What’s making the news work wise this month
- Employers offering incentives and rewards for vaccinated workers, for example – a one off credit to health insurance, cash rewards, gift vouchers and relaxation days. This is an area to watch and to be super careful of as depending on the nature of the reward, it may result in indirect discrimination or adverse action claims.
- Employers requiring employees to be vaccinated. Much more to come on this, but it seems to depend on the tier of category that your organisation is and the degree to which they are dealing with at high risk and vulnerable people. Some advice from the Fair Work Ombudsman.
- Employees who refuse to return to the workplace. How do employers manage that? Again, an area to be careful of and seek advice on.
- Privacy of vaccinated employees. Are employers able to request the vaccination status of an employee? And what can they do with it once they have it? Generally, an employer will need to request the consent and status from the employee, and the collection needs to be necessary and justifiable. Here’s some info from the Privacy Commissioner.
- Potential employers requiring the vaccinated status of applicants. Read this article for a perspective on that.
COVID and its ongoing implications will be an issue for some time to come. It’s an area that is evolving on an almost daily basis. Some suggested thoughts:
- Do some robust scenario planning based on the most up to date legal advice of both what the law requires you and allows you to do.
- Make sure that you’re complying with best practice from the Fair Work Ombudsman and the Privacy Commissioner.
- Check out the Human Rights Commission website and their views on the impact of vaccinations etc on discrimination and other human rights.
- Make sure your contracts of employment and policies are up to date, reflective of the law, and reflect any temporary and permanent changes.
- Make sure you consult robustly and appropriately with an eye to any obligations under your relevant industrial instruments, and the ongoing workplace culture you are trying to create. Take your employees on the journey with you.
Food for thought
- This tiny toilet can help you move beyond your screwups .. Watch Dan Pink’s Pinkcast – always less than 2 minutes, and almost always funny, helpful and insightful.
- Some excellent thoughts here from Caroline Crosbie. She makes neuroscience practical.
On my Facebook page
- Racial bias may be hiding in your brain..
- Underpayments continue to be caught out..
- Culture in the hybrid workplace – a McKinsey article
What I am reading in August:
Culture Renovation – 18 Leadership Actions to Build an Unshakeable Company.
I am really enjoying this book. It’s well written and easy to read. Most importantly, it has practical things that any organisation can do look at their culture and make it better.
Most business leaders understand the power of a dynamic, positive culture―but almost every effort to change culture fails. Why? The approach is often all wrong. Rather than attempt to “transform” a new culture from the ground up, leaders need to instead spearhead a culture renovation. It’s all about keeping what works, changing what needs to be changed, and ensuring proper care and maintenance―much like refurbishing and living in a beautiful historic home and improving its overall value.
In Culture Renovation®, the head of the world’s leading HR research firm―the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp)―Kevin Oakes provides tangible, tactical insights drawn from a robust data set and informed by CEOs and HR leaders at many of the world’s top companies. You’ll find everything you need to rebuild your corporate culture with care and expertise, including:
- Three phases and detailed action steps for architecting the change you want to see
- Practical insights and examples from T-Mobile, Microsoft, 3M, and other top companies
- The traits of a healthy corporate culture
- Proven talent practices to maintain your new culture for long-term success
Oakes identifies 18 proven leadership actions for turning any culture into an agile, resilient, and innovative high-performance organization. You’ll learn how to best understand the culture in place today and set a new cultural path for decades to come; develop a co-creation mindset; identify influencers and blockers; ferret out skeptics and non-believers; measure, monitor, and report progress; and implement “next practices” in talent strategies to sustain the renovation.
Tammy’s news
in the media
Turning a bad boss into a strong leader
We all know a bad boss when we see one. They don’t provide a clear vision for their team, are dismissive of their employees’ needs or consistently fail to communicate effectively. Yet somehow – perhaps through technical ability alone (they might be great at grasping new concepts quickly, have excellent problem-solving skills, and know the relevant subject matter like the back of their hand, all of which are important skills to have in a leader’s toolkit) – they’ve risen through the ranks and stepped into a position of leadership. I spoke to HRM Online about this issue and what to do about it. You can read that here.
Why do we avoid difficult conversations at work?
I spoke to Triple M about what makes it so hard to give feedback at work, even when it’s important or will make a difference to us. Would you have a risky or difficult conversation at work? Would you give feedback to your boss, particularly if it was impacting your work on a day-to-day basis? According to new research, 1 in 3 won’t do the difficult conversation and 1 in 2 won’t chat to their boss. Which means there are a whole lot of things being left unsaid or being said in an unhelpful, passive, or destructive manner.
Onerous laws create slow and painful end for workers
I had an OpEd featured in The West on the Fair Work Act and how it doesn’t work. Click here to read.
your leadership story
Dr Erika Jacobson and I are running a four day leadership retreat in stunning Margaret River (11th to 14th November). Walk in nature and draw inspiration from the natural world on one of Australia’s most beautiful coastal walks. Unwind, have time to refresh, reflect and creatively discover your past, present and future leadership story as a person and as a leader.
Identify and clarify your personal and professional leadership challenges by exploring ways to see them in an entirely new light. Consider what stories you’re telling yourself and how they’re helping or hindering your leadership journey.
Along with a daily journey into nature, there will be workshops to reflect, paint, move & write to energise your heart and your imagination. During these workshops you will learn creative thinking skills and how to ignite and sustain your approach to leadership.
Get yourself to Margaret River, and from there, everything is included. Beautiful meals and accommodation, walks along the stunning Cape to Cape, daily yoga, a painting lesson with an acclaimed local artist, creativity, reflection and learning sessions, and a coaching session post the retreat to embed your actions going forward.
Click here to check out the programme. And click here to email me that you’re interested, and to be sent a more detailed itinerary.
new leadership programme
My colleague, Jaine Edge and I are collaborating once again to bring you a new leadership programme:
Moving into Management – a six month programme.
Our first cohort filled up in less than 48 hours. We are now taking enrolments for our third cohort.
This programme is all that you hope a leadership programme would be:
- face to face modules, supported by online learning to enhance the pre and post work of each module;
- leading edge, up to date organisational, psych and behavioural theories with a practical application back in the workplace;
- a toolbox of skills to practise and implement;
- connections and collaborations with fellow participants during the programme and beyond;
- engaging facilitators and guest speakers
Find out more by clicking here: JETTG MiM flyer August dates. Or you can talk to us about an in house programme for your organisation.
WANT MORE?
If the above has whetted your appetite, and you’re keen for more.. Here are some ideas:
Does leadership interest you? You can sign up to my FREE seven day “Be a Better Boss Challenge” by clicking here. And you can click here to buy my book.
Want to chat? Click here to get in touch.
Want more to read? You can read any of the 300+ blog posts on this site, by clicking here.
Join the conversation on my Facebook page or Linked In.
See you next month,
Tammy
