For many Ugandans, the gold found deep underground in the hills of Mubende District was a lifeline. But a few days ago Ugandan soldiers armed with tear gas shut down the Mubende mines, saying they were illegal.
The miners and their families were told they had just hours to evacuate the area – but many have been left stranded and with no means of earning an income.
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Regulators must remain “very very” vigilant about the risks to the economy, former chancellor Lord Darling has told the BBC – 10 years on from the start of the financial crisis.
He said a rising level of consumer debt in the economy was a growing concern.
Lord Darling was speaking on the 10th anniversary of the 2007 crash, which led to the government spending billions of pounds rescuing major banks.
He said the financial system was now safer but warned of “complacency”.
“The lesson from 10 years ago is that something that can start as apparently a small ripple in the water can become mountainous seas very quickly,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
The Labour peer said that over the last seven or eight years the economy had grown with “the odd stutter”.
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However, he said he was concerned it was now starting to slow down again and that Brexit was causing “massive uncertainty”.
This, coupled with rising levels of consumer debt, should “raise alarm bells” for an economy so dependent on consumer spending, he said.
“When interest rates go up, and they will go up, if not this year then certainly next year, and suddenly people find they are going to be paying more in their monthly payments, that’s when you need to watch out.”
Lord Darling – or Alistair Darling as he was then known – became chancellor of the exchequer in June 2007, two months before French bank BNP Paribas famously shut down several investment funds citing problems in the US securities market.
This is widely viewed as the start of the financial crisis, and the former chancellor recalled: “As in every other treasury in the world, problems in the financial industry simply had not surfaced.”
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Over the next few years the government was forced to step in as global financial markets seized up and banks stopped lending to each other.
It nationalised some lenders and provided tens of billions of taxpayers’ money to prop up banks such as RBS that otherwise would have collapsed.
“In the early stages it looked that there was just a problem with [the bank] Northern Rock,” Lord Darling said.
“However, it became clear as we went through August of 2007 that more and more banks were becoming reluctant to lend to each other – which was extraordinary at that time – and that there was a more deep-seated problem.”
“Probably the most scary moment” of the crisis, he said, was the run on RBS by its corporate customers in October 2008.
“I had to go to one of these meetings of European finance ministers, and I was asked to come out and take a call from the then chairman of RBS [Tom McKillop] who said the bank was haemorrhaging money,” Mr Darling said.
“Remember this was not only the biggest in the world, it was about the same size as the entire UK economy.
“I said to him, how long can you last? And what he said to me shook me to the core. He said, ‘well we’re going to run out of money in the early afternoon’.”
If the government hadn’t intervened quickly, Lord Darling said, “there would have been blind panic throughout the entire banking system, not just in the UK but around the world”.
He said banks today were much better capitalised than in 2007 and regulators “more sharp and ready to intervene”.
But he warned the next crisis was likely to come from “somewhere unexpected and from causes that haven’t yet been identified”.
“The biggest danger is complacency. And of course in a few years’ time when institutional memories start to fade, and the people around have all gone and retired, then that’s where the risk occurs.”
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We remember people who tell stories because, as psychologists and neuroscientists tell us, stories form the basis of how we think, organize and remember information. Stories can also move people emotionally and motivate them to buy.
It may surprise you to learn it’s not about your company telling your story. In story-based presentations, the target customer is always the protagonist.
Make the customer the hero of your story, with you simply playing a role in your customer’s story, and you’ll get the desired reaction from your audience — being memorable and creating deeper engagement and sales.
The protagonist of a story needs to be someone we relate to, care about and want to see succeed.
Here are the first three criteria for selecting your best case studies to engage your audience:
Here’s the thing with finding the best stories for your presentation: You must do your research. When you put your time in and do your research, you’ll know which stories will become more compelling and relevant to your audience.
Your research should include a study of your audience’s background and needs. You can ask the promoter of the event, or you can review the prior year’s event to get a good grasp of the attendee profile. A great tip is to search for old hashtags from previous events to get a sense of the type of people that will attend your presentation.
Analyze the event to find out who the other speakers are and get a good understanding of who the companies and organizers are. Facebook and LinkedIn are wonderful places to do this research so you can build audience profiles that will help you find stories that are relevant to them. If you were to speak with a women’s group, find stories related to women; if you are going to talk to doctors, find case studies on doctors or even chiropractors or dentists.
You want to appear as relevant to your audience as possible in the best way that you can. Think in their perspective or from their walk of life; bring stories that allow your audience to walk alongside the person within the case study. Telling stories that embrace diversity gives validity to your presentation. It is about maximizing your opportunity by being as relevant as you can to audiences that are male or female, young or old, or from different races and nationalities.
People love a great underdog story — there is magic in transformational results that gets a crowd to buy into the story, which will also translate into sales. Your case study should be very results oriented because at the end of the day, your offer provides strategies to get them from point A to point B successfully.
It isn’t much of a case study if you cannot identify the transformational changes from where the client started to where he is today — which should be where your audience wants to be as well. The criteria of transformational results in a case study are important because they allow the audience to buy into the opportunities that are also available to them. They can relate to the beginning of a tough journey but gain hope, knowing that amazing results are waiting at the end of the road for them as well.
I recently sat down with Ron Sheetz, a relationship and trust marketing strategist, who spends a majority of his time working with private practice professionals and creator of the “Transfer of Trust Triangle,” to discuss “the journey.”
Sheetz says, “People can instinctively identify testimonials, which, in a traditional format, doesn’t really further the cause. A better way to build rapport, trust and take the audience on a journey is by exploring the prospect’s pain. Instead of asking for an open-ended testimonial about you or your company, guide them with them specific questions related to the common objections, challenges faced and how they were able to overcome them.”
He also shared his three-part formula for capturing the most effective testimonials from clients and patients:
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Drivers are avoiding parking spots that require payment by phone as cash remains a more popular way to pay, according to the AA.
The motoring organisation’s survey suggested that seven out of 10 motorists would keep driving rather than use the “pay by phone” meters.
It argued that administration fees and automated calls put people off parking in these bays.
But councils said that paying by phone was a quick and convenient option.
In more than 16,000 responses to a survey, many AA members said they were unhappy about administration fees at phone paying bays.
Nearly eight in 10 pensioners said they would drive on rather than use them, the same proportion as drivers on low incomes.
Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA, said: “Not only can it be a struggle to find a space but now, when you do find one, you may be required to talk to an automated system to pay the charge – not ideal if you have an appointment or just want to get in and get out quickly.
“All providers should make it easier to pay for parking. Not everyone has a smartphone to pay via an app and not everyone is keen to talk to a robot to pay for an hour’s stay. For the elderly and low-income drivers, pay by phone feels almost discriminatory.”
It argued that while many drivers preferred to pay in cash, there was disgruntlement that some machines did not accept the new 12-sided £1 coin and others did not give change.
A spokesman for the Local Government Association, which represents local authorities, said: “Councils offer a variety of ways to pay for parking, and paying by phone can be a quick and convenient way to do so.
“As the AA’s own research shows, 76% of councils in England have already converted the parking machines they are responsible for to accept the new £1 coin. Others are well on the way towards doing so.
“Having a range of options to pay for parking, for residents and visitors, is the best way for councils to serve the needs of their local communities.”
The AA has also left itself open to accusations of mixed messages by criticising phone payment parking spaces on the same day as it unveils its own card payment system for small businesses.
In the marketing for its new Card Pay project, it says that “cash is a thing of the past for 62% of UK small businesses”.
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Media giant Walt Disney plans to start its own online streaming services for movies, shows and sports in a shift aimed at bringing productions directly to consumers.
The plans come as the firm grapples with falling television subscriptions and challenges from online video.
It will launch an ESPN-branded sports service early next year and a Disney streaming service in 2019.
The firm also said it would also cut some ties with Netflix.
The company made the announcements on Tuesday as it reported an almost 9% fall in quarterly profits.
Disney boss Robert Iger said the streaming services “mark the beginning of what will be an entirely new growth strategy for the company”.
The start dates are for the US services, but Mr Iger said Disney expects to make a similar push in other markets around the world.
The firm also plans to increase its investment in movies and television series to produce more original content for the streaming service.
Netflix will lose access to streaming rights to new live action and animated movies from Disney and Pixar starting in 2019. Netflix fell more than 3% in after hours trading.
When employees are under-performing, it’s easy to attach to them the blame for the problem. However, performance management is more complicated than that.
Related: What Bad Managers, Good Managers and Great Managers Do
What happens, for instance, if the problem with employee performance has more to do with management than the employee?
While this scenario can create an awkward and difficult situation, there are other reasons why it’s crucial to know if your managers are actually hurting your employees’ performance. Two of them: Not only will overall productivity be hurt, but you could also lose quality employees.
Here are some signs for leadership to look out for to determine whether managers are actually causing performance-management problems:
The relationship between employees and managers has a direct impact on retention. In fact, Gallup’s State of the American Manager report in 2015 found that 50 percent of the professionals who responded said they’d quit a job to “get away from their boss” at some point in their career.
If employers have a smooth performance-management process, turnover shouldn’t happen at rates as high as that. But if those employers see top talent start to jump ship, they’ll know it’s clearly time for a change.
Management may be pushing “A” players to leave for a number of reasons. Perhaps managers are overworking staff or making promises they don’t keep. Employees might also feel stuck because managers aren’t helping them to learn and grow, or they may feel unnoticed because they are never recognized.
To identify what managers can improve on, ask employees for feedback on their direct supervisors and upper management. Conduct anonymous surveys regularly, so employees can be honest without fearing repercussions.
Related: 5 Signs It’s Time to Fire a Company Manager
Also, encourage managers to host open discussions with their teams at the end of the week. Employees can reflect on what they need management’s help with. Managers can then use this direct feedback to become better leaders.
Employees want to work for managers they trust and respect, which is why relationship-building is vital to the company’s performance-management process. Otherwise, employees may feel left in the dark and disconnected from leadership.
This manager-employee relationship has a direct impact on morale. Some of the biggest issues managers face come from strained relationships.
As an Officevibe poll found, 31 percent of employees participating said they wished their manager communicated more frequently with them, and 63 percent felt that they didn’t get enough praise. The takeaway is simple: Employees want more open communication and transparency, and they deserve more recognition.
Otherwise, morale will likely drop, and productivity stall. So, embrace transparency at your organization by hosting weekly huddles, where employees share their accomplishments. They should announce what they succeeded at, and colleagues should celebrate them and thank them publicly.
Tailor recognition programs to your workplace culture. For example, if employees thrive in friendly competitions, start a tiered rewards program, where employees can earn prizes as they hit specific goals.
Great managers inspire and motivate their staff to be their best self every day. When this happens, employees respond well to the feedback, and performance continues to improve.
On the other hand, when performance stops improving and employees disengage, it’s time for employers to assess all of the factors contributing to the workflow. If managers are too hands off and distance themselves from the front lines, employees may feel disconnected from their responsibilities, and unnoticed.
Managers often overlook the value of one of the most important aspects of the performance-management process: monitoring employee performance and developing talent. If this is happening, teach your managers how to gather performance metrics and share this data with each employee.
Performance data is valuable because it gives managers and employees a visual of what “success” looks like. Conduct ongoing performance evaluations that involve this data, and incorporate goal-tracking. That way, talented individuals can see their personal progress and strive for an objective that is realistic and clear.
The performance evaluations delivering this data should be ongoing; so, advise managers as to what specific anniversaries they can schedule them around. It’s important to check in with these managers regularly, so start with monthly reviews.
Hopefully, then, talent will become more engaged because these individuals will see their day-to-day performance start to improve. This will motivate them to go the extra mile.
Related: Here Are 4 Problems That Occur With Poor Management Skills
Plus, these one-on-one meetings will build a strong rapport between management and their team. When companies develop a deep respect and trust internallly, between their lower and higher levels, the performance-management process becomes easier to follow — and employees thrive.
Entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes, and the younger generation is more eager than ever to join the ranks of successful entrepreneurs. In fact, 72 percent of high school students and 64 percent of college undergraduates surveyed by Millennial Branding said they had dreams of someday starting their own businesses.
Related: How You Can Identify and Optimize Nonprofit Partnerships
Still, when it comes to starting a business, the classroom isn’t a perfect substitute for real-world experience. That’s why it’s more important than ever for established companies to insert themselves into the startup ecosystem in ways that can help them achieve their own objectives while developing the next generation of business leaders.
Generation Z (those born after 1995) wants more than just the opportunity to run a company; these aspiring entrepreneurs want to change the world. Sixty percent of those polled in a survey reported by Marketo said they wanted a job that would impact the world, and 76 percent were worried about humanity’s impact on our planet. So, if brands want to help young entrepreneurs succeed, they should start by helping them help others.
Many companies today are helping to foster entrepreneurial growth by creating partnerships with a variety of nonprofit organizations, including ones related to their core business.
For example, Meltwater, a global media-intelligence company headquartered in San Francisco, established the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) in Ghana in 2008 as a Pan-African training program, seed fund and incubator for aspiring tech entrepreneurs.
Every year, the nonprofit arm of the company selects high-performing graduates from across the African continent to participate in a fully sponsored entrepreneurial education program that lasts two years. The company has developed its nonprofit organization with the goal of creating opportunity, rather than simply providing charity.
Like a growing number of companies, Meltwater is investing in its own long-term success by fostering the growth of tomorrow’s leaders. Prudent business leaders will recognize the explosion of interest in entrepreneurship as an opportunity to do the same. For CEOs and founders looking to tap into the possibilities of the booming startup ecosystem, here are five strategies to consider:
Related: How Your Business Can Build Lasting Partnerships With Nonprofits
Research shows that mentorship can go a long way toward improving the odds of an entrepreneur’s success. While half of entrepreneurs fail without a mentor, 88 percent of founders in a survey (reported by the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance Summit) who said they had access to one or more mentors went on to start a company that survived.
Many Fortune 500 companies, including major financial institutions such as American Express and the Bank of America, are turning to mentorship programs like Year Up when searching for new talent. The nonprofit organization helps young adults from low-income families learn the skills they need to launch successful careers at top companies.
By starting a mentorship program, you’re creating more than just an outlet for corporate social responsibility. You’re equipping future leaders to take advantage of a lifetime of opportunities.
One of the most effective corporate scholarship programs today was created by Coca-Cola more than 25 years ago. The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation awards an achievement-based scholarship to high school seniors who show a special capacity for learning and service to their communities.
Since its inception, the Foundation program has awarded more than $63 million in educational assistance, selecting 150 scholars each year. Not only does this type of program demonstrate the company’s commitment to giving back, but it provides ongoing opportunities for people who otherwise wouldn’t have them.
The University of Missouri has taken entrepreneurial education to a new level with its Entrepreneurship Alliance. The program places an emphasis on teaching not only the technical skills offered in traditional college entrepreneurship courses, but also the less tangible essentials, like risk tolerance, passion, self-confidence and vision.
Business leaders may therefore contribute by funding student-led business initiatives, like MEST, or providing direct education and guidance to students dreaming of becoming entrepreneurs. Either way, they can cultivate innovative thinking within their own organizations while equipping future founders with the tools they need to succeed in the real world.
The University of Missouri’s Entrepreneurship Alliance offers students plenty of chances to connect with forward-thinking companies, and other schools are following suit. The University of Florida Career Resource Center, for instance, has been ranked among the best in America by BestColleges.com. Recruiters surveyed by the Wall Street Journal have said they love the fact that the school offers several annual career fairs, in addition to an online resource that helps students figure out how to turn their interests into careers.
Networking is a critical part of achieving success as a startup founder, and, like schools, companies can play a big role in opening doors for young entrepreneurs. Companies can leverage existing business relationships to introduce young people to different types of work and different industries. Even if your company isn’t hiring, helping qualified candidates make meaningful connections within your network can pay off down the road.
Samsung, the world’s largest electronics company, works to advance education with its global citizenship program, Hope for Children. Through Hope for Children, the company partners with a variety of nonprofit organizations dedicated to improving the quality of life for kids around the world.
While a global impact is impressive, if you’re just starting to develop your own opportunity-building program, consider supporting the educational institutions close to you. Donating materials is a great way to build a relationship with a school or teaching program. Eventually, you can expand your involvement to provide more hands-on services and direct engagement with entrepreneurial students.
Related: Why ‘Gen Z’ May Be More Entrepreneurial Than ‘Gen Y’
The time to act is now: The sooner you become involved in cultivating entrepreneurial talent, the sooner that involvement will have a positive impact on your own company and the lives of others. Many companies make it a point to tell the world about their charity efforts and corporate philanthropy. But when you provide future leaders with opportunity rather than just charity, chances are you won’t have to tell the world. They’ll do it for you.
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Softbank’s chief executive has said he is considering investing in Uber or Lyft, as the company eyes a move into the US ride-sharing market.
Masayoshi Son made the comments to the media as the Japanese technology giant reported a 50% rise in quarterly operating profit.
It is the first time the group has said it is interested in Uber.
Softbank has already invested in Asian ride-sharing firms Grab and Didi Chuxing.
Mr Son, who founded the company in 1981, described the US as “the most important market”.
“We are interested in discussing with Uber. We are also interested in discussing with Lyft,” he said, but added that he hadn’t decided “which way” to go.
“Whether we decide to partner and invest into Uber or Lyft, I don’t know what would be the end result,” he said.
“We are definitely very much interested in the US market.”
Softbank has already shown an appetite for ride-sharing and backs China’s Didi Chuxing.
Last month, the company joined with Didi Chuxing to pour $2bn (£1.5bn) into Grab, South East Asia’s most popular ride-hailing firm.
As an early investor in Alibaba, Mr Son has a reputation for spotting potentially transformative industries and trends.
In 2016, Softbank partnered with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund to launch a technology fund worth as much as $100bn.
The company also has stakes in a number of British technology firms including virtual reality firm Improbable.
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Older people’s income has received a massive boost from private and workplace pensions in the last 40 years, official statistics show.
In 1977, only 45% of retired households received income from a private pension, compared with 80% last year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
As a result, the income gap between those only getting the state pension and other pensioners had grown.
Overall, incomes have grown faster for older people than for the young.
The disposable income of retired households grew at 2.8% a year since 1977 after accounting for the rising cost of living and changes to household composition, compared with growth of 2.1% in non-retired households.
Much of the recent debate over a generational divide has centred on the future of the state pension and the fairness of its “triple-lock” guarantee of annual rises. This ensures an increase in line with earnings, inflation, or 2.5%.
This report by the ONS instead puts a spotlight on the effect of other forms of pension for household incomes, particularly revealing the benefits of final-salary pensions.
Excluding the state pension, it shows that those with a private pension had average pre-tax income (also including wages and investment returns) of £19,000, which is 14 times higher than those who did not receive any private or workplace pension income.
Adding the state pension and the effect of taxation cuts the gap. However, the disposable income of retired households with a private pension in 2016 was still £27,800 – higher than the £17,200 of those without a private pension.
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State pension calculator – check your age and entitlement
Pension poverty was rife in the 1970s. The ONS said that four-fifths of retired households had an income that was the equivalent of less than £10,000 now. Only 4% of retired households now have an income of less than £10,000.
Workplace and private pensions have been key to that shift, but so have pensioner benefits including the state pension.
Anna Dixon, chief executive at the Centre for Ageing Better, said: “We have seen a dramatic and necessary reduction in pensioner poverty since the 1970s. Being financially secure is a key part of a good later life.
“However, these averages mask inequalities. In particular, the growing disparity between those who have been able to save into a private pension and those who have not.”
So, incomes in the last 40 years have grown thanks to final-salary pensions, yet the next generations of pensioners are unlikely to have access to this type of pension. Separate figures published on Tuesday show that final-salary pension funds were in a collective deficit of £180bn by the end of July.
Instead of being linked to their salary, their pension is much more likely to depend on the success of how savings are invested.
Automatic enrolment means that workers aged 22 and over and earning at least £10,000 are signed up to a workplace pension. By the end of March, nearly 7.7 million people had been automatically enrolled into a pension scheme.
Patrick Bloomfield, of Hymans Robertson, said that this was a good platform for pensioners of the future, but it currently ensured “thoroughly inadequate levels of saving”.
He said politicians’ eyes were open to the need to increase this saving, but he argued that the state pension age needed to go up, and working lives extended, as we were all living for longer.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: “Today’s ONS figures highlight the importance of using the state pension as a solid foundation for people to build their private pension savings.
“With more than 10 million people expected to be newly saving or saving more through a workplace pension by 2018, we will continue to help people to plan ahead for a more financially secure retirement.”
Communications provider KCOM has been fined £900,000 after flooding caused by Storm Eva led to the failure of 74 emergency calls.
Ofcom found “serious weaknesses” in the Hull-based firm’s emergency call service which meant people in the area could not make calls to 999 or 112.
The regulator found it had broken rules to ensure people can contact emergency services at all times.
KCOM operates the main telephone and broadband network in Hull.
It is the only UK city not served by BT’s Openreach, which controls the telecoms network.
Read more about this and other stories from across Yorkshire
Ofcom said KCOM notified the regulator on 28 December 2015 that its emergency call service for the Hull area had failed for around four hours.
It said the failure was because of flooding at one of the BT’s telephone exchanges in York in the wake of Storm Eva.
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However, Ofcom found that all emergency calls from customers in that area relied on the flooded telephone exchange in York.
Under Ofcom rules, the telephone and broadband operator should have been able to automatically divert emergency calls via back-up routes.
The investigation found that although the firm did have back-up routes in place, these also relied on the flooded telephone exchange in York.
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Ofcom said KCOM created an alternative route to carry emergency calls that bypassed the flooded telephone exchange in York within two hours of identifying the problem.
The regulator said it expected telephone companies’ services to be resilient enough “to the greatest extent possible” to connect emergency calls at all times, even in challenging circumstances.