Strategic Business Co

08/10/2026

One of the best things about what we do is connecting great people!

We’re so proud to have found Melissa and introduced her to Matt and the team at Old Mate Financial Services Pty Ltd - Insurance & Finance Brokers.

We love seeing the right people come together, and we have no doubt Melissa is going to kick some serious goals!

And hey, if you're looking for some great people to join your business, reach out!

Or, if you're an absolute legend looking for your next career opportunity, give us a call for a confidential chat. We'd love to hear from you! 😊

📞 07 4306 7100
📧 [email protected]

The Old Mate team is pleased to welcome Melissa Ryder, our new insurance broker based in Stanthorpe.

Mel brings a wealth of experience to Old Mate and can be contacted on 0438 919 438 or email [email protected].

Welcome aboard Mel 🥂

*************************************************

Hi, I'm Melissa! 👋

I've been working as an Insurance Broker for over two decades, and now I’ve truly found my vibe and home with Old Mate. I'm proudly based in Glen Aplin, just outside of Stanthorpe.

My absolute passion is supporting our rural and regional communities. For me, insurance isn't just about policies—it’s about understanding the unique challenges of regional life and being a trusted mate when you need it most.

07/10/2026

CQUniversity Australia is celebrating 40 years of its STEPS pathway program, and they recently reached out to share the story of our Senior HR Business Partner, Nathan.

Nathan started STEPS in Bundaberg back in 2014 after deciding he wanted to do something more with his life, even though university definitely wasn’t something he had always pictured for himself.
And that one decision changed a lot.

STEPS gave Nathan the confidence to realise he could study, learn and succeed.

From there came a Bachelor of Business, a career in HR,
involvement and certification with the Australian HR Institute and eventually building Strategic Business Co.

The part we love most is that Nathan’s story really started with simply giving something a go.

🗨️ You don’t always need to know exactly where you’re heading. Sometimes you just need to take the first step. Pretty fitting for a program called STEPS!

Thanks to CQUniversity for sharing Nathan’s story as part of this milestone.

Have a read here:
https://www.cqu.edu.au/news/1319716/nathan-says-steps-was-the-right-path-to-take

05/10/2026

💰 Can paying people MORE actually make them LESS motivated?

There’s a great little story shared on The Diary of a CEO called The Parable of the Noisy Children.

An old woman was sick of kids making noise outside her house.

Instead of telling them to stop, she offered to pay them $1 each to come back the next day and make even MORE noise (she said she loved the noise and had hearing problems).

They happily did.

The next day, she dropped it to 25 cents.

Then eventually… she stopped paying altogether.

The kids were furious.

🗨️ “You expect us to make all this noise for FREE?”

So they stopped coming 😂

It’s a pretty clever lesson in motivation.

People often start a job with plenty of natural motivation. They want to do well, contribute, be recognised and feel like they are part of something worthwhile.

But when we attach a dollar value to everything, there’s a risk that motivation starts becoming transactional.

Bonuses, commissions and incentives can absolutely have a place.

But they shouldn’t replace the things that really build strong teams:

Trust.
Recognition.
Purpose.
Good leadership.
A great culture.
And being paid fairly in the first place.

Because if money becomes the ONLY reason someone cares, what happens when the bonus disappears?

Thoughts?

02/10/2026

No better feeling then introducing a great candidate to a great business and seeing that new employee flourish and do great things!

Elvery's Electrical Service

30/09/2026

We were privileged to help Matt from Old Mate Financial Services Pty Ltd - Insurance & Finance Brokers find a new Insurance Broker to join his team!

Matt knew exactly what he was looking for.

He wanted someone who:
✅ Had solid experience in insurance broking and could give his clients great advice
✅ Was super approachable and easy for clients to talk to
✅ Had experience working with rural clients and understood their world
✅ Most importantly, would fit in with the way Matt looks after his clients and does business

For us, recruitment isn’t just about finding someone who can technically do the job. Plenty of people can look good on paper.
It’s about finding the right person for the business, the team and the clients.

And we were pretty excited to help Matt find exactly that!

Thanks for trusting us with such an important addition to your business, Matt. 🙌

Need help finding your next asset?
🤳 07 4306 7100
📩 [email protected]

30/09/2026

We have noticed a huge increase in professionally written, lawyer-looking letters being sent to our clients, which they then forward on to us.

A lot of them are sort of correct... but quite often they contain AI hallucinations, made-up jargon or just incorrect advice presented very confidently.

And we’re clearly not the only ones seeing it.

The Fair Work Commission says its workload has increased by more than 70% over the past three years, with the increased use of AI being identified as one of the factors contributing to that growth.
Employees can now jump onto ChatGPT or another AI tool, ask about their workplace rights and potentially put together a Fair Work claim in a fraction of the time it once would have taken.

That can be a great thing for access to information.
But there’s also a problem...

AI can be VERY confident and still be wrong.

We once challenged an AI answer and it came back with something along the lines of:
“Oh yeah, lucky you didn’t send that... that’s discrimination 😂😂”

Firstly... it was wrong.
Secondly... no idea why AI thought discrimination was a laughing matter!

The Federal Government has now introduced changes aimed at helping the Fair Work Commission deal with its growing workload, including more matters being able to be decided “on the papers” and stronger powers to deal with frivolous or vexatious claims.

For employers, that means the Fair Work process is getting a bit tighter and potentially quicker, with less room for matters to drag on unnecessarily.

And we think that’s a good thing given just how easy AI has made it for people to generate very official-looking workplace claims.
So if one of these letters lands in your inbox, don’t assume that because it looks professional, everything in it is correct.

Send it through and have a chat with us. We can help you work through the HR and workplace relations issues and identify what actually needs a response.

🤳 074306 7100
📩 [email protected]

Yes... the picture is pretty much what we imagine when the AI lawyer appears 😂 (AI-generated, of course!)

28/09/2026

🤢 Just because someone is on sick leave doesn’t mean performance or conduct issues suddenly disappear.

A recent Fair Work Commission decision upheld the dismissal of an employee who repeatedly refused to attend meetings or speak with management in person, relying on vague references to medical grounds without actually providing medical information explaining why he couldn’t participate.
..

The employer did make one mistake though.

Once the employee provided medical certificates and went onto paid personal leave, Fair Work found the employer should not have kept requiring him to respond to the disciplinary process while he was certified off work.

That didn’t change the ultimate outcome, but it is a good reminder for employers.

You can still investigate performance or misconduct while someone is away sick.

You can still gather evidence.
You can still prepare your process.

But be very careful about requiring the employee to actively participate in meetings, respond to allegations or meet disciplinary deadlines while they are medically certified unfit for work.

Being sick doesn’t make someone untouchable. But process still matters.

As always, every workplace situation is different - so reach out for specific advice.

🤳 074306 7100
📩 [email protected]

27/09/2026

When Rudy's Carpet Cleaning & Pest Management drops off some merch and the Travelling HR Bear sh****ns it! 😂🐻

Safe to say he was pretty quick to claim the new gear.

Thanks Rudy's Carpet Cleaning & Pest Management!

27/09/2026

Is drinking coffee in an interview ok?

A recruiter has sparked a fierce debate after arguing candidates should leave their takeaway coffee behind before walking into a job interview.

She says turning up with a drink can make the meeting feel like just another errand, but plenty of younger workers disagree, arguing an interview does not need to take over their entire day.

25/09/2026

If your business uses a .com.au or .net.au domain, you need to read this! 📢

auDA, the organisation responsible for administering Australia’s domain name system, has approved in principle changes to the rules around how Australian businesses qualify to hold these domain names.

For some businesses, particularly where the domain name relates to a product, service or activity the changes could have a big impact.

There is now a petition calling for these changes to be reconsidered because of the potential impact on Australian small businesses.

If your website or email uses a .com.au or .net.au, it is worth taking a few minutes to read through it and understand whether it may affect you.

If your domain is .com these changes do not apply.

Petition here
https://www.change.org/p/stop-auda-s-policy-changes-protect-australian-domains-small-businesses-160cc927-704c-476b-a170-11826d9f62c2

Stop auDA’s Policy Changes: Protect Australian Domains & Small Businesses