CULTURE CHOCK
Every place of work has its quirks. The strangeness, the wonder, the sorrows and joys of working culture is all captured in a navel-gazing kind of way in Culture Chock.
Social Media, Propaganda and Terrorism
As terrorist organisations continue to exploit social media to spread content and malcontent, social media giants face an uphill battle balancing free expression against propaganda spread by extremist ideologues. By Archana Khatri Das Terror groups globally are exploiting Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google, and other social media platforms to spread ideology and potentially attract...
Assert Yourself with Power to Subdue Bullies
It is a tough world out there. Sometimes we deal with people who are aggressive, pushy and difficult to handle. Some happen to be our managers, colleagues or even family members. Whoever it is, dealing with aggressive behaviour is confronting and reduces morale. When dealing with a bully try to present a thoughtful...
Human Faces in Digital Times
When the human touch is balanced with technology processes, companies can benefit from a more efficient and productive workforce. Shuchita Dua Dullu The Human Resource department in organisations of all sizes have always had a critical and a pivotal role to play. The key roles of the HR department in any business include...
Free Workplace Counselling is a Profitable Duty of Care
Providing free and confidential workplace counselling interventions has proven to reduce sickness absence rates in organisations by as much as fifty per cent… By Shuchita Dua Dullu There seems to be a correlation between the increase in competitive job markets and the pressures to maintain a work-life balance and a rise in negative...
Disability Inclusion is Good for All
Disability inclusion should be a priority for organisations not just because it is right to do so, but because it makes commercial sense and is good for the economy. Shuchita Dua Dullu There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that suggests organisations have actively resisted employing people living with disability due to fear of...
Five Ways to Master Conflict Resolution
Conflict resolution at work is not about victory or defeat. It is about reaching a point of understanding and letting go for the larger purpose of individual and organisational growth and success. By Shuchita Dua Dullu Wherever there are individuals with different expectations and backgrounds, conflict is inevitable. Essentially, conflict arises as a...
Six Stress Busters to Stay Sharp at Work
There is no denying that work demands are high and workplaces can sometimes be stressful environments. Evidence suggests that most people find it hard to control anger and resentment, completely unaware of how their behaviour is limiting career opportunities… By Shuchita Dua Dullu Whether we did not receive that expected pay rise or...
Servant Leadership Means Good Leaders Eat Last
According to Author Daniel Goleman, we are being judged by a new yardstick; not just how smart we are, or by our training and expertise, but also how well we handle ourselves and each other… By Tulika Sarkar Too often in professional life, the common advice given is there is no room for...
High Emotional Intelligence Equals Higher Conversions
We share insights into how possessing an ability to manage your emotions effectively is critical for business development. By Shuchita Dua Dullu In fiercely contested markets, where every business interaction and decision is considered to be calculative and based on real-time data, the question remains whether emotions can be a differentiator in business....
Androids Herd Electric Sheep
Australia’s rural communities face a range of increasingly complex issues that decision makers and the communities, themselves, must confront if they are to maintain the sustainability of these cities and towns. Take the greater introduction of robots and farming automation. The use of these will be profound, increasing farm efficiency and productivity; but,...
Employee Utopia Found on Planets Google and Facebook
We discuss why Google and Facebook’s Employee Engagement Programs makes them the hottest ticket in the tech employee galaxy. By Shuchita Dua Dullu Keeping employees engaged is the biggest challenge Human Resource professionals face today. In the United States alone, 70 per cent of workers don’t like their job, are less productive and report...
The Rights and Obligations of Robots
Some researchers suggest that ‘electronic persons’ will surpass human intelligence by 2050, potentially making humans obsolete. This scenario invites the discussion on whether a universal standard of ethics and obligations needs to be developed, and enforced upon manufacturers of artificial intelligence. By Archana Khatri Das With the rapid advancement of AI and robotics...
Next-Gen Leaders Merge Individual and Collective Approaches to Leadership
The pursuit of private interest or pursuit of the common interest of the group is a tension that must be balanced for leaders who want long-term success. Shuchita Dua Dullu Leadership is defined as ‘the position of being a leader’. The question that arises from this vague definition is ‘what makes an employee...
The Top Five Psychometric Tests Used in Recruitment
Get savvy for your next career jump by understanding the types of psychometric testing used by over 80 per cent of Fortune 500 companies in the USA and over 75 per cent of the Times Top 100 companies in the UK. By Shuchita Dua Dullu Today, universities and colleges spend a lot of...
Get Out of Strife and Index Your Life
If you’re super busy, the work pile is growing and in your dreams you’re always running naked, late for a train, Technologist Joseph Smith has the cure. Listen to David Allen’s book on Getting Things Done and build your own personal management system for scale. By Joseph Smith Picture me, ten years earlier....
The Dishonest Interviewee
Using what researchers from the University of Guelph call ‘deceptive impression management’, job seekers will often bend the facts to fit what the interviewers are looking for. Joel Willis We all know the clichés that appear on CVs time and time again, the type that produce lines of carbon copy candidates struggling to...
Demotivational Posters Keep it Real
The birth of Demotivation Posters in the office managed to not only subvert declarations of corporate positivity, its honest take on the realities of working life achieved far greater workplace solidarity than any hired-gun corporates wheel in… By Joel Willis Head into any office space around the world and look at the cubicle walls....
Most Viewed Viral Clips of 2016
Streaming video content continues to capture the biggest eyeballs in storytelling. From quirky tunes, drama, sport and to the US election, we’ve put together a short-list of the most viewed viral clips from around the world in 2016. If we understand just why each one went viral, we’d share the formula… For now,...
Women & Men are Equally Ambitious in Tech
With the tech industry priding itself as an evidence-driven discipline it is odd that company policies and practises are sometimes led by preconceptions than actual data. This is particularly pertinent for women who work in tech, where the evidence on female ambition and motivation urges us to leave our assumptions at the door. By...
Shared Agendas Equals Positive Disruption
The social and environmental issues we now face at a local and global level is laced with greater volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. This means public agencies need to think creatively when it comes to strategic planning and delivery. Staying relevant requires leaders to move outside their comfort zone and collaborate with all stakeholders to achieve a...
The Modern Workplace as Incubator for Collaboration & Creativity
In this disruptive age of complex, multidimensional problems it’s no longer business as usual. Modern workplaces are shaking up how we work. No longer the domain of the 9 to 5, the new modern workplace doesn’t involve sitting at a desk pushing out emails and reports going nowhere. Instead, it offers a plethora...
Hoorah for The Healthy Habitual
Motivation is a powerful tool used to drive the completion of important tasks or goals. Dr Callum Forrest explores what motivation is, why some people seem to have it more than others and what you can do to become a healthy habitual in 66 days. Dr Callum Forrest Motivation is a hot topic of...
The Poverty of Intellectual Arrogance
When it comes to delivering great customer experience, rather than using the vague ‘customer is king’ decree perhaps, ‘check yourself’ should be the practical reminder of all good customer relations. By Joanne Leila Smith Organisations that genuinely commit to delivering a clearly defined corporate culture do so not because the primary intention is...
Crisis is not a Time to Build Consensus
Popular crisis management theories often advocate for stakeholder engagement during times of crises. For those who have witnessed or experienced first-hand work-place crises, they can attest that this approach is rubbish; working via consensus in a crisis doesn’t work in real-life. By Joseph Smith Let’s cut straight to the collar; to effectively manage...
Why Bad News Needs No Lead Time
Most colleagues understand that sometimes, a project falls off the road, and in some cases, becomes an irretrievable car wreck. Knowing whether a project is dead on arrival or, possibly salvageable is a call based on experience; but the delicate art of breaking bad news to management requires tactical pragmatism. By Joanne Leila...
Power Relations as a Social Contract in Corporate Life
Climbing the corporate ladder involves not just talent – it’s a constant negotiation between competing wills. By accepting that all human engagement, whether it be in a professional or personal setting, is based on a social contract that is never static, one can truly understand the state of play and position yourself to...
Shared Value for Collective Benefit
As a relatively new concept in Australia, shared value is fast becoming the beacon for purpose and sustainable development in business. Not to be confused with the philanthropic and volunteering contributions of corporate social responsibility, shared value meets the capitalist need for profit while bringing social problems to the heart of business. By...
Public Agencies and Tick-A-Box Strategic Planning
With a need to deliver social good to the communities or societies they serve, people who work within public agencies must develop and deliver good strategic plans. This may be challenging for many agencies that culturally, can’t seem to drag themselves from business-as-usual. David Ross shares numerous ways for public agencies to develop meaningful,...
It’s Big Bucks to Be a B Corporation
There’s a new sort of caring, sharing change-making company that’s gathering momentum, worldwide. Dedicated to achieving a higher purpose and striving to be the best for, not best in the world, the B Corporation movement is working to redefine business success – as a force for good. By Di Mace Certified B (or...
Jammed by Choice
According to shrinks, we’re given too much choice and it’s bad for us. While this runs counter to the ‘benefits of the freedom of choice’ narrative in western culture, food retailers may need to look to the bottom of the jam jar for answers… By Di Mace Two psychologists, Sheena Iyenar and Mark...
Managing Stakeholder Outrage in Age of Distrust
Time and again, organisations are being caught unwittingly like spooked deer in the proverbial headlights of increasingly sophisticated and cynical stakeholders. But it doesn’t have to be this way. A more strategic, collaborative approach to good community relations can be taken that is kind to the bottom line… By David Ross There is...