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​What a year it has been so far! There are so many reasons why we are looking at World Mental Health Day differently this year. 2020 has been a year that has not only challenged us to think more about ours & our loved one's physical health - but also likely had a huge effect on our mental health. More than ever it's becoming a necessity to take time out and reflect on your personal wellbeing & mental health. 🧘‍♂️Self-isolation, lock-out, social distancing , WFH - For more than 7 months now, the recent pandemic forced us to live a new life of being alone in different ways. Whether it's having to stay away from our colleagues, friends, and family or being aware of potential health threats to our body. Life, as it used to be, was turned upside down. We had to quickly adapt to the drastic changes happening all around us - both in our personal and professional lives.​​With the majority of us WFH for most of the year, somehow our work-life balance has become one big mess that is sometimes hard to untangle.Especially when you are not used to working from home all day and are - after all these months - still trying to figure out, how to balance the distractions of home life, with the requirements of your working life 🤯 You're not alone!Whether you feel like WFH makes your more productive or are still struggling to get the hang of it, one thing is clear - If you're not disciplined enough to separate your work environment from your personal life it can be more than challenging to stay sane and healthy.​Physical health is easy to monitor. But with high-stress levels and today's phenomenon of 'always being busy', our mental health is easily overlooked. It's something we often push to the back of our minds, something we will get back to when we have time, something we will do on the weekend, and so on... The problem is, weekends are not always enough to reset and rest our minds. Catching up with friends, family events, chores, life admin, plus one or two BBQs and a few drinks here and there. 😎But overbooking your schedule exhausts your body, creating a mental response that could be a threat to your wellbeing. Active stress management should be as well a part of your health management as exercise, restful sleep, and a healthy diet. When time is short, however, it’s often the first thing to be nixed.Physical social distancing does not automatically mean you should distance yourself from your mind.That's why it's important to make sure you remind yourself and the people around you to take care of yourselves above all. Sometimes you just need to stop, reflect, and take a deep breath. 🌿​"It’s a letting go of your structure, so you can re-structure yourself inside and let go of the rigid cobwebs of your thinking that have been draining your aliveness without you even noticing."​It's those days that you are allowed to be selfish enough to think about nothing but your own wellbeing and spoil yourself.This also doesn't mean that mental health days should look the same for every individual. It's your mental health day and it can look like whatever you want it to:You could be a bookworm with the yearning desire to devour a book. 📕 If you're the active type this could mean spending time going for a run at the beach, doing some crazy boxing, or maybe going hiking. 🏃‍♀️What about diving into your spiritual self with a relaxing session of yoga or meditation? 🧘‍♀️... or you may simply want to take a long nap. 😴​👉 Not sure on how to spend an effective mental health day? Check out this article for some directions.​​​​You will need to figure out which activity is best for you to fully dive into your body and mind to rest and recharge your energy levels.It's not just about getting a day off and showing up refreshed. Enjoying a moment of rare introspection and concentrating 100% on how you are truly feeling will not only improve your mental health but your physical health as well.​Find some time for yourself! ☀️ Happy World Mental Health Day 2020.​---​If you or someone you know is struggling, here a list of a few services & charities that could be relevant:Lifeline – 13 11 14 - 24 hours a day, 7 days a weekBeyond Blue – 1300 22 4636Butterfly Foundation National Helpline – 1800 334 673SANE Australia Helpline – 1800 187 263Kids Helpline – 1800 55 1800MensLine Australia  – 1300 789 978QLife 1800 184 52 –  Web-chat available 3pm to midnight 7 days!For more information and a more extensive list of health services and support contacts please reach out to a relevant organisation on RUOk? and NSW Government Mental Health Services.

​In part one of our blog on adjusting to a post-coronavirus world, we discussed the importance of rebuilding your foundations – rebuilding internal teams and retaining talent once the job market kicks back into gear. Now, in part two, we’ll take it a step further. How can you bounce back from the crisis and position yourself to scale up, fast? Along the way, we’ll touch on everything from formalising your remote working proposition to reacquainting yourself with a customer base that may have changed dramatically over the past few months.Scaling up quicklyHaving started to rebuild your workforce and taken steps to retain your best people, it’s time to scale up at pace to ensure you bounce back from the lockdown stronger than your rivals.Firstly, organisations need to decide when and how to return to the office. Nine in ten have encouraged or required employees to work from home due to coronavirus. And we can assume that going forward, a significant chunk of the workforce will continue to do so at least some of the time – in fact, 78% of Australian office workers believe working remotely is likely to become the new normal. Reopening the office will, therefore, be a huge step for companies and workforces alike. Naturally, many organisations will be eager to get their teams back together in-person. Some employees will be desperate to get back to normality after weeks or months of isolation. Others, however, will be keen to continue working remotely. During the crisis, we’ve spoken with candidates who’ve taken up permanent jobs based out of offices in locations where they wouldn’t normally work. They’ve accepted because they can work remotely for now – and they have openly told us that as soon as the office reopens, they have no desire to face a 60 or 90-minute commute. They’ll simply resign and find a new job if they are no longer able to work from home.As well as this, organisations will need to establish what “scaling up” actually looks like. Targets will need to be reevaluated to make them realistic in the new business climate – setting yourself up to fail will only damage morale down the line. Motivation and a high-performance culture will be key to driving the business forward. Furthermore, you must be mindful that a permanent shift toward regular remote working could have a negative impact on company culture. After all, it can be harder to reinforce positive messages, run team-building exercises, and generally help people feel engaged and “bought in” when they’re not in the office.Action points:1.    Formalise your approach to remote workingAs remote working transitions from a “coping strategy” to a long-term reality, companies need to make it as smooth and effective as possible.Set a clear policy on who can work from home, and how often they can do it. Ideally, everyone who wants to, should be able to work remotely at least some of the time, but there may be points when core team members are required in the office. Companies will also need to address whether they allow some new staff to stay 100% remote – or risk losing them to rivalsonce the job market kicks back into gear. Hold all-company meetings once a week to reinforce key messages, provide updates on performance and operations, and generally remind everyone that they’re part of a broader team than the people they communicate with day-in, day-out. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have any specific news to share; use the weekly meeting slot to do something fun instead that allows all workers, remote or in the office, to get involved.Finally, take steps to limit the need for constant emails – which can quickly become unmanageable – by utilising communication tools to keep all relevant parties informed on delivery of specific tasks. Some of our favourites include:Video messaging: Loom and Standups enable asynchronous video messaging in workplaces, allowing your team to record a message, then send it to colleagues to watch on their own time.   Video notes: Chorus, Otter.ai, Fireflies.ai and Grain make it easy to find valuable information from your video calls by making them searchable, shareable, and transcribable.Messaging: Threads, Yac and /talk open up a world of personal, asynchronous communication for remote teams.​2.    Protect your leadership teamNow more than ever, businesses need strong leaders. You simply can’t afford to lose talented, savvy decision-makers in such a challenging and uncertain period. Don’t blindly assume that times of crisis will automatically build loyalty among your top talent; during the so-called Great Recession of 2007-09, one in eight “high potentials” surveyed by Harvard Business Review said they were actively looking for new jobs.Work hard to create a tight-knit, engaged leadership team and involve them in all high-level decisions. It’s vital that they feel like the most important people within the organisation, and that they are committed to – and personally accountable for – driving the business forward. And don’t just incentivise by performance; reward loyalty and longevity (perhaps through awarding more annual leave, granting stock options, or supporting them in pursuing passion projects).3.    Reacquaint yourself with your customersPre-Covid-19, you probably had a pretty decent idea of who your “average customer” was. But the pandemic has dramatically changed our behaviours – and in many cases, those changes will be permanent. To give an extremely specific example, 33% of Chinese consumers changed food brands during the crisis. A fifth of them plan to stick with their new choices going forward. In other words: forget what you (thought you) knew about your customers. Go out and grab fresh insights to inform future strategy. Gathering those insights will be about more than just conducting market research. You’ll need to speak to your longest-standing and highest-spending customers to understand how their goals and priorities have changed. Accept that you’ll make mistakes in predicting demand and keep an open mind, adapting with agility as the situation evolves.​4.    Demonstrate social responsibilityBusinesses simply cannot afford to be on the “wrong side of history” when it comes to the pandemic. Organisations that have invested in corporate social responsibility (CSR) – by donating to charity, contributing to public health initiatives, and going above and beyond to support their workforce, contractors and suppliers – will be in a position to capitalise once lockdown ends. However, be wary of crossing the line between “highlighting your CSR efforts” and “using the crisis for self-promotion”. Any goodwill you generated through good deeds will be undone immediately if your motivations are seen as cynical. Customers are most likely to view your CSR programme as authentic – and, importantly, non-cynical – if its focus is clear and ties into your company vision. Google, for instance, concentrates much of its approach on sustainability and reducing its carbon emissions, even going so far as bringing in goats to mow the lawns at its Mountain View HQ. Don’t spread yourself too thin, or try to be all things to all people: pick a niche that directly relates to your company values, andconcentrate your CSR actions within this area.​5.    Motivate your workforce​For all the benefits it provides, remote working has historically produced teams that are less motivated than their office-based peers – particularly when they have no choice about where they work. However, this isn’t just about motivating home-workers. Your whole workforce will emerge, blinking, from lockdown, wondering what happens next and whether or not they have a part to play.But what actually motivates employees? According to a survey of 200,000 people, the biggest motivators are:1. Camaraderie and peer motivation (20%)2. Intrinsic desire to do a good job (17%)3. Feeling encouraged and recognised (13%)4. Having a real impact (10%)5. Growing professionally (8%)In short, your team want to feel involved, valued, and surrounded by like-minded people. And they want to feel like they’re moving forward rather than treading water. As such, one of your earliest priorities should be to create fresh development plans for each and every person within the business. Give them measurable goals that clearly tie into your overarching company objectives. That way, they can see the value that they offer, and how their work feeds into the success of the whole organisation. The importance of engaging the right recruitment partnerAs we’ve demonstrated throughout this article, talent acquisition is going to be central to your ability to bounce back and scale up post-lockdown. But with every company fighting it out to hire the best people, the phrase “war for talent” has arguably never been more apt. Speed will be key; you can’t afford to let your competitors steal a lead. Team up with the right recruiter – one with a deep understanding of your industry and a substantial pool of engaged talent – to give yourself the edge over your rivals. TheDriveGroup can help you scale up your team in the post-lockdown world. Get in touch today to find out how we can support you:James Sullivan - Directorjsullivan@thedrivegroup.com.au // 02 8076 4661

​The coronavirus pandemic has shut down economies across the world, forcing businesses to take dramatic steps to stay afloat. Focus has shifted from long-term growth to short-term survival. But as countries begin to emerge from lockdown, companies need to get back on track as quickly as possible. With that in mind, TheDriveGroup has put together this actionable guide on what to do once the reset button has been pushed:​Rebuilding your team​It’s no secret that the pandemic has hit the job market hard. Economists believe unemployment in Australia and New Zealand will more than double to over 11%, the highest level in three decades.Post-pandemic, all (viable) companies will attempt to rebuild their workforces, so we’re expecting to see a rush for top talent. And there’s no reason to assume that demand for techies will be anything other than high – the number of job ads for software engineering roles grew by 1% year on year in the three months to March 20th, according to figures from employment marketplace SEEK. We’ve even seen some companies building out their tech teams during the lockdown.Rebuilding teams that have been dramatically reduced in size will be no easy task. Some companies have had to cut hundreds or even thousands of jobs. In some instances, those employers have set up partnerships with companies in different sectors to help laid-off staff find work straight away. What happens when things return to “normal” and those employers want their old staff back? And what do they do if those people are no longer available or interested? ​Action points:1.    Work on your employer brandNow is the time to update and build out your employer brand to give yourself the best chance of attracting talent. Just 19% of employees strongly believe that the experience their employer promotes publicly is matched by reality, indicating that many organisations are not practising what they preach when it comes to looking after their workforce. Remember that the best employer brands stem from a clear purpose and values, which – when implemented effectively – help businesses to attract and retain talent that shares those same beliefs. Consider the example set by outdoor clothing brand Patagonia, which claims to blend “work, play, family and environmentalism”. This might sound like a grand promise, but the brand delivers through numerous initiatives, from offering paid environmental internships, to reimbursing staff for commuting in a way other than driving. The results have been impressive: 91% of employees describe Patagonia as a great place to work, compared to just 59% at an average US-based company. 2.    Demonstrate how you helped employees during lockdownBusinesses that are perceived as having “let down” their staff will find it hard to recruit in a post-lockdown world. This isn’t to say that any business that has had to reduce staffing numbers will automatically struggle to attract talent. Instead, it’s about highlighting the ways in which you’ve helped your workforce, and providing context for your actions:Have you furloughed staff? If so, what have you done to keep those furloughed employees engaged with the business? Have you made redundancies? How can you demonstrate that this decision was taken as a last resort, only after all other options had been exhausted?In the era of employee review sites like Glassdoor, organisations can already ill afford to even appear to mistreat their staff. This situation has been further exacerbated by the launch of sites like Did They Help?, which rates the actions of companies and celebrities during the pandemic.None of this should be seen as a negative. Instead, it’s an opportunity for businesses that did something out-of-the-ordinary to help their workforce during the crisis. Airbnb, for instance, has earned one of the most positive ratings on Did They Help?, despite laying off a quarter of its workforce. Its founders are taking no salary for the next six months, while its executives have accepted a 50% pay cut. Additionally, it has offered a variety of measures designed to help its newly redundant workers, from entry to an alumni network to placement support and career advice. Every employer is having to make tough decisions right now – but those that do it with empathy, while going out of their way to genuinely help their staff, will be best placed to rebuild their teams when some sort of normality returns. 3.    Ramp up your networking and talent engagementEven when lockdown is over, there are going to be more candidates in precarious positions and at home than ever before. These candidates will be easier for employers to reach. What’s more, the candidate pool as a whole is going to be larger. So how can you make the most of networking and engage with as many relevant candidates as possible?This could be a great time to work in partnership and build a strategy with a recruitment partner to help you capitalise in a candidate-rich market. The recruitment agency will have greater clarity on how wages have been affected and what benefits are attractive to candidates. In general, their experience of speaking to candidates will help them to understand exactly what people want from an employer going forward. Expect job security to be a huge factor. 4.    Offer fixed-term placementsGiven the candidate-rich market, it’s likely that more people will be willing to take contracts. What’s more, contractors will probably be cheaper than they have been for a long time, and many will be looking for security in an uncertain market, making them less likely to leave.As an employer, can you make greater use of contractors to rebuild your team? Could you offer six-month temp-to-perm contracts to effectively “try before you buy”? Or hire temporarily while keeping your options open?​ Retaining talentFollowing on from the last point, companies won’t just find themselves facing a battle to rebuild their workforce – they’ll also have to take steps to retain talent as the job market starts to recover. This is particularly true for people working at companies that handled the lockdown poorly. We’ve heard of a lot of employers reducing people’s hours, forcing annual leave and imposing pay cuts. Most staff have not welcomed this. Far from simply staying put and riding out the crisis, a lot of candidates we’ve spoken to are still employed but looking to jump ship for a company that’s still paying full-time wages and generally putting its employees first.Other employers have taken a different tack, launching initiatives that allow them to save money while retaining staff. Domain Group has introduced a voluntary programme that sees employees receive 20% of their salary package in share rights over the next six months, with more than 90% of staff agreeing to opt in.Of course, a lot of candidates have found themselves accepting jobs for short-term security, with little intention to stay when normal service resumes. As soon as salaries and rates go back up, or their old employer is ready to take them back, they’re planning to quit. How will their current employer cope with this? Can they realistically retain these people? Action points:1.    Highlight ways you helped your workforce during the crisisDid you go down the Domain Group route and launch an innovative programme to protect redundancies while still reducing payroll costs in the short term? Or perhaps, like Microsoft, you pledged to continue paying hourly workers regularly, even if they ended up doing less work as a result of the pandemic? Ultimately, if you did everything in your power to support your team during the crisis, you should demonstrate this and use it as a tool to support your talent retention and attraction efforts. Likewise, take steps to recognise and reward employees who have made sacrifices to support the business, such as agreeing to take reduced salaries or working longer hours to keep operations running. Can you offer long-term loyalty incentives to make these people feel suitably valued and reduce the risk of them leaving? 2.    Entice former staff back to the businessRe-hiring former employees who have taken up new roles during the pandemic can be an effective way to rebuild your internal teams – provided you treated them well before they left. Find out what they’re lacking at their new employer, and consider what incentives – both short and long-term – you can offer to coax them back. Financially, you may not be in a strong enough position to offer a “golden hello”, but there may be other benefits you can provide, from subsidised commuting to helping with the equipment costs associated with working from home. 3.    Listen to your employees and communicate honestlyNow more than ever, organisations need to listen to their workforce if they’re going to retain talent. Understand what they want and do your best to accommodate it.For instance, many employees won’t welcome an immediate return to “business as usual”. Continue to allow flexibility around working hours and locations, and keep checking in with staff regularly to ask how they’re doing and support them as necessary. Importantly, don’t fall into the trap of overpromising. Employees understand the hardships facing your business – after all, they’re facing plenty themselves. Be open and honest about how your business has coped during lockdown, what the immediate future holds, and how priorities have shifted. This is the time to reconnect your team with your vision.​How can you bounce back from the crisis and position yourself to scale up, fast? Click here to find out in Part 2.

The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine. The list ranks the top 500 U.S. corporations as per their gross revenue.In 2015 the top 5 were: Walmart, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Berkshire Hathaway, and Apple.In 2020 the top 5 doesn't look too different: Walmart, Exxon Mobil, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, and Amazon.com.When reading these lists I think of old grey haired billionaires like Warren Buffet or tech geniuses such as Steve Jobs.In 2015 I came across the following stat, which changed my whole perspective and blew my mind:  95% of Fortune 500 CEOs played college sports!I looked into it a bit more and discovered the following:John Donahoe, CEO of Ebay: 'Basketball Junkie' at Dartmouth.Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo: Played cricket at college in India.Walter Robb, CEO of Whole Foods: Played Soccer at Stanford.Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America: Crazy about Rugby and played at Brown.The list went on…I doubt we will ever know for sure how accurate 95% is.Either way the following 9 reasons are something I agree with and truly believe in. Enjoy:​​Do you believe playing sports helps you to do better professionally?​​

​If you turned to your nearest colleague and asked them what they believe the key to life is – how would they respond?I am confident they would either look at you confused or reply with one of the following answers: happiness, positivity, persistence, balance, family, friendship or money.Realistically, there is no right or wrong answer. But...The closest thing I have ever found to a “real” answer comes from none other than, the Fresh Prince of Bell-Air - Will Smith. During an acceptance speech at the 2005 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, he shared what he believes are the two keys to life:Number 1 – RUNNING!Naturally when running you will eventually get to a point where you will want to quit (for some of us this happens before we have even started). A little person then starts talking to you in your mind complaining and pushing you to quit: “I’m tired. My lung’s hurt. I’m hurting. There’s no way I can possibly continue!”IF you can learn to DEFEAT this little man whilst running…Then you will learn how to NOT quit when things get hard in your life!So… The first key to life = RUNNING!“The person who works the hardest wins!”Number 2 – READING!Before us there were billions of people. All with problems and issues.So realistically, there aren’t many problems that are new to this world. Your problem has already been a problem for someone else and there is a good chance that someone has solved it, and someone has wrote about how to solve it.So the theory is this: No matter what your problem is – the solution is out there somewhere in a BOOK!All you have to do is FIND that book and READ it.So... The second key to life = READING!“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.”​A good friend of mine introduced me to the “Running and Reading” concept whilst we were studying together at University and it is something that has stuck with me ever since.​