Moir Group have the pleasure of hosting Stephen Walters, Chief Economist - Advocacy, Australian Institute of Company Directors this week. Stephen's discussion will focus on a number of key themes about the global and Australian economies and what they mean for businesses, households, the policy outlook and financial markets. Current Issues such as these will be covered at his presentation:

• Global economic outlook, including an assessment of China and the US and the fallout from the recent UK Brexit vote;
• How Australia’s rotation in the sources of growth away from mining is progressing – why is the transformation happening at glacial pace?;
• The forces driving the domestic income compression that makes the economy feel weaker than it is;
• ZIRP – living in a world of zero interest rates – what comes next? Helicopter money in Australia?
• Australia’s AAA credit rating – does it really matter if we lose it?
• What can Australia look forward to in terms of our long term drivers of economic growth – China’s future consumers won’t buy ship-loads of iron ore.

For more details head to our Events Page

Many Australian industries are doing it tough and Australian retail is no exception.

Imagine, however, we could fast forward and retail had become one of Australia’s defining industries - a significant number and variety of local organisations were thriving, the industry had regained its old entrepreneurial courage, and new tools and tricks were helping Australian companies and their leaders to navigate and shape the global industry.

Anita’s presentation will consider the gap between where we stand today and the future we want for the industry.  She will explore the challenges for leaders to reduce the gap at both an organisational and industry level.  Her presentation will draw from and compare her work and experience in both retail and in high growth organisations, and intend to leave leaders with practical solutions as well as more to consider. 

For more details head to our Events Page

Last month, Moir Group hosted Richard Grupetta, Partner for the Asia Practice at Grant Thornton Australia.  Richard addressed the very popular question many businesses are currently asking “How To Successfully Expand Into The Asia Region” and the steps you need to take to best ensure a positive result.

Richard addressed the reasons for the attraction to Asia and how the global economic “centre of gravity is “irresistibly” shifting to the Asian region. This dramatic acceleration of growth is predicted to continue well into the future seeing a significant decrease in business interest in Europe occurring at the same time.

Richard focussed predominantly on Japan, China, Korea, India and Indonesia with the most attention based on China as it is:-

• Australia’s largest export market

• Has a population of 1,368 million people

• GDP growth rate around 6.8%

• It is a transitioning market – growth in consumer, manufacturing and services markets

• Growing online business

• ChAFTA (China-Australia Free Trade Agreement)

• Growth in Food/Beverages, consumer goods and education sectors

Richard then explained his 5 step approach when approaching the Asian market.

1. The best fit approach – Are you Asia ready?? Define your product/service, who are your competitors etc

2. Market review and ‘What if’ development – what is the market? Research!

3. Best options to decision

4. Budgeting and preparing for success

5. Roadmap development

Robots are us, bring back the human .. and Happy Easter! by Karen Ryan, Director Temporary and Contract Recruitment

We are already well into another year with school holidays just around the corner. It’s a great time to reflect on what is already a fast moving 2016 and yes, humanity! 

Sounds a bit dramatic doesn’t it, however sometimes we do need to stop and take a breath. Given the speed of change these days we all need to look up and remember what is at our core and what makes us tick.

With text now overtaking talk, words that once meant one on one communication such as “Connect”, “Like” & “Share” now meaning not having to talk at all, potentially reaching 1000’s in the one “hit”, it is important we remember we are all human and need each other more than ever. Embrace social media because it’s the way of the future and it’s moving faster by the day however, don’t let it steal the essence of the word “social” from it’s true human meaning. 

We at Moir Group, hosted our annual Christmas Party late last year where our clients, candidates, suppliers and others in our community came together. We ate, drank, talked and listened to each other.  We re-connected with people we had placed, or helped make placements with, with speakers from our many events and others who have been a part of our story over our nine-year history. It really was a special event and there was barely a phone in sight.  The reason being it was hard to balance food, drink and a handbag and be tweeting, checking in or looking at what was going on at other gatherings on Facebook! 

We were forced to be in the moment and the atmosphere around the room was one of real engagement and true bonding.  People were actively listening to each other, sharing work and personal stories from the year.  It is so important over this year and as the Easter holidays are upon us, to do this when you are meeting your friends we see so rarely these days, or the family you find hard to catch up with.  Be in the moment! Everyone else is also having drinks, eating wonderful food and catching up with people in nice locations, so there is no real need to show them what you are doing.  We are all doing the same! So just before you post, share or even take a photo for the masses, be in the moment and remember you care about those you are with so listen to them and share first with them.

I am from the generation that remembers the joys of face to face communication and the depth of relationships, so let’s pass this onto the next generation.  Keep the real links and demonstrate why that matters to those you care about and the rest will follow. Communicating with the masses is important and a way of the future, really communicating with people face to face and one on one and caring about them, is so precious and valuable. 

Give a little of yourself – have a laugh and remember no matter how senior in work you are or how little years of experience you have, you have a story to tell and we can all learn from those you meet by truly engaging with them.  Don’t forget to continue to add to your human profile and not just your Linkedin one! 

Have a great Easter holiday break, and I look forward to hearing your stories throughout 2016, not just reading about them with everyone else!  And yes, you can share this if you like!  

Experience on Tap! by Karen Ryan, Director Temporary and Contract Recruitment 

At Moir Group we see great value in experience.   Even internally, we have many mature, experienced people working across all areas of our business.  Our team all work well together, we add value to each other no matter what their age or the stage of their careers and we all learn from each other. This is one of our secrets to success. 

Recently we have placed a candidate who offered a wealth of experience in activity based costing, project and change management, stakeholder engagement and who was a qualified and highly experienced finance professional.  He was easy to help because he was flexible on location, rate and the length of contract and came with excellent references.  He was also extremely grateful for the opportunity to work and he promised to deliver and add value to the client.  His attitude was extremely positive and he offered many years of experience.  He will be highly successful in helping our client understand the changes needed in their organisation and then he will easily gain their respect internally and externally to implement these changes. We didn’t ask his age or even know it until we had to do a police check as part to the client’s HR policy and only then we discovered that our candidate was 72.  He has the attitude and passion and energy and experience to perform and deliver and that is all that matters to our client and us.

Our candidates come in all ages and stages!

Another candidate we placed in a highly specialised Procure to Pay Project was in her late 60’s.  Again we only knew her age when the client needed a date of birth for internal system log on. They actually thought we had made a typo! Her references were strong and showed someone with a no-nonsense approach who gets on with people in a direct and effective way and gets results.  There is no time wasted on Facebook, chatting, or on office gossip. She simply does a good job, with a strong work ethic and years of experience in the area our client needed.

You are well aware the population in Australia is ageing.  Retirement age has been stagged to increase to 67 by 2023.  There are talented people available that you can tap into.  By not noticing or using these skills, your company is missing out on valuable resources.  Everyone reading this, will be part of this pool of candidates either now or in the future. I hate to be the one to point it out, but if you aren’t already, you too will be in the over 40 age bracket at some stage.  Chances are when you are in your 50’s, you may find yourself out of work yet still willing and able to contribute.  So hiring managers of today, HR professionals and recruiters, you need to be open to this source of candidate because one day soon, it could be you who are offering your experience to the market.

Politicians, judges, scientist and professors; they often do their best work in their senior years.  Think of Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein and even Barack Obama born in 1961, and then there is Charles Darwin who was in his 50’s when his “Origin of Species” work changed science forever back in 1859!  Think of famous musicians who never stop, Pavarotti and Tom Jones just to name two!

Moir Group recently hosted Dr Roger Collins who spoke for us on the very popular topic of leadership. Roger asked the very captive audience the question, “Leadership: Where Did We Lose Our Way & How To Get Back On Track”.

Roger discussed tightening our overall leadership terminology and discussed the 3 levels of leadership:

1. Self – this will become more important as individuals need to respond

2. Team/corporate/individual – The is a primary focus and the psychological aspect is very dominant in this field

3. Shared/collective – Roger spoke about the case study of McDonalds and the CEO Charlie Bell and his impact on a collective and a shared leadership approach, backed up by the core values within the McDonalds company

He advised us to consider moving away from a normative and idealized leadership, this is low narcissism with high humility as well as a level of spirituality and authenticity. Then moving to a descriptive approach, which is a much more task orientated and problem solving style, developing relationships, advocating change and always looking externally to network, and successfully and confidently represent your brand. Try not to think of leadership as a single causal factor. Ensure your organization is aligned with your culture, policies and practices with the outcomes that you expect of your leaders.

Overall Roger believes that most leadership behavior can be learnt and although leadership potential and aspiration can be identified early within individuals, your organizational culture plays a big role in the development of your future leaders. As well as this, the timing of their development is significant as results can be short term but development may be longer term. You need to have persistence and also patience in developing your leaders. Leadership is developed more effectively from actual experience rather than formal training and education, think of the 80:20 rule.

Overall, shift your emphasis away from formal development to strategy and issue related at work development with reflexivity. Build a community of strong leadership practice and also increase the robustness of the evaluation of your future leaders.

“Edison didn’t invent the light bulb by upgrading the candle” So whatever you are doing now probably needs a fundamental rethink and change.

Thank you to everyone who came along to this event, if you would like more information on upcoming events please head to our Events Page and join our community by liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter and connect with us on LinkedIn to stay up to date.

What is networking?

Networking is the most effective means of accessing the hidden job market. Did you know that 70% of today’s jobs are gained through networking and using your own contacts. Networking is about building relationships, sharing information and finding sources of support, and is an ongoing life skill, not just something you do when you want something. Your best advocates are people who know you, worked with you previously and who can refer you on to new contacts.

Benefits of Networking

The more people you know, the more people you can influence. Always remember your connections will also have connections, giving you an even wider network. You never know who people might know - this is very important! Exchanging information allows new insights you may not have thought of. Expanding your contacts can open doors to new opportunities. Engaging with your contacts, means you sow the seeds for reciprocal assistance when you need help. The most successful people share information. Offer to help others out, people remember this and people will return the favour. Use the principle of 'what goes around comes around'. Ask people: "How can I help you?" and "What can I do for you?" Doing this also lifts your self-esteem and puts you into a more positive mind set.

How to build the best network 

Start with people you trust and respect that have similar values to you. This may be current work colleagues, ex-work colleagues, close friends, University friends, family friends, contacts through sports clubs, contacts through your kids schools etc. Approach them for advice, in general most people will be happy to help. Ask your current contacts for referrals, this is an easy way to build your network. Offer to help people, as what you give out will come back. Keep all your contacts on Linkedin then you will never lose their details.

Always let your network know that you are looking for a job. Spread your “feelers” as far as possible and always thank people for their help. You can also ask friends or contacts to refer you into their current employer or ask them for a contact you can approach directly. Be aware that many companies have a monetary referral bonus they pay to internal staff.

It’s all about quality not necessarily quantity. Some of the best-connected entrepreneurs don’t have the biggest networks or the highest number of connections on LinkedIn. Instead, they might work with a smaller, tightly knit groups of connections.

Before you approach people for advice the number one thing is knowing what you want, it is much easier for people to assist you if you know what you want. Always be positive and grateful, thank people for their help and aim to help them in return in some way. If you are unemployed then treat this as a full time job. If you are employed then dedicate at least an hour a day to building your network.

Networking is not always a natural thing to do for many people, but it will help you and is definitely worth making the effort to do consistently.