The Latest from Kristy-Lee

If you're leading a team, whether it's a group of employees, a few contractors, or even just a virtual assistant, you're a leader.

It doesn’t matter if your title doesn’t include "manager" or "CEO". Leadership is baked into the role of anyone guiding others within a business. And the truth is, your team wants to be led. They crave it.

But here’s the kicker: many business owners still hesitate to call themselves leaders. Maybe it feels too formal, too big, or just not quite right. But if you’re not steering the ship, who is?

Let’s unpack why owning your role as a leader is so critical, and the three key traits that great people-focused leaders all seem to share.

Why You Need to Embrace the Leadership Hat

Many people fall into business ownership because they’re skilled at what they do, not necessarily because they wanted to become a leader. But once you have others supporting your work, even if they’re part-time, offshore or casual, leadership becomes non-negotiable.

If you're running a business and managing a team, chances are you've come across the term HRIS. You might have even found yourself asking, “Do I really need one of those?” With more options entering the market and your existing systems constantly evolving, it’s a question worth exploring.

Before you start shopping around or get swayed by flashy features, let’s break down what an HRIS actually is, what it can do, and whether it’s the right fit for your business right now.

What Even Is an HRIS?

HRIS stands for Human Resources Information System. It's a fancy way of saying a piece of software that helps you manage all the admin that comes with employing people.

Think of it as a digital filing cabinet combined with automation tools that can remind you when staff anniversaries are coming up, store documents like contracts or licences, and track performance reviews or training requirements.

It’s not the same as payroll software, time sheeting tools or workflow systems, thoug...

In running a small to medium sized business, and leading a multi-generational team, the ability to lead effectively across generations is not just an asset but a necessity.

Today's workforce is more diverse than ever, with a great variety of experiences, values, and expectations that span multiple generations. From Baby Boomers to Generation Z, each group brings its own unique perspective, influenced by the socio-economic and technological landscapes of their formative years. This diversity, while a source of strength, presents a complex challenge for leaders: how to understand, engage, and motivate across generational lines.

Embracing Generational Diversity: A Path to Success

The key to harnessing the power of generational diversity lies in understanding. It's about recognising that differences in approach and perspective are not just inevitable but valuable. These differences provide a broader range of ideas, approaches, and solutions to challenges, driving innovation and fo...

If you’ve ever found yourself wondering whether your team is truly being productive or just looking busy, you’re not alone. It’s a common problem. But with the right mindset and measurement strategies, it’s a problem you can solve.

Productivity Isn’t About Being Busy - It’s About What Gets Done
We throw the word "productivity" around a lot. Businesses want more of it. Governments are worried we’ve lost it. And teams are often confused about what it actually means.

Here’s the truth: productivity isn’t about how busy someone looks or how many hours they spend in front of a screen. It’s about what gets done—and how efficiently it's done.

Productivity vs. Busyness: Know the Difference

Somewhere along the way, we started equating long hours and full calendars with output. But the two are not the same.

Being busy means filling time. Being productive means achieving results.

This confusion became particularly apparent during the pandemic when businesses transitioned to remo...

Offshore Workers and Australian Employment Law: A Wake-Up Call for Business Owners

In an increasingly global business environment, hiring offshore virtual assistants (VAs) and contractors is common practice.

The appeal is obvious - cost savings, round-the-clock productivity, and access to a broad talent pool.

But a recent case involving an offshore worker from the Philippines and an Australian company has thrown a serious spanner in the works for those assuming that overseas workers are automatically exempt from Australian employment law.

This case has been labelled a watershed moment. And if you're an Australian business owner engaging offshore contractors directly, it's time to sit up and take notice.

The Case That Changed the Conversation

The focal point of this legal storm is a worker in Manila, Philippines, hired by a Brisbane-based business to provide paralegal services. Though engaged as a ‘contractor’, or as the employer thought that was the arrangement, the w...

In the ultra-connected ‘always contactable’ world, the lines between work and personal time have been becoming increasingly blurred, and for some maintaining a healthy work-life balance has become increasingly challenging.

The constant accessibility and expectation to be available outside of work hours can take a toll on employees' well-being and personal lives. However, a new legislation called “The Right to Disconnect” aims to address this issue by granting employees the right to disconnect from work-related communications outside of their designated work hours.

Understanding the Right to Disconnect

The Right to Disconnect legislation is designed to protect employees from unreasonable out-of-hours contact from employers, suppliers, contractors, and customers.

It does not prohibit employers from sending emails or messages outside of work hours, but it grants employees the right not to read or respond to them.

This legislation acknowledges the importance of work-life b...

Were you like me, and one of those kids who would ask ‘why?’ all… the… time?

My parents must have lost count of the number of times I said ‘but why’ and kept asking and asking and asking until I had a satisfactory answer, and I quite often didn’t.

Our Natural Curiosity

As young ones we are naturally curious, some more than others, but we all have a natural curiosity, and it seems that as we grow older, wiser, more experienced, we stop leaning into that curiosity. We become quicker to make assumptions, to assume we know the answer, to make educated guesses. That serves us well some of the time, but a lack of curiosity can also have its downside – we miss things, we miss the truth, we make false assumptions, and we make decisions based off half-baked information.

The Decline in Our Curiosity

I first witnessed this fading in true curiosity when completing a major research paper for my university studies, when I was studying criminology and forensic psychology. We were looki...

Managing a team shouldn’t feel like never-ending fire-fighting. Yet for many business owners, the dream of having a high-performing, self-sufficient team quickly turns into a cycle of micromanaging, reactivity, and frustration.

I’ve heard everything from ‘it’s like herding cats’ to likening team leadership to a game of Whak-a-Mole. And we all find ourselves there at some point or another.

The good news? You don’t need to burn everything down and start again to make things better.

Small shifts in how you lead can lead to big transformations. Forget about complete restructures or chasing unicorn hires. Focus on these three simple but powerful habits to move from chaos to clarity-and watch your team rise with you.

Why Big Change Isn’t the Answer

When things start to feel stuck, many business owners assume the solution is to tear it all down: hire new staff, adopt new systems, or overhaul the structure entirely.

But in reality, these large-scale changes often create mo...

We’ve come through a whirlwind few years in Australian Industrial Relations, with businesses grappling with some of the most extensive legislative changes since the Fair Work Act was introduced in 2009.

As the dust begins to settle, a natural question arises: are we in for another wave of change?

The short answer: yes - but not to the same extent. That’s the good news.

Still, for business owners and HR leaders, there are several important developments to watch, understand, and prepare for.

What’s Confirmed: Changes You Need to Know About

While the next few years might not bring quite the same scale of transformation, there are still several changes confirmed by the federal government. These are the things we know are happening (or are very likely to):

Minimum Wage Increases

The government is continuing its push to lift minimum wages in line with cost-of-living pressures. While annual reviews are nothing new, we can expect continued support for real wage growth. Fo...

As winter grips much of Australia and the new financial year kicks off, a sense of fatigue seems to settle over many workplaces.

That early-year buzz has worn off, deadlines have drained us, and the enthusiasm we once had might feel like a distant memory. If this sounds familiar, you're not alone - and more importantly, it’s entirely normal. But that doesn’t mean you have to sit in the slump. Now is the perfect moment for a reset.

The Mid-Year Slump: Why It Happens

The beginning of the year often comes with energy, clarity, and drive.

Teams return from their Christmas breaks ready to tackle new goals, strategies, and visions. Q1 feels fun, energetic, light, clear.

But then April hits. With its patchwork of Public Holidays, school breaks, and long weekends, April throws off the rhythm that you had going. By the time May and June roll around, that once-high energy is sputtering. Even if business is booming, internal motivation often dips.

Winter doesn’t help either. ...