Free Recruitment Services and Advice for your business

Are you looking to hire new staff in 2010? You can access free recruitment services and advice to help you find the right staff for your business.

Job Services Australia providers are located in more than 2000 locations across Australia, and can help you with:

• candidate screening and short-listing support to help you find appropriately skilled job seekers

• work experience opportunities

• access to the Australian Government’s free online Australian JobSearch database to register staff vacancies and search for new staff directly

• opportunities for wage assistance and subsidies.

Contact your local Job Services Australia provider to find out how they can help your business. Find your local Job Services Australia provider by visiting the Jobsearch website or phone 13 17 64.

Source:  business.gov.au

DIY Recruiting: the Pros and Cons

We all know times are tough for business owners and that recruitment is something that organizations need to get right in order to stay competitive and grow. Recruitment is a challenging responsibility and one that is time-consuming and costly, particularly if you engage the services of a recruitment agency, search firm or make a bad hiring decision!

In June, The Australian ran an article titled ‘DIY Recruiting saves money, but may miss the best applicant’ by Tony Kaye. The article essentially had quotes and references from those in the recruitment industry advocating using recruitment agencies! Which clearly only showed one perspective on DIY recruiting. Interestingly, in the USA around 80% of organizations recruit staff themselves, whilst in Australia it is the opposite (but this is changing).  The growth and convenience of accessing talent, particularly through referrals, networks and online job sites has grown to offer us all the same channels to source applicants.

There are some terrific recruitment agencies and recruitment consultants in the marketplace who are specialists in their fields. They often bring years of experience, are well networked and know the industry and market inside out. These people are true professionals and will make the recruitment process a pleasant one for job seeker and client alike. They will charge a placement fee, ranging anywhere from 10%-20% of the successful applicant’s annual salary and if they get you the right person it is money well spent. Read more

Launch of an Innovative Recruitment Solution for Business Owners

MYOB wants to empower business owners to succeed by tackling an important issue facing the Australian employer, cost effective recruitment. With the launch of StaffSearcher.com.au MYOB says it will deliver what small and medium sized business owners with recruiting challenges have been asking for: a cost effective, targeted and efficient service that delivers candidates at a fair price.

“Our research shows that, despite the economic downturn, staffing remains one of the most challenging issues for many small and medium sized business owners.  Finding and retaining quality people is expected to remain an ongoing challenge for Australian small business owners throughout 2009 and into the future,” said Tim Reed, CEO of MYOB. Read more

Spiritual Business: Creating a Business from the Heart

Australian entrepreneur, Kate Forster (pictured), has always believed the link between spirituality and business is more prominent than people think. But it wasn’t until Kate’s own design business began to experience a difficult period and the pressure of running the home and family threatened to overwhelm her, that Kate began to question the traditional approach to business.

“Most of the business books were just so vicious. The ‘art of war in business’ and ‘cutting your peers off at the knees’ and all this sort of thing and that just didn’t sit well with me,” Kate Forster said in a telephone interview with Australian Women Online. Read more

Small company named ‘Recommended Employer’ by the Australian Business Awards

Wavelength International, an Australian medical recruitment and migration company with just 40 employees, has been named as a ‘Recommended Employer’ by the prestigious Australian Business Awards – proving that size doesn’t matter when it comes to looking after the needs of company employees.

When asked to comment on the award, Director of Wavelength, Claire Ponsford (pictured) said, “Being named a Recommended Employer from the Australian Business Awards reinforces the professional and comfortable environment we have worked hard to achieve. Where appropriate, we approach our employees’ needs on an individual basis to ensure we are providing each with the best work environment possible.” Read more

Work-life balance the number one factor in retaining staff

New research shows that work-life balance is the key factor in attracting and retaining staff and is even more important than salary.

With unemployment in Australia at record lows and skills shortages creating a ‘war on talent’, employees are demanding the implementation of successful work-life balance strategies from their employers.

In his October 29 address to The Safety Conference, Sydney, Converge International CEO Dr Lindsay McMillan will explain how businesses can benefit from increased productivity and reduced turnover with the right work-life balance strategy.

Australians have the dubious honour of working the longest hours of any OECD country, with 20-25% working more than 50 hours each week. Yet recent Converge International research shows that 47% of workers rate work-life balance as very important and another 32% see it as important. An imbalance between work and life can result in declining quality of life, loss of community, erosion of relationships and resentment. Read more