Question: We had a great start to the year, so we invited our team to a night out; dinner and drinks, to celebrate. It’s a small team and we’re all adults, so we didn’t think it would be a big deal. Fast forward to the dinner and the team are ordering shots and cocktails from the outset. They were drunk and quickly became very rowdy and rude. The team all had a great time, but as the owner, I was embarrassed and concerned. How do we move past this? … keep reading
Harmony Week runs from 17 – 23 March. Celebrating Australia’s cultural diversity, it’s about inclusiveness and respect. In light of recent events in Christchurch, Harmony Week couldn’t have come at a better time. This year, for Harmony Week, we thought we’d share some ideas to improve the inclusiveness and cultural respect within your business. … keep reading
Want to reward high-performing staff? Sure, you could simply give them a bonus, however, often that money is quickly forgotten, especially when most bonuses are paid by bank transfer. This can make a monetary reward less effective in the long term. Often monetary bonuses become ‘expected’ so the feeling of reward and recognition is reduced. Staff rewards don’t have to be complicated or expensive to be valued. Here’s a few of our favourites.
As a workforce management solution, we often recruit for various roles for our clients. Recruiting can be a time-consuming task and we know small businesses never have enough time! Small business owners tend to hire only when they already desperately need someone to complete the work, which means little-to-no planning, rushed decisions and messy inductions. Here’s some of the common issues we see: … keep reading
Next week, we’ll be celebrating International Women’s Day on the Sunshine Coast, along with countless others across the country (and around the world). This year, on Friday 8 March, the focus will be on the IWD theme, #balanceforbetter. It’s about creating a gender-balanced world, acknowledging that everyone has a part to play in creating this balance in both their personal and professional lives. … keep reading
Most employment contracts we have seen have a probationary period in it. However, many employers don’t give it much thought, except when they become unhappy with the employee’s performance or general ‘fit’ after they commence work.
There is no requirement to provide a probationary period. In saying that, it is a great tool for employers and their employees to regularly check in with each other, formalise any observed training needs and communicate expectations. They aren’t an excuse to simply fire someone 2 months and 28 days into their employment, with no explanation though. … keep reading
Bush fires, heat waves, flooding and storms are part of the Australian story we all know too well. With recent weather events from Tasmania to Townsville, we thought it might be useful to remind you about workplace shutdowns and what happens when the weather stops work. … keep reading
When a long term employee isn’t performing well, it can be a real challenge to manage. Often business owners have developed strong relationships with this employee over their employment. It can be difficult to start a performance management conversation, whether the performance issues started suddenly, or if they’ve become worse over a length of time. Either way, for the sake of your business culture and productivity, and your sanity, it’s best to address the issues as they arise. … keep reading
Late last year there were a flurry of changes implemented around employment conditions and modern awards. We’ve already covered Family and Domestic Leave updates and Casual Loading Offsets. Now, we bring you all the details around the updates to Flexible Work Arrangements and Modern Awards.
If you’re like most businesses, your initial job application process probably hasn’t been reviewed in many years. It’s possibly a list of questions that you ‘borrowed’ from someone else. Maybe you fly by the seat of your pants every time someone applies for a job. Either way, it’s important to understand that there are anti-discrimination obligations regarding job applications, even if you don’t decide to hire anyone for the role.