Guides
Practical guides for the people part of work
Straight-talking, AU/NZ-specific writing on psychosocial safety, workplace culture, retention, performance and leadership, drawn from Melanie Sisson's 20 years of HR and culture consulting.
Career coaching vs a career change: how to get unstuck
Career coaching or a career change? How to tell whether you need a new perspective or a genuinely new direction, and how to get unstuck either way.
Exit interviews: how to run them so they actually tell you something
Why most exit interviews tell you nothing, how to run one that gets honest answers, and what to do with the data so it actually improves retention.
The real cost of employee turnover in Australia
The direct and hidden costs of employee turnover in Australia, why leaders underestimate it, and how to calculate your own real number instead of guessing.
Employee retention strategies that actually work in Australia
Practical employee retention strategies that work in Australian workplaces: manager quality, career paths, real listening, fairness and acting on what you hear.
EQ vs IQ in leadership: which one actually predicts success?
EQ vs IQ in leadership: what raw intelligence gets you, where it runs out, and why emotional intelligence tends to be the real ceiling as you rise into senior roles.
Emotional intelligence training: can you actually teach EQ?
Can you teach emotional intelligence? Yes, but not with a one-off workshop. What real EQ training involves, and how to measure whether it actually changed anything.
What actually drives employee engagement (and what doesn't)
The real drivers of employee engagement versus the perks and theatre that don't move it, and where to focus if you want engagement that lasts.
What is a culture survey, and what does a good one measure?
What a culture survey is, what a good one measures, and the pitfalls that make most of them a waste of everyone's time. Plain, practical guidance.
Leadership training that works, and the kind that wastes money
How to commission leadership training that works: what good looks like, the red flags in a polished proposal, and the questions to ask a provider first.
