This article was first published at themuse
We’ve all heard money can’t buy happiness—and it can’t buy total job satisfaction, either. If you want fulfilled employees, the answer is not to just keep raising their salaries (good news, right?).
Instead of using “carrot and stick” incentives, take advantage of employee motivators like job security, independence, and recognition of hard work.
Because, after all, the best things in life are free.
The Garissa attack siege that was staged by Al Shabaab militants has ended. 147 people perished in the siege.
This is according to interior cabinet secretary Joseph Nkaissery. According to Mr. Nkaissery, one KDF officer, one police officer and two guards perished in the attack. “There were only four attackers and they haveall been killed,” said Mr. Nkaissery.
Mr. Nkaissery said that the Garissa terrorists had strapped themselves with bombs, which blew up during the counter attack by security forces, further aggravating the number of fatalities.
More to follow…
Garissa Attack: The ministry of Interior Security and Co-ordination of National Government has come out to say that the gunmen who staged a siege at Garissa University have been cornered.
According to a response tweet on the Garissa Attack sent through the ministry’s tweeter handle, the gunmen have been cornered in one of the four hostels at the university.
“Of the four hostels, three have been evacuated. The attackers have been cornered in one hostel and operations are on-going,” said the tweet.
This came as 16 bodies were reportedly taken to Garissa Hospital Mortuary. According to CNN, Al Shabaab terror group has claimed responsibility for the Garissa Attack.
The attack is said to have occurred at around 5.30 am during morning prayers at the Garissa University College mosque.
Students have explained that they may have spotted more than five gunmen.
Sporadic gunfire is still on-going at the university.
People speak very differently depending on their audience. You might tell your friends things that you would never share with your families—and you use very different language with your colleagues than you do at home.
This filtering—or catering to different audiences—is something you do naturally, without even thinking about it. However, you’re less likely to apply the same logic when speaking in front of a group.
The trick is getting to know your audience. In fact, it’s the number one thing you should do before you agree to headline an event, choose a topic, or embark on your research.
What Kind of People Will Be in the Room?
If the event organizer doesn’t know who’ll be there, ask for the attendee list. If it doesn’t exist yet, ask for the list from the previous year’s event. You’ll be able to see from the job titles and companies what the level and industry of the audience is.
Ask yourself: Are these the kinds of people I should be speaking to? Are they potential clients or customers? Are they potential investors? If the answer to all of these questions is “no,” think carefully about why you’re agreeing to the event. Preparing a presentation or a speech takes a long time, and delivering it takes huge emotional energy. Only expend time and energy on public speaking gigs that deliver your message to your target audience.
What Are They Excited About?
Now that you know who’s in the room and what they might be afraid of, try and find out what gets them excited. If it’s an industry that you’re less familiar with, ask the event organizer or an industry expert if there are any big trends to be aware of.
As you may know, storytelling is a big trend in speechwriting and presentations at the moment—and it’s one I personally use to generate excitement. Another insider tip is discussing the latest thing. Try to give your audience some new insight to take back to the office and share with their colleagues. (Bonus: It will also position you as a thought leader who’s ahead of the curve.)
source: themuse
Texting a colleague generally depends on how casual your relationship is, what you’re texting the person about and what this person’s seniority level is. Texting is fairly personal. Indeed, our phones have become an extension of our personalities to some degree, and texting a form of direct messaging. The problem with texting, however, is that it can lose context. Consider the following rules of etiquette.
Texting your boss
Texting your boss has become increasingly necessary, especially when an issue is urgent or needs to be resolved quickly. When you do text, you should be communicating simple messages such as meeting times and places. Or text when the message requires an immediate response or requests a coffee meeting. Never text bad news about a contract, an important decisions (“Quitting. Sorry!”) or a message that includes abbreviations. Everything should be kept professional. Of course, you should always respond to any inquiries the boss texts to you.
Texting your team
In general, you should be cautious when texting team members. These messages may depend on age, gender, personal relationship and even hours. Everything you write might be relayed to other team members and to leadership. Screenshots can be taken of everything you write and passed on, then taken out of context. When in doubt, be professional.
Texting your prospect
This is a hotly debated topic in the sales community. Texting your prospect is dependent on the type of rapport you have, whether this individual has given permission and where in the sales process you are. Never cold-call through text messaging. Many people believe that text messaging is still a personal communication that requires urgent attention, and that texting people you’re soliciting business from when you don’t know them is considered gauche.
Texting networking colleagues
For the most part, networking colleagues whom you’re exchanging business information with can be fair game. Starting with email is traditional, typically. But people who are networking may be excited about helping each another with business development. So this relationship often escalates to texting fairly quickly. Once again, your texting relationship depends on gender and age. Younger members of the same sex are more likely to find it appropriate.
NAIROBI (Reuters) – Two people were killed and more than 20 wounded on Thursday when gunmen stormed a college in the northeastern Kenyan town of Garissa, near the border with Somalia, the country’s National Disaster Operation Centre said.
Some students were trapped inside the college campus, it said.
The wounded were all taken to hospital, with four in a critical condition. Most had gunshot wounds, it said on its Twitter feed.
When he was only 27- years -old, Aly Khan Satchu was appointed director of Global Business at Sumitomo Bank in London.
That was the culmination of a combination of epic self-drive, guts and determination that had always been his philosophy from a tender age. Aly Khan Satchu, who owns Rich Management data firm, is a common fixture on Al Jazeera, CNBC, CNN and a host of other local and international media outlets where his incredible understanding of economics, investments and financial markets is highly sought.
The story behind his achievements is as unconventional as the man is today. After studying law at the University of Durham, Aly Khan Satchu suddenly decided he did not want to become a lawyer.
Instead, the man chose a field that had always fascinated him as a boy – investment banking. “It started as an innocent fascination for numbers which I loved to memorize. As I grew older, I developed a keen interest in the performance of the financial markets,” says Aly Khan Satchu.
After university, Aly was so desperate to get a foothold in the financial markets that he accepted the lowest job that he got.
“It was a clerical assistant’s job at Credit Suisse and it was an incredible challenge,” he says, adding that he nevertheless approached his new job with so much gusto that he was promoted within the year.
It was however too little for the ambitious Aly Khan Satchu who quickly realized it would take a long time for him to ascend to the high office that he so much craved. “I wanted to play with numbers and for that, I could have given anything,” he says.
He did get a chance and while most would have hesitated, he swooped for it eagerly. “I was asked by my immediate superior to take a certain document to the vice chairman for a signature. I could not even wait for the lift, I ran up the stairs and there was Mr Joan Becke.
This was a man so powerful within the investment banking circles that a small wag of his little finger could have got me fired in an instant. On the other hand, his high authority meant that he was just about the best chance I could ever get to the top.”
Aly Khan Satchu requested Mr Becke to allow him 10 minutes of his time. “He looked baffled and curious at the same time. He ushered me to a seat and I straight away hit him with the direct question of how much his brokers were making.
I already knew they were on crazy money but I could not believe they made such phenomenal figures,” says Aly of the $2 million a year salaries brokers were making then.
Aly then requested Mr Becke to give him the broker’s job for the same six dollar an hour he was making at the clerical section. He also asked to be fired if his performance was deemed unsatisfactory.
Aly did so well that in only three months, his job was confirmed with all the perks to boot. But Aly Khan Satchu could not stop.
“Brokers had the minimum annual target of one million dollars. In only my first full year, I had blown the Credit Suisse annual performance record straight off the water,” says Aly, who attributes his sterling performance in life to being brave and working hard.
“When you have a focused mind, when you have no frills about putting in a shift, nothing is impossible,” says Aly Khan Satchu. He is also an NSE licensed data vendor and has a website which gives real time trends as they happen at the exchange. His investments are expansive and varied.
“Primarily, I am a money market investor. Forex, when well mastered, is the best bet to make an investor a lot of money in this cyber age,” says. “I also buy gold, silver and some carefully selected stocks in all the main stock markets in the world.” Satchu believes that anybody who has a well-structured strategy can excel in the world of investing.
Have a master plan
“Warren Buffet was doing newspaper rounds as a boy. When he was only 11, he bought his first 3 shares in the City Service Corporation. Because he started small, was focused and he had no unrealistic expectations, he is now amongst the world’s richest men.
But you mostly see people come into the market without a strategy and with a crazy expectation of becoming overnight millionaires. Yes, I know a guy who sold a cow and is today a multi-millionaire. But he came in with a master plan and that is the ultimate basic,” he says.
Aly Khan Satchu could not reveal his fortune but industry sources claim he is playing in at least the hundreds of millions league. That, for a guy who was only a decade or so ago breaking his back as a clerical assistant is very impressive indeed. “If you look at the amount of money that is changing hands out there, you have to aim for billions to be a serious investor.”
His advice on what makes a successful investor; “Do your research well and ignore all the hype. If I were buying my first shares now, I would only consider new markets like Rwanda where the opportunities for future growth are massive. I would also look to invest in the forex markets where the opportunities for good returns are much better than stocks. Most of all, I would only spend less than I earn”.
Imenti Central MP Gideon Mwiti spent Wednesday night in police cells after he was arrested over rape and assault allegation on a journalist in his private office in Nairobi.
This was after final results on tests that were to confirm allegations on him turned out positive, officials said. Police had said they had finished their probe and were set to charge him.
The investigators had asked MP Gideon Mwiti to report to Parklands police station for “further briefing on the way forward” on Wednesday evening when he was informed he was under arrest.
MP Gideon Mwiti is expected to be taken to court on Thursday. “He will be charged in court on Thursday,” said an official aware of the case.
The team comprising two officials from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions had Friday visited the scene of the crime as part of their investigations.
Apart from the woman, the team has also recorded further statements from other witnesses including a driver who ferried the woman home after the attack on March 21 and a security manager of Pizza Gardens.
MP Gideon Mwiti was also last Thursday grilled for the second time over claims he assaulted and raped a woman in his private office in Nairobi.
The fresh grilling was ordered after the DPP representatives who said the initial statement by MP Gideon Mwiti was not consistent and had gaps. A 29-year old journalist has recorded a statement with police saying MP Gideon Mwiti had forced her to take a HIV test and then raped and assaulted her in his office in Westlands last Saturday night.
With its udder seemingly about to burst, the dairy cow named Kayole leaves its shed walking in measured steps as if it is in a beauty contest.
It stands at a wheelbarrow full of hay on the farm in Naivasha and starts to chew the fodder before it is led into a milking shed.
It it is about 4pm and this is the third time its handler is milking the Friesian cow that is the toast of the farm because it produces an average of 40 litres of milk a day.
“Its big udder makes it difficult for it to walk, thus, the measured steps that have made some of my friends describe it as proud,” says Geoffrey Kinyanjui, the owner of the farm.
The animal is his favourite at the farm that hosts 28 dairy cows, 11 of which are lactating, each producing an average of 25 to 40 litres a day.
Kinyanjui attributes the difference in milk production between Kayole and the others to feeds and genetics.
The thirst to supply milk to neighbours and earn extra money to boost his earnings made Kinyanjui venture into dairy farming in 2010. Living in the peri-urban Kayole estate in Naivasha, getting fresh milk was a challenge for residents. Kinyanjui saw a commercial opportunity.
Armed with Sh140,000, the draughtsman bought two dairy cows from a farm in Kinangop after building a shed.
“The two cows produced more than 40 litres per day but this was not enough to supply to my clients,” he recounts.
With demand rising, Kinyanjui increased his herd about a year later to four.
However, that proved to be only a temporary measure as demand for milk kept on rising.
“I realised that the only way to satisfy the demand was to go commercial by increasing my herd and expanding my zero-grazing units.”
His architectural background came in handy. He built modern zero-grazing units on a quarter of his three-acre farm, which also doubles as the family homestead.
CLEANED TWICE A DAY
The beauty of his architectural ingenuity is laid bare as one enters the zero-grazing unit.
Each cow has a cubicle for feeding, with the troughs made of concrete. The resting cubicles a few metres away, on the other hand, ensure the comfort of the 28 animals that have multiplied from four in the past five years.
“I have two full-time workers who clean the pens every day. A pen must be cleaned even twice a day to remove dung and slurry which cause diseases like mastitis,” says Kinyanjui, adding that his cows have not been affected by major diseases due to good hygiene and because he contracts a veterinary officer to check on them regularly.
The lactating herd gives him an average of 250 litres a day that he sells at Sh60 a litre in Naivasha Town.
MAKING YOGHURT
He feeds the animals mainly on hay he buys from Delamare Estates and other concentrates amounting to the 25 per cent of the daily ration as recommended. He sells some of the milk raw and adds value to the other by making yoghurt.
“I have contracted several farmers from Kinangop who supply me 1,800 litres of milk for my yoghurt business. I have been making yoghurt manually, processing 800 litres a day, but I am in the process of acquiring a mini-plant valued at Sh10 million to boost my production to 8,000 litres,” says Kinyanjui of the processing plant located in his farm.
To make yoghurt, he uses the following ingredients: fresh milk, food colours and flavours. They are mixed, heated and then cooled. His yoghurt, which is certified by the Kenya Bureau of Standards, is branded Queency and he sells half a litre at Sh70 in Naivasha and in Kiambu.
“I am yet to (meet the needs) of any of my markets, but I remain hopeful that the purchase of the mini-plant will be my turning point.”
Kinyanjui says he has hired four fully qualified Dairy Training Institute graduates to help produce yoghurt.
His greatest impediment remains frequent power outages, which he says slow his production capacity. The current dry spell has also hit hard the milk production of farmers who supply him with the produce, making him cut yoghurt production.
The farmer further sells heifers at no less than Sh200,000.
Kinyanjui has diversified his business into water purification, riding on the success of his dairy unit.“From my healthy dairy farming bank account, I was able to secure a loan from the bank to undertake water purification.”
Though still nascent, the Sh1 million business looks promising as the farmer has sunk a borehole and has started selling purified water at Sh30 for a 500ml bottle, pulling another first among the community members.
“Currently, my market is mainly Naivasha Town, but I am in the process of looking for distributors to market my Queency water brand.” Dr Titus Lanyasunya, the director of the Dairy Research Institute in Naivasha, says making homemade yoghurt is an easy process that any farmer can do to boost his earnings.
“You need to heat the milk to 72 degrees centigrade for at least three minutes or until it starts to bubble. Stir the milk gently as it heats to make sure the milk does not boil over. Heating the milk changes the protein structure so that it sets as a solid instead of separating thereby improving the consistency of the resulting yoghurt. This is the basic, but one needs lessons particularly on using food colour and flavour.”
Ten members of the Facebook page Young Nairobi Stock Exchange Investors have earned Sh. 10 million net profit after selling their Safaricom shares. The ten investors are the first to form an investment group under the page.
According to sources close to the admin of the Young Nairobi Stock Exchange Investors, the investors opted to sell their shares yesterday when the counter hit an all-time high of Sh. 19.50 per share. They had bought their shares at Sh. 13 per share a week ago.
Speaking to Bizna, the excited Young Nairobi Stock Exchange Investors members urged the other 9,000 members in the group to come together and form a stronger investment Young Nairobi Stock Exchange Investors group, through which they can invest at the NSE. “We have made a 100 per cent after investing Sh. 5 million last week. This is proof that we can earn more if we came together,” said the members.
This was an April Fool’s Day edition, dedicated to the group Young Nairobi Stock Exchange Investors!
