| Qatar faces shortage of professionals
DOHA � Qatar is facing critical staff shortages in the fields of engineering, banking and finance, the medical profession and in accountancy. However, human resources managers in various companies here are now realising that in order to deal with the shortage, competitive salary packages and benefits need to be given to prospective candidates. The realisation that the high cost of living in the city is having an effect on recruitment has made HR departments of firms here see the light. Maria Brown, Associate Director of Reed, a UK-based recruitment business, said yesterday: �This is a very competitive market but interest in coming here is high, as many people want to be a part of a boom economy and a rapidly emerging market." Reed, for example, has to sift through anything from 500 to 800 applications a week.
Executive Items
Marissa Lehigh and Robert Lucas have joined SGA Architecture LLC as project managers. Lehigh holds a bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of Kentucky. Previously she was an architectural assistant at Ian Springford Architects in Edinburgh, Scotland. Lucas holds a master's degree in architecture from Clemson University. He has more than seven years of experience in architecture. Banking Kevin Williams and Kay Rode have joined First Reliance Bank. Williams is vice president, business banker. He has more than 10 years of banking experience. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in business administration from The Citadel and is a graduate of the South Carolina School of Banking at the University of South Carolina. Rode joins the Mount Pleasant branch as a mortgage loan specialist.
Banks' poor service an anchor on small-business growth: CFIB
Poor service from banks is stunting the growth of small Atlantic Canadian companies, according to a new national report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
Banking Matters concludes that the five major banks are short-changing business overall. But CFIB's Atlantic vice-president Leanne Hachey says the problem is particularly acute in this region because there are fewer options here.
The report looked at nine factors, including service charges, willingness to lend and treatment by account managers. Nationally, credit unions, HSBC and ATB Financial (Alberta Treasury Branches) continue to receive the highest marks from the small business clients, but all three dropped in satisfaction rankings since 2003.
However, credit unions are the only ones of the three to have a strong customer base with small and medium-sized businesses in Atlantic Canada.
Banks missing opportunities to better serve small business - CFIB
Despite saying it wants to increase service to small- and mid-size business, Canada's banking sector is making little progress, the latest research from CFIB shows. Banking Matters reveals dwindling satisfaction with major financial institutions, with only two improving their rating since the previous survey in 2003. "Since the late 1980s fewer and fewer small business owners have applied for bank financing," CFIB President Catherine Swift explains. Small business loan activity has remained fairly stable since 1988 while loan activity for larger businesses has increased significantly. "This trend shows the banks may be missing opportunities for growth with the small business sector that accounts for 45 per cent of the Canadian economy," Swift says. "You have to question whether banks are meeting the borrowing needs of small businesses." CFIB asked members to rank their financial institution on nine performance indicators, including lending terms, service charges, access to full-service branch, online banking and treatment by their account manager.
St George best business bank
ST GEORGE Bank has thrashed the majors in the business banking service ranks, particularly Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), which continued to lag the pack, a survey says. Regional banks were rated better business bankers by their customers than the big four in a monthly survey for October of 850 customers by consultant East & Partners. On a scale from one to 10, the best ranked banks were the regionals, which were pooled together in the survey and received a collective score of 6.54. St George came second with a score of 6.05. National Australia Bank got the best score out of the majors of 5.61, while CBA came last with 4.14. "Arguably, these figures are fairly ordinary,'' East & Partners senior manager Robert Morgan said. "At the top end you've got 6.54, but that's only just over the medium point of five.'' Mr Morgan said the increasing competitiveness and complexity of business banking had made customers more discerning.
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