At HR Staff n’ Stuff, we are lucky enough to work with business owners who are focused on nurturing employee engagement and positive organisational culture.  This is important as we all spend much of our lives in the workplace, so fostering positive and supportive workplace environments should be a priority for all businesses if they want their teams to be motivated, effective and delivering the best output possible while driving retention of experienced and talented team members.

Thinking about it, things usually run smoothly in your workplace, and for most part, your team and workmates are supportive, productive and show respect and kindness towards one another.  But over time, there has been the  occasional team member who has shown an underlying and increasing disregard for others.  We’ve all witnessed it – the team member that everyone tiptoes around as none of us want confrontation in the workplace and you don't want to poke the bear.  Often the perpetrator becomes increasingly volatile and difficult to work with or to manage.  So it's best to just ignore the disruptive behaviour isn't it?

A few of our clients are small businesses with around twelve staff - for one of them, what should have been a simple situation regarding annual leave became a frustrating series of poor behaviour that culminated in a tough decision being made once they received the advice from HR Staff n' Stuff as their in house HR consultants. 

​The story commences with the appointment of a new senior person in their business. The new employee informed the business owner that they had a pre-planned holiday booked for two weeks within the first few months of starting.  Although the new employee wasn’t entitled to leave, the business owner agreed to honour this time off - it was a reasonable request and can quiet often crop up when new team members commence.  But some will always try to push the envelope....

What kind of Manager are you? 
Are you a Micro-manager who rules with an iron fist, hoards all the power and controls decisions? 

Or are you a Delegator who shares the duties and is more consultative than dictatorial, relinquishes power, and shares responsibility?

To be a great leader, you have to learn how to delegate well.  We have 5 tips on how to become a better delegator and improve your leadership qualities.

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July 1, 2019 marks the start of a new financial year and with it comes changes to minimum wages as set out in the Modern Awards as determined by the Fair Work Commission.   Since 2017, there have also been changes to penalty rates that have significant implications for employers so let’s take a look at them.

It’s the middle of winter and for many the thought of a tropical island holiday is the only thing that keeps them getting out of bed on these chilly and bleak mornings.   We know that all full-time employees receive four weeks annual leave per year with part time employees receiving the pro-rated equivalent.  Now Virgin, Netflix and Melbourne-based Inventium have all upped the ante and now offer unlimited annual leave – should you?