I am a great believer in balance in your life, and physical exercise and being outdoors is such a great contrast to the hours in the office and on the computer. And small boat sailing stretches the body and the mind — as my aching muscles tell me every Sunday morning.

Last weekend I had one of those unforgettable days of sailing, and not for good reasons. It was all because of what went wrong — and it was my fault because I lost focus.

Like many of us do at times, I was trying to do too many things at once — and stuffed up. At our club I am chairman of the Sailing Committee and have some responsibilities around organising the days racing.

On this particular day we had invited participants in our ‘learn-to-sail’ program to join in a race as crew with more experienced sailors to give them a taste of what racing is about.

So in my wisdom I offered to take on a crew myself, and at the same time was busily making sure all the participants were matched off with skippers, knew what to do, had the right gear. I even dashed home to get extra wetsuits for people — as the weather was going to be very blowy and wet. And inbetween I was supposed to be rigging my boat.

The trouble was I got sidetracked, and came back to it later and didn’t follow standard safety procedures. Yea, this turkey in her rush of making sure everyone else was organised forgot to organise myself. So three little essential things called hatch covers were not screwed into place — these are what make your boat watertight if you capsize.

So to cut to the chase — we were out in the Bay, halfway between Williamstown and Port Melbourne — the race started , the weather had pretty strong winds and a challenging situation with an inexperienced crew.

After only five minutes of racing I didn’t respond to a big gust quickly enough, and my crew couldn’t move fast enough and we capsized. Now capsizing isn’t generally too much of a problem — there is a standard procedure on how to right a boat and we got into the swing of it. But of course, unbeknown to me — those hatch covers were not there — and the boat filled with water while it was upside down.

We have safety boats that came to our rescue and attempted to help us right the capsized boat. Due to the amount of water the boat took on — it became a major exercise to stop it sinking and we were eventually tied up to the start boat.

Those helping me on the start boat thought we must have had a major hole in the boat. It took nearly another hour to work through various ways to de-rig the boat and right it — even then it was still full of water and I had to be towed back to shore while literally sitting under water in the boat.

It was only when I reached the clubhouse, a bit hypothermic, that I could see what had caused the near demise of my boat — my own incompetence in not doing a safety check and leaving off all three hatch covers. I was lucky the boat didn’t sink.

So what happened? I just lost focus. Trying to do too many things at once — and obviously not doing some of them very well. Could it have been prevented? Of course. We were lucky- — the boat could have easily sunk and I also put myself and my new inexperienced crew at risk. Not smart.

So what have you done lately because you lost focus!

We all do it — often because we are too busy to make time to do things properly.

Sometimes the results can be catastrophic, whether it is in business decisions or personal decisions. So my lesson from last Saturday is to get my priorities sorted out at the Club on Saturdays, learn to say no to some things and don’t over commit, and make sure I do the task or job properly and give things the right amount of attention.

The reality of the job market at the moment is that it is very competitive — there are many more applicants than there are positions.

And as most job application happen via online applications you need to be aware of a few things.

1. DO NOT write in text speak or SMS type language. When sending an email enquiry or job application, please use correct grammar and punctuation.

Make sure you use spell check on your email. For the majority of recruitment companies or HR staff, they will not be impressed receiving applications not written in sensible English.

2. Resume Presentation. Please use a simple and easy to read format for your resume.

There are many on-line templates you can use for resumes.

The idea of a resume is to give the person reviewing it an overview of what you have done in work, education, volunteering etc.

Do include your personal details, including address, phone and email. Please use date and time periods in your work history and indicate if jobs have been casual, part time or full time.

If there are gaps in your employment history please explain them — eg travel, fulltime study, looking for work, etc.

Do not use elaborate headings, cover pages, borders, graphics and fancy fonts. A resume should preferably be no more than 3-4 pages long.

3. Cover Letter. If a job ad asks for a cover letter, please include one. I would also recommend that most applicants should supply a cover letter, even if the ad does not specify for it.

The general reason you write a cover letter is to complement your resume. The resume is generally a factual view of you- your contact details, education, work history, community involvement etc.

The cover letter is really where you target your application to a specific advertisement. You highlight your personal skills, work history etc that is relevant for this job.

The cover letter is where your personality should shine through. It is where you can sell yourself to the potential employer.

Even if you have limited work experience, you may be able to highlight other aspects that could be relevant. If you have recently left school it might be involvement in extra activities at school — drama, sport, organising school socials, etc.

If you are returning to the workforce after raising children, it might be your involvement with assisting in classrooms, children’s sporting clubs, and community volunteering, etc.

Many of the skills applicable in the workforce are social skills, and showing your various experiences can highlight you as ‘standing out’ from the crowd of other job applicants.

If you follow some of these ideas it should improve your success rate on getting employers and recruitment companies to seriously consider you as a suitable job applicant for their role.

Here is a treasure trove of varied work and life skills, experiences and often a great work ethic that is a big bonus to employers.

So if you have some of these people applying for roles in your business, try and get them on board.

As an employer, mature candidates and employees can be some of your greatest assets.

They tend to be more confident, self assured and have good communication skills and have a variety of life skills that can contribute to their value.

Occasionally they may not be fully up to speed with the latest technology, but they are generally keen and willing to learn.

For one of my clients in the retail sector they are having consistent and successful results employing ‘empty nesters’ as trainee retail managers.

These people want to work, have the time and energy to put into learning, are often flexible and adaptable and thrive on the opportunities given to them.

So please employers, do what you can to retain your current, mature employees, and if you are recruiting new staff, do consider the great benefits of older employees for some of your positions.

From my experience, it is healthy for most workplaces to have a mix of ages, skills and experience in their workforce — but tapping into mature candidates could be a great asset to your business.

For others, it has not been easy to get back into the workforce. So here are a few ideas that may help you get a role that suits you.

1. You have to sell yourself. The employment market is a competitive place and you need to make yourself stand out.

So firstly you have to get a suitable resume together — it shouldn’t be too wordy; should be easy to read; cover your work history; include any volunteer or community involvement, sports or social clubs.

The resume needs to be maintained on a computer so it can be emailed for job application. Generally a resume should be no more than 3-4 pages maximum.

Do not include fancy borders, photos, graphics, or use fancy fonts- use a simple layout that is easily readable.

2. Get used to the Internet. The majority of employment vacancies are advertised online, and you need to apply online.

Even if it is a newspaper ad, many of the applications are still to be emailed. Obviously, you also need to learn how to search for vacancies on-line.

Many community houses and local libraries run courses on how to use the internet. You have to be comfortable with email, attaching files to emails and researching jobs and companies.

3. Write a cover letter. You should always include a cover letter in a job application. The resume is generally the facts and figures about your background — I see it as a general overview.

The role of the cover letter is more to indicate your suitability for that particular role, and maybe show more of your personality and character. It should be no longer than one page.

4. Researching Prospective Employers. You need to ensure you know something about the company before you go to an interview with them.

Elsewhere on this site are more detailed ideas about how to research potential employers.

5. Interviews and Testing. Not everyone is comfortable in an interview, but it is an essential part of the job hunting process.

So you need to prepare mentally and physically for them, so you can create the best impression possible. There is detailed information elsewhere on this website about preparing for interviews.

In recruitment, a variety of assessment techniques may be used as well as interviews. These may include online personality tests, literary and numeracy tests, group interviews and role playing exercises.

The assessments will obviously be dependent on the type of role. Customer service, retail and warehouse roles often use group activities and role pays to see how people work together.

You can research many of these activities on-line in preparation for your interviews. It is fine to ask the employer or recruiter what the interview will involve.

So if you use some of this information, hopefully you will find it easier to get that role you are seeking.

Do not undersell yourself and be confident in your own capabilities.

Some industries and businesses are more susceptible to economic downturns than others. So you need to be realistic about the organisation or business you work with and how likely they are to be effected in the current economic climate.

Certainly in the susceptible industry sectors it may be advisable to be more flexible and proactive in your employment arrangements.

If you know things are slowing down for your employer, it may be advisable to make the first move and talk to the employer what you can do to help them through the possible tougher times.

This might include negotiating varied working arrangements — like part time hours, 9-day fortnight, taking unpaid leave, etc, rather than face the loss of your employment.

You could even think about taking some study leave to upgrade your skills as a long term focus. Look at courses that could enhance your skills and benefits long term to the employer.

Your employer may be eligible for some government subsidies and support as the Federal Government is overtly spending to save jobs.

Why don’t you investigate some of the options that may be available and present them to your employer?

For the majority of you, one would hope you are regarded as a loyal and important member of the organisation you work for, no matter what its size. And realistically, most employers don’t want to lose good staff.

The cost to replace, retrain and get someone up to the standard you are at, is a large investment for any business or organisation.

So don’t sit around and wait for the call into the office that you are dreading. Be proactive, work with your employer and remind them of why they need you in their team.

Even though all of us may be facing more challenging business times, slower growth and for some reduced turnover and lower profits- you need to think very seriously before you decide to terminate any staff.

For the majority of businesses, employees are your number one resource. Sure, they may also be one of your biggest costs — but more often than not they are your greatest asset. So don’t forget that!

Think about the diverse skills and experience you have in your team, and how beneficial and essential they are to your business.

More often than not they are the backbone of your business; the ones who develop or manage your systems; the ones who deal with the customers and suppliers; the ones who get the admin tasks done.

Maybe there would be a short term cost saving if you decided to terminate some of them. And yes, sometimes there are staff who do not perform well and cannot make the grade and you need to make the hard decisions about them.

But think about what it has cost you in $’s and time to get the majority of your staff to the level they are at. From a variety of industry and academic sources the dollar costs of recruiting, inducting and training staff is conservatively costed at $5K to $50K depending on skills levels, etc.

That could be a lot of your investment dollars going out the door if you decide to reduce staff numbers without seriously thinking about the implications.

I encourage all businesses to try and think of creative and practical ways to retain your staff through this business cycle. If you get rid of them now, who is going to be there to help you grow as the cycle picks up?

• The Federal government is pouring money into programs to stimulate and retain employment levels, so try and tap into those. There could be funding to upgrade your staff’s skills through subsidised training — make the most of that.
• Utilise some of the federal funding to actually put on a trainee or apprentice — go on buck the trend and give someone a chance to get that first real job.
• Approach your staff to negotiate more flexible work arrangements- maybe shorter hours, take unpaid leave, job sharing etc. I have one client who has already negotiated a 9 day fortnight with employees, and this allowed them to retain all staff and not have to make anyone redundant.
• Talk to your staff and keep them informed of what is happening in your business- be open to their suggestions and ideas of working through the challenging times together. Remember, they are as concerned about your success and viability as you, as they don’t want to lose their jobs.

These current business times are going to be challenging for many, but it is in fact a time when the flexible, innovative and pro-active business owner can add value and set themselves up with a winning advantage to move into the next growth cycle.

If you are looking for practical ways to keep your team together, please give us a call on 03 9397 0871 and we would be happy to work with you.

Firstly, since 27 March, 2008 no new Workplace Agreements can be made.

The Federal Government will introduce legislation later this year to implement changes to the Industrial Relations system, and has set a commencement date of 1 January 2010.

The main changes will be:

• Replacement of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission and Workplace Authority with an ‘umbrella’ organisation to be called Fair Work Australia. This will have implications for the lodgment and administration of agreements, regulation of awards and procedures for settling disputes (eg over dismissal).
• Replacement of the Australian Fair Pay and Conditions Standard (AFPCS) with a broader set of National Employment Standards (NES). These currently exist in draft form.
• Awards will be modernised and simplified . The Australian Industrial Relations Commission is expected to produce a series of model award clauses between now and 2010.
• Changes will be made to the coverage and procedures relating to dismissal. A Fair Dismissal Code will be developed, to be used as a model for appropriate dismissal procedures.
• There will be further changes to the types of employment agreements available. The ‘transition’ legislation has implemented some temporary and transitional arrangements that will last until 31 December 2009, and also implemented the ‘no-disadvantage’ test that has replaced the Fairness Test that existed in the latter days of WorkChoices.
• Provisions relating to right of entry and industrial disputes will change.

Information sourced from Workplace Information and Workplace Authority.

For more comprehensive information contact your industry association.

Staff Turnover costs Australian businesses $100 Billion a year in lost productivity, training and recruitment costs, according to research.

Bad managers and the high expectations of generation Y employees are being blamed for staff turnover, currently running at 18% overall and at 40% for workers in their 20s.

One in five cites poor management as the main reason behind their resignations, according to Exit Info, which runs interviews with employees about to leave their jobs.

Other common reasons include poor opportunities for career advancement, lack of interest in the work, limited challenges and a desire for career change.

Many employees do not name bad management as a reason, for fear of burning bridges.

“Instead of the real story, employees give acceptable reasons for why they are leaving, such as promotion, an overseas move or changes in family circumstance” said Exit Info director Lenore Lambert.

Money is not the driving force behind most resignations as only 14% of employees leave their jobs in search of a higher pay packet.

The research is backed up by a separate study showing that staff in their late teens and 20s are most likely to leave in search of something better. Two Thirds of Gen Y employees quit their companies after less than two years.

According to professional development group Skilled Up, outdated management practices clash with the values of gen Y employees, who have been joining the workforce at a record time of low unemployment.

“ Managers tell us they’re constantly locking horns with their employees- they find them audacious and rude because they’re not frightened to say what they think and expect.”

Do you need help with retention issues in your business?

We work with a variety of clients assessing staff turnover and what can be done to improve their situation. I am sure we can help you. Call Lois on 03 9397 0871.

This is a real shame and a lost opportunity for companies to look at the bigger picture. Whether they are building skills and knowledge across their organisation, or contributing to an individual’s long term growth, training expenditure is crucial to the growth of organisations, small or large.

The investment in training and the right sort of training can add value to your company, and help make you “An Employer of Choice”. In the current employment market, employers need to stand out to attract the right candidates.

If you can provide your staff opportunities for training and development, it is a great reason for them to want to stay working for you. There are the skills and knowledge related to specific work tasks that may be crucial to provide training for.

But don’t forget to look a little broader, and see what other training opportunities you can support for staff that may contribute in things like their leadership and management skills, their communication and presentation skills, and just activities that make them consider options and ideas that may enhance workplace operations.

Over the last few years I have stepped back into formal study — and the benefits to me personally, my clients and my business have been substantial- both financially and professionally.

At first it was real shock to the system — 28 years since I had attended uni and had to write essays — it was even before computers were used on a day to day basis; days of handwritten essays, using microfiche in libraries and paying people to type your essays. Wow, online resources have changed the education and training fields.

So, apart from a big learning curve, it was a great experience. One of the things that has been the most advantageous to me of my post grad study is the great network of people I met in my industry – the sharing of experiences, knowledge and challenges we all faced in our day to day roles was a positive outcome. The continuance of that network is a great professional resource.

The study has led to me having a broader picture of the Human Resources and Recruitment world – be more up to date with techniques, ideas, trends and this inturn has led to being able to provide a broader range of services to client companies. A Win-Win situation all round.

I had not expected to have such measurable changes from my study and this has encouraged me to do a course in Training & Assessment, and work with clients to encourage their more proactive use of training in their businesses.

So if you would like some advice and direction about things you could do with your staff to assist in their ongoing growth and development, I would love to hear from you. Please call Lois on 03 9397 0871.

Whether you are a small business, or part of a large organisation, the reality is you will be involved in conducting or supervising job interviews at some stage in your career.

So let’s make the most out of it. Putting time and effort into interview preparation and planning are all important to making sure you have the opportunity to find the right candidate for your position and company.

Behavioural Interview techniques and questions are now regarded as a very crucial component of the interview process.

A behavioural interview is a style of interview that forces the candidate to provide specific examples from past experiences.

Research shows that past behaviours are a very strong predictor of future performance in similar situations.

So by introducing behavioural interview techniques into your process you may find a greater success rate of selecting and retaining the right employee for you.

Generally this means you may ask fewer questions than in a traditional interview, but the level of detail required for each answer is much greater.

A traditional interview question uses questions along the line of “What motivates you? What are your personality strengths? etc.

Whereas a behavioural interview question is phrased more along the line …Tell me about a situation where you had to deal with a difficult customer, what was the problem, what action did you take, and what happened.

Depending on the completeness of the answer given, a good behavioural interviewer should always probe further, trying to get more depth in the answer from the candidate.

The responses you are looking for are about how an applicant has managed and coped in various situations they have experienced.

You are not looking for their theoretical answer, but their practical and actual experiences. When you are looking to analyse behavioural answers from a candidate you can use the SAO approach. S for Situation, A for Action and O for Outcome, and overall predicting how they might suit the situations and activities of the role you are interviewing them for.

There is a vast amount of resource on the internet regards Behavioural Interview Techniques — just Google the topic and you will find examples of questions and other useful information to read about.