Nothing exposes a company faster than asking a few simple questions—especially the kind that can’t be answered with a pie chart. I recently ran a masterclass for a university executive team starting with my usual introduction: In the last 12 months: One participant blinked at me like I’d asked him to reveal his internet search …
Brutal Facts, Blunt Truths, and a Few Corporate F**k-Ups! Read More »
Micromanagement drains managers’ time, blocks skill development, and suffocates initiative.. Here are my 6 steps to create a high-performing workplace.
To fill unfillable vacancies often requires a quantum shift in thinking. Take the French government who have launched a major national initiative for the employment of applicants of 50 years and over. Their stated goal was to give new visibility to experienced workers and extend their career paths and the campaign includes conferences, changing the laws and public policy and improving access to jobs via retraining. You may be an ‘oldie’ but you’re now officially a ‘goodie’ in Paris.
Attracting, hiring, and keeping great people remains a priority challenge for businesses of all types and sizes across the nation. Yet often corporations create roadblocks that proactively undermine their own recruitment process, and ultimately their own profits. Two examples of roadblocks popped up during the recent Australian federal election: 1. Non-Compete Clauses I know, reading …
One of the more common phrases bandied about in the business world is ‘hire slow, fire fast’, the strategy that one should select new employees with forensic caution and cut ties with non-performing ones as quickly as possible.Yet this compelling statement has become one of the most misunderstood hiring strategies globally. Regularly deployed out …
Mountains of empirical evidence show that Best Employer companies achieve on average four times the profit growth of other organisations. They perform three times better when it comes to comparative stock market returns. The reality is that profits don’t create great workplaces – it’s the other way around.
The first time I realised that the way I thought about training was very different to many business owners came in a conversation I had with a neighbour some years ago. I told Mick, the owner of a large maintenance business that I’d spent the morning running a seminar. ‘Feeding the chooks you mean,’ he …
Effective Up-Skilling – Not Just Feeding The Chooks! Read More »
Last weekend my husband was lying on the couch reading the newspaper (yes, he’s still one of those people that actually reads them) when he drew my attention to a full-page colour hiring ad seeking workers to build the new AUKUS nuclear submarines. He knows I love talking about recruitment, so this was either some …
The Hiring Ad That Shocked An Electrical Company Read More »
When Victorian dairy farmers, Jim and Nancy, attended one of my masterclasses last year they were close to giving up their business. The 70-year-olds owned one of Australia’s largest herds, and were exhausted. Chronic staff shortages meant that after years of running a highly successful business, the couple were now milking every day and hadn’t …
What is the difference between an organisation that increases its profits by 80% in one year and one that loses 140 -180 employees every month? The answer often lies in attitude. Consider these 2 business case studies – one where management operate like Big Brother, and the other with a more inclusive, benevolent approach. The …