Shortcuts or quick keys are a fast way of navigating your way around your computer. However, a recent Google survey has found that as many as 90% of computer users dont know about the Ctrl + F key. Not only that, but many people do not know about shortcuts and how to use them. Should we care?
The answer is a resounding YES! Knowledge of keyboard shortcuts and computing skills in general, are a way of creating more efficiency at work. Having the confidence and ability to use computing skills and techniques is a key way of helping you save time. Not only that, at Business Development Company we are finding that as business starts to pick up, time pressures are increasing. Within small and medium businesses, workforces that were downsized during the recession, have not yet increased again. Employers face uncertainty within the global economic environment and are not ready to feel confident that the economic recovery is here to stay. This, in turn, puts pressure on the existing workforce to work faster, smarter and harder.
So, for baby boomers who have had to learn how to use computers the hard way, we recommend some computer skills training (here at BDC, of course).
And to learn some of those keyboard shortcuts right now, click on the link below:
http://www.3news.co.nz/Easy-keyboard-shortcuts-quick-keys-guaranteed-to-save-you-time--effort/tabid/412/articleID/234904/Default.aspx
Friday, December 2, 2011
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Deals, Vouchers and Coupons
Along with the advent of daily deal coupon sites such as Treat Me and Grab One, there has been a backlash of opinion from some marketing commentators. They warn that to advertise your products on sale on one of these sites is to risk devaluing your brand and setting up an expectation for customers that they will only buy your products or services when they are on sale.
A recent Trendsetting Report seems to put a different spin on this theory. New generation consumers expect to receive a good deal and will seek to do business with smart, sharp businesses who embrace new technologies. Read more here Trendwatching Report
A recent Trendsetting Report seems to put a different spin on this theory. New generation consumers expect to receive a good deal and will seek to do business with smart, sharp businesses who embrace new technologies. Read more here Trendwatching Report
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Local government is a crap place to work
It's a catchy title, designed to grab your attention and read. That's the intention behind Keith Marshall's article in the October 21st 2011 issue of the National Business Review.
Keith Marshall is the Chief Executive of the Nelson City Council and he has written an article on employee engagement and leadership within the local government sector. Keith quotes a survey conducted by JRA each year which measures the level of employee engagement across all sectors in New Zealand. Staff engagement in the local government sector is typically low - just 21% compared with an overall average of 32% across all organisations. He goes on to say that this is a real concern within the sector and an issue which he believes should be addressed.
I absolutely agree with Keith's view. Employee engagement leads to improved leadership, productivity and employee satisfaction and performance. As he points out, with responsibility for key infrastructure within our community, it is certainly within our interests that City Council staff are focussed and engaged. In fact, as New Zealander's we should all be concerned that the average of employee engagement across all sectors is as low at 32%.
Keith is working hard to address these issues. A recent study indicates that employee engagement levels at Nelson City Council have increased from 21% to 39%. These levels are well above industry average and should be acknowledged.
It is ironic then, that Keith goes on to say in his article that the cause is neither sexy nor flashy. 'It makes boring press releases that no media want to publish and it most certainly isn't valued by the electorate; but it is the single most important factor in delivering what local government does.'
Well, in this aspect Keith, you were wrong. It did make front page headlines in the Nelson Mail but not for the intended reasons. http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/5909569/Council-vigorously-defends-performance-perks-for-CEO The fact is that Keith Marshall's intentions are to make local government a good place to work and for that reason I applaud him.
I do not need to know how much he is paid for his efforts. Surely, this information forms part of his employee agreement and should remain private in the same way as it does for all other Council employees. Nor am I in an ideal position to determine his overall level of performance in his role. As with other employment situations, isn't this for his employers to determine?
For a copy of Keith's article, please email julie@bdc.net.nz (With thanks to the kindness of Kenn Butler who brings me the NBR every week).
Keith Marshall is the Chief Executive of the Nelson City Council and he has written an article on employee engagement and leadership within the local government sector. Keith quotes a survey conducted by JRA each year which measures the level of employee engagement across all sectors in New Zealand. Staff engagement in the local government sector is typically low - just 21% compared with an overall average of 32% across all organisations. He goes on to say that this is a real concern within the sector and an issue which he believes should be addressed.
I absolutely agree with Keith's view. Employee engagement leads to improved leadership, productivity and employee satisfaction and performance. As he points out, with responsibility for key infrastructure within our community, it is certainly within our interests that City Council staff are focussed and engaged. In fact, as New Zealander's we should all be concerned that the average of employee engagement across all sectors is as low at 32%.
Keith is working hard to address these issues. A recent study indicates that employee engagement levels at Nelson City Council have increased from 21% to 39%. These levels are well above industry average and should be acknowledged.
It is ironic then, that Keith goes on to say in his article that the cause is neither sexy nor flashy. 'It makes boring press releases that no media want to publish and it most certainly isn't valued by the electorate; but it is the single most important factor in delivering what local government does.'
Well, in this aspect Keith, you were wrong. It did make front page headlines in the Nelson Mail but not for the intended reasons. http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/5909569/Council-vigorously-defends-performance-perks-for-CEO The fact is that Keith Marshall's intentions are to make local government a good place to work and for that reason I applaud him.
I do not need to know how much he is paid for his efforts. Surely, this information forms part of his employee agreement and should remain private in the same way as it does for all other Council employees. Nor am I in an ideal position to determine his overall level of performance in his role. As with other employment situations, isn't this for his employers to determine?
For a copy of Keith's article, please email julie@bdc.net.nz (With thanks to the kindness of Kenn Butler who brings me the NBR every week).
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Recent Legislative Changes for Business
There have been a number of key legislative changes announced recently which have an impact on businesses and trusts within New Zealand. They are: changes to gift duty, simplified reporting for SME's and a anti-money laundering code.
The abolition of gift duty will be good news to many. Previously, the liabilities of a trust could be forgiven at a rate of $27,000 per year, or $54,000 per couple, without incurring tax duty. However, from 1 October 2011, gift duty will cease. Gift duty created unnecessary compliance costs and we're glad to see it go. As New Zealanders are some of the highest users of family trusts in the world, we're pretty sure that many others will also see this as a positive move.
Another move that we're in favour of is reducing the financial reporting compliance for small and medium businesses. Under the new scheme, entities which have revenue less than $30 million or assets of less than $60 million will be required to produce targeted reports for tax purposes only. They will not be required to produce financial statements under the Companies Act. We're interested in any measures which reduce compliance costs for small businesses. The key to making it work is also ensuring that financial reporting standards are maintained and that NZ doesn't once again become the cowboys of the financial reporting world as in the 1980's and prior to the Financial Reporting Act 1993.
The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 will come into force on 30 June 2013. Money laundering is the way that criminals disguise the illegal origins of their money to avoid detection. Financial institutions can protect the identity of people providing and receiving the funds. Financial institutions and casinos will need to establish and implement their programme to comply with the Act before the 30 June 2013 deadline. What this means, is that customers of these institutions can expect more stringent identity checks in the lead up to the Act coming into force. We expect that this will be a public relations challenge for financial institutions as many of their customers wish to retain a high level of privacy about their investments.
It is election year after all and we know to expect good news from the governing party as part of their election campaign. There's no doubt that the National government have limited options given the current economic environment. However, we are supporters of 'Keynesian economics' ie increasing money flow into the economy as a way of helping us work through the current difficult environment. While these regulatory changes are positive, they will have little impact on stimulating the economy.
The abolition of gift duty will be good news to many. Previously, the liabilities of a trust could be forgiven at a rate of $27,000 per year, or $54,000 per couple, without incurring tax duty. However, from 1 October 2011, gift duty will cease. Gift duty created unnecessary compliance costs and we're glad to see it go. As New Zealanders are some of the highest users of family trusts in the world, we're pretty sure that many others will also see this as a positive move.
Another move that we're in favour of is reducing the financial reporting compliance for small and medium businesses. Under the new scheme, entities which have revenue less than $30 million or assets of less than $60 million will be required to produce targeted reports for tax purposes only. They will not be required to produce financial statements under the Companies Act. We're interested in any measures which reduce compliance costs for small businesses. The key to making it work is also ensuring that financial reporting standards are maintained and that NZ doesn't once again become the cowboys of the financial reporting world as in the 1980's and prior to the Financial Reporting Act 1993.
The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 will come into force on 30 June 2013. Money laundering is the way that criminals disguise the illegal origins of their money to avoid detection. Financial institutions can protect the identity of people providing and receiving the funds. Financial institutions and casinos will need to establish and implement their programme to comply with the Act before the 30 June 2013 deadline. What this means, is that customers of these institutions can expect more stringent identity checks in the lead up to the Act coming into force. We expect that this will be a public relations challenge for financial institutions as many of their customers wish to retain a high level of privacy about their investments.
It is election year after all and we know to expect good news from the governing party as part of their election campaign. There's no doubt that the National government have limited options given the current economic environment. However, we are supporters of 'Keynesian economics' ie increasing money flow into the economy as a way of helping us work through the current difficult environment. While these regulatory changes are positive, they will have little impact on stimulating the economy.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
The Economic Impact of Rugby World Cup
The Reserve Bank has just released an interesting economc analysis of what we might expect from Rugby World Cup 2011. For the full article go to:
http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/research/analytical/an11_01.pdf
The Reserve Bank describes RWC 2011 as 'the tournament is a significant event for the New Zealand economy, estimating it will attract 95,000 visitors to the country, who are likely to spend a total of $700 million on local goods and services.'
This first paper in a series comes as the Reserve Bank Museum launches a special ‘Ruggernomics’ exhibition in spring, showcasing currency from rugby playing countries around the world.
The paper provides an analysis of the visitor numbers, countries and actual spend per person for the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia. Of course, a lot has changed since then. We've had a major recession, our debt per head of population has increased significantly and there has been a substantial appreciation in the NZ dollar. Put this altogether and the result is.... well, we don't really know.
What I do know, is that its good for us all to have a potential bright spot in our economy to look forward to. I have the feeling that business owners are hanging on to that. My hope is that, if you build it, they will come.
http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/research/analytical/an11_01.pdf
The Reserve Bank describes RWC 2011 as 'the tournament is a significant event for the New Zealand economy, estimating it will attract 95,000 visitors to the country, who are likely to spend a total of $700 million on local goods and services.'
This first paper in a series comes as the Reserve Bank Museum launches a special ‘Ruggernomics’ exhibition in spring, showcasing currency from rugby playing countries around the world.
The paper provides an analysis of the visitor numbers, countries and actual spend per person for the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia. Of course, a lot has changed since then. We've had a major recession, our debt per head of population has increased significantly and there has been a substantial appreciation in the NZ dollar. Put this altogether and the result is.... well, we don't really know.
What I do know, is that its good for us all to have a potential bright spot in our economy to look forward to. I have the feeling that business owners are hanging on to that. My hope is that, if you build it, they will come.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
The View from Spain
Blog post from Robin Whalley.
Recently, I travelled to Spain for a few weeks, basing myself in Barcelona.
On the day that I arrived there was a large demonstration of over 100,000 people protesting about the general economic environment, unemployment, the cost of living and police oppression.
Here are some interesting facts.
The unemployment rate in Spain as a whole is almost 22%, but in some regions, such as Catalonia, the rate is more like 50%.
There is no welfare state. Policemen were everywhere. There are THREE police organisations - La Guardia (Civil Guard), the National Police (La Policia) and the Municipal Police. All are armed.
The inflation rate in Spain is 3.1% but has been as high as 5.3% in July 2008.
In Jnauary 2011, house prices were forecast to fall by 24% over the ensuing 9 months.
Banks are lending up to 107% mortgages with fixed rates of interest for 3 years at 3.5%. Average house prices are slightly less than in New Zealand but with these lending policies is there any wonder they have a problem?
Recently, I travelled to Spain for a few weeks, basing myself in Barcelona.
On the day that I arrived there was a large demonstration of over 100,000 people protesting about the general economic environment, unemployment, the cost of living and police oppression.
Here are some interesting facts.
The unemployment rate in Spain as a whole is almost 22%, but in some regions, such as Catalonia, the rate is more like 50%.
There is no welfare state. Policemen were everywhere. There are THREE police organisations - La Guardia (Civil Guard), the National Police (La Policia) and the Municipal Police. All are armed.
The inflation rate in Spain is 3.1% but has been as high as 5.3% in July 2008.
In Jnauary 2011, house prices were forecast to fall by 24% over the ensuing 9 months.
Banks are lending up to 107% mortgages with fixed rates of interest for 3 years at 3.5%. Average house prices are slightly less than in New Zealand but with these lending policies is there any wonder they have a problem?
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Building Business in NZ
Every now and then, its good to get out of your comfort zone, away from the warm fire and home cooked food and find out what's going on in the world. With this in mind, I headed to Auckland last week to the Ice Ideas Conference. The Icehouse is 10 years old this year and to celebrate they held a conference, invited business leaders from NZ and overseas and gave them 6 minutes to speak. Icehouse has set a goal of helping 1000 of the 3000 high achieving, exporting businesses needed to grow NZ's economy by 2020. See http://3000.org.nz/ for more detail. They reckon we need capital, talent, networks and insight to do it and challenged the conference speakers to inspire us with their words of wisdom to get there.
Its generally acknowledged that one of the problems facing NZ business owners and managers is the triple B syndrome. In other words, we are happy when we have the boat, the bach and the BBQ. (I'm self confessed one of these). In order to be up there on the world stage we need to set our goals much higher than this. Growing and then selling successful companies, in turn can lead to capital investment in many more companies. We get on a roll, the multiplier effect kicks in and we are away laughing.
Its not just getting there that counts though. Its the way we get there. We need to do it sustainably, be environmentally conscious and hold onto those principles that make us uniquely Kiwi and ultimately, happy.
The biggest challenge is how to get there. The various speakers at the conference gave us some great one liners and metaphors. Such as, 'Be like Sir Ed, preparation was the key. He failed often, but when preparation met opportunity, he was ready' (Rob Adams). There was the metaphor of the wave - 'The cool way to surf is to be paddling when the wave comes. If the wave comes and you're not ready, you'll miss it. Equally, if you learn how to surf, but you're in a place where there are no waves, you wont get to surf'. (Peter Thiel). Our very own, Steven Joyce, MP, said 'NZ doesn't owe anything to anybody. NZ has to get out of bed in the morning and make its own luck'.
Listening to these skilled and knowledgeable people made me want to burst out of the door, hit the world and say 'here I come, baby'. But instead, I can find myself standing alone and thinking, 'OK, but what next'? David Irving, founding chairperson of the Icehouse, came to the rescue. He had some sage advice for business owners. He talked about a disconnect between political goals and language and what these mean to SME owners. We need to translate the economic targets for the country into meaningful objectives for business owners and managers. (Isn't this what every good manager does when leading staff)? We need to make the connection between revenue and expenditure on a national level so that the public understand that increased spending on education and health, for example, can only come when we earn more revenue. And lastly, he talked about improving the respect and recognition of the business community within the general public.
I would like to hear more from him.
For more information and press releases on the conference, check out some of the links below:
http://www.slideshare.net/theicehousenz
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/5258833/Invest-in-young-people-conference-told
http://socialmedianz.com/news/2011/07/07/making-innovation-happen-at-ice-ideas-conference/
Its generally acknowledged that one of the problems facing NZ business owners and managers is the triple B syndrome. In other words, we are happy when we have the boat, the bach and the BBQ. (I'm self confessed one of these). In order to be up there on the world stage we need to set our goals much higher than this. Growing and then selling successful companies, in turn can lead to capital investment in many more companies. We get on a roll, the multiplier effect kicks in and we are away laughing.
Its not just getting there that counts though. Its the way we get there. We need to do it sustainably, be environmentally conscious and hold onto those principles that make us uniquely Kiwi and ultimately, happy.
The biggest challenge is how to get there. The various speakers at the conference gave us some great one liners and metaphors. Such as, 'Be like Sir Ed, preparation was the key. He failed often, but when preparation met opportunity, he was ready' (Rob Adams). There was the metaphor of the wave - 'The cool way to surf is to be paddling when the wave comes. If the wave comes and you're not ready, you'll miss it. Equally, if you learn how to surf, but you're in a place where there are no waves, you wont get to surf'. (Peter Thiel). Our very own, Steven Joyce, MP, said 'NZ doesn't owe anything to anybody. NZ has to get out of bed in the morning and make its own luck'.
Listening to these skilled and knowledgeable people made me want to burst out of the door, hit the world and say 'here I come, baby'. But instead, I can find myself standing alone and thinking, 'OK, but what next'? David Irving, founding chairperson of the Icehouse, came to the rescue. He had some sage advice for business owners. He talked about a disconnect between political goals and language and what these mean to SME owners. We need to translate the economic targets for the country into meaningful objectives for business owners and managers. (Isn't this what every good manager does when leading staff)? We need to make the connection between revenue and expenditure on a national level so that the public understand that increased spending on education and health, for example, can only come when we earn more revenue. And lastly, he talked about improving the respect and recognition of the business community within the general public.
I would like to hear more from him.
For more information and press releases on the conference, check out some of the links below:
http://www.slideshare.net/theicehousenz
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/5258833/Invest-in-young-people-conference-told
http://socialmedianz.com/news/2011/07/07/making-innovation-happen-at-ice-ideas-conference/
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