Not Another Boring Retirement-Planning Story

Retirement is overrated; the glamorised vision that the advertising industry likes to portray of grey-haired, beautiful people sipping cocktails on yachts and penthouse balconies is mostly a con. Of course, there are a few who achieve and want a cocktail lifestyle when they retire, but you can bet your reasonably priced car that they are not in the majority. But just how can we ensure that we do retire comfortably? The truth is that a startling 94% of the South African population will retire with less than they need. So, the life of leisure and indulgence that many people fantasise about will, in all likelihood, never materialise. Most people will have no choice but to continue working well into their 60s. However, there is no need to collapse into a heap of despondency; we just have to reframe our thinking about retirement.

 

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The Science of Happiness at Work

Ensuring that your people are happy at work means that they will work to their optimal ability and boost performance, says the iOpener Institute for People & Performance of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. This it has proven by its Science of Happiness at Work™ programme, which was developed following years of rigorous, global research. This unique understanding of the tangible items that link happiness at work to performance reinforces what we instinctively knew: that our people truly are the most important asset in our organisation. But do our actions echo this understanding? Unfortunately, as women, we can unintentionally overcompensate for our lack of masculinity in the workplace by demonstrating less-than-favourable behaviours that only detract from our team’s happiness and productivity levels. But what are we trying to prove? In fact, perhaps the way to the top – the way to best infiltrate the Boys’ Club – might be the very opposite.

 

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Journey to Success

While many of the world’s developed economies continue to stutter in the wake of the global recession Africa finds itself on the threshold of strong economic growth. To take advantage of this opportunity it will not only need physical resources, but strong business leaders who are equipped with a high level of commercial acumen. “There are certainly exciting times ahead for the continent,” shares Professor Elmarie Sadler, Acting Executive Director & CEO, Unisa Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL). “Our expertise in distance learning is well-known and from that viewpoint alone I think we will have a role to play in developing business skills on the continent.” With some 50 Doctor of Business Leadership (DBL) students in Ethiopia – who benefit from monthly contact sessions with SBL staff – it is clear that Sadler is not simply going to wait for opportunities to arise – she is going to go out and find them.

 

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Debunking 6 Myths of Consumerisation of IT

The proliferation of powerful consumer devices, ubiquitous services and easy-to-use applications has led to radical changes in business and workplace technology. Analysts and media commentators have called this trend the ‘consumerisation of information technology’ for the way consumer technologies are exerting more influence on corporate information technology departments. Like many technology trends, however, certain misconceptions have also emerged. Manoj Bhoola, Managing Director of Avanade South Africa, debunks these myths and misconceptions. A new Avanade survey of 605 C-level executives, information technology (IT) decision-makers and business unit leaders in 17 countries has found an unstoppable shift in the use of consumer technologies in the workplace and significant IT investments being made to manage this trend. The report challenges six commonly held myths regarding the consumerisation of IT that South African IT decision-makers need to factor in to their thinking, especially given that we are a nation of early technology adopters.

 

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