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Looking Back
Wednesday 4 November 2009
How the Digital Age is Changing the Way We Do Business.
On November 4, Business21C hosted the first of a regular series of live discussions. The event was held at the Museum of Sydney, led by Mike McCluskey, NSW State Director of the ABC, on the subject of The ABC in the Digital Age. McCluskey, a UTS: Business PhD candidate, introduced the subject and fielded questions from an audience of 125 in an informal forum of open debate.
Mike McCluskey, NSW State Director of the ABC | How the Digital Age is Changing the Way We Do Business.
Mike talked about the ABC’s role in the digital age, the changing way that media is consumed and how digital, online and mobile platforms are impacting traditional media.The impact of fragmented audiences, content on demand, user generated content and citizen journalism were also explored. And, most importantly, the discussion delved into the most effective business strategies to harness these changes, for the ABC and other content producers.
A twitter transcript of the event is here.
Mike McCluskey is NSW State Director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, covering the full range of business interests of the ABC across NSW. Mike joined the ABC as a rural reporter in the early 1980s and since then he has worked as a journalist, radio producer and presenter. He has also worked on a variety of business projects for the ABC including industrial agreements, performance management systems and corporate responsibility initiatives. His current role includes community liaison to ensure the ABC’s objectives are meeting community and audience needs and interests across the state.
Read more on The ABC for the 21C.
Click here for photos from the event.
Thursday 10 September 2009
UTS:Business Panel Presentation
Do Australian business systems fail our best people? Are we getting the best from our people, and how can leaders do better? These were the questions at the UTS: Business panel on Thursday, September 10. 115 people turned out to hear from four high-profile business leaders and academics in a discussion hosted by Professor Roy Green.
David Murray, Giam Swiegers, Professor John Bessant, Associate Professor Julia Connell | UTS:Business discussed the challenges of people management.
David Murray, chairman of the Future Fund Board of Guardians; Giam Swiegers, CEO of Deloitte Australia; Professor John Bessant, Director of Research and Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Exeter; and Associate Professor Julia Connell, Associate Dean of Postgraduate Programs at UTS: Business discussed the challenges of people management.
Employee disengagement, poor leadership training, lack of accountability and an emphasis on financial capital (rather than human capital), were just a few of the problems they identified. Each had suggestions for how organisations can do better.
David Murray began by suggesting that ‘the most important thing to create engagement is accountability and authority.’ He was scathing of annual review systems and of 360-degree type evaluations. He also proposed that employee development should be separated from assessment, and be the responsibility of the manager once-removed – the boss’ boss.
Julia Connell quoted a Manpower survey which suggested that 62% of Australian employees feel disengaged. One reason is that companies need to give people ’scary jobs’ to stretch them and get them out of their comfort zones. ‘If people are challenged, they do better.’ But this requires leaders who are prepared to take risks.
Giam Swiegers asked, ‘Why, since Australians are so comfortable with training elite sportspeople, are we so reluctant to train our managers?’ Discussing his experience introducing leadership training at Deloitte, he identified three critical questions for engaging people: Do you have something to believe in, someone to believe in, and someone who believes in you?
John Bessant suggested that motivating and rewarding employee creativity is a crucial element of successful organisations. Many companies look outside for innovation, without first looking at what they have within. But it’s not just important to ask for ideas – they must be acted upon: ‘The quickest way to turn people off from giving their second idea is to do nothing with their first’.
There are no quick-fixes for people management. In the words of David Murray: ‘The role of the leader is to design the work of the organisation, and to give people the tools to do that work.’ And it’s not an optional extra. As Giam Swiegers concluded, ‘You cannot under-invest in developing people.’
