November 09 Newsletter

We have loved October!

It has been a really exciting month at Beaumont Consulting, the job flow has increased significantly which is really exciting. We are finding some exceptional candidates in the market, so much so that one client recently took all 3 candidates we presented for 1 vacancy because the calibre was so high, we love that!

We are very proud that over that past 12 – 18 months, whilst most other recruitment firms were busy making redundancies, and many downsizing by as much as 70%, we have not made any redundancies, in fact we have opened 3 new divisions, IT, Accounting and Not for Profit. We had the pleasure of 4 new Consultants joining us in August; Julian, Mike, Rachael and Santino who are all doing a wonderful job getting to know our clients and candidates and fitting in beautifully with the team.

We have continued to expand our team internally this month with Ben and Laura joining us and a huge welcome back to Leanne Fergusen who has just returned after her second maternity leave to have the gorgeous Charlotte. Leanne is back 3 days a week working in the Insurance and Superannuation space and is busy on roles already. We are delighted to have our cheeky Irish face back in the office, we’ve missed her incredibly.

Sadly we’ve waved goodbye for the time being to Georgia who has gone on maternity leave, we’re waiting for baby bubba to arrive, in fact there are more bets on date, weight and sex than there are on the Melbourne Cup!

We are looking for a few more exceptional Recruitment Consultants to join our growing team, so if you do know of anyone on the market, please direct them our way, ask anyone here at Beaumont, it really is a great place to be.

two

2 New seminars in November - The Changing IR Landscape – What Next?

All workplaces are affected by the new Fair Work legislation, much of which commenced on 1 July 2009. With the new National Employment Standards coming into effect in just 2 months and the current award modernization process now underway, employers now need to take steps to ensure their HR frameworks and internal practices comply.

We are running two seminars in November, presented by HR expert Elisabeth Rasul, Director of EFFISION, they will be informative and practical covering what the upcoming changes are and how they affect your workplace. We hope to see you there.

Date: 24th & 25th November 2009
Location: Chatswood and City respectively
Time: 8:30am – 10:30am (with registration & tea/coffee from 8.00am)
Investment: Attendance is complimentary although bookings are essential as spaces are limited

To register your interest please contact your consultant or email Debbie.

economy

Economy still on the up

Australia's unemployment rate has fallen from 5.8% to 5.7% in September, despite predictions
from economists that a sharp increase in job losses would push the jobless rate above 6%.

Official data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows a staggering 40,600 jobs were added in September, taking the number of employment to 10,805,600. Full-time employment increased by 35,400 to 7,589,800, while part-time employment increased by 5,200 to 3,215,800.

The number of persons looking for full-time work increased by 9,500 to 497,400, while the number of persons looking for part-time work decreased by 13,300 to 161,200.

The news has shocked economists, who had expected the employment rate would fall by 10,000 and the unemployment rate would hit 6%.

But on the surface at least it appears that Australia's incredibly resilient economy has taken the market by surprise once again. Last month employment fell by 27,0000, so today's sharp rise again raises questions about the stability of the jobs data.

The big rise in jobs adds more weight to the RBA's case for further rate rises. After lifting the official cash rate from 3% to 3.25% this month currency markets certainly indicate that rates will soon be on the move again - the Australian dollar has crashed through the US90c mark, the highest point in 14 months.

managers

Managers must have more coaching conversations

Managers who provide solutions to employees' problems instead of coaching them to come up with their own, lose an important opportunity to improve their company's long-term productivity, says coach Anthony Sork.

Sork, the managing director of Sork HC, says that managers need to become comfortable with the concept of "coaching conversations" - which differ from structured coaching sessions - in order to truly develop capability and performance in their teams.

Many managers, he says, like to "move at pace, solve problems and get on with business", and prefer to schedule structured review and development cycles with employees.

But these managers often "miss the opportunity to develop their 'coaching' behavioural style to its full potential", he says. "Their people tend to approach them with problems and the manager typically solves it for them in the interest of efficiency. The view from the manager's perspective is: 'I have the solution so here it is', which seems sensible at the time."

Managers expect that when they provide the solution, the employee will learn from the experience, Sork says, but "unfortunately the opposite usually occurs. The employee becomes reliant on the manager's expertise and experience, takes the solution and implements it, but usually does not understand the process the manager used to arrive at the solution, nor why it is the best for the problem".

Inevitably when the problem arises again, either the employee has not learned and re-approaches the manager, or they run with the same solution even though the circumstances may be slightly different and require a different approach, he says. "The learning opportunity has been lost and both efficiency and effectiveness have been compromised over the long term."

Coaching conversations worth the effort

Developing the skill of having coaching conversations "on the run" might seem like an unnecessary investment of time to a manager, "because it does take a little longer in the moment than just providing the solution", Sork says. "However, the return on this time investment is significant over the long term for both the manager and the employee. Not only will the employee have a commitment to the solution because they have arrived at it themselves, they have usually learned the process of determining the solution and may well have come up with a better solution than the manager would have provided."

A coaching conversation can follow the same basic model as a formal coaching session, Sork says, and he recommends the well-known GROW(R) model which follows the conversation pattern of:

Goal
Reality
Options
Will
(Review)

For example, he says, the conversation might follow this basic thread:

Employee: Jane I have this problem and I would like you to tell me what I should do to resolve it...

Manager: (GOAL questions) Well John, what do you believe is the preferred outcome that can be achieved in this situation?

Employee: I don't know - I was hoping you could tell me.

Manager: I have an idea but it may not be the best outcome so I am interested in your view.

Employee: OK - well I guess we could achieve XYZ.

Manager: OK - sounds good (REALITY questions) So if that is our preferred outcome, what is our current position? What is going on right now and what has led to this?

Employee: (Run down of the current situation)

Manager: (OPTIONS questions) so based on where we are starting from now and where we want to end up, what are the different options we have as our next steps?

Employee: Well we could either do A, B or C but I am not sure which is best.

Manager: From my experience C will lead to some further difficulty because of... However A and B sound like reasonable alternatives. (WILL questions) So of those two options which do you think would be the best alternative in this situation? Which one will you now go away and implement?

Employee: So you are happy for me to implement option A?

Manager: I fully support you if you would like to implement option A, but I want it to be your decision. Based on what we have discussed, do you still believe this is the best alternative to achieve the preferred outcome?

Employee: Yes I think that this will get the result we are after.

Manager: (set up REVIEW) Great John, so once you have implemented that solution, why don't we get back together to see how it went and what you were able to learn from it?

Employee: OK - great. Thanks for your help Jane.

Sork says this conversation model might feel "a little clunky to start with, but after only a few conversations it starts to flow naturally".

Anthony Sork is widely recognised as one of Australia's leading Human Capital experts. To find out more visit www.sorkhc.com.au

cure

Volunteer Opportunities – Cure Cancer Australia Christmas Card Program

Cure Cancer Australia is a dynamic not for profit foundation that funds researchers working towards breakthrough cancer research. As cancer affects so many people in our community, we are all united in our hope that a cure for cancer is on the way.

If you have always wanted to get involved and volunteer for a worthwhile cause, Cure Cancer Australia has the perfect opportunity for you to contribute to the cure that can start from just offering 1-2 days of your time in office hours per week until early December.

One of our key fundraising activities is our annual Christmas card project.

We require volunteers to assist us in the following:

Fielding phone calls in peak periods
Answering card enquiries from customers both over the phone and on email
Taking orders over the phone
Entering Christmas card orders into our online shopping website

Full training will be provided on our systems and on the Christmas card program details.

Skills Required:

Pleasant telephone manner
Web and email savvy
The ability to multi-task
Excellent communication skills

Location: Cure Cancer Australia offices, Sydney CBD (further details will be provided)

To register your interest in the above volunteer scheme please call them on 1300 134 567 / (02) 9251 6188 or email cards@cure.org.au .

As a result of the Christmas card program Cure Cancer Australia hopes to fund two new exceptional researchers working in the field of cancer research. We appreciate your support.

My recommendation by Nikki Beaumont - MD

I love to read like many and although I used to love nothing more than an entertaining novel, as a mum to 2 year old Maddy I don't have the time to enjoy a good read like I used to. So I have to be more choosy about what I read these days and I love nothing more than an inspirational book. I have just finished reading Heather Swans' new book No Ceiling, which incidentally I also bought as a gift for my management team.

I have loved this book so much, just reading about how Heather has overcome her fears has made a significant impact on how I feel about myself and what I believe I can achieve too. I am even more inspired to be the best that I can be and encourage those around me to share that goal. You can order Heathers book on line through her website www.noceiling.com.au

What is even more exciting though, is that Heather is just launching "Adventurecentric" Life training for women , developed by Heather Swan to share the skills, methodology, insights and experience she used to successfully live her big dream – breaking the world’s most ‘extreme’ sporting record – high altitude wingsuit BASEjumping. I will most certainly be joining one of her retreats, they are extremely good value for money, I wonder if you will too? www.noceiling.com.au

temp

Temp of the Month

That time has come around again…time to announce our most tremendous temp of the month. This month the award goes to… Katie Galbraith. Katie has been working as a Marketing Assistant for one of our clients over the last few months and we have heard nothing but amazing things about Katie and the standard of her work. She has even been referred to as ‘a treasure’. Here are some of the nice things that Katie’s employer has said about her. “Katie is a treasure. She is flexible, more than willing to do any task that we ask her to and she will suggest ways to improve methods. She has taken up the challenge of our internal systems and processes and has proven a god’s send in a very difficult transition period. She is helpful and courteous and gets on well with everyone. Katie takes pride in her work and is responsible for the outcome, she is detailed and results driven, flexible, accommodating and a quick learner – you only have to explain once and Katie will run with it.” Amazing, thanks for doing such a fantastic job Katie, a prize is on its way to you!

A special word of thanks must also go to Jennifer Inwood who has worked incredibly hard for us in various temp roles over the last year! Thanks for everything Jenny, keep up the good work!

nov

Whats on in November

Don’t forget we are entering the month of the Mo - Visit Movember

Sculptures by the Sea – 29th Oct – 15th Nov

Melbourne Cup – 3rd Nov

Newtown festival – 8th Nov

National Recycling Week – 9 – 15th Nov

Yoga Challenge 2009 – 15th Nov

The Rocks Markets by Moonlight – every Friday in Nov and Dec