News
Personal narratives are as old as time and they continue to command attention – just look at Hollywood’s continued obsession with biopics and the abundance of best-selling biographies on bookstands. Simply put, people love good stories and they need to know what your story is. When people judge the merit of a business’s product or service, they invariably do so in reference […]
Air quality is a big deal wherever you happen to be, but if you are trying to ensure the safety of your workers, it understandably becomes of paramount importance that you manage to create a safe environment with adequate ventilation. Here is a look at some of the steps you might need to take so […]
A new year inevitably leads to new business goals but what many SME owners don’t realise is that these goals could trigger compulsive behaviours and actually stunt a company’s growth. There are only two types of goals business owners make – objective and subjective – the latter will negatively impact profits and workplace culture. Subjective […]
IBM veteran Steven Worrall has been selected to succeed Pip Marlow as the managing director of Microsoft Australia on 1 January. Marlow will depart the company after 21 years of service, including six years as its managing director, in late January to join Suncorp in the newly-created position of Chief Executive Officer, Strategic Innovation. […]
Companies can be such well-oiled machines they become just that: machines. Highly programmed to produce work at an exhaustively efficient rate – exhaustive to the staff, not the company, of course. Every employee is just one minor component; helpful to the overall operation but completely replaceable once worn out. These soulless environments can chew you up […]
Businesses are keenly aware that innovation is increasingly necessary for survival, let alone success, but many still struggle with the notion that innovation is not without risk of failure. There is a prevailing belief that failure is a weakness, and this works through all layers of the business: from the board through to management, to […]
Whether you call it the ‘sharing’, ‘gig’, ‘freelance’ or ‘on demand’ economy, the way we work and hire has changed significantly in the past few years. Now, 30% of Australians are undertaking some form of flexible freelance work. Over in the US, around 35% of the workforce is now considered ‘contingent’, with that number estimated […]
Businesses were promised a ‘paperless office’ as far back as the late 1970s but we are still waiting for that utopia to materialise. In the meantime, many businesses are doing their part to reduce the amount of paper flying around the office. This includes communicating via email wherever possible and reducing the amount of printing […]
Taking advantage of the exponential growth of e-commerce, an increasing number of online-only businesses have emerged over the past several years. While they’re are more common place than ever, a number of myths persist among people seeking to launch a business that exists solely on the internet. To ensure determined online business hopefuls know what they’re in for and are in a strong position […]
Last month, thirty Aussie entrepreneurs flew to Cambodia with social enterprise Project Gen Z to spend time teaching disadvantaged youths how to establish their own business ventures with a view to helping them out of the cycle of poverty. While it was a chance to impart life-changing skills, the travelling business people found they had […]
Australian businesses are facing an uphill battle when it comes to recruitment and retaining the best talent. A recent Robert Half report revealed a key challenge, with the majority (57%) of HR managers missing out on qualified candidates because of lengthy hiring processes. While recruiting the right talent is difficult, retaining talent is the next battle. […]
Very small businesses in Australia are not typically bullish when it comes to growth and they are content with their size, according to new research from SMB tech provider GoDaddy. Modest ambitions, however, weren’t a sign of meekness; rather, GoDaddy found many operators are driven by flexible lifestyle – not profits – and would ‘get […]
Jackie McArthur from logistics service provider Martin Brower was named the ‘NSW Business Woman of the Year’ at the 2016 Telstra NSW Business Women’s Awards, held in Sydney last night. McArthur is the Managing Director ANZ for Martin Brower, where she supervises the end-to-end logistics and supply chain for more than 1,100 McDonald’s restaurants. She […]
Entrepreneurs are fascinating people. Not satisfied with the current state of the world, they challenge themselves to improve it, one innovation at a time. Now, there are many people who would like to make the world a better place, whatever that may mean to them, but not everyone has what it takes to actually make […]
According to Gartner, by 2020, data from nearly 38.5 billion Internet of Things (IoT) enabled devices will be available for companies to analyse. For forward-thinking businesses that are already harnessing the power of big data, the benefits are endless, enabling real-time adjustments, highly responsive business models and a new pipeline of revenue streams. For small to medium sized […]
When it comes to innovation efficiency, Australia ranks 72nd – among the lowest of developed nations. This highlights the urgent need for businesses to think and act strategically about various digital transformation processes including big data, new technologies and adapting to new platforms like social and mobile. The more digital our interactions become, the greater […]
If you want to hear some of the industry’s biggest movers and shakers offer advice to small businesses on how to outsmart the big guys, get in fast because tickets are selling now. The 2016 Digital Marketing Forum will feature the head of brand at Facebook, two extremely successful business owners and a renowned brand […]
Innovation and sport are two fundamental pillars in the makeup of the Australian psyche. Whether it is pioneering in medicine or dominating our national sports on the global stage we’ve done it with a sense of community and a touch of inventiveness. Our success in the Olympics over many generations is a testament to our […]
Recruitment, like any other business practice, is constantly evolving with new trends. There isn’t a once-size-fits-all approach, but there are some golden rules every business can follow to sniff out top talent in an efficient and effective way. If you’re wondering whether you should jump on Facebook for your recruitment or give video interviews a […]
As your start-up begins to grow and take on more staff, you’ll likely run into a few challenges. It’s much easier to keep everyone ‘on the same page’ when there’s only a handful of people in the business. When your workforce balloons to 20, 100 or more staff, that’s when issues emerge. Due to numerous factors, including background, work history, education and personality, each of […]
