The Latest from Kristy-Lee

Probationary periods are one of those workplace mechanisms that many employers use without truly understanding their purpose, or their legal limitations.

They seem simple on the surface: a set timeframe to trial a new hire. But scratch beneath that and you’ll find a surprising amount of confusion, especially when it comes to how these periods interact with Australia's employment laws.

Whether you’re onboarding a new team member or reviewing your hiring process, it’s time to unpack what probationary periods really mean—and how to use them effectively.

What Is a Probationary Period, Really?

Most employers view probation as a built-in trial, but that’s not quite accurate. Legally, there’s no such thing as a probationary period in the Fair Work Act or modern awards. There’s no mandatory timeframe. In fact, the term “probationary period” only has weight if it’s specifically outlined in an employment contract.

Essentially, it’s a contractual clause, not a legal safety net. I...

Australia’s employment landscape is in for yet another shake-up following the Fair Work Commission's recent findings on gender undervaluation across several modern awards.

Following the 2024 announcement as part of the National Minimum Wage review process that the Commission planned to undertake a targeted review of specific Awards to assess whether gender undervaluation was an issue, they have recently announced the results of their findings.

This isn't just another round of compliance updates, it's a targeted response to the ongoing gender pay gap, and it's set to impact a vast number of workers, and employers of all sizes across the country. If you're an employer in allied health, community services, or childcare, it's time to take note.

The Gender Pay Gap Gets Real Attention

The issue of the gender pay gap has been debated for years, but recent government and Fair Work Commission efforts are moving from discussion to action. The Commission launched a Gender Undervaluat...

You’ve probably heard of the 80/20 rule—also known as the Pareto Principle. It’s the idea that 80% of your outcomes often come from just 20% of your efforts. In business, it might show up in your client revenue, your sales results, or even your task list.

But there’s one place this principle shows up over and over again—and it can quietly make or break your success: your team.

In many businesses, a small portion of the team is responsible for the lion’s share of results, while another small portion takes up most of the time, energy and attention. And if this imbalance isn’t addressed, it can lead to burnout, frustration, and stalled growth.

Let’s explore what the 80/20 dynamic looks like in a team—and how to reset the balance.

When 20% of Your Team Delivers 80% of the Results

First, take a moment to think about your team. Who are your high performers? The ones who are always reliable, get things done without being asked, and consistently push the business forward?

If your team is growing but your diary is still jam-packed, your stress is climbing, and your inbox is overflowing with things only you seem to be able to answer… there’s a good chance you’re missing one crucial piece of your organisational puzzle.

Most business owners hit a point where the team has grown, the work has scaled, but they’re still stuck in the middle of everything.

Constantly managing people. Fixing problems. Running out of time. It's frustrating, exhausting, and makes you wonder if growing a team was ever worth it.

Here’s the good news: it doesn’t have to be this way. There’s one role that can change everything—and it might just be the game changer your business needs.

Are You Experiencing Growing Pains?

There are some common warning signs that suggest your business is ready for a structural shift:

• You're the bottleneck — everything flows through you and progress stalls if you're unavailable.
• Taking leave is near impossible — for both you and your te
...

Managing a team isn’t easy. And for many business owners, it’s the one part of business they’d gladly give up. If you’ve ever found yourself thinking, “I love my business… I just wish I didn’t have to manage people,” you’re not alone.

The reality is, leading a team can feel hard because most of us never learned how to do it—we just fell into it. You start a business, you grow, you hire people… and then you wonder why it still feels like a struggle. The truth? A lot of it comes down to how you lead—and whether that leadership style is helping or hindering your team.

There’s No One-Size-Fits-All Boss

Forget the textbook leadership models. This isn’t about theory—it’s about real business, real teams, and real challenges.

After working with thousands of business owners over the last two decades, a clear pattern has emerged. There are four boss types that most leaders fall into. And understanding which one you are is the key to leading more effectively (and with a lot less stre...

Hiring a team is supposed to free you up, not tie you down. Yet many business owners find themselves busier than ever after building a team. If you’re wondering why everything still lands on your plate—even with staff in place—you’re not alone.

You’ve made the hires, built the infrastructure, and handed over the reins, at least you’ve tried to on paper. But you’re still working late, making every decision, solving every problem, and answering every question.

Why? Because building a team doesn't automatically mean you're leading one effectively.

The problem isn't you—or your team. It’s in the structure, the clarity, and the mindset with which the team was formed.

The Myth That Hiring Automatically Reduces Your Workload

This is the most common trap: thinking more people equals less work.

It’s easy to believe that bringing more bodies into the business will mean things will run themselves.

But unless you have the right roles, the right structure, and clear directi...

Do you ever feel scared about the decisions you make when running your business and leading your team?

Fear might not show up wearing a name tag or waving a red flag—but it’s there. Quietly, consistently, it can creep into the decisions we make as business owners and leaders.

Whether it's hiring, delegating, embracing change, or confronting difficult conversations, fear often lurks beneath the surface, shaping our actions more than we’d like to admit.

When Fear Becomes the Unseen Boss

You’ve probably felt it: the hesitation to hire again after a bad experience, the reluctance to delegate for fear someone might mess it up (or worse, do it better than you), or the dread that creeps in before a tough team conversation.

Fear doesn't always scream. Sometimes, it whispers doubt, second guesses, and what-ifs until you’re paralysed by indecision. And here's the thing—your team can see it. Even if you think you’re playing it cool, fear leaks out in your tone, your body language...

We all know the feeling, we’re losing sleep, we’re avoiding the person at work, we’re angry, frustrated and tearing our hair out. We have an employee who is not performing, not showing up how we want them to at work or behaving in a negative way, a way that isn’t sitting right with you.

We can’t always quite put our finger on the exact issue, it’s just not quite right, but it’s wrong enough to be consuming our time and attention. Or maybe it is more obvious, but we feel like we’re going over the top if we bring it up – we don’t want them to feel like we are micromanaging them or pulling them up for something that feels petty and insignificant (yet the fact that it’s consuming our time and attention does in fact mean that at some level it is significant to us).

So, we tolerate it, whether it’s behaviour, attendance, performance or something else, we tolerate it. We think maybe it’s not that much of a big deal, or maybe it’ll be short term, or surely they will realise soon and fi...

There’s a fine balance between the number of people that report into any one position and how effectively a business or organisation continues to run. It’s quite often an aspect of organisational structure that is overlooked, neglected, or spirals quickly out of control as businesses scale and grow without a clearly identified structure or resourcing plan for growth.

But there is a magic number of direct reports that hits the sweet spot, ensuring that you have just the right number of staff reporting into a single position while still ensuring that position itself is effective depending on the nature of the role.

Structure is one of the fundamental aspects of ensuring that you don’t overwhelm, or even underwhelm, your management team and help set them, and their teams, up for success – in the long run, this feeds into your business success and is well worth investing in.

There are actually five key factors or variables that impact the success of direct report structures and...

No less than once a week I’ll get a call, or question online, that goes a little like “I have a problem with a staff member, they are getting their job done but they aren’t being a great team member, I can’t quite put my finger on it but every time I raise an issue with them they have an excuse, there is always some reason things haven’t gone to plan”.

Does this sound familiar to you? Have you had someone like this on your team before?

Sure enough, after a few questions my typical conclusion is – you have someone who is below the line. What line? Great question!

The Above the Line – Below the Line Framework

I first became aware of this framework close to 20 years ago, I’d heard about it conceptually but when I really noticed this as a powerful framework for teams when I worked with a business who really embraced the concept so much that their team used the language in their day to day operations – this is when I really started to pay attention to this concept.

Who conceptualise...