19
 
9/07/2009
Awesome

I won $53 million last week.

That got your attention. Not really, but I did buy a ticket in the Oz Lotto draw in anticipation of winning $106 million - I would have been happy to settle for half - and nearly won when I got three numbers right, right? My $5 syndicated ticket returning the princely sum of 88 cents. Awesome!

Returning to collect my winnings, I slipped into the supermarket whereupon checking out I was greeted with "How’z ya day been"? "Fine thanks", "Awesome"! Gloop, gloop, gloop goes the scanner. "Whatchya doin’ on the weekend"? "I’m not quite sure yet". "Awesome - that’ll be $126.53, cash or card"? "Card please". "Awesome - savings, cheque or credit"? "Credit please". "Awesome - pin or sign"? "Sign please". "Awesome" Kahshing! "Have a nice day". "I’m sorry"? "Have a nice day". "Oh I’m sorry, I thought you said Ahmadinejad had just announced massive electoral fraud and declared himself unfit to lead the Iranian people". "Who"? "You know, Armour-dinner-jacket, the Iranian president, the captain of Iran". And finally, when the reels had stopped spinning, "Is he a soccer player"? (Please note: the actual conversation ended at the first "have a nice day", the rest of the paragraph I simply fantasized about).

However, the most infuriating part of this exchange was not the pattern engagement, or the lack of general knowledge, but rather the inappropriate and incessant use of the adjective ’awesome’ in response to everything I said, which clearly wasn’t. My 40 year old physiotherapist does the same thing, referring to everything as "gold", as in "that’s gold" and, even more disturbingly, he does this when he’s touching me! "What’s gold? Where? If it’s on me it’s mine"! Does he have the Midas touch or is he just obsessed with becoming Goldfinger?

The Iron Maiden of British politics, Margaret Thatcher, once said "home is where you come to when you have nothing to do". As Prime Minister of Great Britain, she may have personally won the Falklands War but did she win the hearts and minds of those closest to her? In direct contradiction, Harold B Lee, the eleventh president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints once said "the most important work you and I will ever do will be within the walls of our own homes".

Social anthropologists argue that the strength of "social structure" is dependent upon the strength of relationships among social roles (e.g. husband and wife, or parent and child) and social institutions (e.g. religion, economy, and politics). In much the same way as it is essential that we don’t leave the nurturing of our children entirely to the formalized education system, business owners and managers, who aspire to create a familial culture within their workforce, need to take on a parental role in the development of the "youngest’" or more "inexperienced" members of their team.

Nurturing, developing and supporting staff so that they truly understand their "role" and "value" to the organisation, means giving of your time to impart knowledge and expertise, observing their performance and providing feedback.

Only then will you know how awesome your staff really are.

Gary Hatwell
Executive Chairman

Tax Minimisation - A National Obsession

As Australians, we consider it our birthright to challenge authority, and our cultural obsession with beating the taxman is almost a national sport. Over the years elaborate schemes have been invented to minimise the payment of tax, and maximise taxation returns from the Australian Government. From the "Bottom of the Harbour" tax schemes of the 1970’s to the more recent and highly publicised Operation Wickenby, which has investigated the complex tax evasion strategies of about 40 high profile Australians, most of us view the ATO as the Sheriff of Nottingham and erroneously cheer on the exploits of those who present themselves as latter day Robin Hood’s - there’s a reason why he’s referred to as "robin’ (and a) hood", it’s his vocation not his handle!

But does anyone really need to engage in tax evasion or avoidance anymore, when "tax planning" is so comprehensively aided and abetted by the ATO? Tax planning is concerned with the organisation of a taxpayer’s affairs (or the structuring of transactions) so that they give rise to the minimum tax liability within the law without resort to the type of "tax avoidance arrangements" exposed by Operation Wickenby. Often this involves the choice of business vehicles which minimise the tax liabilities which may later come into existence. In other cases it may involve the use of options or tax shelters available under the Act. And yet, everyone can benefit as long as you pay attention to the change.

The beginning of a new financial year always brings into effect new tax measures, whether they are changes to personal income tax rates, depreciation rates or other business allowances. The following is a brief update on some of the changes that apply from 1 July.

 The complete version of this Status enews article, including useful links, is available here
 
EHP of the week
Kate

♦ Seeking retail or hospitality work
♦ Experience as sales assistant
♦ Driver’s Licence and reliable vehicle
Kate
ID: 2-01908
Kate is currently working in a supermarket as a part time deli assistant, but is keen to obtain more secure employment. She is seeking retail or hospitality work. Kate presents well and has a driver’s licence and a reliable vehicle. She resides in SEACLIFF PARK.
View resume to employ Kate today!
 

Employee Hot Prospects Lodge a vacancy online
Status Footy Tipping Competition

Footy Tipping prize for Janet Coster
Footy tipping prize for Janet Coster
It was a Michael Jackson moment to end round 14 at Etihad Stadium last Sunday afternoon - what a thriller! The game between the Saints and the Cats produced some outstanding football and certainly lived up to the hype, with the result determined in the last 90 seconds by one kick and one mark. Michael Gardiner’s mark reminded me of the mark Leo Barry took for the Swans in the dying seconds of the 2005 Grand Final to beat the West Coast Eagles by 4 points - the ex Eagle having his revenge, of sorts.

With St Kilda and Melbourne both winning this week, it wouldn’t have surprised not to have returned a perfect tipper. However, Janet Coster from Life’s for Living was right on the money this week with the only perfect 8 from 8 and, was the only tipper to perform as well as the Saints. So congratulations "Saint" Janet, you’ve certainly struck a bit of a purple patch having attended our mid year prize function at the Festival Centre a couple of week’s ago and now a weekly winner. Enjoy the celebrations and best of luck for the rest of the season.

To everyone else, better luck next round and don’t forget to check out the leader board. There are currently more than 80 active tippers in our competition and after logging into the AFL website, you can view your position on the ladder by selecting the Status Employment Services competition.

You can join the competition at anytime during the year and will be allocated all of the away teams from previous rounds as your starting position on the leader board. If you would like to join but are having difficulty registering, please contact our footy tipping administrator, Dora Zalunardo, on 8377 0101, and she will arrange for someone to step you through the process.

To review Status’ footy tipping competition details please click here.
 
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