Leave your job on good terms

When it is time to leave a company, recruitment firm Hays says workers should consider planning for the move to ensure a smooth transition.

Leave on good terms

When it is time to leave a company for a better offer, lifestyle change or because you no longer enjoy a role, recruitment firm Hays says workers should consider planning for the move to ensure a smooth transition.

Hays’ Australian chief executive Alistair Cox says it is important to leave a company on good terms, ensuring it is in better shape than when you arrived. Cox advises people to plan who to tell first and when to tell, cutting strings and starting to ensure projects are in good hands, encourage others to step into the gap, maintain focus until the final day and stay connected to former colleagues.

“Maintaining your focus up to the very last day will earn you considerable respect and will be remembered for a long time by a lot of people,” Cox says.

He says all people move on eventually, and it is important to ensure the company can continue to operate efficiently.

“If you do it well, not only will you leave the organisation with your reputation intact, you will actually leave with your reputation enhanced.”

Global masters

The University of Canberra and education provider the Ducere Foundation will be offering an online masters in business administration in innovation and leadership.

The MBA claims to be the first to offer students an online education with leading academic programs working with more than 150 global leaders — including presidents, prime ministers, Nobel prize winners, humanitarians and international chief executives.

The postgraduate course curriculum includes an industry project designed to solve real business problems, with students working with prominent organisations including KPMG, National Australia Bank, Seek, Save the Children, Linfox and the Department of Education. The program also provides networking events, no Graduate Management Admission Test or entrance exams, no course exams and government fee support.

Negative accent

Foreign accents can affect a customer’s experience with a service over the phone.

University of Adelaide business school lecturer Sally Rao Hill has conducted the first research of its kind into the effect of foreign accents, and she has found it can have an impact if the employee is incompetent or the customer is feeling negative.

“When a customer is confronted with an incompetent service employee with a foreign accent, negative emotions like fear and sadness are increased, while when the service employee has an Australian accent there is no significant effect on the customer’s emotions,” Rao Hill says.

“This suggests that customers may be fearful of not having the problem resolved when they encounter a service employee with a foreign accent.” Using an offshore customer service department can save money but companies and managers need to know its impact.

Workskil heads east

South Australian-based employment service provider Workskil Australia will expand across the eastern states after gaining several contracts under the federal government’s employment service, Jobactive.

From July, Workskil Australia will deliver Jobactive services across eight employment regions in NSW, Victoria and South Australia.

Chief executive Nicole Dwyer says the organisation will set up 17 additional full-time offices.

Jobs provider APM has been offered nine regions as part of the program.