As we dive head first into another December we have well and truly shifted into ‘festive’ season with the Christmas and New Year celebrations starting to kick into full gear.

Catch ups are booked in advance, parties organised, shutdowns scheduled, and Kris Kringle plans are definitely being made by someone (we hope?).

Yet, this time of year as a business owner can be fraught with stress! How to host a Christmas party without running the risk of a legal nightmare. How to get everything done and all the orders delivered before close down, and how on earth to keep people focused when all they are thinking about is holidays?

So how can you as a leader manage this period, especially when you yourself might not be feeling the excitement to celebrate and feeling less willing to tolerate the slide in focus and increase in frivolity during the coming weeks?

Here are my top 8 tips for staff management during the ‘silly season’:

•  Don’t be a bah humbug!
  There is nothing that
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No less than once a week I’ll get a call, or question online, that goes a little like “I have a problem with a staff member, they are getting their job done but they aren’t being a great team member, I can’t quite put my finger on it but every time I raise an issue with them they have an excuse, there is always some reason things haven’t gone to plan”. Does this sound familiar to you? Have you had someone like this on your team before?

Sure enough, after a few questions my typical conclusion is – you have someone who is below the line. What line? Great question!

I first became aware of this framework probably about 15 years ago, I’d heard about it conceptually but when I really noticed this as a powerful framework for teams when I worked with a business who really embraced the concept so much that their team used the language in their day to day operations – this is when I really started to pay attention to this concept.

Who conceptualised this idea seems uncertain, despite...

Hello and welcome to Episode 142 of the People Powered Business Podcast!

Today is part 2 of a 2 part discussion with Diversity and Inclusion Consultant Nicci Richman from Audir. Nicci kindly joined me live in November 2022 as part of NSW Small Business Month to participate in a Connection Conversation around connecting with our own and our teams neurodiversity to drive business success.

Last week, in Episode 141, we looked at defining neurodiversity and understanding what it means, as well as how to identify and leverage our own neurodiversity as leaders.

Today we’re talking about identifying and managing neurodiversity within our team.

A bit about our guest:

Nicci is a Diversity and Inclusion Consultant with a passion for supporting Neurodivergent individuals in the workplace.

Her career had its foundations in social research, working on employee engagement surveys for multi-national organisations. This insight into organisations led to her love of working with businesses to dev...

What is the Labor Party’s Industrial Relations Reform agenda?

The Australian Labor Government has recently announced updates to the Industrial Relations Reforms alongside reforms currently before Parliament.

With each new government businesses can expect a host of changes including to Industrial Relations which is a key campaign area for all parties and often closely aligned with the party’s core values. A new government is akin to a new CEO coming into a company who takes stock, reviews and refines according to their agenda and what’s important to the company in their perspective.

We are seeing the Labor Party, traditionally representing workers' rights, coming into power after a long period as the Opposition. As part of the 2022 Industrial Relations Reform, after the unprecedented global pandemic, we are seeing a key focus on job security, protecting employees’ rights, eliminating the gender pay gap and maintaining wage increases to better meet the rising cost of living in Austral...

Hello and welcome to Episode 141 of the People Powered Business Podcast!

Today is part 1 of a 2 part discussion with Diversity and Inclusion Consultant Nicci Richman from Audir. Nicci kindly joined me live in November 2022 as part of NSW Small Business Month to participate in a Connection Conversation around connecting with our own and our teams neurodiversity to drive business success.

In todays conversation we’re focusing on defining neurodiversity and understanding what it means, as well as how to identify and leverage our own neurodiversity as leaders.

In next weeks episode we will be talking about identifying and managing neurodiversity within our team.

A bit about our guest:

Nicci is a Diversity and Inclusion Consultant with a passion for supporting Neurodivergent individuals in the workplace.

Her career had its foundations in social research, working on employee engagement surveys for multi-national organisations. This insight into organisations led to her love of working ...

Have you planned for end of year closure and the new year?

Planning for the Christmas shut down period, end of the year and the start of new year is something that often slides off business owners’ plates. The last quarter of the year can feel like a race to the finish line, wrapping up projects, getting things ready for a break, and possibly even burning out as you hurtle towards the short holiday that usually comes over the Christmas and New Year period.

It sounds counterintuitive to then add planning into the mix – business owners want to be doing the bare essentials and planning is one of those things that often isn’t considered essential at this time of year.

This period of time is one of the most critical periods for a business and where planning ahead for both your business and your team can set you up for a smooth new year. Christmas close down periods are when our teams, our employees, are taking time off, spending it with their family, travelling, catching up on the lif...

Hello and welcome to Episode 1409 of the People Powered Business Podcast!

Today is a technical update on the Industrial Relations reforms which have recently been announced, and those which are currently before parliament.

As there always is when there is a new Government, we can expect change. Industrial relations is one of the areas they often seek to make change, to support election promises and align the legislation with their core values.

As part of this reform we are seeing a key focus on job security, protecting employees rights, removing the gender pay gap and continued wage increases.

At the time of recording the ‘Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs Better Pay) Bill 2022 is before parliament, so right now there is a whole lot yet to be confirmed.

But what we do know is that there have been recent changes to the Paid Parental Leave Scheme and the introduction of Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave.

An Invitation - If you’d like to connect with other businesse...

Hiring Well is Only One Part of the Puzzle

You’ve got a great team – but how do you keep them?

You can't outrun a bad hire.

There's no doubt that getting the hiring decision right is essential to building an amazing team that's going to do all the right things for your business and really help you have a successful business.

But the reality is hiring well is only one part of the puzzle and it's something I've seen clients alone the hard way over and over again.

The rest of the pathway that an employee takes with your business is equally important to ensuring you have not just a successful hire, but someone who stays with you long term who is loyal, motivated, engaged, productive – all those great things we want our employees to be.

The secret sauce to this is great leadership through a clear framework I call the P.E.O.P.L.E Pathway.

You can’t outrun a bad hire – but what if you hired well and it’s still not working smoothly?

I thought I'd made great hiring choices early on i...

Hello and welcome to Episode 139 of the People Powered Business Podcast!

It’s that time of year again….today we are chatting Christmas Close Down Essentials.

What are the things you should be doing now, before the Christmas break to set you and our team up for success in 2023.

What are the compliance essentials you need to be across when it comes to Christmas close downs.

And what are the additional considerations relevant this year that you may want to think about when it comes to managing this period.

 An Invitation:

If you’d like to connect with other businesses who are also juggling the challenges of teams, I’d love you to join us inside our free Facebook Group, HR Support for Australian Businesses, so I can learn more about what’s working for you and any challenges you might be having.

Join Here - https://www.facebook.com/groups/hrsupportaustralia

What does it mean to achieve business success through your team?

A lot of small business owners often feel the pressure to succeed is all down to them no matter what.

Ultimately, yes, the buck does stop with the business owner – however business success is something that everyone in the business could be progressing and striving for.

Achieving business success through your team is about surrounding yourself with the right people, harnessing their strengths and ensuring that you’re creating frameworks that support them to succeed.

It’s also about letting go of the misconception that you always need to be on the ground in your business for it to be successful. The biggest key factor to making this a reality is hiring the right people who you can trust to be there when you’re not and keep your business goals tracking.

How do you measure business success?

Measuring business success is integral to understanding what’s going well and what needs to be improved.

Most s...