Blog

There is evidence that a great deal of performance problems in the workplace stem from conflict rather than poor employee skills or low motivation. By Rho Sandberg

Recent research suggests that between 30–50 per cent of a typical manager’s time is spent managing workplace conflict, and that senior human resources (HR) executives spend up to 20 per cent of their time in litigation activities.

Career malaise and a lack of enthusiasm are a big concern for both the individual and the organisation they work for. But there is inspiration to be found from those who have worked through the same challenges. By Jennifer Alexander

Experience, mentoring and problem solving are only some of the benefits that Australian employers gain from wooing the mature-age worker. By Deborah Tarrant

Seeing is believing. When Sandra Edwards, Human Resources Manager for sheet metal manufacturer Form 2000 joined the company in the late 1990s, its eight employees were in their 20s. Younger staff were perceived to be better, she says, until perchance they hired a casual, a retiree in his late 50s.

Recently, AIM surveyed managers and asked them to list the top six management issues that would keep them awake at night over the next 12 months. Chris Sheedy looks into these six red-eye specials. Through March–April 2007, the Australian Institute of Management ran an online survey asking managers for what they saw as the crucial management issues facing them over the coming year. The survey itself was simple. From a listing of 30 key management issues, respondents were asked to list the top six that were most likely to wake them up at night in a sweat.

Michael Hawker, Managing Director and Chief Executive of insurance giant IAG, talks to Jennifer Alexander about value systems and integrating multiple corporate cultures.

Calling all talent! In a time of record employment levels and acute labour shortages, employers are being forced to devise new strategies to find and keep the best. By Cameron Cooper

The days of job candidates sitting nervously in a hostile reception area waiting for a grilling at their job interview may be over.

With the tentacles of environmental impact now stretching to all industries, it’s time to consider your options for contributing to a greener future. By Professor Lee D. Parker Global warming, the greenhouse effect, drought, pollution and land degradation are all hot topics of contemporary public discussion and policy debate. We are well accustomed to calls for business to become engaged in environmental protection and conservation. To many managers such issues may appear minor or irrelevant to their areas of business.

Harvard Business School gave Julie Bishop a desire to serve the country. She speaks to Patrick Cullen about the move from a private life to a very public one.

Julie Bishop was born and educated in South Australia. She was appointed Minister for Education, Science and Training in January 2006. Here she talks about education as a driver of Australian prosperity, workplace flexibility and work/life issues.

Q: How did you find it moving from a private existence to a very public one?

Ensuring staff wellbeing sounds like commonsense. But companies that value happy workers need to have a policy flexible enough to accommodate the varied needs of today’s employees.

In tangible and intangible ways, work means fulfilment to many people. For management, the demands of the modern workplace means consideration for issues of staff wellbeing. The following two features look at what wellbeing means, and the dramatic impact that depression and stress have on people and industry in Australia.

A model for virtuous leadership is made up of seven characteristics: courage, integrity, humility, compassion, passion, wisdom and humour. By Carolyn Barker AM

Today’s organisations need to change their DNA and be brave enough to think about a new “type” of leadership, as well as a new framework to evaluate good leadership. The Virtuous Leadership Framework lays a provocative groundwork for such action.