CORPORATE PLANNING

What’s happening to the Australian workplace? It’s changing faster than we ever imagined. Current research reveals organisations moving beyond social responsibility to transform their businesses with an infusion of values such as integrity, customer delight, respect for people, innovation, teamwork and prudent risk-taking. Change is afoot in boardrooms and on factory floors, with workers saying they want influence; they want to be able to discuss their values and they want to make a difference. The benefits of a values-driven organisation are dramatic -- ranging from lower absentee rates to inspired innovations – often from unexpected quarters.

This strong trend change is well documented and some major Australian corporations are taking the lead. Dr Wendy Sarkissian has run out of wall space to display the forty professional awards her small Australian social planning firm has received in the past 25 years. Staff she mentored now hold senior positions in government and academia in Australia and overseas. She clearly knows how to inspire staff, colleagues and clients and to work effectively with local communities.

Wendy shares research into leading practice team development, as well as her own stories of developing and managing multidisciplinary teams of staff and consultants in high-risk planning and development projects in high-conflict contexts.

• The Energy Wheel: A diagnostic tool for organisational change
• Nurturing passion and enthusiasm at work
• Working from the heart in Australian professional life.

• Tested and spirited approaches to developing high-performance teams
• The pursuit of excellence: a new look at an old management idea
• Intergenerational work styles: how older and younger workers can learn from each other.

• What is corporate visioning and how can it be used effectively?
• Using creative visioning approaches in high-conflict contexts.