For the modern worker, flexible work places have been promoted as the holy grail for work life balance. For many this is correct. Flexible work places have assisted employees arrange their lives in a way that is mutually beneficial for themselves, their families and their employer. For a growing number of others, this is not…
An anecdotal story. There were very few women in corporate Australia, in senior positions in the 1990’s. I know because I was one of that minority. At the time I became intrigued about why there were so few women in business. Over time almost through osmosis, I decided to do my own anecdotal research as…
In their hearts many Australians know there is a looming employment problem in Australia. It is now almost laughable that the government puts out unemployment statistics that tell the masses that the unemployment rate is falling. If you look behind the magic number, the fall in the unemployment rate is driven by the drop in…
HR like many other functions will be impacted by the changing world of work. For the function to remain strategically relevant and add the value that is required there is no room for complacency. There is a real opportunity for HR to “seize the day”. By being well informed about the technological and demographic trends,…
Have you ever sat in a fast bullet train going at three hundred kilometres an hour? If you have you will have noticed that the landscape flashes past at such a speed that it is often hard to distinguish what you are observing. Time just flashes by and three hundred kilometres fades into insignificance, almost…
One hundred and twenty thousand excess workplace deaths are caused by toxic stress in the workplace according to research done at Stanford University. This means that workplace stress is the fifth largest cause of death above diabetes and Alzheimer’s in the USA. Chronic workplace stress is toxic and it is becoming pervasive. It is killing…
The collective pulse of our nation is steadily increasing; pushed upwards as Australians are becoming anxious about their ability to gain and maintain the level of employment required to ensure their own economic stability. It is not just a matter of having a job but having sufficient employment. You may have a job but not…
In the 1990’s there were very few women in senior positions in corporate Australia. As one of those corporate executive women, I wanted to understand why? I decided to do my own anecdotal research, which is not academically valid however has served me well during my career. I asked one question to men, repeated in…
The Weakest Link was a TV show that also provided a unique laboratory highlighting overt age discrimination, with contestants greying or wrinkled far more likely to be sent packaging than any other cohort, according to Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s book in the book Freakonomics. The study when applied to the workplace should have every…
I recently went on a short holiday to western Queensland and as a part of my travels I went and visited a lake. I remember it was a glorious winter’s day and as I was wandering along the shoreline, I, by chance, had a conversation with a middle age local woman; let’s say her name…