‘Competition for the right talent is fierce. And ‘talent’ no longer means the same as ten years ago; many of the roles, skills and job titles of tomorrow are unknown to us today”.

Rather than being daunted by this finding by PWC in their report “Workforce of the Future”, PWC provide some excellent scenarios of what 2030 may look like, and what organisations should be planning in order to prepare. The reports is based on a survey of 10,000 business leaders globally. (click on the image to access the full report).

PWC identified five megatrends, or forces, that are shaping the future. These megatrends are:

• Technological breakthroughs;
• Demographic shifts, that is, the changing size, distribution and age profile of the world’s population;
• Rapid urbanization, which involves the significant increase in the world’s population moving to live in cities;
• Shifts in global economic power, between developed and developing countries;
• Resource scarcity and climate change.

Rather than extrapolate these into one potential future, PWC consider four scenarios (or ‘worlds’) based on varying degrees of fluidity between collectivism and individualism, and business fragmentation and corporate integration. These scenarios recognise that there are multiple potential outcomes possible, and that organisations need to ensure they are thinking about a range of futures, rather than betting everything on just one possible alternative. The outcomes of this extrapolation into 2030 are:

• The Yellow World, where humans come first
• The Red World, where innovation rules
• The Green World, where companies care
• The Blue World, where corporate is king

The one common thread throughout each scenario is the rise of automation and the implications of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), which will result in a massive reclassification and rebalancing of work.

While providing helpful recommendations for individuals and society as a whole, the report also suggests a few things organisations can also do to position themselves for whatever future unfolds:

• Recognise that linear predictions don’t cut it – there are multiple and emerging visions of the future;
• Make decisions based on purpose and values;
• Embrace technology as a force for good;
• Focus on humans and the humane.

This is an excellent and informative report that is easy to read, yet challenging. Leaders looking into the future would do well to consider this report and how their organisation is preparing for an uncertain, but different, future. And Avondale Business School is excited to be able to partner with you to achieve success.

Sustainability and long term growth prospects are what’s keeping Australian company directors awake at night, according to the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) Director Sentiment Index 2018 (Click here to access the report).

Other issues troubling the sleep of Australian directors include:

• Structural change/changing business models
• Corporate culture
• Business reputation in the community
• Data security

Do these issues resonate with you? What about the following trends identified in the report as having the biggest potential impacts:

• Positive Impact:
  • Big data
  • Increased transparency
  • Automation

• Negative Impact:
  • Mass retirement of older workers

Australian directors have a generally optimistic outlook for both the Australian and international economies, with NSW directors most optimistic for their state, and WA directors most pessimistic for theirs. While directors expect lower unemployment in the next 12 months, they also anticipate increases in inflation, wages and the ash interest rate over the same period. Growth is still expected, including an increase in profits. However, there is growing pessimism regarding the level of government red-tape and corporate reporting requirements.

Directors are also focusing more on corporate culture, with the three most significant ways of changing corporate culture being:

• Regularly featuring culture on board and audit committee agendas
• Capturing data on key cultural indicators
• Communicating the ethical position of the board and business

As you reflect on your own business, are these issues similar or different to your own circumstance, and how these issues may impact your business. Most importantly, how prepared are you to face what is looming on the horizon. Avondale Business School is well-placed to help you position your organisation to ensure you enjoy success.

We have no choice – digital disruption is on us, and those organisations that can adapt and adopt quickest will be the market leaders in an increasingly competitive environment.

This finding comes from the recently released research through the MIT Sloan Management Review, in collaboration with and sponsored by Deloitte Digital. Their report, ‘Coming of Age Digitally’ (click to view the report) shares the findings of their research project, involving more than 4300 managers and executives from around the world.

Also included in the findings are some important insights regarding companies adapting to the digital environment, including:

• Digitally maturing companies push decision-making further down into the organisation;
• Digital business is faster, more flexible and distributed, and has a different culture and mindset than traditional business;
• Developing – not just having – digital leaders sets digitally maturing companies apart.

Obstacles that companies may face as they attempt to mature digitally include the need for a change in mindset, increased collaboration, and the need to move quickly. The research report offers a number of suggestion and practical steps to adapt, including experimentation and iteration, continued learning and pushing decision-making down the organisation.

Digital transformation is occurring so rapidly that organisations need all the help they can get in keeping pace with this change. This applies to all organisations, profit and not-for-profit. Reports such as the one from MIT Sloan can help you keep abreast of best practice, and the Avondale Business School is happy to partner with you to see your business succeed.

Business and College collaboration is a wonderful way to enhance student learning. A recent excursion organised by the Avondale Business School to Sydney saw students visit 3 business to get insights into risk management, marketing, human resources and accounting.

The first business to open its doors was the Mascot Air Base facility. Manager of Airline safety lead them into the emergency procedures training facility which demonstrated the approach to risk management, in particular in relation to the evacuation of passengers in the event of an emergency. Students were privileged to be shown the various different aeroplane doors used to deploy passengers, rafts and survival kits. They were also shown the pool used for ocean training, in both the dark and in the rain.

Students were then put into the emergency procedure training simulator, where they experienced a crash landing in which the cabin lights turned off and the cabin filled with smoke. Students followed the orders of the cabin staff in relation to “evacuate, evacuate” and were led safely out of the simulator. Some students also were given life vests to deploy, and shown the various safety features such as the water activated light. Students had a better appreciation for flight crew and risk management procedures, after this confronting experience.

Students then headed out to Allianz stadium, for a tour of the facility. Students were taken down the ramp into the stadium, and the logistics of running the stadium that is shared by three different codes of sport (NRL, Rugby Union and Football) was explained. The marketing of the stadium signs, the sponsorship of the different codes and general keeping of the grounds were explained. Students asked questions such as who are the sponsors and what are the benefits of sponsorship from a marketing perspective.

Student then headed into the Sydney Roosters facility where they were led into the boardroom for an “Apprentice” style session (yes Mark Bouris is on the Board of the Sydney Roosters), by the Chief Financial Controller Mr Manuel Vlandis. Students were presented with financial information about the club and the challenges of running a rugby leagues club from a financial perspective. Questions were asked of the salary cap, costs of injured players, and how the model works in relation to revenue streams such as memberships, gate takings and sponsorship. The CFO was happy to answer the questions, and speak of his relationship with the Board and the new strategic plan they are currently developing.

Students then headed next door to the NSW Waratahs headquarters. There the player development manager Lachie McBain explained the complexities of running a rugby club, including issues such as preparing players for life after sport. He talked about the initiatives the club has in place for players such as further education and financial planning. He discussed the available careers in a rugby association, and his role in relation to his employer being RUPA (Rugby Union Players Association), formed to prepare players for life after sport. The club facilities were shown to the students, including the training areas, technology viewing areas and player lounge. Students asked questions in relation to membership numbers, revenue from Foxtel, sponsorship and player wages.

Feedback from the day included the following:

“It gave us insights into jobs where we do not see what happens behind the scenes”

“It was awesome to see business applied in a sporting context”

Avondale Business School will continue working with these businesses in the future, turning textbook learning into the reality of business. As the late Wallaby and Lawyer Ross Turnbull stated “There is nothing that I learnt in SPORT that doesn't apply to BUSINESS, or LIFE” (2014). This excursion came from research done previously into the education of current sports people for their career after sport, a paper to be presented at the Global Conference on Education and Research (GLOCER 2017), which will be held during May 22-25, 2017 at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus in Sarasota, Florida.

What are your organisations’ core values? Not the ones that you say are values, but the ones that actually reflect who you really are?

In a recent article by Nicole Fallon Taylor (read it here) she highlights core values and the role they play in our organisations. Essentially they are the culture of the company, and irrespective of what we might say our organisation does, it is these core values that really matter.

It is certainly one thing to define your core values, and quite another to actually live them out. Saying one thing and doing another is a recipe for disaster in any organisation.

Do you live your values, or simply talk about what you want other people to think they are? The Avondale Business School can help you and your team develop core values – find out how by contacting Warrick Long at the Avondale Business School.

E: [email protected]

P: 02 4980 2168

Up until recently, much of the discussion surrounding corporate social responsibility puts it as either profits or being socially responsible, but not both. And on face value it might appear that way, however more and more organisations are recognising that the two are not mutually exclusive.

Studies are showing that investing in socially responsible ways of doing business are generating longer term profitability and generating higher returns for investors. A recent article in the Huffington Post Australia outlined 10 companies that are in fact achieving this. You can read the full article here.

Some of the ways these companies are achieving social responsibility include:

• Zero waste
• Valuing aging workers
• Women in leadership
• Environmental responsibility

Think about your organisation – is it demonstrably socially responsible? Should it be? Maybe this week think of one way your organisation can take some positive steps towards being a model corporate citizen in the area of corporate social responsibility.

The Avondale Business School can advise your organisation on being effective in these areas – find out how by contacting Warrick Long at the Avondale Business School.

E: [email protected]

P: 02 4980 2168

A critical component in maintaining psychological well-being and recovering properly for a new day is effective detachment from work. New research from Brendon Smit, and reported in BPS Research Digest identify (Read it here), the number one way you can effectively detach from work.

Detachment is important so that work does not totally invade our lives and thoughts, imposing on family and personal time that is important in our recharging and recovery process. Without effective “down-time” our productivity declines and effectiveness is reduced.

Surveying a number of professionals and testing a variety of methods, Smit identifies the key factor is to spend a few moments at the end of each day creating a simple list of incomplete goals and a few actions steps to tackle each one in the new day. This process effectively ‘closes the loop’ on these items and allows your subconscious to leave them alone. This simple yet effective strategy was demonstrated by Smit to help participants put their work issues out of their minds and effectively detach from work. It seems our minds carry around any “open loops” and continually attempt to find solutions and develop plans for them, never giving the subconscious the rest it needs.

So if you want to detach from work and increase your productivity and effectiveness, take a few moments at the end of each day to ‘close the loop’ and leave it all behind.

The Avondale Business School can advise your organisation on being effective in these areas – find out how by contacting Warrick Long at the Avondale Business School.

E: [email protected]

P: 02 4980 2168

Explore the role of the financial professional of the future and update technical skills in this continuing professional development event presented by Avondale Business School.

We have probably all experienced the program lumped upon us by head office, who is far away and (in our view) wouldn’t have a clue what does and doesn’t work at the coalface. Or we may have been in an organisation where the senior leadership introduces “efficiency measures” that make their life easier, but adds significantly to the load of the already overworked employee who actually does the work of the company. Andrew Campbell and Gabriel Szulanski, writing for consulting firm McKinesy and Company have addressed this in an excellent article, which you can read in full here.

In summary, the authors propose three tests that every proposal should have to meet before being unleashed on the company. These tests are:

1. Whether the project adds significant value
   In asking this, the proposed value needs to be real, and not simply promises of what is perceived should happen. This brings into play the question of how this value has and will be measured, and some form of accountability for it.

3. Whether there are risks of unintended value subtraction.
   This entails looking at the complexity of the projects, whether it will decrease the engagement of existing entities and employees, and other potential risks.
4. Whether the initiative will encounter barriers to implementation.
   The article authors list 9 specific barriers, which they have researched and found to be the most common. Their research also indicates that if an initiative meets three or more of these barriers, then it is less likely to succeed. These barriers are:

• Actions needed for a good outcome are poorly understood;
• Little evidence that the proposed change will yield improved results;
• The designated change agent is not motivated to lead the project;
• The change agent does not have credibility;
• People whose contribution to the project are needed aren’t interested;
• People who will have to change their behaviour will probably find it hard to do so;
• Few spare resources are available to help those who need to change;
• There is little contextualised pressure to motivate change;
• Managers concerned have a history of poor relationships.

When you next propose a change within your organisation, run it past these three tests and see what its chances of success really are. The challenge is to have the courage to admit your brilliant idea just might not be the right thing at this time.

The Avondale Business School can help you with change management in your organisation – find out how by contacting Warrick Long at the Avondale Business School.

E: [email protected]

P: 02 4980 2168

During my holiday reading I came across an article in the Australian Financial Review Weekend Edition that offered its predictions for the five major workplace trends in 2016. The article can be read in its entirety here, but as a summary, I’ve listed below the major points:

1.       Email will be Sacked

There is a growing trend amongst businesses to significantly reduce the amount of email, especially internally. Some companies now ban all internal email, instead insisting on personal meetings, telephone calls, and drop box for exchanging documents. Others have a moratorium each day (usually one hour) when email is shut down. Still others are offering employees the opportunity to sign a pledge that they won’t read or send emails between 7pm and 7am each day.

2.       Performance Reviews Get a Makeover

Increasingly Australian companies are no longer using the full employee performance review on an annual or half-yearly basis. Alternatively companies are providing immediate feedback to employees, and training and trusting line supervisors and managers to do the job.

3.       Data Dominates Decisions

Big data is on the rise, and the growth of data analytics as a tool and profession is ensuring greater scrutiny of data and decisions.

4.       Employers Using LinkedIn

LinkedIn is now recognised as one of the most powerful social media tools available. Consequently employers are finding that it is often quicker and more efficient to communicate with their employees through LinkedIn. Organisations are increasingly using LinkedIn to advertise for jobs and to recruit prospective employees, and monitor existing ones.

5.       Job titles

A growing worldwide trend is the decreasing use of titles. HR professionals see this as a flattening of organisational structures and implementing greater consistency throughout the organisation. Potentially, we are seeing the downsizing of the C-suite.

Are you keeping ahead of the waves of change coming your way? Or are you reacting and getting left in the wake? Maybe pick one of these trends and see if you can implement one in your workplace that puts you ahead.

The Avondale Business School can advise your organisation on being effective in these areas – find out how by contacting Warrick Long at the Avondale Business School.

E: [email protected]

P: 02 4980 2168