Weekly Digest – 16 September 2021

Auckland Lockdown Extended

The government has extended the lockdown in Auckland for at least another week to eliminate small delta variant outbreaks. On Monday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the decision to extend the city’s lockdown until 21 September.

From there, Auckland will move from level 4 to level 3, which means restrictions will be eased slightly but offices, schools, and public venues will remain shut. The government has also purchased 500,000 doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine from Denmark.

NZ Super Fund Posts Record Returns

The NZ Super Fund has reported its strongest ever investment return, as it grew by $15 billion or 29.63% in the last financial year, reaching $59.8 billion. However, its chief executive, Matt Whineray, warned the fund’s strong short-term performance was likely to be affected by increased inflation and rising interest rates.

COVID Support for Businesses Amid Level 4 Lockdown

Businesses impacted financially by this lockdown are being offered a range of support measures. You can find information on the COVID-19 website detailing the support available, or check out the details in our previous blog.

How Business Leaders Can Prevent the “Great Resignation”

The pandemic has turned our lives upside down, and many of us are responding by making significant changes in our personal and professional lives. With people becoming increasingly confident that they can find better work, the “Great Resignation” has ensued.

This Forbes article outlines some ways employers can stop the mass exodus:

Listen and learn. Gauge your employees’ well-being. Check how they’re doing on a regular basis and find out what they need for personal and professional growth.
Coach to mitigate burnout. Many people leave their jobs because of burnout. So review your wellness benefits or consider adding more. You might also want to identify at-risk staff and offer mental health hours to step away from work.
Invest in flexibility. It might not be easy for small businesses to provide extremely high pay, but you can at least offer work flexibility. If you can ease up on conventional standards of when and where your employees work, they are more likely to stay.

In a nutshell, it boils down to one thing: put your people first. If you need more focused business advice, get in touch with us today and let’s work out a plan!