This is not a lesson in grammar (though it is one of my personal bugbears – when I see a sentence ‘Company X are doing…’ versus ‘Company X is doing ….’)

I am concerned about the current debate regarding workplace legislation and its potential impact. It would be a disaster for Australian workplaces to return to a ‘Them versus Us’ attitude. The bosses versus the unions – have we not moved forward at all? And that is what this legislation looks like to me.

For eight years my total existence has been about creating an organisation based on a clear sense of shared purpose. Not ‘the bosses’ purpose – but a shared purpose. That is that we all – every team members want to ‘change gifting in Australia forever’ this is what brings us together as a singular company.

We recently published the third edition of the Little Red Book of Answers – which lists 105 ways to engage employees… all under the premise that “Happy People – Happy Profits.” The contribution engaged employees (shared purpose) make to bottom line performance is evidenced in this book.

I invite Julia Gillard into the RedBalloon work place…. Come and see for yourself when people are all pulling together…. Focusing on the customer experience… rather than ‘what’s in this for me’. There is no ‘me’ in company… it is all about ‘we’.

There is no other place on the planet that I would rather be than in Australia right now. Seven out of 10 of our major trading partners are in recession. However,  we are in no way near the circumstances of those economies. We have superannuation… and whilst the value of funds has been decimated … Those employed still continue to pay into funds every day. And those funds are looking for good investments, and there are many to be found.

So when I look to the greater community that I represent – our 900 suppliers, the single message from them is ‘please just keep sending us business’… this is Australian companies looking after Australian customers. More people will do things domestically than they have in years.

It is our chance to strengthen Australian businesses, to innovate and invest – we want to focus on not merely surviving but thriving. So please let us get on with it, working side by side with our teams to create strong robust businesses. We want our energies focused externally – not worrying if a union official is knocking on the door to stop us doing what we do best.

We are one company – we are one country…let’s work together singularly rather than against each other… This is a new era of opportunity.

PS you are most welcome to a free copy of the new Little Red Book.