Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 29, 1973, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press tuesday. May 29, 1973 15 new management tests for civil servants continued from Page 13 the Standard hour Long promotion interview. Or. Greene says there Are Many anomalies and in fair Nesses in the present system of promoting civil ser vants. One is that since by Law every Job must be advertised a great Many candidates apply for every Post. Only one can be successful leading to bitterness and Digap processing payroll cheques proves profitable business processing payroll cheques is a profitable business for com Check services Ltd., a Winnipeg based company that has five Branch offices across Canada. Founded five years ago the firm harnesses the Speed of the computer to relieve its custom ers of the manually tedious responsibilities of payroll accounting. Com chef gets payroll information from customers calculates each employee s pay and deductions makes out and signs the cheques and distributes them to the employees. The company established in co operation with Fidelity Trust co of Winnipeg and competing with chartered Banks is the brainchild of Wil Liam h. Loewen a Winnipeg chartered accountant. Or. Loewen said that while Banks offer a similar service he did t know of any other company using Cheque process ing As a basis for its operations. It occurred to me that by handling All the pay cheques through the same account a better service could be provided particularly to Small com he said the computer is Well suited to tasks Fiat people find Boring such As carrying for Ward balances and untangling complicated income tax and unemployment insurance Fig ures. With its rented computer Lime com chef can also Supply its customers with labor and payroll Cost analyses or information on the Cost of making a certain product. Employers Are spared the work of signing pay cheques and companies May save m o n e y in Cheque charges through favourable rates negotiated by com chef with Bank ing institutions. Customers Are required to Deposit enough Money to cover the pay cheques and the rest is taken care of. Or. Loewen said com chef which is not covered by Regula Lions that apply to Banks Anc Trust companies had to draw up its own set of working rules. We had to develop a set of standards for ourselves which would satisfy our customers thai their Money was being de posited in such a Way thai in would be available for ils in tended use. All the Money Ever put into the account must be immediately available so we be res Iri cled its use to deposits with Trust companies or Banks or government the company has Branch offices in Vancouver Calgary Edmonton and Toronto and processes about Che ques a year through ils Fidelity Trust account and another annually through Pri vate Bank accounts. The firm has 122 customers of whom 75 Are in Manitoba. All customers have their Che ques processed through the Winnipeg account. The Branch offices in other cities keep payroll information and records. Or. Loewen said through use of the computer com chef can process As Many As 500 Che ques a minute while firms doing their own payrolls must hire one full time person for very 100 employees. The company has 20 employees in Canada and or. Loewen said its immediate goals Are to establish a Branch office in Montreal in a year or so and .0 develop More aggressive marketing techniques. Super supermarket set to open fall Toronto up an Exten Sion of lie supermarket idea is expected to revolutionize the food retailing business and possibly general merchandising in Canada some analysts say. The first so called super supermarket or hypermarket will be opened in Laval que., what Coffee do you drink at the office 7 you can live any of these fresh brewed Day in your own office with the Cory Coffee service plan. All you have to do is phone the Cory Coffee plan at 942-6922 and a free Cory Brewer will be in stalled in your office. Your Cost the Coffee you drink. Cream and sugar supplied. Cory coff i a thrice plan m2.s322 this fall by Oshawa group Ltd. It is a merchandising concept that has been successful in Europe. Mead and co., a Toronto in vestment House says the idea is totally consumer oriented and emphasizes operating Cost reduction lower retail Price shopping convenience and Speed. Food and general Mer Chandise will be shipped direct from the manufacturer pre lick cd and in containers de signed specifically for floor display. In an analysis of Oshawa group and food retailing generally Mead and co. Says it believes the hypermarket concept will receive consumer a cup Lance and grow to become a major Force in the Canadian merchandising the Laval hypermarket will be Many limes the size of the average supermarket. About Square feet will be Selling space almost three quarters of it div old to general Merchan Dise and the rest to food. 7n a big Way it will continue the trend for. Supermarkets to handle non food items. In an investment letter on food distribution Babson s re ports of Toronto also says diversification into non food lines seems to be the Only effective Way of improving margins and Oshawa group is in the wholesale and retail distribution of food through Iga and other of ills including food oily and much More. Ii has interests in discount depart Cal stores drug retailing Cala rogue showroom retailing institution Al food fasl food full cts and Coin laundries. Mead and co. Says in is1 unlikely thai Canadian food re mailing will recover completely from the move by major Industry participant to full scale discount merchandising which precis Ilalee the food Price War Laic in 1970 and in 1971." ii says the Industry s pricing Structure has undergone a More or less Perr Anent change. A return to Levels of profitability in the mid-1960s will probably not occur under present operating methods in the near future. There appears to be a stale of relative equilibrium in the Price Competition of major Chain stores and it would seem reasonable to assume Many of the Olhorn stores will he forced into hypermarket Mead and co. Says higher food prices and establishment of a food prices review Board do not necessarily mean Feder Al Price controls. Ointment on the Parl of the others. More serious is that under the present system where a supervisor has an important say in which of his subordinates is appointed and unsuccessful candidates can Appeal to the civil service commission the overwhelm ing tendency is to appoint mediocre candidates. A s human Nal Urc to avoid says or. Greene. Because any appoint Mcnol can be appealed and the grounds for appointment Are vague managers Are re la clan to name controversial types even in they might be Best suited to a management so the manager promotes the least controversial Type or the senior Man to whom few people can object even though he May not be Well qualified for manage ment. One surprising result of the assessment Centre pro Gram has been thai the rate of qualifiers is considerably less than under the old interview method. The Laller usually screens Oul about half the applicants and okays the others for a present or future management Post says or. Greene. The first assessment Centre held 18 months ago in Ottawa for administrative trainees Drew g5 applicants of which 22 were successful. The second Centre in Vancouver last year had 20 candidates of which eight qualified. Results of the third Centre held last month for 62 applicants Are still being assembled. There s nothing revolutionary about the says or. Greene. Basically it tells the assessors information about a candidate a supervisor would find out on the Job. But it s objective. Because the assessors Don t know those they Are assessing it s far quicker and we think much More efficient. He cautions however that assessment centres won t replace the Standard civil service Entrance exam. And because the method is expensive compared with More usual interviewing technique the Cost is estimated at about s350 per trainee they will probably be used sparingly at least for a while. However the system is being used in the govern men s Cap program for executive trainees about 120 Are hired and will probably gradually spread to other departments. It May be says or. Greene. But promoting one wrong Man to a responsible position can be infinitely More expensive in the for Sale 62 Hargrave Street South of Broadway. Outstanding multiple now used As residence for girls. Ideal for nursing Home or senior citizens. 32 bedrooms plus common lounges excellent dining room and exceptional Kitchen facilities walk in Freezer laundry facilities Etc. Equipment and Furni Ture 100 it. Frontage and 50 it. Adjoining property also available. By appointment through agent Only. Oldfield Kirby Gardner real estate Ltd. Postal address Box 699, Winnipeg j. B. Lemaistre 943-0341 ten i we i Monreo jut Mem mar Brandon Hytti Toft Bear or. Independent businessmen Are Tai Backbone of the Manitoba Economy. As you. Know we have always recognized this role of the Independent business Baa i think now is an appropriate time to re Eph Maize v v 1 f i and there Are Good xeaosna., first the need is there real need growth in this Section of the Eoo Noay and one of Ttoe Nereca Ary ingredients. Second this repreaento1 us to help our business grow by increasing Pur share of Hattte Market therefore i would re Emph Ariae that our policy is to give special consideration to Loaa applications from smaller Independent Buein Senen to make this happen i am asking you to bring your Wax Aram Energy and imagination to developing such applications. If we Are to help Independent businessmen then in the Long run we will be a. V v sincerely Youra Here s an important letter we be sent to All our Branch managers. Royal Bank ;