Hello and welcome to Episode 132 of the People Powered Business Podcast!

In today’s episode of the podcast we’re talking about something that I know is top of mind for many small business owners right now – how to keep the great staff they have!

The reality is, it is harder than ever to keep great people right now. They are getting offers and opportunities placed in front of them every day of the week, and at some point in time they might start to think the grass does look greener on the other side.

The stats support this, with data out of the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing us that resignation rates are at a 10 year high and unemployment is at a 50 year low.

So how can we keep great people in this environment? In today’s episode I share with you 3 fundamental concepts you need to be paying attention to when it comes to retaining the best people:

• Making the right decisions;
• Harnessing their greatness;
• Creating complete alignment.

All three concepts are big picture i...

What are you doing between your new hire’s offer acceptance and start date?

If you employ staff, engage contractors, or rely on people to help deliver your products or services, then you know that sometimes there’s a gap between the acceptance of an offer and your new hire’s start date.

This is what we in HR call the High-Risk Pre-Start Date Zone.

What exactly is the high-risk pre-start date zone?

It’s the period of time between when you extend an offer of employment and your applicant accepts, and their actual start date.

This period of time will vary from applicant to applicant, and a trend that is growing is applicants taking an extended period of leave, up to six weeks, added to their typical four weeks’ notice period at their current place of employment before they get started with you. While not every applicant will take almost three months to begin work, it does happen.

During this zone of time, typical behaviours can be an email the night before they’re due to start sayin...

Hello and welcome to Episode 131 of the People Powered Business Podcast!

In today’s episode of the podcast we’re talking about the High Risk Pre Start Zone. This is the period of time between an applicant accepting your offer of employment, and them actually starting with you.

Right now, you’re probably doing a whole range of things during that period of time to get ready for your new starter, but they know about none of them.

Conversely, they have other employers talking to them and other offers being extended to them. They have no more connection with you than any other employer they are interviewing with, so it’s easy for them to take another option during this period.

By putting in place the 3 strategies I shared in today’s episode you’ll have the best possible chance that they’ll be there to start their role with you on day 1!

If you’d like to ask questions or start a discussion about this dangerous pre start zone, I have an invitation for you.

An Invitation

Would you li...

The most successful recruitment campaigns rely on you as the business owner or manager being able to choose from a great list of quality talent, a perfectly suited shortlist, who are all skilled for the role you are hiring for – and ultimately are a great fit for your team.

But have you ever found yourself without this stellar shortlist? Instead, you may have found yourself with only one or two applicants, neither of whom are ideal, but you’re desperate, so you’ll probably hire one of them. Or you have a lengthy list of people you’re considering, but none are ideal, they are ok, they have applied, but they are a mish mash of skills, experience and suitability.

The thing is, in order to achieve a high-quality shortlist of applicants to choose from, it’s imperative that your candidate attraction strategies, including any advertising process, social posts or invitations to apply are targeted, aligned to your requirements and engaging to your ideal audience.

This is the case no...

Hello and welcome to Episode 130 of the People Powered Business Podcast!

In today’s episode of the podcast, I’m sharing a 5 step framework to screening applications in a competitive market.

The thing is, when we are short on applicants for a role, our usual screening methods tend to go out the window, and as a result we don’t shortlist effectively, which means we are at risk of making poor hiring choices. And what I know to be true is that you can’t outrun a bad hire.

So whether you have 5 applications or 5000 effective screening is essential, and this 5 step framework is super simple to follow and will keep you on track for great hiring choices.

If you’d like to ask questions or start a discussion about note taking, I have an invitation for you.

An Invitation

Would you like to connect with other like-minded business owners, leaders and managers experiencing similar situations with their team?

Join the discussion inside our free Facebook Group – HR Support for Australian Busines...

In a competitive market where applicants are in short supply and the struggle to even find one person who might be suitable for your role is real, it’s easy to think that there is no need to screen and assess applicants. Well, there is no one to screen, or so few applicants so what’s the point, right?

Actually, wrong. You see, despite there being far fewer applicants to chose from, the importance of making the right hiring choices hasn’t changed. The reality is you can’t outrun a bad hire. So even if there is only one applicant, hiring the wrong person is guaranteed to cause you more frustration, more stress and cost you more than hiring no one at all.

When we had only a handful of applicants to select from, screening effectively is even more important because in these moments we can lose focus and clarity on what’s really important, out of desperation, overwhelm and stress. We waiver on the previous non negotiables, and start to consider applicants who we know really aren’t ri...

Hello and welcome to Episode 129 of the People Powered Business Podcast!

In today’s episode of the podcast, I have a warning, I may get a little bossy! Today we are talking about one of the simplest things you can do to protect yourself and your business from employee issues – and that is to take notes!

Today I encourage you to document, document, document!

I know it never feels like we will need the notes, until we actually do, and we can easily fall into the trap of thinking we will remember the details of the discussion, but the truth is we won’t.

In today’s episode I discuss when to take notes and why it’s so important to document these notes in relation to discussions with our employees.

If you’d like to ask questions or start a discussion about note taking, I have an invitation for you.

An Invitation

Would you like to connect with other like-minded business owners, leaders and managers experiencing similar situations with their team?

Join the discussion inside our free Fa...

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you are second guessing yourself, feeling like you’ve gone crazy because you are certain you are clear on the conversation you had with an employee, yet they seem certain the conversation didn’t happen. Or perhaps the discussion is acknowledged, but the message you were sure you delivered simply seems to have been forgotten, misunderstood or completely misinterpreted?

You find yourself going around in circles and ending up back at square one with any required change or improvement seeming to never be getting any start or momentum.

Here’s the truth, we never think we need notes of those meetings, discussions or incidental ‘chats’ we have had – until we do. We think we will remember them in vivid detail, because they are so clear in our mind in that moment, but we have so much more on our plates as business owners and leaders, that the reality is we won’t remember. Like everything else, in time our memory fades, which makes it eve...

Hello and welcome to Episode 128 of the People Powered Business Podcast!

Today I am joined by Charissa Lim of Impact Persona to chat all things Psychometrics Assessments, especially in the recruitment process.

Charissa is a Certified Behavioural Consultant and DISC advocate who’s passionate about helping businesses gain first-hand insights into the people's behavioural traits through one of the world's most popular personality profiling tools. 

She's on a mission to save businesses and hiring managers time and money - especially those who find psychometric assessment reports complex and not to mention, costly.

Working with hiring managers, recruiters and career coaches,  Charissa has created a variety of bespoke DISC reports that are not only cost-effective but are also very simple to digest.

People come with different personalities. Charissa's goal is to harness the power of DISC Profiling to help her clients make informed hiring decisions, and identify the most ideal candidates ...

Whether you have a tiny shortlist of applicants, or you’ve been absolutely drowning in resumes and are feeling completely overwhelmed, making the right hiring decision is critical to your businesses success.

When we find ourselves with only a limited list to select from, we can often start to flex the boundaries and parameters that we were hiring within. Sure, they don’t have the experience, but it’s better than nothing. Or you have a gut feel that they won’t really be a great fit but you’re so desperate to fill the role you ignore your gut and push forward based on skills and experience.

Conversely, when you are absolutely overwhelmed with the sheer volume of applications you have received for any one role, it can be incredibly hard to get clear about who is really the stand out applicant, and what to focus on when shortlisting, or how to choose when interviewing.

In small to medium sized businesses, when you are growing your organisation, one or more ‘wrong’ hires can be ...