Employees at the top of the apple tree – 5 tips for attracting and retaining employees

American musician Pete Wentz said “Girls are like apples, the good ones are always at the top of the tree.” The same analogy can be applied to employees. The good ones at the top of the tree, can be hard to find and even more difficult to retain. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics only 46% of employees have been in the same job for longer than five years. The old days of employees loyal to only one company are few and far between, with a whopping 20% of workers having been in same job for less than one year. But funnily enough, those workers moving in between jobs aren’t...

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Dementia friendly communities: the importance of recognising the rights of dementia patients

It’s hard to be believe it’s been almost 30 years since my Grandfather was first diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. I can still remember the sign, masking taped onto the back of his bathrobe, ‘if found, return to ward 5B’. I thought it was awful that my vibrant, sports-mad Grandfather was left to spend the remainder of his years tied to a chair for his own safety and protection. It still feels like yesterday and I can still smell the scents of the nursing home if I think of those days. Alzheimer and dementia treatment has come a long way since then. While the end-of-cycle care is most...

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‘He just did it ’cause he likes you’: Government takes on domestic violence

Look around your office. Do you have four female colleagues? One of them will be the victim of domestic violence. According to Safe Horizon, around 25% of women will experience domestic or family violence in their lifetime. This number drops for men with one in six experiencing domestic violence, but it is still too high. The Coalition government’s new ad campaign began on Sunday: a one minute montage featuring increasingly confronting scenarios of domestic violence. A young boy slams a door in front of a little girl which causes her to fall over. The mother chastises her daughter,...

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Will you be next victim of online scams?

Do you like to shop online? Well, unfortunately I have some frightening news for you. In 2015, there have been 2735 number of reports of online shopping scams with a combined total of $1.46 million loss in Australia, half of the victims being female. 16% of the victims fall within the age range of 25 – 34 years old. 50.6% of these people have placed their orders over the internet, followed by email at 22.9%. While many of these online shops are legitimate, however scammers take advantage of those unsuspecting shoppers by using the anonymous nature of the internet. There...

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Looking to improve your fitness and endurance? Have this sweat treat!

Chocoholics rejoice! There is finally a chocolate which is looked at as healthy and helpful for physical fitness nourishment. The healthy dark chocolate tastes and looks like the chocolate individuals understand and adore, however has some differences that makes it diabetic - and vegan-friendly, perfect for physical fitness nutrition. Recent studies have shown that dark chocolate can have a positive effect on a person’s athletic performance and endurance. In fact, these studies have stated that it may help give athletes an extra edge in their fitness training. The man behind the...

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One in Five Australian Teenagers: Unemployed.

Australia is facing one of it's biggest problems in generations, with a reported one in five Australian teenagers unable to find work. Latest unemployment trend data shows the national youth unemployment rate (for 15–24-year-olds) was at 14.2% in January 2015, more than twice the overall national unemployment rate (6.3%). Governments, employers, job service providers and educators are seeking better integration around policy and strategy to help young people manage the transition to work. Under new funding initiatives, the Commonwealth has earmarked $330 million for its National...

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Five things to avoid when starting a new job.

You made it. You nailed the phone call, handled the first interview like a pro, soared through the second interview and then it came- that glorious phone call saying, 'Congratulations, you got the job.' But don’t get too comfortable, you can’t kick off your smelly shoes under the desk or jabber away on the phone to Aunt Ida about how much weight Aunt Hilda has put on. You got the job so let’s make sure you keep it. I wandered around the office to ask our hiring managers what were the worst thing a new employee could do. These are five things not to do when you’re starting a new job. Wear...

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3 CIO’s tips on how to take a strategic approach to cloud integration

In the digital world, consumer expectations have changed dramatically. Government needs to connect with the community in unprecedented ways and enable collaboration, innovative project development and coordination of data across multiple platforms, to deliver service excellence. How are you connecting with today’s public? How can government provide a better service? And how can you do that more efficiently? Recently, I sat down with a few Chief Information Officers - who are presenting at the upcoming 2nd Annual Cloud Services in Local Government conference - to get their tips and...

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A world without antibiotics: What does our future look like?

Prior to the invention of antibiotics in the 20th Century, the human race suffered fatally from diseases we today consider to be commonplace.  Bacterial Meningitis was a common killer with 90% of cases in children being terminal. Those who did survive were left with severe deformities. Today, bacterial meningitis can be cured with a simple course of antibiotics.  With the invention of antibiotics in 1928, life expectancy jumped by nearly eight years. Bacterial infections as a cause of death were on the decline. This Golden Era of Antibiotics did not last long. Doctors...

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Australia's new national cyber security policy

With online activity and transactions become the norm, cyber-fraud instances are booming and becoming increasingly complex. A recent KPMG report indicates that the total value of fraud cases brought before the Australian courts between April-September 2015 was $128.4 million, averaging $1.4 million per case. This is an alarming cost to Australian organisations and as the methodologies employed by fraudsters continue to increase in sophistication, organisations need to constantly stay ahead. It is clearly vital we all collectively remain attentive and adopt effective tools to address...

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