We are now firmly settled into our new abode at 65 York Street Sydney and are enjoying the new environment. Like any office move we’re glad it’s over and are looking forward to enjoying the additional space and the abundance of natural light. Whilst we work daily with organisations and change, the typical office move is always a good reminder of how we are often ‘creatures of habit’ and how we react when removed from our familiar environment and associated routines. It was refreshing to observe the team ‘get on with business’ with very minimal disruption and stress.

Change has not only been on our agenda since the last newsletter, it has also occupied the attention of several clients who have been dealing with everything from office relocations (ironically), IT systems implementations, job restructuring, new technology and changing market conditions. We have found ourselves working with a government statutory authority, a global pharmaceutical research division, the IT division of a major airline and a global electricity/gas metering company. The breadth of work has been truly exciting as we help senior leaders and their teams anticipate, plan and up-skill to address these challenges.

At the same time we have continued to build our leadership development programs to address on-going demand in a number of different organisations. Our continuing work with the Australian Bureau of Statistics has produced a new suite of short-courses targeting a range of leadership skills including influencing others, change management, team effectiveness and Emotional Intelligence (EI). This last area continues to keep us busy as we extend our range of EI-related programs to organisations as diverse as National Australia Bank and Sydney University. Both organisations are seeing immense value in developing these essential interpersonal skills in their graduate and academic populations, respectively.

Our psychometric assessment practice continues to earn a reputation as the ‘independent voice’ in the recruitment process as companies continue to face the challenges of hiring high calibre people in an increasing tight labour market. Many of our clients are commenting on the value of this independent service and the way it has supplemented and at times challenged the views held by recruitment consultants (both in-house and external to the organisation). In many cases the psychometric results have provided a more robust assessment highlighting candidate issues not readily identified at interview. This independent service has saved our clients considerable time, energy and money.

As we head into yet another busy quarter for Talent Solutions we are joined by a number of new faces. Philip Pryor joined us recently as will Michael Page in the next few weeks. Both have extensive consulting backgrounds and will bring a wealth of capability to the team in their roles as Principal Consultants. We have been exceptionally fortunate to attract such high calibre individuals who have already gained a strong reputation in this industry prior to coming on board. I’m both honoured and excited to be working with a first-rate team that will take our consulting capability to the next level.

Finally, as we commence the fast and furious sprint to Christmas I encourage you to stop and take stock of your personal leadership impact and make the most of any opportunity for self-reflection and development prior to 2008. To this end, we are offering limited places on our Influential Leadership Program which we will be running for the first time in the public arena in December. The program is specifically designed for senior leaders and focuses on applying practical tools and strategies to real-life business issues. I hope you or one of your ‘emerging’ leaders can join us on this exciting program.

For now, please take the time to learn a little more about Talent Solutions and the work we have been doing since our last newsletter.

Regards,

Michael Collins
Managing Director