Thursday, April 26, 2007

THE MAN WHO SOLD HOTDOGS


There once was a man who lived by the side of the road and sold hot dogs. In fact, he sold very good hot dogs. He put up highway signs telling people how good his hot dogs tasted. He stood by the side of the road and called out, "Buy a hot dog, mister?" And people bought his hot dogs. They bought so many hot dogs the man increased his meat and bun orders. He bought a bigger stove so he could meet his customers demands. And Finally, he brought his son home from college to help out in the family business. But something happened. His son said, "Father, don’t you watch television or read the newspapers? Don’t you know we’re heading for a recession? The Middle East situation is unstable and the domestic economy is getting worse. And the father thought, "My son’s a smart boy. He’s been to college. He ought to know what he’s talking about." So the man cut down his meat and bun orders, took down his highway signs, and no longer stood by the side of the road to sell his hot dogs. His sales fell almost overnight. "You’re right, son," said the father, "We certainly are in a serious recession."


Marketing Moral: If you stop selling your customers today, they may stop buying from you tomorrow!

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

FUN BRAINTEASER


Just for fun - who can guess who's baby picture this is? Place your comment now.

SNAPSHOTS FROM CAPE TOWN GENERAL



GROUP PHOTO - Cape Town General Branch Celebrates
Lilly's Bithday (in the pic: Bakhulule Baai, Ryan Alcock,
Angela de Jongh, Gary Daniels, Chris Daniels,
Candice Sundkvist, Candice du Toit, Ali Barnard,
Nyami Ntshoko, Melicia Mitchell, Lesley Barrett
& Lilly Figueira)

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL (heaven knows what she's doing
- leave a comment on what you think Lilly is doing)



THE LIGHT INDUSTRIAL TECHNICAL TEAM

(in the pic: Bakhulule, Ryan & Candice)

NEW STARTERS
(in the pic: Bakhulue, Ryan & Angela)
(You are encouraged to send any snapshots you have to ianm@manpower.co.za)



Tuesday, April 17, 2007

PRESIDENTS CUP by MARIE JACOBS

The President’s Club will become an annual event from 2007 forward. Winners for the 2008 President’s Club will be selected during the 1st Quarter of 2008. The event will take place in late March of each year.

WHAT IS THE PRESIDENT’S CLUB?
The President’s Club is a recognition event where we reward and recognize the top 50 performers in EMEA who had the greatest impact on the previous year’s results and additionally 10 more individuals of the leadership team from the country who contributed the most profit dollars to EMEA’s 2006 results. It replaces the former EMEA annual awards ceremony that typically took place in March each year.

WHAT ARE THE CRITERIA TO GET SELECTED?
Each Senior Executive Team leader has the full authority to choose their respective President’s Club winners, with input from their respective leadership teams. Only top performers from profitable countries will be eligible for selection to the President’s Club.

IS THERE A PRIZE FOR THE WINNERS?
Winners and their spouses/partners are invited together with the Strategic Executive Team for a luxury weekend of recognition, business networking and relaxation. There are festivities including an awards dinner during which the honorees receive their President’s Club awards.

A shout-out from me: “GO, SOUTH AFRICA, GO!! LET’S SHOW THEM WHO THE CHAMPIONS REALLY ARE!!!!!”
If you have any queries on The Presidents Cup then please contact Marie Jacobs.

AT THE HELM with TIM HACKNEY

This month Tim says 'ONE DOWN THREE TO GO'

Manpower globally assesses its progress of Actual performance vs Budgeted performance on a quarterly basis. South Africa has certain led the way in quarter 1 with a good solid performance and some very impressive growth compared to the same period in 2006.

Temporary Staffing Sales Revenue is 21% above budget with a Year-on- Year increase of 25%.

Wagemaster Sales Revenue is 15% above budget with a Year-on-Year increase of 54%.

Permanent Placement Sales Revenue is 15% above budget with a Year-on- Year increase of 26%.

Total Sales Revenue is 17% above budget with a Year-on-Year increase of 39%.

Gross Profit is 12% above budget with a Year-on-Year increase of 28%.

The above performance is as a result of your on-going commitment and the ability to “rise to the occasion” and outperform the targets that have been set. Since the Manpower South African team across all of the three geographies is a cohesive unit, it is imperative that all of the branches strive to continually outperform their monthly and quarterly budgets. Special mention must be made of the first quarters’ results from the Cape Town branches - Finance led by Shireen Goldschmidt and Office Support/Engineering & Technical led by Lilly Figueira, the Bryanston General branch led by Rodney Govender, the Finance branch led by Rowene Bowker and Key Accounts nationally led by Taryn Doubell.

It is pleasing to note some sterling individual performances by many of our consultants across the country and in particular the short period of time taken by some of our newer consultants to start billing.

We have completed 25% of the 2007 journey and there will most certainly be challenges we are faced with in quarter 2. You all have the tough-mindedness and resilience to whether the storm and collectively we will conquer whatever is in our way.

The bar is raised for the next three months and a few areas I urge you to focus on are as follows:

- ensure that we attain the minimum Temporary staffing GP percentages. Our average Temp GP for quarter 1 was 24% vs a budgeted GP of 26.9%. The 2006 Q1 GP percentage was 26.2%. Why should we compromise our GP% in a market crying out for suitably qualified personnel??
- As we know, Project Titan is a global project designed to save US$ 140 million and it is the responsibility of all of us to ensure that we review all and any expenses before we incur them.
- The importance of achieving the minimum activity KPI’s is aligned to the product we need to place on the “conveyor” belt. However greater focus on our efficiencies will result in a better closing ratio and a quality end product. Let us all make a concerted effort to only take on job orders in our various areas of expertise and where we are confident that we have a better than 33% chance of filling them.


I salute each and every one of you for all your hard work and dedication in Quarter 1 and wish you every success in achieving not only your personal goals but those of your respective branches and Manpower SA as a whole.

Friday, April 13, 2007

COACH'S CORNER with ANDREW KRAMER


As the 2nd quarter begins in earnest, I am pleased to notice that as a group we will attain our 1st quarters budget, with most branches having achieved their respective targets. Well done to all of you!!

We have also noticed the individual competition hoting up. Although the figures are not yet finalised , who might the winners be? The contenders of last year or might the new “kids on the block” from the Cape Region, take the honours…. Time will tell.

I really think the 2nd quarter will see the separation of the “men from the boys” from both a branch and a consultant perspective.

Keep up all your good work.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

APRIL COMPETITION

For this months competition you need to guess who the person in the baby picture is. Your clue is that she works at the Bryanston, loves red wine and an occasional whisky and was born in Roodepoort. Place your answer under the comments section and remember to leave your name and you could be the winner of an adult puzzle (kindly donated by Rowene).


Last months winner is Susan Jooste from Bryanston General - she wins a R50 gift voucher - congratulations!

PLEASED TO MEET YOU .........


Every month we are going to introduce a member of our staff from around the country so that you can get to know them a little better. To kick off we thought that we'd introduce PAT COSGRAVE who is the receptionist at our head office in Bryanston.



Birthplace: Johannesburg

School : Notre Dame Convent Venterspost, Westonaria, Gauteng

Marital Status: Married to Chris for 11 years

Children : 3 (Deon Joubert 33 - IT Sales Executive, Vera Maclagan 35 - Medical Sales Executive & Michelle Vivian 28- Junior Accountant).

Favourite Food: Indian, chicken & seafood dishes

Favourite Drink: Good red wine or vodka and orange juice

Favourite Music: Westlife & Bryan Adams

Favourite TV Programme: I have two - CIS & Till Death

Favourite Film: I like a good comedy or a drama

Favourite Actor/Actress: Al Pacino & Meryl Streep

Who would be your ideal dinner guest? Nelson Mandela

Who would you least like to be stranded on a deserted island with? George W Bush

Did you have a New Years resolution? Yes, to loose weight

Did you break it? Yes

EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH


(This is a parody - not to be taken seriously)

WELCOME TO THE MANPOWER FAMILY


We welcome the following people to the Manpower family. We trust that you will have a long and fruitful relationship with us:


Bakhulile Baai (Cape Town Office Support)
Angela de Jongh (Cape Town Office Support)
Natashia Jeeawon (Eng. & Techn. Bryanston)
Melody van der Watt (Eng. & Techn. Bryanston)
Ryan Alcock (Cape Town Office Support)
Suzette Breytenbach (Eng. & Techn. Bryanston)
Michelle Ramsoondar (Bryanston Office Support)
Tha Khumalo (Cape Town Key Accounts)

APRIL BIRTHDAYS


This month we celebrate birthdays with:

01 Ali Barnard
07 Margie Rutherfoord
15 Natalie Truter
18 Lilly Figueira

Monday, April 2, 2007

TOP PERM CONSULTANT ENJOYS HOLIDAY PRIZE IN ZANZIBAR











Top permanent consultant for 2006, Sanet Botha and her husband Les enjoyed 5 days on the sunny tropical island of Zanzibar off the coast of Tanzania. They stayed at the luxury 5 star Blue Bay Hotel where their every whim was catered for. The island has long sandy beaches and you have to wade out a distance to swim in deeper water. Sanet spent her time relaxing and sipping on Funky Monkey cocktails which is a blend of Bacardi, coconut milk, sugar cane syrup mixed with soda water. They also had time to tour the island seeing the old slave quarter in Stone Town and 'Cat Street' which is inhabited with felines lying about in the sun. Sanet and Les had a fantastic time living up to the islands mantra of 'hakuna matata' and came back recharged and ready to tackle 2007.