Hi {{first_name}}
I’ve been in Sydney this week spending time with our community and attending a few events, it has been a lovely reminder of how much connection matters.
There’s something about coming together. Conversations, swapping stories, and hearing someone say, “I’m dealing with that too.” It helps you step outside your own bubble and realise you don’t have to figure everything out alone.
That connection doesn’t have to happen in the same room. We see it in our online Think Tanks and Micro Meets, someone asks a question, others share their experiences, and suddenly you’ve got a fresh perspective or something useful to try.
That’s a big part of why this community matters to us. Having places to share what’s working, be honest about what’s hard, and learning from each other.
If you’ve been head-down lately, consider this a little nudge to make time for connection - at an event, at a Think Tank, or over a coffee or a virtual Micro Meet with someone who gets it. You can check out upcoming events here.
THOUGHT BUBBLE
If AI takes the junior work, how do people learn?
Most of us didn’t start our careers doing the big, interesting work.
We started with the first draft, the research, the spreadsheet, the task someone more experienced checked before it went anywhere.
Sometimes tedious? Absolutely. But it was also how we learned, by trying, making mistakes, getting feedback and gradually understanding what great looked like.
So what happens when AI does those tasks?
Lookahead’s new State of AI & Engineering 2026 report explores changing junior roles and concerns about deskilling, alongside the benefits of AI. It draws on roughly 300 survey participants and interviewees in the technology community, not the whole Australian workforce, but raises some questions worth asking ourselves. Read the research
So the question we are pondering is… Are we removing repetitive work and also removing the experiences that develop future experts?
That doesn’t mean preserving tedious tasks for the sake of it. It means being more deliberate about what replaces them.
If AI produces the first draft, how does a junior employee learn to judge whether it’s any good? If someone checks an AI output without understanding the underlying work, are they actually learning?
For us, the opportunity is to redesign development alongside the work - coached practice, time with experienced colleagues, and opportunities to explain decisions, not just get answers.
My ultimate question to be asking is… Before automating an entry-level task: What did people learn by doing this, and where will they learn it now?
We would be really keen to chat to you if you are working on this at the moment as there is a lot of collaborative learning to be had in this area. Hit reply if you would be willing to chat us through what you are doing.
EVENT SPOTLIGHT
Brave employee voices - without the corporate script
22nd September (Virtual)
What would happen if your employees told your employer brand story in their own words?
Employee advocacy can be powerful, but getting started raises some big questions. How much control do you give up? How do you find people who genuinely want to share? What happens when their story isn’t perfectly polished? And how do you build a program that feels like employee voice, not another corporate marketing exercise?
In this Think Tank, Simone will share how she built an employee advocacy program, what she learned along the way and what it takes to create the conditions for people to tell real stories about their experience at work.
Then we’ll turn the conversation over to you. What’s stopping you from creating employee advocacy in your organisation? We’ll unpack the barriers together and explore practical ways to get started, build internal support and create something employees actually want to be part of.
Because the goal isn’t to give employees a better corporate script.
It’s to build a workplace people want to talk about.
COMMUNITY CHEER
Congratulations Ben and Lani 🎉
Ben Da Costa and Lani Dykes internal safety campaign for Opal ANZ has been nominated in three categories at the National Safety Awards:
Category 4 – Best Communication of a Safety Message
Category 9 – Best Solution for Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work
Category 10 – Best WHS Commercial Product or Service Innovation
Lani and Ben joined us for a fabulous Think Tank, sharing the content they created for the campaign. If you missed it -or fancy another watch - you can catch the replay here.
MAK HAS YOUR BACK
“But we’ve told them so many times…”
If you work in HR, this might sound familiar.
A manager is frustrated. The same mistakes keep happening. They’re ready to end someone’s employment. They come to you and say…
“But we’ve told them so many times…”
An example we have seen recently demonstrates that this isn’t always enough. According to HRD’s reporting, a Sydney blinds installer was dismissed, and the employer had recorded 28 installations needing rectification during 2025, along with WeChat messages criticising the work.
There were genuine performance concerns but the Commission found the messages didn’t clearly convey that the employee’s job was at risk. He also wasn’t told why he was being dismissed or given a reasonable opportunity to respond before the decision was made.
There’s a huge difference between “You’ve done this wrong again” and a proper conversation about what needs to change and what could happen if it doesn’t.
This is where Mak could have the manager’s (and HR’s) back earlier.
Mak (our people risk intelligence platform) could help the manager prepare what specifically isn’t working, what good looks like, what they need to ask the employee, and what support and next steps to agree on (what to say and not say). Using Mak can build their capability and confidence for that conversation.
After the conversation, Mak can help prepare a file note for the manager getting a clear written account what was actually discussed and agreed, rather than relying on memory months later.
And HR would have seen the early People Risk Emerging using Mak.
If you want to see Mak in action - grab a time here. We would love to show you how it is supporting the way HR and Management are dealing with people issues in real time and de-escalating people issues (before they cost you).
We are also doing some research with COO’s and COS’s at the moment. If you work alongside people doing these roles we would love an introduction to ask them a few questions. Just drop me an email.
ON YOUR RADAR
Could your employment contracts be carrying yesterday’s restraints?
When did you last take a proper look at the restraint clauses in your employment contracts (not just copy them into the next offer)?
The Federal Government in Australia has released draft legislation proposing changes to non-compete clauses and other restraints. The proposals include banning non-competes for low- and middle-income workers, banning co-worker non-solicitation clauses, and strengthening the rules for remaining restraints.
These are proposals, not changes already in force. Consultation closes on 2 October 2026. 👉Treasury consultation
For us in HR, this is a good prompt to revisit those templates. What are you actually trying to protect? Confidential information, customer relationships, or simply the possibility that someone might leave?
You don’t need to start deleting clauses tomorrow but you can identify which templates contain restraints, understand where they’re being used, and line up a review as the reforms progress (and if you are already using Mak- just upload and ask Mak to review for you.)
That’s it for this week.
Thanks so much for reading, as always we love to hear your thoughts and ideas, so feel free to reply to this email - we get back to every single person who does.
And before we go…we want to wish Andrea a VERY happy birthday today 🥳
Have an AWESOME weekend when it arrives.
Careen 🚀
Co Founder & CEO
humaneer
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