You’ve heard it everywhere: the ‘Great Resignation’ is upon us. Employees are dropping out of the mainstream workforce to pursue freelance work or working gigs. So how can business owners ensure they keep their people when the gig economy continues to rise as an attractive option? In this episode of Make it Work, Lachy and Karen discuss what motivates people to go freelancing, vs. working in a team, as well as business strategies for keeping people on board.

In this very special episode of Make it Work, Lachy and Karen welcome special guest Kaylene Wynn. Kaylene has over 20 years of experience working as a transpersonal psychotherapist and executive mind coach, and she’s the author of Rise and Shine - awaken your greatest self. Together, they talk about the importance of workplace wellness and strategies for mental wellness, both for leaders looking out for their team, and for when leaders might be feeling a bit of burnout themselves.

Where does the responsibility for building culture fall? On the leader? On the HR department? On everyone in the team? In this episode, Lachy and Karen discuss opposing sides of the question. They both explore how the responsibility of culture is shared, communicated and enforced. They also talk about the repercussions of weak business culture, and how you can check in and make sure your workplace’s culture is to the benefit of all.

At some point or another, we’ve all had conversations with people with strong beliefs. It’s uncomfortable, and it’s easy to get defensive, or angry, when coming against an opposing belief. In this episode of Make it Work, Karen and Lachy share experiences they’ve had in the workplace coming against people with strong beliefs. They discuss useful strategies for dealing with such occasions, whether the other party is a manager, peer or client.

Surely being an overachiever is paramount to running a business. Leaders are often tasked with generating passion and energy and fuelling business growth. But, recent research from the Harvard Business Review may indicate otherwise.... In this episode of Make it Work, Karen and Lachy talk about the relationship between a leaders’ personality and their leadership style. Are overachievers damaging their workplace with what is actually their main strength?

Sharing their own experiences as leaders, Karen and Lachy delve in and discuss the importance of discussing mental health at work. Being proactive about mental wellbeing is so important. Having plans and resources such as EAP available that provide support to you and your staff will help, but what are the next steps? How can you ensure your team feels supported and comfortable without over-stepping the boundaries?

Developing your leadership style for the future of work. Welcome to series 2 of the Make It work Podcast! My name is Karen Kirton and along with my co-host Lachy Gray, we explore what the future of work looks like, and how as leaders we need to adapt. Each episode is less than 30 minutes and are designed to take broad themes about the future of work, and discuss how these apply in business today.  For more, check out https://amplifyhr.com.au/ or https://yarno.com.au

In the workplace, having rules in place can often alleviate the stress of the decision making process, and give visibility across a team. But what happens when a rule becomes outdated, and starts to cause more problems than it solves? In this episode of Make it Work, Karen and Lachy are looking at how rules can affect decision making in the workplace. How do you move towards changing a long-established rule? What is the criteria for making a rule, and how can you ensure it remains relevant?

How can we as leaders navigate the sea of change and uncertainty? An environment which can be extremely challenging to hire, upskill and educate staff in. Luckily, in episode 5 of Make it Work, Lachy and Karen look at strategies for ‘future-proofing’ today’s workforce. They look at how to foster a learning culture and create an environment that expects ongoing development and improvement.

As remote work becomes the new normal, more and more people are trading in their city dwellings for regional houses that put life before work and offer a more wholesome lifestyle. In the fourth episode of Make it Work, Karen and Lachy discuss the relationship between remote work and regional areas. Sharing their personal experiences, Lachy and Karen discuss both the benefits and downfalls of remote workers going regional and what this means for companies when they go to hire.