Super!

Turns out that 8 out of 10 people accept whatever super fund their employer recommends.  Now, I’m no financial planner but that sounds crazy!

From my experience, the funds my employers in the past have recommended have been attached to the big banks or are retail funds (which generally have a reputation for charging high fees). 

You don’t rely on your employer to tell you what car or house to buy? So why would you rely on them to tell you where to keep your superannuation – a reserve of your funds that should one day amount to over $400,00!

When you change jobs do you:

•    Accept the new super fund?
•    Roll over money from old super funds?
•      Provide details for your super fund when you start a new job?

Your Superannuation nest-egg will be (for most) the biggest investment in your life! Why would you not be engaged with where and who your money is with?

Disclaimer: I am no financial planner, this is not financial advice.  I am purely bringing to your attention questions you need to ask of yourself.

References:  http://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2014/sep/24/super-funds-banks-union-gravy-trains

Preach to the Unconverted

I could have gone to an International Women's Day breakfast on Friday.  Why didn't I?  Because any of the speakers that morning would have been preaching to me what I already know ... that women are still not being treated equally, either at home or in the workplace. Sure, I could have learnt a few new stats, but no matter how you cut it, it's still the same root issues.

Organisations that buy tables at these International Women's Day functions should really have some sort of plan for who should attend. (Not run around/mass spam employees desperately trying to fill these seats).

Of course, anyone who wants to go should go, but, attending a breakfast is not going to narrow a nearly 20% pay gap.  Awareness is the first step. This is what the networking sessions should be used for. Those who are already converts, should be championing for changes back in their workplaces.

So, who should be tapped on the shoulder to attend?

1. Middle managers - those responsible for teams at the front line. It's your people who require work/life balance, who ask for pay rises, who negotiate salaries at time of appointment.
2. Self-proclaimed non-feminists or those who don't believe in a gender pay gap or flexible work.
3. People being counselled for discrimination.
4. The leadership or management team - lead by example.
5. The grads (graduates) fresh out of uni - the pay gap starts after year 1 in the workforce.

Business Dictating when to have a Family

You can tell a lot by an organisation by the perks and incentives it offers its employees. Only a few weeks ago, Virgin announced a very generous perk of unlimited leave*.

I heard today that both Apple and Facebook are adding to the ‘perks’ of working at their companies, the option to freeze women’s eggs.

Of course it is offensive when the choice of a woman (or a man) is taken away or even hinted at.   

However, it’s not the freezing part, that annoys me about this.  It’s the fact that organisations still don’t think about structuring their work in family friendly ways.

Giving women the option (and even hinting) to defer having a family is a band aid solution as opposed to acknowledging the structural issues.  What about the extra assistance parents need in order to work? Where is the childcare close to or at the office? How do you engage parents in business goings-on while on parental leave?

I guess it is cheaper to freeze their eggs than to restructure the business and culture.  

*I am sure there are T’s & C’s attached to this, however, I don’t know too much detail.

Source:

http://www.theguardian.com/money/us-money-blog/2014/oct/14/apple-facebook-pay-women-employees-freeze-eggs

Art Naming

I’ve often wondered while strolling through an art gallery, how some of the art pieces get their name.

Do the artists name it? Is it something that needs to be easily translatable?

Sure, there are some more interesting names for some art works but most of the time, I find their names very literal and straight to the point.

Haystacks - Claude Monet

Woman in front of Van Gough's Sunflowers - Isaac Israels

The Thinker - Auguste Rodin

Is there a naming convention they must adhere to?

The word ‘art’ and pieces of art already brings up so many adjective to our minds, so maybe art naming is about the noun?

I know if I was an artist and I painted something, I wouldn’t want it to be so …. literal, and all in English!

This got me thinking, what if we applied this type of 'art naming' to our lives? To our social media posts? The food we eat? It would greatly simplify the complexity in our lives.

Images from Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Government Hypocrites

Fred Hollows once said "Every eye is an eye".  It's the same for life. Every life is a life.

It's why I find the Australian government very hypocritical at the moment. 

Respect where respect is due, I give kudos to the way that Prime Minister Abbott and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop are stepping up and handling the Malaysian Airlines 17 and Russian Rebels issue. They called on the Rebels to release the bodies back "Operation Bring them Home".  After 4 days, the Rebels are handing them over to where the plane originated in The Netherlands.

However, it is absolutely hypocritical when the government of Australia under "Operation Sovereign Borders", are essentially holding 157 refugees hostage and imprisoned on a shonky boat out at sea.  They've been there 3 weeks.

Awkward & Cliche Travelling

As a traveller, not only do I like to see the off-the-beaten-track stuff, but I also go to see the cliche post card places.  Eiffel Tower, Charles Bridge, London Eye, Sydney Opera House, Times Square.  Can you really say you have been to Paris if you haven't seen the Eiffel Tower?

Visiting the cliche places make me pinch myself.  I get a feeling of disbelief.  Am I actually there?

London - The Shard, The Eye and a Cab

The first 1 or 2 seconds of seeing the site is the OMG moment. Awe-struck, mouth agape, eyes are wide.  Realisation sets in that I am finally at that place, in that city.

When realisation settles in, I want to "scream and shout and let it all out".  It's like an explosion of happiness!!  I'm just so happy and just so cliche.  Everyone else around me is pretty much experiencing the same or has just finished experiencing the same.  All I can do is stare amongst the masses.  I am insignificant, surrounded by an insignificant crowd, watching and staring at the significant.

I don't know what to say apart from being cliche at the cliche.
"It's so much bigger than I thought"
"It's smaller than I thought"
"Wow, look how tall it is"
(Awkwardness generally sets in when you realise even your response is cliche staring at the cliche.)

I was on the Metro when I first saw the Eiffel Tower. It was beautiful, set a few kilometres away amongst the grey buildings, green trees. Picture postcard perfect and I feel that it easily could have been a scene from a movie.  Seeing the White House, it was small, much smaller than I thought, but then it was my perspective of seeing it from many metres away. 


Long after I have returned, watching TV or a movie, when I catch a glimpse of an iconic landmark that I have been to, I know that I have been but was it in a dream? I feel that I was transported into a postcard and was walking around it. 

Loch Ness - So beautiful, but my Nessie made it memorable!

The only time when the awkward and cliche doesn't work is when there is an anomaly or extraordinary event.  When the visit you make to that site, doesn't look like you''re walking through a brochure or movie. Either it is raining or something funny/memorable happens, that's when it is so much more real, it wasn't the perfect atmosphere but it was perfect for you at that time.





Photos taken from:
http://ak7.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/2614409/preview/stock-footage-aerial-view-of-the-city-of-paris-with-the-eiffel-tower-in-the-distance.jpg
The London Shard/Eye photo and Loch Ness photo were taken by myself earlier this year.

Gone Too Far: Red Carpet Camera

I like looking at what the celebrities wear.  Glamorous, sparkly dresses, dresses I would only dream of wearing.  Gucci, Pucci, Dior and more.

All the celebrity reporters do it, however, today the team at E! took it a bit too far at the SAG awards. 30 seconds into the interview, the camera's that pan-down, focus on the dress, cutting out her head.   She then bends down (a-la, my face is up here, not down there) and tells off the camera man that nothing special is down there and if he does that to the men walking down the red carpet.

Who wore it best? Cate with a head? or Cate without her head? 

 

               

Now kudos to E! for publishing the story themselves, however, don't forget, its the person that really "wears" the dress or suite.  It's their smile, confidence and a certain je ne sais quoi.


Story from: 
http://au.eonline.com/news/501154/cate-blanchett-calls-out-e-s-red-carpet-glam-cam-at-2014-sag-awards-what-do-you-think-is-happening-down-there

http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2014/01/cate-blanchett-wins-the-sag-awards-2014-red-carpet---gif.html

Image from:
http://www.thequeenofstyle.com/quee/2014/01/go-ahead-copy-cate-blanchetts-sag-awards-hairstyle.html

What Jackie Saw

A picture paints a thousand words, in this case, a series of photos.  It's been plastered all over our media this week.  The moments leading up to and immediately after President John F. Kennedy was shot. For many people this moment and this footage will be etched into our memory.
 

However, what sticks with me isn't necessarily picked up by the camera.  It is the sheer terror of what Jackie would have seen and gone through in the immediate seconds after her husband was shot.  You wouldn't  wish that on anyone.  From what we know of the extent of his injuries, there really would be no hope that he would have survived something like that and I guess at that time, so would have she.

One minute he is sitting there waving to passers-by, the next minute, he's keeled over, blood everywhere and a good chunk of his head is gone.  The car is still moving, there is no one immediately there to help. At the same time, it dawns on you that your own survival is at stake, so you try to escape over the back of the car.

The sheer terror of going through something like that.  To see body parts of a loved one that should be well hidden.  The conundrum of fight or flight.  Adrenaline kicking in with shock and wanting to know what has just happened?

It's a lovely day, of course a drive in a convertible is a good idea. You're with your husband, the American people are out to see their President.  Who would have thought what happened, happened.



Picture from: 
http://media.smithsonianmag.com/images/zapruder-jfk-assassination-631.jpg

The Super Paradox

Women, generally speaking, will be out of the workforce for a few years due to caring needs placed upon us from raising children and for looking after frail parents. Superannuation earnings could be short by $232,500 because of time out of the workforce.

Women who are generally the primary carers, are disadvantaged providing a service to society by not earning, let alone not having additional super contributions made^.

Women, on average, have a longer life expectancy than men. Retirement is at 65, however, with a women’s life expectancy at 83, we’re living on average 13 years without income, relying upon superannuation.

Considering, there isn’t enough super accrued for women, there will be a strain put on the demand for the government funded pension.

Demands on the pension also strain our health care system as pensioners cannot afford private health insurance.

Solution, women will have to work well past the retirement age.

However, who will hire an employee over 60 and at their appropriate skill and qualification level?

References:

http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/a-million-in-super-wont-be-enough-20130923-2u978.html

http://www.theage.com.au/money/super-and-funds/women-treated-as-secondclass--citizens-20130702-2p8vw.html

^ - The Labor government under Gillard introduces a ‘Low Income Superannuation Contribution’ for people earning up to $37,000/year.

http://ministers.treasury.gov.au/DisplayDocs.aspx?doc=pressreleases/2013/045.htm&pageID=003&min=brs&Year=&DocType=0

Work 2.0

The concept of 'work' and the way our workplaces function is a construct invented by males.  Women initially joined the workforce and started paid work as a result of most males leaving to go to war.  It was hoped that the women could 'fill in' until the men came back.  When the men came back, a slight concession was made for women to be able to enter paid work until they were married. It wasn't till 1950's and 60's that women were embarking on a career for themselves.

Jumping forward to present day 2013, there is a push to have greater representation of women in organisations; on board of directors, in senior management and in typically male dominated industries such as engineering and transport.  The diversity agenda (in Australia) is firmly being pushed.

Knowing that women have only been active in the labour force for over 50 years and that women still experience a 17.5% inequality of pay, can women really be given a fair go in an environment that has been typically male dominated and designed?

What if we turned things up-side-down? What would 'work' and our 'workplaces' look like if we could re-do it?  What if it were up to women to redesign the way work would work?

Over the last few weeks I've given this a bit of thought.  Here are some of my ideas.

• Joint or job sharing CEOs (leading by example is the best way to make it seen as a norm)
• Fully decked out HUB offices opening up across the city (instead of just in CBD, Sydney has a number of areas where these could open)
• Flexible work arrangements for ALL employees  
• Extend school hours till 4pm and provide less homework (the hour in school makes up for the hour doing homework but also provides parents more time at work)
• Additional sick leave days provided to those over 50 (government funded)
• Typically female dominated professions are paid much higher, entice more males into those industries
• Weed out the idea of 'gender based professions' and what constitutes gender based activities. Young boys and girls should grow up equally wanting to be nurses, teachers, researchers as well as accountants and electricians.
• Bonus not tied (or completely tied) to individual performance but to the organisations performance
• Rewrite job descriptions - take out the fluff, make it easier to understand and also make it easier to work out; part time and job sharing programs
• Having suits (and ties for men) as dress code
• 24/7 access to offices/work spaces/Hubs
• Superannuation paid for all types of leave (including; parental and long service)
• 24/7 childcare facilities
• Childcare facilities are available in proportion to where employees are located
• Improved 2-way loyalty between employers and employees
• Centralised services (I.E. procurement, admin, payroll, tax, professional development advisers) for small to medium sized businesses.  No one wants to mitigate red tape when they should be growing their business
• Laptops not desktops, greater utilisation of software, social media, video conference and communication tools.
• Proper job-for person program for skilled migrants/people on 457 visas.  No point in them coming here if there is no job directly available to them.

Will some of these become a reality with the implementation of the National Broadband Network? Through greater numbers of women on boards and government? Technology such as Google Glass going mainstream? Who know what will happen, but keep watching, it's going to be well beyond the offices and cubicles we know!


References: 
1. http://www.womensagenda.com.au/talking-about/editor-s-agenda/re-imagine-work-could-you-make-it-better-work-for-you/201306072285?utm_source=Women%27s+Agenda+List&utm_campaign=04ac0fd79b-Mon+03%2F06%2F2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f3750bae8d-04ac0fd79b-30603413
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_the_workforce
3. http://www.hcamag.com/hr-news/looking-for-the-ideal-worker-time-to-wakeup-177367.aspx
4. http://www.womensagenda.com.au/talking-about/top-stories/the-cost-of-being-female-64-extra-days-at-work/201309022823#.Uih1pByUlpc.twitter

Advertising on Underbelly

Ever since I can remember, I was always looking up.  Up in the sense that, as I heard the roar of a plane fly above, I would always look up. I'd wave to the plane as my mum would tell me and my siblings to, "say hi to Granny", even though Granny would have flown back home 3 months ago. Slightly older, my brother and I would play the 'guess what plane' that is game. Ah, some things never change, I still play that game, with or without my brother around.

When Emirates started flying to/from Australia it was literally a game changer.  Not only did Emirates have their identifiable tail, but they also had emblazoned on the plane's belly, EMIRATES.

Of course, this also made the 'guess the plane' game so much easier.  No more waiting for the plane to turn, no more tilting my head at awkward angles.

However, after all these years, the only other plane that I see often that also has an inscribed underbelly is JetStar.  In this day in age where all spaces are for sale, how could such a prominent place on a plane be so under utilised?

I did some research and found that only a handful of airlines capitalise on this space.  These include: Emirates, JetStar, Air Berlin, Virgin Atlantic, Fiji Air, Solaseed Air, Qatar Air and Air Asia/Air Asia X.

Utilising this space on the underbelly of the plane would be a marketers dream!  I know that it costs money to paint and maintain it, and that paint is heavy, detracting away from the cargo/passengers it could carry, but it seems priceless.  The brand would exposed to so many people in so many countries.

Surely I can't be the only one in the world who looks up every time a plane flies overhead.  What a missed opportunity!




References:
http://m7.i.pbase.com/g4/89/584089/2/52450667.Emiratesnewunderbellylogo.jpg
Had a little help from my mates who helped me I.D. what other planes have their name on the plane's belly

I designed my "Air Ayesha" at the following site - http://www.skies-unlimited.com/conceptdemo.aspx#/?mode=&item=0