GOING WITH THE CODE GIVES YOU AN EDGE 

Making a statement: It’s great to be an individual but this may not be the look that says “I want that promotion”.   

If you want to look ahead the best advice is to look around the office at what others are wearing, writes Diane Stafford.

Perhaps you heard about the 43 page dress code at Swiss bank UBS AG. Yes, 43 pages. The human resource community was all a flutter about the codes excruciating depth, exposed on the internet.

Jewellery and metal eyeglass frames should match. Jacket shoulders should have “natural” proportions, jacket pockets must not bulge with stuff. One of the biggest doozies: underwear should be flesh coloured. Pity the boss assigned to check that. After worldwide derision, the Swiss bank back-pedalled from the code and said the guidelines were under revision.

Meanwhile comments posted to a LegalWorkplace.com blog, some suggested a far simpler dress code: “If you can see up it, down it or through it, don’t wear it”. Brilliant! But that may not be enough guidance for those who stumble in matters of taste, propriety and suitability. Guidance could be a means of setting new standards.

Others simply want to fit in, whether having a job interview, starting a new job or trying to advance in the ranks. The best advice in these cases: Look around. Notice the people who do the job you want and observe what they are wearing. Tattoos, piercing, cleavage, oddly dyed hair, baggy pants, illustrated T-shirts – anything that distracts attention because it’s not the workplace norm may work against you. We can champion self-expression and individuality, but human nature gravitates towards similarity. 

People tend to prefer doing business with those who they can relate to and make them feel comfortable. In the “judge a book by its cover employment world”, appearances count. Studies have shown that it’s not just apparel that makes a difference in job offers and pay levels. Height, weight, skin colour and accents sadly have been shown to matter too. Diversity is a valued goal and we need it in the workplace. But we have to acknowledge that those who fit the appearance code have an edge.

HAVING YOUR HEAD UP IN THE CLOUD FINALLY PAYS OFF 

Cloud computing has become one of the latest buzz words you may have heard around IT circles and even in the wider business community recently.  

Cloud computing has become one of the latest buzz words you may have heard around IT circles and even in the wider business community recently. Google searches shows cloud computing is a relatively new term introduced in the past year. So, what is cloud computing? And what’s with all the hype? In reality cloud computing has been with us for many years already – just without the catchy name. It is a term used for anything that involves delivering hosted services over the internet. Whether you realise it or not, you’re probably already using cloud-based services. Pretty much everyone with a computer has.

Cloud computing makes infrastructure, applications and business processes accessible entirely over the internet without breaking your budget or cloning your entire IT department. Meaning you pay for only what you need when you need it. There are no upfront server costs or software licensing to contend with, your data is hosted and backed up by your service provider, and most importantly, as your business grows, you simply pay for any increases as and when you need it without having to upgrade your internal infrastructure. In essence, cloud computing provides a convenient way to access the systems you need, anytime, from any computer without the hassle of managing and maintaining these systems yourself.

Datacom PaySystems were early pioneers in cloud computing by introducing NetPay, New Zealand’s first internet payroll, in 2000. Since then we have continued to grow our online solutions functionality providing you with easy to use, scalable applications for you to manage your payroll with greater efficiency.

Our cloud service offerings have four distinct characteristics that differentiate it from traditional hosting:

• It is sold on demand, billing and metering of service usage in a pay-as-you-go model.

• It is elastic, the ability to scale up and down a service as you want at any given time.

• The service is fully managed by Datacom, your service provider. 

• You need nothing but your personal computer and an internet access. 

So if you find yourself stuck in the world of server upgrades, software license renewals, software installs and data backups while trying to run your business look to the cloud to help you out. Give us a call on 0800 856 856 and get with the hype!

HR QUARTERLY INDEX

The HR Quarterly Index provides a summary of employment confidence in the business sector from the HR Coach Research Institute for New Zealand.

Data available for the May Index represents national information available from February 2011. The economic and employment impact of the earthquake in Christchurch is not represented in the data and the wider economic impact is yet to be understood. Entering 2011, New Zealand was showing strong signs of recovery. One can only assume that this trend has been disrupted as estimates show 50,000 people were directly impacted by the earthquake in the Christchurch CBD alone. New infrastructure and public works will place pressure on government spend in the coming year but will also create new opportunities for the business sector. Local government works, however, will squeeze rate payers and households. This will increase wage expectations of employees.

Managing in uncertain times adds yet another concern to business owners and managers. The environmental impact, as well as changes in export and trading partner demand, may create a dual speed economy. Businesses will continue to be cautious in 2011 as the projected recovery is postponed to 2012.

Key sources: HR Coach Research Institute, National STAR Report 2011, Business New Zealand Planning Forecast March 2011, National Bank of New Zealand Forecast Reports, Department of Labour - Labour Statistics