In case you thought we hadn’t made any progress in the way we manage and hire people, especially women - have read of this article from several decades ago on how to get the best out of women in the workforce. I particularly agree with the need for women to wash their hands and [...]

A good friend and small business owner was complaining last year that she could not find a simple book that helped her understand how to effectively structure an interview and what questions to ask. The seed was planted.
I’m pleased to say the book of interview questions - The Interview Question Bank - has now been [...]

I attended a breakfast this morning where leadership guru - Avril Henry - was speaking.
After interviewing 110 of Australia’s finest leaders (from non-profit, SME, corporate and government) she identified 9 characteristics that these leaders believed “made” effective leaders:
Great leaders……

have an appetite for learning and development - they see it as a core focus, not [...]

Have you ever wondered why the people in your team don’t seem as motivated as you do? Or why some people do their jobs with enthusiasm and vigor, and others barely get through the day without taking the frown off their faces?
You are not alone. The topic of human motivation has been studied for hundreds [...]

So here we are and welcome to 2008. I can confess to having felt very ambivalent to getting back to work until this week. But the readiness is creeping back in - helped somewhat by the 2-day business planning session I am facilitating for a client on Thursday and Friday.
More on planning in a [...]

The desire to reduce the duration and number of useless, time-wasting meeting is - I believe - universal. Earlier this week the Financial Review reported on a European survey that found:
“long and pointless meetings are the main cause of office rage”
And if people look like they are paying attention in meetings, they are equally as [...]

Our friends at Hudson have just released their latest quarterly report, having interviewed over 7000 people around Australia on the topics of Engagement and Retention. Here’s a quick summary of the key findings. To read the full report, click here .
Most commonly utilised initiatives aimed at retention:

flexible work options - [...]

You’ve all heard the legend. You know - those studies that suggest that women out talk men by almost 3 words to 1. Well it looks like these differences may be a myth. Someone actually decided to test it by using Electronically Activated Recorders (EARs….) that track conversations.
396 people had their conversations recorded for up [...]

Last weekend I attended Advanced Facilitation skills - a workshop run by Bob Dick, faciliation guru and Action Learning expert. The skills and ideas I picked up have renewed my enthusiasm for facilitation (ok - it never really waned….), as well as connecting me with a talented bunch of people out there doing the same [...]

Over the last 3 months I’ve been working with around 15 teams on answering the question “Where are we at?” These sessions have been an eye-opener for me in terms of how to identify and address team priorities and issues. Here’s some of what I’ve learned through the process:

Cookie cutter agendas are nowhere near as [...]