Media Watch
At Howard Recruitment, Search & Selection, we are constantly on the look out for articles of interest to other professionals. We have developed this page to provide our clients, candidates and subscibers articles we have identified that address relevant issues.
Below are links to some articles that may be of interest to you as an employer or job seeker. These aticles may link to other websites. Some of these websites may require a subscription or fee to access content.
If you read an article that your find relevant please let us know via our Contact Us page.
Headhunters are wielding the loppers
The Australian Financial Review - Jacqueline MaleyIt's a sign of the times when jobs start to go at recruitment agencies, writes Jacqueline Maley.
Recruitment companies are laying off workers as they struggle to adapt to the drastically reduced hiring intentions of companies for 2009.
The industry also faces a shift in demand from permanent to temporary and contract workers and an influx of highly skilled Australian expatriates returning home to find work.
"The permanent job market . . . has collapsed pretty much overnight," said Deborah Wilson, the head of HJB Priority, a publicly listed company with speciality practices including banking and finance and accounting.
"I've been through two recessions, and this has happened before, but what I haven't seen before is the lack of confidence...." http://afr.com/
Surviving the crisis
BRW - Anthony SibillinAs US upheavals continue to shock the global financial system, Australia hopes to withstand the onslaught.
An undersea earthquake is a problem for fish. But if it triggers a tsunami, or a series of huge waves, it becomes a problem for people too.
In the same way, the financial earthquake shaking global markets is still mostly a problem for bankers and American home owners. Whether it wipes out businesses and investors in Australia depends upon the answer to two big questions.
First, is it tsunami-strength? Second, are the economic channels across the Pacific wide enough to carry waves of trouble to Australian shores? The answer to both is "yes, but ..." http://brw.com.au/
Generation Y impervious to downturn
The Australian Financial Review - Emma ConnorsDespite knowing only boom times, younger members of our workforce are taking the bad times in their stride, writes Emma Connors.
It's the sheer chutzpah of generation Y that often leaves their elders speechless. That, and their unflinching confidence in their own abilities.
James is an affable lawyer in his mid-40s who runs his own successful practice in Sydney. He's generally at ease with the world but starts to seethe when discussing the attitude to work held by his younger employees, those still in their 20s.
"They would have been here for about two hours before they start asking for a promotion. Yet they require spoon-feeding to complete the simplest task. If you try to suggest they might show a bit more initiative, they look you in the eye and say 'well it's your fault, you should be managing me better'."
This is the type of anecdote that divides the working population.... http://afr.com/
Panic in the executive suite
The Australian Financial Review - Katrina NicholasExecutives are finding that when you underperform, so does your salary.
Remember performance pay. In good times, it goes up. In bad times, down. Reality bit savagely this week, again. This time reality bit the, until now, fabulously paid executives at Babcock & Brown.
The company was forced to knife bonuses, suspend dividends and announce plans to sack one-quarter of its 1600 employees. Shares plunged 40 per cent to a record $2.22 low, the biggest drop since the infrastructure group listed in October 2004.
Babcock is 44 per cent owned by its own staff. Their fortunes go down with the ship... http://afr.com/
Wake-up call for managers
BRW - David CrostonHard work is needed to change Australian workplace culture, as most workers are zombies sleepwalking through their workday.
Research undertaken by Gallup set out to identify the percentage of working Australians that fit one of three employee-engagement categories: engaged, not-engaged and actively disengaged. It found that just 18 per cent of employees are engaged with their work. The overwhelming majority of Australians -82 per cent -expend little or no effort while they are at work.
The survey found that 62 per cent of Australians are "not engaged" with their work. Gallup describes these workers as zombies "sleepwalking through their workday, putting time -but not energy or passion -into their work". Another 20 per cent of employees are turning up at work each day "actively disengaged". Individuals in this category are not only bored; they are predisposed to derailing the organisation.... http://brw.com.au/
It's OK to show some emotion
The Australian Financial Review - Fiona SmithLeaders who are willing to reveal their human side, with all its frailties, can be far more effective, writes Fiona Smith.
The chief executive walked into the room for the first executive meeting after the funeral of his father, the founder of the Fortune 1000 company. The others, not sure how to respond, waited for the leader to set the tone.
The CEO picked up the agenda and went to introduce the first item when he was interrupted by a question from the floor: "Tom, your father has just died. What is the impact on this company and your willingness to continue to be the CEO?"
The questioner was a consultant to the company, David Bradford, senior lecturer in leadership and director of the executive program in leadership at Stanford University in the US... http://afr.com/
Navigating the home truths of work negotiations
The Australian Financial Review - Catherine FoxThe pay gap and negotiation skills are hot topics in just about every forum on women and work these days.
And so they should be. Getting paid less on the basis of gender is of course unfair, but the increasing amount of research available on the topic makes it clear that this problem is also surprisingly widespread.
Lots of the information available on this issue, however, has concentrated solely on what is seen to be happening in the workplace - which is usually attributed to the failure of many women to ask for a rise, and their perceived lack of negotiating skills or desire for promotion... http://afr.com/
Fun recipes for successful teamwork
The Australian Financial Review - Rachel LebihanFrom cooking classes to making cheese and wine, tastes are changing in corporate bonding, writes Rachel Lebihan.
Traditionally, treaties and bargains were ratified over meals, alliances forged and sworn enemies reconciled over a banquet. Today, businesses are rallying the troops through a range of gourmet events intended to help workers bond.
More than a century ago William Robertson Smith, an editor of the Encyclopedia Britannica, observed: "Those who eat and drink together are by this very act tied to one another by a bond of friendship and mutual obligation."
Corporate bonding wasn't what he had in mind, but those in epicurean circles are tapping the corporate appetite for innovative ways to motivate staff by rolling out everything from cooking classes to cheese-making programs....
http://afr.com/
Peck on the cheek out of order
The Australian Financial Review - Hannah TattersallA kiss at work is at best considered appropriate, but it could also be seen as harassment, writes Hannah Tattersall.
When Julia Gillard kissed Wayne Swan on the cheek on budget night, people were s urprised. It wasn't that it was wrong or objected to by Swan, but it was unusual to see a gesture of affection taking place in Parliament House. The fact that Gillard had curled her hand around Swan's neck while kissing him also somehow added to the surprise - it seemed out of context, a breach of workplace etiquette perhaps. But even more surprising was that Gillard was forced the next morning to justify her actions on Mornings with Kerri-Anne.... http://afr.com/
Home is where the work is
The Australian Financial Review - Carolyn CumminsThere is a seismic shift in work patterns happening across the globe, driven by high petrol prices, social and demographic changes and spending patterns.
All are having profound impacts on office space, retail consumption and demand for a different set of investment vehicles.
Housing affordability, an ageing population and the mining boom in Western Australia and Queensland are the main contributors to these imbalances nationally.
With fewer people at work, judging by the fall in employment figures for May, and more working from home to cut down on petrol costs, office space demand will start to contract, though the saving grace for all capital cities continues to be a lack of supply....
http://afr.com/
Now be nice - there's no place for bullies
The Australian Financial Review - Fiona SmithSwearing, shouting, putting people down - obnoxious workers are on the way out writes Fiona Smith.
At Arup Australasia, there is a "no dickheads" policy. If you can't treat others with respect, you won't be tolerated.
it is a brave stake in the ground for an engineering firm, given the critical shortage of engineers, who are notoriously left-brained types, or not always socially adept.
The managing director of the firm, Robert Care, says the culture at his organisation has become more supportive in the past two years, since he announced in an internal newsletter that he would no longer put up with bad attitudes... http://afr.com/
I can't get no job satisfaction
The Australian Financial Review - Fiona SmithEmployers often have no idea why staff are leaving, writes Fiona Smith.
When people tell their bosses why they are leaving, they often lie. It is not that they have something to hide, but they figure it is better to give an innocuous reason than have a difficult conversation.
How much easier is it to say "I got an offer that was too good to refuse" than "I am bored and I think the other company will appreciate me more"?
Saying "I want to try something new" makes you sound like a bold adventurer. The truth - "I am spending too many hours here and not enough time with my family" - might make you sound work-shy to an unsympathetic manager.
And who knows when you might cross paths again? It is better to leave on good terms....
http://afr.com/
Uphill battle to change workplace expectations
The Australian Financial Review - Catherine FoxWhen Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced last week he had appointed Spain's first cabinet with a female majority, he was forced to defend the move.
Critics of the new cabinet - nine women and eight men - did not know how much the country has changed, he was reported as saying, and they did not realise that the capacity of women is exactly the same as men.
Zapatero also announced that gender equality in the workplace was a priority for his government.
Leading by example will certainly help the case for business change in Spain, but it will not be easy. There seems little shift in the demanding expectations of many workplaces.... http://afr.com/
Ties that don't bind help bring success
The Australian Financial Review - Fiona SmithBoundary spanners draw innovative thinking from developing relationships that bring new ideas, and it doesn't have to cost much.
If you want to be known as an innovator, forget trying to be best friends with your colleagues. It can be more effective to have the supernetworker approach, where you might know hundreds of people by name, but only as loose acquaintances.
You smile and say hello, ask after their work and health, but you might not know if they have children, pets and allergies.
These are people with whom you have "weak ties." You are friendly, but not friends.
But you also feel comfortable calling on them for help, collaboration and support at work.... http://afr.com/
When mere financial survival is a bonus
The Australian Financial Review - Fiona SmithCounsellors are preparing to help myriad workers who for the first time are seeking their 'at risk' payments vanish.
Employers are nervously trying to work out what the fallout will be when they have to tell their people that they won't be getting their anticipated bonuses this year.
Meanwhile, many finance sector employees are preparing themselves for the bad news, realising they may not get the lump sum they depend on to pay off credit cards, fund renovations and holidays, and finance their children's private school education... http://afr.com/
Some timely myth-busting about female ambition
The Australian Financial Review - Catherine FoxThe news that women have much the same motivation for being in the workforce as men shouldn't come as a major relevation these days.
Similarly, a reminder that women who give birth don't automatically lose all traces of ambition along with the tone of their pelvic floor muscles should be unnecessary in 2008.
But these key findings in the Generation F report released today by EOWA (Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency) and Hay Group are as useful now as 20 years ago, because women's labour is still dramatically undervalued and underutilised by Australian employers... http://afr.com/
The value of creating order
The Australian Financial Review - Fiona SmithCynics may dismiss them, but company values have a serious purpose.
When chief executives start banging on about company values, people start to switch off. Yawn. Boring. Irrelevant. Throw in the words culture, employer value proposition, employer of choice and diversity, and if you're still awake, you probably work in human resources.
It can be hard to convince cynics they should take these well-meaning concepts seriously. But just because something is difficult, it doesn't mean it's not worth doing.
While poor company values are often held up as the core reason US energy company Enron collapsed in 2001 and, in Australia, the National Australia Bank lost $360 million because of rogue traders in 2004 - most workers don't believe they will be caught up in such a scandal... http://afr.com/
'Teamwork is good' and other myths exposed
The Australian Financial Review - Fiona SmithHalf a dozen golden rules of management may not be so useful after all.
Simon Moss has spent the past 10 years myth-busting scouring journals from around the world to collect research that disproves many of the things we believe to be true about the way our brains work.
For instance: is it good to banish negative thoughts, right?... http://afr.com/
There are diversity programs and diversity programs
The Australian Financial Review - Catherine FoxThe two high-profile sex discrimination cases that have recently hit the headlines in this country - Christina Rich, formerly of PricewaterhouseCoopers, and now Fiona Dunn, a former Perpetual executive - have highlighted the need for organisations to ensure gender equity is high up the corporate agenda.
And the legal action is a reminder that addressing the problems women encounter at work is not a good thing to do, but an essential part of sensisble risk management... http://afr.com/
Don't read too many books, says author
The Australian Financial Review - Fiona SmithThe king of motivational pulp, Ken Blanchard, says re-reading, not reading, is best.
Want to keep up to date with the latest thinking? Well, a new book is published every 30 seconds and, by the end of the year, there will be thousands of business books to pile up on your bedside table, cascade over your bed, make their way up to the ceiling and escape into the lounge room.
The number of business books each year varies from 11,000 to 20,000 depending on who you ask, and one of the chief culprits for this deluge is Ken Blanchard, the great grandaddy of management writing who is creditied with start the trend with his One Minute Manager 26 years ago (with Spencer Johnson). It has sold more than 13 million copies... http://afr.com/
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