Tourism New Zealand’s Chief Executive Kevin Bowler says today’s announcement from Air New Zealand regarding the commencement of flights between Houston in the USA and Auckland, is a spectacular one for the industry. 

“Visitor arrivals from the USA have been a stand-out performer in recent years, driven in large part by Tourism New Zealand and Air New Zealand’s work to capitalise on the Americans’ love of The Hobbit Trilogy,” says Kevin.

“This new service will enable us to broaden New Zealand's reach into the USA and the states that already deliver our second, third and fourth largest arrival numbers namely Texas, New York and Florida. 

“Residents of southern states are known to travel during their summer to avoid the heat, which aligns perfectly to Tourism New Zealand’s strategy to encourage shoulder season travel.  

“By providing visitors with an alternative to LA or San Francisco gateways we know that this announcement will have a significantly positive impact on the industry.

“It provides a meaningful market change that will help us to sustain the double digit growth we've been achieving.”

USA holiday arrivals for the year-ending February 2015 are up 13.8 per cent while holiday spend was up 32 per cent for the year-ending December 2015. 

For the past two years, Tourism New Zealand and Air New Zealand have delivered joint marketing activity internationally under a MOU valued at $20 million each year. 

ENDS

Contact Emma Carter, Senior Communications Advisor, Tourism New Zealand

emma.carter@tnz.govt.nz; phone +64 21 243 0386

Should provisional tax estimations be scrapped in favour of working it out as you earn?  This is one of many ideas the Government is seeking your view on. At a time when you can use your cell phone to order a movie or buy a plane ticket the Government thinks that Inland Revenue can do much more to make your tax simpler. Over the next couple of years Ministers of Finance and Revenue will be looking at ways to reduce the cost of doing your tax, improve speed and make tax part of normal day to day business processes. They want your feedback on their ideas before they make changes.

What could this mean for you? 

One idea is that accounting software could exchange information directly with Inland Revenue, so that: 

• more accurate GST, PAYE and related information could be provided to Inland Revenue automatically – with less time needed to fill out forms
• provisional tax could be managed more like PAYE and calculated as you earn your income.

How would direct information exchange with Inland Revenue affect you?

Another idea is to help small businesses get their tax right from the start.

Join the discussion:

Right now the Government wants your views on these ideas, and how technology can be used to make things simpler. You’ll find more ideas on the consultation website or in the discussion documents.

Go to makingtaxsimpler.ird.govt.nz to see what others are saying and make your own views heard. 

• Discussion on Better Digital Services – closes 15 May
• Discussion on the plan for the Tax Administration – closes 29 May

On May 11, to kick off this year’s annual Fundraising Institute of New Zealand (FINZ) Conference, Hon. Bill English will address a CEO Forum to outline his social services plan.

The CEO Forum is part of the annual FINZ Conference. It will be held at the Icon Function Centre at Wellington’s Te Papa Museum.

In an environment of measured accountability, Mr English is expected to outline his plan for the next two years in social services, including outsourcing housing and other services. He will also explain the Government’s short and long-term expectations of the charity and not-for-profit sectors, including how they must work in partnership with the Government.

“Mr English is the Government’s intellectual powerhouse, so we’re thrilled that he’ll be speaking at the forum,” says FINZ CEO, James Austin.

Not-for-profits attending

Mr Austin says the CEO Forum is important because fundraisers need active support from their CEOs to be successful.

This year there is a large list of leading not-for-profits attending, including NZ Red Cross, Arthritis NZ, The Fred Hollows Foundation and Stroke Foundation.

Leading speakers

“The forum and conference will bring the best of the world to New Zealand,” says Mr Austin.

In addition to Mr English, there will be a host of world-class speakers. These include Suzanne Snively ONZM (Chair of Transparency International), David Crosbie (Communities Councils for Australia), Hon. Peter Dunne (Minister of Internal Affairs) and Nigel Harris (CEO Mater Foundation).

Changing funding landscape

The rapidly-changing funding landscape has added complexity to the governance, management, operation and reporting requirements of charities. These things often conflict with their natural desire to focus on the causes they were created to serve. So, the forum will address issues facing the charity and not-for-profit sectors, and enable CEOs to share their knowledge and concerns.

The nation's peak medical group has warned a massive shortfall in federal funding for hospitals will lead to even longer waiting times for elective surgery, prompting higher morbidity rates, with the smaller states and regional Australia worst hit.

In its annual report card on the hospital system, the Australian Medical Association has delivered a worrying prognosis, warning successive cuts had left the states and territories facing 'a huge black hole' in funding.

AMA president Brian Owler warns unless this is addressed, there will be greater inequality across the country as larger economies like NSW and Victoria find ways to make up the shortfall and others such as South Australia and Tasmania struggle to meet the gap.

'This is probably one of the biggest fears that I have,' associate professor Owler told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.

'We are going to see greater inequity and it will depend on which state and territory you live in.'

Under changes to be introduced by the Abbott government, more than $50 billion will be stripped from hospital funding from 2017, on top of billions of cuts in last year's budget.

The AMA has called for the issue to be dealt with as a priority in discussions between Prime Minister Tony Abbott and state and territory leaders in Canberra on Friday.

South Australian Labor Premier Jay Weatherill has labelled the cuts massively unfair.

But federal Health Minister Sussan Ley, who will meet with state and territory counterparts in Sydney on Friday, rejected the criticism, arguing the funding deal reached under the former Labor government was unsustainable.

'It was based on a different funding premise that in itself tended to inflate costs but on top of that, Labor simply said 'here are your funding guarantees states and you will get this money any way.''

The AMA report shows waiting times for elective procedures (surgery that can wait more than 24 hours) had not improved at all in the past four years, with patients waiting an average of 36 days.

Deeper analysis also shows emergency departments across the country are taking on a greater burden, with a 7.2 per cent jump in the number of people presenting.

Associate professor Owler says unless waiting times improve, procedures that would otherwise be deemed 'elective', would be more likely to be life threatening, affecting people waiting for a heart by-pass or a child needing an operation for a congenital heart defect.

'All this adds to the rate of poorer outcomes. It adds to the rate of other morbidities and other co-morbidities that people experience,' he said.

There was improvement in some states in terms of emergency department waiting times, but no state or territory met the target of seeing 80 per cent of patients within clinically recommended triage times.

The report also points out that bed capacity numbers are not keeping pace with population growth.

Associate professor Owler said the government had retreated from its funding responsibilities despite public hospital funding looming as the biggest single challenge facing state and territory finances for the foreseeable future.

AAP

- See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2015/04/16/ama-warns-funding-gap--to-cause-inequality-.html#sthash.YQn1c2Pt.dpuf

This article originally appeared in the Company Director Magazine. 

Craig Richardson is chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director of Wynyard Group, a market leader in advanced crime-fighting software used by government agencies and financial organisations. He was born and raised in Australia, and his software grew out of working with the Australian Federal Police. But, 18 months ago, he launched Wynyard Group with a listing on the New Zealand Stock Exchange.

“New Zealand is a relatively small country, which means most of what you need to start and grow a hi-tech company is easily accessible,” he says. 

“There’s a concentration of talent here, particularly in the technology area. And New Zealand has a culture of building things for export because the local market is just not big enough to support substantial growth. I think that’s a different mindset from Australia, where you can make your first $10 or 20 million just in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. We always had the view that we needed to make our first 20 million in the UK or the US,” he says.

New Zealand also has a flexible and generally light-handed approach to regulating the labour market. “There’s still debate as to whether deregulating and removing all of our protections in the eighties and nineties was the right thing to do, but it has left New Zealand with a very open and competitive environment,” says Chris Money, director at PwC New Zealand. “Labour is cheap and plentiful.”

“Because it’s so cheap and easy to start a business, there’s a culture of ‘having a go’,” adds Robbie Gimblett, leader of the private business market sector of PwC New Zealand. “Kiwis are known for their adaptability and ingenuity – there’s a saying here that all they need to make or fix something is a piece of Number 8 wire – and, generally, they aren’t afraid of failure. They’ll take a product to market quickly and do the fine-tuning as they go.”

New Zealand has an aggressive regulatory regime for listed companies but the capital market, stock exchange and regulator are all very supportive of small company listings.

“There’s a growing acceptance that the technology sector in particular is expanding very rapidly with high-quality companies,” says Richardson. “The downside is that the market is very small with a limited number of offshore investors, so growing companies can reach the ceiling very quickly.

“It’s becoming reasonably common for companies to access capital at an early stage through an initial public offering (IPO) in New Zealand because you can have cut-through here and get close enough to institutional investors for them to understand your business. Then, as you scale up and look to access more capital and a more liquid market, you can move across to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).  

“Xero and Orion Health are good examples, they’re two of the most successful tech companies to have come out of New Zealand in last five years and both are dual listed,” he adds.

Challenges for the board

A fast-growing company with an offshore market demands a range of boardroom skills. Richardson is confident that New Zealand has a critical mass of directors and management teams with the experience to do the job. 

“We have maintained our industry advisory council of former intelligence agency and law enforcement executives who continue to assist with strategy and market expansion,” he says. “We have also attracted a strong, independent board of local and internationally-based directors. Our chairman is a former CEO of ANZ Banking Group in New Zealand and his former legal counsel is one of our directors so we have the “big company” experience. We also have two entrepreneurs who have successfully grown technology companies and other directors with US and UK industry expertise. When I think of the boards I’ve dealt with in Australia, the directors have been very high quality but they haven’t come from a start-up, high-growth technology company background.”

Governance in private companies is more of a concern. “With the farming sector, private companies drive the New Zealand economy but there’s still nowhere near enough independent directors on the boards of private businesses,” says Gimblett. “We are seeing one positive trend, however, which is a move toward advisory boards. These can work well for start-ups and fast-growing companies because they’re more informal and so more flexible.”

An economic turnaround

When Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008 New Zealand was already in recession. By the middle of 2009 the economy had shrunk by a further 3.6 per cent. 

“That was quite a painful time, but a lot of Kiwis were spending more than they were earning and that can’t go on forever,” says Gimblett. “They had no choice but to clean up their balance sheets and cut down on expenditure. You could say we hit a speed bump, sorted things out and now seem to be on a more sustainable path.”

By the end of 2009, demand from the country’s two biggest trading partners, Australia and China, triggered historically-high prices for dairy. The subsequent economic turnaround was so impressive that HSBC economist Paul Bloxham was moved to describe New Zealand as the “rock star economy of 2014”. Growth for the year was 3.2 per cent compared with Australia’s 2.7 per cent, and New Zealand also finished the year with one of the lowest unemployment rates in the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

“Growth is being driven largely by construction associated with the Christchurch rebuild,” says Money. “Obviously a lot of money is going into the city to fund major capital projects and also to rehouse people who lost their homes in the earthquake. We’ve also got strong net migration into New Zealand and a significant undersupply of housing in Auckland, so construction, infrastructure and housing are being driven out of Auckland as well. Meat and log prices are pretty good and stable, and tourism is also performing strongly, so we’re expecting to maintain an average of about 3 per cent growth over the next few years.”

An attractive destination

Tourism is one of the brightest stars in New Zealand’s economic firmament, currently generating $9 billion a year and with strong growth predicted to at least 2020.

“The government has invested $600 million in tourism and tourism promotion since 2008 and that really seems to be paying off,” says Franck Hesse, area director of sales and marketing at IHG New Zealand, the parent company of Crowne Plaza, InterContinental and Holiday Inn hotels. “Close to three million people visited New Zealand during the last year and they spent over $7 billion.”

The film director Peter Jackson has also done much for the New Zealand economy by filming both the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies in his native land.

“The 100 per cent Pure New Zealand advertising campaign had already created a strong brand when it was relaunched in 2012 as ‘100 per cent Middle-earth, 100 per cent Pure New Zealand’,” says Bjoern Spreitzer, international business events manager at Tourism New Zealand. “A lot of people are now motivated to come here because they feel as though they’re actually visiting Middle-earth.”

A significant income-earner in its own right, the business events sector also drives the broader tourism industry. “We know that many delegates bring their partners or families and stay on after their conference or event,” says Sue Sullivan, CEO of Conventions & Incentives New Zealand. “They spend significantly more than leisure visitors, go home as ambassadors for New Zealand and very often come back for a holiday.”

Four new conference venues should be operating by 2018, including one in Auckland that will accommodate up to 3,000 visitors. “This will open new markets by enabling us to host much larger conferences,” Sullivan continues.

New Zealand is an attractive option for conference organisers as well as the delegates themselves.

“We’re remote enough to be one of the safest countries in the world, which is increasingly important, yet we’re an easy 10-12 hour flight from the west coast of the US as well as much of Asia,” says Spreitzer. 

“The city centres are relatively small so the hotels are usually within walking distance of each other, and it’s very easy to travel out of the cities to see dramatically different scenery and many other attractions.”

New Zealand has non-visa arrangements for business visitors from 50 countries and, recently, the government made favourable changes to the rules around the Goods & Services Tax (GST).

“A new refund scheme means that non-resident businesses can save 15 per cent on the cost of events held in New Zealand,” says Hesse.

Emirates and most Asian carriers fly into New Zealand and the national airline, Air New Zealand, has significantly increased capacity on most of its routes. “Air New Zealand is another of the country’s major success stories, posting record profits this year as Qantas and Virgin were reporting losses,” says Spreitzer.

Fluctuating dairy prices

The biggest cloud on New Zealand’s economic horizon is the plummeting price of dairy products, the country’s biggest export commodity. In December 2014, prices fell in auction to the lowest level in more than five years, and agribusiness banking specialist Rabobank is predicting that dairy farmers will continue to face acute challenges in the next 18 months. 

“Over the past seven years, dairy prices have shown enormous volatility, with extreme highs, followed by sharp retractions in pricing,” says Ben Russell, CEO of Rabobank New Zealand. “Clearly the rollercoaster ride continues.”

The medium to longer-term outlook remains sound but persistently low prices will inevitably have an impact on the economy as a whole. 

“Like Australia, New Zealand is vulnerable to a fall in commodity prices, though New Zealand’s economy has traditionally been more patchy,” says Gimblett. “Fluctuations in commodity prices have been the reality for New Zealand for the last 25 years,” adds Money. “I think that, as a result of that, our firms have learned to be a bit more agile and resilient, as well as a bit more conservative than their Australian counterparts.”

New Zealand is also very committed to finding new ways of creating export income.

“There’s a sense of urgency in their diversification into more modern industries,” says Richardson. “For example, the universities, governments, industry and even the retail investor market are all lined up behind high technology so it’s almost starting to feed itself. I haven’t seen quite the same sense of urgency in Australia. I get the feeling that many people are still thinking ‘after the resource sector what do we do next?’”

Money would like to see more Australian companies forging links with New Zealand. “My question for any company in Australia that’s looking to expand is why not consider New Zealand?” he says.  

“I’m sure many Australian organisations could benefit from our good, competitive and reasonably non-regulated market and lower labour costs,” he says.

The AuSAE Lecture Series commences in April with the topic, Emerging Trends in Not-for-profit Board Governance. These events are a great opportunity to hear from a panel of experts  and sector leaders about topics and advancements in the not-for-profit sector in a particular arena. The 3-hour lecture style allows for greater learning opportunities in a smaller time frame than a full day conference.

The Topic

The effective practice of governance requires vigilance. Not-for-profit executives must appreciate current governance practices, understand what first-class governance looks like, and look onward to potential future developments. Attendees can expect a high level discussion on emerging trends in not-for-profit governance and will take away understandings of significant value to themselves and their organisation.

• Brisbane, 22 April, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre: Register here
• Melbourne, 28 April, Stamford Plaza: Register here
• Sydney, 29 April, Rydges World Square: Register here

• An overview of Australian Governance Frameworks with reference to Board structures and representative types;
  
• An overview of International Governance Frameworks and why our sister associations in Asia and America might just be leading the way;
  
• Insights into Boards of the Future;
  
• Legislative changes that could affect Board Governance;
  
• Strategies for building a cohesive and strong Board;
  
• Conversations to create an effective CEO and Board chair relationship; and
  
• Methods to ultimately enhance the Boards performance, leading the organisation to new heights

Al Percival, Managing Director, Diligent BoardBooks

Al Percival joined Diligent in 2003, and has since held numerous leadership roles in America (New York), Asia and New Zealand. Today Al is Managing Director of Diligent Board Services APAC and happily based in Australia. Throughout his twelve years with Diligent BoardBooks, Al has advised thousands of companies both public and not-for-profit on how secure, electronic access to board materials can improve organisational effectiveness and governance.

Jennifer Robertson, Consultant, Board Matters (Brisbane Only)

After more than ten years in private legal practice, Jennifer made the strategic career move to become a corporate governance consultant. Today, eight years later, Jennifer is Board Matters’ Governance Practice Leader, a practicing lawyer and maintains numerous company director roles. These include Deputy Chair of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission and Director at Asthma Australia and the Queensland Independent Schools Block Grant Authority Ltd.

Phil Butler, Manager ACT Public and Not for Profit Sectors, Australian Institute of Company Directors (Sydney & Melbourne Only)

Phil Butler has been with the Australian Institute of Company Directors since 2000. As Manager ACT Public and Not for Profit Sectors, Phil has worked closely with numerous Boards, CEO’s and Directors of organisations in both the public and not-for-profit sector. Since 2011 Phil has led the AICD Not for Profit Project, designed to support NFP organisations to achieve their missions through improvements in governance, building greater awareness and supporting ongoing professional development.

Damian Mitsch, CEO, Australasian Podiatry Council

The Bankwest Foundation has partnered with the University of Western Australia Centre for Social Impact (UWA CSI) to undertake a research program Supporting Development and Growth in the Community Sector in Western Australia. The aim of the research program is to increase our understanding of the difference community programs make and what factors can enhance the resilience and long-term financial viability of Western Australia’s emerging social enterprise sector. Improving the evidence base on the measurement of the outcomes of community programs and of the financial sustainability of WA’s social enterprises will support growth and innovation in the community sector and build community resilience.

Outcomes of the research program will be delivered through the Social Impact Series and through community workshops and forums. The present paper Measuring Outcomes for Impact in the Community Sector in Western Australia is the first issue of the Social Impact Series.

As community organisations seek to understand more about how to measure their impact and effectiveness, and governments, philanthropists and investors aim to better track and measure the impact of their funding, outcome measures, tools, frameworks and systems have gained more currency across the community sector and in policy circles. In 2011, an outcomes-based procurement reform was introduced in Western Australia (WA) to fund programs for increased social impact in the not-for-profit sector. This reform has generated increased interest in outcomes measurement in Western Australia and in the development of a more systematic approach to outcomes measurement in Western Australia.

This paper provides an introduction to the outcomes measurement field and examines the international context of outcomes measurement in the not-for-profit sector, focusing on trends in outcomes measurement, policy and practice developments in the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Canada. It explores the evolving relationship between funders and community organisations in terms of the establishment of an outcomes measurement framework. Finally, it outlines some potential challenges and considerations facing the Western Australian community sector, funders and policy makers in implementing a richer, more effective and sustainable outcomes measurement framework.

Please find full report here.

Managing a change initiative through to a successful conclusion is fraught with pitfalls. Here are three key change management techniques that help make the road to your desired conclusion far easier to navigate.

1. Leverage the power of rational self interest

At a key level, corporate business and change management are not too far removed from the relationship between parent and child. When a parent wants their child to do something that the child really doesn’t want to do, the most effective method of successfully making the child come into line is to appeal to their self-interest. We all take this basic approach to self-interest throughout our life. Understanding this element of change management leads to three key methods to strategise using rational self-interest to successful adoption of change initiatives.

Bring experts on board early

A poorly designed change initiative is a major reason for failure. When top performers, project analysts, and subject matter experts are combined to create working groups early on in the process, two clearly defined objectives will be met:

• Early observation of impact, with feedback on potential changes obtained at early stage
  
• Preparation of the process and psychological impact on people required to come to terms with the change
  

Survey your audience

Whenever a major change is considered you should survey your end users. A survey will initiate the transition process and capture unidentified pitfalls and feelings. Experience shows that such surveys are best done by a third party, with anonymous feedback ensuring honest feedback.

Spend time at the coal face

If you want to know exactly what the change will mean to your people, then go to the coalface and see its impact for yourself. This also has the positive aspect of showing filed staff that their opinions are valued and sought after. You’ll soon find yourself posing questions such as ‘will this change work?’ and ‘what, if any, is the negative impact of this initiative?’ 

2. Reduce ambiguity

It is easy to sign up for an ideal end position of ‘increased productivity’ or a ‘more open innovative culture’, for example. But in coming to this ideal state, there will be periods of ambiguity along the way. These periods are likely to cause frustration, worries, and fear among employees affected. The result of such emotional stress can even lead to top performers fleeing for newer pastures.

To combat high ambiguity, it’s necessary to be more transparent, especially with frontline staff. Explanation of processes and the rationale for change is only part of the way to combat such ambiguity issues. You should also ensure there is a mechanism for concerns and issues to be raised and discussed. This strategy alone will ensure a greater level of respect for you and the project, encouraging your people to support the change. No longer will your people say "I'm all for increasing productivity, but I just don’t have the time", or "All these projects start off with a bang and then fizzle out."

Remember that ambiguity is likely to surface in the following areas:

Situational

• Vague issues and problems
  
• Unreliable data / conflicting information
  

Scope

• Too many goals that compete with each other
  
• Lack of clarity on how success will be measured
  
• Not enough resources and time to properly tackle the goal
  

Relationships

• Unclear hierarchy
  
• Unclear roles and responsibilities
  
• Politicking and favouritism
  

Processes

• Finger pointing; accusations and blame instead of cause
  
• Key personnel changing too often
  
• Cause and effect poorly understood
  

3. Give support for people to let go

Changing behaviours can be a traumatic process for many people, and you’ll need to provide support structures to avoid fundamental attribution error. You’ll need to lead the way, engage influential people as exemplars, but also encourage people to let go. Sometimes more than encouragement will be required.

Force people to let go

We need to let go to reach out. We need to stop holding on so tight. We need to create the space so the new change can be allowed to grow and become comfortable. You can encourage your employees to do the same. Use these three techniques to encourage people to move with the momentum of change: 

The cut off

• At some stage the old system needs to be switched off
  

The move forward

• The new process is taken on: ‘we will no longer accept information via emails'
  

The incentive

• New benefits for the first people to embrace the change and new systems / processes
  

There will be times when you need to pry people’s fingers away from the thing they are holding onto for dear life. Once you do, you’ll see them roll with the momentum of the future.

Organisational change is tough. Most likely you are dealing with some kind of organisational change right now. Leverage the three key change management techniques to enable front line adoption.

Please find original article here.

Author Credits

Daniel Lock is Principal of Daniel Lock Consulting, a firm focused on organizational and individual performance improvement. Contact him at www.daniellock.com & Blog at daniellock.com/blog email Daniel@DanielLock.com and phone 0413 033 703

In nearly every business, employees comprise the backbone of the company, ultimately determining that business’ level of success. It isn’t enough to have skilled and talented employees, however. Your employees must be engaged in their work, connected and dedicated both to their individual tasks and to the goals of the entire organisation. Employees who are engaged are much more likely to find happiness and fulfilment in their work, and these factors lead to a positive, balanced, and successful business. Here are some of the key ways to foster employee engagement in your workplace:

Always Show Appreciation

Appreciation by supervisors and management plays a large role in the quality of employee performance. Recognition of individual efforts and contribution is vital to boosting morale and making each team member feel special and necessary. Appreciation does not require grand gestures, awards, or accolades. Rather, a simple expression of gratitude can have a major impact.

Make it Worth Their While

Many organisations have begun to capitalise on the element of rewards, finding these not only to be a productivity motivator, but a method of team-building and increasing employee engagement. Providing incentives to your team members can be effective and enjoyable for all involved. Some companies have instituted competitions which encourage higher sales or push certain goals. Having something tangible and unique to work towards encourages employees to do their best, while also stimulating creativity: another significant amplifier of engagement.

Help Employees Advance

When employees better understand their own work and their role in an organisation, they are much more likely to be successful. Companies who provide opportunities for skills development and training do their staff members a great service. Continued learning is vital on all levels, and by allowing employees to hone and build upon their skills fresh, you keep them on their toes and supply occasions for them to work towards advancement. Plus, having greater skill and confidence at their tasks makes employees happier and gives them a sense of accomplishment and reward. This results in, you guessed it: employee engagement.

Why Employee Engagement?

In short, engaged employees are happy employees. This means a tremendous amount for your company. First, satisfied employees tend to display better physical health, meaning they are much less likely to become ill and have to miss work. Second, these employees are, on the whole, more productive in the workplace, possessing increased concentration, motivation, and energy. Third, happier employees dispense higher-quality customer service, which yields more pleasant interactions and results in satisfied customers.

With these many benefits, it is clear that a consistent focus on employee engagement is a must for any savvy business owner.

This article was sourced directly from the Line Management Institute of Training Blog.

Charity organisations across the region should take a close look at last year’s successful ALS Ice Bucket Challenge when considering how to use social media effectively, according to University of the Sunshine Coast Public Relations academic Karen Sutherland.

Ms Sutherland said that while many charities struggle to fully exploit the potential of social media, ALS hit all the right buttons with its Ice Bucket Challenge.

“More than $100 million was raised through the challenge, where participants were encouraged to move activity between on and offline spaces,” Ms Sutherland said.

“They were nominated online, took the challenge offline while being videoed and shared the footage online while nominating someone else, which then took the challenge offline and on it went.

“This is a fantastic example of a ‘propinquital loop’ – a theory that encourages public relations professionals to approach social media not as a stand-alone communication channel but as a tool to encourage face-to-face stakeholder interaction with organisations.”

Ms Sutherland, who has worked for the Australian Red Cross Blood Service and has volunteered on the Victorian council of the Public Relations Institute of Australia, is about to hand in her PhD thesis titled ‘Towards an Integrated Social Media Communications Model for the Not-For-Profit Sector – A Case Study of Youth Homelessness Charities’.

She said her research revealed that traditional thinking often held back not-for-profit organisations from effectively using social media.

“In many not-for-profit groups, social media is still not viewed as being up there with traditional media, despite the fact that traditional and social work really well when used together,” she said.

“The charities making the most of social media have a dedicated person working in the role who understands that the key to content is not simply broadcasting but giving people a genuine avenue to feel informed and involved with the charity until their next physical interaction – be that volunteering, donating or attending a function.”

Press Release from University of the Sunshine Coast