People 101

Hiring, employment basics, onboarding, payroll, performance, leadership, culture and engagement for owners building their first teams.

Build and manage an effective workforce.

  • Hiring and recruitment – How to work out what role you actually need, write an ad that attracts the right people, run a fair and fast selection process, and make an offer that sticks: a practical hiring guide for small Australian businesses.
  • Employment fundamentals – The Australian employment basics every employer must understand: the Fair Work system, National Employment Standards, modern awards, employment types, contracts, record-keeping and the difference between an employee and a contractor.
  • Employee onboarding – A new hire’s first 90 days decide whether they stay and how quickly they become productive. How to plan the week before they start, their first day, their first month and their probation review so that both sides succeed.
  • Payroll and workforce management – Paying people correctly and on time is a legal duty and a trust issue. How Australian payroll works end to end: awards, timesheets, Single Touch Payroll, superannuation, leave, rostering and the systems that keep it accurate as the team grows.
  • Performance management – Performance management is a continuous cycle of clear expectations, regular feedback and fair consequences, not an annual form. How to set it up in a small team, handle underperformance properly, and recognise good work.
  • Leadership and team management – Moving from doing the work to leading people who do it is the hardest transition in small business. How to set direction, delegate properly, run useful meetings, build your first supervisors and manage your own time as the team grows.
  • Workplace culture – Culture is what people do when the owner is not watching. How to define the values and behaviours you actually want, hire and manage to them, build psychological safety and meet your obligations for a safe and respectful workplace.
  • Employee engagement – Engaged employees care about the outcome, not just the pay. What actually drives engagement in a small business, how to measure it without a corporate survey, and how to act on what you learn so good people stay and give their best.