Find Grow Keep

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 businesses, including unclear roles, inconsistent onboarding, accountability issues, manager capability gaps, decision making bottlenecks and founders becoming stuck in the middle of everything. 

Drawing on current Australian business data and real world examples, she explains why the informal ways of working that helped a business succeed in the early days often stop working as teams grow. 

In this episode you'll learn: 

• Why growth can create complexity rather than freedom 
• The people foundations that growing businesses need 
• How role clarity impacts accountability and ownership 
• Why manager capability can become a growth handbrake 
• What founders need to let go of as their business grows 
• How to identify whether your business has outgrown its current people practices 

If your business is growing and things are starting to feel messier than they used to, this episode will help you understand why and where to focus first. 

Make sure to subscribe to stay updated with new releases every second Monday!
 
Visit amplifyhr.com.au for more insights and resources.  

Send us Fan Mail

Download our free guide, “Getting Stuff Done Through Your People,” giving you the tools to build a culture where people take ownership, goals get achieved, and results follow.

https://www.amplifyhr.com.au/downloadable/getting-stuff-done-through-your-people/ 

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 culture are often much quieter than people expect. 

Rather than obvious conflict or bullying, toxic cultures often show up through poor communication, disengagement, managers avoiding difficult conversations, inconsistent leadership, and good employees quietly leaving. 

Karen also discusses what genuinely high-performing cultures look like, the role leaders play in shaping culture every day, and how HR processes such as recruitment, onboarding, performance management and communication can either strengthen or weaken your workplace culture. 

You'll also hear why culture is increasingly being linked to psychosocial risks and work health and safety obligations, making it more important than ever for business owners and leaders to be intentional about the environment they create. 

In this episode: 

• What toxic workplace culture actually looks like  
• Common signs your culture may be holding your business back  
• Why culture problems often develop gradually  
• The difference between accountability and blame  
• What defines a high-performance culture  
• How leadership behaviours shape culture  
• The connection between culture and psychosocial risks  
• Practical steps to improve workplace culture 

Make sure to subscribe to stay updated with new releases every second Monday!
 
Visit amplifyhr.com.au for more insights and resources. 

Send us Fan Mail

Download our free guide, “Getting Stuff Done Through Your People,” giving you the tools to build a culture where people take ownership, goals get achieved, and results follow.

https://www.amplifyhr.com.au/downloadable/getting-stuff-done-through-your-people/ 

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 sustainable way. 

Farid has been running his own business for almost 30 years, and as an accountant, he has seen what can quietly strengthen a business, as well as what can hold it back. Together, Karen and Farid talk about vision, cash flow, role clarity, systems, delegation, team culture and why business owners need to look beyond revenue if they want to understand how their business is really performing. 

In today’s episode, you will learn about: 

• Why business performance is about more than revenue, profit and growth targets. 
• The leadership, accountability and culture foundations that support strong business performance. 
• Why a 10 year plan may not work in the same way anymore, and why business owners need to keep adapting. 
• How sharing the right financial targets with your team can help them make better decisions. 
• Why revenue is not the same as profit, especially when discounting starts eating into your margins. 
• How repeatable systems and clear role clarity help business owners stop being the bottleneck. 
• Why a business can look good on paper but still have hidden issues with cash flow, leadership or team dynamics. 
• What business owners should review before the new financial year, including structure, pricing, costs, subscriptions and cash flow. 
• Why there is no such thing as a perfect business, and why that is actually a helpful reminder. 
• The importance of pausing to celebrate how far you have come as a business owner. 

If your business looks fine on paper but feels harder than it should behind the scenes, this episode is a helpful reminder to look at the people, systems and numbers that sit underneath sustainable business growth. 

Make sure to subscribe to stay updated with new releases on Mondays! 

Visit https://www.amplifyhr.com.au for more insights and resources. 

Connect with Farid Zaki on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/faridzaki/ or visit ATP Accounting at https://atpaccounting.com.au 

Send us Fan Mail

Download our free guide, “Getting Stuff Done Through Your People,” giving you the tools to build a culture where people take ownership, goals get achieved, and results follow.

https://www.amplifyhr.com.au/downloadable/getting-stuff-done-through-your-people/ 

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 episode, Karen talks through the order she would generally look at when team performance is not where it needs to be, so you can work out what to fix first without trying to solve everything at once. 

In today’s episode, you will learn about: 

• Why team performance issues are not always individual performance issues 
• Why clarity around roles, priorities and expectations should usually come first 
• How managers can create a simple rhythm for performance conversations 
• Why regular one on one conversations make feedback easier and more useful 
• How messy workflows, rework and unclear approvals can make a good team look like an underperforming team 
• Why accountability only works when expectations are clear, managers follow through and the workload is realistic enough for people to succeed 
• The difference between pressure and accountability, and why that matters for small and medium sized businesses 

This episode is especially useful if your team is working hard, but performance still feels harder than it should. It will help you step back, look at the foundations, and choose a practical place to start. 

If you need support to work through team performance, clarity, management rhythm or accountability in your business, HR consultants like Amplify HR can help. 

Visit Amplify HR for more insights and resources:
https://www.amplifyhr.com.au 

Make sure to subscribe to stay updated with new releases every second Monday! 

Send us Fan Mail

Download our free guide, “Getting Stuff Done Through Your People,” giving you the tools to build a culture where people take ownership, goals get achieved, and results follow.

https://www.amplifyhr.com.au/downloadable/getting-stuff-done-through-your-people/ 

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 underneath. Before you jump straight into performance management or putting more pressure on the team, it is worth asking whether the issue is really about the individual, or whether it is pointing to role confusion, unclear priorities, manager capability gaps, workload pressure, founder bottlenecks, or culture and communication issues. 

This is the diagnosis episode. It will help you pause, read the pattern, and understand what your team’s performance might be showing you about the way your business is currently operating. 

In today’s episode, you’ll learn about: 

• Why performance issues are not always individual issues 
• How unclear roles and responsibilities can show up as poor performance 
• Why founder bottlenecks slow decisions and reduce ownership 
• How manager capability affects feedback, accountability and team standards 
• Why overload can look like underperformance  
• What culture and communication might be hiding when issues stay quiet for too long 
• The questions to ask before deciding whether it is a people issue or a business issue 

If you run a growing business and you can see that performance feels off, but you are not sure what it means, this episode will help you think more clearly about what your team’s performance is really telling you. 

Free tools and guides: https://www.amplifyhr.com.au/free-tools-and-guides/ 

Visit Amplify HR: https://www.amplifyhr.com.au 

Make sure to subscribe to stay updated with new releases on Mondays!
 
Visit https://www.amplifyhr.com.au/ for more insights and resources. 

Send us Fan Mail

Download our free guide, “Getting Stuff Done Through Your People,” giving you the tools to build a culture where people take ownership, goals get achieved, and results follow.

https://www.amplifyhr.com.au/downloadable/getting-stuff-done-through-your-people/ 

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, communication and a deep commitment to looking after clients and team members. 

In this episode, we talk about: 

→ How Plane 2 Sea started with four women who wanted to keep working together 
→ Why simplicity matters as a business grows 
→ How Carolina has built and protected a strong workplace culture over time 
→ Why communication is central to the client and employee experience 
→ How to empower employees to make decisions without micromanaging 
→ What stress reveals about your workplace culture 
→ Why managing people is often one of the biggest learning curves in business 

This conversation is a great reminder that the people side of business is not separate from growth. It is part of what makes sustainable growth possible. 

At Amplify HR, we support small and medium sized businesses with practical HR support services that help you find, grow and keep great people. 

Book a free discovery call here:
https://meetings.hubspot.com/ronita-fourie 

Connect with Amplify HR:
https://www.amplifyhr.com.au 

Connect with Carolina and the team at Plane 2 Sea: 

www.plane2sea.com.au 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolina-montanez-59a31265/  

Make sure to subscribe to stay updated with new releases on Mondays! 

Send us Fan Mail

Download our free guide, “Getting Stuff Done Through Your People,” giving you the tools to build a culture where people take ownership, goals get achieved, and results follow.

https://www.amplifyhr.com.au/downloadable/getting-stuff-done-through-your-people/ 

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 to contribute. And when that is happening, you will see the difference across your whole business. 

In today’s episode, you will learn about: 

• Why employee engagement matters and how it affects performance, retention, customer service, and culture 
• The practical engagement strategies that work best in small and medium sized businesses, without needing expensive programs or gimmicks 
• Why clarity is one of the biggest drivers of engagement and how to help your team feel more connected to the bigger picture 
• How recognition and appreciation can lift motivation when it is specific, timely, and genuine 
• Why communication and two way feedback are essential if you want people to feel heard and involved 
• How development opportunities help employees feel supported, stretched, and more likely to stay 
• What a positive workplace culture actually looks like in practice, beyond surface level perks 
• Why autonomy matters and how to avoid killing motivation through micromanagement 
• Simple ways to measure employee engagement, including pulse surveys, stay interviews, and the everyday signs already showing up in your business 
• How HR support can help make engagement more practical, structured, and consistent over time 

If you have been thinking about employee engagement as something vague or hard to tackle, this episode will help you see it differently. Small actions done consistently can make a huge difference over time, and you do not need to overhaul everything at once to get started. 

Make sure to subscribe so you stay updated with new episodes released every Monday. 

Visit Amplify HR for more insights and resources:
https://www.amplifyhr.com.au 

Book a free discovery call:
https://meetings.hubspot.com/ronita-fourie 

Send us Fan Mail

Download our free guide, “Getting Stuff Done Through Your People,” giving you the tools to build a culture where people take ownership, goals get achieved, and results follow.

https://www.amplifyhr.com.au/downloadable/getting-stuff-done-through-your-people/ 

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 a range of issues that often show up later as performance concerns, poor communication, lack of accountability, manager frustration, or early turnover. 

In today’s episode, you will learn about: 

• Why onboarding is not the same as induction, and why that distinction matters 
• How poor onboarding can lead to confusion, inconsistency, and extra pressure on managers and teams 
• Why small businesses feel the impact of weak onboarding more quickly than larger organisations 
• How a thoughtful employee onboarding process can improve confidence, connection, and performance 
• The role managers play in creating a successful onboarding experience 
• Practical ways to improve employee onboarding without needing complex systems or expensive software 
• Why better onboarding can support retention and help you get value from a new hire faster 

If your current onboarding is mostly first day admin followed by a few check ins here and there, this episode will give you a more useful and practical way to think about it. 

Make sure to subscribe to stay updated with new releases on Mondays!  

Visit https://www.amplifyhr.com.au for more insights and resources. 

Book a free discovery call:
https://meetings.hubspot.com/ronita-fourie 

Send us Fan Mail

Download our free guide, “Getting Stuff Done Through Your People,” giving you the tools to build a culture where people take ownership, goals get achieved, and results follow.

https://www.amplifyhr.com.au/downloadable/getting-stuff-done-through-your-people/ 

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 checklist, how leaders can create a stronger sense of belonging, and what businesses can learn from building with intention from the very beginning. 

In today’s episode, we talk about: 

• what it means to lead with heritage without feeling boxed in by it 
• how Deepa identified a gap in the market and built businesses that reflect community needs 
• why diversity needs to be embedded from the start rather than added later 
• how belonging is created through consistency, authenticity, and clear values 
• what teaching and leading others can teach us about vulnerability, patience, and resilience 
• practical reflections for business owners who want to build more inclusive teams and workplaces 
• the reminder that building a meaningful business takes time and is very much a long game 

This episode is a great listen for business owners and leaders who want to think more deeply about culture, identity, leadership, and belonging in the workplace. 

Visit https://www.amplifyhr.com.au for more insights and resources. 

Make sure to subscribe to stay updated with new releases on Mondays!
 
Connect with Deepa: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepa-mani-cbap-msp-8330773/  

Send us Fan Mail

Download our free guide, “Getting Stuff Done Through Your People,” giving you the tools to build a culture where people take ownership, goals get achieved, and results follow.

https://www.amplifyhr.com.au/downloadable/getting-stuff-done-through-your-people/ 

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 more support around their people, managers, processes, and compliance. 

In this episode, Karen talks through what a human resources company really does, why many small and medium businesses choose outsourced HR instead of hiring internally, and how the right HR support can help you build stronger foundations for growth. 

In today’s episode, you will learn about: 

• What a human resources company actually does beyond contracts and policies 
• The types of support HR can provide, including recruitment, onboarding, performance management, employee issues, compliance, and leadership support 
• Why outsourced HR can be a practical and cost effective option for growing businesses 
• What often starts to go wrong when there is no real HR structure in place 
• How good HR support helps create more clarity, consistency, confidence, and a stronger workplace culture 
• The signs that suggest it may be time to get HR support in your business 
• Why choosing the right HR partner matters if you want advice that is practical, commercially aware, and tailored to your business 

If the people side of your business is starting to feel heavier, more  distracting, or harder to manage than it used to, this episode will help you understand what support is available and why it can make such a difference. 

If you would like to chat about how Amplify HR can support your business, you can book a free discovery call here:
https://meetings.hubspot.com/ronita-fourie 

Visit https://www.amplifyhr.com.au for more insights and resources. 

Make sure to subscribe to stay updated with new releases every second Monday! 

Send us Fan Mail

Download our free guide, “Getting Stuff Done Through Your People,” giving you the tools to build a culture where people take ownership, goals get achieved, and results follow.

https://www.amplifyhr.com.au/downloadable/getting-stuff-done-through-your-people/