Employee Profile:Darren Hope
Advance Recruitments observes that it is often these individuals that can create and ultimately determine their preferred work opportunities based on their interests. While there is no doubt that workers like Darren take full advantage of the premium rates of pay to build up their savings accounts, they also have the chance to observe and work in a variety of worksites in which they form opinions about what will best suit them. For Darren, working as an Advance Recruitments casual is a consistent, not chaotic, experience. "I've worked for a few agencies, but Advance has been the only one to keep me going consistently with work. At this stage, I get the assignment and go and do it. I don't care what sort of work it is, as long as the money's there at the end of the week," says Darren. The willingness to work hard, diligently and safely is exactly the attitude and loyalty that Advance Recruitments want in an employee, and they returns that goodwill by making sure that their employee's earnings are in their bank account when they are due. "We've had cases where one of our staff has run down to a local branch to deposit money in an employee account to make sure it is there on time," says Managing Director Sascha Charlton. "We're acutely aware that we're an important part of their lives and that they can depend on us every single time. It's integral to Advance's customer service culture." Putting employees' interests first extends to the way work is organised, a factor that Darren rates highly in working for Advance. "Other agencies would get me a day of work here and a day there.sometimes I'd have to travel right across town for just four hours of work," he says. "Advance regularly get me going to one place, usually a local place, five days a week. It makes a big difference when you don't have to travel around so much." Whether it's picking and packing, loading, forklift work, or labour work, Darren doesn't find it difficult to make the transition from one job to another. He is one of the many outstanding workers that reinforce Advance Recruitments' strong reputation in the market. Employee Profile:Mal Mackenzie
Another great strength Mal brings to his driving is his exposure to other jobs and industries. He spent a number of years in sales, and developed extensive experience and training in customer service. While at Repco and Caltex, which also involved traveling long distances across Western Australia, Mal learned much from working in a culture that values the customer and balances customer loyalty with an equitable working relationship. Mal returned to NSW and joined Advance Recruitments in 2001. Advance Recruitments maintain a comprehensive screening process that less than 10% of applicants pass. Since that time, Advance Recruitments describe Mal as rising to the top of his profession amongst an accomplished group of drivers, becoming adept at working in a wide range of conditions, and hauling a wide variety of loads from fruit and vegetables to ACI Glass. Further, his customer service focus means he operates on meeting the needs of the client. As a result, Mal demonstrates multiple skills in meeting the various requests and dealing successfully with the personalities he encounters in the business. "Mal has worked at any client site that we have sent him to, without question. We have always received rave reviews about his performance from clients," says Sascha Charlton, Managing Director at Advance Recruitments. "His driving record has been outstanding, and every time he's out in the field, we hear reports of his professional manner and appearance." Whether it means taking a few extra minutes to make sure he backs the container into a dead square position at the dock, driving defensively and with foresight on the road, or ensuring the client's truck is making a positive reflection on the company, Mal Mackenzie is a company asset in the pride he demonstrates in his work. This is evidenced in the position he has maintained at the Coles Myer cross dock warehouse in Huntingwood for the last two years. "There's a lot of pride in our industry. I see it everyday in people I work with," says Mal. "Having respect for our role on the road, the power of the vehicles, and staying within our limits is at the heart of our profession." Employee Profile:Cathy RedmayneA typical day for Cathy Redmayne is a balancing act. With two children, her schedule is book-ended by the 9am and 3:30pm pickup and drop off commitments familiar to all parents. The gaps between these times are filled at Diageo Australia, where Cathy has worked for the past seven years, forming a successful long term working relationship with Diageo and her employment agency, Advance Recruitments. For Cathy, this is the perfect arrangement. Cathy represents a significant portion of Advance Recruitments' workforce - those who enjoy the greater flexibility of casual employment and the support they receive from Advance Recruitments, specialists in casual labour hire. Diageo Australia is one of Advance Recruitments' most long-term clients. The Huntingwood facility centralises most of Diageo Australia's Asia-Pacific supply operations. From this production hub they operate the warehouse, customer service and distribution centre. Accounting, procurement and supply planning management teams are based at Huntingwood, as well as the all-important Customer Service Centre, which liaises with the direct, wholesale, and export customers. More than 140 employees work at this site, which is capable of operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week when required. Cathy carries out reception and office administration duties for Diageo, including proof of delivery paperwork, filing, and providing support to management. She is there almost every day, and the hours vary according to the work load, but they always suit. Over time, Cathy has developed a strong working relationship with Advance Recruitments and Diageo, and the clear communication and mutual understanding of the processes between all parties means that everything runs smoothly. "At Advance Recruitments, we pride ourselves on placing candidates in roles that they are well-suited to, meaning no square pegs in round holes," says Sascha Charlton, Managing Director of Advance Recruitments. "When we placed Cathy with Diageo not only did we take into account her skills, experience and availability for this role, we also looked at factors such as the location, which was close to home for Cathy, and how she would fit with Diageo, who are very flexible and accommodating of their staff's needs. As you can tell, this has proved to be a very successful placement, still going strong after seven years." Clearly, the management team at Diageo Australia also feels that this is a good relationship - Cathy has been with Advance Recruitments and in her current placement since August 1999. This reflects positively on Cathy, whose capabilities, experience and commitment to the job have become a real asset to Diageo Australia. Advance Recruitments have also exceeded Cathy's expectations of a recruitment agency. At times of personal difficulty, such as bereavement in the family, she has been pleasantly surprised by the response from the team at Advance Recruitments, who were very understanding about changes to availability and considerate of her situation. This is a perfect example of the mutually supportive, mutually beneficial employee-client-agency relationship model that Advance Recruitments strives for every time. Approachable, flexible, and EXCELLENT are three words that Cathy uses to describe the Advance team and her managers at Diageo, proving that Advance Recruitment's credo of 'excellence in quality and service' applies as much to staff as it does to clients. |
30-year-old Darren Hope has been working for Advance Recruitments for less than a year, but he's already earned himself a reputation for reliability. "Darren's a true 'on-call casual'," says Operations Manager Karen Ellis. "He works at a number of different sites and always accepts shifts regardless of what time and where."
From the time he was an eight year old boy driving tractors on the family farm in Currajong, Mal Mackenzie has had a love of driving and operating commercial vehicles. Mal's first job in the commercial trucking world was in Western Australia in 1971 where he hauled iron ore in 100 tonne trucks. The shifts involved 24 hour shifts and staying alert was a challenge. The seven years he spent with these gigantic vehicles and loads, however, taught him a crucial skill that has been the foundation for his successful career in transport - knowing his limits and how to maintain high-level performance over a given period of time - the definition of professionalism in any industry or profession. Another lifelong learning from the experience was respect for freight handling and understanding the implications for any driving assignment based on what was being transported.
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Employee Profile: Darren Hope
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30-year-old Darren Hope has been working for Advance Recruitments for less than a year, but he’s already earned himself a reputation for reliability. “Darren is a true ‘on-call casual’,” says Operations Manager Karen Ellis. “He works at a number of different sites but always accepts shifts regardless of what time and where.”