people2people news | November 22, 2008
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The Movember Files - Day 20
Posted by Kaden: November 20, 2008Ok, so I’m a bit early this week. Annual leave tomorrow, and off to Adelaide for a wedding. The beauty about these little ’shindigs’ is you get to see lots of relatives that you haven’t seen in quite a while. In my particular case, around half the guests are people I haven’t seen for something like 10-15 years. Usually this is a great time to brag about how well you are doing. ‘Living in Sydney, great job, nice car, white picket fence…’ blah blah blah. Somehow I think it’s going to be a hard one for me to pull off this time around. It’s hard to impress the relatives when you look like Chopper Read.
I can hear it now… ”G’day Kaden, haven’t seen you in quite a while. How was Long Bay?” (Sniggers- ‘He had so much potential…’)
Movember, and especially toward the end, is often a time where participants tend to shun society. Holing up in one’s house with thirty tins of canned soup and the entire back catalogue of Knight Rider and The Benny Hill Show seems like a good idea. Or is that just me?
Anyway, the problem with weddings is that there’s a lot of cameras around. There’s also usually a video camera (most often wielded by a slightly immoral drunk uncle that nobody seems to know). Footage from said machinery is ample, distributed widely, and in my case, used as blackmail/comedy material at various later dates in my life. Needless to say, I feel that the addition of a Mo to this process is only going to exacerbate my ongoing humiliation. WHY!!?
Please help me! The pathetic amount of money I’ve raised is meaningless compared to my ongoing personal debasement and social estrangement. It won’t even pay for 15 minutes of psychiatric help. To support me, please visit https://www.movember.com/au/donate/donate-details.php?action=sponsorlink®o=1461921&country=au
Stay tuned for the final diary entry. Who knows the depths of my depravity…
Kaden “Chopper” Kennedy
Cop a dose of Harden Up!
Posted by the Editor: November 20, 2008Given the recent media frenzy on the economy I was delighted to finally read an article which gives a different perspective than doom and gloom.
Michael Pascoe in his recent SMH article was on the money and I urge everyone to follow this link and consider viewing the current economic conditions through a different lens.
Mark Smith
Director
Fit and fabulous with people2people
Posted by manda: November 17, 2008The JP Morgan Corporate Run was held on 12 November at Centennial Park. This event has continued to grow since its inception in 2000 and this year over 7,500 “corporate types” ran the 5.6 km course around the perimeter of the park. The run is conducted internationally and the Sydney event raises money for the Children’s Oncology Foundation.
At people2people we take our fitness seriously and sneakered up to give the course a real shake. Realistically, the shakeup was really more of a mild stirring, but we gave it our best shot anyway.
A lot of hammy and glute stretches before the big event. For some, this was NOT their best angle.
After the warmups, we thought it a good idea to get a pre race shot as we weren’t sure (given the level, or lack thereof fitness of some of our participants) who would be standing for the post run shot.
Surprisingly, all participants were accounted for and still breathing (we could hear them, panting and gasping is more of an accurate description) in our post race shot !
Special mention must go to our CFO Suzanne Mackenzie who set a blistering pace and was home in 27.22 minutes. The minor medals went to Kaden Kennedy 30.20 and Catherine Rowe 30.55.
Of course, feeling like death during the run turned into, “we must do it again next year!” I of course shall be reminding everyone of that comment when it’s 6.00am, 5 degrees, pitch black and lightly drizzling rain in the middle of July 2009.
Happy training!
manda milling- team captain
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The Movember Files - Day 14
Posted by Kaden: November 14, 2008To be frank, and usually I just stick with Kaden, this Mo business is starting to irritate me. Having a beard was fine; no shaving at all. No facial hair was easy, I just whacked on a generous helping of shaving cream in the morning and went to town. Having a delicately shaped Mo, however, is a completely different story. They say you don’t choose the Mo, the Mo chooses you. Well, the one that chose me is bloody difficult to contend with at 6:30am after a few bevvies the night before. I have enough trouble getting from my bedroom to the bathroom at this time of the morning, let alone dealing with the meticulous mathematical equations required to ensure the symmetry of this sickly looking ferret that’s attached itself to my face.
It’s not like I’m getting any support from Management either. My boss and I had a meeting with two professionals yesterday, which began with, “and this is Kaden, don’t worry, he doesn’t usually look like this”. Thanks very much. A colleague asked me to show one of his candidates out, and the same boss said ” Nah, get someone else to do it, Kaden looks like he’s just come out of a cave”. I’m in the room!
Why does Movember have to fall around the same time as my yearly performance appraisal? I’m not looking forward to that one…
On the positive side, I am starting to cop the ‘Mo Salute’ on the street from random Mo growers. There exists a certain comaraderie between people who have banded together to make complete fools of themselves. What worries me is that it’s so completely obvious that I don’t normally sport a Mo. How do they know this isn’t my regular look? Things are only going to get worse I think. Only 16 days to go…
To support me in this worthy cause, please visit https://www.movember.com/au/donate/donate-details.php?action=sponsorlink®o=1461921&country=au to donate any spare money and help fight prostate cancer and male depression. I think I might need some of the proceeds by the end of the month if I don’t raise a bit more money. In closing, I’d like to point out that the photo below is a simulation of the look I get from most people on the street. The people who aren’t giving me the ‘Mo Salute’. I am not an animal!!
Kaden “Magnum PI” Kennedy
Golfing Gods smile on p2p Director!
Posted by the Editor: November 12, 2008The finals of the St Michaels Golf Club 2008 Championship was played on Saturday 8 November 2008 and Simon Gressier, Director - Accounting at people2people, was in the B Grade match. After a titanic struggle where the lead changed frequently, Simon and his opponent were all square coming into the 18th. Simon played his drive down the middle (this is not a dream he was having), his opponent had sprayed his drive wide, just clearing the trees to be sitting on the 10th fairway. Simon played his shot first and left it about 2.5 metres off the green to be sitting about 15 - 20 metres from the hole. His opponent played a cracker to be sitting in the middle of the green about 7.5 metre from the hole. Naturally he was thinking one putt for a win and at worst two putts to square the hole.
Does Simon putt it or does he chip it?…. Chip it it is…. the ball leaves the club cleanly and is rolling to the hole, it veers to the left and it looks like Simon will have a small putt for par …but wait…as the ball slows down it veers to the right ………NOTHING BUT HOLE. PANDEMONIUM (well as much as Simon and his caddy could muster given the need to maintain a suitable level of golfing decorum – they are not Americans after all!).
In the blink of an eye, Simon’s opponent’s 7.5 metre putt for a win has suddenly become a 25 metre putt (in appearance at least) for square…..he just missed.
Sometimes the golfing gods can be good to you (or not).
My advice is to ensure that Simon is on your team at the next p2p GolF Day!
Mark Smith
Director
Movember - 7 days in…
Posted by Kaden: November 7, 2008There comes a time in every man’s life when he starts to ask himself questions. What am I doing here? Was it rubbish day today? Will these socks go another week? We often answer these questions in unusual ways, particularly by our actions. The purchase of fast cars and motorbikes, the dating of women half one’s age, learning the electric guitar, all expensive flights of fancy that generally last one week before we move on to the next thing. And the there is Movember…
For those of you who are unaware, Movember is a national initiative to raise funds and awareness for prostate cancer resaerch and mens mental health, particularly depression. Last year, more than $15 million was raised which was a phenomanal effort. Men participate by growing a moustache for the 30 days of November, all the while collecting money and insults from all those who wish to sponsor them.
This year, the Directors and employees of people2people convened in a small, dark room and decided that I would carry the torch and grow a Mo this year. I get the feeling this is partly due to the fact that I’m the only male in the office capable of growing facial hair, and partly because I’m generally the office idiot. You know you’re not off to a good start when, on day 3, your partner tells you to wash your face because ‘you’ve got a bit of dirt on it’. Guess I’ll keep on plugging away…
I’ll provide updates and a photo every Friday to keep you all informed as to how the Mo is going. If you would like to donate to this worthy cause, please visit https://www.movember.com/au/donate/donate-details.php?action=sponsorlink®o=1461921&country=au and follow the instructions. Bring back the Mo! (Okay, it’s not so great yet but give me another week…)
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How do I know a role is going to be put on hold?
Posted by manda: November 7, 2008
As published in 9 to 5 magazine on 10 November 2008
comment on this post | read comments (0) | Email This PostWill I get a salary increase at my review?
Posted by manda: October 30, 2008
As published in 9 to 5 magazine on 3 November 2008
comment on this post | read comments (0) | Email This PostIs it Doom, Gloom or an Ongoing Boom?
Posted by Lisa: October 28, 2008The media is telling us every day that the economy is on a nasty slide into recession. The US financial market is a wreck and governments all over the world are having to stabilise banks and financial institutions. But is it all that bad in Australia?
53.7% have told us that they want to “..wait and see what the market is doing before I consider leaving [my current employer].”
Whilst experienced recruiters have a very good idea of what is happening out there, and what is likely to happen going forward, we thought it was a good idea to find out what candidates are actually thinking and if their motivations have changed.
We surveyed over 4,000 candidates and the results certainly give employers some food for thought.
Firstly, some general results:
- 49.14% of people who responded to the survey have been in their current role for less than 12 months, and a further 23.28% have only been in their job for 1 - 2 years - a strong representation of people who have changed jobs frequently during the ‘boom’ period
There are some signs that people are getting nervous in the market and that, perhaps most significantly, their motivations when considering a new employer have changed. It is a well documented statistic that a lot of people look for a new job because they simply do not like their current manager. And in a bouyant job market, this is certainly reflected in a candidates ‘reason for leaving’ a job.
But when we asked our candidates what their motivations for looking for a new role were, only 3.16% told us they are looking because they don’t like their manager. Alternatively, 37.89% told us that they are now focused on finding a stable company where they can stay for a long period of time. Given that a high percentage of job seekers have been the long maligned Generation Y - is this perhaps indicating that this generation is getting ready to settle down? Only time will tell, but what we can say is that if people want stability and to be with one company for a long time, we should expect to see fewer job seekers in the Sydney market - not more.
Of those people who are not currently actively looking for a new job, 53.7% have told us that they want to “…wait and see what the market is doing before leaving [my current employer] and a further 22.22% of people do not particularly like their current employer, but are reluctant to leave in the current market. This indicates that candidates who may have been considerably more active 6 - 12 months ago are now more likely to stay where they are.
People are noticing changes in how their employers are operating - 21.43% of respondents have noticed cost cutting measures and a further 17.86% say that budgets have been reviewed and revised downwards. As a result, 24.39% of people are worried that they are not going to get a pay rise this year and a similar amount are concerned that their may be redundancies in their company. But despite the doom and gloom in the media, 36.59% of people who answered our survey told us that they have absolutely no concerns about their job at all - everything is great! In fact:
51.76% of respondents described their employer as being ‘currently stable and seems to be doing OK’
Active job seekers have noticed changes in the job market - 49.45% told us that the number of jobs being advertised has dropped and another 32.97% tell us that whilst they still see jobs being advertised, employers are taking a lot longer to make decisions.
So overall, the results are a bit of a mixed bag. But perhaps we can say:
- Companies are not doing as badly as the media wants us to believe
- Many people have no real concerns about their job or the stability of their employer; however
- Job seekers are now more focused on stability and long term career development
- People are less likely to be looking for a new role right now - they want to wait and see what happens
- Employers are advertising fewer positions and taking longer to make a decision - perhaps indicating that they too are in ‘wait and see’ mode
Whilst it is early days in the current economic ‘crisis’ employers should still expect to be operating in a candidate ’short’ market and the competition for good people is still going to be fierce.
Lisa Johnson
Manager
The Talent Has Turned
Posted by Elizabeth: October 24, 2008‘It’s been a dream of mine to work with this company; I am devastated I’ve missed out on this opportunity.’
Recently my colleague and I found a fantastic candidate for a unique opportunity within a recognised organisation. We scheduled interviews with the client and both parties were happy to proceed. However the candidate had a holiday planned for 5 weeks in between the recruitment process. She was not willing to resign from her current role without the written contract.
The client was very honest and said whilst she was away they were going to continue their search. The candidate was very shocked when she received the news that the client filled the role during this period. She thought that she was worth the wait and was confident they weren’t going to find anyone better.
Unfortunately in today’s market candidates are no longer in the box seat. Employers can pick and choose from a number of immediately available and capable candidates. As recruitment consultants we can negotiate and update the client with the candidate’s expectations but ultimately if you don’t want to miss out on an opportunity you need to be accessible and flexible.
Elizabeth Punshon
Consultant
