I often visit small and growing businesses to discuss with them their people management needs. Their need is a very simple one - "I just want to treat my people right and make sure I am compliant". Unfortunately,until recently, that need could not be addressed in a simple manner and many employers would place the need in the "too hard" basket.   read more

The Federal Government has introduced into parliament its second tranche of legislation amending the Fair Work Act. The changes to the Act include new responsibilities for the Fair Work Commission in regards to Workplace Bullying by introducing a new avenue for a employee to complain about Workplace Bullying. The bill allows a worker who believes they are being bullied at work to apply to the Commission for an order to stop the bullying. read more

We are delighted to announce an important milestone in our business. As of Monday the 4th of February 2013, People Smartz Pty Ltd will be partnering with enableHR to provide implementation and training support to Xero Accounting practices. Xero is an ASX listed online accounting and payroll tool that has rapidly gained acceptance with leading chartered accounting practices and book keeping groups. read more

Fair Work Australia this week released its latest annual report.  It is interesting reading. As you can see by the title of this post, the number of unfair dismissal claims has once again risen over the year 2011-2012 to a total of 14,027.  This is an increase of 9.2%. The "headline" number for the government in this report is the number of claims settled overall under this system - 81%.  Evidence that the system is "working" they say. read more

The October WebinHR program has now been released! Great topics including "Is it costing you too much to pay your people" and "How do you hire for skill and fit". For more information on these great webinars for small business - Click Here  read more

At People Smartz we receive a large number of phone calls and website hits every month from clients, ex-clients and others requesting information regarding Small Business HR Issues. We have been keeping records for sometime about the questions asked, however, for the first time this month, we have decided to publish the top 5 topics based on the questions asked.  Our top five for the last month are: read more

Nearly everyone we talk to at the moment is describing things as quiet.... One of the best pieces of advice I could give in these situations is simple - don't let momentum drop off and keep your sales funnel full. Many businesses in a turndown take a negative approach, they reduce costs and cut down on business development activity.  In many areas of expense, cutting costs during a downturn is sensible.  However, business development is not one of those areas! It is the momentum of your business development activities that is the lifeblood of your business.  read more

Occasionally at People Smartz we see trends beginning to develop in regards to the areas we are asked to assist businesses. At the moment, we seem to have a "run" on businesses approaching us to assist with issues that have arisen as a result of working from home arrangements. Over the last three months, we have assisted a number of businesses and organisations to "sort out" these arrangements.  The majority of these businesses were not for profit and run by a "volunteer" executive or elected officials.  Over time, the nature of these businesses had resulted in there being a lack of awareness in regards to the activities of employee/s of the business - in one case, the Executive did not even really know the physical address of their "office"! read more

The WebinHR Program moves into it's second month in September! This month's topics include "Moving your business from Good to Great" , "eLearning" and "Emotional Intelligence" To find out more - visit our WebinHR Page and Book Your Attendance Now! read more

Today I was almost involved in an accident in my car. I was driving along the road, the last of three cars travelling along a suburban street. Up ahead was a side street with one car waiting to turn out and another waiting to turn into it. Unexpectantly, the first of the two cars ahead of me suddenly stopped to let these two cars exit and enter the side street. Taken by surprise, both I and the driver of the second car braked hard. Unfortunately, the second car was unable to stop in time and drove straight into the rear of the first car, which then crashed into both the cars turning. Luckily, I was travelling far enough behind to avoid being physically involved and my car was undamaged - something I can not say for the other 4 cars involved. read more