FEATURES
COVER STORY: HOT LIST GILLIAN FOLKES Group general manager, people, culture and enterprise Insurance Australia Group
Over the past two years, insurance giant IAG (NRMA Insurance, SGIO, SGIC, et al) has prioritised the use of design thinking to enhance HR processes and systems. Gillian Folkes says this focus has led them to develop a three-phase plan that involves discovering underlying needs and insights, reflecting on the most crucial areas for improvement, and experimenting with ideas and prototypes in order to come up with sustainable solutions. The company as a whole has fully embraced and adopted the use of data analytics and AI, which has led to the creation of customised tools that address the varying needs and wants of external and internal customers. Folkes and her team are ensuring that they follow suit in terms of HR operations, specifically by simplifying processes and managing information for employee empowerment.
RANDY WANDMACHER HR director, Australia and New Zealand Accenture
Randy Wandmacher is a seasoned organisation change leader and a member of Accenture’s HR management committee, responsible for ensuring exceptional employee experiences among the company’s team members in the region. He has a particular interest in helping colleagues determine and align their professional and personal goals with business objectives in order to hit multiple birds with one stone and achieve success all-around. As a leader in HR and organisational change, Wandmacher’s focus is on encouraging “talent practices that deliver hyper-personalised experiences”, recognising that people become more open and adaptive to change as their needs are better met. He was responsible for the design and launch of Accenture’s revamped performance management strategy, which has shifted from a traditional annual approach to an ongoing, fluid feedback process.
ELISE MORRIS Director of people and culture Swisse Wellness
One of the items at the top of Elise Morris’ agenda is fostering wellbeing and work-life balance within the organisation through the practice of mindfulness. A positive psychology practitioner and a disruptor of traditional people management practices, Morris believes that maintaining a continual, guided awareness of self and others can lead to unlocking
20
ROSE THOMSON CHRO Travelport
Having lived and worked across Asia and Europe in numerous multinational corporations, including Disney and Barclays, Rose Thomson says she’s learned how to recognise the earliest signs of change and disruption. Thomson says her priority is to equip employees to support Travelport’s transformation strategy, and to grow agile leaders. From her own drastic experience with change management in the days of her pre-HR career, when a significant proportion of IBM’s Australian staff were made redundant, Thomson remains convinced of the value and impact of helping people transition successfully into new places and new roles. “Change is always going to happen, but we’ll be judged based on whether we treated people with respect and fairness once the emotion is removed from those decisions,” she told HRD.
of latent potential among people. Through Morris and her team’s efforts, Swisse Wellness has been recognised as a global example of excellence for their work on whole-person wellness – covering everything from mindfulness to movement and nutrition. The company has also been named as an employer of choice for their initiatives on engagement and retention, and is always emphasising their mission to make people healthier and happier – a mission that is the crux of Morris’ work as head of people and culture.
www.hcamag.com
18-29_HotList SUBBED2.indd 20
23/11/2017 3:56:31 PM