If you answered yes to some of these questions, it’s time to think about your behaviours as a leader and what these behaviours reinforce in others. If you always give people answers and not questions, they won’t show initiative. If you often reverse decisions that are made without you present, your team will stop making decisions on their own. If you don’t stop to listen and encourage others to share their opinion (without interruption) they just won’t bother sharing.

It’s a common problem between leaders and teams, particularly when the leader has a more dominating style, and the team members tend to be quieter and more submissive.

Some small things to think about doing if you feel you are in this situation as a leader:

1.  When you are about to make a statement, offer advise or tell someone what to do, ask a question instead.

2. Don’t overturn a decision that doesn’t really need to be overturned (think hard before overturning it – surprisingly there are often more ways to achieve an outcome than the one you have thought of).

3. Choose something that you genuinely want to get opinions on. Go ask 3 people in your team (1-1) for their opinion. Just ask, don’t tell them what you think.

Let’s take a look at the indirect costs. First there are the hiring costs which includes the managers time given to investing in screening and interviewing candidates. Studies show that works out to be around $460. Once the person starts there is the induction training. Let’s say that is 3 hours of your time, and 3 hours of theirs. We’ll call that $300. What about the regular performance discussions once per week at 30 mins each? That’s $800 per year. Then there is payroll administration which is around $200 for one employee per year. The big one which is really hard to determine is lack of productivity (sick leave, carers leave, and sometimes being at work, but not really there), which studies show is at least $3000 for an employee earning $65,000 per year.

This makes a total of $4760 on top of what you thought you were paying. Wow.

What can you do about this? Here’s three things that would make a big difference straight away:

1. It’s important that your accounting system picks as many of these costs up as possible. Talk with your Finance Manager or Accountant to ensure that these costs are being allocated correctly so that when you are considering hiring a new person you truly understand what it will cost.

2. Have processes and policies in place that ensure recruitment is an efficient and effective task. Standardised interview questions and skilling up managers to hold quality interviews will go a long way on ensuring the right person is selected.

3. Keep a track of your company’s presenteeism rates. Measure sick days taken, and get an engagement or culture survey done of your organisation (teams as small as 5 can do this and get statistically significant data). This will give you loads of information that will help you correct the reasons why people decide to not to come to work (either physically or mentally).

Want to learn more? Email info@eirgroup.com.au or call 1300 788 834.

The answer to the first question is NO.  The Australian government has ruled that Labourers are not entitled to hold an ABN.  This can be clearly found on the website where you apply for an ABN. It is also states on the website why Labourers are not entitled to hold an ABN.  The short version – it’s not legal to work as a labourer and be paid via an ABN, end of story.

The answer to question 2 is also NO.  Labourers whom are being paid on ABN need to realise that when you are paid on ABN your employer is not contributing to your superannuation, is not covering you for any accidents at work, generally not paying you overtime and is not paying any of your statutory tax obligations.  All of these things are left to you.  So, when you do take into consideration all these items you are probably earning less on ABN than if you were being paid correctly.  Plus you are very much at risk if you are unfortunate enough to be injured at work.   If you are being paid via an ABN the Australian Tax Office deems this an illegal act.

As labourer you must be paid via Tax File Number. Your employer must pay a minimum 9% superannuation on your behalf. Your employer must ensure they have adequate Workers Comp insurance to protect you while you are at work. Your employer must make the correct taxation deduction and payments on your behalf.

If you are doing labourering work make sure you get paid via TFN. Be protected and earn what your are entitled to.

But at the end of the day, what’s important is that the workplace is as safe as it can possibly be. Workplaces are safest when people act and behave in safe ways. Our behaviour is largely determined by the culture we live and work in.

So what does a safety culture look and feel like?

1.  Real commitment at all levels. The senior leadership think about “how safe are we all here” just as much as they are thinking “how much money are we making here”. And, all the staff know it
2. Safety is seen as an investment not a cost. Everyone fundamentally gets that a safety budget will drive business performance, as much as they believe marketing initiatives will
3. Safety & health is part of continuous improvement People are looking for ways to improve safety performance – it’s on their mind as much as improving their business performance
4. Safety Information is Everywhere Clear safety communications are everywhere for people to see, training is provided for people and information flows are two-way
5. Safety management systems are in place and used. Data from them is analysed systematically and revisions to policies, strategies and practices are made as a result.
6. Trust and Blame Free –people feel they can report incidents and concerns without worry that management will look at them unfavourably.
7.  Successes are celebrated – good safety results are recognised and celebrated as much as any other business result

How close is your company to this? Most companies have a way to go before they get to this ideal. It’s tough work. Changing our own behaviour is hard enough – changing others is almost impossible!

A safety culture will only exist where the top leadership drives it – it’s actually as simple as that. So if you as the leader aren’t truly committed and don’t really see the value (other than compliance) then you need to change your mindset and your behaviour first.

Then, once you are there, some simple inclusions into your business model will really start to embed the safety culture. Some ideas are:

• Annual business cycle includes a strategic review and plan for safety and ensuring this is communicated strongly throughout the business
• Put safety as a topic in every team meeting – not an update from the safety team, rather a discussion that team members themselves lead. It may feel awkward for the first couple of weeks, but people soon loosen up and it’s amazing the things that can come up.
• Appoint a safety officer. This person needs to be commercially astute and passionate about safety. No form-filling, legislation sprouting, compliance motivated person, but someone who understands social systems and how to influence them, who cares about the commercial side of the business and keeps abreast of best practice in workplace safety.
• Involve influential team members in the safety committee, and reward them for contributing to the committee – put your high flyers on it and really show them that by doing well in safety will contribute to their career progression

Your safety culture won’t be built in a day, however embed even SOME of the ideas above and watch the change happen – it will astound you.

Keep the bigger picture in mind – the construction industry is still Australia’s 3^rd largest employer accounting for 9% of the workforce , and employment in the industry is still expected to grow by 18.7% over the next 5 years (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR), 2011). Australia is a growing population and will continue to need more infrastructure and housing.

Now is the time to upskill yourself to be best placed for that ideal promotion or change when the market swings upwards and companies are expanding and ready to recruit.

There are some great certifications and programs available, and many are nationally recognised. They look extremely good on a resume, make a strong positive difference to your job outputs, keep you abreast of the latest trends in the industry and keep you well connected.

Here are a few examples to get you thinking.

Certificate IV in Building & Construction (Building) – enjoy being part of a construction site, think the builder’s job looks rewarding? Look into this nationally recognised qualification that contributes towards an application for a builders licence

PMI CAPM – Certified Associate in Project Management – Got the Project Manager’s job on your radar? This is an entry level certification – your first step towards your ambition

 PMI CAPM – Project Management Professional – Already an experienced Project Manager? Qualify for your PMP – the gold standard in Project Management Certification

Certificate IV in Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) –Passionate about safety in the workplace? Gain the skills required to become an effective OH&S officer

Certificate IV in Small Business Management – don’t rely on your employer to provide you financial security – gain the skills to run your own business!

We think The Great Australian Pay Check at Seek.com is a great place to start your research if you are curious about what others in your position earn.

According to Pay Check (August, 2011) Contracts Administrators with less than 3 years experience earns on average $52K per year, with 3 – 5 years experience earns on average $72K and 5- 10 years $80K.

Of course, salary isn’t everything. Try to include the intangible benefits that your company offers- they can be worth more to you personally than an extra $10K. Things like a good boss and a supportive team are normally considered by employees to be more important than pay. Would you prefer to pocket an extra $150 per week (after tax), and deal with a tyrant boss who works you an extra 10 hours a week?

If you are feeling underpaid then get your facts together about what your job is worth in the market. If you find out it’s well above what you are earning now - talk to your boss about it. Too often disgruntled employees leave a company they like, end up at a company where the boss or culture doesn’t suit them for the payrise they could have got at the first company if they just asked.

Happy Researching! You can contact us at info@eirgroup.com.au for further information.

Contract Administrators – are you on a good wicket