Kim Seeling-Smith

Author, master storyteller and trend translator, Kim Seeling Smith helps business leaders create organizations that are:

• Magnetic: Wildly attractive to TODAY’s customer and workforce
• Invincible: Able to achieve even your most challenging goals
• Future-Fit: Using leading-edge practices to attract and retain great people – never having to worry about the talent shortage again

Kim has literally had a seat at the table with Sir Richard Branson for the innovative work she does around the Future of Work, was named a Top 101 Global Influencer on Employee Engagement, wrote THE how to guide on 1:1 employee check-ins, Mind Reading for Managers, and co-wrote a Career Development Guide with mega author Brian Tracy.

You will frequently see Kim on Sunrise, The Today Show, in Forbes, Fast Company, SmartCompany, CEO Magazine, CNBC Online, the Australian Financial Review, the Sydney Morning Herald and many other print and radio media outlets.

A recovering, KPMG trained CPA, Kim has run an international, award winning consulting firm since 2009. Prior to that she managed globally ranked recruitment teams and has personally conducted over 5,000 exit interviews.

Kim is a highly engaging, thought provoking and inspiring speaker who leaves her audience with clarity, optimism — and at least 3 actionable steps to make an immediate difference in their business.

She is a founding member of Virgin Unite’s 100% Human at Work Initiative in Australia and the Chief Inspiration Officer for Inspire Sydney.

Kim is a Certified Speaking Professional and a Certified Virtual Presenter and has been presenting virtually since 2012.

Speaking topics

Mind Reading for Managers

The Key to Keep Your Best People from Walking out the Door

The research is clear. Your ability to keep your best people from walking out the door is a direct result of their manager's ability to connect with them and to understand what they need to be fully motivated and engaged.

Connection begins with conversation, but most managers don't talk to their people enough or about the right things because they are confused and frustrated about what their people really want.

Luckily, reverse engineering over 5,000 exit interviews gives us significant clues as to what workers really want and what employers need to deliver to hold onto their team through this time of immense change.

This model, dubbed the 9 Currencies of Choice® was originally developed in 2010 and has been updated for the post-Covid workforce. It has proven to be wildly successful in increasing employee retention, motivation, productivity, and profitability.

This is a choose your own adventure keynote where every presentation turns into a unique conversation with the audience.

If your success depends on your ability to inspire and retain a great team this session is not to be missed.

Audience takeaways:

• An understanding of how you, the leader, directly impacts your team’s performance and what you can do about it
• A proven framework to help inspire, measure and manage high performance (especially with a remote or hybrid workforce)
• A practical model, based on over 5,000 exit interviews and updated to include the latest international research to increase employee motivation and wellbeing.

Magnetic, Invincible and Future-Fit

How to create a culture that is wildly attractive to TODAY’s customers and workforce

Business leaders are under incredible pressure. According to futurist Jamais Cascio, we have moved from a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) to a BANI (brittle, anxious, non-linear, incomprehensible) world.

• Magnetic: Wildly attractive to TODAY’s customer and workforce
• Invincible: Able to achieve even your most challenging goals
• Future-Fit: Using leading-edge practices to attract and retain great people - never having to worry about the talent shortage again

We are facing an uncertain economic environment, a shifting geo-political landscape, climate change, a chronic skills shortage and an entitled workforce.

According to new research by PwC, almost 40% of global companies fear they will not be around in 10 years due to the talent shortage and rapid acceleration of AI and technology. In order to not only survive but thrive through these challenging times organizations need to become:

This inspirational, funny and thought provoking keynote will help them do just that.

Audience takeaways:

• Best in class? Thanks, I'll pass! - Why your current company purpose is completely irrelevant to your marketplace and how to fix it
• Valuegation - Use a great set of company values to make decisions and navigate your most complex business challenges
• Not your father's leadership style - No-nonsense keys to great leadership in a VUCA world
• Performance Discordance - Why your current goal-setting and performance management processes don't work and how to fix them
• Talent Challenge - How to win the War for Talent forever
• Retention Connection - How to turn connection into stakeholder retention

9 Keys to Avoid the Great Resignation

The Great Resignation is sweeping the globe and The Great Reshuffle is hitting Australia. Various Australian studies show that between 25 - 75% of the Australian workforce is planning to look for another role within the next 6 months.

But why are Aussies quitting? Just like the percentages above, the reasons vary wildly depending on the study.

Luckily, reverse engineering over 5,000 exit interviews gives us significant clues as to what workers really want and what employers need to deliver to hold onto their team through the Great Resignation and beyond.

This model, dubbed the 9 Currencies of Choice® was originally developed in 2010 and has recently been updated for the Post-Pandemic workforce. It has proven to be wildly successful in increasing employee retention, motivation, productivity and profitability.

If your success depends on your ability inspire and retain a great team this session is not to be missed.

The audience will leave with:

• An understanding of how you directly impact your team’s performance and what you can do about it.
• A proven framework to help hold your staff accountable for great performance (especially with a remote workforce)
• A practical model, based on over 5,000 exit interviews and updated to include the latest international research on the Great Resignation. This model will help you understand (and deliver on) everything your staff needs to be happy, productive and
• perform at their best. We take the guesswork out of employee motivation.

MC (On stage or online)

Kim was born to MC. Highly engaging and energetic, naturally curious, with exceptional pattern recognition skills, she is extremely adept at creating a flow and managing the energy of the audience throughout your event — whether it lasts 4 hours or 2 days.

Kim’s work as an MC runs the gamut. She can simply show up on the day to introduce speakers, provide the glue between sessions and manage the energy of the audience. Or she can take a much more active approach in helping you develop a theme, shape the event and strategise on speakers.

This program is perfect for:

• Any business audience who needs a credible, thoughtful and highly engaging MC to weave the speakers’ presentations into the theme of the conference, helping the audience connect the dots and experience the organiser’s desired outcomes.
• At the end of this event your audience will:
• Think more deeply and clearly about the conference theme and speakers’ presentation topics
• Feel as though time out of the office was not only well spent — but highly enjoyable
• Know how the speakers relate to each other and to the conference theme