Jobs & employment blogs

All around the world, leaders and managers are currently welcoming new starters to their teams remotely. As such, the onboarding process is being done entirely from home – this is unchartered territory for most, and interestingly, it’s a scenario that will likely become more common, with hybrid teams set to become more prevalent in the next era of work, post-crisis. Why is a positive remote...

Social distancing rules aimed at stopping the spread of coronavirus forced mass remote working onto a significant percentage of the world’s skilled professionals. While this was designed as a temporary stop-gap, many employees have come to appreciate the benefits of working from home and wish to retain some form of flexibility once they transition back into co-located workspaces. While the...

What is mindfulness? Mindfulness is “awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally.” Jon Kabat-Zinn PhD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Practising mindfulness is not about avoiding all of the many thoughts (positive and negative) that are buzzing through our minds every day. It’s...

Crisis puts the spotlight on leadership. Most teams, provided they are composed of intelligent, motivated people who know what they need to do, can sail along comfortably when things are going well, and leaders have a pretty easy time of it. A corrective word here, a pat on the back there, and the team carries on doing what it does best. But when crisis comes – particularly when it is sudden...

COVID-19 is unlike anything that we’ve seen in recent history. It has dramatically changed our day-to-day lives and the way in which we work, meaning organisations and professionals have had to adapt to this new world rapidly and take on new challenges. One issue, a prolonged period of isolation could create, is the negative impact on people’s mental wellbeing. So, what can we learn from this...

To say that 2020 hasn’t exactly got off to the best start for many of us would be the understatement of the century. Here in Australia, we were only just beginning to start the recovery from the devastating bushfires that wreaked havoc across the country, impacting massively on lives, businesses and wildlife. This wasn’t just happening in Australia, many other parts of the world have also had...

The concept of virtual or remote teams is not a new phenomenon. However, advances in technology, globalisation, organisational structures and ways of working have meant that this approach has grown significantly over the last few years. Working within virtual teams and managing from afar requires a different approach to managing people who are in the same room as you. It means new...

A key role for leaders is to engage and motivate their team – but how? And how can you do it when everything is so uncertain and different? To help us to find the answers, it’s useful to look at some of the main elements of engagement and motivation. There are numerous engagement theories and models our there – in fact, the ‘Engaging for Success’ report of 2009, estimated that...

Leadership and management takes place largely through face-to-face, in-person conversations – conversations about targets, priorities, context, solutions and achievements. Some of these conversations are formal, but many are informal, happening on more of an ad-hoc basis. As we move to virtual working we need to take a step back and think about these conversations. We need to work out how we...

How can you tackle the unique challenges that come with working in the comfort of your own home, whilst ensuring you’re as productive as possible?   I myself, am a seasoned remote worker, and tend to work from home on busy days like Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. At the present time, the challenge of ensuring high levels of productivity when working remotely is a very real one...

There are 300 million people using Skype each month. It’s no surprise then, that the video chat service has been deployed in the interview process. Using Skype allows employers to interview candidates from all over the world. These days, it is often the first step in an interview process, so it’s important it is a success. How to prepare for your Skype interview Skype interviews...

The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak has seen rapid and significant change sweep across the world of work, with organisations activating business continuity plans and transitioning their employees to remote working. For a large proportion of us, then, our day-to-day working lives now look very different to just a few weeks ago. Added to this is the requirement to help your department or...

Do you remember the days when jobseekers would to rush to buy a newspaper just so they could scope out all the newly published job adverts and quickly apply via post or fax? Once upon a time, searching for jobs was a far more time-consuming, arduous process. Jobseekers spent hours sifting through job advertisements, making calls and sending countless letters and faxes. However, today,...

The recruitment landscape is ever shifting for most organisations around the world, and doubly so in the dynamic and often complex labour markets across Asia. While Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) is gaining traction as a long-term solution to hiring challenges in the region, unlike more mature markets like the U.K., U.S. and Australia, much ambiguity remains around its actual value...

The recruitment landscape is ever shifting for most organisations around the world, and doubly so in the dynamic and often complex labour markets across Asia. While Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) is gaining traction as a long-term solution to hiring challenges in the region, unlike more mature markets like the U.K., U.S. and Australia, much ambiguity remains around its actual value...