In the past year I have done quite a few training sessions on performance management.
The sessions confirmed my suspicion that the Australian working culture is abysmal at performance feedback. Contrary to the popular stereotype of blunt, frank and open communication, in our workplaces we are, in the main, unassertive, indirect, ironic, passive and excessively accommodating. With some rare exceptions – the people who do the tough conversations for the rest of us.
We are also reluctant to praise, and do it badly. “You are great” doesn’t work. “Thanks for staying on last night to get that report in, I was really stressed about it”, is more valuable. It is specific, accurate, and
embedded in real workplace demands. Read More »
Posted by Annie Talve on August 30, 2009 – 4:42 am
The Duck River is a tributary of the Parramatta River. A century of heavy industrial activity, often unregulated, has left its mark. Soil contamination, toxic waste, sediment build-up, storm-water sewerage and habitat destruction, have combined to put an intolerable pressure on river health in the past and have produced complex challenges to be solved in the present and future.
Parramatta and Auburn City Councils received a NSW Environmental Trust – Urban Sustainability Program grant in 2006. Called A Model for Industrial Sustainability in the Duck River Catchment, the grant has enabled the two councils to undertake a long-term sustainability program to improve the environmental, social and financial viability of the industrial precincts adjacent to the Duck River.
make stuff happen has been working with a pilot group of up to 25 businesses to design and implement better ways of managing environmental practices and impacts. The project began in September 2009 and concludes in August 2010.
The sessions confirmed my suspicion that the Australian working culture is abysmal at performance feedback. Contrary to the popular stereotype of blunt, frank and open communication, in our workplaces we are, in the main, unassertive, indirect, ironic, passive and excessively accommodating. With some rare exceptions – the people who do the tough conversations for the rest of us.