Sector and AuSAE News

  • 21 Jul 2015 9:03 AM | Louise Stokes

    Sourced directly from Fast Company here. By Stephanie Vozza

    A new study reveals that when male leaders ask for help, they are perceived as less competent, but the same bias doesn't apply to women.

    It’s a stereotype that men would rather be lost than stop and get directions, but it turns out asking for help carries a psychological penalty for guys. A study from researchers at Duke University, the University of San Diego, and the University of Pittsburgh found that male leaders who ask for help are perceived as being less competent. When female leaders solicit help, however, the negative image didn’t apply.


    "What drives this perception is that help-seeking is atypical for men but not for women," says Dave Lebel, assistant professor of business administration at the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Graduate School of Business, and coauthor of the study. "Asking for help isn’t behavior fitting a leadership role, and it isn’t behavior fitting a male gender role. In this case, women win; it’s okay for them to ask for help, because even though it’s not fitting a leadership role, it’s congruent with their gender role and deemed acceptable."


    Yet in today’s rapidly changing workplace, leaders need to seek help from subordinates to enact change, says Lebel. "The business world is moving too quickly, and it’s impossible for anybody to know everything," he says.


    Asking for help builds a healthy business, says Ruth Smyth, head of human resources for Alexander Mann Solutions, a recruiting and management firm. "There’s a huge amount of evidence that suggests that a collaborative culture leads to innovative and better productivity, because people are focused on common goals," she says.


    Whether you’re male or female, the question shouldn’t be if you should ask for help. It should be, how do you ask for help?

    ASK FOR ADVICE INSTEAD

    Lebel says research has found that it can be easier to ask for help when you turn it into advice seeking. In a study published in the June 2015 issue of Management Science, researchers from Harvard Business School and Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania found that advice-seeking differs from other help-seeking behaviors because you’re eliciting information for a course of action, retaining the decision-making process, and implying that the values of the advice seeker is similar to the adviser.


    "Asking for a recommendation can feel flattering to the other person," says Lebel.

    CONVEY THE REASON YOU NEED HELP

    Another way to seem less vulnerable is to provide a reason why you need help, says Lebel.


    "Observers may view help-seekers as dependent upon those whom they ask for help, and therefore lacking the competence to complete tasks on their own," he says. "But when tasks are difficult, simply saying, 'This is harder than I thought,’ can be helpful."


    You can also provide an external reason why you need help, such as a project deadline was moved up.

    PROVIDE A WIN/WIN

    In organisations where competitiveness causes people to be more concerned with their personal success than the organizations, asking for help can be tricky, says Lawrence Polsky, managing partner of the leadership-consulting firm Teams of Distinction and coauthor of Perfect Phrases For Communicating Change.


    "In this situation, asking for help will only work if you can offer something in return," he says. "It is more of a negotiation. You need to find common interests and exchange something to get help with something else."

    WATCH YOUR PHRASING

    When you ask for help, be careful how you frame a question, and stay away from words that make you look weak, suggests Polsky.


    Instead of saying, "Hope you don’t mind if I ask but . . . " approach the subject by saying, "I think we have two strong ways to address the initiative we discussed—and both are equally promising to me—but I’d love your take on . . . "


    "The big takeaway is that you only look weak when you sound as though you are drowning in confusion or fear, and you always look strong if you’re positing an idea," Polsky says.

    DO YOUR HOMEWORK

    Finally, make sure you have exhausted all options, avenues, and resources available to you before you solicit help, says Craig Downing, assistant professor of engineering management at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.


    "You must perform your due diligence," he says. "While most of your colleagues and supervisors don’t mind providing you with help, their time is important and the onus is on you to prepare. Doing the prework allows you to tailor the conversation to capitalize on the strengths of the person providing you with assistance."


    Downing suggests avoiding vague statements like, "I am not sure what to do on this project," or "I need help with this new client."


    "Instead, try to craft questions and insights that focus on the most important aspects of your dilemma," he says. For example, "What past practices has the division used to increase customer satisfaction in the Midwest?"

  • 17 Jul 2015 11:33 AM | Louise Stokes

    A comparison of the opinions and attitudes across four generations - a free white paper download


    Attracting members–and keeping them engaged–is a significant challenge for societies and associations.


    The Wiley  Society and Association Membership Survey 2014 sought insight into what researchers and professionals generally want from their societies. 


    This white paper provides further clarity on specific age group behaviors with the aim to help societies work towards achieving cross-generational appeal.


    In this 8-page white paper, you’ll learn:

    • Ways to remain relevant to your changing membership.
    • Strongest reasons for joining by generation.
    • Reasons for renewing membership.
    • Top activities participated in for each generation.
    • Most valued membership benefits.
    • How satisfied are members by generation?
    • Analysis of the challenge of Millennials’ membership.
    • Four areas to consider to engage members and potential members across the generations.

    Download the whitepaper here.

  • 10 Jul 2015 9:00 AM | Louise Stokes

    AuSAE Networking Lunches offer a great chance to get out of the office and meet new connections in the sector. Each lunch also features an insightful presentation on various topics of importance. Attending a lunch is a great chance to see what AUSAE really offers which is a place like-minded professionals can gather and share workplace challenges and achievements over a delicious two-course luncheon at a great venue. Check out the upcoming lunches below. We would love to see you there!


    Canberra | 'Turn Your Members Into Muscle' Lunch on Tuesday 7 July
    David Van (CEO at The DeWintern Group) will discuss how to better leverage your membership to achieve the goals of your organisation and secure funding security. Find out how to avoid the constant threat of annual budget time [more

    Sydney | 'How to Achieve Successful Public Policy Outcomes' Lunch on Wednesday 8 July
    Kate Carnell (CEO at ACCI) will discuss the strategy ACCI have undertaken to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes with government. Find out how addressing problems and what members really think can achieve advocacy success [more


    Brisbane | 'Maintaining Engagement Through Change' Lunch on Friday 10 July
     Ian McEwan (General Manager Queensland at Engineers Australia) will share with you Engineers Australia's journey to take the membership in a new direction whilst maintaining volunteer and member engagement [more


    Perth | 'Returning to Mission to Lead Change' Lunch on Wednesday 22 July
    John Murray (CEO at RAAFAWA) will share the powerful transformation story and significant challenges involving an internal restructure, a disenchanted member community and a broken service model needing urgent attention [more]


    Adelaide | 'The Art of Strategy and Innovation' Lunch on Wednesday 29 July
    David Ng (Pharmaceutical Society of Australia) and Chris Stewart (Hood Sweeney) will share how organisation's can flourish in an ever-competitive environment and better define yourselves to help foster innovation in the NFP sector [more


    Melbourne | 'Maintaining Organisational Momentum' Lunch on Friday 31 July
    Graham Catt (CEO of AVA & AuSAE Vice President) will share with you how the AVA leadership team discovered a new direction, inspired and re-energised their team to avoid the risk of complacency after the turnaround [more]

  • 09 Jul 2015 12:41 PM | Louise Stokes

    Nominations are now open for the 2015 United Nations Association of Australia Media Peace Awards! 


    The Awards, established in 1979, recognise those in the media whose work highlights and champions human rights and social justice issues and stimulates public debate and changes in public and private policy. Journalists and producers whose work has appeared in the Australian public media between 2 September 2014 and 4 September 2015 are encouraged to nominate now. 


    Nominations will close 5pm Friday September 4. Enter before July 31 to receive the early bird entry fee.


    Winners of the 2015 Media Peace Awards will be announced at the Awards Presentation Dinner to be held at the ANZ Pavilion, Arts Centre Melbourne and hosted by Virginia Trioli, Presenter of ABC News Breakfast. 


    For entry criteria and nomination forms see here: http://www.unaavictoria.org.au/awards-programs/media-awards/


    For more information on the Awards program please contact the Victorian office on (03) 9670 7878 or awards@unaavictoria.org.au

  • 09 Jul 2015 11:09 AM | Louise Stokes
    The CheckUP Forum series consists of two key events:


    The Health Leaders' Forum, facilitated by Dr Norman Swan, bringing together health leaders to discuss the important issues in health. This years theme is Advancing Primary Health Care: Working together to make it happen! 


    Forum Preliminary Program now available. To access click here.

    • The Health Leaders' Forum (28 August 2015) will focus on the formation of the new PHNs and explore how the health and community services sectors can work collaboratively to ensure better patient health outcomes.

    Framing the challenge: 

    Hear first-hand from experts in their field about service integration, system cohesion, collaboration, and change management.

    Working together to make it happen:

    Discuss how we can work together to ensure PHNs make a difference.

    Meeting the challenge:

    Learn new skills through two Master Classes that explore commissioning and community engagement.

    • CheckUP's Networking Dinner will be held the evening before the Health Leader's Forum, where forum delegates and presenters will have an opportunity to meet over dinner.

    Venue:  Rydges South Bank from 6pm to 9pm (27 August 2015)


    For more information about the series please go to: http://www.checkup.org.au/events/218026

  • 03 Jul 2015 3:22 PM | Louise Stokes

    Today more than ever, technology is a key component of all successful businesses. Selecting a product which is the correct fit for your organisation can be an enormous challenge due to the plethora of solutions available and the mix of features they all offer.

    Identifying that you have a need is just the first step in a much bigger journey. The process of determining what you actually need, not what your key stakeholders, staff or potential suppliers say that you need, is possibly the most important step in this journey of discovery.

    Member Evolution's NEW Technology Buyer's Guide will help guide you with proven processes, tools and techniques that will help ensure you make the correct technology buying decision. The Free eBook Covers the following high level content as well as much more: 

    • Project success factors
    • Forming the project team
    • Identifying the business requirements
    • Requirements selection and prioritisation
    • Creating the gap analysis
    • Vendor selection
    • Total cost of ownership (TCO)
    • Vendor engagement

    https://memberevolution.com/Technology-buyers-guide-2015-edition-new
  • 29 Jun 2015 5:00 PM | Louise Stokes

    On June 18 & 19 AuSAE held the highly successful AuSAE Conference and Exhibition (ACE) with around 350 delegates, 45 speakers and 42 exhibitors attending the event at Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. 


    The conference taught us how to get a meeting with government, about knowing your legal risk with MOUs and contracts, how to mobilise volunteers, how to develop strategy to engage in commercial opportunities and much, much more. 


    You may have seen the conference hashtag #ACEBne15 trending on twitter during the event. We also received lovely feedback from delegates: 

    • "What an incredible experience."
    • "Fantastic event - great content and networking opportunities"
    • "An excellent event... wondering why we hadn't attended before now!"
    • "Great conference - one of the most useful in terms of content that I've attended in a while."
    • "Great event. Best opening speaker I have ever heard. Venue great, food outstanding. Good range of topics. Got a lot out of it." 
    • "Absolutely fantastic. Well run and immensely useful."

    Check out the ACE Photo Gallery here: 
    http://www.oneillphotographics.com.au/gallery/ausaeconference2015/


    AuSAE thanks those who joined us at the 2015 AuSAE Conference and Exhibition. The delegates, exhibitors and partners in attendance were a fantastic group and engaged in the sessions and activities with enthusiasm and willingness.



    Delegates gather at the ACE Party: An Elegant Welcome at Victoria Park



    Alex Malley (CEO at CPA Australia) delivering his opening keynote address at ACE 2015.



    The ACE plenary session on Day 2



    Fantastic networking opportunities with other sector professionals



    Delegates enjoying the Greek dancing at the ACE Celebration at the Greek Club



    Beautiful catering provided by the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre



    The Young Association Professionals Meet Up in the BCEC Meet Up Zone

  • 29 Jun 2015 8:29 AM | Louise Stokes

    The New Zealand Government has approved a package of measures to strengthen enforcement of employment standards, including:

    All these changes will be reflected in an Employment Standards Bill which will be introduced to Parliament this year. The Bill will go through a normal select committee process including public submissions before it is passed into law.

    Before the new law comes into force, MBIE will develop an information and education plan to inform businesses, including small businesses, and workers of the changes.

    Tougher sanctions

    • For the most serious breaches, such as exploitation, cases will be heard at the Employment Court and carry maximum penalties of $50,000 for an individual and the greater of $100,000 or three times the financial gain for a company. Previously the maximum fine was $10,000 for an individual and $20,000 for a company.
    • Employers will be publically named if the Employment Relations Authority or Employment Court finds they have breached minimum standards.
    • Individuals will also face the possibility of being banned as employers if they commit serious or persistent breaches of employment standards.
    • Persons other than the employer – such as directors, senior managers, legal advisors and other corporate entities – will also be held accountable for breaches of employment standards if they are knowingly and intentionally involved when an employer breaks the law. These cases can be pursued even if the employer ceases to exist.

    Who will be covered by the proposal for persons other than the employer to be able to be held accountable for breaches of employment standards?

    • These provisions will only apply to ‘officers’ of the company, being directors and other individuals who occupy positions where they exercise significant influence over the management or administration of the whole, or a substantial part, of the business.
    • Persons other than the primary contravener will only be accountable if they are knowingly and intentionally involved in a contravention of the employment standards provisions.
    • A person would not be liable if they took reasonable and proper steps to ensure the employer complied or if they reasonably relied on information supplied by another person.
    • For example, a senior payroll manager, under direction from the company’s director, who has set up the payroll system in such a way that employees do not receive their full holiday entitlements, could be caught by these provisions because they could meet the definition of an ‘officer’ of the company. However, a more junior payroll clerk would not be covered.
    • The accountability provisions can also potentially cover individuals or other companies in a contractual relationship with the employer (for example, a legal advisor who aids the employer to manipulate corporate structures to avoid paying entitlements).

    Will there be costs for employers in complying with the new requirements?

    • Most businesses will not experience any increase in compliance costs resulting from these proposals.
    • The focus of the proposals is on businesses that are not currently meeting their obligations. They will face minor compliance costs to become compliant and risk facing financial penalties if they don’t (with serious breaches resulting in significantly higher penalties).

    What are the penalties for less serious breaches?

    The penalties at the Employment Relations Authority for minor to moderate breaches would remain at $10,000 for an individual and $20,000 for a company.

    Clearer-record keeping requirements

    • Record-keeping requirements for wages, time, holidays and leave will be made consistent across all employment legislation.
    • There will be flexibility around the format for records, so long as they can show compliance with the law.
    • Infringement notices will be introduced for clear-cut breaches of these obligations with a maximum penalty of $1,000 per breach with a cap of $20,000 if there are multiple breaches.

    Why are changes to record keeping requirements needed?

    • The current requirements do not ensure that compliance with minimum entitlements can be assessed in all circumstances and are, in some places, inconsistent across the legislation. For example, the Employment Relations Act and Minimum Wage Act have different requirements for recording time worked and this has led to difficulties in assessing whether low salaried and piece workers (workers who are paid by the number of products they create or tasks they complete) are receiving adequate pay. The changes address these issues.

    What will the costs be for complying with record keeping requirements?

    • For most employers there will not be any costs associated with complying with the new record keeping requirements. This is because compliant employers will already be recording the necessary information.
    • The key requirement is that employers can produce a record of the number of hours worked each day in a pay period, and the pay for those hours, in an easily accessible form on request from the employee or from a labour inspector. Employers will have flexibility as to what form this record takes.
    • For those employees who work regular hours for regular pay, a simple statement of what the regular hours and pay for the employee are (for example, as set out in the employment agreement) is likely to be all that is needed to comply. However, more detailed information may be required when employees’ hours vary from day to day and from pay period to pay period, or when there is a significant departure from contracted hours.

    What is the aim of the infringement notices for failure to keep records?

    • Infringement fees are an additional tool for labour inspectors and commonly used in other sanction regimes.
    • Labour Inspectors will use infringement fees for clear-cut breaches of the obligations to keep employment agreements and the prescribed records and to produce them at the request of a labour inspector.
    • This will reduce the need for proceedings at the Employment Relations Authority or Employment Court.

    Increased tools for labour inspectors

    • Information sharing: There will be enhanced information sharing powers with other regulators such as Immigration New Zealand, the Companies Office and Inland Revenue to improve the ability of labour inspectors to identify and investigate alleged breaches.
    • Information requests: Labour inspectors will be able to request any record or document from employers that they consider will help them determine whether a breach has occurred – for instance financial records or bank statements.

    What protections will accompany the new information sharing powers for labour inspectors?

    • All information shared (both business and personal) will continue to be subject to the protections of the Privacy Act. Memoranda of Understanding and Approved Information Sharing Agreements (AISAs) will outline the necessary checks and balances for how labour inspectors and other regulatory parties with whom they share information are required to handle both business and personal information.
    • Only in very specific circumstances in which there is an Approved Information Sharing Agreement (AISA) between labour inspectors and another regulator, would the Privacy Act’s information sharing principles be modified or overridden to allow for specific personal information to be used or disclosed. However, an AISA must specify the safeguards to ensure that any interference with an individual’s privacy is minimised. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner will work with MBIE on the development of AISAs.

    Why do labour inspectors need more information from employers?

    • Labour inspectors may request further records and documents from employers when they need to obtain supporting evidence to substantiate an alleged breach – for example, when the required wages and time records are incomplete or not evident.
    • Labour inspectors will need to have a reasonable belief that the records and documents they request will assist in determining whether or not a breach of an employee’s minimum entitlements has occurred.

    Changes to Employment Relations Authority’s approach to employment standards cases

    • More employment standards cases, particularly those that involve more serious and systemic and/or intentional breaches of employment standards will be resolved at the Employment Relations Authority or Court, rather than being automatically directed to mediation services in the first instance as is now the case.
    • If it wishes, the Authority will continue to be able to send standards cases to mediation if they are mixed up with other employment relationship problems, or if it considers that mediation will contribute constructively to addressing the problem (for example, through clarifying the facts of the case).
    • Employees will be able to seek penalties at the Employment Relations Authority for any minimum entitlement breach – currently this is only possible for breaches of the Wages Protection Act.

    Why will the role of mediation be reduced for standards cases?

    • For many employment standards cases, particularly those that involve more serious and systemic and/or intentional breaches, mediation is not appropriate because:
      • alleged standards breaches are matters of fact to be determined, as opposed to other employment relationship problems for which mediation between the employer and employee is more suitable
      • it cannot provide the enforcement outcomes sought (i.e. sanction/deterrence)
      • it can result in the case being prolonged if mediation cannot determine the breach as the case will end up back at the Authority
    • The statutory obligation to direct standards cases will be removed and instead the Authority will be required to consider them.
    • However, the Authority will retain discretion to send standards cases to mediation if they are mixed up with other employment relationship problems, or if it considers that mediation will contribute constructively to addressing the problem (for example, through clarifying the facts of the case).

    Why can employees seek their own penalties at the Employment Relations Authority?

    • Employees can already seek penalties under the Wages Protection Act. Extending this right to the Minimum Wage Act and Holidays Act is consistent with the ‘self-enforcement’ nature of the employment legislation.
    • It means that the opportunity for the Authority to penalise employers will not be dependent on who brings the case (i.e. an employee or a labour inspector).

    Sourced directly from Employment NZ here.

  • 29 Jun 2015 8:26 AM | Louise Stokes

    The union for government workers says it is not surprised by claims of bullying at the Ministry of Health - and says it has always been a problem within the public sector.


    Labour's Annette King has received a letter from a senior person within the ministry accusing some executives of being nasty and abusive to other staff.


    Radio New Zealand News was also sent a letter this afternoon by a support group of the partners of ACC staff, who said bullying was a big problem in certain ACC branches, and was not being tackled.


    Public Service Association (PSA) national secretary Erin Polarczuk said the union knew there were some problems within the Ministry of Health, and was working with the State Services Commission to produce guidelines on bullying for agencies.


    She said the PSA could not specify whether it has had complaints of this nature before.

    State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie said bullying was unacceptable, and he was seeking further information on the accusations so they could be fairly assessed.


    Wellington employment lawyer Hazel Armstrong said bullying in the public sector was worse now than ever before.


    She said workplace bullying could be quite subtle, and many people were vulnerable because they were too scared to speak up for fear of losing their job.


    "The kinds of bullying that I see would be setting tasks that the person cannot achieve in the time available. Or just not giving enough support to the person. And, particularly in Wellington, you see constant restructuring and having to apply for your own job."


    Sourced directly from Radio NZ News here.

  • 26 Jun 2015 4:17 PM | Louise Stokes

    Become a Corporate Traveller client now and you'll receive a complimentary Virgin Australia Lounge Membership.


    Virgin Australia Lounges offer a variety of benefits including complimentary WiFi, all day barista coffee, buffet menu, premium wine and beer selection and access to a suite of news publications so you can stay informed while you're away on business.


    Find out more about this exclusive offer or call us on 1300 732 280. Hurry, offer ends 30 June 2015. Conditions apply.


    From the Corporate Traveller Team (AuSAE Travel Specialist Partner)


The Australasian Society of Association Executives (AuSAE)

Australian Office:
Address: Unit 6, 26 Navigator Place, Hendra QLD 4011 Australia
Free Call: +61 1300 764 576
Phone: +61 7 3268 7955
Email: info@ausae.org.au

New Zealand Office:
Address: 159 Otonga Rd, Rotorua 3015 New Zealand
Phone: +64 27 249 8677
Email: nzteam@ausae.org.au

Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software