Find Grow Keep

Contractors can be a great way to build a business, giving you access to specialist skills and the flexibility to manage changing workloads. But as your business grows, is that still the best approach?  In this episode of Find Grow Keep , Karen Kirton is joined by Sandra Muller, owner of True North Content, to talk about her experience moving from a long-established subcontractor model towards emp...

Could you take three or four weeks away from your business, completely switch off, and know that everything would continue running without you?  I've just returned from three weeks overseas with my family, and it was an interesting opportunity to see how Amplify HR operated without my day-to-day involvement.  I'm fortunate to have a very capable team, so I wasn't particularly worrie...

Why do good candidates walk away from roles that look right on paper?  In this episode of Find Grow Keep, I’m joined by Carrie Johnston, Founder and Director of The CommsConnector, to talk about what candidates are really noticing during the recruitment process — and why the reason they give for turning down a job isn’t always the whole story.  Carrie has more than 20 years’ experience across agen...

The contract is signed, your new employee has accepted the job and there’s a sense of relief that recruitment is finally finished.  But they might not actually start for another four weeks.  In this episode of Find Grow Keep, I’m looking at that often-overlooked period between accepting a job offer and day one, and why it’s an important part of the candidate experience.  While you’re organising pa...

What does good leadership look like when the traditional way of working doesn’t necessarily work for you?  In this episode, Karen welcomes Jess Jasch back to talk about her experience as an autistic and ADHD leader. They explore what neurodivergent leadership can look like in practice, from understanding your own needs and communicating differently to masking, burnout and the assumptions we make w...

Need to hire someone before Christmas? Sometimes the deadline is genuine. Someone has resigned, the team is stretched, or there is work that simply needs to be done before the end of the year.  But sometimes Christmas becomes a deadline simply because it feels like everything needs to be finished before the break.  In this episode, I look at how to tell the difference and how to move through your...

What happens when your company values sound good on paper, but don’t actually influence how people behave?  In this episode, Karen is joined by Hope Collins to explore why values like integrity, respect and excellence can be so open to interpretation, and what businesses can do to turn those values into clear, observable behaviours.  Hope shares her approach to creating commitments that help peopl...

We spend a lot of time thinking about how to find the right person, but what happens once they accept the job?  Those first 90 days can tell you a lot about whether someone is going to become a confident, engaged member of your team. But too often, probation becomes a date in the calendar rather than an ongoing process, with managers waiting until the end of three or six months to decide whether s...

Every September, R U OK? Day reminds us to ask an important question. But what happens after someone answers, "Actually, I'm not OK?"  In this episode of Karen Kirton explores what really creates a mentally healthy workplace and why the answer isn't another wellbeing initiative.  Drawing on her experience working with small and medium sized businesses, Karen discusses why leade...

Most conversations about AI and automation focus on efficiency, saving time or reducing costs. But what if the biggest opportunity isn't about technology at all?  In this episode Karen sits down with Peter Morrissey to explore the hidden cost of manual processes and why businesses should rethink how they approach automation. Rather than trying to automate everything overnight, Peter explains...

When people talk about branding, it's easy to think about logos, colours and marketing campaigns. But what if the real strength of your brand comes from something much closer to home?  In this episode, Karen speaks with branding strategist and ModeMedia founder Chris Hekeik about what it takes to stand out in an increasingly noisy world. While the conversation begins with marketing and brand...

In this episode of Find Grow Keep, Karen Kirton is joined by business growth strategist Nathan Baws for a conversation that starts with joint ventures and quickly expands into customer service, workplace culture, leadership and what really drives sustainable business growth.  Nathan has built businesses across a wide range of industries and is passionate about helping business owners grow without...

As businesses grow, the people side of the business often becomes more complex. Recruitment takes longer, onboarding becomes inconsistent, managers handle situations differently and founders find themselves answering the same questions over and over again.  The challenge is not usually that people are doing the wrong thing. More often, the business has outgrown the informal processes that worked w...

Many leaders think cyber security is something their IT provider looks after. But what if your biggest cyber risk isn't your technology at all?  In this episode, Karen Kirton is joined by cyber security specialist Fraser Jack to explore why cyber security is really a people issue. Together, they discuss how leadership, workplace culture and human behaviour all play a critical role in protecti...

Most business owners expect growth to make things easier.  More revenue. More people. More opportunities.  So why does it often feel like the opposite happens?  In this episode Karen explores why scaling a business can feel much harder than starting one, and why the biggest challenges are often not financial or operational, but people related.  Karen shares the common patterns she sees in growing...

Most business owners would say culture is important.  But when something feels off in the business, it can be difficult to know whether you're dealing with a culture issue, a leadership issue, or simply a performance problem.  In this episode, Karen Kirton explores the real difference between a toxic workplace culture and a high-performance culture, and why the warning signs of a toxic cultur...

Business performance is not just about revenue, profit or growth targets. The businesses that perform well over time usually have stronger leadership, clearer accountability, better systems and healthier cultures underneath the numbers.  In this episode, Karen Kirton speaks with Farid Zaki from ATP Accounting about what really helps small and medium sized businesses grow in a more steady and susta...

When team performance drops, it can be tempting to look straight at the individual and assume they are the problem. But in a growing business, performance issues are often a sign that something else is getting in the way, such as unclear priorities, a lack of management rhythm, messy workflows, workload pressure, or accountability being discussed before the foundations are in place.  In this episo...

When team performance drops, it is easy to assume the issue sits with one person.  Maybe someone is not motivated enough, not engaged enough, or not taking enough responsibility. And sometimes that might be part of the story. But in growing businesses, poor performance is often telling you something bigger.  In this episode, Karen explores what team performance issues can reveal about the business...

Karen speaks with Carolina Montanez from Plane 2 Sea about 15 years in business, building a strong team culture and learning how to lead people through growth, pressure and change.  Carolina’s business story started when she and three colleagues lost their jobs and decided to create their own opportunity. Fifteen years later, Plane 2 Sea has grown into a business built on simplicity, trust, commun...

In this episode, Karen is talking about employee engagement strategies that genuinely make a difference in small and growing businesses.  Employee engagement can sound like one of those corporate phrases that gets thrown around a lot, but when you strip it back, it really comes down to whether your people feel connected to their work, clear on what matters, valued for what they do, and motivated t...

In this episode, we explore why onboarding is one of the most underestimated parts of running a business. Many employers still treat it as a first day activity focused on paperwork, logins, and introductions, but good onboarding does much more than that.  When done well, it helps new employees settle in faster, understand what is expected of them, and become productive sooner. It can also prevent...

In this episode, Karen is joined by Deepa Mani (for a thoughtful conversation about inclusive leadership, belonging, heritage, and what it means to build a business outside the dominant framework.  Deepa shares the story behind her two ventures and reflects on how identity, culture, and lived experience have shaped the way she leads. We also explore why diversity should never be treated as a check...

In this episode, Karen unpacks a question that a lot of growing business owners quietly ask as their team expands and things become more complex: what does an HR company actually do?  HR can feel quite manageable in the early stages of business. But as you grow, what once felt simple can start to feel messy, inconsistent, and risky. That is often the point where business owners realise they need m...

Karen is joined by Peter Brace for a thoughtful and practical conversation about the difference between psychological safety and psychosocial safety, and why both matter in creating healthier, more effective workplaces.  These are terms that are being talked about more often, especially as employers navigate their responsibilities around psychosocial hazards and workplace wellbeing. But for many l...