Workplace MANAGEMENT AND THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT BUSINESS ETIQUETTE
Q: There’s a food thief in the office. What should I do?
A: IF THIS PROBLEM DOESN’T EXIST at your workplace, consider yourself lucky — food theſt from the communal fridge is one of the most common office etiquette complaints. But unless you catch the burglar nabbing your mixed-berry yogurt (or there’s a closed-circuit camera in the kitchenette — don’t laugh, some offices have one), there’s not a heck of a lot you can do. If your salads keep mysteriously disappearing, or you suspect
your milk is the one that everyone’s using in their coffee, the best you can do is label what’s yours. “Personalizing your brown bag or milk carton by labelling it with your name and the date — thereby announcing to one and all that it is not communal — may deter a thief, but don’t count on it,” says the Emily Post Institute in New York. “It’s almost impos- sible to catch a food thief. Unless you see someone eating your sandwich and you can quietly say something to that person, your best option is to ask to bring up the matter of food pilfering at the next staff meeting.” Odds are that if he’s taking your tuna, he’s probably snatching your colleagues’ food too. Being called out might just nip the thievery in the bud. — Lisa van de Geyn
PROFILE THE LUCK OF THE IRISH
The idea hit COLIN CORCORAN and his wife, Nanci, one Sunday during lunch. “We were musing about buying the Harbourview Pub & Restaurant. We heard it was for sale and we joked with my mother-in-law — who had once leased the restaurant — that we would hire her as general manager,” he says. On their way home that night, the couple talked about what it would be like to own a business in their town of Riverhead, NL. Within three weeks, the restaurant on scenic Irish Loop Drive — now called the Celtic Knot — was theirs. Corcoran manages the bar, serves customers and takes care of the business end, his mother-in-law runs the place during the week and Nanci deals with events, the kitchen and menu. (Corcoran’s favourite dish? Fish and chips “smothered with dressing and gravy.”) Corcoran says this gig has forced him to use his designation in new ways. “What is the optimal pricing strategy for introducing sweet potato fries to the menu? How can I best increase revenues through introducing comedy nights? The designation affords you the opportunity to expand into management roles you may not have considered in the past.” — LvdG
14 | CPA MAGAZINE | MARCH 2016
Illustration: Maurice Vellekoop
Ned Pratt/KlixPix
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72