by admin | Apr 12, 2020 | Business Tips
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all businesses in one way or another. With no clear end to this crisis in sight, business owners are becoming increasingly anxious as to how to best handle their employees. We have already seen in Australia large corporations forced to implement mass stand downs of employees. However, whether or not standing down employees is the right step for your business will vary on a case by case basis.
We have helped some of our clients navigate these challenges. Below are the main options available to business owners.
If you need help identifying the best option for you and your business, please contact Quest Legal at info@questlegal.com.au.
Decreasing or modifying your employees’ hours
It may be possible for you to decrease the regular hours for some or all of your employees. This not only allows you to manage your wage costs, but also allows you to ensure that your employees are treated fairly. However, whether or not you can reduce hours will depend on the employee’s employment agreement, the National Employment Standards and the relevant industrial award.
Importantly, in most cases any change to an employee’s hours of work (whether that be achieved via the reduction of days worked or through the use of annual leave etc) must be agreed upon by both parties.
In the event that you alter an employee’s hours of work without their consent, you may be found to be in breach of the employment agreement or the National Employment Standards.
Standing down
Another option is to stand down an employee. “Standing down” means that your employee does not come to work, and you do not pay them a salary, however their employment has not been terminated.
Many employers, including large businesses such as QANTAS have stood down employees as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
Section 524 of the Fair Work Act allows a business to stand down an employee without pay during a period in which the employee cannot be usefully employed because of:
- Industrial action;
- A breakdown in machinery or equipment; or
- A stoppage of work for any cause for which the employer cannot reasonably be held responsible.
Typically, significant reductions in business because of COVID-19 would fall into the third category.
However, the case Re Carpenters and Joiners Award established that you cannot stand down an employee if there is useful work available that is within the terms of the employee’s contract of employment. The work available need not be the work that the employee normally carries out.
The onus is on the employer to show that the employee could not be usefully employed. A right to stand down an employee will not exist simply because the employer can no longer afford to pay the employee.
Therefore, the right to stand down employees must be exercised with both caution and diligence.
Termination (without redundancy)
Another option available for employers is to terminate the employee’s employment contract.
In order to terminate the contract a business owner must show:
- There was a valid reason for the dismissal related to the employee’s capacity or conduct;
- The employee is notified of this reason, and given an opportunity to respond; and
- The employee had previously been warned that their performance was unsatisfactory.
Termination in this way could lead to an employee claiming unfair dismissal. An employee can only bring an action for unfair dismissal if they have been employed for more than 12 months by a small business (less than 15 employees) or for more than 6 months for a large business (15 or more employees). An application for unfair dismissal must be lodged with the Fair Work Commission within 21 days of the date of termination.
In the event that an application for unfair dismissal is successful, then the employer can be liable to pay damages to the employee up to an amount equivalent to 6 months of their base salary.
For this reason, a business owner must be careful when terminating an employee to ensure they have followed the required steps to dismiss the employee and are in compliance with the employment contract and the Fair Work Act.
Redundancy
Employers can also assess whether an employee’s role is now redundant.
In order for a redundancy to be classified as a genuine redundancy for the purposes of the Fair Work Act, the employer must no longer require the role performed by that employee to be performed by anyone. That is, the role itself becomes redundant, rather than the individual.
Common reasons for making a role redundant include a corporate restructure, economic hardship or slow down due to lower sales or production.
When a role is made redundant then the employee will be entitled to notice of termination and redundancy pay (the amount is determined under the employment contract, relevant award or National Employment Standards).
Again, a business owner must be careful when determining that a role is redundant to ensure it is a genuine redundancy and to ensure compliance with the employment contract and the Fair Work Act.
Government support
The Government has begun rolling out incentives to help businesses retain their employees.
Importantly, we note that the Job Keeper payments are not available in respect to employees who have already been terminated or made redundant. However, they are available in respect to employees who have been stood down or had their hours reduced.
Please see the below helpful links to information on the Government incentives which we recommend you carefully review.
JobKeeper Incentive: https://www.ato.gov.au/Job-keeper-payment/
Boosting Cash Flow for Employers Incentive: https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Business-activity-statements-(BAS)/In-detail/Boosting-cash-flow-for-employers/
Instant Asset Write-Off for Eligible Businesses: https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Depreciation-and-capital-expenses-and-allowances/Simpler-depreciation-for-small-business/Instant-asset-write-off/
Backing Business Investment – Accelerated Depreciation: https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Depreciation-and-capital-expenses-and-allowances/Backing-business-investment—accelerated-depreciation/
If you need help with any employment related matter please contact Quest Legal at info@questlegal.com.au.
Regards
Juan Perez
p | 02 9431 5307 and 1300 279 500
w | www.questlegal.com.au
a | 133 Alexander Street | Crows Nest | Sydney | NSW | 2065
by admin | Mar 23, 2020 | Business Tips
I hope the pressure of the COVID19 situation is not getting you down. The impact of the virus will vary widely across businesses and as a result there is no “1 size fits all” solution. Some businesses will prosper and others will take a hit during the following months.
However, I do believe that being proactive rather than reactive is the key.
To help you with this, I have compiled a “COVID19 Business Survival Guide” that outlines 25 tasks you should consider implementing across your business in the very near future. I will continue to update this with new tasks and resources on a regular basis.
I’m happy to help you tailor your responses to each task using a Zoom video conference – prudent in the current environment.
To book a Zoom/phone call with me, use this link then it will take you to my diary and you can find a time that suits you for a call. It will book an hour call but its ok if we don’t need to use all that time. 60 min Call – https://calendly.com/russellcummings/60-minute-call
If you would rather just have a quick chat then simply call me on 0414 929 585 – I’d be happy to take your call.
Take care
Russ
by admin | Dec 19, 2019 | Business Tips
2019 is almost over and we’re in the last minute sprint to the Christmas break and some holidays. However, it’s also a great time to stop, prop and reflect on the year that has been.
I work with a wide range of business across many sectors and industries and I am finding that the pace of change is increasing rapidly – competition, regulation, technology, people, marketing, business models… every facet is under the pressure of disruption and change. I’m sure you’ve noticed it in your business…
As we move into a new decade (wasn’t 2020 where all the science fiction books from my childhood were positioned? …and now we are here!), it’s worthwhile taking the time to evaluate and set up a clear plan for 2020.
So here are my Top 5 Tips (including Resources) for Setting your Business up for a great 2020:
1. Take the time to evaluate where you are now…
This seems relatively straightforward but so many businesses just give a cursory glance to the NOW. At a minimum, sit down with your Accountant or Advisor and review your finances and the year that has been. You can also complete a simple business diagnostic to identify strengths and weaknesses or if you have undertaken a major change initiative use our Change Success Diagnostic to try and work out what you could’ve done better.
TIP: Think about the immediate issues but also the future issues that will impact your industry and your business in the next 3 to 5 years.
2. What’s happening in your industry?
Again, most people say “I know what’s happening” and fail to see the real issues. Take the time to review – I like to use a simple Supply Chain Model for this: that looks at what is happening for our Suppliers, Our Competitors, Our channels to market and our Consumers. Watch the video for more information on this process.
TIP: Think about the immediate issues but also the future issues that will impact your industry and your business in the next 3 to 5 years. Watch some TED Talks and YouTube clips of conference speakers. Look for people who are talking about disruption and change in your industry (or related industries) as the pace of change is far quicker than you think. Be Visionary not a “nay-sayer”.
3. Develop Innovative Strategies…
This is harder than it sounds but is critical to your success. Too many people have set up “copy cat” businesses that are exactly like the competition… Our products are similar, our pricing is similar, our marketing is similar – we are just slightly different versions of the same vanilla business. So, take the time to really understand your business, industry and target market, develop your competitive advantage and build a business that is truly different. Often small changes can be enough to carve a new niche for you. Look to innovators in your field and related fields – check out their websites, social media, products, etc.
TIP 1: Don’t just look at whole businesses – look at components of your business. For example: if you have a bricks and mortar business supported by an online business, then look at what leaders in online are doing irrespective of the sector and glean insights that you can apply to your business. Don’t copy blindly but modify and adapt concepts to meet the unique needs of your business and customers.
TIP 2: Take the time to understand the target market for your services and products. Do the simple exercise outlined in this video and see what innovative ideas flow from understanding your client’s key frustrations, fears, wants and aspirations.
4. Build a clear plan for 2020…
Once you have worked through the first 3 Tips, then step back and take the time to build a clear Annual Operating Plan (“AOP”) for 2020. An AOP is a simple structured plan for the next 12 months in your business. It should be focused in the high level strategic actions (or “Big Rocks”) that you MUST implement in the coming year if you are to be on target for your 3-5 year plans. It’s not a complex process and it’s highlighted in this short video (with template).
TIP 1: Once you have created your 2020 plan run it through our Change Success Diagnostic to see what actions you need to take to improve your chances of success -https://shifft.com.au/change-success-diagnostic/
TIP 2: Use the Personal Change success Diagnostic to determine what you might need to focus on personally to make significant changes – https://shifft.com.au/personal-change-success/
5. Focus on YOU…
This is the most critical tip of all… In our modern, high pressure world, as Business Owners and Managers, we put ourselves under increasing pressure to perform… and we often have unrealistic expectations of what is achievable. We then “beat ourselves up” for not meeting these aggressive “stretch targets”, when in reality our performance has often been stellar. This propensity to create unrealistic expectations also flows from our personal lives, where we are constantly comparing ourselves to the “unicorns” and icons of social media, society and business. These factors mean that over 33% of the population suffer from depression, anxiety and stress disorders and my personal experience is that in the business world this can be even higher… this is a tsunami of pain and pressure that can no longer be swept under the carpet. So what can you do about this as we move into 2020?
TIP 1: The first step is to understand that these pressures (perceived and real) pervade all aspects of our lives and impact us all. Mental health is a critical component of business success so take the time to address it. Get help in the form of counselling, hypnosis and training. Learn to understand your personal stressors and trigger points and develop strategies to stop them blossoming into larger issues. Consider taking up practices that make you more mindful and balanced like yoga, martial arts and/or meditation. Make sure that you have a “balanced”, fulfilling life away from work and there is time for YOU.
TIP 2: Set realistic targets for the next 12 months… I’m not suggesting that you don’t set ambitious targets… but make sure that they are realistic and achievable with the skills, capabilities and resources that you have available.
TIP 3: Find an activity for YOU. Get a hobby, interest, sport that is something for you (no… drinking beer is fun but its not the sort of hobby I was thinking of). I love riding my motorcycle (its fun, relaxing and a mindful activity for me) and I make sure that I have at least one decent 2-300km ride every week (not commuting – a ride for me!). Since taking the time to do this regularly, my productivity and revenue have improved despite me “working” less hours… remember “present is not necessarily productive”…what is an activity that you want to do – just for you?
For many of my clients, 2020 looks like a promising year full of opportunities and I’m sure it will be for you. Rather than charging headlong into the fray… stop, prop, reflect and plan your approach so that you are proactive rather than reactive… you will reap the rewards from this small investment in time.
Work through my Top 5 tips and the resources and apply them to your business… I’d be interested in your feedback on how you approached 2020 and am happy to have a 20 minute chat with you (no obligation… no sales pitch) to discuss any issues/challenges these processes may have raised for you and help you find a solution. Click the link below to book a quick call.
https://calendly.com/russellcummings/20-minute-with-russ
I wish you every success in 2020.
Russ
by admin | Nov 19, 2018 | Business Tips
In many businesses, particularly in service businesses, clients often cannot tell whether you are any good at what you do – there are no benchmarks.
Consumers often only find out how poor a supplier has been when they finally change to another provider. For example: the new accountant picks up a heap of errors the previous accountant had made.
Now, there is no substitute for doing really good quality work – great service and products – but it’s often not enough to be “technically excellent” as many of our clients do not have the skills or expertise to assess your technical competence.
So how do our clients determine whether we are any good at what we do? How do they determine your “relative competence” compared to other professionals in your field?
Because they are often unable to judge the “technical elements” of what we do, our clients will usually focus on the things they do understand – the little things. (We all do this as we are all someone else’s client). We will make illogical connections between elements to determine our assessment of relative competence. For example: your clients will pick up cues from how you present yourself, your attention to detail with emails and contracts and generally how you “treat them” to determine whether you’re a good accountant, lawyer, stock broker, consultant, surveyor, etc.
Making seemingly small errors, like misspelling a name, poor grammar and spelling in communications, sloppy dress standards, tardy response times, etc. can often have your client doubting the overall quality of your work. The logic is that if they can’t get the “small things” right, then how can they be trusted to get the “big things” right. Likewise getting the small things right often equates to a higher validation of your technical skills.
What can we do to ensure that we are always seen in a positive light by our clients? I believe that the factors are defined by a subset of the Trust Equation promoted by David Maister.
The Trust Equation traits, that I see as important are: Credibility, Reliability and Intimacy. “Self Interest” is an important part of building trust but I think that the top 3 elements of the equation are more powerful in determining our relative competence.
Credibility: this is all about being convincing and believable. Qualifications, associations, connections, awards, website and track record are all important here. This is where your LinkedIn profile can be a great adjunct to your business website and CV. It’s also about being confident in the delivery of your technical information/products. Your website should also demonstrate your capability with video and articles that show you know your stuff” – this is very powerful. I think of “credibility” as being the baseline in helping clients to decide on the quality of what you do.
Reliability: this is where the “rubber hits the road” and where your customers will get many of their cues from about the quality of your services. Reliability is “doing what you said you were going to do” and in my experience is a critical factor for perceived customer value. The logic is that if you do the “little things” well that your customers will often perceive that you do the “big things” well. Reliability is a critical element of relative capability.
Intimacy: This is having a deep understanding of your customer and their industry and business. Take the time to do your research and understand your clients. Use systems like CRMs to record the knowledge so that it can be shared across your organisation. Do your preparation before meetings – read your clients last few social media posts, check their website for changes, update yourself on industry issues and trends, google your clients and their business for latest news stories, etc. This is not about being “creepy” but about being informed. I see “intimacy” as the glue that binds deeper business relationships.
I rank “Reliability” as the primary driver for helping clients to see you as a quality supplier with “Intimacy” and “Credibility” providing a great support act. However, without the simple things that make you reliable – attention to detail and delivering on your promises – you can have all the credibility and intimacy in the world, but they will still discount your relative competence.
So, in summary, understanding relative competence (or “are you any good at what you do?”) is about doing great work, delivering excellent products and services – there is no substitute for that. But it’s often not enough to be technically excellent as the majority of your clients are unable to determine the extent of your technical skill and will rely on a variety of seemingly unrelated factors to determine your relative competence. Focus on being “reliable” as a key platform to building relative competence supporting with credibility and intimacy building strategies.
For more information on growing your business – visit https://shifft.com.au
Russell Cummings
Business Coach and Advisor
by admin | May 24, 2018 | Business Tips
The issue of mental health is one that comes up multiple times a day.
Over the last few years, I have noticed the increase in the number of my clients who have employees experiencing mental health issues.
I don’t do work with corporates or resource companies with FIFO – an industry where perhaps they have been dealing with these challenges for longer than my average client.
We are talking about a wide range of professional industries that are having to review their whole approach to managing the well-being and mental health of their team.
While the employer is usually the first stop for “workplace stress” issues, in my experience, many of the challenges faced by their team members have their roots outside of work. Mental health can often be a build up from a number of factors, work being one of them, but it is the workplace where the action will often have to occur.
There are multiple reasons why we may debate as to the reasons that mental health is on the climb – I am not wanting to explore that but rather look at the role of business owners and managers in this.
After all, we are key players in each of our communities.
What my clients have found is that they have been responsible for cost of treatment with team members going on stress leave and requiring counselling services. In many cases, the employee will go to a counsellor for work-related stress and find out that the underlying causes run far deeper – and this is a good thing, as too many people fail to seek help when they need it most.
Did you know that free counselling services are available through seeing your GP for a referral?
The cost to everyone is too high – not only in leave and productivity, but most importantly, emotionally for everyone in the team.
So what can we do about it?
I think the first step is acknowledging that mental health issues are currently a normal part of life and that most of us could use some help at different times of our lives to navigate the tricky bits.
There is a stigma that needs to be removed.
The second step is to accept that “prevention is better than cure”.
Let us stop and take notice of our team a lot more. Get to know them, their families and areas that could be making an impact. This is good practice that any business should have as part of caring and knowing your team, but there is added importance when you also want to ensure that your team are truly OK.
Increasing the awareness of how important mental health is in our lives and that “toughing it out” isn’t always the best option. Letting your team know that help is available and what your policy is regarding this, is also important.
I’m not a psychologist but I would suggest that when there are serious issues in the lives of our team members like: deaths and illnesses of family, marital issues, divorce and challenges with their children (especially teens), that we should be proactive and ask if they need help and point them in the right direction. Give them time off without question. If you show your support along the way with little things like giving time off freely without it being tallied and watched the message will be clear to your staff about how important this is to you and the values you want to demonstrate.
Of course, these same principles apply to you as a leader. What example are you setting in managing your stress, looking after your health, not working ridiculous hours, having regular holidays? Your example in this space speaks volumes and you have to remember that everyone has different tolerances and life experiences that can build to an outcome. But you are responsible for setting the tone for the office with how you want your employees to look after themselves – like it or not, you are the example.
This is a real issue for all of us to manage and support so I welcome your input below.
I think the answer to my question I first posed in the title is – everyone. But taking that time and effort with your team, as well as being aware of your example will only end up in good outcomes for all regardless of whether there are any mental health issues to deal with or not. These steps are ones you should be doing in any case.
If you are experiencing more stress than you feel comfortable with then please get help and ask for support – https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/national-help-lines-and-websites
Russell Cummings
24 May 2018
by admin | Oct 7, 2016 | Business Tips
In our first article on this topic, we highlighted the process for defining the apps and tools you will require in your eco-system of apps for your business. If you missed that article, you will find it here http://www.sbdbusiness.com.au/business-tips/ecosystem-of-apps-and-tools/
When I followed the process and started defining my ecosystem, I thought about the key functions that I wanted to get right and ended up mapping out 7 areas that are really important for me and my business. Below are those areas and the key apps that I use to be productive and efficient.
1. Client Information
Where do you store your client information? Unfortunately, lots of people are storing their valuable client and sales information in their accounting system and end up not being able to use it for marketing and sales because they are using the wrong software for the job.
Client information is important because it’s linked to how we market and sell our business in a modern, electronic world. The challenge is to collect, store and manage client information using the appropriate tools – a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.
I have found Insightly (https://www.insightly.com/) to be an excellent Entry level product to store and organise your client/customer information in a simple, intuitive useable format. It links to a wide variety of other apps in my software ecosystem and enables me to share data across these platforms. It’s also cost effective at $15 per User per month (Aug 2016).
There are CRMs such as Salesforce (http://www.salesforce.com/au/), Base (https://getbase.com/), Capsule CRM (https://capsulecrm.com/) and Zoho (https://www.zoho.com/crm/), and they are all good programs. The challenge is that you need to find a CRM system that is intuitive for you and has the features and linkage benefits that you will actually use to help grow your business.
2. Data Storage
For me and my business, data refers to my Office 365 files, image files, etc. so I need to have an accessible and integrated way of storing all of these. I found OneDrive to be a very useful tool for this area of my ecosystem.
OneDrive (https://onedrive.live.com) integrates really well with just about everything I do so it makes perfect sense to use it. Other data storage apps to consider are Dropbox (https://www.dropbox.com/) and Box.net (https://www.box.com/).
3. Information Storage
I find that most business have a requirement to store information and resources that won’t necessarily fit in to a traditional data storage system and where we require different mechanisms or modes for retrieval. I’m talking about information like websites, videos, PDF documents, workshop manuals, etc.
For resources and general information, I’ve found Evernote (https://www.evernote.com/) to be the tool for me. It is a series of digital notebooks. The beauty about Evernote is that you can put information in in a variety of ways – i.e. voice recording, video clip, and then share a note or a notebook with people. It is available in desktop, Mac, Windows, IOS and Android formats – very flexible. It also works seamlessly with my Livescribe Pen (http://www.livescribe.com/en-au/)
An alternative tool for Windows users is One Note (https://www.onenote.com/) which integrates with the Office 365 suite. I found the Mac version of OneNote to be lacking when compared to Evernote, but the Windows version is excellent.
4. Task Management
We need to manage tasks – we need to manage projects and stay on top of all this stuff. In fact, many businesses have a really strong need for effective task management.
One app that I find great for task management is Trello (https://trello.com/). It’s a powerful tool that enables me and my team in the Philippines to collaborate, work together and do planning. It’s got an easy drag and drop navigation and I can add in files from OneDrive or Dropbox. It also integrates with Cloudmagic (now Newton) on my IOS devices and the Mac.
Other options are Kanban Flow (https://kanbanflow.com/), BaseCamp HQ (https://basecamp.com/) and Bitrix24 (https://www.bitrix24.com/).
5. Communication
If I look at my ecosystem, my email and calendar systems are quite central to it and really important. I use Cloudmagic (now Newton) (https://cloudmagic.com/), Airmail (http://airmailapp.com/) as email programs on my Mac and IOS devices, respectively. Why two systems? To take full advantage of Insightly CRM (see above). I need an email program that can auto-bcc to a specific email address and Airmail and CloudMagic both do this whereas others do not. The Mac version of CloudMagic is a new release that doesn’t have some of the great features (Trello and Evernote integration) available on the IOS version and doesn’t support “Rules” for email management. Airmail is the “stand in” until the Newton people upgrade the system.
I have tried a range of calendar systems but Google Calendar (https://www.google.com/calendar) is the one that works across all platforms and integrates easily with my other apps. It just works.
Alternatives will include Outlook (https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/outlook-com/), Apple Mail and Apple Calendar.
Other communication tools that I use are Skype (https://www.skype.com/en/), GoToWebinar (http://www.gotomeeting.com/webinar). They are really important communication tools for me as they enable me to communicate with my team but also with external parties to my business.They are available across all my platforms.
We are also using Active Campaign (http://www.activecampaign.com/) for our Outbound Marketing. Until recently, we were using Mailchimp (http://www.mailchimp.com).
6. Finances
I’ve swapped my whole business over to Xero (https://www.xero.com/au/) because it’s cloud-based and it gives me leverage to log in to other apps. Xero also links to my CRM (Insightly.com) which enables me to have a complete view of my clients from a contact and a financial perspective.
Another app I use is Receipt Bank (http://www.receipt-bank.com/). When I travel, instead of coming back with a wallet full of receipts, that I then don’t have enough time to sit down and actually do anything with, Receipt Bank allows me to take a photo of the receipt with my Phone and upload it to their server where details such as Vendor Name, ABN, sale amount, tax amount and date is inputed to the system. My bookkeeper then comes in and codes it against the relevant code for my Xero chart of accounts and uploads it. It pays for itself by simplifying the process of claiming my allowable business deductions.
Other finance tools to consider are: MYOB (http://myob.com.au/), Entryless (https://www.entryless.com/) and Shoeboxed (https://www.shoeboxed.com/).
7. Operations
I don’t have lots of operational software in my business but my Mindshop Online system (http://www.web.mindshop.com/) is where I give my clients access to a wide range of business tools and online training programs, and where I coach over 100 people. It is available on my desktop and IOS devices.
Other businesses may have some specific operational software that is important to the running and maintenance of their business.
Office365 for Windows and Mac (https://products.office.com/en-au/business/explore-office-365-for-business#ZBALHsKeuqAqAp7o.97) is also a great product. It’s cheap, it’s about $10 per month for about 5 users on a Home package – the Business Package is pretty good value as well. It keeps you up-to-date with new software releases – you get the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, One Note, Publisher and you get 1 terabyte of free storage using OneDrive per user.
What apps will be important to you and how will you ensure that they work together to leverage your time and resources? Take the time to follow the process in the first article – http://www.sbdbusiness.com.au/business-tips/ecosystem-of-apps-and-tools/ and don’t just have a random collection of apps. Make sure they integrate.
If you would like to have a more detailed discussion of the process and apps, you will find our recorded webinar on this topic at http://www.sbdbusiness.com.au/productivity-apps-tools/
I’d be interested to know what apps are you using that are critical to your “ecosystem” – comment below.