Centre for Business Knowledge
JANUARY 2006
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First Newsletter for 2007
Happy New Year and welcome to JIT 2007.
It promises to be a great year with world economies still booming – albeit at a slightly lower level than 2006, a Cricket World Cup next month and the Rugby World Cup later in the year.
You have all received earlier mailings of O’JIT, giving you progress updates in terms of where, when and how you were going, this newsletter will be the first one that you receive whilst on secondment.
As this also goes out to previous year’s Secondees, many of them will be thinking how quickly the last year has passed us by. No doubt they will also be green with envy at the adventure our 2007 Secondees are experiencing. We do have a number of Secondees who are on their second and third JIT Secondments. A special welcome to all our multiple JITters Adele Dempsey, Liesl Pottas and Villiers van Veen, Sahana Vaidya, Wessel Boshoff, Caroline Lloyd, Johann du Toit, Cato Botha, Ross Clarke, Claire Campbell (now van Huysteen), Marguerite Potgieter, Alwyn van Jaarsveld and Jurgen Terblanche. Well done.
The main purpose of this Newsletter is to keep in touch and let you know what is happening back home and to keep you advised as to new secondment opportunities. We will also update you about Andre and Mariana’s travel plans and short and long-term career opportunities for after your secondment. Also of course we will include snippets of information and pictures supplied by your fellow Secondees. This is a very important section of O’JIT, so we need to hear from you.
We really like the stories and pictures about your work and play, but even more, we love the juicy bits on your fellow Secondees, for the “Back Page”. We are reliably informed that Villiers has received a number of e-mails from highly eligible and desirable “bachelorettes” following the publication of his picture in the last edition of O’JIT. Who knows, for the unattached, this may be your big year!
The experience gained by the JIT Team over the past few years, has certainly benefited the Secondees. With a few minor exceptions, all the visa and travel arrangements went very smoothly and there were very few glitches. The JIT Team certainly deserve a good pat on the back for a job very well done. We have Secondees throughout the US, UK, The Netherlands, Scotland, Luxembourg and Norway, and hope to have a couple of long-term players in Holland, Norway, Bulgaria, Bahamas, Bermuda, Channel Islands and in the near future.. A listing of Secondees by cities, has been published later in this newsletter.
Just about all of you are now at your Receiving Offices and hard at work – although evidence suggests that the team in California may not be quite as hard at work as we hoped. They have already managed to fit in a weekend of skiing at Lake Tahoe.
By all accounts the plans put in place seemed to have worked pretty well. We are aware that one of the Secondees destined for Scotland was turned back at Heathrow because his visa was not in order. This came about because he did not read the visa application pack carefully and has ended up costing E&Y a great deal of money – both in terms of having to provide a second air ticket and also lost revenue for about 10 days. Guys, please read the documents sent across to you and make sure that you follow the instructions carefully.
Many of you saw out 2006 in landmark cities such as London, New York and San Francisco. The accommodation arrangements also seem to be up to the usual high standards and feedback thus far has been very positive.
The only other significant problem was that two Secondees were separated from their baggage – based on our understanding of what transpired, it seems that the delays in flights leaving from Heathrow as a result of the pea soup fog resulted in a number of bags being left off flights. One suitcase was even found without a name tag on it! Both sets of luggage have been traced and by the time you receive this Newsletter, will hopefully be reunited with their owners.
This should serve as a reminder to the rest of the Secondees. The insurance limits on lost baggage are of the order of R1500 for lost luggage. In the event that a suitcase goes permanently missing, you are paid out up to R15 000 by TIC If the contents are worth more, you need additional Baggage Insurance or cover through your own short-term insurance. This is particularly important for your return journeys, when most of you will be bringing back thousands of dollars, or pounds, worth of clothing and other stuff purchased while you were on secondment. Please make sure you have appropriate levels of cover.
Finally, remember that the primary reason you have been accepted on the JIT Programme is to work (and play, time permitting). Your predecessors on the Programme have a track record that is nothing short of superb. We expect nothing but the best from you and know that you will not let us down.
News From Home
The shrinking of the Global Village, means that most of you have access to news from home at the touch of a button! It probably means that this section is somewhat superfluous, but herewith the major news headlines of the past few days:
§ An interesting aside, is that Tony Yengeni is to be released on parole on Monday 15th January, after serving 4 just months of a four year sentence!
§ Another interesting political headline that caught my eye, was the fact that despite denials, Tokyo Sexwale seems to be stepping up his bid for the Presidential race. It seems that one of the platforms that he will be basing his campaign on, is also the crime situation. He plans, according to a recent press article to make jails less accommodating, by banning smoking!! Whilst we all know this strategy would be strongly endorsed by our esteemed Minister of Health, how about reintroducing hard labour and chain gangs to fix the roads!! Mind you, given the ease with which criminals escape from maximum security cell at Pretoria Central the mind boggles at what could occur if hardened criminals were simply chained together under the “watchful” eyes of warders and let loose to roam on our streets.
§ On a brighter note the Proteas managed a series win against India and have the first test against Pakistan in the bag
§ One can’t but wonder at the planning that has gone into the cricket season. By the time we arrive in the West Indies in 6 weeks time for the World Cup, we will have spent the majority of the current summer playing 6 Test matches and only a couple of One-Dayers as a warm-up! The Editors prediction for the World Cup is that we will not get beyond the Semi’s despite our current ranking of 2 in the ODI lists.
§ The Rugby Season also got off to an early start with the Bulls registering a 25-19 win against the Stormers – can you believe it, rugby in January!! It must have been unbelievably taxing as the temperature when they kicked off was 32 degrees. Good news was that Schalk Burger was back and had a great game. My bet for the Rugby World Cup in France later in the year is that we will get to the Final. I am completely disregarding the disastrous year-end tour to the UK, when we sent a half-baked side across. I really believe that Jake knows what he is doing and, barring injuries to key players, the Boks should acquit themselves well.
§ On the money front, the JSE finished last week at 24 535, a touch down, and the Rand closed at R7.28 to the Dollar and R14.06 to the Pound then – OK for those in the EU, it closed at R9.42. Unlike last year, when I recommended you to put everything, including your mothers-in-law, into the market, I am somewhat more cautious this year. I think gold, Rand hedge stocks and Resource stocks still have a way to go, but believe that a major correction could be heading our way.
§ The build up to US Presidential elections could be very interesting. Iraq will no doubt be a key focal point and I have no doubt that the Republicans will feel the wrath of the American citizens at being dragged into a completely pointless war. I am equally sure that Mr Blair’s supporters will similarly jump ship and that the West’s two super-powers will have completely different leadership structures in the near future.
Where is everybody
JIT is now covering half the world and this is where your fellow Secondees are currently based:
Number of receiving offices
27
Number of South Africans overseas
72
Offices where you will find our JIT members: Can you insert the names of each secondee under the city??
Amsterdam
Jersey
Guernsey
Leeds
London
Rotterdam
Bristol
Edinburgh
San Francisco
Birmingham, UK
Luxembourg
San Jose
Baltimore
Manchester, UK
Dallas
Houston
McLean, DC
Sofia, Bulgaria
Roseville, USA
New York
Southampton, UK
Reading, UK
Newcastle, UK
Washington DC
Philadelphia
Oslo, Norway
Cape Town/Cleveland
Letter from America – In Memory of Michael Gobregts
January 2006 started with very sad news. One of our Secondees, Michael Gobregts, was tragically killed in a road accident. This occurred whilst he was travelling from Cape Town to Johannesburg, to join E&Y in Johannesburg.
Michael, a Secondee on the 2005 Programme, completed his initial secondment in Chicago. He found the American lifestyle fascinating and whilst on secondment sent us a letter detailing the differences that he had experienced, between life in the US and SA. Not only did we find it hilarious, but we believe that he makes some very pertinent points. We believe that the points he makes will help those who have entered the US for the first time as they are based on hard won experience. In memory of Michael, we are publishing the letter he sent us:
Hi everyone
From the 4 months in the US, I realised that there are a lot of differences to what I'm used to in South Africa. SO I decided to draw up a list for myself (and for you to read as well)
Hope you enjoy and find it interesting.
Michael
These are some of the differences I experienced from my time in the US.
Differences experienced between the USA and South Africa
1. Metric system compared to the crazy pounds, miles, inches
how can you rectify water freezing at 32,0018 F and boiling at 212,0118 F? Doesn’t 0C for freezing and 100C for boiling sounds so much easier?
1ton in America doesn’t equal 1ton as to the metric system. 1ton metric =1000kg, but not with pounds used
It’s really hard converting everything the whole time, and I mean – Everything!!
2. Driving on the right hand side of the road, compared to being used driving left. Every thing is on the other side, even the trains, escalators and the way people walk on the side walks (not that everyone does that)
3. Wall plugs in the US have no on/off switches, you just plug it in and hope nothing will shock you….Also, the Voltage used is 120V, in SA it’s 240V – so a lot of SA appliances don’t work properly in the US. Like a 240V hairdryer will only go one slow speed, etc. and my hair clipper bought in the US will burn-out in SA.
4. Also light switches work the other way around – in the US, when the switch button is down, then the light is on.
5. Kettle? What’s that? You don’t get normal electric kettles in the US. They still use ones you put on the stove or you use a coffee brewing machine. Would have thought the most advanced country in the world would know what an electric kettle is….
6. Internet access and speed is just amazing in the US! Compared to home, DSL lines (which is fast in SA) for a R1000 a month (for the Americans- $165), you get a relative fast line. DSL in the US is old news. You can plug into the cable decoder and have free fast internet access for as long as you want-maybe in 2020 in SA we’ll have that, but then al the cables probably would have been stolen by that time….Also wireless internet almost anywhere, even in coffee shops like Starbucks you can have free wireless access. Really amazing!
7. Renting movies in the US, you can keep some of them for up to a week, and if you don’t return it, it just gets charged to your credit card as a movie purchased.
8. Electronic products and other stuff in the US are SO much cheaper and you can even easily order everything online. Compare that to food, you don’t know how they price these things. You can easily order a nice book online for $10, but can pay for a bread $3.15, or 2 pieces uncooked chicken for $5. Or spend easily on night out for dinner and a few drinks $150, but you can buy a digital camera or a Play Station 2 for that amount.
9. The different spelling still gets to me – using ‘z’ in most of the places used to use ‘s’ and spelling words differently, like a cheque is spelled check, etc
10. Like most people know, cars are just bigger, better and faster in the US and gas consumption is that last worry for the US. Also cars being so cheap relative to salary earnings, make fuel consumption probably not that important. Old cars are not that common and even their old cars here have at least twin airbags and electric windows.
11. Also the cars are ALL automatic, from the more than 4months in the US, I only observed 1 manual (or in the US – “stick shift” in Holland called a clutch car) car. (and I really checked out a lot of cars!)That just shows, comfort in the US is everything, and the fact that automatic vehicles use more fuel, also don’t influence their decision.
12. “Tekkies”, “jersey”, “sms”, “garage” are the words I can not use = it’s “sneakers”, “sweater”, “text” and “gas station”
13. A lot of the buildings in the USA don’t have a 13th floor (like where I stay) and their 1st floor is the ground floor-meaning in SA you get ground, then 1st floor - Why this also is different I ask you…?!
14. On the trains they use the term “Watch the GAP” compared to London “Mind the GAP” – this probably because the USA was not allowed to use the same as UK or different again.
15. Coke, etc is called Sodas in the US, as to SA calling all of it cool-drink. Probably the soda makes sense.
16. In SA you buy a burger and chips, meaning French fries and a burger, but in the US you must say fries, otherwise they give you a packet of Lays, etc. So it’s a “…burger, fries and a soda thanks..”
17. Smoking rules are very different in each state – some places like Chicago, London and Amsterdam you can still smoke in bars and smoking sections, New York – no where! And prices differ from state to state and I thought SA was expensive, try New York with $8.15 (+-R50) a pack! And then in Fort Lauderdale you can by packets for +- $3.50 or else you order them over the internet and pay $3/pack. – (for the Americans, you pay + - $2.20 in SA)
18. Cell phones – in the US you pay for incoming calls as well, so there is no “please call me” messages here, because you can’t receive calls or sms’s if you don’t have money on your phone. A bit weird for a country that is so far ahead regarding technology.
19. Meals are great here, the Americans are not shy giving big portions, so when you buy something to eat, you get more than enough. Not like in SA where they try to save on every corner they can.
20. For food products and any other consumer products, it’s al about making life easier for everyone. Every packet, box, etc. has an easy opening thing on it, really making things so much easier.
21. There are much less homeless people in the US as any South African would imagine, but for certain places you still get a lot of beggars. In San Francisco I encountered much more beggars than I have in Cape Town. But begging for cigarettes is just as bad in New York and San Francisco as in SA.
22. Paper size, A4 is the most common paper size used for letters, printing, etc in SA and in other parts of the world. But in the US they use all different kinds of paper sizes. The one that is the regular size like A4, is size 5” x 11”, I think.
23. Shoe sizes are also different, so instead of me wearing a normal 11 or 12 UK size, I need to by a 12 or 13 US size.
24. No open fires in the Cities like NYC, so SA braais (BBQ’s for the Americans) is not actually an option in the city, although a lot of people have Weber braais and use them in the city.
25. I’ve met a lot of very friendly people in the US and the stories that they are unfriendly, is a generalisation. NYC is the only place where you might think people are unfriendly, but actually it’s just the busy life that makes people act the way they do sometimes. Like in SA, people from the smaller towns are much friendlier in general.
Andre and Mariana’s January / February / March 2007 visit.
Andre will be leaving in late January to visit all the Receiving Offices. Mariana Nagel, will be joining him for the US leg of the journey. He will be meeting all the Receiving Office Coordinators, JIT Secondees and a number of Partners in the various offices. Andre plans to meet with each one of you to discuss how you have settled into your new environments, to understand any problems you may be having and to review your performance to-date. He will also be discussing potential options with you, for when you complete your current secondments, Shonna is busy setting up dates and time for all (with a few exceptions) to have dinner with them during the trip. Please can you all make sure that you get to these meetings with Andre and Mariana.
The Back Page
Thanks to those of you have already dropped us a line, we really appreciate the effort you make. We also really believe that your news is of interest to other Secondees and our JIT Alumni. So please keep the letters rolling and remember we want SPICE!!!!!.
Big Mac Index:
We thought that you would find the Big Mac index, as published by the Economist, interesting – particularly as this is the staple diet for many of you whilst on secondment. It certainly provides an interesting perspective of the cost-of-living around the world. And no, we will not entertain any requests for increased per diems if you happen to be in Norway or Switzerland
Country
Price of a Big Mac (US$)
United States
$3.10
United Kingdom
$3.75 (£1.94)
The Netherlands
$3.82 (€ 2.95)
Luxembourg
$3.23 (€ 2.50)
Switzerland
$5.05 (CHF 6.30)
Norway
$7.00 (€ 5.40)
South Africa
$2.15 (R15,50)
We are in the process of setting up a blog, where you can post photos and news. Will get the address to you as soon as we have it running.
We haven’t had much news from the 2007 Secondees. You are way behind the 2006 Group, who were really superb! So come-on guys, let your JIT Coordinators know what is going on. They will forward all the stuff to me and I will include it in the February edition. Without your input, these news letters are really difficult to write
Best regards
Andre, Mariana, Shonna, Debbie, David and Robyn
The JIT Team
Monday, February 19, 2007
O'JIT February 2007
Editorial Comment
Whew! At last all our Secondees are now safely installed in their Receiving Offices. The last departure was Yashmeetha Maharaj, placed in the Jersey office, who finally departed on the 9th of February. The delays were due to work permit documents being delayed on the Receiving Office side. Despite the best efforts of both sets of co-ordinators, the process seemed to go on for ages.
Despite the fact that Yashmeetha will only be starting work on the 12th of February, you will be interested to know that we have been paying her since the beginning of January. I think this incident, which is by no means an isolated case, demonstrates the commitment of E&Y to our Secondees.
It is also interesting to note that our JIT Secondees are far better remunerated than the Secondees from other South African Firms. Whilst the per diems are similar, $50 for E&Y and $51 for one of the other Big 4 Firms, the big difference lies in the net remuneration. All our Secondees, net approximately R22 000 a month, whilst a top rated (significantly exceeds expectations) competitor’s Secondee would net R19 800. In addition, most of them drive “compacts” whilst our guys are driving around in some really heavy metal – including Bernard Kruger’s V6 Gas Guzzler!!!
Bernard, incidentally, has become known throughout the Baltimore Office as the “BB Man” – from Bloem to Baltimore! Others, in the office refer to him as Elvis, due to the luxuriant sideburns he now sports. Yes, they are even bigger than when he left. Perhaps we should have seconded him to Graceland.
Speaking of driving, please watch your alcohol intake, especially if you are the designated driver. One of our Secondees, who shall remain unnamed, whilst en route between San Francisco and San Jose, had an encounter with the long arm of the US law. According to reliable sources, she was asked to walk the white line on the road to prove her sobriety. Fortunately, she passed the test and was allowed to proceed. (She had to use her charm abundantly!)
Andre is now well into the USA leg of his trip. Apart from his usual complaints about eating and drinking too much with the Secondees, he has been complaining bitterly about the cold. Apparently, he found minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit (0 - 14° C) with a touch of wind chill, in Chicago, too tough to handle!! He never left the hotel at night. Dinner drinks consisted of items from the mini bar.
He has now been joined by Mariana for the East Coast leg of his trip. We have heard that Mariana’s trip thus far has not been without its drama. Her flight out of RSA was delayed by 24 hours and she arrived in the USA a day late. This meant a change in all their travel plans. The situation was further compounded by the fact that she arrived sans luggage. A week later, she has still not been reunited with her bags and had to do some emergency shopping in DC. Apparently, AJB’s suits did not fit her properly!!
To the guys that have sent us news, thank you very much. We have enjoyed your letters, pictures, blogs and stories. Some of these are included later. To those of you who are feeling guilty, you can appease your guilt by sending interesting stuff through to your JIT Co-ordinators. It is all forwarded to the Editorial Board for review and inclusion (I have been advised that it is contrary to E&Y’s value system to gossip about your fellow employees. We will, therefore, only be able to include true stories that are of general public interest in future editions of O JIT – ed).
Feedback on our Secondees
The feedback on your performance thus far has been nothing short of excellent. Wherever Andre travels, the reception he gets from Receiving Office Partners is outstanding. You are doing South Africa, E&Y SA, the SA Accounting Profession and yourselves proud. Keep up the good work. Only a couple more weeks for most of you and the “Working experience of a lifetime” will be over.
We had some really great feedback from Victor Veger – JIT Partner responsible for the Dutch Practice and a great fan of the JIT Programme. Below is a copy of a letter he sent to Andre:
Andre,
This weekend we had a welcome program for all JIT staff in Amsterdam. I joined the group dinner Saturday night and had the pleasure of meeting all South African JIT staff personally. Please accept my compliments for the quality of the group. They are all very presentable and sociable, bring a sound knowledge of E&Y tools and methodologies and also are motivated to make the best of their period with us.
Various audit teams in both Rotterdam and Amsterdam have already expressed to me personally how pleased they were with the individual who joined their team. So it seems they are off to a good start.
All staff seemed to be doing well, they pretty much liked their apartments and cars. As always we have picked up a few improvement opportunities from meeting with them and we will seek to fix them before next year's group arrives.
We expect to see you over here in a couple of weeks and trust you will find them enjoying themselves in the Netherlands.
Regards and please advise us timely of our travel plans because I would like you to have an opportunity to meet with some colleagues as well.
Victor
In one Receiving office the local JIT Co-ordinator was so impressed with the pre-briefing that our Secondees received – that she remarked thereon that they new all prior to their arrival.
In certain areas such as McLean (Washington DC) and Dallas, only JIT’s from SA are employed. There’s no doubt that our people are making their mark as whichever office you go to, the people know the South African’s are there.
What fantastic endorsements of the Programme and our Secondees.
Happy Birthday
A serious omission from the last edition of O’JIT was our Birthday List. Our apologies for those we missed in January. To set the record straight we have included the Secondees who had birthdays in January as well as those who will be celebrating in February:
Liesl (Mustang) Pottas
02-Jan
Thabiso (Tubs) Madiba
10-Jan
Alan (V6 Chevy) Welsh
15-Jan
Stuart Masson
15-Jan
Wiehahn Beukes
17-Jan
Craig Ribaudo
18-Jan
Shaheeda Mia
23-Jan
Kelly Gilman
27-Jan
Nicola Bester
29-Jan
Lee Pienaar
30-Jan
Marguerite Potgieter(her engagement ring is BLINDING!)
02-Feb
Gregory (The Organiser) Rodrigues
06-Feb
Rowan King
07-Feb
Graeme Hedding
12-Feb
Renee van der Merwe
21-Feb
Jacques Nel
26-Feb
We trust that you will enjoy celebrating these special times with your new friends and colleagues
JIT Bonuses
We would like to remind you that a JIT Bonus pool has been established and that everyone who submits a minimum of two Performance Appraisals, supplied by a Manager / Partner with a minimum of a 3 rating, required – all values met) for work undertaken in the first three months of their secondment will be eligible for this bonus. It will be paid out in April to all those who qualify.
Remember it is your responsibility to obtain these Performance Appraisals from the Partners or Managers for whom you undertake work. You will not qualify for a JIT bonus if we have not received at least two Performance Appraisals.
Photographic Competition
We noted with interest that KPMG has copied our initiative in their “Outbound Assignee Newsletter” (yawn!!) and have introduced a photographic competition. We have been doing this for a number of years!!
As usual, we are a couple of steps ahead of the game and the prize for the best photograph this month will receive a specially constructed hamper of South African “goodies” Robyn is, as I write, shopping for the kind of luxuries that will surely get your mouth’s watering. The hamper will include: Ouma Rusk, Woolies new Free Range biltong, a couple of bottles of really good SA wine, Nik Naks, Mrs Ball’s se Blatjang, Kit Kats, Crunchies and other tempting snacks. The hamper will be couriered to the winner before the end of March and will make a fine addition to any farewell party – if you are prepared to share that is!
An additional prize will be awarded to the Best Caption attached to a photo.
I will be the sole judge and will not enter into any correspondence around my decision!!
How to enter: Log on to http://DMitchell93.photosite.com/
Password: JIT123
You may post two photos in the competition Album under your name. Each photo must include at least one fellow JIT Secondee.
If you wish to create additional albums to share you photos with us all, please feel free to do so. Please label the albums that you create with your name and home city
News of your Fellow Secondees
News from the Secondees is slowly starting to trickle in. By comparison with previous Secondees, you guys are pretty pitiful – with a few notable exceptions. By far and away the most verbose – writing wise that is – is our “Guzzling Gourmet” Alan Welsh. That is if anyone could ever classify fast foods as Gourmet food. We have been in stitches reading Alan’s daily diary, where he seems to do little else but eat! Well I suppose he did get to an ice hockey game, saw the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Gnarles Barkley and joined a gym – which seems mightily under-used. He claims to have put on only 3kg’s since arriving, but seems to have eaten about two tons of fast food. Go you good thing and keep the Daily Diary going – but only the short version please!!!
Richard “no mates” Hinwood is probably the most under worked Secondee in the USA. Despite the fact that it is Busy Season in Philly, he is only clocking up about 40 hours per week. He is so lonely that he has asked to be put onto bigger teams so that he can meet more people. I suppose we do feel a level of sympathy for him as he is one of only a very few Secondees who does not have fellow South Africans working with him.
Contrast this with John “I can’t ski yet” Collins, who has worked 80 hour weeks, since his arrival in Houston.
An interesting story about John de Bufanos and Lee Pienaar, in McLean, Washington. Apparently when Lee first arrived at her apartment, it was a smouldering ruin. She then asked the driver to drop her at John’s apartment where she planned to spend the night – mmmm! It took her an hour, where she came close to breaking down the door, to raise him. He tells us that he had taken a sleeping pill. Lee, our advice to you is that there are many fish in the sea. We also heard that John (by the way, Bufananos is French for Buffalo and has nothing to do with his lack of soccer skills) starved himself for three days prior to having dinner with Andre. He then proceeded to eat over 2kgs of meat at Fogo de Chao. Lee you must have been relieved that you weren’t sharing with him after that!!
Wessel “I’m sure its here somewhere” Boshoff, in Amsterdam, must be eating his heart out at the fact that the McLean Secondees have all been issued with portable GPS systems. It took him over an hour to find Andre’s hotel after they had had dinner last year!
Mark “no dates” Webber is desperate to hook up with an American lady. We hear via the grapevine that despite the fact that he is a pretty eligible bachelor, spends many hours grooming before going out to the pubs and wears Paco Rabane, his mates reckon he couldn’t even win a Hunt the Grunt evening. (We hear that Graeme Hedding won this one!!) Mark, we recommend a website called www.DoubleYourDating.com, we are sure it will help.
Ryno Campher’s Dad has contracted Cancer. Ryno was returned to South Africa for two weeks. The team spared no trouble to fly him back to SA. He has since returned to the USA after his Dad had been operated on (all expenses paid by TIC and NY FSO kept his apartment for him during his absence).
Another Secondee who apparently has been on the wrong side of the law is Tara “Where’s my car?” Clinton. We hear that she felt completely at home when she went outside her apartment and her car was not where she had parked it. Not even her looks could get it out of the pound without paying the fine. She and the Pacific North West team seem to be having a blast. Check some of their skiing pics out on: www.snapfish.com, username = david.aggett@ey.com, password = 12345
Brandon “Sexy Back” Wood has hired a body guard, as he is being stalked by a woman who thinks he is Justin Timberlake! (Please will someone explain to Andre who Justin Timberlake is!!!?)
the UK
Kirsten “Aloha” Rose has struck it rich. Her boyfriend, who is on secondment with her in San Francisco with PWC, was sent to Hawaii on client work. Instead of coming home over the weekend, he gave her his home coming ticket and they spent the weekend on Waikiki!! Life is really tough for the PNW team.
, Switzerland, Monaco, the UK, BelguimGermany –
On the other side of the Atlantic we have had some news from Henno “I’m so cosy with Gareth” Kotze and Gareth “I love my dishwasher” Mortimer seem to have set up home in a delightful apartment at Canary Wharf, prior to his departure to the Channel Islands. They are working hard and seem to be enjoying the UK.
Benno “I’m not here” Deysel, and his wife Theana, who is with PWC Amsterdam (E&Y and PWC sharing the costs of the department – who said the firm’s could not work together??!) who has been based in Amsterdam since October. We say based, because he has travelled through France, Germany, Switzerland, Monaco, the UK, Belgium and Austria and has plans to visit Germany – again, the Maastricht Carnival and Scotland. In addition, he has had the benefit of two skiing trips with the Firm. They really look after our people in Holland!!
Villiers “I’m inundated” van Veen, (known as Triple’V’ (Villiers Van Veen) in the USA) in Norway has had to come off the ski slopes as a result of a bad fall. He plans to return to the slopes next weekend, his knee permitting. And sorry girls, he is no longer replying to e-mails he is now busy playing Vikings!!
s -
Where is Andre’s Hotel in Dallas?? Andre made the same mistake (do you remember last year Wessel?) to ask the JITters in Dallas “Bonsai” (Phillipus Grobbelaar), Allan Welsh (Driver) and Brandon ‘earring’ Wood to drop him off at his hotel after dinner with Marinda Engelbrecht and her husband in Dallas. After driving up and down the various motor ways outside Dallas for quite a while, Brandon got stuck into the map and we then EVENTUALLY found the Western Park Central Hotel. In Washington on the way to the dinner, Andre and Mariana took a ‘town car’ $100 later rather than getting lost again. Just as well as it started snowing on the way back!
After having assisted the Jersey office with getting a Secondee, Noel Baggott, to San Francisco, the South African group adopted him and made him an honourary South African. He joined us at the dinner and had a great time. (Shonna, please bill the Jersey Office for the proportionate cost!)
Situations Vacant
We have a number of vacant positions, primarily 18 months to two years. For those of you who have been bitten by the travel bug, you may want to consider fantastic positions going in Bermuda, Grand Cayman, Holland, the UK and USA.
Should you be interested in these, or any other positions, please advise your JIT Co-ordinator as soon as possible. There are about 10 positions in the USA for qualifying candidates, in the Quantitive Services in the Tax Compliance Department.
Johannesburg Townhouse for Rent
An Ernst & Young employee is going to the Bahamas on a 9 month secondment and would like to rent out her fully furnished two bedroom, two bathroom with parking and garden townhouse in Sandton, for 6 months. We have an email that has photos of the townhouse if you would like to take a look.
A Big Thank You
One of Andre’s great strengths is his enduring ability to network and build relationships. These often have payback for our Secondees
A special thanks to Mareijke Weidemann and Lara Bayne (SF), Francois Labuschagne for looking after our guys in Philly and James MacGregor for looking after our NY FSO Secondees. It is really appreciated
Old contacts and friendships renewed. It was really great to meet up with some previous SA employees, JITters and South African friends in the various cities Andre and later Andre and Mariana visited. Other than names already previously mentioned earlier in the O’JIT, Hugh Rosengarten (TSRS Partner San Francisco) Sean Cremen (Audit San Francisco) Pierre Fourie (Manager TSRS), Richard Mathonsi (Global Exchange programme San Francisco from AABS Services), Desiree Wittig, Jackie Morgan, Shane Attlee (Class of 2006) all met us and exchanged pleasantries, travel tips, etc.
The Back Page
A classic quote from Andre: There is a new saying going around the US Practice. They now classify under-performers as “PURE” people. PURE stands for Previously Undetected Recruitment Error. In our line of business, we will get a great deal of mileage from this one!!
Came across an interesting definition of an Auditor the other day. Check it out on the following website: http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Auditor
Conclusion
Guys you are doing a great job and we are very proud of you. Keep up the good work, continue to have fun and make the most of this wonderful opportunity.
Keep the news flowing, it makes my job so much easier, and hopefully makes O’JIT more fun and interesting for all of you.
The JIT Team
Andre, Mariana, Shonna, Debbie, Robyn and David
Whew! At last all our Secondees are now safely installed in their Receiving Offices. The last departure was Yashmeetha Maharaj, placed in the Jersey office, who finally departed on the 9th of February. The delays were due to work permit documents being delayed on the Receiving Office side. Despite the best efforts of both sets of co-ordinators, the process seemed to go on for ages.
Despite the fact that Yashmeetha will only be starting work on the 12th of February, you will be interested to know that we have been paying her since the beginning of January. I think this incident, which is by no means an isolated case, demonstrates the commitment of E&Y to our Secondees.
It is also interesting to note that our JIT Secondees are far better remunerated than the Secondees from other South African Firms. Whilst the per diems are similar, $50 for E&Y and $51 for one of the other Big 4 Firms, the big difference lies in the net remuneration. All our Secondees, net approximately R22 000 a month, whilst a top rated (significantly exceeds expectations) competitor’s Secondee would net R19 800. In addition, most of them drive “compacts” whilst our guys are driving around in some really heavy metal – including Bernard Kruger’s V6 Gas Guzzler!!!
Bernard, incidentally, has become known throughout the Baltimore Office as the “BB Man” – from Bloem to Baltimore! Others, in the office refer to him as Elvis, due to the luxuriant sideburns he now sports. Yes, they are even bigger than when he left. Perhaps we should have seconded him to Graceland.
Speaking of driving, please watch your alcohol intake, especially if you are the designated driver. One of our Secondees, who shall remain unnamed, whilst en route between San Francisco and San Jose, had an encounter with the long arm of the US law. According to reliable sources, she was asked to walk the white line on the road to prove her sobriety. Fortunately, she passed the test and was allowed to proceed. (She had to use her charm abundantly!)
Andre is now well into the USA leg of his trip. Apart from his usual complaints about eating and drinking too much with the Secondees, he has been complaining bitterly about the cold. Apparently, he found minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit (0 - 14° C) with a touch of wind chill, in Chicago, too tough to handle!! He never left the hotel at night. Dinner drinks consisted of items from the mini bar.
He has now been joined by Mariana for the East Coast leg of his trip. We have heard that Mariana’s trip thus far has not been without its drama. Her flight out of RSA was delayed by 24 hours and she arrived in the USA a day late. This meant a change in all their travel plans. The situation was further compounded by the fact that she arrived sans luggage. A week later, she has still not been reunited with her bags and had to do some emergency shopping in DC. Apparently, AJB’s suits did not fit her properly!!
To the guys that have sent us news, thank you very much. We have enjoyed your letters, pictures, blogs and stories. Some of these are included later. To those of you who are feeling guilty, you can appease your guilt by sending interesting stuff through to your JIT Co-ordinators. It is all forwarded to the Editorial Board for review and inclusion (I have been advised that it is contrary to E&Y’s value system to gossip about your fellow employees. We will, therefore, only be able to include true stories that are of general public interest in future editions of O JIT – ed).
Feedback on our Secondees
The feedback on your performance thus far has been nothing short of excellent. Wherever Andre travels, the reception he gets from Receiving Office Partners is outstanding. You are doing South Africa, E&Y SA, the SA Accounting Profession and yourselves proud. Keep up the good work. Only a couple more weeks for most of you and the “Working experience of a lifetime” will be over.
We had some really great feedback from Victor Veger – JIT Partner responsible for the Dutch Practice and a great fan of the JIT Programme. Below is a copy of a letter he sent to Andre:
Andre,
This weekend we had a welcome program for all JIT staff in Amsterdam. I joined the group dinner Saturday night and had the pleasure of meeting all South African JIT staff personally. Please accept my compliments for the quality of the group. They are all very presentable and sociable, bring a sound knowledge of E&Y tools and methodologies and also are motivated to make the best of their period with us.
Various audit teams in both Rotterdam and Amsterdam have already expressed to me personally how pleased they were with the individual who joined their team. So it seems they are off to a good start.
All staff seemed to be doing well, they pretty much liked their apartments and cars. As always we have picked up a few improvement opportunities from meeting with them and we will seek to fix them before next year's group arrives.
We expect to see you over here in a couple of weeks and trust you will find them enjoying themselves in the Netherlands.
Regards and please advise us timely of our travel plans because I would like you to have an opportunity to meet with some colleagues as well.
Victor
In one Receiving office the local JIT Co-ordinator was so impressed with the pre-briefing that our Secondees received – that she remarked thereon that they new all prior to their arrival.
In certain areas such as McLean (Washington DC) and Dallas, only JIT’s from SA are employed. There’s no doubt that our people are making their mark as whichever office you go to, the people know the South African’s are there.
What fantastic endorsements of the Programme and our Secondees.
Happy Birthday
A serious omission from the last edition of O’JIT was our Birthday List. Our apologies for those we missed in January. To set the record straight we have included the Secondees who had birthdays in January as well as those who will be celebrating in February:
Liesl (Mustang) Pottas
02-Jan
Thabiso (Tubs) Madiba
10-Jan
Alan (V6 Chevy) Welsh
15-Jan
Stuart Masson
15-Jan
Wiehahn Beukes
17-Jan
Craig Ribaudo
18-Jan
Shaheeda Mia
23-Jan
Kelly Gilman
27-Jan
Nicola Bester
29-Jan
Lee Pienaar
30-Jan
Marguerite Potgieter(her engagement ring is BLINDING!)
02-Feb
Gregory (The Organiser) Rodrigues
06-Feb
Rowan King
07-Feb
Graeme Hedding
12-Feb
Renee van der Merwe
21-Feb
Jacques Nel
26-Feb
We trust that you will enjoy celebrating these special times with your new friends and colleagues
JIT Bonuses
We would like to remind you that a JIT Bonus pool has been established and that everyone who submits a minimum of two Performance Appraisals, supplied by a Manager / Partner with a minimum of a 3 rating, required – all values met) for work undertaken in the first three months of their secondment will be eligible for this bonus. It will be paid out in April to all those who qualify.
Remember it is your responsibility to obtain these Performance Appraisals from the Partners or Managers for whom you undertake work. You will not qualify for a JIT bonus if we have not received at least two Performance Appraisals.
Photographic Competition
We noted with interest that KPMG has copied our initiative in their “Outbound Assignee Newsletter” (yawn!!) and have introduced a photographic competition. We have been doing this for a number of years!!
As usual, we are a couple of steps ahead of the game and the prize for the best photograph this month will receive a specially constructed hamper of South African “goodies” Robyn is, as I write, shopping for the kind of luxuries that will surely get your mouth’s watering. The hamper will include: Ouma Rusk, Woolies new Free Range biltong, a couple of bottles of really good SA wine, Nik Naks, Mrs Ball’s se Blatjang, Kit Kats, Crunchies and other tempting snacks. The hamper will be couriered to the winner before the end of March and will make a fine addition to any farewell party – if you are prepared to share that is!
An additional prize will be awarded to the Best Caption attached to a photo.
I will be the sole judge and will not enter into any correspondence around my decision!!
How to enter: Log on to http://DMitchell93.photosite.com/
Password: JIT123
You may post two photos in the competition Album under your name. Each photo must include at least one fellow JIT Secondee.
If you wish to create additional albums to share you photos with us all, please feel free to do so. Please label the albums that you create with your name and home city
News of your Fellow Secondees
News from the Secondees is slowly starting to trickle in. By comparison with previous Secondees, you guys are pretty pitiful – with a few notable exceptions. By far and away the most verbose – writing wise that is – is our “Guzzling Gourmet” Alan Welsh. That is if anyone could ever classify fast foods as Gourmet food. We have been in stitches reading Alan’s daily diary, where he seems to do little else but eat! Well I suppose he did get to an ice hockey game, saw the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Gnarles Barkley and joined a gym – which seems mightily under-used. He claims to have put on only 3kg’s since arriving, but seems to have eaten about two tons of fast food. Go you good thing and keep the Daily Diary going – but only the short version please!!!
Richard “no mates” Hinwood is probably the most under worked Secondee in the USA. Despite the fact that it is Busy Season in Philly, he is only clocking up about 40 hours per week. He is so lonely that he has asked to be put onto bigger teams so that he can meet more people. I suppose we do feel a level of sympathy for him as he is one of only a very few Secondees who does not have fellow South Africans working with him.
Contrast this with John “I can’t ski yet” Collins, who has worked 80 hour weeks, since his arrival in Houston.
An interesting story about John de Bufanos and Lee Pienaar, in McLean, Washington. Apparently when Lee first arrived at her apartment, it was a smouldering ruin. She then asked the driver to drop her at John’s apartment where she planned to spend the night – mmmm! It took her an hour, where she came close to breaking down the door, to raise him. He tells us that he had taken a sleeping pill. Lee, our advice to you is that there are many fish in the sea. We also heard that John (by the way, Bufananos is French for Buffalo and has nothing to do with his lack of soccer skills) starved himself for three days prior to having dinner with Andre. He then proceeded to eat over 2kgs of meat at Fogo de Chao. Lee you must have been relieved that you weren’t sharing with him after that!!
Wessel “I’m sure its here somewhere” Boshoff, in Amsterdam, must be eating his heart out at the fact that the McLean Secondees have all been issued with portable GPS systems. It took him over an hour to find Andre’s hotel after they had had dinner last year!
Mark “no dates” Webber is desperate to hook up with an American lady. We hear via the grapevine that despite the fact that he is a pretty eligible bachelor, spends many hours grooming before going out to the pubs and wears Paco Rabane, his mates reckon he couldn’t even win a Hunt the Grunt evening. (We hear that Graeme Hedding won this one!!) Mark, we recommend a website called www.DoubleYourDating.com, we are sure it will help.
Ryno Campher’s Dad has contracted Cancer. Ryno was returned to South Africa for two weeks. The team spared no trouble to fly him back to SA. He has since returned to the USA after his Dad had been operated on (all expenses paid by TIC and NY FSO kept his apartment for him during his absence).
Another Secondee who apparently has been on the wrong side of the law is Tara “Where’s my car?” Clinton. We hear that she felt completely at home when she went outside her apartment and her car was not where she had parked it. Not even her looks could get it out of the pound without paying the fine. She and the Pacific North West team seem to be having a blast. Check some of their skiing pics out on: www.snapfish.com, username = david.aggett@ey.com, password = 12345
Brandon “Sexy Back” Wood has hired a body guard, as he is being stalked by a woman who thinks he is Justin Timberlake! (Please will someone explain to Andre who Justin Timberlake is!!!?)
the UK
Kirsten “Aloha” Rose has struck it rich. Her boyfriend, who is on secondment with her in San Francisco with PWC, was sent to Hawaii on client work. Instead of coming home over the weekend, he gave her his home coming ticket and they spent the weekend on Waikiki!! Life is really tough for the PNW team.
, Switzerland, Monaco, the UK, BelguimGermany –
On the other side of the Atlantic we have had some news from Henno “I’m so cosy with Gareth” Kotze and Gareth “I love my dishwasher” Mortimer seem to have set up home in a delightful apartment at Canary Wharf, prior to his departure to the Channel Islands. They are working hard and seem to be enjoying the UK.
Benno “I’m not here” Deysel, and his wife Theana, who is with PWC Amsterdam (E&Y and PWC sharing the costs of the department – who said the firm’s could not work together??!) who has been based in Amsterdam since October. We say based, because he has travelled through France, Germany, Switzerland, Monaco, the UK, Belgium and Austria and has plans to visit Germany – again, the Maastricht Carnival and Scotland. In addition, he has had the benefit of two skiing trips with the Firm. They really look after our people in Holland!!
Villiers “I’m inundated” van Veen, (known as Triple’V’ (Villiers Van Veen) in the USA) in Norway has had to come off the ski slopes as a result of a bad fall. He plans to return to the slopes next weekend, his knee permitting. And sorry girls, he is no longer replying to e-mails he is now busy playing Vikings!!
s -
Where is Andre’s Hotel in Dallas?? Andre made the same mistake (do you remember last year Wessel?) to ask the JITters in Dallas “Bonsai” (Phillipus Grobbelaar), Allan Welsh (Driver) and Brandon ‘earring’ Wood to drop him off at his hotel after dinner with Marinda Engelbrecht and her husband in Dallas. After driving up and down the various motor ways outside Dallas for quite a while, Brandon got stuck into the map and we then EVENTUALLY found the Western Park Central Hotel. In Washington on the way to the dinner, Andre and Mariana took a ‘town car’ $100 later rather than getting lost again. Just as well as it started snowing on the way back!
After having assisted the Jersey office with getting a Secondee, Noel Baggott, to San Francisco, the South African group adopted him and made him an honourary South African. He joined us at the dinner and had a great time. (Shonna, please bill the Jersey Office for the proportionate cost!)
Situations Vacant
We have a number of vacant positions, primarily 18 months to two years. For those of you who have been bitten by the travel bug, you may want to consider fantastic positions going in Bermuda, Grand Cayman, Holland, the UK and USA.
Should you be interested in these, or any other positions, please advise your JIT Co-ordinator as soon as possible. There are about 10 positions in the USA for qualifying candidates, in the Quantitive Services in the Tax Compliance Department.
Johannesburg Townhouse for Rent
An Ernst & Young employee is going to the Bahamas on a 9 month secondment and would like to rent out her fully furnished two bedroom, two bathroom with parking and garden townhouse in Sandton, for 6 months. We have an email that has photos of the townhouse if you would like to take a look.
A Big Thank You
One of Andre’s great strengths is his enduring ability to network and build relationships. These often have payback for our Secondees
A special thanks to Mareijke Weidemann and Lara Bayne (SF), Francois Labuschagne for looking after our guys in Philly and James MacGregor for looking after our NY FSO Secondees. It is really appreciated
Old contacts and friendships renewed. It was really great to meet up with some previous SA employees, JITters and South African friends in the various cities Andre and later Andre and Mariana visited. Other than names already previously mentioned earlier in the O’JIT, Hugh Rosengarten (TSRS Partner San Francisco) Sean Cremen (Audit San Francisco) Pierre Fourie (Manager TSRS), Richard Mathonsi (Global Exchange programme San Francisco from AABS Services), Desiree Wittig, Jackie Morgan, Shane Attlee (Class of 2006) all met us and exchanged pleasantries, travel tips, etc.
The Back Page
A classic quote from Andre: There is a new saying going around the US Practice. They now classify under-performers as “PURE” people. PURE stands for Previously Undetected Recruitment Error. In our line of business, we will get a great deal of mileage from this one!!
Came across an interesting definition of an Auditor the other day. Check it out on the following website: http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Auditor
Conclusion
Guys you are doing a great job and we are very proud of you. Keep up the good work, continue to have fun and make the most of this wonderful opportunity.
Keep the news flowing, it makes my job so much easier, and hopefully makes O’JIT more fun and interesting for all of you.
The JIT Team
Andre, Mariana, Shonna, Debbie, Robyn and David
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