Cate Page, from Converge International discusses tips and advice on creating healthy workplace culture.
Leadership experts advise that part of managing major change within a business is drilling down to why your staff are there in the first place.
Head of workplace think tank Reventure Lindsay McMillan says businesses need to remember workers will jump ship if they don’t see a broader purpose to what they’re doing, which is a risk when companies are distracted by bigger challenges and ‘the bottom line’.
“Employees need to have a purpose or they will leave. A business that focuses solely on the bottom line will miss the bigger picture and will lose their most valuable employees to companies that understand the importance of creating a meaningful and fulfilling work environment,” he advises.
For many employees, a lack of purpose and meaning makes the work day a daily grind in which the only thing keeping them going is the prospect of returning home.
Indeed, a new report by global HR think-tank Reventure has found that 72% of Australians are looking for greater meaning in their work and almost 50% say they will be looking for a new job this year.
Released as part of Reventure’s workplace campaign a future that works, the report Delivering Purpose and Meaning proposes six strategies to deliver change in workplaces around Australia.
For many employees, a lack of purpose and meaning makes the work day a daily grind in which the only thing keeping them going is the prospect of returning home.
Indeed, a new report by global HR think-tank Reventure has found that 72% of Australians are looking for greater meaning in their work and almost 50% say they will be looking for a new job this year.
Released as part of Reventure’s workplace campaign a future that works, the report Delivering Purpose and Meaning proposes six strategies to deliver change in workplaces around Australia.
Smart Company: EMMA KOEHN
Director of workplace think-tank Reventure, Lindsay McMillan, says news of the perils of hot-desking are not so surprising given the concept was created not with workers in mind, but in the interests of conserving space.
“Hot-desking is a challenge — it was originally started when architects would say people would work out of the office, so if you have a staff of 50 but not actually 50 desks. The challenge for SMEs is often though, if not everyone is allowed to come and go, there’s a sense of, “Why do those people have the ability to come and go, and I don’t?”
In cases where your office setup and workplace practices make it hard for colleagues to see who is at work and when, emotions can run high.
“It’s a truism that resentment can emerge,” McMillan says, highlighting the need for any office setup to be decided in consultation with the people who will be working there — and giving them the most choice possible.
A leading academic has spoken out about the risks of technology after it was revealed that one Swedish company has microchipped more than 100 of its employees.
“This is a concerning result of the increased role technology is playing in the workplace, especially for younger people,” said Dr Lindsay McMillan, lead researcher at HR think-tank Reventure.
“Whilst technology has undoubtedly increased productivity and connectedness, it seems to be having a troubling impact on work patterns and the ability of workers to switch off from their job.”
McMillan’s comments came after Epicentre – a digital firm based in Stockholm – confirmed it has microchipped approximately 150 willing employees since first launching the initiative in 2015.
According to Dr Lindsay McMillan, lead researcher at HR think-tank Reventure and campaign director of a future that works, this new workplace practice is a sign of how “unhealthy” workplaces could become in the future.
“This is the concerning result from the increasing role technology is playing in the workplace, especially for younger people,” Dr McMillan said.
“Whilst technology has undoubtedly increased productivity and connectedness, it seems to be having a troubling impact on work patterns and the ability of workers to switch off from their job.”
Inside Small Business
The five-day work week has been a permanent fixture in Australian workplaces, however, the Greens have suggested that a four-day work week could be feasible.
Dr Lindsay McMillan, from global HR think-tank Reventure and lead researcher of the national campaign to renew workplaces – a future that works welcomed the announcement as the start of a robust debate about changing entrenched work practices.
“The debate around the four-day work week and penalty rates signals Australia is coming in the right direction when it comes to workplace wellbeing and engagement,” Dr McMillan said. “However, these one-off conversations will not achieve genuine change – we need to take a holistic approach to our workplaces.”
After our recent post on Dr Fiona Kerr, and the discussion of the core elements of leadership that can rewire the brains of employees – including creating a sense of shared purpose – I was interested to see the new report Delivering Purpose and Meaning from Reventure’s workplace campaign a future that works, citing both the issues and their recommended solutions.
Telstra’s move to introduce a requirement that women make up at least 50% of recruitment and interview shortlists has prompted HR experts to encourage SMEs to think about ways they too can shake up their hiring processes.
In an announcement to coincide with International Women’s Day, Telstra chief executive Andy Penn unveiled a plan to build the telco’s “female talent pipeline” by requiring that interview shortlists for roles be made up of at least 50% women candidates, or 25% for roles in which there’s a known gender imbalance in available candidates in the job market.
For many employees, a lack of purpose and meaning makes the work day a daily grind in which the only thing keeping them going is the prospect of returning home.
Indeed, a new report by global HR think-tank Reventure has found that 72% of Australians are looking for greater meaning in their work and almost 50% say they will be looking for a new job this year.
Released as part of Reventure’s workplace campaign a future that works, the report Delivering Purpose and Meaning proposes six strategies to deliver change in workplaces around Australia.
A workplace relationships and health survey has found a high number of Australians are stuck in a working funk, with the thought of going home at night the thing keeping them there.
The report commissioned by a Future that Works and undertaken by human resources expert Lindsay McMillan, found 72 per cent were looking for greater meaning in their work, and close to 50 per cent will be looking for a new job this year.
The report defines steps to build a culture of meaning and purpose, including fostering employee participation and inclusion, communicating the alignment between roles and goals, encouraging autonomy and reinforcing engagement.
Australia would benefit from having a broader conversation about approaches to bereavement in the workplace, says director of workplace issues think tank Reventure, Lindsay McMillan.
“I’m very impressed with Facebook’s intent here—simply because it recognises that as employees at work, we are whole-of-life people. [Facebook’s policies are] integrated from birth until death,” he tells SmartCompany.
“We know that Australian workers are under immense pressure to deliver on results,” says McMillan, who believes a recognition of the longer term impacts of grief on staff members can help staff loyalty.
INSIDE SMALL BUSINESS
Australian workers should be given the right to switch off from emails outside of working hours to combat technology-related stress, according to leading HR expert, Dr Lindsay McMillan.
“Policy-makers, employers and unions must recognise the negative impact that technology-related stress is having on employees, and take steps to improve the work-life balance,” said Dr McMillan.
“According to my research of more than 1,000 employees last year, almost half of employees agreed that technology brings with it the feeling of being “always on.”
Lindsay McMillan | SMH
Does the "ping" of an email alert on your phone continue to dominate your life long after you've left the office?
Do you find yourself consumed by the need to urgently return a work call while your kids are trying to get your attention?
Well, join the club.
According to my research which gauged the opinions of more than 1000 workers, 2016 saw almost half of employees agreeing that technology brings with it the feeling of being "always on" and makes it difficult to completely shut-off from work.
INSIDE SMALL BUSINESS
After a worrying 2016 for Australian workers, 2017 must be the year to embark on a major workplace renewal and reform agenda, according to Dr Lindsay McMillan, lead researcher at HR think-tank Reventure.
“As we start a new year and Australian employers and employees get ready to return to work, we must start looking at what has be done to improve workplaces,” said Dr McMillan.
“The future that works campaign is all about improving workplaces for employees by providing research and strategies that actively tackle the challenges facing the workplaces of 2017.”
The Australian | January 14, 2017
Reventure lead researcher Lindsay McMillan.
Human resources think tank Reventure is hoping for a more positive year after its snapshot of the Australian workforce for 2016 found issues ranging from bullying and harassment to the gender pay gap and growing job insecurity are worrying Australian workers more than ever.
Lead researcher Lindsay McMillan says the study of employee sentiment of more than 1000 workers has shown people are more worried about negative workplace events than previously.
by HCA
The next Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs must be to relinquish total control and delegate to others.
That’s according to research that’s part of a future that works, a national workplace campaign launched by think-tank Reventure Ltd.
After finding that 49% of workers were likely to look for a new job in the next year, Reventure’s lead researcher Dr Lindsay McMillan started the campaign to reshape workplaces.
The research included instructive views into what it takes to be a successful CEO from 50 big bosses.
McMillan added that this research reveals what it takes to be the next Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg.
“CEOs from around the country have said that the days of hierarchical, dictatorial workplace are over and leaders must lead through engagement, partnerships and compromise,” said McMillan.
Rapid and unprecedented change in the marketplace driven by forces outside of their control, such as Brexit and the Trump presidency, is keeping Australia’s chief executives awake at night, a report reveals.
The report by global think tank Reventure, which involved interviews with 50 chief executives, revealed that the sense of shake-up that had hit the political world with Brexit and the election of Donald Trump was being felt in Australian companies.
The company heads interviewed agreed that the rapidity of change was the most significant pressure point creating an uncertain future. “The rapid nature of change is presenting opportunities for businesses and employees, but also uncertainty around the very nature of how work is conducted,” report author Lindsay McMillan said.
“With the rise of populist movements throughout the world, including Brexit in Europe and Donald Trump in America, traditional business and political models are being dramatically shaken up. It is not just politicians that are being sent a message from these movements, but business people and employers, too.”
A workplace behaviour study by global think tank Reventure has found 10 per cent of workers have been bullied or subjected to verbal abuse, and this does not include other serious incidents.
Lead researcher Lindsay McMillan says any abuse is not on, but seeing 10 per cent of more than 1000 workers surveyed experiencing poor behaviour is a wake-up a call.
The survey found 20 per cent of workers experienced high levels of negativity in the workplace, 18 per cent experienced conflict with their boss and 14 per cent suffered a mental or physical health decline resulting from their work.