Worknow_Aotearoa_NZ

People are assets

I was moved today by a simple thank you from a friend…

thanks Renee for showing me I’ve something to offer

Perhaps I’m still a bit emotional from watching Avatar yesterday but her simple note made me cry because it reassured me that this concept – that People are Assets -  can and does make a difference in lives and communities.

This talented lady is currently my go to person for anything regarding the preservation of food. She is talented,  fun and generous with her time and knowledge.  She continues to teach and inspire me.

We volunteered together to provide a preserves workshop last year, in which she shared her time and knowledge about preserving. The connections made from that initial volunteer effort have lead to further connections and opportunities, in an ongoing movement toward community resilience.

It is people like this that make our communities stronger, happier and healthier places to live and enjoy life and I am immensely thankful today for these people who sustain my capacity  to live [work] & hope.

Sailing is an investment of time that I consider a rather noble pursuit but then I am biased because my dad was an avid sailor -  John Lee, Skipper of the Leeway – and he was easily one of the hero’s of my life.

leeway: To slip sideways downwind while moving forward.

Yet this adds weight to the fact that I’ve heard several people talking about sailing this year, from simply learning how to sail to planned journeys around the world.

And it is their sense of purposeful adventure and discovery that has inspired my thoughts on the direction of my personal endeavors as well as our company this year.

Time to change tack

I resolved earlier this year to keep a written journal, a common device of those sailing the oceans.  Indeed, I much prefer the creative process of writing ones thoughts vs blogging and I struggled immensely over the past week to find the inspiration to add value to our blog conversation so far.

Beside commenting on articles that inspire conversation or challenge my thinking it seems 2009 provided all the time needed to convey our vision, values and service. Upon reflection I realise that I have said all I need to say about Worknow and it is simply time to change tack.

Tacking – Basic sailing maneuver refers to turning the bow of the boat through the wind so that the wind changes from one side of the boat to the other side.

While we maintain our heading, we now power up the sails with the stories of those with whom we collaborate and whose bearing impacts on the work that we do.

Indeed, it is only through the collaboration and support of people, with the vision and creativity to apply Time Trade as a tool to encourage volunteering in their own community, can we hope to reach our way-points.

Ready About

I hope to increasingly use this blog to share the story of those that serve our communities in the most direct sense of the word. I hope, like me, you will find their stories inspiring and thought provoking.

Most importantly I hope to convey the conscious, collective community spirit under which these people and teams operate in order to inspire and encourage us all  to volunteer our time and talent on a regular and ongoing basis.

Using the simple tools now at your fingertips just imagine what we can achieve, what change we can effect and the difference we will make when we work now, together for causes that benefit us all.

It’s great to see the people sharing their talents

“…Talent is always conscious of its own abundance, and does not object to sharing…”Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Whether you need help around the home,  at work, in business or you’re just looking to expand your repertoire of skills there’s a growing range of time and talent on offer.

Creating opportunities for others to help

Now, everyone likes to be able to help other people because it’s a good thing. Yet apparently we are not so willing to give others the opportunity to help us.

True fact though people; every single one of us has something to learn from others.  If you aspire at all to helping other people please consider this.

One of the kindest things you could do for another person may simply be to help them feel needed by allowing them the opportunity to help you.

With time trade one’s own motivation to help others comes second. It’s about putting the needs of others before myself by focusing less on the need to be needed – who can I help?, how can I help? – and more on outcomes that can only be secured by enlisting the time and talents of others – how can another persons talents, skills and time help me and others?

It would be great to see every member contribute at least one Time Request in an effort to provide others the opportunity to help.

Thanks to your feedback

And on that note I have to say again a big thanks to everyone that has offered feedback on the beta site. I’ve added all your thoughts to the user voice forum We are working on implementing you’re suggestions so keep them coming. This week thanks to your feedback:-

• The loop hole that allowed people to create multiple responses on a single trade has been closed. Now when you view a trade in the Marketplace that you have offered or accepted time on you will have a link to “view open trade”.
• We have added a “My Posts” page to your Workspace to make it easy to view and edit all the trades that you have posted. It’s pretty basic right now but it’s the basis for an evolving history of all your trades.

Changes to Work Flow

• Where as before you could begin trading simply by hitting the “offer time” or “accept offer” buttons we think it makes sense to begin by starting a conversation, right? So you now create a message before you hit the button.
• By default trades remain visible in the marketplace but you can now hide or display listings instead of deleting and creating new ones. There’s now a link in the right hand column visible on your trades and posts.

“…Every great man is always being helped by everybody; for his gift is to get good out of all things and all persons…” John Ruskin.

Letter to IRD Re:Tax obligations for volunteer work experience

Dear Sir / Madame,

Thank you for your letter dated 24th September outlining the legislation upon which your advice is based. I now seek clarification on two points please.

1. We intend time trade to be a tool to promote, support and encourage people to volunteer in the community. For example;

• Sue Smith volunteers with the SPCA to walk a dog one afternoon. After the work is done the SPCA provides feedback for Sue’s online talent profile with the comment “Sue did a great job, she was on time and works well with animals” . They also credit Sue 1 hour for the 1 hour she volunteered.

• If charitable organisations use time trade as a means to provide recognition of volunteer work and offer constructive feedback on volunteer contributions will such an exchange be liable to any type of tax or GST?

2. We want to facilitate volunteer work experiences for young people and believe time trade provides a means to promote, encourage and reward volunteer work experience. However, if a business offers students Volunteer Work Experience for example;

• to shadow and learn from a business person
• attend meetings and take minutes or
• work with employees and contribute to a business project

And then use our time trade system to

1. place constructive feedback about the volunteer and;
2. credit the volunteer time in recognition of the time they volunteered

Would such activity be liable for Tax and GST?

Can you please clarify the treatment of these time trades for all tax or gst purposes. I appreciate your help to understand where our tax and legal obligations are on these matters. Thanks for your time.

Kind Regards,

Renee Lee
www.worknow.co.nz
renee@worknow.co.nz
+64 21 18 300 50

IRD Response Received 18 January 2010

On the basis that:-

• volunteer workers are freely undertaking volunteer activity within New Zealand chosen either by themselves or a group of which they are a member and
• volunteer activities do not form part of a business activity ordinarily carried on by the volunteer and
• a benefit is provided to the community or another person for which there is no intention of private pecuniary profit for the person

NO TAX LIABILITY ARISING

• the crediting of time to the volunteer and
• the posting of feedback on their volunteer contribution

IS NOT considered to give rise to an INCOME TAX or GST liability to the volunteer undertaking the work.

The time credit is considered to be a form of reimbursement of time and or costs that may have been incurred by the volunteer in undertaking the volunteer work, which is accordingly TAX EXEMPT

Our Beta is live!

www.worknow.co.nz Come check out the differences;-

• New Marketplace
• New Workspace
• Evolving talent profile now includes keywords.
• Ability to post and offer time.
• Plus Jamie’s design is live.

Please let us know what you think. Either via the Work Now forum or the User Voice Feedback tab located on the left side of your screen. Thank you all for your patience and support.

And so we begin! Happy Trading.

Renee

What is your greatest talent?

Everyone pauses when I ask this question. Um ah let me think about it… but the fact is we all have talents, and for the most part we know exactly what they are, we just don’t feel it is “proper” for us to promote our own strengths. But face it, if you don’t then who will? Trust yourself, first.

One of my greatest talents, gifted of God, has always been my ability for learning. I learn quickly and either pick things up or I understand what I am not interested in or good at. I like to learn my weaknesses. I question, I learn, I adapt.

Vanity is a weakness, so I’ll rephrase the question

What do you think is one of your strengths?

Strong is good, strengths we are allowed. At this point most people will admit to having at least one thing that they consider themselves to be good at.

Personally, I consider one of my strengths my ability to fall and get back up again. I have fallen hundreds and hundreds of times – off horses, downstairs and into the the path of moving vehicles. I’ve fallen out of favour, over myself, into people, plants and precarious places.

Hands up if you saw me fall and destroy the deck chair at Jamie’s BBQ and thought it was hilarious. While not exactly helpful I assure you it has the potential to entertain.

And for those still struggling to verbalise an answer in regard to talent or strength then how about this question…

What do you like to do?

Usually your talents, your strengths, are integral to activities that you enjoy doing, be it talking or listening, growing or gathering, building vs demolishing.

I love the outdoors and it makes a whole lot of sense that the time I already spend running or walking could be shared with others .  I love animals too so I’m happy to offer time to exercise people’s dogs.

Our is not to judge the talents we are given, our responsibility is to use them and what better way than by helping others?

Exchanging Talent & Time?

Time is one of the most precious resources we have. It is the great equaliser. In a world with an ever widening rift between rich and poor, the freedom and / or limits of time (depending on your view) remain common to us all. Seven days, 24 hours, 60 minutes.

Yet all to often we overlook the true value of our time. Contrary to our hopes, sometimes the more we try to do the less time we seem to find. Yet, when we take time to enjoy the here and now you often find that the more you value time for its own sake the more time you will have.

The point is simply that doing the things that you love, which often involve your strengths or your talents, is the best way to use your time.

What’s more there are people in our communities that need your talent. A helping hand a listening ear and open mind might make all the difference to someone else.  The question now is – how do you choose to value your time?

When time is not money what value can it be given?

A: An Hour

Time Trade is simply the idea of spending one hour using your talents to help others in your community. In exchange for one hour of your time and talent you receive an one hour time credit from the person you have helped, which you can then gift or exchange with other people for their time and talent.

What would you trade your talent and time to learn?

Helping other people, is a good thing. It makes us feel like contributing members of our society. That “good deed” warm glow comes from the knowledge that we have time and talents to offer others. This feeling is called being empowered.

To empower others requires recognition that despite our own talents and strengths, we too, need help from other people but while we all feel the need to “help others”  it is not always easy express when “I need help”.

If I could request time to trade I would like to learn to speak Maori.  I can’t surf to save myself so I’d love some lessons, I’d love to get out kitesurfing and  I’d also like to learn spanish. I have tried to learn by myself but it’s not working.

If you have the talent and time to help others please register to create your talent profile today.

Statistics New Zealand today released the Household Labour Force Survey showing a rise in unemployment over the September 2009 quarter.

Sadly those most effected by unemployment are our future leaders, business creators and workforce:

• 15 – 19 Unemployed 25.1%
• 20 – 24 Unemployed 10.9%
• 25 – 29 Unemployed 6.8%

For more information click  through to Statistics New Zealand articles for download

Job Crisis or Opportunity for Change?

Business Week  recently lead with a story entitled The Lost Generation discussing  the effects of the existing job crisis on young people in the USA.

the continuing job crisis is hitting young people especially hard – damaging both their future and the economy…studies show that an extended period of youthful joblessness can significantly depress lifetime income

As today’s figures show, youth unemployment is also a problem here in New Zealand. Yet,  suggestions around creating a sub minimum wage to encourage employers to take on young people  does little to empower or improve their future earnings potential. It simply undervalues their time, skills and talent and feeds into the downward spiral of lower lifetime income.

We see ways to empower young people, support Gen Y’s potential, harness their talents and help them discover their place in the workforce

“…We seem to have focused wrongly on building CV’s rather than building businesses…” Sam Morgan

We currently have a wealth of talented young people preparing themselves to be employed rather than cultivating talents which could drive economic growth through the creation of new business and new jobs.

Things are changing on the education front but we believe there is  opportunity to provide additional tools to help young people transition from study to work.

The solution we are offering incorporates work experience, education and elements of the traditional CV

1. We want to encourage Volunteer Work Experience as a means to build confidence and valuable work skills  so we are facilitating a system of Time Trade (a.k.a Time Banking) to encourage, recognise and reward volunteer activity.

2. A Peer Mentoring Community connecting Graduates with recent Alumni who can share with students of the same / similar discipline their experience of the study / work transition and highlight the real life opportunities available in the marketplace.

Where to look, who to talk to, which skills are important etc. Existing examples include the future in tech initiative to which we hope Time Trade could be applied as a tool for rewarding their career ambassadors.

3. We are using social networking tools and talent profiles to allow young people to build a living work history, a CV with a wealth of testimonials to their talent, skill and work ethic. A talent profile against which they can also be matched with volunteer and paid work opportunities.

Youth unemployment is a major issue but it’s reassuring to know that there are many community based organisations stepping up to help keep young people engaged in productive activity despite the fact of high unemployment.

Build your talent CV

…Let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1 KJV

My father always propounded the wisdom of patience. When I was 15 I thought it was a simple exercise; learn patience, be patient.

But now twice that age I realise that patience will test me all my life. It is my dads voice that I hear reminding me “patience is a virtue”. It’s a mantra, often at the forefront of my mind these days as we await the launch of our beta service.

Someone recently said to me the opposite of patience is not impatience, it is anger. And I agree because in my experience a lack of patience, much like a lack of forgiveness, is a negative burden if I allow it to become a ruling emotion.

The beauty with patience is that it keeps me sane, happy and at peace with the progress we are making.

Development has been slower than I hoped but patience helps reign in my expectations for achievement that by nature I tend to burden myself with.

Patience keeps me to open to new opportunity and seeking out the people, ideas and feedback that will help to develop and refine our service.

To everyone that has patiently awaited our beta service, thanks for checking out the alpha v0.3. While behind schedule we are only days away now from having the additional functionality and Jamie’s inital design live.

From then on in,  development of our service will continue based on the needs of participants and it’s with much anticipation that I look forward to your feedback.

Letter to the IRD Seeking clarification on the tax treatment of Time Trade

Margaret Jefferies of The Lyttelton Time Bank was very helpful on this point but to confirm the IRD stance on the tax treatment of Time Trade I was told I would need to submit a formal written inquiry. They said that they would respond within 60 days of receiving my letter. On the 23 June 2009 I wrote:-

Dear Sir / Madame

I seek written clarification regarding the IRD’s treatment of Time Trading in exchange for volunteer work.

Time Trading a.k.a Time Banking is simply about spending an hour doing something for somebody in your community, in recognition of which you receive one “Time Credit” which you can then gift or trade with other community members, in exchange for their time. It’s a simple idea, but it has powerful ripple effects in building community connections.

Worknow intends to facilitate Time Trading by providing an online system to automate the transfer of time credits between Community Members. Time Trading provides people with “time credits” equivalent to the amount of time they have spent volunteering. For example:-

I volunteer 1 hour a week to help run a Twitter campaign for an environmental action group because online marketing is my area of expertise and I volunteer to support their cause. In exchange for my time on the Twitter campaign; I am credited 1 hour per week for my contribution. With time credits I have three options, I can:-

1.Gift my credits to a charitable cause, community action or service group to be redistributed to other volunteers.

My cousin has a green thumb and a generous nature. In his spare time he grows a large garden and distributes fresh veges to families in need. In recognition of his contribution I can gift him my time credits.

Gifted time credits, he can then transfer these to a couple of local kids who volunteer to help him weed the
garden on Sunday’s.

The kids then seek out a community member to help them build their dream tree hut in exchange for the time credits they have accrued from gardening.

2.Trade my credits with community members in exchange for their time.

We often forget to put out the recycling on Friday morning so I offer to trade / transfer my credits to the kid next door; if he puts the recycling out for us on a Friday morning I will offer him 1 credit per month.

I also notice that a friend who is a trained masseuse is a member and ask for a massage in exchange for 1 time credit.

3.Allow my credits to expire

The potential uses for this system are vast. The question I would like you to clarify please is:

At what point does the IRD intend to tax people for the time they volunteer? Or tax those people or companies who benefit from volunteer services?

It would be helpful if you could please clarify this answer in respect of the scenarios outlined above, specifying please if the IRD treatment of volunteer time exchange, for tax purposes, differs depending on one’s level of personal expertise, form of employment or type of company vs. individuals involved. It would be helpful if you could offer scenarios that further clarify the IRD’s position on this concept of Time Trading.

I appreciate you taking the time to help us understand the tax legalities of this Community Support & Volunteer system and look forward to your timely response.

Kind Regards,

Renee Lee
Worknow Ltd
e. renee.lee@worknow.co.nz
m. +64 21 18 300 50
p. +64 3 455 3901

7 Bedford Street
St Clair
Dunedin.
Aotearoa, NZ
www.worknow.co.nz

After following up I was told by the IRD that my letter was received and that I could expect a reply by August 26th at the very latest as the IRD reserved the right to take up to 60 days to prepare and provide a written response.

Of course, August 26th comes and I am told that my letter had been overlooked because I sent it in during the “busy” time of year. The matter was escalated and finally after several more weeks of following this issue up, on the 24th of September I received a reply.

Letter from IRD in response to query submitted requesting clarification regarding the IRD’s treatment of Time Trading

1. The commissioner of Inland Revenue considers Time Trade a form of barter.
2. Time Credits give rise to a valuable consideration for work performed.
3. Anyone using Time Credits as part of any business activity must pay tax and GST on such transactions…based on the currrent market value of the work carried out.
4. If transactions occur outside of a person’s business activity they will not be liable to income tax or GST

“Therefore for those persons who do not undertake a business activity or those persons who undertake activities outside of their ordinary business activity would NOT be liable to account for such transactions”

IRD Scenario Example

A plumber who is registered for GST undertakes some gardening work for another person and receives a time credit for that work, would not have to account for this transaction. However, if the plumber provides time to repair a leaking tap, then any time credit arising for this transaction would need to be converted in to a cash equivalent and be liable for income tax and GST and need to be incorporated in the appropriate tax returns.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me on renee@worknow.co.nz as I have requested further details regarding supporting legislation and am happy to answer any question you may have.

Talents, we all have them

This simple fact is the basis for forming Worknow. Whether as a freelance contractor, outsourced supplier, trades person or community volunteer we simply wanted to make it easier for people to find, connect and work together.

Time Trade especially, is based on recognising that we all have talents that could be used to help others and recognises that networking technology has made it easier than ever to match need with talent.

From teaching someone a new laungage, to walking a dog, weeding a garden or lending a listening ear – someone somewhere, often closer than you think, needs exactly what you have.

What one talent could you share to help others?

Time, most precious

Time is our common, finite resource, which is what makes it such an effective measure of value. What you choose to do with your time, defines who you are and what we are suggesting is that by giving it away helping others, you not only become a contributing citizen but by law of karma, you may find it comes back to you when you most need it.

We are Social Creatures, we need Community

We believe todays networking technology can help harness the collective potential of communities, groups and dispersed teams. Indeed our Worknow team is evidence that todays social networking tools can bring people together to collaborate and create new projects, business and we hope work.

A social network [online community] enables participants to make themselves known to one another and to communicate more effectively. It allows one to establish their identity online, to post their credentials, and to provide other information for others to see. It also can track correspondence and behavior within the network, establishing one’s reputation and enabling an impersonal medium to serve as a tool for building a matrix of trusting relationships that can lead to collaboration and coordinated action on many levels Tom Greco

We are gathering a community of talented people willing to collaborate and build shared intelligence in more entrepreneurial and flexible ways. I invite you to join our journey today by adding your talents to the collective potential.