The number of operating businesses in Australia at the end of 2010-11 rose to 2.1 million, according to new stats released this week, but the rate of business growth is slowing and the number of start-up failures is growing.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ latest numbers on Australian businesses confirmed that less than half of the 316,000 businesses that started in 2007-08 were still operating in June 2011, and nearly three in ten failed to make it past one year of operation.

The overall business ‘exit rate’ (businesses that ceased operations) for the last financial year rose to 13.5 per cent, but the ‘entry rate’ (new businesses) remained slightly above it at 13.9 per cent.

Mining and healthcare recorded the greatest increase in business counts, while agriculture and manufacturing continued declines in a sign of tough economic conditions in both of those industries.

More than 60 per cent of Australia’s total businesses are non-employing, while of those that do employ, nearly 90 per cent employ less than 20 people – almost 750,000 in total. Businesses that employ were more likely to survive, with 60 per cent of businesses operating in 2007-08 still in existence.

The figures show a recovery in business growth after the impact of the global financial crisis, followed by stagnation in 2010-11 as a number of issues affected small businesses, including the high value of the Australian dollar and the cost of compliance.

It stresses the need for governments to continue to be vigilant about keeping the costs of business down, to ensure the current business growth we’re seeing doesn’t become a decline.

VECCI urges the State Government to secure Victoria’s position as a leader in the business events market by committing to the much needed expansion of the Melbourne Exhibition Centre in the forthcoming State Budget.

Attracting expos, exhibitions and business events is vitally important to Victoria’s economy – with business events contributing $1.2 billion a year – and expanding the Exhibition Centre will help us stay ahead of our competitors within Australia and the greater Asia-Pacific region.

The extension of the Exhibition Centre is essential to securing business events that require more space, as well as enabling multiple events to run concurrently.

It is now time the State Government committed to delivering this vital infrastructure project, which was planned in 2004 as part of the South Wharf precinct development. 

The expansion is needed because:

• The Exhibition Centre’s availability has reached capacity and it will miss out on new business and larger exhibitions in the future.
• It will provide a boost to the state economy through the direct creation of jobs, the supply of products and services and the attraction of more visitors to Victoria.
• To stay competitive in the Asia-Pacific region, the Exhibition Centre must expand to meet the demands of the local and international exhibition industry.
• To allow Victoria to continue to host business events that showcase Victoria’s innovation. These are crucial for our small to medium enterprises and industry sectors for investment and exports.
• To potentially increase business tourism by a further $150 million per annum. The Exhibition Centre and the adjoining Melbourne Convention Centre currently contributes $260 million to the business tourism market per annum.

Other cities are keen to get a slice of the business events market, and we have to make sure we’re continually improving our facilities.

While Melbourne and Victoria have a great reputation in the conference and exhibition sector, our state cannot rest on its past successes.

A Fair Work Australia Commissioner has upheld the sacking of an electrician dismissed for misconduct, after he was accused of making a false entry in his employer’s first aid book about a back injury he claimed to suffer at work, and allegedly exposed himself to the company’s HR coordinator.

The electrician originally stated he fell on to a steel packing crate while packing components in December 2010. His spine was operated on and he returned to work in January 2011 in the stores area, but then required more serious surgery which caused him to miss another two months of work.

A medical certificate was provided but did not contain the name of a medical practitioner, and was only initialled. The employer subsequently insisted on a ‘fit for work’ medical clearance and stood him down without pay. A medical assessment was then organised by the employer, which diagnosed the extent of his back injury.

The electrician refused to meet with his employer to discuss the report, and soon after his employment was terminated for misconduct, related to:

• Insufficient evidence that his original back injury was actually suffered at work
• Allegations he obtained access to the workplace in April to make an entry in the company’s first aid book to ‘record’ the original incident four months earlier, without the First Aid Officer’s knowledge
• Accusations by the female HR coordinator that the electrician exposed his genitalia to her before handing in his medical certificate.

Commissioner Paula Spencer preferred the evidence of the employer’s staff, including the First Aid Officer, that no record of any incident in December 2010 had been made at the time, and no entry existed when the First Aid Officer updated the book in March.

A maintenance contractor gave evidence he let the electrician into the workplace on the Easter long weekend in April, and Commissioner Spencer found on the balance of probabilities, the book was updated at that time.

“The evidence of the falsification of the records is commensurate with a valid reason for the dismissal,” Commissioner Spencer ruled.

The Commissioner did note deficiencies in the employer’s procedure, for failing to give the electrician a chance to respond to the allegations of indecent exposure and making a false entry in the first aid book, but did not “detract from the validity of the dismissal on the basis of the falsification of records alone, but also the act of exposure”.

About three in 10 Australian workers aged over 50 say they experience discrimination in the workplace, according to a new report which surveys the attitudes of older workers and their employers, and examines how to make the most of our most experienced workers.

The report prepared for the Financial Services Council finds many older workers feel they have experienced discrimination in the form of being laid off before other, younger employees, or have been denied workplace flexibility and access to learning or development opportunities.

Many over 50s reported feeling under-skilled, especially in areas related to information and communications technology, but 54 per cent said they’d never been offered any kind of training opportunity to improve their IT skills or just generally ‘upskill’ in their current job.

From the employer perspective, the managers and recruiters surveyed for the report said they generally found older workers were competent and as highly motivated as younger colleagues, but some workplace cultures which emphasised youth and promoted from within were inadvertently freezing out older workers.

“Older workers can encounter discriminatory perceptions that they ‘lack energy’, are ‘not IT savvy’, or are ‘set in their ways’ which in turn influence decisions affecting them,” the report states.

“This is most often exemplified when in competition with young workers for a promotion, for example, or when choosing workers to be retrenched. More than one HR manager we spoke to noted simply, ‘that’s just how it plays out’.”

With the recent financial crisis reducing the value of many older workers’ superannuation funds, many of them are seeking to lengthen their careers in one form or another, and the report’s authors urged the Federal Government to promote mentoring or figurehead roles to encourage flexibility.

Employers also encouraged 50+ workers to vigorously promote their experience and ‘sell themselves’ in interviews and within workplaces to ensure their value is seen by all.

The issue of work and the ageing population was addressed in a recent paper launched at the World Economic Forum meeting in Switzerland. The report cites Australia as an example of a country that has lifted the employment rate of people aged 55 and over, from 46 per cent in 2000 to more than 60 per cent in 2010, and urged all economies to do more to utilise the talents of older workers.

“If older people can be encouraged to adopt the will and ability to continue working beyond the current retirement age, it would directly reduce average per capita expenditure and indirectly lead to a number of benefits such as reduced healthcare needs and greater social engagement,” it states.

VECCI has been active in this area in recent times, as part of our involvement in the Grey Matters program, which engaged more than 250 older workers and placed more than 100 in new jobs. Sixty-five per cent of these placements occurred after participants undertook a career and resume review, engaged in job search training and/or career coaching – proof of the capacity and flexibility of older workers, and their potential contribution to our productivity.

What do you think – as an employer, do you think the findings of the report are correct, and why have you decided to hire or not hire older workers in the past?

A fascinating report has been written on the future of customer service over the next ten years, and how technology and increased international competition means good service will become even more important to a business’s success.

The ‘Service 2020’ report prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit questioned nearly 500 business leaders from across the world on the customer service ‘megatrends’ they expected to see over the next few years.

The report identified eight expected trends:

• Global competition will drive up standards of customer service: 55 per cent of respondents expected to compete primarily on service by 2020, not quality or cost of their products and/or services.
• Customers will expect service faster, and won’t compromise quality: 82 per cent said their clients and customers expected faster service than they did five years ago, and expected that trend to continue, with companies that save their customers time likely to be more successful.
• Social media will increase transparency and should be used to advantage of business: Customer complaints are more likely to spread and ‘go viral’, and companies will need to be transparent with their dealings.
• Businesses will utilise new sources of data to personalise service: More data is becoming available to businesses, such as from where their website is being accessed or how many people are downloading their phone application. Many businesses surveyed said they’d increase their use of customer analytics and location-based tools to learn more about theit customer base.
• Good employees will remain vital to good service: While there’s more focus on ‘DIY service’, like buying online or using self-serve kiosks within businesses, the importance of qualified, competent staff will remain vital – 82 per cent said personal interaction would remain part of their customer service.
• Outsourcing service will increase: Many companies forecast they would employ specialist experts, perhaps on a freelance basis, to handle specialist queries
• The increasing middle class will necessitate businesses to find new niches: 1.2 billion people are expected to be categorised as ‘middle class’ by 2030, up from 430 million in 2011, and global competition will see a rise in niche offerings and ‘personalised’ services to encourage loyalty.
• Customer expectations will evolve: Technology allows customers to contact a business at any time, and many will expect businesses to have ‘24/7’ service to meet their demands, while physical retailers will be expected to provide a ‘customer experience’ to attract clientele.

“While weaker firms are investing more heavily in standardised service processes, leading firms are prioritising staff training and development, and also working harder to define service standards and goals,” the report concludes.

If you’re interested in customer service related training courses, visit the VECCI website.

What do you think about the report’s predictions? How do you see the way businesses serve their customers and clients changing?

An architect has been awarded $50,000 in compensation after he was accused of leaking sensitive information to an ex-colleague who was sacked, and was subsequently dismissed himself.

The man, who had worked for his employer for seven years, met and exchanged personal emails with the firm’s former finance manager, who was dismissed in January 2011 for failing to notify the employer about a number of accounting errors.

Following some redundancies in March, the architect provided a list of the names of redundant employees to the former finance manager, as the latter wanted to contact them to explain he was not responsible for the loss of their jobs. The architect and former finance manager also met for lunch just after this time, where the architect refused a request to act as a referee or provide a reference for him.

In May, the company’s managing director told the architect that he’d been seen having lunch with the former finance manager, which the architect confirmed. He was also questioned about anonymous emails to the company’s directors and denied any involvement.

A few days later, the architect was called into a meeting with the managing director and HR manager, presented with print-outs of his email conversations with the former finance manager, and suspended pending an investigation for providing “confidential business related information” and assisting the former finance manager with an unfair dismissal claim. He was dismissed in June.

At a Fair Work Australia (FWA) hearing, the architect said he had shown compassion for his former colleague and friend by meeting him and maintaining email contact. He maintained that the names of redundant employees could not be classified as confidential as it was widely known who was leaving the company, and said he was only made aware of the former finance manager’s unfair dismissal claim in late March.

Responding to accusations of disloyalty to the company, the architect said he proved his loyalty by continuing to deliver projects and working constructively with other team members.

Handing down his finding, FWA Senior Deputy President (SDP) Jonathan Hamberger said while gross disloyalty could constitute grounds for dismissal, the architect’s conduct could not be considered disloyal, and he was entitled to keep his contact with the former finance manager to himself, “as long as his dealings….were proper”.

SDP Hamberger also found there was no basis on which the list of names of employees who had already been told they were being made redundant could be considered confidential.

“If (the architect) had indeed covertly provided (the former finance manager) with confidential company information to assist the latter take legal action against the employer, this may have constituted an act of disloyalty sufficient to form a valid reason for his dismissal,” SDP Hamberger said. “However I find that this is not what occurred.”

SDP Hamberger criticised the employer for having no evidence to suggest the architect was involved in the anonymous emails or dishonest about the nature of his contact with his former colleague.

The lack of information and evidence presented by the employer counted heavily against it in this case, costing it a $50,000 payout.

Termination can be a complex and evolving matter, and VECCI’s Workplace Relations Consultants recommend seeking advice when undertaking these considerations. For more info, visit the VECCI website or call 03 8662 5333.

VECCI is disappointed with an independent panel’s decision to abandon important tourism projects planned for the Great Ocean Road. These projects would have created jobs and been a positive development for the local tourism industry.

While the panel endorsed the majority of projects, the decision to abandon four coastal projects was a step backwards.

The Corangamite Shire’s original study into tourism opportunities along the Great Ocean Road and the subsequent planning scheme amendment is a sensible and strategic approach by a council seeking to increase the social and economic dividends from tourism in its region.

About 2.6 million people visit the region each year and its iconic natural attractions, such as the Twelve Apostles, but only 18 per cent of these visitors stay overnight in the region.

The study’s recommendations would allow appropriate, sensitive and sustainable tourism development along the coast, which in turn would create jobs, create local economic benefits, improve the welfare of Victorian regional towns and help tell stories to engage visitors.

The abandoned projects would have all been situated on private land. They would not encroach on public land.

The panel’s decision makes Victoria less competitive and less likely to attract potential high-quality investment. Key tourism regions such as the Great Ocean Road ought to seize important tourism opportunities and attract investment, matched to market demand.

We urge the State Government, in particular the Planning Minister, to review the panel’s decision to abandon these coastal projects.

Dianne Smith is the Chief Executive of the Victoria Tourism Industry Council (VTIC).

One of the foundations of business success is a stable and effective long-term plan. Before you and your team commence your next planning session, check out our handy hints on perfecting the planning process.

Predict the future by looking at the past

Before rushing into writing your plan for the coming month, year or decade, take the time to look back and reflect on the past 12 months. Review which strategies and tactics have worked well and which haven’t. If you’re establishing a new business, it may be prudent to learn from the experiences of similar businesses.

Entrepreneur and blogger Andrea Dekker writes that by looking back and reviewing first, you can identify your business’s strengths and also areas for improvement. This knowledge will help you develop a more effective and targeted plan.

Define the purpose

Depending on the size of your business and the industry in which you operate, you may have several plans, ranging from a growth strategy and business model to plans for specific areas such as technology, marketing, human resources and sustainability. Each plan needs a guiding purpose, an ‘executive summary’ that shouldn’t be any longer than a few sentences. This is the anchor to return to when you hit any future bumps in the planning process.

Brainstorm

After establishing your purpose or anchor point, gather your team at a planning event and generate as many ideas as possible about how best to achieve your goal. To make the most of your time, circulate an agenda beforehand to keep the process moving and to stop the discussion straying off course. Spend the first few minutes of the meeting explaining the vision so everyone is clear about what you’re trying to achieve.

If you have a large number of participants, consider breaking attendees into smaller groups and allowing each to focus on one or two aspects of the business. However, make sure the priority issues are addressed first so if you can’t get through the entire agenda, you’ll still achieve important outcomes. This website has great tips on structuring a planning meeting.

Get a second opinion

A successful plan is often one that’s subjected to the most scrutiny. If it’s within your financial means, get a second opinion from a consultant or a mentor, or perhaps another business owner. If they point out some holes in the plan, take a step back, initiate a second, smaller, brainstorming session and discuss the plan’s weakness.

Keep it visible and adjust if needed

The problem with some plans is that once they’re finalised, they’re filed away and never looked at until it comes time for the next planning session. It is important to regularly review your plan and adjust it if necessary. 

As Tim Berry, the founder of US business plan software company Palo Alto Software, tells Forbes.com: “A business plan is the beginning of a process”. “Planning is like steering, and steering means constantly correcting errors,” he says. “The plan itself holds just a piece of the value; it’s the going back and seeing where you were wrong and why that matters.”

Do you have any other tips for perfecting the planning process? Let us know on the VECCI Blog.

Some recent studies have suggested that Australians are working harder than ever in recent years, but new business analysis suggests with the rise in part-time and casual work, we’re in fact spending more time away from work than before.

Forecaster IBISWorld has found the average Australian has 78.1 hours each week for ‘leisure’ activities, compared to 76.4 hours in 2001.

The statistic is an indication of how many Australians are seeking ‘non-traditional’ working arrangements which may reduce their working hours, and also reflects the beginning of the transition of the ‘Baby Boomers’ into retirement or semi-retirement.

IBISWorld analyst Naren Sivasailam told the Herald Sun that workers now had more capacity to free up some time so they could spend it looking after their health or caring for children, and believed the trend would continue in the future.

The forecast is backed up by figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in October 2010. It found that while the number of hours worked by full-time and part-time workers had increased in the past 30 years, the average number of hours worked had declined from about 35.5 to 33, due to a greater emphasis on part-time work.

The ABS found the trend was generally consistent across industries and levels of experience – managers’ hours dropped from 47.6 hours in 1996 to 43.3 in 2010.

The University of Melbourne’s Mark Wooden has also been keen to portray the reality that Australians on average are working fewer hours than before, with part-time employment now accounting for almost 30 per cent of the workforce.

From an employer perspective, the stats show how more people are seeking and obtaining an arrangement to boost their leisure time and balance their work and personal commitments, although other recent stats which suggest the number of hours worked rose in December 2011 due to the current job slowdown, could mean these arrangements will be harder to source at the moment.

Have you increased or decreased your working hours in the last few years, and if so, what have been the reasons for it?

The modern worker and small business owner often has to balance many tasks at once to keep clients and customers happy, pay the bills on time and meet other deadlines.

But the human brain is often not programmed to deal with these multi-tasking demands, and along with distractions from email and/or phones, sometimes it’s close to impossible to achieve meaningful progress.

However, it may be possible to train the brain to increase your focus and manage yourself and your team/s better.

Writing for the Harvard Business Review, psychiatry professor Paul Hammerness and founder of the Wellcoaches Corporation Margaret Moore declare as experts find out more about the human brain and how it works, techniques are emerging to ‘teach’ the brain how to be more productive.

In their article, they declare there are three ways to ‘train the brain’:

‘Taming the frenzy’

When multi-tasking and trying to do many things at once, you may simply become overloaded and feel out of control. Brain studies have found that the negative emotions that result from this have a negative influence on decision-making.

Medical research has discovered when focusing on positive emotions improves the brain’s capacity for effective function and creative thinking, so little exercises like starting team meetings with a joke or positive feedback will lead to better results. One researcher has even created the positivity ratio to ensure you get enough positivity every day.

‘The ABC method’

Distractions are common and can pop up at any time. The ‘ABC’ method has been designed so the impact of distractions is minimised. ABC stands for:

• Become aware of your options
• Breathe deeply and consider your options.
• Choose your option: stop or continue?

‘Set-shifting’

Switching your entire focus from one task to another when necessary can be challenging. ‘Set shifting’ reinforces the idea of having a break and giving your brain a chance to leave the last task behind before commencing something else. This break could be in the form of a walk, stretching, breathing exercises or something physical – and preferably not checking email!

What do you think – would these three techniques help to focus your brain? Or perhaps you use another method? Let us know!