Firstly – how the hell can we be talking about dates for next year already? This year has been simultaneously slow and ridiculously fast.
What’s making the news work wise this month
- Re-thinking that open-plan office idea – If you feel like your blood pressure is rising when you try to hear yourself think in an open-plan office, you may be right. A new study has shown that an open plan office can increase the stress that people experience and have a negative impact on mood. All of which impact on longer term productivity and engagement, and the health effects of employees. n.
- New KPMG boss starts with a bang – offering 26 weeks paid parental leave to both parents. Speaking to HRD, Parents At Work CEO Emma Walsh said the initiative was born off the back of new research which revealed how many parents still struggle to juggle their work and family life. “Our research of 6,000 Australian families reported some really startling statistics around the work/life tension people were feeling,” she said. “62% of people said work/life tension and the conflict they were experiencing was really having a significant impact on their mental and physical health, and that it was having an onflow effect to their family life.
Food for thought
- How important is humanity in the workplace? There are employers who are winning on the humanity front, and those that are really not. Take for example, the company Organon, who have given staff up to three hours per day to support their children in remote learning activities during the Sydney lockdown and two hours per day to support their own wellbeing. Contrast this with Sydney’s Bayside Council, who asked employees to sign a declaration stating that council wouldn’t be responsible for children under seven whilst staff were working from home. What do employers need to consider when they decide where on this spectrum to place themselves?
On my Facebook page
- The psychology behind unethical behaviour. How do people get away with unethical behaviour? How does it start?
- 7 lessons about finding the work you were meant to do
- Deloitte Australia refreshes its flexibility working policy
What I am reading in July:
Glimpses of Utopia – Real Ideas for a Fairer World by Jess Scully. This is a wonderful book written by the Deputy Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney, this book is like a breath of fresh air. Here’s the spiel from the website:
It’s hard to be excited about the future right now. Climate change is accelerating; inequality is growing; politics is polarised; institutions designed to protect us are strained; technology is disrupting the world of work. We need to upgrade the operating systems of our society.
Jess Scully asks, What can we do? The answer is: plenty! All over the world, people are refusing the business-as-usual mindset and putting humans back into the civic equation, reimagining work and care, finance and government, urban planning and communication, to make them better and fairer for all.
Meet the care workers reclaiming control in India and Lebanon, the people turning slums into safe havens in Kenya and Bangladesh, and champions of people-powered digital democracy in Iceland and Taiwan. There are radical bankers funding renewable energy in the USA and architects redesigning real estate in Australia, new payment systems in Italy and the Philippines that keep money in local communities, and innovators redesigning taxation to cut pollution and incentivise creative solutions.
Glimpses of Utopia is a call for optimism. Humans everywhere are rising up to confront our challenges with creativity, resilience and compassion. Harnessing technology and imagination, we can reshape our world to be fair and sustainable. This book shows us how.
Tammy’s news
in the media
I spoke to Triple M about “Pawternity Leave” and how far will it go? Will we have time off to bury our goldfish?
Juggling social media, free speech and your job
I spoke to Sunshine FM and Triple M about social media and your employment. It’s such a fine line between being able to say what you think freely and what your employer thinks you should be saying. These days, most organisations have a social media policy where employees are warned about staying on the right side of the line and not bringing their employers into disrepute. So, what happens when your job is to have strong opinions but when you say what you think, you bring your employer into possible disrepute?
I had an OpEd featured in The West on Flexible Working. 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
