<h1 class="entry-title">Author: <span class="vcard">John Brennan</span></h1>
05 Aug
performance review

Making performance feedback work for both of you

Giving or receiving performance feedback when an outcome has been below the standard required is an uncomfortable thing to do. For many of us, we recognise the discomfort and we genuinely don’t want to offend or hurt our employee’s feelings. So we end up circling around the issue, giving non-specific or generalised feedback resulting in […]

19 May
Transparency of courage

The courage of transparency

It happens in every business, at some point. A manager oversteps the mark and the robustness of the internal complaints system is tested. It might be that murky area when legitimate performance management action becomes workplace bullying or perhaps one of the several forms of discrimination. What happens next reveal insights into leadership and culture […]

20 Apr
HR Essentials

Five key factors that determine organisational culture

From the beginning of time, human behaviour has remained very predictable.  One of the most predictable aspects of human behaviour is that tension and conflict inevitably arise when two or more people are required to work together to achieve an outcome.  That is a good thing.  Tension and conflict are necessary conditions to achieve a […]

09 Apr

Diversity is the First Casualty of Productivity Improvement

Near death experiences tend to change people’s behaviour.  They see things differently and begin to behave in ways that they never thought would have been possible prior to the life changing event. For businesses in the disability sector, the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme is an organisational version of the ‘near death experience’. […]

28 Mar

Germanwings tragedy reveals lack of understanding about mental illness

In the days following the tragic Germanwings disaster, where it appears that Co-Pilot Andreas Lubitz committed mass murder by steering his airliner into the French Alps, authorities have been quick to release their discovery that he suffered from depression and may have hidden this illness from his employer. In response to these revelations, media worldwide […]

17 Mar
Work Culture

Starting Culture Conversations

We never speak about workplace culture when things are going well. Typically, we feel the need to improve culture when the recent past has been rocky or the future looks bleak. Revenues are sliding, costs are rising disproportionately, customer complaints are trending upward or industry regulations have changed and we don’t know how to respond. […]

27 Feb
Employee Engagement

The trouble with employee engagement

It is a familiar scene. The Head of HR is presenting engagement results to the Board and the numbers look pretty good. 65% of the workforce are ‘engaged’, 20% are neutral and 15% are ‘disengaged’. Like every good HR Professional, she has done her homework and pre-empted the questions. How does this compare with external […]