Fly Higher In Business Function

27 October 2010 NZICA National Office was buzzing last week with over 100 secondary school students along with their parents and teachers attended Fly Higher.

 As many of you will know, the Wellington Branch team along with local members have visited and been in contact with over 20 schools in the past few months. The main motivation was to break down the stereotypes surrounding accountancy and NZICA.

 The Wellington Branch would like to thank in particular the numerous branch members who gave up their precious free time to visit the various schools and help inspire students. They were so inspirational that the numbers attending last week far exceeded expectations. Thank you.

Thanks also to Gaylene Hughes our motivational speaker and MC, Therese Walsh COO Rugby World Cup 2011, Tim Watts Director of Grad Connections, Felicity Hill Manager BDO, Neha Girotra Marketing Executive for Youth NZICA and Roderick Keating Communications and Events Coordinator Wellington Branch.

 During the course of the evening the panel asked students question and those who answered correctly walked away with Telecom Vouchers and very broad smiles. We can measure the success of the event not only in numbers attending but more importantly by the number of questions students, parents and teachers asked and there were plenty!

The whole premise behind this programme was to give those students who were either inspired by the speakers at their school or who have already identified Accountancy as a career choice the chance to meet and mingle with some of Wellingtons top Chartered Accountants and High Flyers in business. Importantly the students can discuss career opportunities with our guest speakers and get answers to the questions they’ve always wanted to ask. A great success towards NZICA’s growing youth engagement initiative.

To succeed... You have to believe in something with such a passion that it becomes reality - Anita Roddick

Business Mentor - Gaylene Hughes

To succeed... You have to believe in something with such a passion that it becomes reality - Anita Roddick

The Law of Attraction

 

The Law of Attraction …

Some wonderful celebrations over the weekend – one “graduated” client emailed me, advising they’ve won two local business awards and are continuing to make some awesome gains in cashflow, despite being in a competitive industry which has been impacted by the economic down-turn;

and secondly a client celebrating their 3^rd birthday and continuing to make enormous headway both here in NZ and overseas.

The latter client, early on in her coaching programme, made a mind-movie and this reminded me to dust off mine. It’s attached and is very relevant given our 51-Day challenge coming up in November.

Continue to watch this space & talk to you soon …

To succeed... You have to believe in something with such a passion that it becomes reality - Anita Roddick

Straight Forward Tips ...

A couple of interesting things ...
1) I've learned that The Department of Labour has launched a new web resource called Infozone: Business Essentials, which is aimed at giving straight forward info to employers and self-employed contractors on employment issues and health and safety aspects of running a business. It's great to see things coming together in one place to make it easier to source information. I've included the link above. In addition ...

2) I came across my notes from our last Quarterly Planning Day in September. David Irving the current CEO from Life Flight Trust was our guest speaker. Ex CEO of Synergy (now rebranded Fronde), David shared some tips that had held him in good stead over the years. I thought they made a lot of sense ...
a) always get an overdraft before you need it: banks are great lending umbrella's in the summer then asking for them back in the winter;
b) When tackling issues, create a culture of open communication culture but ensure i) you don't shoot the messenger and ii) you resolve issues without emotion.
c) Sort out problems early without apportioning blame & in the event you have no option, make sure you do this well after the event;
d) remember you're not perfect. You may in fact be part of the problem, so you need to accept that you may need to change too!

On the matter of people, David shared that it's essential to find good people and treat them well. Remove obstacles where possible so they can do their jobs and do them well.
All good common sense.

Go well and talk to you soon ...

To succeed... You have to believe in something with such a passion that it becomes reality - Anita Roddick

The Silent Killer of Any Business

I went to an interesting evening last night held by a local bank which included a guy presenting on the importance of cashflow!! But more importantly, some great conversation later with a local retailer in a popular mall … we talked about the importance of good customer service.
It’s funny how that Law of Attraction works, cos this morning going through my emails, I came across an article in the Australian Women in Business newsletter titled “The Silent Killer of Any Business” and guess what that killer is? Good old customer service!
It was quite a good read, pointing out the obvious – that poor customer service adversely impacts customer expectations and your ability to retain their custom, but then went on to say, that it also has a spiral effect on stress in the workplace, staff attitude, retention, loyalty and morale, not to mention the loss to your bottom line.
As I shared with this guy I met, one basic strategy around good customer service is to SMILE! and a friend of mine had a succinct way of summing it up: “If you’re happy, tell your face!” Love it 
Without quoting the article ad infinitum, a number of ways were identified for improving profits & most of them (as per usual) aren’t rocket science …
• training of staff (which has improved their reputation)
• defining service excellence (through effective staff training and input)
• improved and consistent customer/client contact
• better marketing to target markets
• reduced inefficiencies (once again through training)
Says a lot … when we all know that many businesses chose to reduce their investment in staff training in recent months. It may come back to bite!
Would love to hear your thoughts. In the meantime, enjoy your day and talk to you soon...Gaylene