Human Capital magazine issue 9.04

HC

TIME FOR SOME ‘B’ PERFORMER TLC P.22 » HOT OR NOT? HOT-DESKING P.34 » INSIDE HR AT ING DIRECT P.40 »

HUMAN CAPITAL MAGAZINE | www.hcamag.com

ISSUE 9.04

Engage + conquer Precision marketing practices to inspire employee love IN EVERY ISSUE:

Profile case studies

Best practice examples

The forum

Expert opinion columns

Topical news briefs

EDITORIAL

Crisis of confidence?

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n a room recently with over 70 HR professionals from various backgrounds and industries, I was struck by the level of indecision in the room. Asked what HR needed to do to unleash itself from the corporate manacles it too frequently finds itself bound by, there was an overwhelming desire to shift focus, to get to the next level, but general uncertainty over the direction or means to get there.

As always, perceptions were split according to who is already at the strategic level and who is still struggling to get there, bogged down perhaps in the transactional side of HR. For those already there, this is a tired argument; one which needs to be replaced by ‘now we’re there, how do we prove our worth in order to stay there?’

For those not at that level it seemed to boil down to lack of self-confidence and diminished self-perception. After years of being blamed for everything from being too touchy-feely to failing to fix the unfixable (by themselves) in relation to corporate culture and engagement, is it possible that HR professionals are doubting their own existence? One participant commented that HR was still the only member of the management team who felt the need to justify their existence at every opportunity, as opposed to the marketer or the operations or the finance people who simply get in there and do what they do.

Another participant bemoaned the fact that HR too often concentrates on the bad instead of all the good they contribute to their organisation. A fair call, but it raises an interesting problem. If HR doesn’t believe in itself, who will? Certainly it’s not up to the CEO to step in to invite HR to the executive table. In fact, one person I spoke to pessimistically said that often it’s the personal relationship that the CEO has with HR – more than any burning metrics or value they bring – that leads to that seat at the table.

As many participants noted, if HR is to continue to evolve as true business partners, HR professionals need to take accountability for their own actions, to talk the language of business, and get things moving. Otherwise, they may find themselves crying wolf in a room where people stopped listening long ago.

Iain Hopkins, editor

EDITOR Iain Hopkins

SALES & MARKETING NATIONAL COMMERCIAL MANAGER Sophie Knight

COPY & FEATURES

SALES MANAGER Sarah Wiseman

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Charlotte Mortlock

SENIOR MARKETING EXECUTIVE Kerry Corben MARKETING EXECUTIVE Anna Keane

PRODUCTION EDITORS Moira Daniels, Jacqui Stone, Carolin Wun

TRAFFIC MANAGER Jessica Jazic

ART & PRODUCTION

MANAGING DIRECTOR Mike Shipley

DESIGN PRODUCTION MANAGER Angie Gillies

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER George Walmsley

CORPORATE

DESIGNERS Douglas Jeans, Lucila Lamas, Paul Mansfield

SALES DIRECTOR Justin Kennedy CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER Colin Chan

CONTRIBUTORS Carroll & O’Dea Lawyers, The Next Step, Frontier Software, Kenexa Australasia

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER Julia Bookallil

Editorial enquiries Iain Hopkins tel: +61 2 8437 4703 iain.hopkins@keymedia.com.au Advertising enquiries National commercial manager, HR products Sophie Knight tel: +61 2 8437 4733 sophie.knight@keymedia.com.au Sales manager, HR Products Sarah Wiseman tel: +61 2 8437 4745 sarah.wiseman@keymedia.com.au Subscriptions tel: +61 2 8437 4731 • fax: +61 2 8437 4753 subscriptions@keymedia.com.au Key Media www.keymedia.com.au Key Media Pty Ltd, regional head office, Level 10, 1 Chandos St, St Leonards, NSW 2065, Australia tel: +61 2 8437 4700 fax: +61 2 9439 4599 Offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Toronto www.hcamag.com Copyright is reserved throughout. No part of this publication can be reproduced in whole or part without the express permission of the editor. Contributions are invited, but copies of work should be kept as HC can accept no responsibility for loss.

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CONTENTS

Inside this issue

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12 Cover story: Engage and conquer When it comes to internal communications strategies, can HR learn some tricks from marketing? Iain Hopkins asks the experts

28 Small steps to giant leaps for ROI New research has found that if businesses can get their employees to take an extra 10,000 steps a day there are colossal benefits to one’s physical and mental health, which can produce a three-time ROI. But who’s responsible for an employee’s exercise regime, anyway?

Charlotte Mortlock reports

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34 Hot-desking – or not?

What are the challenges – and benefits – that hot-desking brings to team cohesion? Human Capital weighs the pros and cons

46 Manipulation: Avoid being a target Manipulation is a learned behaviour – no one is born with it. However, when dealing with it, it’s a waste of our time trying to analyse the behaviour. Dr Mary Casey says our time is better invested in developing strategies to protect ourselves from manipulation in the workplace

Regulars 4 In Step – HR career experts 6 Legal 8 HR Technology 9 HR Consulting Letters to the editor

Do you have a burning HR or people management issue you would like to share with others? If so, Human Capital would like to hear from you. Send through your comments to editor@hcamag.com. Alternatively, express your thoughts on the readers’ forums at www.hcamag.com

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CONTENTS

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HR Career Experts

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT – A DIFFICULT SKILL TO DEVELOP

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challenge for any profession is providing the right levels for entry and early career opportunities.

Employee Relations (ER), of which performance management is a key facet, is one of the most pivotal skills for a HR Generalist to develop to progress from the level of a Coordinator to a Consultant.

The question is whether the profession is providing enough opportunities for emerging HR professionals to acquire this skill set. We believe the answer to this is probably not.

Consideration 1 – Lean HR teams The findings from The Next Step HR Viewpoint Survey, which was answered by 2,000 HR professionals nationally, indicated that two-thirds of respondents believed there was “little room for learners in HR”.

We consider one of the reasons for this to be the lean nature of HR teams, in which Practitioners are already stretched and do not have the time or resources to train upcoming talent.

Consideration 2 – The Ulrich structure The HR profession is responsible for the design of structures within most organisations. What structure has HR designed for itself and is it providing the right development opportunities?

The Ulrich model, which is HR Business Partners supported by Shared Services and central Specialists, is now the most dominant structure.

For the most part HR is happy with this structure but those that are not sit within the early HR career market. Whilst there are many positives with the Ulrich structure, there has been a down-grading in the number of development opportunities as the profession has embraced the model.

It seems the major flaw with this structure is that most entry-level positions are Shared Services roles.

Therefore, it is a huge step up to Consultant roles because these Practitioners do not get exposure to ER.

Consideration 3 – Reduction of HR Graduate programs The strength and future credibility of the HR profession is obviously related to the calibre of its entry-level professionals. It is worrying that there are limited HR Graduate opportunities and that these

numbers continue to decrease. Of the 2,000 HR Viewpoint Survey respondents, only 0.6% described their role as “HR Graduate” – a frightening statistic!

Formal HR Graduate programs provide a structured development plan involving a number of key rotations in which ER is one. HR Graduates typically build up their experience in ER much more quickly than those that start in HR Administration roles.

What are the implications?

It is not surprising that when we asked the early HR career market what they considered their number one development priority to be, the resounding response was ER. The challenge is, as previously discussed, the lack of opportunities to develop in this area.

We believe that this results in two key implications. Firstly, the profession lacks a strong talent pipeline to fill HR Consultant roles. Secondly, this presents a challenge to HR teams in retaining their upcoming Practitioners internally. Over two-thirds of respondents in this demographic indicated that they had only been with their current organisation for less than two years. Their desire to build up their ER experience could certainly be a contributing factor to this turnover.

So is there a solution?

Due to substantial cost efficiencies it is likely that the Ulrich model is here to stay. We see the solution to be both a conscious investment by organisations in the early HR career market and HR graduates demonstrating flexibility to access and leverage training opportunities such as projects.

Jo Blackwell, HR Director of the Baking Division of Goodman Fielder, recently said “I was lucky to have outstanding mentors and I took advantage of development opportunities.

It is imperative to the future of the profession that experienced Practitioners invest time in upcoming talent and get them involved in ER. This requires strong commitment from the individual to participate in development projects whilst not compromising their business as usual work”.

The preferred form of development for the early HR career market is on-the-job coaching. Therefore, it may be the best way for them to develop this skill by assisting with the investigations, writing the scripts and file notes and shadowing senior HR practitioners where appropriate.

Lisa Eastick is a Consultant in our Next Gen recruitment team in the Sydney office. For more information call (02) 8256 2500 or email leastick@thenextstep.com.au, website: www.thenextstep.com.au

Recent HR Market Moves supplied by The Next Step

PepsiCo has appointed Belinda Webber as their Senior Director, Human Resources for ANZ. Belinda was previously the Group HR Manager for Microsoft Australia.

Kate Aitken has been promoted to the role of Executive Director,

Greg Henry has joined Douglass Hanly Moir as their HR Manager.

Head of Human Capital Management with Goldman Sachs.

Previously Kate held senior HR management roles with Macquarie Bank and Commonwealth Bank.

Greg previously enjoyed nine years with Bayer Group in senior HR management roles in both Sydney and Hong Kong, most recently as the Head of HR Centre of Expertise Asia-Pacific.

Incitec Pivot has appointed Susan Harry as their HR Projects & Remuneration Manager. Susan was previously employed by NAB as the Head of Organisational Development, People & Culture.

Kimberly-Clark has appointed Isadore Payne as their Head of Human Resources ANZ. Isadore is currently based in London in the role of Group HR Manager at Barloworld Handling.

Angela McGuire has been appointed the HR Manager of PMP

Justin Mark has been appointed HR Director ANZ with iSOFT. Justin previously held senior HR management roles with Flexirent Capital, Commonwealth Bank and Siemens Demantic.

Leading event services company Staging Connections Group has appointed Vanessa Porter as their General Manager – Human Resources. Vanessa most recently held the role of Director –Talent & Development with McDonald’s Australia Limited and was previously in senior HR management roles with Vero Insurance and Disney.

Bill Fisher is now Divisional HR Manager for Boral Construction Materials. Bill brings a wealth of experience gained from senior HR roles with United Group Limited, Chubb Australia and TNT Express.

Print. Prior to this, she contracted in senior HR roles with Energy Safe Victoria and International Power.

Lucas Athanasopoulos has been appointed HR Manager for Domain Principal Group. Prior to this, Lucas was the State HR Manager for Retail Adventures.

Joining Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies as their HR Manager is Crisanti Manis. She brings a wealth of experience gained in the pharmaceuticals and healthcare industries.

Nicole de Jager is the newly appointed OD & HR Manager at Computer Sciences Corporation. Nicole has a wealth of experience from her tenure at MelbourneIT and from her consulting background at Livingstones.

By supplying Market Moves, The Next Step is not implying placement involvement in any way.

Legal Experts

EMPLOYEE OR INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR? JUDICIAL RECOGNITION OF PERSONAL PREFERENCES

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n our December 2010 article on casual employment, we observed that Australia had one of the highest rates of casual employment in the OECD. But casual employment is only one category of the “non-standard” working arrangements that are becoming more prevalent in Australia – the other is the phenomenon known generally as “contracting”, where a person operates as an independent contractor rather than an employee.

I want to be “on contract”!

Employers are experiencing regular requests from job applicants, often younger people, wishing to be “on contract” rather than working as an employee.

A recent decision of the Federal Magistrate’s Court, Vella v Integral Energy [2011] FMCA 6, may be a sign of things to come in this area. In this case, Mr Vella, who worked exclusively as an earthmoving contractor for Integral (now Endeavour) Energy but through a partnership arrangement with his wife, lost his argument that he was in reality an employee of Integral Energy rather than a contractor.

Judicial attitudes may be changing...

The question of whether a particular worker is an employee or a contractor is one that has been the subject of much case law since the High Court held almost 80 years ago that acrobats working for a circus were employees. Since that time, the attitude of the courts has fluctuated from one of great suspicion about any work arrangement called “contracting” that involved the worker supplying personal labour on an exclusive and long-term basis, to what can be called a more “laissez-faire” approach, where the courts (while always rejecting sham or clearly exploitative arrangements imposed by duress) are willing to uphold an agreement freely entered into by the parties. The decision of Federal Magistrate Driver in Vella’s case is an example of this latter approach.

Mr Vella was an earthmoving contractor engaged by Integral (and its predecessor electricity authorities) for 37 years up to March 2010. He worked exclusively with Integral throughout that time. He worked alongside Integral employees and under the direct supervision of Integral managers; www.hcamag.com

he supplied his own tools and equipment but most of each day worked using only his personal labour.

He worked regular hours and was paid extra if he worked overtime, and there was no suggestion that Mr Vella had a business of his own. On the other hand, he was paid in response to an invoice (with an ABN number after that system started in 2000) provided through a partnership between himself and his wife, and he never received paid holidays or other forms of paid leave. His taxation returns reflected the existence of a partnership business.

In finding that Mr Vella was at all times an independent contractor and not an employee, Federal Magistrate Driver made comments that should be borne in mind when considering the question of whether a particular working relationship is that of “employment” or “independent contract”: “..working arrangements have been significantly liberalised in recent years and, in the more flexible working environment that now exists, it ought to be open to the parties to determine whether the relationship is one of employment or independent contract.”

The Magistrate placed two qualifications on that general statement of principle: parties could not use “independent contracting” as a sham to avoid taxation and employers could not exploit their greater bargaining power to impose a contracting arrangement.

Carroll and O’Dea are frequently asked to advise on these types of issues, which involve the balancing all of the various factors that the courts have identified as relevant to the question of whether a worker is an “employee” or “independent contractor”.

Every case has to be considered on its own facts but there is no doubt that the genuine desire for “contracting” is increasing among those who are providing the personal service. Magistrate Driver’s comments seem to be a judicial acknowledgment of the phenomenon we have seen over the last five years or so, thus care needs to be taken when constructing the terms of a “contracting arrangement”. In particular, a carefully drafted contract clearly setting out the parties’ intentions and all their agreed terms – such as the right to undertake other work and the protection of confidential information and intellectual property – is essential. www.codea.com.au

Janine Smith, Senior Associate Carroll & O’Dea Lawyers Level 18 St James Centre 111 Elizabeth Street Sydney NSW 2000 Phone 02 9291 7100

HR Technology

IMPACTING WORKFORCE EFFECTIVENESS WITH EMPLOYEE LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT QUESTION: I have heard quite a bit of talk lately around the importance of implementing Employee Lifecycle Management. Can you explain what it is and why it is important?

ANSWER: As the workforce evolves, it’s crucial

for organisations to continually refine the way that we manage labour. The processes surrounding Employee Lifecycle Management (ELM) help to ensure workforce effectiveness and alignment with corporate goals.

The benefits of ELM to the organisation are a more aligned workforce to business needs, heightened employee engagement and increased staff retention. Now that the economic uncertainty that accompanied the Global Financial Crisis has abated, the workforce has started to mobilise and unemployment rates continue to fall. Staff retention is back on the executive agenda as recruitment and training costs rise.

To fully understand ELM it’s vital you recognise the six steps. These are recruitment and on-boarding, career development/planning, performance reviews, learning and development, compensation management and termination/ separation.

Recruitment and On-boarding – Automating the process with an on-line recruitment tool will streamline the process of identifying quality candidates. Once the appropriate candidate is selected, the on-boarding process commences.

Career Development/Planning – Within the first few weeks of commencement, the manager and employee meet to discuss career and training goals, any issues are identified and resolved, the employee’s development plan and goals are identified and the plan is created. The employee is engaged and aligned with the enterprise.

Performance Reviews – Regular reviews are vital; these may be annual or twice a year. The review phase is the most important step to the enterprise, as this is the opportunity to provide feedback and guidance on employee performance.

In addition, the review phase is an ideal time to ensure employee goals remain aligned with corporate strategy.

Learning & Development – During the performance review, learning opportunities are identified. An on-line integrated solution will display www.hcamag.com

appropriate courses during the performance review and allow the booking to occur. Once the learning is complete, the employee’s skills and competencies are automatically updated, ensuring skills frameworks remain current. Continual learning that is in line with employee career goals will ensure engagement is maintained.

Compensation Management is another key to employee engagement – it ensures your people feel rewarded for the work they do. Regular pay reviews are vital and are part of the ELM process.

In most organisations, pay reviews are conducted annually. Your human capital management solution should automate the process to ensure minimal intervention is required.

The career development, performance management, learning and development and compensation management processes continue as the employee moves throughout the organisation, until retirement or termination.

Termination/Separation is the final stage and should include exit interviews. Information shared during these surveys provides valuable feedback on why employees are leaving and identifies key areas for improvement. Staff turnover can be costly not only in recruitment, but the loss of intellectual property can also damage research and development efforts. By utilising your human capital management solution to collect this information, data can be collated and shared rapidly and problem areas identified.

As the employee moves throughout the enterprise, they continually progress through the key ELM steps (Development, Review, Learning and Compensation). Once they become a key member of staff, the career development phase must also include succession planning. To reduce risk and ensure business continuity, succession planning needs to occur regularly. This will include flight risk identification and focused skills development for employees being groomed for new roles.

Employee Lifecycle Management represents a fantastic opportunity to leverage your human capital more effectively and reduce the costs associated with employee turnover. An effective talent management strategy that incorporates ELM will ensure your labour resources are executing corporate strategy and impacting bottom-line results.

Nick Southcombe General Manager Frontier Software Pty Ltd (03) 9639 0777 www.frontiersoftware.com

THE BUSINESS OF PEOPLE HR Consulting

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he evidence linking effective leadership to business performance is compelling. One large scale study conducted by the Kenexa Research Institute showed that organisations whose employees rate their leaders highly are many times more profitable than those whose employees rate their leaders less positively. The impact of leadership on Total Shareholder Return over a threeyear period is even greater.

This should come as no surprise. Apart from the role played by leaders in making key decisions, leadership is also a huge driver of employee engagement. This has been shown across thousands of projects in which we have been involved – regardless of country, industry, organisational profile, job function or employee seniority. Since having an engaged workforce is vital to business success, the central role of leadership in delivering results is starkly obvious – and demonstrates yet again the role of HCM in business performance. Put bluntly, organisations that understand leadership and consistently excel in it have a tremendous chance of succeeding; those who neglect it, or pay it lip service, do so at their peril.

So what are the key components of effective leadership from an HCM perspective? Kenexa’s experience suggests that there are two major ways in which leaders deliver tangible business results through people solutions: 1. Providing clarity about how specific HCM practices deliver business results. Leaders need to be utterly committed to their organisations’ strategic goals and must always be clear about exactly how specific people solutions will deliver that success – including how the numbers prove it.

2. Ensuring that disparate HCM solutions work together to achieve those goals. It is simply illogical to allow selection systems, development solutions, performance management systems, reward processes and OD to operate in separate silos. If they don’t work together, their success is stifled.

Implemented in a cohesive way, their potential to succeed is exponentially greater.

In short, leaders must be clear about precisely how people solutions deliver the organisation’s strategic goals and then ensure that they work in harmony. They must drive that clarity through everything they do and take people along with them in the process.

One of our clients is enormously focused on measuring every aspect of HR performance, from time-to-hire, to turnover rates, to performance management ratings. This brings to mind Einstein’s adage, ‘Not everything that can be counted counts

and not everything that counts can be counted.’

This is not an argument against measurement – quite the reverse. My point is that this organisation cannot show how these measurements contribute to business success; measurement seems to be an end in itself. They have masses of data, and some notion of its strategic importance, but no clear model linking business objectives to the success of their HCM solutions.

Another example shows the value of bringing disparate HCM solutions together. This organisation focuses strongly on driving up performance through two things: a rigorous recruitment/selection process and a focused strategy to drive up employee engagement. Both of these solutions deliver results, since talent and engagement underpin performance, but they have been implemented independently of one another. Recently, we worked with them to bring their processes together. Engagement data is now built into the hiring process so that decisions are made not only on the basis of ‘job-fit’ but also to maximise future employee engagement; this is possible because we know what individual attributes cause their people to be engaged. We can also recruit, develop and reward managers not just from the perspective of understanding the key tasks in their jobs but also because we now know what sorts of managers have engaged teams. In other words, we are delivering performance more effectively because talent and engagement are managed as one, cohesive challenge – with various solutions pointing in the same direction.

In essence, this is a simple idea. Start with an end in view and ensure that all HCM solutions work together. Of course, doing this in practice is more challenging! Successful leaders must think strategically, analyse problems clearly, never lose sight of the big picture, are tenacious, hold everyone accountable for meaningful results and have a talent for inspiring others.

In a future column, we will examine the building blocks of such an approach and how to engineer them into how you function. Operating in this way enables organisations to deliver astonishing results – simply because it enables us to get the best out of our people – and we have already shown the huge difference this makes to business success.

Ed Hurst, Managing Director Kenexa Australasia Level 2 451 Little Bourke Street Melbourne, VIC 3000 03 9602 3899 ed.hurst@kenexa.com

EXPERT INSIGHT

HR in your hands

Organisations need to be conscious of avoiding over-engineering the process and losing the message in the medium, writes Ari Kopoulos

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t took two years to sell a million iPods, 78 days for iPhones and 28 days for iPads. Make no mistake, the way we work, play and love will never be the same. The unprecedented connectivity, convenience and power, as well as the added advantage of fun, is revolutionising the way information is delivered, consumed and responded to.

This convergence of information and mobile technology sets the stage for business applications transforming into highly effective and valuable solutions. There is no doubt that empowering employees and managers with information to make decisions in real time accelerates the profitability of business, but will it add value to HR? This depends on the nature of information and whether the decision is strategic or operational.

Consider the humble leave request. A high volume, low value, operational workflow requiring a yes or no response. But before you make that decision, you need up-to-date leave balances and perhaps a Gantt view of who else will be on leave. A pretty simple decision and a perfect candidate for a mobile application. Likewise, in the area of workforce management, workplaces that primarily operate on timesheet based employees, the activities that involve planning, scheduling, approving and monitoring are perfect contenders for mobile technology. Applications will act as mobile clocks capturing the start and stop times as well as geotagging an employee’s location. Shift availability can also be broadcast, allowing employees to respond and lock an approved shift directly into the rosters. These kinds of operational requests and notifications lend themselves to rapid decision making.

Mobile technology is also one of the new frontiers for recruitment. Recruitment requests can be approved on the go and positions advertised as well as offering smart phone designed job portals with one click application for candidates. Although very effective operationally, the real value lies in closing the gap between the recruitment process and social media channels and giving HR the finger on the pulse of the workforce – existing or prospective.

While it makes sense for managers and employees to complete operational workflows from a mobile device, trying to complete more strategic actions like performance reviews and candidate assessments is probably not a good idea. We need to be conscious of

over-engineering the process and losing the message in the medium. A successful strategy embraces the benefits of mobile technology, extending a personal channel that facilitates engagement and taps into the real time conversations that are happening on the web.

In this regard it will be another, but very effective, medium for HR to wield.

There is no doubt that a well thought out mobile HR application will be priceless if properly launched and marketed. However, like any new frontier, early adoption will be characterised by mixed success. For some vendors, the lure of being the first with HR ‘at your fingertips’ will prove too tempting and, I suspect, the solution will be nothing more than a gimmick.

Simply extending what’s on a PC to a mobile platform will not necessarily work. You need to consider where, why and how it’s used. This could mean a complete rethink of the architecture and security layer that delivers this. Useability is the killer feature , and to be truly successful, you need to harness it. Touch screens and mobility introduce a different interaction model.

It’s a richer user experience that makes it interesting and visual, drawing some of the complexity out of the process, as well as the promise of higher quality HR delivery. Novel leisure, lifestyle and business apps are recalibrating our expectation of what a good mobile experience is. Consider the addictive nature of Angry Birds and interactive aspect of Wired magazine. How do you feel when you return to a spreadsheet? There is a clear and present movement away from complexity.

In fact the tablet, and in particular the iPad, is quickly becoming the mobile device of choice for the delivery of enterprise data with zero clicks being the holy grail of addictive mobile applications.

The promise of transforming a business into a mobile enterprise is undeniable. Mobile technology is fast turning corporations into enterprises with highly productive workforces, streamlined operations and satisfied employees and customers. Organisations that embrace mobile intelligence will become leaner, faster and smarter decision-making machines resulting in more business, more revenue, and greater competitive advantage. But making the leap from being a somewhat connected corporation to a fully mobile enterprise requires you taking the time to determine your readiness to embrace new technology, and the challenges that come with it.

About the author Ari Kopoulos is the national sales & marketing manager at EmployeeConnect.

For further information visit www.employeeconnect.com.au

DIVERSITY Indigenous recruitment

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COVER STORY employer branding

Engage +

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COVER STORY employer branding

conquer When it comes to internal communications strategies, can HR learn some tricks from marketing? Iain Hopkins asks the experts

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R does HR stuff, marketing does marketing stuff; never the twain shall meet. Well, that may have been the case once upon a time.

But in an age when communication is, more than ever, a two-way forum and the silo walls between business functions are increasingly indistinct, it’s clear that the two need to work in tandem.

What can HR take from marketing? And more specifically, should HR be handing marketing and/ or communications professionals the reins of their internal communications and engagement efforts?

The question is not as outrageous as it might first appear. According to an executive briefing by New York-based recognition and consulting firm Madison Performance Group – entitled HR or Marketing: Who is Better Equipped to Manage Employee Engagement?

– “marketing has evolved particularly fast in using digital media to deliver messages that are more efficient and impactful” when it comes to building a more engaged workforce.

Further, Madison suggested that some of the same ‘precision marketing practices’ that help to build personalised customer/client relationships with brands might be used to build and maintain the corporate connection with employees.

So, should HR leaders turn over their internal

communications and engagement efforts to marketing professionals? Brendan Tertini, national marketing manager at Peoplebank Australia, says the answer is no – but he warns that HR should not have sole responsibility for internal communications either . Indeed, despite the inherent difficulties involved (commonly turf wars around control and a lack of understanding of the value each department can bring to internal comms), Tertini says that both HR and marketing should work together in a crossfunctional team responsible for the strategy and implementation of internal comms.

“HR and marketing working closely together harnesses the complementary skills, experience and knowledge that both functions can bring to internal comms. Limiting control to one function also ignores the fact that an employee’s experience with an organisation is inherently cross-functional.

As a result, other functions – such as IT and recruitment/procurement – should also be invited

by HR & marketing to shape internal comms strategy,” he suggests.

Nat Cagilaba, client service director at Talent2’s employment marketing division, ‘Brighter’, adds that it’s best to work in partnership wherever possible, and bring in the skills needed (from internal www.hcamag.com

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COVER STORY employer branding

marketing teams or from external employee communication agencies) for that relationship to work.

“The key is to look at what you’re hoping to achieve and what are the objectives of doing the exercise,” Cagilaba says. “That tells you who to work with and what to do.”

For example, Cagilaba says that if the internal comms is purely about giving people information about the company, HR should be able to handle it themselves. “Working with the marketing department to get some of the corporate messaging that they put outside to use internally is very easy,” he says.

However, if it’s about managing and driving change through an organisation, then it becomes a different kettle of fish. “If it’s culture change, or if it’s about downsizing or upsizing, then the growing pains, the threats that might bring internally, all that needs to be managed very differently,” Cagilaba notes. “Can that be managed by marketing? Probably not, because that’s not their skill set either.”

Unless there are comms professionals internally, Cagilaba suggests calling in dedicated employee communications professionals who have that skill set. “It’s really about the employer brand in the fuller sense; that is, the experience as well as the messaging,” he says.

Internal comms and engagement When it comes to attracting and engaging customers, do the same rules apply in terms of attracting and retaining employees? Cagilaba believes there is cross-over – to a point. The reason being is that for some orgsanisations, employees may be customers, they may be investors, or they may be stakeholders in some other form. The business is talking to them in many different guises.

“In terms of what helps you connect with an individual and what converts them into being customers, those same rules apply,” says Cagilaba.

“Where it differs is that we’re not talking numbers.

When you’re talking to your employees, you know them. They’re not just a demographic

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“Unfortunately many organisations today know a great deal more about their customers than they do their employees.

This lack of knowledge inevitably leads to sub-optimal attraction, selection and retention strategies” – Brendan Tertini

representational cut of the greater public. You actually know these people, so it’s about talking to them directly, understanding what their drivers are, what their needs, hopes, expectations, and challenges are, and about creating a dialogue, but it’s a different dialogue to that which you’ll have with your customers.”

Rosemarie Dentesano, talent management practice leader at Right Management, stresses that an aligned Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is as important as an external client value proposition.

The creation of an EVP that helps organisations make, communicate, and keep promises to employees is critical in aligning the organisational brand and the individual.

“The ultimate goal is to improve overall company performance through applying classic branding principles to talent strategy,” she says. “The seed of the talent strategy is in creating a unique EVP, designed to cultivate an environment where the most essential talent will remain committed and contributing positively to the organisation. The EVP is a promise to employees, mirroring the promises companies make to customers.”

Tertini adds that whether the engagement impact is positive or negative depends on several factors, but generally internal comms will have a large and positive impact on engagement if it: • is not tightly controlled (clear boundaries must still apply around what is acceptable and what isn’t) • creates and fosters greater employee-to-employee communication (which is much more powerful than organisation-to-employee communication) • is highly targeted and matched to the employee’s demographics • is driven by multiple functions (not just one function, eg, HR) That said, the message being conveyed – and then delivering on the promises behind the message – are also crucial components of engagement.

“Unfortunately, many organisations today know a great deal more about their customers than they do their employees. This lack of knowledge inevitably leads to sub-optimal attraction, selection and retention strategies,” Tertini says.

Defining internal communications For Cagilaba, the term ‘internal communications’ extends beyond newsletters and Yama accounts to the language of the organisation and how that is reinforced by what managers and leaders are saying.

COVER STORY employer branding

“We’ve worked with organisations where the central concern about their internal communications is about how to create a common language to break down silos. That means not losing sight of having different cultures across the organisation and remaining relevant to the different types of people when the internal population is segmented, but also looking at the common language everyone uses and then reinforcing that. Otherwise, rather than really driving change, all you’ve got is a couple of posters on the wall and a newsletter, which people tend to ignore,” he says (see box on ‘old vs new’ internal comms on p18).

Cagilaba urges employers to be aware of all the touchpoints throughout the candidate/employee’s journey. When it comes to attraction, the messages used are all about setting up the ‘employer promise’; once that person becomes an employee it’s all about delivering on that promise.

“It’s not just about telling people, it’s not just posters on the wall, or an enewsletter. If that’s not backed up by the experience that you’re getting in terms of your employment experience it will undermine or devalue that initiative. Where that communication comes from may include: how you’re treated by your direct manager; your performance review; your development; the corporate messages that come through; and the reputation of the organisation. That’s part of the emotional contract: ‘you’re a good company, therefore I’m linking my reputation to your reputation’.”

The key challenge, Tertini adds, is to recognise, embrace and act on the need to create a compelling employee experience – much like what marketing already focuses on with the company’s brand.

For example, potential employees increasingly

A perfect match?

Brendan Tertini says HR should be partnering with marketing to answer and deliver on questions such as… »» How can we create a buzz for internal initiatives through word-of-mouth marketing? »» How can we be more bold and memorable in our messaging and presentation? »» How can we become more of a story-telling organisation internally? How do we best share the stories? »» What marketing metrics could we introduce to best measure the effectiveness of communication initiatives?

desire targeted communication that is personalised to their needs (white goods maker Whirlpool’s career portal uses this approach) and a personal interaction (even relationship) with the organisation before they select an organisation to work for (as an example, candidates can interact with individual members of Bank of America’s recruitment team on Twitter).

Who owns what?

From segmenting audiences, to tailoring messages and leveraging different communication channels to reach an increasingly diverse workforce, HR may be sick of hearing that they should be ‘taking tips’ from marketers.

For one thing, Tertini believes HR should be taking more than ‘tips’. He notes that if marketing involvement is deliberately limited to passing on tips (leaving HR to implement), then internal comms will suffer. Instead, HR and marketing should partner together and work as a crossfunctional team to share insights.

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COVER STORY employer branding

Case study: Randstad actually they are. A recent example at Randstad is our pending launch of a revised employer brand program.

HR, marketing and communications worked together on the strategy, research and planning of the program.

HR knew the objective and scope, and marketing communications provided the necessary creative direction and communications plan. The result… we are expecting an amazing response when we launch end of March, but already the management team are supportive, invested and excited.

Human Capital asks Tiffany Quinlan, HR director of recruitment & HR services provider, Randstad, for her take on HR/marketing relations Human Capital: Where do you stand on this issue – should HR professionals hand over the reins of their internal comms to marketing professionals?

Tiffany Quinlan: Marketing and HR, both integral in any organisation’s growth, need to partner for communication at all levels in order to be successful. From my experience, a combined front allows technical expertise of both to hold the other viewpoint accountable and present the best outcome for the business. Traditionally, HR does not see themselves as a brand, but

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HC: What does the term ‘internal communications’ mean to you?

TQ: Internal communications is all about key messages to employees.

Professionals in today’s society are often overloaded with information which is now instant. It’s about helping employees focus on the key messages and sorting through the maze of information. This would involve everything from the company newsletter, to the intranet, social media, and communication of announcements, events, projects, wins, etc, through to various forms of communication from the CEO and other senior leaders in the business.

HC: Do these internal comms really make an impact on employee engagement? Surely it’s more about what lies behind the message that these tools convey?

TQ: I believe that effective internal communications can have a very positive impact on employee engagement in any organisation.

Today’s employee needs to know, and we live in a society where we need to know everything know. We are impatient and hungry for information.

Information provided to employees needs to be succinct, meaningful and backed by action. The old saying ‘walk the talk’ has never been more true. So it’s a combination. There is no point talking it up then letting the

actions not support the message.

Hence the close link between marketing and HR. If they are not communicating, you will suffer from lots of messages and communication and no action, or vice versa.

HC: What factors need to be considered, apart from the obvious one that some HR professionals will have the necessary skills and others will not?

TQ: You wouldn’t ask a dental student to do root canal on your teeth, so why would you compromise your brand by getting someone not fully trained to manage your HR? HR and marketing communications need to connect, work towards the common goal and evaluate regularly. You might find an HR professional who feels comfortable in the marketing space, but is that what you pay them to do?

Let the specialists work in their field of expertise and bring all strengths together to get the right result. When two different groups work together, you are more likely to get the best possible answer as all have the ability to influence and ensure all perspectives are considered.

HC: How closely do you work with your marketing team and what do you believe is the key to a successful HR/marketing relationship?

TQ: Both marketing and HR are traditionally support services in any organisation, but in the modern world, they play a significant role in driving business success. To add meaningful value and be credible in the eyes of the business, marketing and HR should often combine forces and work towards a common goal. At Randstad, the goal is to be the leading recruitment and HR services provider by shaping the world of work. With the right marketing, communication and HR practices, we are well on our way to reaching that goal.

COVER STORY employer branding

As just one example, Tertini says HR can learn much from marketing through the art of storytelling.

“Too often attraction and retention relies on emotionless corporate information being shared, usually from the top-down,” he says. “The best companies evoke emotions, speak to the heart and create a culture – and employer brand – filled with stories, storytellers and sometimes even legends or myths. Examples of this include Nordstrom, Zappo’s, Red Bull, Southwest Airlines and the Ritz Carlton.”

In addition, Tertini says learning should not be limited to a one-way flow of knowledge, ideas and concepts from marketing to HR. Instead marketing can also learn much from HR – particularly from the more progressive and innovative HR teams. This of course means that the marketing function must be open to learning from other functions (which like HR can be a challenge!)

Cagilaba says conflict between HR and marketing fundamentally comes down to communicating with different people for different reasons, but often using the same information.

“That becomes a challenge because comms/ marketing might have very key messages they’re looking to get out there, to a target audience, and they know the impact of what that will be. When you use that same information for a different audience they get protective of it.

“Who owns the intellectual property [IP] in terms of the core information? Often it’s marketing/comms who feel they do – it’s the same conflict that often happens with employer brand vs corporate brand and who gets involved. How do you represent an

“It’s really about the employer brand in the fuller sense; that is, the experience as well as the messaging” – Nat Cagilaba

organisation to an audience, whether that is internal or external? Marketing feel they own that, whereas actually everyone does and the issue should really be about who is the main facilitator.”

Not only should no single function ‘own’ the IP, but no single function should ‘own’ engagement initiatives – both in terms of the strategy and the implementation. “The best organisations recognise that when it comes to employee engagement, traditional functional lines and responsibilities are blurred if not totally redundant, with a crossfunctional approach being the only solution to creating a truly great employee experience,” explains Tertini.

“They also recognise that cross-functional isn’t limited to merely HR and marketing but instead encompasses all functions, and that all teams have a role – even if just in strategy development – in building and protecting employee engagement.”

Cagilaba is also mindful of the critical role that line managers can have on championing and driving engagement efforts. “If you have all those

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COVER STORY employer branding

great corporate values and HR is putting these great messages out but you have line managers rubbishing those messages, you’ll work like a dog and none of it will filter through. Line managers must understand the impact they have on engagement.”

Internal comms in action The power of internal communications as a key part of HR’s engagement arsenal should not be underestimated. A referral program is a good example of an internal comms piece directly related to attraction – and ultimately, retention. Too often a referral program is announced, the broad details are outlined (‘here’s a referral program; you’ll get X when that person is hired’) and then it’s left to rot on the intranet.

When the program flounders, it’s not unusual to find employers throwing more money at referees, to keep them interested.

Greater value can be gleaned from instructing employees on how to sell the company, or outlining the sort of people being sought. Then, through corporate communication channels, the referees should have information and updates sent to them on how that referred person is faring and where they are in the process.

Cagilaba urges employers to check whether there is a time delay between a referred person starting work and the referee receiving the reward.

He also advises that the start of the process should be marked by some form of low cost celebration – perhaps when someone is referred the employee receives cinema tickets.

“It’s a very cheap way to raise awareness but what you suddenly have is internal comms working.

People are talking about it, and there’s direct reward to the behaviours you’re trying to drive. You’ve also joined the dots for employees to made it easy to refer others by telling them who you’re looking for and what the benefits are for them. From there it becomes a retention piece – people are reminded, ‘that’s why I work here – it’s a great place’. That is the power of internal comms,” he says.

However, Tricia Sneddon, strategy and talent leader at Mercer Australia and New Zealand adds a final word of caution. “Good communication can make or break initiatives such as employee

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engagement initiatives within the organisation. The engagement of a communications professional is a must, not a nice to have, in organisations today.

There is a fine line to walk with communication – over-communicating can be just as dangerous as not communicating and therefore the messages get lost and you lose the opportunity to make an impact,” she says. HC

Old vs new There used to be a time when internal communications were limited to memos filtering downward from the CEO or the Board to employees. Not anymore.

Today, with the changing workforce (such as the increasing participation rates of Gen X and Y and the greater tech-savviness of staff) and the availability of web-based communication technologies, internal comms has transformed from being primarily… »» delivered through a few methods to a myriad of methods »» downward to multi-directional »» centralised to de-centralised »» monologue to dialogue »» company created to co-created »» communications to conversations »» internal only to internal and external (a connected world means information previously kept internally now often becomes external knowledge)

HR & marketing at Coca-Cola South Pacific “HR professionals should certainly not hand over the reins of their internal comms to marketing professionals, however, there is a lot that can be gained by partnering with the marketing team.

When developing the EVP for Coca-Cola South Pacific, I actively sought out the opinion of our marketing director and made some changes based on her feedback. However, for us it was key to ensure our EVP resonated with our employees and was not purely a marketing campaign that would play well to the external market. I always believe that HR has a lot to gain from partnering with all functions of the business, whatever intervention you may be working on.”

Amy Stanley, human resources director, CocaCola South Pacific

COVER STORY employer branding

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EMPLOYER BRAND branded leadership

M

ost companies have a different strategy for each component of the brand portfolio. The marketing function is usually responsible for managing the corporate and consumer brand, and HR is usually responsible for the employer brand. There is significant value in all three components of the brand portfolio working closely with executive and the senior leadership team to ensure the organisation capitalises and leverages the ‘sum of the capabilities of a branded leadership culture’.

Defining branded leadership

will help create a great culinary experience in the restaurant.

“Ritz-Carlton constantly reinforces to employees how they contribute to satisfying customers, and thus generating profits. Hotel management frequently holds beginning-of-shift ‘pep rallies’ at which exceptional customer service stories are shared.

In addition, every employee has the green light to expend up to $2,000 to ‘delight a guest’ who has had a customer service issue. Strong compensation and rewards are also a large part of the Ritz-Carlton mix,” Stephenson says.

So, what does it take to engender branded leadership?

It begins with redefining what it means to lead – and sharing that definition throughout the organisation.

It’s not enough to say “we’re empowering employees at all levels to make choices”. The workforce must understand that every choice has consequences, and by thinking through the consequences of the choices they’re making and bringing others along, they’re exercising a form of leadership.

The essence of brand leadership can best be defined as ‘to lead is to decide’.

One of the ‘stand outs’ for companies that recognise the importance of branded leadership and its link to employee engagement and customer value and ultimately business success is the hotel giant Ritz-Carlton. In a report from the Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement, Sue Stephenson, the hotel’s senior vice president of human resources, points out that even employees who have no contact with guests affect the company’s financial success. “The employee washing dishes or cleaning silver never interacts with the customers in the restaurant, but they understand their role, which is that the cleanest dishes and shiniest silver

Consolidate and succeed Brett Minchington and David Kippen share their tips on aligning the customer and employee promise through branded leadership

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EMPLOYER BRAND branded leadership

Implementing a branded leadership program While every organisation is different, every implementation plan should touch on at least the following steps: 1. Agree on brand differentiators as fundamental decision tools • Work with your heads of operations to understand ‘why we do things this way around here’ then work with your chief marketing officer to understand why the marketplace rewards your current brand differentiators.

• If there is any daylight at all between these perspectives, facilitate discussions about how to close the gap.

2. Assess the current decision-making process • What criteria does your organisation use to define leadership?

• What do you need to do to move your leadership to a more universal, inclusive definition?

• Which leaders need to put their support behind this changed definition?

• Work with the leadership team to align the answers to these questions with the branddriven differentiators.

3. Define leadership simply • Distil the product of these discussions down to a few, simple principles. Your goals should be simple enough to fit on a cocktail napkin; memorable enough to recite after hearing them once.

• Validate with leaders. Gather their commitment to participate in a cascade-based process to explain them.

4. Managing the change process • Transforming an organisational culture from one that is fixated on decision-making authority residing only in the top ranks into a branded leadership culture involves change that needs to be managed carefully in an open and transparent environment.

• Clearly define the reason and communicate the vision for change throughout the organisation.

• Communications should begin with a clearly defined vision, objectives and the benefits of a branded leadership culture.

5. Use internal communication tools • With increasingly dispersed global workforces and the pace of change there is a need for internal communication tools to replace traditional faceto-face meetings to ensure decision making does

not become clogged in the executive suite and employees are empowered to make decisions that support the customer promise.

• IBM uses an internal social networking platform called ‘Beehive’. One of the main uses of the network is not for social chat on company time, but for connecting and collaborating with colleagues across different time zones, which results in a culture where the collective wisdom of the workforce drives innovation and decision making across all levels of the organisation.

6. Align rewards and recognition • Traditionally companies reward leaders based on transactional measures such as sales, staffing costs and whether budgets have been achieved or exceeded – so this is where leaders focus their efforts at the expense of employee engagement.

• Recognising and rewarding leaders who measure high on engaging employees and tracking this to financial outcomes is a win-win for all – the company, the leader and the employee.

• Leaders tend to focus their efforts on where they know they are being measured so they often pass off employee engagement as merely ‘the soft stuff!’

This is your, and their, opportunity to help the workforce join the mission of the brand.

About the authors Brett Minchington (www.brettminchington. com) is the chairman/ CEO of Employer Brand International, a global authority, strategist and corporate advisor on employer branding.

He will be presenting at the 2011 Australian Employer Branding summits in April – for further details please see www.collectivelearning australia.com Dr David Kippen PhD is president and CEO of Evviva Brands (www.evvivabrands.com) and a globally-recognised leader in brand strategy

7. Connected thinking • Encourage collaboration between business units responsible for the corporate, consumer and employer brand strategies. Use ‘connected thinking’ to enhance understanding of the role and the importance of aligning the customer promise with leadership values, behaviours and actions.

• Marketing wants to target consumers, and human resources really does the same thing in that it targets potential employees. Communications is the function that ties it all together. Collaboration that leverages synergies will result in a brand leadership culture where the customer promise is aligned with the employee promise.

Successful implementation requires strong commitment and visible sponsorship from senior leaders. But surprisingly, it’s not the uphill push you might expect. In our experience, people at most organisations show up wanting to do the right thing.

They want to contribute to their organisation’s success; the more closely they’re able to align their behaviours to brand drivers, the more engaged they become. As engagement and empowerment are so closely linked, the empowering message at the heart of decision-based, branded leadership tends to be warmly embraced at every level. HC www.hcamag.com

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FEATURE performance management

Stuck in the middle The performance bell curve will result in a lag at either end of the spectrum, and it’s the high achievers and underperformers who seem to receive all the attention. But how about those in the middle? Is it time to give them some TLC?

I

n the family unit it’s known as middle child syndrome. The first child is spoilt, much loved, prepared and positioned to be the trail blazer. The final child is the baby, also spoilt, positioned to take the world by storm – or not, according to their whim.

The middle child? Well, everyone knows the middle child is left to their own devices – sink or swim, excel or flounder.

In the corporate world the same rules apply to the ‘B’ performers – those who do their job well, are engaged and prepared to go the extra mile as required.

They are not the ‘stars’ and they are by no means underperformers. Yet in the rush to cater to those two extremes they are often forgotten. “ ‘A’ players often benefit from formalised development programs, whereas the development of B players can be far less structured with the responsibility sitting mainly with line managers.

Due to this, development of B performers is likely to be more unstructured and can be hit or miss depending on individual manager effectiveness,” confirms Emma Engel, senior consultant – human capital at Aon Hewitt.

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If Andrew Horsfield, director of Thrive Group, had his way, it would be this group – which he classifies in his employee engagement model as ‘the improvers’ (see p24) – which would receive the most attention.

In an ideal world, he says, this is the quadrant where organisations would position all staff. “Improvers are inspired and consequently focused on delivering the best possible results,” he says. “That means they work on improving themselves, the teams and environments in which they operate, the relationships they have within the company, and the overall performance being delivered.”

Engel agrees, and notes that every organisation needs solid B performers; a company made up purely of A players would not function effectively. “B players typically spend more time than As in both a role and an organisation, offering both business and client account continuity. They offer a stability that can be hard to achieve with As,” she says.

From good to great

All the experts Human Capital spoke to agreed that it is possible for good performers to become great, and similarly for great performers to slip down. With effective leadership, and strategies to develop and engage, a B performer can certainly rise to a B+ or an A performer. However, an effective leader and supporting company framework is just half of the battle. “The aspirations of the professional in question, in addition to their career lifecycle, career anchors and motivations, can either restrict or allow for excellence,” says Engel.

How do you treat your ‘B’ players?

“We encourage everyone to be a rock star. By the nature of organisations and people you will always have some that are better than others. You must be careful that your top talent isn’t seen as elitist and that you are providing equal opportunities for everyone to develop. Sometimes for our ‘meets expectations’ performers, which is the bulk of people doing a really good job, we spend as much time with them in terms of coaching, mentoring and developing, as we do with our top talent, because our ultimate goal is to make them the top talent. As many organisations know, your top talent today could drop back to your meeting expectations talent, and vice versa. If you’re not providing the right attention to all talent, they will leave you.”

Alec Bashinsky, national partner, people & performance, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

FEATURE performance management

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FEATURE performance management

Before embarking on performance improvement strategies for B players, it must be remembered that not all B players are As in waiting; quite often Bs will be happy being just that.

Stephen Hickey, senior consultant – human capital at Aon Hewitt, says it’s important to find what strategy is right for the specific individual. “Effective career development strategies always segment and apply effort to different groups. To develop, motivate and engage your workforce you need to know your people and their career anchors. This allows you to create effective development and engagement strategies based on a sound platform of knowledge,” he says.

An A-list mindset On the theme of ‘knowing your employees’, rogenSi has set out to research, from a mindset perspective, what makes high performers tick. From there, it’s possible to replicate that mindset in others. Pete Clark, director, rogenSi, says there is a natural aspect to the mindset of high performers – part of their DNA – but there is also a replicable aspect.

Knowing more about that replicable aspect means it’s now possible to inform, measure and develop the knowledge, skill process and mindsets of the B players, and actually improve their potential so that it shows up in performance.

“If we put our performance against what is better, what does that look like?”

– Pete Clark

Employee engagement model Andrew Horsfield of Thrive Group believes that in an ideal world, ‘improver’ is the quadrant where organisations would position all staff Purpose

IMPOSTER

IMPROVER

Appear like they are doing a good job rather than actually doing it

Apply their skills to a purpose to achieve exceptional results

Passive

Passionate

CYNIC

IMPEDER

Have given up but haven’t shut up

Focused on maintaining their position, impeding progress and success Position

Source: Thrive Group

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Clark believes one of the reasons B players are often forgotten is managers sometimes don’t know how to ‘up’ them – they don’t know how to either motivate them or get them performing to their potential. The rogenSi approach looks to remedy this by looking at performance through a lens of four specific ingredients – the right knowledge, demonstrable skill, and consistent processes all multiplied by the most resourceful mindset.

“When we have conversations with managers around performance they’re all locked into just the knowledge, skill and process piece, not thinking that in fact you could teach 100 people in your organisation the same skill but still see different levels of performance showing up four weeks later – why is that? It can’t be because they don’t have the skill. It must have something to do with the resourceful mindset at the time: how you think about things, how you perceive things that allows that skill to show up,” he says.

The scientifically based Mindset program was developed following studies of world class athletes, business leaders and individuals who had displayed strength of mind and succeeded against the odds.

Mindset is a confidential assessment where people can provide accurate indications of what they feel about themselves and their pattern of thinking, so they can understand it and look to strengthen it. It’s essentially a training and development tool.

Clark adds that mindset is not so much personality driven as situationally driven, so a person can be put in one context and they’re very confident, while in another context they’re not confident. “We define mindset as a pattern of thinking that determines the quality of our actions. If that’s the case, if I’m faced with a customer or challenging problem, how I think will determine what I do. That resourcefulness that I bring to that situation will determine what I do, and therefore it could drive the outcomes that I get.”

Clark says that too often people are driven just by the result that they might or might not get, without thinking too much of the mindset that will take them towards it. There are a number of factors that determine one’s ability to be resourceful in any one situation.

Firstly, there’s motivation. This is not whether someone is motivated or not, but rather the type of motivation they bring to the situation. “People who have a strong mindset have a different sort of motivation.

They are motivated from the inside out rather than just the outside in. It’s not that they’re not driven by money – I might still want to earn more – but day to day I’m focused on how I’m going to do that,” Clark says.

He cites an Olympic athlete who may be very focused on getting the gold medal but when they’re

FEATURE performance management

training for four years and in the race, they don’t focus on the gold medal. They focus on what they need to do to maximise their performance to get the gold medal.

Another example might be a sales team with a particular sales figure to aim for. Rather than pushing towards that, they would benefit more from breaking it down to mastering the way they cold call, or the way they talk about the product or close the deal.

Secondly, self-belief is crucial. “You’ll find people with strong mindsets seem to have this almost unshakeable conviction in themselves, which means that when they fall over or are presented with a new situation they’ll roll up their sleeves and push on through,” Clark says.

Developing the mindset If the mindset approach is taken, it’s a three-step process to lifting Bs to As. Firstly, it’s crucial to know from a business perspective what ‘good’ looks like, so in that specific business context, to achieve that specific outcome, what is the right mindset to get the results you’re looking for?

Second, the current mindset needs to be measured.

The third step is to put a program together that helps develop that mindset in the right people.

Clark says that knowing what ‘better’ looks like is critical. “If we put our performance against what is better, what does that look like? It gives us a sense there is something more to achieve.

While Clark concedes there must be some degree of openness to assessing mindset and then improving this, he says that once people are presented with a picture of what ‘good’ looks like, and are then presented with 2–3 steps to get there, they are usually quite willing to take those steps. “As a consequence of taking the steps, they move out of their comfort zone, they realise, ‘I’m ok, I can do this’. That then feeds upon itself. That’s where the manager’s role is so significant in terms of reinforcing.”

Indeed, it should not be underestimated how important the manager’s impact on individual performance can be. Often leaders set the tone, they commit the resources, and put in place the policies and procedures for the manager to then roll out on the ground.

The Pygmalion effect is also alive and well in organisations throughout the world. The Pygmalion effect is a form of self-fulfilling prophecy, so people with poor expectations internalise their negative label, and those with positive labels succeed accordingly.

“When you start using labels like A, B or C, which a business naturally has to do for certain reasons, it means that if you’re a B player, that’s how you’ll be treated,” says Clark. “You may never match the A

The pursuit of better, stronger, faster The key to implementing high performance is clarity and effectiveness.

It is the manager’s job to provide this clarity and ensure effective implementation throughout an organisation if a high performance outcome is desired.

Based on work with more than 3,000 leading businesses on maximising people performance, SuccessFactors recommends the following four strategies:

1

Establish clarity of goals and rapidly align your workforce to execute the strategy. You cannot afford to delay and risk losing focus of high performers.

2 3

Focus on your core talent. Identify the talent that will be essential for your new strategic direction and invest in them.

Avoid the rumour mills. Transparency drives trust and employee engagement. Companies with high trust financially outperform those with low trust.

4

Compensate more strategically: pay only for performance. Avoid the mistake of spreading limited bonus resources evenly across top- and low-performers.

By Erik Berggren, senior director of customer results & global research, SuccessFactors performer, but you will more fully maximise your performance as a consequence of me setting the bar higher in my mind for you.”

A balanced approach James Rutherford, senior consultant – human capital at Aon Hewitt, offers a final word of advice: be realistic. While there’s no doubt that organisations should develop staff and work to consistently improve employee and company performance, he says that to shift all groups of performers to the right could be a very expensive exercise. “With such a large group it would be important to consider whether there would be a return on investment. It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to push the performance of a D player up to A performance level, no matter the resources you dedicate to the goal,” he says.

However, Horsfield adds that neglecting the Bs is not an option.

Consciously and consistently recognising and rewarding the efforts of the improvers is essential.

“Continually providing targets that stretch an already motivated group will keep them energised for further performance improvement, ensuring they remain in the improver category,” he notes. “The more improvers you have turning up to work the greater their value. The more they can connect with others, the more people they can influence and the more likely an organisational culture of performance will be created.” HC www.hcamag.com

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EXPERT INSIGHT

Where SMART objectives went wrong

T

he creation of SMART objectives is linked to project management methodologies founded decades ago. At that time project management professionals needed to create a method to effectively communicate how project goals could be drafted so that employees would understand and execute their project goals effectively. The method was adopted into general management practice in the following decades and has now become somewhat of a standard for HR professionals around the world. Does it really work for employee performance management?

We define the ‘Value Spectrum’ as part of what an employee does that adds significant value to the organisation. This is in contrast to doing things that need to be completed as part of their core duties.

Most managers set objectives or goals that relate to the core role and responsibilities of their employees, ie, related to the job description. This adds very little incremental value to the organisation but rather sustains the status quo. Setting objectives on the core role and responsibilities is not necessary where employees are already achieving their core role and responsibilities and are looking for further challenges.

Why, then, do managers set objectives that merely maintain performance, rather than increasing it?

Managers don’t know how to set goals for improving performance as they have never been trained or shown how to set proper objectives.

This is a skills issue for managers and is validated by recent research from the Performance Management Institute of Australia.

Managers fundamentally don’t know or understand that performance management is the only viable way to drive incremental value for the organisation in the real world. They lack understanding of both why and how performance management contributes to the ‘Value Spectrum’.

The organisation’s existing performance management process does not require anyone to think about the level or measures of success for each objective or goal. Therefore, the employee and manager do not have to think about how to define clear levels or measures, and consequently never acquire the skills to set objectives that address the ‘Value Spectrum’ process.

Examples help to clearly illustrate the ‘Value Spectrum’ issue. A typical manager wants to set an easy numerate objective (quite common for most managers) and writes one as follows: “Improve sales by 13% by June 2011.”

This manager has been informed by the HR manager that they should set SMART objectives (Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Relevant, Time Bound). The manager looks at the objective and notes that she thinks the objective is Specific (to do with sales improvement), it is definitely Measureable (increase by 13%), definitely Achievable (the employee agrees they can achieve it), Relevant (the employee’s role is to win new sales) and Time Bound (by June 2011, presumably 30 June).

The manager and employee discuss the objective and agree it is valid. The employee works on the objective, discusses progress with the manager at regular intervals and at 30 June, achieves 13%.

The real question is: where does 13% sit on the ‘Value Spectrum’? Did this employee really help the organisation or was the 13% easy to achieve? Did the employee generate real value for the organisation or did they achieve the goal whilst perhaps less capable team members achieved far greater results?

To drive effective goal and objective setting, it is possible to map your ratings on the ‘Value Spectrum’ as indicated in the diagram below. This illustrates to an employee how the ratings at the end of the period will be used to determine success.

A more effective method is to not only graphically illustrate how the ratings will be used, but also to write each objective with measures, as explained below:

Exceeds expectations

Meets expectations

Does not meet expectations

Improve sales by more than 20% by June 2011

Improve sales by 13% by June 2011

Improve sales by less than 13% by June 2011

Objectives with measures create personal accountability. They create a strong sense of employee engagement by clarifying what employees are really expected to achieve and to what level.

Employee engagement in turn drives performance to a new level, according to a powerful research study by Professor Pauline Stanton.

Performance Management is a simple yet very powerful program if conducted in the correct way.

This means using clear processes and the right managerial skills to set high quality objectives that articulate where value is being added and where it is not.

About the author Lyle Potgieter, CEO, PeopleStreme. For further information, phone: (03) 9869 8880 or email lyle.potgieter@peoplestreme.com

FEATURE corporate health

Small steps to

giant leaps New research has found that if businesses can get their employees to take 10,000 steps a day, there are colossal benefits to one’s physical and mental health which can produce a three-time return on investment

I

n years gone by, failure to show significant ROI and uncertainty over just what those ROI metrics might be ensured that corporate health initiatives often fell into the pile of ‘nicety not necessity’. Yet new research has revealed that increasing physical activity not only assists with the overall health of employees but also produces the increase in ROI that organisations are constantly chasing. The supporting evidence provided by Lancaster University will have your employees running like the wind.

The research was conducted on 922 employees of UK integrated energy company, Centrica. All employees were encouraged to partake in the Global Corporate Challenge (GCC) and were surveyed before and after the program.

The GCC is a worldwide initiative that runs over a period of 16 weeks. Each company involved receives a parcel for each of their employees participating. Each person is given a pedometer and encouraged to take 10,000 to 15,000 steps each day (roughly 8–10 kilometres). At the end of the day,

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employees log in to the GCC website and record their steps for that day while perhaps also reading some of the nutritional and dietary guidelines the professionals at GCC provide.

In the past, results have shown that 82% of individuals involved said the GCC had a positive impact on their health. Employees recorded significant improvements in various areas (see box on p30) and 90% said they intended to maintain their current level of exercise.

CEO of the GCC, Glenn Riseley is on a personal mission to combat increased obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and other health problems with a fun approach. “People that go for a walk at lunchtime, people that exercise their body when they have that opportunity, tend to come back and attack their work with a renewed spirit… sitting and eating high-fat, energy-rich food at your desk while staring at the computer screen isn’t nearly as affective,” he says.

Mental health & presenteeism

When one chooses to walk 10,000 steps a day through an employer-endorsed program, weight loss and increased fitness are obviously the flowon benefits. However, regular exercise attributes greatly to mental wellbeing as well.

Mental health awareness corporation ‘R U OK’ found that “stress and depression are the largest contributors to lost productivity in Australia,

FEATURE corporate health

for ROI directly costing employers an estimated $10.11bn a year. In addition, workplace counselling for anxiety and stress has increased 68% and 76% respectively since 2007” – clearly it’s a problem that is too big to ignore. Fortunately, as the Lancaster University study shows, there is a direct link between physical activity and mental wellbeing.

Riseley states: “We had a pile of anecdotal evidence where people had written in and said in extreme cases they were suicidal, but by doing something like this it connected them to their workmates, gave them a network.”

Going for a walk and getting the blood pumping reduces stress and puts you in a more alert and productive state of mind. “When you get back from a walk you’re glad you did it, and most of the problems you set off with are sorted in your head, or at least filed neatly,” says Riseley.

A far too frequent occurrence in the workplace is presenteeism, which is the loss of productivity that occurs when employees attend work but aren’t fully functioning due to illness or injury. “Let’s move beyond just making sure people show up and let’s make sure they are showing up in the right frame of mind,” suggests Riseley.

Fiona Wissink, founder of Your Health Coach, a service that creates personalised, integrated health and wellbeing programs for teams and individuals, also draws attention to the growing problem of presenteeism.

“People that go for a walk at lunchtime, people that exercise their body when they have that opportunity, tend to come back and attack their work with a renewed spirit” – Glenn Riseley

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FEATURE corporate health “Presenteeism can have negative effects for companies in the short term – such as an employee who arrives at work despite illness and may only operate at a fraction of his or her normal capacity,” says Wissink. “People may also be more prone to mistakes, and in the case of contagious diseases – like influenza – they may transmit the illness to fellow employees, causing a larger fallout in work efficiency.”

Brad McDougall, CEO of Springboard Health & Performance, believes that areas like staff engagement and happiness generally aren’t measured under most health initiatives, and instead fall under cultural surveys. “You’re [usually] looking at health improvements, absenteeism and productivity. Staff engagement isn’t a specialty in the health and wellbeing industry – it’s a discipline in its own right but I think the integration of those two specialties is one that should be explored,” he says.

Exercise really is good for you

The Lancaster University study, which aimed to demonstrate the links between physical activity and mental health, reported that the 922 people who took part showed increases in their: • level of concentration at work • feelings of playing a useful part in things at work • capability to make good decisions • capability to overcome their difficulties • enjoyment of day-to-day activities • ability to face up to their problems • confidence levels • self-esteem • general happiness

ROI Riseley is well aware that corporate health initiatives are often seen as the ‘touchy feely, feel good stuff’ that don’t actually do much for the profitability of a business.

However, he notes that the Lancaster study now stands as evidence that these initiatives actually do work. “We’re starting to see numbers now – like a three-and-half times ROI based on the reduction on absenteeism. We now work in the US, and given their healthcare costs and given that the employer has the imposition of employee healthcare costs, it’s actually double that – it’s a seven-time ROI… we now have a set of metrics that enable HR to go to the CEO and actually show them that this is concrete ROI.” McDougall makes a valid point that ROI won’t eventuate for every corporate health initiative; it’s more about the quality of the initiative than just “throwing money at a project if it’s not done well”.

Often handing out free gym memberships and other arm’s length approaches like company triathlons only appeal to those in the workplace who are already fit and active, thus the ultimate success of the program is negated. Riseley believes the approach needs to focus more on including the people less likely to partake in this sort of activity on their own accord.

If a company actually manages to identify a method to get their workers out of their seat and exercising, in a few months the only regret the company will have is that they didn’t implement it sooner. Not only will their absenteeism decrease rapidly, thanks to a healthier body and stronger immunity, but presenteeism will be abolished as individuals will be stress-free, productive and mentally capable of thinking for an entire day at work.

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“Employers have a strong role to play… [however], you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink” – Brad McDougall

Who’s accountable?

Riseley says there’s an interesting dynamic at play here. “People are blaming the government, blaming Colonel Sanders, blaming pretty much everyone but themselves for the shape they’re in… It’s about taking responsibility for your own health.”

But McDougall’s understanding of employer responsibility is also important to consider.

“Ultimately, employees sit in the workplace for extended periods of time every day – so I think employers have a strong role to play.” Yet he also makes a timely reminder that “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink”.

Many will say they don’t have enough time to exercise. But people were using that excuse over 100 years ago. As Edward Stanley, Earl of Derby, stated in 1873: “Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness.” Perhaps it’s time employees stopped talking the talk, and started walking the walk – literally. HC Further information: Your Health Coach www.yourhealthcoach.net.au Global Corporate Challenge www.gettheworldmoving.com Springboard www.springboardhp.com.au

FEATURE corporate health

www.hcamag.com

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Emotion promotion Human Capital talks to Cherie Curtis, head of psychology at Onetest, about the importance of assessing Emotional Intelligence in candidates and existing employees

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Human Capital: How is Emotional Intelligence (EI) defined, and why might it be desirable to have employees with high EI? Cherie Curtis: The measure of EI assesses a person’s capacity to effectively reason about emotions and to use emotions to enhance thought and solve problems. On the job, those with high EI are generally better able to perceive, identify and manage emotions both in themselves and others, and that makes them more effective when they’re achieving goals where emotionally-based information is important – which is basically everything at work, including working as a team, working with clients, or customer service.

HC: Will those with high EI excel at leadership?

CC: Absolutely. There’s certainly a relationship between leadership performance and EI. HC: Is it possible to test for EI? How? CC: There are a number of ways. There are selfreport measures where you rate yourself in relation to a series of questions. Another is an ability-based assessment, and that’s the type Onetest uses. In particular, we operate the Mayer–Salovey–Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT). The main difference between a self-report and an abilitiesbased assessment depends on whether we’re using an assessment in recruitment or for employee development. There are some fundamental flaws in asking a participant to tell us how good they think they are at processing things using their EI. It’s

obviously going to be a skewed response, whereas the MSCEIT and other abilities-based assessments use abstract questioning to really elicit and measure fundamental ability rather than their opinion of what they think they can do. The MSCEIT, for example, looks at four key competencies of EI: • how well someone can recognise their own emotions and the emotions of others • how well someone can generate and use emotions in problem solving • how well they understand emotions and how fluid those emotions are – how they might change over time • how well they can manage or control their own emotions and the emotions of others In everything we do, our intellect and emotional response are entwined. In a work context, none of us are void of emotion; we don’t walk through a vacuum on the way to work that pulls the emotion out of the way we function. It’s quite the opposite; we actually need to use our emotions effectively at work to reach optimal outcomes.

HC: How does EI differ from IQ? CC: IQ in the job context relates to: how well we process information, apply training to the task and problem solve as we go. That translates to job performance. So IQ predicts our level of general task performance. EI is more about the other elements of the job which include communication, interaction, and in some roles, leadership.

HC: International College of Management Sydney (ICMS) recently released a survey which indicates that employers believe graduates who go on to become managers will get there thanks to their EI rather than their technical skills. Do you agree?

CC: People are promoted for a number of reasons.

First there needs to be at least a minimum competence in technical skills to be successful. That said, what will differentiate from being a technical expert to potentially leading a team is the ability to communicate effectively and manage others well.

There’s definitely a correlation between EI and strong leadership performance, so people who have been identified as having a high EI also make strong leaders.

HC: Is EI actually a form of intelligence or a skill?

CC: There’s no doubt it’s an ability we have, but an assessment like the MSCEIT can highlight your strengths and those areas you may need to develop further. For any attribute we have more of an awareness of and motivation to develop, we can start to work on behaviours and strategies to evolve that further over time. HC

Hot FEATURE hot-desking

or not?

What are the challenges and benefits of hot-desking?

Human Capital weighs the pros and cons

I

n an age where employees are demanding flexibility and mobility at their workplaces, hot-desking, in conjunction with remote working, provide possible solutions.

However, just like remote working gives rise to issues of productivity and trust, ever since the introduction of hot-desking in the 1990s, its success has been debated.

It appears that for every positive, there is an accompanying negative. For example, on the positive side, the concept of hot-desking is egalitarian in that all desks are equal. But while this reduces the ability to mark status and can subsequently break down office hierarchy and its negatively associated consequences, hot-desking also reduces the ability of users to represent their positive ‘identities’.

Similarly, hot-desking can increase opportunities for employees to meet new people, exercise choice and experience a greater sense of freedom. However, it has also been associated with feelings of isolation and lack of team cohesion.

A holistic approach Aligned with the evidence to date on hot-desking, Schiavello’s workplace research psychologist, Keti Malkoski, has concluded that one size does not fit all, and that hot-desking may not be the complete solution for all employers adopting flexible working solutions. “The success of hot-desking as a workplace solution will depend on the diverse needs of the

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users in the workplace,” she says. “For instance, the work requirements which lend to flexible working solutions such as hot-desking include: knowledge work; locations independence; defined outputs; and defined milestones. These work requirements are unlikely to be present for every individual and team within every organisation.”

The ultimate solution may include incorporating hot-desking as a component into a holistic flexible working strategy in addition to other workspace sharing solutions – a holistic approach which balances the people, technology and space needs as required.

This is the approach adopted by IBM, which uses hot-desking as just one component of workplace flexibility. IBM Australia conducted an internal study in 2005 which revealed that they had a great number of employees who had very mobile work patterns, so there was an opportunity for the business to improve both employee satisfaction and space utilisation.

Belinda Reynolds, diversity and workforce lead for IBM Australia and New Zealand, explains that desk space is allocated to those employees who need a permanent workspace, in much the same way that the technology is allocated to employees.

For example, if an employee comes into the office five days a week, they would certainly have a permanent desk. Alternatively, someone who only comes into the office 2–3 days a week might utilise the hot-desk policy. “Say it’s someone in our HR or

FEATURE hot-desking

communications team – we have a number of desks allocated to that business unit and that’s much the same throughout the company. We find that employees come into the office and then gravitate towards desks near their teams,” Reynolds says.

In hot-desking cultures, actual ratios of desksto-employees, hot-desks-to-assigned desks and teamwork performed locally-to-teamwork performed remotely varies across organisations. Experiences with hot-desking also vary. Reynolds, for example, feels that hot-desking actually enhances team effectiveness. She cites her own example of recently sitting near colleagues she hadn’t worked with for several months. “I was able to catch up with one of our HR partners and someone else in another area, find out what was happening in their areas, and get to know them. Then if I need to reach out to them [in the future] I’ve got that strengthened personal

relationship with them. Hot-desking actually increases integration and helps people in the team get to know one another.”

Problems and solutions As the IBM experience shows, the commitment to hot-desking has been largely driven by the aim to improve collaboration and communication. However, merely adopting hot-desking does not necessarily result in increased collaboration and communication between employees. Further, Malkoski suggests that hot-desking has been demonstrated to negatively impact teams – the most prominent working unit in organisations today.

“When team members are geographically dispersed, which is often the reality with hotdesking, feelings of isolation can arise,” she says.

“This isolation can negatively impact collaboration and communication.” Research from the Institute of Work Psychology at the University of Sheffield confirms that team cohesion is at greater risk when employees work remotely (a by-product of hotdesking). Specifically, it can negatively impact the effectiveness of knowledge sharing.

“Hot-desking actually increases integration and helps people in the team get to know one another” – Belinda Reynolds www.hcamag.com

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FEATURE hot-desking

Malkoski warns that employers need to be aware of the pros and cons of hot-desking. Schiavello has undertaken rigorous research with environmental psychologist and researcher, Dr Jacqueline Vischer (University of Montreal) on the interaction between the user (individual or team) and the workplace.

This research shows that: • People have a natural emotional response to workplace developments. Although the primary role of the workplace is to provide a functional and practical space for people to perform their jobs, it is not merely a passive backdrop for work. There is an interaction and relationship between people and the workplace that is often emotional.

• Workplace developments such as hot-desking mean that territory is less defined: the result is that people can feel threatened, fearing that status will be lost and privacy will be compromised.

The outcome is often territorial behaviours that can be destructive to the success of a workplace development. When people believe that their auditory, visual or physical privacy has been invaded, they use defences that include insisting on the confidentiality of their work and demands for privacy.

• Solutions do not require complete physical enclosures. However, they do require the consideration of how territorial behaviours can be managed and workspaces can be partially defined with forms of boundaries identifying private and public territories.

As with all workplace developments which result in a new way of working, the introduction of hotdesking into an organisation will ultimately impact the culture. Vischer states that a new workplace implies a new social order, new business processes, even new behaviour and cultural norms.

“An important consideration of hot-desking is not only the impact it will have on the organisational culture, but also the impact it will have on team subcultures and individual perceptions,” says Malkoski.

Change management To address some of the identified issues that arise from hot-desking, a structured change management process should be adopted. The three main questions that organisations considering hot-desking need to ask themselves are: • Do we understand the complete change that is involved in the introduction of hot-desking? (eg do we fully understand the changes in behaviour that need to occur to accommodate this new way of working?)

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The desks at Yahoo in Sydney

“Research has shown that employees will welcome change if it will improve their working lives”

• Are our employees ready for the change that is involved in hot-desking? (eg what is the level of readiness for change within our workforce and what are our barriers to success?)

• How can we maximise the success of the hotdesking change? (eg have we maximised buy-in with an adequate amount of employee involvement?)

Schiavello’s collaborative work with Vischer has highlighted that there is often a resistance to change in workplace developments which should be addressed. However, it should be recognised that employees are not always adverse to change.

“Research has shown that employees will welcome change if it will improve their working lives – a structured change management process with thoughtful planning and sensitive implementation should ultimately demonstrate this improvement in working lives,” says Malkoski. “Dr Vischer states that for everything taken away from occupants when their workspace is changed, something must be given back; any loss of that which is familiar is immediate, whereas gains sometimes need time to be felt.”

Malkoski adds that the success of many workplace developments is dependent on the users’ perceptions of control. Workplace change can be problematic if it is forced onto employees; therefore employee involvement is crucial for fostering buy-in from users. Control and choice are very powerful motivating tools for work (eg, Spreitzer, 1995) and indeed, control of the workplace can positively influence individual job satisfaction and team cohesiveness (Lee & Brand, 2005).

FEATURE hot-desking

“As Dr Vischer states, empowerment is the key and should be embraced if hot-desking is to be successful,” says Malkoski. “Her research has demonstrated that it is important to foster participation and involvement to empower users so that they invest in workspace decisions. Importantly, the strategic approach to users’ involvement should be explicitly designed to fit the project and organisational context.”

In IBM’s experience, employees were quick to accept hot-desking once they understood its importance in facilitating flexibility. “People really valued that opportunity to have flexibility,” says Reynolds. “With flexibility comes an understanding that if you’re going to be working from home two days a week for example, it’s reasonable to expect that you would not need a full-time desk allocated in an office.”

From there, it was a case of outlining in clear policies where personal items could be stored, how to access printers, how phone calls would be diverted, etc. “There are lots of tools that make it very easy to move around a building, around a city, around a country,” says Reynolds.

Employees may also want to know if desks can be adjusted, reconfigured and moved to another team’s area. Questions on what happens when someone claims ownership over a hot-desk and ignores the ‘clear desk’ policy may also need to be addressed.

Vischer says that misunderstanding by way of inadequate communication is a prevalent reason as to why employees may be resistant to change. Therefore, it is crucial that organisations communicate to users the requirements and reasons for the changes that are involved in hot-desking. “The communication

strategy should create awareness, understanding, acceptance, alignment and commitment.

Additionally, an effective training strategy should identify the appropriate behaviours that will support hot-desking at the manager and employee level and provide targeted training,” she says.

Perhaps the biggest concern that employees will have is the loss of personalised ownership. Research indicates that 98% of employees personalise their space at work and Reynolds confirms this was an early problem for IBM. Now, she notes, employees tend to have their personal photos stored on slideshows on their Thinkpads and computers, and have personal items locked away safely.

Concerns over the loss of ownership of a particular desk can be refocused by bringing the meaningfulness of shared spaces into the spotlight.

Providing employees with experiences that require them to experiment with the use of different spaces can help to support a hot-desking culture by cultivating the attitude that the ‘right kind’ of workspace is one that enables individuals and teams to work effectively. This may be at a desk in a quiet area, meeting room, training facility, touchdown space, a break-out space or a remote location.

The ability of people to adapt functionally and psychologically to changes in workspaces should not be underestimated. This is more likely to be enabled when practicalities are considered, and social and emotional sticking points negotiated. People expect choice and opportunities to shape workplace practices.

HR practitioners are well positioned to create conditions that allow questions to emerge so that contextually relevant responses can be negotiated. HC

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REMUNERATION performance pay

Performance pay:

Evolving toward strategy Academic research reveals that there’s no easy explanation for about 60% of bonus payments.

What are the trends and factors you need to consider?

O

ver 2011, HR Partners will present a series of articles discussing remuneration strategies for HR professionals, using information from our own ‘HR Salary Survey’ platform. First, let’s consider performance pay, its popularity, and some of the issues it raises using the survey data as well as academic research that helps explain the patterns we see.

Roles such as those of ‘HR Assistant’ or ‘Coordinator’ are the least strategic in nature and are also the least likely to include bonuses.

Conversely, the most strategic roles such as ‘Director’ or ‘Remuneration and Benefits Specialist’ are the most likely to have performance pay included in their packages.

This ‘least to most strategic’ pattern, as shown in chart 1, is also generally present at the city level, with slight differences between cities.

Sydney stands out as most likely to include performance pay, which may reflect the types of enterprises there. The inclusion of performance pay schemes is thus dependent upon both the job and enterprise.

Consider also the percentage of roles that have a performance component in terms of employment type: ‘traditional permanent full-time’ versus ‘flexible’ (ie permanent part-time, contract/temporary, or casual). The likelihood of a particular role and employment type including a performance pay component has remained relatively stable over the past couple of years. However, it is clear that they are more popular in strategically-focused,

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REMUNERATION performance pay

Chart 1. Performance pay by city 90 Sydney Brisbane Melbourne Australia

80 $000’s

70 60 50 40 30

From our analysis we find that performance pay appears to be increasingly targeted towards roles that are likely to be attractive to, and benefit from, high-performers operating in strategic decision-making areas. It is becoming less popular in flexible roles and tactical positions which rely on difficult-to-measure metrics. As performance pay has both positive and negative potential effects for both employees and businesses, HR should avoid

20

Chart 2. Performance pay (%) and types of employment Remuneration & benefits specialist

Director/ Head of HR

General HR

Management

Consultant

Industrial relations specialist

Officer/ Advisor

Payroll officer

Coordinator

Advisor/ Administrator

10

60%

51.2%

40%

23.8%

Source: HR Partners

51.8%

23.8%

20%

permanent full-time roles. Supporting this, there appears to be a shallow but distinct pattern emerging: in the more recent figures, tactical roles under flexible forms of employment have lost access to performance pay, while strategic roles in permanent full-time employment are the only type to have achieved an increase in the inclusion of performance pay. Deeper analysis of the data (not included in chart 2) reveals that indeed, the roles most likely to receive a bonus payment are likewise in the permanent full-time strategic group.

Academic inquiry has found that the nature of an enterprise itself, such as its size, complexity and focus, explains around 40% of the presence and structure of performance pay schemes. In terms of an employee’s role, the more complex it is, or the less likely that the role’s activities can be directly linked to profit movements, the less likely it is to attract a performance component. For example, roles that include teamwork, multi-tasking or quality control are less likely to be included: would an employee’s focus be unduly shifted from other responsibilities as a result of such a scheme?

Performance pay must work in a way that does not detract from job satisfaction or unduly increase stress. Those employed other than as full-time permanents could find that a scheme would detract from, rather than enhance, their productivity.

Highly successful employees are more likely to desire reward that includes a non-time-based component, as their achievements are more dependent upon skills, experience and ability.

12.0%

10.5%

2009–10

2010

Tactical roles Flexible employment types Permanent full-time

29.5% 2009–10

28.2% 2010

Strategic roles

Source: HR Partners

indiscriminately including performance pay in packages. Instead, consider other benefits for roles in which such schemes would be unhelpful.

In future articles we will explore other remuneration strategies and how to utilise them for HR professionals. HC David Owens, managing director, HR Partners

References Artz, B. (2008) ‘The Role of Firm Size and Performance Pay in Determining Employee Job Satisfaction Brief: Firm Size, Performance Pay and Job Satisfaction’ in Labour, 22(2): 315-343.

Brencic, V. & Norris, J.B. (2010) ‘On-the-Job Tasks and Performance Pay: A Vacancy-Level Analysis’ in Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 63(3): 511-544.

Pekkarinen, T. & Riddell, C. (2008) ‘Performance Pay and Earnings: Evidence from Personnel Records’ in Industrial and Labour Relations Review, 61(3): 297-319.

Pissaris, S., Jeffus, W. & Gleason, K.C. (2010) ‘The Joint Impact of Executive Pay Disparity and Corporate Governance on Corporate Performance’ in Journal of Managerial Issues, 22(3): 306-329.

Stenanec, N.B. (2010) ‘Incentive Pay: Productivity, sorting, and adjacent rents’ in The Journal of Socio-Economics, 39(2): 171-179. www.hcamag.com

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PROFILE rob hendriks

PERSONAL FILE Age: 42 Family: I’m here in Australia with my girlfriend Favourite sports: All kinds, but I played soccer in the Netherlands, and squash Favourite movie/ TV: I’m not really into TV but one of the most impressive documentaries I’ve seen recently was called Darwin’s Nightmare Best advice received: Don’t dream your life, live your dream Self-described: Energetic, passionate, committed Hobbies: Sports, reading, travelling First job and/or worst job: My first job was as an HR consultant at a contracting company, which was a great opportunity to get handson with the business.

Worst job, I was a taxi driver for a couple of months. 24/7 shifts, not great pay, lots of drunk people in your car!

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Thilo Pulch, www.pulchphotography.com

Rob Hendriks

PROFILE rob hendriks

A Dutchman abroad With industry-leading employee engagement scores and a commitment to customer service, this month’s profiled HR professional is aiming to position ING DIRECT as a “cool, fair and easy” place to work

I

n an industry as highly competitive as banking and finance, where the field is so often dominated by the Big Four, it’s refreshing to find there are organisations thriving just under that top tier.

And whichever way it’s cut, ING DIRECT has been a huge success story in Australia. From a zero base in 1999, ING DIRECT is now the fifth largest retail bank in Australia, with $23bn in deposits, $37bn in mortgages, 1.4 million customers and around 950 employees. Perhaps even more important, ING DIRECT has embraced its reputation as a ‘challenger brand’, keeping the big players honest by introducing innovations such as branchless banking, doing business online, over the phone and through intermediaries – all of which has kept overheads low and provided opportunities to pass those savings onto customers.

Rob Hendriks, executive director of HR, ING DIRECT, is an 18-year veteran of ING Group in the Netherlands and UK. His arrival in Australia several months ago places him in the unique position of being able to compare and contrast not just the culture of ING businesses around the world, but also the cultural differences between the Netherlands and Australia.

At that broader country level, Hendriks believes Australians and the Dutch are quite well aligned, in that they are both quite direct and open – and he concedes that Australians are even more informal than the Dutch. However, he’s also been struck by certain

differences. “One example I’ve noticed, from the HR perspective, is that while people are quite informal they tend to be very focused on their job profiles and governance,” he says. “That’s new to me and quite funny because on one hand you are quite informal and on the other you have more focus on the structure and governance of the role.”

At the corporate level, Hendriks says it’s a challenge to directly compare the Australian operations to ING Group in the Netherlands, which is a massive employer offering banking, insurance and asset management services. “It’s hard to talk about one culture or one HR practice – there are 30,000 people employed in the Netherlands. On the banking side the Netherlands is divided into commercial banking, retail banking and direct banking, so actually there is not yet one banking culture, or one HR practice.”

That ‘one culture’ concept contrasts with ING DIRECT in Australia. In his short time in the country, Hendriks has already noted the fact that ING DIRECT has incredibly high engagement scores – it received a 75% engagement score last year – placing it at the top end of ING Group worldwide, and without doubt in the top tier of the wider banking community. Asked why this might be so, Hendriks doesn’t hesitate in his answer: “What I’ve seen so far is that in Australia there is a very strong link between people and culture, generally, and the business agenda. There is so much effort put into career development – last year out of 950 staff members 800 were involved in some sort of development. There are also some very strong values which sit at the heart of our company – it makes ING DIRECT unique,” he says. www.hcamag.com

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PROFILE rob hendriks ING DIRECT aims to deliver service to its customers, shareholders and staff in a “cool, fair and easy way”. As Hendriks notes, it’s not always necessarily about the type of products and services on offer, but how you deliver those products and services. And there are plenty of examples of that approach in action. A new workplace agreement was communicated in early 2010 to all staff. Amongst the benefits for employees was “casual day every day”, entitling all employees to dress casually every day of the week. Also announced was a “rest day”, which is one additional paid day staff can use for rest, exercise, sleep or treat.

Recruitment It also appears that ING DIRECT’s employer brand is doing its work both internally and externally.

Hendriks reports that in the previous month 47% of vacancies were filled internally, 9% came through agencies, and 11% came through employee referrals – “our people are the best advocates for the business”, Hendriks says.

The internal recruitment team is closely aligned and connected to the business teams – Hendriks says they are very aware of the culture, but also finely attuned to the needs of the business. He will only use agencies on rare occasions.

“I’d really like to measure our customer satisfaction levels. It’s not always tangible but customer centricity is also about perception, so we’ll ask our most important stakeholders in the business, did we act on what we promised” – Rob Hendriks

HR at ING DIRECT It’s no surprise to learn that ING DIRECT’s HR structure mirrors the key processes and functions of HR. The functions form five ‘pillars’: 1. Supply: workforce planning, recruitment, onboarding 2. Leadership and talent management: change and building capability, and succession planning 3. Building a high performance culture: objective setting and reviews, and reward & remuneration 4. Employment relationships: via workplace agreement as well as customer engagement survey 5. People administration: handling payroll, data, metrics, compliance issues

Future priorities With the right structure in place, ING DIRECT’s head of HR has his eye on the future. Hendriks, who says he was initially attracted to HR because he firmly believed that people can make or break an organisation, stands by those nascent thoughts. “I’ve always had a feeling that it’s not just the people or the business but a combination of both. The people, the human capital, are at the heart of the company, and being close to that, having certain influence on that piece, has always been what attracted me to HR,” he says.

It’s no surprise to learn that Hendriks also sees the future HR challenges of ING DIRECT through that lens. “The HR challenges this year and in coming years are strongly aligned to the ambitious business strategy of ING DIRECT,” he says. “We have some challenges because we’re a successful company, and over the last couple of years we’ve built a unique proposition in Australia, we’ve been successful and profitable, but we’re growing into a more mature banking model.

There’s no doubt we’re moving from being a direct bank to more full service, but we’re keeping direct banking. I think preparing ourselves for the next level of opportunity has an effect on HR as well.”

Priorities for ING DIRECT are enhancing customer centricity and operational effectiveness, which will involve being – hopefully – recognised as a top employer. “How will I measure that success? At the end of my assignment I should be able to say, ‘this is how we connected to the business, this is how we improved our customer centricity’. I think we do have customers in HR. I’d like to measure our customer satisfaction levels. It’s not always tangible but customer centricity is also about perception, so we’ll ask our most important stakeholders in the business, did we act on what we promised?”

Hendriks is keen for that best employer citation as well, which may well be the icing on the cake for this Dutchman abroad. “We had a lot of awards last year but there is still one missing: the HR award. We’ll definitely aim for one this year,” he concludes. HC

In his own words…

What are your thoughts on the future of HR as a profession?

Customer centricity for me is key in HR. Becoming a very strong business partner for the business is still the future – it’s not new.

But putting the customer first in everything we do, and putting them in the middle of what we’re doing in HR as well, is really different. It’s not about structure, it’s more about

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mindset. Everything you do should add value to the business. HR is not there for its own sake. So in everything we do we should ask, is it really what customers want, do we know our customers, and is this adding value to the business?

What is the HR initiative that you are most proud of in your career?

I’m generally very proud of the

opportunities to grow in different parts of the business and in different cultures. If you’re selfdirecting and ambitious you can achieve a lot at ING. I’m also proud that over the years I’ve managed and built strong teams.

As an HR director giving people the opportunities and confidence to develop is probably the most important thing.

PROFILE rob hendriks

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FEATURE corporate culture

P

ost-GFC, organisations need to be aware of the unprecedented changes that are taking place. To respond to this challenge requires unprecedented thinking and results.

Margaret Wheatly, author of Leadership and the New Science, states: “Most companies have at least a grasp on the ‘what’ of change. They want to be customer-focused, quality conscious, empowered, profit-making businesses. The ‘why’ is accounted for by global competition, customer demands and other external forces.

“That brings us to the actual ‘how’ of change and the trail gets tougher from here on. The problem is, you’ve still got a lot of people out there who are convinced that they are just one DVD away from tranquillity. That all they have to do is get re-structuring right and then life is going to slow down. Well, it’s not going to.”

An organisational culture change process will require that the organisation critically examines the underlying assumptions and beliefs that people hold about the nature of work, the purpose of the organisation and the strategic challenges faced.

on everyone and every business practice; it is the hidden context that determines whether the organisation can become world class, competitive and achieve its vision.

Why address organisational culture?

Research presented by the Harvard Business School’s Professors Kotter and Heskett, and Edgar Schein of MIT, provides a compelling argument for companies to manage meaningful long-term culture change. In a Harvard University study they found that companies that were successful in creating adaptive, performance cultures outperformed their competitors by a factor of 10 to 1 (Kotter and Heskett).

Evidence clearly indicates that most managers often fail to go beyond their initial reactions in order to critically

What is organisational culture?

Organisational culture simply refers to what is important and valued in relation to how managers manage, information is shared, conflicts are handled, teams cooperate, problems are dealt with and the work gets done.

Organisational culture is ubiquitous, yet is not discernible.

It impacts

Break

on through

Dr Des Tubridy outlines how to create a breakthrough organisational culture 44

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FEATURE corporate culture

examine the deeper concerns raised by culture, avoiding the time and tension associated with such work.

It is important to realise that for organisational transformation and merger situations to be successful, there must be widespread acceptance of the need for culture change. There must be a departure from old beliefs and habits and the invention of new and more powerful ways of working together on behalf of the organisation’s strategy and vision.

Low-performance cultures Unhealthy or unadaptive cultures – more common than healthy and adaptive cultures – share three critical characteristics. First, managers tend to be arrogant, behaving as if they have all the answers and rarely looking to others for new and better ideas.

Second, these managers tend to value themselves, their own work groups and products and services more highly than anything else. Finally, these firms tend to be highly bureaucratic, focusing excessively on procedures, stability and order.

People in an unhealthy culture tend to operate in ‘survival mode’, that is they engage in protective games, petty politics and turf battles. They refuse to take risks and be innovative out of fear of failure.

10 causes of an unhealthy culture 1. Too much management and not enough leadership 2. Leadership at all levels is not valued or encouraged 3. Management tends to stifle initiative and innovation 4. Management does not deeply value customers, staff and shareholders 5. Too much focus on bureaucracy and control 6. Management and staff development is not continuous 7. Management lacks strong strategic thinking skills 8. Management becomes increasingly arrogant and complacent 9. Coordination and integration is weak at all levels 10. Senior management is not a cohesive team

High-performance cultures Adaptive organisational cultures are characterised by two key elements. Firstly, managers pay close attention to all three critical constituents of their business: employees, shareholders and customers.

Secondly, leadership at each level of the management hierarchy is valued. People are encouraged to provide leadership and initiate change when needed in order to satisfy the legitimate interests of the above constituents.

Organisational behaviour theorist and consultant Ralph Kilman describes a healthy performance culture as one that “entails risk-taking, trusting and a proactive approach to organisational as well as individual life”.

10 strategies to develop a high-performance culture 1. Management provides excellent leadership that builds engagement and encourages team work 2. Management generates a sense of urgency about the need to change and succeed 3. Management involves others in the exciting new vision and its inherent possibilities 4. A growing group of managers who share and live the values emerges. These values are modelled.

5. The organisation’s culture values and rewards individual and team learning and performance 6. The culture encourages interdepartmental cooperation and coordination 7. Employees operate with willing engagement and a sense of responsibility rather than by coercion 8. Communication is open, honest and straightforward at all levels 9. Employees can relate their contribution to the organisation’s vision and strategy 10. There is an ongoing commitment to learning in regards to internal processes, staff attitudes and ideas, competitive threats, the customer and the market place

About the author Dr Des Tubridy is a director of Quantum Management Indicators, specialists in employee engagement, organisation culture and customer satisfaction surveys.

For further information call 03 9249 9570 or email dest@qmisurveys.com.au

Culture change is challenging because: • Values need to be realigned • Power dynamics and coalitions need to be addressed • Reward systems ultimately must change • There will always be resistance! HC

10 things to change your organisational culture 1.

Identify where you are now – what are the characteristics, current values and behaviours of your organisation?

2. Create an atmosphere of urgency and opportunity 3. Develop and clarify the vision for the kind of organisation you need to create (and why) 4. Define the kind of culture that is needed. Be clear on the values, principles and behaviours of the desired culture 5. Engage others and involve at all levels to shape the cultural values and behaviours that are critical for success 6. Communicate the vision widely and constantly reinforce it 7. Management will need to work through their own values, actions and practices that they want to inculcate 8. Empower others to act 9. Achieve some quick but sustainable wins 10. Demonstrate patience and persistence! www.hcamag.com

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FEATURE workplace manipulation

Avoid being a target

Manipulation is a learned behaviour – no one is born with it. However, when dealing with it, it’s a waste of our time trying to analyse the behaviour.

Dr Mary Casey says our time is better invested in developing strategies to protect ourselves from manipulation in the workplace

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FEATURE workplace manipulation

I

s there a particular person in your workplace who turns your days into a series of battles?

Or do they make you feel helpless, powerless or drained after every interaction? Whether the situation involves a manager, co-worker, or your own staff, many of us have had to deal with someone who simply made our work life a nightmare.

Conflict at work will occur from time to time. But if the conflict is ongoing with a particular person, and you are adversely affected by every interaction, it is highly likely you are being manipulated.

Many years ago, I became a target for a manipulator who worked for me. Over a long period of time, I often felt sick, confused, angry and constantly frustrated simply because I was not aware that I was being manipulated.

Although I am an independent, strong and intelligent person, I lacked personal boundaries. As a result, I allowed this person to make decisions and make changes without asking anyone and basically do what she wanted. I did this because I thought that she was a great worker and motivated to grow the business. The truth was that this person was intimidated by anyone who was smart or assertive.

And so, anyone else who had these skills was underhandedly shafted until they either left the company or were dismissed following their attempts to make me see what was happening.

It was by employing an HR manager that everything finally came to light for me because he could see the whole situation with fresh eyes and a clear mind. I began to learn more about myself; why I was a perfect target and the things that I needed to change in order to not be a victim.

The lessons I learned from this situation motivated me to study manipulation, and in doing so it became evident that it is widespread – not just in workplaces, but also in friendships and families.

In my research I developed strategies to identify manipulative behaviours and to deal with them to ensure we are never a target.

I learned that the goals of manipulation are to covertly or overtly control and overpower someone so that the other person will do what the manipulator wants. It is the use of subversive, unhealthy power tactics to get something for themselves, even if it robs another person of their freedom of choice, reason and rationality.

Because it’s about control, manipulation is prevalent in the workplace, which usually has a hierarchical structure. To control others, manipulators can abuse their positions, authority, or responsibilities; and they will not overstep accepted

boundaries in the workplace. They can be aggressive or passive aggressive.

The control gestures manipulators use include emotional blackmail, dishonest yet persuasive language, discrediting others, deflecting the issue at hand when confronted, concealed threats and lies or distortion of the facts. What’s interesting is most manipulators don’t realise they are doing this because their behaviour is fed by their own insecurities or a view of life as a struggle for survival, a series of battles. Hence the need to mark their territory, secure ‘allies’ and use emotional tactics.

Manipulation is a learned behaviour – no one is born with it. When dealing with it, however, it is a waste of our time trying to analyse it. Our time is better invested in developing strategies to protect ourselves, because we can never change a manipulator’s actions – we can only work on avoiding being a target.

So how do you deal with manipulation? People do what they do because they can, so firstly it’s important to define our limits and set boundaries by being assertive. Seeing your strong boundaries, a manipulator will find you a difficult target.

When confronting the behaviour, avoid sarcasm, hostility, threats and put downs. Manipulators are masters at the emotional game and will use any emotional reaction on your part as evidence that you are the abuser. It’s very important therefore that you always deal with the behaviour, not the person. This will ensure you disengage emotionally and think rationally – unemotional assertiveness is an attitude a manipulator cannot match.

Manipulators will also offer excuses for their behaviour, divert the subject to a minor issue, or shift the blame. They are also known to distort the truth, twist anything you may have said to them in the

Dr Casey’s 7 tactics to deal with manipulation

1 Control your emotions, or disengage: They are experts at emotional games and will use your anger or frustration as evidence that you are the abuser.

2 Observe only outcomes: Don’t try to second-guess the meaning behind their words or actions.

3 Be clear and specific: Ask for what you want precisely; ensure your body language backs your words.

4 Act fast: They interpret your silence as agreement if you wait for the ‘right time’ to address the issue.

5 Keep them responsible: When they try to shift the blame, focus on their behaviour.

6 Stand your ground: Repeat the same statement until they realise you will not change your mind.

7 Accept no excuse for inappropriate behaviour. Re-focus on the issue you are trying to confront.

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FEATURE workplace manipulation

Offensive tactics used by manipulators

Refutation: Denying they have done wrong Distraction: Changing the subject to evade the issue or gain time Threats: Using concealed or open threats to keep their targets anxious Fostering guilt: Suggesting you are selfish to make you feel bad and want to repair the ‘damage’ Charm: Praise and flatter openly to gain the trust and confidence of others Accusations or discrediting: Shift the blame to others and detract in subtle, hard-to-detect ways Deception: Withhold large amounts of the truth, distort the truth, or are vague

Dealing with manipulation in a manager or boss

past, lie openly and downplay the effects of their own behaviour. Always re-focus on the issue at hand, keep the responsibility where it belongs, and deal with the behaviour immediately.

The role of HR in dealing with manipulation A company’s HR department is key to dealing with manipulation in the workplace. HR creates the policies and procedures and when they are enforced consistently, they soon create a culture. It’s important to set company values, and create policies and procedures for Conflict Management, Access, Abuse, Sexual Harassment & Bullying, Attitude and Behaviour, Employee Grievances and Disciplinary Actions. Depending on the size of your company, I would even recommend creating a policy exclusively for middle management with guidelines on how to deal with frustrating situations, people’s attitudes and other sensitive situations.

The idea with policies is to make manipulation very difficult. While it would be difficult to set procedures directly against manipulation, you can set them for the behaviours used by manipulators.

One of the interesting things about negativity or gossiping, for instance, is that these manipulative tactics cannot exist if no one agrees to listen.

Dealing effectively with manipulation is, at its core, about thinking differently, which is very easy on a rational level, but daunting on an emotional level.

Dealing with manipulation in a subordinate or staff In my own company, which has 200 employees, I worked closely with our HR department to develop policies and procedures that focused on the company culture and on assertive communication.

All employees were also required to attend communication courses that focused on dealing with conflict and manipulation. Seeing the change in our company procedures – and that she would no longer

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be able to manipulate others with the new learning they received – the manipulator in my business voluntarily resigned.

When you want to avoid hiring a manipulator in the first place, the first difficulty is spotting it when someone is in front of you for half an hour. I would suggest allowing the candidate to start working while monitoring their trial period very closely for negative behaviour. Another idea is to also get feedback from other staff.

The goals of manipulation are to covertly or overtly control and overpower someone else so that the other person will do what the manipulator wants

While it’s a good idea for HR to be empowered to deal with manipulation, higher management needs to recognise that manipulation exists or, in the worstcase scenario, not be manipulative themselves.

When the manipulative person is your manager or boss, you really are in a tenuous situation. Their behaviour may cause you stress and other health issues, lack of motivation, frustration and anxiety – all of which would very likely affect your personal life.

The only way to protect yourself and regain control is to disengage from the relationship. This can be done in two ways: »» Disengage emotionally. This is where you set your boundaries and use assertive behaviour with your manager, and in doing so you are willing to sacrifice their positive feedback or recognition.

You can continue to expect your salary and other benefits of the job. »» Disengage physically. If you cannot find a happy medium by disengaging emotionally, the next step is to leave your job. Your health – and very likely your spouse or partner, who has seen the effect on you – will thank you for it!

When applying for positions, keep in mind that a sign of manipulation in management is a high staff turnover in that department. HC

How to Deal with Master Manipulators Dr Mary Casey’s informative DVD and workbook helps identify manipulators at home and work and presents strategies to deal with them effectively. The package includes various scenarios, role play and case studies. Available for $29.95 from www. dealwithmanipulators.com. For information about upcoming workshops on Dealing with Manipulators, call 1300 175 783.

About the author Dr Mary Casey (Doctorate of Psychology) is founder and CEO of Casey Centre, a leading integrated health and education service. Visit www.caseycentre.com.au

IN BRIEF australian news

Disengagement epidemic

A landmark research study has revealed that the vast majority of Australians are going through the motions, or worse, in their jobs, with 82% saying they’re not fully engaged in their current role.

The study from Gallup finds the bulk of workers (61%) are considered not engaged and are likely to do little more than is necessary to keep their jobs. Worse still, 21% are actively disengaged, viewing their workplaces unfavourably and are highly likely to spread their negativity to others.

A third (33%) of workers who are not fully engaged have taken at least three sick days in the past month compared to only 11% of engaged workers. This amounts to millions of dollars in lost productivity.

Also, companies that had overall engagement levels in the top quartile experienced nearly four times higher earnings per share growth than the median growth of their industry competitors.

Australian findings were similar to many other countries across the globe, including Canada where 80% of people said they did not feel fully engaged, New Zealand where the figure was 76% and the US where it was 72%. The global average was 73%.

Philippines the new offshore hot spot for Australian firms

The Australian Contact Centre Outsourcing Market Study 2011, released by Callcentres.net in collaboration with Aegis, has found that 81% of all outsourcing is undertaken in Australia, with 19% being outsourced to the Philippines and 4% to India. Malaysia at 5% has also moved in front of India. The study divides outsourcing into five categories – customer interaction (contact centres), back-office processing, IT, finance and HR. The Philippines was ahead in all categories – undertaking 20% of customer interaction compared with 13% for India, 33% of back-office processing compared to zero in India, 18% of IT compared to India’s 9% and 25% of finance compared with zero in India.

The study showed that Australia is still dominant – undertaking 73% of all customer interaction, 67% of back-office processing, 91% of IT, 75% of finance and 100% of HR. Interestingly, 18% of IT was outsourced to Malaysia and 9% to China.

The report indicated that outsourcing is not driven totally by cost savings, but it was still the primary driver.

Tax benefits for Australians working overseas under threat Many Australians who are required or enticed to take up overseas jobs may have to pay more tax as a result of a new Australian Taxation Office determination.

According to national chartered accounting and business advisory firm, PKF, many Australian residents working overseas are to be subject to Australian income tax on previously tax-free fringe benefits. This includes fringe benefits that would otherwise be tax-exempt or concessionally taxed to their employer.

Lance Cunningham, national director of taxation at PKF, said the new determination could be a disincentive for Australians seeking to relocate overseas as they will be significantly disadvantaged by being taxed on any fringe benefits they receive, such as the living away from home allowance.

“The aim of the new determination is to ensure non-resident employers that don’t have sufficient connection with Australia are not subject to Australian PAYG and FBT liabilities. While the ATO’s determination is commendable from the non-resident employer’s point of view, the ATO has placed a heavy burden on employees,” he said.

Fast fact: Research into the Demand for temp labour in Australia explodes

The Adecco Group Temporary Labour Report 2011 has found that the number of temporary employees in Australia has grown dramatically over the last 20 years with just over 400,000 people currently employed on a temporary basis.

The biggest user of temporary labour is the mining sector at 12.7%, followed by finance and insurance at 11.8%, ICT at 11.6% and utilities at 11.5%.

Moreover, temporary employment is a strong favourite at the big end of town with all Top 200 ASX-listed companies supplementing their workforce with temporary employees. In addition, the report found organisations with 1,000 or more employees are most likely to use temporary labour (44.8%) and their number one method of finding suitable staff for organisations of all sizes is through recruitment agencies (32%).

The trend to use temporary labour is set to continue with the report forecasting growth of 6% per annum from June 2012 to 2015 due to a shortage of skilled and semi-skilled workers. In fact, organisations already using temporary labour are currently experiencing skill shortages and they expect the situation to worsen.

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performance of people with disabilities in the workforce has found: 90% of employees with disability have average or superior productivity rates; 98% of employees with disability have average or superior safety records; 86% of employees with disability have average or superior attendance record Source: Graffam, Shinkfield, Smith and Polzin.

Employer Benefits and Costs of Employing a Person with a Disability, Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation 17 (2002): 251-63

IN BRIEF international news

TEAMBUILDER steve doyle

When it comes to teambuilding, conferences, seminars and indoor activities usually come to mind. But as Charlotte Mortlock discovers, sometimes the most effective approach to teambuilding involves getting out of the building and into the great outdoors

I

n six years Boating Camping Fishing (BCF) has gone from non-existent to Australia’s leading outdoor retailer.

With 75 stores and 1,486 employees, COO Steve Doyle credits much of this rapid growth and expansion to his brilliant team of BCF employees.

In early 2005 the Super Retail Group (then ‘Super Cheap Auto Group’) acquired the outdoor retailer CampMart. By July 2005 the SRG had turned CampMart into the launch pad for their new brand, Boating Camping Fishing. Doyle, a keen fisherman himself, was appointed as COO at BCF and faced the challenging role of uniting hundreds of new employees across Australia as one team.

The foundations of great teamwork Like many young Aussies, Doyle first became involved in retail when he had just finished school. He slowly progressed up the management ladder and landed the role of head of bakeries at Woolworths. By 2004 he had moved through to the position of general manager of merchandising and marketing at the Super Cheap Auto Group. It was in this position that Doyle excelled and was formally recognised by the Australian Institute of Management as Young Manager of the Year for Brisbane.

Coming from a retail background himself, Doyle recognises the importance of instigating a united front amongst staff members. He believes this vision is the key to building a prosperous team: “The successful team will usually work because whoever’s in charge of that team has a strong vision and they share that.”

It was the vision of two programs in particular that enabled BCF to produce an extremely unique approach to teambuilding.

Whenever a new BCF store is set up, BCF management spends an entire week before the store opening briefing the new employees and ensuring they are all aware of what BCF labels as the ‘top 10 things you need to know about boating, camping and fishing’.

Once that is concluded, employees progress on to the ‘intermediate things’ they need to know about

boating, camping and fishing. Doyle elucidates that these two pivotal steps are “designed to give you a very solid understanding of the products”.

Sharing the passion After these initial steps, the real fun begins.

All employees are invited to partake in the Passionate Program.

The program is a teambuilding experience like no other. This year, 250 brave BCF employees will tough out the program, but there will only be three winners.

Each employee must elect one category to specialise in (boating, camping or fishing) and are then presented with ‘the booklet’ – the source of much brooding, pondering and hopefully triumph in the months that lie ahead.

The booklet contains practical activities and challenges, customer scenarios, product-based activities and a 50-question product quiz.

For many, the outdoor challenges are the most taxing. All equipment and tools needed for the activities are the same stock that BCF sells on its shelves. In fishing, just one of the tasks is to “catch three different fish on three different types of bait”: a task any true fisherman would appreciate is no easy feat. Doyle adds, “it could take 3–6 months”.

Doyle encourages and supports strong relationships and connections between staff members, believing their passion for the outdoors will bring them closer together. This perception is the underlying reason for another outdoor challenge – participants must take another staff member fishing. Thus a staff member that specialises in camping and has little knowledge of the ins and outs of fishing is taken by a co-worker to battle through a day’s casting, angling and harpooning. The camping connoisseur might return the favour and take the fisherman for a night in the bush. This way, both employees are augmenting their knowledge in a sector they perhaps knew little about previously, and the co-workers also become better acquainted with one another.

Employees at the same store will often interact with one another to share knowledge in order to pass

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TEAMBUILDER steve doyle

“Team members get a big kick out of having an opportunity to talk directly with the executives about their experiences with the BCF products” – Steve Doyle

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TEAMBUILDER steve doyle Some of the teambuilding exercises at BCF

Each employee must elect one category to specialise in and are then presented with ‘the booklet’ – the source of much brooding, pondering and hopefully triumph in the months that lie ahead

the course. “You’ll often mix with your other team members to help you complete it,” Doyle says. “The team members start to talk to each other about how they’re going with their particular program; it brings the team closer together.”

The winner of each category (boating, camping or fishing), with the most correct answers and completed tasks, wins $10,000 worth of prizes.

And yet the monetary rewards often pale in comparison to another incentive. The top three entries for each division get flown to BCF’s National Managers Conference and are given an opportunity to discuss their entry in front of the entire management team.

Executives ask the employee about the methods and procedures used, anything they learnt or obstacles they encountered. Obviously, as Doyle says, “it’s a big kick for the team member” to have an opportunity to talk directly with the executives about their experiences with the BCF products.

Not only does this broaden the employee’s knowledge, but the whole company learns from the experience. “People who go boating, camping and fishing are very interested in other people’s experiences because we all learn from each other. The management team are just as interested to hear about what employees do and why they do it, for professional reasons as well as personal reasons.”

From passion to profit The Passionate program also doubles as a way for BCF to test the quality and functionality of the products they stock. “We rely on the Passionate program to provide feedback about whether or not our product development is on track,” Doyle explains.

Yet another initiative of BCF is a paid compulsory team meeting – held in each store on the second Tuesday night of each month. A film named The Beacon is shown to guide and direct employees through their work at BCF. Each month BCF produces a new The Beacon which is then sent out to the stores. “We’ll have the category managers talking about new products, the marketing team talking about new promotions and what’s coming up, we’ll have HR talking about new initiatives that are going on,” Doyle says.

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After The Beacon is shown, the store manager has a chance to get their team up to speed on whatever needs to be addressed for the coming month. “They might talk through what’s happening with rostering, about new products; they might do training or if there’s been a change in legislation then they’ll explain that change and make sure everyone understands that.”

All for one When dealing with employees that are casually employed and only work a day or two a week, many managers fail to completely integrate these individuals into the team unit. Yet Doyle counteracts this hindrance with various strategies. “The fact that the team workers are casual and they might only work on weekends doesn’t make them any less of a team member.” Doyle says the shared passion for boating, camping or fishing often works as a common thread, bringing the whole network closer together.

In terms of wider HR initiatives, Doyle believes there’s a fine art to luring and retaining talented catches. “We sit fairly well from a team member turnover and retention point of view,” he explains.

Retention initiatives include: providing a 25% staff discount off all products, not only in BCF but also in the entire Super Retail Group; giving each employee a Christmas present (last year’s happened to be a Shimano rod and reel valued at $150); and to top it off, staff members are rewarded with bonuses for hard work and strong store performance.

BCF participates in a number of initiatives to reiterate its strong social and environmental conscience. From fundraising for the Queensland SES, to the elimination of plastic shopping bags, BCF doesn’t stray far from its moral compass. “I think more and more that’s becoming an attraction point for a potential team member to say, it’s all well and good that this retailer is successful or that I’ve got a stable career, but what are they putting back into the community?”

All of these perks and benefits ensure that BCF continues to steadily grow and expand while maintaining its employees’ loyalty – hook, line and sinker. HC

THE LAST WORD compiled by Suzanne Mercier

5 minutes with...

Melinda Walsh CA Technologies

Head of HR, Australia & New Zealand What’s the greatest HR lesson you’ve learned so far?

Trust is the foundation for a strong organisational culture. With trust, it’s amazing what teams can achieve in short timeframes! Lack of trust has a direct impact on outcomes and business results.

While it can take a long time to build the trust, it can be lost very quickly and can be hard to rebuild.

What is your view on diversity, and specifically the current hot issue of gender diversity?

We need transformation. Leadership teams need to determine appropriate diversity strategies for their organisation.

Diversity is more than gender, but for us it is a key priority. We would like to accelerate development for talented women with the right aptitude and potential, then fast track them into leadership roles. We are fortunate to have a high level of executive sponsorship and a long term commitment from key stakeholders which will allow us to continue to attract a diverse workforce.

Your favourite people-management tip?

Understand what motivates individuals.

Quote of the month “It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected of him” – John Steinbeck

Then open up a discussion around what they want from their career and what they need from you as a manager to be able to realise their potential and continue to be energised every day.

What career advice would you give ambitious HR professionals?

Enhance your business skills. Build strong business partnerships with people across all departments and external to the organisation. You can then clearly articulate the value of HR in driving business performance.

What is the main challenge facing the HR profession right now?

The first is recruiting and retaining key talent and the second is developing leadership capability. They go hand in hand.

How can HR professionals overcome those challenges?

Recruit key talent by implementing a range of sourcing strategies, communicating a realistic employee value proposition and engendering clear expectations of the organisation and of the role – whilst ensuring sound retention strategies are in place. The other challenge is around leadership: identifying top talent both from a people leadership perspective and from a subject matter expert perspective. Not everyone wants to be a manager and a leader and we need to ensure there is a career path for those talented people who don’t want to manage others.

Can you believe it?

A public servant was sacked for running five businesses from work: an insulation business, a travel agency, an interpreting service, a migration agency and management of several rental properties. His appeal was dismissed because while he showed initiative, it wasn’t for his public service job.

Source: Smart Company

n A 2004 Corporate Leadership Council study of more than 50,000 employees in 27 countries indicated that the manager is a key conduit to employee engagement. No surprises there. But perhaps what was surprising was that the key potential driver of employee engagement was the manager’s commitment to diversity.

Source: 2009 Diversity Management in Australia and its Impact on Employee Engagement, University of Wollongong

n A study from the University of Bristol indicates that caffeine cuts men’s ability to collaborate under stress but has the opposite effect on women. The researchers question whether coffee at business meetings might sabotage collaboration.

Source: Harvard Business Review

n Bullying increases stress in 9 out of 10 staff members, reduces productivity by 50–70% in more than half the bully targets and 72.2% of people bullied or ‘witnesses’ stated they had left a job as a direct result of workplace bullying.

Source: Extent & Effects of Workplace Bullying Survey, 2010. Know Bull, Australia

www.hcamag.com

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