This week I have been delivering Respect at Work training in regional Australia for a logistics organisation. Respect at work is essentially an upgrade to the training I used to deliver around anti-discrimination, bullying and sexual harassment training. It focuses on organisations creating a culture that’s respectful of all, and prevents and eliminates as much as possible, discrimination, sexual harassment, and workplace environments that are hostile. The main focus is on the positive duty placed on organisations to present and eliminate as much as possible sexual harassment, based on the fifth national survey on sexual harassment in Australian workplaces, which showed at 33% of workers have experienced workplace sexual harassment, with

What I’ve noticed is that the attitudes and values of the audience for this training has shifted, and for the better. I have also noticed that perhaps my maturity and approach to delivering this training has also shifted, for the better.

Today the conversations in the room are heartening, and collaborative. They are open, and people are willing to share about their experiences. Not only is behaviour changing, but people are seeing the impact of behaviour that’s not respectful, and hearts and minds are shifting.

This is what happening now with AI. Some organisations have a clear strategy and are thinking about how to support leaders and their people with using these new tools. They are communicating their plans and being honest. They are providing the right training at the right time, and are ensuring it's equitable.

Others are throwing AI tools at their people, along with some online training and hoping for the best. For their people it feels like change is being done to them, and they are invisible in any decisions.

Since the dawn of time, and in my experience, going to the post office has been an excruciating activity that at times, unfortunately, must be suffered through.

Tell me you feel this way too?

When I lived in Sydney I had to go into the equivalent of a basement to retrieve packages that were apparently a failed delivery despite me being home and no one ringing the door bell or knocking. I always imagined that behind the locked door where the packages were kept, was a massive mound of parcels and packages that the postal worker climbed through to find my parcel, often returning empty handed to ask what the size of the package was, or what did I think it looked like, which is mostly a futile activity given I wasn’t the person who sent the package.

the biggest commercial imperative to building an inclusive culture within the rail industry, is to retain their train drivers.

Train drivers are the core role in any rail operation, and they:

 - Take a long time to train

 - Are expensive to train, so

 - You don't want to lose them once they are fully trained. 

I recently saw a post from Auckland Transport about the new City Rail Link project, which will open during 2026. To be fully operational they need to train 270 drivers, and it takes 12 months to train a driver from scratch.

When I first started out in my HR career the “big deal” at the time was culture fit. Did people fit the culture. Would they fit in? Or not?

Of course you first had to define the culture which in itself was a tricky thing because many parts of an organisational culture are not tangible, and often hard to explain. I still talk about one job that I left after 12 months, despite knowing I didn’t “fit” from day one. I still find it very hard to explain why I didn’t fit that culture even with some distance and maturity.

Back in high school my grade 8 art teacher wrote on my end of year report card that I had "a fiery nature when called for". I had spoken up when she punished the whole class for the behaviour of a couple of boys. I wasn't having it.

It's risky to speak up. To create a fuss. To move towards the tension, rather than away from it. Few people want to do this.

I little while ago, maybe back in 2023, a lovely colleague recommended I talk to a particular woman who was creating an amazing network for women in business.

Being a woman in business, and based on that recommendation from a lovely colleague, I would also like to be in an amazing network of other women in business (cause that’s how humans work).

I checked out the website and booked in a call to learn more.

I have had an epiphany.

Who knew that working to build:

- Increased creativity and innovation,

- Employee engagement,

- Accessing the best talent,

- Better problem solving,

- Improved business results,

- Fairness and equity,

- Competitive advantage

- Company reputation

And more….. is start/stop work. Boom or bust?

Yes Trump’s second presidency and the associated media hype around his executive orders are creating a backlash against Diversity Equity and Inclusion work. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a new situation.