The Latest from Kristy-Lee

In leadership, effective communication is more than just speaking clearly—it's about listening actively and with intent.

The ability to truly hear what your team is saying can be the difference between a cohesive, high-performing team and one filled with misunderstandings and disengagement. Yet, many leaders underestimate the power of listening or default to a single listening style, not realising that different situations call for different approaches.

To lead effectively, it's crucial to develop a range of listening styles that adapt to the needs of each conversation.

Whether you’re solving a problem, gathering information, or providing emotional support, your listening approach will impact the quality of the interaction and, ultimately, the trust and respect you build within your team.

In this blog, we’ll explore the four key listening styles every leader should master, as detailed in this HRM article, and how to use them to improve your team’s communication, moral...

Hello and welcome to Episode 241 of the People Powered Business Podcast!

Today we are bringing you a discussion from the archives, that we featured back on Episode 128 of the podcast, and that has proven to be one of our most popular episodes yet!

In this discussion I am joined by Charissa Lim of Impact Persona to chat all things Psychometrics Assessments, especially in the recruitment process.

Charissa is a Certified Behavioural Consultant and DISC advocate who’s passionate about helping businesses gain first-hand insights into the people's behavioural traits through one of the world's most popular personality profiling tools.

She's on a mission to save businesses and hiring managers time and money - especially those who find psychometric assessment reports complex and not to mention, costly.

Working with hiring managers, recruiters and career coaches, Charissa has created a variety of bespoke DISC reports that are not only cost-effective but are also very simple to digest.

Peop...

Performance reviews are a cornerstone of effective employee management, yet many small business owners struggle to get the process right. At their core, performance reviews are an opportunity for business owners and employees to reflect on achievements, identify areas for improvement, and set the course for future success.

Done well, they can improve employee engagement, boost productivity, and foster a culture of growth and accountability.

However, when performance reviews are poorly executed, they can become a frustrating exercise that demoralizes employees and hinders progress. Instead of driving positive change, ineffective reviews can cause confusion, resentment, and disengagement.

This is why understanding the key elements of a productive performance review process is essential. It starts with a clear sense of what you want to achieve: offering feedback that not only acknowledges success but also highlights areas for growth, with the aim of motivating your employees t...

Hello and welcome to Episode 240 of The People Powered Business Podcast.

Today we are continuing the conversation on performance reviews, but shifting to a sightly more practical, and sometimes challenging element of the review process – setting Key Performance Indicators – or KPIs as part of the review.

In this discussion I unpack the synergy between KPIs within Position Descriptions and at review time, and how they are both important.

We then look at the SMART goal setting framework as a great model to create KPIs using. Ensuring KPIs are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound is essential to crafting KPIs that are clear and aligned to the role, the individual and the business objectives.

Finally we discuss the importance of engaging employees in the KPI setting process to give them ownership over their goals and help to engage them in the future direction of their career.

As always, I’d love you to join us inside our free Facebook Group, HR Support for Austra...

How frustrating is it when you have someone on your team who you know has so much potential, is actually really great at their job and everyone really likes them - but it’s like they are just going through the motions? They get the job done, but only just, they certainly don’t show initiative and you just want to shake them because you know they are capable of so much more, of doing a much better job.

You know they are smart, capable, skilled and you’re frustrated that you’re not seeing their best.

Here's what you’re dealing with when it comes to these people – it’s not that they are lazy – they simply lack motivation.

The Problem with Waning Motivation Levels

Why is that your problem you ask? Well, you know how hard it is to find great staff right? So, you don’t want to exit them and have to go through the recruitment process again. Add to that the fact that by proactively working to improve motivation you are actually improving employee engagement – and that can resul...

Hello and welcome to Episode 239 of The People Powered Business Podcast.

Today we are continuing the conversation on performance reviews, but today we are focusing on retention – and looking at how conducting effective performance reviews improves retention and reduces turnover.

We kick off this episode by taking a look at some of the ways reviews create engagement and ultimately this drives improved retention. We look at reviews as development opportunities and aligning the right development plans with individuals career goals and objectives. We go on to look at the role of reviews in succession planning in your business and how it can highlight training and development requirements.

Finally we look at the feedback you receive as a business owner or manager in review meetings, and how taking this feedback and information to create positive change in your business plays a role in improving retention.

As always, I’d love you to join us inside our free Facebook Group, HR Support for ...

KPI’s, Key Performance Indicators, Key Success Criteria or any other term you would like to use are essential to drive employee performance, productivity and engagement.

Too often this task lands firmly in the ‘too hard basket’ because – let’s be honest – it’s not the easiest task to do.

“If it can not be measured it can not be managed” - Peter Drucker

When was the last time you contemplated creating KPIs for your team?
Done poorly, creating KPIs are an utter waste of time. For many of you who have been in the position where you have been allocated or managed staff with ineffective KPI’s, this will have undoubtedly influenced your desire to develop better targets for your future teams.

If this sounds like you, I am going to challenge you to rethink your approach today. I am challenging you to set just 1 KPI for each role over the next week, and 3 big ones for your business or team.

Why Create KPI”s?

Our team members fundamentally want to know 3 key things from th...

Hello and welcome to Episode 238 of The People Powered Business Podcast.

Today we are continuing the conversation we started last week on performance reviews, but today we are focusing on timing – and looking at how often you should be doing performance reviews.

We start today's episode by discussing how the regularity of reviews impacts engagement and productivity. I shared some statistics and data to help demonstrate this including:

An article from Cultureamp that found that “companies that conduct effective performance reviews are 30% more likely to meet their financial goals”.

Research from Gallup that found that “80% of employees who have received meaningful feedback in the last week are fully engaged”

And finally an article from Smartcompany referencing Gallup research that showed that conducting performance reviews boosts productivity by 56%!

We then looked out how to choose the right cadence and timing cycle for reviews in your business. The thing is, there is no one-size...

Giving positive feedback may seem straightforward, but when done with authenticity and intention, it can transform how your employees feel about their work and their contribution to your business. As a business owner, mastering this skill is key to building a motivated and high-performing team. Let’s explore how you can give positive feedback that resonates and drives meaningful change.

The Power of Positive Feedback                           

Positive feedback isn't just about making your employees feel good. It plays a pivotal role in employee engagement, retention, and overall job satisfaction. When you offer meaningful and constructive feedback, you help reinforce behaviours that align with your business goals and values.

Employees who feel valued and appreciated are more likely to stay with your company and perform at their best.

Business owners often find themselves balancing various tasks, from managing day-to-day operations to driving long-term strategy. In the mi...

Hello and welcome to Episode 237 of The People Powered Business Podcast.

Today we are tackling a topic that I know many business owners struggle with, and that is conducting effective performance reviews.

Maybe you can relate. Perhaps you’ve found that your reviews aren’t very meaningful, or that you want it to be consistent – but time constraints get in the way. Maybe you aren’t sure what questions to ask, or you have managers in your business that need training on how to do them. Like many people you may be worried about how to do reviews that don’t result in a pay rise request, or you aren’t sure how to give specific feedback. Let’s face it, we know reviews can be anxiety provoking for everyone involved.

So today I am going to share with you why reviews are so important, the 5 most common mistakes I see business owners make when it comes to conducting reviews, and I’m encouraging you to take one action step towards implementing or improving your reviews.

As always, I’d love you ...