Human Resources Director 14.02

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS

HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR HCAMAG.COM ISSUE 14.02

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM Is eldercare the new childcare?

EMPLOYMENT LAW Special Report HR STANDARDS AND BIG DATA Set to revolutionise HR?

HR IN TOUGH TIMES Peabody Energy rides the peaks — and troughs

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EDITORIAL www.hcamag.com FEBRUARY 2016 EDITORIAL

SALES & MARKETING

Editor Iain Hopkins

Marketing & Communications Manager Lisa Narroway

Journalists Chloe Taylor Miklos Bolza Production Editors Hayley Barnett Moira Daniels

ART & PRODUCTION Design Manager Daniel Williams Designer Marla Morelos Traffic Coordinator Lou Gonzales

Business Development Managers James Francis Steven McDonald Lisa Tyras

CORPORATE Chief Executive Officer Mike Shipley Chief Operating Officer George Walmsley Managing Director Justin Kennedy Chief Information Officer Colin Chan Human Resources Manager Julia Bookallil

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In good times, in bad times…

THIS MONTH’S cover profile was sparked from a rather tersely written letter to me as the editor of HRD. “Why do you only profile companies on the up and up, who are expanding and where everything is running smoothly?”

It was a fair and justified criticism. We do tend to focus on rapid growth success stories – as does much of the mainstream media. This is wrong. HR in particular must be engaged with the company, no matter the wider economic conditions or other external elements. Indeed, it’s when times are tough that HR is often forced to come into its own. Tough times can involve downsizing, rightsizing and restructuring. Budgets are cut, nice-to-haves disappear, resources are stretched, tough conversations become the norm.

They say that no great art ever comes from happiness. While that same logic can’t quite apply to the business world – boom times, after all, produce plenty of innovations and top results – it might be true that tough times can result in more creative thinking and new perspectives.

Sure, ‘great art’ may not quite be the end result, but a streamlined operation that could make the difference between survival and extinction is almost as good.

“...it might be true that tough times can result in more creative thinking and new perspectives” Geoffrey Woodcroft of Peabody Energy (the world’s largest private sector coal company) certainly believes tough times can bring out the best in HR – and he should know. His company has been through the mill in recent years. What struck me about Geoffrey’s story was how something negative can be turned into something positive. It may be difficult to see the positive at times, but as he tells HRD, every member of his HR team has been through the greatest learning experience they will probably ever encounter at work.

And importantly, the standing of HR at Peabody Energy has been enhanced by treating employees fairly, by communicating transparently and remembering that employees are people, not numbers. Sometimes, just sometimes, we come into our own when we’re furthest from our comfort zones.

Iain Hopkins, editor

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FEBRUARY 2016

CONNECT WITH US Got a story, suggestion or just want to find out some more information?

HRDirector_au

CONTENTS

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UPFRONT 01 Editorial

With all the focus on rapid growth companies, is it time to switch gears and ascertain what HR is doing in companies struggling through tough times?

04 The data

The absenteeism rate in Australia may be down to its lowest level since 2008, but there are still problems facing employers

06 News analysis

12 COVER STORY

FEATURES

ROAD AHEAD: HR IN 2016

What does the new year hold for HR? From the changing nature and structure of the HR department, to wider economic, social and technological upheavals, HRD looks at what lies ahead

WHAT GOES UP…

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Faced with an industry-wide slowdown, this month’s profiled HR director believes HR comes into its own when the chips are down

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The increasing number of carers in Australia’s workforce will impact on employers in more ways than one.

How prepared is your organisation?

PEOPLE 56 Head to head

Should HR ‘borrow’ some of marketing’s skill set, and if so, which parts?

FEATURES 52 One set of standards to rule them all

The combination of HR Standards, HR Auditing and big data has the potential to revolutionise how HR operates globally. Neil McCormick and Chris Andrews outline how and why

FEATURES

FEATURES

LEGAL SPECIAL REPORT

Four features delve into the ever-changing world of employment law. From managing ill and injured workers to using a mediation option, this special report has the answers

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NATIONAL HR SUMMIT: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS

HRD sits down with three HR leaders to discuss sustainable strategies, communication breakdowns and whether HR should become invisible

HCAMAG.COM CHECK IT OUT ONLINE

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THE DATA

FEBRUARY 2016

TOO SICK TO WORK?

THE COST TO BUSINESS

The absenteeism rate in Australia may be down to its lowest level since 2008, but there are still problems facing employers FIRST THE good news. Employee absenteeism levels have fallen to an average of 8.6 days per employee per annum, a reduction of 10% from 9.5 days reported in 2014, according to Direct Health Solutions’ 2015 Absence Management and Wellbeing Survey. While this is higher than the seven-day target typically set by organisations, it’s an encouraging sign that some companies are taking positive action.

“It appears that organisations have responded to increasing absence levels last year by investing

more into improving their absence management practices, and it is paying dividends,” says Paul Dundon, managing director of DHS. “Eightysix per cent of organisations reported they were heavily focused on absence management.”

Some 90% of respondents indicate that their main challenge is managing frequent short-term absenteeism, that is, up to two days in duration. DHS has also identified that 65% of employers believe they have a ‘sickie’ culture in their organisation.

According to DHS, the annual cost of absenteeism is $2,984 per full-time equivalent. It represents one of the most significant, controllable costs organisations can manage with the right strategies. When an employer reports a four per cent absence rate, this really translates to a four per cent direct payroll cost. In addition to this is overtime pay, replacement labour costs and indirect costs that impact on service levels and quality. This can more than double the cost of absenteeism to be up to eight per cent of payroll.

$33bn

8.6

number of employee sick days per year

10%

rate by which employee absenteeism has dropped since 2014

ENTITLEMENT CULTURE “Entitlement mentality is a complex issue, however, part of the reason we have an entitlement culture in Australia is the fear management have in managing sick leave. It is seen more as an entitlement to take, rather than a safety net provision when one has an unexpected family emergency or personal illness.”

– Paul Dundon, managing director, Direct Health Solutions.

More than 65% of absenteeism is caused by an ‘entitlement culture’.

Absenteeism is two days higher among those who strongly agreed that they had an entitlement culture in their organisation.

5%

percentage of the workforce that calls in sick on any given day

10–18

typical number of personal leave days per annum offered by large employers

total loss in payroll costs and lost productivity annually to the Australian economy

INDUSTRY/SECTOR ABSENTEE RATES 2015 Industry

Days lost

Absence rate (%)

Transport and logistics

12.3

5.3

Contact centres

11.2

4.9

Healthcare

11.2

4.9

Telecommunications and utilities

11.0

4.8

Travel, tourism and hospitality

10.4

4.5

Public services/government

10.3

4.5

Manufacturing and production

8.3

3.6

Other

7.5

3.2

Banking, finance and insurance

5.7

2.5

Private sector

7.9

3.4

Public sector

10.3

4.5

Organisations with 1,000+ employees had an average of 8.5 days lost; those with 500–999 employees averaged 10.8 days; those with 250–499 employees averaged 11.2 days.

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8%

percentage of payroll that this loss accounts for in total

$2,984

93 million

average amount (per employee) that a business loses to absenteeism annually

working days lost in Australia per annum

TECHNOLOGY’S HELPING HAND 1. Centralised recording of absenteeism. This approach ensures that all absences are recorded in real-time in a specialist absence management monitoring system, and that employees receive confidential medical advice and assessment at the time of ringing in sick.

2. Real-time absence tracking. Online return-towork systems can provide managers with realtime insight into all absences within their team, individual absence patterns, trends and causes, and whether absence levels need to improve.

3. Trigger management alerts. Trigger reviews ensure that the company is doing all that it can to manage absence and exercise its duty of care, while mitigating the likelihood of ongoing cases becoming long-term employee compensation risks.

REASONS FOR ABSENCE The most common reasons for employees to ask for time off are illness, including colds and flu, headaches and gastro, plus home and family responsibilities.

39%

of businesses say absences related to stress, anxiety or depression have increased in the past year.

21%

of businesses say they have increased their annual spending on health and wellbeing initiatives to help support their employees.

Source: 2014 Absence Management Survey, Direct Health Solutions (survey includes both public and private sectors)

ACTION PLANS TO REDUCE ABSENTEEISM Sixty-five per cent of DHS survey respondents have a documented absence strategy for managing absence. The most common practices modified in the past 12 months were: introducing centralised absence reporting to a single point of contact (65%) through a specialist absence management service provider, or by managing internally via performance reviews (62%) return-to-work interviews (48%) allocating a case manager for longer-term absences (47%) providing training to front-line leaders on how to manage absenteeism (30%).

Sources: ayers.com.au; dhs.net.au; probonoaustralia.com.au

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UPFRONT

NEWS ANALYSIS

THE AGEING ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM The increasing number of carers in Australia’s workforce will impact on employers in more ways than one. How sharp are your carer support strategies? Chloe Taylor reports

AS AUSTRALIA’S population ages, offering employees benefits to support their roles as carers is critical – but employers must remember that without support from the entire workforce, such initiatives could crumble.

According to one expert, the offerings employers provide for carers needn’t be extravagant; flexibility and understanding are the key pillars of a carer support program.

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“Companies are starting to recognise carers in the workplace,” says Elena Katrakis, CEO of Carers NSW, explaining that her organisation is increasingly being contacted by companies seeking assistance to raise awareness or create policies to support carers.

“Where we have things like Carers’ Week, people are starting to think about carers – most people, including employers themselves, are

likely to end up having a personal experience in a carer role,” she adds.

In its most recent Carer Survey, Carers NSW found that 40% of respondents – all of whom identified as carers – were in paid work.

“Statistics suggest that the likelihood is, there is at least one carer – whether they identify themselves as such or not – in every organisation,” Katrakis says.

She advises that it is important for carers who are working to be able to feel that they would be supported in their workplace with flexibility.

In practice At PricewaterhouseCoopers, normal carer policies and compassionate leave are available to employees, but there is one policy in particular that Marcus Laithwaite, diversity and inclusion officer, dubs “the real difference”.

“We have what we consider best in class offerings, but the real difference is our All Roles Flex policy,” he tells HRD. The policy was extended to all employees in 2015, and supports carers whether their responsibilities are as parents or to parents. It also recognises that not all roles will be 9-5.

“We want our staff ’s working patterns to suit them, their teams, and their personal commitments.

“This allows adaptability and flexibility, which is something that we know through our own research is very attractive to our carer population; it provides the flexibility that they often need.”

While Laithwaite says PwC has a “very young workforce”, it’s not a huge leap to assume that a proportion of the firm’s employees will eventually step into a carer role.

Although the company’s carer element is focused around parental leave, Laithwaite says that PwC “absolutely recognises carer leave”.

“Employees can access 10 days of paid leave per year for any carer responsibilities that involve their immediate families,” he explains.

Helping ‘hidden carers’ Another issue being instigated by the ageing population is what Katrakis refers to as “hidden carers”.

“There are a number of hidden carers who

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might not recognise themselves as carers or don’t identify with the term,” she explains.

“Most carers feel they are just doing what a son, daughter, sibling or parent would do – but not realising that they have stepped into the role of a carer which can impact their health and wellbeing.”

For this reason Katrakis says it is important that carers can recognise and identify themselves, then put their hands up and access support.

“Carer stress is real,” Katrakis emphasises.

According to Katrakis, there are ways in which employers can assist hidden carers to recognise their position.

“Helping them to identify themselves can be quite simple,” she says. “Carers need to feel comfortable speaking about being in a caring role. If their workplace has a culture of care, as well as management support, that will help them feel that they can come forward and identify themselves to their employer.”

HR also has to be prepared to either support, or direct employees towards support, if they become distressed.

“Sometimes when carer awareness training is conducted in big organisations, you can have staff who realise in the sessions that they are themselves carers,” Katrakis explains.

“We’ve had people become quite upset in the workplace after realising that they are in fact a carer.”

Katrakis recommends following up with that employee by offering to provide them with more information, or even a private, more detailed session to elaborate on the role of a carer and the support available to them.

Carer awareness training While training for HR can be useful in terms of accommodating the needs of carers, Katrakis says that organisations should not limit themselves to this.

“Companies should think about running care awareness training so that people outside of the HR function are aware that there are carers in the workforce, and that their needs may differ from their own,” she explains.

“It’s important that there’s that general understanding – not just in managerial and

EMPLOYER OBLIGATIONS While the Carer Recognition Act 2010 aims to increase recognition and awareness of the role carers play in providing daily care and support to people with disability, medical conditions, mental illness or who are frail and aged, there are laws specifically relevant to the workplace. Employers and employees should note that legislated workplace entitlements may not be sufficient for many carers to deal with their caring responsibilities or provide enough of an incentive to remain in the workforce.

“The applicable laws depend on whether your staff are covered by any Awards,” Katrakis says.

“All employees will also be covered by anti-discrimination laws, so their employer cannot discriminate against them because of a caring role.”

For example, as a minimum under the NES, employers must be aware of: • Requests for flexible working arrangements – available to parents or carers of a child under school age or a child under 18 years with disability.

• Parental leave and related entitlements – up to 12 months’ unpaid leave, plus a right to request an additional 12 months’ unpaid leave for the birth or adoption of a child.

• Personal/carer’s leave and compassionate leave – 10 days’ paid personal/carer’s leave and two days unpaid carer’s leave per occasion.

In addition, two days’ compassionate leave per occasion is also available if a member of the immediate family or the household has sustained a life-threatening illness or injury. You can find more information on the NES from the Fair Work Ombudsman at fairwork.gov.au.

HR functions – around the needs of carers and the demands they are having to meet,” she says.

According to Katrakis, the nature of the training should vary depending on the level of understanding within the workforce.

“During initial care awareness sessions, we have sometimes done a general presentation on what being a carer entails,” she says.

“We tend to answer questions such as: ‘who is a carer?’ and ‘what does a carer do?’

“It’s helpful to provide the general facts and figures alongside the basic issues around what being a carer means.”

Katrakis says that once this has been established and grasped by employees, it’s then possible to inform them about the support that is available for carers – this can include both internally and externally provided support mechanisms.

Examples of practical support include having a counsellor onsite, or offering an onsite care support officer for people who don’t want to speak up about their personal situation in a group setting.

Busting stigmas While Carers NSW’s most recent biannual carer survey found that 700 of the 1,700

respondents were in paid employment, Katrakis claims that the prevalence of carers in the workforce has not reduced the stigma around juggling the role with work.

“A number of our survey respondents said that their employers knew about their extracurricular responsibilities, but one in four did not feel supported to balance them or raise issues around being a carer,” she says.

“People might know that the support mechanisms are there, but there is still a stigma meaning that they are choosing not to access it for fear of being seen as different.

It is therefore important that employers provide a positive workplace culture.”

So, how did PwC overcome that stigma?

Laithwaite explains that doing so was relatively straight forward.

“With the launch of All Roles Flex we’ve very much emphasised that there are no rules – this is all about having a two-way conversation between you and your team,” Laithwaite says.

“That has been very openly adopted. I haven’t come across any examples where people have said no to any reasonable requests.”

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UPFRONT

L&D UPDATE NEWS BRIEFS Mobile learning falls flat A recent study by ATD Research has found that just 31% of professionals who use mobile learning feel it has a high level of effectiveness.

The survey – which questioned L&D professionals from around the globe – found that just one in three organisations had mobile learning in place.

Of those, 21% were using m-learning informally, while 13% used it as part of a formal training process.

The biggest barrier to the success of m-learning programs was a lack of funding, with just half of respondents saying they had metrics in place to measure how effective m-learning programs were.

Time not on learner’s side Research from Bersin by Deloitte has found that common workload expectations are leaving employees with just 1% of their working week free to dedicate to L&D. Rosie Cairnes, regional director, Australia and New Zealand, at Skillsoft, said the statistic was particularly alarming considering the ANZ region was experiencing a skills shortage.

Another recent report by McKenzie speculated that by 2020 there would be around 85 million fewer skilled workers than would be needed for the roles available at that time.

DFAT takes action to address unconscious bias The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) launched an overhaul of its workplace culture after an investigation found that female employees were not being given enough career development opportunities.

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As a part of the new and improved culture, HR staff will undertake mandatory unconscious bias training.

More than half of DFAT employees are female, but less than a third of the department’s executive positions are held by women, and 27% of its heads of diplomatic representation are female.

Candidates stretching the truth with training The findings of a recent survey by software developer Enterprise Study have suggested that more than half the population lie about their training history to prospective employers.

Of all the areas employees could present dishonestly, it was found that candidates were most inclined to lie about their training experience and qualifications when applying for a job.

The most common reason for lying was because the respondents were worried about the lack of knowledge needed, so they “exaggerated” their previous experience.

Face-to-face vs digital: the debate continues Younger managers are more likely to choose face-to-face training as opposed to digital learning, according to a new report by UK-based CMI and Oxford Strategic Consulting.

The reason for this is the shortcomings of the digital learning solutions on offer.

Indeed, the results also found that four in five (79%) managers believe their organisation does not realise the digital learning potential of smartphone and tablet web-enabled apps.

Of the 1,184 managers surveyed, 69% believed their organisation only offered digital management courses to cut costs. That’s compared to just 20% who thought it was actually used to improve the quality of teaching. One in three (37%) said the courses were not properly aligned with the organisation’s objectives.

THE D&I TRAINING TREND A shameful act in an Apple store has sparked debate about the importance of diversity and inclusion training for employees Towards the end of 2015, tech giant Apple was embroiled in controversy after a video emerged online of black teenagers being ejected from one of the company’s Melbourne stores for fear that they “might steal something”.

After one of the students shared footage of the incident – ironically captured on an iPhone – on social media, the video went viral and came to the attention of news outlets around the globe.

As criticism mounted, Apple CEO Tim Cook addressed the issue in an internal memo sent to all staff.

Cook began by referring to the incident as “unacceptable”, emphasising that it “does not represent our values”.

“Our stores and our hearts are open to people from all walks of life, regardless of race or religion, gender or sexual orientation, age, disability, income, language or point of view,” he wrote.

He went on to tell the workforce that the company would “use this moment as an opportunity to learn and grow”, and that starting in Australia, store leadership teams around the world would be refreshing their training on inclusion and customer engagement.

According to James Law, HR director at website developer Envato, it is better to approach D&I training as a cultural or values realignment rather than as compliance-based training.

“I think it’s great that Apple responded to this incident with education and awareness for their staff,” Law tells HRD. “Because the company has broad public

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appeal, the message will be communicated to a massive audience around the world.”

Envato’s aim when it comes to D&I is to ensure all employees truly understand its value; this is achieved through multiple initiatives and training opportunities.

“At Envato we have started to expose people to unconscious bias education and inclusiveness training, while ensuring that our workforce deeply understands why diversity and inclusion makes the company and environment better,” Law says.

“We recently added a Diversity and Inclusiveness component to our values, which shows staff just how important we think it is.”

Law adds that Envato’s recent bias and

“The training has changed the way our people talk about these topics, and brought about an acceptance and realisation that we all have unconscious biases” inclusiveness training – which was run by Pride in Diversity – “really opened our eyes”.

“The training has changed the way our people talk about these topics and brought about an acceptance and realisation that we all have unconscious biases,” he explains.

“We learned that the important thing is to be actively aware that these biases exist, and endeavour not to make decisions which are influenced by them.”

Q&A

Dan Musson Education and Training CEO AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

Fast fact Only one-third of employees believe becoming a manager has the potential to advance their careers, according to new research. The survey

by Addison Group indicated that only 25% believe learning how to be a better manager is a priority.

THE RISE OF JUST-IN-TIME LEARNING & CUSTOMERCENTRIC DELIVERABLES How will technology be impacting L&D practices in 2016?

Flexibility has become more important than ever as people seek out just-in-time learning, which is about providing small bite-sized chunks delivered when and where required. We’re also seeing more materials moving online and this just-in-time learning being delivered through apps and online content.

Everyone has an eye on what effect virtual reality has on scenario based learning with advanced equipment such as Oculus Rift and VR Wear being launched in 2016.

What did you notice was in demand from corporate L&D functions last year?

Many of our short session programs such as our ‘lunch and learn’ were popular, especially when participants can be provided with a clear toolkit of takeaways. Greater demands on time mean that this will continue to develop and grow.

Workplace conversation programs were also growing in demand, especially within the public sector as these employers move to embrace performance management and contestability similar to the private sector.

What have been the biggest changes to L&D over the last five to 10 years?

The greatest change for us has been the move from product centric to customer centric delivery – ie moving from transactions to relationships.

Regardless of channels, there is a shift to deliver more than a product as the focus is on the customer and the relationship.

We’ve also seen increased pressure on budgets across ‘discretionary’ learning. Unfortunately, we need greater leadership when times are tough but this is when budgets are trimmed for leadership training. More and more, we’re seeing clients seeking to quantify the value of training by defining the ROI in advance and using that to measure success.

How is globalisation impacting L&D practices?

Globalisation has been spurred by faster and greater access to knowledge which in turn has forced providers to focus on the customer as opposed to the product. While there is greater access to online materials and free content than ever before, the challenge is sorting the wheat from the chaff which is what we specialise in for our clients.

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UPFRONT

REWARDS/BENEFITS UPDATE

EY’s three-pronged retention strategy EY combines career progression, recognition and relocation opportunities to retain the brightest stars

A recent study by Morgan McKinley suggested that Australian businesses could face the risk of losing employees due to a lack of career progression, recognition and relocation opportunities.

It was found that more than half of the study’s participants did not feel satisfied in their current positions, and were looking to leave their current role within the next year.

The research surveyed 1,000 professionals,

NEWS BRIEFS

half of whom cited lack of career progression as their main motivation for leaving a job.

When defining ‘career progression’, 55% of participants said that the overall package they were offered was the most significant factor, while a quarter said that being given more responsibility would show them they were advancing.

According to McGregor Dixon, people leader at Ernst & Young (EY), the most

Younger workers missing out on benefits According to a UK-based report

by One4All Rewards, the age of employees is impacting whether they take benefits. An alarming 48% of 25-34-year-olds don’t cash in on employer benefits compared to just 18% of 45-54-year-olds and only 15% of over-55s.

However, researchers stressed that young people were the most receptive to rewards and more likely to work harder in order to earn a reward than any other age bracket. A huge 88% of 25-34-year-olds said they’d actively improve their efforts if a reward was on the table, compared to 72% of 45-54-year-olds and just 59% of over 55s.

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important step for employers to take is to actually have a conversation around career planning.

“When people cite lack of career opportunity as a reason for leaving, they often haven’t had the conversation with their manager,” he tells HRD. “Employers should have some simple guidance available for managers to assist them with this discussion. Career opportunity can take many forms and isn’t necessarily linear.”

At EY, there are detailed career frameworks in place which outline the experiences and learning and coaching opportunities that support career progression.

“We have also implemented the counselling@ey initiative,” Dixon adds. “This focuses on ensuring high quality career conversations happen so that people know what their options are. At the heart of counselling@ey are three simple behaviours that we want counsellors (managers) to focus on.”

He also tells HRD that recognition is an “important part of engagement, whether it is financial or non-financial”.

“We have a global program called ‘Better Begins with You’, which recognises people who do things that connect with our purpose of building a better working world. Recognition is also quite informal and decentralised, so anyone in a team leadership role is encouraged to provide ad hoc recognition to their teams.”

EY also provides global opportunities for staff, ranging from short-term client engagements to longer-term strategic relocations. “Mobility is a critical part of how we manage our talent,” says Dixon.

Gender pay gap shows no sign of improving

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) has released data showing that men out-earned women in Australia by a massive $27,000 last year.

2015’s release was the second annual set of data to be collected by the WGEA. It covered 12,229 employers, and represented 40% of the Australian workforce.

The overall gender pay gap was 24% on average full-time total remuneration – this included bonuses, allowances and superannuation. Although the pay gap is high, it was lower than the gap found in 2014’s data.

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Q&A

Alan Heyward Executive manager ACCUMULATE

Fast fact Ninety-four per cent of companies that contributed to the Mercer Australian Benefits Review 2015 offer flexible work provisions such as flexitime and time in lieu, while 73% provide the option of working from home (telecommuting), reflecting the strong current focus on worklife integration.

The low-down on perks & benefits What perk(s) are you seeing become more common?

The overwhelming trend is towards relevance.

There are, of course, the well-publicised ‘nonannual leave’ policies of Netflix and Virgin. Beyond that, leading companies such as IAG, Qantas and Telstra have offered on-site childcare. Not new, but gradually growing in popularity.

Environmentally-conscious US outdoor clothing and gear manufacturer Patagonia takes relevance to another level, encouraging employees to go surfing, bike-riding, rock-climbing, etc, during working hours.

Health and wellbeing initiatives continue to take centre stage and diversify. Accumulate, like many other companies, offers its people an ever-expanding suite of benefits in this area, such as bonus annual leave days, a range of health checks, flu shots, on-site massages, subsidised exercise such as boot camp and pilates, charity volunteer days, free fruit and coffee, mindfulness and meditation activities, and nomeeting Mondays.

What are some of the more unusual perks you have come across?

We’ve come across a ‘Naked Friday’ policy to boost morale (to be clear, not at Accumulate). To counter that, Airbnb several years ago introduced Formal Fridays, as well as Moustache Monday. Assistance with divorcerelated legal fees is another. Pet perks also feature prominently, including onsite grooming services, and even a Halloween costume contest for dogs…

Generational and gender divide in benefits

US study Generations@Work, conducted by MassMutual, found that preferred employee benefits vary between generations and gender.

While Baby Boomers and Millennials would choose to have more leave available to them, Generation X workers favoured richer retirement benefits.

It was also found that men preferred more time off work, while women were more concerned with health-related benefits.

The study surveyed 1,517 Americans employed in various jobs and industries.

Retention is the number one issue facing companies. Which perks should be considered as retention tools?

There’s no silver retention bullet. With benefits, it’s all about relevance as part of a strong EVP. For some, it will be lifestyle and luxury discounts, or health and wellbeing initiatives. Others seek professional development opportunities. For many, flexible working arrangements are top of the list, to better achieve work-life balance.

What mistakes are employers making when implementing R&R schemes?

Lack of broad executive and management buy-in is a common mistake that can cripple an R&R program before it begins. Apathy and/or ambivalence about a program at the top will quickly filter throughout the organisation.

Another is viewing an R&R program and the technology platform on which it’s hosted as one and the same. The platform is a recognition tool, a tick in the box. The success of a program relies heavily on how deeply it’s embedded – ‘lived’ – across the organisation at all levels, and how closely it’s aligned to business objectives.

Relevance is the other big one – companies implement a one-size-fits-all program at their peril. The differing generational needs and attitudes to recognition alone are worthy of extensive consideration.

IKEA Group puts millions into super funds

IKEA Group has put another $150m into the super funds of its workers.

This year’s pay-out will give full-time workers at IKEA Australia a $2,321 contribution each for their super funds.

IKEA workers annually receive an extra pay-out in addition to existing pensions, according to the same simple principle.

From their first full year of service, an annual allocation is provided to each full-time co-worker (pro-rata for part-time workers), with the cumulative amount to be paid into their super after five years of service.

Yahoo finds money does talk – and helps retain stars

While rumours swirl about major job cuts and a corporate restructure, tech giant Yahoo is offering executives the option of cashing out lucrative fast-vesting stock options in a bid to provide a greater sense of security in uncertain times.

It is thought that at least 10% of its workforce, or approximately 1,000 employees, will face job cuts ahead of a planned reorganisation.

According to Yahoo’s most recent quarterly report, the company has decreased its headcount by 14% over the past year in a steady drip of layoffs. www.hcamag.com

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COVER STORY

GEOFFREY WOODCROFT

WHAT GOES UP… When Geoffrey Woodcroft joined Peabody Energy in 2010 the resources boom was at its peak; HR was focused on growth.

Fast-forward six years and things have changed – dramatically.

Iain Hopkins chats to one HRD who believes HR comes into its own when the chips are down

“WHAT DOESN’T kill you makes you stronger.” It’s a tired cliché but for Geoffrey Woodcroft, vice president of human resources at Peabody Energy Australia, it’s true. The past few years have been particularly trying. While Australia in general became somewhat blasé about the seemingly never-ending mining boom and the success stories that accompanied it, there was also a nagging sense that the good times could not last indefinitely.

Woodcroft’s story is a timely reminder that HR’s role is not always about dishing out innovative benefits and dealing with rapid growth; sometimes it is about survival.

Company overview The average Joe may not recognise the name, but Peabody Energy is the world’s largest private sector coal company. It employs some 2,600 people and an additional 1,000 contractors across its seven mine sites in Australia. Globally the company employs 8,000 people.

In Australia, the HR team totals 16: seven at the company’s sites and nine in the corporate office. Traditionally, the

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centralised HR model has seen core functions and processes conducted in the Brisbane head office, leaving site-based HR team members to focus on supporting the site without being bogged down with transactional work. However, like much of Peabody’s operations in the last five years, this model has needed tweaking – and downsizing – to cope with new financial realities.

storm. How has Peabody Energy adjusted?

“We’ve reacted in a very planned but quick manner to move ourselves down the cost curve to remain competitive,” says Woodcroft. “Unfortunately, that has meant several rounds of downsizing across the business, although the primary focus has been on process improvement and restructuring.”

Not surprisingly, the HR team has

“Nothing creates more credibility for an HR function than how well it plans for, and implements, a workforce reduction process” The current state of play It’s no secret that many of Australia’s resources companies are facing significant challenges as overseas markets such as China have fallen, and coal has been hit particularly hard. While much of this is out of the control of any one entity, it has required significant strategic redirection from companies looking to weather the

contributed significantly to those efforts, by supporting the operations but also through reworking its own processes to drive out cost and maintain effectiveness.

HR in a downturn market Woodcroft and his team have had to execute on a sustained strategy to produce a leaner organisation.

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COVER STORY

GEOFFREY WOODCROFT “Obviously one of the more challenging aspects of our repositioning effort is reducing our workforce – no company ever wants to go down that path, but HR plays such a key role in planning for and executing workforce reductions,” Woodcroft says. “How we treat

but in the current market there is a greatly reduced opportunity for pay increases and bonuses,” says Woodcroft. “In fact, we’ve been looking for opportunities to realign conditions to the current market. This has made it very difficult to manage expectations

“It is amazing what you can achieve when you are pushed to the limit, and my team has come up with many ways we can improve how we do things” our people as they exit the organisation speaks volumes about the company, and we’ve managed that process with respect and understanding and I’m very proud of that.”

Indeed, Woodcroft suggests that with all the focus and commentary around talent acquisition and talent management, what is missed is what happens to that talent in a downturn.

“I would say nothing creates more credibility for an HR function than how well it plans for, and implements, a workforce reduction process. HR leaders who have not been involved in large-scale reductions in force cannot possibly understand how different that is from leading the function through growth and prosperity. The organisation looks to HR to drive these processes, and when it is done well the business really sees the value that HR adds to such a difficult situation.”

It is, he adds, the perfect opportunity for HR to “step up and take accountability”.

Beyond downsizing, HR has also taken a lead role in several key cost-saving initiatives such as introducing new rostering and shift length arrangements at the company’s sites, accommodation and travel process improvements, and of course managing the change process across Australian operations.

Another major challenge has been the negotiation of eight Enterprise Agreements (EAs) in 2015.

“These can be challenging at any time,

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as agreements that were last negotiated during the boom cycle come up for renegotiation.”

Of course, the business world marches on regardless of internal turmoil, and while Peabody Energy has had to cut costs across a wide range of activities, Woodcroft and his team have kept the focus on delivering programs to develop supervisors and managers.

“In tough times the roles of these employees become even more demanding and stressful given the amount of change being experienced,” he says. “We’ve looked

closely at what we can do ourselves to add value to the business rather than outsourcing.

As an example, we’ve developed and facilitated our leadership training internally.

We’ve developed these programs to focus on the usual aspects of leadership development, but have also included CI [continuous improvement] as a key module. Each participant is required to work on a CI project as part of their development journey, and these projects have delivered millions of dollars in savings and productivity improvements to the business.”

The HR team has also reconsidered career advancement opportunities for employees. Woodcroft says that while there will always be scope for the more traditional career opportunities, albeit at a reduced level, HR has instead focused employees on the fact that this set of market conditions creates unique learning opportunities that develop skill sets which may have been less of a focus in good times. Examples include continuous improvement, leadership and cost management.

“Certainly from an HR perspective, working in an organisation that is going through such a difficult market phase means

DOWNSIZING WITH DIGNITY Woodcroft provides two essential tips to ensure a downsize is handled well: Plan from day one: As a function, HR must be fully involved right from the start in any plan to reduce the

1 workforce to ensure it is executed flawlessly. “The HR leader must be responsible for driving the process and ensure that questions about the impact on remaining jobs, stakeholder engagement, communications, organisational structures and work redistribution are all answered before the downsizing occurs.”

2 Execute the exit processes exceptionally well: Peabody put extra emphasis on ensuring exiting

employees were well cared for – but also didn’t forget the people behind the scenes. “I do think it is naturally expected that the HR team is immune to the personal impact of exiting employees from the business.

A lot of focus was put into ensuring the HR team had the necessary support before and after the exit discussions, and in turn, our managers were well supported by the HR team. We made sure every manager was accompanied by an HR team member at exit discussions.”

“My advice to other HR professionals would be: Control the process and execute it flawlessly to ensure those exited are treated with respect and empathy, and those left behind are kept informed and able to get back to normal state as soon as possible. Every detail of the process should be planned down to the finest detail,” says Woodcroft.

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my team is working on issues that they would never have normally been involved in.

This is exposing them to a set of conditions that can only strengthen their abilities as HR practitioners. That is a great opportunity,” says Woodcroft.

Continuous improvement Peabody Energy has naturally focused on productivity, but Woodcroft stresses that rather than taking a ‘do more with less’ mindset, the approach has been ‘what is a better way to do it?’

“We’ve introduced a very strong focus on continuous improvement and this has been at the backbone of the hundreds of millions of dollars’ savings we’ve been able to realise, particularly at our mine sites. One message that has clearly been supported globally is the encouragement to identify what needs to be stopped or streamlined so that our people don’t feel overwhelmed or expected to do more with less.”

It’s also worth noting that the HR team has been downsized by two thirds since 2013.

This has meant a total rethink of how the function delivers key support to the business, and what type of support is offered. “It is amazing what you can achieve when you are pushed to the limit, and my team has come up with many ways we can improve how we do things,” Woodcroft says proudly.

Revisiting the EVP Woodcroft is in a unique position to assess whether the ‘nice to have’ employee perks and benefits are truly missed when they are cut. While he concedes making such cuts “wasn’t an easy decision”, given the challenges facing the company, “nothing was sacred”, and his own role (like those of the other executives) was to look at what was needed in order to reach cost reduction targets. This actually had a positive side: it focused the company on re-evaluating every aspect of its employee value proposition.

“Our approach was to maintain spending on core programs – like our leadership development agenda – and cut back in areas

people would most understand and expect.

On the upside, we’ve also reviewed our incentive programs to ensure they reflect the current business environment and reward people for safely achieving goals associated with productivity improvements and process efficiency.”

He adds that Peabody’s employees have risen to the challenge. “People know when the company is trying to do the right thing, and when they can see that, everyone is willing to accept the fact that some benefits that are available in good times need to be scaled back in less favourable circumstances.”

Remarkably, despite a hit to morale when the first impacts of the market downturn were felt in 2013, Peabody has not seen a significant increase in voluntary turnover.

Woodcroft feels “the new norm” of cost reduction and a focus on safety and productivity has largely been accepted by employees.

Personal impact and the future How about the ongoing stress on Woodcroft himself? Has he felt the pressure?

“Personally, I like an environment that is constantly throwing new challenges and opportunities at me, and so whilst it is disappointing that the market is where it is, and sometimes my focus has to be on less strategic issues, I really enjoy my role.

Peabody is an excellent company to work for, and I have the best HR team I could possibly hope for, so that makes it all the easier when you are sharing the journey with people you genuinely respect.”

Unfortunately, there is no immediate respite on the horizon. The industry expects these challenging business conditions to continue at least for the short term. This means Woodcroft’s team will continue to focus on providing the best support with the resources they have.

“There is no doubt we’ve had to pull back on some of our more long-term strategies, and that can be disappointing; however, the mark of a good HR function is that it is in tune with the business and developing and

TOUGH CONVERSATIONS A silver lining through this turmoil has been the opportunity to assist line managers to master one tricky aspect of their roles: having difficult conversations. “There is a skill set attached to having difficult conversations, and many managers just don’t get the opportunity to develop those skills,” says Woodcroft. “After all, it isn’t like they have such conversations daily.”

Peabody approached this by firstly developing ‘scripts’ for the managers to use for their part in the termination meetings. This ensured that the manager had a guide to use for how the conversation should flow, and it also made sure all terminating employees were given the same information and nothing was forgotten.

In addition, HR coached managers through the process and allowed them to practise having the discussion with other managers or an HR team member so they could become comfortable with the flow of what was to happen. This helped them to be more in tune with the affected individual and to focus on the person at the meeting rather than a script.

Finally, HR arranged for the company’s EAP provider to run sessions with line managers to discuss what to expect in such a termination discussion and how to manage the emotional reactions. “All together it meant our managers were well prepared for these discussions,” says Woodcroft. driving action to support what the business needs in any set of circumstances.”

Woodcroft adds that there’s no getting away from the fact that there are some things that simply must be done – his team negotiates on average five EAs per year, and leaders must still be developed in order to manage talent – so his focus is to ensure the HR function remains relevant to the business not only by delivering the necessary transactional work but also, more importantly, continuing to drive initiatives that ensure the company has a highly skilled, productive workforce.

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HR IN 2016

HR STRATEGY

CRYSTAL BALL GAZING: HR IN 2016 The CHRO role is no longer just an HR role. HR is shifting from vertical service delivery to horizontal, and HR analytics will shape business – not just HR – decisions. All these forecasts and more will ensure 2016 is a year of transformation. Iain Hopkins glances into the crystal ball

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ALTHOUGH NOSTRADAMUS might’ve disagreed, predictions and forecasts can often be as accurate as the weather forecast – in other words, somewhat off the mark. This is especially the case, it seems, when it comes to predicting what’s coming next in the business world. However, while it’s common to moan about the relentless pace of change in business, amidst the white noise (‘six priorities you MUST act on!’) it’s possible to discern the faintest hint of emerging trends.

HR is no different.

For simplicity’s sake, HRD has taken the lead from global consultants CEB who have identified four key ‘buckets’ of upcoming trends. Within each ‘bucket’ lie several key issues, summarised in the table below.

Analytic transformation of talent At the top-line level, this ‘bucket’ is no surprise to anyone. HR has been bombarded with information on analytics for the past few years.

It seems that in 2016 we’ve established the following: HR in general does not have a great reputation in this space and has been criticised for failing to keep pace with business demand for HR analytics; and secondly, to combat this, HR leaders are working to build competencies in this space.

Where is this heading next?

“The companies that get this right won’t be off chasing shiny balls,” says Aaron McEwan, senior director and advisory leader, HR practice at CEB. “They won’t be running after the latest technology or newest platform. Instead, they’ll be applying predictive analytic capability to the right business problems.”

CEB interviewed more than 300 heads of HR globally on this topic and around 12% of organisations are using predictive analytics to make decisions about talent. On a brighter note, 49% plan to do so in the near future.

METRICS AND ANALYTICS

5%

of organisations feel they are effective at tracking and using talent analytics

66%

of organisations have or are considering establishing an analytics centre of excellence

89%

of organisations have or are considering increasing the ability of HR business partners to self-serve HR metrics and information

HR PRIORITIES Analytic transformation of talent

The collaborative enterprise

Workforce of the future

Next generation functional effectiveness

1. HR expanding depth and breadth of analytic expertise

4. HR leaders proposing simplification to solve performance management woes

7. Expanding development opportunities for HIPOs

9. HR looking to dedicated teams for quick change response

2. Predictive analytics on the horizon for HR

5. HR streamlining job titles to cut through complexity

8. Limited adoption of trendy work-life balance policies

10. Heads of HR seek to increase personal business acumen

3. HR calling for a data-driven approach to identifying highpotential employees (HIPOs)

6. More talent conversations planned to keep up with change

11. CHROs aren’t just HR leaders anymore

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HR IN 2016

HR STRATEGY Part of the challenge for these organisations is simply a lack of talent in this space. McEwan notes that if they were to go out to the market to source any kind of data analyst, “they would be in for a shock. There’s not many of them out there so you’d be paying a premium”.

E n c o u r a g i n g l y, Australian HR professionals are keen to boost the capability of their existing teams. Of the top 10 most critical issues for HR in 2016, number two on the list was improving the effectiveness of HR business partners, and a major part of that will be improving their analytic capability.

there so they maximise that leverage point?”

McEwan notes that this is turning traditional business decision-making on its head. “Typically you’d make a decision by saying, ‘OK, labour costs are cheaper there; let’s set our operation up there’. But if there’s only two years’ worth of talent, that’s hardly a sustainable business initiative.”

And this input, of course, positions HR as a significant contributor to corporate strategy. McEwan says that if 50% of all the reasons why companies stop growing are related to talent, this development “is about

“The fact that we focus on vertical business units means HR is possibly not looking at the right things” Aaron McEwan “We’ ll definitely see HR building internally, but we’ve also seen a trend to look outside of HR for people to bring not just analytic capability but also business acumen. Quite a lot of the strategic HR business partners are being sourced from HR consultants or talent management consultants, or they’re looking at business analysts from other functions – IT, finance, and so on,” says McEwan.

Of course, the term ‘predictive analytics’ gets thrown around a lot. What does it actually mean? McEwan suggests that, while identifying the company’s next HIPOs and spotting employee turnover problems remain important priorities, he anticipates that HR will start leveraging their knowledge of talent availability to make business decisions.

“I think the real power of predictive analytics will occur if, for example, a company wants to set up an outsourced finance function. Where do they set it up?

Is it Manila, Singapore, or somewhere else?

What’s the availability of the talent they need and how do they set up operations

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time – otherwise you’re putting the cart before the horse”.

Collaborative enterprise While this is a big bucket, it’s an important one.

McEwan notes it’s really about driving enterprise-wide and “network” performance.

“Our research has shown that at every level of the organisation, what’s required is greater network performance. We’ve spent decades doubling down, driving individual performance, but as the world becomes increasingly interconnected and geographically dispersed, more matrixed and complex, the requirements for people to find growth opportunities in the white space is where things are headed.”

This has an impact for employees at every level. Those employees who are able to leverage off and learn from their peers and contribute to their success will be the ones who drive corporate performance. This is replicated at leadership level.

“Those leaders who take an enterprisewide view, who collaborate effectively, who are both role-modelling but also managing what we call enterprise contribution, and

creating a climate that sets the expectation of performance, will be the ones who succeed,” says McEwan.

HR leaders are also looking at performance management and the processes in place. Indeed, a 2015 theme was re-imaging performance management. McEwan has also seen this, but he notes it’s actually only a small percentage of organisations that have removed all traditional vestiges of performance management, and of those that have, three years down the track they’re bringing them back in.

“If you look at the most basic level, it’s clear that people don’t like the process.

Managers don’t like it, nor do employees.

However, their dissatisfaction is due to the inefficiencies and ineffectiveness of how we go about it, not the process of giving feedback. You can rely on 40-odd years of psychology research to understand that people not only want feedback but need it.

It’s how they grow.”

CEB is seeing a return to providing feedback where that feedback is centred on the quality of the conversation that managers have with their people. Secondly, it’s about shifting the conversation from past performance to future performance.

REIGNITING PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

4%

of HR leaders feel they are effective at accurately assessing employee performance

85%

believe simplifying performance management processes is the key

49%

believe eliminating performance ratings will resolve the issue

38%

believe eliminating annual performance goal setting will resolve the issue

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HR IN 2016

HR STRATEGY The collaborative enterprise is also about simplification in other areas. With systems, processes and structures so complicated, there is an increasing desire to declutter. Yet McEwan notes the answer to untangling complicated functions and processes is not to simplify but to improve people’s ability to navigate complexity. A good example is the trend of simplifying job titles.

“Just because you remove a bunch of things from their job description doesn’t actually help them manage the complexity.

In fact, it minimises their ability to deal

the HR business partners are just focused on their business unit, they’re not seeing the opportunity in the white spaces; they’re not connecting their functional clients with other functional clients to solve wholeof-company challenges. That creates a lot of inefficiency.”

CEB is witnessing a transformation of HR functions from vertical functions, tied to business units, to horizontal functions.

“Rather than just having a business partner who is responsible for, say, manufacturing, what they might be responsible for is culture. Culture is

“HR have not been very good at breaking this belief system that employees are solely responsible for their own careers” Aaron McEwan with complexity, because the requirements don’t go away – they just filter out across the system,” he says.

WHY STREAMLINE JOB TITLES? Create consistent titling nomenclature across the organisation Increase clarity of career opportunities for employees Emphasise titles that provide clarity and impact in external markets Reduce the gap between junior and senior level employees Reduce overspecialisation of roles and responsibilities

This complexity extends to the HR function. McEwan suggests that most HR departments are not structured efficiently.

“The fact that we focus on vertical business units means HR is possibly not looking at the right things. For example, if

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important for the whole organisation. What you don’t want is 25 business partners, all of whom have culture as one of 35 other critical imperatives they’re tackling business head by business head. That’s an inefficient way to drive culture change,” says McEwan.

McEwan selects ‘culture’ as the example because ‘changing culture’ was selected as the top imperative for HR in Australia, “and you can’t change an organisational culture one business unit at a time”.

Workforce of the future McEwan says it’s hard to ignore the fact that people want to work more flexibly. In response, too many employers have jumped on “trendy bandwagons” of benefits, such as unlimited leave or endless parental leave.

“When you’re taking a blanket approach to building an EVP, one that doesn’t take into account that we’re dealing with individuals, it can be a road to nowhere,” he says. “It might get you a lot of press but probably won’t do much to improve engagement.”

FOLLOWING THE TRENDS?

9%

of organisations provide unlimited maternity/paternity leave

9%

allow employees to take unlimited vacation days

WHAT THEY ARE IMPLEMENTING INSTEAD... » providing employees relevant and achievable growth opportunities » offering flexible work-life schedules » making changes to the work environment in a way that aligns with current business strategy and EVP » providing more comprehensive management of employee stress

CEB’s EVP research suggests that Australians value their lifestyle, and employers can offer flexible work benefits to help them live their desired lifestyle. “That lifestyle will look different for different employees. So understanding your workforce and its individual preference in relation to what the company can offer them is what needs to be focused on, not enterprise-wide policy changes.”

The workforce of the future is also dependent on smarter identification and development of HIPOs – yet CEB has identified this as being part of a broader challenge. The number one reason why people leave their employer is due to lack of career opportunity. When this statistic is unpacked, on one hand employers are saying, ‘We face a critical skills shortage in the future’. At the same time, employees are clearly stating they don’t see opportunities for growth. How can these two realities exist?

“The reason they can exist is because we, as HR, have not been very good at breaking this belief system that employees are solely

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responsible for their own careers. What we need is for people to believe it’s about growth opportunity.”

In practical terms, the majority of organisations persist in building career pathways. You do this job first, you move up to another, then another, and so on. “That reality doesn’t exist anymore,” says McEwan.

“We lost something like 10% of our workforce during the GFC. For around 70% of organisations, there’s no intention of bringing those layers back. For the vast majority of organisations that means we can’t promise people promotions even if we wanted to. This really hits home when we talk about HIPOs; around 50% of HIPOs will leave because they don’t see a future.”

Smart companies are shifting from career pathways to career maps. It’s not about promotional pathways – it’s about accumulation of growth opportunities and experiences.

Our job as employers is to connect our HIPOs to experiences that will help them grow and become more valuable to both the internal and external market.”

DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR HIPOS IN 2016

Mentoring

76%

External rotations (eg to another organisation such as a supplier, customer or partner) External volunteer opportunities (eg pro bono consulting, teaching, presenting)

There are three “big items” attached to this bucket, says McEwan.

Firstly, CHROs aren’t HR leaders anymore. Increasingly, the head of HR is a core member of the executive team and the role they play is to guide the decisions and direction of their organisation by drawing on their understanding of talent. CEOs and boards of directors view talent as both the number one threat and opportunity for growth. “This means CHROs are using predictive talent analytics to shape the decision-making at the top. They also often form the role of being a coach or guide to that executive team,” says McEwan.

42% 42%

70% 13% 13%

Traditional HIPO solutions still dominant

External opportunities for HIPOs being explored

their business acumen. If they are truly going to be stewards of the company, in much the same way the CFO has been a steward, then business acumen has to be

The evolving name given to the head of HR provides some clues as to the function’s future: it’s now common to hear ‘chief talent officer’ or ‘chief talent architect’

71% 76%

Continuing education (eg granting time/ funds to attain degree or certification)

functional

THE CHRO’S PRIORITIES

Job rotations (to another business unit, function, role)

Executive/leadership coaching

Next generational effectiveness

of heads of HR are spending more time on business issues not related to HR or talent.

These include: driving the company’s CSR agenda updating the company’s rules for corporate governance managing relationships between board members planning a response to new legislative requirements forging strategic partnerships with external organisations of heads of HR are spending more time participating in business projects in a leadership capacity

Secondly, if the above is shifted down to the next level, the implication is that HR professionals – both heads of HR and across the business – need to increase

well developed to take that role on.

Thirdly, there will be more prevalent and enterprise-wide change. The way to help manage this isn’t to build the resilience of their workforces or to bring in specialist change managers, it’s to structure and equip the HR team to be change agile. The best organisations assemble diverse change teams as needed and adjust their composition over time to ensure that the right skills are deployed to each change initiative, and ensure that HR can lead multiple overlapping change projects.

CHANGE AGILITY

21%

of organisations are able to initiate change as the need arises

62%

of organisations have or are considering establishing change management Centres of Excellence

Talent architects In some ways, the evolving name given to the head of HR provides some clues as to the function’s future. It’s now common to hear ‘chief talent officer’ or ‘chief talent architect’, not to mention ‘people and culture leader’.

“There will always be HR functions but HR will become more about the talent and the investments in talent, and less about the administration,” says McEwan.

Time will tell where this path leads.

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HR IN 2016

SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE

HR IN THE WIDER CONTEXT How will broader social, economic and technological trends impact on HR? Peter Szilagyi provides his insights WITH A new year comes new priorities and new operating plans. It is helpful to take a step back and look at the emerging trends in terms of the economy, society and technology. What thinking needs to be in place to be ahead of the curve, and do we need to think laterally about our operating plans?

Economic trends Globalisation of the world economy has been one of the most profound mega trends of the past two decades. Globalisation and interconnectedness have brought deep changes to the way markets and industries operate. In nearly every market consumers have global choice, and competition for those customers is a global one. For example, just think how the retail and university sector have changed.

Did you know that in just the past year Australia signed four free trade agreements (with China, Japan and Korea, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership)? These agreements offer significant opportunities for Australian businesses and institutions in 2016 and beyond to access markets, reduce

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import costs, and partner in innovation.1 At the same time they also bring greater competition as Australia’s competitive barriers are lowered.

In the face of greater global competition, successful organisations will increasingly be the ones that create advantage through differentiation or through being the lowestcost producer. The agility of businesses to compete on innovation or price will impact on HR departments in different ways.

Some will have innovation, collaboration and expansion at the top of the agenda, while others will have cost reduction and process efficiency. These organisations will need to support their businesses in building highly productive, distributed and low-cost workforce models.

Overlaying these structural movements will be a choppy cyclical outlook for 2016.

Most economic forecasters predict moderate or flat economic growth in 2016, so it will be a tough year ahead on most measures.2 In the short to medium term this may mean greater efforts to change, restructure, drive

operational performance and reduce cost.

These initiatives will also happen in shorter and shorter sprints, so agility and resilience across the business will be the key.

HR themes: What do these economic upheavals mean for HR departments?

• Productivity and operations: For HR departments, a primary theme for 2016 will be how to support the business in operational productivity and restructuring.

• Cultural intelligence: Organisations will look to capitalise on regional opportunities and a theme in 2016 will be building the cultural intelligence of organisations.

• Business resilience: The extension of this pressure to change rapidly will be a focus on mental health and wellbeing. HR departments will be in the spotlight in how they build business resilience and support individuals through ongoing change in 2016.

• Vendor management: With greater use of outsourcing, offshoring and contracting, HR departments will be challenged to ensure improved service delivery when the control

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of that delivery is now through third parties.

ECONOMIC TREND: BLACK HAT/ ALTERNATIVE PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS 1. Establish or refresh training on being an effective regional leader or team member (ie working in a virtual environment, cultural intelligence, etc).

2. Promote or extend programs that build business resilience, including managing change, and health and wellness.

3. Partner with procurement to understand best practices in vendor management and how they can support in performance improvement of outsourced arrangements.

will have unique impacts on businesses and HR departments in 2016. Firstly, the composition of the multigenerational workforce continues to evolve and is now at an inflection point. Boomers are exiting the workforce in greater numbers, and Generation Z, who are currently in the education system, are on the fringe of entering the workforce (Gen Z is variously defined as individuals born in the mid-1990s). This generation is different to the preceding ones as it has led a completely digital life and has the most global outlook of any generation. While the reality is not a linear pattern of change, each generation moves along the experience curve, and conceptually we can see in 2016 and beyond: • The Boomer generation exiting the workforce in greater numbers • Generation X taking leadership and senior management roles • Generation Y taking middle management roles • Generation Z taking entry-level roles.

The social picture There are many societal trends unfolding that

These societal and generational changes

introduce complexity for workforce dynamics and the HR department. Firstly, with the Boomer generation, some key questions are: How does the business retain and share the wealth of information and experience accumulated by this generation? For example: processes to codify tacit knowledge, transition key relationships or even maintain ongoing relationships post-retirement?

For Generation X and Y, how does the business prepare for larger leadership and managerial roles? For example, if Gen Y prefer short-term roles and job hopping, how does the business build capability in ‘fast leadership’ – leaders who can quickly establish a connection with a team, understand the problems at hand, rapidly deliver results and then hand over?

Finally, how does business best target Gen Z when this generation prefers to engage through social media but has little preference for targeted advertising?3 At the same time as the ‘changing of the guard’, there is a freelancing boom underway.

Freelancing broadly refers to sharing business models that enable anyone with a passion to market their work to anyone with a need (think eBay but for tasks or services). Organisations such as Freelancer (an Australian start-up), Airtasker and elance are some of the big players in the market.

Companies such as Uber and AirBnB operate in a similar way but for offerings of travel and accommodation sharing. Various estimates of the freelancing market indicate that nearly one third of the workforce has taken part in some freelancing work in the past year.4 Services offered through freelancing are increasingly in highly specialised areas, such as branding and design, website generation and coding, strategy development or project management. On the far end of that continuum is Expert360, which connects any business with former strategy, finance, technology and change consultants for project-based work. All of these business models represent fundamental changes in the workforce that we are only now starting to see the impacts of. From an organisational

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HR IN 2016

SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE perspective, this global workforce brings substantial opportunities to introduce niche skills on demand across a global talent pool.

• Managing the freelancing workforce: How do HR and Procurement work together in talent acquisition in a more

The old ways of HR managing permanent employees will be challenged – could we add ‘Bargain’ or ‘Barter’ to our human capital concepts of Build, Borrow, Buy? What does this freelancing workforce mean for the definition of the contractor versus the employee? How does the business vet and assess capabilities without churning through resources and costs? (For example, how are skill profiles actually vetted?) What health and safety implications are there for this extended workforce? What are the data privacy and confidentiality implications? These are all fundamental questions, but if they are worked through there is substantial opportunity to support business strategy through this flexible, dynamic, diverse workforce.

HR themes: What do these societal upheavals mean for HR departments?

• Adjusting talent acquisition and talent retention: We know that Generation Z engage through social media, so attracting and targeting talent through social media will be a key theme. For some businesses the question may also be how best to leverage the experience of the Boomer generation at and post-retirement (for example, in niche advisory, quality or mentoring capacities).

• Reshaping onboarding/offboarding: Onboarding and offboarding will be even more important priorities for HR departments with demographic changes but also the economic changes referenced above. Given the trend of shorter role tenure, an interesting extension of the onboarding/offboarding dynamic will be structuring how employees rapidly enter and exit roles within the organisation.

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seamless way (ie particularly in reference to freelancing and more generally vendor management)? The old ways of Procurement managing contractors and HR managing permanent employees will be challenged in the future – could we add ‘Bargain’ or ‘Barter’ to our human capital concepts of Build, Borrow, Buy?

SOCIAL TREND: BLACK HAT/ ALTERNATIVE PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS Conduct joint analysis with procurement of

1 what freelancing means to the business and how this model can be appropriately and effectively leveraged (and trial that model in a low-risk area example – building awareness or change management material along the way).

2 What changes to leadership training need to

be adapted to reflect the style of Gen Y? How should graduate onboarding programs be tailored to reflect the latest research on Gen Y specifically?

Consider frameworks, policies or toolkits to

3 help the business think through creative

ways of retaining Boomer knowledge – could the Boomer be the boomerang?

The technology picture Advancements in technology represent one of the most phenomenal changes to the workplace and the HR department. From a workforce perspective, these advancements have reshaped the activity of every role, from the basement to

the boardroom, with changes across how we service customers, produce products, manage logistics and finances, communicate and share information, and of course how we manage people. HR itself is being reshaped and will be increasingly delivered through self-service platforms supported by line leaders or centralised HR teams. The changes to the HR IT landscape have been numerous and not limited to: software as a service (SaaS), social media, mobile platforms, data and analytics, and, in the not too distant future, robotics and the internet of things.

SaaS, or cloud solutions, is not a new trend but it continues to substantially transform the way HR services are delivered, and we are still only in the early days of this frontier.

For many organisations, the year 2016 will therefore be a year of either entering into partnership or embedding and optimising recent partnerships.

The larger SaaS providers in the market include Workday, SuccessFactors, Oracle Taleo, Cornerstone on Demand, Meta4, and ADP. New providers continue to enter the market, with many delivering niche offerings in employee engagement, motivation, and learning on demand. In fact, the Deloitte Bersin HR Technology for 2015 report was tracking more than 100 new start-ups.5 What will be noticeable, across all platforms, is how they increasingly enhance their products to deliver consumer-like experiences (ie ‘consumerisation of HR technology’), and eventually how these tools influence the HR process itself to be less annualised/calendar driven and more dynamic or real time.

If we broaden the circle of the SaaS HR market and consider social media and more generally other mediums – think how LinkedIn or Facebook is influencing recruitment, how Yammer is influencing communication and engagement, how Dropbox is influencing document management or how YouTube is influencing L&D – HR needs to be ready to pull outside innovations into the function.

Mobile is the dominate channel through which consumers receive content, and in relation to the demographic changes outlined previously, mobile is the preferred medium

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of communication for Generation Y and Generation Z. The trend therefore, in 2016 and beyond, will be strategies to increasingly deliver HR services through a mobile device.

From every HR angle there are substantial opportunities to deliver HR ‘anywhere, anytime’, including mobile payslips, instantaneous employment confirmation letters, on-demand training, or even just simply requesting HR support with the click of a few buttons (for example, to start a chat session with an HR central support team).

All of the information from legacy HR IT systems (some operating now for more than 15–20 years), new SaaS platforms and mobile devices provides a mountain of data to organise. It is not too radical to suggest that

customise solutions. A key challenge in 2016, therefore, will be how to build functional and technical capability in SaaS so these solutions are optimised in the business landscape.

• Service request management: As more core HR work becomes centralised, offshored or outsourced, there will be an increasing trend to eliminate email requests and automate requests. Often understated when discussing HR technology, service request platforms, such as ServiceNow or ZenDesk, will allow work to be ticketed and case managed. Over time they will integrate, allowing, for example, seamless onboarding or offboarding actions between IT, property and HR teams. Enhancing service request

TECHNOLOGY TREND: BLACK HAT/ ALTERNATIVE PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS Conduct ongoing and joint analysis with the

1 IT department to ensure HR IT strategies are refreshed and aligned with the overall business direction and HR strategy.

2 Consider change impacts of SaaS as much to

HR service delivery teams and to leaders.

Leaders now pick up more HR work – are they prepared and capable? Questions from leaders and employees don’t disappear with SaaS, and operational teams need to understand new processes, data and tools in detail to support embedding.

Often understated when discussing HR technology, service request platforms, such as ServiceNow or ZenDesk, will allow work to be ticketed and case managed HR will soon be able to predictively determine the questions that are likely to come up and provide the answers ahead of the curve.

This could include, for example, providing insights to leaders on retention when considering combined external compensation relativities and employee engagement scores, or providing advice on coaching when considering combined development plans and performance scores.

HR themes: What do these technology upheavals mean for HR departments?

• Implementation and embedding: With all the flexibility offered by SaaS providers, their products overlay business processes and need to integrate with existing business systems (ie core employee data or related finance and accounting systems).

Embedding challenges include the inability to provide a consistent employee or leader experience across vendor platforms, lack of integrated data, and limited ability to

tools will be a key HR theme in 2016.

• Building analytics capability: It is often noted how the marketing function has cracked the big data chestnut, with analytics that show consumer behaviour and demonstrate ROI on expenditure. For HR, there is still some way to go, and mining and analysing data and then deriving insights will be important trends in 2016. This is a capability shift for HR, and while it will be supported by the embedding of SaaS solutions and the analytics offerings of these products, HR teams themselves need to be more technical and analytical.

Wrap up 2016 will also be an election year in both Australia and the US. While details are still hazy, in Australia, we do know that the following will be key battlegrounds.

1. Innovation – both parties have already raised this as a key election theme.

Build the capability of HR teams in analytics

3 (from basic use of Excel modelling to more sophisticated statistical analytics).

2. Labour market reform – in August 2015, the Productivity Commission released a Workplace Relations Framework which covers wide-ranging recommendations, including changes to penalty rates and employment contracts.8 These recommendations will no doubt be important contributors to policy design before and after the election.

3. Superannuation – the treasurer has already signalled changes in this area for the 2016 budget.

2016 is surely shaping up to be an exciting year with many opportunities and the odd challenge.

Good luck!

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References 1 http://dfat.gov.au/trade/agreements/Pages/trade-agreements.aspx http://www.rba.gov.au/publications/smp/2015/nov/html/06-economic-outlook.html. Westpac Australia New Zealand Economic Weekly 14 December 2015 3 http://universumglobal.com/articles/2015/10/gen-z-view-future/ 4 http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/australias-freelance-economy-grows-to-41-million-workers-study-finds/news-story/629dedfaea13340797c68822f4f2a469 5 http://www.bersin.com/uploadedFiles/100814-disruptions-final.pdf 6 http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-02/11/ibm-watson-medical-doctor 7 http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3165317 8 http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/workplace-relations/draft

Peter Szilagyi, CAHRI, GPHR, HRMP, is an experienced HR leader in talent management, transformation and change management.

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HR IN 2016

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

THE MIND OF A LEADER From developing your ‘CQ’ to identifying your ‘derailers’ and busting myths about charisma, HRD takes a look at what’s in store for leadership development in 2016 TOMAS CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC, CEO of Hogan Assessment Systems, is perhaps correctly sceptical about the trends to look out for at the start of every new year. Just like anyone who has been around to see peaks and troughs, and flavours of the month come and go, he says trends are usually “new names for old things and often turn out to be just shiny new objects or HR fads”. It’s therefore appropriate that what Chamorro-Premuzic is hearing from business leaders globally appear to be more than passing fads.

Top of the list, he says, is engagement, which will continue to grow in importance for global business leaders. So, too, will new technologies and innovations around talent

identification and ‘analytics’ “if we define it broadly as a growing concern for evidencebased management”, he says.

Closer to home, Peter Berry, managing director of Peter Berry Consultancy (PBC), notes the same leadership issues are at play – especially strategy and engagement.

He suggests businesses need to shift from short-term planning to medium- and longer-term planning.

“Strategy needs to be supported by having a robust planning cycle with quarterly reviews and increased accountability,” Berry says. “Building high-performing teams is a must. Our 360 research indicates that key opportunities for leaders are to be less

HUNGRY MINDS: ALL ABOUT CQ In his Harvard Business Review article, ‘Curiosity is as important as intelligence’, Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic outlined CQ: “CQ stands for curiosity quotient and concerns having a hungry mind. People with higher CQ are more inquisitive and open to new experiences. They find novelty exciting and are quickly bored with routine.

They tend to generate many original ideas and are counter-conformist. It has not been as deeply studied as EQ and IQ, but there’s some evidence to suggest it is just as important when it comes to managing complexity in two major ways. First, individuals with higher CQ are generally more tolerant of ambiguity. This nuanced, sophisticated, subtle thinking style defines the very essence of complexity. Second, CQ leads to higher levels of intellectual investment and knowledge acquisition over time, especially in formal domains of education, such as science and art (note: this is of course different from IQ’s measurement of raw intellectual horsepower).

“Knowledge and expertise, much like experience, translate complex situations into familiar ones, so CQ is the ultimate tool to produce simple solutions for complex problems. Although IQ is hard to coach, EQ and CQ can be developed.”

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operational, challenge poor performance effectively, and engage their workforces through motivational and inspirational leadership. We see this as being particularly relevant in times of change and in promoting a climate of innovation.”

However, it’s a third ‘trend’ that has really sparked Chamorro-Premuzic’s interest. “I think the emphasis on positive personality attributes will decrease, while interest for negative qualities or attributes, notably derailers or dark-side personality traits, will continue to increase,” he says.

He is, of course, referring to the psychology of leadership – a fascinating lens through which to view current and future challenges and trends.

Take, for example, the rapid rate of change in business and the uncertainty over ‘what’s next’. A leader’s personality type will play a critical role in whether they thrive (or wither) in this environment.

“The essence of leadership will always be the same. Namely, can you turn a bunch of individuals into a high-performing unit – and that applies as much to small teams as to large organisations,” suggests ChamorroPremuzic. “In line with this, the core attributes of leadership will mostly remain the same: people with better judgment, integrity, self-awareness and vision are always going to be better leaders.”

However, certain circumstances call for different competencies or qualities, in addition to these generic leadership competencies.

“I think that a more complex, rapid, global, and, to some degree, unpredictable world, requires leaders who are entrepreneurial, globally minded and adaptable, rather than rigid,” Chamorro-Premuzic says. “My view is that 30 years ago IQ was critical, then came EQ. Now, leaders also need CQ – high curiosity quotient.” (See box at left.)

How self-aware are you?

Self-awareness is crucial for leaders. Peter Berry Consultancy’s experience shows that the most

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successful leaders are those with greater selfawareness. This is especially true for understanding their derailers and the impact these may have on the leader reaching his or her career goals, as well as their relationships with others.

“The best way of testing self-awareness is through a 360 assessment,” says Berry. “When combined with personality assessments, the leader gains insight not only into how their

“Look at most of the Republican nominees and you’ll see two things: firstly, positive correlation between charisma and popularity – charisma helps you emerge as a leader and get noticed; and secondly, a negative correlation between charisma and competence.”

In simple terms, he adds, the more confident these leaders seem, the less competent they actually are. On the other

“Thirty years ago, IQ was critical, then came EQ. Now, leaders also need CQ – high curiosity quotient” Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic behaviour is perceived by others but why they may be behaving in that manner.

“The biggest challenge in coaching is to uncover the manager’s motivation to improve. If the motivation is non-existent or unclear, improvement is unlikely. The most common leadership derailers are lack of resilience – moodiness/temper – and poor people skills. Managers need to be both likeable and capable.”

Given their importance to leadership success, PBC has undertaken extensive research into ‘leadership derailers’ – those personality traits that can send a leader off course. (See box.)

Charisma – a blessing and a curse?

One need look no further than the upcoming US presidential election to see Berry’s aforementioned “likeable and capable” balance in action. Can corporate leaders take anything from this political showdown? They might want to concentrate on charisma as a starting point.

Many observers might automatically assume charisma, that illusive personality trait that draws people to you, is a positive trait. However, is this always the case?

Chamorro-Premuzic believes the US election provides a fresh opportunity to demonstrate the toxic effects of charisma.

hand, more experienced leaders, such as Jeb Bush, have been almost discarded from the race for not being charismatic enough. “It’s a sad reminder that in the US, presidential politics have been equated to a reality TV contest. It’s also a sad reminder of how toxic popular leadership criteria or conceptions are,” says Chamorro-Premuzic.

Future leaders Psychology can also help with that most persistent of HR challenges – one that will not be going away in 2016: identifying future leaders.

“People have started to understand the value of evidence-based talent identification and pay a great deal of attention to data now – more than they ever have,” says Chamorro-Premuzic.

He adds that psychometrics is a branch of scientific psychology that has pioneered these efforts for the past 100 years. It is based on solid theory and robust science (the science of personality, which is big data plus theory).

“When it comes to identifying potential or predicting performance, you only have to answer two questions: what should I measure and how?” he says. “Psychometrics

DERAILERS AT A GLANCE What are derailers?

Derailers are personality characteristics that are strengths under normal circumstances. However, under stress or pressure, these characteristics can become crippling career obstacles.

Why is it important to identify derailers?

The most common cause of failed leadership is flawed interpersonal behaviour that hinders individuals’ ability to form and maintain a functional team.

When should you identify derailers?

Individuals’ derailers have the potential to affect them throughout their careers. Early intervention is ideal to ensure individuals have the ability to mitigate destructive behaviours before they become a problem.

What are the benefits to the individual of identifying derailers?

Identifying individuals’ derailers provides them with the strategic self-awareness to develop their leadership skills and improve their performance throughout their careers.

What are the benefits for organisations?

Organisations can use information about individuals’ derailers to help guide their careers, provide support, and match leaders’ abilities to the future needs of the company.

– and particularly personality assessment – provides the best answer to both questions.

There is more scientific evidence on the predictive power of personality – vis-àvis leadership outcomes – than any other individual attribute, and well-designed personality assessments predict leadership performance better than anything else.”

While the future is not set, one thing is clear: amidst local, regional and global uncertainty, any helping hand to predict future success should be welcomed by all business leaders.

Peter Berry Consultancy (PBC) is a multidisciplinary consulting firm that specialises in leadership solutions and assessments. For more information, call PBC on +61 28918 0888.

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18/02/2016 2:19:49 PM

NATIONAL HR SUMMIT 2016

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

SUPPORT BEYOND THE BIG BANG Struggling to get executives and other stakeholders to buy-in to your lengthy transformation project? Iain Hopkins chats to one HR director who has some tips on sustaining HR initiatives over the long haul IF YOU’RE an HR professional with a few years of service under your belt, you’ve probably seen your fair share of HR strategies, projects and initiatives launch with much razzle-dazzle and excitement, only to die a quiet death a few months down the track. Is it possible to keep the momentum and stakeholder support going past the heady days of the launch?

Klaus Duetoft, senior director human resources, eBay Australia & APAC, believes it is, and he’ll be sharing some of his tips at the National HR Summit in March.

Maintaining the launch

momentum

beyond

For Duetoft, the number one priority at macro level is understanding the key stakeholders and obtaining buy-in. Who are the key decision makers, what are their needs and how does the project, initiative or strategy relate to them?

What will it deliver?

Duetoft’s second tip involves avoiding a trap many HR professionals fall into – taking on too much. “It’s incredibly important to

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The future of HR is… “Customercentric, data-driven and commerciallyorientated”

do fewer things incredibly well than boil the ocean and not succeed,” he says.

He notes that it’s HR’s natural inclination to try to make projects as big as possible – and this is possibly an after-effect of HR’s long battle for relevance and credibility. “Are we trying to solve something different here?

Perhaps we’re trying to get onto the executive table, or we’re trying to gain credibility, or trying to own something that’s really demonstrable, therefore the bigger we create it, the bigger the perceived importance and flow-on effect to our credentials.”

However, he warns that this is actually counterproductive. “Yes, while that project might have been perceived as something critical at a moment in time, the reality is when you then get into it, and you lose momentum or lose direction or you don’t hit milestones, then you don’t really make a difference, and your credibility bleeds. That’s why often you hear organisations say, ‘That’s just another HR fad’.”

Duetoft’s own learning from countless

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Luna Park Sydney • 6-7 April 2016

SICK OF CHANGE? Ketchum Change surveyed over 500 leaders of large corporations across seven countries to gain insights on how change has affected the people who feel it most – employees:

95%

of respondents reported managing change is critical to business success

74%

said change fatigue exists in their companies. Within those, 39% said it is highly prevalent There appears to be a disconnect on the impact of change between the C-suite and senior leaders:

28%

of partners and C-suite executives think change fatigue is highly prevalent in their companies, compared to 42% at the SVP, director and VP levels

organisation-wide strategy rollouts is to be realistic about deliverables and then manage expectations around those deliverables. “I take a ‘less is more’ approach,” he says. “It’s better to do a few things and fundamentally shift the culture or fundamentally impact the business, or set it up for a change, than to boil the ocean.”

He recommends taking the time to understand the human dynamics involved.

Who do you really need to engage with to make it work? Who are the critical lynchpins who will either enable the success of the initiative, or disable it?

“There are typically some individuals who are cornerstones that without their active support, it won’t fly,” he says.

He also believes HR must be a “balanced

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18/02/2016 2:27:21 PM

NATIONAL HR SUMMIT 2016

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Recognising milestones along the way

HR DIRECTORS AND CHANGE With so much change and disruption, what role does Duetoft see heads of HR fulfilling?

1. HR directors will not always have the answers. Nor will they be the primary owner of the people strategy “First and foremost my job is around sales, profitability and performance,” says Duetoft. “Beyond that, my role evolves to be a facilitator of outcomes, and that means getting the right people in the right roles. The people strategy is actually owned by the executive team.”

2. You must view the business from the perspective of a commercial manager “I should understand how we generate revenue, what our costs are, how our marketing programs operate, how these programs will be perceived by consumers, what the brand Ebay means…”

3. It’s vital to spot trends early “A good country manager should have their finance and HR leaders, and both those leaders should be looking over the horizon and providing trusted advisor support. I’m not suggesting I need to be a seer, but I need to understand how the market is evolving, how the internet environment and technology is changing, and how these impact on different generations of employee. Then it’s about positioning ourselves to either leverage that or not be hit by that. We think organisations can nimbly turn, and in the internet sector most probably can. But Ebay is large, like a container ship. It won’t turn on a dime. If I want this ship to be agile and nimble, I must be able to forecast ahead almost before the need exists.” advocate”. “I say balanced because you can’t be a zealot. You see individuals banging the drum and the eyes start rolling. I think you have to be an advocate but stay focused.”

Pragmatism is critical to success. Duetoft believes HR often loses sight of strategic initiatives because the function is poor at presenting a pragmatic argument. If HR knows a transformation will take three years, he says they’re reticent to say it’ll take three years for fear of how the business will react. Secondly, he says that too often, during the course of those three years, HR will lose focus because something else overtakes it – and they know it will.

“I’m pragmatic – I’ll turn to the business and say, ‘This is what you’ll get after one, two, three years’. So it becomes more like a negotiation. It may be that the organisation doesn’t have the appetite for a three-year journey. The reality is it might have an appetite for a one-year journey. That one-year journey might set you up for where you want to be, but maybe just not as far down the track.”

The grand vision While Duetoft says it’s vital to have a grand

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vision or ‘end goal’ for initiatives in mind, that doesn’t necessarily mean it must be communicated far and wide. “Just because you have a blueprint in your mind for where the organisation is going to go over the next five years, it doesn’t necessarily mean you should share that blueprint,” he says. “If I think about the internet sector, we’re quarterly driven. If I share where I think the organisation will be in five years’ time, people will think I’m joking.

You’ve got to marry the vision to the dynamics of the organisation and industry.”

Secondly, consider the expectations of the audience, Duetoft suggests. This can be done, in part, by how you engage with your audience. “How do you allow them to own the next iteration of that project? Rather than it being seen as, ‘This is HR’s idea’, how do you change that to, ‘This is us, collectively, evolving our organisation to ensure we’re set up for future changes’?”

Duetoft adds that while he has acted as the steward or facilitator for transformation at eBay, the leadership team collectively has shared the vision. “That very much drives buy-in,” he says.

Just as important as knowing how much of the grand vision to share is knowing when to celebrate success along the way. However, Duetoft warns that not everything is going to warrant a celebratory milestone.

“It’s about expectation management,” he says. “If you’re managing expectations, you can say ‘This is how we’re progressing’ with confidence.”

He adds that change happens rapidly at eBay, so he’s instituted ‘roadmaps’ that have clear outcomes. He’ll measure progress against those outcomes, so he can demonstrate tangible impacts. “That adds to credibility,” he says. “But it also gives you the ability to recognise the milestones you should celebrate.”

There are different levels to this, he adds.

HR should have the ability to coach, guide and recognise people who are leading the initiatives and this recognition may, or may not, be tied to direct milestones. “If they’ve gone through a particularly turbulent technology implementation, for example, I then think it’s appropriate to tie those milestones to a broader business outcome.”

Duetoft cites eBay’s change journey.

The company culture has evolved over the past three years to become more customercentric and retail-like. “We had a team celebration around our performance as an organisation where we tied cultural components to that. So, actually, it became intrinsically involved. It wasn’t just, ‘We evolved the culture’ – that’s a nebulous thing to judge – but if you tie it to, ‘This is how we performed, this is what we’ve done, this is how our teams have evolved, and here are our engagement stats,’ then it becomes a celebration that’s intricately linked to the performance of the business.”

See Klaus Duetoft talk about maintaining momentum beyond the strategy launch at the National HR Summit, Sydney, 6-7 April. sydney.hrsummit.com.au

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18/02/2016 2:27:29 PM

Luna Park Sydney • 6-7 April 2016

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18/02/2016 2:27:34 PM

NATIONAL HR SUMMIT 2016

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

THE KISS APPROACH TO EMPLOYEE COMMS Struggling with employee engagement? It might be time to look at your communications. Iain Hopkins sits down with one HR professional who has refined the art of keeping the message simple, without sacrificing the fun BBC WORLDWIDE’S office in North Sydney is exactly how you’d expect a television company’s headquarters to look. Posters from hit shows line the walls, magazines with Top Gear featured prominently await guests – and yes, a fullsize Dalek stands discreetly (as discreetly as a Dalek can) in a corner.

All around, people are buzzing. Some are in informal meeting spaces – perhaps plotting the next prime-time hit – and others are diligently working on their computers in the open-plan office.

Although by global standards the Sydney office is small – only 120-odd people – a feeling of creativity seeps through the walls. Of course, not everyone holds a ‘creative’ role. There are legal experts, sales reps, marketing professionals and, yes, HR people.

On meeting Naomi Mourra, head of HR, Australia & New Zealand, BBC Worldwide, it’s clear her personality suits the creativity that lies at the heart of the

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company. Bubbly, personable and upbeat, Mourra confesses she loves what she does.

“I’m hugely passionate about our company and our content,” she explains. “I think the people who do well in companies love what their company does. They all know I love our content, and they’ll know my mind works in a similar way to theirs.”

And yet, Mourra’s responsibilities instantly set her apart from the fray.

Engaging communications Mourra’s National HR Summit talk taps into criticism nearly all HR professionals have fielded at one point or another – overcomplication. Human beings, it seems, like to create complexity. We like to make mountains out of mole hills and add six words when one or two will do. We also favour the odd acronym, so we’ll use one here: KISS – or Keep It Simple, Stupid.

That principle is so apt for communication.

In Mourra’s experience, HR does like to overcomplicate matters, but she believes

COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN A survey of more than 1,000 employees has shown that workers would rather join an organisation with ‘open values’ than one that offers an impressive benefits package.

• 81% of employees said they’d pick an organisation with an open culture over one that offered perks such as health insurance, free food and gym memberships.

• Just 15% of respondents said they were “very satisfied” with the quality of communication within their companies.

• 31% of employees said their superiors didn’t create enough transparency.

• 24% claimed their managers are too busy to listen.

• 23% said their superiors ‘simply aren’t good’ at communicating.

Respondents also said having a manager check in with them on a regular basis – even for as little as five minutes a week – is extremely important to them.

Source: 15five.com

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Luna Park Sydney • 6-7 April 2016

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18/02/2016 2:56:46 PM

NATIONAL HR SUMMIT 2016

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

The future of HR is… “Always changing and adapting because I don’t know what it’s going to look like in 10 years. What I’d like it to be: I’d like the HR director role to be like the CFO role. In other words, a path to the CEO role. I’d like to see more commercial accountability coming into HR, to have targets and be accountable for what we do” this is no different to any other field.

“I think when you get your head so into something it’s hard to lift it up and say, ‘I wonder what other people think of this finance deck I’ve created?’ So we’re no different, but I think we are guilty of staring into things for too long. We feel like it’s an important job that we do and we want to be able to express that in some way. We want people to recognise that what we do is important and we feel slightly defensive about people’s attitude towards us.”

Ultimately, Mourra adds, these mixed

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messages are often caused by being on the backfoot in terms of communication. “Some HR teams suffer from being overly quiet, almost to the point that people aren’t engaged.

They believe anything coming from HR is not for them,” she says.

This is far from the case. Mourra notes that almost everything HR does matters to every single employee. Even if someone is not into numbers, for example, they’ll be into what their pay is, or what their bonus is, she adds.

“We’re talking about them, so what we do really matters to most people. However,

we can bore them, we can be too dry, we can be a joke – but we have an opportunity to be very different.”

Being “very different” is what Mourra believes she brings to BBC Worldwide’s global HR team. While she’s well known in the Sydney office for her sense of humour and ‘light touch’, these are elements that she’s keen to roll out into corporate comms globally. “What I’m increasingly able to do for that global HR community is take the way we’re communicating here, which is a very specific, loud voice in the office, and see if we

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Luna Park Sydney • 6-7 April 2016

can’t replicate that elsewhere. It’s about HR being ok about being HR,” she says.

Personalising it Appraisal time is loathed by most people.

It’s time consuming for managers, while employees squirm uncomfortably until it passes, hopefully with minimum fallout.

Yet even in this age of ‘the death of the performance appraisal’, it’s a reality for most employers.

Mourra has recently tried to shift perceptions ever so slightly. “Usually, appraisal time was communicated the same way each year – an email from the CEO, followed by something from the HRD with more specific instructions,” she says. “But the emails I send now are very irreverent and cheeky. For example, one might say, ‘It’s that time of year, I get it, you don’t love it’. It’s acknowledging how people are feeling, but also trying to heighten what the good things are and not losing sight of that.”

Mourra also cut a video together using relevant snippets of BBC TV shows. “Some of it’s kind of saying, ‘Aren’t appraisals awful?’, and some of it’s saying, ‘Well, what if you didn’t have appraisals? That would be bad wouldn’t it?’ So I think it’s engaging. People like watching videos, and we tell stories as a business so it’s a medium we really like.”

Mourra suggests a touch of honesty never goes astray. “We don’t always have to be saying, ‘You should be enjoying your appraisal’. HR shouldn’t feel we have to position ourselves as the almighty do-gooders. We’re also human and it’s also tedious for us – we don’t always enjoy them.”

The fine line The fine line when trying to communicate complicated issues is not to dumb it down, but keep it ‘light’ enough so as to keep an audience engaged.

Self-awareness is critical, says Mourra.

“The way we counterbalance the dumbing down is amping up the humour. So even if we’re dumbing it down, acknowledge that – ‘Ok, we’re dumbing it down but that’s ok, it’s meant to be funny’.”

Mourra cites a recently-created ‘communication pack’ about bonuses. “I created a weirdly comedic bonus pack, which involved gelato and beer in simple graphs. We described earning your 100% OTE package as getting a full pint of beer, and how you could get it to two pints if you hit certain targets. People were sitting there with smiles on their faces. It’s very effective to be able to visualise something simply. We do try and modify our comms to be just a little more creative – and it doesn’t have to be expensive.”

Same at the top?

While Mourra might tweak her communication style slightly when dealing with her executive colleagues, she insists, “I don’t change it dramatically”.

However, that’s not to say the tone at the top is always lighthearted. Mourra says her MD expects her to be able to talk about the business, not just the people issues.

“I don’t think he wants someone he can just talk to about people. That feels very gossipy to me. I don’t just want to chat about what people are talking about around the office,” she says.

Importantly, Mourra acts almost like a conduit between the workforce and her MD. She relays “the stuff that may not get through to him”, she says. For example, upon moving to their new HQ, it became apparent that the MD’s office was situated too far from everyone else. He was isolated.

On Mourra’s prompting, the MD has embraced hotdesking several days a week.

“He knows how important it is to engage people, but with so many priorities it’s not his sole focus. I just suggested he be more visible to everyone and hotdesking seemed to be one way to achieve that. He’s enjoying it and our people enjoy seeing him – it changes up the energy in the space.”

See Naomi Mourra talk about the art of keeping it simple at the National HR Summit, Sydney, 6-7 April. sydney.hrsummit.com.au

FUTURE CHALLENGES

1. Keeping pace with industry change Netflix has acted as a disrupter for television.

Traditional ways of doing business – and business models themselves – are being tested.

BBC Worldwide has always done business by region – that is, an office in Australia sold content to channels 7, 9, 10, and so on. “That has always worked,” says Mourra. “We’ll get the rights from the UK and sell to our local region.” However, this has changed. Netflix is a global partner. “How do you deal with a global partner who wants to buy the rights to one show across all regions?”

Mourra says the shake-up has forced global teams to deal with sometimes-conflicting priorities. “How do we balance the change that’s going on with our competitors, and our own structures that have been built a certain way and have been that way for years? And how do we break down silos and get people talking because they’ve never had to talk before? How do we build contacts across regions?”

2. Building proactive career development plans BBC Worldwide has a young workforce. Lured by the excitement of working for an exciting, ‘sexy’ brand, Mourra says that traditionally not enough attention has been paid to the professional development of these employees. “When an industry or company looks good on a CV there can be reluctance to do any more than just exist. People will come to you no matter what, so we don’t need to develop them.

However, the tide is turning on that. There are lots of other sexy brands out there, competing for talent.

Our challenge is getting people excited about developing their career here.”

For Mourra, this means customisation. She’s looking to know more about staff: What motivates them? What are their career aspirations? If they were to receive an incentive or reward, what would that be? While she concedes this will make life more complicated for HR, she feels that people want to be treated as individuals. “Part of the reason HR gets such a bad rap sometimes is we want people to be all the same. That doesn’t cut it.

We want to capture those unique footprints.”

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18/02/2016 2:29:42 PM

NATIONAL HR SUMMIT 2016

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

IS IT TIME FOR HR TO BECOME INVISIBLE? With technology threatening to automate certain HR functions, it’s time to ask if HR should embrace the opportunity to become more visible in business, or whether it will remain in the shadows as a behind-the-scenes operator. Telstra’s Darren Fewster shares his view on the future of HR with HRD’s Victoria Bruce SHOULD HR be front and centre or an effective behind-the-scenes player? That’s the compelling panel discussion being held in the Director’s Forum at the National HR Summit in April.

It appears HR finds itself at yet another fork in the road. One road continues down the path travelled to this point – with HR slowly making headway up the corporate ranks but still being stifled by a somewhat negative PR image. A second road meanwhile sees seamless processes being created so that the transactional side of HR works in the background, and the bulk of the function places itself in the role of problemsolver, standing shoulder to shoulder with the C-suite team to lead from the front.

State of flux One of the panel’s participants, Darren Fewster, Telstra’s executive director, shared services human resources, says HR is in a state of flux – and some components will

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indeed become invisible, or cease to exist.

“Business leaders want HR to help them address their key people challenges and concerns, particularly in areas such as talent,

Business leaders are also becoming clearer about the role they want HR to play.

“Last year at Telstra, we asked leaders from across the business about their priorities

The future of HR is… “All about the employee experience as technological innovation changes the world of work and how people work. HR will play a key role in the way that the business and people experience this new world” performance and culture,” Fewster says.

He adds there is no question the role of HR is changing and some traditional HR generalist accountabilities are ‘disappearing’, whilst technology is seeing fundamental shifts in other areas.

for HR and the responses mirrored those that you will find in almost any global survey,” he says.

“They want HR to help them find and develop talent for their business, including their leadership pipelines, to help drive a

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Luna Park Sydney • 6-7 April 2016

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18/02/2016 2:31:38 PM

NATIONAL HR SUMMIT 2016

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

“HR CANNOT BE INVISIBLE” Another panel member, Tony Lehner, Unisys Asia Pacific senior HR director, says HR needs to step out of the shadows and reinvent itself as the face of the organisation, particularly when it comes to attracting new talent.

At Unisys, the role of HR in talent acquisition is of pivotal importance to the organisation’s growth strategy.

“In many cases, members of the HR team are the face of the organisation when we are attracting new talent,” Lehner says. “HR cannot be invisible,” he adds.

However, while Lehner feels HR should play a visible role within a company, he highlights the need for a paradigm shift from HR as an administrative function to HR as a strategic partner.

“HR should be seen – but we need to be seen doing the right things,” Lehner says.

“Businesses can’t afford to have an HR team that doesn’t add real value to the business.”

Lehner says HR should be visible by: 1 Playing an active and strategic participant role in the executive leadership team (people are a valued asset of the business) 2 Leading talent acquisition – usually HR are the first contact with new talent 3 Partnering with the business to develop programs to delight customers. high-performance and customer-focused workplace culture, to help them predict and solve business problems.”

He says issues can arise when what business leaders perceive as HR’s capability to deliver on key business objectives and the actual function of HR doesn’t align.

“And that’s the challenge. It’s about ensuring that HR understands the business and delivers on what it needs,” Fewster says.

Fewster notes leaders appreciate the

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value of data about their business and customers, especially when it comes to predictive analytics – and this is one way HR can lead down that new ‘problemsolver’ road outlined previously.

“As a function, HR owns an incredible amount of end-to-end people data – from the time that we start attracting and recruiting people, throughout their employment and when they leave the company,” Fewster says. “If we can take this data to solve and even predict business talent and engagement issues then this will be of immense value to any business.”

Is technology making some functions redundant?

A big part of HR change is driven by technology, which is enabling employees to get the answers they need without the intervention of HR, Fewster says.

While outside of work people rely heavily on information technologies to do their shopping, banking or sharing information with others, the modern workplace has been slower on the uptake – but this is changing.

“Employees and managers will increasingly get the answers they need when they want them through innovation and digital solutions, while traditional HR services will increasingly be readily performed online,” Fewster says.

He cites one example at Telstra – a SharePoint site that extracts individual information from multiple systems and presents it on a single personalised page. The ‘Me Page’ removes the need for employees to navigate separate systems or contact HR to get answers to basic questions.

Employees can check their pay, leave balances, reward and recognition benefits, and job and learning opportunities.

Another Telstra innovation – an HR App – provides employees with access to HR information and includes features such

as the ability to complete leave submission forms and timesheets – and for managers to approve these.

Of course, in order to cut down on bureaucracy, sometimes it’s in HR’s best interests to ‘get out of the way’.

“One of our company values at Telstra is ‘Make the Complex Simple’. This applies equally to our external customers and our internal processes,” Fewster says.

“My team applies a simplicity lens to our new system investments, our processes and our day-to-day operations. This is one way that HR can get out of the way.”

He adds that the days of bureaucratic and complex processes to govern workplace behaviour are coming to an end.

Empowerment the key Fewster says it’s not the role of HR to ‘police’ policy compliance, afterall, capable managers shouldn’t need to hide behind HR. However, this also fundamentally changes HR’s role in business. “Our approach to the workplace should be that we empower the 99% of people who come to work to do a good job and contribute in a meaningful way.”

“A successful HR team is one that adds value to the business, partnering with leaders to deliver on the company’s strategic and cultural priorities,” Fewster says.

“In this regard, HR is no different to other corporate functions such as Finance and Marketing. Our role is to understand the business and contribute to delivery of the business strategy.” And whether or not an invisible strategic business advisor is viable is doubtful.

See Darren Fewster and other HR professionals debate the topic ‘HR by stealth: Should HR make itself invisible?’ at the National HR Summit, Sydney, 6-7 April. sydney.hrsummit.com.au

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18/02/2016 2:31:36 PM

EMPLOYMENT LAW Special Report 2016 At the start of a new year, it’s beneficial to take a fresh look at Australia’s ever-changing employment laws. HRD presents a guide to four key areas

p44 Bullying in the workplace p46 Mediation as a viable alternative to litigation p48 Managing ill and injured workers p50 Ordinary and Customary Turnover of Labour in the spotlight

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18/02/2016 2:33:48 PM

LEGAL SPECIAL REPORT

BULLYING

POSITIVE WORKPLACE CULTURE: A CURE FOR BULLYING? Having the right policies and procedures in place is just the start of what a business can do to stamp out bullying, as Matthew Robinson explains NO MANAGER in a professionally run business or organisation sits down and plans to create a work environment that allows bullying and harassment to thrive.

Any competent C-suite executive or people manager knows that a healthy workplace environment attracts skilled, motivated and loyal employees, and that this kind of worker helps to boost productivity and ensure that the business remains competitive. In short, when it comes to bullying and harassment, businesses would be well advised to do their best to prevent it occurring in the first place.

When the anti-bullying laws were introduced into the Fair Work Act 2009 in January 2014, the social impacts of bullying attracted a great deal of attention, especially in the media. The Fair Work Commission

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(FWC) expected to be inundated with bullying claims.

To the surprise of many, that didn’t happen. During the period from 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015, just 694 applications were lodged. To put this number in perspective, it

any difficult socio-legal issue, the situation is far more complex.

The current situation in relation to workplace bullying Statistics are always useful, but unfortunately they never tell the full story. This is particularly true of bullying. While the statistics from the FWC give the impression that Australian workplace culture is largely free from bullying, this is far from an accurate picture of what is occurring.

Most cases are akin to bad reality television in the way they expose the inner workings of a business equates to a mere 4.7% of the 14,623 unfair dismissal claims lodged over the same period.

Had bullying been cured overnight by the stroke of the legislative pen?

No, of course not. As is often the case with

There are two main reasons why incidents of bullying in workplaces don’t end up as claims in the FWC: • There is a limited range of remedies available • The strain associated with commencing

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thinking and foresight we encourage, because it puts those businesses in a strong position to defeat any bullying claim on their own terms.

Why do businesses put so much hard work into this area?

They don’t want to find themselves defending a bullying claim in the FWC. The few decisions that have been handed down make cringeworthy reading. They explore, in microscopic detail, the day-to-day happenings within workplaces. These cases require huge volumes of evidence heard over several days.

Of course, some decisions address awful – and even extremely nasty – situations. However, most cases are akin to bad reality television in the way they expose the inner workings of a business. Quite often, the adverse publicity and brand damage associated with such public exposure is difficult to repair.

Maintaining a positive workplace culture

formal legal proceedings against an employer means that a victim (who often is in a fragile psychological state as a result of the bullying and may have limited financial resources) may decide that it is simply easier and less painful to find another job elsewhere.

Interestingly, despite the absence of the anticipated onslaught of claims as a result of the new bullying jurisdiction, at FCB Group, we’ve seen employees develop an increased awareness of their rights in relation to bullying, especially when being performance managed.

It is also worth noting that the FWC statistics don’t demonstrate the significant work that businesses have undertaken in this area. Many have worked hard over the past two years to identify and resolve bullying and harassment complaints within their workplaces so that these kinds of grievances don’t spill over into external forums, such as the FWC, social media or conventional media.

This is a wise course of action that demonstrates the kind of clever strategic

While there is no doubt that setting up policies and procedures is a vital step in preventing bullying and harassment in the workplace, maintaining a positive workplace culture is an ongoing process. It’s not a matter of ‘ticking and flicking’ (ticking the box and flicking the document into the nearest file), and then forgetting about the issue.

Workforces are dynamic places, because there is a constant turnover not only of personnel but also of their personal aims/ desires and circumstances. Model employees can become aberrant when their personal circumstances change for the worse or if there are changes in the workplace. A change in leadership (whether it is structural or social) can transform the way the individuals in a team interact and thus affect the quality of the work being undertaken. A team restructure can have the same effect.

How should businesses respond to these kinds of continual changes and developments?

Employers need to reinforce their workplace values constantly. In addition, they need to create access points so the workforce has an opportunity to express their concerns. Quite often, we talk to businesses that, we find, had

STEPS TO PREVENT BULLYING AND HARASSMENT Since the announcement of the introduction of antibullying provisions in the Fair Work Act in mid-2013, we’ve seen a significant number of businesses, of all sizes, take positive steps to prevent bullying and harassment. These include: 1 Taking snapshot samples of their workplace culture to identify any aberrant pockets and to use baseline readings for later cultural analysis 2 Implementing or improving their bullying and harassment grievance procedures and policies 3 Reviewing their induction training packages to ensure that workplace values are well known 4 Training staff, managers and line managers in upholding appropriate workplace values and identifying and eliminating inappropriate behaviours 5 Taking decisive action against any employee found to have breached workplace values 6 Developing processes that capture workplace grievances quickly and advances them within an internal dispute resolution process (which avoids dispute leakage into the FWC), including: a. swiftly investigating the claims (via either an informal or formal investigation) b. preventing the prospect of any retaliatory action during the course of any investigation c. providing flexibility in the options available to resolve the dispute, ranging from offers of apology, adjustments to working arrangements and informal mediations, to formal disciplinary action. no idea there was a problem, simply because they hadn’t bothered to create ways for workers to communicate with senior management about issues that were concerning them.

Matthew Robinson is a Partner & Solicitor at FCB Group and can be contacted on +61 29922 5188 or mnr@fcbgroup.com.au

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18/02/2016 2:36:03 PM

LEGAL SPECIAL REPORT

MEDIATION

MEDIATION: SAVING TIME AND MONEY The benefits of mediation in workplace disputes have escalated in recent years. Chris McArdle outlines what’s involved

FIRST, FROM a lawyer’s point of view: In the 1960s, every state of Australia introduced fluoride to the water supply. This was intended to reduce tooth decay in the population. Indeed it did. The general dental health of the community that we have now could never have been contemplated as recently as the 1950s.

This was going to send dentists broke, so they said. No more annual cavities.

Fewer dentures.

‘They’ were wrong. Dentists, instead,

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became more available to prevent ill health and enhance general well-being.

Mediation is ‘lawyers’ fluoride’. It really has reduced the volume of litigation. Some say that it has cut the general earnings of the bar.

The upside of that, though, is that lawyers are (or should be) now freer to advise and assist in preventing disputes becoming litigation. The lawyer-as-mediator is a service that has really appeared over the past

decade, and is now in general use. Courts now require mediation before a matter can be heard. Litigation still takes up the time and resources of the system, but less so.

Mediation in employment law Where does that leave us in the employment jurisdiction? The Fair Work and Human Rights Commission, the Federal Circuit Court/Federal Court, as well as all levels of State Courts and Tribunals, insist on attempts at settlement

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before the matter is heard. In the NSW Supreme Court, for instance, the settlement rate is now 46%. That is only for matters that were actually commenced in the court – it is an even more impressive statistic when you extrapolate the number of matters that were settled before they got that far.

What courts/commissions/tribunals cannot offer is expedition, nor ‘a stitch in time’ – fixing ‘the issue’ before it becomes ‘the problem’. It is probably better to not have mediation, say, six weeks after a dispute has been lodged (as in the unfair dismissal area) or sometimes as late as a year after a matter has gone the rounds in the Federal or State courts.

It preserves workplace harmony, and simply saves time and money, to not have these matters on the books for months when they could be talked through in days or weeks.

Even in the case of the Fair Work Commission in the unfair dismissal area, it is usually at least five to six weeks after the initial ‘opening statement’ of the aggrieved person that a telephone conciliator attempts to bring the parties together. By then, each side has lodged a statement of position, to the annoyance of the other.

A definition What, then, is private mediation? Simply, a trained and experienced facilitator chairs a round of discussions. It obviously has to be voluntary. By comparison, the ‘compulsory’ sessions some months down the track can be hampered from the beginning because of entrenched positions.

The procedure The mediator makes a ground rules statement.

They may or may not have been given a briefing paper in advance. If the aim is to keep a matter small, then putting, say, an aggrieved individual to the task of writing down their grievance, may not be positive. So, whether to have a position

document in advance is a case-by-case option.

There needs to be an agreement to mediate signed in advance. The mediator speaks from that, and makes clear that all to be said is confidential, and is without prejudice. The assurance is given that

The mediator may then list the options available if agreement is not reached on the outstanding matters. They can’t give legal advice, but can speak to likely prospects as to time and expense.

It preserves workplace harmony, and simply saves time and money, to not have these matters on the books for months when they could be talked through in days or weeks the mediator will not disclose anything said in private to them by a party without permission.

The parties make their statements. This empowers individuals. It is them having their say. The statement also lets either side know what the other is thinking or what the problems with their own contentions may be.

The mediator summarises the statements. From that the mediator lists agenda items needed to be resolved to reach agreement. Sometimes this has never been done by either side. It makes things clearer and sometimes removes the emotion from the issue. It is far less emotional to have to go through the facts than to simply say how you feel.

There can then be open discussion, and separate sessions.

The resolved issues and the outstanding issues are listed.

Hopefully (and, it can be said, usually) an agreement is reached, reduced to writing, and signed. It becomes an enforceable document.

The value This saves time and money. That is, the time and the expense of a private mediation is much less than any procedure in any court or tribunal.

It keeps emotions in check. The passing of time sets views in concrete.

Mediation also gives the feeling of the matter being important, while keeping it under control. That is why it is usually wise to have it off-site. Many lawyers, ourselves included, have dedicated mediation facilities.

Conference rooms in hotels can be used.

The result Mediation works. The reduction in cases and the reduction in costs over the past decade or so speak for themselves.

Chris McArdle is principal lawyer at McArdle Legal, a law practice specialising in Employment Law. It is based in Sydney with clients throughout Australia. The firm also enjoys an established record as commercial and workplace mediators. It has dedicated mediation facilities.

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18/02/2016 2:36:59 PM

LEGAL SPECIAL REPORT

ILL & INJURED WORKERS

MANAGING YOUR INJURY AND RISK PROFILE Getting an employee back to productive work after an injury or illness is the objective of every employer – yet this goal is not as straightforward as it might first appear. Lisa Burrell reports employers to provide ‘suitable employment’ to employees injured in the workplace, with an accepted claim, for a specified period of time.

Importantly, the obligation to participate in return-to-work plans applies whether or not a current ‘job’ exists, and an offer of suitable employment does not need to be to the workers pre-injury role.

There are benefits for all parties in actively managing claims, including identifying and providing suitable employment to injured employees. In particular, minimising the time lost from employment ensures least impact on the business’ WorkCover Premium. Effective claims management may involve questioning details or assessment of tasks through to scheduling regular independent medical examinations.

Employer’s role during the determination of liability process: WorkCover

A SUCCESSFUL return to work after illness or injury brings benefits to the employer, the employee and the community. However, it is important that employers understand the distinction between supporting an employee’s recovery from personal injury or illness, as opposed to work-related injury or illness, in

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order to best manage the level of introduced risk to their business.

WorkCover injury/illness In Australia, state and territory specific legislation governs workers compensation. In all states, there is broadly the obligation for

When a workplace-related claim is received a process is enacted to determine liability. This process is largely managed by the WorkCover Agent and many employers feel powerless to influence the outcome of the claim. Some employers may not realise that they have an opportunity from the outset to influence this process to ensure that the extent of their liability is precisely determined. For example,

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Victorian employers can insist that a claim is ‘held pending’ for the legislated period of 28 calendar days while an independent medical examination (IME) is arranged to determine the exact nature of the medical condition and the recommended treatment and rehabilitation requirements.

A clear and objective diagnosis from the outset and a tailored treatment/ rehabilitation plan will assist in managing the risk to an employer of a claim dragging on and consuming excessive resources. An accepted claim for a ‘back’ injury, based on an ambiguous diagnosis, can cost an employer thousands of dollars. A definitive diagnosis of ‘strain/sprain at L4/L5’ can change the course of events dramatically and mitigate some of the risks associated with an ‘evolving diagnosis’ and potential entitlement to medical and like treatment for unrelated symptoms.

Employers should obtain specialised advice from the outset to maximise their opportunity of either contesting a claim, or ensuring only condition/s which arose as a result of the work place injury are accepted.

Personal injuries/illness The above requirement to provide suitable duties is in contrast to the obligations under other pieces of legislation such as discrimination and industrial legislation that will still govern personal injury or illness. In these circumstances, employers need to have regard as to whether the employee can undertake the inherent requirements of their own role.

Obligations exist to consider ‘reasonable adjustments’ to an employee’s role, in order to allow the employee to undertake the inherent requirements of the role. This obligation does not extend to creating a role, or offering alternative duties.

Whether an employee can perform the inherent requirements of the role will be a case by case assessment on the integral and essential components of the role, and then whether the injury is such that the person cannot perform these, even with reasonable adjustments.

What if the role cannot be ‘reasonably adjusted’?

Managing offers of suitable, adjusted or alternative duties

Where the employee’s role cannot be reasonably adjusted, a longer-term strategy will depend on whether the nature of the injury is deemed to be temporary or permanent in nature. Under the Fair Work Act (see s352), employers cannot dismiss for a temporary illness or injury. Under workers’ compensation

In all circumstances, it is important that employers and employees alike understand that offers of suitable employment do not form part of a new offer of employment. To manage the risk associated with accommodating informal, ongoing arrangements employers should seek the

Obligations exist to consider ‘reasonable adjustments’ to an employee’s role, in order to allow the employee to undertake the inherent requirements of the role legislation, specified periods of return-to-work obligations exist.

Ultimately, if the injury is of an ongoing nature, employers will need to determine whether they proceed to a termination of employment. In this instance, medical advice must be obtained and reviewed. Dismissals may be challenged and employers must ensure that they are following due process in order to minimise risk.

Employers can offer alternative duties to an employee injured in personal circumstances but should give careful consideration to the level of introduced risk, the potential impact on the injured employee’s immediate colleagues, productivity, efficiency and the equity of the decision.

Finally, it is important employers understand that a recurrence, aggravation, acceleration, exacerbation or deterioration of a personal injury which meets the WorkSafe definition, in or out of the course of employment, is considered compensable under each state-specific Act. This means that a well-intentioned employer, who offers alternative employment to an injured/ unwell employee, could be left managing a WorkCover claim.

employee’s written agreement that they understand the duties are temporary and designed to support their recovery and return to pre-injury employment.

Key considerations Employers must be active in assessing and mitigating risk from the outset, as many of the opportunities to minimise risk diminish over time. A structured and well-planned process will include the following essential elements: • medical opinion – challenged where necessary • early and active challenges if disputing a WorkCover claim • careful documentation; and • an awareness of the intersecting legislative requirements.

Lisa Burrell is the general manager of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The Victorian Chamber is Victoria’s most influential employer group, servicing more than 15,000 Victorian businesses per annum.

An independent, non-government body, the Victorian Chamber was founded in 1851 by the business community to represent business.

www.hcamag.com

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18/02/2016 2:53:02 PM

LEGAL SPECIAL REPORT

ORDINARY AND CUSTOMARY TURNOVER OF LABOUR

AN EXCEPTION TO EVERY RULE: OCTL IN THE SPOTLIGHT The ‘Ordinary and Customary Turnover of Labour’ exception has been a confusing issue for employers – but a recent case may help clarify matters, writes Michaela Moloney and Jessamy Kenny PICTURE THIS. A cleaning business successfully obtains a contract to provide cleaning services to a large CBD building.

At the end of the term of the contract, the property management company advises that it will not be renewing the contract with the cleaning company as a competitor has been successful in the open tender. As a result, some, if not all, of the employees of the cleaning company are likely to lose their jobs.

All the employees of the cleaning company were aware that they had been employed for the purposes of the cleaning contract.

Sound familiar?

The question that often comes up with these types of scenarios is whether the employer needs to make redundancy payments to the employees. A common gripe of employers is that contracts are clearly expressed to only operate for a specific contract or period yet the employees may still have an expectation of redundancy pay.

At the heart of the answer is the meaning of ‘ordinary and customary turnover of labour’ (OCTL) and the corresponding exception to the obligation to pay redundancy pay.

The position is now much clearer, particularly for contracting and labour

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hire companies following a decision of the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission (the Commission). The decision overturns a previous decision of the Commission that effectively made it more difficult for contracting and labour hire companies to rely on the exception.

What is OCTL? Where an employee is dismissed because their job is no longer required, the employee is of course redundant and the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) provides that an employee is entitled to redundancy pay unless the dismissal is due to the ordinary and customary turnover of labour.

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As helpful as this is, the case law has established that whether or not a dismissal is due to OCTL depends on the circumstances of each case. It requires an assessment of the normal features of the business and the reasonable expectations of each employee about the duration and security of their employment.

If an employee could be said to have had a settled expectation of ongoing employment with their employer, then it is unlikely that the employer can rely on the OCTL exception.

a contract, particularly Defence contracts 2. The idea of an employee being employed to work on a specific contract implies a link between the contract and the employment and the loss of the contract could give rise to dismissal. In the present case, this was expressly referred to in many of the relevant employment contracts 3. It was a long-standing practice of Compass to apply the OCTL exception.

The Commission considered that as no variations to the terms of Compass’

The case law has established that whether or not a dismissal is due to OCTL depends on the circumstances of each case What happened?

The original decision (National Union of Workers and another v Compass Group (Australia) Pty Ltd [2015] FWC 6055) dealt with a dispute brought by the NUW and UFU against Compass Group Pty Ltd in respect of Compass’ decision not to pay redundancy to employees (relying on an OCTL clause in its enterprise agreements) when it decided not to re-tender for a long standing contract it held with the Department of Defence.

The Commission found that in respect of the eight employees in question, none of their dismissals were due to OCTL and that Compass should provide them with redundancy payments.

As a labour hire company with an OCTL clause in its enterprise agreement, Compass subsequently appealed the decision.

On appeal (Compass Group (Australia) Pty Ltd v National Union of Workers and another [2015] FWCFB 8040), the Full Bench overturned the original decision.

In concluding that the OCTL exception did apply in the circumstances of the case, the Full Bench found: 1. It was common practice for Compass to dismiss employees following the loss of

enterprise agreements were sought, Compass’ interpretation of the applicability of the OCTL exception was the common intention of the parties to the enterprise agreements.

The decision of the Full Bench should provide some comfort to employers that they can rely on the OCTL exception in certain circumstances.

However, this will depend on the nature of the business and the employment arrangements in place. If applied correctly, the OCTL exception can work to provide employers requiring staff for short-term contracting arrangements the flexibility to manage their business needs.

What can be learned from this case?

Like many aspects of employment law, each situation may be considered differently depending on the facts. However, the good news is that if your business does require employees on short-term or specific task contracts, or is a labour hire business, then there are some key points to consider that may assist in determining whether the OCTL exception applies.

These include: • what is the reason for the redundancy? eg loss of contract • is tendering for contracts (and obtaining and losing contracts), as well as hiring and firing employees depending on those contracts, a feature of the industry?

• how long have the employees been employed?

• have employees been informed (in employment documents or otherwise) that the employer sources its work by way of contracts and that such contracts are not guaranteed indefinitely?

• is it standard practice for the business to dismiss employees as a result of losing a contract?

• does the employer routinely redeploy employees to alternative contracts either during the life of a contract or after its expiry?

• have the employees been transferred to work on different contracts?

• have the employees been made any promises about the security/longevity of their employment?

Get these aspects right and employers could avoid making the mistake of applying the exception inappropriately. Get it wrong and face serious consequences, such as: • disputes arising under the terms of an applicable industrial instrument • claims for payment of redundancy entitlements through the Fair Work Ombudsman or the Courts • claims for breach of relevant industrial instruments or the National Employment Standards, with potential penalties of up to $54,000 per breach.

Michaela Moloney is a partner at K&L Gates.

Jessamy Kenny is a lawyer in the K&L Gates Labour, Employment and Workplace Safety team.

www.hcamag.com

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18/02/2016 2:50:39 PM

FEATURES

HR STANDARDS

ONE SET OF STANDARDS TO RULE THEM ALL The combination of HR Standards, HR Auditing and big data has the potential to revolutionise how HR operates globally. Neil McCormick and Chris Andrews outline the world’s best practice and where Australia currently sits THERE ARE two radical changes emerging in the HR space that are coming from entirely different directions but are destined to collide – HR Standards and big (HR-related) data.

They are radical because they will fundamentally change the performance evaluation of HR, the teaching of the profession, and the standing and credibility of practitioners.

Worldwide, there are now 24 participating countries involved in the International Standards Organisation Technical Committee (ISO/TC 260) looking into HR Standards, with a further 18 countries observing. In order for data analytics to provide maximum effect in the people space, there is an underlying requirement for definitions and for activity standards to allow for advanced analytics.

If a CEO or CFO has a head of HR who doesn’t believe in HR Standards, move them on. In this article we will describe two examples that demonstrate the extent of recent changes – South Africa and North America.

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Global developments

Why are HR Standards important?

In 2005, the world’s largest HR member organisation – the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) – asked its members if we should or shouldn’t have HR Standards. That is the wrong question, as HR Standards are not optional. To evaluate performance, a competent auditor will tell you that you have to set standards for the performance evaluation. Accountants have standards and auditors have standards. Why not HR? By 2013, 91% of SHRM members responding to a survey agreed that organisations should have HR Standards.

Despite that overwhelming result, SHRM has recently stepped back from HR standards development. That space has been taken up by the University of Texas Medical Branch, which is also very active in the big data space (read further on to see what they are doing).

In order to evaluate performance you need standards – every performance auditor understands that. Aside from performance evaluation (which is justification enough), setting HR Standards improves the quality and consistency of HR practice, clarifies the value created by HR management, focuses on better practice with timely revisions to practitioner guidance, clarifies definitions and evaluation metrics and measures, identifies sources of evidence for performance evaluation, and establishes a sound platform for big data analytics.

According to the Strategic Business Plan for the ISO/TC 260 Committee, standards for HR will bring improvements in the quality of HR practice, leading to improvement in organisational performance. They will clarify the value that HR creates and maintains in organisations, and they will provide

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If a CEO or CFO has a head of HR who doesn’t believe in HR Standards, move them on consistent measures and processes to aid in benchmarking and evaluating the effectiveness of HR practices. There is a need for greater consistency in the terminology used in HR management to facilitate knowledge, innovation, international trade and practice exchange.

Australia stalls In Australia, progress on developing National HR Standards has been proceeding slowly.

Standards Australia has established a Human Resources and Employment Committee (MB-009), but output so far is minimal. Two national standards have been issued: Employment Screening (2006) and Workforce Planning (2015). One university-

specific project grant, obtained by QUT University, developed HR Standards for that sector. It is hardly a comprehensive approach to developing national standards.

South Africa’s big step forward The South African Board for People Practices (SABPP) has developed and implemented National HR Standards from 2013 onwards, covering all the major areas of HR practice.

Chris Andrews was invited to attend and speak at the SABPP’s third annual National HR Standards Conference, held in Johannesburg in September 2015. Clearly, the South Africans have broken from the pack by delivering a full set of National HR Standards.

They have used the HR Standards

process to drive a strong alignment between individual competency requirements, organisational outcomes and the university teaching curriculum in HR. By examining organisations against the National Standards, they are certifying that organisations comply with the standards through a streamlined HR auditing process, while elevating the standing and status of the HR profession at the same time.

At the recent SABPP HR Standards Conference, case studies were presented that attested to the transformative power of auditing against HR Standards.

With 22 universities now teaching to the National HR Standards, new HR graduates will enter the profession with HR Standards as the foundation of professional practice.

The South African National HR Standards and the related HR Auditing program are an inspiring example of innovation in HR management.

The keynote address at the 2015 conference was on the topic of HR Auditing.

There is worldwide interest in the SABPP approach to auditing organisations against the National Standards, and from case studies highlighting the progress that has been made. In meetings with professional auditors and the Institute of Internal Auditors South Africa, the case for close collaboration between the professions of HR and auditing has been made and accepted.

Meanwhile, back in the US The work of SHRM on HR Standards progressed slowly and it has now stepped back from standards development. That space has been taken up by the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), which is proceeding with the development of US HR Standards, and a separate standard on Health Care Administration. Significantly, UTMB executive Ronald McKinley also chairs the ISO/TC 260 Committee. The UTMB has actively embraced the general objectives of the ISO/TC 260 Committee and recognise the global need for HR Standards, with a particular emphasis on improving health outcomes.

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FEATURES

HR STANDARDS The implications of the UTMB work for Australia lie in two areas: • the general work on data dictionaries, HR frameworks, HR activity standards and workforce optimisation, and • the emphasis on improving health outcomes through workforce optimisation in the health sector.

data points that should be captured. This will allow us to normalise data sets. At the least we will have consistent terminology and meaning, but the quality of data will still be problematic. To address this issue, a Workforce Data Integrity Standard would go a long way towards highlighting the need for risk mitigation and the steps one can take to ensure data quality.

Big data Big data, or more specifically what one can do through the analysis and subsequent implementation of appropriate interventions, has been lauded as the panacea of the world’s ills. This may be so, in time.

We are currently a long way from understanding what it is we don’t understand

Tying standards objectives

to

business

Now for the good news. Standards go part of the way to ensuring impactful, improved delivery of objectives for organisations.

However, individual standards alone will not optimise the outcomes workforces deliver. The

The South African HR Standards … are an inspiring example of innovation in HR management about the plethora of information available.

In some circles, workforce data allows for ‘flexibility’ when it comes to reporting, whether that is the basics of the calculation of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff numbers, or budgeted Establishment. Many organisations cannot get this basic workforce data correct, let alone make use of more complex data sets.

The original information capture on workforce has been driven by compliance requirements and financial/payroll concerns.

Go beyond the basics and the information quality and integrity is questionable. Throw in the complexity of individual capability and organisational need and the quality of organisational data is marginal. What hope do we have if collectively we cannot get the basics right?

There is a need to recognise the low base from which we are coming and to fix the foundation data capture and management.

We should also recognise the organisational risks the current quality of data poses.

Through the development of HR Standards we are also refining terminology and the

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key to the application of standards having a positive impact is to make sure the collective standards are framed in such a way as to continually focus not just on the activities and outputs of each standard but on the organisational objectives themselves.

Take recruitment as an example.

Within HR, appropriate measures could be the total number of hires, the time to fill, the cost per hire, and the turnover of new recruits. These are interesting in terms of HR activity but not at all interesting in terms of organisational objectives. The key question from an organisational objective viewpoint is: have the targeted number of recruits been hired and have they collectively and individually delivered against the assigned organisational objectives sufficiently and within financial parameters?

Global healthcare The push to focus on objectives and frame activity-based standards in terms of the delivery of objectives is evident in a major collaboration in the healthcare sector. HealthViZion Inc is

the organisation launching this global collaborative of healthcare providers. The key deliverable is the optimisation of the workforce to enhance patient outcomes and improve overall healthcare performance. This program will have global participation, and prior to official launch has more than 60 participating hospital groups. The core activity of the collaborative is to find ways to improve patient outcomes and workforce performance through a big data analysis of workforce metrics and patient outcome data.

The three key areas of improvement targeted are the three E’s of economy, efficiency and effectiveness. By analysing normalised data across multiple patient outcomes on a global footprint, against upwards of 120 workforce metrics, we will have the opportunity to compare, analyse, improve and optimise performance. For example, in August 2015, HealthViZion Inc launched a Value-Based Purchasing Collaborative in the US to drive better outcomes of care, while reducing costs and creating efficiencies.

Summary HR Standards are rebuilding the profession from the ground up – as an HR director it is one change that you should not ignore.

When HR Standards are combined with big data in the form of advanced analytics, expect to see fundamental changes in the HR profession emerge.

Graduating HR students from South Africa will shortly emerge from their studies having grown up with HR Standards as the core of the profession. The HR Standards message is now spreading globally – so don’t let your organisation get left behind.

References SABPP sabpp.co.za/hr-standards/ UTMB Healthcare Administration: utmb.edu/newsroom/article10412.aspx) HealthViZion: healthViZion.com

Neil McCormick is principal adviser at HRM Advisory and Dr Chris Andrews is director of human resources, Bond University.

Further information can be obtained from HR Standards in Australia: hrstandards.com.au

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18/02/201611:58:13 2:40:02 16/02/2016 AMPM

PEOPLE

HEAD TO HEAD

GOT AN OPINION THAT COUNTS? Email hrd_editor@keymedia.com.au

Should HR ‘borrow’ some of marketing’s skill set, and if so, which parts?

Liam Hayes Chief people officer Aurecon

Adrian West Head of HR, Australia and New Zealand Cisco

There is a lot we can learn from our marketing colleagues, and I believe there are three critical skill sets HR should ‘borrow’.

Firstly, the ability to understand stakeholders and establish a value proposition. Not just for current and potential employees but also the value proposition of the HR function for internal clients.

Secondly, the ability to communicate effectively. The art of writing and delivering simple but impactful communications is so important in everything we do, both internally and externally.

And finally, creativity. Many of the challenges facing HR teams and businesses are going to require creative solutions.

The challenges we face today are very different to those of the past, and we need the ability to help leaders and employees imagine a new and different future.

Successful HR functions create strategies which are directly aligned to the business, but value from these plans does not happen in isolation. The strategy needs to be shared internally in the HR function, the business, and to some extent externally; this is where marketing skills come into play.

The premise of a workforce strategy is that it is designed to support and grow the business; however, there are often key stakeholders that need to buy into the overall direction and support the plan.

In my opinion, HR could benefit from the brand and product manager marketing skill sets. In this, I would see the skill sets of an overall brand manager focusing on raising the profile of the overall HR function. The product manager would then promote and manage the success of specific initiatives or programs of work.

Barb Hyman Executive general manager, people and culture REA Group Absolutely. At realestate.com.au, our marketing approach is simple – grow and demonstrate the value we provide to our customers, and continue to provide the best site experience for our consumers. On every account, we aim to exceed their expectations.

We are now seeking to embed that same philosophy across our internal functions.

Our focus is to deliver a seamless endto-end experience of our brand for our people, with each touchpoint requiring the same high standard of delivery as our customer and consumer experience.

Marketing skills are even more critical for recruitment. Representing our employer brand and telling the story of our culture is a critical capability which, when done right, enables us to make connections with high-quality talent.

COMPETENCY CROSSOVER Research by Henley Business School suggests that consumer marketing approaches are now being introduced to talent management. There are other competency crossovers that could be adopted. HR and Marketing Power Partners, a book by Pat Nazemetz, former CHRO, Xerox Corporation, and Will Ruch, CEO of Versant, suggests that an integrated HRmarketing strategy that combines marketing’s brand messaging savvy with HR’s internal perspective and expertise can produce positive results for both departments. The authors ask: How much more effective could a CMO be if he or she knew for certain that talent would deliver on the brand promise made in every external marketing message?

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