Staff Motivation by Reebok

Here is a great clip for improved staff productivity and motivation produced by Reebok in the USA market. We just had to share this one.

Recruitment drive for Nursing and Midwifery by Waikato DHB

They came back and now Waikato District Health Board wants more.

Nurses and midwives are in high demand both nationally and internationally.

While recruitment campaigns traditionally focussed on the overseas market, Waikato DHB found there were plenty of people on their own doorstep willing to make a return to the nursing and midwifery professions.

A ‘return to nursing’ open day earlier this year saw 30 former nurses keen to get back into the workforce. So successful was it that other DHBs used the same campaign.

Canterbury launched their return to nursing initiative last week using the same “I came back” catch line.

Waikato Hospital will host its second ‘return to nursing’ open day on Friday, September 5 from 9.30am-2pm as part of a wider recruitment and retention campaign.

Now Waikato DHB hopes experienced midwives take up the invitation to attend as well.

The first open day, held in March, was a resounding success for Waikato with 15 people completing the competency programme and 15 employed as ‘returning nurses’ who had been away for 3-5 years.

While Waikato DHB constantly aims to employ a high standard of health professionals across the board, the focus of the upcoming open day is attracting experienced nurses and midwives who have been away from their professions for five plus years, back into the workforce.

With vacancies sitting at nearly seven full-time equivalents, it is no wonder Maternity Services joined the campaign too.

“The midwifery profession is experiencing an ageing workforce, with the average age for a midwife being 48,” said Maternity Services operations manager Sue Cole.

“There have only been small numbers of midwives trained in the past and that is catching up with us now.”

Midwives are predominantly female and many leave to have families of their own, which makes midwifery a tricky profession to recruit, she said.

Director of nursing and midwifery Sue Hayward says people have the same reasons for leaving nursing and similar fears about returning as midwives.

“That is why we decided to hold these open days in the first place,” she said.

“The improvements are hard to relay unless people come along to see for themselves how much better today’s conditions are for nurses – the pay is better, the days of heavy lifting are long gone and the hours are so much more flexible.”

Waikato DHB is offering scholarship support to assist with the costs of the competency assessment programme at Waikato Polytechnic (Wintec), which is valid for the November 2008 intake. Success at that could see it rolled out next year.

Joining the Return to Nursing/Midwifery campaign on behalf of their employer, are some of this year’s intake into the competency programme:

• Katarina Simon started back in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit last week after 16 years away, as a direct result of the March open day. She voiced radio advertisements and fronted a print advertising campaign for the cause.

• Sonia Wells of Morrinsville appeared in various community newspapers to tell the story of how she has managed to go back to work as well as raise a three-year-old on her own.

• Meanwhile, Joy Kendall recently returned to midwifery. The 62-year-old mother of three, has been caring for people most of her life, having entered the nursing profession in 1966 as a maternity nurse and then switching to midwifery in 1993. She has flip-flopped since, but cannot deny her first love is midwifery and – she is back.

Source: You can find these women’s full stories and more about the Nurses Open Day on the Waikato DHB website www.waikatodhb.govt.nz

Recruitment Consultants most stressed out workers in UK

Recruitment consultants are the most stressed out workers in the UK, according to a new survey.

The Stroke in Business report by The Stroke Association charity surveyed 1,000 workers in a variety of professions. It identified the recruitment sector as the most stressful working environment in the UK, with 82% of recruitment consultants regularly feeling stressed at work.

The report also looked into how workers deal with stress, finding that many respond in unhealthy ways, such as drinking (34%), smoking (23%), comfort eating (43%) and even taking recreational drugs (4%). The report calls on employers to do more to encourage staff to take regular exercise to combat stress.

The current tough economic conditions mean many recruitment consultants were likely to be feeling the pressure at work, according to Greg Orme, chief executive at recruitment company Major Players.

“It’s not surprising that people in our industry experience stress on a regular basis. We work in a highly competitive environment, sometimes working long hours to deliver results for our clients and candidates,” he said.

“When the economy isn’t as buoyant as normal, it can make the job even more demanding, so it’s vital that companies take steps to encourage their people to deal with stress in a healthy way.”

Each year an estimated 150,000 people in the UK have a stroke. A common misconception is that strokes only affect older people, but about a quarter happen to people of working age.

Joe Korner, director of external affairs at The Stroke Association, said: “Stress clearly affects a great deal of the working population, and while stress in itself is undesirable, responding to it in the wrong ways can all lead to high blood pressure, which is the single biggest risk factor for stroke.”

The UK’s top 10 most stressful occupations

1. Recruitment
2. Legal
3. Education
4. Marketing, advertising, PR
5. Healthcare, nursing, social services
6. Banking, insurance, finance
7. Customer services and call centres
8. Telecommunications
9. Homemaking
10. Retailing

Source: Personnel Today

Staff Recruitment drive started for Otago Prison

Another recruitment campaign to find staff for the Otago Corrections Facility has begun, although no new staff are needed there at present.

The Department of Corrections is keen to have potential candidates through part of the recruitment process so, if vacancies arise, it is well on the way to filling those places, prison manager Jack Harrison said.

A recruitment roadshow will be held at the prison for those interested in finding out more about a career behind bars.

While there were no vacancies now, the time between applications being received and letters of acceptance being sent out meant it was “important for us to have a pool of applicants who meet our selection criteria available at any one time,” Mr Harrison said.

The selection process for a corrections officer can be quite lengthy, he said.

“Being a corrections officer is a challenging role and the department must ensure that candidates are thoroughly and appropriately considered for the role.

Among other important steps, a security check and psychological testing must be carried out on all prospective corrections officers,” Mr Harrison said.

The next scheduled initial training course was in September, and the department wanted people “through the process” and ready to attend should it have vacancies at the facility at that time.

He also confirmed 25 staff had left the prison since it opened in May last year.

source: Otago Daily Times

UK job recruitment growth at it’s lowest in 5 years

The number of permanent UK job openings have fallen at their fastest since 2001, the Recruitment and Employment Federation’s (REC) Report on Jobs found.

Upon polling 400 UK recruitment firms, the REC report also found that temporary placements were at their lowest in five years.

Source: Jobsnewswire

NZ Army Recruitment Posters from Saatchi & Saatchi

Advertising Agency Saatchi & Saatchi have released a new series of posters based on the popular Tetris Game in an effort to promote the NZ Army.

With the tag line “We’re after Leaders” the posters compare the strategy of playing Tetris to the skills needed to become a leader in the NZ Army.

The top 5 increases in New Zealand job vacancies

According to the latest Trademe Jobs July 2008 survey results, these are the top 5 greatest increases in job candidate vacancies by profession in New Zealand during the start of the year;

1. Accountants
2. Travel consultants
3. Construction site managers
4. Accounts payable
5. Water & waste engineers

NB: All figures based on recruitment advertising behaviour in respect of listing numbers, types, locations, stated salary and duration, on Trade Me Jobs Jan-June 2008. Previous results are based on Data from 2007 Q4 Trade Me Jobs listing behaviour. Segments with less than 50 jobs listed excluded.

The hardest areas to source job candidates in New Zealand

According to the latest Trademe Jobs July 2008 survey results, these are the top 5 hardest areas to source job candidates in New Zealand during the start of the year;

(previous results from Q4 2007 in brackets)

Greatest tightening
(harder to source)

1. Central Otago
2. Waipa
3. Central Hawkes Bay
4. Wellington City
5. Grey (West Coast)

NB: All figures based on recruitment advertising behaviour in respect of listing numbers, types, locations, stated salary and duration, on Trade Me Jobs Jan-June 2008. Previous results are based on Data from 2007 Q4 Trade Me Jobs listing behaviour. Segments with less than 50 jobs listed excluded.

The easiest areas to source job candidates in New Zealand

According to the latest Trademe Jobs July 2008 survey results, these are the greatest easing by region in New Zealand during the start of the year;

(previous results from Q4 2007 in brackets)

Greatest easing
(easier to source)

1. South Taranaki
2. Manawatu/ Wanganui
3. Papakura
4. Whangarei
5. Napier

NB: All figures based on recruitment advertising behaviour in respect of listing numbers, types, locations, stated salary and duration, on Trade Me Jobs Jan-June 2008. Previous results are based on Data from 2007 Q4 Trade Me Jobs listing behaviour. Segments with less than 50 jobs listed excluded.

The worst paid professions in New Zealand

According to the latest Trademe Jobs July 2008 survey results, these are the top 5 worst paid professions in New Zealand during the start of the year;

(previous results from Q4 2007 in brackets)

1. Kitchen staff $28,831 ($29,625)
2. Waiting staff $30,296 ($30,826)
3. Caregivers $30,894 ($31,967)
4. Retail assistant $31,668 ($32,565)
5. Cleaners $31,704 ($31,964)

NB: All figures based on recruitment advertising behaviour in respect of listing numbers, types, locations, stated salary and duration, on Trade Me Jobs Jan-June 2008. Previous results are based on Data from 2007 Q4 Trade Me Jobs listing behaviour. Segments with less than 50 jobs listed excluded.