any questions?
articles and links
The Business Case for Family Friendly Work Policies
Paper written by Dr Melinda Muth
This Practice Note originated from a combined effort by Streamwise and Consult Australia (then ACEA) to conduct research to provide policy advice to Consult Australia's members on parental leave and to offer an explanation of the relationship between parental leave, flexible work arrangements and skill retention (including the representation of women, equity in pay and employment opportunities).
A secondary goal is to provide information that can build understanding of the positive impact that diversity and skill retention strategies can have on firm performance
Read the full paper:
The Business Case for Family Friendly Work Policies (390 KB)
BlackBerry use improves business
BlackBerry use is on the rise and the palm-sized wireless email device can increasingly make or break a business, according to world-first research from the collaborative efforts of UNSW's Australian School of Business (ASB) and Sydney University.
The research, co-authored by the ASB’s Dr Judi MacCormick, and Dr Kristine Dery from the University of Sydney, explores how BlackBerry use can help businesses achieve the newest Holy Grail – organisational ambidexterity (OA).
OA is a company’s ability to balance often conflicting internal and external demands at the same time as balancing the need for flexibility and control. According to a model developed by Dr MacCormick, businesses that successfully juggle multiple climates: of involvement, adaptability, consistency and mission – ambidextrous companies – perform better.
Read full article Science Alert Australia New Zealand
Too Much of a Good Thing? BlackBerry use Changing the Terms of Engagement
Paper cowritten by Dr Judith MacCormick
Claims are increasingly made that ‘engaged’ employees are more productive, profitable, more customer-focused, and more likely to withstand temptations to leave (e.g., Gallup, 2008). Fueling the demand for workers to contribute their discretionary effort is the capacity of communication technologies that can generate and transport data and information anywhere, anytime.
We address two key questions. First, can we have too much as well as too little behavioral engagement? We propose a non-linear model of engagement capturing both under- and over-engagement. Second, we ask whether BlackBerrys and similar handheld communication devices can amplify the range of engaged behaviors. Preliminary findings from interviews with BlackBerry users raise important questions around the long-term sustainability of over-engagement, particularly in the context of ubiquitous computing.
Too Much of a Good Thing? BlackBerry use Changing the Terms of Engagement (111 KB)
Sales Incentive Plans – Timeless Do’s and Don’ts
Article by John Huggart
A reward and incentive plan can ignite the passion of those in your team! A 2003 study by the International Society of Performance Improvement established that incentives can boost performance by anywhere from 25 to 44%.
However there is no “one size fits all” approach for plan design. Instead, careful and commercial crafting is required to engage and inspire the best of your team. Consideration needs to be made for the mix of short and long term components, the alignment with business strategy and market relativities.
At its best, your team will be engaged, and feel empowered and motivated by your incentive plan to produce exceptional results! But remember, an incentive plan should support and complement your existing or desired corporate culture. It is not a quick fix for failure in leadership, communication or personal motivation.
Whilst there is no “off-the-shelf” system, it is worthwhile considering these timeless Do’s and Don’ts, and interesting trends and ideas emerging for incentive schemes.
Read the full article:
Streamwise Sales Incentive Plans (46 KB)
Global leadership expert shares his experience with Streamwise
Jon Gornstein is a global leadership expert and pioneer in the practice of change leadership, organisational alignment and interpersonal communication. Recently he travelled to Australia as a guest speaker for training seminars hosted by Streamwise.
With a career spanning 25 years, across more than 40 countries, there is no-one better to ask about leadership and working with cultural differences than Jon Gornstein…so we did!
What was the motivation behind founding Persona Global in 1980?
I saw a business opportunity. We realised that we could make people’s lives better by giving them a system for dealing more effectively with others, especially those with a different communication style than their own. Our research showed that for people in business, the results of learning and applying these skills would be less stress for managers and better bottom line results.
What challenges did you face introducing your methodologies into different cultures?
We always work with local partners who know how to take our Persona Global business principles and adapt them to their local culture. Our methodologies seem to work everywhere with cultural adaptation. We’re working in more than 60 cultures and 40 languages.
How would you describe effective communication?
An effective one-to-one communicator has the ability to look through the other person’s eyes to understand their interpersonal needs. Understanding what another person is telling you with their behaviour - what they do and say - can enable you to both build trust and be persuasive, if you know how to use your own behaviour to build trust. Bottom line: An effective communicator creates win/win outcomes that lead to business results. In short, for managers and leaders, leading from a position of trust will bring out the best in those they manage and lead which produces a positive impact on business results.
Read the full article