Human Resources Director 15.08

SPECIAL REPORT: EXECUTIVE EDUCATION From credentials to Executive MBAs ALL FOR ONE How Barclays is becoming a world leader in diversity and inclusion THE NUMBERS GAME Big data, small data and how analytics is transforming HR

HCAMAG.COM ISSUE 15.08

2017

ASIA-PACIFIC HR REPORT Opportunities, challenges and the future of HR

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AUGUST 2017

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

CONTENTS

@HRDAustralia facebook.com/HRDAustralia

UPFRONT 02 Editorial

Why optimism is trumping frustration in the HR profession

04 Statistics

High-performing HR teams

06 News analysis

What you need to know about the differences in the way the Fair Work Act and the Disability Discrimination Act handle discrimination claims

08 Employment law update

Can you refuse to hire a candidate with a speech impediment?

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PROFILE

ALL FOR ONE

Barclays is rapidly becoming the world leader in diversity and inclusion, but it’s in disability inclusion and accessibility that it’s truly leading the way

10 L&D update

How employers can develop millennials

12 Head to head

Should recruiters ‘go blind’ to avoid unconscious bias?

FEATURES 43 Special Report: Executive education

HRD looks at three key ways executives can bolster their skill sets for a VUCA world: Executive MBAs, micro-credentials and coaching and mentoring

PEOPLE

30 FEATURES

ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS

From the need to embrace both structured and unstructured data, to the emergence of ‘small data’, in 2017 there’s no more pressing issue for HR than data and analytics

54 Career path

He’s come a long way and tasted various industries, but for LinkedIn’s Jason Laufer it all comes down to people

56 Other life

For Suzanna Paull almost every weekend is a walk on the wild side

34 FEATURES

GETTING BACK TO BASICS HCAMAG.COM CHECK IT OUT ONLINE

Sometimes the bells and whistles get in the way of why recognition is so important in the first place. HRD outlines why the fundamentals matter

18 COVER STORY

2017 ASIA-PACIFIC HR REPORT

HRD’s third annual Asia-Pacific HR Report reveals it’s a challenging yet immensely exciting time to be part of the HR profession. While change and disruption are the norm, HR remains optimistic for the future PROFILE

THE SCIENCE OF LEADERSHIP

Brian Little has won industry accolades for his groundbreaking management training initiatives at global insurer Zurich. He shares his story with HRD

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UPFRONT

EDITORIAL www.hcamag.com AUGUST 2O17

FULL STEAM AHEAD FOR HR

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always enjoy the comments made by our readers who participate in the Asia-Pacific HR Report.

Now into its third year, it’s fascinating to read about the challenges and opportunities our readers are dealing with first-hand.

While frustration is evident in some responses, the one recurring theme to emerge is unbridled optimism.

This year we asked readers what trait, skill or characteristic would help HR navigate through the uncertain, ambiguous times ahead, and we received so many incisive comments in return. This is one comment of many that stood out for me: “The ability to look outside the box. There are so many awesome members of the HR community if you know where to look; they are forging new ways of working and attempting to answer the question: Where to next? Where to next for the workplace, and where to next for how HR delivers its services to the business.”

This year we asked readers what trait, skill or characteristic would help HR navigate through the uncertain, ambiguous times ahead This optimism is also seen in this issue’s profiled HR leader, a 20-plus-year veteran of the profession – Brian Little, CHRO at Zurich North America.

“There’s not a day I wake up and don’t feel challenged and excited about opportunities for myself and my team,” he tells HRD. “I would encourage any person who is looking for a chance to contribute at a very high level, to be able to shape the culture and ability of an organisation to be successful, to go into HR.” Despite disruption, despite constant change, despite limited budgets and executive colleagues who still don’t ‘get’ HR, the HR profession is evidently extremely positive about the future. If resilience is tied to optimism, HR is in good shape.

Iain Hopkins, editor

EDITORIAL

SALES & MARKETING

Editor Iain Hopkins

Marketing & Communications Manager Lisa Narroway

Journalist John Hilton Editorial Assistant Hannah Go Production Editor Roslyn Meredith

ART & PRODUCTION Design Manager Daniel Williams Designer Marla Morelos Traffic Coordinator Freya Demegilio

Business Development Managers Steven McDonald Clive Thomas

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

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UPFRONT

STATISTICS

WHAT THE BEST DO DIFFERENTLY

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High-performing HR organisations share a few characteristics, and that’s what sets them apart THE PRACTICES and structures that drive the most value across the top 50 HR organisations worldwide fall into a few distinct areas, and it’s these key differences that influence such important market differentiators as increased customer value, greater innovation, the ability to proactively deal with disruptive change, and the attraction of top talent.

According to a Mercer study, How HR Needs to Change, key among the characteristics of high-performing HR

71%

64%

of high-performing HR organisations utilise all three functions

of HR models have some combination of HRBPs, COEs, and HRSS

organisations is ‘centralisation’, and the attendant consistency in policies and practices. Utilisation of technology is prioritised, allowing for the automation of reiterative transactional tasks that would otherwise demand valuable people time.

These high-performing organisations depend mainly upon centres of expertise, HR shared services, and the use of HR business partners as true business advisers.

They are also nimble and dynamic, which allows for easy evolution and transformation.

68%

of high-performing HR functions have redesigned their HR structure within the last 5 years

90%

of HRBPs report directly to HR in high-performing HR functions

United States 90

Mexico 87 THE NUMBER ONE CHALLENGE HR is not alone in needing to reinvent itself for a new era. Businesses at large are reshaping themselves. Ninety-two per cent of the 7,000 business leaders surveyed by Deloitte in 2016 indicated that organisational design was their top challenge for the coming year, above ‘leadership’ and ‘culture’. This map shows the percentage of leaders who rated it as their top challenge around the world.

Source: How HR Needs to Change, Karen Shellenback, Mercer Select Data, 2017

STATE OF PLAY

THREE-ELEMENT MODEL

HR structures today are often centralised, meaning decisions are made centrally while policies and practices are consistent across locations. Roughly a sixth are decentralised, meaning decisions are made locally while policies can vary between locations. About a third are hybrids.

Three elements comprise HR’s prevailing model: centres of expertise (COEs), HR business partners (HRBPs), and HR shared services (HRSS). These are utilised by almost two thirds (64%) of HR organisations. Companies of 20,000-plus employees for the most part (83%) use a combination of the three.

15%

COE only 3%

SS only 5%

SS & HRBP 6%

SS & COE 6%

Decentralised

50%

Centralised

35% Hybrid

HRBP only 7%

Source: How HR Needs to Change, Karen Shellenback, Mercer Select Data, 2017

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HRBP & COE 19%

All three 54%

Source: How HR Needs to Change, Karen Shellenback, Mercer Select Data, 2017

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Belgium 96 Netherlands 94 United Kingdom 92

Germany 84

Spain 92

China 97 Japan 95

Italy 90 France 90 India 91

Brazil 94

South Africa 91

Australia 87

Higher percentages

Lower percentages Source: Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends, 2016

DOING BETTER

TOP TRAITS

Organisations with high-performing HR functions have embraced technology and as a result have realised significant results in assessing and applying analytics, including innovation, delivering greater customer value, and attracting top talent. Here’s what they are achieving.

The three key steps and nine best practices that HR need to create a high-performing human resources organisation come back to structure, practices, and an investment in tech.

Delivering exceptional customer value

94% Reacting proactively to disruptive change

83% Driving innovation

89% Viewed as great places to work

86% Attract the talent needed to excel

91% Source: How HR Needs to Change, Karen Shellenback, Mercer Select Data, 2017

Evolve the model

Build capability

Invest in technology

Use a centralised structure

Align COE and HR practices with business strategy

Invest in the right mix of HCM technology

Deploy the prevailing model with all three elements (COEs, HRBPs, HRSS)

Shift transactions to HR Shared Services

Invest in analytics to drive decision-making

Build model maturity

Evolve the role of the HRBP

Provide a digital employee and manager experience

Source: How HR Needs to Change, Karen Shellenback, Mercer Select Data, 2017

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UPFRONT

NEWS ANALYSIS

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED A recent federal court case highlights the differences between the Fair Work Act and the Disability Discrimination Act when handling workplace discrimination claims MR SHIZAS, a lawyer by trade, had always wanted to be a police officer. He applied to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) but his application was knocked back on the basis that he had an arthritic condition and therefore didn’t meet the medical requirements of the AFP. Mr Shizas requested a review of the case and made a second application, which was also rejected. However, the AFP did not have it all its own way – and herein lies the lesson for other employers.

defence works in very different ways and that’s the issue that this case threw up and where not much attention has been paid before,” says Kerryn Tredwell, partner in Hall & Wilcox’s employment practice.

All about the decision-maker In general protections cases involving discrimination, the employer or prospective employer bears the onus of proving that no part of the reason for the relevant act or

“It’s a defence in both jurisdictions to rely on the fact that a person can’t perform the inherent requirements of the job, but that defence works in very different ways” Kerryn Tredwell Where this case holds interest for HR professionals is how it unfolded. Mr Shizas originally brought a discrimination claim in the Australian Human Rights Commission. He subsequently changed his mind and instead applied under the general protections laws in the Fair Work realm. The case highlights differences in the ‘inherent requirements’ defence in each of those realms.

“It’s a defence in both jurisdictions to rely on the fact that a person can’t perform the inherent requirements of the job, but that

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conduct was unlawfully discriminatory. In relation to Mr Shizas’s first application, the AFP could not discharge this onus because it failed to produce evidence as to who made the decision to reject the application, and why. This resulted in the Court finding that the first refusal breached the general protections provisions of the Fair Work Act. Tredwell says this case highlights why, in general protections claims, it is critical to identify who the decision-maker is.

“Who is the person who made the decision

that’s being complained about? Because you’re going to have to prove that that person’s reason was not unlawful,” she says.

“The only way to prove that is to effectively have that person as a witness and to have them give evidence about why they made the decision they made.”

In most hierarchical organisations, Tredwell says, often it’s not just one person who makes a decision – for example, it might be a manager making a decision about whether or not to terminate someone’s employment, but it’s then signed off or approved by someone more senior up the chain. That can muddy the waters as to who actually made the decision.

“Sometimes you will have multiple decisionmakers and you’ll then have to prove that the reasons for the decision made by all those people were completely lawful,” Tredwell says.

A spotlight on inherent requirements However, the news was better for the AFP in relation to the second refusal, which the Court accepted was the result of the relevant

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WHAT IS AN INHERENT REQUIREMENT? Kerryn Tredwell says there is no “definitive definition” of an inherent requirement, but when courts reference this term they are talking about the fundamental duties that make up a role, such that if an employee didn’t perform any one of those duties they wouldn’t really be performing the role.

A simplistic example would be a truck driver who cannot drive; they would not be able to perform the inherent requirements of the role. In contrast, there is the example of an accounts clerk who takes the cash to the bank every Friday and takes a car to get there. Should they not be able to drive – due to poor eyesight or some other reason – they would not be able to perform that part of their role. However, is that an inherent requirement of the role? “Probably not, because taking that one duty or responsibility away doesn’t fundamentally change the job of the accounts clerk. It’s always somewhat open to interpretation but usually it’s a common-sense judgment,” Tredwell says.

This case highlights why, in general protections claims, it is critical to identify who the decision-maker is decision-maker’s genuine belief that the candidate, on account of his disability, was at a substantial risk of injury and therefore unable to safely perform the inherent requirements of the role. Although the Court accepted that such a belief was probably mistakenly held in this case, there was enough evidence of the belief itself, and that it was genuinely held, for the Court to uphold the inherent requirements defence.

The Court issued a declaration that the first refusal to employ the candidate was a breach of the FW Act, but otherwise dismissed the application with no further orders for relief.

Tredwell adds that had the claim been brought under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) (DDA), as originally intended, the outcome may have been different in

relation to the second job application made

by Mr Shizas.

Under the DDA, it doesn’t matter if an employer genuinely thinks a disability will place the employee in harm’s way; it needs to be established that the person cannot perform the role “in fact”. In other words, it’s not up to the decision-maker’s subjective view, but rather whether the candidate can objectively carry out the job’s inherent requirements.

“This means it is not a question of what the decision-maker subjectively believed, but whether the individual was objectively able to carry out the inherent requirements of the position,” says Tredwell.

The most common type of claim employees bring is an unfair dismissal claim, Tredwell says, which comes forward in the Fair Work Commission. General protections

claims, also handled by the FWC, are newer but becoming increasingly common.

Discrimination complaints, in her experience, make up a much smaller percentage of complaints, and she believes that employers would be much less familiar with the discrimination jurisdiction.

However, she adds that the often-subtle differences between each Act create potential difficulties for employers – they need to understand each to avoid liability, and decisions need to be carefully documented. “Employers who don’t understand the repercussions of each may leave themselves exposed if, for any reason, they are found to have discriminated against an employee,” she says.

In conclusion, Tredwell says this case is a reminder for businesses that, when potential issues of discrimination arise in relation to decisions being made, both the general protections and discrimination frameworks need to be kept in mind and decisions carefully documented, as different considerations need to be taken into account to avoid liability.

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UPFRONT

EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE NEWS BRIEFS Psychological injury claim – with a twist

Lynette Hart, a Domino’s delivery driver, claimed she was “psychologically injured” after losing the 2016 Delivery Driver of the Year competition. Hart claimed she should have won the competition for the second year in a row and took the matter to the Fair Work Commission. The FWC dismissed Hart’s application, finding that it did not have the jurisdiction to deal with the matter because it did not fall under her terms of employment. Fair Work deputy president Peter Sams said to overturn the result and establish Hart as the winner would have been a “bizarre and entirely inappropriate outcome”.

Uber investigated over pay and conditions

Uber in Australia is being accused of failing to comply with federal workplace laws amid claims of sham contracting. It is alleged that Uber underpaid drivers by classifying them as contractors rather than employees. A Fair Work Ombudsman spokesperson confirmed that an investigation into Uber was underway. “I can confirm that the FWO has commenced an investigation into Uber, with the purpose of determining whether the engagement of Uber drivers is compliant with Commonwealth workplace laws,” he said. The names of 60 drivers have been put forward to assess whether they should be classified as casual employees.

New resources target Indigenous employers

The Fair Work Ombudsman has launched a suite of new resources aimed at helping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees and employers to understand their workplace rights and responsibilities.

The resources have been developed in response to research which showed that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

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communities have a limited awareness of their workplace entitlements. In addition to reissuing existing fact sheets and guides to reflect a focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, additional resources have been developed to address key cultural issues, such as online videos designed to build cultural awareness in the workplace.

Employee crime on the rise

A new survey of legal professionals by InfoTrack found that many firms and their clients have experienced employee crime – particularly crimes related to data theft and cyberattacks – but they could do more to protect themselves from rogue employees. For example, the majority surveyed believed that police checks were an important pre-employment screening tool, yet just 17% of respondents indicated that their organisation conducted police checks on potential employees. When asked which tools they thought were essential for prudent pre-employment screening, 90% cited reference checks, 76% qualifications checks, 62% identity verification and 61% police checks.

New law targets ‘unscrupulous’ employers

The federal government has announced it will seek to legislate to close a loophole that could be used by “unscrupulous” employers to shortchange employees who choose to make salary sacrifice contributions into their superannuation accounts. A loophole currently exists whereby employers can legally withhold their workers’ salary sacrifice contributions for up to four months before transferring the money into their superannuation accounts.

The government will introduce the bill into Parliament this year to ensure an individual’s salary sacrifice contributions do not reduce their employer’s superannuation guarantee obligation.

INHERENT REQUIREMENTS: WHERE DO YOU STAND? Ross Jackson, partner at Maddocks, tells HRD why it’s always essential to consider the inherent requirements of a role If a candidate has a speech impediment is it lawful to refuse to hire them?

Generally, as with all discrimination issues involving employment, it’s important to start by looking at what the job requires, according to Ross Jackson, partner at Maddocks.

These are called ‘inherent requirements’ under the federal legislation or ‘genuine and reasonable requirements’ under the state legislation in Victoria.

“A speech impediment – depending on how severe it is – is clearly within the scope of the Equal Opportunity Act in Victoria or the Disability Discrimination Act federally as being an impairment or a disability,” Jackson tells HRD. A disability includes a malfunction of a part of the body – which a speech impediment clearly is – but whether it is genetic or otherwise is immaterial.

“For most jobs, it’s not going to prevent someone performing the inherent require­ ments of the job,” he says.

“The basic principal of an antidiscrimination law is that we don’t allow our assumptions or preferences to impact in any way the selection of the person who is best suited for the role.”

Jackson says there are certainly situations where a job requires someone to be able to communicate clearly in the English language. If that is the case, then there may be no adjustments that could be made to the job that

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would enable the person with the speech impediment to perform its inherent or genuine and reasonable requirements.

So what are these reasonable adjustments?

It may be, for example, that the person could communicate through other means – like well-known physicist Stephen Hawking – such as a screen or some form of electronic device, Jackson said.

But whether it is a reasonable adjustment will depend on a range of factors, such as the nature of the disability compared to the nature of the role; whether it is a well-resourced employer with considerable financial capacity to make the adjustments; and the size/nature

“The basic principal of an anti-discrimination law is that we don’t allow our assumptions or preferences to impact in any way the selection of the person who is best suited for the role” of the workplace. Moreover, what will the impact be on others within that workplace if this adjustment is made?

Jackson concluded that in general terms it is not lawful to refuse employment to a person with a speech impediment. The only exception to that is when the inherent, genuine and reasonable requirements of the employment require the person with the speech impediment to communicate in a way that they are unable to, and there are no reasonable adjustments the workplace can make to the job that would enable them to perform its duties.

Q&A

DISMISSING AN EMPLOYEE OVERSEAS George Cooper Partner, Melbourne and Asia ASHURST

Fast fact An employer’s legal obligations to travelling employees include duty of care (which does not cease when an employee temporarily leaves the office or the jurisdiction); WHS obligations; and protection under the workers’ compensation and anti-harassment/ discrimination/bullying laws.

If you send someone on an assignment to another country for three months, and then terminate their employment while they’re in that other country, what jurisdiction applies?

The short answer is potentially both. This sort of question is answered by consulting the terms of the employee’s employment contract and the applicable provisions of Australia’s and the overseas jurisdiction’s statutory employment laws.

Employment contract – governing law clause Generally speaking, parties can agree on which jurisdiction governs the employment contract. Such a contract may, for example, provide that the governing law of the contract is that in force in a particular state in Australia. This type of governing law clause may have force in any contractual disputes, such as where the employee makes a claim for some entitlement arising exclusively under the employment contract.

Statutory law However, parties have no such flexibility when it comes to statutory law. This usually regulates matters such as minimum employment entitlements and provides regimes enabling employees to seek redress for termination of employment in particular circumstances. Such statutory law is ordinarily mandatory and cannot be contracted out of by the parties.

Take, for example, an employee of an Australian company who is seconded from Australia to Singapore for a period of three months. In the event that the employer unilaterally terminates the employment partway into the assignment, the employee could potentially sue in two different jurisdictions.

Coverage of Australia’s Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) In general, Australia’s Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) affords employee entitlements and protections to “Australian-based employees”.

Importantly, and somewhat confusingly, the term “Australian-based employees” encompasses employees located outside of Australia, provided that the employee is employed by an “Australian employer” (excluding employees originally engaged outside Australia, to perform work outside Australia). So, it is possible for an eligible employee on an assignment to Singapore to make an unfair dismissal claim in the Fair Work Commission if the Australian employer terminates the employment during the course of the assignment.

Coverage of Singapore’s Employment Act (Cap. 91) This legislation generally applies to employees working in Singapore.

(It excludes certain employees, such as those employed in managerial or executive roles and earning more than a prescribed remuneration threshold.) In the event that this legislation applies, the employee could claim that he or she was dismissed without just cause or excuse and pursue a remedy under the relevant provisions. There may be technical arguments as to whether the prescribed qualifying period for managerial or executive employees has been fulfilled, and also procedural difficulties in pursuing a claim against a foreign (ie non-Singaporean) entity.

Possibility of dual coverage In many instances, local statutory employment law in an overseas jurisdiction will apply and provide the employee with an extended suite of options for commencement of proceedings concerning the termination of employment.

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UPFRONT

L&D UPDATE

NEXT GEN L&D Young employees are often treated differently to their older counterparts. Is this unfair?

We hear it again and again. Millennials have low attention spans. Millennials are lazy. Millennials are more interested in job-hopping than L&D. But is there any truth to this? And can a generation really be stereotyped?

Steve Shepherd, CEO of TwoPointZero, tells HRD that “every generation thinks that the one that came before it was worse than them and the one that came after it was worse than them”.

“One thing that is really clear is that in comparison to the generation that came before it, millennials have access to a lot more information, advice and resources,” he says.

“We know that we have an ageing population and baby boomers are going through retirement, so we need to be bringing in these new workers and developing them.”

NEWS BRIEFS

That means it’s necessary to take a risk on people who have the qualifications, because they need to build the experience.

Shepherd argues that over the last 20 or so years there has been a shift away from the culture in which many organisations offer traineeships, apprenticeships, cadetships and so on.

“They’ve become part of the cost-cutting exercises, and I think as corporations we need to consider how we reinvest in youth to continue to develop the workforce of the future,” he says.

One of the challenges that young people have is that often they don’t know what they want to do, Shepherd adds.

However, they are eager to work, so when they get into that job and find out that they don’t like it they leave and take another job.

Augmented reality used to train pilots

A partnership between the University of Central Florida and aviation giant Boeing has developed new technology that will see the use of augmented reality glasses as a revolutionary tool to help trainee pilots.

The idea is to have a product that trainees can use to practise multiple scenarios from the comfort of their home. By 2030, Boeing’s advanced learning organisation anticipates the need to train at least 600,000 more pilots to fill the need for the increased number of flights and airlines operating. The software is bilingual for use around the world.

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“It’s not necessarily job-hopping but looking for the job that’s really right for them,” he says, adding that these younger workers don’t have a lot of exposure to different jobs so their knowledge and understanding of those jobs is limited.

“What we do as career coaches is work with them to help them understand what they are passionate about, what drives them and what motivates them, and then explore the career and the educational opportunities which are linked.”

Consequently, when they do come into the workforce they are entering into a job with all of the information they need to know about that

“In comparison to the generation that came before it, millennials have access to a lot more information, advice and resources” organisation, the type of work and the areas that interest and motivate them.

“I think if we can help young people to find that then this notion of job-hopping and being unreliable will disappear,” Shepherd says.

“The young people that we speak to say, ‘I’m not unreliable – I’m just looking for the job that suits me, and I don’t know much about the workforce’; so the best way to do that is to experience it until hopefully they find something they like.”

‘Metamorphosis’ program for senior executives

The University of Sydney Business School is offering a five-day course aimed at giving senior executives the space to examine their “professional journey” through art, cooking, history and nature. The Metamorphosis program is for executives who find themselves at a career crossroads for any reason, including redundancy. “These are people who have already done interesting and challenging things and are now transitioning to something else and need to address basis questions in an environment that encourages self-discovery,” said associate professor Robin Stonecash.

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Q&A

Penelope Cottrill Principal, practice lead – leadership and learning NOUS GROUP

Fast fact Among 700-plus business and HR professionals surveyed

by Deloitte, corporate L&D received a net promoter score of -8.

The reason for the low score was outmoded learning management systems that only manage compliance and formal training.

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS OF GREAT LEADERS What are the key attributes a leader must develop in 2017?

Despite opinions varying slightly, leadership specialists generally agree that today’s key attributes are emotional intelligence, effective communication skills, confidence, a positive attitude, intuition, delegation skills, being approachable, and being authentic. It’s interesting that these attributes tend to be behavioural traits rather than formal skills.

I believe that leaders must understand what people expect from a leader, why people behave the way they do, that not everyone has the same motivators, and why different people have different reactions.

While there are many aspects to being a great leader, every leadership attribute can be defined within just two categories – skills or behavioural.

By skills, I refer to things like time management, running effective meetings, managing P&Ls, etc. By behavioural, I refer to things as they are perceived by others, that we might call qualities, such as persona, confidence, consistency of behaviour, positive manner, etc.

Typically, leaders today have the required skills; however, many lack the required behaviours. I have often asked people, “Who are some leaders you admire?” I then ask, “What is it you admire about these leaders?”

The response always includes words like integrity, trustworthy, honest, reasonable, confidence, attitude,

Calls for mandatory gender diversity training

As the number of transgender students on college campuses has increased over time, so have incidents of bullying and intimidation. One union in the UK, ATL Wales, is calling for mandatory training for college staff. ATL Wales’ president, Lesley Tipping, said employees at colleges were confused over pronouns, and that could even lead to legal issues. “Lecturers could be put in quite an embarrassing position if they address someone as a he who is a she or neither a he or a she,” she said. Tipping added that students who identified as trans or non-binary had “entitlements” and staff needed to understand them.

resilience, consistency, perseverance and approachable.

Note that all the responses are behavioural traits. There is a great lesson here. If you want to be an influencer at any level, people will respond to the way you behave, not how clever you are! The key attributes, therefore, that a leader must have in 2017 are the correct behaviours.

Are there any common mistakes leaders make in their goal to become effective leaders?

Common mistakes include not being ‘hands on’, misunderstanding motivation (of others), not ‘walking the walk’, poor communication, and lack of focus on training for others and their own personal development.

The biggest mistake is underestimating the high cost of low employee engagement. Research results clearly demonstrate the very high cost to business of disengaged employees.

A Right Management Consultants survey found that two thirds of employees are not engaged in their jobs.

Research by the Gallup Organisation found that 75% of workers are disengaged at work. Another national survey of employees found that 85% of people said they could work harder in their jobs. More than half claimed they could double their effectiveness “if they wanted to”.

This research begs a final question: when will leaders get the message? A question for another time…

People analytics education launched

Aiming to fill the training and education gap in the emerging discipline of people analytics, Australian-based workforce management specialist RITEQ has launched its RITEQ Education Centre. The offering provides practical tools and services that assist first-timers in people analytics through to those seeking in-depth specialist advice.

This launch marks the release of RITEQ’s people analytics education program – a series of toolkits, webinars, workshops and blended learning programs designed to expedite an organisation’s introduction to and implementation of people analytics.

Cybersecurity training lacking, says report

A new report from the SANS Institute has revealed that the lack of time dedicated to employee training and the lack of communication skills are key contributors to why cybersecurity awareness programs fail to meet their objectives. The report also found that women are twice as likely as men to be dedicated to such programs. Researchers said there were four areas organisations should focus on: HR allocation, partnerships, hiring of dedicated professionals, and fostering security ambassadors. The report also pointed out that budget restraints were not cited by respondents. www.hcamag.com

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UPFRONT

HEAD TO HEAD

Should recruiters ‘go blind’ to avoid unconscious bias?

It’s a driver of diversity, but is it a good idea?

Marian Spencer

Head of operations, people and culture Black Dog Institute Recruiters should go blind: the evidence shows that it results in more minority candidates being offered an interview.

I would also be interested in looking at some other systems which forgo the CV altogether and seek to minimise other aspects of conventional processes such as the ‘halo effect’, which can skew how applications are perceived, depending on the order in which they are considered. Fairness, and recruiting the best person for the role, irrespective of background, should be the goal.

However, going blind will not be a magic bullet against unconscious bias, which may just be postponed until the interview.

Bernadette Gates Head of human resources Australian Military Bank

Despite a great deal of research on unconscious bias and subsequent education in recent times, it is evident to me that it well and truly exists in the corporate world today.

I agree that there should be an opportunity for recruiters to ‘go blind’ as a way of trying to combat this age-old issue.

We need options to dismiss this ineffective recruitment process that people are allowed to get away with. This is one such option.

Hiring managers bear no accountability for their decisions in rejecting candidates; this is one positive solution. I support this process and await some positive results.

Lauren Trethowan

Head of enterprise culture, talent, culture and innovation Australia Post Recruitment biases are unavoidable; humans are hardwired to prefer those similar to themselves, without conscious awareness.

For high-volume recruitment, ‘going blind’ is a great way of helping mitigate unconscious bias during the initial stages; however, the candidate won’t be ‘blind’ for long and still needs to pass a face-to-face interview.

For senior or highly specialised roles this is also unlikely to be practical. Therefore, such an approach must be supported by other methods, such as unconscious bias training, to address the bias at its core. This will have the added bonus of a carryover effect to other HR practices.

A CASE STUDY: EY The blind CV policy introduced by EY two years ago employs a series of aptitude and situational tests, and “means that you are looking at people as individuals”, says Maggie Stilwell, managing partner for talent UK and Ireland, of the recruiting approach that typically results in a greater level of workforce diversity. “Strategically, diversity and inclusion are very important for us, so a blind CV policy was an enabler that gave us a specific advantage as a socially mobile organisation.” The policy appears to be paying off, Stilwell says. “We think we have done a bold thing, and more importantly, the right thing for our business.” According to Stilwell, the main challenge to arise from the change in strategy was the increase in the volume of applications for positions when running a blind CV scheme; the uptick was as much as 75% upon the launch of the scheme.

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INSIDE HR

BARCLAYS

ALL FOR ONE Barclays is rapidly becoming the world leader in diversity and inclusion, but it’s in disability inclusion and accessibility that it’s truly blazing a path ‘A SOLUTION for one becomes a solution for many.’ That’s the call to action that Barclays has rallied behind globally for the past several years when it comes to diversity and inclusion. It’s especially pertinent when that solution is designed and implemented for people who identify as having some form of disability.

The Barclays global D&I strategy has five pillars: gender, disability, LGBT, multicultural and multigenerational. In the UK, all of those pillars are led by senior

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leaders and direct reports to the company’s UK CEO, Ashok Vaswani.

“Ashok has as part of his remit our retail banking business. He really saw an advantage in establishing Barclays as the most accessible bank,” explains Mark McLane, head of global diversity and inclusion at Barclays.

McLane explains that ‘a solution for one becomes a solution for many’ means fundamentally understanding the needs of the bank’s customers and employees around

accessibility. “It means we have more inclusive business solutions that quite honestly some of us may not even think of as being a solution until we see that in action,” he says.

To cite one example, Barclays’ talking ATMs are today being used to help individuals with visual impairment. “As you get older and need reading glasses, sometimes the print at an ATM on a very sunny day can be difficult to see, but once you take your headset out and plug it in you now have a voice-activated machine,” McLane says.

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Barclays celebrates D&I on five fronts: gender, disability, LGBT, multicultural and multigenerational

Another example is Barclays’ highvisibility debit cards, which use the principles and technology of ‘personalised’ debit cards. While many people would use an image of their partner or children on the card, an infinitely more practical use might be to make the card red, especially if that’s a colour on the spectrum that can be more clearly seen than others.

“They could also use a big arrow so it looks like a hotel room key,” says McLane.

“For visual impairment across the spectrum, being able to quickly differentiate my ATM card from my credit card, to have that sense of independence in banking, is really what it all comes down to.”

A design-thinking approach It’s not just customers who benefit – it’s the company’s 120,000 employees around the world too. Barclays has made inclusive technology mission-critical. McLane says it may sound simple, but even steps such as ensuring all corporate videos are subtitled can make a big difference.

“It’s putting the work in at the front end, not the back end, not as a bolt-on,” he says.

“That’s transformational for the organisation.

With something as simple as subtitling videos I’ve had colleagues say to me that in this new hotdesking environment all computers have speakers, but now with my colleagues sitting next to me I can watch a leadership video

and read the subtitling. That’s not something I would have thought about in the past, but again you can see it’s taking something that improves the lives of a few that really improves the lives of many.”

In many ways, Barclays has taken a design-thinking approach to its inclusive solutions. “You must start with the user,” says McLane. “Although I’m the chief diversity officer, I started my career in sales and marketing, so I always think of the end user.

You must have the end user in the room. But having you in the room is not enough – we also have to listen. We have to take advantage of your voice being in the room. You have to feel like you’re working in an inclusive and

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INSIDE HR

BARCLAYS

welcoming environment to be able to bring yourself to work, bring that difference to the table and know that it matters.”

Global benchmarking Wherever he is in the world, McLane says the the question he is most frequently asked is ‘how do we rank in this area, where are we furthest ahead?’ “I always respond, ‘First give me a country and then give me a division of the bank’, because even within investment banking, retail banking and corporate banking there are very different cultures and customer bases. So it’s very fluid.”

However, he concedes that certain geographical locations are ahead of the pack. He cites some parts of the UK that are ahead of others on accessibility. The US, meanwhile, pulls ahead from an infrastructure standpoint, possibly due to building code changes. He also cites work that his colleagues are doing in Tokyo around accessibility in employment as leading the way in APAC. Increasingly, the organisation is taking part in benchmarking in various jurisdictions around the world. For example, it has used the Accessibility and Inclusion Index in Australia to step back and assess where the company falls among its corporate peers.

Similarly, in 2016, Barclays in the UK was the first company to achieve 98% on the Equality Standard by the Business Disability Forum.

“Someone asked me recently at a conference, ‘So, Mark, what’s next?’ I said for me it’s working with the Business Disability Forum as one of its founding members to figure out what is next. How do we raise the bar? What would 98% or 100% look like three years from now? Not to rest but continue to pull other companies along on the journey. Getting to 100% doesn’t mean the work is done; it means we’ve reached a good standard today. Like any benchmark I’ ll use the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index of the US, but

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MAKING A DIFFERENCE The 10 key areas determined to drive the greatest benefits for access and inclusion of people with disability within an organisation are as follows: 1. Commitment: We commit to best practice on access and inclusion for people with disability as employees, customers and stakeholders.

2. Premises: Our premises are accessible to people with disability, and whenever necessary we make adjustments for individuals.

3. Workplace adjustments: We anticipate the needs of people with disability and have a robust process for making any adjustments that might be needed by individuals.

4. Communication and marketing: Our communication and marketing channels are accessible to people with disability, and whenever necessary we make reasonable adjustments for individuals.

5. Products and services: We value people with disability as customers, clients and service users and address their needs when developing and delivering our products and services.

6. ICT: Our ICT is accessible and usable by people with disability, and we also make reasonable adjustments for individuals.

7. Recruitment and selection: We attract and recruit people with disability, which gives us access to the widest talent pool at every level.

8. Career development: We value all our employees, including those who experience disability and are committed to their retention and development.

9. Suppliers and partners: We expect our suppliers and corporate partners to reflect and enable us to meet our commitment to best practice.

10. Innovation: We pride ourselves on our innovative practices and continually strive to do better.

Source: Access and Inclusion Index Benchmark Report 2016, Australian Network on Disability

“The gravest concern is not knowing what colleagues need to make them successful” Mark McLane, Barclays every three to four years a new milestone comes into play: what next, what are we doing? I think that’s our responsibility to help drive D&I.” He adds that Barclays has the aspiration of being the most accessible FTSE 100 company. “I always say, I don’t know what that looks like – it’s very aspirational. But knowing that’s what we want to achieve

gives us the energy and drive to figure out what next.”

Key tips McLane is keen to dispel some misconceptions about what it takes to become a truly accessible organisation. “The gravest concern is not knowing what colleagues need to make them successful,” he says.

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For example, it’s common to put in place practices prior to the individual starting in the workplace, which McLane deems “well intended but a bit backward”.

“I think this goes back to where we started – about listening. Even through the interview process, asking potential colleagues what they need to be successful. Some of the concern around employing people with disability tends to go right to this idea about infrastructure –

market segmentation that might occur in a marketing department. The overarching goal, he says, is to attract great talent to an organisation.

“That’s where I fell in love with the work. That’s where I understood the gap – colleagues and customers are not two different sets of people. Colleagues are customers who just happen to work here. If we can start to take some of that discipline around customer

“It’s putting the work in at the front end, not the back end, not as a bolt-on. That’s transformational for the organisation” Mark McLane, Barclays ramps, barrier-free lavatories and things like that – which you should have anyway. But sometimes it’s as simple as what time do I arrive at work? Do I have any flexibility to make sure I can leave at a certain time? Is there suitable transport available in the city? Sometimes it’s even simpler – for example, I use a certain type of keyboard. That’s not a big ask.”

McLane, who says his passion for D&I was sparked at Whirlpool Corporation, believes D&I deserves the same level of

understanding into HR and within HR the colleague understanding back into the business, we have a full circle and we’re really adding value to the organisation.”

As a final tip, McLane suggests HR be clear on who is leading diversity, and how HR fits in.

“You need to ask who’s leading diversity for your organisation. My role is helping to build the discipline into the organisation – both into the business and into the HR function. For HR, they must understand they have permission to

SHARING BEST PRACTICE Mark McLane outlines three key steps Barclays has taken to lead the company towards the highest-ever score in the UK’s Disability Standard.

The Barclays mobile banking app is the first banking app to be accredited by Ability Net for its accessibility.

‘Able to Enable’, a campaign focusing on accessibility in employment, is an expansion of the Barclays internship and apprenticeship programs.

It reaches out specifically to those who identify as people with disability to help the company become a better employment destination for them.

‘This is Me’, now in its fourth year, started out as a mental health and wellness campaign focusing on colleagues telling their story about how they manage their mental health and wellness and their careers at Barclays. Today it has become more generally about disability globally. In the past three years Barclays also partnered with the Lord Mayor’s Office of London to launch the initiative into the city. In turn, 80 companies in the City of London have now deployed similar campaigns to raise mental health awareness.

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know they don’ t know everything. It becomes an iterative learning process for everyone.

When you start to have that realisation you also take some of the fear out of the organisation – the fear of getting it wrong.”

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COVER STORY

HR REPORT

2017

ASIA-PACIFIC HR REPORT HRD’s third annual Asia-Pacific HR Report reveals it’s a challenging yet immensely exciting time to be part of the HR profession. Over 3,000 HR professionals have had their say, providing a snapshot of a profession that is being disrupted while simultaneously coming into its own

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WHERE ARE RESPONDENTS BASED?

HR PROFESSIONALS love to network.

It’s enlightening to find out what your peers are doing, and it’s heartening to find out that they face many of the same hurdles.

Along similar lines, and in an effort to ‘take the pulse’ of the key challenges and opportunities confronting the profession, HRD has – for the third year running – gone to its readers for their views.

We received feedback from 3,024 respondents in 11 countries. As always, the results present a mixed view.

Among the positives is the fact that HR is embracing data and analytics, with many recognising this as a key challenge but also an opportunity. The profession is also overwhelmingly optimistic about the future.

On the negative side, HR is struggling with almost unrelenting change. That change and disruption is impacting business

operations and how employees undertake work, but also how HR delivers its services to business. An ongoing issue – not dissimilar to last year’s result – is the mixed view on the support HR gets from other executives. Some are satisfied with the support received; others are left floundering with either a lack of support or purposeful barriers to HR success.

Some readers believe it’s time to ‘reimagine’ the profession as a whole – and in so doing reposition it in the business hierarchy. This reader summed up this view: “HR – the term itself, and its history and present persona of rule maker, police, and judge (and at times executioner). We should concentrate on creating a new perception of what the role does in driving and enabling business success.”

Read on for more insights and suggestions from your peers.

62% of participants were HR veterans with 10+ years of experience. GENDER HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED IN HR?

25% male

74%

female

Prefer not to say 1%

JOB TITLE

17%

19%

2% Less than 1 year

1–5 years

6–10 years

10+ years

Hong Kong Philippines

3%

2%

Malaysia

3%

Indonesia

Singapore

1%

9%

Other

1%

Australia

59%

New Zealand

23%

WHERE DO RESPONDENTS WORK?

SURVEY PARTICIPANTS

62%

A total of 3,024 respondents from 11 countries took part in this year’s survey, with the majority coming from Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

CHRO

18%

HR director/VP/manager

30%

HR adviser/business partner

33%

Other

20%

The bulk of respondents came from mid- to large-size companies; 14% hailed from the government and not-for-profit sector, 11% from manufacturing, 11% from professional services, 8% from healthcare, and 6% each from construction and education and training.

COMPANY SIZE 1–99 employees (20%) 100–499 employees (34%) 500–999 employees (14%) 1,000+ employees (32%)

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COVER STORY

HR REPORT

2017 CHALLENGES JUDGING BY the number one challenge Change and disruption were recurring themes in this year’s survey, with respondents voting change management as their number one challenge, followed by employee engagement and retention

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES FACING THE HR PROFESSION? Respondents were asked to score a list of challenges in terms of importance. Here are the overall results, from 1 (least important challenge) to 5 (most important challenge)

Least important

Most important

Average score 3.98

Managing change

3.96

Employee engagement & retention

3.87

Using data and analytics more effectively

3.78

Demonstrating value as a business partner

3.59

Employee development

3.48

Employee recruitment

3.32

Adapting to new technology

3.06

Dealing with legal changes

3.02

Other (please explain)*

*’Other’ included managing health & safety, industrial relations, leadership development, and managing diversity & inclusion (including managing millennials)

listed here, HR is feeling the heat when it comes to often-relentless change. Feedback from surveyed participants indicates that this heat is being felt from two directions – not only must HR be changing and updating its own processes and ways of working but it must also ensure the workforce as a whole is moving with the times. This reader summarised the feeling of many: “We’re struggling to sustain a good employee experience in the wake of multiple business strategy and structure changes. The HR team itself also needs to stay agile enough to adjust to a rapidly changing environment.”

Another wrote about “the general pace and scale of change” being unprecedented.

In addition, HR must deal with internal pressures forcing change – new corporate structures, M&As, downsizing, budget restrictions – but also external pressures such as legal and government compliance and political and economic uncertainty. While global economic upheavals were cited by many respondents last year as being a source of both uncertainty and possible internal change, this year a recurring theme was ongoing geopolitical unrest.

Compliance remains high on the agenda, as this HR director from Sydney wrote: “We’re coping with changes in immigration

HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK THE FOLLOWING TRAITS ARE IN AN HR LEADER?

1 Integrity

2 Emotional intelligence

3 Other*

4 Resilience

5 Business acumen

6 Flexibility

7 Persuasiveness

8 Intelligence

9 Assertiveness

*Other responses included compassion, dealing with ambiguity, empathy and innovation

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Rising to the challenge For the third year running, HR professionals listed integrity as being the most important trait to help them succeed amid these challenges, followed this year by emotional intelligence and resilience – no doubt to cope with unrelenting change.

Business acumen was deemed critical in order for HR to build competence and thus

bolster its standing in the business. One respondent suggested “the ability to think strategically rather than in a transactional manner” was a key component of improving business acumen. However, more often than not it was still the softer traits – compassion, curiosity, humility – that were cited most often. The ‘human’ in ‘human resources’ clearly remains firmly in place.

WHERE IS HR SPENDING ITS TIME? Respondents were asked how much they were personally involved in a number of areas. Each area was rated from 1 to 5 (1 being rarely involved and 5 being highly involved).

Heavily involved

Average score

Rarely involved

laws and the future impact of new pay equity legislation. It can be difficult to stay on top of the changes, which often occur with little to no notice.”

Many, however, suggested that HR’s place was firmly at the heart of driving change in organisations, something that doesn’t always happen. One HR business partner from Melbourne suggested that organisations “must involve HR during the planning phase of any change – as opposed to when things go wrong”.

The second biggest challenge cited – employee engagement and retention – is a perennial on this list. However, number three – using data and analytics more effectively – is a newcomer. Not surprisingly, some are grappling with how and when to use data insights. Others are feeling somewhat swamped by the data available to them. This HR business partner from Sydney wrote: “It’s not about using data and analytics, but about getting the right and most meaningful data.”

Some are clearly more advanced in their knowledge and utilisation of data, with an increasing number not stopping with just HR data but cross-referencing and crosschecking with data from other departments.

This HR director from the insurance sector in Melbourne wrote: “As improved insights become available, there is an increasing crossover between business data (eg KPI’s, Financials, Sales Data, Loyalty, etc) and traditional HR data (payroll, labour costs, employee demographics, etc).

This means broadening the commercial skillset and understanding required from HR professionals in order to leverage this intersection.”

Still others are no longer looking at data just to spot what’s already gone but are looking at future trends. “We’re looking at our data to spot trends and are finding that predictive analysis is required more frequently if HR is to make more informed decisions,” wrote one HR manager from Auckland.

4.20

Staff development and training

4.16

Recruiting the best talent

3.75

Identifying risks, regulating and ensuring compliance

3.68

Reducing costs

3.62

Enhancing employee productivity

2.41

Expanding to new markets

2.25

Helping the sales and marketing departments to acquire, serve or retain clients

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COVER STORY

HR REPORT

SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Communication and influencing skills, followed by leadership capability, are viewed as the top skills required by HR – but skills in big data and analytics and technology are less sought after HR PROFESSIONALS were asked which skills and knowledge were likely to help them the most over the next 12 months.

Communication skills came out on top, with one reader citing “managing up & influencing” as being particularly critical.

Others cited technical skills and competencies as being important. One

HR manager from Singapore wrote: “Understanding the inter-relationship and implications of the various legal, financial and compliance functions – eg cross-country movement of employees, tax and immigration visa implications – is increasingly critical.”

Another wrote: “Diligence in keeping up to date with changes in legislation, and new research in areas affecting HR.” Of note this year were the increased calls for greater industry-wide regulation or certifications – something the Australian Human Resources Institute is looking to address. One reader commented: “HR needs to be more regulated like other professions to weed out people who call themselves ‘HR professional’ but do not have the experience or skills to be one.”

Surprisingly, despite identifying the use of data and analytics as a key challenge, HR placed this low on their list of desired skills to learn. Also lagging was technology, which placed seventh. Yet in 2017 it’s difficult to avoid technology, and its influence is definitely being felt in HR. One HR director in Sydney wrote: “Being tech savvy – HR needs to understand how to use technology to drive productivity, enhance the employee/customer experience and leverage integration with other business platforms eg social media, CRM, financial systems, etc.”

How are HR professionals developing these skills? Formal courses, seminars and conferences remain the most popular L&D option by some margin, cited by 77% of

WHAT SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE DO YOU THINK WILL BE MOST CRITICAL TO YOUR PERSONAL SUCCESS OVER THE NEXT YEAR? Respondents were asked to rank a list of 10 skills/competencies in terms of importance. Here are the overall results, from 1 (most important) to 10 (least important)

1 Communication and influencing skills

2 Leadership capability

3 Relationship building and networking

4 Emotional intelligence

5 Business acumen

6 Coaching and mentoring skills

7 Technology

8 Big data and analytics

9 Employment law

10 Financial management

*Other responses received included cultural intelligence, time management and project management

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respondents. On-the-job and other informal learning options are second, with 51% of votes, and coaching/mentoring third, with 44%.

It’s also apparent that HR professionals learn on the job in international roles.

A significant 41% of surveyed professionals have worked in an overseas role – and the most commonly cited destination from all participants in Asia-Pacific was the UK. Far from being ‘career HR professionals’ with limited exposure to other departments, many of those surveyed had spent time in other functional areas apart from HR. Marketing was the most commonly cited area, followed by operations and then sales.

Next-gen learning HRD’s readers were also asked what programs or initiatives were in place to develop the next generation of HR professionals. While a disconcerting number of readers specified ‘nothing’, the most popular option was coaching/mentoring programs and exposure to projects/initiatives and job shadowing – in other words, on-the-job learning trumped everything else.

One reader commented: “Working in our industry is like drinking from a fire hose – it’s a constant fast pace! I find this environment creates the best opportunities for on-the-job learning, followed by reflection and coaching.”

Others have very sophisticated formal and informal L&D initiatives in place for the HR team. One business partner commented: “Our company has an HR leadership development program, that I am part of. At a high level, the program recruits Masters students into a 2–3 year rotational program where they move jobs every 8–12 months depending on business needs. This accelerator program sets out to build a very extensive breadth of knowledge in the various aspects of HR, while also giving exposure to various parts of our

WHAT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ARE YOU UNDERTAKING? Attending seminars or conferences

77%

Coaching or mentoring

44%

E-learning courses

36%

MBA or master’s degree

8%

On-the-job/informal learning (job rotations, special projects, etc)

51%

Short courses

36%

HAVE YOU EVER WORKED IN AN OVERSEAS ROLE?

Yes 41% No 59%

organisation both domestically and worldwide.”

Another wrote: “My HR team has 45 employees located in Sydney, Manila, Shanghai and Bangalore. Each member of the team has real development plan. These are individual and built to suit each member of the team.

There is no generic program. Some of the team are completing Masters, others are doing specific external programs. Some just need ‘on the job’ experience.”

Of particular interest was the increased mention of the integration of neuroscience as part of L&D. “We’re looking at neuroscience/

HAVE YOU WORKED IN OTHER FUNCTIONAL AREAS APART FROM HR?

Yes 60% No 40%

psychology related programs to tap into human development as machines/technology take over,” wrote one HR business partner.

For others, it’s a give-and-take relationship, so not only do the participants benefit but so too does the broader HR team: “My team attend a broad range of external courses according to their interests and development goals, eg in ER/IR and coaching, etc, They are then responsible for delivering related training internally, and/or knowledge sharing with their HR colleagues back at work, so we all benefit from each learning experience.”

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COVER STORY

HR REPORT

HR SUPPORT Overall, HR professionals are happy with the support they receive from their CEOs and executive teams – but this could always be improved

DO YOU FEEL THAT SENIOR MANAGEMENT SUPPORTS YOU IN YOUR HR INITIATIVES?

Yes, senior management is always supportive 24% Yes, most of the time but there is room for improvement 63% No, senior management is not supportive 13%

ALTHOUGH THE positive sentiment has inched up from 2016, there’s room for improvement when it comes to HR feeling supported by their senior executive peers, with 63% feeling supported only ‘most of the time’ and 13% feeling they are not supported at all.

Of the latter, this comment summed up the sentiment: “Senior management has the wrong thoughts of what the HRBP does. To them the role = Discipline Action Taker.”

Another wrote: “Constantly fighting to get the budget for staff development. My foreignowned company wants to bring people from overseas rather than develop local talent.

They’re not wanting to spend money on our

people to ‘look after them’ (from an OHS perspective) either.”

Some appear to be stuck in a bygone era, such is the backwards way in which HR is viewed. This business partner noted: “Unfortunately, I work in an organisation where senior management does not understand the benefit of strategically aligning HR policies and practices to business requirements, to strategic planning, to achieving the vision and the impact the policies and practices have on the organisation’s culture.”

In contrast, among those who feel supported 100% of the time, this comment is telling: “The HR team is seen as an integral part of the team, given options to be initiative and self-driven whilst remaining involved and informed on the business’ strategic objective.”

CEO SUPPORT: WHAT’S DESIRED VS WHAT’S DELIVERED Not surprisingly, HR professionals would like their CEO to devote more time to HR-related matters, with a significant 66% suggesting that 11–50% of the CEO’s time should be spent in this area (in reality it’s more like 47% spending that amount of time on HR matters). Indeed, in reality, 46% of CEOs spend less than 10% of their time on HR-related matters, but given the scope of CEO responsibilities this is perhaps understandable.

Readers highlighted just how critical CEO support is to the success of people-related issues. One HR director from Singapore stated: “Our Asia-Pacific CEO is the #1 supporter of HR initiatives. The support of our CEO is critical in making HR change.”

Another wrote: “My CEO is a breath of fresh air in people development for internal succession, client focus and people’s career progression.”

And this: “People issues are the first items on every executive meeting agenda and my CEO and the GMs all sit on the talent panel and actively support HR initiatives.”

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WHAT’S DESIRED: How much time do you think the CEO of an organisation should spend on HR-related issues?

WHAT’S DELIVERED: In your organisation, how much time does your CEO actually spend on HR-related issues?

Less than 10% of time

More than 50% of time

More than 50% of time

7%

16%

19%

46% 47% 66% 11–50% of time

11–50% of time

Less than 10% of time

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HR SERVICE DELIVERY HR departments are notorious for restructuring – and there’s no sign of that easing in the next 12 months “WE’RE SUFFERING from change fatigue in the HR team. We’ve undergone a constant process of restructuring the team seemingly for the past three years running, and now we’re almost back to the structure we started with – the Ulrich model!”

Those were the exasperated words of one HR director, but they are not alone, with approximately five in 10 respondents saying their team had undergone a change in the past 12–24 months.

What are these teams restructuring to? Very few cited consultative or agile team models. The majority (64%) had already shifted to what would be classified as the traditional Ulrich model, which is characterised by HR business partners, specialists and centres of excellence. Last year’s HRD survey indicated that 55% of HR teams were structured in this way, indicating that this structure continues to be the most popular.

Most respondents cited the efficiency and flat hierarchy provided by the Ulrich model as being pluses. However, some readers voiced concerns about this model. One HR leader from Brisbane wrote: “HR moved to a business partner model outside of consultation with business units. It is not being reviewed for continual improvement, it is not working and some HR staff feel they cannot bring this matter to rectified because it was a leadership direction. It was a costly restructure program.”

Others were more positive. This HR business partner in the manufacturing industry said: “We changed from a silo model (one silo per function) to a partner

and centre of excellence model. It’s working fine so far, despite some confusion from staff over who does what.”

Other teams are having structure changes forced upon them, as two readers noted.

One commented: “The entire organisation has undergone a restructure as a result of a merger. The HR team structure is regularly

reviewed and roles adapted as necessary to ensure the team is relevant to the business, is clearly adding value and are also growing and developing themselves.”

And another said: “We’re seeing a movement of resources away from transactional roles towards centres of expertise as we implement integrated HR technology.”

HAS YOUR HR TEAM UNDERGONE A RESTRUCTURE IN THE PAST 12–24 MONTHS?

Yes 48% No 52%

IS YOUR TEAM STRUCTURED USING THE TRADITIONAL ULRICH MODEL?

Yes 64% No 36%

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COVER STORY

HR REPORT

THE FUTURE HR professionals are overwhelmingly positive about the future, but they do have several critical priorities to work on over the next 12 months

DESPITE THE challenges and ongoing disruption, the vast majority of respondents are optimistic about the future of the profession.

These four reader comments sum up the sentiment:

IN GENERAL, ARE YOU OPTIMISTIC OR PESSIMISTIC ABOUT THE FUTURE OF HR AS A PROFESSION?

“With AI and machine learning making such huge impact in our workplace and in the business world in general, the HR profession will be faced with different kinds of challenges and disruption. This will make the profession more challenging and interesting.”

“The HR ‘hat’ is becoming more and more diversified, there are many avenues a HR professional can move into, or stay generalist if they like. No day is ever the same and most leaders recognise the value of the role.”

“I believe a shift is occurring, albeit more slowly in some organisations than others. As long as HR gets a seat at the executive table – and makes a strong contribution once there, I believe the future is bright.”

Optimistic 92% Pessimistic 8%

”There is still so much that HR professionals can offer an organisation and the skills/abilities are there but many organisations have not ‘tapped’ into these yet.”

AND THE WINNER IS… For a chance to win a bottle of Dom Pérignon champagne, respondents were asked what knowledge, trait or skill they believed would be most crucial to help HR professionals navigate today’s massive disruptions in the workplace. And the winner is…

“Tenacity, bravery, and inspiration. Steering a boat through unknown waters requires keeping the course, being brave in the face of the unknown and inspiring others to see that we are on the way. I think HR is THE core discipline that companies and countries need today to truly become or remain sustainable economies.”

As the survey is anonymous, we are unable to publish the name of the respondent; however, the HRD team would like to thank all of our survey participants for their comments. Following is a small sample of what readers had to say on the critical skills, traits and knowledge of the future.

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AMBIGUITY WILL BE THE NEW NORM...

“Tolerance of ambiguity: as the pace of change accelerates, HR professionals will be required to manage uncertainties around new ways of working, changing organisational and individual priorities, rapidly developing technologies and the shifting social landscape. A set ‘rule book’ no longer applies, only those who have the capacity to adapt and effectively respond to the unknown will flourish.”

DESIGN THINKING WILL TAKE CENTRE STAGE… “HR professionals will need to add ‘design thinking’ to their skill set. This includes empathising with the people within the organisation and understanding what is truly important to them. Rather than bringing ‘best practice’ to the table, HR should start with a ‘beginner’s mindset’ to approach challenges with fresh eyes and be open to all possibilities.

HR need to deeply engage with stakeholders (internal and external) to develop ‘prototype’ solutions that are tested and iterated with end users until they are ready to be launched in the organisation. Through this process, HR will continue to adapt to and even drive disruption.”

HR ANALYTICS WILL MEAN BETTER DECISION-MAKING… “HR professionals need to be able to articulate quality analytics and measurable data in order to change behaviour. There is no use just measuring turnover, for example, without a strategy around how to effect change.”

“Having access to HR analytics and being able to communicate this data in a meaningful way to leaders. This data can demonstrate areas of the business that are doing well or could be improved and then being able to assist leaders to put strategies to address these issues.”

NOTHING WILL TOP BUSINESS ACUMEN… “HR professionals need to not just have ‘commercial acumen’ but to be immersed in the business, including operations, client feedback, financial results, marketing initiatives, business development and innovation in order to know where the business is focusing and how the HR team can support them. For example, if the company is looking at robotics as a new innovation, how can the HR team start ensuring that there are people in the business with the specialist skills to be programmers/handlers?”

“Commercial acumen is crucial as are strong relationships and communication skills. Being able to negotiate confidently and always try to operation from a ‘business enablement’ perspective to ensure HR as a function are a key part of growth and scale opportunities.”

“Understand your business, primarily focusing 12–18 months ahead, so that you can thoroughly project implications for the workforce and can proactively develop current talent or build an external pipeline so that you can drive the change rather than react.”

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE WILL SET HR APART… “Emotional Intelligence is key to understanding people and the way that they behave in the workplace. This skill will improve the way you act and communicate with internal and external stakeholders and is something that cannot be taught on the job. More training in this area for HR professionals will have a huge impact on performance, retention and job satisfaction long term.”

“I believe having emotional intelligence and personal resilience is the key skill for HR professionals navigating disruptions.

HR professionals can sometimes get the ‘blame’ for disruptions, and also be the key personnel responsible for fixing issues. This can be incredibly draining, and it can be very difficult for HR personnel to be resilient in these circumstances.”

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INDUSTRY EVENT

AUSTRALIAN HR AWARDS

A PERFECT PARTNERSHIP HRD chats to Joseph Chou, founder and CEO of Ironfish, a leading property investment services company and proud event partner of the Australian HR Awards HRD: How did you come to hear about the HR Awards in the first place?

Joseph Chou: We actually sponsored the National HR Summit at Luna Park in Sydney back in March this year. I also presented a workshop on corporate culture and its impact on employees’ performance to about 100 HR professionals at that time.

Since then we’ve had interested companies inviting us to speak to their staff about the importance of investing in their financial future, and how being financially fulfilled can also positively impact on other areas of people’s lives, such as work. Here at Ironfish, we are very proud to have built a culture with very low employee turnover, including literally zero turnover of senior management over the last 11 years, and we understand the positive impact that great HR work can have – so when this opportunity presented itself to us we embraced it because it resonates with us.

HRD: Why is Ironfish supporting the HR Awards and what do you hope to get out of the partnership?

JC: At Ironfish, people are our number one priority, and we’re proud to support the Australian HR Awards, which recognises and rewards the best of the best in the industry.

We’ve always considered Ironfish to be a ‘people company’. Even though we

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work in the property investment space and other related areas, our number one focus is people. We believe that the reason why so many Australian families invest with Ironfish is because our corporate culture is very strong. It’s people-focused and customer-centric, and gives talented people unlimited room to grow. So we feel that recognising the top performers, the best of the best in the industry, resonates with our beliefs. We also feel that we can help other

more about, and so from my point of view, internally, we’re offering employee benefits to our people when it comes to financial matters. We also have an employee benefits program for other companies to roll out, to provide the tools their people need to take ownership over their financial future and to help them become more engaged employees, thriving within a workplace culture that inspires them to believe the sky’s the limit.

HRD: The Australian HR Awards recognise exceptional work at an individual, team and organisational level. Why is recognition for a job well done so critical?

JC: When people achieve outstanding results, they definitely need recognition.

Making people feel good about themselves and recognising their hard work is vital for people’s personal progress. Unfortunately, too many companies forget to recognise their people; they take them for granted.

At Ironfish, we have a culture of constantly recognising our excellent performers, so that’s another reason why the HR Awards resonates with us.

“We’re proud to support the Australian HR Awards, which recognises and rewards the best of the best in the industry” Joseph Chou companies as well, in one form or another, to develop or enhance their culture. We can help employees by enhancing their financial wellbeing; we can provide the knowledge, platform and services to help employees strengthen their own financial situation by starting to invest in property over the long term. And by doing that, by helping them build a stronger financial base, they can actually improve their focus at work and gain a higher level of job satisfaction.

A recent survey showed that financial wellbeing topped the list of factors employees wished their employers cared

HRD: What do you believe an exceptional HR team can bring to a company?

JC: A great HR department is not just about hiring or firing people, it’s also about representing the company’s culture and values, and bringing the right kind of people on board who can then carry those same values forward. I look at HR as being the ambassadors of an organisation’s brand; they’re the ones who can attract the right kind of people to an organisation and create a workplace environment where the company’s vision and values can shine.

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FEATURES

SECTOR FOCUS: DATA & ANALYTICS

ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS From the need to embrace both structured and unstructured data, to the emergence of ‘small data’, in 2017 there’s no more pressing issue for HR than data and analytics

LOOKING FOR insights into how data and analytics is shaping up as a key priority for HR professionals? Look no further this issue’s Asia-Pacific HR Report. When survey respondents were asked to rate their top challenges this year, ‘using data and analytics more effectively’ came third on the list (behind only perennial big hitters ‘managing change’ and ‘employee engagement &

catch-up with data analytics, and just because generally HR staff don’t have the requisite skills, they shouldn’t be afraid to learn.

“The most important part to becoming comfortable with analytics has to do more with mindset than expertise,” he says. “All the thought leaders in this area will say this. We have moved to a world where professionals of any background are able to

“The most important part to becoming comfortable with analytics has to do more with mindset than expertise” Nick Southcombe, Frontier Software retention’). Yet when asked what skills might aid them most effectively, ‘big data & analytics’ rated a paltry eighth (out of 10 skills and competencies). There’s clearly something of a disconnect occurring: HR professionals see the looming challenge but are reluctant to bolster their own capabilities to navigate that challenge.

Nick Southcombe, general manager of Frontier Software, is not surprised. He says managers in all areas today are playing

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acquire competencies and capabilities if they have the motivation to do so. We really are living in an age of abundant information, so people like HR managers who wish to seek out insights into their companies’ people and culture certainly have more places than ever to go digging.”

What’s perhaps different to those other areas of business that are playing catch-up is that HR must also catch up with their tools.

They will want to have tools like dashboards

so that they are not missing the obvious in the data they have, and then they will want to think about what data they want to have, because the data they do have might not tell the whole story. Additionally, a feature of data that has accumulated over a long period of time may also be the discrepancies in how that data has been entered or handled over time, and Southcombe says HR managers may end up in a position of having to tidy up these ‘dirty data’ issues.

“This raises the issue of what motivates HR professionals to seek out data insights and also what tools they have to help them in this pursuit,” Southcombe says.

He adds that some quests for data insights may be motivated by ‘hard’ changes such as M&A activity or a restructure. Others may be motivated by softer reasons such as having a CEO come on who is passionate about understanding the employee experience.

“The tools are certainly out there, but how individual companies can benefit from them remains for HR to decide,” Southcombe says.

Structured and non-structured data The old saying, ‘peanuts in, monkeys out’ – basically meaning you get what you pay for – is applicable to data too. But in the case of data it’s not necessarily what you pay for that’s important – although quality of data is of course critical – but rather how you classify that data. It’s very important to think about both structured and non-structured data. While structured data such as leave and performance data has made the transition from paperbased to digital form, when it comes to unstructured data – things such as social media comments and emails – Frontier Software has witnessed HR professionals increasingly turning to these unstructured data sources for important hiring and performance decisions.

“We are accumulating more of each, and the tools, the insights, and the privacy issues

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Brought to you by

‘I’VE NEVER BEEN GOOD WITH NUMBERS…’ are different for each,” says Southcombe.

“You have areas of HR where you must bring the two together, particularly in performance management. You wouldn’t do deep analysis of a department’s absence and KPI data and not listen to the stories they are telling you about their work in your performance management system. And you wouldn’t do the opposite either.”

Southcombe adds that the impact that occurs when HR managers are able to grapple with both these structured and unstructured data sources ultimately determines whether an HR department is tapping into its emerging and future workforce or dealing today with problems of yesterday. In short it’s the difference between retroactive data and future-forecasting data.

“The shift to forward-looking will happen,” he says. “Until recently the default mindset about data would be that ‘actual’ data is hard, and ‘forecast’ data is very soft

Should HR be disconcerted when they hear the hype around ‘data scientists’ and how HR teams will need to incorporate people with specific analytical capabilities in order to fulfil what their organisation expects of the HR function?

Nick Southcombe responds: “You have to be pretty brave to call yourself a data scientist when you see the mathematics that a true data scientist is expected to be across. It’s actually going to remain beyond the grasp of most of us, even as data analytics becomes more central to business. If you do have a mathematical bent, then by all means dive in. It has never been easier to learn new topics than today. But as said before, the mindset is the most important thing. A true data scientist will understand the fundamentals of data and the importance of tools, but they will mainly emphasise the importance of asking the right questions. That is the mindset that will enable any professional to thrive in this new world, because you really need to be able to ask the right questions to work with data scientists, not be one yourself.”

– finger-in-the-air stuff – so if you are a practical-minded person your data outlook stops at the present. But as you gain more confidence in data – when you know it is based on something valid – then you start to envision a full stream of history, running from past to present to future.”

In short, what will happen when people have that mindset is they will miss the ‘future’ data if it isn’t there. Where’s our future head count? Where’s our future training

expenditure? What is needed to meet future workforce requirements?

And while discussions around workforce analytics are currently very much focused on ‘big data’, there are more refined developments afoot. Insights can often be found in discrete data, what some now refer to as ‘small data’. It can be in this type of one-off unique data which captures exceptions and outliers that you can find insights and potentially different ways of

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FEATURES

SECTOR FOCUS: DATA & ANALYTICS Brought to you by

FOUR TECH TRENDS Nick Southcombe outlines four futuristic trends: Mobile. “If desktop users aren’t hungry enough for visualisations and dashboards, then mobile users certainly will be.

Seeing data directly instead of using forms, spreadsheets and reporting – that is what mobile users need and expect.”

Data mining and AI. “Facebook does it to their users. Someday businesses will be able to do it to their employees.

That is, they could know things about their people that the people don’t know themselves. This could come from both structured and unstructured data.”

Privacy and security. “A key criterion for our systems will be our ability to manage data about our employees discretely, protect it from accidents and exploits, and most importantly maintain trust of our employees in our ability to do so.”

Instrumentation and the Internet of Things. “Tracking time and attendance by punching time clocks starts to look primitive when everybody works all day with smart devices, smart vehicles and smart machines. Wouldn’t you do analytics on that? There are issues here for HR to consider.”

FRONTIER SOFTWARE Founded in Melbourne, Australia, in 1983, Frontier Software is a global leader in Human Resource, Talent Management and Payroll Solutions. Its solution ichris sets the global benchmark for functionality and improved employee experience. With support offices in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide and Perth and key global locations, Frontier Software is well placed to service its 1700 clients.

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doing things to create a point of difference for your organisation. Nick Southcombe, for one, predicts that HR professionals, probably with the assistance of data scientists and new tools, will soon start to mine for small data, those specs of gold hidden in big data.

A starting place There’s still a lot of work for many HR teams around the country before that point is reached, however. For those just starting out on this journey, what are some ‘foundational’ or ‘hygiene’ HR analytics to be considered?

Southcombe says he cannot overemphasise the importance of competencies and training

work in has been the next iteration of its dashboard product.

“Throughout this process we have brought some of our end users into the design phase – our ‘CoDesign Studios’ – so that we are better able to understand how data is being used to inform specific business processes in a variety of environments and sectors,” says Southcombe. “Given that our software comes as an integrated suite which has accumulated large amounts of data over the years, there are lots of meaningful stories hidden in HR and payroll data that we can see add enormous benefit to HR managers. The challenge really lies in how

“As you gain more confidence in data – when you know it is based on something valid – then you start to envision a full stream of history, running from past to present to future” Nick Southcombe, Frontier Software as measures. That’s because ‘competencies’ can be seen as a catch-all for what’s most important in your workforce. Southcombe explains: “Whatever qualification or knowledge or talent is needed for success, we can call it a ‘competency’ and figure out how to measure it in an HR management system. And training is basically a catch-all for all the things that we as a business can do to improve competencies.”

Tools for the job at hand The tools and technology platforms HR will use to mine and make the most of the data at their fingertips will become increasingly important. Frontier Software has a userexperience (UX) design process that is applied to unpack the kinds of issues that professionals are grappling with in this data-driven world. One of the products Frontier has invested significant UX design

to marry insights based on HR metrics with the specific data-capturing channels that different organisations have. This is something that changes from organisation to organisation.”

Despite these differences, Frontier has found that many organisations have some consistent themes. For example, data becomes meaningful in different ways, depending on your role in your organisation.

Frontier’s UX research has highlighted how empowering individual employees and team managers with relevant data about their work lives helps these people to better manage their own performance or team outcomes, without necessarily needing the intervention of HR or senior management.

“It is insights like these that have helped us to better design for the HR leaders that are keen to improve the employee experience of tomorrow,” Southcombe says.

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FEATURES

SECTOR FOCUS: EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION

GETTING BACK TO BASICS Sometimes the bells and whistles get in the way of why recognition is so important in the first place.

HRD outlines why the fundamentals matter FEW WOULD disagree that the workplace has changed more in the last two or three years than it probably has in the preceding two decades – and these changes are making it harder than ever to successfully engage employees. Consider the following: demographics have changed; there are more part-time and casual workers; people don’t necessarily have a bricks-and-mortar place to show up to work; and there’s an increasing need (and demand) for flexible workplaces – to name just a few upheavals.

In a complex world, it can pay dividends to return to basics. But just what is best practice reward and recognition in 2017?

Reward vs recognition Firstly, a clarification is needed. While it appears that ‘reward’ is often tied directly to ‘recognition’, it seems Australian organisations typically favour one over the other – but it may not be the right one.

Jeremy Salter, employee engagement lead at Grass Roots Asia-Pacific, suggests

“Many leaders don’t realise the importance of giving frequent, timely and relevant recognition” Mark Barling, Grass Roots “The changes taking place are forcing HR professionals to think about the practices and the ways in which we connect with our employees and the way we facilitate their successes and their achievements on a day-today basis,” says Mark Barling, regional sales director, Grass Roots Asia-Pacific.

Barling says new technology is adding another layer of complexity – but also a new wave of solutions – for employers who want to acknowledge the exceptional work of their employees.

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the amount an organisation invests in discretionary rewards is typically far greater than the amount invested in employee recognition. This is perhaps surprising as the evidence suggests that employee recognition is a more effective motivational tool than employee reward.

An underinvestment in recognition can reflect an overdependence on reward. In some organisations recognition and reward are joined at the hip. The value of recognition is contingent upon the size of the reward.

One way to reduce this costly dependence on reward is to increase the stand-alone value of recognition within an organisation.

Social technologies have helped. Social recognition programs amplify the value of employee recognition by increasing immediacy and visibility. Salter suggests the stand-alone value of employee recognition is further enhanced by integrating employee recognition with other talent management processes, including performance, recruiting and onboarding.

One other factor as to why ‘reward’ is less appealing is simply the cost to the business.

Industry benchmarks suggest 1–2% of payroll should be allocated to non-cash reward (ie outside of payroll). However, challenges including FBT compliance for employees mean such rates could be excessive. The inverse of course is also true. Too little reward and employees will see that it is tokenistic and not worth the discretionary effort to strive for.

“Whilst reward is important and should be used in conjunction with a modern recognition program, it’s the organisations that take employee recognition seriously who are reducing their dependence upon reward,” says Barling.

Getting the foundations right Barling suggests there are three critical aspects to consider for any organisation looking to clean the slate and reinvent its recognition program.

1. Culture. If a company values its culture, it’s essential to define its purpose. Bersin by Deloitte, in its Predictions for 2017 report, suggests that companies with a strong sense of purpose and a clearly defined set of cultural values outperform their peers. So the basis for any recognition program must be the vision, mission and objectives that the business is centred on. “By aligning recognition behaviour to values or priorities, each time a person recognises a colleague they are

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Brought to you by

SUCCESS OVER THE LONG TERM

Increasing maturity

Full alignment Impacting EVP Insights Measuring ROI

THIRD FLOOR Engage and align

Moving into steady state Data-driven planning Growth/new programs Communications

SECOND FLOOR Culture of recognition

Launch success Early adoption Sponsorship of multiple levels

FIRST FLOOR Adoption

Back to basics is good, but it is super critical to develop a new approach to R&R with a long-term vision, like the one illustrated above, as it helps sell the concept of what modern R&R can be within a business.

First floor – Get the business to adopt the program. Launch it well with a good brand, and promote early adoption via champions and stories.

Ensure you have sponsors in each business unit.

Second floor – The steady state. Data drives decision-making on what communication campaigns to run to drive further recognition activity.

Continue to work with leaders to ensure they know what good recognition is and when to use it.

Third floor – The program is embedded as a cultural icon within your business. Show what impact R&R has had and how those results are helping you meet the strategic plan and objectives of the business.

A vision, like that illustrated, enables senior leaders to understand the change and impact that is possible with modern R&R.

reinforcing the culture of their organisation,” Barling says.

2. Making the case for change. HR arguably has the chief role to play in creating the case for change. Quite often that case involves tough conversations around reward and recognition budgets that have evolved in the hands of business owners over time. Key considerations include: • Budgets – Are they centralised or decentralised? Do you need to ‘sweep the corridors’ to secure funding?

• ROI – What are the measures you will be judged by? Great recognition lowers

turnover – is this what the CEO will buy into or is it more about aligning employees to company strategy through behaviours?

• Data quality – Do you have a single view of your employees?

• Who are the key business stakeholders that need to endorse your views and plans?

• Do technology barriers or other technology projects (ie HRIS upgrade) exist that could influence how your new approach to R&R is prioritised within your business?

• What is the profile of your workforce? Are they dispersed, more online versus offline, in locations with limited Wi-Fi, or more blue collar than white collar?

3. Bringing the program to life.

Barling suggests the best programs start centralised and evolve to feel like the business as a whole ‘owns’ recognition. While HR might be the catalyst for change, when employees feel the act of recognition is within their control, the organisation has achieved R&R maturity.

All about culture Adding to these foundational elements is the culture of an organisation. Does it foster recognition? Although recognition is actually one of the simplest things to do, Barling says we often find it hard, because we may feel

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C

FEATURES

SECTOR FOCUS: EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION Brought to you by

TWO RECOGNITION SUCCESS STORIES Telstra completely rethought the way it looked at R&R five years ago to help the organisation put the customer at the centre of its employees’ worlds.

Zing was the resulting recognition program – social, peer-to-peer, democratic. The result: a 12% lift in attitudes to how employees are recognised and rewarded at Telstra. And a new, positive recognition language about ‘Zinging’ was created!

A regional Asia-Pacific airline determined that the reward element of its R&R strategy wasn’t increasing people’s engagement. By increasing the stand-alone value of recognition, they were able to reduce their reward spend by 80%, yet increase the recognition activity by over 100%. Recognition is no longer contingent on reward.

embarrassed giving or receiving in-person praise; or we are separated by geography or even floors in an office; or the organisation has made it hard through complicated nomination programs that take weeks to get recognition to the actual employee.

“Most leaders understand the power of recognition. But many don’t realise the importance of giving frequent, timely and relevant recognition both in person and via programs like those run by Grass Roots,” Barling says.

To ensure leaders in businesses know what good recognition is, Grass Roots has launched Achievers University. Available to administrators within Grass Roots programs, the University has modules to help train people in what good recognition looks like and why it’s

of work’ so employees don’t have to think about recognising someone, they are able to just do it.

The Achievers Employee Success platform, now in Australia through Grass Roots, makes it easier for businesses to integrate more recognition activity in the one place. Using open APIs – widgets that can be deployed in just about any application – and modules such as Engagement Pulse, the Achievers hub ensures that employees don’t have to access multiple systems, removing a key barrier for businesses looking to develop their R&R strategy.

Native mobile apps then extend the usability of technology. “You can empower your employees now to witness a great act at the end of a day and have an employee recognise another for thinking ‘Customer First’. That person’s manager reads the

“It’s the organisations that take employee recognition seriously who are reducing their dependence upon reward” Mark Barling, Grass Roots

GRASS ROOTS Grass Roots is one of the world’s leading providers of customer and employee engagement solutions. With our Achievers Employee Success platform we help businesses better engage their employees through social recognition, helping increase employee engagement and ultimately creating a happier, healthier and safer workplace.

Visit www.achievers.com.au to find out more.

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important to be recognising people every day.

This enables HR leaders to work with their peers to implement the best practice R&R for their business.

Leaders also need real-time data.

Comprehensive reporting suites are needed to inform leaders of how they and their teams are recognising and rewarding their colleagues.

Finally, the role of the C-suite should never be underestimated. Telstra’s program (see boxout above) was so successful because former CEO David Thodey was one of the highest givers of recognition. This was visible to all employees through recognition news feeds, helping make recognition a new communication channel.

Recognition in the flow of work To truly create a culture that fosters recognition, it’s necessary to build recognition into the ‘flow

recognition, promotes it via an Everyday Award – think a nominal fixed value such as $50 – and the recognised employee gets a double burst of recognition. And with the mobile app, employees can see the recognition immediately and can even spend the reward on a treat or the basics such as shopping on their way home.”

A helping hand Truly meaningful reward and recognition strategies need to be broader and to encompass more elements than ever, as the nature of what people want to be recognised for, and the different types of reward that now exist, add complexity to a dramatically different HR environment. Technology – and trusted business partners – can ensure your workplace not only survives these tumultuous times, but thrives.

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CONGRATULATIONS & GOOD LUCK TO ALL FINALISTS

IAN TRAL AUS

2017

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Fitness first Best use of Technology Friday 8 September 2017 • The Star Sydney hrawards.com.au

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FEATURES

SECTOR FOCUS: TECHNOLOGY

FROM MANUAL TO DIGITAL: HR’S TRANSFORMATION Today’s digital economy is forcing HR leaders to rethink how they deliver HR services to business.

HRD explores how to start on this journey

“IMAGINE IF HR had the same consumerfriendly digital influence as Amazon. How would that change our work world engagement and performance?” That thought-provoking statement is made in an SAP SuccessFactors white paper, titled Translating the HR Digital Revolution to Everyday Work.

While the consumer digital experience has transformed our daily lives, the workplace itself has often seemed like a throwback to a

Synchrony Global, says the adoption of SaaS and cloud-based HRM technology is ramping up as HR professionals are now generally aware of the employee performance and process benefits associated with investing in digital workforce capability.

“We’re finding that the benefits and improvements that come with digital workforce transformation are more and more widely understood, and it is those HR leaders

“The challenge now is to reinvent how we fully engage employees in the digital workplace, across platforms” Scott Davidson, Synchrony Global bygone era. And dragging the chain the most is the HR function, which has been criticised in the past for being too slow to digitise many of its manual processes.

Finally, it seems the tide is turning.

Organisations are looking for new, effective and productive ways to meet the rapidly evolving demands of doing business. This means that agility, 24/7 global access and automation are becoming standard. The same applies – or should apply – to HR functions.

Scott Davidson, managing director of

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who can link these benefits to organisational strategic goals and priorities that are leading the way and truly enabling different workforce outcomes,” says Davidson.

However, while Davidson says the desire to move to digital is apparent to HR professionals, many still find it a challenge to secure funding for two key reasons. Firstly, a lot of organisations are prioritising digitising their customer experience and interaction over digitising the workforce. Secondly, there are often difficulties in articulating

the tangible benefits case for digital HR. Below, HRD sets out some key steps that should be taken in order to build a solid business case for creating a digitally focused HR team.

Where is digitisation needed?

First, it’s necessary to investigate how and where digital capabilities might help HR. When asked which areas of HR processes are being digitised, Davidson says typically organisations are looking for help in several key areas: • streamlining recruitment and onboarding processes to reduce time and cost of hiring and bringing new staff up to speed quickly • enabling paperless workflows for requests, approvals and feedback via any web-connected device • enabling strong coordination of all organisational training and therefore reducing training costs • aligning employees though performance and goals management • identifying and developing highperformers through succession management • managing core processes like payroll efficiently In 2017, a shift from manual to digital processes typically means a shift into the cloud. For Davidson, the cloud is fast becoming the “new normal”. He adds that the traditional concern of HR about shifting to the cloud – ie data security – is no longer a key issue as all SaaS providers today must have robust security systems, which are often more secure than on-premise systems.

“It’s become a bit of a cliché now, but to a large extent it’s true – many customers regard their data as being more secure in the hands of global HCM cloud software providers than they do with their own lowly funded IT department,” Davidson says.

Instead, organisations today are primarily

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BECOMING A ‘DIGITAL WINNER’ Embrace digital technologies Execute on a company-wide digital vision Embed technology in all aspects of the organisation Streamline decision-making Make claim-driven decisions in real time Distribute decision-making across the organisation Flatten the organisation Focus on reducing complexity and bureaucracy Offer the latest technology to all employees

Em brac e dig ital te chnolog ies Streamli ne decision-mak ing he organisation Flatten t

ld Bui

Build a digital workforce

e orkforc ital w g i d a

Improve digital proficiency among managers and employees Emphasise transformation readiness and strategic use of technology

Some companies are more prepared for the digital future. Oxford Economics, in conjunction with SAP, identified a set of capabilities and practices that define the best-led organisations – classified as Digital Winners. At most companies, digital transformation is just beginning – only 16% of respondents qualify for this elite group.

GETTING YOUR CFO OVER THE LINE concerned about ensuring that the cloud system integrates seamlessly, and is also future-proof, scalable and extendable.

Building a business case With key concerns addressed, HR should next look at how to build a business case to get cynical CFOs and CEOs over the line to invest in new HCM technology. Davidson says that while it’s widely understood that HR technology adoption has a positive qualitative impact on the engagement of employees, many HR professionals underestimate the need for making a strong business case for HR investments. However, in his view it’s critical that HR business proposals clearly outline the tangible benefits that HCM technologies can accrue for the company.

“HR should not be any different from any other functional department like finance, marketing or logistics, all of which adeptly

Mike Ellis, chief commercial officer, Synchrony Global, has five key tips for HR professionals looking to convince the CFO to make investments in digital HCM. 1 Understand the whole business direction and strategy and how the project aligns to it.

2 Identify the real buyer (if not the CFO) and understand how to influence outcomes with them and what ROI they will be looking for. Some CFOs and CEOs are much more understanding of intangibles like better employee engagement than others.

3 Understand the approval process (finance, IT, procurement).

4 Know the impacts to work, worker and workplace.

5 Communicate function improvement as a tangible value.

emphasise the bottom-line financial benefits expected out of proposed investments,” Davidson says. “HR professionals typically project their mission as mostly qualitative, and fail to convince CFOs that tangible, quantitative ROI exists.”

In Synchrony Global’s view, a robust business case has to be able to stack up holistically across both tangible and intangible benefits. For example, HR should emphasise that the key business benefit that directly affects employees is the efficiency it brings. ‘Any time,

anywhere’ cloud-based HR drives increased usage and engagement, since accessing and updating information is fast, convenient and easy; today this can be done through any device (computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone).

Davidson points out that automating frustrating and routine HR processes frees up time, which can then be used to focus on “real HR”.

Additional benefits include: • going green by reducing the paperwork and paper-based workflows

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FEATURES

SECTOR FOCUS: TECHNOLOGY Brought to you by

• providing leaders with a 360-degree employee view, to better manage performance • increased collaboration • easy onboarding and platform adoption • data security

Successful adoption Organisations are coming to understand that the potential of HR technology goes beyond digitising standard processes. HR platforms today are capable of boosting efficiency and

Fortunately, some service providers have recognised the skills gap and the need for employers to get employees using new technology smoothly and quickly.

Synchrony Global’s solutions, for example, are delivered with step-by-step guidance software that helps deliver high levels of cost-effective user adoption and increases user engagement levels, allowing companies to fully realise the investment they have made in cloud technology. Synchrony uses WalkMe’s enterprise-class software to

“You’ll be far better taking a standard out-of-the-box best practice approach that has quick, cost-effective implementation and then tweaking the process over time” Mike Ellis, Synchrony Global productivity, with staggering results. However, these results are only possible when the employees successfully adopt the platform.

“The challenge now is to reinvent how we fully engage employees in the digital workplace, across platforms,” Davidson says.

“Often, only a fraction of the functionality that is made available to users actually gets used, resulting in significant training and retraining costs and a longer time to realise return on investment due to lower adoption rates than forecasted.”

Indeed, research reveals that digital skills are lacking in most job roles. The Oxford Economics Leaders 2020 Fact Sheet, produced in partnership with SAP, suggests that just 59% of surveyed global executives feel that employees are equipped with skills to keep up with digital technology and 67% feel that management is equipped to facilitate digital transformation.

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create a layer of visual prompts and input rules to provide employees with step-bystep ‘GPS like’ guidance to complete digital business processes quickly and accurately.

The software also drives continuous improvement by collecting and analyzing usage data to recognise behaviour patterns and obstacles.

Starting the journey Mike Ellis, chief commercial officer, Synchrony Global, suggests a straightforward approach is best for those organisations looking to start their digital transformation

journey. He recommends a strategy involving two key concepts: adopt, then adapt.

“You’ll be far better taking a standard out-of-the-box best practice approach that has quick, cost-effective implementation and then tweaking the process over time,” he says.

“Therefore, adopt standard best practices, and then adapt them over time.”

However, Ellis concedes this can be easier said than done. Many key tasks and activities need to be put in place before this mindset can work. These include: • executive stakeholder engagement • benefits case development • creation of an organisation design • embedding a strong change management mindset As always, having a trusted business partner can help.

Synchrony Global is a specialist HR technology partner for businesses of all sizes.

The company supplies best practice digital tools that allow organisations to optimise and manage the end-to-end employee life cycle and increase productivity through guided in-work process support.

“What sets us apart is our ability to work with HR leaders to make best practice digital transformation as simple, straightforward and scalable as it can possibly be,” says Davidson. “Our delivery approach eliminates the unnecessary complexity of traditional HR IT, providing rapid implementation and high levels of cost-effective adoption.”

One thing is certain: the HR digital revolution is here and moving at rapid speed.

The savviest HR leaders will want to be part of that revolution.

SYNCHRONY GLOBAL Synchrony Global is enabling HR leaders to discover their digital workforce potential by making the leading out-of-the-box HCM solution SAP SuccessFactors accessible in a way that is rapid, scalable, and ready for fast and easy employee adoption. To find out more and request a demo, visit synchronyglobal.com or call +61 29956 3803.

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3/08/2017 11:39:40 AM

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION SPECIAL REPORT

MICRO-CREDENTIALS

THE RISE OF SOFT SKILLS The Australian workforce has a strong soft-skills base, yet demand for soft skills still exceeds supply by up to 45%. Can credentials help?

DIGITAL DISRUPTION, globalisation and demographic shifts are shaping Australia’s future skill needs, with soft-skills-intensive occupations expected to account for two thirds (63%) of all jobs in Australia by 2030, according to the Soft Skills for Business Success report by Deloitte Access Economics, commissioned

by DeakinCo. Over the period to 2030, jobs requiring soft skills – which are also referred to as employability skills, enterprise skills and transferable skills, such as communication, teamwork, problem-solving, emotional

more likely to list problem-solving as a skill on their LinkedIn account than the global average.

Similarly, they are more than twice as likely to list digital literacy, innovation and communication, and almost twice as likely to include self-management and professional ethics. While the analysis highlights that soft skills are nine times more likely to be endorsed than a technical skill on LinkedIn, less than 1% of Australians report having any soft skills on their LinkedIn profiles.

This under-reporting is found to be consistent globally.

“People don’t have the confidence to claim skills that they are not able to verify” Simon Hann, DeakinCo. judgment, professional ethics and global citizenship – are projected to grow 2.5 times faster than other occupations where the need for soft skills is less intensive.

“As the lines between professions and industries get blurred, soft skills will become the new job currency. It is essential for businesses to invest in developing and measuring soft skills of their people in order to future-proof their operations.,” says report author and Deloitte Access Economics partner John O’Mahony.

Attainment of soft skills in Australia New data from LinkedIn shows that Australians have high soft skills attainment levels compared to other countries, with Australians three times

Job roles impacted by lack of soft skills While businesses in Australia spend a staggering $11bn on employee training and staff recruitment annually, one fourth of employers report having difficulty recruiting entry-level vacancies because applicants lack soft skills.

New data from Workible also points out a deficit in leadership skills, with one third of roles asking for leadership qualities but only 17% of job candidates reporting that they have leadership skills. Supporting this is another set of data from LinkedIn, which shows that 69% of HR decision-makers in Australia and New Zealand find it difficult to fill leadership roles, citing lack of soft skills (45%) among job applicants as the top reason.

Measuring soft skills “The gap between job market demand for soft skills and the supply is significant,” says DeakinCo. CEO Simon Hann. “The lack of formal confirmation of soft skills is playing a role in this under-reporting as people don’t have the confidence to claim skills that they are not able to verify – this where DeakinCo.’s micro-credentials play a vital role.

“It can be difficult for businesses to objectively assess the skill levels of their people.

Measuring and assessing soft skills objectively with our micro-credentials enables businesses to identify gaps in their organisations and, ultimately, make informed strategic decisions on how to effectively invest in building their workforce capability in the years to come.”

A call for credentials Credentials are a formal guarantee that skills and knowledge acquired through learning and experience have been successfully completed to the agreed outcomes. Credentialing formally acknowledges the attainment of skills, knowledge and experience that can be applied to the professional standards of practice at a level of proficiency.

DeakinCo.’s Professional Practice Credentials confirm and recognise the applied capabilities that are critical to the success of individuals and organisations. The credentials provide professionals with a credible, consistent and independent recognition of their current capabilities and future potential. This empowers professionals to identify immediate development needs, open career pathways and promote their potential and value to employers across the globe.

The credential model is underpinned by professional capability standards that describe the skill and knowledge in action at five levels of expertise. The five levels provide a universal benchmark aligning not only to the Australian Qualification Framework but to other qualification frameworks around the world.

It’s essentially a new currency for capabilities that employers and employees recognise, value and require to navigate the future world of work in the digital age.

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3/08/2017 11:39:44 AM

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION SPECIAL REPORT

EXECUTIVE MBAS

THE JUGGLING ACT Juggling work, life and family? An Executive MBA might be the solution.

HRD profiles one student who has successfully completed this vital postgraduate qualification FOR 13 years straight, Michelle worked at a leading financial institution in the same position. As her young family grew, she became concerned about her ongoing employability in a continuously evolving workforce. She realised that in order to expand her opportunities and develop her knowledge, she needed a postgraduate qualification. Here Michelle explains why she studied her Executive MBA with RMIT through Open Universities Australia

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(OUA), and the difference it immediately made to her confidence and career.

Q: Tell me a bit about your career so far.

Michelle: I work in insurance as a product portfolio manager and have been at the same financial institution for 17 years. I worked for 13 years in the one role, but as soon as I informed my employer that I was studying my MBA, doors opened for me. I applied for one

role within the organisation at first, but since then I’ve been invited to apply for various roles.

In the last four years I’ve enjoyed the variety of five different senior positions.

Q: So what motivated you to start studying an MBA? M: I loved my organisation and had become quite senior within the company. But after 13 years in the same role, I didn’t know how to

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instigate change. I had my children, I was working full-time, and needed to make sure I could work for the next 20 years. I wanted a diverse skill set and to develop recognised skills in finance. However, gaining more confidence was one of the biggest motivators for studying. RMIT’s Executive MBA opened doors from the moment I started studying.

As soon as I had a few units under my belt, my employer recognised that I was taking control of my professional development.

Now I feel secure, and I have more tools in my toolkit.

Q: Why did you choose to study through Open Universities Australia?

M: I was aware of the corporate partnership between my company and Open Universities

Q: What was your study experience like?

M: I had a fabulous lecturer and she was instrumental in getting me through. I contacted her with questions every week and completed all the examples. She rang to reassure me and gave me a huge amount of confidence.

Q: What has been the best aspect of the MBA? M: I think the great thing about RMIT’s Executive MBA is that there’s a bit of everything. I’m interested in so many different things and ended up loving the finance and economics subjects. I loved the strategic aspect as well … and marketing and communications!

I’ve been able to use every aspect of the MBA across my roles.

“Because I work full-time, my only option was to study online. I needed a flexible study solution that could fit in with my lifestyle” Australia. Because I work full-time, my only option was to study online. I needed a flexible study solution that could fit in with my lifestyle, and I didn’t want a Mickey Mouse degree. OUA has a strong reputation and helped me take that first step.

Q: How did you manage study with full-time work in a senior position and a busy family life?

M: During the day, I’d work really hard and then come home and spend some time with the children, and then study until 11pm every night, including weekends. Instead of watching movies or being on social media, I’d study. I remember we went on a cruise and I was up on the deck studying! I really did enjoy the learning – it wasn’t just about getting that piece of paper. Through studying, I built up my level of confidence and was proud of my capability to pick things up quickly.

Now I understand the bigger picture, and how what I’m doing contributes to the business goals. The MBA has helped me think from an organisational perspective. I really appreciated that I could delve into areas of interest to me, and use my own business problems to put together a marketing plan for my area. I was able to apply my learning to my actual work.

Q: What is your ultimate career goal?

M: I’m currently in a reasonably senior role. I enjoy becoming an expert across everything that I’m involved in. I’m determined to keep my skills broad as my next role could be in a completely different area of the business. The Executive MBA helped me to confidently become a generalist. You go from zero knowledge of a subject to being immersed in it, and in just a matter of months you have a deep understanding across a wide range of business practices.

STUDY A WORLD-CLASS MBA ONLINE RMIT’s Executive MBA is provided exclusively online through Open Universities Australia. It boasts a five-star rating by the Graduate Management Association of Australia and EPAS accreditation, a prestigious global endorsement awarded to only three other MBA programs in Australia. By completing this degree, you’ll be able to: • utilise a broad range of contemporary business knowledge, underpinned by continuous learning, in a manner that is culturally, socially and politically appropriate • apply design thinking to complex problems and opportunities • identify, communicate and advocate effective solutions • lead people and organisations in an ethical, sustainable manner to design solutions that add value • apply and integrate professional theory with practice in authentic Work Integrated Learning contexts, professional contexts and industry settings • apply research principles and methods to design innovative options and solutions for, and make reasoned judgments about, problems and issues in contemporary business practice Q: What advice would you give to other busy professionals thinking about online study?

M: I think it’s about putting in the time. Being a slight perfectionist, I was immediately worried about my outcomes – worried about getting a HD for all my subjects and completing my degree. It can be daunting and does take a lot of time – it took me four years! But I had to sit down every day and stick to my routine.

I made a commitment to myself to put the time in. It’s not about forcing yourself; just focus on one step at a time. My biggest piece of advice is to understand that you will get to the end, but take it day by day.

Open Universities Australia (OUA) proudly partners with 10 leading universities to offer over 150 online degrees in the one place. Fit study in with your lifestyle and gain exactly the same qualification as on-campus students. Start today at open.edu.au.

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3/08/2017 11:40:38 AM

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION SPECIAL REPORT

COACHING & MENTORING

TACKLING CULTURAL CHANGE LIKE THE WARATAHS With The Coaching Room’s help, the NSW Waratahs are proving that being ready to play the next game in the right frame of mind puts them in a winning position, regardless of whether they win or lose

IN 2016 and 2017, the NSW Waratahs have been an organisiation with an HR crisis.

Despite intermittent success on the rugby field, like many organisations they have found themselves up against an entrenched culture of underperformance both inside and outside the office, and in the wider rugby fraternity.

It’s a challenge that CEO Andrew Hore knows has to be tackled. The Waratahs need a new game plan.

“To change the situation we are in, we need to change,” Hore tells HRD. “To enable us to change, we need to be able to clearly identify

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what is working for us and what is not, to address those issues that aren’t working in an open manner, and have the ability to open people’s minds to the issues and influence them to be a part of the journey for change,” he says.

Step 1: Call in the coach The Coaching Room managing partner Jay Hedley helps leaders around the world to more clearly see the blind spots that can limit them in their professional and personal lives.

With a passion for awakening people to their true potential by helping them engage with and relate

differently to themselves, he could immediately recognise where the Waratahs were holding themselves back from greatness.

“The team has been underperforming, showing glimpses of brilliance along with prolonged periods of mediocrity throughout the 2017 season,” Hedley explains.

The problem is deep-rooted. “Coaches and players have realised that they have been holding themselves back to protect themselves.”

Called in to work with head coach Daryl Gibson and his team of coaches, Hedley has been charged with helping these key staff unlock their leadership potential so they can in turn engage and enable players to actualise theirs. Using a blend of science, psychology and strategy, the change effort is paying off.

“The 2016 and 2017 seasons have facilitated growth and development personally and professionally for executives, coaches and players alike,” Hedley says. “Specifically, learning how to lose – but more importantly, how to grow and develop from losses – has been a painful yet rewarding experience.”

Gibson says transformation and the process of change can be difficult but is well worth it. “Jay has facilitated the awareness of the language and frames we are using, and how we can use this to create a highperformance team through creating greater personal meaning for our players.”

The effort has been so successful that,

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in addition to working with Gibson, Jay now works with CEO Andrew Hore and his executive team as well as select players on high-performance leadership. “Ours isn’t an easy process, but it’s a very rewarding one for those with the courage to look,” Hedley says.

Step 2: Change the game plan The Coaching Room’s approach combines leading methodologies of the human potential movement. Hedley says the key is a shift from limiting ‘beliefs and values’ to ‘core principles’, and the creation of an organisational ‘frame intelligence’ that enables change to take root through these core principals.

“Frame intelligence is the ability to recognise and articulate the highest meaning frames governing current performance so leaders can gain objectivity and lead different and more effective performance,” Hedley explains. “In the case of the Waratahs, old beliefs about how the 2017 season should have progressed, about the opposition, about using fear of failure as a motivation strategy, for example, have been brought to light and discussed at length. Values such as integrity, among others, weren’t reflective of the core principles required to facilitate highperformance leadership.”

Beliefs and values Hedley says beliefs and values are fixed structures of limited perspective. “These might be ‘I am this kind of person’, ‘we are this kind of team’, ‘this is our strength’, ‘this is our weakness’,” he says. “They create cultural presuppositions – or frames and rules – that determine behaviours, like ‘I can’, ‘I can’t’, ‘we can’, ‘we can’t’ – behaviours I’m sure any HR leader today would easily recognise,” he says.

These fixed barriers include seeing fear of failure as a static thing to be avoided, or beliefs about how you may be perceived by an external observer or audience, including the thoughts of an opposition team, the crowd, or even the media. They also facilitate dependency and lack of responsibility – or an attitude of ‘I do what I’m told’ – and paradoxically drive independent and selfish decisions, actions and outcomes.

Core principles Core principles on the other hand change the rules of the game, because they are “intelligent and evolving, fluid structures of simultaneous perspectives”. By taking multiple perspectives into account simultaneously and enabling a more holistic view, individuals and organisations can be more adaptive to the actual unfolding reality around them and be with the truth of what’s actually happening now so that they can awaken and actualise a team’s potential through a focus on possibility.

“A focus on core principles allows people to be open to and constantly integrating feedback rather than failure, and seeing loss as an opportunity for growth and development, which is key in the rugby game,” says Hedley.

With a growing recognition that ‘players play themselves’ at the elite level because the mental inner game is where the game is really played and won, not the outer game, they are able to engage self-actualising frameworks – “the more you live them the more they live you” – and employ developmental metaphors that unite rather than divide, and inspire rather than result in fear.

“Core principals facilitate interdependent, collaborative, intelligent decisions and actions on behalf of the team and facilitate responsibility through awareness, intentionality, self-management and self-leadership. They allow us to live intentionally and create a legacy that evolves through time and space.”

Step 3: Play to win (even if you lose) CEO Andrew Hore says the NSW Waratahs are now focused on creating a strong sense of purpose, and growing comfortable with the need to have fierce, open conversations that result in change.

As a result of The Coaching Room’s intervention, he says things have already started to change.

“What is starting to shift is the open and transparent discussions we are having for the betterment of the organisation, without people feeling persecuted or issues becoming personalised. We’re also starting to see a marked difference between the feelings of

CORE PRINCIPLES BEING LIVED BY THE WARATAHS Self-efficacy Knowing you know you have what it takes to tackle any challenge that awaits Self-leadership Self-awareness and commitment to develop through all actions and outcomes Self-motivation Intrinsic, sustainable motivation to succeed through learning from adversity Ecological decisions Holistic approach to decision-making by integrating all parts and variables Transparency Openness in communication, two-way feedback and learning in all experiences Response-ability Accountability for all thoughts, feelings, actions and communication Interdependency Supporting and encouraging the best and highest potential in others comfort in addressing issues shown among the people who have engaged in the program and the lack of confidence in those who have not.”

Hore says that while it is a process and mistakes will be made, his only frustration now is that he is unable to teach and spread the skills being learned fast enough through the organisation.

“We’re learning how to communicate with a common language, as well as understand people’s differences in how they perceive the world and what frames they and we create in our day-to-day lives based on past experiences and their individual personalities, and how to handle those differences in the relationships they have for the betterment of the company,” he says.

“Given more time, I have no doubt The Coaching Room will take us on a journey which will teach us even more about the power of collective responsibility and interdependent leadership we never even knew existed.”

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Ajuria Lawyers is one of Australia’s leading immigration law firms.

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EXPERT INSIGHT

MIGRATION

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE 457 VISA CHANGES Lillian Ajuria outlines what the government’s recent changes mean for your business ON 18 APRIL 2017, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced the abolition of the 457 visa as part of a package of reforms being rolled out in phases between 19 April 2017 and 1 March 2018, when the 457 visa will be replaced by the Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) visa.

The government’s stated objective was to restore integrity to visa programs intended to meet short-term skills shortages, and to ensure that employment and training opportunities are preserved for Australian citizens and permanent residents, first and foremost.

Few would argue with this objective, and wholesale change in immigration is not new.

However, changes of this magnitude have arguably not been seen since the introduction of the 457 visa by the Howard Government in 1996. There is therefore a whole generation of employers who have based their recruitment and retention strategies on the current 457 visa regime and its pathway to permanent residence.

Details of the changes have received widespread coverage, but here are some tips for managing their impact:

1

Expect the unexpected

The recent announcement has introduced an element of uncertainty. Even after all new legislation is enacted and ‘fine-tuned’, the uncertainty may linger in the long term, as the government’s announcement has signalled to employers that it can, and will, make changes to the visa program, without warning.

2

Prepare for longer lead times

There is some good news for Business Sponsors, with ‘accredited’ status and the benefit of faster processing times becoming available to more employers. However, the time required for preparation of ‘decisionready’ applications has increased, given new requirements from 1 July 2017 for more English language testing (such as IELTS), skills assessments and police checks. From March 2018, mandatory labour market testing (with some likely exemptions) will also be introduced for all occupations. Given the usual urgency associated with visa applications, the time taken to gather this additional documentation will need to be factored into advice provided to recruiters and employees.

3

Be aware of additional costs

Over and above the costs associated with the additional documentary requirements outlined above, the new ‘training levy’ will impose additional costs on all Business Sponsors from March 2018. Annual contributions to the Skilling Australians Fund will be based on the number of temporary visa holders in their employment ($1,200–$1,800 per employee, depending on annual turnover) as well as the number of applications for permanent residence (one-off payment of $3,000–$5,000 per application). The contributions of some employers will be substantially more than expenditure required to meet the current Training Benchmark, and

as there will be no offset of current training expenditure, this will need to be factored into overall employment costs.

4

Become involved in advocacy

5

Manage expectations of employees

The two new occupation lists have been quite controversial as they will be used to determine whether a position is suitable for sponsorship, whether a two- or four-year visa will be granted, and whether there is a pathway to permanent residence for overseas employees. Some professional organisations and industry bodies have been successful in lobbying for the changes to the revised 1 July lists, and there are ongoing opportunities for advocacy, as the Short Term Skilled Occupations List will be revised every six months and the Medium and Long Term Strategic Skills List every 12 months. The Department of Immigration is keen to engage with stakeholders, and HR professionals are well placed to advocate for change, based on expert knowledge and hard data.

Some current (and prospective) employees will be greatly disadvantaged by the changes, in particular the reduced options to apply for four-year visas and, ultimately, permanent residence. However, the government is unapologetic about breaking the nexus between temporary and permanent skilled visas – as well as reducing the age limit for permanent residence from 50 to 45 years, which will further impact on many senior-level employees – and expectations must be carefully managed.

The changes have and will continue to keep law firms busy as we navigate through them, find solutions for our clients, and support their efforts to advocate for some changes to the reforms by the government.

Lillian Ajuria is an accredited specialist in immigration law and principal at immigration law specialists Ajuria Lawyers. For further information, visit www.ajurialawyers.com.au.

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PEOPLE

GLOBAL HR LEADER

THE SCIENCE OF LEADERSHIP Brian Little has won industry accolades for his groundbreaking management training initiatives at global insurer Zurich. He shares his story with HRD

IT’S RARE that a solitary HR initiative can be held up as a defining achievement for an HR professional with a number of years of service under their belt. Indeed, for Brian Little, CHRO at Zurich North America, it’s been three key interlinked achievements that will ensure his legacy will endure. The first came six years ago when Little channelled his career-long passion for leadership development into a project called ‘the Development Curve’.

The project aimed to predict the value that talent would bring to an organisation based on the quantifiable rate at which employees typically mature within a role. Its ripple effects have been profound. Not only has it changed how Zurich’s business and HR strategies are intertwined but also how the insurance giant invests in its employees.

Little also played a critical role in developing the ‘Skill Grids’ skill development tool, which has also been implemented at Zurich globally. Skill Grids define the skills and behaviours required for specific jobs, supporting the individual growth of employees while enhancing Zurich’s internal talent pipeline. Little and his team looked at 33 job families to understand what success

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looked like in each role, from the early jobs in the family such as entry-level college/graduate roles, to mid-career professional roles.

Springing from those insights was Zurich’s Oxygen Initiative, a development program that focuses on eight behaviours that great managers demonstrate. Launched in North America in 2015, the objective is to train 10,000 Zurich managers globally on what it

HRD: Can you outline your current role at Zurich?

Brian Little: I’m head of HR for Zurich North America. I’m responsible for the full cycle of HR here – talent acquisition, talent management, L&D, compensation, benefits, performance management. I also look after our HR business partners and we also have a shared services team that is split between

“A lot of programs in the marketplace today look pretty on a piece of paper, but if you can’t execute them it doesn’t really matter” takes to be a key influencer of Zurich’s culture and employee engagement levels. It has been estimated that Zurich North America experienced a 6% increase in engagement scores between 2013 and 2015 – thanks in part to Little’s executive endorsement of Oxygen. “Your leadership program has to be grounded in science,” he tells HRD. “It must be grounded in really solid research.”

HRD chatted to Little about these career achievements and his career journey to now.

Farmers Management Services and us. I have around 130 team members and we support approximately 9,500 employees.

HRD: You’ve had a passion for leadership development and more general L&D during your career. What sparked that interest?

BL: My first job in HR was in a large utility company. I was in operations initially and then moved into HR in a

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3/08/2017 10:02:47 AM

PROFILE Name: Brian Little Company: Zurich North America Title: CHRO HR experience: 27 years Qualifications: BS and MS, Communications, Illinois State University (1976–1983); Advanced Executive Program, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University (2014) Previous roles: »»VP human resources, MegaK LLC »»SVP human resources, HSBC »»Owner, Little and Wiley »»Director leadership development, Ameritech »»Human resources consultant, Amoco »»Manager diversity, Public Service Company of Colorado career development centre and then an assessment centre. One thing I found very interesting early in my career was that in operations my chances of working with senior executives was pretty low. I could talk to my supervisor, my manager’s manager, but very few executives. When I started to work in the career development centre and career assessment centre I found my clients were primarily executives and that changed my view in terms of the type of exposure I wanted to have and where I could have influence. I really learned to enjoy HR and started to realise how important leadership was to the success of the overall company.

Poor leadership and decision-making can destroy shareholder value and employee

morale. What I found was that those organisations that had leadership as a core component of their DNA did better than those that didn’t. I felt I could contribute to that.

HRD: Why do you think leadership development initiatives often fail to deliver the expected return on investment?

BL: A couple of things. One is you really must ground your leadership development strategy in the heart of your business and really understand where we’re trying to go with it. Where we’ve made some strides at Zurich is by thinking about where we really want to be in the next five to 10 years. The

industry is changing quite a bit and we sat down a few years ago and said, “we need to make some changes”. We needed to prepare our organisation for the future. The type of people who work in our company will be different, but also the environment that we’ll be operating in will be different.

Our leadership program needed to be attuned to that.

The other big reason why a lot of these programs fail is they’re too complex. Too many bells and whistles are added onto programs which sometimes are oversold by consultants. They must have very clear, actionable development plans and be able to reinforce the behaviours you want to see changed or at least replicated in the

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PEOPLE

GLOBAL HR LEADER organisation. A lot of programs in the marketplace today look pretty on a piece of paper, but if you can’t execute them it doesn’t really matter.

HRD: Tell us about the Zurich Oxygen Initiative.

BL: In 2009, when I started at Zurich, I worked with [current CEO] Mike Foley and undertook some research. We figured out something we called the Development Curve. This relates to the time and effort a person needs to be in a role in relation to the investment we need to make in them as a company. We did that for every employee.

However, we also realised our managers weren’t ready to take that kind of research and information and really take action on it. So we embarked upon something that

we flattened the organisational structure down and increased spans of control significantly.

We couldn’t have done any of that without providing a lot of professional development in return. So we did that through World Class Manager, The Successful Manager at Zurich, and eventually Oxygen. We’re pretty proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish.

HRD: Would you say you’ve had great leaders in your career?

BL: I have. I’ve been lucky. I had a chance to work with great leaders at a company called Amoco, which is now part of BP. Some of the smartest people in the world worked at that organisation – PhD geoscientists and engineers who were exceptionally bright.

“What I found was that those organisations that had leadership as a core component of their DNA did better than those that didn’t” became known as World Class Manager.

World Class Manager was essentially designed to take those concepts we’d discovered and then apply those in such a way that every manager could be successful.

To do that we split manager and leader behaviours into two buckets – because while we still want people to be great leaders, we also need them to at least be good, solid managers of people as well.

We created a required course for all managers to go through, which was called ‘The Successful Manager at Zurich’.

What that program focused on was core management behaviours. It laid the foundations for us to build what we now call today Oxygen, which focuses on the eight behaviours that great managers show. The intention was to make our managers more flexible, more empowered, able to take greater accountability and ultimately drive higher performance. An example of that is

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I worked at HSBC with Sir John Bond, who was with the company for over 40 years. He was one of the finest leaders in financial services history. He’s an incredible man with an incredible story who started his career as a teller and worked his way up to lead one of the largest banks. The stories about John are fairly legendary – people talk about times they met him in the elevator and those kinds of chance meetings. I learned from him that being kind and caring but also being a great businessman was possible and not mutually exclusive.

I work for a great CEO today – Mike Foley. Mike is really a visionary, being able to take relatively complex processes and put those into real-life work scenarios over a period of time. Mike can take pretty farout ideas and make them a reality, but he’s always driven by the immediate challenges his business and its people are up against.

He’s been great to work with.

A FLEXIBLE MINDSET Zurich has taken the lead in its industry in terms of embracing flexible work. The company now provides the technology tools and flexibility to work from home or another remote location, as well as any location within a Zurich office, allowing people to achieve a greater work-life balance. However, Little outlines one other key factor: “We’ve been allowing employees to work flexibly for quite some time and we’ve now got around 20% of employees with a flex work arrangement of some kind. I expect this to increase as technology makes flexible work easier for more people. The challenge sometimes is that the technology is pretty good but the mindsets of managers are dragging the chain. There are still some managers today who want you to be in the office when you don’t really need to be there. The reason we rebranded our flexible work program to FlexWork@Zurich was to change the mindset more than anything else. We had the tools; we needed to change the minds and hearts of execs and managers, and I think we’ve been quite successful at doing that.”

HRD: You’ve spent time as a consultant. How has that experience helped in your HR career?

BL: For me it was a great opportunity to understand what lots of great companies are doing and discover what made them successful. I learned that there’s no one leadership style that works for everybody.

I also learned that different organisations require different types of leadership styles at different times. Understanding that made me a better business person because as a consultant you have to quickly digest the organisation’s operating model and what’s important to them, and establish how you can actually help them. It’s a good experience for anyone who works in HR. They can take that knowledge with them internally.

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3/08/2017 10:02:51 AM

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3/08/2017 2/08/2017 10:02:54 3:06:12 AM PM

PEOPLE

CAREER PATH

PEOPLE PERSON

He’s come a long way and tasted various industries, but for Jason Laufer it all comes down to people Jason Laufer took on his first job at McDonald’s when he was just 15 and at high school. Working extra shifts and at every station, he became an assistant manager while still a teen, and this led to an early career and studies in hotel management.

“It was a great grounding in life: managing large teams, developing future leaders, dealing with ambiguity on a daily basis in a multifaceted business. The lessons I learned were the development path for what I’m doing today.”

1998

CROSSES OVER INTO TECH As an early adopter of technology, Laufer’s desire to embark on a tech career coincided with the much-hyped Y2K when he snagged a position at Gateway.

“I bought my first PC in 1995 and was amazed by the access to info online. I had a big curiosity about tech personally; I was very excited by it. When I randomly saw an ad on a job board for managing sales teams in technology, I thought I would apply. It was an amazing springboard.”

2006

GOES INTERNATIONAL Laufer was approached by IBM for an APAC role; it was to be the first of several APAC and international roles at ‘Big Blue’.

“It was an amazing time and a phenomenal experience leading teams across multiple markets. Managing leaders and teams across numerous cultural nuances and being sensitive to this was a life-changing experience. It was a bigger jump than I expected and helped me develop deeper compassion for others and their culture.”

2015

JOINS LINKEDIN Despite being initially passive – LinkedIn approached him after, fittingly, finding him on LinkedIn – Laufer declared himself ‘hooked’ early in the process. He joined as director of talent and learning solutions, Australia and New Zealand.

“I went to the interview out of curiosity. I was sold by the way the talent acquisition partner articulated the culture and values, as well as the instant rapport generated in that one hour.

I thought, ‘This is somewhere that I am aligned to and I could blossom’. And I have.”

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1986

STEPS INTO HOSPITALITY

1996

CHANGES LANES On his return from working overseas for a couple of years, Laufer felt the time was ripe for changing industries and joined Westpac as an inside sales manager. Despite how vastly different the business was to his previous roles, Laufer found the kernel of his work to be very similar.

“The skills to do with managing teams were transferable. My career has always been founded on people; my passion has always been around people and developing people.”

2000

MANAGES THE MANAGERS Laufer joined Microsoft, where he remained for six years.

“My career blossomed at Microsoft. It led to managing a large team where I started managing managers: it was a quantum shift in my thinking.

Creating great leaders and coaching them on how to coach their teams was exciting – imparting knowledge to help others is something I am very passionate about” 2012

STAYS CLOSER TO HOME After years of working in every time zone and regularly traversing the globe, Laufer stepped into a role that allowed him to stay close to home and be present for his family.

“I had a huge territory and felt like I was consistently on a plane. It was not sustainable. I was fortunate that a role became available on the ANZ leadership team, and being present at home was a big part of wanting to step into it.”

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3/08/2017 10:06:43 AM

SPONSORED FEATURE

SMARTFLEET

CAR SHARING: LOW ON COST AND CARBON With Pool Vehicle Booking by Smartfleet, car sharing helps companies reduce cost and their environmental footprint, says Duncan Ward, general manager at Smartfleet Management Pty Ltd THERE ARE many financial benefits of sharing personal assets and services, and with technology making sharing seamless, workplaces are increasingly embracing car sharing as a way to save on cost while reducing the impact of their fleet on the environment.

Pool Vehicle Booking by Smartfleet is a tailor-made car sharing solution which aims to help companies save by reducing the number of vehicles within their fleet – and associated risk and liability, along with vehicle maintenance costs. The technology also tracks and reports all vehicle usage, giving greater transparency and helping to identify peak periods, and safety concerns.

Save on cost – and on the company’s carbon footprint Not only can Pool Vehicle Booking by Smartfleet help reduce fleet cost significantly, it also helps companies reduce their carbon emissions, with fewer cars on the road and less fuel

being consumed. Here’s how it works: • The Pool Vehicle Booking system sends a notification when two employees are going to the same place at a similar time, to give them the option to share a car. If they choose to share, there is less fuel consumption.

• ‘Manager vehicles’ – that is, a vehicle provided to an employee as a benefit for their everyday use – can be incorporated as part of the vehicle pool. If the manager vehicle is typically unused during the day, other employees can borrow the car, which reduces the need for additional cars in the fleet.

• Smartfleet partners with GoGet to help cater for peak periods, ensuring your employees have access to cars when needed, and eliminating the need for cars that go unused.

• If sustainability is a priority, cars that give fewer CO2 emissions can be prioritised for use.

• Smartfleet clients can offset the carbon usage of the fleet with Greenfleet, helping achieve corporate social responsibility goals.

“Smartfleet helped a government organisation reduce its number of vehicles (18.6%), combined CO2 emissions (15.42%) and fuel use (16.01%)” Duncan Ward, general manager, Smartfleet

Bringing your employees along for the ride While the sharing economy is increasingly accepted, some employees may still need convincing. Here are some tips for transitioning employees to car sharing: • Share the environmental benefits.

Communicate the positive environmental benefits to car sharing. Belief in a bigger cause helps motivate employees.

• Highlight the positives of the technology.

Smartfleet technology makes online booking completely seamless and employees will never need to worry about servicing their car or maintenance issues.

• Appoint ambassadors. Identify employees who are open to car sharing – often the younger employees who are already part of the sharing economy – and sharing their positive first-hand experiences.

• Go slow. Part of the fleet can be transitioned into Pool Vehicle Booking by Smartfleet, while continuing to report on the fleet as a whole.

Take the opportunity to test and tailor the technology.

Duncan Ward is general manager of Smartfleet Management Pty Ltd, the fleet management offering of Smartgroup Corporation.

Pool Vehicle Booking by Smartfleet is a purpose-built car sharing solution that processes over 300,000 bookings per year.

Visit www.smartfleetaustralia.com.au to find out more.

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3/08/2017 1:52:37 PM

PEOPLE

OTHER LIFE

TELL US ABOUT YOUR OTHER LIFE Email hrdeditor@keymedia.com

WATCHING THE WILDLIFE For Suzanna Paull almost every weekend is a walk on the wild side IT WAS accidentally hitting and killing a duck with her car that brought Suzanna Paull to Fauna Rescue SA eight years ago – it was one incident of several in which the HR adviser had witnessed an animal suffering, which prompted her to “start looking into what I could do to give back to nature”.

A Google search led to an orientation workshop with Fauna Rescue, and she has been volunteering ever since.

The day we speak Paull has just released three kookaburras that were rescued after a member of the public found two on the ground unresponsive and one hanging upside down in a nearby tree, apparently as a result of ingesting old fruit. “They had got drunk!” Paull says.

The three birds, a young family, had to be fed charcoal mix via a syringe and kept under observation for 24 hours before being set free, at which point they rewarded Paull with their trademark birdsong and an impromptu flyover “as if to say thanks”.

As cute as some of these creatures are, what really drives Paull is a desire to address some of the damage done by humans.

“The majority of fauna that come in have been injured by human action; I feel I’m giving back some of what we take away from nature in modern everyday living. It’s about having respect for nature and balance – that’s how I get through the hard moments. When does giving ever feel bad?”

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100

4 out of 5

8gm

Estimated number of call-outs Paull has attended

Number of animals that come in due to human-related damage

Weight of the smallest creature Suzanna has cared for (a baby microbat)

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