In the lead-up to her keynote address at the 2016 Not-For-Profit People Conference in November, we spoke to Oxfam’s Chief Executive Dr Helen Szoke about leading teams through transformative change – the highs, the lows, and what you can learn from one of Australia’s leading international aid and development NGOs to apply to your organisation’s change processes.
Did you know that staff who bring their pets to the office experience a drop in stress levels of around 11 percent? So if you’d like to explore how to make your office pet-friendly, here’s the story of how one Australian NFP organisation did it to staff acclaim.
This is the story of how one fundraising team boosted their weekly productivity by 400 percent.
It wasn’t due to pay rises or catered lunches – or even an inspiring or well-trained manager giving staff the motivation to do their work better. So what was it?
Almost half of all Australians work through their lunch break. And more than a quarter of us – 3.8 million Australians – don’t take a lunch break at all, according to the Australia Institute. But while it might outwardly appear that your lunch-break-skipping staff are admirably committed to their work – and that’s good for your team and your organisation – the real impact is more insidious.
It’s been widely panned as a waste of time, ineffective, and straight-up BS – so why do so many organisations still make their staff participate in brainstorming sessions?
There’s a quieter alternative that research shows is better at yielding more and better ideas.
What makes a good team?
It’s a hard question to answer, and one that’s becoming more and more important given the increasingly collaborative nature of work. But if anyone can provide a valuable answer, it’s Google – and the tech giant has some fascinating insights on what makes the best teams.
Everyone cares about the safety of kids. But making your organisation safe for children starts long before you bring on new staff or volunteers. From advertising and conducting interviews to performing background and reference checks, the safety of the children starts with your organisation’s core recruitment practices.
Does HR battle to be taken seriously in your organisation?
While professions like finance, legal and operations are almost always present at the leadership table, HR often fights to be treated in the same way in many organisations. Why?
A simple survey will tell you how staff feel about your organisation. But how do you want them to feel? And what can you do to create that change?
Over breakfast on 15 June in Brisbane and on 17 June in Sydney, EthicalJobs.com.au is proudly presenting ‘story activist’ Moya Sayer-Jones, who’ll be discussing how your organisation can identify and use stories to engage, inspire and retain your best people.
If you’re a manager in an Australian NFP, it’s quite likely you haven’t received any formal leadership training. Indeed, one study found that leaders on average only received leadership training a full decade after they started managing people.
But what if there was one simple thing you could do now that would dramatically increase your success as a manager and leader?