Whether it’s your first time out or you’ve been on your feet giving presentations for the past 25 years, everyone wants the same thing. It doesn’t matter if you’re the CEO or the trainee marketer.

‘The Game Changer’

We hear it every…

The workplace landscape is changing. Flexibility in working arrangements combined with readily available technology means that 9-5 desk jobs are only one of a range of work scenarios. Increasingly, I speak to people who travel from location to location so often their most common work environment is their car, or those who work from home or FIFO or any combination of working…

Words are one of the most powerful tools we all have at our disposal. Words convey our thoughts and feelings, they build and tear down relationships, and how we use our words sets us apart from others. Words and hence the collective language we use also help define cultural and group norms. Think about it. Do you have certain phrases or words that you use just with your friends or your team at work? Are there certain words that have different meanings to them when used with your partner? In…

Just the word ‘conflict’ brings up emotions that have us want to change the subject. It brings up memories of broken friendships, damaged careers, sleepless nights, heart palpitations and the list goes on.

Conflict however is not going away as long as people think in different ways and have different ideas. It's the way …

Lorraine McCarthy, Counsellor/Coach, Human Synergistics Australia

Someone who describes themselves as moderate to high on Competitive Style 'likes to be seen and noticed'. Often this desire is largely unconscious but it provides a strong motivating force and constant energy to maintain. Some of the Styles items give us an idea of how much energy: 'tries to maintain a sense of superiority', 'tries hard to impress others', tries to be too successful'. So much trying! It…

Frontline leaders need to be put in a position where they can do the most good, where their natural abilities will be helpful rather than a hindrance to the team. The term weed is often used in gardening circles. What is considered a weed in one garden is a useful plant in another. It all depends on what the plant is required to do. In other words, what role it needs to perform. Match the qualities of the plant and the part it plays in the garden and you have a great…

The business world today is undoubtedly a vastly different place to how it was 20, or even 10 years ago due to the ongoing tech evolution which has transformed the way in which we operate.

Officeworks has partnered with prominent tech expert and media figure, Trevor Long who has identified ways in which technology can enhance productivity in the workplace and combat tempting tech distractions.

A. Apps for that

Did…

3 Considerations For Organisations When Employees Work From Home

Working-from-home (‘WFH’) has become very acceptable for many roles in the workplace and for many people a necessity (for family reasons) or even a perk to the job. Most people that exercise this opportunity claim they are much more productive due to the lack of interruptions and downtime experienced in a standard office environment.…

Effective people balance warmth with power. What I mean by these two terms is:

Warmth = your ability to exert kindness or altruism towards others

Power = your ability to dominate and have an influence over others or situations

While at the heart of great leadership lies a sense of like-ability, support and assistance, having too much warmth actually diminishes your effectiveness in your personal productivity and…

A complaint or grievance should not be considered valid only when an employee puts their concerns in writing. It used to be considered ‘dangerous’ for a manager or HR to act on an informal complaint that was not in writing. Having seen examples of this in practice, I consider it more dangerous for the manager to know of the situation but have a ‘hand’s off’ approach, justifying this by saying, ‘there’s nothing in writing’.

It is good practice to ask a staff…

A real buzzword in HR at the present moment in history is ENGAGEMENT.

You hear it everywhere – around the conference circuit, at management meetings, on consultants’ lips, at the water cooler, in HR news, in the Twittersphere and on it goes…Are our employees engaged with this business, and if not, how can we…

One of the very first questions we ask delegates at our Mindful Presenter training workshops is what in their opinion are the key characteristics that make a ‘great presenter’? Without exception the lists are always very long and very similar.

The top 10 we see time and time again…

As part of the Government’s 2015 – 2016 budget, Treasurer Joe Hockey announced that the Government plans to end the “double dipping” by some working parents who may have had an entitlement to receive both their employer funded and the government funded paid parental leave schemes. 

At present, primary carers can access 18 weeks of pay at the minimum wage (currently, $640.90/week), as well as payments provided by their…

There are occasions when events from our personal lives cause us to focus our professional lens on an issue and…

Anybody that viewed the recent 4 Corners 'Slaving…

HR professionals are increasingly playing an important role in ensuring workers' wellbeing, as awareness grows about the impact of health on productivity and performance.

In the articles below, I outline the lessons and outcomes from three successful initiatives employers have conducted.

Start small to improve productivity and wellbeing

Many employers are filled with "dread" at the thought of tackling the widespread problem of unhealthy sedentary behaviour among…

One of the biggest headaches to most business owners is finding the right staff.

As HR experts you'll know that recruitment, onboarding and training costs can easily run into the thousands of dollars.

Yet despite your best efforts sometimes things just don’t work out as planned.

So why do talented employees exit early?

Was it poor recruitment?  Possibly.

Was the…

Choosing the right people to develop into frontline leaders is vital to the success of your organisation. Get this step right and you make the process of turning them into effective leaders much easier for everyone involved. So how does your organisation rate in terms of identifying the key characteristics to look for?

Just as you wouldn’t go to your local nursery seeking out seedlings for your garden without understanding what a healthy one looks like, it makes no sense to select…

You know what’s difficult? Leaving a good job. When you’re fortunate enough to work for an employer that treats you fairly, offers competitive compensation, and provides job security, that’s usually the trifecta. But not for all.

How long do you really have before you make that all important first impression? Is it 5 seconds, 10 seconds or perhaps a little longer?  Researchers at Princeton University believe that it takes only one tenth of a second for someone to judge us as soon as they see our face.

That may be…