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Australia’s mindset must change if productivity is to improve

Posted : Friday, August 24, 2012

There is an urgent need to change Australia's mindset as productivity is being hindered by a negative culture, Linfox Logistics, CEO, Michael Byrne, has told a CEDA audience in Sydney.

To boost Australia's productivity, we need to adapt to business and economic trends, and change people's mindset for growth, he said.

"Mindset is the thing holding us back from being better and greater than we are today," he said.

"Changing mindset is the most important thing we do. This is where Australian leadership fails and Australian businesses fail. We are not having the hard discussions about changing culture.

"What we are being held back by is a mindset and culture that we have rights before we have obligations. We expect things for nothing; we want a great lifestyle without working really hard."

He highlighted the need to change workforce patterns and better align the working hours of blue and white collar workers.

"Saturday is my second biggest day of the week. Thirty-seven per cent of my work is done at night. I want to see 37 per cent of the white collar workforce work at night," he said.

"It's not nine to five, Monday to Friday (anymore). It's never going back and we need to suck it up and get on with it."

Mr Byrne also emphasised female participation in the workforce has contributed to changes in workforce patterns however, there is still a need to change management patterns.

Linfox employs 5000 women - this is a business decision not a social statement, you can't ignore 51 per cent of the population, he said.

"Our industry and Australia need to be more flexible. It's not a union issue, the union only steps in when management is poor. Management is supposed to lead, and is supposed to be out there and challenging people," he said.

He also highlighted the need to invest in people and lifelong learning.

"We've (Linfox) spent $34 million on tertiary education in the last five to six years. Tertiary education is the third largest budget after IT and HR," he said.

To deliver strong and adaptable solutions for the future, Mr Byrne said Linfox follows six core themes:

• Safety;
• Customers;
• Growing profitability;
• Commitment to our people;
• The environment; and
• Continued operation across the Asia Pacific region.