On Thursday, October 1^st, five of Canada’s provinces raised minimum wage.  Among them is Alberta, whose government has a plan in action to raise minimum wage to $15 by 2018.  The purpose of this increase is to attempt to decrease the amount of poverty-stricken homes, improving the quality of life for many citizens.  I think that this idea is not going to be as effective on Canadians as the government hopes.

When raising minimum wage, small businesses with a low profit margin will struggle to stay running, or be forced to raise prices.  If the business doesn’t raise the price of its products or services, they may be forced to lay off workers, which would only make Canada’s poverty problem more prevalent.  On a larger scale, multimillion dollar companies who have thousands of employees would lose a significant amount of profit.  It would only make sense for these companies to raise sale price of their services or products in order to compensate for their profit loss.  This would only further increase the cost of living, creating a viscous cycle of increase in living expenses and increase in minimum wage.  In Canada’s current economy, Canadian companies cannot afford to be struggling to make a profit.  If Canada is going to increase minimum wage, we need to make cuts in other places, and many companies can’t do that right now.

Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/five-provinces-hike-minimum-wage/article26618941/

In the article Why Sweden is Shifting to a 6-Hour Work Day, the author discusses the concept of workers being more productive with a shorter work day.  The concept is built around the idea that the workplace will be more productive if the employees have time for life outside of work.  By spending less time at work, some businesses believe employees will be happier and more creative on the job.

I think the idea has its merits, but depends on the nature of the business.  For companies looking for innovation in their employees, shorter hours may benefit.  For example, an app developing company would likely benefit if the workplace was a positive and creative environment.  Personally, I find I do better work if I’m under the pressure of a time limit.  In a working environment, I often find myself trying to kill time waiting for the day to end.  The thought of having a shorter work day would definitely make me more productive while working on projects.

However, for companies that have employees in warehouses or doing maintenance work, the shorter time at work would probably not be as effective.  These jobs have little room for employees to make significant innovative decisions, and workers are generally less than optimistic about their jobs.  In my home town, a significant amount of people work in a nickel mine.  They work 10 or 11 hour shifts for the most part, and cutting hours only means less progress.  The company encourages overtime, so I couldn’t see them switching to shorter hours any time soon.

Source: http://www.fastcoexist.com/3051448/why-sweden-is-shifting-to-a-6-hour-work-day

In the article Mind-reading Marketing, Ann Handley explores 6 secrets about the human brain that are helpful when advertising a product or portraying a message to the public.  I found truth in these “secrets” from my own personal experiences as a consumer.

The first secret is that our brains react faster than they think rationally.  Handley stresses that by aiming for a gut-feeling to be felt; you are increasing the likely-hood of the viewer buying the product or receiving the intended message.  For example, the “It Can Wait” anti-distracted driving campaign does a very good job of aiming for the gut.  I recently saw an advertisement on campus that consisted of a wrecked car and a bold text message that was left unfinished.  It made me feel upset, in turn discouraging me from texting and driving in the future.

The next 3 secrets Handley shared had to do with images.  She concludes that viewers love images of faces, and that the colours in an advertisement inspire certain attitudes.  I found these remarks to be true, especially advertisements bringing attention to poverty or hunger.  The ads generally have black backgrounds with little to no colour, as well as a person with an upset look in their eyes.  This creates a somber mood for the viewers.

The last 2 secrets had to do with the wording of both the name of a product or service and the hooks and slogans used.  Many insurance companies use these secrets to their advantage, boasting how many people already trust their firm.  They also use words with positive connotation to name their brand (such as Allstate and Progressive).   This creates a positive attitude toward a company the viewer may not even know much about.

Source: “Mind-reading marketing” by Ann Handley, Entrepreneur Magazine Sept. 2015

Image Source: http://sfglobe.com/?id=898