People Smartz Blog

The HR Coach Research Institute has released its latest quarterly index.

According to the research:

"The last quarter has shown a marked change in business sentiment in Australia with an increase of 6% in overall business confidence.  The last half of 2011 saw a 15% drop in business confidence so the increase offers welcome respite.  There is, however, a lot of ground to make up from the highs of 2007 and early 2008.

For the first time since 2008 wage pressure looks to be back on the agenda with an 18% increase in wage expectations by employers"

To download the latest Quarterly Index Dashboard -  Click Here

During a presentation to a group of business people last month I was asked a question about the importance of long term planning in a business.

The person asking the question phrased the question to reflect his own situation where his time on a day to day basis was totally involved in the here and now - “How can I find time to think long term?”

This is a great question!

And the simple answer is…….

There is no simple answer!

One thing to do is to acknowledge is that we do not manage time.  What we manage is our use of time.  If you really think it through, the distinction between the two is important.  The first implies that we can manage a scarce resource and somehow manipulate the number of hours in the day.

Well, if you can find a way to put more than 24 hours into a day let me know – between the two of us, I think we can make a lot of money!

However, if we use the second definition – managing our use of time, we begin to open up a whole different set of possibilities.

Once you accept that it is your use of time that is manageable, this allows you to begin setting in place a simple principle which can really define your ability to “find time”.

You need to begin to differentiate between those things you do which are important, those that are urgent and those that are neither urgent nor important.

Once you begin to understand the difference, you can begin to ask yourself a question – “What is the most important thing I should be doing now?’

In the environment in which we work, often items arise which appear urgent or important but in reality are not.  For example, if your long term goal is to develop your business and you receive an email with a great YouTube clip on it – what would be the most important thing for you could do?  Watch the video or make those phone calls to develop your business?

Now as I said at the start of this article – there is no simple answer!  This is because even if you do ask yourself the question, it takes discipline to do the important when the urgent continues to beckon so enticingly.  Also, there are times when urgent things are important – meeting a customer’s reasonable needs for example.

It is because of this that knowing your goals/values and committing to them is important.  They provide you with direction and can assist you in your use of time. 

So my answer to the business person when he asked his question? 

“Identify what is important to you, identify what is urgent and identify what is neither urgent or important – when you’ve done that, start working out how to ensure you have the time to achieve your goals”

As I said, not a simple answer, but a good start!

How well are you managing your time?  How good is your goal setting?  Why not contact us for a Complementary Coaching Session to assist you!

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Ever wondered what successful businesses do differently?  We may have some answers for you in a new white paper!

I don't think anyone will disagree that we are operating our businesses in a very complex environment at the moment.  Uncertainty regarding overseas economies, uncertainty regarding new taxes and charges, a relatively unstable political environment (for Australia) and many other facts are contributing to a down turn in business confidence.

A new white paper is now available from our website titled "Managing Back To Certainty".  Developed by the HR Coach Research Institute, the white paper discusses the current external and internal factors effecting businesses and identifies the "Top 5 Attributes of High Performing Businesses".

Based on research conducted over 6 years and 5000 businesses, the paper identifies the factors that allow a business to be "agile and move with the times".  The research shows that employers who are thriving are focusing on key differentiators as opposed to organisations that are at risk.

The important factor in regards to the research is that it has been conducted in the "business" rather than the "corporate" environment. As a result, we get a very good idea about some of the issues that are effecting small and medium sized businesses.

The paper identifies that small to medium sized businesses have "clear advantage" over the corporate world in responding to the challenges that face us and can create long term opportunities leading to sustained growth - despite the external environment.

To download the white paper - Click Here

Did you know that 89% of employees in Australian Businesses were employed by companies employing 20 employees or less? (Australian Bureau of Statistics 8165.0 2010)

When you consider this statistic, you need to wonder why our industrial relations system is designed for 11% of the workforce!

It all comes down to some very important factors (in our opinion):

1. The employers of 11% of the workforce are bigger contributors to the political parties
2. The 11% of the workforce are the primary targets of our union movement; and,
3. The employers of 11% of the workforce are the major drivers of industry bodies supposedly in place to support business.

This morning I posted a quote on Facebook from John C Maxwell - 

‎"Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it."

Posting this particular quote was not an accident.  It is because I believe that in life, and in business, you have the ability to choose the way you react to a particular situation.

The current situation in regards to the World's and Australia's economy is creating a mindset within many business owners - one which says "here we go again" and "things are tough at the moment".

On the most part, I have to say that I agree with them!  Things are tough at the moment - but all that means is that now is the time to actively seek opportunity.

I would like to give you two examples of clients of mine who are reacting positively to the current environment and actively seeking opportunity.

One of them is operating a single person business. She has had a rough year with her home flooded in the January floods and many other things happening around her.  Yet, despite having to move home and her workplace 3-4 times, she has worked hard at grasping opportunities as they have been presented to her.  Despite working in an industry that is flat lining, she is one of the few of her peers who is able to predict a positive cash flow over the next 6 months.

The second client is a team of two young professionals who have looked at the economy, identified potential markets for themselves and actively worked those markets hard.  Where other companies in their industry are laying off staff, they are hiring.  Where other companies in their industry are lowering their rates, they are raising theirs. Where other companies are loosing customers, they are gaining them.  

Both these clients have one thing in common.  They have chosen to take a positive approach and grasp opportunities as they present themselves.  Importantly, they have worked hard at establishing relationships with other businesses to encourage a flow of work between the different businesses.  In short - their efforts are not only ensuring the success of their own business but also assisting others.

Over the past two or three weeks, I have met with many business owners who are "doing it tough" and I have shared these stories with them.  It is interesting to hear their feedback.  Many were continuing to do things they had done previously because they had worked previously, others were looking for the silver lining - one retailer told me that things would turn around over the coming months because "people will start getting their tax cheques".

Well, I'm sorry, people have been getting their tax cheques now for nearly 2 months!  And what happens if they decide to bank their cheque rather than spend it?

Waiting for a silver lining or continuing to do the same things does not change something.  Taking a positive approach and seeking a new way is - in other words choose to respond rather than choose to do nothing!

This is what we are encouraging our business coaching clients to do and everyone of them is achieving their targets. In the case of the two I have described above, we are re-writing the targets - they are not high enough!  On average over the last six months our clients have achieved an average increase of 62% in revenue during a period where "things are tough".

So if you own a small business, think about how you are reacting to the economic environment - are you taking advantage of the opportunities that are out there and taking a positive approach?

People Smartz is a Business and HR Coaching company specialising in assisting small to medium sized business owners.  Our aim is to assist Business Owners to achieve both their personal and business goals in a balanced and sustainable manner.  If you would like to discuss business coaching - Contact Us

The HR Coach Research Institute has released its latest quarterly index.

The latest information coming out of the business sector indicates a significant drop in business confidence and a unique situation developing in terms of a two speed economy.  

The following summary is provided courtesy of the Institute:

"Alarmingly, this data was compiled before any firm Carbon Tax plan was released by the federal government, thus does not account for the affects of the proposed tax. In light of this, confidence and sentiment in the business sector will most probably not improve in the coming quarter.

Furthermore, job advertisements fell, as did job creation in the past quarter.

The multi-speed economy in Australia is presenting the business sector with the unique situation that has the economy growing whilst at the same time making business owners retreat into survival mode. As a result long term planning and strategy are suffering.

Interestingly employee satisfaction levels within the business sector are higher than those of business owner's satisfaction with their own business. This could exacerbate already strained relationships."

You can download a copy of this latest research from our website - HR Quarterly Index

When we first started People Smartz, our aim was to assist companies who understood that people are the most important asset a company can have.

Our aim has never changed, we believe that it is people who can drive a business to success and have not moved from this belief.

This means our aim has always been to work with businesses to assist them to build the individual and collective capability within a business - the aim being what we call "Mutual Success".

Last week we met with one of our long term clients.  They are a small company of 20 employees with offices in two states.

This company has strong leadership, some good managers and some good people - A recently completed employee survey assessed their employee satisfaction at 73%!

But it was the items that the survey raised that interested us - what they were doing well, and what they could do better.  

What the survey enabled us to highlight was the differences in management and leadership between the states.  Where one state was strong in communication, the other was not, where one state was strong in sharing company performance, the other was not etc.

This has enabled us to see identify the individual strengths of the managers and use them in our planning to assist the company in moving forward to "mutual success".  By developing a plan utilsing the individual competencies each manager is displaying, we can use those strengths to develop weak areas in another area of the company, or even in another individual.

Building on what you already have in an organisation can sometimes have a very positive effect on a company.  By identifying the strengths you have in managers and staff, and utilising them to build the business you are developing not only the company but building responsibility, accountability and ownership - all positives for any company!

If you would like assistance in developing a plan to improve the performance of your company and encourage "mutual success"  - Contact Us Today!

The unions last week began a push to enable casual employees to transfer to permanent employment.

The plan proposed by the unions would require employers to make casual employees permanent after 12 months.  There was also some discussion in the plan about governments “favoring’ companies with majority permanent workforces in the awarding of contracts. The unions believe such an approach is necessary to tackle “precarious employment”.

Business groups were not happy (as you would expect) claiming that such moves would drive companies “to the wall”.  They called the approach a “misguided view of the jobs sector” and said “it doesn’t relate to the modern-day Australian economy, which is dominated by the services sector”.

We gave had such rules before.  In 2004/5, rules where “regular and systematic” casual employees were allowed to request part time employment were introduced.  We had a similar “hue and cry” then!

From my experience, very few casual employees wanted to take up the opportunity.  Australian workers generally understand the difference between casual and permanent employment and are often loath to let go of the 20-25% loading for casual employment. 

Casual employment is designed to allow an employer to handle the peaks and troughs of their business.  Casual employment contains no guarantees and no expectations of employment beyond the end of the current shift.  In its purest form, it is “call and come to work”.  Because there are no guarantees or expectations of future work, a loading is paid to compensate for the lack of annual leave, sick leave etc etc.

But the needs of the business often necessitate rostering casuals for work, sometimes weeks in advance.  Overtime, this leads to businesses adopting rostering systems which virtually “guarantee” work to a casual.  Basically, the employment becomes “regular and systematic”.  When work becomes regular and systematic, the question needs to be asked – are they really casuals?

This is the point behind the unions push.  If a person is employed as a casual but doing regular shifts and systematic work then they should receive the entitlements of permanent employees because in practice, that is what they are.

Whether you agree or don’t agree with the unions, there are many advantages to creating a permanent workforce in your business.  A guarantee of employment encourages commitment and develops “ownership” in the role.  Accountability is easier to assign to someone whose employment is guaranteed and your ability to develop consistent behaviors’ is improved.

Many businesses I deal with argue that putting on permanent staff “takes away the flexibility” from their business.  For some businesses this may be true, and for them, I would not recommend such a measure providing the employment they were offering was not “regular and systematic”.

Another argument I often hear is that it is too expensive to have permanent employees.  Well, the fact is that in the long run it is probably cheaper!  While you need to accrue leave etc, you will not be paying the 20-25% loading and your productivity will most probably improve.  The reality is that it often has nothing to do with “cost” but more to do with “ease” – it is easier to pay everything out with a 20-25% loading than have to “accrue”.

The ease of “getting rid” of casual employees is also stated as a reason for keeping people as casuals.  However, the reality is that if they are regular and systematic in their employment, the unfair dismissal rules will most probably apply – the end result being that this argument is flawed in its execution!

For any workforce, permanent or casual, I recommend you sit down and work out the number of hours being worked in your business.  Is there a constant number of hours worked in each week?  This is the first step in working out whether you can (or should) put permanent employees in place.  If you can, casual employees can then be used to handle the peaks and troughs – not for the constant hours.

If you must have casuals in your business, then think seriously about how you work with them.  Do you roster them in a regular and systematic way?  Do you need to do this?  Can you do it any other way?  In other words – do some workforce planning!

Would you like to know more about how you can improve the use of people in your business?  At People Smartz, we assist businesses in planning for the most efficient and effective use of their workforce.  We work with you to ensure that you are using your most important resource in a manner which leads to success for you, your business and your team.   Call us today!   

A couple of days ago, I had a long conversation with one of my clients.

His lament was one I have heard before from business owners - that staff these days are no longer "loyal" to their employer.

There is an endless amount of research regarding the difference between generations, and the changing face of our workforce and really I don't intend to go into those in this blog - what I would like to talk about is an often missed part of "loyalty" - that of individual identity and identification.

Let me explain by using myself as an example - I spent a good period of my life in the Navy.  If you were to ask who I was, I would say I was a "Sailor" - it is how I identified myself to myself.  In fact, if I was talking to someone with a naval background I'd probably take this further and describe myself as a "Yeoman" - a title that would not mean much to people outside the Navy.

Now over the years, I have begun a new career, founded a company and been fairly successful in my endeavours.  I truely enjoy the work I do, dealing with clients who are pursing their own dreams and goals.  While my personal picture of myself has altered, there is still that element of my description which says "Sailor". 

My point is that this personal identification has created in me a certain amount of loyalty to an organisation I left quite a while ago.  In my mind, that recognition and loyalty is still there.

For Business Owners, it is easy for them to identify themselves with their business - after all they own it, run it and are responsible for its success or failure. 

Sometimes it is hard for them to understand that their employees may not feel the same way about the business.  But after all, if their employees have had no opportunity to "recognise" themselves as part of the business - what have they got to be loyal about?

Speaking to my client the other day, we begun discussing this in relation to his business.  He is a very hands-on type business owner.  For him, his employees are people who come in, do a days work and then leave - the business is his to run. 

While talking, he begun to share some of his own experiences about when he felt the most loyalty to his own employers.

With this - he realised that he couldn't really expect loyalty from his staff if he was not offering them something to be loyal about.

I left him to think this over and consider what actions of his own were actually leading to the situation that was annoying him.

I'll let you know how he goes over the coming weeks.......

 

In a world first, People Smartz, as part of the HR Coach Network, is pleased to announce the release of the first national human resource standard, Human Resource Framework NS HRF-101: 2010.

The first national human resource standard was developed by representatives of industry across Australia, New Zealand and Asia Pacific to provide the consistency and security in human resource practices that organisations now need. Based on four years of research by the HR Coach Research Institute, the standard is designed to suit the full array of organisations – profit, not-for-profit, government, private, large and small. Importantly, the standard is there to provide guidance to organisations. It is a voluntary standard to help organisations meet their obligations as well as to develop their employees to optimise their goals.

For organisations without a structured internal human resource function, the Human Resource Framework  provides a simple and consistent method of managing people on an annual basis. The framework provides a guide to good human resource disciplines within the organisation, much the same as an accounting process. 

To learn more about the new National Standard, download the White Paper Setting the Standard from our website