Human Resources Director 13.04

2015 MBA GUIDE

HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR HCAMAG.COM ISSUE 13.04

NAVIGATING THE LEGAL WEB Managing ill and injured workers FORM + FUNCTION 21st century oямГce design INTERGENERATIONAL REPORT Workforce planning in focus

AUSSIE ABROAD THE PROS AND CONS OF AN OVERSEAS POSTING

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EDITORIAL www.hcamag.com APRIL 2015 EDITORIAL

SALES & MARKETING

Editor Iain Hopkins

Marketing & Communications Manager Lisa Narroway

Journalists Chloe Taylor Jill Gregorie Copy Editor Moira Daniels

ART & PRODUCTION

Business Development Managers James Francis Steven McDonald Gareth Scott

CORPORATE

Design Manager Daniel Williams

Chief Executive Officer Mike Shipley

Designer Marla Morelos

Chief Operating Officer George Walmsley

Traffic Manager Lou Gonzalez

Managing Director Justin Kennedy Chief Information Officer Colin Chan Human Resources Manager Julia Bookallil

EDITORIAL INQUIRIES iain.hopkins@keymedia.com.au

Don’t get burnt: Take action now SOMETIMES A sneaky suspicion that something is amiss only strikes when the platform you are standing on starts to smoulder.

And only when the flames engulf that platform do the less proactive of us typically take action. Unfortunately this burning platform mentality also applies in the workplace. On and off over the past decade, HRD and HC have reported on generational differences, generational similarities, the ageing workforce, the emergence of the Millennials and the inherent challenges and opportunities these demographic realities will present to businesses.

Fearful of oversaturating the market with what was fast becoming a cliché (‘Generations at war!’), we eased off.

But now we see it’s back on the agenda. The Government’s Intergenerational Report reconfirms what we’ve all known for some time: Australia’s population and workforce is ageing rapidly, with recent projections citing the number of Australians aged 65 and over to more than double over the next 40 years.

At the same time, Australians will live longer, while the participation

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ADVERTISING INQUIRIES james.francis@keymedia.com.au steven.mcdonald@ keymedia.com.au gareth.scott@ keymedia.com.au

Key Media Regional head office, Level 10, 1–9 Chandos St, St Leonards, NSW 2065, Australia tel: +61 2 8437 4700 • fax: +61 2 9439 4599 www.keymedia.com Offices in Denver, Toronto, Sydney, Auckland, Manila

Human Resources Director is part of an international family of B2B publications and websites for the human resources industry HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR MAGAZINE CANADA iain.hopkins@keymedia.com.au T +61 2 8437 4703 HRD SINGAPORE hrdmag.com.sg HC AUSTRALIA ONLINE hcamag.com HRM NEW ZEALAND hrmonline.co.nz Copyright is reserved throughout. No part of this publication can be reproduced in whole or part without the express permission of the editor. Contributions are invited, but copies of work should be kept, as HRD magazine can accept no responsibility for loss

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Tapping into the mature age sector and engaging them in the workplace for longer periods will form a major component of any future workforce strategy rate for people aged over 15 years is projected to fall. All signs point towards a rapidly shrinking supply of skilled and readily available workers for Australian businesses.

The smouldering platform is now well and truly burning. The onus is on HR leaders to future-proof their workforce. This might include: identifying what your future workforce will look like; undertaking an analysis of what future skills and competencies would be required and where the projected gaps are; and then devising an action plan to develop, retain or transfer those skills. Tapping into the mature age sector and engaging them in the workplace for longer periods will form a major component of any future workforce strategy – but action must be taken now.

Iain Hopkins Editor Correction Due to an editorial oversight, page 6 of HRD13.03 contained an incorrect company name. Ooh!Media Melbourne was mentioned. This is incorrect. The correct name is OHMedia Melbourne. Ooh!Media has no affiliation or connection with OHMedia Melbourne. HRD regrets the error.

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APRIL 2015

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

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CONTENTS

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UPFRONT 01 Editorial

The ageing population is forcing employers to rethink their talent strategies – here’s why

04 Things you should know

What’s in store for HR technology in 2015?

SPECIAL REPORT

THE HRD MBA GUIDE 2015

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Want your next gen leaders to reach the top? HRD presents its annual guide to MBAs and Executive MBAs

HRD presents a guide to managing and performance managing ill & injured workers

AUSSIE ABROAD

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Can your career benefit from a stint overseas?

Carolyn Moore, HR director, J. Walter Thompson, shares her experience

FEATURES

PEOPLE

THE BUSINESS OF DESIGN

HRD chats to Helen Fraser, HR director at global provider of design, engineering and construction services, AECOM

PEOPLE 56 Head to head

Do different generations demand different things from their employer?

We ask the experts

Does your office space help or hinder your organisation’s success?

54 FEATURES

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THE INS AND OUTS OF INTERNSHIPS

Cecilia Law explains why companies need to be responsible to interns to nurture future talent 2

The Government’s Intergenerational Report may forecast ahead to 2055, but there is action required by employers today

14 Legal insight

COVER STORY

IN PERSON

06 News analysis

HCAMAG.COM CHECK IT OUT ONLINE

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APRIL 2015

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

AUSTRALIAN HR TECHNOLOGY TRENDS The fourth annual Navigo HR Technology Report has shed light on where companies are spending on HR technology and highlights key technology concerns and opportunities for the HR industry

DID YOU KNOW?

Nearly 55% of HR systems in Australia have been in use for longer than seven years.

MOST ADOPTED HRIS SYSTEM OVER FOUR YEARS 50%

SPENDING IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS

25%

50%

more than last year

same as last year

25%

16% 0%

25% 17% 11% Chris21 (Frontier)

4

Alesco (Talent2)

SAP HCM (SAP)

8%

6%

Aurion (Chandler Macleod)

PeopleSoft (Oracle)

no expenditure this year

9% less than last year

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HR TECH ADOPTION MOTIVATION AND ROADBLOCKS (COMPARED TO 2013 REPORT) MOTIVATIONS

WHICH TECHNOLOGY IS MOST IMPORTANT FOR YOUR HR SERVICE DELIVERY? Mobile enablement Predictive analytics Big data in HR Collaboration tools Cloud computing Social media Video interviewing Gamification

ROADBLOCKS

Improved operational efficiency

Cost and budget

Meeting business objectives/strategy

Time and resources

Compliance/legislative requirement

Management buy-in

55% 54% 43% 42% 40% 32% 22% 7% 0%

Systems modernisation

Existing system and technology restriction

Reduce operational costs/headcount

Lack of HR technology strategy

Global initiative/directive

Lack of decision making ability

M&As

Poor understanding of available HR solutions

30%

WHAT LEVEL OF HR REPORTING AND ANALYTICS DO YOU USE?

19%

advanced HR metrics

61% WHAT ARE THE BARRIERS YOU SEE TO MOVING TO SAAS FOR HR TECHNOLOGY?

4%

13%

lack of functionality

customisation limitations

<2%

basic HR metrics

predictive analytics

18%

basic list reports

11%

lack of control around upgrades

BERSIN’S REPORTING AND ANALYTICS LEVELS

12%

16%

4%

Level 4. Predictive analytics: predictive models, scenario planning

10%

Level 3. Strategic analytics: segmentation, analysis, people models

30%

Level 3. Proactive: advanced reporting – routine, benchmarking, dashboards

56%

Level 1. Reactive: operational reporting – ad-hoc, reactionary

other

integration complexities

26%

6% inability to use operational budgets to fund subscription payments

60%

12%

concerns about system reliability

concerns about security/data privacy

Source: Navigo Research’s Australian HR technology report, 2014. Responses from 288 different organisations representing 690,000 employees. For the full report visit navigoresearch.com.au

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UPFRONT

INTERGENERATIONAL REPORT

The road ahead The government’s Intergenerational Report may forecast ahead to 2055, but there is action required by employers today

THE IGR AT A GLANCE Under the Charter of Budget Honesty Act 1998, the Treasurer is required to publish an ‘intergenerational report’ (IGR) every five years that assesses the long-term sustainability of current Government policies over the next 40 years, taking account of the financial implications of demographic change. The overarching aim of the report is to ensure intergenerational equity – that actions benefiting current generations should not compromise future generations.

To date, three IGRs have been published (May 2002, April 2007 and January 2010). The fourth report incorporated a range of significant policy changes since the last report in 2010. These include: • the establishment of a paid parental leave scheme in 2011 • the early stages of the phased implementation of a national disability insurance scheme • recent changes to superannuation tax concessions The report also included key assumptions and recommendations based on expected: • migration • life expectancy • fertility • labour force participation • productivity

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“TO DRIVE higher levels of prosperity through economic growth, we must increase productivity and participation … to achieve these goals we need to encourage those currently not in the workforce, especially older Australians and women, to enter, re-enter and stay in work, where they choose to do so.”

Those fighting words from Treasurer Joe Hockey to accompany the release of the Federal Government’s Intergenerational Report (IGR) in March were met with interest from within the government itself, policy makers and employees. The reason? All roads appear to lead back to employers.

Australia is looking to its older people and women to solve the economic problems forecast in the latest IGR. There is an expectation that employers will take steps to shift towards more inclusive cultures – especially for mature age workers – whereby all people can work together, for, and alongside, each other in an equitable way.

At the heart of the debate is a complicated issue with no easy fixes – workforce productivity. Some commentators noted this: “The Intergenerational Report reflects Australia’s moral panic over its ageing population. Ageing is not a problem. The issue we face is related to the distribution

of the productivity gains that we make. A number of countries have on average older populations than Australia and have dealt with it through an equitable distribution of wealth generated through productivity gains” – Dr John Buchanan, director of the University of Sydney Business School Workplace Research Centre.

Clearly, this is a bigger problem than the business world alone can resolve. On the report’s release, Lincoln Crawley, MD of ManpowerGroup Australia and New Zealand, said collaboration between government, industry and educators will be key to creating the agile, flexible and more productive workforce called for by Treasurer Joe Hockey.

“There has been much discussion on the need for this collaboration – it’s time for action,” he said.

Here are three ways employers might kick-

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start that action – and an additional one that will require significant government reform.

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Accept the value-proposition of flexible working

The Age Discrimination Commissioner, Susan Ryan, commissioned an online survey last year, which found that a significant number of business decision makers would not recruit anyone over the age of 50 due to negative stereotypes such as a dislike of change, forgetfulness and unwillingness to take instructions from someone younger. It represents a disheartening snapshot of age discrimination.

“The stigma about flexible working needs to go,” said Crawley. “The nine to five work day is history. Businesses need to fully embrace flexible work options to tap into the underutilised cohorts by looking at things

“The stigma about flexible working needs to go. The nine to five workday is history” Lincoln Crawley like part-time roles, job sharing, maternity and paternity leave, sabbaticals, etc.”

The benefits, Crawley says, speak for themselves. Unbundling and repackaging traditional work roles will provide access to an untapped and underutilised workforce, while providing better agility at a time when “the only thing that is certain is uncertainty”.

A case by case approach is best practice.

Employers need to empower managers to adopt approaches that meet specific employees’ needs, without the confinements

of a rigid corporate structure or a one-sizefits-all agreement.

“The strength of local leadership is crucial here,” suggested Bridget Beattie, executive vice president, Asia Pacific at Right Management.

“For example, does senior management trust local management to make these decisions fairly and consistently and with the business’s best interests at heart? Do employees trust and respect their direct manager and vice versa?” If the answer to these questions is ‘yes’, then the whole purpose of flexibility – to get the highest productivity and engagement

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UPFRONT

INTERGENERATIONAL REPORT ATTRACTING AND RETAINING OLDER WORKERS Samuel Day, managing director of Happening People, says there are key strategies that employers can deploy to increase retention rates of those workers aged over 50: • Age-friendly practices: create an age-friendly workplace by ensuring your organisation has policies in place to eliminate stereotyping and discrimination against older employees • Family-friendly and flexible work practices: older workers often have more commitments around extended family and caring for others.

Giving them access to flexible work arrangements can encourage them to stay in the workforce longer. These can be offered in various forms including: »»Scaling back to part-time positions or jobsharing »»Flexible work hours adjusted to allow older employees to honour outside commitments and still contribute to the business »»Working remotely »»Working as a consultant (potentially even post-retirement) • Role swapping: providing older workers with the option of transferring to a role with reduced pay and reduced responsibilities will help organisations retain corporate knowledge and skills while giving the employee a lessdemanding job • Phased retirement: help your valued mature-age workers stay with the business longer by working with them to set up a customised phasedretirement plan, which gradually reduces their working time or workload over an agreed period • Training and up-skilling: provide training to up-skill older workers and help them maintain relevant skills to meet the requirements of the workplace and keep up with the pace of change • Pre-retirement career planning: speak to employees as they enter their early 50s and map out the next decade of their working life. Work with them as they re-evaluate their priorities and any changes in lifestyle needs.

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out of an employee by meeting their personal needs at work – has been met.

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Maximise the value of your older workers

“Business, and society as a whole, need to realise the value of our older people,” said Crawley. “They are the most knowledgeable and most experienced people within our workforce, so it’s in our best interest to keep them actively engaged in the workforce for as long as they can and want to participate.”

Yet there is still a perception that older workers don’t need the same engagement efforts or learning opportunities as younger workers.

This is perhaps the biggest misconception in the world of work, says Rosie Cairnes, Skillsoft’s regional director Australia and New Zealand.

“Learning is life-long and doesn’t stop with the number of years one has under their belt,” she said.

As the workload continues to increase and employers find it increasingly difficult to hire people with the skills required, they’ll be forced to look at who they already have on the books. Continuous learning for employees will only become more critical.

“Regardless of age, all employees have a responsibility to fulfill both their roles and the strategic imperatives of the organisations they serve,” Cairnes said. “To remain relevant in the workplace and deliver work that has value to the organisation, employees must constantly develop new skillsets, change behaviours and adapt to new technologies.”

Cairnes suggests there are five key ‘moments’ of learning needs which exist for individuals. These five ‘moments’ are universal and are not restricted to an age group, reinforcing the need for L&D to support this. They are: • Remembering or applying • When something goes wrong • When something changes • Learning for the first time • Learning more breadth or depth In the case of mature age workers, there is an added pressure for employers to capture

their knowledge before they leave the business, and then pass on that knowledge and skills to younger generations.

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Align more effectively with education providers

The education sector – including training providers – also plays a vital part in providing the skills businesses need. Too often, there is a mismatch between the education and training people receive and the desired outcomes for businesses. “Tighter integration of business and education needs to happen to ensure Australia can remain competitive in the global economy,” suggests Crawley.

The issue lies with employers firstly knowing what skills and talent capability they will need from their workforce over the next 2-3 years, and then partnering with tertiary education providers and other training institutions to ensure these skills can be delivered.

Cairnes adds that government education providers can take a “leadership role” in the L&D revolution. This would involve a shift from its current reliance on ‘traditional approaches’ to L&D, which are packaged with a great deal of control and prescription.

“In order to keep pace with emerging L&D trends and innovation, the Government should take an outside-in approach, where they are open to collaboration with the industry,” she says.

Universities and other higher education institutions can differentiate and elevate their position in the market by aligning themselves to employers to ascertain and clarify the likely future skill gaps, and look at ways to encourage individuals into those courses with higher employment prospects.

The benefits flow both ways, Beattie suggests. “Universities that have higher graduate employment statistics and can demonstrate that they are taking an active role in preparing young people for employment opportunities through strategic career advice will attract students above universities that rely heavily on their reputation alone and/or fail to offer this.”

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IR reform

This is one area that will require more than just input and influence from employers; it will require significant government reform.

“Current legislation can be quite restrictive, especially for small businesses, the life-blood of our economy,” said Crawley.

For example, penalty rates make it hard for small businesses to stay open on weekends and compete for valuable business. On the other hand, there are people actively looking for flexible work options, who are happy to accept the normal pay rate, but can’t find the work.

“If we are to encourage more people to participate in the workforce, we need to allow more flexible work practices,” Crawley added.

It’s a sentiment echoed by HR leaders from larger companies. In AHRI’s submission to the Productivity Commission, a survey of its 20,000 members revealed what HR professionals would like to see in any future workplace relations framework.

Findings of the survey include the following: • Around half of survey respondents favour either no change to the Fair Work Act (16%) or incremental change to parts of it (41%), while 36% want a fundamental rewriting of the Act • 60% favour changes that allow workers freedom to participate in one agreement over another • 83% want explicit protections against coercion of workers by employers • 90% want explicit protections against coercion of workers by unions or lawyers • 71% report the Fair Work Act has either greatly increased the need for legal advice (41%) or increased it a little (30%) • 64% of respondents believe the impact of the Act has increased the cost of industrial relations either greatly (24%) or a little (40%) • Around half (51%) believe the modern awards need minor amendments, 24% believe they are about right, and 25% want a fundamental overhaul of the awards

THE AGEING POPULATION The IGR found that Australians will enjoy longer, healthier lives but will have to work for longer to maintain their present standard of living.

Australians born after 2055 can expect to live until at least 95. However, there will be just 2.7 people aged 15-64 for every person aged 65 or older in 2055, compared with 4.5 now.

As a consequence, rising healthcare and welfare costs will be borne by a smaller proportion of Australians unless reforms are introduced.

PARTICIPATION RATE SINCE DECEMBER 2010 In December 2010 a record high 67.7% of the adult population was participating in the labour force – it is now 64.7%. In that time the participation rate of workers aged 25-64 has held up quite well. However, they make up less of the population than they used to: Dec 2010 = 100 100.5 100 25-64 year olds

99.5 99 98.47 Dec 2010

Total Adults Jul 2011

Feb 2012

Oct 2012

• Around one in five (21%) report the changes in unfair dismissal laws have increased the number of claims, whereas 63% report no change, and 5% report a decrease in claims • Around one in five (21%) report the changes in bullying provisions have had a negative impact, while 33% report a positive impact, and 47% report no impact.

All four items on this list – but especially item four – are too big for the government alone to resolve. It requires action on all fronts.

“This can’t only be the responsibility of government. There is much that the private sector, educational institutions and training providers must do if we are to move forward,” said Crawley.

Jun 2013

Feb 2014

Jan 2015

Source: ABS 6202.0

FEMALE WORKERS The percentage of working-age females in the workforce is projected to rise from 66% today to 70% by 2055.

However, lifting Australia’s female participation rate by just four percentage points, where it would match Canada’s, would contribute $25bn to the national economy.

Similarly, pushing out the Age Pension eligibility age to 70 by 2035 would also add almost one percentage point to the national participation rate by 2055, the IGR report finds.

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COVER STORY

CAROLYN MOORE

AUSSIE ABROAD Australian HR practitioners should heed the advice of Singapore-based Carolyn Moore, regional HR director for J. Walter Thompson: “An overseas post is the best learning experience you’ll ever have.” She chats to Iain Hopkins about the challenges, opportunities and benefits that an overseas stint can provide

CAROLYN MOORE is on a mission. Her mission: to find great coffee in Singapore.

Fortunately, as you might expect from a creative company that thrives on caffeine, the J. Walter Thompson office houses a good café. This is where we settle for a chat about Moore’s fascinating career, which has taken her from studying IR in Australia, on to HR roles in a French company based in Vietnam, and now her Singapore-based role as regional HR director at the global advertising giant.

First things first: what was the appeal of IR to a young upcoming HR professional?

“Ever since university I’ve been interested in how IR developed in Australia,” Moore says.

“I found labour history particularly interesting – especially how it impacts upon not just people’s work but their livelihoods and the whole economy. So I started my career as an IR specialist.”

Moore spent time working for both employers and unions, which provided her with a unique perspective – especially observing how conflict resolution on both sides can be achieved through negotiation and arbitration without necessarily having

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to go through the law courts. “What you discover is that a lot of employers and employees are really committed to the employment relationship, but they don’t necessarily know how to engage with each other on those areas of commonality,” she says. “That was interesting to me.”

However, she had some reservations.

There came a point after about seven or

HR and how HR can help create workplaces that are balanced, fair, inviting and motivating.”

New international horizons Moore was keen to push herself out of all comfort zones. To that end, she wanted to move to Southeast Asia. “I was interested in the challenges of a multi-jurisdictional

“I was interested in the challenges of a multijurisdictional environment and working in very different cultures. I sure got that” Carolyn Moore eight years where she realised that by the time you’re dealing with an employeremployee problem through the IR system, the relationship already has fundamental faults in it.

“I thought there had to be a better way to avert the crisis from occurring in the first place,” Moore says. “That’s when I looked at

environment and working in very different cultures,” she says. “I sure got that.”

Her first HR role in the region was with a French company based in Vietnam. “I was working in a company where 99% of the people did not speak English as a first language. A good portion of the people barely spoke English at all. You really had to

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PROFILE Name: Carolyn Moore Company: J.Walter Thompson Asia Pacific Title: Regional HR director Years in the industry: 18 Previous roles: - Group HR director, Archetype Group - Senior political advisor, Office of the NSW Minister for Gaming & Racing - COO, Employment Innovations (EI) - Associate director of workplace relations, NSW Business Chamber - Industrial officer, Municipal & Shire Council Employees Union of Australia

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COVER STORY

CAROLYN MOORE IN HER OWN WORDS… HR skillsets “Because of how the Asian economies have developed, HR has been very administratively driven rather than strategically-focused. One of my key challenges is that many HR professionals don’t necessarily understand how to read and interpret a P&L and appreciate how that should link to a people strategy. Linked to that is this era of big data, where we have data for everything. But there are very few people who know how to interpret that data, understand what is useful and what is noise – and more to the point, how to then take that data, interpret it, implement a strategy and introduce something that is going to improve your bottom line.

When you do come into that environment, your job involves convincing and persuading management and coaching HR professionals on how to do it.” learn and adapt very quickly – a sink or swim type of environment,” she says She adds that while she believes Australians are well respected as HR practitioners around the world, one point of difference is purely cultural. “We can be direct, we can tell sarcastic jokes, we swear in the workplace. If you are displeased with how someone is performing you can have a very direct conversation with that person and explain what the problem is and how you expect that to change. When you’re not in Australia that doesn’t necessarily work,” she says, adding that she learned that lesson the hard way.

“Performance management is a lot more subtle in Asia,” Moore adds. “If you tell someone that you’re disappointed in how they’ve performed, the loss of face to that person is so emotional that some people will resign on the spot, rather than taking it as constructive criticism and an opportunity to improve. You have to be almost a diplomat in how you manage those conversations.”

Overall, Moore feels these cross-cultural interactions have helped her communication and negotiation skills. “You really do hone your listening skills,” she says. “It’s subsequently helped me in my dealings with other colleagues and executives.”

APAC diversity Moore’s current role is based in Singapore, yet it too has its unique challenges. She holds responsibilities across 14 different countries

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in APAC. There are more than eight different languages spoken in the region, and each country is at a different stage of economic and social development.

“It’s so diverse. I don’t think there’s any other region in the world that has the social, cultural, economic diversity that we have here. It adds layers of complexity to everything we do as a company.”

She cites something as seemingly straightforward as launching an onboarding program. “You can’t just roll it out and say, ‘here’s your onboarding program’. Instead the program needs to be developed, then we need to consult with various groups about whether it’s understood, then we get it translated, and finally we make amendments to it so it resonates well within each territory. And then it’s roll out time. It’s very complicated.”

HR challenges Moore says her organisation faces two significant and interlinked HR challenges.

The first is finding quality skilled labour.

This issue is exacerbated in the advertising/

marketing industry by the rapid rate of change, driven primarily by new technology.

“When I went to university in the 1990s there was no such thing as social media marketing,” she says. “Now it’s one of the most in-demand areas of talent, not just for advertising firms but the likes of Google, Twitter, Razorfish. Technology is driving a rapid evolution of jobs to the point where jobs are being conceived before there is a labour market to support those roles.”

To meet the challenge, J. Walter Thompson has re-engineered its recruitment processes so that they can source the best talent in the market. They’ve also focused less on what the traditional job requisites are but rather on people’s fundamental capacity to learn and other desirable behaviours.

“When we’re bringing people into the company we’re trying to provide the best intensive learning on the job, not just to optimise the skills we have now, but to develop skills that will be relevant in 10 years’ time in marketing and advertising,” she says.

The firm has tackled skill building across three critical areas.

1. Internal training that is high quality, tailored to J. Walter Thompson, and serves to build competitive advantage through its people. “We’re trying to develop whole people – we don’t feel you can separate out management or leadership skills from the fundamentals of being able to do your job and operating in our environment. Some of it is experiential. We put people into teams: ‘you’re an agency; you have to run the agency’. They are given a brief

“I don’t think there’s any other region in the world that has the social, cultural, economic diversity that we have here”

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and they have to work against that brief.”

2. Foundational skills training – presentation skills and so on – through a partnership with an L&D provider.

3. Technical skills training to address the challenges of digital and technology.

“We’re working on strategies now for 15 years ahead,” Moore says. “In 15 years’ time Baby Boomers are into retirement. The sheer numbers create a labour gap. So we’re focusing on intergenerational strategies.”

This includes encouraging Baby Boomers to stay with the company for longer via flexible work options, and to engage with their younger counterparts – especially Millennials. “How can we bring them together in a way that provides some mentoring for young people but also some reverse mentoring for Baby Boomers? It’s interesting for Boomers to learn how this current generation thinks, given the changes in technology, given the GFC, all these things that have impacted their world view. From a marketing and advertising perspective, that’s gold – they are future major consumers as well.”

She adds that despite the criticism often heaped on Millennials, “their motivations are not all that different to what my motivations were when I was starting my career. You come out of uni thinking you know it all and expect people to recognise your potential immediately. That’s no different to how I felt!” However, the context has changed, and again, technology is the culprit. “They live in a more interconnected world than any previous generation. The speed of change is quicker than ever before.

Following the GFC many are in a different socio-economic environment than previous generations. All of those factors have an impact on their worldview and especially how they view work.”

Taming the job hoppers Singapore, like other nations, is a nation of job hoppers, and Moore is confident that this “develop and engage” approach will be

IN HER OWN WORDS… How does an international posting help HR professionals?

“My primary motivation to leave Australia and seek an international appointment was firstly to expand my own career.

I wanted to get into a global role. The opportunities to do so in Australia are limited and I probably would have had to wait another 15-20 years into my career to get to the level where I could do that. Secondly, even though Australia is remote we’re working in a global environment and I think the biggest advantage you get from having an international posting is the ability to immerse yourself in other cultures, understand different ways of management, and really get that global perspective on how business works. It’s a different frame of reference and a different perspective on HR management. You have to be a lot more adaptable. It’s the best learning experience.”

more effective than a financial/remuneration approach to retention. This is her second significant HR challenge.

“We take the view that if someone wants an extra $50 in their weekly pay packet, they weren’t engaged in the first place. I think that’s an excuse even in this environment. If your people are really committed, and you’re engaging and developing them, and rewarding and recognising them, then that extra money isn’t going to mean much to that person,” she says.

However, she adds that “an extra 50%” in the pay packet is different – and that’s the tactic used by some competitors in the market. “There are some pockets in the advertising industry around the APAC region where some companies find it so difficult to compete on the engagement front that they are inflating salaries just to draw people away. I’m talking 80-100% pay increases. And that’s their strategy. That provides another challenge.”

Yet it’s not an insurmountable challenge.

J. Walter Thompson is evolving their compensation strategies to meet these market challenges across the APAC region.

“The question of ‘will I move for the extra money?’ will be even more difficult, especially for the high-performing employee. It’s a highly competitive industry; I don’t think that’s different to countless other industries. But it’s also because the market is more global than it used to be.

You have to evolve your HR strategy or your company won’t survive. That in itself is a very interesting point for the Asian market.”

With some companies only recently adding HR to the senior table, Moore says the people element is a new way to manage the business, beyond the traditional P&L. “Some of that takes the education of management – ‘ok guys you’ve hit your numbers for last year but you had 40% employee turnover’. It’s not just an HR capability issue – that’s a contributing factor – but there’s also a management issue. It’s been so financially driven in the Asian market but now it’s starting to tighten up; those early rapid growth companies are running out of steam. It’s requiring a fundamental shift in thinking – and HR will be driving it.”

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13/04/2015 12:34:23 PM

EMPLOYMENT LAW

ILLNESS AND DISABILITY MANAGEMENT

Intersecting obligations:

Terminating ill & injured workers

Terminating the employment of an ill or injured worker is one of the trickiest aspects of people management – a situation made even more complicated by the fact that this sits at the nexus of so many workplace laws. Here’s what you can do to be compliant when managing this situation THE PERFORMANCE management and subsequent termination of any employee is tough enough; when trying to undertake the same process with an ill or injured worker it’s hardly surprising that many managers will cut corners or put it off altogether.

Consider the challenges: Not only is there the difficult nature of managing someone who could potentially be undergoing significant physical and emotional trauma, but there is also a complicated web of

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workplace laws to abide by.

“Terminating the employment of an injured or ill employee is one of the most complex situations employers navigate,” confirms Athena Koelmeyer, managing director of Workplace Law. Indeed, injured or ill employees are protected by a raft of legislative protections: • workers’ compensation legislation, which includes provisions protecting the employment of injured employees

from termination for specific periods as a result of their injury (eg six months in NSW and 12 months in Victoria) • disability discrimination laws, which protect the employees from being treated less favourably as a result of their illness or injury • the general protections provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act) (adverse action), which protect employees from being treated adversely

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BROUGHT TO YOU BY

www.workplacelaw.com.au

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There are few more complex areas of workplace law. For employers, there are intersecting obligations to consider: • WHS requires a workplace that is safe and without risks to health • Workers’ compensation requires rehabilitation • Disability discrimination requires no less favourable treatment Balancing these obligations requires careful planning.

Definitions Whether work-related or not, an employee’s illness or injury may be a “disability”.

The best definition to use (even as a rule of thumb) is the very broad one from the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) (DDA) which defines “disability” as: a) total or partial loss of the person’s bodily or mental functions; or b) total or partial loss of a part of the body; or c) the presence in the body of organisms causing disease or illness; or d) the presence in the body of organisms capable of causing disease or illness; or e) the malfunction, malformation or disfigurement of a part of the person’s body; or f) a disorder or malfunction that results in the person learning differently from a person without the disorder or

“Terminating the employment of an injured or ill employee is one of the most complex situations employers navigate” Athena Koelmeyer

as a result of their workplace rights in relation to personal (sick) leave and/or from being discriminated against on the grounds of their disability • the unfair dismissal provisions of the FW Act, which protect employees from termination of employment that is harsh, unjust or unreasonable • and last but not least, work health safety obligations, which require employers to provide employees with a workplace

and work that is safe and without risk to health (their own health or that of other persons in the workplace) “Employers will almost certainly find that balancing these obligations will produce some kind of contradiction – for example, accommodating the employee’s disability and providing them with suitable duties may result in a work health safety risk to the employee (or to other persons) if they are not fit to safely perform those duties,” says Koelmeyer.

malfunction; or g) a disorder, illness or disease that affects a person’s thought processes, perception of reality, emotions or judgment or that results in disturbed behaviour This broad definition captures psychological and psychiatric illness, learning disabilities and viruses or bacterial infections.

To make the definition even broader, this extends to disabilities that exist now, may have existed in the past, might exist in the future, or which are imputed (see s.4 of the DDA).

This effectively means that it is unlawful to treat someone less favourably because they had a disability in the past (eg depression) or because they have a genetic predisposition to a condition later in life (eg Alzheimer’s).

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13/04/2015 12:34:45 PM

EMPLOYMENT LAW

ILLNESS AND DISABILITY MANAGEMENT

“Less favourable” treatment includes loss of promotional opportunities, denial of access to training, or termination of employment as a result of the disability.

Critical questions For employers faced with an injured or ill worker, three essential questions need to be asked: 1. Is the illness/injury work-related or not work-related?

2. If work-related, is the illness/injury a compensable workers’ compensation injury?

3. Can the employee still work? If so, in what capacity?

Fit for work?

With this broad definition in mind, Koelmeyer suggests the first step for employers to take is to find out as much information as possible about the employee’s condition. In workers’ compensation matters, this is much easier than if the illness or injury is non-work-related, where there may be privacy issues making collection of information challenging in some cases.

Once an employer has a clear idea of the nature of the condition, the diagnosis and prognosis, an educated decision can be made about whether or not the employee is able to work and if so in what capacity.

The employer’s obligation under disability discrimination law is to accommodate the employee wherever reasonable

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accommodation can be afforded. An easy example might be that the employee can continue to do the same job, but only part-time for a period of time while they rehabilitate. This should be a fairly easy decision for an employer who is able to accommodate from a resourcing perspective.

A more difficult example might be a situation that is permanent and in which the employee could never do their original job but could work in some capacity. The employer has no obligation to create a role to suit the employee in such case, but if a

The employer’s obligation under disability discrimination law is to accommodate the employee wherever reasonable accommodation can be afforded

job existed and was available that suited the situation, the employee could be redeployed into that position.

Stop!

Before terminating employment, employers must consider what “reasonable adjustments” they can make to allow the employee to perform the inherent requirements of the job.

Section 4 DDA: An adjustment is a “reasonable adjustment” unless making the adjustment would impose an unjustifiable hardship on the employer.

Section 11 DDA: When considering whether a hardship is an unjustifiable hardship, all relevant circumstances must be taken into account.

Relevant circumstances include: the benefit (or detriment) to the employer or employee of the reasonable adjustment and the financial circumstances of the employer (estimated amount of expenditure and availability of financial and other assistance).

Workers’ compensation In terms of workers’ compensation matters, employers may well find they are obligated to provide suitable duties to employees under the various workers’ compensation laws. In NSW, injured employees can file disputes with the

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BROUGHT TO YOU BY Workers Compensation Commission if the insurer and/or employer refuse to provide suitable duties.

Did you know?

Some types of injuries arising from employment may not be compensable, depending on the circumstances of the injury (eg psychological injury is not compensable if it arises as a result of reasonable disciplinary action by the employer (Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW) – s.11A).

Who makes the call on workers’ compensation claims? Koelmeyer explains: “Under workers’ compensation insurance policies, the employers subrogate their rights in relation to the claim. This means that the insurer (or scheme agent) will make the decision about liability in accordance with the prevailing legislative framework.

“We encourage employers to be very active in this process – the more information an employer can provide to an insurer about the situation, the better educated their decision will be. Certainly many of our clients became frustrated with the process – but the more involved they are and the more engaged they are with the claims manager, the easier the process will be.”

If liability for a claim is accepted, the employee will receive weekly payments of compensation, and their medical and rehabilitation costs will be paid. Once an employee is able to return to work in some capacity, there will generally be an obligation on the employer to locate suitable duties for the employee (wherever possible) to assist in the rehabilitation process. This process can be lengthy – it will only be once the employee’s condition has stabilised, to the point where any permanent incapacity can be identified, that employers can start considering whether or not it remains feasible to continue to provide suitable duties on a permanent basis.

Termination Terminating employment when an employee

www.workplacelaw.com.au

www.workplacelaw.com.au

The “inherent requirements” of a role are the critical/core duties that must be performed to carry out the purpose of the position can no longer perform their original duties as a result of a disability can be classified as an act of disability discrimination; employers are advised to tread with caution, and only take this path as a last resort.

The defence available is the “inherent requirements” defence, ie the employee can no longer perform the inherent requirements of the job they were hired to perform (s.21A DDA).

The “inherent requirements” of a role are the critical/core duties that must be performed to carry out the purpose of the position. For example, an inherent requirement of the role of bus driver is the ability to see.

A requirement identified in a position description is not necessarily an inherent requirement of the role.

If an employer has exhausted all options in terms of reasonable accommodation and it is clear that an employee will not be able to return to their usual duties either in the foreseeable future or at all, then a procedurally fair and appropriate process should commence, raising the issue and clearly stating that termination of employment is being contemplated by the employer.

This would typically involve giving an employee the opportunity to obtain medical evidence to present to the employer about their condition – especially if there is any prospect of recovery in the future. The employer would then carefully consider all of the available information and make a decision about whether or not the employment should be terminated based on the employee’s inability to perform the inherent requirements of their job. This decision would be communicated in an

appropriate and fair manner.

There are several time limits to bear in mind in these situations: 1. The first is the three-month limit on termination of employment as a result of “short term absence due to illness or injury” – short term is defined in the FW Act as three months after an employee has exhausted all their paid entitlements, so in some cases this may not be “short term” at all if an employee has plenty of leave entitlements to use.

2. The second is the relevant limit in the workers’ compensation for the termination of injured workers (eg six months in NSW, 12 months in Victoria); 3. The third is the period in which any workers’ compensation claim will affect the employer’s premium calculation – this is usually three years from the date of the injury.

In conclusion, Koelmeyer says: “While this is a complex area, employers should not be deterred from appropriately managing these situations when they arise. Letting these matters linger without any direction only creates more difficulty when an employer does eventually move to address them. What is essential for employers is to address the matter in a timely manner based on sound knowledge of the employer’s legal obligations and with a plan for taking those obligations into account.”

Workplace Law is a specialist boutique law firm advising employers on all aspects of employment law, industrial relations and WHS.

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13/04/2015 12:34:50 PM

PRODUCTIVITY

OFFICE DESIGN

THE BUSINESS OF DESIGN Look around your office. How many desks sit empty? With telework taking off, studies have shown that, on occasion, just 50% of desks are ever occupied. Beyond having flashy corporate HQs, it might be time to focus on making the space support the business and the people working within it.

Iain Hopkins reports

HR PROFESSIONALS are by now familiar with ‘Activity Based Working’ (ABW), a term that has stemmed from the philosophy of ‘unallocated’ or ‘non-territorial’ work environments.

In its purest form, ABW is an environment in which an employee has no ‘allocated real estate’ (a space or desk facility) other than a locker or drawer pedestal for personal belongings. The employee selects from a suite of available work settings an environment/facility which will best complements or supports that day’s range of work activities/challenges.

Like all fresh concepts it takes a few innovators to lead the pack. Sure enough, companies like KPMG and IBM have embraced ABW – or at least what might be branded as ‘hybrid’ environments, which comprise elements of both more traditional (allocated real estate enabled by technology) and ABW accommodation options.

One subtle difference is important to note before the masses follow suite: ABW should rightfully be a term used to describe how people work, as opposed to a type of physical space. It’s not about having a flashy, ‘funky’ office design – although this might be a welcome side-effect of a shift towards a non-territorial work environment – but rather it’s about breaking down work tasks, defining the range of different

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activities that might require a range of different activities, and developing a range of different physical work settings to be most effective and efficient.

“All work can be termed activity based,” says Graham Kirkwood, managing director, Resource Architecture. “The spectrum of environments to support work activities can range from a single desk in an office to a suite of settings including meeting rooms, interaction spaces, quiet private work rooms and so on. In practice, we all move from one setting to another and we never occupy all of the spaces at any one time.”

This idea of a spectrum or scale is handy to keep in mind in any discussion about ‘readiness’ for nontraditional work environments: at one end of the spectrum are employers that do not allow people to take ‘ownership’ of any space; at the other end are employers that might allow people to have a space that they can call their own.

“The choice depends upon not only cost, but also how to get the best outcome from your people,” says Kirkwood. “If we look at the workplace as we would a factory, we would only assign a work setting on a Just in Time (JIT) way, in order to reduce the level of unused stock.”

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IN, OUT OR BOTH? OFFICE SPACE OCCUPANCY RATES

Total vacant desks People in office, but not at desk People in collaborative spaces Total occupied desks

8:3 0-9 9:0 :00 0-1 10: 0:00 00 -1 11: 1:00 00 -12 12: :00 00 -1 13: 3:00 00 -1 14: 4:00 00 -1 15: 5:00 00 16: 16:00 00 -1 17: 7:00 00 -18 :00

100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

Source: Resource Architecture Pty. Ltd.

Taking the lead: the education sector Interestingly, the corporate world is not the leader in this space. The education sector (particularly secondary schools and universities) has led the way, and offers some pointers for corporates. In the opinion of Simon Gunnis, managing director of design firm PCG, the modern tertiary campus is the purest form of ABW environment.

Tenure is premised on a relationship of trust and success measured by outputs as opposed to inputs. The University of Melbourne, The University of Adelaide and The University of Technology Sydney are prominent examples that have embraced the ABW concept.

PCG’s white paper, The Genesis of ABW, states: “Higher education is questioning traditional methods of teaching and learning environments that have been the cornerstone of their success, and turning to new pedagogies supported by new environments.

As such, they are moving towards a wider range of teaching and learning methods and a more studentcentred pedagogy promoting active, collaborative and problem-based learning – the very skills business seeks from recent graduates.”

The driver behind these factors is the next generation of ‘agile’ students. They bring new traits and requirements that are challenging the status quo and forcing higher education to explore and understand how students (and teachers) learn, share and work.

The business case

The new-look Victorian Legal Services Board + Commissioner office, which has embraced non-territorial workspaces

Regardless of the setting, in order for a non-territorial working environment to fly, it will require careful planning and analysis; a business plan needs to be built.

The first step is to determine how the physical workplace supports the business. This means acknowledging the ‘purpose’ of the business and

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13/04/2015 12:35:19 PM

PRODUCTIVITY

OFFICE DESIGN setting what Kirkwood refers to as the “Critical Success Factors” for the workplace.

The second step is to understand the work activities and people work styles that support the business.

“If the organisation is about being the most cost efficient in their industry, or the most responsive to change, or if people are very mobile working outside of the office, then a non-territorial ABW environment might be a suitable strategy,” he says. “If the organisation was focusing on people or innovation, and the people were less mobile then such a nonterritorial strategy might not be appropriate.”

Understandably, in the majority of cases, the principal driver for the adoption of non-territorial environments is the allure of an improved corporate real estate equation (less space and therefore less cost). “The CRE professional and the CFO are early advocates,” says Gunnis. “However, once the scale and quantum of associated change involved is determined, the CIO and chief of people & culture are very quickly mobilised.”

Indeed, it would be a mistake to look solely towards occupancy cost savings alone as a deciding factor. Kirkwood has been monitoring costs per employee (including average salaries and benefits, IT infrastructure and occupancy costs) of the major Australian banks for over a decade. The average occupancy cost per employee is about $14,000 per

OCCUPANCY COSTS AS A PERCENTAGE OF OPERATING REVENUE 190,000

10.00%

180,000

9.00%

170,000

8.00% 7.00%

160,000

6.00%

150,000 5.00%

140,000 4.00%

130,000

3.00%

120,000

2.00%

110,000 100,000

1.00%

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

FTEs

Occupancy costs/op revenue

annum, whereas salaries are closer to $100,000 per employee per annum. This means that a 30% reduction in occupancy cost can be easily offset by 4% loss of productivity.

“If we compare occupancy cost as a percentage of total revenue it is only about 4%,” he says. “It is therefore far wiser to focus on supporting business revenue and worker productivity as a driver of workplace strategy than just occupancy cost alone.”

The table above also highlights how, within the Australian banking sector, the banks have reduced their reliance on people and workspace to generate revenues over the past decade or so. “This means that the workspace is less like a factory, and more of a place for innovation, motivation and employee engagement than ever before,” says Kirkwood. “We cannot afford to lose sight of the bigger purpose of the workplace.”

0.00%

Source: Resource Architecture Pty. Ltd.

“We cannot afford to lose sight of the bigger purpose of the workplace” Graham Kirkwood

POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF NON-TERRITORIAL WORKING ENVIRONMENTS CAN INCLUDE IMPROVEMENTS TO: • Efficiency of real estate • Customer satisfaction and responsiveness • Cost saving and operational efficiency • Organisational agility • Sustainability and carbon reduction • Competitive advantage and differentiation • Brand awareness • Attraction and retention of staff • Disaster recovery and contingency planning

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TECHNOLOGY FOR THE WORKSPACES OF TOMORROW Brian Walshe, general manager end-user computing at Dimension Data Australia, outlines the technologies required to operate in ABW environments • Mobile devices: Smartphones and tablets are having the largest impact on workplace culture – they’re already outselling PCs. It’s critical, however, to have a strong policy framework in place to manage their role and usage. Once properly implemented, these devices provide significant efficiency gains as employees can work wherever it makes most sense rather than being bound to their desks.

• Mobile applications: Mobile apps are part and parcel of our daily lives.

Employees are familiar with them and their functionality so providing your workforce with the ability to accomplish tasks on their favoured platform is an essential part of the workspace of tomorrow.

Ready for change?

From a business point of view, if a total or hybrid approach to a non-territorial work environment is justified, then the question is whether the organisation is ready for the change. The two biggest change dynamics required lie within the technology/IT and people departments.

“These two dynamics mean two things: a deep and time consuming investment in the change management process; and significant capital investment in workplace technologies,” Gunnis says.

“Taking away a person’s own desk is a very confronting idea, and like any change, a process including two way communication, exploration, and trailing is required before implementation,” Kirkwood explains.

Some people will be more adaptable to change than others. This can depend not only on their personal work activities, but also their personal expectations and understanding of what work is about. For some, the purpose of work is to connect with other people and form working relationships with a small group of co-workers. Some people will see non-territorial work settings as a threat to their connections and personal identity.

Following a decision by the executive team not to assign desks to individuals, Kirkwood suggests the transformational process should involve all the people affected, and this process will take time and cost money.

• Cloud services: Fundamentally, cloud computing is an external data centre or server used to deliver an application or store data. In a business sense, your employees can access productivity applications like email or instant messaging through cloud services, allowing them to use these anywhere and on any device. They can also store data in cloud repositories allowing you to ensure your organisation’s IP is stored, indexed and backed up.

• Collaboration and conferencing: Video, voice and web conferencing tools enable staff to collaborate with both employees and external stakeholders.

However, these use a lot of bandwidth so high-speed wireless networking is crucial for high-quality voice and video traffic.

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PRODUCTIVITY

OFFICE DESIGN

Theory into practice In the business sphere, the Victorian Legal Services Board + Commissioner (VLSBC) is a prime case study.

It was apparent to the VLSBC management team that more space was needed. The organisation was also looking to bring together two formally separate businesses. They had a very modest budget, but wanted to maximise the potential ROI. During the first briefing workshop with Resource Architecture, it was clear that the focus of the VLSBC was about people: to build intimate customer relations by developing more cohesion, participation and co-operation among the people doing things.

The group then identified design Critical Success Factors that supported the vision. These covered elements such as brand, culture and systems.

Following close consultation with Kirkwood and his team, the VLSBC allocated each individual with a desk – as a home base. “A 100% non-territorial solution was not for them,” says Kirkwood. “However, they allocated a number of non-territorial activity settings to encourage people to work in different parts of the office, to work and collaborate more broadly throughout the organisation.”

The space achieves a space ratio of about 18m2 per person, which is higher than the average office, but is able to accommodate growth without compromising the space. The proportion of meeting rooms and interaction spaces is higher. While individual desks are smaller, the personal space is bigger.

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The CEO sits in the open at a ‘mentoring desk’ and so do his general managers

The project features a number of design innovations: 1. A central ‘Piazza’ provides a space for serendipitous two-minute conversations. This space is the major thoroughfare connecting the various groups.

2. The CEO sits in the open at a ‘mentoring desk’ and so do his general managers. The CEO has turned the structure upside down so that the most important people to be supported are the ones interfacing with people. The role of the manager is to support and mentor these people.

3. The organisation is implementing a new ‘electronic information management system’ that means everyone can access and update customer information.

This means all information has to be digitised. One innovative feature is a physical ‘dropbox’ at the centre of the floor so all paper information comes in or goes out via this space.

4. The workplace is designed as ‘group ware’ where private spaces line the perimeter and interactive spaces are at the centre to allow collaboration intuitively and instantaneously between the various groups.

5. New traffic light signposting identifies whether spaces are bookable, owned or shared.

6. Desks are arranged to maximise acoustic privacy – no one sits directly opposite another, desks are staggered but provide peripheral vision of other workers. A number of desks feature ‘sit-stand’ functionality.

7. The design process was very people focused, from a staff survey prior to the appointment of the design

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OPTIMISING THE WORKPLACE: TOP TIPS PCG recommends that prior to developing a new commercial workplace the following factors be considered to optimise its performance: Challenge what you know about how you work and the physical workplace environment that supports these work styles.

We have all learned, shared and worked in unallocated environments before we entered the ‘allocated’ corporate workplace. These are not new ways of working and hold the potential to not only increase current staff productivity, but also efficiently integrate graduates into the corporate workplace, increasing their productivity from the outset Take steps to understand and develop the potential of all employees to maximise their outputs.

At present the ‘net’ generation are in the minority in the workplace but they have the potential to drive workplace change through new work styles and their use of technology. Current workplace generations will have to adapt to inevitable changes in both mindset and enabling technologies as the workplace shifts to new working environments.

Attract and retain employees with what appeals to them.

The workplace negotiation between employer and employee has been drastically affected by the changing physical and virtual workplace. The onus is on the employer to not only understand the characteristics and goals of their employees to realise their full potential, but also the workplace should be a physical manifestation of the contract existing between the employer and the employee and what they are underway to achieve together.

Remember, design is too important to be left to the designers!

Consult and involve the current and future end users. They will not only determine the success or failure of the workplace, but will provide insights into how to maximise every square metre.

1

2 3

4

team, consultation during the design and before the move, and well-being communication initiatives and communication packs during and after the move.

Kirkwood says the resulting design is not flashy, and is without gimmicks. It is all about the business, the work and the people.

“Gimmicks have become commonplace and are widely published,” he says. “They often undervalue how a workplace really contributes to business outcomes. I am often frustrated by organisations measuring the value of the workplace by only its look and feel, without also considering their work activities and people. Such gimmicks are often confused with innovation.”

For Kirkwood, the workplace drives innovation within the organisation, through its work process, products and services.

“At the Legal Services Board + Commissioner, if something cost money but added no value it was eliminated. As a result the physical workplace delivered maximum return on investment.”

This approach appears to be paying off. Some of the outcomes achieved at the Legal Services Board + Commissioner workplace include: • 56% overall improved meeting and collaboration space • 51% overall improved space to accommodate visitors, consultants and contractors • 36% increased stimulation of creativity and innovation • 21% increase in perceived productivity and employee engagement • 37% improved sharing and management of resources • 30% increase in communication and learning across groups

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CASE STUDY

CANON OCEANIA THE 21ST CENTURY OFFICE

HRD chats to Ian Flemington, HR & communications director, Canon Oceania, about how his company modelled its new office to not just maximise business results but to match how and where employees want to work today HR DIRECTOR: What has Canon done?

Ian Flemington: We recently marked a significant milestone for our business by moving to our new headquarters in Sydney’s Macquarie Park. This new high performance workspace was designed following extensive research, including observational studies to identify how people work in different ways and how to accommodate these needs in a physical environment.

We assessed what people need to truly perform and exceed.

We considered the physical workspace, virtual environment, individual needs as well as the brand, corporate culture and underlying processes.

HRD: Who was involved in the process?

IF: Several key factors contributed to the end result, including bringing together a representative group of people from within the organisation to consider specific challenges. We also created engagement, co-design and information opportunities and events for everyone to participate in. The groundswell for change, as well as the quality of ideas, were magnified when we engaged all of those people impacted by our potential new environment.

Our employees had a large role to play in the co-design of the office environment – influencing both fit-out and technology solutions that best suited their personal working styles, instead of a one-size-fits-all approach.

HRD: What was the driver behind this move?

IF: From our research we found that higher productivity and

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“A physical change to our work environment provided a powerful opportunity to increase employee engagement and create a catalyst for cultural change” Ian Flemington improved customer engagement are possible with flexible work styles like ABW, mobility and teleworking. In addition, capturing competitive advantage from establishing a high performance workplace strategy requires optimisation and harmonisation of spaces, technology, people & culture, and processes & practices.

However, success requires an integrated, comprehensive technology and business approach and not just putting mobile devices in employee hands.

A physical change to our work environment provided a powerful opportunity to increase employee engagement and create a catalyst for cultural change. Simply by asking our

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Canon employees waiting to enter training at headquarters

people to help shape the new space and drawing on highly engaging techniques, we created a potent movement for positive change.

High-tech meeting rooms incorporate brightly coloured prints for way finding through the building

HRD: Was the focus on employee mobility a deciding factor in this change?

IF: The entire office space was constructed with our three identified working styles in mind: mobile, balanced and focused. Desk formation, meeting rooms and common areas were tailored to support Canon’s new hybrid working environment philosophy. Mobile workers are chiefly collaborators, with only 20% of time spent in individual concentration and brief moments in contemplation, whereas a balanced employee spends equal amounts of time at their work stations individually collaborating with colleagues.

On the other hand, a focused working style involves long periods of time in individual concentration, with a smaller time dedicated to collaboration and contemplation.

Sustainability also played a key role in our move. When we conducted initial meetings with our employees to find out what they wanted from the new building, ‘living green’ was high on the agenda and now we have achieved a Five Star rating from the Green Building Council of Australia. The

Plants grow in moveable walls throughout the work space

Living Green program was instrumental in this achievement, taking into account many different physical factors of the working environment, including air quality, occupant comfort and productivity, as well as using recycled goods as part of the new build, such as our recycled cartridge wall. There has also been a 45% reduction in storage space in the new building, primarily due to us implementing our own technology solutions, and the new building is approximately 70% more energy efficient due to building structure and layout.

HRD: What have the results been so far?

IF: Since moving to this new model of working, we’ve had very positive feedback, with our people reporting that they are both more productive and more satisfied in their roles. Within hours of moving into the building employees were operational and reporting that they were already having ‘coincidental’ meetings as a result of bumping into colleagues, allowing them to resolve issues in real time. The creation of collaboration zones has also led to an increase in spontaneous brainstorming, idea generation and innovative thinking within the business. We surveyed our employees three months after the move and were pleased to see that more than 80% said they felt happier and more productive at work.

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PRODUCTIVITY

OFFICE DESIGN

THE OFFICE OF THE FUTURE What does the future hold for offices – and will the physical office become a thing of the past?

The work-from-home boom is having some interesting effects on costs for both employees and employers.

According to Inc. Magazine:

$11,000 per employee Yearly savings for employers

$2,000 + $7,000 – mainly on transportation & other expenses

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They opted for an ‘untethered’ design, in which workers are not assigned specific desks or offices. Instead, they’re free to roam the office and set up near colleagues working on similar tasks.

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Fresh air is pumped into the air-conditioning systems, healthy snacks are provided, and ‘hydration stations’ are dotted around the space.

Yearly savings for telecommuting employees

Regus, a firm providing shared workspaces, envisions commuters of the future working in their self-driving cars, with front seats swivelling to create a four-person meeting space.

According to Herman Miller, 70% of office architects and designers believe that new types of group work are the most important considerations in modern workspace design.

Microsoft believes that workspaces are changing from places where employees assess necessary data and equipment to places centred around collaboration and interaction with colleagues.

In a 2012 white paper, Citrix Systems examined the proportion of employers providing or expanding telework options around the world. They found:

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During 2010–12, the percentage of those working at least once a week in a corporate office fell:

Real estate brokerage CBRE undertook an experiment in their Los Angeles office to pioneer a new approach to office design.

75% Australia*

CBRE says that building this type of office is 15% more expensive per square foot. However, the company is expected to save 30% on rent and other office capital expenses.

*Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS’s) Business Use of Information Technology (BUIT) survey

2010

2012

100%

89%

Those in finance and business services industries are most likely to work outside of the office, each accounting for 12% of overall telecommuters.

In terms of physical office spaces, Entrepreneur Magazine reports that ideals of transparency are driving a trend towards open-plan spaces with a minimum of physical boundaries.

Client-focused areas are being moved to the heart of the office, allowing visitors to see work taking place as soon as they arrive.

90% 85%

77% 72%

71%

Germany & France

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ON DESKS IN MAY

Proudly sponsored by

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RISING TO THE TOP THE HRD MBA GUIDE 2015 Want to groom the next generation of leaders in your company? HRD presents its annual guide to MBAs and Executive MBAs

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SPECIAL REPORT

MBAS

CONTINUOUS LEARNING:

IS IT TIME FOR AN MBA? FOR SUSAN FERRIER, national managing partner of people, performance & culture at KPMG, undertaking an MBA in her early 30s was a tipping point towards a career in HR. Prior to undertaking the MBA, she had completed an Arts Law Degree at Sydney University and worked in law during her early career. However, her MBA – completed in Europe – exposed her to subjects like organisational behaviour and people analytics. It got her hooked on HR. “I realised that although I enjoyed law, I wanted something a little more commercially oriented. I wanted to get my hands dirty,” she told HRD in February.

It’s these ‘fork in the road’ moments that often strike MBA students; the MBA can operate as an ‘eye opener’ to careers not previously considered.

Moving with the times While the fundamentals of an MBA, and its younger cousin the Executive MBA, have not changed a great deal in recent years, the style of delivery and content, and also the expected outcomes have evolved with the times.

The MBA remains a generalist degree. From its conception the MBA was created to provide people with a broad background in business, rather than specialising in areas such as accounting, finance or marketing. This remains the same today. The biggest change is students

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learning solely from a lecturer in a classroom, to learning from other students, the lecturer, and also the corporate sector. Less and less of what happens formally is in the classroom; more and more of it is being done on the site of a corporate client or several corporate clients.

This evolution is partly natural and partly forced.

Christine Burton, associate professor, UTS, explains: “The MBA has had a bumpy ride over the last few years, particularly as a result of the GFC and also businesses and students rethinking what type of graduates are being produced from MBAs.” Popularity spikes for the likes of Master of Finance and Master of Management degrees in HR eroded the popularity of the MBA. Local MBA providers also lost some of their market to international business schools, particularly in Asia and India.

UTS for one did “a lot of soul searching” following the GFC and worked on renewing the MBA curriculum and embracing contemporary learning delivery methods.

“I think we’ve come up with something that is more in line with industry expectations and also what the community now expects from MBA graduates. We’ve embedded subject areas like sustainability and ethics, and some of those softer skills that industry requires.

Beyond the technical skills, which are obviously critical, we found that students and employers wanted those

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softer skills – interpersonal skills, communication skills, how to influence up and down. All those elements have been embedded in our MBA and our Executive MBA. I now believe the MBA is coming into its own.”

Dr Paul Collier, interim Monash MBA programs director, agrees and suggests the MBA still holds a prestigious position in postgraduate business education.

“In contrast to specialist Masters degrees, the MBA is specifically aimed at general management roles which require a broad range of skills and enables managers to operate at the strategic whole-of-business level,” he says.

“MBA programs have to teach students how to react to and anticipate changes in the business environment, whether those changes are economic, social, ethical or environmental. This is the only way that we can prepare MBA graduates to be leaders of successful businesses and contribute to a better world.”

The core subjects studied in any MBA program include functional areas of marketing, managing people, accounting and finance. The Monash MBA, for example, has several ‘integrating’ subjects that cross the functional boundaries, which is where general managers are focused. These subjects include critical thinking and negotiation skills.

Importantly, the MBA is still the degree widely recognised by the corporate community as the one

“The MBA is aimed at general management roles which require a broad range of skills.

It enables managers to operate at the strategic whole-of-business level” GMAA FIVE-STAR MBAS The GMAA is a membership-based organisation of graduates who hold an MBA, DBA or other postgraduate management qualification. The methodology for the Star Rating system is designed to provide a balance between a range of factors from total cost through to content and entry requirements. Schools are ranked from 5 stars down to 1 star.

The GMAA 5 Star Assessment is designed as an index of the quality of MBA programs provided in Australia to onshore students. In 2014 data was received from 60 programs offered through 37 institutions, of which 46 programs were ultimately included in the final results. Courses awarded a 5 Star Rating in 2014 were (alphabetically): • Deakin University • La Trobe University • Queensland University of Technology • RMIT University • University of Adelaide • University of Queensland • University of South Australia • University of Western Australia

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SPECIAL REPORT

MBAS

which touches all disciplines of the business, giving people knowledge across the business continuum.

“It enhances a student’s ability to take on leadership roles of varying levels, depending on their experience.

Our portfolio of MBA programs – full-time, part-time, Executive and Senior Executive – are all tailored towards helping students maximise their opportunities at their respective career stages,” says Laura Bell, associate dean – academic programs, Melbourne Business School.

Executive MBAs: The rise of cohort learning EMBAs are now offered by a number of Australian business schools and are designed specifically to meet the educational needs of managers and executives, allowing students to earn an MBA (or another business-related

AFR BOSS BEST BUSINESS SCHOOLS 2014 The Financial Review Boss MBA Ranking has been published biennially since 2007. All Australian business schools are invited to participate. Schools that participate can earn a maximum of 100 points: 55 points based on the responses of recent alumni who have graduated in the past three years, and 35 points based on data provided by the schools. Ten points are allocated to research output by business school faculty based on Excellence in Research Australia reports submitted by universities for books, book chapters, peer-reviewed journals and conference papers.

1. University of Queensland Business School 2. Melbourne Business School 3. QUT Graduate School of Business 4. University of South Australia 5. Bond University 6. Macquarie Graduate School of Management 7. Australian Graduate School of Management, University of NSW 8. University of Southern Queensland 9. Griffith University Business School 10. University of Adelaide Business School

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graduate degree) in two years or less while working full-time.

To cite one example, Monash has introduced an EMBA designed for experienced professionals who have at least six years’ work experience and at least four years’ professional or managerial experience. The MBA, by comparison, remains aimed more at emerging professionals with a minimum of three years’ work experience and one year professional/managerial experience.

Although EMBAs are growing in popularity, UTS uses a cohort model which limits student intake. The benefit is two-fold. Firstly, students move through the program as a group – they network and hone their skills together. Secondly, UTS aims to involve EMBA alumni in the program so that current students get exposed to those who have already completed the course.

“It’s very much about experiential and peer to peer learning at this level,” says Burton. “Students can bring problems from their workplace into the curriculum, we work on those, they then go back and start to implement some of those solutions back into their workplace.”

This ‘cohort learning’ is becoming increasingly important in all MBAs, and especially EMBAs. During AGSM’s MBA (Executive) program, for example, students are exposed to the Foundations of Management, Leadership and Strategic Management Year (SMY). The cohort learning experiences of the SMY builds on the foundation business courses to prepare students for the ultimate challenges of general management and business leadership. It consists of four intensive residential learning experiences over a year and addresses the strategic and business needs of an enterprise as it evolves from start-up to maturity. This applied learning model is a unique experience for students that enables them to directly transfer their learnings to their workplace in real time, using their current job as the raw material to apply to assignments as the course progresses.

In another example, at UTS students can participate in the EMBA capstone, called Integrated Business Consulting, in which business clients are brought in to present real-time business challenges to the group.

“Often these clients will come from a totally different industry to where students are working, so it strengthens their ability to resolve problems in a broader context,” says Burton.

The Integrated Business Consulting capstone also involves a large consulting organisation which partners with UTS with the intention of “putting students through their paces”.

“It’s not just us as academics who are facilitating

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SPECIAL REPORT

MBAS student learning but real people in real consulting organisations who are asking them the hard questions.

The student has to stand up and defend what they’ve done or go back and rethink what they’ve done. It’s gold.

It’s not just out of a text book; it’s real life,” Burton adds.

She cites one example of an EMBA student who was a volunteer manager for the Smith Family. He wanted to understand more about how entrepreneurship works. As a result, he worked on an early stage company that wanted to open up its alternate energy product to overseas markets. “He wanted to understand the process of that. It was completely, almost diametrically opposed to what he’d be doing at the Smith Family but he wanted to understand what it means to be an entrepreneur, what is required to open up new markets. As a result he’s moved into roles which help facilitate those skills,” Burton says.

Similar initiatives are in place at Sunshine Coast University. The Innovation Centre Sunshine Coast is located on-campus, providing interactions with entrepreneurial start-up businesses in various phases of development.

70:20:10 model is a useful way for education providers to have that conversation about why each of those elements is important, as long as there is recognition that it is a reference model and is not prescriptive. How faculty divide the elements in their classes depends on the discipline area.

“Many subjects explore real business challenges and opportunities through class projects in which teams of students are allocated a real-life business situation and are required to make recommendations. Experiential learning can also be provided through internships for students in a wide range of organisations, including notfor-profit firms,” Bell says.

For example, the MBS CRUNCH program is a subject

“The student has to stand up and defend what they’ve done or go back and rethink what they’ve done”

The MBA, 2015 style As shown by developments in the EMBA, business schools have fully embraced the 70:20:10 L&D model.

According to this model, lessons learned by successful and effective managers are roughly: • 70% from tough jobs • 20% from people (mostly the boss) • 10% from courses and reading All leading business schools to some degree now combine experiential learning, communication skills and classroom settings.

“We acknowledge that it is important for the theoretical aspects of MBA study to be easily related to and transferrable to issues in the workplace,” says Professor Meredith Lawley, program coordinator for Sunshine Coast University’s MBA program. “Throughout their studies the work that students undertake varies from very specific projects – for example, developing a marketing plan for a product or service. In other cases students will be allowed to choose a particular issue or topic of relevance to themselves and their organisation and focus on this topic. In addition to the focus on such case studies, all projects and assessments in our MBA program have clearly defined criteria which are linked to established graduate attributes to ensure the integrity and understanding of the underlying theories is not only understood, but demonstrated.”

Bell from Melbourne Business School notes the

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DID YOU KNOW? The MBA is the only degree offered by business schools, at undergrad or grad level, that has a greatly skewed gender balance. The ratio of women to men is roughly 2:3 or, in some cases, 1:3.

This is true in multiple countries, especially those in the “mature phase” of the MBA lifecycle (US, Europe).

Virtually all other degrees offered at business schools have slightly more women than men – roughly 52% women to 48% men.

in which teams of students are allocated to social enterprises to act as a consulting team to help the entrepreneur develop their idea to the point where they are able to pitch for venture capital. Most recently, two of the MBS marketing faculty, together with an alumnus, worked with National Australia Bank to create a case study on how to take their award-winning marketing campaign to the next level.

“These are just some examples of the way that practical application is combined with faculty expertise to bring a rich and rounded program to our students,” Bell says.

Likewise, the Monash MBA includes real case studies in the core subjects studied alongside a variety of workbased projects including an experiential learning project and a study tour. The Executive MBA includes both a community-based group project and an individual corporate consultancy project.

Ties to the corporate world Theory is great; practical application is even better.

Hence, many of the world’s leading business schools have endeavoured to build relationships with corporate partners. The Monash MBA, for example, has a strong corporate relationship evident in many aspects of the program.

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SPECIAL REPORT

MBAS MBA SNAPSHOT • The Australian MBA market is worth around $500m pa • More than 30 Australian universities offer an MBA degree • 20,000 students are currently enrolled in an MBA in Australia • There are 60 different MBA courses available in Australia • Up to 80% of students are from overseas. The top five countries for overseas students studying in Australia are China, India, South Korea, Vietnam and Malaysia • The only Australian school to appear in the Forbes list of best business schools was the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM) • The Economist ranked the University of Queensland at number 14 on its list of top 100 international business schools. The Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago was ranked by The Economist as the world’s best

“Our rich, corporate and community partnerships are a crucial factor in the success of Monash Business School’s MBA programs,” says Collier. “Through them, our MBA students gain practical in-house educational experiences and a deep understanding of the issues facing organisations in an increasingly complex global environment.”

In addition, at Monash, various advisory groups and business representatives contribute their experience and business acumen to the curriculum and these are supported by corporate, community and alumni engagement activities.

Melbourne Business School – which consistently ranks among the best for MBAs globally – benefits from

opportunity to build global networks through its International Business Experience program. These field-based study courses are on offer in areas such as China, Japan, Korea or South America, allowing students to investigate cultural and business challenges associated with managing international enterprises and to apply the knowledge and analytical skills you’ve developed in other courses of the MBA. This typically involves a 10-day study tour.

“We also have exchange partnerships with 29 elite international business schools, such as London Business School, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, giving students an opportunity to complete an exchange for a session,” says Jonathan Jones, director of student recruitment, admissions and educational development at AGSM. UTS likewise offers similar partnerships with Fox Business School which is part of Temple University in Philadelphia. Students also engage in problem solving case studies in challenging business environments. For example, in previous years UTS EMBA students have travelled to Europe to work on case studies such as Airbus in Toulous, and Capgemini in Paris.

“The global component is an increasingly important part of our educational offer here,” says Burton. “When our students go to Fox, for example, they not only get to work on real business problems over there, but they’re expanding their network. They meet a range of MBA

“Australia is a small market. As such, many local business schools have built international connections with other business schools” a unique ownership structure. The school is co-owned by the University of Melbourne and the Australian business community. This ensures that MBS programs are both academically rigorous and meet the needs of business.

This is also reflected in the MBS Board membership.

“Our academics consult widely and bring their experiences directly into the classroom,” says Bell. “One of our marketing faculty consults to the world’s largest luxury goods company and this directly impacts on the classroom experience.”

The global experience Australia is a small market. As such, many local business schools have built international connections with other business schools. The AGSM MBA (Executive), for example, offers students the

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students and they work together on the same problem.”

The power of networking Indeed, networking is extraordinarily important for both MBA and EMBA students. UTS MBA students, for example, benefit from a postgrad business society, where current students are encouraged to attend networking events. Events also focus on elements such as personal branding to assist students to network more effectively.

A new initiative, in partnership with the Trans-Tasman Circle, is called the ‘Circle of Elders’ or ‘Circle of Wisdom’, whereby a range of mentors and coaches are invited to participate in career-building talks and activities.

Following a panel discussion, and operating almost like ‘speed dating’, coaches and mentors will talk to students one on one. Extensive behind the scenes work is carried

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SPECIAL REPORT

MBAS WHAT’S YOUR MOTIVATION? The motivations to undertake postgraduate study – especially an MBA – fall into two categories: intrinsic and extrinsic.

out to ensure students are being matched with the right coach or mentor.

“The Circle of Elders members want to give something back. They’ve been down in the mud with the blood and the tears; they know where the bodies are buried and they’re very happy to get in there with a shovel and help the students all the way through,” says Burton.

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• Extrinsic is about career: you know what career you want, you like where you are now, but you want to accelerate your path to the C-suite. You also need something that will put yourself ahead of other applicants for the promotion.

Alternatively, you might be considering a ‘horizontal move’ – essentially a career change. You’ve been doing the same job for a few years but the career path and your passion lies somewhere else. However, the experience gathered so far is not enough; you need something to bolster your chance of success. The third category occurs frequently in the medical and IT fields: you hold specialist skills and you’ve been promoted due to those skills, but suddenly you are managing a business and managing people. You’re a medical practitioner, not a general manager of a medical centre – so you need additional skills to make that move.

• Intrinsic motivators often come down to a desire for selfimprovement – and this often centres on building ‘soft skills’ – those traits that great leaders have. Alternatively you might do it just for the challenge – to see if you can do it.

Technology

Key questions

No discussion about corporate L&D in 2015 would be complete without some mention of technology. Has technology filtered into the MBA/EMBA space? All the experts HRD spoke to conceded that it has, through teleconferencing and classroom prep work done via elearning in particular, but it remains an enabler. It supports the teaching and provides resources for students.

“While there is online support for all our subjects, our MBA programs rely on face-to-face learning with academics acting as facilitators of learning,” says Monash’s Collier. “In the MBA environment, much of the learning comes from the students themselves, who are able to share their experiences from different industries, professional backgrounds and cultures. The building of networks by students among themselves also requires face-to-face contact.

Burton from UTS agrees: “Technology is very important for us but technology is always only an enabler, and it’s an enabler in order to get students to think, to work together in real time to solve problems.

We wouldn’t substitute online learning for the classroom experience but it’s an enhancement to the classroom experience where we can get more meaningful learning occurring.”

The MBA experience is truly enriching, but it does take planning and commitment for each individual to achieve a balance between work/study/personal life.

How should students weigh up whether an MBA or EMBA is right for them? Here are eight essential questions to ask yourself: 1. Have you attended an information session? These are a great opportunity to meet faculty, alumni and senior representatives of the school who are on the lookout for great potential students. Where possible, visit the campus and talk to current students and alumni.

2. Are you clear about your goals and sure that the institution and program can deliver on those goals?

“All too often, we receive enquiries from students who want to work in the region, but have done no research on what is involved and the roles available,” says Bell. “We tell people, ‘Do your research, ask questions, be clear about your objectives’. If you haven’t done this, it will show in the interview stage and your application is likely to be unsuccessful.”

3. How is the program structured in terms of both required and elective courses and how does this align with your career interests?

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4. Have you determined the reputation of the university in terms of providing a quality student experience and access to study support services provided? For example, students in USC’s MBA program have the increased flexibility of being able to swap between on-campus and online study as suits their needs at the time.

5. Can the academics translate theory into practice?

Do they have experience gained from current research about the problems and solutions businesses face and how managers can learn from the experience of others?

6. Are there any special opportunities that are available to you within the MBA program? For example, subject to their performance in the MBA program, USC’s students also have the option of enrolling in an international study tour as part of their study program.

7. Is there more on offer than just classroom learning?

MBA programs have a very real focus on leadership and personal development. Much of this development takes place outside the formal classes

COURSE COSTS • Average cost for an MBA in 2014: $44,200 • Average cost in 2014: $40,223 • Most expensive: Melbourne Business School – $79,000 • Cheapest: Australian Institute of Business (online) – $19,800

through guest speakers from the corporate, public sector and not-for-profit worlds, and leadership seminars emphasising moral and ethical issues facing business.

8. Is the MBA programs accredited? For example, Monash Business School has achieved the ‘triple crown’ accreditation for a world leader in business education and research by the Association to Advance Collegiate School of Business (AACSB), the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) and the Association of MBAs (AMBA). These accreditations demonstrate a commitment to the continuous improvement and relevancy of MBA programs.

“There’s no question MBA study is hard,” says Burton.

“I don’t pull any punches about that when I’m talking to prospective students. It isn’t a walk in the park – it’s a huge time investment and I think sometimes people go into it underestimating that. But if you manage your time effectively and get the balance right, the benefits can far outweigh any negatives.”

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SPECIAL REPORT

MBA GUIDE

THE MBA GUIDE 2015

Location Caulfield campus, Melbourne Australia Website monash.edu/mba Official name of MBA program Master of Business Administration (An Executive MBA is also available for more experienced professionals) Part-time or full-time? Full-time flexible program that allows students to continue to work full-time Duration Two years Intake date(s) January Strengths & emphasis • Designed for emerging professionals with the drive and ambition to move into management and leadership roles • Based on the belief that empowering MBA students in areas of leadership and personal development is of equal importance to the business acumen • The close link between theory and practice is reinforced through work-based projects, including a study tour, real casestudies delivered in the classroom and an ‘in-company’ experiential project • Guided by an ethical and sustainable framework, aimed at making business better

Admission criteria • A minimum of three years’ work experience with at least one year of managerial/professional experience • An Australian bachelors degree or equivalent • Minimum English language requirements Current number of students undertaking MBA 135 Cost A$61,200 (2015 fees for the two-year program) Weekly time commitment Students are required to complete 156 hours per academic unit – of which 36 hours is face to face. Due to the flexible delivery of our units, the weekly time commitment will depend on the number of units selected Accreditation • Association of MBAs (AMBA) • Association to Advance Collegiate School of Business (AACSB) • European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) Skills mastered • Functional areas in key business disciplines, including strategy, marketing, finance, accounting, managing people • Critical thinking and negotiation skills • Consultancy and investigative skills • Leadership • Personal development skills • Application of theory to practice Location Melbourne Business School 200 Leicester Street, Carlton, Vic 3053 Website mbs.edu/EMBA Official name of MBA program Executive MBA Program

Part-time or full-time? Part-time modular Duration 18 months Intake date(s) March 2016 Strengths & emphasis • Fully residential executive learning experience • World-class faculty • Global orientation and international module • Peer network of experienced classmates from diverse professional and business sectors Admission criteria Successful applicants are likely to possess:

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Location Ultimo, Sydney Website mba.uts.edu.au Official name of MBA program Master of Business Administration (An Executive MBA is also available for more experienced professionals) Part-time or full-time? Both Duration 2 years (full-time) or 4 years (part-time) Intake date(s) Autumn Semester (February) and Spring Semester (July) Strengths & emphasis The UTS MBA is distinguished from the competition by its practical, vocational orientation and by the open architecture of the course design that includes the opportunity for major or sub-major specialisations. All MBA subjects are approved by an industry board that insists on ‘relevance to workplace’ as a pre-eminent subject design principle Admission criteria A UTS recognised bachelors degree with a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.75

out of 4 with less than 10% fail grades, or a Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) overall minimum score of 550, or a minimum of at least four years’ relevant work experience. Applicants without an undergraduate degree can gain admission to the Graduate Certificate with 8 years’ relevant work experience Current number of students undertaking MBA 650 + Cost $3,348 per subject x 16 subjects. Total approx. $55,872 (based on 2015 domestic student fees) Weekly time commitment Each class requires 3 hours face-to-face contact in addition to self-directed learning Accreditation AACSB. See individual majors for additional accreditations Skills mastered The UTS MBA develops expertise in strategic thinking, critical analysis, decision-making under uncertainty, understanding organisational dynamics, motivating others, effective communication, leadership, and promoting change in dynamic environments.

Functional skills develop competency in a number of key disciplines including accounting, finance, marketing and human resources management

• An undergraduate degree (or GMAT) • A minimum of 5 years’ management experience gained after completing an undergraduate degree • A demonstrable record of professional achievement Current number of students undertaking MBA 60 Cost $97,400 Weekly time commitment 17 x 4 day weekend modules (Thursday-Sunday) each month plus a 1 week overseas module and project in Asia Accreditation EQUIS, AACSB International Skills mastered • Leadership perspectives and capabilities • Global business orientation • Strategic approach • Analytical and decision-making competencies • Project planning and execution

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ADDITIONAL MBA OPTIONS Location Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, Canberra Website agsm.edu.au/mbae Official name of MBA program AGSM MBA (Executive) Part-time or full-time? Part-time Duration 2.5 (minimum) – 7 (maximum) years The AGSM MBA (Executive) is designed to meet the needs of busy individuals. Maximum flexibility options have been built into the course to enable students to select a pace that works for them Intake date(s) Three intakes a year: February, May, September Strengths & emphasis The AGSM (Executive) includes three distinct ‘cohort’ learning experiences to give you the opportunity to develop strong relationships with fellow students and to grow your networks. The unique cohort learning experience of the Strategic Management Year (SMY), consisting of four intensive residential learning experiences, addresses the strategic and business needs of an enterprise as it evolves from start-up to maturity. The flexibility of the program allows students to study at their own pace either weekly or in intensive format, accessing program material online or attending classes in Australia’s major capital cities. Additional features include opportunities to expand international links through the International Business Experience field-study course, the high-quality, carefully selected diverse cohort and the leading research-driven faculty

Admission criteria There are two pathways into the MBA (Executive): 1. An undergraduate degree (or equivalent qualification) and a minimum of 2 years’ professional work experience 2. At least 6 years’ professional work experience Current number of students undertaking MBA 1,000 Cost $77,410 Weekly time commitment You can complete Stage 1 in weekly classes or intensive format Weekly classes: 1 evening class (1.5) hours per week + 2 half-day workshops (Saturday) Intensive: 2x 2.5 days weekend sessions (Fri night – Sunday) Stage 2 consists of five intensive residential modules.

5 x modules, 3,4 or 5 days per module Accreditation AGSM MBA Programs are accredited with the European Foundation for Management Development’s (EMFD) global quality assurance scheme EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System), which aims to raise the standard of management education worldwide. AGSM @ UNSW Business School is also awarded accreditation from AACSB International Skills mastered AGSM MBA students are equipped with not only the academic qualifications, but confidence in strategic capabilities, selfawareness as a leader, the power of collective intelligence and strong global networks to help open doors upon graduation

NSW

University of Sydney Business School sydney.edu.au/business/ Macquarie Graduate School of Management, Macquarie University – mgsm.edu.au/

QUEENSLAND

University of Queensland Business School – business.uq.edu.au/ Griffith Business School, Griffith University – griffith.edu.au/business-government/griffithbusiness-school Central Queensland University – cqu.edu.au

VICTORIA

Swinburne Business School, Swinburne University of Technology – swinburne.edu.au/ business-law/schools/swinburne-businessschool/ LaTrobe Business School, LaTrobe University – latrobe.edu.au/business

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Location Sippy Downs (Sunshine Coast) Queensland Website usc.edu.au Official name of MBA program Master of Business Administration; Executive Master of Business Administration Part-time or full-time?

MBA: part-time or full-time EMBA: part-time (monthly intensive mode) Duration Flexibility of online, or face to face delivery and specialisation options Intake date(s) MBA: Semesters 1 & 2 and Trimester 3 (ie: Feb, July and Nov) EMBA: February Strengths & emphasis Flexibility of online, or face to face delivery and specialisation options Admission criteria MBA: undergraduate degree plus at least 2 years’ relevant work

experience. Applicants without an undergraduate degree, but with 3 years’ relevant work experience may be admitted to the qualifying Graduate Certificate in Business Administration EMBA: at least 5 years’ senior managerial work experience is essential plus a prior degree. Applicants without a prior degree need some evidence of ability to study at graduate level Current number of students undertaking MBA 134 Cost MBA: $2,700 per course (12 courses in total) EMBA: $1,686 per course (24 courses in total) Weekly time commitment Ideally 10 hours per week per course undertaken: ie either 3 hours face to face classes plus 7 hours of individual study (or 10 hours if an online student).

Accreditation Nil Skills mastered Our MBA graduates are trained to be creative and critical thinkers, knowledgeable and sustainability focused with a strong foundation in the classic, key areas of business administration and management

Business School, University of Western Australia – business.uwa.edu.au/ Curtin Business School, Curtin University – business.curtin.edu.au/

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Adelaide Business School, University of Adelaide – business.adelaide.edu.au/ Business School, University of South Australia – unisa.edu.au/business/

ACT/NT

College of Business and Economics, Australian National University – cbe.anu.edu.au/ School of Business, Charles Darwin University – cdu.edu.au/business

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13/04/2015 12:38:42 PM

RECRUITMENT

CROWDSOURCING

New recruitment model a ‘croud’-puller With economic uncertainty looming large, HRDs and their C-suite counterparts need to think outside the square to secure the best talent. Jon Roberts outlines an innovative approach his company has trialled – to huge success THE REFORMING of Australia’s labour market over a number of years has paved the way for businesses to move beyond traditional hiring methods and into more progressive recruitment practices. However, many companies appear reticent to assume methods of hiring that aren’t ‘fixed’ or pre-determined in some way and continue to recruit through means that are inefficient for both employers and candidates.

Good – but not good enough One practice that has helped to bridge the gap between hiring an employee on a permanent basis and contracting has been outsourcing; however, this approach isn’t devoid of flaws.

Unforeseen costs, risks to client confidentiality and issues associated with quality control are all too often synonymous with the concept of outsourcing. More often than not, the function of outsourcing is centralised in jurisdictions

within Asia and Africa and transparency is sacrificed as a result of language and other cultural barriers. There’s an unknown quantity to outsourcing which is reflected in hidden costs and time taken to manage the process, which in turn reduces any overall benefit. Of course, that’s not to suggest this system can’t function well – it can – but it requires untold time and internal resources in ensuring its efficient operation.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF CROWDSOURCING Crowdsourcing sounds like a 2000s digital era buzzword, yet the concept is not new. Although the term was officially coined by author Jeff Howe in a 2006 issue of Wired Magazine, the concept of crowdsourcing was invented in the 1700s. In 1714, the British Government was struggling to find a solution for what was referred to as ‘The Longitude Problem’, which made sailing difficult and perilous. A £20,000 prize (approx. $4.8m today) was offered for anyone who could provide a solution. John Harrison, the son of a carpenter, won the prize by inventing the ‘marine chronometer’, an accurate, vacuum sealed pocket watch. Since then, crowdsourcing has helped create some of the world’s greatest inventions and biggest brands.

THE HISTORY/ GENESIS OF CROWDSOURCING Toyota holds a logo contest

Sydney Opera House architecture contest

Wikipedia launched

American Idol season 1

YouTube launched

Crowdsourcing term coined

1955

2001

2002

2005

2006

Marine pocket clock invented

1714

1936

Source: adapted from crowdsourcing.org

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Strength of the crowd Another recruitment model not too dissimilar to outsourcing but one that eliminates many of these issues is crowdsourcing or, as it’s referred to at Croud Australia, croudsourcing. This approach is a proven model which uses a dedicated network of market expertise within a specific sector. In the case of Croud Australia’s network of croudies, as they’re affectionately known, third-party workers are engaged to work on client accounts from home (or other offsite premises). They must have accrued a minimum of three years’ experience in their chosen field (in the case of Croud Australia, this could be pay-per-click marketing, search engine optimisation, display or content) and undertake routine skills training and testing as part of Croud’s in-house Knowledge Academy.

Headquartered in the UK, the Croud business has amassed a network of over 250 croudies since introducing the model in 2011, with 30 of these based in Australia. The local arm predominantly utilises the domestic croudies, but has the option of tapping into the broader network depending on the volume and nature of client work at any given time.

Croudies are assigned tasks related to client’s campaigns through an online Workflow Dashboard system and instead of face-to-face contact with the client, croudies liaise solely

with Croud’s internal team who manage the client relationships, strategic direction and quality control.

Croud used the equivalent of 14 full-time employees as croudies across its Australian and UK operations, equating to about $1.5m in annualised savings on salaries and operating costs.

As with all business processes, however, careful monitoring and measuring of its effectiveness must be carried out to ensure its long-term viability. The need to protect the reputation of the business and its brand is critical, making a stringent quality control framework all the more imperative. A heightened focus on training and testing, coupled with a multi-staged quality check process that every piece of work goes through before being implemented or shared with the client, mitigates any impact an underperforming croudie may otherwise have on a client’s account. Additionally, any business that adopts a similar method of recruitment must prioritise maintaining a uniform culture between the internal team and the third-party network.

Pros and cons

A model for all?

In the interests of transparency, all prospective clients are informed that the partcrowdsourcing model will be used prior to any work being undertaken. Some will inevitably have questions regarding how the model will work in practice, with responses typically questioning the integrity of the quality assurance process.

The business also enforces a strict nondisclosure agreement process with all croudies, eliminating any client concerns around confidentiality and accessing of sensitive information. Further emphasising this is the fact croudies are not given direct access to client accounts, which are managed exclusively by the internal team. Croudies work on clients across a number of sectors, including IT and tech services, L&D, telecommunications, retail, e-commerce, government, and entertainment services, and on a variety of tasks.

The benefits of adopting a recruitment model such as crowdsourcing are many, and the Croud business continues to derive value as the model evolves. In January 2015 alone,

This type of recruitment model can be applied to businesses of varying sizes, but should prove particularly beneficial to larger corporates, as it solves the challenge of scaling the business and having sufficient resources at particular times of trading. It does, however, take considerable time and investment to build up the network in a workable manner, and many organisations simply aren’t prepared to invest the time and capital required.

So, while it can be acknowledged there is no perfect recruitment tool, adoption of a model such as crowdsourcing goes some way in negating some of the issues encountered through more conventional, long-established hiring methods. If implemented well, the benefits are immeasurable and satisfy the requirements of all parties involved.

Jon Roberts is the managing director of Croud Australia, a Sydney-based search marketing agency specialising in PPC, display, SEO and content

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13/04/2015 12:40:35 PM

FEATURE

HR SURVEYS

What’s on your mind?

Are there any surprises to be found in the steady flow of HR surveys doing the rounds? Gary Taylor takes a look – and reveals a few quirky titbits among the data

EVERY SO often, it is good to examine the surveys conducted globally among HR professionals, just to see what our colleagues are doing and worrying about.

The 2015 Harvey Nash HR Survey engaged 1,123 HR leaders from 30 countries, half of whom were at operational board level, so that degree of representation is worth more than just a glance. Here are some of the findings that reflect today’s global HR thinking.

Board priorities The top three board priorities impacting on HR remain relatively constant: 1. Developing leadership capability 2. Improving talent management 3. Growing employee engagement No surprises here, but it’s worth noting that too many HR people talk about leadership development, whereas this finding uses the word ‘capability’. Without getting hung up on

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semantics, just remember that the board wants people who actually have the capability, not just the potential, or those who have undergone training. Can they actually perform?

What also attracted my attention was that ‘change management’ rose 5%, while ‘performance management’ dropped 8%.

Does this mean that HR and line management are continuing to fail in this area?

HR priorities Another intriguing metric was the response from these HR professionals to the question: what is the most important function performed

by HR? Try to list your top three before reading further: 1. Employee engagement (24%) 2. Culture & values (18%) 3. Talent management (15%) 4. Talent acquisition/recruitment (12%) There’s probably no surprise at the correlation between this list and the previous

one. I did find it interesting that points three and four are separated, with one dealing only with internal talent, and the other with external sourcing. I would expect some integration in strategy and tactics.

The surprise for me is that the rating for ‘inclusion & diversity’ was zero, down from just 1% the previous year. With all that is written and done on this topic in Southern Hemisphere countries, I find the difference startling. Can those countries with intense diversity activity claim success over those that ignore it? This is clearly a matter of choice for some countries whose HR executives are obviously deliberately spending virtually no energies on diversity.

One wonders if the recent growth in race/ ethnicity violence in the US and Europe will impact on this in a few years?

Recruitment The question of the top three recruitment tools

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The HR game remains stressful and more subject to compromise than many disciplines.

Having a line manager say “I wouldn’t have your job for anything” does not necessarily translate into being highly valued. Still, most of us are in HR because of the challenges of the role, and the impact of what we do.

Labour market trends

Despite the urgings of Ulrich for more than a decade, not all transactional or non-sexy HR work has been outsourced in favour of strategic partnering elicited a relatively predictable response: 1. Corporate website 2. Online job boards 3. Personal networks I am surprised that the order of one and two above is not inverted. Except for large corporates with strong employer brands who will attract job seekers directly to their sites, I would have expected the general or industry-specific job boards to predominate.

The recruitment media that shows the most upward movement is LinkedIn, with print media continuing the downward slide.

Recruitment agencies are used by 34% of respondents.

Attraction/retention factors HR leaders who are worried about attracting and retaining good HR talent should consider what 1,100 HR leaders feel are the top three things HR people look for in their jobs: 1. Interesting and exciting work 2. HR being valued by the business 3. Being empowered Before we tick this one off as something we do well, note that 44% of HR professionals expect to change their jobs in the next two years. Despite the urgings of Ulrich for more than a decade, not all transactional or nonsexy HR work has been outsourced in favour of strategic partnering.

Finally, the HR professionals surveyed were asked to list their top three labour market trends for 2015 and beyond, and these were: 1. Recruitment 2. Ageing workforce 3. Getting the right skills These trending issues mean that the average HR professional expects more intense developments in the labour market in respect of these dynamics than in other areas. Country-specific data reflects that the ageing factor is more acute for some (Europe) than others, but actions taken vary too. I recall speaking to one Malaysian HR director who claimed that she recruited with impunity among the post-50 demographic abroad, because “your people are trying so hard to replace your middle and advancedaged people with a different demographic that I can recruit them and still get a good 10–15 years from them before they eventually retire”.

One little concern that was almost hidden in the volume of data was the fact that HR reporting on all of the HR disciplines is still not satisfactory, even in the eyes of HR professionals. Our ability to gather, analyse and use information effectively is not something we have mastered as a profession.

In comparison to our business partners in finance and IT, we are very weak. Have you got a plan to improve this in your world?

Joke of the year: Interviewer says to candidate, “It’s 2015 now, so where do you see yourself in five years?” Candidate responds, “No idea – I don’t have 2020 vision.”

Gary Taylor is an HR director who has worked for Australian, South African and British multinationals on two continents, including the Middle East.

He is registered as a Master HR Practitioner with the South African Board for People Practice, and served as the vice president of the Institute of People Management.

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13/04/2015 12:41:03 PM

TALENT MANAGEMENT

INTERNS

The ins and outs of internships Cecilia Law explains why companies need to be responsible towards interns, to nurture future talent INTERNSHIPS HAVE a long tradition of being a shoe-in to a job or industry. However, they come with the stigma that interns will be stuck with grunt work and performing the mundane tasks no one else in the office wants to do.

While this remains true at some organisations and time is needed to shift these perceptions, the reality is that internships are just as beneficial to companies as they are to the interns themselves.

Companies that have structured programs which facilitate learning with practical applications benefit from nurturing the talent of future employees, potential rising stars in their industry, and who knows, quite possibly the next Angela Ahrendts (Burberry, Apple), Es Devlin (stage designer, London Olympics), or Zaha Hadid (architect).

Nicky Havelaar, MD at branding and event specialists Crown, recalls the experience of her first role and why it is so important that you invest your time and resources in developing your team: “The training I had in my first role gave me confidence and a solid grounding in the industry. It was an unparalleled opportunity to bond with the team and inspired a deep loyalty to the organisation. This is a culture we have sought to instil at Crown. Some of our longest-serving members of staff have been in their roles for over 15 years, having worked their way up to the top of the organisation from entry-level positions. We strive to give individuals the confidence to exploit their talent and make a good impression, with us and elsewhere.”

From green shoots to towering trees Crown not only commits to ‘growing brand belief ’ for their clients but also instils an equally greater belief

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in their staff. With this mentoring philosophy, the company conceived ‘Green Shoots’, their internship program that employs undergraduates on an industrial placement for a year, and throws them on a steep learning curve into the events industry with real, front-line exposure on projects.

Recruitment for Green Shoots is unique. Interns are determined by their level of potential, coupled with business acumen and emotional intelligence.

This approach to recruitment is key to staff success at Crown and allows an individual to shine and excel on their own merits.

After their time at Crown, interns go on to complete their university studies. After graduation, one intern will be offered a full-time role at Crown. This cycle will then repeat itself year-on-year, and within four years promotion to a specialist role is anticipated.

Along with the structure of their programs, it is essential that companies take a considered approach to recruiting candidates. Internships are a two-way street. Interns with the determination and aptitude to want to learn and succeed will be the ones to benefit from their time at a company. Companies that offer an educational program with exposure on real, ‘live’ projects, coupled with access to the expertise of their existing team, are the innovators at the forefront of their industries.

Programs such as Green Shoots send a strong message to interns and staff alike, that the company they work for truly values their people. This instils trust and respect into the culture that inherently supports their own internal engagement. Replenishing roles and bringing up the next generation of talent is a responsibility all organisations need to be involved in.

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WORK EXPERIENCE & INTERNSHIPS: THE LEGALITIES The Fair Work Ombudsman has clear guidelines for treatment of interns and those workers undertaking work experience.

Should the person get paid?

Unpaid work experience and unpaid internships that are not vocational placements are fine as long as the person isn’t in an employment relationship. People in employment relationships are employees of a business and entitled to: • a minimum wage • the National Employment Standards • the terms of any applicable reward or registered agreement How do I tell if someone’s an employee?

You can use the indicators below to help work out whether a work experience participant or intern is an employee: • Reason for the arrangement. Is the purpose of the work experience or internship to give the person work experience or to get the person to do work to help with the ordinary operation of the business? The more productive work that’s involved (rather than just observation), the more likely it is that the person’s an employee.

• Length of time. Generally, the longer the period of the arrangement, the more likely the person is an employee.

• Significance to the business. Is the work normally done by paid employees? Does the organisation need this work to be done? If the person is doing work that would otherwise be done by an employee, or it’s work that the business/organisation has to do, it’s more likely the person is an employee.

• What the person is doing. Although the person may do some productive activities, they’re less likely to be an employee if they aren’t expected or required to come to work or do productive activities.

• Who’s getting the benefit? The person who’s doing the work should get the main benefit from the arrangement. If a business or organisation benefits from engaging the person, it’s more likely the person is an employee.

Example: Unpaid internship A local council has advertised an internship program for high school or university students interested in government processes. The internships have been advertised as unpaid positions and students are allowed to select the hours they spend at the council office over a two-week period.

The council is careful to make sure that the role is mainly observational and there’s no expectation that the students will do productive work. The students are getting the main benefit from the arrangement.

In this example there’s no employment relationship and the interns don’t have to be paid.

Example: Paid internship Tim is a final-year accounting student. He agreed to do an unpaid internship with an accountancy firm and was promised a job once he graduated.

Tim attended the firm for three days a week. He prepared customer tax returns and company financials. The firm charged clients for the work he did.

Although Tim had agreed not to be paid, he did work that would have otherwise been done by a paid employee. This indicates that an employment relationship existed. As such he should have been paid for all the hours he worked.

Source: Fairwork.gov.au

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TALENT MANAGEMENT

INTERNS STAYING COMPLIANT

Allegations against Aussie company Crocmedia sparked debate over how much employers could allow interns to work without paying them, before being in breach of the Fair Work Act. In November 2014 the Fair Work Ombudsman ruled in the case of two interns who produced radio programs for Crocmedia. One intern, Johnathan Wilkinson, often worked seven days in a week, and was paid nothing during the six months he worked at the company.

Wilkinson, who had interned for 15 months at Crocmedia, should have earned seven times more than the $2,940 he was paid.

The case was taken to the Fair Work Ombudsman in June 2013.

According to Australian law, the interns should have been paid $18 per hour to comply with the minimum wage for casual workers. The company has since paid both interns all of their entitlements, but the outcome of the case could result in more legal action from any other underpaid intern who has worked for the company over the past six years.

Lucienne Gleeson, associate at PCC Lawyers, told HRD that Crocmedia could have breached several sections of the Fair Work Act, including the requirement to pay the two individuals involved a rate at least equal to the national minimum wage as per the National Minimum Wage Order, and the requirement to pay casual loading applicable under the National Minimum Wage Order. Crocmedia is also alleged to have failed to provide

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the individuals with payslips. Penalties are being sought from the employer for each of these breaches.

“Significantly, the two individuals were at the time of their employment Award and Enterprise Agreement free,” Gleeson told HRD. “If they had been covered by an Award or Enterprise then it could also have been alleged that the employer breached Sections 45 (contravening a modern award) or 50 (contravening an enterprise agreement) of the Fair Work Act. If an employer breaches these provisions they can be liable for penalties of up to $55,000 for each breach.”

Gleeson also gave an explanation as to the reasoning behind Crocmedia’s legal obligation to pay the interns.

“Currently, a person that undertakes a ‘vocational placement’ within the meaning of the Fair Work Act is not considered to be an employee and is therefore not entitled to be paid for any work they undertake,” she says. “The key elements of a ‘vocational placement’ are that the placement is undertaken as a requirement of an educational or training course through an institution such as a TAFE, college or university, and it may be organised at the instigation of an educational institution or the student. If these elements are met then the individual involved is not entitled to receive pay for the placement. Outside of this arrangement unpaid internships are only legitimate if there is no employment relationship.”

Gleeson gave HRD a list of questions that employers can ask to determine whether or not there

is an employment relationship: • What work is being done?

• Would the work usually be done by a paid employee?

• What length of time is the internship?

• Is much observation being carried out by the individual?

• Who benefits from the arrangements?

“The Crocmedia case is expected to go a considerable way towards settling how much emphasis should be placed on each of these elements and whether there are any other additional issues to consider,” she says.

Vince Rogers, partner at Ashurst, told HRD that employers should never assume that interns require no remuneration or support.

“Employers must ensure that they are meeting their remuneration obligations,” he says. “There can be arrangements for interns to receive certain treatments under relevant awards or schemes. Any employer needs to check what applies to their industry – the Fair Work Ombudsman would be a logical first port of call.”

Rogers adds that employers’ obligations to interns are not restricted to remuneration.

“Aspects of liability, such as workplace health and safety or exposure to harassment or inappropriate conduct in the workplace are also the responsibility of the employer,” he says.

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HR STRATEGY

NEGOTIATION

How to negotiate to get your own way Contrary to what many people think, negotiation is not about ‘winning at all costs’. Josh Masters explains that if you take the approach that negotiation is a process in which all parties achieve the best outcome, you may well find that you start achieving more success in your dealings with others, and don’t tread on as many toes along the way ...

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THE ART of negotiation is one that is truly underestimated in the corporate world, with many professionals fixated on playing either good cop or bad cop when it comes to sealing a deal. This turns what is actually a science into a gambling game in which the high stakes don’t always pay.

The basic premise of negotiation is to work together with another party to achieve an outcome that works for you both and, rather than come from a traditional stance where there’s a winner and a loser, it’s best to think flexibly.

However, in closing hundreds of deals throughout my career as a professional property buyer on behalf of my clients, I’ve learnt a number of techniques for mastering negotiation that will have you getting what you need, without damaging any relationships along the way.

exchange of energy. Place two people face-to-face and they will feel confronted. Pride, stubbornness and ego can get in the way because each person feels they’re being threatened personally.

Creating a third position, where both people turn to face the problem, diverts the intense energy of each person away from confrontation and focuses their attention on solving the issue. Separating the problem from the person avoids any personality clashes and reduces the chance of offending the other person.

Rather than reacting harshly to the other party not wanting to budge from their original offer because they’re ‘stubborn and unreasonable’, you can instead focus attention on the problem. Take personality out of the equation and focus on finding a solution rather than becoming defensive and equally unreasonable.

Create a third position

Look for the ‘why?’

It’s important to remember that a negotiation is an

Most people will make a decision based on reason.

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Finding out what that reason is can be an invaluable strategy as it gives you the opportunity to create a solution, often in return for what you want. For example, if a colleague has asked for a three-month extended vacation during the business’s busiest time, you can negotiate on whether they can work remotely via email during some of this period.

Avoid getting personal No one likes to be attacked personally. Even when you’re negotiating through a third party, you have to assume that this third party may communicate your every word to the person you are trying to settle a deal with. So keep it polite and remember that you’re trying to get them to cooperate.

Playing the blame game or reacting negatively will work against your goals. Even when something doesn’t go your way, stay calm and be respectful and remember you may lose in the short term, but as long as your eye is on the prize, your long-term goals should come to fruition.

You also need to avoid thinking the worst of the other party. For example, just because they request that you make an upfront payment before receiving the goods does not mean that they’re going to steal your money.

This can be difficult as you don’t necessarily know the background of the person you’re dealing with in a negotiation. However, assuming the worst of the other person will rarely be productive – and remember, they may actually be thinking the same about you!

Be flexible The more flexible you can be towards the other party, the more likely they will be willing to give you what you want.

If you can decide what you want before you go into the negotiation, such as your best offer and what terms you can and can’t waver on, you can often give the other party what they want without having to sacrifice your position.

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HR STRATEGY

NEGOTIATION Think of the other person

Avoid any confusion

At the end of the day, a negotiation, however brief, is a relationship. If you fail to consider the other person’s feelings or what they want, then it is unlikely you will have much success.

If they are resolute about particular terms of the negotiation, it can be beneficial to withhold your judgment and put yourself in their shoes. Is there a reason why they’re being so firm? Is there something important to them that you haven’t considered? After all, you might very well do the same thing if you were in their position.

Having some empathy for the other person will often ease the pressure in a negotiation – enough to get them across the line on the other things that are important to you.

Sometimes it can be difficult to draw the line between offering help and asking for business, especially with people with whom you have developed a relationship in a casual setting.

If you feel that you’re approaching a level of information that you feel you should be charging for, it can be handy to say things like ‘Call me if you would like to work together on something’, or ‘This is the sort of information I often provide to my client base’. That way you’re being clear on your expectations for the future, without severing the lines of communication altogether.

Using ‘if’ One of the secrets to a successful negotiation is to never give anything up without asking for something in return, even if it’s small. Using ‘if ’ in your negotiation is a good way to handle this: If I give you … then I would like …

I’m happy to give you … if …

If you can … then I’d be more than happy to ...

If you can … then I’d be more than happy to …

Having some empathy for the other person will often ease the pressure in a negotiation – enough to get them across the line on the other things that are important to you

N C 3

Use silence

With more than 15 years’ experience in the real estate industry and hundreds of property purchases under his belt, Josh Masters is one of Australia’s most respected buyers’ agents. He is author of the new investment guide, Why Property Why Now. Learn more at www.joshmasters.com.au.

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One of the most effective ways to negotiate is to stay quiet. This may not be appropriate in situations where there are five other parties all trying to win a slice of the budget pie, but it can be invaluable when the other party is poised for a favourable outcome.

When you remain silent, you automatically get the ‘ball in your court’, so to speak, which leaves you with the power to make the next call. In the meantime, the other party waits in anticipation, hoping that they may achieve their outcome. This can create the impression for the other party that the negotiation process may soon end with a good result and they can walk away happy. When you do come back to the table with a counter offer, their anticipation of closing the deal immediately will make the seller more willing to sacrifice items that they may have fought hard to get earlier, all because they’ve seen the light at the end of the tunnel.

Silence can be useful in difficult negotiations as it can give the time needed for both parties to ‘cool off ’. Sitting back can give you the perspective you need to get a better understanding of the situation, and provide you with the long-term view that you need.

Strike a pose While most of us have come across an overbearing tyrant trying to win power by force, it can be an equally destructive force to approach a negotiation lacking confidence and presence.

Harvard’s Amy Cuddy has a wonderful presentation on conveying ‘presence’ in front of peers, which shows that it can be as simple as the way you hold your posture before you enter the room. Two minutes with your head up, shoulders back and hands on hips can really provide the confidence you need to stand your ground and muster the courage to ask for what you want.

The biggest misunderstanding surrounding the art of negotiation is in its actual definition. It’s important to remember that negotiation is not used to get the best deal possible or get the most out of someone for the least amount of budget; it’s about coming to the most positive outcome for all parties involved. The origin of the word ‘negotiation’ comes from the Latin term ‘negotiates’, meaning ‘to carry on business’, and with the right techniques you will carry on closing deals, securing clients and building relationships.

AU

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PEOPLE

IN PERSON

HELEN FRASER

HRD chats to Helen Fraser, HR director at global provider of design, engineering, and construction services, AECOM, about D&I, the importance of job mobility and why HR feeds her love of developing problem-solving solutions for business Photo credit: Rob Daniel Photography, robdaniel.com.au

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Helen Fraser will take part in a panel discussion – Secrets revealed: Building strategic partnerships with the CEO, CFO and the board – at the Executive Leadership Forum, 18-19 June at Sydney’s Doltone House Hyde Park. For further information visit hcamag.com/executive-leadership-forum/

HRD: How did you first enter the HR profession and what was it that initially drew you to it?

Helen Fraser: I studied HR at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane around 25 years ago, but at the time wasn’t sure I wanted to work in HR. I knew I loved being with people and I also enjoyed the discipline and variety that a career in business offered, so stuck with it. After about 10 years in HR, I decided to have a year working outside of HR, in a process improvement role (Six Sigma) in the banking industry, but I quickly returned to HR. The pragmatic, problemsolving process drew me back!

HRD: What has AECOM done in the D&I space for women, particularly supporting women up the leadership chain?

HF: We believe that, in order to improve career development options for women, we need to provide relevant and supportive mentoring programs. Our ‘MCircles’ network is a good example of such a program. It’s a forum for AECOM women to discuss, explore and support, as they set goals for their own development with the help of mentors, and meet every 4-6 weeks to discuss progress and share experiences.

We are also looking carefully at the level of gender pay equity across our business. Lara Poloni, our chief executive across Australia and New Zealand, is one of 62 business leaders to have signed up to the Australian Workplace Gender Equity Agency’s (WGEA) ‘In Your Hands’ program, which is encouraging other business leaders to recognise pay equity as a key business imperative, and is providing real momentum for us to better understand where our pay gaps are and how we should address them. We are also ensuring that women who have breaks in their career such as maternity leave are not adversely impacted by reduced opportunities or disadvantaged in terms of remuneration. Conducting gender analysis at the point of hire will be our next task.

HRD: What’s the biggest HR related challenge facing AECOM in 2015 and how are you meeting that challenge?

HF: Our biggest challenge is succession and the retention of key talent. We work in such a dynamic industry and we need to continue to invest strongly in supporting leadership

development. In the past , our technical leaders have been the ones to be promoted into business leadership roles. We’ve made good progress here, but it does take significant investment to develop leadership and commercial business management acumen in a highly technical workforce. Retention is key and our focus is on retaining our key talent at all levels.

HRD: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received, and can you apply it to your work life?

HF: I come from a family which moved around a lot; even now, my siblings and I are scattered around the world. My HR leader in one of my early roles encouraged me to move to a regional location (Townsville) and it was the best career development experience I have had. I was ‘thrown in the deep end’ and had to come up with solutions largely without having others to bounce ideas off. I also learnt to love North Queensland and the people. I always encourage my team members to consider relocating so as to experience different cultures, both personally and for their careers.

Working in a smaller, regional centre also requires more independent problem solving skills, because other HR support is not always immediately available.

HRD: Finish this sentence: ‘The thing I enjoy most about HR is…’

HF: The people! I love working out what drives people. I’m constantly amazed at how different everyone is and how these differences drive different behaviours. I also love solving problems. I’m a pragmatic sort of person, so coming up with a solution for a business which has complex people issues is so rewarding.

AECOM is a large, complex global business, so I like helping people to navigate this complexity and finding the right solution for their client, their people and themselves personally.

HRD: Finish this sentence: ‘The thing I enjoy least about HR is…’

HF: Technology is constantly changing, which can make it difficult to ensure we provide managers with accessible and current employee data, without having to engage HR. We are working on this at AECOM with the roll-out of a manager’s dashboard later in the year. This will

HELEN FRASER CAREER TIMELINE August 2014-present Director human resources, Australia/New Zealand AECOM

2006-2013 HR manager – Victoria/ South Australia AECOM

2013-2014 HR manager, Southern Australia AECOM

2003-2006 HR manager – Queensland AECOM 2000-2003 HR consultant Suncorp 1993-2000 Senior HR advisor – North Queensland / Brisbane, Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads

QUALIFICATIONS

Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Masters of Business (Human Resources Management)

be a step forward for us in providing accessible and current employment data to our managers.

HRD: What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

HF: I read. I talk all day at work, so to be able escape into a book and to not talk is how I relax. I have a pretty noisy young family so relaxation time does not always eventuate.

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PEOPLE

HEAD TO HEAD

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

Views from the frontline

With the current focus on the government’s Intergenerational Report, are there really differences in how you should manage each generation? Are you doing anything specific to engage with and encourage mature-age workers to stay with you?

Meahan Callaghan HR director, SEEK At SEEK we believe a company should create and foster a culture that is inclusive and diverse; actively committing to this has for SEEK reduced the reliance on processes designed to manage specific issues, such as ageism. Furthermore, we’ve recently launched ‘This is SEEK’ which encapsulates how we create a culture to harness talent.

We have a set of Beliefs and Attributes which codify what it means to be a high performer. Employees know exactly what is required to be high performer.

Our drive to nurture a culture of inclusivity and diversity knows no boundaries. As a result we believe employees of all ages have the ability to feel valued and perform to their best.

We don’t see intergenerational management as an isolated focus, but part of our wider responsibility to create an environment where people feel valued and can perform to their best.

Lisa Annese CEO, Diversity Council Australia The idea that certain generations behave fundamentally differently to others is more about stereotypes and less about any real differences. A more meaningful approach is to consider differences in life stages such as being early in a career versus being more advanced or even at retirement stage. A more useful way of managing differences is to adopt an identity-based approach where you treat people as individuals with different needs at different times.

Leading employers are doing a lot to better harness the skills and talents of older workers. This includes strategies such as confronting workplace prejudices against older workers through publicity, management programs and workplace discussion; offering flexible working arrangements; implementing mentoring, exploring ways to prevent career stagnation; and undertaking succession planning to meet future requirements.

Charmaine Loratet Talent management director, Concur At Concur, intergenerational management is at the forefront of our minds and should be for every organisation. We firmly believe there are fundamental differences in how we manage our workforce and each generation should receive intentional care from the company and be allowed a voice in our product, people and growth strategy.

It is imperative that we equip our leaders with the training and knowledge to lead, motivate and retain key employees across all generations. Our strategy is clear: invest in and educate our leadership team to ensure they can effectively lead.

As a result, we have a strong focus on multi-generational initiatives and training programs. These programs will focus on rewards and recognition, values, communication preferences, and career path. As a business we must be confident that we are doing all that we can to keep our workforce engaged.

MULTI-GENERATIONAL MANAGEMENT With up to five generations working together, how should HR leaders be managing these employees? Are there real generational differences to consider, or as one of our experts says, is this more about holding stereotypical views that are not relevant? How can you manage your team – regardless of age – to ensure maximum engagement and productivity?

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