Tuesday, March 19, 2024

St Jozef Day Can a chief happiness officer improve workplace morale?

Roman Udot has been scrutinising elections in Russia and Ukraine for more than 20 years, but is now living in political exile in Lithuania. He dismissed Mr Peskov's most recent claims about democracy in Russia.

"It is a lie," he told the ABC.

Many critics say Russia's presidential election is rigged — this is how Vladimir Putin does it


Can a chief happiness officer improve workplace morale? 

 Research shows a hard-nosed rationale behind boosting corporate cheer

At The Happiness Camp Foundation in Portugal, meeting rooms carried labels such as “Playful Pitstop” and “Dopamine Hub”. The two-day conference on “workplace happiness” in September could easily be dismissed as corporate whimsy. But the list of international companies in attendance — Ikea, Lidl, Adidas, among others — shows more businesses are taking the theme seriously.
“We all know happy employees are more productive, more creative and more motivated, and yet study after study shows happiness levels at work are often very low,” says António Pinto, the 26-year-old founder of the conference.
Some companies are creating a role to fix the problem: the chief happiness officer.
Initially a mash-up of wellbeing manager, entertainment organiser and unofficial corporate counsellor, the “CHO” role began life in a waggish guise. Google’s first candidate in the job in the early 2010s also liked to be known as “Jolly Good Fellow”.
But research on positive psychology and employee performance shows a more hard-nosed rationale behind boosting corporate cheer.
Workplace engagement is a favoured indicator. On the spectrum of happiness, almost eight in 10 (77 per cent) employees sit somewhere between disaffected and actively resentful, according to Gallup’s latest global study. The cost in lost productivity is estimated at $8.8tn.
So, if the problem facing CHOs is obvious enough, what are their approaches to solving it?
Helen Lawrence, co-founder of UK-based advisory firm Happy Consultancy Group, says it is important to set some conceptual parameters. “Happiness is such a subjective topic, with so many different definitions,” she says. “That’s perhaps to be expected for such a broad theme, but it also feeds a degree of cynicism.”
She is clear on what happiness is not: “drinking beer on a Friday” or “playing ping pong”. These may be important — providing moments of joy at work — but their impact, like their duration, is shortlived.
Instead, Lawrence points to deeper factors that drive psychological contentment, such as purpose, recognition, fulfilment and belonging. Notably, few if any relate directly to money, despite pay rises often being companies’ go-to option for pleasing employees.
Similarly, Friday Pulse, a management tool that measures wellbeing, cites five core pillars: connection, challenge, fairness, empowerment and inspiration.
Being permanently nice is not necessarily a prerogative of the effective CHO, Lawrence adds. People do not need empty platitudes but the tools to remain positive and optimistic.
“In passive working cultures where nobody wants to upset anybody, not only does nothing get done but problems don’t get dealt with,” she reasons.
Companies are advised to ditch generic approaches to boosting happiness, although perks such as flexible working or subsidised gym membership are usually well received. What makes us content at work differs from team to team and individual to individual.
When Tobias Haug started as CHO in the European operations of software company SAP in 2018, he found a sales-focused environment characterised by high adrenaline and a push for targets. Free coffees and lunchtime yoga would, he quickly realised, not cut it.
Instead, he instigated a series of “micro-interventions” to empower teams and improve morale, such as introductory courses to help new recruits put faces to names, and asking teams to write the job profile for their new boss when the position became vacant.
“SAP has 191 locations around the world. If this is all run by a central team that wants to do everything the same, then it quickly becomes generic and you lose these local sensitivities,” Haug states.
Large organisations cannot expect to have a dedicated CHO in every location, however. Nuno Monteiro, chief human resources officer for Mimacom, a Swiss software and consulting firm, suggests using local managers who know how their teams work. The CHO job then becomes more one of co-ordination, training and “spreading the message”, he says.
Arguably, a substantial part of a CHO’s role is being picked up by traditional HR departments. Advocates say a designated function can pull these activities together and give them a specific management focus.

“The CHO needs to be putting the happiness topic on the agenda of management. So, when they ask questions like, ‘What do our employees actually want?’, the CHO is there to answer,” says Monteiro.
But as most CHOs will attest, having “happiness” in your job title can be a hurdle to being taken seriously. SAP’s Haug ditched the moniker after a month and now calls himself “head of humanising business”.  
“The CHO title works great at cocktail parties . . . But the term has so many emotional connotations that most people don’t link it to delivering business value,” he says.
In Mimacom’s case, its first and only CHO, hired in 2022, lasted just a year before the company pulled the plug. In part, the firm was consolidating, Monteiro explains. But, while management “liked the idea” it did not put it on the “day-to-day agenda”.
Part of the problem is that happiness is a slippery metric to measure. It is highly subjective and linking management interventions to individual or team results is fiendishly hard.
Friday Pulse proposes a list of 15 questions that result in an overall happiness score out of 100. They range from the general “How happy were you at work this week?”, to the more nuanced: “Do you feel free to be yourself?” or “Do you feel the work you do is worthwhile?”.
Enthusiasts such as Madalena Carey, who set up the Happiness Business School, an accredited training provider, in 2018, recognise corporate happiness has a way to go before it receives the management attention they think it deserves. But Carey observes a shift that gives her hope it will become more of a priority.
“Our grandparents worked tirelessly to guarantee survival. Our parents worked tirelessly to maintain their living standards,” she reasons. “Today’s generations have more opportunities, so they’re looking for things like quality of life, purpose and meaning.”


Tax tech chief Ramez Katf pulls the plug By Julian Bajkowski

New myGov may be the only identity check you will need


Tax tech chief Ramez Katf pulls the plug By Julian Bajkowski



Back in 2016 ATO hires its former Accenture account manager as CIO

PwC - Financial Crises and Tax Havens

Congratulations to Neil Chenoweth and Edmund Tadros of The Australian Financial Review on winning the 48th Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year Award. The pair won for their coverage of the PwC Tax Leaks Scandal.


PwC: A corporate giant on the brink and the ‘best graduate job going’ that’s now on the nose


I’m extremely proud of the contribution every individual at PwC Australia makes to this firm and their ongoing commitment to producing exceptional results for our clients.”
This was the brave part of the statement PwC boss Kevin Burrowes made on Wednesday as he announced another 366 partners and employees would be cut at the embattled firm to right-size the shrinking business.
This was on top of the 340 staff sacked in November due to the tax scandal, and economic conditions. As well as the 1300 staff that left when PwC was forced to spin off its lucrative government business for just $1 after it was banned from any further government work.
The firm’s website still boasts of a workforce of 8000 employees, but those stats are from a year ago when the news surfaced that several PwC partners had allegedly used confidential government tax information to woo some of the biggest companies in the world as clients.
The outlook appears grim and not just for the tax business, which was the source of PwC’s woes. There are clear signs that the audit and assurance business – the original core business of the big four firms and the unit that PwC is counting on to lift it out of the mire – is also suffering.
Westpac’s dramatic dumping of PwC last week in favour of KPMG was a big blow, with the bank’s business worth $70 million over the last two years alone. But that is not the only signal of the corporate sector’s disaffection with the firm.
On March 1, PwC’s 19-year run as the auditor of $3 billion Super Retail Group – the company behind retail names like Rebel Sport, Supercheap Auto and BCF – came to an end.
Mineral sands group Iluka Resources will end its 33-year relationship with PwC in May.
“Following completion of a tender process, and given PwC’s tenure, the board of Iluka considered it appropriate to replace PwC with KPMG as Iluka’s external auditor,” it said.


Financial Crises and Tax Havens

Tax havens not only facilitate tax evasion and corruption in ‘normal times’, they also harbour funds during economic crises, slowing down recovery.


Dealmaking slowdown leaves private equity with record unsold assets FT. Somebody call a wh-a-a-a-a-bulance!


Opinion | Jon Stewart rips Trump’s so-called ‘patriots’ in spot-on commentary

In his return as host of Comedy Central’s ‘The Daily Show,’ Stewart keeps cranking out must-see moments 

March 13, 2024
 

Unis rejecting tourist, bridging visa holders as foreign crackdown intensifies


It's using all of its debt recovery tools, Mr Archer says, including issuing director penalty notices which give a company director 21 days to voluntarily enter into an insolvency appointment, otherwise they become personally liable for their company's debt.

It is also becoming more common for the ATO to use garnishee notices against small business owners, Mr Archer says.

This practice was highlighted as part of a joint Fairfax (now Nine) and ABC Four Corners investigation that revealed the practice was crippling small businesses and was found to be problematic in a consequent review by the small business ombudsman.

Another review by the inspector-general of taxation found the impact of garnishee notices on small business owners "can be very significant and take the form of substantial emotional, reputational and financial harm". 

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie is also worried that the ATO's current approach to debt recovery could send more small businesses to the wall.

ATO chases small businesses for $34b in debt, insolvencies tipped to hit post-global financial crisis levels


Wall Street Journal, We’re Paying for Our Daughter’s Wedding. Is It a Taxable Gift?:

We answer readers’ questions about annual gift giving and taxes.

Q: My husband and I each plan to give our adult children $14,000 this year. My daughter may marry this year, and we would like to pay for much of the wedding. Could paying for the caterer or another wedding supplier count as a taxable gift if we pay the vendor directly?—a reader in Lexington, Ky.

A: You probably can pay for the wedding without fearing the taxmen. Paul Caron, a professor specializing in gift and estate taxes who is also dean of Pepperdine Caruso Law School, says, “In all my years in tax, I’ve never seen a case or ruling involving parents’ payments for a child’s wedding. So I wouldn’t feel I have to tell parents they owe gift tax on the cost of a wedding.”

He adds that often a wedding is more for the parents than the child, as in, “We’ve waited all this time…” However, he does advise parents to pay wedding bills directly to suppliers rather than giving money to the child for payments.

There’s more to gift taxes than weddings. Here are some other questions.

Q: I’m curious. If an NFL quarterback “gives” to each of the offensive line—the people who block opponents from sacking him—a $15,000 present, are the presents taxable to the linemen, and is the total $65,000 deductible to the QB?—a reader in Sebastian, Fla. ...

Q: If I give some of my stocks to a relative, I presume there is a step-up in basis. If they then sell the stock (assume it hasn’t appreciated) and give the proceeds back to me—all at amounts under the lifetime gift maximum allowed—will I owe any taxes?—a reader in Santa Clara, Calif. ...


MARK JUDGE:  Peter Thiel Needs to Write Me a Check. “The right’s refusal to support artists leads many people to abandon conservative politics—or to not join.”

New myGov may be the only identity check you will need

 

Exclusive

Why you might be about to see a lot more of this logo


Tom BurtonGovernment editor

A new brand and logo, myID, could become as prominent as Medicare or myGov as the government forges ahead with a digital tool for Australians to prove their identity without physical passports, driver’s licences or utility bills.


The Australian Tax Office has applied to trademark myID and a new stylised, barcode-esque logo of Australia, both of which are expected to become the centrepiece of the new national digital identification system.

Individuals’ credentials, such as age, address and birthplace, will be securely linked to a myID app and able to be kept in a mobile digital wallet. This will allow them to get into a club, purchase alcohol, apply for a rental lease or a loan, rent a car or receive emergency payments through government, such as after a national disaster.
It will also enable workers to easily establish their work credentials and authorisations such as working with children checks.
The myID platform is expected to quickly emerge as the main way to access a vast suite of federal, state and local government services, as well as products and services from businesses that choose to use myID.
Users in countries like Norway with mature digital identity systems use their identity app about 220 times a year to access a suite of government and business services.
The government had persisted with an alternative myGovID brand, established four years ago. But ATO consumer research found widespread confusion with myGov, the federal government website that brings together services such as Centrelink, Medicare, and the ATO.
“The updated name and visual identity are the result of extensive research, and an updated user interface will be piloted with end users for feedback prior to the re-launch [in late 2024],” an ATO spokesman said.
Legal firm Ashurst has lodged an application to trademark the new myID brand name and associated logo on behalf of the Melbourne branch of the ATO. The application to IP Australia is due to be finalised by June, subject to any counterclaims.
The new brand comes as legislation to formalise the new national system is expected to be debated by the Senate as early as next week.
After over a decade of development, the national scheme is due to commence mid-year. It is proposed to be phased in, starting with government services first.
Banks and retailers have been promoting their identity app, ConnectID. They are concerned that the government myID brand will quickly become the dominant form of digital identification, denying consumers a private-sector alternative.
The legislation confirms the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission as the regulator, adding to the commission’s fast-expanding oversight of the digital economy.
The opposition supports businesses getting earlier access, arguing it will promote earlier adoption of the new system and avoid what it calls a “big government” model. The Senate crossbench is looking for assurances that key privacy reforms will be accelerated.
Tom Burton has held senior editorial and publishing roles with The Mandarin, The Sydney Morning Herald and as Canberra bureau chief for The Australian Financial Review. He has won three Walkley awards. Connect with Tom on Twitter. Email Tom at tom.burton@afr.com


Monday, March 18, 2024

‘He’s a killer, he’s a gangster’: What six more years of Putin means

 ‘He’s a killer, he’s a gangster’: What six more years of Putin means

Russian President Vladimir Putin basked in an election victory early Monday that was never in doubt, as partial election results showed him easily securing a fifth term after facing only token challengers and harshly suppressing opposition voices.

With little margin for protest, Russians crowded outside polling stations at noon on Sunday, on the last day of the election, apparently heeding an opposition call to express their displeasure with Putin. Still, the impending landslide underlined that the Russian leader would accept nothing less than full control of the country’s political system as he extended his nearly quarter-century rule for six more years.


C

What are the latest Russian election results?

According to Russia’s Central Election Commission, Putin had 87 per cent of the vote with about 90 per cent of precincts counted.
Three other candidates from parties loyal to the Kremlin offered no serious competition in the tightly controlled election. Communist Nikolai Kharitonov took 4.2 per cent, Vladislav Davankov from the New People, a party created in 2020, was on 4 per cent and Leonid Slutsky, leader of the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, trailed with 3.2 per cent, according to Central Election Commission data.
The true extent of the Russian public’s support for Putin, however, is hard to know, with restrictions placed on independent poll observers at levels not seen since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The restrictions have seen this election declared the least transparent in recent Russian history.
CREDIT
Turnout from three days of voting was put at 74.2 per cent. That’s the highest since Boris Yeltsin became president in 1991 after the Soviet Union’s collapse, and well above the 67.5 per cent turnout recorded in 2018. At least six Russian regions claimed turnout was above 90 per cent.
There was no independent tally of how many of Russia’s 114 million voters took part in the opposition demonstrations, amid tight security involving tens of thousands of police and security officials.
United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and other nations have also said the vote was neither free nor fair due to the imprisonment of political opponents and censorship.

What does Vladimir Putin’s re-election mean for Russia?

The outcome means Putin, 71, is set to embark on a new six-year term, during which he will surpass Josef Stalin to become Russia’s longest-serving leader for more than 200 years if he completes it.
Nikolai Kharitonov, a presidential candidate from the Russian Communist Party, casts his vote.
Nikolai Kharitonov, a presidential candidate from the Russian Communist Party, casts his vote. CREDIT: AP
Putin hailed the results as an indication of “trust” and “hope” in him, while critics saw them as another reflection of the preordained nature of the election.
“Of course, we have lots of tasks ahead. But I want to make it clear for everyone: When we were consolidated, no one has ever managed to frighten us, to suppress our will and our self-conscience. They failed in the past, and they will fail in the future,” Putin said at a meeting with volunteers after polls closed.
For Russians, there will be a continuation of what already exists under Putin’s leadership. Any public criticism of Putin or his war in Ukraine has been stifled, independent media have been crippled, his fiercest political foe, Alexy Navalny, died in an Artic prison last month, and other critics are either in jail or in exile.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been re-elected in what he said was a sign of the country's trust in him.

What is the mood like amongst Putin’s opposition?

Among those heeding the call to protest was Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny’s widow, who spent more than five hours in the line at the Russian Embassy in Berlin. She told reporters that she wrote her late husband’s name on her ballot.
Asked whether she had a message for Putin, Navalnaya replied: “Please stop asking for messages from me or from somebody for Mr Putin. There could be no negotiations and nothing with Mr Putin, because he’s a killer, he’s a gangster.”
But Putin brushed off the effectiveness of the apparent protest.
“There were calls to come vote at noon. And this was supposed to be a manifestation of opposition. Well, if there were calls to come vote, then ... I praise this,” he said at a news conference after polls closed.

What does Putin’s re-election mean for the war in Ukraine?

Pavel Danilin, head of the Moscow-based Centre for Political Analysis, which advises the Kremlin, said the election outcome “gives Putin every chance to implement any, even the toughest, scenarios in Ukraine.”
Putin used his victory speech to send a warning to the West about its involvement in Ukraine, saying that direct conflict between Russia and the US-led NATO military alliance would mean the planet was one step away from World War Three but said hardly anyone wanted such a scenario.
Voters queue at a polling station in Moscow.
Voters queue at a polling station in Moscow.CREDIT: AP
Asked about the possibility of a conflict between Russia and NATO, Putin quipped: “Everything is possible in the modern world.”
“It is clear to everyone, that this will be one step away from a full-scale World War Three. I think hardly anyone is interested in this,” Putin said.
Putin also spoke of creating a buffer zone out of more Ukrainian territory to help defend Russia in the future and claimed to be ready to talk about a French proposal for a ceasefire during the 2024 Olympics. Only last week however he dismissed any talk of pausing fighting that would allow Ukraine to rearm.
CREDIT: MATT GOLDING

Is Russia’s presidential election rigged?

The Kremlin secured the result through “electoral manipulation and fraud,” said Maria Snegovaya, a senior fellow with the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
The goal was to show that Russian society is united behind Putin’s “long-term fight against not just Ukraine but the West and the liberal international order more broadly.”
To achieve this, only a Kremlin-approved list of candidates, headed by Putin were on the ballot paper and two anti-war candidates were disqualified on technical grounds.
The Kremlin ordered polling stations to stay open for three days and made state workers vote. Polling stations encouraged other voters with free food, raffles and entertainment. Voters were obliged to register at their polling stations using their passports and also tell a website built by United Russia, Putin’s political party, that they had voted.
Putin voted online Friday, avoiding the traditional visit to a polling station that he’s made in past presidential elections. The government said more than 4.5 million people registered to vote via a system used for the presidential ballot in 29 of Russia’s regions for the first time.
Critics say the system may make it harder to identify fraud in the results.
Russia didn’t invite observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe to monitor the election. The OSCE said in January this was evidence that “democratic backsliding” had reached a critical point.
Despite the predictability of the vote, Russian officials are in no mood to admit shortcomings in the election.
“We won’t tolerate criticism of our democracy any longer,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a youth conference in Moscow earlier this month. “Our democracy is the best.”
Reuters, AP, Bloomberg





.