's boyfriend Ken was not sold in India until recently because it clashed with the traditional arranged marriage.
In 2001, the five most valuable brand names in order were Coca-Cola, Microsoft, IBM, GE, and Nokia.
Every second there are 418 Kit Kat fingers eaten in the world.
Cleopatra married two of her brothers.
No piece of paper can be folded more than 7 times
No-one can lick their elbow
Apples are more effective than caffeine for waking you up in the morning
Approximately 1 billion stamps are produced in Australia annually.
The average four year-old child asks over four hundred questions a day.
The longest engagement lasted 67 years, and the couple ended up marrying when they were 82 years old.
On average, 42,000 balls are used and 650 matches are played at the annual Wimbledon tennis tournament

So now you know!

And it's not a Newsletter without a funny . . .

Or a Quote for the Month

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

Mark Twain