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INSIGHTS

5 Ways Companies Can Make A Difference

By AGCADMIN

After the past year, many companies are reflecting on their values and how they can make a positive impact in their communities. Finding better ways to interact with the world is not just good business sense, but helps a company become a positive force, leading to a more sustainable, thriving community for everyone.

Collaborating with employees and stakeholders to develop benchmarks that include everyone’s input helps motivate all toward these collective goals. It’s important to review your company’s progress toward your goals on a regular basis.

For example, at Nordstrom, Inc., their 2020 Sharing Our Progress report assesses the company’s accomplishments and reflects on the progress they’ve made against their 2025 goals. Over the next five years, they’re working to achieve specific outcomes, creating new programs in response to customer and employee expectations.

Here are five important ways your business can make positive changes.

1. Environmental sustainability

Customers today desire eco-friendly, sustainable products. From recycling and reducing packaging to energy conservation and decreasing your company’s carbon footprint, changes big and small help the environment.

For example, in 2020, Nordstrom Made brands reduced their single-use plastics by 13 million units. The company also launched BEAUTYCYCLE, the first beauty take-back and recycling program accepting all brands of beauty packaging at a major retailer, with the goal to recycle 100 tons of beauty waste by 2025.

2. Diversity, inclusion and belonging

Companies wanting to ensure that employees and customers know they walk the walk when it comes to diversity and inclusion must review their products, services, hiring and business practices. Making sure everyone is welcomed within the company is vital to ensuring you’re serving the entire community.

One way to demonstrate your commitment to diversity and inclusion is to champion underrepresented brands. Last year, Nordstrom committed to $500 million in sales from Black and Latinx brands by 2025, and they made it easier for customers to find Black-founded brands online by launching a new category.

To better serve all their customers, the company also introduced Inclusive Beauty, a new category featuring a curated assortment of beauty products for everyone — regardless of skin or hair type, tone, complexion or texture.

Additionally, diversity should show up at all levels of a company. For instance, Nordstrom’s leadership is 60 percent women and its Board of Directors is 45 percent women, nearly 30 percent of whom are people of color.

3. Giving back to the community

For any size business, there are many ways to give back. From restaurants providing free meals to frontline workers to companies retooling their manufacturing setup to create face shields, giving back has been one of the most inspiring aspects of the pandemic.

Companies can also encourage employees to volunteer by offering days off for volunteerism, or to give to charities by offering a donation match. In 2020, Nordstrom gave more than $11 million, with $3.5 million to 3,615 causes through their employee matching gift program.

4. Supporting employees

Because the pandemic has posed so many challenges, companies wanting to retain talent need to ensure their business is a positive, nurturing place to work, even from home. Supporting employees is not just the right thing to do, it also helps your business grow and thrive.

Nordstrom has worked to ensure that their supply chain employees on the front lines were supported with the safest possible work environments, with enhanced pay and wellness resources.

Listening to employee feedback, the company also expanded flexible work solutions and added new caregiving benefits and mental health resources to help employees balance competing demands of work and family. Flex-work solutions included “no meeting” blocks, core work hours, reduced/part-time hours and job sharing. To help employees impacted by the pandemic, they also enhanced leave of absence options and introduced new benefits for caregivers — including back-up childcare options and elder care resources.

5. Global responsibility

While for some businesses global responsibility may seem daunting, it’s become clear that issues in one part of the world can affect people — and businesses — half a world away. It’s more important than ever to be aware of where the products you sell come from, and who is impacted by their creation.

Last year, 32 percent of Nordstrom Made products were manufactured in factories that invest in women’s empowerment, reaching 40,000 workers. Making a commitment to further empower women in developing countries is one crucial way to ensure your business is having a positive influence.

Learn more about how Nordstrom is working to make a difference at NordstromCares.com.

INSIGHTS

What Is The Difference Between Investment Management And Wealth Management?

By AGCADMIN

Investment management and wealth management – it is easy to be confused by these terms, especially since they are often misrepresented. What do they really mean, what are the key differences, and which might be best for you?

What is wealth management?

Wealth management looks at an individual’s finances as a whole and how they can be managed to achieve their long-term financial and personal goals. In addition to handling clients’ investments, wealth management encompasses a wide set of services, such as legal planning, insurance, accounting, and financial, charitable giving, and tax advice.

There are higher minimum asset thresholds, and one can expect to pay higher fees for the more comprehensive service. Although a good manager could justify this through the savings their service provides.

Advantages of wealth management

As wealth managers offer many of the services of an investment manager, their clients gain the same benefits. However, the additional services on offer mean that wealth management can provide further advantages.

Coherent Strategy

As wealth management looks at all aspects of clients’ financial affairs, it aims to provide a custom-made strategy to realize their objectives. For example, by combining different services, a wealth manager can find the best path to paying off a mortgage or planning for retirement, whilst avoiding tax inefficiencies or undue risk.

This holistic approach attempts to understand and predict how different areas of an individual’s finances interact and organize them appropriately.

Simplicity

A wealth manager can provide a single focal point for all financial matters. Rather than having a wide assortment of advisors, a wealth manager may replace the need for a separate financial planner or investment manager, for example.

Their breadth of knowledge also means that they can act as a guide for those less familiar with the practices and technical language that often surrounds financial services.

What is investment management?

The primary role of the investment manager is to advise on, organize and grow clients’ investments.

After discussing a client’s financial goals and acceptable risk levels, an investment manager assembles a portfolio of investments appropriate to their requirements. They then will keep clients updated on the state of their portfolio, offering recommendations and implementing changes.

Advantages of investment management

Investment management services sometimes require a minimum investment and come with a fee – generally a small percentage of the assets under management. However, they can offer numerous benefits.

Reduced Risk

With an investment manager constructing a diverse portfolio, assets are less vulnerable to fluctuations in individual investments. With hundreds of smaller investments likely spread across different industries and asset classes, if one performs poorly, others are likely to compensate.

Convenience

If the client desires, they can acquire a wide range of investments with the minimum effort, making it ideal for time-poor individuals. As the paperwork and day-to-day running is taken care of, much of the stress of investing is removed.

Higher Returns

One of the biggest advantage is that you can gain the knowledge of the professionals. The best investment managers often have a wealth of experience and worldwide networks which can help them spot the best opportunities and reach better results.

Investment managers also have abilities that most individual investors do not. For example, they can increase their buying strength by pooling together several clients’ assets, with each benefiting from the greater yields.

Which is best for you?

Which service is most suitable will largely depend on your net worth and the type of assistance you require. Whilst a wealth manager offers more services than an investment manager, it is generally only available, or necessary, for the most affluent clients, with the wealthiest even receiving fee discounts.

Therefore, if you simply wish to see your investments grow, without the difficulty and risk of handling it yourself, gaining the services of an experienced investment manager could prove fruitful. However, for those with a higher net worth and a complex financial situation, the comprehensive methods of wealth management may be the best solution.

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Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Tze_Li/2519707

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