Customer Services Director

√   Our client is well known as a producer of branded products in the home

00   improvement sector. The business is experiencing a period of such significant

01   volume and profit growth and as a result is now looking to appoint itself a

02   Customer Services Director. This position involves in reporting directly to the

03   Managing Director and key responsibilities include the control and development

04   of the process for ordering goods. While through the management and

05   motivation of twenty staff, you will be seen the focal point of managing

06   customers' expectations, from keeping them up to date at all times with the

07   progress of their orders. This role is a challenging one and calls for an individual

08   with those top-level interpersonal and communication skills and a good

09   understanding of process management. In return for the company offers the

10   right candidate with a highly competitive salary and benefits package. Assistance

11   with relocation expenses, if appropriate, that is also available. If you feel you have

12   the qualifications for this exciting role and are looking for a challenge, please write

  in confidence to:

Personal Assistant of the Year

√   Anne-Marie Garrard was shocked when it was announced that she had won the

00   Personal Assistant of the Year award. ‘The other candidates seemed me

13   to be very strong, and I have to say I found that the selection procedure really

14   hard,' she says. 'I didn't think I had any chance of winning. When I heard my

15   name, my legs were so weak I could only hardly stand up,' she laughs. So

16   how is 'the best' personal assistant chosen from a group of so extremely good

17   and very different individuals? The final decision was reached after a

18   day-long session of the tests, interviews and exercises. Garrard believes

19   the skills she uses in her job helped her how to perform well. For instance, although

20   most of her work is for her company's Managing Director, she works for six bosses

21   in all, so she always tries out to be prepared for anything that might happen

22   As for the future, her firm has closed for its summer break now; as soon as

23   they will open again, there is a pay rise waiting for her. But Garrard is no

24   going to be relax. She says, 'There's always room for personal development.

You must keep trying to improve.'

Meetings That Work

00   A vital skill for anyone running a business it is the ability to communicate

√   effectively. This is particularly important in a meeting where complex arguments

25   need to be put forward and where it is too vital to get the best out of the situation

26   and those present in as little time as possible. Before calling a meeting, ask

27   yourself if you actually need one, since so many are unproductive results and do

28   not really need to take place. Sending an email or by using another means of

29   communication, such as a simple phone call, might achieve the desired results in

30   half the time. Having established the need for a meeting, so inform those you

31   wish to attend and ask people to be punctual. Concerning the key to a good

32   meeting is an agenda, which needs to be sent out in advance and should state the

33   date, time and location. It should also contain the names of those ones who will

34   be present and set that out, starting with the most important, the points for

35   discussion. Ask in advance for suggestions for items to be discussed about but

36   set a deadline for submissions in order to reduce the amount of time that has to be

spent under 'Any Other Business'.

When to Recruit?

√    In a small business, deciding when to take on new staff is a delicate calculation. On

00    the one hand, if you are increase your workforce, you might find it difficult to cover

37    for the increased costs straight away. On the other hand, extra staff could

38    enable you to spend more time on activities such as marketing, which in the

39    end should mean the increased profits. A useful way of deciding when to increase

40    your workforce is to ask yourself if you can make enough of extra sales to meet

41    the cost of taking on with an extra employee. But even if you are not able to

42    increase your sales immediately, you may still be able to employ someone.

43    In this such case, however, you must keep your business going until you have built

44    your sales up to the new level you need. If in the end you are clever enough to

45    get your timing so right, you will not want to throw away your advantage by

46    employing the wrong type person. The whole process of advertising and

47    interviewing can take around many months, so finding you made a mistake and

48    need to recruit again it can have a very serious impact on the future of your business.

FOOD TECHNOLOGISTS REQUIRED

√    For all the diversity of the people who work at WP Foods, there is one

00    single thing that unites to us all: a passion to create something special

49    and a determination to be the best in whatever we do. We've been

50    producing high quality foods for over than a century, and we travel to the

51    ends of all the earth to create the next generation of foods and drinks so

52    as to give delight our millions of customers. And thanks to our dedicated

53    staff, our much-loved brands just keep getting on better. We are now

54    seeking to appoint as innovators to manage a number of new teams in

55    the organisation. Applicants must have qualified a research degree in

56    Food Technology plus at least four years' industrial experience. We

57    need people with a high level of their team spirit who show themselves

58    be capable of explaining technical concepts to non-technical people.

59    Those appointed will spend significant amounts of time in other countries

60    for seeking new ingredients, but will also have a major influence on

change throughout the business.

The cost of not training

00    Training is not a cost. It's an investment. It really doesn't matter that what we pay

√    for an investment. What is relevant is what we get in return. One of the easiest

61    ways is to put an organisation's future at risk would be to view training primarily as a

62    cost, and therefore provide with substandard training that operates only as a

63    temporary solution. Many companies attempt to quantify the results of training. For

64    example, a person paid $50,000 a year who wastes just one hour a day costs the

65    or