Even in these uncertain economic times there appears to be a skills shortage in the labour market

It has been reported that almost half of Australia’s privately owned companies are starting to struggle and as a result have implemented wage freezes and cancelled investment or expansion plans in preparation for the tough year ahead. Private companies in Australia represent the bulk of small and medium businesses and account for almost half of Australia’s economic output. KPMGs annual survey of privately-owned firms revealed that more than half of all the firms had laid off staff in the previous 6 months and a further one-quarter intended to cut their head count over the next 6-12 months and of these half expected to cut staff by 5-10 percent. However in a survey produced by AMP Capital in 2008 revealed that about 30 percent of firms’ struggled to find appropriate skilled labour. Thus even in the worst of times, the need for skilled labour still remains. For a third year in a row, a skills shortage was reported across all industries. It remains high in mining, manufacturing and utility sectors, showing the traditional trade skills are still in short supply.

If you are looking at increasing your skills, SkillsTech Australia is the lead TAFE institute for training in automotive, building and construction, manufacturing and engineering, electrical/electronics and sustainable technologies throughout Queensland.
Enrolments for July 2009 are now available to visit their website for more details CLICK HERE.

Donate and avoid the tax man

ACT for Kids is a not-for-profit organisation which works to give all Australian children the safe and happy childhood they deserve.

It may seem surprising but donating can really save you on tax, especially if you’re on the higher marginal tax rates of 41.5% or 46.5%. Even more surprising is that up to two-thirds of all donations aren’t even claimed. So put your tax-deductible receipts in a safe place and remember them when it’s time to complete your tax return!

Before you Retire you won't want to leave work without...............

1. A Money Plan
This may seem common practice, but did you know that one of the biggest regrets many women have is around money and retirement? Mainly they regret not starting sooner, saving more, and being better informed about finances. Yes, this also includes women with high-powered careers, making buckets of money. Many of these women have hidden their heads in the sand around money and haven't planned for the future they deserve. It's not too late to start, so if you're not set financially, get creative and start planning. Even if you have debts there are always options, see a financial advisor and create a plan to first erase your debts and then focus on future endeavours.

2. A Time Management Plan
Although one of the lures of retirement is not having to have a schedule it is in this that lies one of the biggest traps of retirement. Without a framework for your days, weeks, months and years, you can slip into a deadening non-routine.

3. A Purpose Plan
Whether or not your love your career, it's given you a purpose. A reason to get out of bed each day, a place to be where people are counting on you, a focus for your skills, abilities, and energy. If you can find a purpose for this next stage of your life, one that ignites your passion and literally pulls you out of bed in the morning, you will be set. If you haven’t already, consider a stint of coaching/counselling with a career management consultant at an outplacement services firm, such as Donington.

Work provides money in the form of income you can count on, time management in the form of a framework for your life, and purpose in the form of getting you out of bed in the morning for something that brings meaning to your life. As you design what's next for you, it is important to provide each of these for yourself.

For more information on life directions including information and action plans to help you make the right choices for the next stage of your life, whatever your direction may be.

Visit ipac’s link below:
http://www.ipac.com.au/ipac/ld.nsf/Content/Home

At Donington we offer Active Retirement Planning. This program provides individuals with the support and skills to cope with and understand the impact of retirement. It prepares them to deal with change and provides the tools to enhance clarity of decision making. It provides a safe, confidential process to express individual concerns and put in place plans to move forward to active retirement. Partners are welcome to participate in any/all sessions.

Is an Aptitude Test for me?

Aptitude tests are used to measure your mental reasoning ability, most commonly your numerical, verbal, comprehension, and abstract or spatial reasoning skills. These tests are usually timed and so the pressure can be quite intense and the results are compared to a general test group. These tests are a general indicator of your skills and ability, they are not utilised to dictate whether you can perform a certain job or role. Most corporations utilise an aptitude or psychometric test in order to gauge how a potential employee could deal with situations that are outside their realm of expertise. They are used to make inferences about your competencies, capabilities, and likely future performance on the job.

Aptitude tests are ideal for mind stimulation and they are valuable tools to assist in increasing your mental capacity, therefore it may be beneficial to do practise tests before an interview or meeting as 70% of corporations’ worldwide use these tests in their recruitment process. However there are many types of aptitude tests available from general to industry specific, so it’s just a matter of searching which one is relevant to your circumstances.

We have included 3 links to online line aptitude tests for you below:

General aptitude test:
http://www.3smartcubes.com/pages/tests/aptcomplete/aptcomplete_instructions.asp

Selection of specific aptitude tests:
http://www.psychometric-success.com/downloads/download-practice-tests.htm

Cognitive aptitude test:
http://www.onetest.com.au/home/assessmentmanagementsystem/cognitiveability.aspx?gclid=CM2asbCHkJsCFUwwpAod42ZHpA

GROWING THE GREEN COLLAR ECONOMY

Australia can take strong action to tackle climate change and create millions of new job opportunities, according to a major report released by ACF. The report, Growing the Green Collar Economy, identifies the employment impact of action to cut greenhouse gas emissions in Australia and examines the skills, training and workforce implications.

It is acknowledged in the report that achieving transition to a low carbon sustainable economy will require a massive mobilisation of skills and training – both to equip new workers and to enable appropriate changes in practices by the three million workers already employed in the key sectors influencing our environmental footprint.

Whether you are a HR manager with a long-term strategic vision or looking to build a career in construction, transport, agriculture, manufacturing and mining sectors then the report is definitely worth an in-depth read or even a general scan depending on your tolerance for academic writing.

To obtain a copy of the report click the link below:
http://www.csiro.au/resources/GreenCollarReport.html

Are Your Finances in Order?..

It’s good to know where you stand financially especially in this uncertain economic climate. Having a budget is a good way to manage your finances and increase your career resilience as it gives you a clear picture of where you are now and where you could be headed.

The Smart Money Guide Budget below is a step in getting your finances under control. This budget allows you to save your progress online and refer back to it anytime with the option to export it to Excel enabling you to share with your financial advisor. Just logon at http://www.smartmoneyguide.com.au/ and get ahead financially.

At Donington we are conducting a 2009-2010 Federal Budget session for senior managers on the 29th of July. This session will focus on key issues including superannuation, employee share plan benefits and executive remuneration planning along with helpful processes to assist you now and in the future. For more information please refer to the invitation posted on the tool bar.

Handling the Networking Call......From the Receiver’s Perspective

Coaching people in how to make those all important networking calls is an essential part of our service to our clients, but what about those on the receiving end. How do you help job seekers without risking your own productivity and reputation?

Here’s a few simple tips to follow:

1. If you are recieving several calls a week from people seeking help in finding a job, it’s always good policy to help if you can. Often the issue isn’t too many calls; it’s when the calls are from people for whom you cannot vouch. Start by asking callers what they want – whether it’s an introduction, job search advice or resume assistance – and then determine if you can help. A good tip is to give the person a 5 minute time limit to see if they can tell you their story succintly and articulately. You want to be able to determine if they know what they want and see what they bring to the table.

2. If you do plan to refer a caller to someone in your professional network or at your company, take time to sit down with the person first, because your credibility is on the line. Have them come to your office for a 30 minute information interview. If you refer them without doing this and they come across poorly to your network it will reflect badly on you.

3. If the best you are prepared to offer someone is general career advice or information about your industry, you can talk over the phone. Set a time for the call so you can get back to work quickly. The time limit will help you avoid becoming emotionally drained from listening and trying to help people in needs, particularly if you are taking several calls a week.

4. Use your connections sparingly and wisely, tap your most treasured contacts only for very important favours, otherwise you risk using up your own networking capital. If a person’s connection to you is very tenuous, give only general advice. On the other hand a successful referral can be a positive to your own reputation.

5. Always be kind to the job seekers as this is an extraordinarily difficult time to be unemployed. Tell them “I wish I could help but right now I do not see a connection with any opportunity”, then add that they can send their resume and if you see or hear of something that fits their background you will pass it along. At the same time, if you know you will never be able to help the person be upfront and honest to avoid building up false hope. If you can suggest an alternative avenue that you know of for them to pursue i.e. an industry association etc.

Career Wishing

Skills Shortage despite Economic Woes?

Results from Manpower Inc.’s annual International Talent Shortage Survey may seem surprising given the current economic downturn. The company says that 30% of employers worldwide are struggling to find qualified personnel. Positions in the skilled trades, technical work and engineering remain the most difficult for employers to fill globally.

Manpower surveyed nearly 39,000 employers in 33 countries and territories to gauge their ability to find the talent they need.

The 10 hardest jobs to fill are:

· Engineers
· Nurses
· Skilled/manual trades
· Teachers
· Sales representatives
· Technicians
· Drivers
· IT personnel
· Labourers
· Machinist/machine operators

Our observation of the local Queensland market would bear this out to some extent. For some businesses the economic downturn has not meant an increase in applications rather than an increase in the number of qualified candidates. Part of our role as Outplacement and Transition Consultants is to act as advocates for our clients and to help them highlight the in-demand skills and experience that they possess.

For some of the clients undertaking our Career Transition programs, their situation whilst unfortunate has provided them with a unique opportunity to acquire new skills in areas where there is a demand for certain skills. In fact many of the HR professionals with whom we speak are already looking to the future and see a skills shortage even more acute than the one prior to the latest economic woes.

Are you considering a career transition or simply wanting to acquire formal recognition of current skills in a trade or technical role? Why not visit www.skillstech.tafe.qld.gov.au and request a copy of their 2009 Program Guide.

The Redundancy Selection Process

At our recent seminar series on how to effectively manage the seperation process, many of our clients expressed an interest in learning more about the process of redundancy in light of the new IR laws passed in Federal Parliment and due to come in to effect on 1 July 2009. We thought the following steps may give you some initial guidance. In addition we are currently working with our partners in the legal fraternity to develop an integrated service that will help our clients to ensure their processes are aligned with the new laws. We have also created a supporting checklist. For a copy please email our Business Development Manager, Stacey Blanch at stacey.blanch@donington.com.au

Redundancy Steps
The following information below depicts the basic key elements under each redundancy step that should be addressed.

1 Ensure that the role is genuinely being made redundant.
Make sure that the role is not going to be replaced, and that the redundancy is not a result of the employee/s behaviour or performance. It is important to make sure that the job is justifiably regarded as being excess to operational requirements. All other alternatives to the redundancy must be examined such as reduction in overtime and redeployment of the employee/s.

2 The next step is to appropriately select and consult with the employee who’s role is being
considered for termination.
If an employer has a choice in which employee/s will need to be terminated then a fair and equitable selection must be utilised. For example, an objective test on the basis of each individuals performance. It is important to remember that the employee has the right to respond to that selection criteria.

3 The process of consultation then commences.
At this stage the employer has a private and confidential discussion with the employee to inform them of the pending redundancy. This consultation process should take the form of a meeting or meetings whereby the employee has the opportunity to discuss and query options with the right to reply to any of the criteria used for question.

4 A notice of termination to the employee is required.
The appropriate notice period will depend on the content within their contract, any notice period required by an applicable employment contract award, enterprise agreement, workplace agreement, National Agreement Preserving a State Agreement (NAPSA) or PSA and any minimal requirements set out in the federal legislation.

5 Redundancy Payments
Upon the finalisation of employment the redundancy payments will integrate amounts for accrued and untaken annual leave, pro rata long service leave, accrued but unpaid wages including overtime, accrued and unpaid bonuses or commissions, reimbursement of approved expenses and superannuation contributions (paid direct to the superannuation fund) calculated to the end of the notice period.

Note: The Fair Work Bill 2009 is anticipated to commence 1 July 2009. It is important to remember that the provisions relating to National Employment Standards (NES) and modern awards are anticipated to commence on 1 January 2010. To view the transitional provisions and consequential amendments bill please visit the Australian Government Website for more information.

"How to Effectively Manage the Separation Process"

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Donington delivered its second breakfast session this morning which covered processes, skills, Do’s and Don’ts involved in every stage of the separation lifecycle.

This topic is so important as the number of staff whose roles are being redeployed or made redundant is increasing rapidly. The unemployment rate is currently sitting at 5.3%, an alarming 22.3% increase over a 12 month period and it seems likely that this trend will continue for another 12 to 18 months. As a result, Managers are experiencing difficulty as they try to plan and implement a separation process for which they have little or no formal training or experience.

Poor planning and implementation of the separation process will result in a Manager losing trust and credibility among survivors, therefore hindering their ability to motivate and lead staff out of the downturn. More serious is the effect of a badly managed separation on the exiting employee, which can result in an increased risk to the organisation and/or the wellbeing of the individual.

We have included a list of the top 10 tips for managing the separation meeting for you below.
See our contact details details above if you require any additional information or wish to speak to one of our consultants.

Top 10 Tips for Managing the Separation Meeting

ONE
Remeber that staff are PEOPLE and not just Human Resources.
TWO
Ensure that those delivering the message have been trained E.g. line managers and HR support.
THREE
Ensure that the staff are not on leave, RDO's.
FOUR
Ensure that the outplacement provider is provided with appropriate personal information.
FIVE
Ensure that you have a timetable with appropriate time between each notification.
SIX
Ensure that you have double checked calculations.
SEVEN
Ensure that you have* Letters of notification* Certificate of service* Pay calculations
EIGHT
Ensure that for whatever reason a change is made that payroll and the paperwork is changed.
NINE
Dont make it on a Friday or a public holiday.
TEN
Make sure that it is conducted in a private room and never in a boardroom.