About 50 per cent of Australian managers believe their health is being negatively impacted by the long hours they work, according to the results of a major new study. The study, Quality of Working Life analysed responses from more than 2,500 executives in the private and public sectors in Australia and the United Kingdom. It found that managers in the two countries had remarkably similarviews on the impact of working long hours.

Australian executives have come out on top in a new survey comparing management styles in Australia and the United Kingdom.The survey, called Quality of Working Life was based on responses from more than 2,500 executives in the private and government sectors in the two countries. It showed that Australian managers were considered less authoritarian, less bureaucratic, more accessible and more innovative than their British counterparts.

Popular adages like, “the best organisations have the best talent,” and, “financial incentives drive company performance,” drive business decisions every day. Yet too much common management “wisdom” isn’t wise at all. Instead, unsubstantiated knowledge based on “best practices” such as these, can actually prove to be poor, incomplete, or outright obsolete. Worse, legions of managers use this dubious knowledge to make decisions that are hazardous to organisational health. Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer, from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, will illustrate how your organisation’s managers can make better decisions if those decisions are based on evidence of what works elsewhere, as well as within your own organisation.

Do you know what the top eight reasons that reduce staff engagement are? Do you know whether your staff retention rate is above or below average? If the answer to any of these is no, then you've got some work to do. Join Kevin Panozza, former CEO of SalesForce and his team, at a half day workshop which will help you to develop greater insight into the Eight Enemies of Engagement and the effect it is having on your organisation. There can be no doubt that employing and engaging the right people has a direct effect on your bottom line.

Join AIM and TCCI for a lunch with federal Liberal parliamentarian and former Treasurer, Peter Costello following the release of his much anticipated book, The Costello Memoirs. The Costello Memoirs takes us into the engine-room of the Liberal Party during the eleven years of the Howard Government. Revealing anecdotes and a little gossip about politicians, public servants, national figures and journalists, the Memoirs gives readers a front-row view of life in government. What were the backroom deals that made the GST possible? What were the critical obstacles that Costello, as Treasurer overcame to build the strength of the Australian economy to the point where it was able to withstand the financial meltdown of the late 1990s?