We are SO thankful to report that Greg is making a rapid recovery since his horrific accident Christmas morning when he went kite surfing.

As you may recall, Greg was lifted many meters into the air by strong winds and dumped onto the ground, fracturing and dislocating his hip, breaking his nose and sustaining severe head injuries.

After 16 days in an induced coma and near death, Greg slowly emerged and has since made a progressive improvement each week.  It is so gratifying to see Greg so quickly returning to his old self, with his sense of humour, quick wit and steely determination.

Greg has recently left the Gold Coast Hospital and has relocated to the PA Hospital in Brisbane in the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit for further treatment and to begin the next step on his road to recovery.

It makes you realise how strong the human spirit is and how important it is to have both your good health and loved ones to support you, and Greg is fortunate to be blessed with both.

Thank you for all of your support during this time – we have passed this on to Greg and his family.

Greg’s parents, John and Jenny, and his sister Jessica have asked us to pass on their thanks for all the kind thoughts, prayers and support from everyone. Greg will continue to need this support in the near future please keep him in your thoughts.

Justine Eden and Kim Ritchie
Directors
Eden Ritchie Recruitment

• Standing out in the field?
• Providing excellent customer service?
• Under promising and over delivering?
• Challenging yourself and developing new business?

The team at Eden Ritchie are – and we need a like minded, motivated individual to join our team. This is a 360 consulting role, you will need previous experience from within recruitment, specifically the IT space.

In the fifteen years since Eden Ritchie Recruitment commenced business we have achieved consistent growth in market share. Today we are regarded as one of Brisbane’s leading providers of IT, accounting and Executive staff to a range of high profile organisations. Working in the fast growing IT Division at Eden Ritchie Recruitment, you will be dealing with dynamic roles across commercial, local and state government organisations.

If you are not competitive by nature this role is not for you, to be successful you will need to combine demonstrated business development abilities and an entrepreneurial flair with the drive and hunger to convert every opportunity.

In this exciting career move, consultative skills in business planning and needs analysis will also be invaluable. Our website will provide further information about our organisation, our team and the types of roles we recruit.

If you seek challenge and autonomy within a progressive, team environment please contact Kim Ritchie on 3230 0025 or Dan Smith on 3230 0012– via email kim@edenritchie.com.au

But, unfortunately our beloved Gregory Clark was involved in a kite surfing accident on Christmas morning on the Gold Coast and ended up in the Gold Coast Hospital ICU with a broken hip, nose and significant head injuries.

Greg was placed into an induced coma in order to allow his body to recover and the swelling to reduce.  With his parents and sister at his bedside he remained in an induced coma for the next 9 days.

It is still very early days, but we can report (thanks to regular updates from Greg’s family) that he is progressing well in his recovery, now coming out of the coma, he is breathing for himself and reacting to people around him.

Although Greg only joined Eden Ritchie Recruitment recently, he has fast become a key part of our team and has made some great friendships and connections with our team, candidates and employers alike.

His sense of humour, generosity and friendship are only some of his great attributes that we will miss in the office.  We expect/hope that he will be back on the job some time in the future……

At Eden Ritchie Recruitment we are shattered by this accident and ask you all to direct your energy, love, thoughts, prayers (whatever works for you!) towards Greg’s speedy and full recovery and to support his parents, John and Jenny and Greg’s sister Jessica during this terrible time.

Justine Eden and Kim Ritchie
Directors
Eden Ritchie Recruitment

Then bang, just like that things changed, or so we thought. Like most people in Brisbane we returned from xmas holidays early, preparing for another down turn and strategising about how we would work through it.  But I am very pleased to say we were wrong.  By late January market confidence was back up on track, the phones started ringing off the hook; organisations and government entities alike were back to the business of running their businesses.

The media still talk about recession and economic uncertainty but within the recruitment industry it is more “recession, what recession?” but we have had to work harder and smarter than ever before.  In the sectors we consult in – I.T., Accounting, Executive and Health – candidates are once again in the driving seat.  Whether this is a reflection of what is happening in the mining and resources sector or not, we are seeing candidates in the position of having multiple choices about which role to accept.  This in turn started to push salaries and hourly rates up further as companies became desperate to secure staff for the positions, but I believe in recent times common sense has prevailed as employers have remained budget conscious and paying what the role and experience is worth.  Thank god we have not reverted to the craziness of 2007 when people were being counter offered $30K plus just to stay put.

The I.T. division has experienced outstanding growth in 2011 – with many major projects still kicking along, the demand for Project and Program Managers, outstanding Business Analysts and high-level technical experts has never been as good.  BUT, what we have seen happen this year, is government entities making the decision to stop projects that are not progressing and deciding to put the $$$ to better use.  So candidates assuming that a long-term project is an easy ride are now being kept on their toes to deliver results or risk that they may not have a contract at all.

Whilst the Accounting market is not the resilient market it once was there have been many large projects that have kept us and our candidates busy throughout the year. With a push by organsiations to employ technically astute candidates, CPA/CA/CIMA qualifications are becoming a minimum rather than a desired requirement, so candidates take note, push a little harder and get your qualification, it makes you so much more sought after in the current market.

Our newest division Health has had a great year, this area has seen a move for us into clinical and broader health roles.  This has been exciting and challenging for those involved, with the successful placement of the Chief Nurse for Qld and numerous Executive levels roles across both the private and public sectors we believe 2012 will be an even greater year for Eden Ritchie’s Health Division.

Not surprisingly recruitment in the North Queensland and Bowen Basin has been very busy, whilst the companies and positions on offer have been great, the challenge has been the lack of residential housing and cost of living associated within his region.  If the mining boom continues, the next couple of years are going to be challenging for businesses to attract people to the region, as not everyone wants a FIFO option.  Additionally, the pressure on Local Governments to fix and build further infrastructure to support the growth is essential.

With both Local, State and potentially Federal government elections looming you can be sure a lot will be promised to fix this but what actually is delivered is another thing.  I would be interested to hear other’s opinions on this as the tide is turning at all levels of government and I believe we are in for a turbulent year in politics.  Hold onto your hats it is about to get nasty.

So where do I think we will be in 2012 – ever the optimist, I believe the economy is stronger than the media portray, that may be naive as we are living in the 2^nd busiest state after WA in the country, but that is the position I will continue to take.  We spend a lot of time going into organisations and government entities and talking about the future with the Executives and whilst some are cautious due to elections, Europe, the Australian $ etc. most are taking the view that we have work to do and no matter what governments are in office commerce still needs to keep moving along.

I for one have had a great 2011 and would like to thank our staff, candidates and most of all loyal and long-term clients who continue to work with our business.
Bring on 2012, we are all ready to hit it hard.

Written by Kim Ritchie

As you maybe aware the national health system is being reformed, as of the 1^stof July 2012. The current system will be pulled apart and put back together to cope with the ever-changing population needs. What does this mean for Queensland’s public health system? It means 17 Local Health and Hospital Networks (LHHN) will be established, where statutory bodies will be established with governing councils to deliver and manage the healthcare in their regions. Responsible and accountable to the local community, they will provide critical public services.

The health care sector has shown a steady rate of increased advertising, with Brisbane and the surrounding areas advertising approximately 800 health care jobs for November, ranging from AIN’s to Executive Directors. While residential care facilities are a large portion of these advertisements, there is still a fair amount of senior and Executive positions listed, for both public sector and private sector. Speaking with a number of residential care facilities to find out what is keeping their staffing vacancies so high, they suggested they are requiring a lot more “skilled hands on deck”, which is understandable as there is movement towards “community care” and “Home Care”. I would envisage that this ever-growing sector will continue to have high advertising rates with a focus on the need for good clinical staff,  but they will also need to provide good solid management practice and strategic approach to support their expanding work force.

Eden Ritchie has recently successfully placed several key positions within health and continues this month to finalise several key positions. Noted as one of the “key appointments within Queensland Health this year”, we have successfully placed the Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, which will be announced in the next few days. Also placing the Executive Director – Toowoomba Health Service during November, we continue to grow in the sector. While concentrating on some key appointments, there is also some continual growth in the clinical arena and senior clinical roles. While locum positions are becoming rare there is always going to be the need fill departments with good clinical staff and we still continue to source these roles with good clinical candidates.  By Jason Thomas

The topic of my speech was ‘Making Tough Career Decisions’. This is part 1 of my speech.

As a recruiter I continually meet people who chose not to make the tough career decisions, and instead let the decisions be made for them. This often leads to unhappiness and frustration, with the person blaming everyone else but themselves. They then approach the employment market, to look for a new job, often without clarity of mind or clear direction.

So even by reading this blog you have taken that first step towards taking responsibility for analysing your career and arming yourself with some tactics.

So, typical recruiter style, I’m going to ask you a few questions….

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Remember when you were a kid and someone asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up? At a recent family gathering I was reminded that my answer, at age 5, was that when I grew up I wanted to be a swinger!

Let me put some context around that.  At the time I was on a swing, focused on getting that thing as high and as fast as I could.

Many years later happily married, I can report that whilst not a swinger, I’m still working as hard as I can to get as high up as I can as fast as I can.

Here are some of my tough decisions so far. What are yours?

It seems these days, between work, family and hobbies that I don’t have the luxury of time that I had at 5 to reflect on what I want to be when I grow up.

When it comes to making the tough career decisions, mine are those key turning points in my life such as starting my accounting degree, getting into recruitment and later starting my own business.

Who are you really?  Who do you want to be?

I have always known that I wanted a career, that I wanted to excel at my chosen profession and that I wanted to be well paid.

I wanted the independence that comes with earning a good living.  Just somewhere in between all of that I wanted to fit in kids, but that is another story!

My life’s mantra is “abundance” – and I seek it in every aspect.

To help me put this into context for the audience, I used some real life case studies!

I decided to talk to some leaders in the public sector to get their thoughts on making the tough career decisions and successfully managing their career to support my conclusions.

I met with an Auditor General, the Managing Director of a large Government IT company, and a Department CFO. People I’ve known for a long time, who I knew would be honest with me.

It’s an interesting point that two of the executives I spoke to aren’t technical specialists in relation to their field of business.  One is an ex accountant, not a techo – but successfully leads a Government IT company; and another is not a career auditor but leads that function within his Department

You don’t need to be a technical specialist to be a leader – many senior executive roles are focused around leadership, relationships, building capability, vision and strategy.

What do you want to be?

A technical specialist or a leader?  Of course you could choose to be a processor, but I think you run the risk of being replaced by technology!

Depending on your answer, your strategy would be to either build a core set of technical competencies and happily accept that you may not reach the highest levels of Government executive ranks.

Or you constantly seek out new challenges and gain broad exposure in relation to people, business and strategy and move up into the executive ranks.

I’m not suggesting that you have to be a leader, or that you have to narrowly classify yourself,

I’m saying that regardless of where you want to be, you must take the time to understand what that is.

It’s that notion of emotional intelligence that includes attributes such as honesty self reflection, taking responsibility and being resilient despite set backs, that is critical here.

Can you handle the consequences? What are you prepared to sacrifice?

It’s one thing to be able to make the tough decision – but are you prepared to accept the consequences? If at this point you are still unsure about where it is you want to be, ask yourself, what am I prepared to sacrifice?

All the responses I got back to this question, was that often work life balance was sacrificed due to demands placed on their time.

So if you want certainty, predictability and routine, you need to accept that perhaps a leadership role is not for you.

Where are you?

Ask yourself, where are you in your career lifecycle – mid way, starting out, nearing retirement?  As the answer will also impact on the decisions you make.

Can you overcome setbacks?

All of the people I spoke to had, on more than one occasion been unsuccessful in interviews, or overlooked for a promotion.

Some having acted in roles were not appointed.  Despite this, and naturally disappointed at first, they were able to pick themselves up, refocus and recast.

One of the executives I spoke to set a goal to move up a level every year. He achieved this, but had to overcome set backs along the way.

Finding himself blocked in a corporate role, he moved out and up, into a District role to keep his career progression on track.

Many years later he is the newly appointed CFO for one of the largest Queensland Departments.

Another of the executives wasn’t initially appointed into the MD role. Once he accepted that set back he refocused his mind, set the course for his future success and his subsequent appointment.  He stresses the need for adaptability in situations like this.

Stuck in your comfort zone?

Finding his career stalled and locked in his comfort zone, one Executive elected to move out of the public sector for a period to kick-start his career and hone his experience and skills.

Earlier on in his career he states that he was very specific in what he was looking for, primarily focused only on the role, learning later that he needed to be more open to opportunities, looking more at the career path and the opportunity to gain exposure to a range of people.

How prepared are you?  Do you know where you want to be in 3 to 5 years?

This question got some interesting responses. One executive told me that he is always planning and asking himself this question. Another commented that he asks himself what he wants to be doing at 50, his resume is always up to date and his referees are in place.

How humble are you?

When I called one of the executives I interviewed – he answered his own phone!

Another commented that his favourite mantra is “they put rubbers on pencils because everyone makes mistakes”, but he believes that you must learn from your mistakes and be open to learning.

Throughout his career this executive has asked the people around him what he could do better.  He has also worked to surround himself with people who think differently to him.

Accept that you are not perfect and don’t have to be.  Make a decision but be able to support that with a rationale.

Finally, a bit of old fashioned luck and timing helped another to get to where he has got to.