Human Capital magazine issue 9.09

HC

Bringing e-learning to life p.34 » Where to next for employer branding? p.38 » A 21st century management model p.46 »

HUMAN CAPITAL MAGAZINE | www.hcamag.com

issue 9.09

Skilled Australians: Top tips for navigating the skills shortage IN EVERY ISSUE:

Profile case studies

Best practice examples

The forum

Expert opinion columns

Topical news briefs

editorial

Time for renewal

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recent media event organised by a leading recruitment firm posed some fascinating questions for HR. First, the ongoing debate around whether the term ‘human resources’ is due for an overhaul. Some people in the industry feel the term no longer conveys the breadth of the function. Some job titles already reflect this: people & culture manager, head of talent, etc.

This led to a discussion around the ongoing confusion many ‘average’ employees feel about HR. Some feel HR should be an advocate of the worker above and beyond simply being ‘handmaidens for managers’, and undertaking their ‘dirty work’. Indeed, it was suggested that perhaps there is scope for a newly created role – perhaps an employee ombudsman – who could act as ‘the voice of the people’ in organisations. With HR teams stretched to the limit as it is, this might be wishful thinking on behalf of disgruntled employees.

Finally, there was an anecdote mentioned that perhaps sums up this role confusion, both for HR professionals themselves, and for the other stakeholders HR deals with on a daily basis. When the illustrator of the popular Dilbert cartoons, Scott Adams, was once asked why he always represented the HR manager as a cat in his cartoons, he responded that it made perfect sense: HR are soft and cuddly, but they actually hate people.

True or not, it certainly flies in the face of many HR professionals who go into the profession because they are ‘good with people’. In some ways HR remains stuck between being those soft and cuddly team-bonders, and being the hardened business partners they are now required to be. It seems that to be successful in senior HR roles it requires a mix of these seemingly contradictory traits and skills.

Yet as this issue’s cover story on combating the skills crisis demonstrates, if ever there was a chance for HR to come up with meaningful strategies that can make or break organisations, it is now.

Iain Hopkins, editor

editor Iain Hopkins

SALES & MARKETING National Commercial Manager Sophie Knight

COPY & FEATURES

online commercial manager Sarah Wiseman

journalist Stephanie Zillman

senior marketing executive Kerry Corben

Editorial assistant Rebeccah Elley

marketing executive Anna Keane Communications Executive Lisa Narroway

production editors Sushil Suresh, Carolin Wun

TRAFFIC MANAGER Abby Cayanan

ART & PRODUCTION

CORPORATE

design production manager Angie Gillies

managing director Mike Shipley

chief designer Lucila Lamas

chief operating officer George Walmsley

CONTRIBUTORS

chief information officer Colin Chan

Carroll & O’Dea Lawyers, The Next Step, Kenexa Australasia, Frontier Software

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER Julia Bookallil

sales director Justin Kennedy

Editorial enquiries Iain Hopkins tel: +61 2 8437 4703 iain.hopkins@keymedia.com.au Advertising enquiries National commercial manager, HR products Sophie Knight tel: +61 2 8437 4733 sophie.knight@keymedia.com.au Subscriptions tel: +61 2 8437 4731 • fax: +61 2 8437 4753 subscriptions@keymedia.com.au Key Media www.keymedia.com.au Key Media Pty Ltd, regional head office, Level 10, 1 Chandos St, St Leonards, NSW 2065, Australia tel: +61 2 8437 4700 fax: +61 2 9439 4599 Offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Toronto www.hcamag.com Copyright is reserved throughout. No part of this publication can be reproduced in whole or part without the express permission of the editor. Contributions are invited, but copies of work should be kept as HC can accept no responsibility for loss.

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contents

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Features

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Refreshing HR

Human Capital profiles Dean Sappey, HR director at Frucor Beverages Australia – one of only nine organisations in Australia to be named a Best Employer in 2011 by Aon Hewitt

Navigating the skills crisis

In the next four years alone, it’s estimated Australia will need another 2.4 million skilled workers. What can employers do to navigate the skills shortage? Iain Hopkins investigates

The virtual classroom: 10 tips to make e-learning work

Alison Bickford and Colleen Kavanagh provide a comprehensive guide to making e-learning an effective learning platform

Where to next for employer branding?

Employer branding has evolved from a recruitment support function to a focus for organisations throughout the employee lifecycle, from hire to retire. Brett Minchington forecasts what the future may hold for employer branding

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Healthy mind, healthy body

While physical wellbeing is well catered for in employee benefits programs, mental wellbeing is often neglected. As Jesse King reports, simple steps from employers can have a huge impact

Letters to the editor

Do you have a burning HR or people management issue you would like to share with others? If so, Human Capital would like to hear from you. Send through your comments to editor@ hcamag.com. Alternatively, express your thoughts on the readers’ forums at www.hcamag.com

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contents

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HR Leader

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The Post Industrial Revolution Revolution

Outmoded management practices are resulting in disengaged workers. Kim Seeling Smith outlines how to create a viable model for the 21st century

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Regulars

10 In Step – HR career experts 12 Legal 18 HR Technology 31 HR Consulting

Profile Why is McAfee officially a great place to work?

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in brief news CSR

HR’s role in fostering ethical workplaces

Paid parental leave

Manager attitudes key to paid parental leave success

Manager attitudes and not organisational policies alone (see boxout below) will determine the success of the paid parental leave scheme, according to research by coaching and development consultancy Family Matters.

The research found that the attitude and behaviour of managers strongly influences the successful transition to and from paid parental leave, and also the future retention of the employee within the organisation.

The research also found that negative attitudes from team managers can directly influence the behaviour of other team members.

“Managers need to put aside their personal feelings about paid parental leave and act in the best interests of their team member taking parental leave,” said Liane McGrath, co-founder of Family Matters.

“Being a ‘supporter’ is the only way forward, as too often the real cost to an organisation of losing a senior female employee is not fully realised until they are gone,” said McGrath.

McGrath warned that failure to do this will result in unnecessary ongoing long-term costs for corporate Australia and a significant loss of talented professionals.

All about attitude Five distinct attitudes have been identified that managers may adopt when faced with a direct report taking parental leave, with only one ensuring a successful outcome for the manager, the organisation and the employee in question.

• Traditionalists – see the work place as a male domain and a woman’s place as homemaker and child-rearer.

• Resenters – are more concerned with what happened to them and the belief that no one deserves special treatment.

• Avoiders – are overly concerned with doing the ‘right’ thing, that it paralyses them into doing nothing.

• Protectors – want to wrap the woman in cotton wool and protect her from anything and everything, including job responsibility.

• Supporters – see this stage of a woman’s career as challenging yet manageable through setting and managing expectations for all stakeholders.

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In light of the News of the World scandal, whereby dishonest staff nearly brought down one of the world’s largest corporate empires, having an honest and ethical workplace is now at the forefront of corporate agendas worldwide.

Dr Hilary Armstrong, a professional associate of the not-forprofit St James ethics centre, said that having continual robust conversations about ethics and policies is the key to an open and honest workplace. She added that while ensuring workplaces operate honestly is certainly no easy task, there is too much at stake to turn a blind eye. Armstrong noted there has to be good policies in place, which are continually revisited by senior leadership.

“I think HR plays the role of being in a middle position. There has to be good transactions with the senior management,” she said.

Engagement

Employee loyalty not dead – yet

In an article published in the Financial Times, workplace specialist Lynda Gratton wrote that loyalty has disappeared altogether in the workforce due to the globalised high speed economy.

Further, workforce consultant Tammy Erickson said in her Harvard Business Review blog that trust has replaced the concept of loyalty.

David Halvadjian, from Australian workplace consultancy firm Gallup, told HC: “If you really want loyalty and trust to prosper, engagement is the key.”

For companies looking to reignite loyalty, he said it is paramount that employers clearly communicate the mission and purpose of their company, as well as employee roles.

“If engaged, people feel valued and a part of something they can remain loyal to, and they can learn and grow,” Halvadjian said.

Poll: How is your company planning to combat the skills shortage?

Have existing staff work longer hours

Hire staff from overseas

10%

13%

30% 46% Upgrade skills of existing staff

Total votes: 135, Poll date: 13/7/11 – 5/8/11 Source: Human Capital Australia, www.hcamag.com

Hire contract/ temp staff to alleviate workloads

in brief news

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in brief news

HR outsourcing insights Talent2’s APAC Market Pulse survey has provided insights into Australian outsourcing trends: • In the case of search and recruitment, 71% of HR executives outsource all or part of this function People management

Gossip not to be tolerated

Former Global Cranes employee Kym Reedy was fired in December last year after it was found that she spread rumours about her employer’s sex life and supposed drug use.

She filed a complaint to the Fair Work Australia Commission, but it found that Global Cranes managing director Fred Vidaic was within his rights, as the commission found that such a breach of trust was a good enough reason to terminate a person’s employment.

Commission deputy president Reg Hamilton found that there had been a valid reason for the employee’s sacking, and said her employer had the right to expect a higher degree of loyalty and cooperation than was received from the complainant.

“It would be grossly unreasonable to expect an employer to work with, to trust and rely upon, an employee in these circumstances,” he said. “This constitutes a valid reason for termination.”

Chamber of Commerce Queensland President David Goodwin said that companies can be found liable for damages if they do not appropriately address workplace gossip.

Migration

Perth reclassified as regional employment area

The Federal Government has plans to reclassify Perth as a regional employment hardship area, giving employers access to a pool of 16,000 sponsored visa places.

Perth residents have long been frustrated by limited services ranging from dentist appointments through to slow service at understaffed local restaurants. However, the Western Australian capital may be in line for a welcome reprieve if a new Federal Government plan to loosen skill restrictions on foreign workers proves a success.

The new classification would mean that Perth businesses will be able to sponsor semi-skilled workers including dental assistants, hospitality workers, teacher’s aids and child and aged care workers, as employers in the Pilbara or Kimberley already do.

The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Chris Bowen said that expanding the range of workers who are eligible for skilled visas is a necessary measure in order to cope with the range of staff shortages.

The State government and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) have welcomed the departments’ proposal.

We’d love to hear from you! Comment on Human Capital’s news and opinion articles online at www. hcamag.com

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• L&D (41%) and HR consulting (37%) are other functions likely to involve an element of outsourcing • Specialised knowledge of the outsourcing company (67%) is the most commonly cited benefit of outsourcing • However, 56% acknowledge that service delivery has been inconsistent

Diversity

Immigrants forced to Westernise their names

The Australian Human Rights Commission’s Graeme Innes has said there is a growing trend of immigrants adopting Western names in the hope it will get them hired.

In an interview with HC, Commissioner Innes said there are “still elements of race discrimination in employment. It is certainly present and problematic”.

His comments come in light of research released by the Australian National University, which confirmed significant differences in call back rates. The research suggested that “ethnic minority candidates would need to apply for more jobs in order to receive the same number of interviews”.

The report Does Racial and Ethnic Discrimination vary across Minority Groups? showed that discrimination occurred differently across a range of groups.

Those with Italian names, and indeed those candidates who form more established migrant groups, suffered less discrimination than Chinese and Middle Easterners.

“Unfortunately, there are definitely people in Australia who make employment decisions on a racist bias. We like to call ourselves a tolerant society, but this happens a lot more often than we think,” Innes said.

Fast fact Take-away coffee addicts can be worse for office productivity than smokers. The Sunday Mail reported that with some workers taking six breaks a day to get their hit of caffeine and sunshine, businesses are losing several hours of paid work every day.

The Big Story emotional intelligence

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in brief forum

Train victims to stand up to workplace bullies, says expert

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ew Victorian Government legislation against workplace bullying won’t curb bullying but instead may encourage the development of a “victim culture” among workers, according to a specialist in corporate wellbeing and life balance.

Dr. Paul Lanthois, director of the Work Life Balance Foundation, warned that focusing solely on trying to modify the attitudes and behaviours of bullies through legislation is doomed to failure because it fails to also address the attitudes and behaviours of the victims that are part of the cause.

“Bullies are predators who prey on perceived weakness and insecurities of others to satisfy their own personal hunger to feel better about themselves,” he said.

“If you want to resolve bullying in the workplace you treat bullies like predators.

Predators only attack their prey, so it’s vital for victims to stop acting like prey. If victims keep acting like prey, their actions can encourage more attacks.”

Lanthois recommended more emphasis should be placed on training

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that develops resilience and conflict resolution skills in workers. “This is not about blaming victims. It’s also not about blaming anyone. Blaming is victim behaviour. It’s not about condoning bullying behaviour either.

It’s about looking at the cause and as with most disputes, it takes two to tango.”

Lanthois suggested that people need to start taking more responsibility for their own behaviour and to stop blaming others as the cause of all their woes.

“The reality is that no other person can force you to feel a certain way regardless of their intent. Victims need to be aware that ultimately it is your interpretation of events that cause you to feel bullied or discriminated against and that is a choice by you. The one thing I’m sure of is that a workplace without victims is a workplace without bullies.”

Visit www.hcamag.com to leave comments on all the news and opinion pieces

Readers’ comments Kate Connellan on 06 Jul 2011 11:48 AM “Great article Dr. Lanthois!

We often see the same perspectives on bullying presented over and over again so it’s nice to look at it in a different way. As an ER professional, I am struck by the number of grievances and complaints, meant to be kept confidential, becoming a source of gossip, intrigue and disruption, as the HR department attempts to engage stakeholders in a solution on behalf of the complainant.

The final outcome (resignation of that person) is rarely good. I have found that in many cases, supporting the victim to feel stronger and stand up for themselves is far more effective, empowering and good for engagement.”

Bernie Althofer on 01 Jul 2011 09:21 AM “Targets of bullying are not corporate clones and drones. They are independent, self-reliant, self-motivated, imaginative, innovative, and full of ideas. Bullies operate a divide and rule regime and work hard to isolate and disempower their target who they falsely accuse of ‘not being a team player’. Anyone who is not sensitive is insensitive.

Bullies are callously insensitive and indifferent to the needs of others and when called upon to share or address the needs and concerns of others react with impatience, irritability and aggression.”

Claude G. on 07 Jul 2011 02:40 PM “I to some extent agree that it takes two to tango, but someone has to lead! Yes, empowering a victim to not be passive and provide an opportunity for a bully is a positive step, but this can only be achieved if the bully is dragged into line and reprimanded for the behaviour. Only then will a victim feel empowered that ‘something’ is seen to be done and only then will they begin to build resilience.

I see too often, as a manager in an organisation, a bully ‘get away with it’ which only leaves the victim more depressed, more stressed and ultimately more vulnerable.

The Big Story upskilling

Building talent from within HCOnline TV asked three experts for their views on upskilling existing employees Geoff Rosamond group managing director, Human Group On upskilling, and accessing training We talk about that war for talent. It’s not just a war for attracting talent; it’s a battle for building talent internally. Talent means people, and people are individuals and to build talent you need to build it individually. This takes a lot of time and a lot of resources and you need a large supply chain.

This idea of having a recruitment budget higher than our development budget should not be the norm. Someone in that position of responsibility should be looking at reducing turnover and developing talent internally.

When it comes to training ensure access to development both internally and externally in the learning management system. Secondly, communicate that there is availability of learning for everybody in the business; all they need to do is find a course and request it. Thirdly, make it really transparent why people need to develop skills because developing skills is the only thing that allows people to move quickly within an organisation.

Cindy Grass HR director, Millward Brown Australia On why development starts with a conversation…

It’s about career conversations; a lot of our managers don’t know how to have those conversations, so my focus is going to be coaching our managers about those conversations. What are the development options you should be thinking about? What are the questions you should be asking? What resources do you have access to, to make sure your people get whatever it is they need?

If the managers aren’t asking the right questions, they can say they are having their career questions but they aren’t going anywhere. Given the fact that we are a research company, we ask a lot of questions of our people and we do a lot of surveys. We get feedback constantly on how our managers are performing – let alone their midyear or end-of-year review performance process.

John Francois HR director, AsiaPacific, McAfee On building career paths for employees…

People need a career path and particularly with Gen Y and Gen X, certainly that generation looks for career opportunities and career development. I think it’s more around ensuring we have valuable career paths in place to ensure those people are being developed and retained.

On using the McAfee Online University…

People are busy and have so many things to do, with different priorities in their own roles. But this does not limit somebody from doing a program at their own pace. We even have the facility where they can start a program and pause that program if required for whatever reason, and then pick it up from the place they left off.

To see this HC Online TV clip, or any of our other Big News stories, visit www.hcamag.com

HR Career Experts

To specialise or not to specialise?

legislation coupled with empathy to keep the individual impact in mind, and the ability to see the organisation’s big picture strategy.

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Learning & Development – As Nicola Blum indicated to the group, the L&D specialty is extremely broad. She described that the L&D role can be an all encompassing end-to-end role or one that specialises in technical, soft skills or leadership development, and then further in design, delivery or evaluation. She also said that each level within L&D requires a very different skill set.

Nicola explained that “what makes a good L&D Coordinator is very different to what makes a good L&D Consultant. You need to get the basics right first”. She also said L&D is about the development of the individual where OD is focused on the organisation as a whole.

he decision to specialise in HR or continue as a generalist practitioner was discussed at a recent panel discussion coordinated by The Next Gen, (the early and intermediate career specialist group at The Next Step).

Responding to questions about career planning and the merits of specialising are daily occurrences for The Next Gen team. To shed some light on this, The Next Gen facilitated a discussion with a panel of three senior practitioners from the areas of ER/IR, L&D/OD and Remuneration & Benefits.

Fiona McCulloch, ER Manager at Mission Australia, Nicola Blum, Head of Learning & Development at Allens Arthur Robinson, and Sabiha Vorajee, Compensation & Benefits Manager at Lend Lease shared their views with 70 high calibre early and intermediate HR professionals.

They discussed the key skills for each area, provided advice on moving into a speciality role and the benefits of moving between generalist and specialty roles throughout HR careers.

So what does the market look like for specialists?

The attendees heard that during the GFC, there was an increase in the percentage of generalist roles and a decrease in specialist roles. Rem & Ben roles were the exception to this trend. The demand for other specialists then recovered and has now increased significantly.

With the general rule of thumb being that generalist roles make up about 50% of all HR roles, the continuing challenge is to find the right talent to fill the wide range of different specialist vacancies in the rest of the market.

This has been compounded by the lack of specialist opportunities in the early career space preventing the development of a strong pipeline “coming up through the ranks”.

The panel discussion – key observations

Employee & Industrial Relations – As Fiona McCulloch described, the ER function plays an important role in setting the strategy to ensure positive and productive employer-employee relationships. As she indicated to the early career professionals at the function, “ER is broader than the application of the law; it is about holistically engaging and retaining your workforce”. She also talked about the role being concerned with proactively working to prevent workplace relations issues arising, and when they do, resolving problems with a consultative approach to effectively manage risk.

Fiona described that specialists in the E&IR space require the in-depth understanding of employment

Remuneration & Benefits – Sabiha Vorajee discussed with the group that this specialist function covers the framework for fixed pay, variable pay and employee benefits and how this links to the broader HR initiatives to achieve the business objectives.

There is typically the perception that to move into this specialism you just need to be exceptionally numerate. A deep understanding of numbers in any business is a must, however this isn’t the only skill required. Sabiha believes that “you need to understand the importance of the data and all the relevant interplays but you also need to remember the human element and communicate technical information in a way so that the whole message is understood, not just the numbers”.

How to move to a specialist role for an early career professional?

It was the unanimous recommendation by the panel that to move into a specialist role, practitioners need to demonstrate genuine interest and commitment.

They advised that firstly reading relevant journal articles, material from professional bodies, case notes and books to build knowledge is a start. They then indicated that volunteering for pieces of work that relate to that specialism is a key strategy.

Final note The panel agreed that being in a specialist role for any period of time would certainly benefit any HR career.

Whether a practitioner stays as a specialist or moves back into a generalist role, the advantages to career growth are clear. Added depth to an HR toolkit will provide any practitioner a competitive edge.

Lisa Eastick is a Consultant in our Next Gen recruitment team in our Sydney office. For additional information call (02) 8256 2550 or email leastick@thenextstep.com.au.

Website: www.thenextstep.com.au

Recent HR Market Moves supplied by The Next Step

Sandra Clubb has been appointed as National Director of People & Organisational Development with the Little Company of Mary Healthcare. She previously enjoyed six years with Carter Holt Harvey as a Senior HR Manager.

Allens Arthur Robinson has appointed Dan Cook as their Head of People & Development – Legal. Dan brings extensive experience in senior internal and consulting roles in the banking & finance, technology and professional services sectors within Australia and the US.

Gaye Hennessey has joined Officeworks as their National HR Manager. She previously held the role of National HR Manager with Delaware North Companies. Prior to this she was the National Employee Relations Manager with Bunnings Group.

Kmart Australia has appointed Joanne Carson as their HR Manager for Victoria. Joanne’s most recent role was National HR Manager, Commercial Operations with Australian Red Cross.

Michelle Nebbs has commenced with ANZ as their Global OD & Talent Manager. She brings strong experience in both external consulting and in-house roles spanning NZ, the UK and Australia.

Theodore Samios has accepted the role of Group HR Manager Xstrata Iron Ore based in Switzerland. He brings experience gained

in senior HR roles within Cathay Pacific, Macquarie Bank, George Weston Foods and iSOFT. Joining BAE Systems Australia in the role of Head of Employee Relations is Rebecca Fraser. She most recently held the role of People Relations Manager with Qantas Engineering VIC.

Andrew Kalinowski has been appointed the HR Manager QLD for Minter Ellison. Andrew was previously the General Manager Human Resources for the Colorado Group.

Kempe Engineering has made two key HR appointments; Shane O’Bryan as Global HR/HSE Director and Shelley Smith as National HR Manager. Shane was previously the HR Director ACPAC with KBR and Shelley previously held senior HR roles within the FMCG industry.

Compensation Authorities Staff Division (CASD) has appointed

Greg Barnier as their Director People & Culture. He has more than 20 years’ experience in Australia and the Pacific in executive level HR roles within Westpac.

Grant Kerswell has joined Transfield Services as the Executive General Manager HR ANZ. Prior to working with Qantas on a project basis he enjoyed 10 years with Coca-Cola Amatil, most recently in the role of Director Human Resources.

By supplying Market Moves, The Next Step is not implying placement involvement in any way.

Bullies in their midst – Employers’ obligations and risks

Legal Experts

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n June 2011, the Victorian Crimes Amendment (Bullying) Bill 2011 received royal assent and resulted in a number of small but crucial amendments to the Victorian Crimes Act 1958. The Amendment Bill (known as “Brodie’s Law”) was drafted following the suicide of a Victorian employee who had been the victim of systemic workplace bullying. This tragic incident led to the successful prosecution of the employer, a director and several coworkers, resulting in fines totalling $335,000.

Brodie’s Law does not attempt to transform the Crimes Act into quasi-industrial legislation, nor does it specifically criminalise workplace bullying.

Rather, it operates to extend the definition of stalking to include behaviour such as making threats to the victim, engaging in abusive acts, or acting in ways that could reasonably be expected to cause the victim to engage in self-harm. By contrast, the Fair Work Act 2009 (“FW Act”) does not contain any provisions that deal specifically and solely with bullying, and so far, no other state has yet contemplated similar legislation to Brodie’s Law. However, non-Victorian employers should not interpret this to mean that non-specific bullying is un-actionable; employers operating across state borders should note that Brodie’s Law applies to acts committed in Victoria or to acts committed whilst the victim was in Victoria. Furthermore, bullying allegations can form the factual basis of a number of claims and prosecutions in other jurisdictions including the following: 1. Workers Compensation – an employee who suffers a work injury and is unable to perform duties may claim statutory entitlements such as weekly compensation, reimbursement for medical expenses, and lump sum compensation for permanent disability. While certain exclusions apply to psychological injuries, such claims nevertheless have a significant impact on an employer’s insurance.

2. Adverse Action / Discrimination – any potentially harassing conduct perceived to be undertaken for an unlawful or discriminatory reason may result in an adverse action or discrimination claim; the former imposing a reverse evidentiary onus on the employer and the latter exposing an employer to vicarious liability in relation to employees.

Either claim may be made whilst the employment is still on foot.

3. Unfair Dismissal – if an employee resigns as a result of perceived bullying conduct, that employee may bring Unfair Dismissal www.hcamag.com

proceedings against the employer. If the employee can establish that he/she was constructively dismissed due to the conduct and is unable to obtain future employment, compensation may be awarded up to the value of 26 weeks’ wages.

4. OH&S Prosecutions – while current state-based legislation applies, it is intended that the model Work Health and Safety Act 2011 will come into effect in all states and territories (excluding WA) on 1 January 2012. The Act imposes due diligence obligations on employers and ‘officers’ to ensure compliance with health and safety obligations.

Prosecutions may be instituted where an employer, a person in control of a business or undertaking, an officer or employee fails to comply with a positive health and safety duty and exposes an individual to a risk of death or serious injury or illness. Under the model Act, even the objectively least serious offences carry penalties of up to $100,000 for an individual or $500,000 for a corporation.

5. Breach of Contract – sustained bullying and harassing conduct may entitle an employee to consider the employer as having repudiated the employment contract and to seek damages for the breach. Such claims may be founded on an employer’s non-compliance with contractual bullying policies or grievances procedures, or alternatively may be grounded upon a breach of the implied contractual term of mutual trust and confidence.

Complaints of workplace bullying are often made in the wake of employee dissatisfaction with performance management, which is not independently actionable under the FW Act. However, employers should be aware that such complaints and inquiries regarding available grievance resolution procedures may comprise ‘workplace rights’ under the FW Act. Employers cannot victimise an employee for making such a complaint or inquiry and doing so may entitle the employee to relief under the FW Act’s adverse action provisions. Accordingly, employers should take seriously any bullying complaints made by employees and undertake appropriate investigations into such allegations. Investigations should be transparent and impartial, and any subsequent action should demonstrate procedural fairness towards all relevant parties. www.codea.com.au

Peter Doughman, Solicitor Carroll & O’Dea Lawyers Level 18 St James Centre 111 Elizabeth Street Sydney NSW 2000 Phone (02) 8226 7311

My Brilliant Career Dean Sappey

Refreshing

HR

Human Capital profiles Dean Sappey, HR director at Frucor Beverages Australia – one of only nine organisations in Australia to be named a Best Employer in 2011 by Aon Hewitt Human Capital: Can you describe your early career and how you found yourself in a HR-related role?

Dean Sappey: I started out of school with a tendency towards economics and mathematics and went into a business degree with an accounting major. I joined PwC as an undergrad, or cadet as they called it. I spent a few years there and they assisted with the completion of my studies. I was keener on the more commercial side of finance than on the chartered side so I took off in the direction of working in a commercial role at PepsiCo. That was my first foray into FMCG. After a few other finance-related roles in that business I joined Frucor in 2003 as head of finance for the Australian business. It was during that role that I got to see HR in a very dynamic, progressive environment and made the transition to head of HR in the Australian business in 2007.

I think I’d have trouble returning to a pure finance role in the future.

HC: What is it about HR that appealed to you?

DS: Fortunately for me I found myself in a business that really valued the role of HR, with a strong seat at the executive table, which I was able to see from the finance side. We were also willing to invest a significant amount in leadership and talent within the business – so it was a well supported role not only in terms of strategy but also through the support of the CEO. Whether the light would’ve gone on for me in another organisation remains to be seen but I’ve loved the direction I’ve taken in my career at Frucor.

HC: Can you outline your current role and how HR operates at Frucor?

DS: I’m responsible for the Frucor Australia HR function. We’ve got 230 people nationally across most state capitals in a mix of sales and distribution roles.

Heading up the HR team means I’m responsible for developing and implementing strategy for the Aussie business. I have a team locally of four people. I have a couple of fantastic HR business partners that are very close to the business and they are front and centre with particular functions in the business and share a very

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HC: Has that early career helped you in HR? DS: I do think it’s helped. My peers are comfortable that I have an understanding of the commercial reality of things. If I’m trying to bring a new HR approach, whether it be policy or strategy to the table, they know that I appreciate ROI. I also often hear the profession talk about being seen as being credible commercial partners around the table but I think that only gets you part of the way there – you need to be very good at making connections between the commercial realities and the people aspects of the business. I don’t think having a purely finance background helps you there.

You do need to be very active and curious and posing those questions about how things could be different if we went down a particular path or strategy.

Personal file

Dean Sappey

Family: Married to Merilyn (my high school sweetheart!), three children: Harrison 14, Tori 12, Olivia 6 Favourite sports: Love to run, which I have only taken up in the past three years (half marathons are the limit at present). When the kids are older I hope to take up golf again Favourite movie or TV: The Hangover Best advice ever received: Learn to develop a thick skin early in your career as you need it to be successful

Thilo Pulch, www.pulchphotography.com

Self-described: Optimistic, collaborative, determined to succeed, and loyal (do I sound like a labrador?)

First job and/or worst job: First job was working on the clothes press at my parents’ dry cleaning business.

A great start for me as it paid my way through University and provided weekend work for years after as well If not in HR: Rock promoter or sports commentator www.hcamag.com

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My Brilliant Career Dean Sappey

We’re over the moon to get that recognition. Beyond measuring, Aon Hewitt has also done some good work with us in helping us understand the feedback from our people.

In terms of what’s working really well for us, I’d say it’s our values and our general culture environment.

Created by the wider team, the five values – One Team, Straight Up, Value You, Go For It and Trail Blazing – reflect the language and culture of the business. Also, in terms of the way we’ve set and communicated our strategy, we’ve had some strong feedback from our teams on that. They like us having open, ongoing dialogue about where we are in terms of our strategy.

That’s where, to use one of our values, we’ve been very straight up in progressing with our strategy.

We have distributed leadership throughout the business, and the role of line managers has been very important in driving the messages, having good conversations with people about what’s going on, listening to people through informal workshops or action planning, right through to one-on-ones, and turning those ideas into areas we can have wins with.

progressive and productive relationship with those accounts. I’m complemented by the support of a group team based in Auckland who assist with organisational development and shared service payroll. We only launched in Australia 10 years ago out of a strong platform from NZ. We’re sizeable in NZ with more brands – V Energy Drink being market leader in energy drinks, H2Go in hydration, and also the Pepsi licence in the NZ market.

HC: Frucor Australia has recently won an Aon Hewitt accolade as a Best Employer. In what areas of employee engagement is the company excelling?

DS: We’ve been on our engagement journey for the better part of 8–10 years. In 2008 we started working closely with Hewitt to measure how our people feel about the organisation. More recently we went through the accreditation process. That’s been a nice way for the business to get some external recognition around the things that are going on within the business.

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HC: How important is it to get that benchmark, particularly against other FMCGs? DS: It’s good to understand where you sit next to your peers. We’ve always thought we do things differently to our peers – we’re quite a nimble organisation. The accreditation helps us build our employment brand in the marketplace. From an HR director’s perspective we have very prominent consumer brands and we’re in a rapidly growing category – energy drinks – and there’s a strong buzz around our brands. Whilst we’re very proud of the Frucor name, it’s been 10 years in Australia trying to build that up. Also in terms of retaining people, by getting some external recognition through a highly credible organisation like Aon Hewitt, people say, “hey I’m working for a first-class organisation and I want to stay and build a career”. So it’s both attraction and retention.

HC: What’s the biggest HR-related challenge your company is currently facing and how do you plan to overcome it?

DS: Like any business, there isn’t just one challenge, but one that is most pressing for us is we have a fairly pressing growth agenda at the moment. We operate in a category that has in recent years seen competition; it’s one of the highest growth areas in the beverage market. If we’re to be true business partners and really be a key strategy player around the exec table, we need to come up with strategies that support that business strategy. Having the organisation’s capabilities keep pace with that growth strategy is important. Specifically, in terms of developing competencies through L&D

My Brilliant Career Dean Sappey

programs, what we’ve done is introduce a program with quite innovative frameworks. These are real tools that managers and leaders can use around their teams to challenge them every day; how can we improve things at a grass roots level? Breakthrough thinking doesn’t come along every day, but we’re trying to ready the organisation to be more in tune with asking the right questions, exploring possibilities. People often think of innovation solely as product innovation; we want them thinking it’s as much about process as well.

HC: What are you doing in terms of leadership development?

DS: We view leadership development as being not just for senior people in the business. I think that’s been a big differentiator for our business. How that’s played out is we’ve created environments we think are conducive to not just putting people out of their comfort zones for the sake of seeing how they react, but getting them out of the day-to-day environment into an environment where the important things around leadership can be discussed. Forexample, we do an induction process during a manager’s first 3–6 months in the business. Instead of taking them to a Holiday Inn or Crown Plaza, we’ll put them in a pretty challenging scout camp environment. It still has a decent conference room and we feed them well, but the fact is there might be bunk beds and a little bit of cold creeping in during winter. It gives an edge to the program.

The principles involved in those programs – self-awareness and personal accountability – are filtered down to the other programs we run. Five years ago we got feedback from the general staff

group indicating they liked seeing the programs that their manager’s were sent on, with the challenging physical environments, and they liked some of the tools they saw them using around understanding themselves. Could they do something similar? It’s quite an investment to send people out on those programs, and we’ve had to mix it up from time to time each year. By and large we’ve got some good self-awareness tools and frameworks for personal leadership and accountability that stretches right through the organisation.

HC: Where do you see HR as a profession heading in the next couple of years?

DS: Maybe I’m fortunate in the business I work for, but I believe HR does have a seat at the table.

Having built up commercial knowledge to have the biggest impact, we need to be finding connections between what’s going on in the business strategically and what we can do from a HR perspective. What I mean is, from the HR perspective we have a lot of tools in our armoury, whether it be L&D or organisational development, or rem & ben – things we can drive from a policy perspective. But it’s making connections between what’s going on, what you’re hearing around the table, and then crafting that into some sort of action that will drive good thought leadership. Rather than being reactive to some of the views around the table and saying, “I can be a good business partner and support you with the initiative you’re about to do” – we need to do that, that’s a given. But maybe it’s about us developing competency about being curious, about exploring possibilities, and being more provocative. HC

“Having built up commercial knowledge to have the biggest impact, we need to be finding connections between what’s going on in the business strategically and what we can do from a HR perspective” – Dean Sappey

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HR Technology

Mobile HR now a reality

dispersed and mobile workforce. The ability to complete and submit timesheets or expense requests on the fly gives management real-time access to workforce costs and expenses.

Question: Increasingly, we are hearing about

Mobility for HR

HR applications becoming available on smartphones and web-enabled devices. Is this just a fad or can real productivity gains be made by using this technology?

Answer: The pace of change across the technology landscape is breathtaking and it can be challenging to identify fads from those advancements that deliver real value to the enterprise and, more importantly, HR. It’s difficult to ignore the popularity of the smartphone and web-enabled devices; adoption of these devices has accelerated in recent times. In fact, the number of smartphones in the Australian market is set to exceed 13 million by 2013, according to the latest figures from mobileSQUARED. HR vendors with agile solutions are making versions of their software available for smart devices.

The term for this innovative HR technology is ‘mobile HR’, and it is a key trend that will provide savvy HR practitioners with another tool to ease the tactical burden and improve efficiency.

With these devices so widely used, many tech-savvy organisations can harness this technology and drive productivity by providing access to their Human Capital Solution from smart devices.

The mobile workforce As the workforce evolves and the way organisations deliver HR information matures, the use of mobile HR can drive productivity and deliver increased HR service levels to the enterprise. Generation Y easily adapts to this technology and remains engaged with employers that can provide information in an anytime/anywhere format.

It’s no secret Gen Y has grown up in an instant world – where everything is available at their fingertips.

With mobile HR, the ‘instant’ generation can become more engaged when their personal information, leave requests and payment advice are available via this innovative technology.

Talent acquisition is a growing concern in some industries and mobile HR can assist. Recruitment is an ideal user of this technology. Imagine the time savings that can be achieved when job applications can be made from a smartphone or web-enabled device and interview requests or candidate updates can be sent via SMS. Many recruiters are using social media to advertise roles, and capturing applicants through this medium will increase the quality and quantity of applications. The employer brand is also enhanced by streamlining the process and being seen as an innovative technology user.

Mobile HR is a great fit with industries that have a

Mobile HR transforms the HR function. No longer are HR and Payroll required to be at their desk to ensure workforce initiatives are executed and remain on track.

With mobile HR it’s easy to manage approvals and change requests anywhere/anytime.

Reporting Management can also benefit from mobile HR capabilities. Line Managers will discover productivity savings with the ability to approve leave requests and manage timesheets from anywhere. Reporting is also available at their fingertips, delivering 24/7 access to workforce data – when they need it.

Security Some organisations are cautious when considering using smart devices for fear that sensitive data may not be secure. As long as your Human Capital Solution provider has developed the solution with a solid security framework, there will be no increased data security risk.

Policies With the growing use of mobile HR and similar technologies on smartphones, employers need to consider their smartphone usage policy to ensure everyone understands how the devices are to be used and what is expected. In North America, there have been cases where employees have claimed overtime while using smartphones outside of office hours. A well-documented usage policy will minimise the risk of litigation and ensure there is no expectation of unfair work practices.

Mobile HR represents an exciting evolution for HR — the ability to deliver workforce data to smartphones and web-enabled devices will revolutionise HR service delivery. The productivity savings that accompany this technology are enormous and should be considered by any organisation that is preparing a business case for the implementation of mobile HR. Adopting this type of technology can remove the tactical burden from HR and provide more time for them to focus on developing workforce strategy and driving execution.

Nick Southcombe General Manager Frontier Software Pty Ltd (03) 9639 0777 www.frontiersoftware.com

HR Consulting

Driving Real Change – employee surveys that make a difference

I

ncreasing numbers of our clients are working with us to implement employee surveys – looking at such critical areas as employee engagement, performance excellence, leadership/ manager effectiveness and organisational culture.

Given the clear evidence linking such factors to tangible business performance, this is an extremely welcome trend, reflecting the recognition of the commercial value of HCM. Whenever such surveys are implemented, the overriding question remains this: how do we ensure that effective change actually takes place in response to the results, so that it is more than just an exercise in producing numbers?

There are a range of factors that make a difference to our ability to drive change following survey results.

One of these is a clear communication strategy. When we work with clients on surveys, one of our key early activities is stakeholder analysis, identifying the full range of groups and individuals who have an interest in the survey, defining their specific needs/concerns and the best ways of involving them in the process.

This leads to a planned and focused approach to communication that allows us to engage with each group in the most effective way.

Such stakeholder analysis should not just focus on the more obvious groups of people (such as leaders, different layers of managers, HR teams, internal ‘comms’ teams and the like) but also others who are often overlooked (such as groups representing employees, unions, shareholders, investors, learning & development specialists, recruitment teams, branding professionals and equal opportunities specialists). Each of these groups has a different type of interest in the results (or should be encouraged to have such an interest) and need to be involved in different ways.

One of the classic issues thrown up by survey results is a need for enhanced or refocused leadership. Is it not obvious that leadership development and strategy teams should be fully involved in the survey process, from conception to action planning? Yet how often are they? And how much more effective might your survey response be if such experts are ready to take focused action on the specific findings?

Is it not equally obvious that the results of surveys should be of critical and urgent interest to recruitment professionals? Since the findings tell us a lot about the nature of the employee experience, there is much that

they can do to make sure that the right people are being attracted and selected for the future.

When expressed in those terms, these ideas seem obvious, yet most survey projects operate in a way that is largely disconnected from leadership development, recruitment and other HCM activities. If you want to make sure that change actually takes place following a survey, one of the most important things you can do is focus on this sort of “connectedness” and put in place a focused communication strategy that encompasses all stakeholder groups.

Another related area is investing in action planning resources as part of a survey project. We frequently provide online technology to our clients that enables managers to create their own action plans in response to survey results; such systems contain libraries of possible action steps (to provide inspiration) and a structured place in which to document the plans themselves. When combined with a clear process for encouraging (and perhaps measuring) use of these resources, this can be very powerful.

Many clients also focus on creating a “support model” – identified people (such as suitably trained HR business partners) and resources (such as information on intranet sites) to help managers understand and use their results.

A further helpful innovation is the inclusion in surveys of questions that ask employees how well they believe the results of the previous survey were used.

Tracking such findings – and measuring managers’/ leaders’ performance on such questions – can be a very powerful way of encouraging future action.

Implicit in all of these ideas is one key concept – action planning should be both “bottom up” and “top down”. It is, of course, vital that leaders provide strategic direction following a survey. However, if that is all that is done, it is all too easy for nothing to change “on the ground”; every employee and manager needs to be encouraged to see it as their own personal responsibility to take action in response to survey results.

All of these things, if consistently and vigorously implemented, significantly increase the likelihood that a survey will lead to genuine change and enhanced business performance. Of course, it is vital that these outcomes are continually measured and tracked before we can really know if things have worked; that is another oft-overlooked area. But if all of this is done well, surveys really do make a tremendous difference.

Ed Hurst, Managing Director Kenexa Australasia Level 2 451 Little Bourke Street Melbourne, VIC 3000 03 9602 3899 ed.hurst@kenexa.com

Cover story skills shortage

Skilled Australians:

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Cover story skills shortage

In the next four years alone, it’s estimated Australia will need another 2.4 million skilled workers. What can employers do to navigate the skills shortage? Iain Hopkins investigates

W

hen asked on the SBS program Insight about the relentless pressure on businesses to source and retain talented workers in light of Australia’s ever worsening skills shortage, Senator Chris Evans, the Minister for Skills, Jobs, Workplace Relations and Tertiary Education, said that he was tired of the negative connotations the debate stirred; he said that countries like the US, with 9–10% unemployment, have far greater problems. In many ways, he has a point. Instead of bemoaning the shortages of skills, a more proactive approach is to develop strategies to minimise the damage that skills shortage can cause.

Options According to Talent2’s APAC Market Pulse Study (June 2011), which interviewed 576 senior HR and c-suite executives from Australia, China, Singapore and Hong Kong, 67% of respondents reported having experienced problems in recruiting due to skill shortages. This was particularly apparent for those with over 250 employees (77%).

While the term “skills shortage” gets bandied around relentlessly, it is not across the board.

John Rawlinson, CEO of Talent2Group, uses the term “patchwork economy” to describe Australia’s wider economic state. He explains: “I like that term because it’s not just that mining and gas projects are going through the roof and the rest of the economy is going nowhere, and it’s not just that there are some states or geographic locations that are better to work in than others – it genuinely is a bit of a patchwork.”

Within industry sectors this patchwork imagery also works: some companies are doing better than others even in beleaguered sectors like retail.

“Those doing well probably have a better strategy and they’ve got a solid customer offering, better people, and we’d like to think their approaches to HR and talent management are better than the others,” Rawlinson says.

According to Talent2’s survey, those that have experienced skill shortage problems have adopted a range of strategies to alleviate the problem. The most popular are: • to upgrade the skills of existing staff (63%) • Hire contract/temporary staff to help alleviate high workloads (55%) • Hire new staff from overseas (34%) • Make do by having existing staff work longer hours (28%)

1Contractors

Resources Global Professionals is a professional services company with a business model that seems suited to these uncertain economic times.

The company works solely with people who choose to undertake project based work. They are not a recruitment company; instead they have a pool of people they work with time and time again who are at the stage of their life where they don’t want to work 52 weeks a year. Resources Global Professionals works with these people anywhere from 6–12 months of the year depending on how much the individual wants to work, and what their skill-match in the market is. The company then works with large multinationals on project work.

Jacinta Whelan, managing director (AsiaPacific) of Resources Global Professionals, says her clients want to supplement their permanent teams with a senior experienced person – the average industry experience of RGP consultants is around 20 years. The benefit is twofold: skills on tap at a specific time when they are needed; and the opportunity to upskill permanent staff through the experience of the contractor.

“What we’re seeing is that many teams are run very lean. Through the GFC it got down to bare bones. As we come out of that, companies want to keep as lean a structure as they can so they can control costs, but they still need to execute on projects.”

Stats n Overall workforce participation is near record highs of 66% n The Government will increase its migration intake and increase the number of employment based visas available in the 2011/12 General Skills Migration Program (GSM).

Overall, the GSM will increase by 16,000 to 185,000 over 2011/12 n Further, the Government will seek to address skills shortages in regional areas by increasing the number of visas available for regional places

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Cover story skills shortage

Forecasting The Federal Budget outlined a continual tightening in labour market conditions over the next two years. Overall, the Budget predicts the Australian unemployment rate to fall to 4.75% in the June quarter of 2012; with the rate of unemployment expected to fall further to 4.5% by the June quarter of 2013.

History

Forecast

June 2011

June 2012

June 2013

4.9

4.75

4.5

Unemployment rate

The challenge will be to keep wage inflation in check as the labour market tightens. As the mining investment boom continues to draw in labour resources and as the Baby Boomer generation retires, the Australian labour force will need to rely more heavily on skilled migration than ever before.

Wages in Queensland and Western Australia reflect the pressures associated with the scarcity of labour resources in those jurisdictions.

To give an indication of the patchy nature of average wage across sectors, the figure below shows the average weekly earnings across 10 industries.

Average weekly earnings ($) – top 10 industries 2,000

$2,099

2,100

1,900

1,700

$1,219

Health care and social assistance

$1,239

Transport, postal and warehousing

$1,337 $1,372

Construction

Electricity, gas, water and waste services

Professional, scientific and technical services

Mining

1,200

Public administration and safety

1,300

Education and training

$1,381

$1,507

$1,539

$1,544

1,400

Information media and telecommunications

1,500

$1,549

1,600

Financial and insurance services

Dollars

1,800

Profession

Source: ABS, Average Weekly Earnings, Australia, Catalogue Number 6302.0, Table 10G; Clarius Skills Index, June Quarter, 2011

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Whelan cites a finance team with 10 full-time employees. The GFC demonstrated that 10 people was the minimum the company found it could get by with. Indeed, for “business as usual” that number works; anything more than that requires more people – preferably on a short-term project basis. “We bring people in with the right skills to address that need,” Whelan says. “They’ve had the experience, they’ve been there, done that and can very quickly help with that initiative.

In your ‘business as usual team’ you won’t have experts sitting round. You’ll probably have more all-rounders. If you have a particular statutory accounting requirement, for example, we have people who are specialists in that, and while they’re there they can upskill the others.”

Whelan notes that for Resources Global Professionals’ primary service area – finance – clients appreciate the importance of specialist skills “on tap”. “They appreciate the speed with which the business cycle develops, so they need to go from having to cut costs, which is one specific skillset, to acquiring a new business, which is another set of skills, to selling off a business, which is another set of skills. Throughout that process over the past 2-3 years the core people have kept the business ticking over, but for anything over and above that they realise it’s a better use of time and money to use a specialist and then condense it to a shorter timeframe.”

And while companies no longer enjoy the luxury of having specialist skilled professionals sitting around until they’re needed, contractors can assist in building those specialist skills in the permanent employees. “The outlook of these contractors is they don’t want or need the politics and they don’t want or need that person’s permanent job. They are open to transferring their knowledge,” Whelan says.

The same flexibility can apply for HR teams, Whelan says. For example, a company putting in an SAP project might bring in a short-term HR person to manage that project and the people working for it. Contracting can also help with the yearly peaks and troughs of the business cycle. For example, the HR team may run with five people normally, but at review or comp time one extra person may be required to cope with the workload.

The average contractor, Whelan says, has usually moved into that line of work for lifestyle reasons. They have extensive experience and different motivational drivers – some of those might

Cover story skills shortage

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Cover story skills shortage

When people begin to matter How are you tackling the skills shortage in your industry?

“Typically around 47% of our vacancies are filled internally, so we’re constantly looking for internal development opportunities for our people. It’s a fine line between getting people internally and externally. It’s very healthy sometimes to get people externally, fresh blood, fresh initiatives, a different lens. Having said that, part of our culture is that we want people to take responsibility for their own career.” Rob Hendriks, executive director of HR, ING DIRECT

“The talent in Australia is scarcer or harder to attract, and I think that comes back to looking at how we try to develop people. You have wage inflation in any industry but I think it’s driven at a different pace because our industry is so small, and there’s a higher premium on certain skills. We need to look at the pay and reward strategy – have we got that mix right, are the benefits right. If we want to attract people we need to work out what those people want and need, and it’s not always going to be around the whole package that goes with that – some will be around other things like training.” David Bowsher, head of HR, Australia, BBC Worldwide

“We’ve learnt ourselves as a function that you need to balance the learning offering between skills for today and skills for the future. We tend to spend a lot of time on the skills for now, but we know that we need to do more about skills for the future, pre-empting the technology and the changes that are coming, so we’ve got people ahead of new revenue streams. So it’s around predicting what the future skills that the business needs are and trying to upskill into core pockets of that. There’s a challenge in making sure what you’re investing in is real and will get you a return, but it is exciting.” Vaughn Paul, director of human resources, Optus

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be that they don’t want or need the stability or the continuity of 52-week paycheque, or it might be that their kids are grown up and they no longer have to pay school fees, or it might be that they just enjoy the nature of contracts – they’re better at delivering to deadline rather than on a day-to-day job.

Although Whelan says contractors expect to be treated no differently to full-time employees – in fact it’s beneficial if they are considered “one of the team” – she does tell her contractors that their ego needs to be parked at the door. “If they wanted to be climbing that ladder and being the CFO or whatever, and making the decisions, they should be in their old job. Our people are more driven by the outcome. They are there to assist and help, but ultimately it’s the CFO, or whoever has engaged them, driving the project.”

Whelan feels there’s a nice synchronicity at play: “It’s a lovely match of companies demanding it because they don’t want to increase permanent headcount, and people want to do it – so supply and demand are meeting, which hasn’t happened for a long time,” she says.

2Skills upgrades

Traditionally the typical conversation between the CFO and HRD was somewhat like this: the CFO asks the HRD what happens if we spend all this money on training and our employees leave? To which the HRD responds, what happens if we don’t spend any money and they still leave? Or if we don’t spend any money and they stay?

Fortunately, that conversation may be a thing of the past. Training remains a priority for many HR executives. According to Talent2’s study, 48% were looking to increase investment in learning and development over the next 12 months. Few (2%) expect to cut L&D investment.

Last May’s Federal Budget also indicates that the government is well aware of the need to focus on vocational training.

Rawlinson says that overwhelmingly now companies are focusing on how to train people for productivity. They are also starting to realise they may have to bring people in who are not job ready, but who can become productive in a short space of time with the right development.

“There is still a residual belief out there in some organisations that there are plenty of people ready to work. I go back two decades in the recruitment/ HR space and I remember big companies had workforce planning departments that said, ‘in 10

Cover story skills shortage

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Cover story skills shortage

“We’ve seen a big flip back to training and development and investment to try to reduce turnover of staff” – John Rawlinson

Here’s what our readers say…

Michael Hackett, partner: operations manager at Southern Cross World Wide “In South Australia the skill shortage is evident everywhere. The sad truth is that while state politicians fight amongst themselves on who will be leader other states are investing, capitalising and mobilising on their mining projects. This creates an obvious impact on the local labour market.

My company’s strategy to overcome this problem is to move into offshore recruitment. It’s a lot of work but it’s worth it in the long run. We find high calibre candidates that want to migrate and since they are also motivated by the Australian lifestyle they are less mercenary towards salary expectation.

The thing that most SME organisations don’t realise is that with the right help offshore recruitment and migration is just as accessible as it is for large international companies.”

Steven Murphy, regional director – APAC North at Text 100 “I’ve been looking at non-traditional resources, people with skills that may not be immediately thought of as complementary. In the past we have been somewhat too focused on what skills we believe are necessary.

What we’ve found is that attitude as well as a willingness to learn have proven very effective in filling more junior to middle management roles that allow some latitude for people to make the transition. Clearly you need certain skills and competencies as a base but people who are robust and ‘want’ the job are proving very effective.”

James Wright, engagement consultant at RedBalloon “Engaging staff is the critical factor when it comes to beating the skills shortage. Once engaged your training efforts work harder and retention is easier. Many companies only engage with the head or the heart – the best have strategies that nourish both human needs.”

years’ time we’ll need X engineers and Y project managers’. Those corporate functions were then disbanded; there was a belief that a just-in-time workforce would work – that is, as people left you could hire someone else immediately. We saw a huge growth in contracting, but the just-in-time approach doesn’t work because the people aren’t out there. So we’ve seen a big flip back to training and development and investment to try to reduce turnover of staff,” Rawlinson says.

Mark Sexty, sales director at Upskilled, says that for too long organisations have looked to allocate budgets towards the hiring of staff that have the “required” qualifications for the role.

What many don’t recognise is that there are benefits that come from continuing the training and development of their staff. “Creating a learning culture in your company will take you one step beyond just acquiring the skills that your business needs to deliver its products and services. It will empower your organisation to achieve dramatically improved results compared to more traditional organisations,” he says.

The eternal question around L&D – what’s the return on the investment – doesn’t cut it with Sexty.

“Training should be viewed as an investment, not an expense,” he says. “Staff who are able to access training are generally more highly skilled, more motivated and more loyal.”

Indeed, independent research has shown that employees who are trained are more productive than their untrained colleagues. Sexty suggests that ROI is determined by taking the actual cost of the training from the total value of the benefits.

This sum is then divided by the cost of the training.

“The first step in measuring ROI is to itemise costs.

Once costs are determined the various benefits can be counted. By doing this, you can prove to your managers that the work you do is vital and effective,” he says.

waters: broadening the talent pool 3Unchartered

There’s something to be said for hiring for attitude and training the skill. Perhaps it’s time to disregard stereotypes and widen the traditional talent pools.

Alongside mature age workers (covered extensively in HC9.08), here are three potentially untapped sectors.

Migrants A longitudinal study from AMES released in July 2011, titled Words to Work, examined early

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Cover story skills shortage

employment pathways for newly arrived refugees and migrants who are learning English in the Federal Government funded Adult Migrant English Program. The results show that there is a large bank of untapped talent out there.

Perhaps most telling was that 95% of newly arrived refugees and migrants to Australia who are currently enrolled in English language programs intended to find work either in the near future or in the longer term. Thirty per cent of participants said they would start with “any job” to get their feet on the ground. Over the duration of the two-year study, over 40% of participants found some paid employment in Australia. Jobs were often at a lower skill level than jobs overseas and pathways into work were largely through non-professional jobs.

But 55% had longer term goals to gain employment in a field that was similar to their overseas experience and qualifications.

While people in the survey spoke very highly of the government initiatives – including English language programs – Cath Scarth, general

manager, community & policy at AMES, says there needs to be an increased degree of vocational counselling, “where someone can fully explain the processes and talk about how to reach their career goals, and really take them through the process”.

Recognition of overseas qualifications is also a major hurdle. While Scarth does not believe the rules are too strict – professional roles need to meet Australian standards and expectations – the issue is how migrants are supported to upgrade their skills in order to get to our level.

“Working with them, they are very happy to update their skills. But they’re not happy to do their whole degree again. Often employers aren’t clear on what their overseas skills translate into, but those hurdles can often be crossed by undertaking bridging programs,” she says.

Another challenge for these people is a lack of networks and unfamiliarity with the processes of finding work in Australia. “Interestingly, migrants didn’t find English as a great barrier, and often settled for lower positions. Very high numbers were

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Cover story skills shortage

initially happy to get any job, but recognised they needed to get work experience. Of the migrants at the more professional level, they did expect that they would be able to find work in their professional field.”

At present it’s the engineering and food industries leading the way in hiring migrant workers, but Scarth believes that if employers and government agencies don’t find pathways for migrants to enter the workforce using their skills, Australia will miss out.

“We’ve found that recruiters know there are people here, but they don’t know how to get them into those areas where they’re needed. The recruiters might have concerns about the level of support they may need. In some cases it might seem a bit too hard. But once people are given the opportunity, and HR and recruitment people see the calibre first-hand, they quickly see how motivated and committed they [migrants] are.”

Scarth implores employers to at least be open enough to consider migrants. The key thing to remember, she says, is that recruitment always carries the risk that new hires will not meet expectations; migrants do not carry any greater risk. They tend to be incredibly motivated, committed and more likely to stay.

“Mentoring them and providing good inductions on the way your particular workplace works is very important. Think about the opportunities their skill set can bring, such as their language assets, and understanding of overseas markets. Potentially they bring many more skills than just their technical skills,” she says.

People with disability The same applies to people with disability. With 16.6% of Australians of working age having some kind of disability, surely it’s also time to consider this pool of talent. Suzanne Colbert, CEO, Australian Network on Disability, says there are systemic disadvantages facing people with disability, stretching from education through to employment. For example, a law student with disability might struggle through university to get the same access to written material. That results in having lower grades, so he/she can’t compete to get those prized graduate positions. They might be incredibly intellectually capable, but because of the way selection is done, it doesn’t take into consideration the specific examples of individuals and the barriers they face.

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Stats The National Workforce Development Fund is one of the main programs in the Budget to address skills shortages. The key aim of the Fund is to deliver 130,000 training places over four years, and also provide industry assistance including: n $100m for accelerated apprenticeships over four years to assist industry in developing strategies to support competencybased progression n $101.4m in support services for apprenticeship mentoring

“What we find is when people with disability have the opportunity to showcase their abilities through undertaking an internship while still at university, that helps them really demonstrate what they’ve got. Many of our members are employers that are very happy to recruit these people because of their capabilities,” Colbert explains.

Youth employment Australia’s unemployment rate has been hovering around the 4.9% mark for some time. However, youth unemployment hovers around 20%. Are Australian employers ignoring young candidates?

Jason Murray, co-founder of specialist recruiter Rookie Recruits, believes so. He says that far too many employers are blinkered by an insistence on only considering candidates who possess 3–5 years experience, but such a narrow view has resulted in a large crowd fishing in a relatively small, shallow pond. “Over-fishing such a finite resource inevitably leads to scarcity of true quality hires with employers instead compromising to get someone with experience, but not necessarily securing those diamonds with the attitude that will enable the new person to thrive and grow,” he says.

Murray adds that “rookies” not only bring fresh ideas, energy and new blood into a company, but at a time when attention to sales and service are key to business survival, younger, less experienced candidates can help employers to contain costs and even allow companies to hire two or three more junior staff for the price of one slightly more experienced recruit.

There are other worrying statistics. According to the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) only around 55% of apprentices and trainees are likely to finish their training. Are employers doing enough to engage workers in skills development?

Murray says one of the biggest challenges in retaining young talent is that no-one ever teaches apprentices and trainees how to initiate or provide constructive feedback back up the chain of command to their manager or boss. Like all of the best negotiations and career conversations, this skill needs to be taught and nurtured.

“The fact is that in most cases the conversation never happens because most young recruits don’t know how to broach the conversation, let alone negotiate their desired outcomes, so more often than not they choose the path of least resistance and leave. The sad fact is that their employer is

Cover story skills shortage

usually left scratching their head wondering why the person left and what the secret formula is to retaining Gen Y talent,” he says.

Rookie Recruits includes a one-year “Zero to Hero” coaching and mentoring program for every “rookie recruit”. A key part of this is enabling them to be able to give feedback to their manager and the business as a whole.

As a final tip, Murray suggests recalibrating mindsets to consider candidates who may not meet all of the job specifications, but whose gaps can be filled in a timely and cost-effective way by harnessing their positive attitude and building on their natural talents.

“The slavish dependency on three years’ experience can be a red herring because many candidates really have one year’s experience repeated three times with no real professional growth or development during that period. The paradigm clearly plays out time and again because most people are hired for their skills, experience and qualifications on paper, but fired for their attitude.

“As an employer, it’s very easy to sit back and think: ‘what do I want?’ But any employment contract is a two-way street. To encourage more young people into their workplaces, employers need to start asking: ‘what does this person want to get out of their job if they choose to work here?’

It’s not all about money and, contrary to popular opinion, most young people don’t actually want – or expect – to step into the top job, but they do want to map out their career path. And, like anyone, they want to be recognised when they succeed,” Murray says.

4A global workforce

Rawlinson suggests that the global workforce works on two fronts when it comes to combating the skills crisis: employers can move people to the work or move the work to people. The “people to work” side is targeting skilled people from overseas and bringing them to Australia. The “work to the people” side is moving non-core functions offshore.

“The slavish dependency on three years’ experience can be a red herring” – Jason Murray

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Cover story skills shortage

457 checklist Robert Reed, special counsel and head of the Minter Ellison Migration Practice, suggests working through the following 10-point checklist when preparing a subclass 457 visa application:

1

Have you decided which business entity will apply for the sponsorship approval? In some cases, businesses will have overseas parent companies with local offices or subsidiaries. There are different considerations for employers with Australian offices and employers that operate overseas only.

2

Have you matched the role of the employee with a defined skilled occupation? It is necessary to match the role of the employee to a skilled occupation defined in the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO). For example, there are 12 different ANZSCO occupations for registered nurses.

3

Does the skilled occupation appear on the list of occupations published by the DIAC? The occupation must be on the DIAC list, which is reviewed regularly and occasionally amended; check that the overseas worker has the qualifications and work experience specified for the nominated occupation in ANZSCO.

4 5

Where will the visa holder work? Identify the location or locations in Australia where the visa holder will work and in what part of the business.

6 7

Is any registration, licensing or industry membership required for the overseas worker’s role in Australia?

8 9

Have you gathered documentary evidence to support the sponsorship, nomination and visa applications?

Who is the candidate filling the vacant position? When the nomination application is lodged it is necessary to identify the individual candidate who will fill the vacant position.

Is the salary you intend to offer the overseas worker appropriate?

It should be commensurate with the market salary rate applicable to Australians performing the same role and it should be above the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) of $49,330 per annum.

Have you downloaded the correct form? An application for sponsorship approval for a business with an active operation in Australia can be made online via the DIAC website. Applications for sponsorship approval by overseas businesses must be made on Form 1196S and lodged at the closest Australian Embassy or High Commission overseas.

10

Have you considered the application fees? DIAC charges application fees for each sponsorship application ($405), nomination application ($80) and visa application ($305).

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The latter is surprisingly popular.

“There’s probably not one large private sector organisation in Australia now that isn’t in the process of evaluating offshore or haven’t already offshored some components of their work,” says Rawlinson. “Ten years ago that wouldn’t have been the case.”

Historically the main driver for offshoring was cost benefits, but Rawlinson says that increasingly the driver is becoming the ability to free up resources. “Companies are saying we’ve got limited resources, we need to focus on the areas that will have greatest impact, so if we can get someone in to do it better and cheaper than us, let’s do that. If you can leave the recruitment, payroll, and learning and admin processes to a supplier that does that day in day out, you don’t need to focus on it. It’s not core business so it may not alleviate the skills shortage but it’s one less thing to worry about; it becomes a supplier’s issue to make sure they have the right people.”

When it comes to bringing the people to the work, the demand for skilled workers, especially in mining and resources, has resulted in a spike in subclass 457 visa applications.

The subclass 457 visa, which allows foreign skill to relocate to Australia for work purposes, is the most common employer sponsored visa.

Employees on subclass 457 visas can live and work in Australia for up to four years and bring eligible family members with them to work or study.

There is no limit on how many times the subclass 457 visa holder may enter or leave the country.

While the subclass 457 visa is designed for temporary work relocation, it can provide the overseas worker with a pathway to permanent residence and citizenship after two years of working in Australia.

Other changes to Australia’s skilled migration program include the introduction of enterprise Migration Agreements (MGAs), which will be used for resource investment projects for work on projects with a total value of over $2bn and that require over 1,500 workers. This help will enable LNG projects in Western Australia and Queensland to proceed more smoothly over the next few years.

In addition, the Government will develop an electronic matching program for foreign workers and Australian employers to better match visa applicants with places available in the General Skilled Migration program.

Cover story skills shortage

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Cover story skills shortage

Tough times for some…

The Clarius Skills Index is the only index that examines the shortage or oversupply of skilled labour compared to demand.

The methodology used to determine the index is based on the premise that where skilled labour demand (employment plus vacancies) equals supply (employment plus unemployment), the index is equal to 100.

During times of labour market tightness, when employers experience difficulty finding appropriately skilled employees, the index is greater than 100.

Conversely, at times when skilled employees are easier to find (in a loose labour market), the index is less than 100.

The Index has also been interpreted into a skills shortage barometer to highlight the levels of risks to employers in relation to the availability of skilled labour. The barometer has five readings that are based on the following ranges for the index.

Low: index is less than 95 Moderate: index is between 95 and 98 Balanced: index is between 99 and 101 High: index is between 102 and 105 Extreme: index is greater than 105 In the June quarter 2011, a number of the skilled occupations recorded skilled labour shortages, two of which are in the extreme range.

The occupations currently experiencing shortages of skilled labour are listed below.

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Metal Tradespersons (108.9) Chefs (105.3) Automotive Tradespersons (103.8) Wood Tradespersons (102.6) Food Tradespersons (101.8) Hairdressers (101.1) Computing Professionals (100.5) Building and Engineering Professionals (100.3)

Expatriate strategies are a proven method of bridging skills gaps. However, the system is not without criticism. A report from the Centre for Population and Urban Research at Monash University confirms the mining boom does not justify large-scale immigration. It says, “the bulk of current migration has little to do with providing scarce skills to the resource industries” and concludes that “Australia needs a lower, but better-targeted, immigration program”.

There are also claims the 457 visa program solves short-term labour shortages, but also means that employers don’t always try hard enough to train their own people.

Regardless, HR staff must be aware of the application process required to help staff relocate.

Robert Reed, special counsel and head of the Minter Ellison Migration Practice, advises that an application for a subclass 457 visa is a three-step process: 1. the employer applies to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) for approval as a sponsor 2. the employer then applies to nominate a position for the overseas worker to fill 3. an overseas worker and family members apply for the actual visa “Most importantly, the golden rule is to start early,” advises Reed. “A prudent employer will apply for sponsorship approval well before it needs to recruit overseas workers. It is also important to start the nomination and visa application processes early, particularly if medical examinations or English language testing will be required.”

While Rawlinson says recruiting overseas is a very valid way of addressing the skills shortage, he warns it has a higher degree of difficulty and complexity. “It takes a little more time, there’s a degree of tedium and the process is slower. You must also be culturally aware that you are bringing people in from other countries who may not be familiar with Australia,” he says.

Despite the challenges that all these approaches entail, Rawlinson is confident Australian employers are up to the task. “In Australia we are right now well placed in this patchwork global economy. With our proximity to Asia and the benefits of the mining boom – these projects will go for a decade or more – it’s a good opportunity in Australia to build a very dynamic, skilled workforce that will stand us in good stead for the future.” HC

leadership insight

leadership

success

Informal learning – it’s in the hands of the managers

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he predominant focus of our recent Learning & Development (L&D) forums, was the concept of informal learning and how this can be fostered in organisations. During these L&D forums, which I facilitate in Sydney for L&D managers, the 70/20/10 model was raised as part of this discussion. According to this model, 70% of learning and development takes place from real-life and on-the-job experiences, specific assignments and problem solving; 20% comes from feedback, direction and support from both managers and colleagues and only 10% comes from formal training.

Whether you agree with this model or not, the forum members agreed that it did raise a number of questions for L&D professionals, including: 1. While the expectation of L&D is to supply the formal learning component, what is being done about the other 90% in their organisation?

2. As the key to the other 90% of learning and development is in the hands of the managers in the organisation – what can be done to assist managers to become aware of their vital role in the informal learning process?

In response to the second question, our forum devised many ideas that could be used to assist managers, including: 1. In-depth questioning about the learning need When managers request formal training for their team members, instead of reacting immediately and organising the training, use effective questioning to assist in finding out whether in fact the formal training is what is required to fix the problem. Often the problem would be better solved through one-onone coaching from the manager.

2. Assist the manager to become a coach Where you have identified through effective questioning that the problem could be effectively solved through coaching from that manager, then offer some suggestions to assist. For example, a manager requests time management training

for a team member. Although this would be best addressed by the manager who understands exactly what the priorities should be and why, managers will often go straight to the L&D department without giving any thought to how else this issue could be addressed. Guidance needs to be given to the manager as to what could be done. For example, at the start of the day the manager could ask the team member to write a ‘To Do’ list numbered in order of priority. The manager could then sit with the person one-on-one and go through and explain what should and shouldn’t be on the list and explain any need to reprioritise. The manager could again repeat this process at the end of the day by looking at what had been achieved and offering constructive feedback.

After carrying out this process over a number of consecutive days, the problem should be on the way to being rectified.

3. Overcoming manager’s objections of “I don’t have the time” and “it’s not my job” and “why do we have an L&D department?”

Overcoming these objections could be achieved by making “the development of team members” part of the position description, KPIs and performance reviews of those in management roles. Assisting them to see the long-term benefits for their workload is another powerful way to overcome their objections.

Ultimately, if 90% of learning within organisations does take place in informal training situations, L&D professionals need to focus their attention on this 90% by: • recognising managers hold the key to effectiveness of informal learning; • supporting managers to develop awareness and confidence to assist in the development of their team members; • improving L&D credibility by building relationships to become more involved in business operations, strategy and decision making.

Leonie Curtis-Kempnich Director Training and Course Development Suite 314/49 Queens Rd Five Dock NSW 2046 p: (02) 80690370 f: (02) 80690371 M: 0416210977 w: www.lstraining.com.au www.hcamag.com

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Learning&Development E-learning

The virtual classroom:

10 tips to make e-learning work

Alison Bickford and Colleen Kavanagh provide a comprehensive guide to making e-learning an effective learning platform

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ur experience working with webinars has helped us recognise there are practices that hold true in any learning setting, traditional or ‘e’. Our observations are that experienced L&D practitioners with sound classroom skills struggle to successfully transition to e-learning design and delivery. This article is a collaborative effort where we capture the highlights of a case study in a virtual classroom delivered at the 2011 Australian Institute of Training and Development Conference.

We outline the 10 things that you can do to make your e-learning project work. We also think that this article provides you with the key components of an induction program for an L&D practitioner who is new to e-learning.

As a learning practitioner or HR professional, you will at some point be asked to investigate your suite of programs for an opportunity to use webinars or virtual classroom. It may be a business decision

to reduce classroom resources and time; or you may be a learning professional who wants to keep pace with contemporary tools and approaches. Whatever the reason, most of us start at a place of conscious incompetence – we don’t know what we don’t know, and this can create some discomfort. So where do we go to for assistance?

As a starting point, let’s look at support and resources that you may need to assemble, or what skills you may need to acquire or source to design and deliver a successful virtual classroom.

Virtual classroom incorporates each of these pieces of work. The key lesson here is that if there is a gap, if one of these pieces of work is not represented, then your initiative or project will be less successful than it could be.

The different types of work can be undertaken by one person with multidisciplinary skills or by different people depending upon your team’s skills and resources.

Learning&Development E-learning

The roles, relationships and skills required to deliver a successful virtual classroom

Employee group

Interpretation of participant need, tech support

Producer

Interpretation of learning requirement

Interpretation of understanding, perspective, competence

Interpretation of facilitator need System support and evaluation

Subject matter expert

Interpretation of content & outcomes

Instructional designer

Interpretation of learning design

facilitator

Source: Bickford

• •

•

•

Let’s look at each of these roles more closely: The Subject Matter Expert interprets the learning requirements through needs analysis The Instructional Designer interprets the content and designs activities that will enable the desired learning outcomes The Facilitator interprets the learning design and practices the delivery of the instruction and learning activities via the virtual classroom The Producer or web moderator works in partnership with the facilitator, providing technology support to learners, and taking the technology burden from the facilitator. This enables the facilitator to stay fully engaged with the learners

In some organisations, the practitioner may play a combined role of SME, ID and facilitator. However, we strongly advise two people deliver the virtual classroom session.

The separation of the roles of Production and Facilitation has been a fundamental shift in some organisations. It enables practitioners to become familiar with all of the functionality of the technology and achieve a level of mastery over time.

This has resulted in effective transfer of learning between Producer and Facilitator.

Now let’s look more closely at the 10 things we need to think about to make e-learning, or specifically, virtual classrooms, work. Our approach has been to highlight ‘what’s needed in the traditional classroom’, ‘what’s needed in the virtual classroom (or Webinar)’ and ‘what’s common to both’. By looking at the two delivery methods in this way, we were able to see the skill set we needed to address.

1

The right person to facilitate the virtual classroom. Strong classroom facilitation skills are essential in the virtual classroom.

This is especially important as we are physically removed from the audience. The right person is also comfortable with technology and deals with any technology issues confidently. Any skill gaps or areas for development that may exist in your classroom facilitation are exposed greatly in the virtual classroom (VC), so it’s important to continue to develop your skills.

2

The right materials. All learning needs good quality material. One of the great advantages of virtual classroom is the opportunity to work with hyperlinks to access documents and other resources all in one place, on the fly. Think about designing online spaces, such as a wiki page or intranet page. In these spaces, participants can enter the virtual classroom and return to the space to access resources and virtual classroom recordings. In the virtual classroom our classroom materials are just ‘housed’ differently.

The separation of the roles of Production and Facilitation enables practitioners to become familiar with all of the functionality of technology

3

Design the session. It takes time to design a collaborative, participative virtual classroom. We need to understand the functionality of our virtual classroom so that we can maximise learner engagement. One of the most useful functions is the whiteboard that serves like a classroom flipchart and enables participants to visually share their thoughts and perspectives.

In the traditional classroom, we create learning activities and group work that www.hcamag.com

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Learning&Development E-learning

7

challenges and stretches our learners. Once we understand the functionality available in the virtual classroom, and we can navigate it, we are able to take exactly the same approach. We can commence the Virtual Classroom by posing a question, and within seconds we can gather multiple perspectives to debrief.

Facilitate the space. As a classroom facilitator, we scan the room to see what participants are doing – whether they’re on the right page, paying attention and looking engaged. In the virtual classroom, the producer plays an important role in keeping tabs on participant interaction.

The facilitator can use functions such as whiteboard tools, chat function and the hands up icon to keep participants interacting with each other; sharing perspectives, experiences, posing questions and providing answers in the virtual space.

The critical facilitation skill here is ‘pacing and leading’. Provide clear instructions. For example “…in a few moments we will be working with the environmental health and safety policy so take a few moments now to make sure that you have it in front of you.”

4

8

Remember 1. Make IT your very best friend – they are a significant business partner to your e-learning initiative 2. Ensure you have a sponsor from your senior leadership team. Ask them to play a key role in communicating the new initiative. In some settings it may be useful for all stakeholders, IT and L&D, to have the introduction of virtual classroom to the business as a KPI

Hyperlinks are great to send documents and evaluation surveys out to participants instantly

Notify participants. It is important to provide clear instructions and notify participants how to access the virtual classroom. It may be important to advise them that they will receive a specific looking email containing a link! If your participants are new to VC, make sure you provide them with a ‘how to’ overview of the functionality, maybe in the form of a video, cheat sheet or a dedicated orientation session.

5

Set up the room. Just as we need to book and prepare the physical classroom, so we need to prepare the virtual classroom.

As above, if your participants are new to VC, make sure you provide them with a ‘how to’ overview of the functionality, maybe in the form of a video, cheat sheet or a dedicated orientation session.

6

Meet and greet. Be sure to have a welcome slide showing when learners land in the space that lets them know they are in the right place; just as you would have a sign on a traditional classroom door. It works like a ‘welcome mat’ enabling people to know that they are in the right place.

Give them tasks to do and a checklist to provide certainty. Remind them of any documents they will need and the questions that will be explored during the session. This will help them to be ready to participate when the session begins.

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Evaluate understanding. Just as we ask questions in the classroom environment to evaluate participant understanding, so we can in the virtual setting. We can use verbal questions and answers, use the whiteboard to elicit opinions to debrief, and the online poll function to test understanding.

We need to remember to question participants every few minutes to keep them on their toes. Ask questions of individuals directly, and take the time to debrief whiteboard exercises thoroughly.

As you practise and gain more experience, you will improve your delivery and create a ‘busy’ environment that will enable your participants to learn more effectively.

9

Close the session. Like the classroom, we close the session by gaining participant commitment to action. Hyperlinks are great to send documents and evaluation surveys out to participants instantly.

10

Follow up. Virtual participants can be networked together through email and via the online platform that the virtual classroom launches from. HC

About the authors Colleen Kavanagh is the learning and development manager at sanofi-aventis. Alison Bickford is a director and e-coach at Connect Thinking E-Learning Academy. An online course on how to design and facilitate a virtual classroom is available to E-Learning Academy members. Go to www.elearningacademy. com.au for more information

Learning&Development E-learning

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Feature Employer branding

Where to next for employer branding?

Employer branding has evolved from a recruitment support function to a focus for organisations throughout the employee lifecycle, from hire to retire. Brett Minchington forecasts what the future may hold for employer branding

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he business case for employer branding has become clearer for organisations. Prior to the GFC employer branding was mainly used to support recruitment functions. The importance of leveraging the employer brand to engage and retain talent is now high on the leadership agenda as companies discovered during the GFC that it was still difficult to recruit and retain talent.

The maturing of employer branding with a company’s focus on the whole employee lifecycle from hire to retire has come at the right time as the economy in many countries has started to rebound.

Talent acquisition and retention have become increasingly complex. The need for systems integration, understanding of culture diversity, social changes, technological advances, the threat of declining fertility rates, inequality in global education standards and the impact of ageing populations in many developed economies have created multiple challenges for companies and they show no signs of easing soon.

Since 2006 I have witnessed the stages of the evolution of employer branding inside companies and amongst cultures during my two global tours to more than 40 cities in 25 countries.

Leaders I speak with around the world are saying where previously they could take 1–2 years to research, develop and implement their employer brand strategy the competitiveness for talent is demanding they react quicker and more decisively to stay ahead of the competition. The challenges of the jobless economic recoveries being experienced in countries such as the US require new applications of employer branding.

With the talent challenges and complexities now facing companies it is not surprising we are yet to see many companies evolve to the status of a Tier 1 employer branding company (see box “Where are you on the route to rebranding?”).

How to move forward The success of your employer brand strategy over the next 1–2 years will be determined by how well you:

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Where are you on the route to rebranding?

Tier 1 – Focus

• Employer branding for business transformation • Support of culture diversity across countries • Dedicated employer branding department with representatives living in countries outside headquarters • Open lines of communication across borders • Systems integration to support global talent attraction, engagement and retention strategy

Tier 2

• Support employer brand strategy at executive level • Integrating Employer Brand and EVPs into company culture • Alignment of policies, systems, processes with EVPs • Development and management of global careers site • Employer brand metrics developed and reported on • Employer branding across employee lifecycle

Tier 3

• Internal and external research to define EVPs • Distinctive assets defined and promoted • Employer brand strategy developed • Cross functional collaboration on employer brand strategy • Training of line managers in employer brand management

Tier 4

• Company siloed with very little collaboration on employer branding between departments • Above the line EVP development • Employer branding recruitment • Knowledge of employer branding limited to few people in organisation • Lack of support for employer brand strategy at Executive level

Tier 5

• Technical skills focus • Cost control vs quality of hire/talent • Recruitment disorganised, dysfunctional and highly operational • Web career site • Absence of coordinated global talent attraction, engagement and retention strategy

Feature Employer branding • Establish a strategic framework for employer brand: Ensure internal and external stakeholders are working to achieve the same strategy. In my new book Employer Brand Leadership-A Global Perspective, I detail the ‘Employer Brand Excellence Framework’, which defines the employment experience from a stakeholder perspective (see figure 1). The Framework considers the role of employees, prospective candidates, customers, investors and society in employer branding. Less than 20% of firms around the world have a clear employer brand strategy, and as expected developed markets are leading the way with US/Canada rating the highest (19.7%), followed by Asia (19.4%), Europe/UK (18.4%), Australia (15%), Turkey (12.3%) and Russia (7.6%).

Clearly there is still a lot of work to do!

• Allocate sufficient resources: To develop and manage the employer brand for the long term you need dedicated staff implementing the strategy. There has been a 250% growth in employer branding job vacancies since 2006 and many of these are seeking professionals from a marketing and communications background, so think broader than the HR department.

• Ensure collaboration between internal and external stakeholders: Ensure a consistent approach to the company’s brand assets through a joint approach amongst stakeholders responsible for the corporate,

consumer and employer branding initiatives – eg marketing, communications, HR, PR, IT, etc.

• Build market reach: Employer branding initiatives should refresh employer value proposition (EVP) memory structures through relevant communication.

• Re-think your business model: The ability of organisations to attract and retain talent who contribute to growth and profitability is no longer limited to drawing upon the local or national workforce – companies now have tools at their disposal to tap into the global talent pool and what I call “pockets of talent excellence”, small clusters of highly talented individuals or small groups who are on top of global issues and trends, adaptable and agile enough to move in and out of companies on a project by project basis.

• Manage employee differentiation: Understand the role of culture diversity in unlocking the potential of your workforce.

Companies need to act now to put the systems in place to ensure they are well positioned to react to the changes that will accelerate as the competition for talent across borders becomes more intense with companies seeking to expand their global footprint.

Have patience – employer branding is an evolutionary process! HC

About the author Brett Minchington MBA, Chairman/CEO of Employer Brand International, is a global authority, strategist and corporate advisor on employer branding (www. brettminchington.com).

His new book ‘Employer Brand Leadership-A Global Perspective’ is available at www. collectivelearningaustralia. com

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Feature Mental health

While physical wellbeing is well catered for in employee benefits programs, mental wellbeing is often neglected. As Jesse King reports, simple steps from employers can have a huge impact

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ental health professionals have called for greater awareness of mental health issues in Australian workplaces.

Experts believe that although there has been growing awareness of mental illness in general society, HR staff, line managers and employees alike need to communicate and work together to account for its impact in the workplace.

Professor David Castle, Chair of psychiatry, the University of Melbourne and St Vincent’s Hospital, believes that mental illness should acknowledged in exactly the same manner as physical illnesses or handicaps.

“To my mind it shouldn’t be any different than saying to your manager: ‘I’m in a wheelchair,’” says Professor Castle.

Here are some key insights into handling mental illness in the workplace, based on expert advice and experience.

How to have the conversation Professor Castle believes that, first and foremost, HR staff need to acknowledge the courage and honesty of an employee who discloses that he or she has a mental illness.

“I think it’s important to say: ‘I’m pleased you were able to tell me about this, because now we can put the best things in place to make sure you are as productive as you can be in the workplace’.”

He also emphasises the importance of checking that the employee is getting appropriate treatment, without being intrusive.

“Simply say: ‘I presume you’re getting appropriate help … because that’s going to be imperative.’”

The next step is to gather all relevant information about the employee’s situation.

Feature Mental health

“Ask them: ‘How do you think this might impact on your work, and what is it we could do to reduce the likelihood of the workplace being counterproductive to your mental health?’,” says Professor Castle.

The final, and most important step, is to formulate a mental health ‘crisis plan’. Professor Castle believes this should be a process of ‘question and answer’.

“What happens if something goes wrong?

What happens if someone in the workplace notices that things aren’t right … Who’s the person they go to? Who’s the person that takes action? These actions need to be thought through and sanctioned ahead of time,” he says.

Quiet epidemic

Workplace flexibility

n In relation to psychological injury claims, work pressure accounts for around half of all claims, and harassment and bullying for around a quarter of claims**

Professor Castle believes there are a variety of ways to cater for an employee’s mental illness, including: »» reducing an employee’s workload to four days a week for a specified period of time »» specified time off for treatment and/or recovery »» agreed upon variations to work hours (eg starting or finishing earlier) Denver Simonsz is a clinical psychologist specialising in workplace issues. He believes that both managers and employees need to be realistic and accountable in managing mental illness.

“In the case of severe depression, for instance, it’s probably best for the employee to take some time off work and get treatment.

It’s fair to expect a lower level of productivity, but I don’t think it’s fair or responsible of an employer to let that continue for a long period of time. The depression needs to be dealt with; it will probably not just fix itself if left alone,” he says.

Professor Castle agrees: “I think in general people should be given as much opportunity as possible. But they should also have responsibility, with respect to not agreeing to things that they won’t be able to do, etc.”

First-hand experience Hospitality professional Sarah Wise suffers from Type 1 Bipolar disorder, characterised by extreme mood swings from depression to ‘high moods’ of manic euphoria and irritability.

n A total of 3.2 days per worker are lost each year through stress* n Stress-related workers’ compensation claims have doubled in recent years, costing over $10bn each year*

n Australian businesses lose over $6.5bn a year by not providing early intervention for staff with mental health issues^^ Sources: *Medibank Private (2008) The Cost of Workplace Stress in Australia, p6-7 **Comcare (2005) Working Well, An Organisational Approach to Preventing Psychological Injury, A guide for Corporate, HR and OHS Managers, as cited at Australian Public Service (2006) Turned Up and Tuned In, p8 ^^Work Outcomes Research Cost Benefit Project, preliminary data, Mental Health Fact Sheet: Mental Health and Employment, MHCA

“When depressed … my motivation decreases to the point where the thought of going to work is so dreadful I can’t get out of bed. When manic, my ability to work increases tenfold, and employers often take advantage of this increased energy to put you on longer shifts and work more hours. The stress of this leads to less sleep at night and is detrimental to the bipolar mind,” says Wise.

Wise has first-hand experience of insensitivity towards mental health issues in the workplace.

“After informing my boss I had bipolar … he made regular jokes about it and called me ‘the crazy woman’,” says Wise.

She adds that employees who don’t manage their mental illness are partly to blame for stigma in the workplace.

“Rather than be proactive, take the medication as prescribed, have a healthy diet and stay off the alcohol, people choose to continue a certain lifestyle and stress the illness. This makes it difficult to hold down a job and therefore employers will continue to judge on illness, not on character,” says Wise.

Wise believes that government-run training programs for managers should be used to decrease stigma and increase communication in the workplace.

“I think that this would first teach employers what the illnesses are, whilst also opening up a closer relationship between employee and employer,” Wise says.

Sometimes it’s the little things While Professor Castle believes that mental health plans need to be tailored to the individual, he also has some general advice for employers and managers to ensure staff wellbeing: “Part of it is physical environment, natural lighting, and allowing people to get out of the building into the fresh air. All of these things are useful for peoples’ general mental health, and you avoid ‘Sick Building Syndrome’, which is very real!” HC

Further information The Australian Human Rights Commission has produced a practical guide for managers dealing with workers with mental illness. Visit: www.humanrights.gov.au www.hcamag.com

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Expert insight

Healthy, Happy, Engaged and Motivated staff: a win-win solution!

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tress and depression are the largest contributors to lost productivity in Australia, directly costing employers at least $10bn a year in absenteeism and presenteeism. Analysis suggests that employees who are present but not fully functioning or engaged may cost businesses as much as four times as much as absenteeism, with lost productivity of up to 24 days per year.

While not easy to accurately measure in dollar terms, there is an obvious correlation between healthy, happy and engaged employees, and increased energy, productivity and loyalty.

Massages at work have been proven to increase employee engagement and productivity while reducing health and stress problems, and hence absenteeism. They are an effective way of caring for employees and encouraging them to view their company in a favourable light. “Massage is a great way to let employees know you appreciate them, while having a positive financial benefit to the company,” says Kurt Mueller, managing director of Corporate Bodies, professional office massage. “When we arrive at a workplace, people start cheering and there is a wave of excitement and happiness. The energy lifts immediately. Nobody wants to miss massage day.”

Kurt formed Corporate Bodies in 1999 and he and his team of professional massage therapists have given thousands of massages at companies all over Australia and New Zealand, at design companies, recruitment firms, law firms, banks, Coca-Cola and Vodafone. A former call centre employee, Kurt saw a need for cultural change in the workplace, and his vision was to help companies to create an environment where employees want to be at work, feel valued, and want to give their best.

“The feedback we get from our clients’ employees is that massage increases morale, makes staff feel

appreciated, helps employees cope with stress, motivates them to give back, and makes them feel like the company is a great place to work.”

Corporate Bodies visits companies in any location in Australia or New Zealand. The team is made up of professionally qualified massage therapists who are trained in Corporate Bodies’ signature massage routine and specialist equipment.

A fully-clothed seated massage is given either at the desk or in a separate room, and can last from five minutes upwards. The therapists use ergonomic chairs and headrests to fully support the employee’s head while they are given a neck, shoulder, back and head massage. Headphones and relaxing music mean the employee can block out the surroundings and completely relax. After the massage, the employee chooses from a range of facial spritzers in order to feel awake and refreshed and ready to get back to work.

Kurt loves seeing the difference his service can bring to the office, and believes there is a huge return on investment. Not only do happy and healthy employees take less time off and do more work; they are less likely to leave the company, and far more likely to ‘go the extra mile’ for their employer. And Kurt and his team are big believers in going the extra mile, with a passion for customer service and a comprehensive continuous improvement and quality control process in place. Kurt asks each individual massaged to give regular feedback and complete a quality control questionnaire so that he can continually exceed expectations. “There is no place for mediocrity in this business,” says Kurt. “Our massage therapists may give dozens of massages a day, but for the employee this is their few minutes to relax and feel great. It has to be perfect every time. It has to make a difference to their day.”

For more information on motivating your employees with massage, visit www. corporatebodies.com

Expert insight technology

Roadmap for a successful HR technology strategy What happens when you have a number of legacy systems that need replacing? How do you draft a decision making framework for procurement and rollout? Ari Kopoulos provides his tips

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oday’s business environment has become increasingly complex, making choices that were once clear a rather murky affair.

There are structural changes, competition, pressure for growth and shareholder return on investment. There is also the technology itself. Forever evolving, it offers unprecedented connectivity, automation and business insight.

Make no mistake, rapid change is here to stay, and a successful technology platform depends on your ability to respond and adapt to that change.

This makes a well thought out strategy critical in successfully delivering effective and efficient HR technology. In short, you need a plan, global in scope, and somewhat future-proof, linking process, people and technology with year-by-year time and cost estimates.

There are several steps to developing a successful technology strategy.

Using a framework similar to a business case, start by identifying what HR processes are required, for whom and at what transactional cost. Once these are identified, you can define the requirements in terms of workflows, roles, business rules and reports for each HR process. You also need to consider the workplace of the future.

Characterised by real time connectivity and extreme mobility, you will probably employ a more diverse demographic, living longer, working longer and more concerned with social responsibility, continual learning and social networking. To make it even more challenging, they will be intolerant of rigid hierarchy and more interested in working on diverse, cross functional teams, at their pace.

Take note.

Next, look at your existing IT infrastructure in terms of system and integration requirements, and incorporate these into the plan. This will

ensure all parties understand the technical strategies and direction. With this in mind, develop a shared vision and requirements document, between finance, IT and HR, with prioritised deliverables. Using this document, perform a gap analysis against existing technologies and vendor products.

A detailed analysis in the requirements gathering phase will make selection a simpler and more organic process. To ensure finance buyin, perform a cost benefits analysis of the system or systems, with rationale, for prioritised spend and workload.

The next step is to assess the impact of the strategy on the roles and responsibilities of managers and employees. You will need answers to questions such as: What job and role changes will be required?; How will the existing HR plans and processes change?; What training and change management will be required?; What measurements and controls will be put into place to ensure it’s all going to plan?

Finally, once the strategy has been adjusted and accepted by management, distribute it to all affected parties for their comments and feedback.

You now have a solid framework for decisionmaking and setting priorities on technology acquisition and roll out.

Naturally, there will be some organisational challenges along the way. To assist with these, maintain visibility and continually update management and user base of progress and implications of change. To get support on tough decisions, educate and influence through value and don’t be afraid to challenge the status quo. To be successful, HR needs to own the strategy and work collaboratively with IT and finance, to enable the strategy. Good luck!

About the author Ari Kopoulos is the national sales & marketing manager at EmployeeConnect. For further information visit www. employeeconnect.com.au

The Post Industrial Revolution Revolution V

Outmoded management practices are resulting in disengaged workers. Kim Seeling Smith outlines how to create a viable model for the 21st century

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iva La Revolution! The war for talent is over and talent has won. The companies that don’t recognise this and significantly change the structures and processes they use to hire and retain the staff they need to compete in the ‘new normal’ marketplace will lose. Not only will they lose human capital – they are in danger of losing everything from market share to their status as a going concern.

How has talent won? Look at the demographics.

There have simply not been enough people born over the last 20–30 years to take the place of those Baby Boomers who are now starting to retire in large numbers, starting in 2011 (if not in whole, then by scaling back their responsibilities).

In addition, technology and globalisation are changing the way we do business. These two factors create a skills shortage, the likes of which has never been seen – at least not in recent memory,

culminating in a prediction that the number of jobs that go unfilled will reach millions to tens of millions (depending upon the country) by 2020.

So if talent has won, does that mean that companies have lost? The bad news is that some definitely will. The good news is that they don’t have to. Not if they join the Post Industrial Revolution Revolution.

What is the Post Industrial Revolution Revolution?

First let’s begin with a short review of history. As the 18th century drew to a close, the world entered a new age of mechanisation and industrialisation that’s come to be known as the Industrial Revolution. With it came new ways of managing the labour force. Hard manual labour and its attendants – slavery, serfdom and servitude – were replaced by production lines,

Feature management

where workers carried out very specific, repetitive tasks in exchange for wages.

As the Industrial Age gathered speed, a new class of worker emerged. The White Collar Worker, those that traded brain instead of brawn for wages could look forward to higher rates of pay than those on the factory floor. But they, too, engaged in repetitive tasks, such as typing and accounting and the typical office was run much like the factory floor, with designated start and stop times, prescribed breaks, very detailed job descriptions and little room for creativity and innovation.

Then came the Post Industrial Revolution. It’s hard to pin an exact date on this revolution, but the phrase was popularised by Daniel Bell in 1973, when he published The Coming of Post-Industrial Society. By the late 20th century, 200 years after the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the Post Industrial Revolution was well and truly upon us.

But something was missing, and, in most working environments, still is.

The Post Industrial age is characterised by nontangible yet valuable services, largely in the areas of finance and information. It is heavily reliant on technology, innovation and creativity.

Technology and globalisation have automated or outsourced most mundane, repetitive tasks, freeing our workers up to do more innovative and strategic work. The Post Industrial economy demands this innovation and creativity. And our staff relish the thought of doing this type of work over the routine, process-oriented tasks of yesteryear. Yet the structures and processes that most companies use to manage their staff still hark back to the Industrial era.

Do you see the disconnect?

This is costing our companies millions of dollars.

Not only because these structures and processes increase turnover (costing between 50% and 200% of an employee’s annual salary to replace), but it also can cost significantly in productivity.

According to both Aon Hewitt and Gallup, only about 20% of workers are actively engaged in their work, while an equal percentage feel disengaged. The 60% in the middle are only mildly engaged in their jobs.

Hewitt estimates this disengagement can cost up to a third of an employee’s annual salary while they still work there. So it costs you to replace a disengaged worker – but it also costs you to keep them. What is the solution? A Post Industrial Revolution!

How to stage a Post Industrial Revolution Revolution

In an article dated August, 2010, The Wall Street Journal called it “The End of Management”. They

How to organise the revolution people

• Hire Correctly • Classify and manage appropriately

Structure

• Compensate fairly • Use Currencies of choice

Process

• Communicate with FOCUS

wrote that, “Management structures may need to be changed. The new model will have to instil in workers the kind of drive and creativity and innovative spirit more commonly found among entrepreneurs.”

You need look no further than the success stories of Google, Best Buy in the US, 3m – the Post It Note people and Atlassian Software in Australia to see the results of early adopter Post Industrial Revolution Revolutionaries.

Here is the framework that many companies are now using to revolutionise their work place.

The ‘Five C’s’ of a Post Industrial Revolution Revolution workplace are: • Hire Correctly • Classify and manage appropriately • Compensate fairly • Use Currencies of Choice to structure a Commercially Autonomous work environment • Communicate with FOCUS Below is a summary of each of these practices.

“They key to hiring correctly is to base your decisions 80% on cultural fit and 20% on skills fit. Skills can be taught but not values”

Hire Correctly The key to hiring the right people is to base your decisions 80% on cultural fit and 20% on skills fit.

As a hiring manager, your most important job is to determine the cultural values of your organisation and hire for those. Skills can be taught, but attitudes, work style and values cannot.

It’s essential for hiring managers to learn how to interview, in a way that gives you the information to make good hiring decisions. Because unlike the stock market, when it comes to potential job candidates, past performance is indicative of future results. Proper interview questions have to be answered with past examples of how the candidate actually dealt with a scenario, which can later be reference checked.

Classify and manage appropriately The first step to managing your Critical People is to determine who they are. Critical People can www.hcamag.com

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be obvious – the real superstars who consistently under-promise and over-deliver. They can also be not-so-obvious – those ‘sleepers’ that you just can’t do without: quiet achievers, or the ones who hold a great deal of corporate knowledge.

These are the people you should be spending 80% of your time with; unfortunately, however, most managers spend that amount of time with their ‘Squeaky Wheels’. These underperformers and demotivators should instead be dealt with quickly by training, motivating or moving them.

Not only does this help your most productive staff become even more productive and valuable to you as a manager, it also frees up your time and reduces your stress levels.

Compensate fairly Remuneration and incentives can be tricky, but a number of studies conclude that it doesn’t have to be. Ultimately, employees need to feel as though they are paid fairly, consistently and in a manner they can rely on.

Companies can accomplish this by paying at or a little above market rate for individual functions. But since ‘fairly’ is also a subjective assessment, employers also need to ensure that people feel they are being adequately compensated – something which can only be accomplished by speaking to them directly.

Currencies of choice Once someone feels they are being paid adequately, companies can then use the ‘currencies of choice’ most valued by the workforce. Daniel Pink, researcher and author of Drive, says these are: • Autonomy – the ability to direct your own work • Mastery – the ability to master what you’re good at, and • Purpose – the opportunity to do meaningful work These currencies of choice can be used to move the organisation from a ‘Command and Control’ environment, where every task is laid down in detail and the prescribed methodology for completing these tasks must be followed, into a ‘Commercially Autonomous’ work environment.

How does autonomy impact the bottom line?

A 2006 Cornell University study observed that “Autonomous companies had four times the growth rate and one-third the turnover”.

Communicate with FOCUS FOCUS is an acronym that describes best practice leadership communication. It stands for Frequency,

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Best practice in leadership communication Job Objectives

Employee strengths

Increase frequency of communication

Career management

Underlying motivations

Job Objectives, Career Development, Underlying Motivators and Strengths.

Frequency. Most companies sit down formally with their staff only once or twice per year for the dreaded performance reviews. However, increasing formal communication to at least once per month and informal communication to weekly, if not daily, will significantly increase employee engagement and company productivity.

But it’s not just the frequency of communication that’s important. It’s also the content.

Communication between staff and managers should revolve around the following: • Job Objectives – what are they responsible for doing and how are they meeting their KPIs? • Career development – both a vertical career path as well as horizontal learning and development opportunities • Underlying motivators of autonomy, mastery and purpose, and • Strengths – those innate abilities that make them unique and good at what they do.

Structure communication around deliverables and then offer coaching, advice, assistance and resources for their career development, underlying motivators and strengths and you will truly have an engaged and productive workforce.

Making it happen The process of changing the way you hire and manage people may seem daunting at first, but experience shows that taking this step by step, you can make significant changes within 6–12 months. The result will be a lifetime of engaged, happier and more productive staff as well as more free time, less stress and better job satisfaction for yourself as a manager. HC

About the author Kim Seeling Smith is an international speaker, trainer, coach, mentor and author on career management and employee retention issues.

For further information visit www.MyCriticalPath. com or email Kim@ KimSeelingSmith.com or phone 02 9818 8194

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This month’s teambuilder takes a look at how the largest security company in the world, McAfee, uses employee based strategies to build team unity and create future leaders.

Rebeccah Elley reports

Secure your team F

ounded in 1987 by Intel Corporation, McAfee provides security systems to the digital world, protecting systems, networks and mobile devices. Although a well known and dominant brand globally, in Australia the company’s presence has only recently started to be felt – its employee base has expanded from 80 employees two years ago to 133 today.

Driving the people side of the business has been John Francois, HR director for McAfee AsiaPacific. With generalist HR responsibilities across the region, Francois says his overarching goal is to provide leadership to the business through career development and career advancement to ensure that McAfee is the best place to work for all employees. “Employee engagement is central to our business plans and defines our strategies and our culture,” he says.

Foundations of a great place to work Francois’ strategic focus on engagement has paid off. Earlier this year McAfee was recognised with a Great Place to Work award through The Great Place to Work Institute. Francois says, “I’ve been doing HR for around 26 years, so I have to say McAfee being

Career timeline

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Qualifications: Advanced Certificate in Industrial Relations (1988); Master of Commerce – Employment Relations, HR (1997)

First Job: Assistant Industrial Officer with the NSW Chamber of Manufactures – an employer association (1985)

recognised as a great place to work has definitely been the highlight of my career. It’s something we’re all very proud of.”

The company not only made the top 25 Great Places to Work but was also named one of the top five ‘fair companies’.

“We certainly know we have an organisation that appreciates the level of authenticity and transparency that goes with being a great place to work. We try to ensure that not only all our employees are aware of that great accomplishment but that they are thanked and rewarded for their contribution to that achievement,” says Francois.

Crucial to the company’s high placing, Francois believes, is the trust between employers and employees. As companies become great, the division between management and labour fades. The workplace becomes a community. Employees take pride in their job, their team, and their company.

They feel that they can be themselves at work.

According to The Great Place to Work’s ‘Dimensions of a Great Place to Work’ trust is composed of three elements: Credibility, Respect and Fairness.

‘Credibility’ is defined as the communication between managers and their teams concerning the

Next step: Employment relations manager at Alcan Aluminium (1992). ER Manager for Manufacturing Division with employee base of 1,000 people.

Eight direct reports. Responsible for business growth through HR programs across recruitment, talent management, compensation & benefits and employee relations. Was approached to go to MM Cables to perform a similar role as the HR manager in 1992.

Profile john francois

“We need to ensure we are close to the business. I think we’ve won that battle of getting a seat at the table; now that we have that seat we have to remain proven performers so the business wants to keep us there”

Thilo Pulch, www.pulchphotography.com

– John Francois

Next step: Moved to Compaq Computers in 2000, which later merged with Hewlett Packard. Appointed as the senior HR manager at HP. Main role was to provide strategic HR advice to executive group to influence business performance. Promoted to APAC (2004) and Global (2008) learning and development program manager. Developed and facilitated L&D Leadership Programs and HR plans aligned to the business requirements. Designed a development Program for the intake of 1,500 Graduates across all functions.

Now: Human resources director – Asia Pacific at McAfee (2010). Provide leadership and support to business heads across APAC on all HR disciplines including talent acquisition and management, employee development, employee relations, to drive organisation development and change management initiatives aligned with business goals.

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future direction and plans of the company. Francois advises that the key to meaningful recognition of employees is feedback: “It’s about communication, communication, communication,” he says.

By creating a discourse between staff, Francois believes employees will feel engaged and up-to-date with the direction the company is heading in.

Francois states that to be Credible words must be followed by action. He also believes this concept flows through to recognising good work. The company’s ‘Delight the Customer Awards Program’ is an initiative designed to recognise positive customer feedback. Employees are provided with Delight Dollars for their work, and they use the dollars to bid on prizes such as electronic gadgets, dinner vouchers, tickets for sporting events and spa days during the quarterly award auctions.

The company recognises innovation by rewarding employees, who successfully submit patents and inventions, with awards and bonuses.

The competitive spirit within the company is also reflected in team-bonding events such as McAfee’s ‘Social Club’. The club puts together teams to compete in key sporting events such as the BRW Triathlon and Lunch Time Legends in North Sydney.

McAfee also provides fully funded health care for all employees, as well as their families. Indeed, families are embraced into their culture by events such as the annual Christmas party and ‘bring your kids to work’ days.

‘Respect’ is defined as providing employees with the equipment, resources, and training necessary to succeed in their work. By fostering a spirit of collaboration across departments and creating a work environment that’s safe and healthy, Francois believes retention will remain high as employees feel engaged and respected.

The third dimension of the model is based on ‘Fairness’: at McAfee everybody receives equitable opportunity for recognition, including peer-to-peer recognition. Francois states: “It’s the recognition factor combined with a reward that makes all the difference. It’s as simple as saying thankyou and recognising the employee with something tangible.”

‘The Dimensions of a Great Place to Work’ model is based on the belief that if an employee takes pride in their job, their team and their company they will feel comfortable at work and celebrate the success of the company.

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fast facts n Over the last couple of years 40% of McAfee’s new hires have been sourced through employee referrals. The technology industry average referral rate is 20%. McAfee offers $2,000 per employee referral resulting in a successful hire n Last year 23% of McAfee’s vacant roles were filled by internal domestic and international transfers, promotions or secondments

Leadership initiatives Like most organisations McAfee understands the need to reward their high performing talent across the board, through different functions and different geographies.

The APAC Superstar Program is a tool McAfee uses to recognise high performing individuals and teams. The employees and teams selected for the program are those who contribute outstanding performance that aligns with the company’s core values. A corporate bonus is offered to individuals based on their contribution or company performance. A spot bonus program is also available to employees who go above and beyond expected performance.

Once they have located those “superstars” McAfee provides formal courses to enhance their skills. Francois adds that other development opportunities take the form of a real life business challenge or issue the company is facing.

Participants are then given the skills (and creativity) to resolve the issue.

“When placing emerging talent in new leadership roles, it’s essential to ensure they have the experience to deal with the challenges they may face. Behavioural skills are important; however, it’s just as important to have some practical skills as well,” he says.

McAfee has a series of leadership programs right up to the executive level. This involves bringing all their leaders and managers across the region together to provide ‘pressure training’. Francois explains, “It’s really about reinforcing the things that they learnt from the previous programs, showing them how to apply what they have learnt, and giving them some tools to succeed in the workforce.”

The company also has a leadership program for different levels of leadership. Francois explains, “We recognise that people will join McAfee having been a leader in a number of organisations; the first step is to make them familiar with some of the leadership policies and practices that we have.”

L&D There are a number of strategies McAfee has in place in regards to L&D, as all sections of the business require different skills and different career paths for individuals to take. The online McAfee University is provided to employees to allow them to learn at their own pace. At the completion of

Profile john francois

each course, the individual receives a recognised certificate of completion. The content and marking system is based on the level of other universities.

However, as they are a global company, there are some specific areas tailored to the different regions that the company operates in.

There is also an Educational Assistance Program, whereby employees can apply for external courses, as long as they are relevant to the organisation. Francois says one of the clear advantages is that people are learning new things about their role – important in a field that changes rapidly. “They also have the possibility to pause a course if their work load becomes too heavy, and then pick it up later,” he says.

Francois believes that by providing the right tools, future leaders will have the confidence to grow within the company: “One of the important facets of HR leadership is around our partnership with the business and having relevance to the business. It’s critical that the HR practices and policies that we

implement in our organisation have strong support from our leadership team,” he explains.

In order to remain strategic players, Francois believes HR’s biggest future challenge will be to remain relevant. “When I say relevant, I mean we need to ensure we are close to the business.

I think we’ve won that battle of getting a seat at the table; now that we have that seat we have to remain proven performers so the business wants to keep us there.”

What does HR need to do to stay there? Francois has a pretty clear idea: “I would say they have to spend some time in the business. Certainly you can contribute at some level if you spend your whole career in HR – and certainly I see organisations that would value that. But more and more these days you have to be able to talk from the business perspective.

You have to be able to understand the business and then make sure that any HR initiatives you are talking about are business-driven as opposed to just a standardised HR issue.” HC

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The last word compiled by Suzanne Mercier

n More employees are looking for new work opportunities than in 2008, suggesting that 2011 will be a tough year for retention.

Source: Blessing White Employee Engagement Report 2011

n According to a diary study of employees of a multinational company, 73% had not completed their tasks by the end of the day with 58% citing interruptions as the main reason and reported that their daily interruptions averaged 96 minutes.

Source: Harvard Business Review The Daily Stat July 19, 2011

n Between January and March 2011, 45% of job seekers did not attend their scheduled recruitment agency interviews.

Source: Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations

Quote of the month “A leader’s role is to raise people’s aspirations for what they can become and to release their energies so they will try to get there.”

– David R. Gergen

5 minutes with...

Robyn Whittaker

Head of human resources, Gilbert & Tobin What’s the greatest HR lesson you’ve learned so far?

Regardless of how the HR practitioner arrived in HR, it’s critical to get to know your business and get line experience to understand the real drivers of the organisation, which you then need to apply to any people initiatives.

How does working in HR for a professional services firm differ?

We need to work harder upfront consulting with partners to get buy-in.

In a corporate environment, often a mandate is imposed from the top but the engagement can be compliant rather than genuine. Danny Gilbert, our managing partner, is a great leader. The 60+ partners who own the business do add to stakeholder complexity.

What is your view on diversity, and the current hot issue of gender diversity?

G&T is a leader in gender equity with the highest percentage of female partners of any large law firm in Australia (38%).

G&T people who are high performing, irrespective of gender, will be recognised.

What’s your favourite peoplemanagement tip?

I hate the expression ‘soft skills’. Being

a people leader is tough. You need to be demonstrably fair and a consistent example of the organisation’s values. We need to be courageous and fair when dealing with issues. Self-awareness is critical in leaders. People need to know the impact of their behaviour and we need to help them leverage their strengths or make change.

What career advice do you have for ambitious HR professionals?

We have a unique opportunity to assist an organisation to be higher performing through its people and culture. Provide excellent service and broaden your experience by getting involved in projects, do your research and make sure any solution is credible.

What’s the main challenge facing the HR industry right now?

HR needs to engage at the top of the organisation. People plans must be nuanced to the business strategy, culture and priorities How should HR professionals overcome that challenge?

Make sure your viewpoint is being heard (it is often valuable by being different), build trust and influence your business.

Can you believe it?

Interviewer asks a tall candidate what his dislikes are. “Short people,” he says, not realising that the interviewer is sitting on a cushion to add inches to his height. Needless to say, no job offer! (Source: http://vision4life.in/career/interview-bloopers)

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