The Latest from Kristy-Lee

Why do we need to hit the brakes in our businesses from time to time?

We’re living through an unprecedented post-pandemic period of transition. Many of us are starting the year feeling completely depleted. Everything feels hard and in some instances, insurmountable.

So, what’s the deal?

Whether you struggled or thrived through the pandemic, there’s research being released about the short and long-term impacts on our collective and individual well-being around the world.

The Georgia State University Research Magazine released an article titled Two Years of Trauma in a bid to better understand the lasting legacy of the mental health adversities of the pandemic. Doing the promotional rounds for his latest release, The Myth of Normal, Dr Gabor Maté also talks about the lasting impact of the pandemic as a trauma we are still emerging from.

Hustle culture also isn’t all it cracked up to be, and being a boss has never been more complex than it is today. Now, more than eve...

Hello and welcome to Episode 150 of the People Powered Business Podcast.

Today I’m sharing with you 5 tips for running a successful team planning session.

Back in Episode 147 we spoke about the importance of having a clear team vision for the year, and one thing I recommended was to articulate this vision to the team via some sort of strategy or planning day.

Today I want to unpack why they are so important for our people, how often you should run them, and I’m sharing my 5 tips for running a successful session.

Tip 1: Align your planning session with the personality of your culture. If you have a team who loves fun and doesn’t take themselves to seriously, do not kill the vibe with PowerPoint slides filled with boring detail. Conversely, if you have a data driven and analytical culture, you need to make the data sing and be front and centre of the process;

Tip 2: Make it about more than business targets. Yes the targets are important to articulate, and the vision is important to ...

Hello and welcome to Episode 147 of the People Powered Business Podcast, and welcome to 2023!

Today we’re chatting about your vision for 2023 – for your business and your team.

At this time of year it’s so important to our people that we can give them clarity about what’s ahead for the year for their roles in the business. They want to know what the future holds and how their role fits into the bigger picture. They want to feel part of something bigger than themselves, and most importantly they want to know how work can help them with their vision and goals for the year.

Last week we spoke about the power of pausing to get the clarity about the future, but having that clarity is no good if we don’t share it with our team. So today we discussed some ways to communicate the vision with the team and getting them engaged with the objectives.

In addition today we spoke about capacity planning – do you have the right people on the bus to get you where you want to go?

I menti...

What does your team need to help your business succeed?

I bet if I ask you what your 2023 vision is for your business, you’ll likely have a good idea. Maybe you’ve reflected, formally or informally, reviewed and planned and strategised what your business is going to look like in 2023.

One vision I notice many small to medium businesses miss clarifying is their vision for their team. If I ask you what your 2023 team vision is – do you have an answer?

There are a few key ingredients to identifying your 2023 team vision. You need to know the what. You need to know the why. You need to then share it with your team. And then you need to plan your team’s capacity – what do they need, maybe even who do they need, to deliver your business vision?

Is it more tools? Or is it more people? Is it clearer roles and responsibilities? Is it a new position? Is it professional development? Is it transitioning team members across roles that are a better fit?

Whatever it is, it’s your...

Hello and welcome to Episode 149 of the People Powered Business Podcast!

Today is part 2 of a 2 part discussion with Anne Maree Wilshire from Vibrant Voices. Anne Maree kindly joined me live in November 2022 as part of NSW Small Business Month to participate in a Connection Conversation around using our voice to connect with our people to drive business success.

In todays conversation we’re focusing on the scenarios where we would want to use our voice to really have impact and influence on our team, and how we can go about doing that.

A bit about our guest:

Anne Maree helps leaders and speakers whose voice is an integral part of their branding to become more impactful.  To transform their voice style and message and speak with confidence and authority so they are a voice people want to hear.

She does this through her Vibrant Voices Framework in individual and group coaching programmes and her Vibrant Voices Studio membership community.

Her clients transform their ...

What do you need to know as a business owner about pay secrecy clauses in your employment contract?

If you’re a small business owner or you work for an organisation that includes sole traders, partnerships and trust structure in Australia you are likely covered by the Fair Work Act.
 

The Fair Work Act covers a range of rights in the workplace including a host of industrial relations legislation and compliance updates that organisations and business need to keep up with. For a more in-depth dive on this act, passed in 2009 by the Rudd Government, read more at the Fair Work Ombudsman.

With the recent changes in government there have been a raft of industrial relations reforms underway in Australia across the end of 2022 into 2023.

The update we’re focusing on today is the banning of Pay Secrecy Clauses in employment contracts and agreements which came into effect on 7 December 2022.

From this date onwards, if you introduce a Pay Secrecy Clause in any of your employment contracts or...

Hello and welcome to Episode 148 of the People Powered Business Podcast!

Today is part 1 of a 2 part discussion with Anne Maree Wilshire from Vibrant Voices. Anne Maree kindly joined me live in November 2022 as part of NSW Small Business Month to participate in a Connection Conversation around using our voice to connect with our people to drive business success.

In todays conversation we’re focusing on the science of the voice how people hear tone before words and why how we say things matters most.

In next weeks episode we will be talking about the different scenarios we want to use our voice to have influence and impact on our teams.

 A bit about our guest:

Anne Maree helps leaders and speakers whose voice is an integral part of their branding to become more impactful.  To transform their voice style and message and speak with confidence and authority so they are a voice people want to hear.

She does this through her Vibrant Voices Framework in individual and group coa...

Hello and welcome to Episode 146 of the People Powered Business Podcast!

Today I want to chat to you about the power of pausing. It’s not something that comes naturally to many of us entrepreneurial types, but after the year that 2022 has been – I feel like it’s more important this year than ever.

Let’s be honest – 2022 has been A LOT! And on the back of 2020 and 2021, and all the things that got thrown at us, for many this year has felt like a roller coaster that never ended.

Even in the weeks leading up to Christmas there has been no signs of slowing down, it has for many felt relentless.

So todays’ episode is a reminder on why pausing, stopping and resetting is important, on so many levels, to ourselves, our businesses and of course our teams.

An Invitation:

If you’d like to connect with other business owners and leaders, I’d love you to join us inside our free Facebook Group, HR Support for Australian Businesses, so I can learn more about what’s working for you...

The key to success in business is letting go

Elsa sings in the earworm Disney hit, Frozen, “Let It Go” which is a nice sentiment but not a reality for many business owners who often carry too much on their plates and wear too many hats.

At some stage in a successfully growing small to medium business, the owner and founder is going to have to start letting some of their daily tasks and responsibilities go. This is usually to other people in the business as they start to hire and expand, or outsourcing when there’s a little more cash flowing through the business (sometimes before).

The reality is, in order for our businesses to grow and thrive, and for us to have time to live the life we want, we are going to have to learn how to start letting things go.

Letting go isn’t an easy task as a business owner, though – especially in fledgling or rapidly growing businesses.

Why are we so bad at letting go in our businesses?

When we talk about letting go, we’re talking about ...

Hello and welcome to Episode 145 of the People Powered Business Podcast!

Today on the podcast I am sharing a compliance update – which will be one of many over the coming months.

The ‘Secure Jobs Better Pay Bill’ which is the first of a raft of industrial relations changes anticipated, has passed through parliament and become law. The objectives of the changes are to drive up wages, reduce pay inequity, make work more secure for employees, and essentially get everyone involved in enterprise bargaining.

One of the changes that has come into effect immediately is the abolition of pay secrecy clauses in employment contracts and enterprise agreements. From 7th December 2022 these are banned, and employees gained a workplace right to share (or not share) their remuneration details with anyone they like, including their peers.

In today’s episode we discuss what these changes actually mean, and what action you need to take to ensure you’re compliant.

An Invitation:

If you’d like to c...