ActiveHR

25/09/2026

It turns out the old saying isn’t quite right, an old dog really can learn new tricks.

After almost 20 years away from formal study, I made the decision in 2025 to step back into university life and commence a Graduate Certificate in Applied Coaching. Yesterday, I received confirmation that I have officially graduated and that the qualification has been conferred.

It was a moment that made me smile, but also one that gave me reason to pause. Returning to study at this stage of my career was not just about adding another qualification. It was about staying curious, stretching myself, and continuing to grow in a field that has shaped so much of my professional life.

A few years ago back in my corporate life, I heard a phrase used in a senior management setting that stayed with me: “pale, stale males.” At the time, it felt dismissive, particularly after spending much of my career supporting and encouraging women into leadership roles and learning from many outstanding female leaders along the way. Over time, I have come to see that moments like that can either make you smaller, or they can remind you to keep developing, contributing and challenging assumptions, including assumptions about age, gender and relevance.

So, in the interest of not becoming stale 🙂, I am proud to have added another postgraduate qualification to the collection. More importantly, I am grateful for the reminder that learning does not have an expiry date.

If anything, this experience has reignited the appetite for more, and perhaps the next round of study may not be too far away.

Rhett Stubbs

24/09/2026

Do you struggle with the conversations that need to be had to address under performance in your workplace?

If so do not miss out on yoiur opportunity to join our Tuesday morning 2 hour Business Owner/Leader training - The Conversation Youve been avoiding: Managing Underperformance with Confidence.

This is the first session of a practical 12-session programme designed to support business owners, managers and their supervisors in building stronger workplaces and navigate the variety of HR and Workplace Health and Safety complexities with confidence.

Over the next 12 months, we'll be delivering a series of interactive 2-hour training workshops covering some of the most common challenges faced by employers in 2026 with topics covering:
• Performance management, conduct and workplace investigations
• Recruitment, selection, onboarding and employee retention
• Leadership, employee engagement and workplace culture
• Psychosocial safety, WHS obligations and WorkCover claim management
• Fair Work compliance, employment changes and managing terminations

Each session is designed to provide practical, real-world strategies that participants can immediately apply within their workplace.
Training Details
• Duration: 2 hours per session
• Investment: $100 per person. Active HR retained clients lookout for an email with a discount offer.
• Location: Active HR, 62 Pugh Street, Aitkenvale
• Limited Places Available
• Bookings can be secured via EventBrite:
https://www.eventbrite.com/o/121260129463?aff=ebdsshcopyurl

This training series is designed to help businesses stay ahead of workplace challenges, strengthen compliance, develop leaders, and build high-performing teams. We look forward to having you join us throughout the series.

If you have any questions about the sessions or registration process, please don't hesitate to contact us.

23/09/2026

⚖️ Do you know your way around the Fair Work Act and the Modern Awards? We want you in our corner, and on our clients' side.

Active HR is looking for a Casual Industrial & Employee Relations Consultant to work directly with our HR Business Partners and clients. You'll give the specialist advice that helps businesses get the Fair Work system right, across the many industry awards our clients operate under.

What you'll do:
✅ Review real employment scenarios against Fair Work and award conditions, then give clear, practical advice
✅ Support clients through wage compliance reviews and help them head off wage theft claims before they start
✅ Work alongside our HR Business Partners to help turn complex IR into advice clients can act on
✅ Working the Active HR team ensuring our systems and solutions remain Fair Work compliant and up to date with workplace relations changes.

The part that makes this role different 👇
You'll also work with our subsidiary business, Advocacy Bridge Employee Support. Here you'll help right wrongs for employees at companies that aren't our clients, so people who've been treated unfairly have someone in their corner when the award hasn't been followed. It's rare to see both sides of workplace relations in one role. In this role you'll help businesses get it right and help workers when a business gets it wrong.

You'll bring:
🔹 Strong working knowledge of the Fair Work Act, the NES and Modern Awards with tactical thinking acumen.
🔹 Experience interpreting awards and advising on pay and conditions
🔹 Excellent written and analytical skills and a practical, plain-English way of giving advice
🔹 A real commitment to fairness at work
🔹 Attention to detail and the small things

📍 Townsville / flexible | Casual engagement

👉 Ready to activate your expertise? Send your CV and a short note on why this role suits you to [email protected], or send us a DM for a confidential conversation.

23/09/2026

See you at The Table NQ

🌱𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐓𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐍𝐐 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 - Rhett from ActiveHR?

𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. We a Townsville based HR agency whose team works to the mission of helping shape great workplaces, the ones that people actually want to be part of.

𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠? Business owners and leaders who care about their people and like to have someone in their corner for the tricky "people stuff". The business owners who want to get it right not just get by, with regard to their people and culture and enjoy the spoils of success from doing so.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬? When you think of HR, we are not what someone would typical think of. Our business model is shaped around connection, not call centres. There's no 1800 number, no being passed around by a computer-generated system that works off some algorithm. Active HR is an algorithm free zone. You work with your assigned business partner who actually gets to know you, your business and the people in your team.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰? We have just launched our Business Owner/Leader HR and Work Health and Safety Training Series. It is 12 sessions about a range of topics important to Business Owners. The first session is being held on Tuesday 29 September, 9–11am at our office here in Townsville. It's all about helping owners and leaders manage under performance with confidence. Tickets are $100pp or for if you are one of our retained clients your get 50% off. I'd love to see some faces in the room. https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/session-1-hr-and-whs-business-owner-leadership-training-tickets-2000921561253

𝐈𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭? I could talk all morning about how someone’s workplace turned a corner, going from toxic and tense to thriving. Those are the stories that never get old for me.

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤? Either hiking somewhere around Townsville or spending time with my beautiful wife Shan and our family.

We'll see you at The Table NQ Networking Breakfast on October 30th Rhett!
Bookings are open.

17/09/2026

🟪 What is a "Purple Patch"?

Most days we absolutely love the work we do. This is one of those days.

Today during a regular client check-in I received thanks from an employer who we have been working with for just over 12 months. A medium sized employer in the early education industry.

When asked about todays conversation they described their position as a "Purple Patch", a term I have never heard before. When I enquired what it means, they explained....they're in a great space within their business and with their team. The right people are in the business, engagement is up, retention is up, they have got a pool of resumes of qualified workers knocking on the door wanting to join....its a great space to be in.

The client then proceeded to thank us for being in their corner......their words were: "When I think of something my emotions want me to do I get this thought bubble I have my what would Rhett say here moment. I have learnt so much. working with you guys"

Very humbling words to hear.

Being an employer is tough in 2026......you don't have to do it alone and at Active HR our team would love having the opportunity of being by your side.

At Active HR, We Help Shape Great Workplaces.

13/09/2026

As locals, it’s always interesting to hear about businesses flying coaches in from Sydney to work with their teams, especially when we have incredible accredited facilitators and master coaches right here on Townsville’s doorstep.

Our local specialists have worked with teams across major organisations including Energy Queensland, BHP and Abbot Point Coal Terminal, as well as small businesses who are ready to transform the way they work. With scientifically backed solutions such as Hermann Brain Dominance Indicator, the Team Management Profile, DISC, Linking Leader Profile, Human Synergistics LSI within the Active HR stable coupled with our Team Compass employee experience assessment, North Queensland businesses have everything they need right here to build stronger teams, better leaders and healthier workplaces.
Before looking outside the region, it’s worth remembering the expertise, experience and practical support available right here in our own backyard.

Looking for a solution that helps your people work better together. Contact us for a free 15 minute consultation.

07/09/2026

🏭🛠️ Do you operate in manufacturing?
👷👷‍♀️Are you experiencing some workforce growth and development challenges?
💵 Would a cash subsidy help you towards making some important workforce improvements?

Be sure not to miss the upcoming Townsville Manufacturing Workforce Planning Workshop scheduled for September 17 and being delivered by Manufacturing Skills Queensland.

As a manufacturer, once you have developed your workforce plan with support from MSQ, you may be eligible for a skills and workforce development subsidy of up to $2000 to help attract and engage talent, improve your HR and Work Health and Safety systems and frameworks or even access some training learning and development.

Registrations are available via eventbrite.

CREATE YOUR FIRST WORKFORCE PLAN IN ONE DAY

03/09/2026

They showed up. They smiled. They met every deadline. And nobody knew they were struggling.

September is Su***de Prevention Month, and September 10 is World Su***de Prevention Day — a moment to remember that the colleagues who seem fine aren't always fine.

You don't need to have the answers. You just need to ask the question, and actually wait for the answer.

Creating a workplace where people feel safe to say "I'm not okay" isn't just good leadership, it can change lives.

If you're ready to give your team the skills to notice, ask, and support each other, get in touch about our Mental Health First Aid Training.

📞 If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available 24/7:

Lifeline I 13 11 14.
Beyond Blue I 1300 22 4636
MensLine Australia | 1300 78 99 78
Kids Helpline I 1800 55 1800
Su***de Call Back Service | 1300 659 467

***dePreventionMonth ***dePreventionDay

03/09/2026

High-performing teams aren't built in a boardroom. They're built by teaching a team to play together. 🎉

Professionally facilitated experiential learning focussed play removes the mask. Under pressure, in a game, people show up as they really are; how they communicate, how they handle disagreements, how they examine problems, thinking styles, who steps up and who steps back. That's exactly the data a team needs to experience to create real time learning and growth.

At Active HR we develop our programs to pair experience-based learning with real self-awareness:

🔑 Critical skills, tested live; communication, trust, decision-making and problem-solving under pressure, not just talked about
🤝 Genuine collaboration; teams learn to lean on each other's strengths in the moment, not in theory
🎯 Assessment-backed insight; drawing from structured profiling tools such as the Team Management Profile, HBDI and DISC help each person (and the team as a whole) understand their own patterns, blind spots and strengths
📈 Impact that lasts; insights gained through play are translated directly into workplace performance, creating practical reference points teams can use in the moment and carry forward through meaningful behavioural adjustments.

The advantage is simple: teams that play together build the trust and self-awareness that high performance is actually made of.

Contact us to explore more about how high-value, experience-based learning exercises can transform you employees from a talented group of individuals to a high performing team
👉 [email protected]

17/08/2026

Hiring the right person matters, and for small businesses, conservatively a poor fit can cost well over $50,000 once recruitment, training and lost productivity are taken into account. It becomes a higher cost for positions that have higher wages.

Often, it’s not that someone is the “wrong” person.

It’s that their preferred work style doesn’t quite match what the role really needs. For example, a highly detail-focused Process Maintainer may struggle in a role that calls for exploration and innovation, while a big-picture Creator may feel constrained in a job that is almost entirely process-driven. Both people can be very capable, they simply need the right fit for them to shine.

The Team Management Profile from Team Management Systems and available via Active HR, helps identify work and role style preferences, making it easier to match people to roles, build balanced teams, and recognise the different strengths each person brings.

It can support smarter staff selection, stronger team building, clearer career planning and more targeted leadership development.
If you’d like to explore how this could help your business, book a free 15-minute consultation with one our accredited team members by contacting us on 07 4401 5131.