Edition 5 - December 2006A word from the editor I sit here watching the Christmas stock fill the stores and promise myself, as I do every year, that the Christmas shopping will be done early and I will not be shopping on Christmas Eve this year. But more importantly I cannot comprehend that this is the last newsletter for 2006. This year has been very eventful for Access HR, with new staff, many TempStars, great relationships built and sustained. But the most recent news for us is that our website (www.accesshr.com.au) has won the WebAward 2006 Standard of Excellence in the Professional Services category. This is a very proud achievement for us here at Access HR, and we would also like to congratulate Anthony Iezzi and his team, for their hard work and fantastic design ideas that have earnt them this prestigious award. To all our clients and candidates, we would like to thank you for a fantastic year, and we look forward to continuing on working with you in 2007. Access HR will be closing their offices from Friday 22nd December and will be reopening on Tuesday 2nd January 2007. If you require any assistance please do not hesitate to contact Kim White who is readily available on her mobile. In the meantime we have just over one month to go so let’s finish 2006 as it started – exciting, busy, and meaningful. Take Care, The Access HR Team! | |
How To: Manage E-mail Overload: Steps To Get You Started
One of the biggest time-wasters is handling or not handling e-mail. There are people who have a backlog of 2000+ e-mails that they can’t figure out what to do with. There are computer programs such as Outlook that can help you manage your e-mail. There are spam filters that can reduce the number of irritating, unwanted e-mails you receive. Here are a few ways to get all those other e-mails under control. 1. Keep track of how long you’re spending on e-mail. If you get fifty e-mails a day and spend three minutes reading and responding to each, that chews up 2.5 hours a day. If you make $40,000 a year, it’s costing you $50 a day to process e-mail. 2. Take yourself off any unnecessary bulk email lists that don’t provide you with any relevant information or that you never look at. 3. Ask your friends and co-workers to delete you from their automatic list of 300 of their nearest and dearest they send jokes and chain letters to. Some e-mails take a minute just to scroll down through all those addresses to get to the message. Then you find out it’s a cartoon that will take four minutes to download. Then you feel the need to respond to your friend, if you can remember who sent you the e-mail to you, with “Cute”. This just encourages him or her to send you more stuff you could live without nicely for the rest of your days. 4. Answer e-mail at two or three set times a day. To help you adjust or turn off the bouncing icon on your desktop and the voice that announces, “You’ve got mail.” 5. If you usually put your contact information in your e-mails, save time by creating an automatic signature. 6. When you’re on hold on the phone, delete twenty emails. 7. Set a good example for your e-mailers. a. Summarize your content in the subject line. For instance, instead of saying, “Let’s talk about the party plans,” say, “Recommend two large tents. Must order by Friday, August 25.” b. Write a complete message. Instead of writing a response that says, “Cool,” respond by saying, “Jim, I like your idea of having two, 5 x 7 foot panels behind the stage so that we can display banners.” This will help your reader know what you’re referring to without having to go back and search. Your records will be more complete, too. c. Consider why you’re CC-ing people. I found myself on a list that I had no reason to be on. I asked to be removed, which I was. But, I’m still getting blast e-mails from other people I don’t know who were on the list. A recent one asked if I’d like to carpool to a meeting in Indianapolis. Considering I live in Denver, I don’t think this e-mail concerned me at all. d. If you’re sending your e-mail to multiple recipients, send blind copies. Your receivers don’t like to see their e-mail address broadcast willy-nilly. This is more personal and private, too. Save time by letting people know you’re preferred means of communication. If you’re ever received an e-mail followed by a fax to confirm the e-mail and then a phone call to confirm that the fax was received, you know what a waste of time this duplication can be for the sender and for the receiver. © Karen Susman Remarkable Associationis, 3352 S. Magnolia Street, Denver, CO 80224. 1-888-678-8818 www.karensusman.com |
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Skills Shortage forecast will continue - Lets think outside the Square to secure quality employeesSignificant wage rises are predicted for 2007 as the candidate pool shrinks In 2005 – 2006 the workforce grew by 224,000 and unemployment fell to 4.8 percent the lowest in 40 years. Looking to the future, skills shortages dominate the concerns of CEO’s and HR professionals, and wage-driven inflation presents the greatest threat to economic growth. An outcome to this is that it is clearly an employees market which significantly pushes the wages higher. Long term global skills shortages, an ageing population and strong global economic growth suggest it will be more of the same in 2007. The two major solutions will be using the mature age workforce, parents returning back to work, and attracting talent from overseas of which these areas should flourish in the New Year. One of the most pressing issues facing the majority of employers is the lack of ‘relevant experience’. However, change your view on that phrase and the field suddenly widens. With the recent Welfare to Work changes, there are many parents now actively considering sustainable employment. While they have been out of work for a period of time, they offer employers a set of often undervalued but effective skills and have obtained an effective set of skills through coordinating a family, household budget and in many cases part-time employment or study. Many parents have skills and qualifications acquired before they left the employment market to have children and these are easily adaptable to today’s market. Mature age workers are another growth sector. With the ageing population and the decreasing birth rate, mature age workers over the age of 50 play a critical role in the labour market. Positive employer perception of mature age workers challenges the historical thinking that they cannot learn new skills, are set in their ways, working to retirement therefore lacking ambition. However their life, and past work experiences can provide benefits such as mentoring younger staff, taking on leadership roles and a mature work ethic. As the balance between work, family and living becomes a heightened priority for employees there is a higher demand on employers for flexibility and the consideration of return to work for parents and the mature age workers needs to be factored into the company’s HR strategies. Difficulties in finding the right permanent staff will also result in the use of temps, contractors, part-time and casual staff. As a final note top priority for HR practitioners must be retention. “What part are we playing to ensure we retain our best staff?” Is it flexible hours, flexible work options, including job share, part time, remote work and the fostering of flexibility. For the short term this will mean budgeting for retention as well as and not instead of recruitment. Anna Lane – Director Access HR Solutions References: Human Resources Magazine.com.au October 2006 HR Monthly – October 2006 |
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Access HR Tempstar
Access HR believes all our temporary employees contribute and perform extraordinarily and should be recognized for their efforts. It is with great pleasure we announce December 2006 Access HR Tempstar. This award is determined by general work performance, feedback received from clients and the Access HR team. And the winner is Cathy Petronzio Access HR Tempstar (December 2006) Cathy is a long serving temporary employee of Access HR and has proven to be a enormous asset to us. Cathy is repeatedly requested back by our distinguished client and no matter how big or small the task is at hand Cathy always puts in 110%. With excellent communication skills, an optimistic approach to everything it is a pleasure to have Cathy as part of our temporary team. Cathy thank you for all your efforts. In appreciation of Cathy’s achievement we have presented her with a certificate and a small gift. |
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Website Review
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