I can’t tell you how effortless you made our recent placement process. As well as spending a totally delightful morning together, conducting our final interviews with you, (as our third interviewee and sounding board), your professionalism, high level of communication and positive attitude was invaluable when faced with this daunting task.

‘You truly saved my life ! Plus saved my boyfriend (recruitment consultant) and I, fighting about CV’s!’

Justine – Branding Manager

‘Wow, that’s what I really wanted to write, thank you. I am a completely satisfied customer. I just feel so much better submitting that letter over mine… I have had help with my resume before and I have never felt so comfortable as with the the one that you have created for me.  I feel like it sums me up beautifully… Thanks Bek”

E McInnes – Sales Representative

I think it’s right on the money -

_________________

‘I read the following recently in a CDAA newsletter, and thought it sums up the role of career development for our students really well.

‘Career development is the lifelong process of managing learning and work. The quality of this process significantly determines the nature and quality of individuals’ lives: the kind of people they become, the sense of purpose they have, the income at their disposal. It also determines the social and economic contribution they make to their employer and communities of which they are part. Career decisions are becoming more complex and central in people’s lives as workplaces become increasingly fluid and constantly exposed to change. Traditional career concepts of ordered progression are no longer valid with both employees and employers less willing to make long-term commitments.

Individuals who want to maintain their employability have to be willing to regularly learn new skills and make a series of choices throughout their lives about learning and work. Hence careers are now increasingly seen not as being ‘chosen’ but as being constructed. People with career management skills are able to move confidently in and out of good jobs, training and education to suit their family commitments and their talents and needs.

Organisations that promote a strong career development culture benefit from higher employee satisfaction, enhanced retention and increased productivity. This is also a key factor in attracting quality staff’.

The entire article is archived on the CDAA website at:

http://www.cdaa.org.au/node/2446

Regina Saunders April 2010

B. Suharso – Accounting

‘Thanks – It’s fantastic. Great work!!!! I am very pleased. You have been very helpful and I’m feeling very confident in myself after reading my resume now… I will be calling you again once I get in and I will for sure recommend my friends to you when looking for a job.’

Dan George – Biotechnologist

Regina Saunders – Manager Jetty Bunker Youth Services

• Get focussed. Often we are own worst enemies, interrupting ourselves by jumping from one half-finished task to another. Stop doing “the desktop shuffle” – moving papers aimlessly around on your desk. Every time you handle an item, take an action towards completing it.
• Write down & group your communications with individuals.  Share these communication lists at one or two planned times during the day.
• Process your messages/email & other paperwork once or twice each day at planned times.
• Computer files should be organised in file folders just like your paper or e-mail filing system for simplicity & ease of retrieval. Aim to keep your in-box empty. Archive all up till now, for ease & a clean slate. Use the ‘flag option’ in Outlook to choose dates as reminders…If the e-mail can be done in two minutes or less, take action & complete it.  Others may be dragged to the appropriate computer folder such as  URGENT Folder, Important Folder, or PendingFolder. When finished processing e-mails, your inbox should be totally empty.
• Clean out & remove all unnecessary, closed, or unused files every six months (In your filing cabinet & in your PC)
• Schedule appointments with yourself to get things done. Commit to spending time on the things you keep “not getting around to.”  When are you at your best & freshest – first thing in the morning maybe? – try to tackle the trickiest jobs then.
• Beware of perfectionism. Most routine work doesn’t need to be done perfectly. Ask yourself — Is your effort disproportionate to the value of the task? Will other, more important projects be delayed as a result? Can you reduce the frequency or level of detail of this task?

It is imperative that –
•    it serve you
•    it please you
•    it be under your control.

It’s important to realise that control is the goal of organisation. Organization is not a goal – it is a process. Yet there can be no control without understanding.

When the habits of very organised people are closely scrutinized, some basic principles or methods for being organised become apparent.

These people

• Create a place for everything – then put everything in its place. (An oldie but a goodie)
• They don’t delay, they make a decision today!  – Procrastination is the enemy of an organised space.
• One in/one out – an organised space requires a simple system for controlling what comes in and what goes out of your space.
• Sort like with like – categorizing is an essential skill for organised living.

Did you know?

• The average office has 19 copies of each document, yes 19.
• 80% of papers filed are NEVER retrieved again.
• People waste almost one hour per day trying to find misfiled, mis-labeled or misplaced items.
• There was 50% more paper in offices in 2005 than there was in 1995.

So at some point soon we are going to turn off our computers, roll up our sleeves and take some control of this space. There may be things about this space that we cannot change but there are still many things we can do to make this area work more efficiently for you.

My aim is:

1.    to cull excess and remove clutter.
2.    to create a visually friendlier environment.
3.    to allow the capacity for more efficiency and flow.

An Organised Space Requires Logical Decision Making

“Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide. “

Napoleon Bonaparte

The achievement of an organised space requires constant decision making in order to set priorities and control the amount of ‘stuff’ coming into and leaving your space.

Historically, decision making has long been recognised as a challenging activity.

Decision making can be made even more challenging because of:

• emotional interference
• no knowledge or understanding of the decision making process
• lack of experience with the decision making process
• lack of awareness of the questions that need to be asked to promote decision making

Decision making can be thought of as a cognitive process whereby an individual chooses between a number of alternatives so there is a single course of action or outcome.

Logical and informed decision making is essential to gaining control of your situation. Emotional decision making seldom leads to control!

Let’s examine the first reason for difficulty with decision making more clearly to see how it can influence an organised space.

Emotional interference

Human beings might be made of flesh and bone but it is our emotions that control us. Emotions can make it difficult for some people to make even the simplest decisions needed for organised living such as:

“Do I toss or do I keep?”
“If I keep it where do I put it?”
“If I put it somewhere how do I get to it?” etc etc

If you see yourself in this description you are not alone.Most of the decisions made by human beings, in fact, in everyday life are based on what a person is feeling and not what a person is thinking!

Making decisions from an emotional base will very seldom lead to control. The only way to stop the emotional interference is to be aware of its influence. When you are having difficulty with a decision ask yourself these two questions.

1. What am I thinking about this?
2. What am I feeling about this?

Reflecting on the answers to these two questions will reveal whether it is the logic or the emotion that is influencing the decision.

Here is a simple checklist to use to create/refine a workspace that is effective, efficient & distraction free!  Check off each item as you complete the instruction & see what a difference it makes…

DESK management

• Remove distracting objects from your field of view when sitting at your desk in the ready work position.  Place personal items & pictures in specific locations or behind you out of sight when working.  Remove & store out of sight excess pen or pencil holders, tape dispensers, staplers, or other tools that are not used daily.
• Place your telephone(s) on weak side of desk (if right handed, then on your left side).
  Place your phone directory, next to the telephone.
  Remove note pads, & post-it note pads.
• Use one calendar commitment system such as a day planner.  Keep your day planner open & ready to use on the desk strong side (right side if you are right handed).  Write all notes, commitments, voice-mails, & other items of interest there on a daily basis.
• On the inside cover of your diary have a MASTER TO-DO-LIST; a page which is the ongoing list of tasks for you to achieve.
• Type a list of all the phone numbers, codes, extensions, policy numbers & repeatedly required information & pin above your phone on your pin board. (Instead of several old post-it notes)
• Grab a plastic-sleeved book and create your ‘bible’ of all the information you need at your fingertips. (I have one at home called, ‘To do, To buy, To get, To fix’ which hold all my bills and papers to be actioned.)
• Create a place for everything & put it back after you’ve used it.

Aim for effectiveness, not neatness. Neatness as an end in itself can even be risky: Putting things away just to clear off your desk can cause you to lose or forget them. At the end of the day put everything left in one pile for sorting, first thing the next morning.

Clutter is rarely caused by insufficient space or time. The culprit is usually indecisiveness. So be selective about what you bring into your office. If you are clear about what you value & what your goals are, being selective is not hard.

In-Trays & Toaster racks

• Establish a visibly labelled In-Tray “For Bek” outside the opening to your office area for others to use.
• Create an ‘URGENT’ In-Tray, an ‘IMPORTANT’ & ‘PENDING’ In-Tray.  Place these trays together, out of eyesight, to avoid eye jumping.  Prioritise all the items in each basket placing the highest priority item on top.  Create & place your ‘FINISHED’ In-Tray where it may be seen. File its contents once a week.
• Have a toaster rack for clearly labelled manilla folders that are being used today/this week.

FILES

• Establish TALK-TO-Files for each colleague or team member to store notes & communications that will be shared at one or two planned times.  (Kept in Toaster rack)
• Establish READ-File for articles, updates or other materials you would like to read.  (Kept in Toaster rack)
• Establish REFERENCE & HISTORICAL files out of sight, in filing cabinets.
• Use color-coded folders for easy visual identification of files (eg red – projects, blue – people, green – read, etc.).  File alphabetically with titles you are familiar with.

I recommend you label the file properly. The easiest way to do this is to buy a label maker. They are inexpensive, neat, practical, small and easy to store in a drawer when you are done. File your folders alphabetically.

Don’t save paper that you’re not willing to spend time filing: every item needs one of the following actions -

1. Handle it
2. File it,
3. Delegate it
4. Get rid of it

The clean up process can take a lot of time. Obviously, the bigger the mess, the more effort will be involved in removing the items and applying the four options to each item. However, the reward at the end is well worth it.

At the end of the process, you should be left with a clean work area. The only things that should be left out are the things you are immediately working on. This is very important. At the end of the day, there should be nothing on the top of your desk except your monitor, telephone and minimal accessories such as two pens and two pencils in a holder. The only thing that should ever be on top of a workspace should be the one thing you are actively engaged in. Everything else that you are currently working on should be filed or delegated to someone else.

My reasoning? Because a new employee’s first 3-6 months is generally considered the highest period of risk in terms of potential turnover.

How they are treated in the first part of their tenure can be the difference between an employee with a long term commitment to your organisation, and one who leaves before the year is out. In the current climate, they may become disillusioned very quickly and are likely to quit unexpectedly, or are vulnerable to being poached by another employer. It has also been shown the more quickly an employee is integrated and settled into a new working environment, the faster they will achieve productivity returns for an employer.

So what can you do to maximise your employee’s experience?

• Ensure they have the right tools required for the role.
• Determine if additional skills need to be developed – Acknowledgment of skills development and training as required
• Implement a creative and structured induction program including business history, values, strategy and financial goals of the organisation.
• Meet and greet session with other staff; a walk around building with full explanations.
• Regular formal and informal two-way feedback to assess the employee’s progress and concerns.
• An explanation and example of a performance review.
• A tailored coaching and mentoring program or an agreed career development plan in place that will add value to the new employee’s career growth.