Private sector employment increased by 150,000 jobs in June and annual pay was up 4.9 percent year-over-year, according to the June ADP® National Employment Report produced by the ADP Research Institute® in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab (“Stanford Lab“). The ADP National Employment Report is an independent measure and high-frequency view of the private-sector labor market based on actual, anonymized payroll data of more than 25 million U.S. employees. The jobs report and pay insights use ADP’s fine-grained anonymized and aggregated payroll data to provide a representative ..read more

According to the Harvard Business Review, two out of five CEOs fail in their first eighteen months, and it’s not their expertise or experience to blame; it’s their people skills, political nous and inability to build the necessary relationships with the key points of contact in your business. In my book Become a Successful First-Time CEO, I examine three wide relationship areas that are critical to get right and that make up what I call the CEO Winner’s Circle. The first two are fairly obvious. Firstly, it’s you – any issues you have with confidence and communication need to be addressed befor ..read more

How subtle, seemingly innocuous actions can shift the balance of power in your favour It is broadly understood that bold, expansive postures and gestures convey power and credibility. But how often have executives entered a meeting confident in achieving their goal, only to leave blindsided – unsure of how the power dynamics shifted in favour of an opposing viewpoint? Most people assume that their actions are their own. However, our research would argue that it is the (often unconscious) responses to the behaviour of others that determine who dominates in any interaction. This builds ..read more

For executives and aspiring leaders seeking to develop new skills and propel themselves forward, the time-honoured Master of Business Administration (MBA) has long stood out as a beacon of opportunity. However, for many working professionals, the prospect of further education can seem unattainable amidst the demands of an already busy career and personal life. Enter Torrens University Australia, a trailblazer in the realm of higher education. Since its beginnings in 2014, Torrens University has rapidly grown into one of Australia’s premier institutions, now boasting a diverse student body repr ..read more

We are on the cusp of a revolution as significant as the Industrial Revolution in how we utilise human talent. Two hundred and fifty years ago, machines disrupted ways of life that had been established for hundreds of years, and now they threaten to do the same. Our changing attitudes towards work, changing expectations from businesses of their employees, the long tail economic impact of Covid, a mental health time bomb, difficulties with the supply of goods, cost of living, geo-political unrest, the climate crisis, and the icing on the cake – Generative AI – mean we cannot operate our organis ..read more

The Corporate Governance Institute (CGI) is strategically partnering with Acacia Training, a leading specialised career package provider, to provide game-changing corporate governance education for Acacia clients’ career development.  A growing number of companies and organisations are experiencing issues in sourcing the right talent for their leadership roles and the boardroom. A real pain point is that boards struggle to recruit for specific expertise/skills such as ESG and digital transformation. Acquiring these skills can only be achieved through dedicated qualifications, designe ..read more

Alexandra Skinner talks to the Australian Institute of Business   As modern professionals seek further education opportunities that suit their evolving needs, there has been a significant shift towards online MBAs. This movement extends beyond growing digitalisation; it’s a response to an increased demand for flexibility, accessibility and career-oriented curriculums. According to Forbes, 2022 marked the first year that students in online MBA programmes outnumbered their in-person peers. While many traditional institutions are struggling to keep pace, one stands out for its forward-thinki ..read more

Regardless of how you feel about yourself, the moment you gain the title ‘manager’, ‘executive’ or ‘boss’, everything changes. Even with a direct report of just one, you gain the power to answer questions such as, ‘Can I take a day off? Can I take my lunch hour early? What should I work on next? Can I move my desk? Can I have a tattoo? Is this good work? Can I have a pay rise? Can I go for a promotion?’ There is often a perception that leaders are a superhuman breed and that those in leadership have superpowers. They don’t feel as we mere mortals do. They think strategically, have high levels ..read more

According to a recent report from the European Federation of Management Development, in conjunction with the Executive DBA Council, the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degree is on an upward trajectory. Executive leadership is seeking a competitive edge through the practical application of research and the reputational benefits attached to a doctoral program. While the ‘big picture’ view of business and management has often proven attractive to employers, there is a growing appreciation for the specialized knowledge that Executive DBA graduates bring to the workplace. Their ability to ..read more

Stephen A. Miles & Nathan Bennett Among the many responsibilities facing CEOs is building and leading an effective top management team (TMT). That effort is becoming ever more challenging. As business leaders increasingly characterize their operating environments as volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA), the diversity and intensity of issues requiring attention at the top has grown. In response to increasing demands on the TMT, the C-suite has expanded to include titles well beyond the traditional CFO, COO, and CIO. This expansion has looked different by company, but not too l ..read more