WHITBY FREE PRESS WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1989, PAGE 13 A BUSINESS UPDATE INFORMATION FEATURE NEWS RACHEL and father Fulton Green enjoy a free skate at the John Brouwer Garden Centre, Lak- eridge Rd. (Reg. Rd. 23) and Bayly St. E., Ajax. Vince Ohprecio - Froc Press photo gion Office for London -ife opens Formal ceremonies were recently held in Whitby to mark the opening of the new regional office for London Life. Under a administrative re- structuring, London Life now has four regions in the Toronto area instead of two, with the Whitby office serving an area from Scar- borough to Peterborough. Under regional manager Bill Kyle, a former coach at Paul Dwyer high school in Oshawa, 11 London Life representatives cur- rently work out of the Whitby location at 420 Green St. Kyle expects that number to increase to 20 within the next 18 months. "We've got a really young group here," says Kyle, adding that they are trying "innovative ideas" in group insurance. One such idea is a dual choice dental product, an "alternative" dental plan that is now offered, in conjunction with four dental services in Whitby and Oshawa. London Life, based in London, Ont., is part of the Trilon Finan- cial Network which also includes Royal Trust and Royal LePage. The largest client for London Life in this area is the Region of Durham. LtY;s1I BINESSiii~~ Finding the right person for the job will help A major concern for most small business owners in Ontario is that potential minefield known as human resources. Managing people is one of the single most important aspects of running any business success- fully, and it's frequently one of the last areas to get any atten- tion. But in many cases, the entrepreneur may be the worst type of person to be in charge of hiring, training and managing people. Like bookkeeping and accounting, hiring people may be one of those tasks that should be delegated if the owner feels that it is one of his or her weak- nesses. He or she can also attend one of the many conferences and workshops that are offered in the area. From a 10-person logging ope- ration in Northern Ontario to a software company in Ottawa or a trendy delicatessen in Markham, the basic steps of defining a job, finding the right person and then managing the staff properly are more or less the same. "A well-thought-out program for finding, recruiting, training and managing people will help a small business be more produc- tive," says Ross Finlay, executive dlirector of the Personnel Associa- tion of Ontario. "Competition for good employees is very fierce now, even for receptionists and secre- taries, and it helps to plan in advance to have a pay and bene- fits policy that will attract and hold on to staff." Personnel consultants identify the following key steps in deve- loping a human resources sys- tem: 1) Determine your labor needs for the coming year as far in advance as possible so you can do some planning. 2) Next, recruit candidates for the position, usually by advertis- ing. The advertising can be aimed at a broad audience and placed in a local newspaper, or it can be aimed at a broad audience and placed in a local newspaper, or it can be targeted more speci- fically, by advertising in an in- dustry newsletter or magazine if you need someone with very well defined skills. 3) Be sure you know exactly what you are looking for. Be clear about the job to be done and make sure that you are able to describe it precisely. Then select the candidate that best fits this description. 4) Training and orientation should help new employees adapt to the norms of the com- 5) Pay scales and benefits packages are usually set by local market conditions and can be determined simply by asking other people in the same indus- try. Finally, managing staff is a dynamic process. It's always changingbecause people, our society, and the accompanying expectations and regulations are changing. It shouldn't be thought about once a year, but rather should be the subject of some regular attention and study. pany and learn its values. They should also be told what their job performance will be measured against. "What we're after for this position, Mr. Wilkins, is a real go-getter, a dynamo, a...." Toshiba's family of telephone systems are the very hallmarks of reliability. The first thing they'll do is take care of business. The last thing they'll do is break down. The phones are comp- atible across all Toshiba systems! This protects your original as you grow. investment Everything you'd expect from a company that's been in telecom- munications for over 100 years. This also includes facsimile! , Before you buy your next system, call MoTel, your authorized Toshiba dealer and see Strata and Perception. Now you can be sure you'll make the right call! MoTe II Serving the Durham Region 430-7242 ~' ~ ' ' <g I ~ I - - - - - - -- - - - ->5f -