PODCAST · business
Make It Work
by Karen Kirton & Lachy Gray
The Make it Work podcast is all about the future of work and how leaders need to adapt. Karen and Lachy are lending their leadership expertise to tackle some of the biggest questions in the workplace right now.In Series 4, we’re focusing on the importance of upskilling in the workplace of the future.Through our conversations (and guest stars!), we aim to give you some thought-provoking ideas and practical takeaways that you can use to future-proof your organisation.
Episodes
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4.20 2023 Round Up: Embracing Upskilling
Reviewing our 2023 episodes, we provide themes from the year, offering insights for those interested in the intersection of upskilling, AI, and business growth.
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4.19 Navigating the Future of Education with AI - Insights from Angela Connell-Richards
In episode 19 of series 4 of the Make it Work Podcast, Angela Connell-Richards, CEO of Vivacity, joins Karen Kirton and Lachy Gray to explore the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the training industry. Drawing on her experiences, Angela discusses the integration of generative AI,...
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4.18 The Power of Skills-Based Hiring and Development
Skills-based hiring and development is reshaping the way organisations attract and retain talent. By embracing skills-based roles, organisations can not only access a broader pool of talent but also foster diversity, reduce unconscious bias, and prioritise employee development and retention.
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4.17 Prioritising Workplace Mental Health and Burnout Support
In the fast-paced world of modern workplaces, the mental health and well-being of our teams are increasingly important. Today Lachy and Karen delved into the intricacies of workplace mental health, discussing anxiety, stress, and burnout.
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4.16 Bridging the Gender Pay Gap: Strategies for Small Businesses
Discover actionable strategies for closing the gender pay gap in small businesses. To tackle this issue, we emphasise the importance of pay equity and transparency, unconscious bias, and adopting structured interviews and involving diverse perspectives in hiring decisions.
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4.15 How to Use a Digital Tool to Support Upskilling
This week Lachy and Karen talk to Mark Eggers, co-founder and head of sales of Yarno, a team-based gamified learning platform that embeds information to improve your team's performance in a fun and engaging way. They discuss how Yarno embeds and reinforces information to support upskilling teams...
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4.14 Creating a Culture of Kindness
Karen and Lachy revisit one of the most popular episodes from season 3 which was about what kindness looks like in the workplace (from March 2022). They talk about what behaviors to expect in a kind workplace culture, from open and transparent conversations to empathy, respect, and consideration...
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4.13 Discover the Secrets to Upskilling Remote Teams with Richard Phu
Learn how Outsourcing Angel empowers their team members, preventing burnout and fostering growth. Richard shares his invaluable insights on recruitment, communication, and the transformative power of progress over results.
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4.12 Unlocking Growth: Developing Career Paths in Small Business
In this episode, Lachy and Karen discuss how smaller businesses can develop their team members and consider career pathways. They highlight the importance of attracting and retaining great employees, and the value of having career conversations with employees to understand their motivations and...
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4.11 Book Club: Machines Behaving Badly
Both Lachy and Karen are avid readers, and set up their own book club! The first book they selected was Machines Behaving Badly by Toby Walsh, and it is the topic of discussion for today's episode. The book is about ethics and mortality in AI, a topical choice given the 'chat' around AI, right now.
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4.10 Why it is Important to Add Creativity Into Upskilling in the Workplace
In the latest Make It Work Podcast episode, Karen and Lachy are joined by Amal Awad, writer, director, performer, and author of a card deck called The Creative's Compass, a navigation tool for creatives. In this episode the topic of discussion is the importance of creativity in the workplace and...
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4.9 Building Upskilling Into Every Day
In this week's episode, Lachy and Karen discuss the importance of building in consistent practices for learning and upskilling your teams throughout the year. They also discuss how challenging it is for businesses to prioritise learning when things get busy or revenue is low.
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4.8 AI in Recruitment - Benefits, Risks and Ethics
We explore the pros & cons of AI in recruitment, including the potential to save time for the hiring managers, impact on the candidate experience and bias that may lie within AI-driven hiring decisions.
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4.7 Revisiting the Workplace Culture Debate: Who's Responsible?
In this episode, Lachy and Karen revisit an episode from season two where they discussed who is responsible for workplace culture. This leads them to ask who is responsible for learning culture? Although everyone has a role to play in culture, someone needs to be accountable
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4.6 The Importance of Humanistic Leadership Skills: with Linda Murray
Ongoing skills shortages are a hot topic in Australia and businesses need to upskill and grow their teams to meet their own growth plans. In this episode, Karen and Lachy are thrilled to be speaking with Executive Coach and Leadership Development Expert, Linda Murray on this topic of building a...
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4.5 Moving from Training to Learning
In our latest Make It Work Podcast episode, Karen and Lachy discuss why we need to shift the way workplace learning is approached. In this podcast episode, Lachy and Karen discuss the importance of upskilling staff in the workplace and what needs to change in workplace learning to achieve this goal.
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4.4 Tailoring Workplace Learning – interview with Chris Tan, Winning Academy Learning and Development Manager
We are excited to be speaking with Winning Academy Learning and Development Manager, Chris Tan. Chris has first-hand experience in upskilling and tailoring learning to individual learner needs. He believes that L&D specialists need to educate their leaders about the value add that learning can...
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4.3 Which Skills Should Businesses Be Focussing On Upskilling Their Teams In?
In this episode, we dive into upskilling, what it is, and what particular skills we're referring to. We also chat through the skills that are in demand right now, and the skills that are expected to be in demand this decade.
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4.2 Hiring For Behaviours Over Experience: with Pree Sarkar
In this episode, Karen and Lachy discuss the importance of hiring for behavior rather than just skills or experience with Pree Sarkar, the founder and director of Switch Recruitment. Pree explains that 46% of hires fail when they are hired just based on skills alone, and that hiring based on…
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4.1 The Transition From Jobs to Skills is Happening. Are You Ready?
In Season 4 of Make it Work, we're talking about upskilling and why we believe it's the key to attracting and retaining great people and thriving in today's workplace.
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About This Podcast Series 4
In Season 4 of Make it Work, we're talking about upskilling and why we believe it's the key to attracting and retaining great people and thriving in today's workplace. We aim to give you thought-provoking ideas and practical takeaways that you can use to future-proof your organisation. Check out...
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3.20 2022 Round Up
The Make it Work podcast has covered a range of interesting and important topics this year, including insightful guest interviews. The first episode aired after Russia invaded Ukraine, Australia elected a new Prime Minister, and the economy saw a rise in inflation. There were a lot of changes!…
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3.19 Is Diversity of Thinking Part of Your Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategy?
Diversity is a hot topic. Yet one aspect of diversity that's less commonly talked about is diversity of thought and perspective. In this episode, Karen and Lachy explore thinking diversity with Michael Morgan, the CEO of Herrmann Asia. Herrmann are the organisation behind the globally recognised...
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3.18 Fostering Psychological Safety at Work with Special Guest Linda Murray
Organisations talk about their culture in glowing terms, saying it's healthy, inclusive, and transformative. Yet what does that actually mean? One aspect is psychological safety, which is the idea that people feel comfortable showing up and speaking up at work. In this episode, we discuss...
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3.17 Keeping Connections in Remote and Hybrid Workplaces
The 9-5, in the office, working week has changed dramatically in the last few years, thanks to Covid-19. Whilst many are enjoying the flexibility offered by remote and hybrid working are we starting to see a downside to the situation? We have less in-person connection with our colleagues and...
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3.16 The Challenges of Growing a Business
As business owners we generally have a goal of growing our business and making it scalable. But growth isn't always linear and it isn't always what the business needs. In this episode, we discuss business growth and its challenges with Darrell King, founder and CE of PolarSeven, a consulting and...
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3.15 Why Does Change In The Workplace Fail?
Did you know that 70% of change programs fail? This is often due to employee resistance and lack of support from management. In this episode, Karen and Lachy talk about implementing change in the workplace, why it is not always handled skilfully, and what businesses can do to manage change...
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3.14 Why is Being a Compassionate Leader Important? with Special Guest Jenny Steadman
How is compassionate leadership different from empathetic leadership? Difficult workplace conversations require a mindful touch, and while wisdom without compassion can be ruthless, compassion without wisdom is naive. In this episode, Karen and Lachy are in conversation with Jenny Steadman about...
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3.13 If it's Not Money, then What Motivates Us at Work?
Financial rewards are one way of motivating staff, but research suggests they're not the most effective. Factors like work-life balance and pleasant work atmospheres are becoming much more popular in someone's motivation to work somewhere. In this episode, Karen and Lachy discuss the question, if...
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3.12 How Can We Level Up Our Recruiting Processes? With Special Guest Nathan Soti
It's a tough time for recruiting at the moment. Australia's skills shortages have only been exacerbated by border closure and other pandemic-related factors. Many businesses are struggling to recruit and retain key roles, leading to outsourcing overseas. In this episode, Karen and Lachy, with...
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3.11 How Can I Deliver Valuable and Effective Feedback?
Feedback is critical for effective communication at work, to help us learn and develop. However, it's not always delivered well, if at all. Karen and Lachy delve into the hot topic of feedback: why it's important, how to give it, and, maybe most importantly, how to receive it.
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3.10 How Can You Leverage Technology to Scale and Grow Your Business?
This week, Karen and Lachy look at the role and importance of technology in business with special guest Maria Padisetti. Leveraging technology has become vital to business growth, but it can be an expensive investment if it's done ad-hoc and without purpose. CEO of Digital Armour, Maria is an...
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3.9 Do Financial Rewards Work to Motivate Staff?
Humans respond strongly to rewards - and financial incentives seem to be the most popular in business settings. Yet, research shows they're not the most effective form of motivation in the long run. In this episode, Karen and Lachy are looking at financial rewards: what works for them, what...
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3.8 How can you be Vulnerable at Work?
Vulnerability at work seems to be a hot topic at the moment. The image of the emotionless work persona is thawing, and leaders are being encouraged to bring their whole selves to work. But showing vulnerability is daunting! In this episode, Karen and Lachy look at what vulnerability looks like in…
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3.7 How can we Best Design Offices to Cater for Hybrid Work, and for Wellbeing?
As flexible and hybrid work becomes the new normal, businesses are faced with the new challenge of how to design spaces and offices that cater to this. In this episode, we chat with Christina Kim, who specialises in designing human centric spaces, about the role of workplace design in today's...
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3.6 How can I use Scorecards to Measure Workplace KPIs and Performance?
The biggest challenge to setting goals is keeping track of them, and staying accountable. Scorecards are a great way of measuring your company's goals at a high level. In this episode, Karen and Lachy discuss the balanced scorecard, and how you can use it to set simple and achievable goals, and…
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3.5 How do you Set Goals in your Organisation?
Goals are easy to set but difficult to follow. It's one thing to set up a goal framework, but then you have to track how you're going and measure against it - it's easy to lose track pretty quickly! A major part of setting goals effectively is making sure they are achievable and measurable. Karen...
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3.4 Building a Sustainable Sales Process for your Business
Special guest Peter Solway is put in the hot-seat in this week's episode. An expert in solving B2B sales challenges, Peter is an entrepreneurial sales leader for small businesses. Karen and Lachy discuss with Peter the best ways business owners can build sustainable sales processes and grow their...
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3.3 How Do I Set New Starters Up For Success?
You've invested so much in the hiring process, yet simply showing a new employee their workspace (or in today's world, sending them their new laptop) and wishing them well on day one isn't going to set them up for success. Put yourself in their shoes: we all know how nerve-wracking it can be to...
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3.2 What does Kindness Look Like in the Workplace?
Generally, workplace cultures are described as 'fast-paced', or 'fun'. But, what about 'kind'? Kindness in the workplace can be difficult to pin down, but Lachy and Karen are up for the challenge! Looking at how we define workplace kindness and whether it's overrated, they bring their leadership...
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3.1 Should your Workplace be your "Family"?
We spend a lot of time at work with our colleagues. It's not uncommon to hear a workplace referred to as a family - but how does this impact the culture of the workplace? In this episode, Karen and Lachy are discussing the impact of calling your work environment 'family'. Does it foster a…
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About this podcast series 3
Developing your leadership for the future of work. Welcome to series 3 of the Make It work Podcast! -Returning on 10 March 2022- My name is Karen Kirton and along with my co-host Lachy Gray, we explore what the future of work looks like, and how as leaders we need to adapt. Each episode is less...
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2.9 Looking back on 2021 in business, leadership and change
Can anyone believe it's almost a new year?! And what a year it's been. It felt like the longest year and the shortest year, all at the same time. But, either way, it's brought up a lot of different and interesting big questions for business and for leadership. In the final episode of 2021, Lachy...
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2.8 Returning to Work in a (Somewhat) COVID-Normal World
As we begin to approach 'COVID-normal', what does this mean for work? Most workplaces are navigating the return to the office, but this might not suit everyone who had grown accustomed to their more flexible work-from-home lifestyle. On the other side, the office may look entirely different from...
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2.7 Retaining Staff Through the "Great Resignation" and the Explosion of Gig Economy
You've heard it everywhere: the 'Great Resignation' is upon us. Employees are dropping out of the mainstream workforce to pursue freelance work or working gigs. So how can business owners ensure they keep their people when the gig economy continues to rise as an attractive option? In this episode...
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2.6 Talking About Mental Wellbeing with Special Guest Kaylene Wynn
In this very special episode of Make it Work, Lachy and Karen welcome special guest Kaylene Wynn. Kaylene has over 20 years of experience working as a transpersonal psychotherapist and executive mind coach, and she's the author of Rise and Shine - awaken your greatest self. Together, they talk...
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2.5 Who is Responsible for Workplace Culture?
Where does the responsibility for building culture fall? On the leader? On the HR department? On everyone in the team? In this episode, Lachy and Karen discuss opposing sides of the question. They both explore how the responsibility of culture is shared, communicated and enforced. They also talk...
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2.4 Keeping a cool head, and an open mind
At some point or another, we've all had conversations with people with strong beliefs. It's uncomfortable, and it's easy to get defensive, or angry, when coming against an opposing belief. But what if you could take a step back, and approach the conversation with empathy and an open mind? Would...
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2.3 The Boundary Between Overachieving and Strong Leadership
Surely being an overachiever is paramount to running a business. Leaders are often tasked with generating passion and energy and fuelling business growth. But, recent research from the Harvard Business Review may indicate otherwise.... In this episode of Make it Work, Karen and Lachy talk about…
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2.2 Navigating Mental Health at Work
How can we as leaders navigate mental health? It's a pretty difficult subject, and it can be hard to know where the boundaries are around talking about mental health and checking in on your team. Sharing their own experiences as leaders, Karen and Lachy delve in and discuss the importance of...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The Make it Work podcast is all about the future of work and how leaders need to adapt. Karen and Lachy are lending their leadership expertise to tackle some of the biggest questions in the workplace right now.In Series 4, we’re focusing on the importance of upskilling in the workplace of the future.Through our conversations (and guest stars!), we aim to give you some thought-provoking ideas and practical takeaways that you can use to future-proof your organisation.
HOSTED BY
Karen Kirton & Lachy Gray
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Make It Work have?
Make It Work currently has 58 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Make It Work about?
The Make it Work podcast is all about the future of work and how leaders need to adapt. Karen and Lachy are lending their leadership expertise to tackle some of the biggest questions in the workplace right now.In Series 4, we’re focusing on the importance of upskilling in the workplace of the...
How often does Make It Work release new episodes?
Make It Work has 58 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Make It Work?
You can listen to Make It Work on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Make It Work?
Make It Work is created and hosted by Karen Kirton & Lachy Gray.
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