Make a tax-deductible donation to support CEDA's agenda and help accelerate change
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.
31/07/2012
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:
The Hon. Tanya Plibersek's address to CEDA's State of the Nation 2023
Read more Economy June 23, 2021Australia has “remarkably dodged a bullet” on the economic impacts of COVID-19, but the economy will almost certainly look different on the other side of the pandemic, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told an audience at CEDA’s 2021 State of the Nation forum.
Reform has slowed and some areas have ground to a halt, Monash University, Faculty of Business and Economics, Professorial Fellow and former Chairman ACCC, Graeme Samuel AC told CEDA's State of the Nation 2013 audience.
Read more