Madison Tong
Posted in: flexible work, Future of work, SME,
Oct 14, 2019
The Flexibility Bandwagon– how can small businesses jump on and make it work for them?
Hot desking, flex-days, job sharing – these are just some of the words that come to mind when we think about a flexible workplace. In recent years we’ve seen a huge shift in the value that employees are placing on flexibility. Gone are the days where employees work a 9 – 5 job, Monday to Friday. There’s no doubt that flexible work is becoming the new norm and companies need to learn to embrace these changes. Numerous larger corporations have started to offer it, with impr...
Madison Tong
Posted in: Culture, Mental Health,
Sep 26, 2019
The importance of creating a community that’s focused on mental health
An ongoing conversation we’ve had throughout the year is the importance of creating and maintain a mentally healthy workplace. And while there is still a lot to be done within this area, it is exciting to see how the conversation surrounding mental health has been progressing. Statistics from the latest report done by KPMG for World Suicide Prevention Day found that Australia’s suicide rate is set to go up by 40% in the next decade. With risk factors such as debt, isolation...
Madison Tong
Posted in: Culture, Diversity & Inclusion, Future of work, Girls and STEM Education,
Aug 16, 2019
Paving the way for women in STEM
This week we celebrate science and all the incredible achievements that mankind have made to shape the world as we know it. And without too much thought, you could probably name at least 5 different men that helped shape the world – Einstein, Newton, Edison, Galileo, Leonardo Di Vinci. In fact you can probably name 5 more men from this century that have paved the way for STEM – Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerburg , Steven Hawking, Neil Armstrong, Bill Gates. But what about women? How ...
Katie Adams
Posted in: Culture, Mental Health,
Jul 29, 2019
Mental Health in the Workplace: Six key steps employers can take to optimise wellbeing
Did you know 80% of the working population will have 1 clinical symptom of a mental illness at point in time? And yet, only 50% of organisations focus on fostering psychological health in their employees. Professor Nick Glozier of the Brain and Mind Centre, Sydney Medical School, opened an important conversation hosted by the College of Organisational Psychologists on Mental Health at Work, with these confronting statistics. Lucinda Brogden, National Mental Health Commissioner, r...
Sarah Bartrim
Posted in: Culture, Future of work,
Jul 15, 2019
Staying Human In A Digital Age
By now we are all aware of the pervasive nature of technology in our everyday lives. Whether it be our entire working day spent in front of a computer; the frustrating interaction with retail automation at Coles (‘please place your item in the bagging area’ ‘please place your item in the bagging area’ ‘please wait for assistance’), or the simple brilliance of a message from an overseas relative that arrives instantaneously on the little rectangle held in our hands: mar...
Sarah Bartrim
Posted in: Culture, flexible work,
Jun 06, 2019
The Culture Of Burn-Out In Business.
Following revelations late last year of overwork in the legal profession during the Banking Royal Commission, the floodgates have opened on this topic. The discussion that has ensued is a difficult but important one: how can we adopt a more sustainable approach to ‘productivity’ in the corporate world? In order to find a solution, we must first investigate the reasons behind this unsustainable work-life culture. What exactly is the cause behind overwork and why do we d...
Liz Darlington-Brown
Posted in: Culture, Diversity & Inclusion,
May 28, 2019
Mental vs Physical: Why Mental Safety Needs To Be On The Agenda
As a society, we’ve begun the process of de-stigmatising mental health issues—especially in men, with amazing organisations, programs and campaigns such as 'Beyond Blue', 'R U OK Day' and 'Men’s Health Week'. However in the workplace, the awful truth is that mental illness is still not widely accepted; being at times deemed a career killer and something that should be managed independent to our work lives. This continued stigma around mental health is magnified in industr...
Katie Adams
Posted in: Uncategorized,
May 09, 2019
Conscious Inclusion: We Expose How We Spark An Inclusive Mindset
We’re really proud to have embarked on our second annual road show into regional NSW, delivering Conscious Inclusion workshops to an awesome client with sites across regional NSW. If you have millions of people in one place, you’re naturally going to experience greater diversity, like in Australia’s capital cities. Some people have a perception that Australia’s country towns are monocultural and not as diverse as the city, and there was some initial hesitation from part...
Liz Darlington-Brown
Posted in: Diversity & Inclusion, Gender Equality,
Apr 12, 2019
Paid Parental Leave: The Male Disadvantage
It is rare that we discuss the disadvantages and unequal opportunities of men in the workforce, as there is an overarching perception that men ultimately do not have any. However, they do, and not only are men suffering, but the flow-on effect from this disadvantage ultimately affects women too. The issue I am talking about is one that is often over-looked and under-valued when it comes to men: parental leave. We’ve all heard the stereotypical gender binary: women are the care...
Liz Darlington-Brown
Posted in: Uncategorized,
Mar 07, 2019
The Modern (Struggling) Woman
It’s International Women’s Day, and while we pay homage to the amazing women who have come before us, who’ve paved the way in history to allow us to have the rights and privileges that we have now, I want to take a moment and talk about a type of woman that has all these rights, but is still operating in a world designed to disadvantage them. The Working Mum Women have fought for their right to earn a living, to be independent of their partner, and to pursue their inte...
Liz Darlington-Brown
Posted in: culture change, Gender Equality, organisational culture change, toxic workplace culture,
Dec 06, 2018
The Band-Aid Effect
#Metoo has seen a rise in women AND men ending the silence of sexual misconduct and bad behaviour in the workplace. Though we’ve seen many people come forward with allegations of misconduct and engage in conversations around how this campaign empowers others to similarly come forward, there has been very little discussion as to why this has gone on unreported for so long and how it can change. In my last blog post I touched a little on some big-name companies who have had sca...