Director, Centre for the New Workforce at Swinburne University of Technology
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Dr. Sean Gallagher is one of Australia’s leading experts on the future of work. He works with leaders to help their businesses effectively leverage their workers in the digital economy and disrupted environments. This leads to improved complex problem solving, new idea generation and enhanced growth and impact. Based on national surveys of Australian workers, the twin reports “Peak Human Potential” (2019) and “Peak Human Workplace” (2021) set out how organisations can create value in the digital economy through reimagining work as a pathway to innovation. Both reports have been widely endorsed, including by APEC, Engineers Australia, TAFE Directors Australia. His research helps shape policy outcomes, including the Victorian Government Inquiry into the On-Demand Economy.

This year Sean has undertaken a comprehensive research study and released a report entitled ‘Hybrid working 2.0: Humanising the office’. The report reveals insights on the flexible working experiences of white-collar workers and what the office could look like in the future. Conducted in August during the second year of the pandemic, the survey also reveals how we’re currently balancing work across physical and virtual domains, the rise of flexible working, and the perceived purpose and importance of the physical office in a hybrid working future.

Our discussion with Sean covered the findings of the report and provides a very interesting insight into understanding the expectations that office workers now have in regards to their work arrangements.

To find out more about Sean’s report and download the findings, click here.

Director Tall Poppy Movie
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Justine is an emerging Director and the inaugural recipient of the Create NSW She Doc Fellowship Award and has had a glorious & eclectic career in content creation over the past 20 years.

From the newsroom of Radio 1 in the UK to the production office of Saatchi & Saatchi, Network Seven News, Fremantle Media & some of australia’s best content agencies Justine’s career has been anything but traditional. After many years of producing, Justine’s passion in the extraordinary everyday become her focus & she began creating her own short films. In recent years Justine’s brand work has had a focus on sports stories with brands such as Optus, Bridgestone & the AOC. Her Headspace Headcoach Campaign was one of the most successful campaigns to date for the organisation.

In June 2021 Justine’s directorial debut feature documentary Tall Poppy: A Skater’s Story was released in cinemas nationally. The film has been close to 10 years in the making,following Poppy Starr as she comes of age on the road to becoming one of the first skateboarders to represent Australia at the Tokyo Games. Commissioned by Screen Australia & the ABC, distributed by Madman/Garage Entertainment Justine also earned the title of EP & Producer on the film. The film most recently made Flicks Top 10 films to watch & Monster Children reckons it’s a fantastic film and an inspiring story to boot.

With such an expansive background and being part of an industry that has been hit hard by the consequences of the pandemic, Justine provides us with insights into how the industry has adapted and risen to the challenge. Our discussion includes:

• The appeal of Australia to film makers around the world
• The opportunities for regional film and support crews around the country, rather than taking traveling with one crew around various locations
• Parallels between the film and TV industry and the corporate world

Director of People & Culture at Hays plc Australia & New Zealand
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As Director of People & Culture for Hays plc Australia & New Zealand, Natalie’s role is to lead the People and Culture team to execute the Diversity & Inclusion, change management, leadership capability, recruitment, training, learning and development programs across the ANZ region. Reporting to the Managing Director of Hays ANZ, Natalie is a part of the Australia & New Zealand Management Board and contributes to the direction and strategy of Hays Australia & New Zealand to achieve business objectives.

Her most recent appointment prior to Hays was the Director of Human Resources at ICC Sydney. Her role entailed driving the venue’s people strategy with best-in-class HR processes, policies and practices, to make ICC Sydney an extraordinary place to work for world class professionals.

Natalie joined ICC Sydney the week Covid-19 hit Australia and had to lead the business through large scale transformation including re-designing the HR department that she led and re-created to suit the changing business needs of the events industry.

Natalie believes that people are the most important aspect of any business. She is dedicated to fostering a culture of performance excellence and leads the diversity strategy with a strong focus on First Nations, LGBT, Able @work and New Australians.

Prior to joining ICC Sydney, Natalie held various HR leadership positions based in Hong Kong, the Middle East, the UK and Asia Pacific regions. Her extensive experience spans the defence, aviation, hospitality, media & telecommunications, logistics and government sectors, including roles at Broadcast Australia, Serco Defence and Etihad Airways. She holds a Masters in Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations from the University of Sydney and a Bachelor of Business and Commerce from Western Sydney University. Natalie is well known in the HR Industry across Australia and is invited as keynote speaker and presenter for various HR National summits and forums.

Among other roles in the community, Natalie is a long-time volunteer for the Leukaemia Foundation.

With a range of clients across many different industries including those who are experiencing a critical shortage of available talent, in this episode, Natalie provides us with some excellent insights:

• How organisations have pivoted when they traditionally rely on having staff on site
• Dealing with critical staff shortages as a result of border closures, vaccination reluctance, and talent scouting
• Accepting recruitment has to change by hiring on no-experience and implementing clear pathways and training programs to improve retention

Founding Partner, Talent Mobility Search & Talent Mobility Advisor at Talent Beyond Boundaries
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Vincent is an accomplished professional and business owner with a career spanning over twenty years in the field of talent mobility. Born and raised in Belgium, Vincent has lived through some of the milestones that his talent mobility philosophy is based upon.

Son of a refugee, relocated 11 times, and visited 111 countries in the world, Vincent thrives to make the talent mobility community more knowledgeable, efficient, and inclusive. Prior to establishing Talent Mobility Search in 2014, Vincent worked in corporates (AirInc, SKM, Goldman Sachs) where he led successful functions and developed his love for talent identification and development. In 2021, Vincent also joined Talent Beyond Boundaries to drive their corporate outreach strategy.

In this episode, Vincent discusses with Keryn and Jamie how the mobility landscape is looking right now and where and why it’s changing…for the better!

General Manager & Global People Programs at Xero, New Zealand
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Ryan Ghisi is General Manager, Global People Programs at Xero, New Zealand. He has worked closely with executive teams and boards at many large international organisations on strategy and initiatives that drive employee attraction, engagement, and retention. He has a passion for everything that impacts the employee experience, including recognition, wellness, culture, career and development, flexible working, remuneration and rewards, and leadership.

In this episode, Ryan provides us with some fascinating insights into Xero’s significant investment into its employee wellbeing initiatives which have supported their people, worldwide.

CSO at Parents at Work
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Kiri Stejko, CSO at Parents at Work has a background in People & Culture, Talent management, and acquisition and now works with HR and Business Leaders to maximise talent strategies – including family friendly culture initiatives.

In addition to Kiri’s CSO role, Kiri is part of The Changing Places Group which is a People and Culture consultancy, founded in Australia and servicing clients globally.

In this episode, we hear how organisations need to acknowledge that everyone in the workplace is juggling external responsibilities (parenthood, carer, etc.) and managers need to open it up as a conversation.

Parents at Work have developed an Australian Certification to set a standard and provide an ongoing commitment to run a family friendly workplace, with an annual Action Plan required every year and a certification review bi-annually.