COVER STORY
2O15 HR HOT LIST AMANDA FRACARO
HR DIRECTOR ASPEN MEDICAL
A ‘CSR culture’ lies at the heart of Aspen Medical’s operations. Workplace giving and matching programs and a focus on helping those with disabilities is weaved into the fabric of the company. In addition, the Aspen Foundation was set up to help significantly reduce or eradicate key illnesses in the Australian Indigenous community; a percentage of the company’s profits go to the Foundation. Aspen employees are also involved in projects that are saving lives, such as helping to stop the spread of Ebola in West Africa and placing health professionals in remote Indigenous communities in the NT to help close the gap in health outcomes. Recently, Aspen’s mobile surgery unit was sent to Queensland, and in the first few days three babies were born. “We have a low turnover rate and we know it is because of what we do and how we go about that,” Amanda Fracaro says. “This is a culture that people want to be a part of.”
PETER HARTNETT
HEAD OF PEOPLE & CULTURE SANITARIUM The Gold winner of the 1,000+ employee category in HRD’s own Employer of Choice awards, Sanitarium excelled in several categories, including quality of work, culture & engagement and health & wellbeing. Peter Hartnett and his team have also played a critical role in building company-wide innovation. A gluten-free Weet-Bix, launched in 2014, was a world-first product launch that required a dramatic rethink by the company and significant involvement of employees. From developing the recipe to piloting the product and retrofitting a factory to create gluten-free products, Hartnett says this one project – which came together in a tight six-month timeframe – speaks volumes about how the company listens to the voice of its people. And those people are rewarded: Life Matter and Better U are multifaceted programs designed to enhance both the ‘personal journey’ and health and wellness of employees.
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SUSIE BABANI
GROUP CHRO ANZ
LinkedIn’s 2015 Australian Power Profiles listing had among its ranks Susie Babani. Besides garnering the highest profile views on LinkedIn, these Power Profiles “want to influence change by voicing their opinions on topics that they are passionate about”, LinkedIn stated. What is Babani passionate about? All aspects of diversity in the workplace, but particularly supporting women to fulfil their potential in the corporate world. “No plans to stop on this quest until 50:50 gender balance becomes a reality,” Babani states. She shares ANZ CEO Mike Smith’s vision that all roles should be flexible, rather than dependent on a ‘leadership lottery’ decided by leaders who either ‘get’ or don’t get flexible work. She admits she’s “never short of an opinion” and enjoys sharing them on BlueNotes (bluenotes.anz. com) and via Twitter – @SusieBabani.
MICHELLE COOPER
NATIONAL MANAGER – PEOPLE & PERFORMANCE PEOPLEBANK PeopleBank achieved the significant landmark of four consecutive years on Aon Hewitt’s Best Employer list in 2015 – the only recruitment company to be accredited four years running. Michelle Cooper tells HRD the company’s focus on engagement is simple to understand: employee engagement leads to client engagement, which in turn leads to shareholder return. “Simply, employee engagement can be directly translated to high performance,” she says, adding that PeopleBank’s gross profit figures for the last four years bear this out. Perhaps even more importantly, PeopleBank is willing to share the secrets of its success. Cooper receives unsolicited requests for consultation on employee engagement from other organisations, as well as for presentations at industry conferences; like it or not, she has become an acknowledged expert in the field of engagement.
www.hcamag.com
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22/10/2015 12:18:12 PM