Executive PA Australasia October November 2016 | Page 8

INTRAY
MEA’s new CEO
concedes corporates
haven’t been captured
Meeting and Events Australia’s new CEO
Robyn Johnson concedes MEA needs to work
harder to engage the corporate sector.
She says to date they haven’t captured the
market all that well.
“I think MEA needs to improve the
engagement of this sector, give it a voice and
acknowledge the value it delivers across the
event industry.”
She says it’s something they’ll be working
on over coming months including building on
its relationship with EAs.
“This has already begun at the annual
conference this year launching the ‘In-House
Event Manager Special Interest Group’ which
includes EAs …I am hoping that this will
build into a specialist committee that meets
throughout the year to exchange ideas and
discuss relevant issues.
“I hope that MEA can attract EAs to get
more involved as we are about to embark
on a whole new approach to working with
the industry across all sectors …MEA will be
making a number of announcements over the
coming year and providing a much improved
service to its members.”
She says the industry is facing a number
of challenges moving forward including there
being little barriers to entry where, “anyone
can hang up a shingle advertising they are an
event manager.”
There’s also high competition from the
global events industry and “technology that
is ever changing and can be perplexing
and expensive, but essential in delivering
professional events”.
Unlimited leave – are you up for it?
Australian innovation consultancy
Inventium has put its money where its
mouth is and is giving staff unlimited,
uncapped paid leave.
Following in the footsteps of Netflix,
Virgin Group and LinkedIn who all give
staff unlimited holiday leave, Founder
Dr Amantha Imber says she’d love to see
other companies reflect on the equity of
the agreements they have with their staff.
“It seems unfair that companies don’t
track working hours, but do track holiday
leave. It’s as if they are saying, you can
work as hard as you want, but you’ll still
receive the same amount time of.
“Providing unlimited leave is a great
way to deal with the enormous and elusive
problem of work life balance. By putting
control back into employees’ hands, they can
start to take responsibility for their energy
levels and creating a balance between
work and life, rather than having to save up
annual leave days like precious stones.
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“I’d encourage businesses to start
trusting their staff more. We are all
adults.”
Why you should consider proposing
unlimited leave.
1. It reduces the inequity of typical
employment agreements – where leave
is capped, but working hours are not
2. It creates better work-life balance –
after a period of intense work, staff
have the flexibility to take time off
and recharge
3. Staff no longer have to save up leave
days like precious stones, and feel
resentful when their company inflicts a
mandatory two-week office shut-down
4. It’s a great differentiator for workplaces
5. It shows that leaders trust employees
Would you try to drive workplace
change in your office by pushing
for unlimited leave? Let us know
your thoughts by emailing
[e-mail]
PITCH PERFECT
Speaker, writer and trainer Andrew
Klein provides some top tips on
what EAs can do to successfully
pitch ideas and initiatives to CEOs
and management.
1. Simplicity
Distil everything down to the shortest,
simplest, most succinct format possible.
Limit written documents to a few short
points. Have the costs breakdown and all
the details available. Your message is
more likely to be absorbed and the
recipient will appreciate your recognition
that they’re time-poor.
2. Be different
Consider taking a creative approach.
Can your request, proposal or pitch be
put into a simple iPhone style video?
Research shows almost everyone will
(almost instantly) view a tailor-made
video clip (provided its short) whereas
it’s so easy to skip over, put off reading
or delete an email.
3. Engagement
Put simply, people are more likely to listen
and act on your requests and proposals if
they feel you understand them, their work-
lives and priorities. So pick the time for
your proposal and pitch based on what you
think will work best for the recipient.
4. Ums and Ahs
Everyone has an um. It might be a repeated
action (like swaying or picking your
fingernails), but if you don't manage your
'um' during a spoken pitch, it may act as a
distraction. Being more conscious of it can
help you eliminate it.
5. It's about them, not me
Put yourself in the shoes of the person or
people you are pitching to. Ask yourself
"what do they want to hear?" or “what will
push their buttons” rather than "what do I
want to say?" or “what do I want or need.”
Andrew Klein is a Presentation Skills and
Pitching Skills speaker, writer and trainer.
INFO
www.andrewklein.com.au