“Although the goals in this book are important, it’s really your ideas, talent, and energy that will keep Valve shining in the years ahead. Thanks for being here. Let’s make great things.”

Valve, the company responsible for the ever-popular “Half Life”, “Portal” and digital shopfront, “Stream” has released their new employee handbook for public viewing. Read it here:  …

I live in Melbourne and in my opinion Melbourne is at its best in autumn. The sun is shining, the air is cool and crisp and the trees are a sight to die for – lane ways of yellow, fire orange leaves glowing through the sun. For those that also live and work in Melbourne, you will know exactly the magic I am talking about and will be able to picture the story I am telling you – you’ve seen it, you’ve felt it, you get it! For those of you that have never been to…

When I conduct leadership or management training programs I am always curious to see how participants define the term “Performance Management”.  Many have described “performance management” as needing to deal with staff when staff are under performing and need their performance managed. Some have even used the saying “putting them in the naughty corner”.

 I cringe! 

In the late 80’s when I was in Corporate Human Resources…

There are multiple, worldwide organisations which are solely dedicated to bringing results to businesses that are desperate to motivate their employees. Whether it’s in order to drive sales higher or improve customer service relationships, all corporate objectives can be linked back to the will to pump up motivation levels in staff, as this is where most of the success…

After the retirement of a respected and long serving senior leader, his new bright-eyed replacement newly selected for the position visited the team.  The arrival of the thirty-something female whose career had been fast paced and widely reported was met with eager anticipation.  Not only was she completely different from the outgoing leader; she had a liveliness about her, which together with her highly acclaimed reputation, gave off an air of professional brilliance.

Upon her…

Lets go on a journey together and using the Seek online jobs site wander through the bits and bytes of the virtual employment market and discover how some recruiters and their clients favour prejudice over experience.

Seek has about 70 per cent of Australia’s online job listings. Unfortunately, in my experience, it takes little action to remove ageist or discriminatory recruitment ads.

It states that under its terms and conditions that “You (the advertiser) agree that it is a…

August. Part way through the calendar year, and smack dab in the middle of Winter. To ensure your organisation doesn’t lose sight of the goals and objectives set earlier in the year, now is the perfect time for a mid-year check in to review progress-to-date with employees. These discussions can help to ensure employees are engaged in their work and provide a proactive channel for addressing any issues that may be hindering progress on goals.

Consistently engaging employees in…