A positive change by business leaders is the recent focus on workplace culture, wellness and morale. If businesses are not ahead of the game, they risk losing valued and talented employees to a workplace with a higher morale or stronger culture.  With a tough talent market – good, great and especially exceptional employees are really hard to find.  High quality candidates have a lot of options and when they are tossing up which position to accept they are certainly more likely to choose a business that is known for its positive workplace culture and morale.  Not only do these businesses secure the best candidates, they are able to deliver long term and high levels of engagement and satisfaction throughout their employment – win-win for businesses and employees!  

So what's your workplace morale like and is it worth all the effort to make changes to boost it?

It can be challenging for most businesses to navigate the myriad of rules and regulations that they must comply with, and this gets even trickier when trying to make sense of the various employer obligations regarding people: discrimination laws, privacy laws, Fair Work legislation and more. Over time the facts can be distorted until there is a particular belief about what employers can and can’t do, should and shouldn’t do etc. Deb Peppard attempts to’ bust four common HR myths’ to help you get a handle on the facts!

​Flexible working arrangements have become the new normal in workplaces in recent years.  Until recently, it was mostly working parents that requested greater flexibility in the workplace but over time it has become far more common for a diverse range of employees to request a transition to flexible working arrangements for a variety of reasons.  

So as a business leader, should you consider these requests? 

Yes!  In a perfect world, all businesses would be able to offer their employees such flexibility as there are significant benefits to you as an employer, as well as to your employees, but in reality, there are many things to consider.  

​Apps.  What are they good for?  When you look past Candy Crush, they can be incredibly helpful in your business if you choose the ones that suit your needs and your working style.  But do you have the time to wade through them all to find the app that will assist you?  We know you don’t, so we’ve had a look at some of them for you and have some recommendations that might save you some time and money!

​For some, the freedom of choosing what they wear to work each day is a joy – for others, it is just another chore that needs sorting in the morning!  For the one quarter of workplaces in Australia that have a uniform for their employees, this leaves a considerable number of us   choosing what we wear to work.   So how do these daily choices impact your businesses and what ability to you have to exert any control over how your employees present themselves? 

​
​To investigate or not to investigate, that is the question!

It seems in the day and age of CSI and Law and Order, many people think of themselves as a fully-fledged detective with a passion for finding out the truth, but it is really necessary to investigate every workplace complaint, incident or issue or should we just let some things slide? 

On Thursday September 13, the annual R U OK Day occurred for the 10th year and what an amazing movement it has become.  Supporting the suicide charity of the same name, R U OK Day has become a mainstream vehicle allowing people to openly and comfortably discuss the fact that they are struggling.

So why would we be talking about R U OK Day one week after it has been and gone?

​At HR Staff n’ Stuff we LOVE DiSC! Love. Strong words, but that’s because DiSC delivers a powerful result when the right DiSC tools are used to achieve enhanced levels of performance and culture in a business……

At HR Staff n’ Stuff we don’t believe in tying your business up in red tape or restricting you with loads of rules that don’t make sense!  We like to keep things practical, simple and easy to manage. 

When they are well thought out and sensible, policies can actually be a friend to those of you that run businesses as well as to your people!  As a business grows it becomes more and more risky to rely on ‘unwritten rules’ or ‘ways things have always been done’ to get you through.   

What could be more important than growing your brand new business?  Or building an already thriving business?  The reality is that being a business owner is all consuming no matter the size or maturity of company, but life outside of work really is just as important.  Work/life balance is an issue WE all struggle with at one time or another but as a business owner, how do you ever switch off and truly relax?   Without balance, you could lose everything you have worked so hard for Stress and exhaustion can erode your health and you can lose precious time with your family and friends, including those real milestone events.  Achieving balance sounds sensible but it isn’t always easy to put into practice, so here are 7 tips to developing your work/life balance more effectively:

You call a meeting with an employee to discuss some improvements you want to see in their work output.  It’s not a warning, nor is it the start of a performance improvement plan, but you have some concerns and want to give your team member the opportunity to turn things around with a little feedback.  But how would you feel if you found out that employee recorded your meeting and didn’t advise you in advance?  How do you think they would feel if you did it to them?  Aside from damaging any trust you had built up, what sort of legislation is there around using surveillance tools in the workplace?

​For many of us, it is difficult to comprehend that Domestic and Family Violence is a prevalent societal problem in Australia.  Sadly though, it is a major issue that does not discriminate based on gender, financial status, education level, cultural identity or age.  In response to this issue, one area of support that is now enshrined within our Modern Awards is a provision for leave to support those who need it most.

The art of communication is the language of leadership – James Humes

​Without doubt, we’ve all experienced a time (or many times) when we have had to sit through a presentation, a meeting or just a one on one conversation where the thought of poking your eye out held more appeal.  Poor communicators can make the experience excruciating for those on the receiving end.   As to the message that the orator is trying to deliver - there is no possible way it’s making its way through!   If the audience hasn’t simply zoned out, they will be checking their Facebook pages or plotting their escape route.


​We all want to make sure our message is heard, so we have 5 quick tips that will improve your communication skills.....

​My employee is within their probation period – I can just terminate, right?

Terminating within an employee’s probation period should be a simple and pain-free exercise. After all, that’s what probation periods are for, right?
Well…. yes. And no. 

“When you speak, you repeat what you know. When you listen, you learn something new.”
 – Dalai Lama

​How do you develop your skills and move from being an average manager to a great leader?   One simple area to consider working on as it will deliver incredible results is active listening — a skill that can facilitate a leader’s ability to connect with employees.