When Catalina Consultants expanded into Melbourne last year, we knew we were entering a relationship-driven market where business was built on trust and reputation.

And, while that’s proven to be completely accurate, what we have come to understand is the nuances of the work we’ve been engaged to do.

“Whether it’s education, manufacturing, professional services, transport or hospitality, the main HR challenge we’re helping Melbourne businesses solve in 2026 is navigating the sheer number of issues they face at the same time,” says Rachel Bloom, Catalina Consultant’s Melbourne Principal.

Leaders want a partner, not more data

In 2026, Melbourne’s business and HR leaders have more access to policies, templates, guidance material and more information than ever before.

But all of this knowledge isn’t making their lives any easier. In fact, it often complicates things because it means they face competing priorities on a scale they’ve never had to deal with before.

In 2026, organisations are grappling with legislative change, psychosocial obligations, workforce shortages (at least in some sectors), rising costs, flexible work expectations, rapid technological change and, increasingly, questions about the role AI will play in the future of work. (And by the way, this is not unique to Melbourne!)

Rachel says that, individually, any one of these challenges would demand attention.  However, when taken together, they mean that leadership roles are becoming less about managing day-to-day operations and more about balancing competing priorities.

“Every decision creates consequences somewhere else,” she says.

“A flexible working policy may improve employee engagement but may also create challenges around collaboration and accountability. Cost pressures can cause a company to successfully rethink structure and workload, but damage culture and wellbeing.”

“And AI might present exciting opportunities for productivity and efficiency, but it also raises questions about capability, job design, risk and change management.”

“In other words, no HR or business challenge exists in isolation and the question has increasingly become how to fix one of these challenges without breaking another. That’s a very different problem to solve.”

The rise of the challenger

After speaking with many of Melbourne’s business and HR leaders over the past 12 months, Rachel says what they find more valuable than anything else is someone they can talk these challenges through with.

“They’re often looking for an experienced partner who can challenge assumptions, test ideas, ask difficult questions and help them understand the potential consequences of a decision before they make it,” she says.

“So clients aren’t necessarily buying HR advice, processes or direction. They’re buying an independent partner who can listen without judgement and offer pragmatic opinions when they’re making complex people decisions, or business decisions that will have a people impact.”

Rachel explains that this is one of the most dramatic changes she’s personally observed in recent years – the role of HR moving from responsibility for policies, compliance and processes to a more high-level strategic position. And it’s something Catalina has been providing now for 14 years.

“Often the challenge isn’t understanding the options available. It’s understanding which option is right for a particular organisation, at a particular point in time, with a particular group of people,” Rachel explains.

“That requires a level of judgement, context, experience and strategy that can only be delivered by a trusted thinking partner.”

Three lessons from 12 months in Melbourne

Rachel says that her first 12 months in Melbourne have reinforced three key lessons.

1. Trust still matters (maybe even more than before)

“When we first entered the Melbourne market after many years in business, we knew organisations would choose advisers they trusted rather than simply the provider with the most impressive credentials or largest profile,” Rachel says.

“That assessment proved correct, with many of the strongest opportunities coming through referrals, introductions and existing relationships rather than traditional business development activity.”

When leaders are navigating sensitive people issues, organisational change or difficult decisions, they want an adviser whose views they respect to sit beside them, challenge their thinking and provide practical guidance when things become complicated.

As Rachel puts it: “Technical capability is important and expected and absolutely critical, but trust is what differentiates.”

2. Authenticity beats polish

Rachel says that one thing that surprised her most was how strongly leaders responded to honest conversations about what was really happening inside their organisations.

“Many leaders are dealing with challenges that don’t have simple answers, so they’re cautious about anyone who’s selling easy fixes,” she explains. “They want someone who understands the complexity of the situation and can help them work through it.

Rachel says that, in a world increasingly filled with automated content, curated messaging and carefully managed communication (which often says everything while saying very little at all), genuine conversations have become even more valuable. Catalina has always understood this – in fact, it’s why we’ve always pitched ourselves as the human resources team that’s human!

3. Execution is often the real challenge

Rachel says her most important lesson of all has been that, while most organisations already have a reasonable understanding of what needs to happen, they often struggle to turn their intentions into reality.

“Leaders know they need to develop capability, strengthen culture, improve performance, navigate change and support their people,” she says.

“Where they need help is in working out where to start, what to prioritise and how to execute effectively without creating new problems elsewhere. And ideally someone with the capacity and know-how to carry it through”.

The future of HR is human

When Rachel joined Catalina’s Melbourne office a year ago, she says that her success would depend on establishing a presence, building relationships and proving the model. However, her – and Catalina Consultants’ – ambitions already look quite different.

“Our Founder, Merilyn Speiser never wanted growth for growth’s sake, but was interested most in the HR impact we could have on Melbourne-based businesses,” she says.

“Are we helping leaders make better decisions? Are we strengthening workplaces? Are we building capability that remains long after our engagement has finished?”

These questions aren’t random, but reflect a broader shift occurring across the profession. And HR professionals who understand this will be better placed to have influence and impact.

“For years, HR was often viewed through the lens of policy, compliance and process,” Rachel explains. “Those responsibilities remain important and always will, but increasingly, the greatest value lies in helping leaders and teams navigate complexity, ambiguity and human behaviour.”

“That’s something that still requires judgement, context and experience, and the best results come from having a trusted partner willing to ask the right questions rather than simply provide quick answers.”

Want more?

Looking for a partner to help your organisation make sense of today’s HR and business landscape? Get in touch.

In many workplaces, the people who make the most noise also get the most attention. Team meetings reward quick thinking and confident contributions. Brainstorming sessions favour those who are comfortable speaking up. And workplace culture frequently equates visibility – and vocalness – with value.

When that happens, organisations risk hearing the fastest ideas rather than the best ones.

Introverted employees tend to process ideas differently, often keeping a lower profile and rarely drawing the spotlight onto themselves. Rather than thinking out loud, they usually reflect, analyse and develop ideas internally before sharing them. As a result, their contributions often arrive more fully-formed but aren’t suited at all to fast-moving discussions.

This dynamic can mean that some of the most thoughtful and insightful employees get overlooked, so that their skills and potential are never fully realised.

Given that between one-third and one-half of all employees identify as introverted, this raises an important question for your organisation: are you missing valuable ideas simply because the people who hold them are quieter?

Quiet doesn’t mean disengaged

One common misconception in many workplaces is that quiet employees are less engaged or less interested in contributing. However, research on workplace personality traits suggests introverts often excel in areas such as deep focus, careful analysis and thoughtful decision-making. 

As writer and researcher Susan Cain argues in Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, quieter individuals often bring strengths such as careful thinking, creativity and the ability to work deeply on complex problems.

These qualities can be particularly valuable in roles that require sustained concentration, strategic thinking or complex problem-solving.

Introverts also tend to be strong listeners. Studies show that in team environments, this ability can help improve collaboration and reduce the risk of groupthink – that is, the tendency for teams to converge quickly around the most dominant or confident voices rather than the strongest ideas.

Despite these strengths, many workplace structures unintentionally favour extroverted behaviour. Research discussed in Harvard Business Review suggests that more outspoken employees are frequently perceived as more passionate, confident or capable than introverts – even when they’re not.

Over time, this dynamic can create a subtle bias where quieter employees are simply heard less. Their insights may emerge later, or in different forms, but if organisations rely heavily on fast-moving discussions, those perspectives can easily be overlooked.

For organisations, this presents a significant missed opportunity.

The benefits of tapping into quieter voices

When business leaders and managers actively seek input from quieter team members, it can bring genuine benefits to the organisation.

Better reasoned thinking

Organisational psychologist Adam Grant from the Wharton School and colleagues at Harvard Business School, conducted research which found introverted employees often bring strengths that are particularly valuable in roles requiring sustained concentration, careful analysis and complex problem-solving. Because they tend to reflect before speaking, their contributions can be more considered and analytical. 

This kind of deliberate thinking can improve decision quality, especially when organisations are dealing with complex problems or strategic choices.

More collaborative decision making

Another key advantage is listening. Introverts are often strong listeners, which can help teams surface different perspectives and avoid premature consensus. In group discussions, this can lead to more balanced conversations and better-informed decisions.

Greater productivity and innovation 

Grant’s evidence also found that quieter leadership styles can improve team performance. In fact, when employees were proactive, an introverted leader made them 28% more productive on average. One reason for this was that introverted leaders were more likely to listen to their team members and trust them so that their ideas helped shape decisions too.

In environments where innovation and problem-solving are important, these dynamics can be particularly valuable. That’s because, when leaders create space for a wider range of voices to contribute, teams are more likely to challenge assumptions, explore alternative solutions and develop stronger ideas.

How leaders can create space for quiet voices

If you’re looking to get more out introverted employees in your workplace, you might begin with rethinking how ideas are shared within your team. 

Many workplace structures unintentionally favour people who are comfortable thinking out loud, but relatively small changes can make discussions more inclusive of different communication styles.

One simple step is to give people more time to prepare. Sharing meeting agendas or discussion topics in advance allows employees to reflect on the issues being discussed so they can let that information simmer and develop their ideas before the conversation begins. This can make it easier for those who prefer to think carefully before speaking to contribute more confidently.

Leaders can also encourage written input alongside verbal discussion. Digital collaboration tools, shared documents or pre-meeting idea submissions can help capture insights that might not emerge during fast-moving conversations.

Structuring discussions can also make a difference. In many meetings, a small number of participants dominate the conversation while others remain silent. Actively inviting input from different team members or using structured rounds of discussion can ensure a broader range of perspectives is heard.

Finally, you could focus on building psychological safety within your team environment. Research from Google’s well-known Project Aristotle found that creating an atmosphere where people can share ideas without fear of embarrassment or negative consequences was one of the strongest predictors of team effectiveness.

When introverted employees feel comfortable speaking up, they’re far more likely to contribute their ideas and perspectives.

It always pays to remember…

The loudest voice in the room is not always the most insightful. Yet many workplace structures unintentionally reward those who are quickest to speak rather than those who have taken the time to think deeply about a problem.

By creating environments where different communication styles are recognised and valued, leaders can unlock a broader range of ideas, perspectives and insights within their teams.

Given how many employees identify as introverted, tapping into quieter voices is not simply a matter of personality or inclusion. It’s a practical leadership strategy that can improve decision-making, strengthen collaboration and ultimately help your organisation perform better.

After all, sometimes, the most valuable ideas come from the people who speak the least.

Want more?

If you’re looking to unlock the full potential of your workforce and build stronger, more effective teams, get in touch.

Labour shortages and rising wages mean employers need to do more with less. So, if you’re one of the many business owners who find they have too many HR tasks and not enough staff to complete them, here are six HR tasks we think you can automate, outsource or eliminate.

1. Managing leave

Many employers still rely on an employee to stay on top of everyone’s leave entitlements. But these days, managing leave entitlements – including sick leave, annual leave, carer’s leave and long service leave – can all be automated. 

When it comes to sick leave, some of today’s HR software can automatically follow up with employees, make sure they’ve submitted a doctor’s certificate (which they can do via their phone) and then notify team leaders and managers of their absence.

Best of all, modern HR software can let you identify trends in people’s sick leave – which can be great for identifying mental health issues and minimising potential psychological harm to employees.

Using an automated system to track annual leave can also give you complete visibility over when people will be absent. It can also reveal when you’re likely to be short-staffed, based on your workflow – and even potentially recommend critical times employees should be encouraged to take leave. 

Not only is there no need to have someone doing this all manually anymore, but by automating, you could eliminate risk while also giving yourself a strategic advantage.

2. Timesheets and payroll 

If you have someone processing timesheets and payroll manually, now’s the time to rethink your approach. 

There’s excellent software out there that will do this for you much more efficiently and cost-effectively. It will automatically ensure you’re complying with relevant tax, superannuation and employment laws, submit what you need to the ATO, and generally make your life as easy as possible.

Or, if you want a more comprehensive offering involving a human touch, you could outsource it. 

3. Hiring new employees

Hiring new employees is a function we often fundamentally associate with HR, but it could be one best performed by someone else. After all, it’s something that’s vital to your business and its ongoing success, but it also requires specific skills and processes. And depending on the size of your business, it can chew up a lot of your resources.

These high-impact, low-volume tasks are often the very best ones to outsource. There are specialists, such as recruitment companies or a virtual HR provider like ours, who can tap into their network, offer impartiality, and help you select the best candidate. We can even work with you to develop a strategic plan for attracting and retaining talent for the long term, so that you know what you need ahead of time.

4. Performance reviews

Performance reviews have traditionally been another fundamental part of the HR process – and a part that can take an extraordinary amount of time. They’re also one aspect of the relationship between management and employee that can be sensitive, fraught with risk, and carry long-term implications for workplace productivity and culture. 

That’s why this is another part of the HR process that often makes sense to eliminate from your in-house function and outsource, saving time and money. 

5. Compliance

Making sure your organisation complies with employment and HR laws can be complex. It can also be something that can consume your HR professionals, keeping them away from the areas in which they excel. 

The good news is that these days, HR software will make sure you’re complying with some of the rules and regulations you need to. And, for a high-level, or strategic view, you can always outsource.

6. Writing policies and procedures

Again, writing policies and procedures is laborious, and it’s also easy to get things wrong – potentially opening your organisation up to legal exposure. And yet, writing complex, sometimes specialist policies and procedures often falls to generalist HR professionals. A better approach is often to outsource this work to people who specialise in the area so that you know you’re following best practice and setting yourself up for success.

Looking for ways to eliminate more HR functions?

HR covers a range of functions from the strategic through to the detailed, and it’s often virtually impossible to hire people with all the skills you need. By outsourcing some of the tasks and automating others, you can make sure you’re always running the most efficient and cost-effective HR function possible. 

Want more?

If you’d like to know more about how these changes specifically impact your workplace, get in touch. 

Since COVID, more people than ever are working from home. In fact, it’s probably the single most important impact the pandemic has had on the workplace. But even before the pandemic struck, the Fair Work Act gave many employees the right to request flexible working and employers were obliged to consider that request. In my experience, some employers though are still reluctant to allow flexible working fearing that it leaves employees productive. So if you’re one of them – or if you’re an employee looking to prove your productivity when working from home – here are our tips for greater productivity.

Get off email (and other forms of communication)

Email is one of the main tools that has allowed many people to work effectively away from the workplace. More recently, it’s been joined by a host of other communication apps and methods, including Slack, Zoom, Teams, Jabber and more.

The problem is that the same tools that let us do our job are often the very same ones that distract us from it. 

How often do you find yourself giving up work momentarily to answer a message that’s probably not that urgent or just consistently checking it to see if anything interesting has come in?

One of the keys to productivity is simply to stop checking your messages. Instead, set aside a few times a day where you read and answer them in one batch. 

And, if you’re an employer looking to increase productivity in your workforce, either stop expecting an instant response or set aside a limited time each day (say 1 pm-3 pm) where people need to be available. Otherwise, try to let them get on with their work.

Structure your day

When we’re at the workplace, we have the external cues for when we should be doing certain things. We arrive and leave at set times, usually go on our lunch break at the same time others are taking lunch, and even chat around the proverbial water cooler or take our coffee breaks at a similar time each day. While imposing the same kind of regimentation on our homelife may not seem natural, routine is actually one of the real keys to being productive, healthy and even creative.

So, if your workplace hasn’t set a schedule for when you need to get work done, set one yourself. 

Give yourself a set time for when you’ll take lunch, when you’ll start and finish and when you’ll have scheduled breaks. Then stick to it. You’ll be surprised by how much more you’re likely to get done. 

Make to-do lists

One real key to productivity is to write to-do lists. But these shouldn’t just be spur-of-the-moment notes that focus only on what’s at hand. They should be strategic tools for setting out your monthly, weekly and daily goals.  

That said, you should be careful not to make your lists too long or too onerous: otherwise, you’re going to put yourself under too much pressure and feel like you’re failing when you can’t meet them. 

While it’s true that most of us have to-do lists in the office, in many ways, they become even more important at home. After all, remote working is all about keeping up your productivity to make sure the work still gets done.

If you’re an employer or manager worried about productivity, you could even have your employees submit their weekly to-do lists to you and then check them off.

Eat the frog

‘Eating the frog’ is a productivity technique that involves choosing the most important (and often unpleasant) task on your to-do list and making it your priority when you start the day. The reasoning is that by getting the thing that needs to be achieved done first, you’ll be devoting your best brain power to it and then leaving less important tasks for when you’re not quite as switched on. You’ll also have the sense of accomplishment that comes from knocking over your big task first.

If you’re an employer, you can encourage your remote employees to become more productive by having them identify their ‘frogs’ and then devote each morning to them.

Get time management technique

Beyond this, there are so many different ways you can organise your day to become more productive. A popular one is the Pomodoro (tomato) technique, whereby you break your day into 30-minute ‘pomodoros’ that involve 25 minutes of work and a five-minute break. You then take a longer break after four pomodoros – or after every two hours.

Another popular time management technique – and the favourite of Benjamin Franklin – is ‘time blocking’. Slightly less onerous than the Pomodoro technique, it involves breaking your day into blocks and then assigning work you’ll complete within them. By providing yourself with your deadlines this way, you should help overcome procrastination and get more done. (Although you will need a certain degree of flexibility, as even Franklin himself admitted.)

There are so many potential ways to organise your day for productivity, and we even found this quiz that can help you find which one’s right for you. And, if you’re an employer worried about your employees’ time management when working from home, why not train them in time management first? 

Want more?

If you’d like to know more about setting up your workplace for productive remote working, get in touch. 

Many employers see probation periods as something of an insurance policy when it comes to recruiting staff. If things don’t work out in the first six months, they potentially give you the option of ending the employment relationship without incurring significant costs or facing lengthy legal action. 

But with labour shortages, wage rises and mass resignations a feature of the employment landscape in 2022, do employers need to be a little more circumspect when it comes to terminating a probationary employee’s employment? We explore everything you need to know about probation periods in 2022.

The case against terminating employment

Let’s begin by looking at when terminating isn’t the best path. 

Hiring and firing employees is an expensive business. In 2019, I wrote about how to terminate employment when someone is on probation. Back then I noted that one US study found that the cost of losing a staff member and re-hiring generally equates to around a third of their income. In other words, if you need to fire and re-hire someone on $60,000 a year, expect it to set your business back $20,000. 

That study was made in a very different labour market than the current one too. Today, the costs are likely to be much higher, given just how difficult it is to find good employees.

That means terminating someone’s employment – even when they’re on probation – isn’t something you’d do lightly. 

But, still, there are times you really should dismiss an employee, especially where the cost of their continuing underperformance will be much bigger in the long run. 

How do probationary periods work? 

Even when you’ve done all the right things in the recruitment process, you’ll sometimes make mistakes. After all, you can’t be 100% certain about anyone’s work – or how they fit into your organisation – until you actually see it for yourself. Probationary periods are designed to get around this, letting you use an employee’s early time with you – usually between three and six months – to assess whether they’re right. 

If they’re not, well, you have the opportunity to end the employment relationship without the same legal obligations you’d have towards a more long-standing employee. 

That said, an employee still has some entitlements during probation. For instance, they’re still entitled to the 10 National Employment Standards and some of the protections contained in the Fair Work Act 2009. 

This means you’ll have to provide them with a week’s notice of termination (or at least payment in lieu of this notice period). They’ll also be entitled to be paid for any annual leave they’ve accrued. 

What they usually won’t be entitled to do, is to bring an unfair dismissal claim in the Fair Work Commission.  However, under the Fair Work Act 2009, employees can’t bring an unfair dismissal for the first six months of their employment anyway – or 12 months where the employer has less than 15 employees.

The key: An effective probation period

The key to getting probation right – especially in today’s environment – is to run an effective probation period. This means not just giving your employee the opportunity to prove themselves but also helping equip them with the skills they need to be a good employee. 

Here’s how I think you should do that in 2022.

Read more here about getting the first six months of employment right.

Can you extend a probationary period?

With labour in short supply, you might be tempted to extend an employee’s probationary period, effectively giving them a second chance. But are you allowed to do this?

The answer is that it depends on what the contract of employment says. Some employment contracts will provide that the employer can extend probation in certain situations. If the employee is covered by an Award or Agreement, you also need to be mindful of this too.

At the same time, always remember that the employment laws, most notably the Fair Work Act 2009, still apply. That means, that if you extend an employee’s contract beyond the statutory probation period, they will have the right to bring an unfair dismissal claim, as well as to all the other entitlements of other employees. 

With that in mind, there may be little point in attempting to extend a probationary period because the employee will have all the same rights as other permanent staff members.  

How to terminate an employee when they’re on probation

While you can terminate a probationary employee’s employment without having to go through some of the requirements of a permanent employee, you can’t just dismiss a probationary employee for any reason you like. 

Even if they can’t access unfair dismissal remedies, probationary employees can access unlawful termination remedies from the moment they start working for you. That means you can’t terminate their employment for a prohibited reason, such as temporary absence from work, union membership, making a complaint or on the basis of race, gender or pregnancy.   

If you are terminating employment for a legitimate reason, you don’t have to wait until the end of the probationary period before dismissing them. When you’ve done your best and you really have reached the point of no return, my view is to act now and begin the process of hiring someone to replace them.

Want more? 

Terminating a worker’s employment can be fraught, even when they’re on probation. And never has there been more at stake than right now. Get in touch if you’re unsure about one of your new employees and need a guiding hand.