business & networking: Frankston | Mornington Peninsula | Dandenong
August 2014 | free
A serious side to comedy the humour is biting but the message may be late
compliance where meeting legal obligations has become a business, too
plane down
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the narratives that try to make sense of our world
who/what/where
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ISSUE 48 / AUGUST 2014
FRANKSTON / MORNINGTON PENINSULA / DANDENONG
TONY MURRELL KEITH PLATT MARG HARRISON DAVID HILET MELANIE LARKE SIMON BROWN Design MARLON PLATT Finance ANITA HILET
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Inside
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POWER CENTRE: Dandenong council has a new source for its power.
POINT NEPEAN PLANS: Members of Melbourne’s prominent Myer family have a $100 million proposal.
Columns Networking: Ivan Misner 10 Social media: Jessica Humphreys 16 Excel tips: Neal Blackwood 16 Marketing: Bruce Doyle 16 Health: Mike Ellis 19 Markets: Richard Campbell 19 Managing: Hamish Petrie 22
Make sure every business knows your business. For advertising, contact Marg Harrison on 0414 773 153 or marg@businesstimes.net.au
August 2014
ing: Frankston
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s a seriou side to comedy but ur is biting the humo lAte ge mAy be the messA
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COVER: Rod Quantock will talk to anyone who will listen, but he believes that the message may be too late: PAGE 12 Cover Photo: Keith Platt John Gollings took the background photo of the building housing Dandenong council’s power supply.
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the nArrAt of our world mAke sense
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2 | BusinessTimes Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | August 2014
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The power emanating from the building on the corner of two plazas connected to the civic centre is created by natural gas and is not the result of voting blocs or political pressure.
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The centre of real power at Dandenong’s new civic centre lies within an isolated angular building, not behind the desks in the council chamber.
An oversized power point provides a clue to the building’s purpose, although windows had to be left pout of the design because of the noisy machinery inside. The new civic precinct is the first in Australia to be supplied with electricity and heating from gas-fuelled generators. The cogeneration power plant developed by Places Victoria and CogentEnergy (a subsidiary of Origin) gives the civic centre a five star energy rating, which council says is already costing less to operate than the buildings it replaced. Heat from the engines used to generate electricity is used to heat water transported to other buildings in the area through underground pipes. Electricity from a cogeneration plant emits about 60% less carbon than grid energy. The waste heat can also be used directly for hot water or converted to chilled water through an absorption chiller for cooling. Toby Reid of PHTR Architects in West Melbourne said no one else in Australia had 20 previously designed a stand-alone
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August 2014 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 5
BUSY BITES
Best for business Executive education programs at the Melbourne Business School – Mt Eliza have been judged the best in Australia for the sixth year running by The Financial Times. MBS-Mt Eliza achieved ranked 37th in the world and the Australian School of Business (47th) were the only Australian schools in the top 50.
Drug treatment concerns
The Good Guys Frankston is getting behind Frankston Charitable Fund with a percentage of all sales going to the council-operated community benefit group. Mayor Cr Darrel Taylor believes the retailer’s contribution will make a big impact on the fund. Already The Good Guys have been supporting community organisations through its Local Giving Program, donating more than $115,000 locally since 2007. “This is an excellent partnership and we thank The Good Guys Frankston and all their customers who have made this support of the Frankston Charitable Fund possible,” Cr Taylor said. The Good Guys Local Giving Program has donated more than $6 million nationally. Proprietor of The Good Guys Frankston Rainer Feldgen looks forward to providing customers with the opportunity to support Frankston Charitable Fund with each transaction. “Our customers are always invited to join in and have their say as to where the funding is distributed,” he said. “Customers can support this great initiative simply by placing the heart-shaped token we provide at the checkout into the token box compartment for the charitable fund.”
customers’ online revenge Research by NewVoiceMedia shows that 32% of Australian consumers take their revenge online following inadequate customer service. Thanks to social media, Internet forums and review channels, the modern consumer has a convenient public platform at their fingertips and will spread negative sentiment about a business without thinking twice. The survey of 2004 adults across Australia showed that the figure soared to 53 percent among 16-24 year-olds – indicating that Gen Y consumers will be even more active with online complaints as
their spending power increases. While 89% of those surveyed stated that traditional forms of communication such as email and phone were their preferred means of complaining for a fast response, a quarter (25%) of Gen Y believe social media is the most effective means of issue resolution – five times that of the over 55s. Facebook was voted the nation’s favourite social network for interacting with businesses. One respondent commented: “Naming and shaming can be the fastest way of getting a response”. While an estimated $8 billion is lost by businesses in Australia each year as customers switch following poor experiences, 77% of respondents said that good service had a considerable influence on their loyalty. 76% would recommend the company to others, half (51%) would use the business more frequently and 35% are prepared to spend more money with them. Jonathan Gale, CEO at NewVoiceMedia, who commissioned the research, said: “Not long ago, customers would tell friends and family if they were dissatisfied with service they’d received. “While this is damaging to a brand, it’s not nearly as powerful and immediate as customers who take their complaints online; particularly as consumers are increasingly turning online to read about others’ experiences before choosing a product or supplier. “Over the next few years we expect to see these statistics soar as the younger generation matures. “Customers want personalised and engaging experiences every time, through every channel. Great customer experience is the critical differentiator and by doing it well, organisations can drive the customer acquisition, retention and efficiency that make leading companies successful,” Gale said.
we won’t produce a zuckerberg Australia will not be globally competitive in technology and engineering if we do not urgently address a declining level of skills and education.
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Frankston Council is having talks with senior state government ministers about the impact of drug treatment facilities operating in the heart of the city’s commercial district. It wants the government to address a “honey pot” drug subculture surrounding needle exchanges and the concentration of pharmacies dispensing opioid replacement therapies like methadone and buprenorphine. Council asked to meet Ministers responsible for Police and Emergency Services, Public Transport, Tourism, Major Events and Small Business, Crime Prevention and Planning. The councillors showed CCTV footage to illustrate “negative impacts that pharmacotherapy outlets are having on public order, tourism, transport, development and trade within the city”. The meetings have involved all councillors.
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strong supply chain of engineering skills ready for future market needs,” said Dr Cerneaz. “Every industry will benefit from a more science and maths literate community, not just engineering. If we are to embrace our future as a skilled producer of advanced engineering and technology, we need to start now,” Dr Cerneaz said.
rail link ‘too slow’, say councils Six neighbouring municipalities are pressuring the state government to speed up public transport infrastructure east of Melbourne. The Eastern Transport Coalition – which includes Greater Dandenong and Monash – says the Rowville rail plan will only be feasible after completion of the Melbourne Rail Link (formerly Melbourne Metro project) and upgrades along the Dandenong rail corridor. The latest study shows the state government is committed to the projects but concedes their completion is still more than a decade away. “Given the time it has taken to develop this report, we hoped there would be considerably more detail on the recommendations and some sort of cost estimate,” ETC chairperson and Knox councillor Peter Lockwood said. “We are pleased that the government has recognised that bus services will need to be boosted in the interim, and we particularly would like to see an increase in the number and frequency of Smartbuses as well as more bus stops and pedestrian crossings.” Proposed changes to the Huntingdale station bus parking fell “well-short” of the modal interchange sought by Monash University.
Small business festival Small Business Victoria is back for 2014 with hundreds of workshops and networking events planned throughout August. Small Business Minister Russell Northe said that this year’s festival will include more events outside busniness hours and in Melbourne’s outer suburbs. Events in Frankston, Rosebud, Mornington and Cranbourne will cover topics like business development, online business and marketing, through to employing and managing staff. A higlhlight will be the Creativity for Business Success event series featuring singer-songwriter and successful business operator Claire Bowditch. She will talk about creativity, innovation, problem solving and the benefits of right-brain thinking in everyday business. Bowditch will appear at Cardinia Cultural Centre on Lakeside Blvde, Pakenham, on 13 August. “This year the Casey Cardinia region is hosting a range of programs as part of the festival and its own regionasl business week from 25 to 30 August,” Mr Northe said. The Small Business Bus will be in Rosebud on 25 August, Pakenham on 27 August and Cranbourne 28 August. The Bus offers free mentoring and information on government services.
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An Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency report into Australia’s engineering workforce highlights the fragmented nature of engineering and the challenges faced by all technology-related fields with a dwindling supply of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills. “Australia is jeopardising our future prosperity and missing a vital opportunity to be a global leader in technology related industries,” said Dr Nick Cerneaz, Executive Director, The Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering. • Less than 10% of year 12 students studied advanced maths in 2011. • The participation rate in all STEM subjects is falling • In 2010 less than half of year 12 students enrolled in any sort of science related study • Yet the 10 most common STEM related industries grew by 14% compared to 9% for all other occupation groups. “The findings of the engineering workforce study resonate with the work undertaken by the Warren Centre in understanding the whole supply chain from teacher motivations at primary school level to skills transference opportunities,” Dr Cerneaz said. “Teachers need to be confident with STEM subjects at the primary level to stimulate the level of interest and confidence to continue with these studies. This is particularly true when it comes to girls.” In 2013 women constituted only 10.4% of engineering managers and professionals compared to 46.6% for all other managers and professionals while at the same time just 6.6% of girls sat for Advanced Mathematics in the NSW Higher School Certificate. “The pressure to meet our industry requirements from skilled migration will also increase with the 2013 completion rate for Bachelor degrees in engineering increasing by only 7% from 2006-2012 compared with a completion rate of 46% for the rest of the world for the same period. “If we are to meet our domestic needs and compete globally, Australia must have a
August 2014 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | BusinessTimes | 7
NETWORKING gallery
1. Action Coach held a workshop for more than 50 business owners on 8 July at its Carrum Downs office. Pictured are Donna Smith, of Reliance Recoveries, Trisha Vosdoganes, and Casey Wilfling, of ck studios. 2. Brenda Robertson, of Natures Blend, with a muffin for morning tea.
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3. Jeff Payet with Karla and Jeff Pargetter, of Play-Safe Services. 4. Bloom Networking held its mid-year event at Mornington Golf Club on 15 July. More than 40 guests heard a talk by life coach Dr Ben Carvosso. Nicole Matthews, Ben Carvosso, life coach and guest speaker, with Bloom Networking owner Jo Schutt. 5. Domestic violence spokesperson Rosie Batty and Natasha Bakker, of Bayside Chinese Medicine. 6. Pictured are Jo Davey, of Girl Friday VA Solutions, with Leesa Young, of Nurture Nutrition and Wellness. 7. Frankston Business Networking’s July meeting was hosted by Core Fitness at their Frankston Gym on 15 July. More than 110 attended. Pictured, from left, are Dirhan Christiansz, of Midland Insurance, Melinda Fletcher, of Lyoness, Sally Thorpe, regional manager of Matchworks and the company’s area manager Chris Dearsley. 8. Dale Reid, of Super Pages, and Michael Dale, of Le Manns Go Karts.
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9. Chris Fox, of Miranda Professional Services, and Dereen Wallace, of MBA Business Solutions. 10. Peninsula Business Networking group met at Peninsula Hot Springs on 1 July. Pictured from left are networking committee members, president Elizabeth Wells and Sue Pilkington, of So Much Potential, and civil celebrant Kerry Holgate. 11. From left Jodi Richardson, of the Wellbeing Sanctuary, Terry Diamond, of Naturally Women’s Business, Monique Longhurst and Dianne Barrett, both of Aspire Personal Development and Consulting. 12. Dandenong Business Network Group met at Sarina Russo’s Dandenong Office on 16 July. Pictured are Joe and Anne Scott, of The Catering Shop, Geoff Brayshaw, converor of the group, and Craig Wilson, of Nova Bookkeeping. 13. Michael Gladkoff, of Word Nerds, and Ronece Dobrowolski, of Australia Training Academy. 14. Bruce Doyle, of What Ever It Takes, hosted a coaching evening for professional tree loppers. Pictured are Taman Treweek, of Tree Amigos, with James Cottle, of Moody Kiddell & Partners. 15. Andrew McKernan, of Victorian Tree Industry Organisation (VTIO), Martin Challenor, of Whatever it Takes, Rhonda Robati, managing director of Geo Op, Bruce Doyle, of What Ever It Takes, Leanne Graham, CEO of Geo Op, and Shane Hall, president of VTIO. email marg@businesstimes.net.au if you have something to share.
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August 2014 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 9
NETWORKING
Sales and networking For an entrepreneur, sales and networking go hand in hand. Consequently, this month, I’d like to talk about sales. During a conversation with a young man at an airport he explained he was new to the sales industry and found it a bit difficult to achieve the level of success he had envisioned. I offered him some advice about what I believe is one of the most important keys to selling: understanding the buyer’s perspective. The way I see it, selling has everything to do with finding out what the customer wants, is able to pay for, and then making the deal (assuming you can provide the product/service). If it were really that simple, however, there wouldn’t be a demand for salespeople; buyers could get all they need from a machine. But, in fact, many buyers head shopping for a product or service with only a vague sense of what might satisfy their needs. Turning a buyer’s vagueness into clear solutions is the job
Dr lvan Misner*
Networking specialist
of the salesperson. Always remember that the buyer is looking for the best solution, delivered in an effective and pleasurable manner. Buyers are multifaceted, and when they shop, they weigh the many pros and cons of a potential purchase. Some of these they will share with the seller, while many other thoughts they will keep to themselves. Learning and adapting to the issues and whims of the buyer while moving the sale forward to a conclusion is a complex and intricate task – and it’s the responsibility of the sales professional to ensure it happens. A friend who sells computer technology
told me about a great concept he calls “the sales clock.” He describes it this way: It’s a great day. You answered a call from a new prospect, met with their team to discuss your product, and…they asked you for a proposal. Soon after delivering your proposal you started your wait for their decision. The sales clock ticks as you wait on the fate of your proposal. It may tick a long time before hearing back from the customer and, as the seller, you don’t know if you are being “stiffed” or if the customer is swamped with other pressing priorities. Whatever the reason, waiting out the sales clock can be stressful. The last thing you want is for your own stress to create a negative impact on your prospect. My friend provides a good reminder that “it’s all about the customer”, in the sense that the customer is the ultimate buyer, but…the seller also has to earn a commission, meet monthly targets, and ensure proper work scheduling. The sales clock reminds us to always look at both the customer’s perspective, as well as the seller’s demands with each sales scenario.
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Below are some tactics for helping you, the seller, determine if the buyer is putting you off or merely attending to pressing internal demands, and also some techniques for effective communication which will help you tap into the customer’s perspective. Learning and adapting to the issues and whims of the buyer while moving the sale forward to a conclusion is a complex task. Attentive listening can help you, the seller, determine if the buyer is putting you off or merely attending to pressing internal demands. Behavior profiling also helps by providing knowledge about how to craft your sales and reporting program to the style of communication most comfortable to the client. All customers like to be communicated with in a manner that is most familiar to them, and knowing their personality profiles helps the seller customise a sales approach for each individual. I know a sales communication expert from the UK who states, “The prospect is really interested in the total opposite of most commonly delivered product presenta-
tions. The prospect really only cares about his or her own present and future, whereas most presentations focus on the seller’s past and product features.” This expert provides a great reminder to talk about what the product will do for the customer – rather than just about its features. His favorite phrase is, “Customers don’t care what you do; they care about what they’re left with after you’ve done it.” He uses the word “after” to keep the product presentation focused on the customer’s needs, and recommends the following customer-oriented questions: “What are you looking to achieve after our work together?” “What would success look like to you as a result of this project?” “Looking back a year from now, what will need to happen for you to think things have gone brilliantly?” Nothing works perfectly every time, and being able to read the customer’s buying signals is crucial to making necessary course corrections that meet the customer’s top-of-mind concerns. The state of the
selling art allows masterful salespeople to combine a little science with human relation strategies to create a wonderful buying experience for the consumer, while still maximizing the seller’s commission. Most of the time, timing is everything, which is why I wanted to share several concepts, strategies, and techniques to help you land the hesitant customer in front of you (whose hesitation may have nothing to do with your product). Remember that customers will come to you when they know you can consistently do something for them that they want or need. *Dr Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author. He is founder and chairman of Business Networking International (BNI), the world’s largest networking organisation. Dr Misner is also senior partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company. Email: misner@BNI.com Max Steen is a Swedish networking researcher and entrepreneur and BNI member. He can be reached at max@maxadmarketing.com
Get to your footy match before cricket season begins.
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August 2014 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 11
cover story: ROD QUANTOCK
... seriously OVERPOPULATION, FOOD WARS, DEPLETED OIL RESOURCES AND WASTED GOVERNMENT ENTERPRISES. A BLEAK FUTURE, ALMOST A DOOMSDAY SCENARIO. AND ALL DISCUSSED OVER BREAKFAST KEITH PLATT FINDS THAT COMEDIAN ACTIVIST ROD QUANTOCK HAS A LESS-THAN-OPTIMISTIC VIEW OF THE WORLD. AND SOMETIMES HE FINDS IT JUST TOO SERIOUS TO JOKE ABOUT. Quantock is part of Melbourne’s comedy bedrock: dressed as a Joker in the annual Moomba parade, stand-up comic, tram tours, television shows, master of ceremonies and guest speaker and, of course, the former face of the Capt’n Snooze advertising campaign. These days he’s a man with a message, even though he says it’s too late for the message to be heeded. It is a foggy day outside, but the lack of clarity may be more to do with an innocent mist rather than industrial smog. Quantock clearly feels at home in the Clifton Cafe where the owners comment on his “new” haircut and know to prepare his favourite smoothie, usually downed while he casts his eye over the Herald-Sun newspaper. He doesn’t “read” newspapers, but can count on the paper’s editorial stance running contrary to his own political views. At the moment Quantock is almost consumed by two issues: the state government’s proposed East West Link across Melbourne and climate change. “It’s the fifth time I’ve had this fight,” he says, adding the East West Project’s $13 billion cost is “only for trucks”. Quantock believes the government and its planners are not taking account of “very substantial changes” taking place: peak oil and climate change. “I don’t know why these are not central issues to everybody.” There’s not much of the comedian showing as Quantock details how globalisation is making us prisoner to Unites States-based carbon industries and the propaganda of big business. The Institute of Public Affairs, he says, may have a list of 100 things to make Australia a better country, “but they’re all about deregulation, selling everything and putting everything in the hands of the finance industry”. “I’d love to talk to them and it’s a real problem that I don’t talk to people like that. They’d call me a buffoon.” He sees the federal government as being “more subtle” (but 12 | BusinessTimes
The faces and gestures of comedian activist Rod Quantock. PHOTOS: KEITH PLATT
with similar ideals) and urges that it “be judged by the policies it promotes”. Until this year Quantock has not joined any political parties. Now he’s a member of Save the Planet, a party he joined to “help out”. It was started by friends who needed the requisite 500 members to be registered and able to run candidates in the November Victorian state election.
| Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | August 2014
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The party was essentially operating at the latest federal election but its candidates had to run as independents because it had not been registered as a political party. There could be eight Save the Planet candidates running in November but Quantock won’t be among them. “I’ve not been asked [to be a candidate] but I wouldn’t, people understand that about me by now,” he says.
Quantock’s activist interests also have included campaigning against holding the Formula One race in Melbourne to “save Albert Park”. He sees the race as uneconomic for Melbourne (“it’s cost taxpayers at least $100 million by now”) as well as “celebrating a mode of transport that’s going to get very expensive for most people, with petrol likely to cost $8 a litre by 2020”. “Demand will eventually overtake supply,” he says, predicting oil-producing countries will eventually keep most of their output for themselves. Quantock for all his worldliness has only been overseas once. “I couldn’t afford to go [again], not even for a minute. I’m happy to look at books.” Quantock works as an entertainer with a message. He classes himself as a freelance performer. He’s a comedy act with a message: beware of climate change. The second string to his bow is talking to school groups about the history of mathematics. His act evolves, but someone who saw him two years ago would be “very conscious I’m talking about the same issues but in a different way”. The history of mathematics evolved from a show he was doing for “grown ups” from a mathematics teachers’ association. “A woman told me afterwards that it would be a good way of explaining the concept [of mathematics] to kids, so I go from the Big Bang to 500BC and then make a big leap to the 1800s. You can’t do the complete history in one hour. Well, you could, but it wouldn’t be fair. “Nobody appreciates that mathematics is in everything in the world – history, art, literature.” No great mathematical scholar, Quantock, who studied architecture at Melbourne University, created his performance after studying “accessible, readable books about maths”. Quantock says he could have been more successful if he had chosen football, “the greatest game God ever gave us”. “But I’m self indulgent and nothing else is worth doing in a world that’s about to hit a brick wall. I don’t have high hopes; changes are unavoidable. “I am more curious than optimistic. I won’t live long enough to see the results of what we’ve done in the past 100 years or so. “Ten years ago I was optimistic that if you told people [of the need to change their ways] they’d listen.” Quantock’s latest project involves “pulling together” information about the effects of climate change and “telling people where it’s going”. His performance will describe the fate of “the last Tim Tam, which is going to be extinct along with the polar bear”. Australia will face a “food scarcity” by the 2030s “because there’s so much oil involved in producing and running cars, and chocolate biscuits”. 14 Tim Tams, he says, besides the oil needed for their
August 2014 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 13
cover story: rod quantock
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packaging, contain three additives 13 from India and the price of bringing them to Australia will put the biscuits financially out of reach. Quantock talks about alternative energies, but believes the energy and iron ore needed to produce and deliver wind turbines makes them unsustainable. “Lithium is running out. There are no answers and it’s not just about power – we’ve just pushed the planet to its limit. “I talk mostly to people who are interested or are active in the way we live. Many have a utopian view of the future. “Climate change comes down to the atmosphere and the increase in carbon dioxide. I hope they go home depressed. People are dedicating themselves to causes without realising we’ve hit a limit.” He adds that some technologies will “soften the blow” and in the next breath quotes a CSIRO report that predicts Mildura will become uninhabitable. “It’s just inevitable, we can’t take the CO2 out of the atmosphere. “Corn syrup is being used to make plastics and we need corn to eat. It’s taking food out of people’s mouths.” Wars are being fought over food, he says, with unrest in Syria starting with a drought and in Egypt over food prices. “We live in an era of increasing governmental and police control. Take [prime minister Tony] Abbott as an example, we’ve come nowhere in the area of controlling climate change. Years were spent getting things into law, which have been changed in a day.” An associate Melbourne University’s sustainable society institute, which researches impacts of climate change, resource crises and population overshoot on the day-to-day lives of Australians, Quantock is also the originator of Peak-a-Boo & Catch CO2, “a multiplatform investigation into the limits to growth and the impossibility of building a carbon neutral world without burning an awful lot of carbon to build it thus defeating the purpose: Catch CO2!”
‘I talk mostly to people who are interested or are active in the way we live ... I hope they go home depressed.’ Although professing to want to speak to the IPA Quantock says he’s “given up on trying to change peoples’ minds years ago” and works with those already committed “to get them active”. He believes that instead of spending money on the East West Link the government should “try to localise food production to depend less and less on supply chains” with shipping using Port Phillip rather than expanding Western Port. Quantock, in his mid-60s, says he “can’t afford to stop” working. “I wouldn’t want to – George Burns got to 99 and was still doing it. It’s not hugely physically demanding, but it’s a challenge to stay relevant.” His most recent booking was at the New South Wales clean city awards in Sydney where he performed his climate change routine before an audience of mainly local government employees “the only level of government doing anything about climate change”. He then adds that the military and insurance companies also appreciate the
14 | BusinessTimes Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | August 2014
changes being wrought by climate change. “There’s not a military organisation in the world that doesn’t factor climate change into its planning because it, and the shortage of oil, is probably the biggest threat to world stability. Breakfast over, Quantock is heading off to collect his two dogs from the groomers to be followed by a trip to the vet because the groomers had called to alert him to a cut on one of the dogs. Before he goes and before photos are taken in Queens Parade, I remind Quantock of the joy he can so easily bring. About 20 years ago he left a Moomba parade to pat the head of a six-year-old boy: “How are you young fella?” I don’t recall there was an answer, but the seemingly random gesture made the day of the awestruck youngster, my son. How often does a Joker leap out of the parade and brighten the day of a young boy? Not often enough. The Joker, seriously, is enduring and endearing.
$100 million plans for Point Nepean
the plan would secure the future of buildings with heritage and cultural significance “and are in pressing need of maintenance”. He said the proposal aligns with the government’s guidelines for tourism investment in national parks and the Point Nepean National Park master plan. In 2011 Mr Shelmerdine was granted approval by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to subdivide The Sisters historic property in Point Nepean Rd, Sorrento.
– KEITH PLATT
‘The proposal is in keeping with the site’s cultural and Indigenous heritage, while delivering stringent environmental protections’
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A prominent Portsea family is behind a $100 million plan to make Point Nepean National Park “a world-class tourist destination and education precinct”. Directors of the Point Leisure Group are Myer family members Richard and Trine Shelmerdine. They predict their plan will “transform Point Nepean’s historic Quarantine Station in a way that shares and maintains its unique heritage and natural environment”. Included in the plan are a “high quality” hotel, function and events centre, health retreat, hot spring facility, museum and “a multitude of recreational, cultural and educational opportunities”. When launching the plan the Premier Denis Napthine said it included a marine education and research precinct with the University of Melbourne; luxury and “camping style” accommodation; shops, cafes and restaurants. “The proposal is in keeping with the site’s cultural and Indigenous heritage, while delivering stringent environmental protections,” Dr Napthine said. Dr Napthine said the plan “strikes the right balance between leisure and learning activities, and maintaining the site for future generations to enjoy”. He said up to 220 jobs would be created during construction “and up to a further 390 ongoing jobs”. Environment Minister Ryan Smith said
“Our family has been part of the local community for generations, and we are committed to embracing and protecting this special place,” Mr Shelmerdine said. “We see this as the beginning of the next stage of Point Nepean’s history and look forward to working closely with local community groups and the Victorian government to make it a success for all involved.” Victorian National Parks Association executive director Matt Ruchel warned there was “a huge risk … developments will continue to grow, especially if they are within the 99-year lease period”. “The VNPA is not opposed to appropriate and sensitive commercial uses or commercial activities in national parks. “What we are opposed to is private enclaves with 99-year leases within publiclyowned parks that restrict access for the general public and are an ongoing threat to the protection of the natural values of the parks.”
- PREMIER DENIS NAPTHINE
New in Mt Eliza
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The new Dandenong Business Network Group is inviting new members to meet monthly and work together to grow their businesses. Business manager Geoff Brayshaw (sixth from left) said that as well as meetings, the group will publish a quarterly reference catalogue, produce regular newsletters, set up a referral network and invite regular guest speakers. Brayshaw said the catalogue would reach between 4000 and 5000 Dandenong area businesses. Contact Geoff on 03 8782 0250 or email info@dandenongbusinessnetwork.org.au or Marg Harrison, 0414 773 153 or marg@businesstimes.net.au
Level 1, 21-23 Ranelagh Drive Mount Eliza VIC 3930 PO Box 4043, Mt Eliza VIC 3930 T 03 9708 8801 F 03 9708 8852 www.rvpartners.com.au
August 2014 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 15
ROBINS
Level 1, Mount E
PO Box T 03 970 M 0409 E sue@r W rvpar
EDUCATE AND EMPOWER YOUR EMPLOYEES Social media is often something Jessica Humphreys* feared by an organisation because Social media consultant it’s something beyond its control. It is seen as a place where customers will come and write bad things about it or a space where staff can vent their work frustrations. Companies are so also fearful of how staff may represent them in this public forum. Due to this, management often maintains control over social media. Sometimes this is for the best of the organisation. However, involving staff, educating and empowering them is more often the best way to go. Staff are generally the people who deal face to face with the public - exactly the type of people you are trying to target on social media. This means they sometimes have a better understanding of how to reach them. Of course it can be risky to involve a variety of voices on social media, but if you have a clearly defined policy and strategy the guidelines for staff are spelt out. By involving them in the process you are showing you trust them by giving them some additional responsibility. This often makes them feel proud and more likely to want to create a positive social presence and share it within their own circles. Have regular staff brainstorming sessions where staff all come
together and strategise what should be going on social media. Not only will this benefit your social media, but it is also great team building. It won’t work for all organisations, but if you want to make your workplace more ‘social’ contact me on 0407082493. *Jessica Humphreys operates Social Concepts, a social media consulting business. Send questions to Jessica@socialconceptsconsulting.com
excel and data sources Excel is able to extract data from Neale Blackwood* many different external sources. Business software specialist Excel files can extract data from other Excel files as well as most database programs. This includes many accounting systems. One accounting system that Excel doesn’t extract from is MYOB. You can obtain a third-party package that enables Excel to extract data directly from MYOB. Excel can even extract data from CSV files. CSV files are text files that are a common option when dumping data out of various systems eg online banking. The beauty with extracting data directly from the data source is that you can automate many of the reporting processes, enabling you to complete the reports earlier and have more
PHONE (03) 9781 6800 I EMAIL info@bnrpartners.com.au Level 1, 327-333 Police Road, Mulgrave Vic 3170
Are you getting what you need from your accountant? Want timely and proactive advice? We hear you! We have teams specialised in Franchise, Business Advisory and Estates & Trusts that will give you the help that you need, now. Our extensive industry networks ensure that all your business needs will be met promptly. Call us for an obligation free meeting today. Ph: 9781 6800 Ian Raspin, Director of BNR Partners’ dedicated Estates and Trusts division and brings over 20 years of public practice experience to the firm. Ian’s career began in business advisory services and now focuses on the specialized area of Trusts and Deceased Estates. This division works with both Trustee Companies and Legal Practices across Australia.
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Jason Bertalli, Director of BNR Partners and leads the firms’ Business Service and Franchise divisions. Having over 15 years experience as Business Advisor, Jason and his experienced team work closely with businesses across Victoria bringing practical solutions and an easily understood approach to enhance the development and growth of his clients’ businesses.
CONTRIBUTOrs
time to analyse the reports. By automating reports and speeding up the process you have the option of producing the reports more frequently. You may want to report on sales daily or weekly. I once worked with a retail outlet that had all of its weekly reports done by 9am each Monday. All they had to do was open the Excel file; change the date for the report; refresh the data and all the reports were complete and ready to print.
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*Neale Blackwood owns and operates A4 Accounting. He does Excel consulting, webinars, training and coaching. Mobile: 0402 882122
so what is this marketing? Jay Conrad Levinson, the creator Bruce Doyle* of Guerilla Marketing sums it up Business mentor/trainer best: “Marketing is every bit of contact your business has with anyone in the outside world. Every bit of contact.” That means a lot of marketing opportunities. It does not mean investing a lot of money. The meaning is clear: marketing includes the name of your business; the determination of whether you will be selling a product or service; the method of manufacture or servicing; the colour, size and shape of your product; the stationery, the price tags, the signage, the packaging; the location of your business; the advertising, public relations, web site, branding, e-mail signature, voicemail message on your machine, and sales presentation; telephone inquiries; the sales training; the problem solving; the growth plan and the referral plan; and the people who represent you, you, and your follow up. Marketing includes your idea for your brand, your service, your attitude, and the passion you bring to your business. If you gather from this that marketing is a complex process, you’re right. Where can you start addressing your marketing immediately? You’ll find most of the ones mentioned are no cost or low cost, so no excuses not to make a start. *Bruce Doyle is a globally-awarded business mentor and trainer www.whateverittakesglobal.com
Some of our experts Professional solutions for the South East
Pitcher Partners, a leading Melbourne accounting, audit and advisory firm, has been helping businesses like yours for more than 20 years. And now, we have an office in the South East Region to provide practical business advice and professional solutions in a location that’s convenient to you.
Businesses are not fully taking advantage of technology when it comes to employees communicating to each other. Consulting and technology firm, Oakton, says a survey shows that while Australian businesses want to encourage collaboration, 26% use email to collaborate and 20% rely on face-to-face contact and just 12% use an intranet, 9% use video conferencing; 3% use social media and 5% use the internet. “As technology has advanced, it is no longer necessary for employees to gather in one place to collaborate. This shift has seen the rise of collaboration tools ranging from enterprise social tools and instant messaging applications to document sharing and project management software that make formal or informal collaboration seamless for organisations,” Oakton chief solutions and innovation officer Shaji Sethu, said.
For more information contact David Knowles or Vicki Macdermid on
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the rise of in-house communication
August 2014 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 17
health
The narratives that try to make sense of our world There’s nowhere to begin or end a piece on the MH17 tragedy. Words fail. My family had friends on the plane. I am accustomed, as was author Liam Davison, to putting words into narratives. It’s what all humans do. We explain the world to ourselves and give meaning to events by turning them into stories. Some people make a living doing it – journalists, filmmakers, advertising people, even doctors in a sense. They’re professional storytellers. I think of my life as a story with lots of sub-plots (and could easily bore you with them). I could tell you the story of my family’s lives, and my friends’ lives. It would be my version of course – theirs would be different. Some I could tell in detail or with a particular theme in mind. From soon after their birth we begin to tell our children stories. Not just simple fairytales with their easy morality and happy endings, but religious stories, cautionary tales, family anecdotes and so on. They give children context for their lives, and allow them to project themselves into these narratives. When we’re born, our infant brains have to make sense of the bombardment of sensory information assailing them – colours, images, sounds, textures, tastes. We learn to filter the important sensory stimuli until the sounds, sights, flavours and feelings begin to make sense to us and allow us to construct a workable world view. Story telling is an extension of that process. Stories help our minds to give order to this complicated, incomprehensibly random place in which we find ourselves. To get our heads around it. At the end of our lives, those stories will be all we have. Author Christopher Booker (The Seven Basic Plots) describes seven archetypal stories, and says every human narrative can be reduced to these. They are: rags to riches, comedy, rebirth, quest, voyage and return, monster, and tragedy. (The MH17 story includes at least three of those!) And US economics professor Tyler Cowen warns against our tendency to
Michael Ellis*
Chinese Herbalist
simplify a “messy, complicated, irrational world” and never to trust black and white narratives of good and evil. I was having dinner with friends when news came of the Malaysian Airlines plane being shot down, and of the people on board. My friends have daughters, pre and early teens, and when our quiet talk turned to the children on board, their mum immediately shushed us lest her own kids overhear and be disturbed by the thought.
Over dinner, an unrelated conversation touched on religion, and the youngest said, “We believe in God, don’t we?” “Yes, sweetie” was the reply. Both of those responses got me thinking about our deep-seated instinct to protect our children, to keep them secure in the face of life’s harshest realities – to tell them nice stories. The stories we want for them are comforting; they have happy endings. Psychologists assure us they are necessary for young children. Soon enough they will learn that life is not always like that. That life and death can be unpredictable, irrational, messy – unfair. Not that we
18 | BusinessTimes Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | August 2014
don’t delude ourselves either. In public life, we seek through government and institutions to remove as much as practicable all risk from our lives. We avoid danger, we legislate, police the streets, neutralise hazards, issue warnings, act on threats – all these things to make our world as safe and predictable as possible. We engage in spiritual practices that hold out the prospect that even if this existence turns out to be shitty, or comes to a tragic ending, the next one will bring its blissful rewards. In doing these things, we give ourselves the impression that it is possible to control the uncontrollable, to live our ideal stories. Life may be inherently random for all other living things, but not for us. Then when something as shockingly random takes place as a passenger jet being shot out of the sky, we struggle for words. One cannot construct a story that begins to make sense of the deaths of Mt Eliza couple Liam and Frankie Davison, or the rest of the passengers on that plane. This is what the Dutch foreign minister
said, to the silence of the United Nations Security Council: “I’ve been thinking how the horrible final moments of their lives must have been, when they knew the plane was going down. Did they lock hands with their loved ones? Did they look each other in the eyes, one final time, in a wordless goodbye? We will never know.” What story could we construct around that? How could we tell it to our kids? How could we tell it to their kids? No story works for this. It’s beyond storytelling. *Michael Ellis is a registered Chinese herbalist in Mt Eliza. Visit www.mtelizaherbal.com
MARKETS
Writing on the wall: graphite and the new world of energy The recent jump in graphite explorers can be seen as a typical market fad … or perhaps much more. The immediate event was the news that the hardest of hard-headed companies, Swiss based Glencore, has made overtures to the graphite explorer Syrah Resources. Syrah discovered Balama, one of the world’s largest graphite deposits, in northern Mozambique in 2012. Its price flew up at the time, but the Glencore news kicked it up a further 25% two weeks ago with added excitement coming from the fact that the deposit also includes vanadium. So what is so special about graphite and vanadium that one the world’s largest diversified coal and copper miners wants in? The short answer has three aspects: (1) carbon based lithium-ion batteries may transform the vehicle industry; (2) vanadium storage technology is a candidate for grid scale storage and (3) the first two combine to place coal under threat. Glencore may not only want graphite and vanadium to sell, but to hedge its bets. A small part of the threat to coal can be seen in the decision by Tesla, the US electric vehicle company, to spend $5 billion to construct the world’s largest lithiumion battery factory. The plan is to lower the cost of the batteries used in Tesla’s elegant, high performance Model S that accelerates to 100kmh in 4.7 seconds, but more basically to transform motoring by producing less expensive long range batteries for a commuter version of the remarkable Model S. Tesla’s founder, the very rich and very brilliant Elon Musk, is planning more
Richard Campbell* Stock Analyst
annual production by 2020 than were made globally in 2013 and, as these batteries use six or seven times more carbon than lithium, Musk is making carbon sound very sexy indeed. The second aspect is the vanadium or “v” for short. It has unusual electrochemical properties that allow it to be used as the active component for a flow battery. V atoms in suspension can hold charge indefinitely and release it instantaneously, but they have one drawback: their power density is low for their size. They suit wind and solar farms, not vehicles. There is one more aspect to this: Musk, who made his millions from PayPal, began another killer project when he and his cousins set up SolarCity, a solar panel installation company. In a short time it became the largest installer in the US and has now gone a step further by acquiring the most efficient solar panel maker, Silevo. As with the battery plant, Solar City will ramp up Silevo to high volume to push prices down even further and strangle the opposition with cheaper and more efficient panels at an annual production equivalent of 10% of all currently installed solar. US solar now is about 2% of
US daily power consumption, but Musk has his sights set on 40%. This may be wildly ambitious, but uptake of solar in the US is accelerating. China’s over-production of panels from 250 or more producers slashed prices as half or more collapsed. This created global solar carnage but pushed solar power to levels comparable with coal and nuclear, or at least coal without the price of its carbon emissions. Now we see the issues more starkly. With batteries likely to be widely used for storage of solar and wind and to act as a buffer between the peaks and troughs of the grid demand for vanadium will rise, but enthusiasts should note that other storage solutions are emerging rapidly. One is liquid salt to store solar generated heat while cheaper zinc bromine batteries may rival or surpass V on cost and power density. Since 90% of V goes to steel alloys, the battery requirement may remain quite modest. It is less than 0.5% now. There is one more problem for Glencore. While all large and small lithium batteries use graphite as the electrode, the volumes used are modest. Vehicle batteries use vastly more, but even here there is catch. There is now a possibility that graphite will be phased out in favour of porous silicon – an entirely new technology that promises far more energy density than graphite-lithium. In other words, our native bias to mining can be dangerous. We are far from Silicon Valley and often don’t speak its language. As we latch on to the latest technology we may find it disappearing over the horizon as another appears. * Richard Campbell is Executive Director of Peninsula Capital Management, Tel. 9642 0545. rcampbell@peninsulacapitalmanagement.com.au
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August 2014| Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 19
cover story
The benefits of being framed
The engine room of the natural gas-powered plant supplying power to Dandenong’s new civic centre.
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cogeneration plant of this scale. Known as the Precinct Energy Project it was also a “first” for PHTR. “As architects, we are used to always adjusting our knowledge to new situations very quickly,” Reid said. “This was true of the PEP, which had a very tight time-frame, as well as a small site. A similar project in England that some of the infrastructure team visited had more than double the space.” Reid said the power plant had to be central to the precinct to minimise waste of electricity to make the heating and cooling networks efficient. “That means a central site, rather than hidden in a paddock.” It is the first building passengers see when leaving Dandenong station that required it to be “a new type of public building”. “We wanted to design a different type of green building that could engage people in the plazas,” Reid said. “The big power points and switch are a way of playing with scale as one passes the building. People can take selfies with their smart phones in front of a big power point and send it to their friends.” A graphic on the back wall uses engineering symbols to illustrate the cogeneration process. “Hopefully, school children can visit with a legend and piece together how their electricity and hot water is made. “The major challenges were designing and documenting the building very quickly, while having major new technical issues to deal with and a number of specialised sub-consultants. “A major issue was soundproofing. It is a bit like having a 747 inside your building. Therefore the acoustic design was integral. “Originally we wanted little windows into the plant room through the big power point socket holes, but this would have interfered with the acoustics.”
One of the most defining accessories we wear are the frames we choose for eyeglasses. It doesn’t matter if they are to help us see more clearly, read or shield us from the sun. Sunglasses, of course, are an industry and a stand-alone fashion item. Roger Henley limits himself to making 1500 frames a year, with clients able to order from more than 500 colours “and just as many styles”. He produces handcrafted frames in Adelaide under his own name and sells them through Main Street Eyecare, Mornington. Every couple of months Henley visits the shop and help clients select frames and colours. The frames cost $400-$1000, but they are original. Henley says he was “lucky” by being “introduced” to plastic while a student. “I fell in love with the material. Acrylic and polycarbonate plastic is really easy material to work with, it can be cut, bent, shaped, formed, moulded, polished and that’s just a few things. It’s great and created a desire for me to do more with plastics.” Offered an apprenticeship as an optical mechanic through a school work experience program soon saw Henley working with plastic spectacle frames and learning skills from older tradesmen. “I found that working with this type of eyewear plastic - cellulose acetate was amazing, it was so resilient to body acids and rough handling, so flexible yet strong, it had a memory, could be repaired, heated and shaped, filed and sanded, milled and cut, came in incredible colours, even be re-polished. You could describe it as being organic.
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“I had all these ideas on crazy frame styles, there had to be demand for them. “Taking this train of thought further, Individual Eyewear was born in 1987. I started specialising in making handmade bespoke frames to fit patients who could not find an off the rack frame to fit.” At 25 Henley had quit his job and was making frames from “a modest laundry on the back of our house, using handsaws, files and hand mills”. “The first frames would take a whole day to make and hand polish. Gradually, as other factories closed, we began to purchase their second hand machinery, and where possible made our own, very simplified machinery to suit our limited production of one offs.” Henley’s mind “boggled” at the variety of eyewear he saw at an optical trade show in Milan, Italy. “We [Henley and his partner, Bev] decided to make a small range of bespoke sunglasses, selling them through a boutique clothing store in Adelaide; this led to a small optical range then being sold through optical outlets we had made one-offs for and so the ball got rolling.” During the early years of his business Henley was working three different jobs “at odd hours, so I could still work on frames during the day”. “After years of constantly investing in new machinery, new colours and technology, we now have a great little business providing the optical industry with our unique range of limited and bespoke eyewear.” Main Street Eyecare is at 57 Main St, Mornington.
The man in the frame ... Adelaide-based Roger Henley makes eyewear under his own name, producing about 1500 frames a year. He is pictured with Kay Tyrie, owner of Main Street Eyewear, Mornington, which stocks the Henley brand.
You’ve spent a lot of time and money getting the colours of your product or business brands just right, so you should expect them to be faithfully reproduced. – DARYL GORDON, THE BIZ PHOTOGRAPHY
Making first impressions count Daryl Gordon knows a thing or two Gordon uses a colour calibrated work about photography after years on the flow system to accurately replicate colours beat as news photographer in south-east for product and packaging photography. Melbourne. “You’ve spent a lot of time and money He has combined his passion and his getting the colours of your product or skills to launch The Biz Photography, business brands just right, so you should a commercial photography business expect them to be faithfully reproduced. based on the Mornington Peninsula and “From initial capture using the high servicing the areas he has been familiar end digital cameras and professional with over several decades. lenses and then through a combination “We are passionate about making of hardware and software, we ensure businesses look good, and we have the that the images our clients receive are a skills, experience and equipment to do true representation of their products or that,” says Gordon. businesses. The Biz specialises in product “Meeting deadlines is also something photography, head shots, editorial photos we have been doing for years. We are for websites, and event photography. accustomed to meeting tight deadlines
and can offer a quick turn around from shooting to delivery. The Biz operates from a fully equipped studio on the Mornington Peninsula but can set up for a photo shoot at business premises if required.. “Our images are presented as print ready and email/web sized so that you don’t have to worry about resizing. Client images are kept backed up in our system free of charge for 12 months. Gordon says another bugbear for businesses dealing with photographers was the complicated pricing. “We don’t have complicated price packages. We provide photography on hourly, half-day or full-day rates. Also post production is included in the hourly rate and is not and added extra. And all images pass through our post production service to ensure you end up with the finest images possible.” Confident in its ability to produce first class work, The Biz offers a 100% money back guarantee or a reshoot if clients are not 100% happy with the final product.” Gordon also questions the tendency for website constructors and businesses to use stock photography. “These stock images, usually identifiable as being taken overseas, may seem like a cheap easy fix, but customers notice that they are not your business. I think employees and customers are a business’s greatest asset when it comes to photos for websites and marketing. The way people connect with a brand is changing, and authenticity is the key. “Average photos amount to average marketing results and no business can afford to be average? “We’re in the business of creating great first impressions for our clients.”
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After 28 years internationally and 15 years in Australia BNI is the world’s most successful Referral Organisation. Members in this region reported over $9 Million in generated business from BNI last year. We build referral networks around your business and you benefit with long term referral partners that lead to business and profit growth. Why not attend a meeting your local area where you can meet and connect with other local business and see what opportunities await you and your business. For your nearest group see our website or call 9782 0555
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This is Your Opportunity
August 2014 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 21
MANAGING
Business of compliance Most organisations like to believe that “we do what we say we will do”. The reality is often quite different as businesses fail to meet their legal requirements and don’t execute strategies, plans and protocols that have been so carefully developed by their leadership. Compliance as a business process grew out of the financial sector when governments increased the volume of laws and regulations that govern how these financial institutions should serve their markets and customers. These laws and regulations were often developed as a result of poor or corrupt behaviour by banks and other businesses, particularly when operating internationally. The reaction of governments in developed countries was to introduce standards of behaviour that focused on ensuring that banks and other institutions met their commitments everywhere that they operated. This created legal obligations for businesses to meet behavioral standards, and businesses had to respond by investing in the development of systems and processes to ensure that they could effectively met these obligations. Over time, the development of legal standards has extended from financial matters to include many other functions like safety and health, environmental, employment conditions and many other functions. The right to impose standards on businesses has also extended to all levels of government (federal, state and local) and many other organisations; for example, industry organisations that are trying to self regulate an industry. Today, there is nowhere to hide from these legal obligations, so every business needs to be well prepared to be able to demonstrate their capability to ensure regulatory compliance at any time. For example, the fishing industry is now one of the more heavily regulated industries today with Fishers Officers, Inspectors and heavy penalties for failure to comply with quotas and licenses. Compliance has now become an industry in its own right, with extensive training opportunities at a tertiary level, compliance career opportunities and even online degrees in compliance. Large businesses have invested in
Hamish Petrie*
Business Consultant
compliance functions with executive structures and resources that focus on the regulatory risks and compliance outcomes throughout all aspects and regions of their business. There can be substantial overhead costs in this function, and small and medium businesses usually struggle to be able to carry these overhead costs. Organisations usually consolidate the multiplicity of external laws and regulations into an internal set of standards that can be deployed to their appropriate people. These are usually manifested as internal protocols that define processes and outcomes that can be applied throughout the organisation as necessary.
As a business leader, there are a range of activities that you should support personally to ensure that your people understand that, while compliance is not the most exciting facet of business, it is a vital one to ensure that you continue to gain the right to operate from all of the regulatory authorities. The initial step is to assign responsibilities to collate the regulatory requirements into simple, relevant terms that can be shaped as internal protocols. In some cases, this may be work that you have to do personally, or you can assign it to others in your team. There are external consultants or industry groups that can help with this process so don’t feel that you have to review all of the potential legislation on your own. You can improve the efficiency of this process by applying a risk management structure that suits your business. For example, you can identify the likelihood and consequences that each particular regulation applies to your business. This can highlight the really important aspects that you should concentrate on, as compared to those that are of little significance. This risk analysis structure can also be applied later during audits to
Today, there is nowhere to hide from these legal obligations, so every business needs to be well prepared to be able to demonstrate their capability to ensure regulatory compliance at any time. Many external regulatory authorities require businesses to collect data and submit reports on specified outcomes for the business. This can be time consuming and complex unless the internal protocols have been developed, deployed and implemented effectively. Ultimately, these protocols need to be integrated into every set of standard work instructions for every job so that there is no degradation of performance over time. Even when the deployment has been effective, it is still necessary to conduct spot checks or audits to ensure that implementation is still achieving desired outcomes.
22 | BusinessTimes Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | August 2014
categorise areas where non-compliances are determined. Once you have developed an understanding of the range of protocols that apply to your business, then accountabilities for deployment and reporting of outcomes must be assigned to your team. This can be a challenge in small teams, but it is still important that this is done effectively. Remember the old adage that “what gets measured gets done”. To ensure effective deployment, you will need to develop some relevant measures that can demonstrate the progress in deployment.
Closing the loop on deployment is important and is best done in a format where you review the data publically with team wide participation. Another important behaviour that you can demonstrate is to integrate compliance aspects into your personal dialogue with your people. Effective leaders engage with their people at every level to ensure they really understand the pulse of their business. Building protocols into this dialogue and asking specific questions about how they are going with them, can generate some great information for you to understand how well your people are fulfilling your compliance expectations. Failure in compliance can lead to penalties being applied by regulatory authorities, so this should be a strong motivation to focus on compliance, but the major cost is the huge amount of leadership time that can be required to handle external non–compliance issues. Internally, it can be very effective to recognise effective deployment of protocols by providing some form of rewards for your best examples.
businesstimes
Overall, compliance is a critical component of modern business, and careful planning and execution can prevent huge distractions as evidenced when businesses have to manage major non-compliances with all of accompanying public fanfare. Action Planning Questions: Have you reviewed the laws and regulations that apply to your business within an appropriate risk management structure? Have you developed protocols and defined accountabilities for their deployment? Have you integrated protocols into your dialogue with your people to reinforce the importance of compliance? Have you developed a reward structure for your exemplars? *Hamish Petrie had a 37-year corporate career including 25 with Alcoa Inc. His latest position was VP People and Communications for the Global Alcoa Corporation based in New York. He can be contacted at hamish@nitroworld.net or on 0404345103. © Hamish Petrie 2014
SPRING MISSION TO CHINA Business and industry leaders are being invited by the City of Greater Dandenong to join a trade mission to China. The September mission will attend the China Xuzhou 17th Investment Fair in Dandenong’s sister city and meet representatives of AusTrade and visit Victoria’s business office in Shanghai. “Developing international contacts and connections with this region is vital in ensuring the longevity and future growth of Greater Dandenong’s manufacturing and business sector,” South East Melbourne Manufacturers Alliance chairperson Simon Whiteley said. “Many local manufacturers will now find they are competitive within the Chinese economy and the opportunities for them to be key players in these markets will only increase in line with the continuing economic development of China.” Xuzhou’s main activities are machinery, energy and food production. The business and industry delegation will be in China from 22-29 September. Participants pay their own expenses including airfares ($1000$1400) and accommodations (about $200 a night). Details Paul Kearsley, 8571 1000.
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