You can step into any medium to large sized office in Western society and find a wide variety of personalities working there. The language may be different but you’re still bound to find the introvert who desperately tries to build a little exclusion barrier around themselves – especially from the office clown who has already sent the IT guys into fits of laughter by 9am. Norris down the hall has already ensured that there is enough coffee and biscuits in for the boardroom for a meeting about … [Read more...]

With more than 300 million users in over 200 countries and territories, LinkedIn is significantly ahead of any of its rivals such as Vladeo (50 million) and XING (10 million) and it grows by approximately two new members every second. Four million of those users are in Australia alone. If we as Rehabilitation Professionals are not using LinkedIn to assist our job seekers, then we are not providing the type of assistance and service that they actually need.  What job seeking clients need in … [Read more...]

This is a photo of two very happy rehabilitation consultants.  Rachel Geraghty and I recently travelled to a regional town to progress a client’s move into paid employment.  Our faces are full of joy, because as you will soon see, this was one of those clients for whom we didn’t think employment would be the outcome. This 34 year old man was referred to Purple Co in February 2015.  He had been on an Income Protection claim since 2012.  He was medically certified as partially fit, however, … [Read more...]

It is hard to ignore LinkedIn these days. It is one social media platform that has served the professional and business community well since its launch in 2002. Like most social media platforms at the time no one really knew what was going to occur and how powerful it would become. In 2005 LinkedIn started offering some services to the business communities offering subscriptions and opportunities to fill positions and seek employment opportunities. By 2010 the company shifts into hyper-growth, … [Read more...]

As a Rehabilitation Professional of some 20 years vintage, I’ve been intrigued how people seem to have a complete personality change of attitude and behaviours not often expressed until an injury occurs at work, and I’m not talking about the injured employee – I’m talking about supervisors, managers and CEO’s as well. Everyone in the chain of command has a price to pay when someone gets injured. We all know this and we all feel it. Over 20 years, while the jargon and language may have … [Read more...]

I’d like to share with you an amazing story about Mary*. Mary was referred to me by an expert vocational rehabilitation counsellor. This rehabilitation counsellor knew the impact the right kind of exercise physiology intervention could have on Mary’s return to work and life. Mary was not getting out of bed. She was anxious with a fluctuating mood. Mary was having nightmares and poor sleep, low confidence and low self-esteem. She had been diagnosed with PTSD, adjustment disorder, and major … [Read more...]

Welcome to the March 2015 edition of the Purple Periodical. The last three months have seen some great results achieved with clients and we are excited by the new customers that we are able to work in partnership with. This edition we have a guest post from Vicky Phillips from Ex Phys.  Vicky and I have personally worked together for a few years now with clients.  I have really enjoyed working with Vicky and her team and have found this commitment to client’s while understanding the needs … [Read more...]