People Smartz Blog

People Smartz is proud to have been accredited as an approved consultant for the Jobs Assist Program.

The Queensland State Government is providing grants through approved Consultants for the delivery of advisory and mentoring services to businesses with 10 or more (full time equivalent) employees under the Jobs Assist programme.

The Department of Employment, Economic Development & Innovations (DEEDI) is providing the support intended to help businesses weather the current economic conditions. The financial loss and consequent unemployment caused by business failures is well understood. DEEDI is generously providing funding wherever such assistance is beneficial to sustaining businesses and the retention of employees.

Consulting assistance worth up to $8000 to each eligible business is provided in two stages:

Stage 1  -  For the purpose of diagnosing the issues impacting upon an existing business and to develop an Action Plan to help owners addresses strategies and activities which improve the business model.

Stage 2  -  For the purpose of engaging a consultant to mentor and provide expert advice with implementation of the priority tasks identified in the Action Plan. The outcomes sought are increased efficiencies, business sustainability and an increase in overall productivity.

Eligibility Criteria

The businesses accepting the assistance must meet the following criteria:

• Employ 10 or more full time (equivalent) employees;
• Have an established operating base in Queensland;
• Have an ABN and be registered for GST; and either
• Be located within a Local Priority Employment Area under the Federal Government Keep Australia Working Strategy; OR
• Fall within key sectors considered critical or of strategic importance to the State, region, industry or sectorial supply chain.

 To find out more about eligibility or to apply please contact us for more information today!

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You will have seen me write before that the two things business owners need more than any thing else is cash flow and time.

Today's blog is all about the later - time.  Now in researching today's blog, I found many documents, reviews, white papers about time management - making lists or setting goals.  While it was tempting, this is not what this blog is about!

From my experience, business owners are always on the move, busy working on this part of the business or that, making everything work on a day to day basis.  This is how it was when he or she first started the business on their own and what they have become used to.

But in order to grow a business, the owner needs to move out of the day to day - if they do not devote some time to the future, then they will be forever stuck in today. 

Time is often the first area a coach needs to begin with a business owner.  For it is the creation of time that creates opportunities for business growth and increasing cash flow...

So how does a busy person find more time?  Well simply it is not possible to find more time!  It is a scarce resource with only a certain amount of it available - and the time you do have has many conflicting priorities pulling on it!

If time is scarce, then it is time to start looking for ways to make your use of time more efficient.  For many business owners, identifying the work they do which could be done by others (or not done at all) is often the first step in this process.  It is all about looking for the way your business can run more effectively, whether by using others, automating a process or just changing the way you do things.

This is not a hard process to begin yourself - if you can find the time to do it!  Bit of a Catch 22 isn't?

So if you want to grow and develop your business, start thinking about time - not in terms of lists but in terms of outcomes, effectiveness and how you can devote some of it to the future.  People Smartz Coaches can assist you in the process by providing you with an experienced perspective of your and your peoples activities. Contact us

Yesterday, while I was talking to a business collegue, she made a good comment - "why are business owners so willing to accept a risk when it is so easy to fix".

This comment got me thinking.  I am meeting with business owners everyday and I see them making such decisions.  For most it is simply a matter of whether they can afford to fix the problem or not - regardless of the level of risk.

The question for me is whether they are asking the right question.

Now we all know that the level of risk is a combination of the likelihood of something happening and the consequences if it does occur. 

It worries me that businesses often do not protect themselves against a risk until they actually get caught out by that risk.  When that happens the cost is often substantially more than than any risk control would have cost proactively.
 
This is particularly relevant with employment and workplace risk. Business owners can be reluctant to take measures to protect their business when it comes to their employees and their employment. 

I am yet to find an business owner who has not taken measures to protect their business against theft, fire, public liability etc.  Policies for these are in place and renewed annually.  When dealing with clients they ensure that their and their clients expectations are managed through appropriate agreements and procedures.  In short, in these areas, they manage their risk.

However, the number of business owners who do not manage the risks in employment should be a concern.  It is not unusual for me to come across businesses:

• Without employment agreements and other tools to manage expectations (such as position descriptions).
• Who are unaware of the appropriate award or agreement for use in their industry
• Without appropriate OH&S practices
• Without appropriate policies and procedures in regards to legislative requirements
• Who do not understand the unfair and unlawful dismissal laws
• Who do not understand the risk and cost of employee turnover.

This list could go on.  The truth of the matter is that the cost of a breach of any of the above would far out weigh the cost of implementing easy processes to alleviate them.

In that respect, the question should not be "can I afford them", it should be "can I afford not to have them controlled".

At People Smartz, we are currently offering a Free Compliance Review for businesses to enable them to assess their levels of risk. 

It suddenly occurred to me that the one blog I had not written so far was the one about our People Smartz tag line "People Drive Results".

The one thing every business has in common is that people are involved.  Whether we are talking one person hanging out their own shingle or a company with 100's of employees - people are always involved.

Regardless of the business, regardless of its purpose, it is people that make things happen and it is people that work to make that business a success.  It doesn't matter what tools you put in place, what processes they follow or  who they are, it all comes back to the people who work in and on the business.

On Monday, I attended a seminar and met a gentlemen who ran his own company in landscape design.  Now I will admit, I have two brown thumbs, but this man even had me excited about his company, his industry and him!  He was a perfect example of "people drive results". Regardless of the tools, regardless of the processes, regardless of the client, it was he who made the company what it was - a successful business.

I meet many businessman who spend money on new software programs, consultants, marketing programs etc.  These are all essential and important to the productivity of their company and should not be forgotten.  But when I start talking to them about the ways they can improve on the gains from this further by spending money on their people many look at me like I am delivering something astonishingly new! 

The most basic asset of any business is the people, the area where the most gain can be made is through people and the most cost effective way of having a successful business is through developing yourself and your people. 

Yes - regardless of the business, it is people who drive results.  Why not talk to us about how we can help you drive your business? Contact People Smartz today.

In a lot of businesses, appraisal time is one of tension and sometimes confusion. 

At times, employees are surprised to be told about "issues" which have been around for a long time, but have not been addressed.

Manager's are stressed because they have to sometimes handle unpleasant realities.  They are further annoyed by the amount of time the appraisals take them away from their "real job".

It is particularly stressful for everyone when a person's salary,commission or bonus has a dependance on the appraisal.

In such organisations, the appraisals are a time to look back on performance and as a result what develops is a reactive approach to business and individual development.  Appraisals are seen as a chore that "most be done".

It has been well know for many years that such an approach is basically bad for business for all these reasons and more.  Where this is occurring, or where there is no process at all, business owners and managers are missing a great opportunity for driving their business forward.

By initiating a proactive, goal orientated performance management system (rather than backward looking appraisals), business owners and managers can drive activities to achieve strategic aims.  Individual and business progress towards goals can be monitored and communicated ensuring everyone is aware of this progress.  Corrective action can be taken to address performance, knowledge or experience issues as they are identified.  In the end, everyone is what is expected of the business as a whole and themselves as individuals.

More importantly - once a year appraisal time becomes an all year round, "the way we do things" process which is forward looking and driving the business.

Doesn't that sound like the right way to do things?

Such systems are not the domain of big business or corporate.  In fact in small to medium size businesses the development of such programs can have impressive impact, encourages participation and spreads out accountability throughout the business.  This is particularly important in small business where the owners are always spread thin!

At People Smartz, we can help you develop a system suitable for you business, regardless of size or industry.  As an added extra, our coaches can further assist you in the implementation by coaching owners and managers in how to deal with performance and productivity issues as they appear. 

Learn more about our HR Coaching Programs and then contact us for assistance!