talenttable

"From Bed-Rotting to Momentum: How Breathwork Saved My Business (and Me)"

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 02:13:56 GMT

"From Bed-Rotting to Momentum: How Breathwork Saved My Business (and Me)"

In July, I was done.

Freshly diagnosed with inattentive ADHD at an age where I should have had it all figured out, I was mourning what could have been. I stayed in bed past lunchtime, doom-scrolling, keeping Talent Table alive while presenting a polished LinkedIn persona. Behind the scenes? The shit was hitting the fan. People were not booking for events, vendors changed their approach and events were dying.

2025 was supposed to be my year. Instead, I was opting out of everything. And for many of us, 2025 was a 'shitfuckery' of a year!

The WTF Moment

A friend reached out. She was joining a three-month breathwork program to "step into flow, alignment, and effortless impact."

My internal response? Eye roll. Woo woo nonsense.

I've never been one for meditation or affirmations. I'm my father's daughter - the man who joked about only needing one sock for Christmas after his leg amputation. Resilience through sheer will, that's my brand.

Except my resilience had deserted me. I wasn't just staying in bed - I was bed-rotting. A term and state I never want to revisit.

Something had to change.

So I booked a call with Rebecca Grainger, laughing awkwardly as she talked about "stepping into my flow" by breathing.

Just breathe, and everything will be alright. Cue the WTF face.

But what did I have to lose? I joined three other women - all "of a certain age," all no longer in love with our businesses or lives, all knowing menopause was kicking our ass.

The First Session

I sat in a car park outside a volleyball court (always showing up for Tom).

Not ideal, but given my skepticism, "it'll do."

When Rebecca asked what I wanted to achieve, I cried. "I just want to be happy."

We were all quiet, exhausted, and lost. I'd found my tribe.

That night, lying back in my car seat in the rain, I followed Rebecca's instructions. I got frightened and started to choke - probably resisting. I drained the car battery and drove home sobbing that everything was too hard.

But I slept. And the next morning, I was calmer than I'd been in months. Maybe years.

Breathing, Angels, and Dead Dogs

Every two weeks: beds, low lights, 90 minutes of breathwork. I was addicted.

During one session, after Loopsy Lou (my dearest dog) had suddenly died, she came to me, told me she was happy, that she'd be with me forever, and to let her go. Rebecca snapped a photo over Zoom. My face radiated joy, not grief.

Another week, someone stood by my bed radiating love. "Your guardian angel," Rebecca said. I named him Jack - my grandfather's name. The man who always thought I was perfect. The angel looked like him from his younger days.

I was officially into woo woo.

Permission to Stop

The biggest win? Rebecca gave us permission to stop.

I took Walker (fur baby) out every day. We both mourned Loopsy together and found our new way. Him, learning to be brave without her. Me, helping him find his new doggy world. I read entire afternoons away - habit stacking, community building, let them go, impact leadership. I started to meet people for coffee. I worked in the garden at our beach house - even during the week when my business brain screamed I should be doing more.

I didn't know what my business was anymore. Events were dying - no budget, no time, no numbers. I hated doing it alone.

By stopping, I let my brain process in the background. I forgave myself for not wanting to do it anymore. For waiting for a window to open after doors slammed shut.

The mad voices quieted. The thousands of tabs in my head closed. I had space to think, to feel, to plan.

Connection. Community. Clarity.

These words kept surfacing during downtime. This is what you do.

People approached me with ideas and ways I could work with them. I started saying, "That sounds interesting, let me think on it", instead of rushing to yes. Whatever I did had to bring joy, energy, and enthusiasm. And it had to pay.

By year's end, I'd stopped bed-rotting. Built routines. Managed my ADHD. My energy was higher but calmer. I liked myself again. And started two new roles as a community manager of humaneer and Circle Back Initiative .

2026: The Year of Momentum

In our last session, Rebecca asked for our word for 2026. It's the year of the horse - energy, passion, bold action. After the year of the snake, when I shed everything that wasn't working, I was ready.

My word: Momentum.

My vision: Build consistent routines for controlled forward motion. Gallop, not wander. Supported by people I value more than they'll ever know.

I'm doing the big PeoplePalooza event in September - built by HR, for HR. Expanding our career website research. Growing two communities. Partnering on a brilliant 2025 idea.

Everything considered, planned, joyful.

Have I overcommitted? Probably. But it's fun overcommitment.

And it all started with a WTF moment and a "what have I got to lose?" thought process.

Here's to 2026 - where everything I do brings me joy, energy, and momentum, working with and for people that energise me and lift me up.

Experience Isn’t Expired: Why Every Generation Wins When We Keep Older Workers On

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 10:52:17 GMT

The Untapped Superpower in Your Workforce

I have always worked in multigenerational offices. In my early career, I often sought out the mature people and learned from them. When I was involved in the church, spending time with the elders was always time well spent as they regaled me with stories.

Afternoons spent with my grandparents, hearing about life in London during WW2, fascinated me. Experiences that I had and it brought school learning to life! I have always found seeking out the mature people a valuable experience.

Today, I turned 60. I come from a generation that had to buy music four times: first, we replaced our record collections with tape collections, then those with CD collections, and now we need a subscription to listen to music. I remember the first computer on my desk. I was once hired to train people on how to use the internet. Generation X are seen as the most able to adjust to change.

Where we are at:

A demographic shift is happening in Australia, with people leaving rather than entering the workforce.

Mature-age workers bring loyalty, reliability and deep expertise. Yet, biases mean too many organisations are letting them go too early.

One of the reasons could be that many organisations aren’t set up to retain, support, or thrive with older workers.

The Stats

Workforce age 55+ has more than doubled from ~9% in 1991 to ~19% in 2021. ( CEPAR )
By 2050, workers aged 55+ are expected to make up about 40% of the adult population in Australia. ( CEPAR )
Older Australians (65+) labour-force participation has more than doubled in the past 20 years (≈ 6.1% in 2001 to 15% in 2021). ( AIHW )
Many older Australians are employed part-time; many in managerial, professional, clerical roles. ( AIHW )
Barriers still exist: employer perception, health and caring responsibilities, skills gaps, bias. ( Employment and Workplace Relations )
Employers who hired mature age applicants said their strengths: experience, reliability, work ethic, positive attitude. ( Jobs and Skills Australia )
Participation rate for 55-64 year olds is ~ 69.6%. Unemployment for mature age is low (~2.8%). ( Jobs and Skills Australia
When mature workers lose jobs, it takes them significantly longer to find new ones vs younger cohorts.

Why Retaining Older Workers Matters

As productivity, innovation, and competition grow harder, those with deep knowledge and past lessons can accelerate results. And don’t be fooled by thinking that they have not kept up with technology. I am having a lot of fun teaching myself AI and maintain a keen interest in the future of work.

Many organisations report loss of key skills when older staff leave, but most do not have strong knowledge capture or succession plans. ( Australian Human Rights Commission )

Maturity in your workforce can lead to stability in teams if you retain them. A mature workforce wants what we all want: an interesting job, good pay and a place where they are valued. It can lead to lower turnover, less ramp-up of new hires, better mentoring and knowledge transfer.

We know that diverse teams are more resilient and productive. Blending the generations' knowledge and perspectives can lead to some great decision-making. Using the knowledge gained from experience should not be overlooked.

There is a stronger retention of institutional knowledge, particularly if you create a stronger mentoring culture and smoother succession.

For people looking to join your organisation, it signals real diversity and inclusion, which strengthens the employer brand. As part of our 2026 Career Website Research and Awards, we will be have a strong focus on how companies highlight their generational workforce and talk to potential mature candidates.

And there’s a clear economic upside too. Retaining older Australians in the workforce reduces the costs tied to early retirement and welfare, while boosting the tax base and consumer spending that strengthen our economy. It helps governments ease pressure on pensions, supports GDP growth, and gives businesses continuity by keeping valuable skills and institutional knowledge in play. On top of that, it lowers the costs of constantly recruiting and retraining, and builds more resilient, intergenerational workplaces that are better equipped to adapt to change.

Employers recognise benefits of mature age workers but report barriers: higher wage costs, concerns about physical capability, skills gaps, finding & attracting mature candidates. ( Employment and Workplace Relations )

Small/regional firms have more trouble attracting/retaining older workers and are less likely to view employing mature age as a reputation enhancer. ( Employment and Workplace Relations )

What Does “Work for Longevity” Look Like?

One of the best ways to ensure longevity is to design work across the career life cycle so older workers can stay, thrive, and contribute.

Some ideas to consider are:

Inclusive practices
Reduce bias, ageism early (in hiring, in promotion, in role design)
Ensure your career website, job descriptions and marketing use inclusive language and images
Use them as value propositions: what older workers bring to the table .
Ensure workplace cultures value experience, not just youth or novelty
Individualised practices
Flexible hours, job sharing, part-time/full-time mix
Adjusted roles or responsibilities to match changing health, energy, and life needs
Ongoing access to training, reskilling, upskilling
Integrative practices
Structured mentorship and reverse mentorship
Knowledge sharing across generations
Mixed project teams with both older and younger staff
Flip the script: Age as opportunity, not liability
Reframe “older” as seasoned, experienced, capable .
Show that older workers aren’t “winding down” Many are starting businesses, mentoring, or even launching second/third careers.

The Generational Mix: why all ages matter

Today’s workplaces have up to five generations working together, and each brings unique strengths:

Gen Z: fresh ideas, digital fluency, social conscience.
Millennials: collaboration, adaptability, purpose-driven thinking.
Gen X: pragmatism, bridge-builders between old & new.
Boomers & beyond: deep networks, resilience, institutional memory.

Therefore the learning can (and should) flow both ways:

Reverse mentoring: younger staff share digital and cultural fluency.
Traditional mentoring: older staff provide career guidance, resilience, and perspective.
Cross-gen collaboration sparks creativity by blending fresh perspectives with seasoned judgment.

How Organisations Can Start

Audit current policies, benefits, and language (job ads, role descriptions) for age bias
Compare what is versus what could be: So many stats show what’s already working. Then contrast with what’s missing. e.g. lack of agency, lack of training, biases.
Offer transition or bridge programs for ageing staff to shift responsibilities rather than exit abruptly
Leadership endorsement: having senior leaders speak about value of older workers
Create “later-career” pathways: new roles, leadership, mentoring, consultancy, freelancing

A Generational Opportunity

We need to stop treating experience like it has an expiry date. We need to ensure that we have established policies, cultures, and roles that enable older workers to choose how and when they transition. And it’s not just the responsibility of HR.

Give older workers choice, flexibility, and respect and watch them bring resilience, wisdom, and innovation to your workplace.

Experience is earned over decades. The real opportunity lies in creating workplaces where that experience can still grow, guide, and inspire.

The numbers are clear: we can’t afford to waste mature talent. The organisations that thrive will be those that make longevity a core part of their workforce design.

Dear Andrea, at 60

Wed, 20 Aug 2025 02:44:14 GMT

A homage to the Letter to my 13-year old self

A few years ago, Hung Lee asked me to write a letter to my 13 year old self. That letter to your 13-year-old self was such a gift so it made perfect sense to “pay homage” to it in the lead up to turning 60. Connecting the threads: the shy girl with braces, the 55-year-old in lockdown, and now the woman turning 60.

You’ve written to your 13-year-old self before, the awkward, shy girl with red hair, braces, and bad haircuts, who thought she was invisible. That girl needed reassurance that she’d be okay, that she’d find her place, that she’d learn to stand tall in rooms that once terrified her.

And she did.

But now, at almost 60, it feels right to write again. Not back to her, but forward to honour the lessons you’ve carried all these years.

1. Shyness gave you gifts you didn’t see at the time.
The girl who sat quietly at the edges learned how to listen, notice, and connect with people in ways that loudness never could. You thought confidence was about noise. It turns out it’s about presence. And boy, you have used that presence and you have created noise.

2. The cruelties you endured didn’t define you.
Those mean girls felt permanent. They weren’t. What lasted was your ability to walk into any room with your head up, pause, look around, and smile even when your stomach was flipping. That small skill became a lifelong anchor. It's got you up in front of people, it's given you a voice.

3. Failure is just redirection in disguise.
Every lost job, broken plan, or betrayal cracked you open for something better. Libraries, sales, HR, recruitment, your own business - each reinvention taught you resilience. The lesson you’ve repeated most? When a door closes, a window really does open. And now you are looking at new ways to be of service to your community - what window will open to you?

4. Relationships are the real measure of a life.
From childhood friends who carried you through the worst of school, to your London crew, to the HR and TA community you’ve built - people have always been your greatest treasure. That network wasn’t just professional. It was personal, and it kept you afloat. And whilst not everyone is for you, you know that many will always support you as you have supported them. It's OK to move those who do not bring you joy out of your circle. It's those who see you that you want to keep.

5. Kindness is never wasted.
From strangers who stop to chat to the massive network of people who have supported your business and those that have become friends, you find it incredibly special to walk into a room and have people excited to meet you as they have seen you on LinkedIn and like what you say. You will never take that for granted. You have tried to approach everyone with grace, kindness and a sense of humour. It’s not a weakness. Its strength, multiplied.

6. Staying true to yourself takes longer, but it lasts longer too.
You envied confidence in others, tried on different masks, and worried about what you weren’t. But you always came back to who you are. When you have been lost and wondering what you have to do. You have been blessed to have people remind you and help you find your way back to who you are. And that’s the woman who built a life filled with love, purpose, laughter, and integrity.

So, dear Andrea at 60, here’s what you know now:

You didn’t peak at 40. You didn’t figure it all out by 50. And that’s okay. Life didn’t get easier. You just stopped pretending it should.

You’ve survived betrayal, loss, and failure. You’ve built communities, families, and businesses. You’ve kept going when it would have been easier to stop.

And here you are — wiser, kinder, braver. Still building. Still becoming.

With love,
Andrea

Why Human Connection Still Matters – and How We Can Reclaim It

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 03:50:28 GMT

#momentsmatter

This week (4–10 August) marks Loneliness Awareness Week in Australia. The theme is #MomentsMatter – a simple, powerful reminder that human connection doesn’t always require grand gestures. Sometimes, it’s the small moments that matter most: a shared laugh, an unexpected chat, or the spark of conversation that lifts your whole day.

And yet, we’re in the midst of what many are calling a loneliness epidemic.

The Reality of Loneliness in Australia

We like to think of ourselves as a friendly, social bunch. But the data tells a different story.

1 in 3 Australians feel lonely.
1 in 4 say they don’t have a best friend.
1 in 3 experience loneliness in the workplace.
For younger Australians, the numbers are even more confronting:
2 in 5 feel lonely at any given time, and
1 in 7 experience persistent loneliness.

These aren't just statistics. They're reminders of the growing gap between what we need as humans and how we’re currently living.

The Cost of Convenience

In the race toward greater “convenience”—working from home, ordering in, watching the world from a screen—we’ve made life easier, but not necessarily better.

There was a time when connection was built into the rhythm of our days: bumping into colleagues in the hallway, grabbing coffee with a friend, staying after an event to chat with someone new. Now, many of those micro-moments have disappeared.

Of course, not everyone is wired the same way. For some, especially many neurodivergent people, time alone is grounding and restorative. But for many of us, the shift to staying home more and seeing people less has quietly worn away at our wellbeing.

Why Connection Is More Than Just “Nice to Have”

Human connection isn’t a luxury — it’s a biological need . Studies show that social connection:

Reduces the risk of anxiety and depression
Boosts immunity
Increases longevity
Enhances problem-solving and creativity
And perhaps most importantly, it gives us energy

When we feel truly seen, heard, and valued by others, we thrive. And while family time is important, it’s not the only form of connection we need.

We’re social creatures — and community matters.

So What Can We Do?

If you’ve felt more isolated lately, you’re not alone. But there are ways back.

It starts with a simple choice: choose connection .

Choose the event that stretches you.
Choose the workshop that energises you.
Choose the community that feels like your people.
Choose to show up — even if you’re tired or it’s easier not to.

Before COVID, our events brought people together to learn, share, and build lasting friendships. And even now, when it feels harder to gather, many of us still crave that sense of belonging.

We need to stop seeing connection as optional — or worse, as indulgent. It’s not.

It’s the thread that ties our days together. It’s the thing that makes the work more meaningful, the challenges more bearable, and the wins more joyful.

This Loneliness Awareness Week, Let’s Make Our Moments Matter

Let this week be a nudge, a reminder, a prompt.

To pick up the phone.
To book the ticket.
To say yes to the invite.

To make a moment — because it matters.

You never know who needs it. You never know how

Challenging the Narrative of Age

andrea@talent-table.com (Andrea Kirby) — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 21:55:40 GMT

“Bollocks to That: On Ageing, Working, and Not Disappearing”

Asked about how she deals with ageing, Mariah Carey recently said: "I don't allow it - it just doesn't happen. I don't know time. I don't know numbers. I do not acknowledge time.

Driving home at 6.30 this morning from an overnight stay at a sleep clinic, I thought, ‘That is ridiculous,’ and then I paused.

I am turning 60 in September and certain things remind me I am ‘of a certain age’. A knee replacement two years ago, lack of sleep, and the algorithms on Instagram feeding more content on ‘ageing skin and botox’.

My dad, who retired at 55 after a massive career ending as CEO of the Asia Pacific region of a seat belt manufacturer, said to me last week, ‘Don’t you think it’s time to retire?’ And I looked at him askance! At 88, he has probably been retired longer than he worked, although he does tell me he still travelled and consulted until 64 on doing business in Australia.

But here is the crux of the matter: I have no idea what I would do, and working keeps me engaged and young. A check on Facebook sees my friends with grown-up children, becoming grandparents, and currently road tripping around Australia as ‘grey nomads’ - a thought that fills me with horror. That is something you do when you are old, and I am not there yet! And I don't do caravans and camping!

But maybe here is the difference. I am a mother of a 17-year-old boy who loves singing and dancing to The Weekend. I love what I do now and believe I still have a lot to offer. And my hair is yet to go grey (yep, it’s natural folks!)

The Myth of “Act Your Age”

So, at sixty, I am now being told to ‘act my age,’ but I have never been one to follow convention or rules.

Why do we assign behaviours, lifestyles or even ambitions to specific ages?

When I was in my 30s, I was told the clock was ticking. I needed a husband so I could have a child, even though I never really wanted to be a mother or a wife. But it happened accidentally at 42 - the perfect age to have a surprise child. And I am pretty good at it. Less so a wife, but hey, menopause changes how many fucks you give about being nice.

In my 50s, I was told I was too experienced and couldn’t find work. Turns out, in all those young whipper snappers' minds at agencies when they interviewed me, probably considered me old.

A new report by AHRI and the Human Rights Commission says that one quarter of employers now classify over 50s as older, with new data revealing ageism is growing in Australia.

I started my own business at 50. My husband, recently retired from full-time work at 75, has just started his new career as a photographer, rediscovering his creativity. (https://www.redgallery.com.au/exhibitions/robert-follis-2025)

Now at 60, I am being told to retire. Well bollocks to that!

Time as a Construct — and a Weapon

Mariah says, 'I don’t acknowledge time.' What would life look like if we didn’t?

Age is used to disqualify people. You are “too young to know,” or “too old to change.”

One quarter of HR professionals now consider workers aged 51 to 55 as “older.” Just two years ago, that number was only 10%. It’s a sharp shift — and it raises fundamental questions. In an economy crying out for skills and experience, why are we sidelining the very people who’ve spent decades building both?

I am currently talking with a group of women who are struggling to find full-time employment. We are considering banding together to create a consultancy of people over 45 with the skills and experience to drive real change and outcomes in HR. Clever women who have been there and done that, and are consulting where they can.

A recent conversation with someone senior enlightened it even more when the HRD asked her, ‘Why do I pay you so much when I can get a younger person for less?’

Another woman was approached about a GM role in HR, paying $150K. The role wanted someone to lead a change transformation, completely reimagining the organisation and creating a new culture. She sat with the recruiter and said, 'For that money, you are looking at someone with less experience. Divide the role, and this is what a less experienced person can do. I will come in and consult for 3-6 months, and then complete the rest, and that would be very cost-effective.' They didn't go for it. And probably we will now see a less experienced person with a grand title fail at what was expected.

So if age is a weapon, use it! Use your experience, you knowledge and your hard won success to show the world who you are!

If you are an employer, you are recruiting a person who has relevant experience. Made the mistakes, learned and know how to deliver quickly and effectively - that can only be to your benefit. We have done it over and over again, and each time, we have tried something new and learned from it. We do it faster, with fewer errors and with a mentality of knowing and making it work. And we are very pleased to coach and mentor those less experienced to leave a legacy and a future.

The adage, you get what you pay for, springs to mind. And in society right now, experience is not worth much.

Ageing as Evolution, Not Decline

So let’s move away from age equalling decay and decline and towards a place where age equals layers, depth, complexity and something that society and business need.

Use the wisdom, confidence, and clarity that often come with age. Forget the timeline of doing things at a particular time in your life and reclaim your rhythm and pacing.

What if you're not late?

What if you are reinventing and becoming more yourself every day?

Let’s put aside the notion that women are to be “timeless” or “age gracefully”, which is often code for “don’t age at all.” The best thing to come out of COVID was the number of women who no longer give a fuck about their grey hair and demand we accept them as they are.

It’s time to think about who you want to be becoming , instead of what do you think you’re “past”?

Jackie Joyner-Kersee said, “Age is no barrier. It’s a limitation you put on your mind,” and right now, it’s a barrier that employers are putting on us.

Are you ready to join the rebellion to make HR more relevant? The time is now!

andrea@talent-table.com (Andrea Kirby) — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 20:17:38 GMT

Are you ready to join the rebellion to make HR more relevant? The time is now!

The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.

People should be safe at our events

andrea@talent-table.com (Andrea Kirby) — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 20:04:25 GMT

People should be safe at our events

The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.

Turning the table on my mental health

Wed, 11 Sep 2024 06:09:21 GMT

Turning the table on my mental health

At 58, my life finally makes sense.

Yesterday, I received a diagnosis of ADHD and I now feel a profound sense of calm that now I had an answer. I understand things about me that have never made sense. I have always lived my life in chaos and happy accidents. I am somehow successful despite or because of this. However after a series of mental and health challenges I have been left feeling burnt out. It’s time to reassess how I live and work.

ADHD has some very positive attributes when you run events that have brought a community together. Empathetic, energetic, spontaneous, creative, intuitive, imaginative, inventive, innovative, enthusiastic, hyper-focus on interests, and adventurous.

It meant that I created Talentpalooza - and said, ‘let’s disrupt the usual corporate event, and create amazing content that pushes the boundaries. People will dress up and buy tickets. Vendors will jump on board.’ And they did. I have just announced that we will do the 2025 Talentpalooza - and I am excited by it and it will be fabulous because of all the words that I have listed above. That is what I bring to the table.

However, ADHD also has a negative side. Easily distracted, inattentive, forgetful, trouble listening, disorganised, talkative, difficult sleeping, daydreaming, hyperactive, poor time management, and a low frustration tolerance.

None of these attributes lend themselves to organising events and keeping up with a growing community of Talent leaders and the brilliant people who support the events. This year, doing it on my own without a team has been challenging. And yet, I have found a way to work but still, something hasn't felt right.

Last night I had a panic attack. The calm had disappeared. I now have to do something about this. I cannot put it down to just being who I am - the fun-loving, gregarious, ‘loudest person in the room’ leader. There are ways to manage this and whilst I may be able to take the meds, I need to find a more holistic approach to managing life.

This means that I will postpone the events for September, pushing them back to later in the year or the new year. And will concentrate on working out a plan going forward. I am resilient - I think the last few years have proven that. I am wise and I have several great role models around me that have also been diagnosed later in life and are making it work. All have reached out to offer support and guidance. I can do this but I need time to reflect and work it out.

As Kath Day-Knight says, ‘Yes, I am high maintenance but I think you have got to be’

The diagnosis

I began to take heed when I was taking my son through his recent ADHD diagnosis. Completing the surveys through the Fluence Clinic for him made me question myself. Could it be? Michelle Edwards and Renae Peattie who have worked with me at Talent Table, often said I should get tested. They had a very close view of my working style. Other friends who have been recently diagnosed kept saying I should check it out.

A podcast by Mel Robbins was the final catalyst for me. She also talked about recognising ADHD in herself through her son’s diagnosis. Until then, like me, she was this ball of fun that drove everyone she worked with crazy. And as she went through the signs, I was ticking it off in my head.

I am now post-menopausal and the symptoms of peri-menopause were exacerbated by ADHD. I had every peri symptom you can think of. So when I was forgetting names or having major mood swings that scared my family, I put it down to that. However, that has passed and it still continued and found myself withdrawing from many social occasions. And I think we all know I love a good social event!

With this diagnosis, I am finally ready to turn the table on my mental health, adjust how I am working, spend time building new processes and systems for my work and home life, and lean into my wonderful friends and partners in the talent world to continue to be of service to the Talent Community in fresh ways and support and inspire others on their own mental health and wellness journeys.

The Research

Researchers say that it’s very common for women to be diagnosed later in life and are considered the lost generation who have struggled with ADHD and never knew it. Unfortunately, there’s not much research on how this mental disorder affects adults who are past middle age. For many of us, we have developed coping strategies that mask common symptoms like inattentiveness.

ADHD affects older women differently. This is especially true for women in their late 40s or early 50s in the years leading up to menopause. Your ADHD symptoms may become severe over the years. When estrogen, a hormone responsible for reproduction, drops in your body, it also affects your dopamine levels. Dopamine is a brain chemical that’s already low in those with ADHD. This can lead to a spike in mood swings, feelings of depression and anxiety, and inability to focus for very long. If you’re going through perimenopause or menopause and notice severe ADHD symptoms, tell your doctor about it.

ADHD affects around one in twenty Australians, which is over 1.2 million people

ADHD is hereditary. You’re nine times more likely to get it if a close relative has it. And that is why so many women are now noticing the signs as we take our children for a diagnosis. And it gets worse as you get older, particularly when you lose your normal day to day structure such as after retirement or like me, starting your own business.

Burnout

According to Dr Megan Anna Neff, ADHD burnout ‘is a state of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion that can be caused by long-term, unmanaged ADHD symptoms and stressors. It is often characterised by feelings of overwhelming fatigue, reduced productivity, and a sense of hopelessness or despair’

In The State of Burnout report by Infinite Potential, burnout in women has grown to 42% up from 38% last year. And yet it is decreasing in men.

Recovering from burnout means that first you have to recognise the symptoms, identify what your triggers are, and then make plans to change it. And that is what I am doing.

But why did I burn out now? I have a thriving business, I am well respected by many in the talent community some even love me, yet, suddenly, it felt different. What I put it down to is that I went to working with a team in an office to being on my own. The safety nets that I have always had that allowed me to cope and mask ADHD were gone. It became apparent that I need to regroup and find a new way to work.

Regrouping

So as I have said, I am pushing back the September events, will concentrate on making Talentpalooza the ‘must attend, kick arse event’ it has always been, repair some relationships that have suffered from my inattentiveness (hello husband!), and with some very kind assistance from some friends, we are going to do some great things with Talent Table that will continue to add value to my dear talent community. So here is my plan:

Step 1: Ask for help

If you would like to earn a reduced or free ticket to Talentpalooza, get in touch with me to be a TalPal! A friend who will help me with great content and speakers and crazy cool ideas to make it the event you want to be part of! Not a lot of work but an ambassador, a sounding board, to bring out your creative side.

Step 2: Get physical

I will continue with my fabulous strength training at Healthy Fit and you will also find me dancing twice a week at Dance Dynamics. Certainly my lack of coordination is enough to make anyone laugh. I will walk Loopsy Lou and Walker (fur babies) along the creek every day in the sunshine (hello Spring!)

Step 3: Want a date?

I am making more of an effort to leave my horrible home office (we all know I am not a fan of working at home alone) and meet people for coffee, lunch or sparkling water after work. Yep, I have also given up alcohol - the crutch that was not helping. But give me a couple of weeks to rest up and then I will gladly find a way to connect with you. October looks good!

Step 4: Remember that you have strengths and mad skills

It would be easy to think that I am a complete failure. Certainly, there is a narrative in my head at the moment that I have 'failed', but I need to take a step back and remember what is so great about me. Because I am fabulous! James Telfer , a strengths base leadership coach who I reached out to for help, recently did my Clifton Strengths Profile. This week, I had to go back to it to remind myself. And my strengths are everything that Talent Table is, what I am and what I bring to the table and why it's been a success. So let me share:

Woo - You love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over. You derive satisfaction from

breaking the ice and making a connection with someone.

Communication - You generally find it easy to put your thoughts into words. You are a good conversationalist and

presenter.

Positivity - You have contagious enthusiasm. You are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are

going to do.

Adaptability - You prefer to go with the flow. You tend to be a “now” person who takes things as they come and who

discovers the future one day at a time.

Developer - You recognise and cultivate the potential in others. You spot the signs of each small improvement and

derive satisfaction from evidence of progress.

Empathy - You can sense other people’s feelings by imagining yourself in others’ lives or situations.
Activator - You can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. You want to do things now, rather than

simply talk about them.

Step 5: Community Support

Steve Gard recently posted about his ADHD diagnosis and many HR and Recruitment contacts reached out to say they also had ADHD or ASD, Samantha Nuttall and Steve have launched a support community on WhatsApp. This is a place to come and talk neurodiversity, share experiences and also chat HR/Recruiting - or just come and read. The conversations, comments and support so far have been heartwarming and extremely helpful, from how to optimise your to-do list to what we would like to see at events.

Come and join us. https://lnkd.in/gDg6hE_2

Step 5: Move forward

I am still here folks. I am still highly functioning but I do need to take some time to regroup and plan and clean up my office! I am very happy to talk to anyone in a couple of weeks. I would love to hear about any tricks and tips you have for managing burnout and ADHD.

And I am excited about my future. It’s just going to be managed a little differently.

Resources:

The State of Burnout 2024 study

Tue, 10 Oct 2023 21:00:00 GMT

The State of Burnout 2024 study

The term "burnout" has gained significant attention in recent years and rightly so. Research from think tank Infinite Potential shows a steady climb in rates of burnout across the global, across industries, and even across most age groups. The results from the study have been discussed on several podcasts, HR magazine articles and was a showcase presentation during the Queensland Mental Health Week.

Via Infinite Potential , we invite your organisation to participate in this year’s ‘The State of Burnout’ study. Headed up by Dr. John Chan , Managing Director, this year’s study will continue the journey to better understand and create actionable insights for organisations to help create healthy, sustainable careers for their people.

This year’s study will expand the research to include:

Explore the relationship between psychosocial risks and hazards and burnout
Examine the link (if any) of burnout with isolation / loneliness as it relates to work environments.
Investigate the growing trend of burnout being experienced by younger workers
Continue exploring the relationship between burnout and various work situations (e.g., home vs workplace, 4 vs 5 daywork week, etc.)

Your organisation’s participation in this study is easy and will be supported by Infinite Potential. Your people will be asked to complete a survey which will take around 6-10 minutes and can be done on a computer or mobile device. The survey is completely anonymous and responses will be treated with the utmost confidentiality. Data collected will only be used for research purposes and no individual data will be shared in any way. The overall results from the study will be published in February 2024. There is an option for your organisation to receive a tailored report of just your organisation.

If you’re interested in further discussions or details about the study, please contact John Chan directly > john.chan@infinite-potential.com.au

And take a listen to our podcast where Andrea and ZiChuan chat with Dr Chan about The State of Burnout 2023 report. Dr Chan discusses its findings and how organisations can use mitigation strategies as part of their attraction, engagement, and retention strategy.

Friends of attract: Andrea Kirby from Talent Table

Mon, 14 Aug 2023 02:58:55 GMT

“We need to design our processes for inclusivity. As talent functions we should be looking at doing some human-design thinking around the recruitment process.”

This article originally appeared on the attract.ai website and has been reproduced with their permission. The article can be viewed on their website also.

Andrea Kirby is the director and founder of Talent Table , which enables the Talent and HR community to nurture, grow and develop knowledge. They’re well known for their fun-filled networking event Talentpalooza and Talent Think Tanks. Their latest events are focused on inclusive hiring and hiring people with disabilities.

Talent Table

attract: what inspired you to start Talent Table?

I came back to Australia in 2015 after being in England for 10 years. I didn’t have any network and found that TA roles were not as senior, or well-paid as I wanted and I struggled finding a role because I was “too experienced” which often translates to “too old.” At the time there was only ATC so I set about creating a strong TA community that was inclusive of all levels of TA.

Inclusive Hiring

attract: your theme for this round of Talent Think Tanks is on inclusive hiring. Why did you choose this topic?

We recently did a webinar with The Field – who are the job board for people with a disability. Huge, eye-opening stats and information came out of that so for me a discussion around inclusive hiring that relates to more than gender seems to be an important conversation to have.

According to the recent Indeed report , close to a third of organisations are not promoting DEI&B initiatives. With disability and LGBTQIA+ causes the least supported, particularly in areas like recruitment. There’s a massive focus in DEI&B on gender, but what’s quite interesting is there’s a whole range of other talent pools that are untapped. If you’re looking at something like gender you need to also then look at things like ageism. Women over 50 are some of the most marginalised in the workforce. With so many of us now working from home, tapping into the talent pool of people with a disability is a no-brainer.

The struggle for people with disability

attract: can you tell us more about the struggles of people with a disability when it comes to being hired?

94% of unemployed Australians with a disability report having difficulties finding work, and half of Australian managers have never hired a person with a disability.

They’re some pretty amazing statistics, and the employment rate for people with a disability has remained unchanged for 28 years, so we’re not improving in any way.

Everyone talks about the accommodations that you have to make to hire a person with a disability — what the office might look like, or tech that helps them in the workforce. What’s interesting is that 88% of people with a disability don’t need any workplace accommodations, they’re actually able to work without us needing to do anything. So what is it stopping us from hiring people with a disability?

How can we improve?

attract: what can we do to improve?

The Melbourne Talent Think Tank did a workshop where we broke down the recruitment process and put ourselves in the shoes of people with a disability to think about some of the things we have to consider during the recruitment process.

Straight up people were saying things like “we have to ask if we have to make any accommodations during the interview process.” But best practice would say that you can’t ask that sort of stuff up-front because if you go on to reject that person you’re the company up to all sorts of issues.

So we need to think about how we make our recruitment process more open without it having an impact on recruiters’ decisions. I would say to the TA community apply for jobs on your website and apply with the lens of a person with a disability, and see if your ATS and process is inclusive and accessible for everyone.

We had recite.me come to Melbourne Talent Think Tank and talk about how the ability to have accessibility through your processes is really important. In our own career website research there was not one career website that had accessibility measures in place. What was even more staggering is that many at our Melbourne event had not heard of making your website accessible.

Other things to think about are your application forms needing to be a really seamless and positive experience, inclusive language when writing your job, and diversifying your communication channels that you use. It’s also really important to train your Hiring Managers and interviewers on disability and inclusion.

Hiring carers

attract: often family members become full-time carers and then when they return to the workforce they struggle to be employed. What can we do to help them?

It’s similar to mothers returning to the workforce. I think we need to open our minds up to the skills that those people have developed along the way, they’ve been dealing with places like Centrelink and NDIS. There’s a massive skill set that they’ve picked up there.

It’s about looking wider at their skills, and not pigeon-holing them into a caring role. These people may have trained for something and then gone into a caring role later in life and had a career interrupted. Flexibility in work is also important, since they may still have some caring responsibilities.

Resources

If you’d like to learn more about how to tap into this talent pool and make your hiring process inclusive, the Talent Table still has a few tickets left for inclusive hiring, you can get your tickets here for Sydney, Brisbane & Perth , or contact Andrea: andrea@talent-table.com.

You may also be interested in these resources:

> Talent Table’s unlocking the power of disability-inclusive hiring webinar with The Field.

> The Field – a job site that connects candidates with organisations committed to inclusive hiring.

> Recite.me – be more inclusive online with a range of tools including their accessibility scanner .

> Australia’s Institute of Health and Welfare’s report on people with disability in Australia .

> Indeed’s championing change: Progress and opportunities for building inclusive workplaces report.

Careers sites: where are Aussie businesses making the biggest mistakes?

Mon, 17 Jul 2023 02:54:10 GMT

Careers sites: where are Aussie businesses making the biggest mistakes?

This article originally appeared on the Talent Tech Solutions website and has been reproduced with their permission. The article can be viewed on their website also.

Every candidate has their own horror story about having to work with a truly awful careers site. Unintuitive design, clunky menus, candidates required to fill in dozens upon dozens of unnecessary fields - the list of what makes a careers site a bad candidate experience goes on and on. But what are the things that make a careers site good, and where are the places Aussie businesses are making the biggest mistakes? If only we had detailed, in-depth research with hundreds of weighted criteria to help answer this.

Enter Bas van de Haterd , a recruitment consultant from the Netherlands who has dedicated his life to measuring and ranking careers sites. His careers site rubric is world-leading and the closest thing to a definitive measure of a careers site’s quality and effectiveness we have.

In 2022, Talent Table’s Andrea Kirby licensed Bas’s rubric and applied it to the top 200 companies in Australia, ranking them by comparing the over 150 different metrics that determine the best careers sites in the world. Andrea’s research found the top seven career sites in Australia but also made a fairly shocking discovery.

It showed that the vast majority of careers sites came in one of two flavours: “pretty good,” or “terrible,” with only a handful of cases that were truly outstanding (and thus the winners). What’s more, a lot of the mistakes these “terrible” sites were making are ones that could have been easily rectified.

With the fight for talent growing increasingly fierce, can you really risk your recruitment “front door” (your careers site) serving up a poor candidate experience? Here are the top three things companies can work on to pull themselves out of that “terrible” category, as well as a few quick-wins that might just put them amongst those outstanding few at the top.

1. Time-to-apply is way too long

Please enter your date of birth. No, not like that, like this. Now select your availability via this complicated suite of drop-downs. Then input your address. Then input it again. Then upload all of your work experience that we already have from your resume. Then do a handstand while balancing a bowl of milk on each foot. Oh, and by the way, get ready for the selection criteria.

Every hoop you make your candidate jump through in their initial application is going to cause more and more drop-off. In a candidate-led market, especially amongst high-demand roles, lengthy time-to-apply is going to scare away your best candidates, and leave you with the ones who were desperate enough to slog through the process.

Over in the Netherlands, where Bas first started his research, he noted that 50% of Dutch companies had a time-to-apply of under 2 minutes. To contrast, in Australia that number is only 15%. So you could instantly propel yourself to the top 15% of Australian companies simply by reducing your time-to-apply below 2 minutes.

But how do you actually do this? Think about what information you really need from a candidate. The number one pet peeve from candidates is having to re-submit job experience information that is already contained within their resume. Is the value your recruiters gain from not having to dig through resumes to find information worth the potential loss of candidates? Or better yet, is there a tech solution that can automatically and effectively parse (i.e. read) and pre-fill this information?

Okay, but what if you really do need all of that information from a candidate. Well, do you need it upfront, and can you make the process of gathering it simpler? Is it possible to collect some information, such as working rights and availability, later on in the process? Of course this won’t work for every role and industry, but these are absolutely the questions you should be asking. Every process you can shave down or automate will cut seconds off your time-to-apply, which is a metric you should regularly be tracking as part of your Talent Analytics setup.

2. Text-only job ads

When was the last time you saw an advertisement on TV that was text-only? So why do most job ads still look like they still belong in a 1950s newspaper classified section? In Australia, a massive 72% of all job ads are only text, which considering the flexibility of the online format is a huge missed opportunity. We are often told to “show, not tell,” and it’s time we started doing so with our Job Ads.

So what can you do? For starters, as a super basic step one, add some pictures. Show off what the workspace will look like, what the work itself looks like, or any other angle of the company you want. Just having a few shots of your office will immediately put you in the top 28% of companies in Australia.

If you’ve got some time and budget, enhancing your content with icons and infographics to break up the text is your step two, and if you really want to propel yourself into the top 11% of sites that Bas’s rubric deems “beautifully designed,” then video content is an absolute must. “Day in the life of” videos are becoming increasingly popular as a way of showcasing to potential candidates exactly what the role entails.

Pro tip: You don’t have to be Spielberg (or have his budget) to make great video content. Authenticity is key, and low budget, “selfie-style” videos shot on a smartphone by an actual employee can be more impactful than a big fancy production. Tools like Video My Job ( https://www.videomyjob.com/ ) have become increasingly popular for easily and economically accommodating this approach.

Having beautiful job ads not only increases your application rate, it also increases the quality of your candidates, as the more visual information about the role you provide, the less likely someone is going to drop out because the role wasn’t what they thought it was.

If you’re a larger company and not sure where to start, focus on those really hard-to-fill roles that have high drop-out rates. Those are the ones where you need to attract more, and attract quality.

3. Look-and-feel inconsistency

You’re online shopping at nike.com for some new shoes. When browsing the store, you experience Nike’s slick branding and look-and-feel. You find a pair you like and add them to your cart. All of a sudden that slick look-and-feel is replaced with a generic Shopify skin. The menus are different. You have to create a new account. You start to wonder if you’ve been scammed.

If you have a jarring transition to your ATS that sounds like something of the above then you’re in the bottom 25% of Australian companies. In extreme circumstances, this can make your candidates completely drop out of the process because they are worried they have landed on a scam website. Otherwise, it can invalidate all of the hard work you have put in to make your careers site pretty and user friendly. Think of it as shuffling a customer from your nice front-of-house shop into the dark dingy warehouse to complete their transaction.

We understand that often, companies have little-to-no control over the look-and-feel of their ATS. Many third party vendors are quite strict on what can and cannot be changed once candidates click on that “apply” button. If look-and-feel inconsistency is something that’s important to you, switching to a new Careers Site Management System or ATS/CRM vendor might be the best way to solve it.

Pro tip: Talent Tech Solutions has years of experiencing building Talent Tech Stacks that seamlessly integrate multiple pieces of tech across the entire recruitment process. We can help you find the right software for your company, to ensure that look-and-feel consistency.

Quick wins

While fixing the above issues is a sure-fire way to propel your career site into the top percentage of companies, they aren’t easy fixes, and will likely require some time and budget to address. Luckily, Bas’s rubric highlights a number of things that would be quick wins for many companies, and are honestly more of a “best practice” thing to keep in mind when reviewing your site.

Here are our top ones:

Fix your “no jobs found” page. Someone searches for a job. They see “no jobs found”. They leave the site. Why not put some content on this page, such as similar jobs, or information about the company, to keep them engaged, and possibly look for another job?

Make your accessibility adjustments policy clear. This is becoming an increasingly important issue among employers, as we realise that many potential employees will require some kind of adjustment to the recruitment process. Make it clear on every job ad, and throughout your site.

Advertise your salary range. This one can be controversial, and I’m sure there will be many companies with policies against it, but it is undeniably a better and smoother experience for both candidate and company if you’re upfront about what you’re willing to pay for the role. If legislation in the US ( read more ) is any indicator of future developments down under, it might eventually be mandated anyway.

Don’t neglect other social media. We all know we should be advertising on LinkedIn, but neglecting platforms like TikTok and Instagram, especially if your company has its own separate career brand, is potentially cutting off a huge portion of younger people.

Use real employee photos. People can tell when something is a stock image, or an image of an actual employee. Using actual photos helps show your candidates you care, and it’s something that should be a very quick and easy fix.

The last word

A well-designed careers site is crucial for attracting top talent, but many Australian businesses are making significant mistakes. Simplifying the lengthy application process and reducing time-to-apply can enhance the candidate experience. Adding visuals like pictures, icons, and videos to job ads improves engagement. Consistency in look and feel, especially during the transition to an applicant tracking system (ATS), is essential for a seamless experience.

Quick wins such as improving the "no jobs found" page, clearly communicating accessibility policies, advertising salary ranges, utilising social media platforms beyond LinkedIn, and using real employee photos can make a big impact. By addressing these mistakes and implementing these recommendations, Australian companies can position themselves as leaders in candidate experience, gain a competitive edge, and attract top talent.

Need more help?

We can help - we're experts in designing and deploying careers sites. If your site has fallen into that “terrible” bucket or perhaps you've set your sights on winning a "Best Careers Site" award don’t hesitate to reach out for a consultation !

About the author

Steven Bogos is a content and marketing professional with over a decade of experience across the technology, education, retail, and telecommunications sectors. He has helped companies launch effective and accessible websites that focus on conversion - be it buying a product, submitting a lead, or applying for a job.

Career Website and Social Media Ownership: Marketing vs. Talent Acquisition

Tue, 23 May 2023 22:59:07 GMT

Career Website and Social Media Ownership: Marketing vs. Talent Acquisition

At a recent Talent Table Think Tank , Megan Twine and Alex Pusenjak from Fluent Commerce presented 'The battle for branding - TA vs Marketing'.

They used their learnings from previous Talent Table events to forge a relationship with their marketing team - to build the employer brand, rethink their website and run campaigns to attract people to their company. What a novel idea! ��

Notably, they had been to a panel discussion with Laura Johnson , Laura White and Quila Cervelli at the 2022 #Talentpalooza on how these TA practitioners had made it work for them - 'Is marketing really making a difference to People and Culture?'.

A brilliant presentation that can be viewed here .

Megan and Alex started with a fun game... who owns the career website - hands-on head for Marketing, hands-on bum for TA. It was weighted more strongly toward marketing.

At previous events, a TA told us they could not approach their marketing team as the marketers were too busy, and marketing also actively worked against them. At another, TA could not use the extensive customer database to promote jobs at their company. It was just not done.

So are we missing a trick here?

In today's digital age, career websites have become vital tools for companies to attract and engage with potential candidates. However, a common question arises...

Who should be responsible for the career website - Marketing or Talent Acquisition?

Marketing's Perspective:

From a marketing standpoint, the career website falls under their purview.

Marketing teams are responsible for branding, promoting the company's image, and attracting potential customers. They utilise various strategies, such as content creation, search engine optimisation (SEO), and social media marketing, to drive traffic to the website. As a result, they argue that they should be responsible for managing the career website to align it with the overall marketing strategy.

Talent Acquisition's Perspective:

On the other hand, Talent Acquisition teams focus on attracting, recruiting and hiring the best talent for the organisation. They understand the importance of a user-friendly and informative career website that effectively showcases the company's culture, values and available opportunities.

Talent Acquisition teams have unique insights into candidates' needs and expectations, making them more equipped to optimise the career website to appeal to the target audience. They argue that career websites should be tailored to the candidate's experience, which aligns with their responsibilities.

However, difficulties arise when there are limited resources on both sides and the needs of the business and the needs of TA make it difficult for the teams to work together.

The Research:

Our 2022 career website research pointed to missed opportunities in using social media and the career website to attract people to our organisations.

Only 9% of the 300 career websites we reviewed were considered modern and fit for purpose. 25% lost the look and feel of the website when candidates moved to the registration. A disconnect between the brand and how the ATS functionality works.

When using social media to attract candidates, 61% of companies Facebook pages had a standard account but no job section or advertising of jobs. Similar numbers were with Instagram and TikTok.

For many organisations, customers are candidates, and candidates are customers. 4% of websites did not put a career link on their main website/homepage - and those were retail companies!! �� 14% had a career link that was embedded in the site and had to be searched for.

So Houston, TA has a problem…. If we are being asked to do more with less, while it looks like this talent short market will be our new normal, how do we bring marketing on the journey to build a brilliant career site and campaigns, plus use social media effectively?

Our winner, Coles Group , intends to have over 60% of their applications come directly from their website using campaigns and marketing strategies. A massive savings on our current external spending on job boards and agencies.

Bridging the Gap:

To effectively communicate the need for more work on the career website, Marketing and Talent Acquisition teams can adopt several strategies:

→ Data-Driven Insights: Talent Acquisition should gather data on website performance, including metrics like bounce rates, conversion rates, and application drop-offs. These insights can demonstrate to the Marketing team that improvements are necessary to enhance the candidate experience and ultimately drive better results.

→ Collaboration and Communication: Encourage open lines of communication between Talent Acquisition and Marketing. Regular meetings and discussions can help both teams understand each other's perspectives and identify areas where collaboration is required. Building relationships and finding common ground can lead to a shared understanding of the importance of a well-designed career website.

→ User-Centric Approach: Talent Acquisition can emphasise the significance of a user-centric approach to the career website. By focusing on candidates' needs and expectations, they can convey that a well-optimized career website directly impacts attracting and engaging with high-quality talent.

→ Benchmarking: Comparing the organisation's career website with competitors can be a persuasive tactic. Talent Acquisition can highlight areas where the company's website falls short and demonstrate the potential impact on the overall recruitment process. This approach can spur Marketing to take action and improve the website's performance, using our annual research showing what the best websites are doing.

→ Pilot Projects: Suggest running small-scale pilot projects to test new campaign strategies or website features. These initiatives can provide tangible evidence of the impact on candidate engagement and conversion rates. By showcasing positive results, Talent Acquisition can make a convincing case for further investment in the career website.

Conclusion:

The ownership of the career website can be a contentious issue between Marketing and Talent Acquisition teams.

However, by establishing effective communication channels and sharing data-driven insights, Talent Acquisition can help Marketing understand the importance of continuously improving the career website.

Collaboration between the two departments will ensure a user-centric approach that enhances the candidate experience and ultimately contributes to the organisation's recruitment success.

Remember, the ultimate goal is to create a powerful online presence that attracts and engages the best talent in today's competitive job market.

Want more help?

Reach out to Andrea anytime - andrea@talent-table.com - who is happy to continue this conversation. And look out for our 2023 research later in the year when we do another deep dive into the Best Career Websites. ��

How live events can benefit your Account-based Marketing Strategy

Thu, 20 May 2021 01:21:26 GMT

How live events can benefit your Account-based Marketing Strategy

At Talent Table, we speak daily with Talent & HR Tech Vendors about their marketing plans and strategies. Most are working through the execution of their Account-Based Marketing plans and they sometimes question how we, as an in-house Talent community and event business, can help them achieve their goals. From my experience as a B2B marketer with experience working as a BDM in Enterprise-level sales, here are my thoughts:

Firstly, Account-Based Marketing turns the traditional form of B2B Marketing on its head.

So, instead of the traditional marketing funnel where you:

Attract Leads
Nurture Leads
Score Leads

Account-Based Marketing starts with identifying the key accounts for a business, then personalising and engaging your comms, then building relationships.

This makes sense as it’s much more closely aligned to the sales process at a medium business to Enterprise level. It’s also inclusive of the inbound process but not ruled by it. I mean, what do you do when the customers that are most engaged with your brand (the ones downloading the white papers and attending your events) aren’t the customers you can actually sell to?

Maybe:

They’re not the right size (too big or too small)
The product or service doesn’t meet their needs
Financial considerations (affordability or contractual issues)

Therefore most businesses will identify the accounts first and then move through the lead nurturing components of their marketing strategy.

The sales conversion process in B2B is an interesting one. For some products and services, it can be complex, involving a time period of years in some cases, often multiple levels of decision-makers. (from the technical level to the C Suite) and a RFP/RFT process. Not only that, it’s been said that it takes an average of 8 contacts *just* to get an initial meeting. Of course, it is much more to get the sale. So once you have identified your target customers, how can you contact them?

Common methods involve:

Cold Calling
Using the Advanced Search function on LinkedIn and connecting with them
LinkedIn products such as Sales Navigator
Demonstrating value to your key customers through awesome targeted content
A clever email strategy
Meeting them in a warm, relaxed environment like one of our events

Of course! This blog was always going to be a shameless plug for our business but if it takes an average of 8 contacts to even meet your decision-maker, you can cut to the chase quickly by asking us if they are on the attendance list to attend one of our events.

In a previous life as a BDM, I have spent more than my fair share of time in the reception area of a business. Once I had an appointment booked with a Decision Maker only to be told that my contact is out and definitely did not have an appointment booked with me and it’s all shades of awkward. Similarly, I’ve had experience heading to a networking event with the hope that the right Decision Maker would show up.

When it comes to the 8 contacts you need to make to meet your Decision Maker, you should test and learn from trialing a variety of methods.

Look, we know that face-to-face isn’t as flashy as designing and building an amazing inbound content strategy but…well…it works.

From a CPL (cost per lead) perspective, many of our Vendors have advised us that our events are their lowest-cost channel and often their best source of leads.

Plus, it makes sense to test a range of touchpoints (inbound strategy, outbound strategy, your own events, attending other events, etc) and to measure their effectiveness.

If you would like to chat with us about how we could add value to your Sales and Marketing plans, book a coffee with Andrea .

There must be a reason why heroes start with HER!

Wed, 24 Feb 2021 00:21:26 GMT

There must be a reason why heroes start with HER!

It was 1983. It was my first job. I was at the work Christmas party on the roof of the building. I was wearing a yellow and white chequered sundress and matching yellow shoes. I felt pretty and grown-up. I loved that dress. And I was the epitome of innocence.

An 18-year-old church youth group leader, shy, sheltered, and just finding my way in the wider world, dating her first proper boyfriend. I had been chatting and friendly with the man in the next office, joining in with the silly fun that happened at work. I guess I was flirting but I wouldn’t have recognised it as that. He had made me laugh and I was so happy that my humour also made him laugh. I thought he was being friendly. He was the same age as my father.

Whilst it was not rape, it was a serious assault, in a cupboard that I was dragged into. I didn’t tell anyone. Who could I tell? I had flirted and had a glass of wine. I felt it was my fault. I didn’t know how to use my voice. I never wore that dress again.

In 1983, these things were not openly discussed and I had no idea what had happened to me. Back then, women had even less of a voice and certainly no avenues that are now provided in the workplace to support women through this.

I have been working for over 30 years. There have been many instances of harassment and discrimination. All of it I learned how to handle or fought against. Always I sought help from other women. Women have always been my champions. And I have been a staunch supporter and protector of women for all my career.

This week, I have been outraged, distraught but also helpless as I have followed Brittany Higgins story. And the reports of subsequent rapes by the same man. I have seen our leaders gaslight her, refuse to take responsibility, and try to find ways to manage without damaging their political brand. And they are failing big time. The Liberal party seems to have a problem with women and as our Government, what does this say to us about how women are valued in our society?.

Why is this still happening? Who is looking after the women in Parliament? In the corporate world, we have HR. Sometimes flawed but always with the best intentions to get the right outcome. I tell a story of my time in HR walking into a serial predator’s office and asking him to stop harassing his staff with loads of expletives thrown in. It did the trick but not before some women were hurt in the process. I probably could’ve and should’ve handled it better but sometimes you just get so angry.

Does it feel like women are going backward in the world? The Handmaid’s Tale just feels more and more like it could become reality – and I will end up the colonies dying a slow death – we all know I am not going to make the cut as a Martha. Under His Eye feels a little bit closer every day. Women are not being supported in the workplace and we are being discriminated against – even today.

A recent article on ABC News highlighting the Bureau of Statistics report said that women were let go in greater numbers during COVID and that those with degrees were more likely to be let go. Dr. Leonora Risse who spoke at our HERoes event last year is quoted as saying:

“Going forward, there is a threat to gender equality, seeing disproportionately more women staying at home, working from home, not being present in the office to work their way up the ladder”.

“And if they have to switch into a new job because the job opportunities have dried up in their previous industry, then they’re staring at the bottom of the ladder again.”

Are women being erased from importance in the world of work? Are we being silenced?

Are we back to choosing between career or children? I hope not. Some of us are better people for not being full-time mothers.

I am an optimist. But I think now is the time to fight again. To ensure our place and our voice in workplaces is heard. That our women are supported and encouraged to succeed.

Madeleine K Albright was quoted as saying, “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” Take the time to read her opinion piece on the quote. I take what she has said to heart. Women have to help other women. We need to support, encourage and actively create opportunities and safe places for each other. She goes on to say that younger women need to hear from us what it was like before it was conceivable there could be a female leader.

We need to vote with our feet. We need to be informed and make informed decisions on where we work, vote, and live. Move from companies and organisations that don’t support us. Don’t give them our money. Don’t give them our time. Hold them to account.

We need men as allies. We need our men to step up and fight. To loudly say, this is not right. To support us when we are also at work, taking on the burden of home life. To be our heroes. I would give a shout-out to Brittany Higgins partner, David Sharaz who this week had to resign from his job dealing with government ministers for a variety of reasons. “The standard you walk past is the standard you accept. Being supportive is the least that I – or any other partner of a victim-survivor can do,” he said. “Brittany and many others deserve better.”

At the end of April, we are putting together an event where the majority of our speakers are female-identifying. It’s based on an event we did virtually last year. It was three days of amplifying the voices of women in HR, Talent Acquisition and People Analytics. We are doing it again. With a new name. HERoes. We will be talking about how we can help our organisations achieve their business goals through partnership and evidence-based approaches to the people agenda. We will be inviting our men who we consider allies to share their thoughts. You can bet your bottom dollar that we will be covering how females and all people can feel safe and valued in the workplace.

Every woman should have a voice. I have found my voice. It took a while with lots of learning but it’s there and I will not be silenced. I stand with Brittany Higgins and all those that have suffered in the workplace because of their gender or minority status. I admire her courage and praise the strength she has shown. May we all be as brave.

Recruiting in the New World of Work: A Strategic Toolkit

Wed, 30 Sep 2020 00:27:30 GMT

Recruiting in the New World of Work: A Strategic Toolkit

Despite the many ways our world has changed this year, so much remains the same.

Rapid changes in 2020 have fundamentally changed the business landscape and forced many organisations to adapt their recruitment and talent strategy. While some organisations have experienced disruptions in recruitment this year, talent acquisition is, and will continue to be, a critical function in the new world of work.

This White Paper will help you:

Understand the 5 recruitment metrics HR teams can get enormous value from
Learn the 3 areas of Talent Development to focus on to achieve great outcomes for our organisations
Broaden your scope from Talent Acquisition to Talent Development and learn how this can help you succeed in the new world of work.

This report is a collaboration between Talent Table and PageUp featuring original research from Talent Table’s Next Wave Talent event and leading HR software provider, PageUp.

Gain strategic recommendations about how to shape your organisation’s talent strategy to its fullest potential, from acquisition to development, and future-proof your career as a talent professional.

A letter to my 13 year old self

Tue, 01 Sep 2020 01:44:56 GMT

A letter to my 13yo self!

Dear Andrea

Red hair, braces, bad skin, long and lanky, you were not really made to be a confident cool kid. Looking back on those photos, I actually am surprised to see you are not as ugly as you thought you were. You sure did have some bad haircuts and those perms were very ill advised. However, Adam and the Ants still makes you dance like crazy so it was not all bad.

Growing up in Bundoora, a new outer suburb of Melbourne, famous for housing all the city’s mental and drug rehabilitation centres, it was not uncommon for people with mental illness to be around however you are yet to work out why it was always you they sat with to have a chat on the number 86 tram into the city. Kindness always brings people to you.

Dad, who was the CEO of the only seat belt making company in Australia, took you on tours of the factory. You met all the workers, usually people who were new to the country. You were taught very quickly that all people are important in running a business. That everyone deserves the same respect. Dad was a well-loved CEO as he laughed and asked after their families – ‘Oh Mr Kirby sir, you are so funny’. You also learned that you can be funny and be in charge!

Your mum, your biggest supporter, worked in the local high school library and you went on to study your Library Technician Certificate with her. She returned to work after we went to school and somehow balanced work, studying and home life whilst Dad travelled for business. Mum ensured that she was always there for us. There was no subject off limits; we could talk about anything and she had your back. I should’ve listened to her when she said I didn’t have to marry my first husband. She has always been a wise woman.

Phil, your darling brother; that outgoing and popular boy, who starred in the musicals, and the school band and was known by everyone. To this day, I still meet people who will say, ‘Aren’t you Phil’s sister?’ For much of my teenage years, I was eclipsed by his shining star. I was painting the sets for the musicals and selling the tickets at the door. He was on stage and loved by everyone. I envied his confidence. Why did he have it and I didn’t?

All my grandparents were English. In the Depression, my Poppa travelled Australia looking for work with a dinner suit in his swag as ‘one never knew when one would need to dress for dinner’. He taught me first impressions count and one should always dress appropriately!

You were so quiet and incredibly shy except with your closest friends. You led sheltered life revolving around church and school. Mum said you had trouble thinking you were good at things, yet you excelled at tennis, and creative writing and had an insane love of musicals. A Saturday night for you was watching Fred and Ginger tear up the floor. You were not invited to school parties as you were a dag – a term that these days is more affectionate than the insult it was then. You were not that keen on kissing the boys, something that didn’t follow you into adulthood. �� You still know all the words to Jesus Christ Superstar and Frank Sinatra songs after Saturday morning sing-alongs with your dad and brother! You were bullied right through school and still think to this day it has some impact on you. It’s hard to get over some of what happened to you by two very cruel mean girls. But you find a way.

Leaving school and working at The Victorian Railways Institute Library was your first lesson in the world. You read Mills & Boon books so you could tell Miss Sleeth and Miss Draper (retired secretaries) which ones contained sex scenes as for them it was ‘so unnecessary to have to read that filth.’ You enjoyed them but am not sure you ever attained the same dizzy heights of romance ever in your life. You met and worked with people you had never met before from all walks of life with their own issues and stories. You loved it and you came out of your shell. You made new friends. You left the church and discovered a whole new way of living but you stuck to many of the values the Bundoora Uniting Church taught you. You broke a heart, you had your heart broken many times. You worked through some interesting libraries from the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind to Monash Law Library where the librarian said you will never be a good librarian. You are too noisy. Find something else. You have been a computer salesperson, bus tour hostess, training administrator, and recruitment consultant before settling into a career in HR and specialising in recruitment.

You are now about to turn 55 in covid lockdown. You have been back in Australia for 5 years after 10 years living in London. You have an English husband, Robert, who gave up London life for you to return home and a 12-year-old son, Thomas who you adore more than you ever thought possible. After all, you had chosen not to be a mother but happy accidents happen.

On returning home at 50, you found it hard to get work so you started running events. Your last event before covid lockdown was a 350-person recruitment festival that was to go to New Zealand later this year and reach 600 in Melbourne. This was to be the year it all happened for you. However, after 3 years of building a great network and running events, you are starting again with Talent Table. You will build on the network of talent and HR people with vendors you have met, many of whom have become dear friends and start a whole new proposition to support your community in Australia. You know you can do it because you have done it before.

Alas, 2020 is nobody’s year and you have been challenged beyond belief but through all the lessons you have learned in life you are going to come out of this stronger and better than before. You are truly excited about the future.

These lessons have remained true for you:

Mean girls don’t last forever

Right now you feel you will never be free of the bullying and teasing. There is a small group who tease you, put you down and there were those two girls who are physically hurting you every chance they get. Then at your 20-year reunion, one of the girls who teased you will apologise for what she did as she now understands as her son is being bullied. She cannot imagine how you survived it, but you did. You find good friends who find you funny, kind, loving and crazy. Throughout your life, your girlfriends will be your anchor and your validation. You will leave school and find out who you are and one day, you will be popular with people that matter and people that love you, just the way you are.

Walk in, pause, look slowly around the room until you see someone you know and walk confidently up to them with a smile.

You walk into a room and think everybody is looking at you and judging you. You try to make yourself small. But guess what? They are not. And you are not small. When you leave school, your parents buy you a course at Suzanne Johnson’s Finishing School. You are taught to wear makeup, do your hair, and most importantly, walk into a room with confidence. You have never lost that lesson and still use it today. Nobody ever knows how much you are quaking inside. Now you stand up on stages and speak to many – still using the same skill – pause, look slowly around the room and smile.

When one door closes, somewhere a window opens.

Every single time life has not turned out as you had planned, something better and often brand new comes your way. Stay open to the opportunities. You can mourn what you think you have lost but in the end, you always find something better. Failure is a part of life. You will fail spectacularly and you will achieve much. Everything is an experience that leads you on. Be brave, go to the window every time and look at what is coming next.

Surround yourself with good people

You have been doing this your whole life from Catherine, Alison and Robyn who got you through school. To Jenni and Jules, who picked you up after a horrible divorce and taught you to stand on your own. To the London pack who got you through pregnancy and early motherhood when you were alone. You have been very blessed to have so many good people in your life. At each stage, you have found them, trusted them, loved them and held onto them. They are your cheerleaders and your confidants. And what you give out, comes back in spades. My goodness, you have no idea how much you will be loved and how much you will love. This will be one of the greatest successes of your life.

Be kind, always

Everyone is flawed and many people will come along and let you down, hurt you and in some cases betray you that you wonder if you will ever recover. However, you find as you go on that if you start with kindness in your response to these things, you will live happier. Lashing out, retaliation gets you nowhere. Start with you how you wish to behave in every situation and go from there and you will always be proud of yourself. You will teach Tom to look at people, smile and be interested and polite to them. Tonight the lady in the local store spoke for ten minutes about his care and compassion and he is just popping in to buy sweets but he knows to take the time to talk with her, listen and be kind. The world needs lots of kindness and it starts with you.

So get back into the world (figuratively) and start again Kirbs. You got this!

With Love,

Andrea

This post was originally published in Hung Lee’s Recruiting Brainfood .

talenttable

"From Bed-Rotting to Momentum: How Breathwork Saved My Business (and Me)"

"From Bed-Rotting to Momentum: How Breathwork Saved My Business (and Me)"

The WTF Moment

The First Session

Breathing, Angels, and Dead Dogs

Permission to Stop

Connection. Community. Clarity.

2026: The Year of Momentum

Experience Isn’t Expired: Why Every Generation Wins When We Keep Older Workers On

The Untapped Superpower in Your Workforce

Dear Andrea, at 60

A homage to the Letter to my 13-year old self

Why Human Connection Still Matters – and How We Can Reclaim It

#momentsmatter

The Reality of Loneliness in Australia

The Cost of Convenience

Why Connection Is More Than Just “Nice to Have”

So What Can We Do?

This Loneliness Awareness Week, Let’s Make Our Moments Matter

Challenging the Narrative of Age

“Bollocks to That: On Ageing, Working, and Not Disappearing” ﻿

The Myth of “Act Your Age”

Time as a Construct — and a Weapon

Ageing as Evolution, Not Decline

Are you ready to join the rebellion to make HR more relevant? The time is now!

Are you ready to join the rebellion to make HR more relevant? The time is now!

People should be safe at our events

People should be safe at our events

Turning the table on my mental health

Turning the table on my mental health

The State of Burnout 2024 study

The State of Burnout 2024 study

Friends of attract: Andrea Kirby from Talent Table

“We need to design our processes for inclusivity. As talent functions we should be looking at doing some human-design thinking around the recruitment process.”

Talent Table

Inclusive Hiring

The struggle for people with disability

How can we improve?

Hiring carers

Resources

Careers sites: where are Aussie businesses making the biggest mistakes?

Careers sites: where are Aussie businesses making the biggest mistakes?

1. Time-to-apply is way too long

2. Text-only job ads

3. Look-and-feel inconsistency

Quick wins

The last word

Need more help?

About the author

Career Website and Social Media Ownership: Marketing vs. Talent Acquisition

Career Website and Social Media Ownership: Marketing vs. Talent Acquisition

Marketing's Perspective:

Talent Acquisition's Perspective:

The Research:

Bridging the Gap:

Conclusion:

More reading?

How live events can benefit your Account-based Marketing Strategy

How live events can benefit your Account-based Marketing Strategy

There must be a reason why heroes start with HER!

There must be a reason why heroes start with HER!

Recruiting in the New World of Work: A Strategic Toolkit

Recruiting in the New World of Work: A Strategic Toolkit

A letter to my 13 year old self

A letter to my 13yo self!

Mean girls don’t last forever

Walk in, pause, look slowly around the room until you see someone you know and walk confidently up to them with a smile.

When one door closes, somewhere a window opens.

Surround yourself with good people

Be kind, always

“Bollocks to That: On Ageing, Working, and Not Disappearing”