BLAIR SPEEDY June 28, 2013 The Australian SUPERMARKET giant Woolworths is ramping up its charm offensive as it seeks to convince shoppers and the competition regulator that it’s doing the right thing by suppliers. The company is adding photos and details of its Australian fruit and vegetable suppliers to its packaged produce lines, with QR codes customers can scan to access additional information. Head of produce, Paul Harker, said the “Meet the Grower” initiative was aimed at reminding shoppers that the majority of the fruit and vegetables stocked by Woolies comes from Australian farmers. “A lot of people don’t appreciate that most of the fruit and vegetables they get in this country is grown right here, with the exception of truly counter-seasonal things like cherries in winter,” Mr Harker said. The move comes amid an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission into allegations Woolies and arch-rival Coles have…

Debra Taylor June 26, 2013 news.com.au LEADERS of tomorrow could be buried in companies who don’t have the management skills to unearth hidden gems and recognise rising stars. While most businesses talk about employee engagement and development, many don’t have a strategy to identify their best employees, often investing in office self-promoters and corporate psychopaths. “The wrong people do sometimes get to the top of organisations – and more frequently than we feel comfortable about,” Professor David Clutterbuck, a world expert on leadership and management, recently told the HRIZON human resources conference in Melbourne in September. “Organisational psychopaths get to the top of organisations and ruin everything while they are doing it.” To prevent that, companies need to know who their leaders of the future are and nurture them. “What businesses have got to look at doing is equipping their managers to be talent scouts,” says Mark Busine, General Manager…

Laura Jolly June 28, 2013 Whitehorse Leader DEAKIN University is considering following in the footsteps of Swinburne University, by banning smoking at its campuses. Deakin spokesman Andrew Birks said total smoking bans at the Burwood campus had been under consideration for a while. Swinburne’s Hawthorn, Prahran, Wantirna and Croydon campuses will all carry out the ban from August 12 this year. Do you think smoking should be banned at all universities? Tell us below. It comes after Victoria’s leading health organisations called on universities to join Swinburne in banning smoking on campus. QUIT executive director Fiona Sharkie said the organisation would like to see similar bans introduced at other tertiary institutions in Victoria, including Deakin’s Burwood campus. “With fewer young people smoking than ever before, we hope we will soon see all learning institutions smoke-free,” Ms Sharkie said. “Tertiary education institutions can keep up the denormalisation of smoking by being…

Peter Foley June 28, 2013 Brisbane Times Ipswich will become the first city in Queensland requiring supermarkets and other retailers to implement an automatic wheel lock system on shopping trolleys. Ipswich City Council says it means the days of shopping trolleys clogging creeks and rivers and littering parks and streets in Ipswich are almost finished. He said the wheel locking mechanism was triggered by a buried electronic wire detector. “It automatically locks one of the trolley’s wheels if someone tries to take it outside the shopping centre precinct and can only be unlocked by the retailer,” he said “All shopping centres and supermarkets across Ipswich with more than 20 trolleys will be required to roll out this trolley containment system.” Read more:

Cara Waters 28 June 2013 Tony Abbott continues to be preferred prime minister despite the Labor leadership spill, according to a SmartCompany poll. The anonymous, online poll was open to all SmartCompany readers yesterday, with 1023 respondents. Kevin Rudd was preferred as Labor leader over Julia Gillard by 54% to 46%. But Opposition Leader Tony Abbott continues to be preferred prime minister over Rudd, with 74% preferring Abbott, while only 26% wanted Rudd in the top job. Of those surveyed, 71% plan to vote for the Coalition at the election, 17% Labor, 5% the Greens and 8% other. This does represent an increase in Labor’s vote from a poll conducted by SmartCompany in February this year which found 82% planned to vote for the Coalition, compared to just 13% who pledged their support for Labor and 5% who said they would vote for the Greens. But the poll still represents…