The Environment and Culture of Organisations by Jennifer Weller https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o Links to media that relates to Topic 1 en-us 2017-08-24 23:43:54 UTC 2020-10-14 17:43:56 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/File.png Great Leadership Isn't About You - HBR creativeworkz https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/182709571 2017-08-24 23:43:54 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/182709571 Madam C.E.O., Get Me a Coffee - NY Times creativeworkz https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/182709572 2017-08-24 23:43:54 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/182709572 How Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are - TED Talk creativeworkz https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/182709573 2017-08-24 23:43:54 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/182709573 The Power of Introverts - TED Talk creativeworkz https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/182709574 2017-08-24 23:43:54 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/182709574 Bill Gross - A Devotion to New Ideas - Stanford Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders (podcast) creativeworkz https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/182709576 2017-08-24 23:43:54 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/182709576 15 signs you have emotional intelligence - World Economic Forum creativeworkz https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/182709577 2017-08-24 23:43:54 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/182709577 You’re Not Busy, You’re Just Rude - WSJ creativeworkz https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/182709579 2017-08-24 23:43:54 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/182709579 Leadership: Engage your Team - Create a Culture of Engagement amandamackenzie1990 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/234036446 Wright (2013) focuses on engagement to promote culture and states that engagement is a measure of the team’s emotional commitment to their leaders. It a certainty that disengagement has negative effects on business, and as mentioned costs Australian organisations over $45 billion a year. Creating a culture of engagement through leadership interactions will boost morale attitudes and results with bottom line employees as well as attract and retain the best people. Wright also talks about “on the fence employees” and “bad apples”, it could be argued that employees become disengaged for other reason besides effective leadership. It could be that the job just isn’t right for them on a personal level and nothing to do with the leadership or culture of the company. It is also suggested that to leaders need engagement intelligence to help understand people and help find individual motivators. This could prove time consuming for some leaders to individually persuade employees to become “engaged”. It also could be risky for both leadership and employees who do not understand how to separate the ‘personal’ from the ‘business’.


Reference
Wright, K. [Ken Wright]. (2013, August 26). Leadership – engage your team – create a culture of engagement. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZA94smSkQg

]]> 2018-02-21 23:52:04 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/234036446 How Technology is Defining the Ground Rules of Leadership amandamackenzie1990 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/234042212 There are many different internal and external factors that influence the environment of an organisation, one of those factors is the constant change of dynamics of globalisation and technology. Rao (2018) explains that the “acceleration in technology” forces leaders to change the way in which they handle work and its future. This article focuses on the impact that social media and technology has on how leaders portray and conduct themselves, defining this new generation of leaders as a culture in themselves. Technology presents multiple opportunities for leaders to implement new training and development strategies to help upskill employees, increase productivity, provide profitable career options, generate a higher competitive advantage and promote employee job satisfaction. The article takes aim at “young leaders” however it is important for the older generation to stay up to date with technology and be accessible to employees to promote and drive a motivated healthy culture.

Reference
Rao, R.R (2018, February 22). How technology is defining the ground rules of leadership 2.0. YourStory. Retrieved from https://yourstory.com/2018/02/technology-defines-ground-rules-of-leadership-2-0/]]> 2018-02-22 00:31:59 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/234042212 Leadership and Management Part of 4: The Iceberg of Organisation Culture amandamackenzie1990 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/234046937 This video explains the iceberg of organisational culture, which has three levels. Firstly at the top you have artefacts, what we can see, hear and feel when we walk into or are surrounded by an organisation. Secondly you have values and beliefs which we can’t see, it is why the organisation does what it does. Thirdly on the bottom is underlying assumptions, again what we can’t see, these are perceptions and ways an organisation does things and we don’t stop and think about why. 

Looking further into what we can't see, the values and beliefs of an organisation are significant to the organisational culture as it provides a basis for organisational strategy to accomplish competitive advantage on a continual basis. To portray a collective and united working group it is these values and beliefs that originate from the environment, which leaders have to expose upon employees to encompass the culture. Having a healthy culture that stems from the way leaders implement values and beliefs will encourage positive underlying assumptions from stakeholders in the environment.

Reference
HumberEDU. (2015, November 13). Leadership and Management part 4 of 4: The iceberg of organisational culture [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjziCs-R2S4


]]> 2018-02-22 01:00:37 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/234046937 What happens when the CEO finds the workplace culture toxic? heidi_bennett https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/235735440 The title of this article “What happens when the CEO finds the workplace culture toxic?” pulled me into reading the article as I was intrigued to actually find out what would happen if in fact a CEO did find their workplace culture toxic.  

City of Perth CEO Martin Mileham , did find his workplace culture to be toxic and what he did about it was commendable in that he took a stand and raised an investigation into the unacceptable behaviour within the workplace.

As a CEO, Mileham was able to maximise his position of power and use it as a platform to address this issue in a very public way, not only raising awareness of the unacceptable so it could be investigated, but also made a very public stance to let everyone know that he does not, and will not tolerate unacceptable behaviour in the workplace. This to me exemplifies great leadership. 

Woodard, A. (2018, February 26). What happens when the CEO finds the workplace culture toxic? HRM Online. Retrieved from http://www.hrmonline.com.au/section/featured/ceo-finds-workplace-culture-toxic/ 

 
]]> 2018-02-27 05:39:50 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/235735440 Leadership in the Eye of the Beholder allanacondron https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/235756464 There are countless perceptions placed upon what leadership is and how leadership is attained. In many organisations effective leadership is perceived to be developed through the projection of motivation, inspiration and innovation toward organisational succession (Kerfoo, 2012). 
 
In support of this theory, TheBlaze (2014) places forth the theory leadership is developed through a providing a “service to another human being”, placing another individuals wellbeing before their own. TheBlaze (2014) also theorizes leadership is not identified through the individual, but more so the position the individual holds and the level of accountability they possess (TheBlaze, 2014). It has been identified a lack of understanding of true leadership is clear amongst many organisations with ‘leaders’ soon realising the ‘perks’ of their role is exactly that, of the role and not of the individual. The individual merely drives leadership succession through upholding accountability and supporting those employees that follow (TheBlaze, 2014).
 
This theory of leadership has defined my understanding of leadership and how it impacts organisational succession. Moving forward and looking to how leadership impacts the environment and culture of organisations, this source provides clear guidance as to what behaviours and capabilities a strong leader would desirably possess.
 
 
References
Kerfoo, K. M. (2012). The Pursuit of Happines, Science, and Effective Staffing: The Leader's Challenge. Nursing Economics, 305-306. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=67&sid=11c710d9-1db0-4b9c-91b0-233b56898a03%40sessionmgr4008
TheBlaze. (2014, July 30). Simon Senek: What is Leadership "Glenn Beck Program". Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CbNCtzG8wM
]]> 2018-02-27 08:08:46 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/235756464 Culture and Leadership allanacondron https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/235765571 The below video works to explain the effect of culture and leadership and how culture works to shape beliefs, values and change throughout an organisation toward succession. Culture as portrayed within this video has the potential to work as a means to develop trust, respect and transparency, and emphasises the importance of the acceptance of differing judgements and beliefs when working toward organisational integration. 
 
TEDx (2015) develops the theory that introducing culture into leadership develops innovation and projects different ways to do things to ultimately reach organisational succession. As portrayed in this video, the cultural changes introduced to the organisation were physical in some aspects, moving desks to face each other, enhancing communication through genuine conversations and achieving goals through collaboration.
 
TEDx (2015) identifies the importance of culture in leadership and how it works to develop cohesion toward organisational succession and total integration. It is important for an organisation to develop values, visions and shared beliefs through cultural diversity and organisational wide cultural acceptance. 
 
References
TEDx (2015, June 23). Culture and Leadership: Joseph Trimble. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuHj3jsBdKE
 
]]> 2018-02-27 08:46:51 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/235765571 What is Leadership? allanacondron https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/235769413 As portrayed in the below video, leadership is developed as the direction of self and others. Leadership is developing succession through own self-management, courage and authenticity and not developed around an individual’s position, power or title. 
 
Rierson (2014) identifies the clear links between success and leadership through enhanced accountability, confidence and growth toward individual succession and own self-management.
 
It is developed an individual’s ability to lead is not dependent upon an individual’s title nor position within an organisation, how long they have been there or their perceived ‘ability’ to successfully achieve a goal. The ability to lead is on the contrary portrayed as an individual’s ability to grow, to become confident and to be courageous within the space in which they lead (Rierson, 2014).
 
Rierson (2014) also works to develop leadership as turning potential into desired results through effective people management, and further, the management of own self and acceptance of growth. Leadership is finally developed through continued exposure to what an individual perceives to be an effective leader or someone in which they are targeting to be (referent power). 
 
 
References
Rierson, R. (2014, July 14). What is Leadership? Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpNWDekfGog
]]> 2018-02-27 09:03:03 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/235769413 How leadership has changed because of technology. heidi_bennett https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/236183251  
The work environment in which we work and operate in is forever changing due to the dramatic changes we have seen in technological advances over the past decade. 
 
This article talks about how technology is changing the way in which leadership can be maximised via the use of technology. Through data analytics available at the touch of leaders fingertips, leaders are able to make quicker and more accurate decisions to impact and improve business outcomes. 
 
Not only are leaders able to utilise technology for decision-making, but they are using more and more forms of technology to communicate from group project platforms like Microsoft Team to Slack. Leaders are able to have their voice heard by more than just the people within their organisation, they can utilise online platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn and even Instagram to influence and reach millions of people all over the world. 
 
To be a successful leader, a successful influencer, you must take advantage of technology advancements. 
 
Ross, E. (2016, September 12). How leadership has changed because of technology. Retrieved from https://www.virgin.com/entrepreneur/how-leadership-has-changed-because-technology 
]]> 2018-02-27 22:03:56 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/236183251 amandamackenzie1990 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/236268269 2018-02-28 06:34:53 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/236268269 Uber boss Travis Kalanick resigns amid shareholder concern over the company's 'toxic culture' was published in the Herald Sun on 21st June, 2017. missmechelle https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/236786090 The article discusses how Uber Chief Executive resigned due to shareholder concern. The article talks about acts of sexual harassment, bullying and use of illicit drugs and alcohol (2017). 
In a previous article Mr Kalanick sent out an email about “sexual rules of engagement’ for work-related trips. As a leader this behaviour is completely inappropriate and the shareholders has strong grounds to ask for his resignation (2017). 
It seems that in the article the Travis Kalanick is individually responsibility for the toxic culture within the organisation. Although he was defiantly a contributor this is a company values at close to $US70 billion.  To clean up the image of this company he was one of only 20 employees fired for harassment (2017). 
Mr Kalanick was criticised in 2014 for his behaviour as he said his role helped him to attract women. The shareholders could have been more proactive in requesting his resignation as it appears this culture has infiltrated the company.
The article by Daniel Goleman "What Makes a Leader" states that truly effective leaders have a high degree of emotional intelligence including self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills. All of which Mr Kalanick was lacking in (2004).
References
Goleman, Daniel., What Makes a Leader? Best of HBR 1998. 2004. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c7d8/003b4c351950440b8275a998640674482d2d.pdf
Uber boss Travis Kalanick resigns amid shareholder concern over the company's 'toxic culture'. Herald Sun. (2017) Retrieved from  http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/companies/uber-boss-travis-kalanick-resigns-amid-shareholder-concern-over-the-companys-toxic-culture/news-story/1910a303a1e087acee6cdec794ea3f37
 
]]> 2018-03-01 06:29:04 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/236786090 Googles Successful Management Practices missmechelle https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/236791288  
The article attached was published on Inc. in July 2017 and discusses the practices of Google which may been seen as terrifying for traditional leadership-style companies. 
 
 Being ranked No.1 place to 8 times in 11 years give credibility to both this article and the management practices at Google (Schwantes, 2017). 
 
 The first fact of their management practices is consistency. Bock found that by employees having clear parameters they can have more freedom opposed to working under inconsistent leaders which leads to a restrictive and frustrating experience (Schwantes, 2017).  This sounds like common sense but a lot of leaders are unable to achieve this. 
 
 Another fact is to have a moral, not a business mission (Schwantes, 2017). Googles mission statement is simple and Bock sees' it as a moral mission which provides a platform for work that matters (Schwantes, 2017). It could be challenged that this mission is quite simple and is it really a 'moral mission'?
 
 Google see transparency as the cornerstone of their culture (Schwantes, 2017). Schwantes makes an impressive point that if people are your greatest asset you must be open - otherwise you are lying (Schwantes, 2017). I found this an interesting perspective as it challenges the status quo. 
 

The employees have a real say in how the company are run and during recruitment GPA’s and test scores don’t matter (Schwantes, 2017). General personality traits of effective leaders are self-confidence, humility, trustworthiness, authenticity, optimism and a sense of humour, all of which are not reflective in test scores (DuBrin, 2014, p.38). By employing without requiring a high-test score and giving employees a voice they are creating a inclusive and successful environment in which natural leaders will flourish. 


References
 DuBrin, Andrew, J., Leadership. Research Findings, Practice and Skills. Rochester Institute of Technology. 2016. Eighth Edition

Schwantes, Marcel. 5 Unusual Facts About Google's Odd (and Wildly Successful) Management Practices. Inc.. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/5-inside-secrets-from-googles-unusual-management-p.html

 
]]> 2018-03-01 07:16:33 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/236791288 The Leader’s Guide to Corporate Culture luna_vi https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237267988 This article provides insightful models and frameworks for managing and aligning culture and organisational strategy. It explores four generally accepted attributes of culture, those being shared, pervasive, enduring and implicit (Groysberg, Lee, Price & Cheng, 2018). The authors further analyse literature and proposes eight difference culture styles that focus on two dimensions of culture; people interactions and response to change.

This integrated culture framework is then utilised to identify key attributes of both group culture and individual leadership styles (Groysberg, Lee, Price & Cheng, 2018) and measure the likelihood of a leader fitting and being able to shape organisational culture.  Lastly it highlights the importance of matching leadership and culture with organisational strategy whilst considering the dynamic and fast changing external environment.

I found this article very useful for gaining a deeper understanding of the complexity of cultural change and all the different factors that must be considered to successfully manage change – which is essential for effective leadership.

References
Groysberg, B., Lee, J., Price, J, & Cheng, Y.J. (2018, February). The Leader’s Guide to Corporate Culture. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2018/01/the-culture-factor
]]> 2018-03-02 03:27:55 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237267988 How Great Leaders Transform A Broken Culture luna_vi https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237280954 Gleeson (2017) analyses the importance of leaders actually understanding and believing in the change effort and how the mindset translates into their action and communication, which in turn motivates their followers. The author uses the Army as a good example of how the frame of mind of an individual can influence results. Believing in the end result and the reasons why the effort is needed will change the level of effort individuals put in their work.

The article also brings to light the difference between management and leadership when it compares different CEO’s trying to shift the culture of a company. One CEO designed a new strategy and culture change plan and presented to staff while the other included employees in the process and worked with the team to understand the issues and find solutions. The leadership behaviour of the second CEO resulted in committed followers that believed in the change.

References
Gleeson, B. (2017, June 12). How Great Leaders Transform A Broken Culture. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/brentgleeson/2017/06/12/how-great-leaders-transform-a-broken-culture/#2d684aff2b29
]]> 2018-03-02 04:55:04 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237280954 How Company Culture Shapes Employee Motivation luna_vi https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237286978 McGregor and Doshi (2015) discuss the relationship between leadership, culture and high performance. The article explains what is known as creating Total Motivation (ToMo) and that by capitalising on the three main motives that increase performance while minimising the motives that hinder performance is essential for creating a high performance culture (McGregor and Doshi, 2015). It also provides a simple formula to calculate what culture is worth for an organisation utilising the ToMo model.

Further, the article explores the processes in an organisation such as role design and the organisational identity and how these influence ToMo.  Lastly it proposes ways in which leaders can increase team motivation, such as having clear communication on the reasons behind the work of the team, to create a high performance culture that is a source of competitive advantage (McGregor and Doshi, 2015). 

I found this article relevant to understand how we, as leaders, can help in motivating others not only to reach organisation’s goals but individual satisfaction as well. 

References
McGregor, L. & Doshi, N. 2015. (2015, November 25). How Company Culture Shapes Employee Motivation. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2015/11/how-company-culture-shapes-employee-motivation

]]> 2018-03-02 05:53:35 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237286978 How to Build A Great Company Culture brayden201294 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237640761 This article outlines the requirements of building a great company culture. Todd McKinnon CEO of Okta gives an insight on the approach he conducted to start building a culture when he realized he did not know the roles and names of the majority of his employees. According to McKinnon 2014 "A strong and clear culture can give everyone the proper framework to work within" (McKinnon,2014). This is when Todd realised he needed to start building a strong culture at Okta.

Todd came across six lessons along the way. The first lesson was to assign an owner, this means that that a company needs someone who is responsible for creating the culture and is responsible for having an influence on others so a positive culture is maintained (McKinnon,2014). The second lesson is leadership sets the tone which means what culture would suit the type of company for example a team work culture(McKinnon,2014). The third lesson is that structure says everything, which means it is essential that an effective organizational structure is put into place as this drive the company's structure (McKinnon,2014). The fourth lesson is not just Kumbaya and trust falls, this means communicating to employees what they like and do not like about the culture. This will give the owner a chance to make adjustments to the culture where necessary (McKinnon,2014). The fifth lesson is prioritize and focus which means that it is normal to disagree with the customer as the customers perception may not be in the best interests of the company and its direction (McKinnon,2014). The sixth lesson is to communicate always, this means that culture has to be communicated to everyone to maintain the positive culture, also it will be positive to influence employees to embrace this culture and reward them for doing so (McKinnon,2014). I found this article insightful on the techniques of building a great company culture.
Reference
McKinnon, T (2014,October 4).How To Build A Great Company Culture. Forbes, Retrieved From:https://www.forbes.com/sites/groupthink/2013/10/04/how-to-build-a-great-company-culture/#710e6d471bc6]]> 2018-03-03 00:43:01 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237640761 Corporate Culture Apple example brayden201294 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237647617 This video provides an explanation on the corporate culture of Apple. There are high expectations within the organisation for every person to succeed and perform to an outstanding level. Employees at Apple are encouraged to set goals that challenge them to secure high corporate management roles for example software coordinator. The employees are expected to be highly intelligent and be disciplined. All employees are expected to adjust to the culture in a quick and efficient manner. The organisational culture is conducted as a collective unit at Apple (Learnandtransorm, 2013).

Having a culture that is built on discipline and high expectations is positive for an organisation as this shows that an organisation can work together and adapt to any change that will occur. This will attract potential customers as they will find it positive that an organisation that delivers perfection will deliver excellent quality products. The culture at Apple is seen as a normal part of life and this is how all employees perform to an exceptional standard.
Reference
Learnandtransform (2013,July 24). Corporate Culture Apple example. Retrieved From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcHpgsTg458]]> 2018-03-03 02:33:03 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237647617 John Bertrand remembers his America's Cup win, 30 years on lcskipworth https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237650159 John Bertrand is the current Australian Swimming Team President and was the Skipper of the Australian team who won the America’s Cup (News Corp Australia, 2013). John had great success as the leader of the America’s Cup team and has now had continued success as the leader of the Australian Swimming team. One of John’s major beliefs for his teams’ success was the culture of trust, integrity, honesty and transparency in communication (News Corp Australia, 2013). Having had great success as a leader in the America’s Cup, John used his leadership in the Australian Swimming Team to transform their culture and produce success. 

Are these four elements the basis of all good organisational cultures? People would argue that aspects of determination, inclusiveness, desire for success and willingness to learn are also key components of a successful culture. However, given John’s multiple successes with the same theory it would suggest that these four components may be all that are needed for a successful culture. Although, the more you listen to John speak, you realise that implementing his four key aspects induces the likes of inclusiveness, the drive and desire for success and the willingness to learn. 

John also alludes to the type of people that he was leading and how their backgrounds and personalities; Australians. Australians “love a come from behind win” and this gave John’s crew the determination to win the America’s Cup (News Corp Australia, 2013). This suggests that there is a strong connection between an organisation’s culture and the people within the organisation. Some people would believe that the leader should be able to influence their team to adopt any culture, however, individuals have their own values and beliefs, and many would not be willing to forgo their own values for their workplace culture.

Reference
News Corp Australia. (Producer). (2013). John Bertrand remembers his America’s cup win, 30 years on [Video]. Available from http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/inner-east/bertrand-we-want-people-to-be-proud-of-the-australian-swimming-program/news-story/7b53c8666b718eec031d46637f4608c8
]]> 2018-03-03 03:23:27 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237650159 Leadership and Organisation Culture lcskipworth https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237650392 Despite this video being an advertisement for Directive Communication International it provides a great message about the importance of organisational culture.

The main message from this video is the importance of leaders knowing their employees (Directive Communication International, 2014). The video alludes to the impact that employees have on one another, how people work together and the different perspectives that employees can have. Leaders must realise that everyone is different, however their main goal is to create a cohesive and positive culture. To do this, leaders need to adapt the way they approach different people and understand the differences in perspectives. Some leaders may prefer an organisation that has all employees with a similar perspective, however, without a variety of perspectives it becomes harder to gather a wide range of ideas and may make it difficult for a leader to implement change. 

Understanding how your employees work together and impact each other is another important tool for leaders. As discussed in the video, some employees distract others from their work and thus reduce productivity. Distracting others from their work can be a sign of a poor work ethic and culture within the organisation. If leaders can identify this, they are more likely to be able to implement appropriate strategies and adapt the culture to rectify these issues. Many people believe that it is up to the employee to ensure they are productive at work and achieve goals; however, an employee must enjoy their work and their workplace to be productive. The organisation’s culture is a major contributor to the way an employee feels about an organisation and thus their productivity.

Reference
Directive Communication International. (Producer). (2014). DCI leadership and organisational culture [Video]. Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maeluvhMGl8
]]> 2018-03-03 03:27:38 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237650392 Shaping the Corporate Culture of a Tech Giant lcskipworth https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237650493 Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO of Dell, speaks about the way they maintain their organisational culture. The key points he raises is that they make their values known from the outset and they get feedback from their employees (Forbes, 2014).

From the outset Dell makes their values known to potential employees; they do not want to spend time on potential employees who are not going to fit into their culture. This means that Dell is ensuring that they are only hiring people who are willing to work with the company’s culture. This is an advantage as it means that less time needs to be spent once an employee is employed adapting them to the company’s culture. Some people may argue that it is a form of discrimination, however, as a prospective employee, if you do not agree or do not wish to fit in with Dell’s culture most people would not apply. Most people would prefer to work in an organisation where their personal values are in line with company values and culture. Therefore, little discrimination should occur as those with conflicting values would not apply for the job.

As a leader it is important to show employees that you care about their thoughts and feelings. Dell conducts anonymous surveys of employees to gain an understanding of their feelings and understanding of the company’s values. By doing this they can measure the effectiveness of their leadership. However, when conducting this evaluation, they must be aware that if employees are dissatisfied or have negative feelings they may expect action to be taken. Therefore, companies must be willing to make changes and/or follow-up with employees if anything gives negative results.  

Reference
Forbes. (Producer). (2014). Shaping the corporate culture of a tech giant [Video]. Available from https://www.forbes.com/video/3249234428001/

]]> 2018-03-03 03:28:58 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237650493 The 4 Keys to a positive Corporate Culture brayden201294 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237654222 This video is about the 4 keys for developing a positive culture. This has a strong connection to recruiting and retaining top talent, leadership development, sales, productivity, innovation (HR Exchange Network,2017). The four keys to a positive culture are:
1. Feeling Valued- This is conducted by acknowledging employees of doing a job well done. It is important that a leader acknowledges an employees value to an organisation. If employees do not feel valued they will leave the organisation (HR Exchange Network,2017).
2.Feeling connected-This is conducted by a leader inviting people from other departments and have lunch with them. A  company happy hour must be organised so employees can engage with each other. This will also give them a chance to communicate with other organisations and this improves communication skills (HR Exchange Network,2017).
3.Feeling a sense of contribution- The goals and mission must be communicated throughout the whole organisation to everyone.This makes employees feel they are part of the organisation and they feel valued. If employees do not feel valued they are likely to leave the organisation.  A leader must ask the employee how their role achieves the goals and mission of the organisation to make them feel they are contributing and belong to the organisation (HR Exchange Network,2017).
4.Feeling growth- This is a psychological need for every individual. Training is required to improve employee habits in the workplace. A leader must step up for this training to occur. When employees feel they have some improvement in themselves they improve their self esteem and this increases productivity (HR Exchange Network,2017).
These 4 keys for developing a positive culture are essential in every organisation. These 4 keys can only be achieved if a leader steps up and takes charge. This video has a perception that 4 keys must be followed to develop a positive culture. Leaders must adapt to a transformational and charismatic approach for this to occur.

Reference:
HR Exchange Network(2017,October, 31). The 4 Keys a Positive Corporate Culture. Retrieved From:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZcGj-eMH5o


]]> 2018-03-03 05:03:14 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237654222 4 Things Successful Leaders Say to Create a Culture of Innovation missmechelle https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237658280  
This article by Tamara Kleinberg discusses the traits of successful leaders and how they create a culture where innovation thrives (Kleinberg). The four phrases Kleinberg recognizes in successful leaders are 

1.       I’m wrong 
2.       Tell me more about that 
3.       I don’t know 
4.       I want to share something personal with you 

The first one is something that some would see as a weakness in a leader, being wrong. To be both an innovator and a leader is it expected to be wrong (Kleinberg). This would help to create inspiration and is a true characteristic of a transformational leader (DuBrin, A, 2004, p.117). 

By getting clients to tell her more about their requirements and listening before answers Kleinberg was able to effectively solve problems through innovation (Kleinberg). I would agree that often leaders get caught up with being right and fast at decision making instead of listening to the needs of other. 

I don’t know is an interesting perpective on leadership. Of course, she doesn’t recommend that you simple respond you don’t know but instead take the time to find and answers and insists no one can possible have all the answers (Kleinberg). A expectation I imagine many leaders impose on themselves. 

Finally, she encourages leaders to share a personal side with their team (Kleinberg). I would agree with her closing line that innovation requires vulnerability, courage and openness (Kleinberg). 

Reference
Kleinberg, T. 4 Things Successful Leaders Say to Create a Innovative Culture. Innovation Excellence. Retrieved from http://innovationexcellence.com/blog/2018/02/12/4-things-successful-leaders-say-to-create-a-culture-of-innovation/
]]> 2018-03-03 07:14:43 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237658280 How Facebook Tries to Prevent Office Politics bridgitte_burge_91 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237743205 This article was published in the Harvard Business Review by Jay Parikh, the global head of engineering and infrastructure at Facebook. The article focuses on five strategies that Facebook adopted to ensure that workplace culture was kept positive and productive.

Parikh suggests to ensure that when recruiting staff, screening criteria be highlighted around what they can bring to a team environment and what leadership skills that possess. I feel that this is a great approach to ensuring that you hire the right skills set and character to fit your current team and that will not affect team dynamics.

Another tactic that is discussed is around creating opportunities for employees to be open and transparent, and for their voices to be heard. This is something that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been guilty of not possessing. Taulli (2012) exposes the leader as a poor communicator, who kept things to himself and riled his employees. To move the company forward, the CEO and his management team have had to work on the strategies outlined in this article to keep a harmonious culture.

As the author is an employee of Facebook, there is the potential for the article to contain bias. I agree with all of the tactics outlined in this article and believe they are very beneficial to creating a positive  environment for employees and should be adopted by leaders who have issues in or want to minimise office politics. Due to the article being published in a well respected journal, the bias risk is minimised.

Parikh, J. (2016, June 26). How Facebook Tries to Prevent Office Politics. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2016/06/how-facebook-tries-to-prevent-office-politics
Taulli, T. (2012, October 8). Facebook's Lessons in Leadership. Entrepreneur. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/224649]]> 2018-03-04 00:08:34 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237743205 Banks urged to make a sharp break with the past to improve culture bridgitte_burge_91 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237743285 This article highlights recommendations made by Stephen Sedgwick on behalf of the Australian Bankers Association for the four big banks in Australia to review their reward system for employees and managers. Currently the system is based on sales performance alone, which is due to banks putting the pursuit of their institutional profits above all other purposes.

One recommendation is that sales should not be the dominant component and that maximum payments should be scaled back in some roles. Although the articles states this recommendation, the author fails to advise how the banks can achieve this without damaging the morale of staff.

One suggestion for improvement include developing core values based around the customer that employees and managers set their goals based on. This way leaders can ensure that they get the best out of both their staff and customers. This can be done in the form of cutting fees and giving more back to shareholders at a time of record profits.

Ryan, P. (2017, April 7). 

Banks urged to make a sharp break with the past to improve culture: ABA report. ABC News. Retrieved from

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-19/banks-urged-to-break-with-the-past-to-improve-culture/8453814   

]]> 2018-03-04 00:11:13 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237743285 NAB Cuts 6000 jobs. rosiek84 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237746500 2018-03-04 01:30:53 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237746500 Importance of Employee Engagement rosiek84 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237747172 2018-03-04 01:45:42 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237747172 Apples Corporate Culture rosiek84 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237753955 2018-03-04 04:16:20 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/237753955 Toxic Culture benslee395 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/238421610 The City of Perth over the last five years have seen staff morale deteriorate which the acting CEO  ( the exisiting CEO is on leave due to an unsafe workplace) blamed external and internal forces.  In a staff survey the staff scored low for elected members of the councils  behaviour, leadership and team spirit . The culture has lead to deterioration of trust and positive engagement decrease. 

The culture of the City of Perth is not too dissimilar to many organisations across the world since the GFC in 2008,  businesses  have downsized, restructured  and surviving employees are forced to work harder. This has led to some management scholars calling  for action to promote more sustainable workplaces. In their study of 100 small business Jurik and Cavender (2016) found  staff valued the importance of a positive work environment to stimulating business innovation and stressed the importance of autonomy and of teamwork for their employees.

The articles highlights the damage a toxic culture can cause and how poor leadership behaviour can cascade through the organisation. The City of Perth will need to build a sustainable workplace by building a positive work environment and this can only start from the top. 


Reference 

Jurik, N. C., & Cavender, G. (2016). Sustainable workplaces as innovation. Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, 21(1), 53-71. http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.9774/GLEAF.3709.2016.ja.00006 Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/docview/1787756134?accountid=10344
]]> 2018-03-06 01:43:56 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/238421610 Culture - everyones responsibility benslee395 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/238431414 This article explains how  culture is everyones responsibility, however it requires leadership to set the example.

The article provides an example at Volkswagen during the low emissions scandal and how the leadership affected the culture at Volkswagen. The ex CEO instilled a culture of fear where failure was unacceptable and ultimately led to it’s downfall. 

However whilst the CEO was instrumental in the downfall of  VW,  all should not be blamed on the CEO.  The organisation is large with many leaders within, such as  board members, executive  all of whom are  all accountable.  As regardless of temperament or personality type, leaders can cope with the challenges of managing in today's work environment by demonstrating  a high level of integrity, removing fear from the workplace,  fighting for employees,  helping them save face and overcoming a lack of trust (Abbasi, Hollman & Hayes, 2008). 

To foster an inclusive and partipcptiative culture, leaders need to collaborate and communicate with their team. Having a well built managed organisational culture creates a competitive advantage to a company. 




Reference

Abbasi, S. M., PhD., Hollman, K. W., PhD., & Hayes, R. D., PhD. (2008). Bad bosses and how not to be one. Information Management Journal, 42(1), 52-54,56. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/docview/227725450?accountid=10344








]]> 2018-03-06 02:37:32 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/238431414 A Good Culture wins awards benslee395 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/238442597 Asana is a work management software company who have seen their company grow and achieve many awards for being a great workplace. They have achieved this by seeing culture as a product with many different features and each feature has owner and a responsibility.  When they uncover culture “bugs” they use their product to manage an example is when an employee leaves they ask “5 whys” and any bugs are given to the area of responsibility and addressed in the next round of design. The company have a clear and transparent workplace where employees take responsibility and ownership for their work, and are inspired about the mission. 

A concern for such successful rapid growth organisations is that when organsiation doubles its number of employees, opportunities to innovate and employees’ confidence in leadership drop precipitously. By having a well developed culture with values truly adopted and embedded,  a leadership style and culture present during periods of transition and change it can determine the likelihood of success or failure in an organisation. 

References 
Gonzalez, Z.J.F., Wolf, J.G., Dudjak, Z.L., & Jordan, Z.B. (2015). Impact of magnet culture in maintaining quality outcomes during periods of organisational transition.  Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 30 (4), 323.

]]> 2018-03-06 03:41:08 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/238442597 Perth City CEO raised concerns about Councillors bullying behaviour lizziespeer https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/238511153 The Perth’s Now Sunday Times reported an article dated 24th February 2018 on the City of Perth Chief Executive Officer Martin Mileham about raising the bullying claims he was experiencing with the councillors and their behaviour towards himself and his staff.

The article mentioned that he had raised his concerns with the Department of Local Government days before he took stress leave. The City of Perth CEO Martin Mileham had also sought legal advice concerning the City’s obligation to minimise “the risks of employees being subjected to bullying behaviours, including those that result from communications that are aggressive, rude or repetitive”.

The department was in process of investing the allegations raised by the CEO Mr Martin Mileham and all the relevant parties involved to ascertain whether this may be the case. 
I found this article interesting as it demonstrates that poor behaviour can start at the top of the chain and infiltrate down to staff of all levels.

REFERENCE
Emery, K. 2018 (2018 February 28).Ceo Martin Mileham raised concerns about Councillors bullying behaviours. Retrieved from https://www.perthnow.com.au/politics/local-government/ceo-martin-mileham-raised-concerns-about-councillors-bullying-behaviours-ng-b88755622z

 

]]> 2018-03-06 09:46:13 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/238511153 Good leaders make you feel safe Olivwha https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/238927893 Simon Sinek in the below video addresses key characteristics of leaders that are vital in creating an organisational environment and culture of trust, cooperation and safety. The premise here is that good leader should make employees feel safe. Sinek looks at not only what makes a leader, but what makes a GREAT leader. He suggests that a great leader is someone “who makes their employees feel secure, who draws staffers into a circle of trust”. 
Sinek supports the idea that in the right environment every person has the ability to do remarkable things. If employees feel safe within their workplace, and they trust their leaders, they will “naturally combine their talents and their strengths” (Sinek, 2014) working together to achieve organisational goals and objectives. 
 
The video provides an example of the value in creating such a culture and environment. Sinek talks about a large manufacturing company that ran into some issues and as a result needed to save a substantial amount of money. Rather than turn to layoffs as a solution, leaders of this organisation came up with a furlough program and jobs were saved. Every employee was required to take 4 weeks unpaid vacation time. Sinek described that when this solution was explained to employees, management said it was better that everyone suffers a little, than any one person suffers a lot. Because of this morale within the organisation went up. Because employees felt safe and protected by their leaders, the natural reaction was to trust and cooperate and so people started working together, helping each other. They started trading the time off. People who could afford it took on extra weeks of leave so those who could not afford it had less. This emphasises the point, a great leader looks after people, and an organisation that recognises this and thus has an environment and culture in which trust in leaders and cooperation of staff is focal, are far more likely to succeed in meeting organisational strategies and overall objectives.   
 
Reference:
Sinek, S. (2014). Why good leaders make you feel safe. Retrieved from:
https://youtu.be/lmyZMtPVodo
]]> 2018-03-06 22:29:37 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/238927893 The cure for toxic leadership Olivwha https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/238948226 There are numerous articles and web sources online that focus on the topic of ‘toxic’ leadership. These make reference to managers not acting like leaders themselves, people in leadership positions being dishonest and not caring about individuals within the company, but rather about profit margins. These descriptions to me do not define a leader. Leadership is not a rank but rather a choice. 
 
The below article by David Novak foregrounds the idea of the solution to toxic leadership being every employee stepping up. “The fastest way to take control of your career, work more effectively with others, positively influence them and build a healthy workplace culture is to become a stronger leader yourself”. Novak states that “toxic leadership is eroding trust, destroying company cultures and killing the bottom line”.  The solution? “Take control of your own career and become a stronger leader”. Novak then goes on to discuss how exactly to become a leader, and what the key traits of an effective leader are. He states that through “casting a positive leadership shadow” one can motivate others and work together to become their own leaders within the workforce and creating an engaging work culture where everyone’s opinion counts. 

Reference:
Novak, D. (2018). Former Yum! Brands CEO: Here’s how to fix toxic leadership. [online] CNBC. Retrieved from: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/02/22/former-yum-brands-ceo-heres-how-to-fix-toxic-leadership.html?play=1 [Accessed 7 Mar. 2018].
]]> 2018-03-07 00:08:42 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/238948226 #MeToo Workplace Culture and Leadership Olivwha https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/238956693 The below media post by Dixie Gillaspie discusses the much talked about #MeToo movement that has been prominent in media since October 2017. 
 
With such a strong and controversial topic being pushed to the forefront of people’s lives, it is important to think of the impact this may have on the way people work and their energy within the workplace. It’s important for leaders to foster relationships of trust and ensure that the organisations culture is one of safety so that all employees have no qualms when it comes to bringing to light any issues that may occur within or outside the workplace that may affect their performance. The right organisational culture can help employees to feel safe and valued and thus they are more likely to communicate with leaders. In the post, Gillaspie (2018) states that this movement should encourage organisations to “invest in creating a culture of universal respect”. She foregrounds the fact that this movement is “changing the standards of professional behaviour”, that conversation around this movement is “happening in your workplace, whether you’re aware of it or not and as a leader you need to be a constructive voice in that conversation”. It is vital that leaders are clued into their environment and such important topics and take part in positive change in the workplace. 
 
 Reference:
Gillaspie, D. (2018). How the #MeToo movement is affecting your leadership (and you might not even notice). Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2018/02/13/how-the-metoo-movement-is-affecting-your-leadership-and-you-might-not-even-notice/#6af720fc65fe [Accessed 7 Mar. 2018].
]]> 2018-03-07 00:54:07 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/238956693 Three Ways Leaders Can Listen with More Empathy. pmahon27 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/239047654 This article discusses the lack of effective listening amongst leaders and how empathetic listening contributes to successful leadership. As mentioned in the article, active listening combined with empathy is the most effective form of listening and is often what sets leaders apart from one another.
 
Empathetic listening is comprised of various behavioural sets, which can include:
 
·      Appropriate verbal and non verbal cues
·      Processing
·      Responding
 
The ability to understand others and their emotional reactions allows leaders to gain insight on how to approach situations and effectively work together with others in building relationships. Riordan states that “The ability and willingness to listen with empathy is often what sets a leader apart.  Hearing words is not adequate; the leader truly needs to work at understanding the position and perspective of the others involved in the conversation”. 
 
Reference:
 
Roidan, C (2014). Three Ways Leaders Can Listen with More Empathy.
Retrieved from :
https://hbr.org/2014/01/three-ways-leaders-can-listen-with-more-empathy
[Accessed 7 Mar. 2018].
]]> 2018-03-07 09:28:06 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/239047654 11 Characteristics of great leadership lizziespeer https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/239049356 Characteristics associated with Leadership can be classified into three broad categories as outline in DuBrin (2014 p37).

The article I have found on “the 11 characteristics of great leadership”, 1100 leaders and more than 700 of their employees were surveyed and tested by researchers to find out what they believed were important characteristics of a great leader. 
Out of this survey they narrowed it down to 11 core leadership characteristics. These 11 characteristics included: 
1.       Judgment: This involves making good decisions at the right time based on trustworthy data and analysis. 
2.       Courage: A decision may be unpopular, it may attract political consequences, there could even be negative repercussions for the leader, and yet still that leader makes the right decision. 
3.       Drive: This is ambition, motivation and hope. These leaders work with energy, passion and urgency.
4.       Collaboration: see their colleagues and employees as allies rather than enemies; as worthy of dialogue rather than monologue; as people with whom to share, rather than hoard, resources and ideas.
5.       Integrity: This personifies the leader who holds himself or herself up to a high moral standard, higher than what's expected of others. 
6.       Temperance: What's that old saying? Stressful situations are dealt with level-headedly, problems that arise are solved rationally.
7.       Accountability: This is when errors are rectified by taking personal responsibility, by avoiding excuses, and by refraining from finger pointing
8.       Justice: necessitates writing wrongs, seeking feedback, and remaining objective even during times of emotional turbulence.
9.      Humility: There's nothing wrong with accepting praise for accomplishments so long as there's as much willingness to accept criticism, to declare weaknesses, to seek opportunities for personal development, and to value others as much as oneself. 
10.   Humanity: At the heart of humanity is an understanding that everyone makes mistakes and that these are opportunities for coaching and learning rather than condemnation and punishment.
11.   Transcendence: A transcendent leader as one who "sees possibility where others do not … 
Therefore, its good observation to see what researches believe to be important characteristic of a great leader by surveying real people. 

Reference
Adonis, J 2017 (2017 February 16) The 11 Characteristics of Great Leadership Retrieved from https://www.smh.com.au/business/small-business/the-11-characteristics-of-great-leadership-20170216-guehie.html

 

]]> 2018-03-07 09:34:20 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/239049356 What Really Defines Leadership in Today’s World?This article discusses what makes a leader and how building relationships can impact on the motivation of others. Biro’s (2017) article on what defines leadership reflects on the importance of building relationships and the impact this had on their motivation. Instead of the standard email with a request for information, a colleague whom they had never met took the time to introduce themselves and ask genuine and insightful questions about their personal life. This had a positive effect as it formed a relationship and motivated the reader to fulfil their request as they now felt a connection. Biro states that “Our ability to connect and create relationships trumps many other factors when doing business”. The article leaves the reader with some things to consider, such as: As leader, how likeable are you? And; As a leader, when you reach out, how many people are eager to assist?Reference:Biro, S. (2017). What really defines leadership in today’s world. In Forbes Coaches Council. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2017/03/27/what-really-defines-leadership-in-todays-world/#8a240ca20713 [Accessed, 7 Mar. 2018]. pmahon27 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/239053807 2018-03-07 09:48:08 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/239053807 Emotional Intelligence and Positive Workplace Culture matthew_heyward https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/239432484 The article provides an insight into emotional intelligence (EI (or EQ)) and how it can be utilised to produce a positive company culture.

First the article gives a brief insight into the emerging world of EI and what it actually is. It shows how the interpersonal skills of EI are utilised for individuals and their abilities to communicate and work effectively with other people. The article then leads into the positive effects EI has on a workplace culture. It is wrapped up with steps individuals can take to use EI in their own work practices and also how they can utilise it to improve a workplace culture. 

This article is consistent with a number of studies into EI and how effective it is for individuals. Whilst EI has been around for a number of years (1985), it was primarily focused on how successful it can be for individuals. This article is a clear demonstration how EI as a field has evolved and how much it can contribute to a workplace culture. 
Reference 
Unknown Author. (2015) Emotional Intelligence and Positive Company Culture. Smallbizclub.com. Retrieved on 8 March 2018 from http://smallbizclub.com/leadership/people-skills/emotional-intelligence-and-positive-company-culture/

]]> 2018-03-07 22:23:02 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/239432484 The Pros and Cons of Transparent Corporate Cultures matthew_heyward https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/239466775 The article was published by Glassdoor, a recruitment agency, on their website. The article gives a sound insight into how effective transparency can be for an organisation and also how ineffective it can also be. 

The article is very pro transparency for a number of reasons that can be beneficial such as improving the workplace culture, communicating corporate intentions and also communicating of values of the organisation. However, it also provides an overview of how too much transparency to can have the opposite effect on organisational performance. As long as organisations are aware of the signs and symptoms too much transparency is having, such as organisational drag, then they can utilise a transparent culture to their advantage. This will result to less employee turnover and an increase in employee performance. 

In today’s competitive market, not only for bottom line results, but also in attraction and retention of talent this article can help steer an organisation in the right direction for success. 
Reference 
Greensonbach, Sarah. (2016) The Pros and Cons of Transparent Corporate Cultures. Glassdoor. Retrieved on 08 March 2018 from https://www.glassdoor.com/blog/the-pros-and-cons-of-transparent-corporate-cultures/

]]> 2018-03-08 01:14:56 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/239466775 Followership: The Other Side of Leadership matthew_heyward https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/239473274 This article was published by the Ivey Business Journal. The article sets out to provide an insight into followership and how it directly relates to leadership.

Quite often followership is overlooked in effective leadership and often there are backhanded comments such as “you are an excellent follower”, which assists in diminishing just how important followership is to leadership. But in essence followership goes hand in hand with leadership. By considering the characteristics of effective followership; judgement, work ethic, competence, honesty, courage, discretion, loyalty, and ego management. You are effectively also considering the functional characteristics of an effective leader. This reinforces the argument that leadership exists at all levels of an organisation but further to that it reinforces the argument of the article, that being followership is the underlying strength to leadership and that successful leaders are also successful followers.   

By monitoring and promoting effective followership within an organisation it will contribute to a more robust working environment and promote a positive culture.
Reference
McCallum, John. (2013). Followership: The Other Side of Leadership. Ivey Business Journal. Retrieved on 8 March 2018 from https://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/followership-the-other-side-of-leadership/


]]> 2018-03-08 01:41:23 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/239473274 Fixing a toxic culture like Uber’s requires more than just a new CEO jaik_the_snake https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240001124 The article was published by “The Conversation” and provides an intelligent look into the toxic culture at Uber and their road to redemption. 

The article first gives an insight into the toxic culture at Uber and whom is responsible for its emergence. It shows how the blame of the culture is traced back to the top of the corporation and extends throughout the managers, leaders and their followers. Leadership are accused of allowing the culture to fester, even after the resignation of the CEO Travis Kalanick.  Sexual harassment, sexism and inappropriate behaviour are just some of the many aspects identified by the authors to be toxic behaviour, it is suggested that bad leaders which allow this behaviour need to be removed from the company and much of the work towards redemption resides in the company themselves regulating their culture and behaviour. 

The article leaves the readers with the conclusion that the changing of the company culture resides in the leaders of the company to regulate and discipline themselves and their followers, and to also hold the company responsible for inappropriate actions. 

Reference

Sawyer, K. & Thoroughgood, C. (June 21st, 2017). Fixing a toxic culture like Uber’s requires more than just a new CEO. The Conversation. Retrieved on March 8 2018 from https://theconversation.com/fixing-a-toxic-culture-like-ubers-requires-more-than-just-a-new-ceo-79102 

]]> 2018-03-09 03:14:34 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240001124 Chaos at Fox News: One Week In, Culture Change Is on the Rocks jaik_the_snake https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240001553 The article explores the impact that a changing culture has on an organisation, and according to the article it looks like an “Implosion” (Saraiya, S. 2017). 

Due to a very public culture change Fox News is experiencing a very negative outcome impacting the organisations image and influence. Issues of sexual harassment, racism and resistance to culture change are all having a troubling and negative impact on the organisations attempt to change its culture. According to the author the company is in complete disarray, but, that has not deterred the efforts of the Murdoch family to continually change and implement solutions to the corporation’s culture.  The company’s attempt to remove problem employees and leaders has resulted in very public outburst by the former employees, with meltdowns on twitters as well as very verbal encounters, Fox looks like it is having a large issue with changing their culture. 

The article leaves the readers with the impression that Fox is rotten to its core and the resistance to change is a result the negative reaction to the need for change be Fox’s leadership. 

 

                Reference

Saraiya, S. (April 28, 2017). Chaos at Fox News: One Week In, Culture Change Is on the Rocks. Variety. Retrieved on the 8th March from
http://variety.com/2017/tv/columns/fox-news-chaos-culture-change-1202402305/ 

]]> 2018-03-09 03:17:03 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240001553 Apple under fire over reports students worked illegal overtime to build iPhone X jaik_the_snake https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240001673  The article was published by “The Guardian”, and presents the issue of negative culture and working environment of Foxconn and Apple.

The article is an open view on the treatment of staff by both Foxconn and Apple, and the issues seem to stem from the lack of notice or care from leadership and management. This isn’t the only time Foxconn and Apple have been under fire, in 2010 reports of employee suicide and mistreatment of staff plagued the internet. Apple is very notorious for not implementing mechanisms to protect their staff, in my opinion this is mostly due to their company culture. The article, however, discusses the forced labour of students on work experience, it has been stated by Li Qiang, the executive director of New York-based non-profit China Labour Watch, “When Apple’s production demands it, Apple completely ignores the labour standards they have set” (Hern, A. 2017).  

The article leaves readers with the impression that the company culture of Apple of profit above all else is damaging not only their image, but the environments in which they work.  

 

Reference

Hern, A. (November, 22nd. 2017). Apple under fire over reports students worked illegal overtime to build iPhone X. The Guardian. Retrieved on 9th of March from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/21/apple-students-illegal-overtime-reports-iphone-x-foxconn-interns 

]]> 2018-03-09 03:17:58 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240001673 TEDx Talk on Today's Perception of Culture and Leadership by Joseph Trimble. melkstar https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240017014 In a changing society, new leadership styles are emerging. This video recognises the past dominating styles and brings to light on more inclusive, diverse and effective options. In the past, Joseph Trimble (the speaker) characterises the “Alpha Male Leader” approach as the leading leadership style (Trimble, 2015). Consequently, the main attributes of “Alpha Male Leader” leadership style were Bold, Aggressive and Self-centred to name a few. However, in the changing world, people are becoming more adaptive in their role to leaders who appreciate the culture and mirror their beliefs to the staff themselves.  

Trimble tells a story about Dianne and how she changed the whole culture and outlook of an organisation. Due to her diverse background, she introduced a unique presidential approach to the position. She engaged with all the various staff at an individual bases and created a bond never witnessed before between a president of an organisation and their staff. She also restructured the board meeting room into a more inclusive atmosphere by replacing the rectangle table into a round table. In such scepticism, the board members were worried she was spending too much time engaging with the staff and not enough time obtaining the company goals. However, in due time everything changed, the goals were met, staff were staying behind to complete extra work, and collaborating with one another. 

This example is a direct representation of how diverse and more relatable leadership attributes creates a strong culture within an organisation. Regardless of the age of the organisation, the changing world has improved the cultural expectations from their leaders to achieve greater performance limits. 

Reference            

Trimble, J. (2015). Culture and Leadership. Retrieved on 9th of March from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuHj3jsBdKE

]]> 2018-03-09 05:39:07 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240017014 Leaders in Innovation: How they’re creating cultures of creativity melkstar https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240017568 The article written by Phil McKinney, explains on of the necessary goals for a leader in an organisation is to cultivate culture of creativity. This allows the individual to fulfil their abilities in their role. The article provides two exemplary leaders in today’s world, Elon Musk and Mark Benioff. Both of these innovative leaders have built a strong culture with their forward-thinking approach. 

The article supports the idea that creating a culture of innovation is treating employees well and acting with integrity. Innovative leaders never lose sight of the necessity of a strong and engaged team (McKinney, 2016). Engaging in questionable practices or treating employees like disposable resources is not the way to get the best ideas. When employees feel a sense of ownership and pride in the organisation, they’ll feel empowered to try new things and give their best. 

Reference


McKinney, P. (2016, June 02). Leaders in Innovation: How they're creating cultures of creativity. Retrieved from Philmckinney blog: Ideas of Innovation: http://philmckinney.com/leaders-innovation-theyre-creating-cultures-creativity/

]]> 2018-03-09 05:45:51 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240017568 The power of culture as a Competitive Advantage melkstar https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240017703 This Forbes article shows besides the product/service, technology or credentials, the secret ingredient to success is Culture.

The article provides numerous ideas and formats key points for achieving a strong corporate culture which inspires employees to become more intrinsically motivated. Alyssa Rapp (the writer), reveals her first point as drawing a clear and concise company vision for the employees (Rapp, 2015). This will allow team members to communicate the company’s vision clearly and succinctly. Secondly, surrounding the workplace with people who share similar values. Thirdly, celebrating the success of a team member, this shows the employee is valued within the organisation. Fourthly, make each goal clear so team members acknowledge where their efforts and hard work is going towards. And lastly, become a company that delivers a “double bottom line”, this encompasses both profits as well as impact (local and global) (Rapp, 2015). 

Culture holds the power to inspire employees to move themselves, to move mountains, and to support each other in a way that, when done right it is truly irreplaceable. And when the company presents a market-leading product supported by great technology, culture seems to be the most defensible competitive advantage of them all (Rapp, 2015). 


Reference

Rapp, A. (2015, September 15). The power of culture as a competitive advantage. Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/yec/2015/09/15/the-power-of-culture-as-a-competitive-advantage/#6f321d4b3f6b

]]> 2018-03-09 05:47:36 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240017703 7 mistakes people make when thinking about people and culture https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240411952 This article was written by Monika Gisler for Business Insider Australia. Monika is the co-founder of a people and culture consulting agency and draws on this and her experience working for Google for over a decade to outline the importance of people and culture for a business and its brand. 
 
The question of whether leaders are born or made is discussed in much leadership literature, Monika says that ‘leadership is developed.’ Employees who deserve it, should not only be rewarded with management positions, but their skills should be developed in order to create more managers who act as leaders, who then have the necessary skills when managing more future leaders, ensuring the future success of the business. This point is further proven by point 7, where it is pointed out that the companies that invest in people and the development of positive organisational culture with ongoing training are more successful.

Reference

Gisler, M. (2018, January 24). 7 mistakes people make when thinking about people and culture. Business Insider Australia. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com.au/people-and-culture-hr-mistakes-2018-1

]]> 2018-03-10 05:35:30 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240411952 Building a Culture of Positive Disruption heidi_bennett https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240423939
Through position of influence, leaders can help create a positive culture of disruption. 
 
By allowing employees at all levels to have authority to disrupt the business norms, leaders are empowering employees to innovate, think outside the square. Leaders can help create a disruptive positive culture by creating a safe environment where speaking up is encouraged when new ideas or alternative views are generated.  
 
It’s important that an organisation listen’s to the people on the front line, they are one the ones receiving the customers feedback so it is crucial leaders allow these employees to have a voice and for them to be heard. 
 
Employees will need to gain trust in their leaders before a disruptive culture can be cultivated. Heath suggests key qualities leaders require to create and drive a culture that invites disruption include; the ability to remain non-defensive, have intellectual humility and be willing to have your ideas or strategic direction questioned. 
 
Heath, N. (n.d.). Building a Culture of Positive Disruption. Retrieved from https://managersandleaders.com.au/blog/building-a-culture-of-positive-disruption/ 
]]> 2018-03-10 09:21:12 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240423939 Ahmed Ismail izzylockman https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240508225 10 Examples of Companies with Fantastic Cultures

When you begin to analyze why some companies succeed and others fail, the common trait amongst successful companies is effective organizational culture. Management are becoming increasingly aware of the need for integrated workplace practices, which can no longer be ignored.

This particular article mentions 10 large organisations with successful organizational environments. One such company is “Southwest Airlines”. In an industry where consumers find air travel a hassle and competition is high, Southwest Airlines has built a reputation on satisfied customers who highly recommend the airline. This is a result of the company culture at the organization which has been operating for over 43 years now. Employees are encouraged to meet the needs of their customers, as a result customers feel valued and attended to. 

Where the article falls short, is clearly identifying the fact, that different organizations can have varying workplace norms and still find significant success. 

Reference

Patel, S. (2015, August 06). 10 Examples of Companies With Fantastic Cultures. Retrieved March 10, 2018, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/249174

]]> 2018-03-11 00:33:26 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240508225 Ahmed Ismail izzylockman https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240510039 90 Second Leadership - The Culture Pyramid (Todd Adkins)

Management who adopt the view that organisational culture is merely a set of values and beliefs that employee hold are missing out on key issues. Workplace culture goes beyond what is visible and open to observation. 

For example the video link below explains the idea that culture can be viewed as a pyramid with levels, similar to a Hierarchy pyramid which displays the levels of power. Workplace culture is seen as having two distinct characteristics both “Visible” and “Invisible”. While management can often see the visible cues, which include company logos, social norms and employee behaviour, often assumptions are left unnoticed. Successful leaders conduct the necessary research needed to ensure assumptions are not and employees feel comfortable.

For greater clarity, the video, should have acknowledged ways to identify underlying assumptions in organisational culture. This will allow management to implement a more cohesive work environment. 

Reference

90 Second Leadership - The Culture Pyramid (Todd Adkins). (2018, January 02). Retrieved March 10, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJT2nargQ4o

]]> 2018-03-11 01:12:14 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240510039 Toxic Fearful Culture at Victorian Hospital darrenjeffery https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240511952 Internal documents reveal 'toxic', 'fearful' culture at Victorian hospital 
 
The article ‘Internal documents reveal 'toxic', 'fearful' culture at Victorian hospital’, as reported on ABC South West Vic by Bridget Judd on 19 December 2017, is in relation to a review by Vic Health prompted by allegations of systematic bullying at ‘South West Healthcare’ (SWH).

The ABC article identified and reported on serious issues relating to workplace structure and culture, including a lack of confidence in senior management to act 'consistently and fairly', and concerns accountability for patient care had been "compromised" within the mental health department of SWH.

The publicly released report from Vic Health found ongoing issues within senior management. The report identified the SWH organisational decision-making processes and associated culture as being; 

"idiosyncratic, confusing and even impulsive, toxic, fearful, hampered, distressing, blaming, scrutinized, ashamed, silenced, punitive and not supporting of either staff or managers”.

Staff reported they were made to feel inadequate or shamed if they expressed concerns and were left out of communication networks. The report identified open discussions about staff human resource management which fed a workplace culture that was driving away employees.

A toxic or unhealthy workplace culture and environment at an organisation can cause that organisation to struggle to retain and attract quality stakeholders and professionals. These unhealthy cultures take a toll on both the organisation’s ethics and missions, but also the employees and stakeholders mental health and their ability and motivation to function and perform effectively.

The trust that employees have in the leadership culture take long periods of time to embed, but can be undone in an instant.

Reference:

Judd, Bridgett, (2017, December 19). Internal documents reveal 'toxic', 'fearful' culture at Victorian hospital. ABC News. Retrieved from: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-19/toxic-culture-revealed-at-south-west-healthcare/9271182


]]> 2018-03-11 01:55:50 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240511952 Ahmed Ismail izzylockman https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240513530 5 Things All Great Leaders Do to Create a Culture of Leadership

Developing a productive workplace environment rests with the management of an organisation. Leaders must provide clarity through clearly defined goals and vision. Strong leaders reflect company culture through their actions and reinforcement of favorable employee behaviour. 

The article stressors the need for transformational leaders who develop a clear strategic plan to motivate employees. Leaders who connect with their employees using a hands on approach are more likely to a stronger teamwork environment. Successful leaders are aware of their shortcomings and do not shy away from constructive criticism from other employees. 

One argument the articles fails to stress is the need for workplaces practices which enable employees to voice their concerns. Often employees refrain from voicing their opinions because of the repercussions it may have. Leaders should provide employees with the opportunity to express their feelings both publicly and in private. 

Reference

Hogg, B. (2015, January 16). 5 Things All Great Leaders Do to Create a Culture of Leadership. Retrieved March 10, 2018, from http://customerthink.com/5-things-all-great-leaders-do-to-create-a-culture-of-leadership/

]]> 2018-03-11 02:26:21 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240513530 Toxic Cover up Culture darrenjeffery https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240514605 Oakden nursing home: Senate inquiry told of 'toxic' cover-up culture at abuse-plagued facility

The article on ABC, reported by, political reporter Nick Harmsen on 21 November 2017, identified a "toxic" culture of cover up at the South Australian government-run Oakden nursing home. The report identified that multiple internal and external sources were responsible for the failure to identify years of abuse of elderly patients with dementia.

The report and article identified State and Federal Government inadequacies in their abilities to identify, respond to and manage concerns in such a “closed environment” as reported by the senior SA Health official responsible for the facility, Northern Adelaide Local Health Network chief executive Jackie Hanson.

The internal and external accreditation and auditing systems failed in their ability to implement a diverse holistic approach to identifying cultural environmental concerns. Stakeholders expressed concerns of being intimidated by organisational factors that prevented them from reporting the abuse and cultural flaws.

It is evident in the report that a culture of cover-ups and a complicate nature of compliance to aged care accreditation standards is evident. The report states that the Federal Government was working on an action plan to approve accreditation practices and had made a commitment to move to unannounced visits.

Ensuring that all stakeholders are fully aware of, and involved in the oversight of, the blame from one government department or oversight committee for what was going on does not diminish the fact that an all-encompassing review need to be conducted. 

Through policy and procedure development, new accreditation and oversight standards implementation and internal reviews, a more open and non-toxic culture can be developed. Focusing on training and development is paramount, however ensuring that the systems are in place to effectively manage these concerns on an ongoing basis are compliant and sustainable is a major quality improvement undertaking.

Reference:

Harmsen, Nick., (2017, November 21). Oakden nursing home: Senate inquiry told of 'toxic' cover-up culture at abuse-plagued facility. ABC News. Retrieved from: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-21/oakden-nursing-home-toxic-cover-up-culture/9175924 

]]> 2018-03-11 02:44:53 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240514605 Is Changing Jobs The Best Move? bettesafour https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240522218 Interesting article where people believe if they want more money they should move jobs. The reality is job roles are changing and more roles are becoming automated. They mention loyalty like banks, however there are more customers now looking for a better deal and the government have made it easier to switch. 

Threatening to leave may work however, organisations are focused on improving the bottom line this might be an opportunity to change the role and reduce cost to the organisation. Where the article mentions staying with an employer for a longer period would not be beneficial for the employee.

I agree that organisations need new talent and ideas to stay relevant. When employees stay too long they become relaxed and any changes become overwhelming which in turn increase mental health issues as well as cost to any organisation. 

References 

Australian Government. (2012, July 1). Account switching. Retrieved September 1, 2015, from Australian Banking Reforms: http://www.bankingreforms.gov.au/content/Content.aspx?doc=switching.htm 

Bright, J. (Feb, 2018). In Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from https://www.smh.com.au/business/careers/is-changing-jobs-the-best-move-20180218-p4z0ra.html 

]]> 2018-03-11 05:03:29 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240522218 Employers looking for an ever widening skills set from future employees bettesafour https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240522987 Wow! The best companies are looking for people in the Arts field, and not engineering! Not sure I agree as some of the new age engineers are into robotics and are critical thinkers. We are in an environment where Artifical intelligence (AI) is moving in leaps and bounds and having these skills would be a benefit to reducing cost. 

I agree we need to consider different skill sets as this provides organisations a healthy work structure as well as the right people to do the job. I also believe people with diverse skills can benefit leaders and organisations. As leaders we should be able to help people see future visions.

The organisation I work for cannot afford to hire specialist’s skills due to cost, so employing people who have multiple skill sets can be cost effective for the organisation and a definite advantage for an employee for the future.

References


Heracleous, L., & Klaering, L. A. (2017). The circle of life: Rhetoric of identification in Steve Jobs' Stanford speech. Journal of Business Research(79), 31-40.
 
Bolton, R. (Feb, 2018). Employers looking for an ever widening skills set from future employees. In Financial Review. Retrieved from http://www.afr.com/leadership/employers-looking-for-an-ever-widening-skills-set-from-future-employees-20180102-h0ckun




]]> 2018-03-11 05:22:23 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240522987 We Tend To Give Up On Our Employees Too Quickly bettesafour https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240523743 This article was published in HRD Australia where NAB are making 6,000 works redundant due to automation. People do find it hard to change, they do not see or visualise the future. Dr Trevor Roberts said  “We tend to give up on our employees too quickly,”

There are many organisations that face these issues due to the rapid  environmental changes. I believe like him that people can change, the problem is organisations like NAB, can they afford to keep them?
Culture plays a big part in these changes and organisations should be responsible in helping people develop in new roles earlier.

As a leader we should be working with our people to motivate them and give them the confidence to succeed. The rapid change of technology is placing a strain on most organisations and If they always do what they have always done there is a possibly that the organisation will fail.
 
References

Mehdi, M., Raza, S. H., & Raza, A. (2017). It’s What’s Inside: Impact of Culture on Strategy Making. GSTF Journal on Business Review (GBR), 5(2), 40-45.

“We tend to give up on our employees too quickly”. (Feb, 2018)Retrieved from

https://www.hcamag.com/hr-news/we-tend-to-give-up-on-our-emiployees-too-quickly-246977.aspx
]]> 2018-03-11 05:37:23 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240523743 Unhappy Workers: Tackling the reason why Aged Care staff leave darrenjeffery https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240529778
Dr Katrina Radford, a lecturer at Griffith Business School, who completed her PhD thesis on staff retention and turnover in aged care. Dr Radford’s thesis, found that organisational factors such as working conditions and job satisfaction were far more important than personal factors in determining whether a person continued working in the sector. Dr Radford also stated “the factors influencing whether staff stayed or left aged care were overwhelmingly under the control of employers”. 

The Australian Ageing Agenda Publication highlighted the importance of workplace conditions, support and culture in understanding why aged care employees stay or leave the sector. With high turnover rates evident in the report, employing, retaining and developing the right staff not only has important benefits for clients and delivery of effective quality of care but also reduces the strains on an organisations costs.

Dr Radford stated; “This shows that there is a great opportunity for organisations to invest in their staff, particularly, in a way that works for them”. A clear finding from Dr Radford’s study was highlighting a link between the culture and environment of an organisation and the intentions of stakeholders to stay involved in the enterprise.

The report states that in terms of organisational factors influencing staff intentions to stay, job satisfaction and the work environment including culture, management and supportive co-workers were the most dominant factors.

Personally, I feel that through quality, informative feedback, engaging with staff, fostering and developing a culture of recognition, will allow for employees to feel valued and appreciated and readily understand and openly see their ability to contribute to the success of an organisation. 

We can always see the link between unhappy unengaged stakeholders and poor performance both at an individual and organisational level.

Reference:

Belardi, Linda. (2016, January 27). Unhappy workers: tackling the reasons why aged care staff leave. Australian Ageing Agenda. Retrieved from: https://www.australianageingagenda.com.au/2016/01/27/tackling-why-staff-leave/

 

]]> 2018-03-11 07:30:10 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240529778 What makes us feel good about our work? https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240531631 In this video, Dan Ariely talks about motivation and effort, in regards to work, and describes various scenarios and experiments to prove his point about meaningful work. While the issue of leadership isn’t much talked about, I find this video to be highly relevant to the topic. Some people believe that leadership is about inspiring people to reach organisational goals. But it then needs to be asked how? 
 
Throughout the video, we learn that people are willing to do more work for less money, simply by being acknowledged and having their work regarded as meaningful. In cases where the work done was instantly destroyed in front of them, or simply not acknowledged, the results were fairly similar and drastically different to the results where the work was given purpose. Even small meaning made a difference. From a leadership perspective, these results are important in understanding what motivates people, how motivation works, and how this can be effectively used for achieving organisational goals. 

Reference 

Ariely, D. (2012, October). What makes us feel good about our work? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_what_makes_us_feel_good_about_our_work#t-1210152
]]> 2018-03-11 07:58:48 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240531631 Women, here are seven ways to become the best leader in business and in life karinjones2533 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240543212 Although this article has been written with women in business, in mind, it really isn’t gender specific in its advice. The article was however, written just before International Women’s Day, so this is probably the reason for such a title.
Ensuring open communication (including active listening) in an organisation's culture is vitally important. It can be said that the person responsible for a role day-in day-out, has the best ideas of how it can be done better. Without open communication, this information cannot be relayed back to senior management.
Leaders who listen to their team and their ideas, will be respected by the team, as the team members feel that they have a voice.
By communicating openly, everyone in the organisation is on the same page. By communicating the goals, values and vision of the organisation to everyone, each person is able to contribute to achieving these. When a team member understands how their role fits in the big picture, they can see why their role matters and how their work contributes to the organisation reaching its goals, values and vision. The team member is then likely to take ownership of their role and buy-in to the success of the organisation. They make themselves, accountable.

Reference

Vetere, R (2018, March, 5). Women, here are seven ways to become the best leader in business and in life. In Financial Post. Retrieved from http://business.financialpost.com/executive/executive-women/women-here-are-seven-ways-to-become-the-best-leader-in-business-and-in-life
]]> 2018-03-11 10:23:50 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240543212 How Ford CEO Alan Mullaly turned a broken company into the industry's comeback kid https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240544270  
In this article, Harry Kraemer talks about the turnaround of Ford and how CEO Alan Mullaly achieved this through a values-based leadership. This focuses on both the internal organisational culture and team thinking, and the external environment and relationships with suppliers and investors. 
 
To turnaround the company, Alan’s leadership had a focus on the idea of ‘one team,’ and inspiring all employees and departments to work together as ‘One Ford.’ This focus on team work encourages employees to work together towards organisational goals. A leader who encourages a one team mentality creates a more united front, and helps employees to feel aligned with the company. 
 
External relationships, such as those with a supplier, are crucial to the survival and success of a business. A values-based leader appreciates a win/win relationship with their suppliers, and will work to build trust and mutually beneficial agreements. It’s important here that the leader has a clear vision of the company’s future and goals and is able to communicate these with external stakeholders in order to gain this trust. 

Reference 

Kraemer, H. (2015, June 18).  
How Ford CEO Alan Mullaly turned a broken company into the industry’s comeback kid. Quartz. Retrieved from https://qz.com/431078/how-ford-ceo-alan-mullaly-turned-a-broken-company-into-the-industrys-comeback-kid/

]]> 2018-03-11 10:34:01 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240544270 Leaders can shape company culture through their behaviours bradleyinnes2011 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240544391  
Leaders can shape company culture through their behaviours is an article from Harvard Business review written by Jim Whitehurst. Whitehurst believes that the first step to changing an organisations culture begins with the leaders. Whitehurst uses two different examples of how subtle behaviours can assist in shaping the companies culture. These examples highlight that a company’s culture is all the little things that we without even thinking about it. 

Leaders must model the behaviour they want portrayed so others can emulate it. This statement is incredibly pertinent to my beliefs on the relationship between culture and leadership. Within my current organisation leaders state one thing and do another. This creates a void and a level of distrust between the different levels within the organisation.  

A topic that Whitehurst does not touch on is that to create a change within the organisations culture, the leader must be respected by the team. Without this respect the leader by receive the opposite effect. 

 

Whitehurst, J. (2016). Leaders can shape a company culture through their behaviours. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2016/10/leaders-can-shape-company-culture-through-their-behaviors [Accessed 09 March 2018] 

]]> 2018-03-11 10:35:01 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240544391 When Empowering Employees Works, and When It Doesn’t karinjones2533 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240550920 This article explores the positives and negatives of empowering employees. Organisations in both western & eastern countries were analysed.
The positive outcome shows that leaders who empowered their employees, gave employees more autonomy in the workplace, which had the potential to lead to greater job satisfaction, higher staff morale, new ideas being implemented and employees excelling in their positions. One of the flow on effects of this is greater staff retention, which of course, ensures the organisation has more effective business continuity and less costs spent on hiring and training new staff.
The other side of the argument explored instances where employees could become overwhelmed or feel that their leaders were just avoiding doing the work themselves. In this instance, a good leader could implement a mentoring approach and some close guidance, to allow the employee to gain self confidence in their decisions and ideas. Most importantly, an effective leader needs to keep the communication lines open to ensure they are on the same page as the employee.
As organisations are constantly exposed to change, empowering employees with autonomy allows them to make the best decision based on the current situation that they may be in. As long as decisions made are in the best interests of the organisation, by complimenting its goals, values and vision, this ensures that the organisation is keeping up to date with the needs of its employees, customers, clients and relevant stakeholders, whilst also being proactive and responsive with changes in the business environment, both internally and externally. To ensure this is the outcome, effective leaders must ensure the employee has a sound understanding of the core values of the organisation as well as its vision and goals, decisions should made to align with these.

Reference
Lee, A., Willis, Tian, A.W (2018, March, 2) When Empowering Employees Works, and When It Does. In Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2018/03/when-empowering-employees-works-and-when-it-doesnt
]]> 2018-03-11 11:28:36 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240550920 How companies can learn to root out sexual harassment karinjones2533 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240554006 This article is based on US statistics and organisations, however, this change in culture within US organisations, impacts Australia. The article states that sexual harassment is not always being reported, with some victims being paid to not speak up. It also informs that the US Mining industry having the highest frequent of reported sexual harassment of women.
The article details best practices that organisations can implement to improve their workplace culture in regards to sexual harassment, which includes training, workshops, anonymous reporting and updating organisational policies.
The #MeToo (sic) movement is frequently in our media headlines and a need for change, is being acknowledge, worldwide.
Organisations in Australia, are currently taking action to change the culture within their respective organisations to expose sexual harassment in the workplace and encourage victims to speak up.
KPMG chairperson, Alison Kitchen, recently reported to Sydney Morning Herald, the measures their organisation is taking to change their workplace culture with a ‘zero tolerance’ to sexual harassment in the workplace.
 
Reference
Sawyer, K Thoroughgood, C (2017, October, 24) How companies
can learn to root out sexual harassment. Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/how-companies-can-learn-to-root-out-sexual-harassment-85862 [Accessed 11 March 2018]
 
Reference: Williams, R, SMH (2018, March, 1) 'Zero tolerance': KPMG head speaks out on sexual harassment. Retrieved from: https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/zero-tolerance-kpmg-head-speaks-out-on-sexual-harassment-20180301-p4z298.html [Accessed 05 March 2018]
]]> 2018-03-11 12:00:05 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240554006 Leadership Challenge // Part 14: Not for profit Leadership leespencer0702 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240643850 UQ Business School Professor of Public Administration Ken Wiltshire (2010) speaks on the unique characteristics of not-for-profit organisations and the corresponding leadership challenges that result from the distinctive space.  Wiltshire (2010) outlines that leadership needs to focus more on the opportunities for partnerships as opposed to the more traditional focus on competitive advantage.  Wiltshire (2010) poses that not-for-profits have a distinctive attractiveness to the corporate sector due to their credibility in regards to corporate social responsibility.  While governments seek to align with not-for-profits due to their ability to deliver community services through a caring and compassionate value system (Wiltshire, 2010).  While this attractiveness is a distinct advantage Wiltshire (2010) points out that it requires strong leadership to maintain these distinctions.  
Wiltshire (2010) asserts that not-for-profits face the constraints of lower resource availability while still needing to meet the traditional governance, financial sustainability and ethical standards of mainstream organisations. Leaders must maintain their unique organisational image and avoid being viewed as moving toward corporatisation.  

This insight would imply that there are distinct competencies required of non-for- profit leaders.  Having worked in this sector for many years, I would wholeheartedly concur with this view. However, from my experience, many leaders have trouble accessing development in this area given that many will be coming out of traditional leadership frameworks
 
Wiltshire, K. (2010). Leadership Challenge // Part 14: Not for profit Leadership. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT2lvubOpgY
]]> 2018-03-11 22:36:23 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240643850 Brene Brown Vulnerability and Leadership leespencer0702 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240644302 Renowned social researcher Brene Brown has been someone I have followed for years.  In her 2015 YouTube talk with Chase Jarvis, Brown (2015) explains why vulnerability in leadership is a necessary quality.  Brown (2015) highlights how this is counter-intuitive to most leaders who perceive vulnerability is an expression of weakness.  Brown (2015) suggests that the opposite is true with vulnerability being the foundation for trust engagement, accountability, adaptability to change and innovation.  

Brown (2015) indicates that women are the most resistant to vulnerability.  This attitude is not surprising to me given that women are attempting to make their way into a traditionally male-dominated world where they feel they must be able to demonstrate strength, and thus must try to minimise their often innately sensitive and intuitive sides for fear of being seen as weak.  

I believe there is an evolving change in social consciousness and I agree with Brown (2015) in the suggestions that vulnerability is a leadership advantage and should be redefined as showing up, being willing to take risks and expose yourself to achieve the organisational mission (Brown, 2015). 
 
Brown, B. (2015). Brene Brown Vulnerability and Leadership. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8YtQDiiT1U&index=1&list=PLS5AuD-tXWGXoJAWYDwhx8Qw-DnouDR3s&t=38s
]]> 2018-03-11 22:39:25 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240644302 Ken Blanchard Servant Leadership leespencer0702 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240652650 Leadership expert Ken Blanchard speaks in this video on servant leadership and how it is establishing a compelling vision that ultimately allows goals to be achieved (Blanchard, 2012).  Blanchard (2012) asserts that there must be three pre-existing factors before organisational goals can have real meaning.  First, you must know what business you are in; you must know your why, secondly you must know where you are going if you do a good job and thirdly you must know what values are guiding you on your journey (Blanchard, 2012).  Blanchard (2012) states that goals tell people what you want them to focus on and to do this you must first establish these preceding elements.  

While I concur with Blanchard's (2012) ideas that people must feel compelled towards the why, the where and the how I also believe that it is essential for people to know their part in it.  A leader must set the vision and the horizon but must also people must also be able to locate themselves in the journey. 
  
Blanchard, K. (2012). Ken Blanchard Servant Leadership. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTiUy8uSWtE&index=2&list=PLS5AuD-tXWGXoJAWYDwhx8Qw-DnouDR3s
]]> 2018-03-11 23:40:04 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240652650 Understanding Leadership Impact crazy_tiger https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240670987 Understanding leadership impact is an article written by Human Resource Director Australia. The article analyses the impact that behavioural characteristics of a leader have on the success of their leadership. The article outlines the role of a leader and makes connections back to the behavioural traits with reference to why/how possessing the trait can impact on the effectiveness of your leadership. 

 

The article then goes on into unsuccessful leaders and also makes mention to a leader/organisation mismatch with some examples of this and situational leadership provided. The article provides reference to a leadership questionnaire, which will assist people in indicating their performance, along with predicting for future leaders. There may be possible issues regarding entering incorrect information which would produce an inaccurate result The article makes extensive reference to behavioural traits and how these impact upon performance. Overall, the article effectively conveyed the desired message, with the questionnaire reference being very handy. The ideas portrayed are very relevant to business within Australia and would likely be successful in practice.
 

HRD. (2018). Understanding leadership impact. Retrieved from https://www.hcamag.com/features/understanding-leadership-impact-247035.aspx
]]> 2018-03-12 01:51:31 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240670987 Factors in the External Environment That Influence Employee Behaviour crazy_tiger https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240676546 Professional Finance Columnist Angie Mohr describes the influence that external factors may have on the behaviour of employees in her article “Factors in the External Environment That Influence Employee Behavior”. Mohr describes situations in which there would be an effect to the behaviour of employees, which would then impact organisational culture. These factors include, but are not limited to, competition, economy, and reputation. 
 
The article provides information that will always be relevant to society, as there will always be some form of external influences. Whilst this article is sufficient at providing very basic information regarding the effect that the environment has on employee behaviour, it does not extend in-depth and as such is not very informative. Mohr does attempt to look at most of her points from both sides, however is lacking detail. Whilst I do agree that the environment does have a great impact on behaviour and performance, perhaps some recommendations on how the impact of this can be minimised would have been appropriate. 

Mohr, A. (N.D). 

Factors in the External Environment That Influence Employee Behavior. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/factors-external-environment-influence-employee-behavior-1251.html

]]> 2018-03-12 02:36:20 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240676546 How Culture Affects Leadership crazy_tiger https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240678670  The article ‘How Culture Affects Leadership’ published by Martinbauer defines both organizational culture, followed by leadership. The article then goes into examples of how the culture of an organisation can affect a person’s capability to lead. The article provides a very in-depth analysis of leadership, with a large focus on the culture within the workplace. Leaders and leadership teams must take into account the culture of the organizational environment and also the behaviours and attributes of employees before making any major decisions. Leaders should not impede upon the culture of an organisation, but rather, should add to the culture. This article raises very strong points regarding the importance of culture and effective leaders. 
 
This article has a list of resources and references at the end, meaning that research has been conducted before the article was published. This increases credibility of the article, especially due to the range of media types used.

Martinbauer. (N.D). How Culture Affects Leadership. Retrieved from http://www.martinbauer.com/Articles/How-Culture-Affects-Leadership
]]> 2018-03-12 02:54:40 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240678670 Same-sex marriage legalised in Australia as Parliament passes historic law https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240679437 Sarah Davey 11574648

A recent and public leadership issue in Australia was the fight for the legalisation of gay marriage. 

In this article, Michael Koziol of the Sydney Morning Herald discusses the undoing of the discriminative Marriage Act that previously forbid same-sex unions. 

Parliament faced the issue of whether to remain faithful to previous beliefs and carry on tradition, or to join the 25 other countries who have legalised same-sex marriage. 

Conservative critics of same-sex marriage raise a number of arguments, most of which are based on religious grounds stating that gays and lesbians are sinful and that marriage is a religious established practice essentially concerned with reproduction.

A large argument of individuals that are for marriage equality are claim rights, such as social security benefits upon the death of a spouse. Others are liberty rights to be free from various forms of governmental intrusion. 

Personally, I believe arguments against same-sex marriage are outdated. Australia must progress with the world and the people in it. Fighting cultural changes will only lead to further issues down the line. 


]]> 2018-03-12 03:01:19 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240679437 Informal leaders and cultural change bradleyinnes2011 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240683022 The word leader for me always conjures up the image of a member of management, someone who holds an important title within an organisation. After reading the below article from American Nurse today this image is now more representational of a formal leader. 

The below article hints at the benefits of having informal leaders within an organisation. These informal leaders can be extremely relevant when trying to change the direction of the organisations culture. Informal leaders are in a position where they can influence the groups that they are a member of and gain feedback that members of a team may not feel comfortable approaching a manager about. Whilst informal leaders can have a positive effect on culture, this may only be relevant when the leader is exerting a positive influence.

The article only touched on the positivity of having informal leaders in the organisation. Informal leadership whilst positive may slow down the decision making and confuse employees on who is responsible for the final decisions. This confusion can lead to job dissatisfaction and potential insubordination.

 

Krueger, D, L. (n.d.) America Nurse Today. Retrieved from https://www.americannursetoday.com/informal-leaders-and-cultural-change/ [Accessed 10 March 2018] 

]]> 2018-03-12 03:31:31 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240683022 UK Drugs Minister opposes cannabis law reform while her husband profits from a licence to grow it https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240683681 Sarah Davey 11574648

Victoria Atkins is the Parliamentary under Secretary of State for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability, whose remit includes drugs policy. Atkins openly opposes the legalisation of cannabis and yet it has recently been uncovered that her husband’s company has a highly profitable contract growing cannabis in partnership with GW Pharmaceuticals. 

Atkins argument is built on her opinion that cannabis users are “gun-toting criminals, whom think nothing of shooting each other… [Do you] really think these awful people are suddenly going to become law-abiding citizens?” 

Arguments against Atkin’s opinions point to facts that decriminalisation of cannabis actually showed positive changes. Much like what we saw after prohibition, regulating the drug made it safer. It is not the drugs that are killing people – it is the prohibition that is killing people.

Personally, seeing first hand in Australia what prohibition of cannabis has done, I believe regulation and decriminalisation are vital in making cannabis safe. Make it safe to purchase, regulate what is used to grow it, and fund education on the effects of cannabis. 

]]> 2018-03-12 03:37:39 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240683681 bradleyinnes2011 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240686730 This video from Inc starring Drew Houston, CEO of dropbox is a prime example of how people in leadership positions need to practice what they preach. Too many times in organisations it can appear that the rules do not apply to those at the heads of organisations, this then reduces the respect people hold for that leader. In turn the effectiveness of the leader to create change is diminished.

"We can write down all the pretty words about our culture and our values that we want," he said. "But people pay a thousand times more attention to what you do as a leader" (Houston, 2017).

This is the fundamentals of what being a leader is about. This short 1:51 video highlights how the little actions that leaders do can set the standards for the team, things you may not even realise you do. Culture after all is the things you do without even thinking twice about.

 
Houston, J. (2017). Personal communication. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/justin-bariso/what-happened-when-the-ceo-of-dropbox-was-late-to-.htmlom


Bariso, J. (2017, July 10). What Happened When the CEO of Dropbox Was Late to an All-Hands Meeting. INC. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/justin-bariso/what-happened-when-the-ceo-of-dropbox-was-late-to-.htmlom [Accessed 11 March 2018].

]]> 2018-03-12 04:06:04 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240686730 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240688326 2018-03-12 04:18:53 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240688326 What To Look For In Great Leaders: Gary Bertoline at TEDxPurdueU pmahon27 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240692535 At the beginning on the video, Bertoline states that at the end of the talk the audience will learn two things:

 

1: How to identify authentic leaders – The world is being run by leaders who don’t have what it takes to be good leaders, and they are in it for the wrong reasons.

 

2: You can become a good leader: Age, race, experience and many other areas are no reason as to why an individual cannot become a great leader if attention to detail is paid to certain characteristics.

 

Gary’s presentation focuses on 5 traits:

 

Vison: The most important trait out of the 5. If a strong vision is not possessed, then nothing else matter. Vison starts with the WHY? Leader’s need to understand why they are doing things, along with being passionate about what they are doing and what trying to achieve in order to attain their vision. To implement vison, todays leaders need to be willing to walk through walls. 

 

Optimism: Leader’s need to believe that things will get better no matter how bad they are. This characteristic resonates with me due to my direct boss being very optimistic, there have been many obstacles thrown her way over the past 12 months, and although the storm is over, she remained optimistic throughout the whole process. Optimism was displayed in order for the rest of the department to not be effected, she displayed a positive message even though things were not positive. 

 

Ego: Great leader’s have to have a big ego, they need to believe that what they believe is right. Some leaders may start of with a great vision, but at times their ego gets in the way and it becomes more about themselves as opposed to the organisation itself. Power can corrupt a leader’s effectiveness.

 

Charisma: Leaders need to be able to efficiently connect to the people they are around and work with. An individual’s charisma needs to be used to sell one’s ideas. In a previous job, my direct leader did not have any social skills, it was awkward at times and the team had no confidence in their ability to lead due to the lack of charisma. 

 

Passion: Great passion needs to be displayed in what leaders do. Leaders need to let passion drive them internally when things are not doing well. Passion plays a major role in executing a leader’s vison.

 

Bertoline finishes off with talking about the importance of aligning the 5 attributes with your personal values, otherwise the leader will not succeed. 

 

Refernece: 

 

Gary Bertoline (2013), What To Look For In Great Leaders:

Gary Bertoline at TEDxPurdueU. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IHQyEC2GRU

 

[Accessed 10 Mar, 2018]

 


]]> 2018-03-12 04:56:02 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240692535 How did Qantas improve its human resources management? bridgitte_burge_91 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240699970 I chose this article based around Qantas as I believe it shows how good leadership can turn a company completely around. In 2014, Qantas was facing critical challenges. Increased competition from domestic and international airlines, record fuel bills, and a high Australian dollar resulted in a $252 million half-year underlying loss for the company, and forced Alan Joyce (CEO) to cut 5000 jobs and close routes (O'Sullivan & Massola, 2014).

To get through this tough period, operations manager Ian Jackson devised a long-term strategy around people and culture, where communication and strong business partnering were keys to success. Emphasis was also placed on customer operations, as well as developing a workforce with an intrinsic drive to do better year on year 'because they feel connected to the strategy and see the benefits being delivered'.

The key leadership message behind this article is to motivate employees to achieve a common strategy of creating customer satisfaction, even when times are tough and morale is low. Being transparent with the team is essential as it gives them a sense of ownership over what they have delivered, and motivates them to achieve more. The strategies developed and implemented by the Qantas leadership team had them nominated for a 2016 AHRI award.

In their latest report, Qantas made a bottom-line net profit of $607 million in the first half of the current financial year, the result being an 18 per cent improvement over its previous first-half net profit (Chau & Ryan, 2018).

Chau, D., & Ryan, P. (2018, Feb 22). Qantas could start paying corporate tax again after $607 million profit. ABC News. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-22/qantas-half-year-results-607-million-profit/9473154

Healey, B. (2016, November 28). How did Qantas improve its human resources management? HRM Online. Retrieved from http://www.hrmonline.com.au/section/strategic-hr/qantas-improve-human-resources-management/

O'Sullivan, M., & Massola, J. (2014, Feb 27). Qantas cuts 5000 jobs, posts $252 million first half loss. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/qantas-cuts-5000-jobs-posts-252-million-first-half-loss-20140226-33i4c.html
]]> 2018-03-12 06:11:27 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240699970 Creating the right culture and environment for employees to thrive in a digital age: bradleybrown1996 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240702627
An interesting article written by Daria Naumova, Director of Talent and Alexander Kalinovsky, Director of Engineering at Wipro Digital touches on the recruitment and retainment of ‘technically gifted people’ the article provides an honest (however opinion based) in-depth insight into the world of talent retention via the alteration of a business’s culture. The examples they use are particularly based on the tech field where they indicated that the environment is key to make feel comfortable it is then that they will be able to get the most out of their employees. They noted that it is also vital to allow employees the freedom to choose what path is best for them to further their own career. 

While the article appears to be a good source of information around the topic of creating a stable environment there are no scholarly refences, meaning that the article is written from opinion and expirence which takes some of the credibility away.

Naumova, D., & Kalinovsky, A. (2018). Creating the right culture and environment for employees to thrive in a digital age. IT Pro Portal. Retrieved 11 March 2018, from https://www.itproportal.com/features/creating-the-right-culture-and-environment-for-employees-to-thrive-in-a-digital-age/


]]> 2018-03-12 06:30:02 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240702627 'Masculine culture' and micro barriers still major issues for women bradleybrown1996 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240702767
Professor Elizabeth Croft is the new Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Monash University and in this article, she attempts to highlight gender disparity in terms of jobs in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) fields. She puts this down to a culture issue within these fields. While she does state that she has used scholarly sources for her information she doesn’t mention what these sources are throughout the article, albeit she does make well-constructed and thoughtful points throughout the article stating “If leadership is not intentional about cultural change, nothing will happen. Saying you value diversity but not making fundamental change is like saying you want to lose weight without changing your diet and getting off the couch. It simply won’t work. This is long, generational, societal, cultural change.” (Croft, 2018) This point holds true for all culture change especially when it has been ingrained in an organisation/ field for decades. This article really highlights that there is still disparity within these particular fields this appears to make the fields seem rotten in a way and this makes them even more unattractive for females who would otherwise pursue.

Croft, E. (2018). 'Masculine culture' and micro barriers still major issues for women. Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from https://www.smh.com.au/business/careers/masculine-culture-and-micro-barriers-still-major-issues-for-women-20180212-p4z00s.html

]]> 2018-03-12 06:31:16 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240702767 Fox Establishes Workplace Culture Panel After Harassment Scandal bradleybrown1996 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240702905
This article describes how Fox (already a tarnished brand due to its many indiscretions) is attempting to change its culture after many sexual harassment lawsuits. However, it should be noted that The New York Times is not free from its own scandals and unfortunately when discussing reliable unbiased opinions both corporations have political agendas, meaning they will skew news to suit them (Fox being more conservative, and New York Times being described as liberal). So, neither organisation can be completely trusted when looking at the information they are giving you. 

Fact checking as I go points out that this article is not an exaggeration or fabrication and shows how truly rotten the culture at 21st Century Fox is. With the expenses of a poor culture being highlighted with Fox being forced to pay out in excess of $110 million in a 1 year period.

Steel, E. (2017). Fox Establishes Workplace Culture Panel After Harassment Scandal. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/20/business/media/fox-news-sexual-harassment.html

 

]]> 2018-03-12 06:32:20 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240702905 The Relationship Between Corporate Culture and Performance joannanewey https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240703993 This article focuses on the link between the culture of an organisation and the impact that has on success.
The interesting aspect of the link are that whilst a positive culture can drive results, results cannot drive a culture. An organisation that does not improve the culture over time will start to generate falling organisation results.
Improvement of culture over time is difficult to make in a large sweeping change and is instead more effective when targeted on key or dysfunctional groups and teams as opposed to trying to attempt to change the entire organisation.

This article raises some very interesting points and ideas. It is lacking in scholarly references and appears to be focused around one study (link in the article) which is however well referenced and supported. I found the articles analysis and review of the study to be a good overview of the findings.

Dizik, A, 2016. The Relationship Between Corporate Culture and Performance. Wall Street Jounral, 21 February 2016.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-relationship-between-corporate-culture-and-performance-1456110320]]> 2018-03-12 06:40:16 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240703993 Impact of Working Environment on Job Satisfaction by Abdul Raziq tom_byak https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240707538 Within Abdul Raziq work it discusses the struggles and challenges that are face within the dynamic nature of the organisations environmental. In his works he elaborates on the important for businesses to satisfy its employees to evolve and change with new and emerging changes and to respond with success and competitiveness. Raziq objective through this paper was to analyse the impact that working environment has on job satisfaction. Through his data Raziq concludes by relating a positive correlation between the organisation working environment and job satisfaction. 

Therefore, this paper demonstrates the important of internal factors play a considerable role in the direction and success of any organisation. Raziq understands and analysed the benefits of encouraging peoples to expand their job contribution in order enable themselves to grow both personally and professionally. Thus overall, I believe this paper idea and logic closely related to my own and therefore be effective within Australian practices. 

Raziq, A., & Maulabakhsh, R. (2018). Impact of Working Environment on Job Satisfaction. Retrieved 11 March 2018, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212567115005249 

]]> 2018-03-12 07:03:41 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240707538 TED Talks Graham Weston: Creating workplace cultures, energy of inspired employees joannanewey https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240707596 This TEDtalks focuses on how to create a culture. The key message is:

“We all want to be a valued member, of a winning team, on an inspiring mission”

If we pay attention to what people want from work the organisation and give them that they will in return give back:

·         More energy
·         More connected
·         Aligned to the organisation goals

Which all results in a more profitable and successful organisation.

If the above is ignored mediocrity can take over and a culture of not taking risks and ignoring ideas can become the norm effectively stalling development and organisational outcomes.

The concept of connecting your team to the organisation goals and accepting each individual as ‘they are’ and giving people responsibilities and jobs to match that is an interesting idea. It is very different from the accepted norm of people apply for jobs and then they stay in that role as opposed to being moved to a role which ‘suits’ the employee more.


 TEDx Talks. (2010). TEDxSanAntonio - Graham Weston - Creating Workplace Cultures, Energy of Inspired Employees. [Online Video]. 27 December 2010. Available from: https://youtu.be/VAsLICK9vxc. [Accessed: 3 March 2018].

]]> 2018-03-12 07:04:10 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240707596 Proof That Positive Work Cultures Are More Productive tom_byak https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240708135 This article illustrated the importance of that cut throat organisational cultures are harmful for both the productivity and towards employees whilst further elaborating on how positive environment have dramatic results for all parties. The articles discuss the three hidden costs incurred by organisation that fail in providing a positive environmental and rely on figure and pressure to motive employees. The cost includes:

·         Increased health care expenditure due to high pressure environments
·         Long term disengagement of job as employees don’t feel valued, secure, supported or respected
·         Increase lack of Loyalty due to increase turnover figures

Furthermore, the article through their research have broken down a positive workplace culture to six essential characteristics which I believe all organisations should follow:

·         Caring for, being interested in, and maintaining responsibility for colleagues as friends.
·         Providing support for one another, including offering kindness and compassion when others are struggling
·         Avoiding blame and forgive mistakes.
·         Inspiring one another at work.
·         Emphasizing the meaningfulness of the work.
·         Treating one another with respect, gratitude, trust, and integrity.

Proof That Positive Work Cultures Are More Productive. (2018). Harvard Business Review. Retrieved 11 March 2018, from https://hbr.org/2015/12/proof-that-positive-work-cultures-are-more-productive

]]> 2018-03-12 07:08:09 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240708135 Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace tom_byak https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240708538 In this article by the NY Times it reveals the working culture behind the company Amazon and their idea of conducting an experiment in seeing how far white-collar workers can be pushed to achieve growing ambitions. In the Amazon culture workers are encouraged to tear apart other employees and hold them to unreasonably ambitious standards. This method of work is a cut throat type of organisation culture. Susan Harker Amazon’s top recruiter “When your shooting for the moon, the nature of the work is really challenging. For some people it doesn’t work”

However, I don’t believe that this type of working culture is ultimately beneficial for any organisation unless you’re willing to incur the mass amount of employee turnover. But this form of working culture has allowed for Amazon to become one of the most profitable companies in the past ten years. 

Streitfeld, J. (2018). Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace. Nytimes.com. Retrieved 11 March 2018, from https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html

]]> 2018-03-12 07:09:55 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240708538 What Australian businesses are doing to avoid 'bro culture' joannanewey https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240713772 Bro-Culture is when a dominate male group sets the tone and direction of an organisations culture and environment. Often it is a group of males that exclude those who are different from themselves either on the grounds of sex, ethnicity or socio-economic background (Friendman, 2013). 

The article addresses the issues that a ‘Bro-culture’ can create and how to overcome this issue. It is not as simple as hiring a lot of women or an ethic diverse team as if the Bro-culture is not addressed it will result in a high staff turnover of same.

To encourage cultural change and increase diversity in the workplace there needs to be three main elements

Leadership – the leadership needs to be committed to making the changes and model, encourage and educate the correct behaviour.

Human resources – the HRM policies for the company need to be consistent with the leader’s messages and encouraging the desired team culture.

Change the employee value proposition – to attract a diverse work force changes throughout all aspects need to be addressed. Offering a more flexible or fluid working arrange i.e. job share or work from home hours.

 
Friedman, a, 2013. How Do You Change a Bro-Dominated Culture?. New York Magazine, 12 September 2013. 1.
D'Mello, C, 2017. What Australian businesses are doing to avoid 'bro culture'. The Sydney Morning Herald, 16 August 2017
https://www.smh.com.au/business/small-business/what-australian-businesses-are-doing-to-avoid-bro-culture-20170815-gxwp3e.html

]]> 2018-03-12 07:33:53 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240713772 bridgitte_burge_91 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240717803 2018-03-12 07:49:42 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240717803 The importance of strong leadership and culture dom_star https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240737623 Anne Hyland, Associate Editor (Business) for the Financial Review has delved into the importance of culture and leadership within Australian businesses and compares its relationship with sustainable success. 
Initially, Hyland uses examples from the Target Accounting scandal to highlight how a clear lack of cultural direction within a company, can unhinge years of workplace development (Hyland, 2016). Largely, it appears that through various managers and financial teams of Westfarmers and Target, there has been a lack of communication and transparency relating to the culture and environment that Target set out to achieve. 
 
As the scandal has affected the results and reputation of the company, CEO Richard Goyder and his leadership team have the large task of remodelling the workplace environment and culture that will be required to reap the benefits that having a strong organisational culture can provide. 
 
Hyland continues to use strong examples from Harvard Business School professor, James Heskett and expresses his view about the relationship that business performance and strong organisational culture has. The large list of positive outcomes such as reduction of the overuse of resources, improved productivity, performance and sales are some of the encouraging consequences a positive culture can have. 
 
This piece echoes my views on how culture and leadership is a direct reflection of the performance an organisation has. Furthermore, if a colluded or unintentional breakdown of culture occurs, it will be detrimental to what reputation exists amongst internal and external stakeholders. How quickly and effectively leaders can reinstate a positive culture could be the difference to surviving long-term.  
 
Reference: 
 
Hyland, A. (2016). Why corporate culture matters and how to change it. Financial Review. 
Retrieved from: http://www.afr.com/leadership/workplace/why-good-culture-will-boost-company-profits-20160413-go5q88
 
 
http://www.afr.com/leadership/workplace/why-good-culture-will-boost-company-profits-20160413-go5q88
]]> 2018-03-12 09:00:22 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240737623 Proactive Leadership for Mental Health Culture dom_star https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240740783 The strain of working away for mining employees in Australia is having debilitating consequences for the mental wellbeing for them, colleagues and families. MQ, Transforming Mental Health indicated in their article that the BHP Billiton's Health, Safety and Environment leadership team proactively met with Beyond Blue to gain a greater understanding of the complexities surrounding mental health issues (2016). 
 
Having an improved depth of understanding surrounding the issues that are so unique to their working environment, allowed BHP leaders to collaborate with managers and staff to form a culture and environment that acknowledges and accepts mental illnesses and improved well-being. 
 
This in turn allowed further education and understanding through their already established leadership programs, where BHP has now allocated a whole module purely to mental health. 
 
Implementing strategies and visions within a business is a regular activity to occur in an organisation. Monitoring the effectiveness of a culture or behaviour is perhaps one aspect that is forgotten about, however, that is not the case with this initiative. 
 
This shows tremendous leadership values from those at BHP, who have ensured they follow through to ensure that this important cultural workplace issue was a noticed and continually improved. With Key Performance Indicators and increased mental health based referrals (MQ, 2016), the longevity and outcome will likely be successful due to the commitment from BHP leaders who understood and acted on the need for change. 
 
Reference: 
 
Workplace mental health at BHP Billiton. (2016) MQ Transforming Mental Health. 
Retrieved from: https://www.mqmentalhealth.org/articles/bhp-billiton-work-place-mental-health-case-stud
 
https://www.mqmentalhealth.org/articles/bhp-billiton-work-place-mental-health-case-study
 
]]> 2018-03-12 09:11:06 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240740783 Inside Uber’s Aggressive, Unrestrained Workplace Culture dom_star https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240743332 This article by Mike Isaac from the New York Times examines the poor workplace culture and apparent lack of leadership within the riding sharing organisation, Uber. Citing key examples of poor management and even poorer leadership, the article conveys the message that the key cultural ingredient at Uber is success and financial performance. This also includes individual performance which is at the detriment of colleagues and managers where their environment is effectively labelled as ‘dog eat dog’. 
 
Having such an environment that Isaac labels as “aggressive and unrestrained” sets the tone for how Uber is operated both domestically and internationally. By having a workplace that is so performance driven, does not foster a team first environment that allows the organisation to further succeed. This type of environment does not ‘breed’ leaders within an organisation, which further negates the opportunity for the company to develop stronger and improved cultural behaviour. 
 
The article details that at a global conference in Las Vegas, key management and ‘leader’ figures indulged in cocaine, gambling and excessive drinking which further mitigates the argument that there is a positive culture within the company. 
 
While the article does not argue the success, the company has had or the positive elements of the culture such as customer orientated; the workplace culture, particularly for Women and low performing staff is full of exclusion, humiliation and isolation. 
 
While Uber’s Human Resource department has said that  they are wanting to improve their working culture and overcome their past misdemeanours, the pattern of working against each other and not developing leadership traits amongst their staff could prove it to be a difficult assignment to conquer. 
 
Reference: 
 
Isaac, M. (2017, February 2). Inside Uber’s Aggressive, Unrestrained Workplace 
Culture. The New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/22/technology/uber-workplace-culture.html

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/22/technology/uber-workplace-culture.html

]]> 2018-03-12 09:20:01 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240743332 Alan Joyce Voted Australia's Top CEO mathew_white https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240747148 This article looks at business leader Alan Joyce – CEO of Qantas – and a recent statistical survey which has placed him as the number one leader, to which young people in Australia would like to work for. The results of the survey are based on statistical analysis of a sample population, so they are exposed to a risk of sampling error. However, the article continues on to demonstrate Joyce’s leadership style through mention of some of his attributes, including how he is supportive of equality and a diverse culture in the workplace. The article demonstrates Joyce’s leadership quality in how he attributes the business’ turnaround to others around him (Durkin, 2017). His ability to pass the companies successes away from himself and on to those around him is an essential leadership behaviour, improving morale in staff. This has clearly worked for him, given he is running one of Australia’s largest organisations.

Reference:

Durkin, P. (2017, March 20). Alan Joyce Voted Australia’s Top CEO. Australian Financial Review. Retrieved from
http://www.afr.com/leadership/alan-joyce-voted-australias-top-ceo-20170224-gukxdt ]]> 2018-03-12 09:32:46 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240747148 The Seven Characteristics of Successful Company Cultures mathew_white https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240753751 This article considers seven characteristics of a successful company culture. It considers the goals of employees, and how the leader should empower them to try and achieve the goals, rather than manage them. The article goes on to consider communication methods with employees and how best to deliver messages. The article implies that the leader and managers of an organisation must be able to demonstrate empathy when dealing with subordinates, which will improve productivity. Although I agree with this to some extent, I don’t believe that productivity could necessarily only be improved, as too much empathy and communication may get in the way of the employees achieving their task at hand. This is a personal bias of mine, as I do not believe you can single out productivity to being the result of communication alone. The article also talks about support of diversity, such support is a key leadership behaviour.

References:

Rozen, M. (2016, May 8). The Seven Characteristics of Successful Company Cultures. Huffington Post. Retrieved from 
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/michelle-rozen/the-seven-characteristics_b_11339884.html]]> 2018-03-12 09:53:46 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240753751 Banking veteran believes in speakING up tyeroughan https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240758844 Negativity in the workplace can often spread amongst employees and peers, resulting in a downward spiral of a toxic culture. When employees are not happy and feel they cannot speak up, it becomes a strong driver of poor employee and team engagement. It can also become a danger to organisations for compliance and quality control measures, customer experience, and workplace health and safety.
 
With many modern day organisations encouraging staff to speak up, and encouraging leaders to listen, it opens organisations up to thrive and innovate and bring their employees on this journey. Often by staff speaking up, Continual Improvement can enhance an organisations environment and culture.
 
In promoting a ‘speak up’ culture, not only does this improve employee morale, it also encourages other cultural enhancements such as diversity, inclusivity, fairness, and a learning opportunity for many to hear others point of view.  This particular article is further inspiring, as it shares the story of Catherine Low, becoming the Singapore country manager for ING bank. Not only has Catherine been in the banking sector for over 30 years, she agrees discrimination against women in the industry is a real problem. Catherine has taken control of her career, encourages others to speak up and do the same, she has also played a key role in lobbying for better benefits for employees to assist in times of illness, which is a significant cultural enhancer.

 The banking sector is an industry, that around the world is continually working on innovation and evolving their team and culture to ensure a compliant, ethical, customer centric business, and prioritising their staff’s workplace culture is key to this success.

Reference:


Yahya, Y. (2018, February 12).  Banking veteran believes in speakING up. Retrieved from 
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/banking/banking-veteran-believes-in-speaking-up 
]]> 2018-03-12 10:10:11 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240758844 Three HR trends leaders should be aware of in 2018 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240759017 Sarah Davey 11574648

This article produced by HRD refers to Andrew Warren-Smith’s three key areas that will impact how business in undertaken in 2018. 

The article discusses (1) Potential, (2) Digital, and (3) People analytics. 

Warren-Smith addresses the fact that potential was only ever considered in senior managers or executives. He believes organisations should be broadening this to anyone at any level having potential.

The article addresses pros and cons of digital enhancements. Namely that there is still a lot that AI cannot do such as show empathy or demonstrate emotional intelligence. It is important however that leaders demonstrate an ability to harness new technologies available, we must marry big data opportunities with the human side of things. 

Thirdly, the article discusses how HR should be taking advantage of new technologies to make faster, more informed decisions. Warren-Smith argues that HR can now utilise their understanding of people and back it up with data.

Warren-Smith’s insights are hard to argue with. In today’s organisations it is easier to recognise potential in people through the use of modern technologies. I agree that it has become easier to recognise talent at any level. I also agree that new technologies have advanced almost every aspect of today’s organisations. This thought however leads me to the question ‘Can we go too far with how we rely on AI?’ 

]]> 2018-03-12 10:10:40 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240759017 Why Organisations Need to Focus on Culture First mathew_white https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240769295  
In this article, Stephen Childs explores his past as a human resources executive, along with some of the knowledge of leadership, and corporate culture he has gained through his experience. Childs explains that high levels of employee engagement are difficult to maintain if the culture of the organisation is not the main concern of management. Given Stephens experience, working as the head of human resources for a billion-dollar international organisation, I trust his judgement regarding the importance of corporate culture. This leadership insight is supported later in the article, where he describes the CEO’s responsibility to drive the importance of culture within the organisation. He also describes the change of a culture within an organisation as a “journey” rather than something which can be immediately amended. Stephen concludes the article with some of his results, supporting the statements and conclusions presented in the body of the article. 

References: 


Childs, S. (2017, October 31). Why Organisations Need to Focus on Culture First. Forbes Business Magazine.
Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2017/10/31/why-organizations-need-to-focus-on-culture-first/2/#2f2a2a2545d3 
]]> 2018-03-12 10:41:09 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240769295 Exclusive: ‘Under Natura The Body Shop will return to its activist roots’ https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240771332 Student: Vilma Pontinen

This article discusses the restrictive impact the Body Shop felt when purchased by L’Oréal circa 10 years ago and the opportunities it now sees with the company Natura who acquired L’Oréal (along with The Body Shop) in 2017.

The Body Shop’s head of Corporate and Social Responsibility Christopher Davis reports that the purchase by L’Oréal had been “a strain on many people in The Body Shop … The Body Shop over the past 10 years hasn’t had the freedom to express what is still alive in the Body Shop, the human activist spirit and purpose-led philosophy.” (Slavin, 2017)

Natura’s commitment to triple bottom line accounting, valuing social and environmental progress as well as financial metrics is what The Body Shop sees as one of the most exciting things and what will allow it ‘a freer hand to forge partnerships with the likes of Amnesty International and Greenpeace’. (Slavin, 2017)

The interview touches on some interesting aspects of corporate culture:

-          The stifling impact of an acquisition by a parent company that does not have the same culture/goals
 
-          The Body Shop’s culture of ‘activism’ which is somewhat unusual for a cosmetics and body care business
 
-          The impact a corporate culture have on the external environment rather than the other way around (The Body Shop’s culture of activism driving them to partner with Amnesty International and Greenpeace to create positive change).
 
 

References

Slavin, T. (2017, September 13). Exclusive: ‘Under Natura The Body Shop will return to its activist roots’. Ethical Corporation. Retrieved from http://www.ethicalcorp.com/exclusive-under-natura-body-shop-will-return-its-activist-roots

]]> 2018-03-12 10:47:36 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240771332 China: ‘Women are creating a new corporate culture’ https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240771472
Student: Vilma Pontinen

The article discusses the impact that successful Chinese private businesses and their women founders and employees are having on the workplace culture for women in China and how it challenges the government institutions that are still heavily patriarchal. 

In the course of discussing the above, a point that is also raised is how women leaders are still tailoring their behaviour for male dominant teams. Interviewee Ms So states that the restaurant half of her business is still mainly male, and she has tailored her leadership style accordingly. “I have to learn to be mindful of the way I communicate to them or the way I walk round in the kitchen,” she says. That includes wearing more masculine or gender-neutral clothing” (Feng, 2018).  

The article and interviewee present the tailoring of behaviour as simply a gender issue however it can strongly be argued that it is not simply a gender issue. It is natural for (team) leaders to have to tailor their leadership to their employees and the particular individual characters. The character of a person is not necessarily driven by gender and therefore it is likely that this quote could be made about a team which includes or comprises entirely of females. 

 

References

Feng, E. (2018, March 8). China: ‘Women are creating a new corporate culture’. The Financial Times. Retrieved from https://www.ft.com/content/cfceb3f6-f703-11e7-a4c9-bbdefa4f210b

]]> 2018-03-12 10:48:03 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240771472 Millennials, Loyalty, and Corporate Culture https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240771752
Student: Vilma Pontinen

The column provides tips on how to absorb millennials into a company culture and motivate them. 

The author identifies the following as the characteristics of millennials and also what drives their workplace satisfaction and engagement:

1)       Think like a partner, not a boss (shared responsibilities)
2)       Be cognizant of work-life balance
3)       Positive criticism
4)       Overall company culture (more casual, less corporate stuffy)

The author sees the above as specific traits of millennials and aims the article clearly at companies who perhaps have an older workforce or culture (since he talks about absorbing millennials).

The columnist however does not consider whether the above is actually a mere reflection of the developed view of people’s worth in the workforce brought about by advancements in society, globalisation, access to education, etc. It could be argued that perhaps millennials have played a large part in making these the new norm for workplaces however it is unlikely that in today’s society only millennials are motivated by these.

 

 

References

Beccalori, J. (2017, September 20). Millennials, Loyalty, and Corporate Culture [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/entrepreneursorganization/2017/09/20/millennials-loyalty-and-corporate-culture/3/#39285d4b465a

]]> 2018-03-12 10:48:55 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240771752 Cup of sorrow: the brutal reality of Australia's franchise king tyeroughan https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240780361 Most franchisee’s enter the market with the ambition and desire to be their own boss, embrace the challenges and bask in the rewards of their hard work. Unfortunately for many franchisee’s under the Retail Food Group brands, they claim it has been a ‘heartbreaking’ experience.
The article shares insight into several franchisees who claim they were provided false or misleading information prior to purchasing their franchise. With the franchise company Retail Food Groups able to enforce various rules under their franchise agreement, often resulting in heavy costs to the franchisee.
Some of the brands that Retail Food Group now own, previously made strong revenue results. However after Retail Food Group bought them, and made the franchisees operate under their model, the stores were losing money. For many franchisee’s this was their lifesavings, homes, and livelihoods that have been jeopardizes due to the lack of innovation and culture within the Retail Food Group organisation. The article suggests over 200 stores under Retail Food Group have closed in the past 12 months.
The article shares the stories of many franchisees’ who have lost their homes, lost their life savings, trying to sell a franchise that is losing money. Many share their thoughts on the culture of Retail Food Group, "They treat us like dogs," and "It was a dream to have my own business, but it turned out they treat us like shit."

With so many franchisees feeling the same way, previous business owners having success with the brands before selling them to Retail Food Group, and the amount of stores that have closed down in a short space of time, it begs the question of what is their organisation doing well?

]]> 2018-03-12 11:18:31 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240780361 Finance Sector Union says sales culture to blame for misconduct of bank employees tyeroughan https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240792110 With skepticism of the big banks at an all time high, the Australian government is now in the process of a Royal Commission into the industry. The big banks welcomed the commission to ensure that a proper and thorough review can take place, and allow for a better future without the skepticism that has been growing year on year. This particular article goes deeper into the culture of the banks and suggests that the constant focus on sales targets is the primary reason why the industry has a bad name. It also suggests that the rights of staff have been taken away under individual workplace agreements, and that staff may feel pressured to be unethical when it comes to 'selling' products to customers in order to achieve the targets. The article does not however discuss what actions the staff have taken, if any on raising these concerns. Most organisations also have various channels on how to raise issues that may be uncomfortable or unable to be discussed with an immediate manager, this is also not discussed in this article.
With many customers becoming negatively impacted by products that may not suit their needs, bank staff are being investigated and at times terminated, some even referred to the police. This may very well be a horrible situation not only for a customer, but also a staff member acting out of fear of losing their job.
With KPI's designed to drive goals and  provide guidance of what organisations want to see their staff achieve, having KPIs aligned to sales results in the banking industry is questionable as it has the potential to drive the wrong behaviours in an industry that the general population rely heavily on to trust and provide general advice. ]]> 2018-03-12 11:50:48 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240792110 The world of work is changing fast, how will you stay ahead? joel_hornby https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240800970 This video contains an insightful reflection from global futurist, and award-winning speaker Rohit Talwar about the changing environment of the workforce, and how organisations can cultivate a sustainable collaboration between humans and technology going into the future. 

Throughout the video Rohit discusses some of the challenges that organisations are now facing due to rapid advances in artificial intelligence, and automated technologies; but most notably underlines the importance of keeping people at the centre of organisational strategy to secure healthy and sustainable growth going forward.
 
 The themes presented in this video are not only relevant to the topic but are also consistent with my own view that organisational leaders have a responsibility to train, develop, and build on the skills and capabilities of their current and future workforces in correlation to the external environment in which they operate, and the strategic direction of their company. This involves visualising the impact of any issue, trend, or technological advancement that may have a bearing on the industry in the foreseeable future; and preparing the workforce accordingly. 

]]> 2018-03-12 12:10:59 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240800970 Well-being will be the Key Driver of Workplace Culture and Employee Engagement in 2017 joel_hornby https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240806909
This article outlines the fundamental importance of organisations looking after their employees, and how strategically focusing on employee well-being can lead to heightened levels of employee engagement and a strong workplace culture that drives business performance. 

 I whole-heartedly agree with the main assertion that this article puts forward, which is basically that: the more organisations utilize the well-being of their employees as a positive driver of company culture, the healthier, happier, and more engaged their employees will be; which will then translate into achieving better business results across the board through incremental gains in production and competitive advantage. 

The issue of employee well-being is particularly prominent in the Australian mining industry, where many employees have to work away from home for extended periods of time, either in remote areas of Australia, or in operations located overseas. Working and living in these isolated locations not only makes it difficult for mining workers to access mental health services, but it also cuts them off from important societal associations, like their family and friendship groups (Tynan et al., 2016). Not to mention the long hours they are expected to work per shift, and the minimal control they have over their job-design. 

 

Additional references: 


Tynan, R., Considine, R., Rich, J., Skehan, J., Wiggers, J., & Lewin, T. et al. (2016). Help-seeking for mental health problems by employees in the Australian Mining Industry. BMC Health Services Research, 16. http://dx.doi.org/http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.1186/s12913-016-1755-1 



]]> 2018-03-12 12:23:03 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240806909 Workplace and management should reflect organisational values joel_hornby https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240812191 This article discusses the changing nature of the working environment, and how it is fast becoming a strategic imperative for organisations to adapt or get left behind. The main argument presented by the author, centres around the notion that organisation need to invest in and manage the areas of employee engagement, brand identity, and customer experience, in a way that promotes value creation, and sustainable growth going forward.

This view is not dissimilar to my own, I also believe that business environment is quickly evolving, that customers are becoming more demanding, and the ability of innovative competitors to exploit the short comings of other organizations is stronger than ever, thus “strategy as the management between an organization and its external environment must respond to these forces” (Grant, 2014) to ensure ongoing success. If an organisation lacks the motivation to even consider allocating resources outside of their immediate scope of works to capitalize on potential opportunities, then rival competitors will continue to seize these forgone opportunities for themselves, which may eventually leave that organisation disadvantaged within the market.
 
 

Additional references: 

Grant, R. (2014). Contemporary strategic management. Milton, Qld.: John Wiley and Sons Australia.


]]> 2018-03-12 12:33:58 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/240812191 Article one: Parliament's toxic and aggressive culture a threat to good government courtney_furlong https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/241212207 The article was published by the Canberra Times on 5 March 2018. The article is about the changing culture within the government. The article states that politics has always been a high- pressure job but new evidence suggests that the culture within politics has never been as toxic as it currently is. The changes in the workplace culture have led to personalised attack on parliamentary officers in the Opposition Leaders office. 

The article states that the end results were the same as always and that once passions cooled there was agreement that matters within the government escalated inappropriately and that all parliamentary officers would aim to act kinder to others. 

My conclusions of this article are that the Government should be setting an example of workplace environment and culture and that it is unacceptable for adults leading the country to be involved in creating a toxic environment and culture with workplace bullying. The leaders of each political party need to address the toxic environment and ensure change to the way parliamentary officers communicate with each other. 

Fairfax Media. (2018). Parliament's toxic and aggressive culture a threat to good government, Retrieved from 
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/ct-editorial/parliaments-toxic-and-aggressive-culture-a-threat-to-good-government-20180302-h0wxlz.html]]> 2018-03-13 06:11:32 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/241212207 Woolworths worker’s suicide sparks calls for inquest  alliefurlong97 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/241212376 The ‘Woolworths worker’s suicide sparks calls for inquest’ article published by the Sydney Morning Herald, is about a Woolworth’s manager who committed suicide, reportedly due to bullying in the workplace. Although unable to be proven as the victim was unable to testify. 
The article states that the offender’s employee file had numerous bullying complaints against him and he undertook mandatory ‘formal counselling sessions’. The offender wasn’t suspended and no serious action was taken, until after the suicide where he was jailed for bullying an additional two employees. In my opinion it is unacceptable that it took the death of an employee for Woolworths to investigate bullying claims especially since there were multiple complaints from different employees against the same person. All bullying complaints should be investigated.
From the perspective of Woolworths employees, they would be satisfied a prolific bully received justice but disappointed that no previous claims were taken seriously. The suicide could have been avoided if Woolworths had acted promptly and professionally when claims of bulling were made. 

]]> 2018-03-13 06:13:20 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/241212376 Article two: 3 reasons why positive work cultures are more productive courtney_furlong https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/241212411 The article ‘3 reasons why positive work cultures are more productive’ was written by William Craig and published by Forbes. The article discusses the need to provide a positive workplace environment and culture and how it can benefit the organisation. The article’s three reason are: positive work culture encourages happier employees, positive work cultures promote collaboration and positive work cultures inspire creativity. The article suggests that creating a positive workplace environment and culture benefits the employees and increases their productivity which benefits the organisation. My conclusions of this article are that I agree that creating a positive work environment benefits both the employee and the employer. I agree that employees feeling supported and feeling comfortable within their workplace will increase productivity levels. I feel that the majority of organisations should encourage a positive workplace to assist employees to be more motivated in working towards the organisations strategy.  

 Craig.W. (2017). 3 reasons why positive work cultures are more productive, retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamcraig/2017/07/25/3-reasons-why-positive-work-cultures-are-more-productive/#578085971ede
]]> 2018-03-13 06:13:46 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/241212411 Article three: Microsoft Corporation's Organisational Culture & its Characteristics courtney_furlong https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/241213331 This article was written by Jessica Lombardo and published by the Panmore Institute in 
 2017. The article is about the Microsoft corporation’s organisational culture and workplace environment. The article implies that Microsoft’s positive organisational culture and environment are a result of the corporation’s values, traditions and the expectation of its employees. Microsoft’s long-term success is highly dependent on human resources and in turn creates an environment in which an employee can be motivated. From the perspective of Microsoft employees, the effort that Microsoft has gone to, to ensure employees have a positive work environment would make them feel appreciated and valued. 

After reading this article my conclusions are that Microsoft is a corporation that appreciates its employees and the value they add to the company, as well as the employee’s contribution to achieving the corporation’s strategic directions. I appreciate the effort that Microsoft puts into its workplace environment and culture ensure that employees can thrive.
 
 Panmore Institute. (2018). Microsoft Corporation’s Organizational Culture & Its Characteristics, retrieved from
http://panmore.com/microsoft-corporation-organizational-culture-characteristics-analysis

]]> 2018-03-13 06:20:55 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/241213331 What's it really like to work at McDonald's? alliefurlong97 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/241214570 The ‘What’s it really like to work at McDonald’s?’ posted by the BBC is an article about what happens in the McDonald’s fast food chain and what the environment is like for employees. Overall the article is mostly positive and addresses rumours about underpayments and bad work environments. Although the article doesn’t have multiple sources from different stores in the franchise, the store spoken about in the article seems to be an adequate place to work for regular employees. 
The article talks about managers and supervisors that don’t seem to get treated as well, due to the fact that they have sales targets and responsibilities. I believe that this article represents a mostly positive place to work for employees. From a McDonald’s employee point of view, they are not looking for a career in McDonald’s they are looking for a pay check and a suitable place to work, which McDonalds offers.  

Parkinson, J. (2015). What’s it really like to work at McDonald’s, retrieved from 
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32283560

]]> 2018-03-13 06:30:20 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/241214570 Why changing culture at the Commonwealth Bank is the new CEO's top priority alliefurlong97 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/241214972 The article ‘Why changing culture at the Commonwealth Bank is the new CEO's top priority’ is about how the culture at Commonwealth Bank needs improvement and how the new CEO is going to make culture a top priority for the bank. 
One perspective is as the new CEO, Matt Comyn, has just been appointed in this position, he can’t be held responsible for previous culture problems from previous CEO. One of Comyn’s priorities is to improve the culture and once the culture has been improved the scandals and problems in the workplace should decrease. 
My opinion on this article is that culture and work environment isn’t the only problem in the bank. I think that the employers need to take more responsibility for what kind of environment, culture and employees they produce.  If Commonwealth Bank had an acceptable culture and environment the scandals are less likely because employees know what is expected.

Pass, C. (2018). Why changing culture at the commonwealth bank is the new CEO’s priority, retrieved from
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/why-changing-culture-at-the-commonwealth-bank-is-the-new-ceos-top-priority-2018-1

]]> 2018-03-13 06:34:25 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/241214972 How The Physical Workspace Impacts The Employee Experience. anna_ngth https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/242189738 This article is in a series focus on how organisational environments affect employees and their productivity. This article focuses on the physical environment that employees experience at their workplace. 

Physical environment is the physical aspects of the workplace such as facilities and equipment’s that are provided. Productivity and performance of employees are linked to their wellbeing and i employees who enjoy their work environment are happier, more engage and more productive at work. 
 
The article suggests that an open, flexible floor plan that integrates multiple working spaces is the key to improve productivity of employees by providing different work modes so that employees can find a comfort and suitable space for them to carry out work, learn and socialise. The physical environment of an organisation reflects the organisation culture and perks such as free meals, free transportation, on-site aids, relaxing space are not for the mere purpose of pleasing employees so that they show up to work but a serious investment of the organisation on maintaining and improving their employees’ wellbeing and productivity.


References


Morgan, J. (2018, March 12). How The Physical Workspace Impacts The Employee Experience. Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2015/12/03/how-the-physical-workspace-impacts-the-employee-experience/2/#172454f07b9c

]]> 2018-03-15 04:55:43 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/242189738 How Corporate Culture Impacts The Employee Experience anna_ngth https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/242190413 This article focuses on the importance of organisational culture and its linked with leadership. Most believe that organisation culture reflects an organisation’s values, practices and is controlled by CEO, executives and managers. In fact, culture has more to do with leadership style, organisation structure, the mood and tone in the workplace and most important, the people. 

Organisational culture is often informal, unwritten and no organisations would have the same culture. Despite being an informal aspect, culture is one thing that people care the most at an organisation, even above benefits, pay or perks. Organisational culture can have positive or negative impact on both employees and the organisation. Culture can make or break an organisation and in most circumstances, it falls into leadership’s hands to decide whether the current culture is healthy or not and to readjust it if necessary. 

When working on organisational culture, it is critical that leaders are able to define the most suitable culture for the organisation. This can be done by working closely with employees and find out what they value and what kind of culture they want to be a part of and contributing to, as people are the culture themselves. Balance between a culture that provides employees with satisfaction, wellbeing and experiences and culture that guarantee productivity and organisation’s profit also need to be established by leadership.

References


Morgan, J. (2018, March 12). How Corporate Culture Impacts The Employee Experience. Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2015/12/10/how-corporate-culture-impacts-the-employee-experience/#3e76980e787c
]]> 2018-03-15 05:02:34 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/242190413 How poor workplace culture can affect well-being anna_ngth https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/242190563 This article discusses the unhealthy effects that negative workplace culture has on employees’ wellbeing, such as stress, anxiety, depression and what often called “psychological injury”. These are then linked to leadership and what can leaders, from managers to executives, can do to contribute to a healthy workplace culture.

As leaders and managers are the one who set the tone of the workplace through leadership style, they are an important factor that affect the workplace culture. Poor leadership styles that overly control employees such as an autocratic style often results in more conflicts and even harassment. On the other hand, with leaders who lack control and tend to avoid confrontation and conflict such as a lassez-faire leader, problems often got brushed under the carpet, which will cause major confrontation and conflict later when these matters eventually surfaced.

Psychological injury can also be cause by matters that seemed to be minor as first but result in an unhealthy workplace culture that impact on productivity and the organisation, such as employees’ complaints that get ignored and not addressed or hostile behaviours that would affect workplace culture as well as the team environment.

To establish a healthy workplace culture and prevent psychological injury, it is managers’ and leaders’ responsibility set good behaviours example, conflicts, interpersonal matters and inappropriate behaviours need to be taken seriously by line manager and executives. More importantly, leaders should be open to feedback from employees and employees should be inclusive in the decision-making process to increase morale and therefore productivity and overall wellbeing in workplace. 

The article however did not discuss the contribution of employees in workplace culture and the importance of employees being their own leaders and turn a negative workplace culture around.

Cotton, P. (2018, March 12). How poor workplace culture can affect wellbeing. Retrieved from Psychlopaedia: https://psychlopaedia.org/work-and-performance/poor-workplace-culture-can-affect-wellbeing/

 

]]> 2018-03-15 05:04:44 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/242190563 Why Uber's Boss must go bec_swiridziuk https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/242236829

 This article delves into the issues surrounding a negative organsational culture and environment, and the impact of the misuse of positional and prestige power. 

Despite Uber’s success, the toxic culture has resulted in a poor public image. This requires a transformation and fundamental shift in values and behavior (Hayes, 2014). This is achieved through the leader’s implementation of ten key roles (DuBrin, 2016, p91). 

The article touches on the termination of some managers and employees who were deemed to be actively participating in poor behavior. Although, it does not discuss in detail how the actions of the isolate and bystander followers (DuBrin, 2016), aided the concealment of negative behaviours just as much as the active participants (Solas, 2016; Kellerman, 2004). From the perspective of someone who has been a personal bystander in a toxic work environment, the author believes that organsational transparency, candor, and accountability for all people, regardless of position, can build the trust of employees and empower followers to speak up against negative behaviour before it becomes a cultural norm. This theory is supported by Llorens (2010) and O’Toole and Bennis (2009). 

 

References

Dubrin, A. (2016). Leadership: Research, findings, practice and skills. (8th ed.). Manson,Ohio: Cengage Learning.

Hayes, J. (2014). The theory and practice of change management. (4th ed.). New York: Palgrave Macmiliian. 

Kellerman, B. (2004). Bad leadership: What it is, how it happens, why it matters. (1st ed.), 42-452. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. 

Lilorens, J. (2010). A culture of silence threatens to impede a safer workplace. Journal of Health and Business, 64(11), 22-45. Retrieved from: http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=b4ce50bc-096f-4525-a412-76ed658090b0%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=heh&AN=55062959

O’Toole, J., & Bennis, W. (2009). A culture of candor. Harvard business review, 34 (4), 67-89. Retrieved from: https://hbr.org/2009/06/a-culture-of-candor

Solas, J. (2016). The banality of bad leadership and followership. Society and Business Review, 11(1), 12-23. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/docview/1762276013?accountid=10344

Why Uber’s boss must go. (2017, June 15). The Economist. Retrieved from: https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21723409-ride-hailing-giant-must-fix-its-reputation-it-cannot-properly-do-so-travis-kalanick


]]> 2018-03-15 09:12:03 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/242236829 How leaders inspire change in the 21st century bec_swiridziuk https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/242237216 The constant changes in technology has created a need for leaders to operate in an agile environment (Noor, 2005; Taylor & Helfat, 2009). Gleeson (2012) discusses how technology advances and globalisation, have altered the way businesses operate, highlighting the need for continual transformation within an organisation, in order to adapt to the constant and rapidly changing workforce. 

The article outlines ten key principles for inspiring change, and creating an adaptive and agile business environment. While key principles such as culture, trust, accountability, and belief in the mission, are backed up by research (Seujts & Gandz, 2018; DuBrin, 2016), the article does not discuss the characteristics required to achieve such influence. Character is a multidimensional construct of attributes that reflect both innate and acquired strengths and values. (Sarros, Cooper, Hartican & Baker 2006, p29), nine of which have been said to contribute to leadership effectiveness in many situations (Dubrin, 2016). As the situation can influence the leadership behaviour or style, leaders should adopt a contingency approach to make their behaviour contingent on situational forces (Dubrin, 2016).

References

Dubrin, A. (2016). Leadership: Research, findings, practice and skills. (8th ed.). Manson,Ohio: Cengage Learning

Gleeson, B. How leaders inspire change in the 21st century. Forbes Magazine. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brentgleeson/2017/11/08/how-leaders-inspire-change-in-the-21st-century/#2e0f3e74bfd8

Noor, A. (2005). DISRUPTIONS OF PROGRESS. Mechanical Engineering, 127(11), 26-31. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/docview/230173885?accountid=10344

Sarros, J., Cooper, B., Hartican, A., Barker, C. (2006). The character of leadership (3rd ed.), 11-29. Queensland, Australia: John Wiley & Sons.

Seujts, G., & Gandz, J. (2018). Tranformational change and leader character. Journal of Business Horizons, 61 (2), 239-249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2017.11.005

Taylor, A., & Helfat, C. (2009). Organizational linkages for surviving technological change: Complementary assets, middle management, and ambidexterity.Organization Science, 20(4), 718-830. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/docview/213831701?accountid=10344

]]> 2018-03-15 09:13:38 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/242237216 Using the Power of Charisma for better leadership bec_swiridziuk https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/242237617 Antonakis (2012) highlights how the power of charisma can be used to influence others, and alter the workplace culture and environment to obtain desired business objectives. Charismatic leaders use “impression management to deliberately cultivate a certain relationship with group members” (DuBrin, 2016, p75). In doing so, leaders can influence their followers improve company agility, productivity and employees satisfaction (Michel, Wallace, & Rawlings, 2013). I have been fortunate enough to experience the influence and positive effects of both an assigned charismatic leader (Norhthouse, 2013) through my employment, and an emergent charismatic leader (Pescosolido, 2002) who took control during an unexpected bushfire evacuation. Notwithstanding, the article does not take into consideration the context of the situation. Charismatic leadership is only possible under certain conditions (DuBrin, 2016). Consequently, the situational context will affect the outcomes of a charismatic leader. The article is helpful in gaining a brief understanding of the benefits of an ethical and charismatic leader, but it fails to explore the destructive side to charismatic leadership (Stachowicz-Stanusch, 2011), examples of which are Hitler (Robinson &Topping, 2012), and the Enron corruption scandal (Tourish & Vatcha, 2005).

References

Antonakis, J. (2012). Using the power of Charisma for better leadership. The Guardian. Retrived from: https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/blog/learning-charisma-sustainability-leaders

Dubrin, A. (2016). Leadership: Research, findings, practice and skills. (8th ed.). Manson,Ohio: Cengage Learning.
Michel, J., Wallace, D., & Rawlings, R. (2013). Charismatic leaders: The role of admiration and system justification. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 34(5), 469-487. doi:10.1108/LODJ-11-0099 

 
Northouse, P. (2013). Trait Approach. In P. G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and practice,19-40. California: Sage.
Pescosolido, A. (2002). Emergent leaders as managers of group emotion. The Leadership Quarterly, 13 (5), 583-599.

Robinson, J., & Topping, D. (2012). The rhetoric of power: A comparison of Hitler and Martin Luther King, Jr. Journal of Management Inquiry, 22(2), 194-210. doi: https://doi-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.1177/105649261245178

Tourish, D., & Vatcha, N. (2005). Charismatic leadership and corporate cultism at Enron: The elimination of dissent, the promotion of conformity and organizational collapse. Leadership, 1(4), 455-480.

 

]]> 2018-03-15 09:15:18 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/242237617 7-Eleven court penalties for exploiting workers tops $1 million, says Fair Work Ombudsman rahildesai111 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/245435033         
It is really important to pay hard work and that what seven eleven and there franchise did not care about franchise did not pay right to workers at seven eleven after doing audit with seven eleven fair work found that there were lot of seven eleven stores which were under paying their employees and did not have there record in there system as well as that means that they did not know proper procedure of the company and did not know proper work health and safety methods as well which was one of the most serious problem for their work environment.

Regardless of knowing the law well and employee rights some of the franchise did not care to pay their employee right pay rate as they were student they never came up. 

This kind of activity to earn more profit margin out of business franchise did not care of there employee their work environment and decided to underpay them and make them for longer hours with also not teaching them proper procedure.

What did seven eleven did seven eleven found that franchise was doing it due to get getting much money out of this as there was not much profit margin, so they stared doing this made environment and reputation of work place in bad name as people now do not want to get enrol in this work place.

Now seven eleven is keeping tight eye on every franchise out there and make sure that each store is paying right as payroll is now been handed 100% to seven eleven regardless or franchisee or corporate and inspection are been held ever 3 month to make sure that work environment is safe and employee are happy and know procedurehttps://www.smh.com.au/interactive/2015/7-eleven-revealed/




 

]]> 2018-03-23 13:08:34 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/245435033 Employees of Twitter can’t stop raving about the company’s culture. rahildesai111 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/245487243
Twitter do think that employee are key to success and it is really important to make sure that work environment and organisational culture is board and open in the organisation saying that we will be thinking that what twitter does new for the employee well twitter is twitter do pay there employee better rate then market rate office at san Francisco has a roof top sitting area and atmosphere of the work place is always nice employee do claim that they like to send there more time at office then any were ales and this friendly environment helps twitter to achieve there goal successfully also was been found that employee do not go home till they finish there work also twitter as a company makes sure they have group activity every week and group meeting were if employee attend it does not need to work on that day .

So what twitter is trying to do twitter is trying to make best environment for employee to get innovative ideas out of them by giving them the best environment and doing group activity which also make twitter innovative by it self .

You cannot beat having team members who are pleasant and friendly to each other and are both good at and love what they are doing. No program, activity or set of rules tops having happy and fulfilled employees who feel that what they are doing matters. 

Free environment and good organisational culture by putting rules latter and employee first gives him innovation and helps to achieve goal in the company .

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/249174

]]> 2018-03-23 14:33:44 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/245487243 Apple Inc. Organizational Culture: Features & Implications rahildesai111 https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/245509163
As in last 15 year apple have one of the worlds most leading brand so what changes company made to achieve that when apple started they had just a mentality to win US market but when they started getting bigger and started inventing new product they found that apple can spread there flag all over the world for that apple company did change its organisational culture but also viewed there internal and external environment and then moved to organisational culture they decided when we say they did change there environment they did change the culture and thinking mentality of apple employee to think bigger than usual also bring people from different culture so that apple as a company can know about other culture and enter into that market can also solve the problem like internal and external problem .

]]> 2018-03-23 15:09:05 UTC https://padlet.com/creativeworkz/topj0qpyup3o/wish/245509163