Human Capital magazine issue 9.08

HC

ENGAGEMENT LESSONS FROM SMEs P.33 » BUILDING ORGANISATIONAL RESILIENCE P.42 » CEO REPORT: LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT P.52 »

HUMAN CAPITAL MAGAZINE | www.hcamag.com

ISSUE 9.08

Is ageism the new sexism?

Why mature age workers matter

50+ 40 30

IN EVERY ISSUE:

Profile case studies

Best practice examples

News analysis

Expert opinion columns

Topical news briefs

EDITORIAL

A new era

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he last two months have heralded exciting times for Human Capital. We celebrated our 100th issue in May with the relaunch of our website, while June brought with it news that Key Media, publishers of Human Capital, had bought another title in the HR space, HR Leader. As you will see in this issue of HC, there are some minor changes to incorporate elements of HR Leader into HC, and in future issues there will be more changes. What will not change though will be our efforts to bring you the most informative articles on the world of HR. The best thing about producing a magazine like HC is the breadth of companies one is exposed to. While HC usually profiles large organisations within its pages, this issue takes a slightly different tack by profiling the HR/ business leaders from two SMEs. Our regular teambuilder and profile pieces are both on employers with under 200 staff – coincidentally, both have recently been recognised as best employers. What’s come through clearly in these interviews is that although SMEs face their own unique HR challenges, in many ways they are more innovative and open to great ideas than larger employers. However, James Rutherford of Aon Hewitt confirms on p 33 that company size has minimal impact on engagement; what’s more important is the speed at which organisations can react to change engagement levels.

And while it may be true in a sense that it would be easier to change the course of the Titanic given the size and complexity of some organisations, as our cover story reveals on p 18, there are some issues that cannot be ignored. The demographic reality of Baby Boomer retirement has been brewing for years, but still not enough employers have acted to maximise the value they can potentially get from this workforce segment. As one expert I spoke to said, sometimes they have to feel the pain before they act; now that pain is starting.

As a final note, I encourage all readers to consider entering the Australian HR Awards. For more details go to www.hcamag.com or turn to p 30.

Iain Hopkins, editor

EDITOR Iain Hopkins

SALES & MARKETING NATIONAL COMMERCIAL MANAGER Sophie Knight

COPY & FEATURES

ONLINE COMMERCIAL MANAGER Sarah Wiseman

JOURNALIST David Corkery

SENIOR MARKETING EXECUTIVE Kerry Corben

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Rebeccah Elley

MARKETING EXECUTIVE Anna Keane COMMUNICATIONS EXECUTIVE Lisa Narroway

PRODUCTION EDITORS Sushil Suresh, Carolin Wun

TRAFFIC MANAGER Abby Cayanan

ART & PRODUCTION

CORPORATE

DESIGN PRODUCTION MANAGER Angie Gillies

MANAGING DIRECTOR Mike Shipley

CHIEF DESIGNER Lucila Lamas

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER George Walmsley

CONTRIBUTORS

CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER Colin Chan

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

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER Julia Bookallil

SALES DIRECTOR Justin Kennedy

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 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.

www.hcamag.com

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CONTENTS

18

28

33

FEATURES

18

Twilight… not goodnight

With lingering age discrimination and a hesitation to embrace flexible work practices, why are Australian organisations so slow to shift their mindsets towards mature age workers? Iain Hopkins investigates

28

Knowledge transfer: Pathways to a better future

As Baby Boomers increasingly look to move into retirement, what is best practice in terms of knowledge management?

Simon North explains that it should and can be fun from the point of view of both the learner and those who are ‘giving’ the learning

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More than size alone

What are the challenges and opportunities for people management practices in SMEs? Are there any tips larger players can take from their smaller cousins? Human Capital profiles two SME business leaders

42

Strength in unity: Building organisational resilience

While the benefits of building up the personal resilience of employees have been well documented, there has been less debate around organisational resilience and developing proactive strategies to develop a resilient organisation as a collective. Paul Clifford provides his tips

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The elephant in the room

Think change management is too hard? Get back to basics. It’s as easy as visualising a rider on an elephant, walking along a path, suggests Dr Adam Fraser

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

42

52

46

56

HR LEADER

52

The CEO Report

How are business leaders addressing the call for better leadership skills at the top level?

56

Teambuilder

REGULARS

8 In Step – HR career experts 10 Legal 16 HR Technology 31 HR Consulting

Award-winning HR at Millward Brown

www.hcamag.com

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IN BRIEF news REMUNERATION

Changes to minimum wage and parental leave come into effect

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tips for selecting rising superstars

1 Understand what can be taught (skills) and what needs to be brought (attitude) 2 Advertise or brief an agency based on both the attitude AND skills you are looking for 3 Invest the time to talk to applicants by phone – it's hard to pick an awesome attitude from a résumé alone 4 Ask “unusual” questions at the interview to get “below the surface” and see what makes someone tick 5 Use behavioural profile tools to understand the natural talents of candidates. Rookie Recruits offers a Zero-toHero Coaching Program for candidates who would otherwise fail to meet most companies’ first round screening process Source: Rookie Recruits, Tackling the Talent Crisis white paper

DIVERSITY

Women not being encouraged into senior management

Two-thirds of Australian employees believe organisations are not doing enough to help women attain roles in senior management.

According to a Hays Banking survey of over 1,100 people, only 36% said organisations are doing enough for women. “There’s a need to propel more women to senior management,” said Jane McNeill, senior regional director of Hays Banking.

The survey suggests ways companies can better encourage female staff into senior management, such as establishing steering groups, active mentorships and coaching or networking programs.

Managers should also be trained to provide strategies to develop female staff into senior management roles.

Companies were encouraged to develop a succession plan to ensure that the number of women in senior management reflects the number of women employed overall.

Fast fact One in three Australians admit to having lied to their employers about their career credentials in order to get a job. According to research by training organisation Upskilled, 32% of Australian citizens believe honesty is not necessarily the best policy when it comes to climbing the career ladder.

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From 1 July a number of changes have affected employers, including changes to the national minimum wage and paid parental leave scheme.

The national minimum wage has increased by 3.4% to $589.30 per week (or $15.51 per hour), following Fair Work Australia’s annual wage review earlier in June. The increase took effect from the first full pay period after 1 July.

Changes also came in around the federal government’s paid parental leave scheme. Since the scheme commenced on 1 January 2011, it has provided for up to 18 weeks’ payment at the federal minimum wage, which will now be $589.30.

To date, the payments to eligible employees have been made

by Centrelink’s Family Assistance Office (FAO). However, as of 1 July, employers will be – in most cases – required to administer payments through their own payroll processes.

The FAO will still determine whether an employee is eligible for PPL, and will transfer the appropriate funds to the employer’s bank account.

TECHNOLOGY

Technology turning Australians into workaholics: Survey

Technology is making workers more productive than ever, but at the expense of their personal lives, according to a new survey.

NorthgateArinso conducted a survey of Australian office workers, in which two-thirds of respondents said they had worked whilst on holidays and just over half admitted to working whilst at home.

“The survey results seem to suggest we’re a nation of workaholics,” said David Page, Australia and New Zealand managing director at NorthgateArinso. “Technology such as smartphones, Skype and instant messaging are all great productivity tools, but they must be applied sensibly, and people need to understand when to simply turn them off.”

In addition to those working from home, 29% of respondents said they had also worked on the journey to and from home, during their office commute.

When asked if they felt technology better enabled them to manage their work-life balance, 73.8% agreed.

However, when asked if technology had led to work intruding on personal time, just over half (52.2%) agreed.

IN BRIEF news HIRING INTENTIONS

Positive employment prospects recorded across all industries

Employer confidence is remaining upbeat, with just under a third of employers planning to grow staff numbers during the next quarter, according to a new report.

Hudson’s Employment Expectations report surveyed 4,852 employers across Australia in late May and revealed plans for job growth for the coming months.

“Results show that all industries have positive employment expectations for the next quarter as they look to strengthen their workforce and position themselves for future growth,” said Mark Steyn, CEO of Hudson Australia/New Zealand. Resources remain the most confident industry nationally with 59% of employers planning to increase permanent headcount over the next quarter.

As a result, employer confidence in Western Australia was the highest in Australia, boosted by the growing demand for qualified employees within the resources industry.

The survey showed that employer confidence within the wholesale/distribution industry has risen dramatically compared to last quarter’s results, with 29.6% of employers intending to take on more staff over the coming three months.

Cost of living soars Australia has experienced some dramatic jumps in ranking in Mercer’s 2011 Worldwide Cost of Living Survey as the local currency gained almost 14% against the US dollar in the past 12 months.

• Sydney (14) is up 10 places • Melbourne has moved from rank 33 to 21 • Perth has surged 30 places to reach rank 30 • Canberra (34) has moved up 40 places • Adelaide (46) is the country’s highest riser, moving 44 places

WORK-LIFE BALANCE

Australia: Good on employment, bad on work-life balance

Australia has one of the highest levels of employment in the world, but we score low on work-life balance, according to a study.

The ‘better life initiative’ index compared all 34 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) against such criteria as income, health, education, worklife balance, safety, governance, housing and life satisfaction.

Nearly 72% of people aged 15–64 in Australia had a paid job.

Australians work 1,690 hours a year, less than most in the OECD. A total of 71% mothers of school children are employed, suggesting that women successfully balance family and career.

But when it comes to work-life balance, Australia’s score of 6.5 was in the bottom seven countries, ahead of only Turkey, Mexico, Japan, Israel, Korea and Chile.

However, 75% of Australians were satisfied with life, while the OECD average was 59%.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Misguided frontline managers affecting staff retention

Organisations are not doing enough to train their frontline managers and as a consequence staff retention is taking a hit, according to SHL Talent Management.

Speaking at a seminar on the importance of frontline managers in Sydney in June, Stephanie Christopher, national director for SHL Australia and New Zealand, said that increasingly her firm is hearing that managers aren’t managing their staff well.

“Companies tell us that their managers have technical ability, but they don’t know how to coach the team,” she said.

Google recently undertook a research project called Project Oxygen, which identified what makes a good frontline manager. They concluded that employees valued even-keeled bosses who made time for one-to-one meetings, who helped them with problems by asking questions, and took an interest in their team’s lives.

POLL: IS HR EVER 'OFF DUTY' IN SOCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES? Does HR always need to set a good example or are outof-office hours just that?

No – HR always needs to set a good example (49%) Yes – out-of-office hours are just that (12%) Depends on the social circumstance (37%)

Depends

No

Yes

Total votes: 260, Poll date: 1/6/11–13/7/11 Source: Human Capital Australia, www.hcamag.com

Amendment In reference to the Expert Insight article on p35, Human Capital (issue 9.07), an unexpected change in the law has resulted in the following amendments to footnotes 3 and 5. New legislative instruments came into effect 1 July 2011, to increase TSMIT to $49,330 pa and the English Language Exemption threshold to $88,410 pa. www.hcamag.com

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IN BRIEF forum

The résumé is not dead, it’s evolving

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espite the growth of social networking platforms and people’s increasing online presence, the résumé is not dead. It is merely changing, according to leading recruiters.

With 100 million people reportedly using LinkedIn and nearly 700 million people using Facebook, the recruitment industry is finding itself in an evolving landscape and the way candidates, employers and recruiters view the process has been transformed.

Cherie Curtis, head of psychology at Onetest, told Human Capital that the résumé has become more of a supplementary document rather than being the primary method of picking a candidate.

“Many organisations are now using online application forms and e-recruitment methods, where the résumé is uploaded as an attachment and it’s really just reviewed if additional information is required,” she said.

“I think the idea of résumés as a summary of your experiences and attributes as a profile will begin to refer to more broad applications in the market. So I think eventually it will refer to a LinkedIn profile, maybe even your behaviour on Facebook and Twitter will be considered. Your profile as an individual, which is potentially the combination of a range of things, is considered when looking at bringing someone into employment.”

John Rawlinson, Group CEO of Talent2, told Human Capital that the résumé is not becoming irrelevant, but that it is clearly in a

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state of evolution.

“I can actually see a time when the whole résumé ends up online and it will have more than just a profile, it will incorporate some testimonials, like on LinkedIn, and it could include psych assessments,” he said.

“I see an evolution of the résumé where more and more people will direct potential employers to their online résumé space. A résumé is a résumé, whether it exists online or not.

“The other really important thing about a résumé is that it’s a bit like a living, breathing document. If you can’t pull out your résumé on a regular basis and update it, then you’ve actually stalled.”

Guy Cary, managing director, First Advantage – Australia & New Zealand, told Human Capital that the résumé is still an important means for a candidate to present themselves to an employer in the way they want to.

“While the employer may have seen a candidate’s profile on LinkedIn, it may be somewhat generic and not appropriately targeted to the company or job in question,” he said.

“A strong résumé that represents what a candidate brings to a particular organisation or role is still critically important.

“Employers’ use of social media is the hot topic at the moment and whilst we can discuss the privacy and legal ramifications of it, the reality is that unless your organisation has a clear and documented policy, the practice will continue, informally or otherwise.”

READERS’ COMMENTS Max Underhill on 07 Jul 2011 05:34 PM “The résumé or CV and application are not dead but they’re stagnant largely due to the poor role descriptions that the potential applicant has to respond to. At a HR think-tank, a complaint was that organisations do not provide accurate and quality role descriptions.”

Rick Mason on 08 Jul 2011 11:44 AM “Many employers are not ready to use technology as a primary source of information. Even those that do will require evidence of experience that pertains to the role for which the applicant has applied. Achievements pertinent to the role are easily accessed through a professional résumé, available online or in hard copy. If anything, I envisage Australia moving towards a US and European two-page style format.”

Joanna on 13 Jul 2011 02:57 PM “Whether the résumé is dead or not, it has gone online, and due to the internet’s ability to distribute one résumé by the thousands, it is hard for a qualified job seeker to get through the noise. This means that job seekers need a tool to engage employers. A good one to check out is a 1-Page Job Proposal: http:www.1-page.com” Sean Reddell on 11 Jul 2011 03:28 PM “I agree the résumé is not dead. The format may change, the medium may change but the purpose remains the same – a summary of relevant skills, knowledge and attributes as they pertain to the role. I also support Max’s argument (above) about the generic nature of role descriptions. I ask the clients I work with to make additional information available to candidates to look further into what the job actually does.”

Visit www.hcamag. com to leave comments on all the news and opinion pieces

THE BIG STORY emotional intelligence

Emotion promotion: EQ and leadership HC Online TV asked two experts for their views on emotional intelligence and the role it plays in all levels of the business hierarchy – from graduates to leaders PETER BERRY founder, Peter Berry Consultancy On why so many leaders fail…

Our study shows that one in nine managers, at any given time in Australia, are underperforming and shouldn’t be on the payroll – they’re the ones who lack the people skills and emotional composure. They’re doing tremendous damage to the morale of their team, to customer service levels, to productivity.

Literature just come out in the US says 40% of newly appointed CEOs and executives don’t survive their first 18 months, and it’s not due to technical skills, it’s due to character and not fitting in with the culture.

On how EQ should be used at all levels of business…

For graduates today you’ve got to test for more than IQ. All the big companies are cherry picking the smartest kids out of university, they do cognitive testing, which is your IQ test. But the smarter companies are doing the EQ test a lot earlier and providing 360 feedback.

For the younger ones, if they’ve got the IQ, you should spend the next 10 years, from the age of 25 to 35, developing their leadership capability. Ultimately they should be good general managers and have regular 360s. There’s no problem saying to these kids, here’s your first 360, we’re going to set a target for improving your second one 12 months later. Make behaviour a key performance indicator.

CINDY GRASS HR director, Millward Brown Australia On how she’s noticed the impact of EQ (or lack thereof) in her business…

The 360 feedback we’d receive would say that this person isn’t meeting regularly with their people, so what can we do about that?

Are they understanding the impact their behaviour has on individuals?

What we’re seeing is those people below them leaving.

On how her business uses EQ assessment as part of its graduate program…

We have a rigorous graduate interview process. It’s not just the testing we do – numeracy, attention to detail, technical skills – we have the behavioural interviews, we get them to do a case study presentation. They are interviewed by four or five people, they come in for our recruitment day and they meet all our other graduates and people who have just come through the program – so we get different points of view on how they fit into the team.

To see this HC Online TV clip, or any of our other Big News stories, visit www.hcamag.com

INFLUENCING ON DIVERSITY HR Career Experts

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he skill set to influence senior management is a key to success for any HR professional.

There are a number of skills that make up the full range of tools that can be used to influence decisions. One the most valuable tools is building the business case for change.

In this month’s Instep, we discuss some of the factors that can be used when building the business case for change using Diversity as a case model.

Diversity – the business case At a recent function held in Melbourne by The Next Step, building the business case for a strong diversity management strategy was discussed.

Clearly, everyone in HR understands the importance of a diverse workforce and management team. The improvements in organisational performance of organisations that have a diverse leadership team versus those that do not are well documented.

Therefore, HR professionals believe that a diverse management team makes sense for sound business reasons, but the evidence still needs to be “packaged” in a way for executives to assimilate it.

A leading practitioner in Human Capital Consulting, Virginia Matthews of consulting firm Diverzita spoke at the function alongside senior executive and board member, Karen Smith-Pomeroy.

Both Virginia and Karen have experienced career success and know the true value of a diverse leadership team, but they dealt with resistance along the way.

Virginia has extensive experience in positioning the business case for a strong Diversity strategy through her prior career in financial services and now across all industries in her consulting role.

The 10 factors to consider Virginia proposed 10 clear factors to consider when influencing the case for a strong Diversity strategy; 1. Staff turnover – cost of turnover ($$, knowledge, reputation) – retention is a key issue for most businesses. Providing an engaging and motivating workplace for all employees, not just the dominant culture, is a key to retention.

2. Personalised performance measures – if it’s important enough to the organisation, it needs to be in individuals’ performance plans – if leaders are assessed and remunerated on the basis of demonstrating the right behaviours, there will be a heightened focus on changing their approach to building a supportive workplace for diverse employees.

3. Peer pressure – sometimes leaders get to where they are because they thrive on competition, don’t

be afraid to use a bit of healthy internal competition (or marketplace competition) to get leaders taking ownership for activities relating to diversity.

4. Personal impact and brand – some leaders will be keen to build their reputation and may be eager to take the lead in this space to enhance their reputation.

5. Compliance/legal – at times a ‘carrot and stick’ approach is required, sometimes the threat of the stick – ie legal action due to bullying and harassment claims – will be enough for organisations or individuals to take action.

6. Policy/ Practices & systems – get the basics right, and ensure your processes, policies and systems are supportive of the diverse community – don’t let minor issues become a major blockage for people entering or moving through the organisation.

7. Revenue – value of different markets – understanding the market in which your organisation operates and then ensuring you are supportive of those markets is key. Differentiate yourself from your competitors to get competitive advantage by the way you treat your diverse employees and customers.

8. Brand management – building not only an employment brand, but an organisational brand that is supportive of our diverse community is going to help you not only attract but retain both employees and customers.

9. Technology – flexible work arrangements are a key component of a modern organisation – social media and technology are now a cheap and relatively easy enabler of flexibility.

10. Future success – organisations will need to consider whether their current paradigm of what it takes to be successful in an organisation is going to be sustainable into the future … if organisations don’t open up their doors to a broader range of people and a broader range of thought, they will find it more and more difficult to sustain a viable employee group.

The Final Word Whilst these factors that Virginia has distilled can be used to build and influence the business case for a strong Diversity strategy, they can also be used as a basis to influence a wider range of HR initiatives.

The development of a tool kit that can use factors like these to build a business case is a key skill for intermediate HR professionals looking to build their careers. They are also a good reminder and checklist for senior HR professionals. Virginia can be contacted via her website – www.diverzitaconsulting.com Craig Mason is a Director with The Next Step, a specialist consulting practice in the human resources market. For more information call (02) 8256 2500 or email cmason@thenextstep.com.au or visit www.thenextstep.com.au

Recent HR Market Moves supplied by The Next Step

Nick Chiarizia has been appointed the HR & Township Manager for BHP Billiton Manganese. He was previously the Senior HR Manager – Northern Australian Operations with Incitec Pivot.

He brings over 20 years experience in the resources sector across Australia, South America, Africa and Asia.

Joining Leighton Contractors in the role of National Manager People & Capability – Construction is Samantha Dzabic-Patel. Prior to joining Leighton she was the Group HR Executive at Conneq, formerly known as Bilfinger Berger Services.

Rebecca Doyle has been appointed the Director Human Resources ANZ for Gilbarco Australia. She previously enjoyed four years with the Transport Infrastructure Development Company (TIDC), most recently as the Director of HR. Her experience also spans the technology, property, retail and not-for-profit sectors.

SuccessFactors has appointed Mark Souter as their Director, AsiaPacific, Talent Consulting. Mark has been the Head of Pacific HR Direct Services with Symantec for the past six years and previously enjoyed remuneration and generalist roles with Dell and NCR.

Mark Bartlett has been promoted into the role Head of HR for Australian Administration Services after joining the business a year ago when he arrived in Sydney. Mark enjoyed 15 years with John

Lewis Partnership, a leading UK department store, most recently as the Head of HR & OD. Joining UGL Limited as the Group Executive Human Resources is Matthew Bouw. He previously enjoyed four years with Leighton International as General Manager Human Resources. His prior experience spans the resources, insurance and professional services sectors.

Sabine Korstanje has been appointed the HR Manager ANZ/ India with GTA Travel. Sabine has held HR Management roles within the publishing, aviation and hospitality sectors and was most recently the HR Business Partner for Wolters Kluwer Asia Pacific.

Goodyear & Dunlop Tyres has appointed Chris Maclean as HR Business Partner. Chris was most recently with GlaxoSmithKline Australia as Senior Consultant/Business Partner.

Caroline Bando has joined HLB Mann Judd as their HR Manager. Caroline was most recently contracting with ANZ and prior to that was the Melbourne HR Manager for DLA Phillips Fox. Joining Jetstar Airways as the Head of People ANZ is Carolyn Noumertzis. Carolyn brings extensive generalist and recruitment experience gained in organisations such as Coles Group, Pacific Brands, Oxiana and Foster’s Group

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

FOLLOWING THE BOSS’ INSTRUCTIONS – HR MANAGERS BEWARE

Legal Experts

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n our December 2010 article (see issue 8.12), we discussed the activities of the Fair Work Ombudsman, the independent regulatory agency that investigates complaints involving suspected contraventions of the Fair Work Act 2009 and its predecessor, the Workplace Relations Act 1996, as well as breaches of awards and agreements.

Part of the FWO’s arsenal includes the capacity to bring Court proceedings seeking the recovery of unpaid entitlements, the reinstatement of employees where appropriate, and the imposition of monetary penalties.

In a recent decision of the Federal Magistrates Court, pecuniary penalties were imposed on a company director and the company’s HR manager after both men were found, in a previous judgment, to have been ‘knowingly concerned’ in the company’s contravention of the sham contracting provisions of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (‘WRA 1996’). Under the relevant provisions of the WRA 1996 (which applied in this case), it was unlawful for an employer to misrepresent an employment relationship, or a proposed employment relationship, as an independent contracting arrangement; it was also unlawful to dismiss a person in order to engage the person to undertake substantially the same duties but as an independent contractor. The Fair Work Act 2009 contains similar provisions.

In his November 2010 judgment, Federal Magistrate Cameron found that Centennial Financial Services Pty Ltd had contravened a number of provisions of the WRA 1996 – including the sham contracting provisions – and that the company’s sole director, Mr Mertes, and the company’s human resources manager, Mr Chorazy, were involved in the company’s contraventions. The facts were, briefly, that in January 2007, Centennial Financial Services Pty Ltd had employed sales staff known as ‘Corporate Associates’ under the terms of the Commercial Travellers Award. In April 2007, Centennial required the Corporate Associates to sign ‘Sales Consultant Agreements’ that effectively changed their status to that of independent contractors, payable on commission only, while their duties remained the same. The company’s instructions were issued by its director, Mr Mertes, and implemented by its HR manager, Mr Chorazy.

As a consequence, the Corporate Associates did not receive the usual statutory and award entitlements payable to employees. It was the Associates’ www.hcamag.com

evidence that if they did not accept the independent contracting arrangements, their employment would cease. One such Associate who declined to sign the Agreement was in fact dismissed and lodged a complaint with the FWO. Subsequent investigations by the FWO uncovered evidence of several contraventions which proceeded to Court.

In his judgment dated 21 June 2011, Federal Magistrate Cameron was required to determine whether penalties should be imposed on the director and HR manager of the company, the company itself escaping liability as it was in liquidation.

In making submissions as to the appropriate quantum of the penalties, the FWO argued that none of the underpayments had been made good at the time of the court hearing, both men had been uncooperative during the investigation and neither man had expressed any remorse for their role in the company’s unlawful conduct that benefited the company and Mr Mertes, its sole shareholder. The FWO also submitted that the penalties ought to be seen as a specific deterrent as both men were likely to be in positions in the future where they would be responsible for employing workers. The FWO argued that the penalties to be imposed on the HR manager ought to fall in the low to mid range, in contrast to the director, whose penalties should lie in the mid to high range.

Mr Chorazy argued that he should not be held responsible for the contraventions as he had merely been following the instructions of Mr Mertes and had no input into the decisions that constituted the contraventions. Mr Chorazy also argued that others in the company could have been pursued and that the negative publicity surrounding the case had effectively ruined his HR career and significantly diminished his earning capacity.

Ultimately, FM Cameron imposed penalties totalling $13,200 on Mr Mertes in respect of nine contraventions, and penalties totalling $3,750 on Mr Chorazy in respect of 11 contraventions. While the penalties were not necessarily financially onerous, this judgment is a salutary lesson to HR managers to make themselves aware of their obligations under workplace legislation and to resist directions from company management to depart from such obligations. 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) 8226 7311

PROFILE Shane Tiernan

Making a difference This month’s profiled HR professional has run the gamut from setting up a greenfields HR role to driving her current organisation’s HR strategy towards a Best Employer citation.

“I like a challenge!” Shane Tiernan admits to Iain Hopkins

T

here’s something to be said for being a subject matter expert, to really know your topic, to know where you work and how things operate. It’s unusual to find an HR professional who has spent time in other areas of either the business or the industry in which they operate. Shane Tiernan, director of HR, training and corporate communications, Merck Serono Australia, is one such person. As she concedes, “I’m on my third career”.

Tiernan was a scientist in the immunology area for around 10 years and from there she moved into the industry in a sales & marketing capacity. During her time working as head of sales & marketing at an American biopharmaceutical company, while assisting in the establishment of their Australian operation, an opportunity came up in the HR space.

“The finance manager had been doing much of the HR work in a very rudimentary way – as many small companies do – and after 4 or 5 years he left the company. I could see there was a lot that needed to be done. I was a bit mad – I put my hand up and said ‘I’ll do that as well’. After doing a combined job the company just got too big for me to cover it all, so I moved permanently into the HR role,” she says.

Although she was new to the role, Tiernan could see how the HR function could have a serious impact on the business. She adds that her knowledge and experience in other areas of the business also stood her in good stead since that time. “I had been a line manager for many years, so I did have that experience. And because I’ve got a science

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background, I do understand the products, which is great because you can talk to people knowledgeably.

It’s probably quite unique, too – not many people in biopharma companies or pharma companies [working in HR] would have that background.”

HR at Merck Serono Merck Serono Australia is a biopharmaceutical company that is actively committed to transforming lives by bringing therapeutic innovations to patients with serious diseases and in areas of unmet medical need. The company employs over 100 people, and Tiernan wears “many hats” in her role as HR director.

She is assisted by three part-time HR professionals, a full-time training & development manager, and a fulltime corporate communications specialist. Corporate communications, which incorporates internal communications as well as CSR, has developed considerably under Tiernan’s stewardship, and she believes this improved, transparent communication was a contributing factor to the company being cited as a Best Employer in Aon Hewitt’s Best Employer awards for 2011. “People can now connect their job to the bigger picture, and our MD has been great in updating people so they know what the company plans are and exactly where they stand,” she says.

Being a relatively small company, Tiernan says it’s beneficial for all employees to see the management and leadership team ‘walking the talk’.

For one thing, the company’s leaders, including the MD (David Garmon-Jones), embrace workplace

PERSONAL FILE

Shane Tiernan

Family: I’m married to a wonderful man with a great sense of humour Favourite sports: Trekking and skiing.

Can you call going out to dinner with friends a sport?

Favourite movie or TV: Love Actually and Q&A Best advice ever received: Learn to actively listen. Being in an HR role, sitting back and listening to what people are saying is so important Self-described: Peopleoriented, enthusiastic, action-oriented and organised

Thilo Pulch, www.pulchphotography.com

First job and/or worst job: First job was selling ice creams and drinks from a cart next to the seal pool at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo If not in HR: I’d still like to go back into the community or charity side of things. I’m involved in the CSR program here and also in past jobs. You get to a point and you think you’ve got something to offer – either in a volunteer capacity or part-time role www.hcamag.com

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PROFILE Shane Tiernan

flexibility. Thirty per cent of the Merck Serono workforce work part-time (Tiernan herself works four days a week as does one of the other directors), which Tiernan says is quite unusual for the industry .

“That all comes down to the leadership team and the MD being flexible enough to see if you really want to get the good people, there are really good people out there who may not want to work five days a week.”

Best Employer Of course, it takes more than flexible work offerings to be considered a best employer. The Aon Hewitt Best Employers in Australia & New Zealand study, which reflects the opinions of over 124,000 employees across 200 companies in Australia and New Zealand, aims to seek out and acknowledge the Best Employers in Australia and New Zealand. Out of the 130 companies that took part in the rigorous accreditation program in 2010/11, only 11 were accredited as Best Employers. Merck Serono was one of them.

In her own words…

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

The trend I see is trying to automate as much of the transactional aspects of HR as you can. As the company gets bigger that’s what I see happening, and that makes sense because they’re not so much the value-added part of HR. More companies, especially bigger ones, will see HR working more in the business. HR people need to understand the business even more – this is happening more than ever. I’d like to see more people going into the business and then coming back into HR, trying to get a mindset change towards the business. A really good example is Ann Sherry, who started in HR and then headed up a whole business division [CEO of Westpac New Zealand and Group Executive Westpac New Zealand and Pacific] and now heads up Carnival. They’re the sort of role models I would like to see more of.

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

I am most proud of what I’ve been able to achieve here at Merck Serono. I’ve been working here three years and when I started there was a lot that needed to be done, setting up the whole HR function. It’s been a team effort but I guess I’ve been the driver in that area. We were really pleased to get the Best Employer accreditation – we weren’t even sure how we’d compare to other companies, so to achieve it first time was really nice.

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To achieve Aon Hewitt Best Employer status, Merck Serono passed all three stages of the accreditation process. The first stage involved an Employee Opinion Survey (EOS) in which an organisation must reach an Engagement Score benchmark of 65% or higher to progress to the next stage. Merck Serono easily exceeded the engagement score. A People Practices Inventory (PPI) was then submitted outlining the company’s HR practices and policies before the final stage was undertaken, involving a series of on-site interviews by Aon Hewitt.

The feat is all the more remarkable given that prior to 2007 Merck products were distributed in Australia by another company. Merck then bought out Serono, resulting in an inevitable cultural shakeup. When Tiernan joined in mid-2008 employee engagement levels were down. It’s been part of her mandate ever since to improve this.

Tiernan says the company excels in employee engagement on a number of fronts, not least of which is leadership excellence. She notes that GarmonJones spends a lot of time ‘in the business’; that is, meeting everyone in the business, spending time with the sales team, meeting clients.

“He’s a very accessible person,” says Tiernan.

“All of those in the leadership team are the same.

Being a small company, of course that’s easy to do, but the leadership team is out there, not sitting in an ivory tower.”

In order to adapt to and support the values of the new-look company, Tiernan implemented new reward & recognition programs. “We’re very committed to the Merck Serono values and we have quarterly Star Awards for people who live the values. That has been going for three years and we get so many nominations every quarter, which is great.

“People are very enthusiastic about nominating.

Anyone can nominate for living the values award. A lot of companies talk about values but it doesn’t really happen, the managers aren’t walking the talk and people get cynical.”

Other awards focus on best practice (quality) and innovation.

Understandably, given the industry and the level of R&D that occurs in clinical research and trials, that last category is particularly important. “We have an innovation award, so every quarter each functional

PROFILE Shane Tiernan

group has to come up with their best innovation. At the end of the year, there’s the big innovation award for the best innovation of the year. It’s funny, the word ‘innovation’ – people in the early days thought it was too big. It was overwhelming. So we also use the term ‘continuous improvement’, and there are countless things that people can do to act on continuous improvement, to get people thinking differently.”

HR challenges Also helping matters is the fact that, like employers in the not-for-profit sector, Merck Serono benefits from having a core purpose that people get passionate about. The products that Merck Serono produce help patients suffering from multiple sclerosis and cancer, and assist in IVF treatment. The company tagline is ‘living science, transforming lives’. “That helps with the purpose straight off. It’s nice to be working in a company like that,” says Tiernan.

There are some clouds on the horizon. A significant challenge for HR in general, Tiernan believes, will be adapting businesses to the way people want to work – be that in the office, from home, on the road, etc. “Some people I speak to in our industry are asking whether we’ll need offices in the future. I can see some real challenges there in the

interpersonal communication area. It’s easier with sales people to manage this, because they have very concrete targets, but for other positions it’s tougher,” she says.

For now and into the future, Tiernan is focused on sourcing and retaining the best talent. This is more than just talk; she cites several examples where the recruitment steps have been followed but at the end of the process none of the candidates have been up to scratch – so the process has started over.

“The skills shortage has been there for a while.

There are certain technical areas in our industry that can be quite difficult to fill – the clinical research side or regulatory affairs. Because we focus on getting the best people we can, we possibly make it quite hard for ourselves sometimes!”

A new initiative is the Merck Serono Ambassador Program. “You never know where you will recruit from, so we’re making sure everyone who works for us knows the history of the company, what the products are, that we are a best employer, and so on.

So even if you’re in finance and you go to a barbecue and someone says, ‘what does your company do?’ you should be able to talk about the company. They are effectively acting as ambassadors for the company,” Tiernan concludes. HC

“You never know where you will recruit from, so we’re committed to making sure everyone who works for us knows the history of the company, what our products are and that our commitment to our staff has made us a best employer” – Shane Tiernan

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HR Technology

MAXIMISING THE VALUE OF WORKFORCE DATA WITH METRICS QUESTION: The management team in our

organisation is eager to utilise human capital data more effectively; can you give us some ideas on how we may achieve this?

ANSWER: As labour costs continue to rise and

the challenge of acquiring talented professionals in all sectors continues to grow, the importance of HR metrics continues to increase. At Frontier Software we have been helping clients to do more with their human capital data for many years.

Many organisations have placed a considerable investment in their Human Capital Management Solution — they store a plethora of employee data in its database. Many hours of data entry occur every week to keep the system updated. Yet the majority of organisations aren’t able to utilise the data to make informed decisions regarding their workforce.

If the HR department is eager to be seen as a strategic player on the management team, then HR metrics are the ideal platform for HR professionals to demonstrate workforce value to management.

Many organisations use a balanced scorecard, or something similar, to measure business performance. So you might consider including HR data in these measurements.

Some baseline metrics may include: Cost per Hire — What does it cost to source new employees (agency fees, staff costs, advertising)?

When analysing this type of information you may find that some roles cost less to recruit. Looking at recruitment costs per division or department over a three-year period can sometimes uncover issues with managers.

Time to Hire — The data that comes from these simple metrics may uncover the roles that are quicker to fill, but it could also uncover patterns with recruiters and those that fill roles quicker!

This could save costs and enable you to use higher performing recruitment services.

Turnover Costs — Most organisations know that it is cheaper to keep an employee than recruit from the outside. Yet when we see the actual costs, the information can be more meaningful and help to justify investments in training and talent management.

Revenue Factor — A simple calculation of Revenue/ Total Full-Time Employees can be extremely powerful,

as can HR expenses as a percentage of operating costs.

Often, management is surprised to find the depth of information available in their HRIS. All that is required to get started is a flexible reporting tool and a strategic perspective of the information required by the enterprise for informed workforce decision making.

It’s good to have a firm understanding of your organisation’s goals and plans, as that can assist in identifying the metrics that will add value to senior management. When embarking on a HR metrics project, it is ideal to consider: • What reporting tools are available and how can we analyse the data?

• What data needs to be gathered?

• What metrics are important and which ones will support management with decision making?

• How can the data be used?

Once you have an understanding of that information, it’s important to consider the type of metrics you are creating. It’s also critical that your reporting looks at historical data as well as your current data — and, if possible, looks to the future to understand business needs. If you are able to capture the skills needed for future projects, it will be easy to determine the available skills within the organisation and diagnose where further training can meet future needs.

If the goal is to transform workforce data to drive decision making, it’s crucial to provide only the metrics that are of value to management — information overload can often make the data difficult to interpret.

The true value of workforce metrics is in the measurement. HR practitioners have the ability to measure the success of day-to-day operations as well as new initiatives. The value of metrics can be accelerated when the data is analysed against industry benchmarks — for example, the ability to compare your organisation’s metrics against those of businesses of the same size in a similar industry will allow you to identify strengths and weaknesses.

Gathering and analysing HR metrics can be time consuming. To ensure your organisation is maximising the investment it’s imperative to gain a firm understanding of where this data can add value — because once you have the correct information, it will transform the effectiveness of the HR function.

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

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Twilight‌ not

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COVER STORY mature age workers

goodnight With lingering age discrimination and a hesitation to embrace flexible work practices, why are Australian organisations so slow to shift their mindsets towards mature age workers? Iain Hopkins investigates

T

hose with long memories may recall a time in the late 1980s when there was a strong push towards early retirement. Everyone would retire at 55, free to travel the world or play golf. As Michael Emerson, head researcher of the MyCareer Employment Forecast says, that concept now seems “out of fashion”.

There is, Emerson says, a significant mindset shift taking place – being driven mostly by those reaching traditional retirement age and slowly being acknowledged by employers – that people want to keep working. “People want to continue to work, even if it’s part-time,” he says. “The other aspect is the employers. We’ve seen this resistance to older workers in the past – there’s no doubt about it – but this too has changed. The fact that you’ve got the over-63 sector growing at 10% or more per

annum for the last five to six years indicates that the mindset is shifting.”

Whether or not it’s shifting fast enough is another matter. David Norris, director of Workplace Age Management, estimates that just 5% of organisations are prepared for this situation, and can also perhaps attribute their success to age management initiatives. A further 15–20% are trying to put useful initiatives in place but are either cost neutral or losing money. The rest are simply not doing anything.

“Organisations may want to take relatively small-scale initiatives in response to particular problems, such as skill shortages. However, the limitations of such actions must be recognised, as must the problems that might be created when both good and bad HR practices towards older

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of aged management. They have moved from analysis of data through to action.”

Robert Orth, director of human resources, IBM Australia and New Zealand, speaking to Human Capital in June, recalled a time when talk about the ageing workforce was met with blank faces.

“I was in Tokyo 11 years ago in a different role, and a professor from Tokyo University came in to talk about population trends in Japan. He said that if you forecast out to around 2020, no one will be working. It’s all the stuff we’ve seen since, but we all sat there and our eyes glazed over. Then it built a little bit; I remember pulling out that presentation and saying we need to do something around this. Again, eyes glazed over. It’s only happened in the last five years – sometimes businesses need to see it to get it.”

Problems

Cross-generational conflict Although the ‘Generations’ survey by Leadership Management Australasia only had a small sample size (774 workers spread across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors), its findings caused a flurry of comment across media when it was released in June. It found: »» Only 4% of Generation X and Y staff want to work with Baby Boomers, both preferring their own generation at 57% and 53% respectively »» Generation X reportedly found their mature colleagues to be inflexible and set in their ways, while Generation Y can’t handle the Boomers’ ineptitude with technology »» The survey found that even Baby Boomers themselves do not want to work with other Boomers, with four out of five saying their peers were selfobsessed and determined to do things their way.

workers coexist,” Norris says.

Alison Monroe, managing director of ageing workforce specialists SageCo, confirms that where an organisation sits on its aged management journey depends on whether they’ve experienced a catalyst for action and how much pain they’ve actually felt. Also, whether or not it’s appeared on the executive radar. “We find that it depends on the industry and the organisation,” she says.

“Industries such as the public sector, engineering, utilities, financial services and insurance, those that have traditionally had an ageing workforce profile, have been the groundbreakers in terms

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Despite the increased willingness of organisations to accept that mature workers have a strong desire to work longer, there are still myths and misconceptions around this demographic.

Some of these were highlighted in a mildly controversial survey conducted by Leadership Management Australia (see boxout). Criticism of Baby Boomers centred on their inflexible nature and their ineptitude with technology – claims that Monroe feels could just as easily apply to any other demographic.

“We find when it comes to inter-generational or multi-generational relationships there are some huge myths and misconceptions around what that looks like. What’s important to remember is that we have an aged cohort of over 4.1 million Baby Boomers and for every dynamic, fast paced, innovative, highly skilled and experienced mature worker, there is one who is unproductive and perhaps disengaged from the workforce. But I’m sure if we looked amongst the other generations we’d find the same rule of thumb,” she says.

Norris suggests that the notion of retirement and its accompanying ‘baggage’ is flawed across generations, not just for those of an age ready to retire. Likewise, when younger people are asked about their assumptions regarding the productivity and contribution to the workforce of those over 50, they assume that it declines.

However, if a 50-year-old is asked the same question, they suggest it doesn’t decline until 70.

And so it goes on.

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Case study: NAB Group

Human Capital talks to Rowan Arndt, head of diversity and inclusion for the NAB Group, about his company’s efforts to engage mature workers Human Capital: What do you believe are the typical tipping points before an organisation takes action on their mature workforce?

Rowan Arndt: That is a really interesting question, in the sense of the tipping points; it’s very much about looking at the demographics of the workforce. Where the concentrations you have with your mature workers are and understanding when you have a large amount of workers leaving the workforce is as much about workforce planning as it is about different tipping points in the group.

It might be a group of mature age workers that have a lot of intellectual property leaving the organisation over a period of time, or one critical matureage worker who has the operational knowledge around a business leaving an organisation. It’s about how we actually have that transition of information from one person to another.

There is a process we have now developed within the company called ‘My Future’ and it’s very much around people managers working with mature aged workers to be able to transition a lot of that intellectual property from one person to the other but also for one person into the system itself.

So it’s not reliant on one person holding that operational knowledge.

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HC: What policies and strategies does NAB have to facilitate older workers?

RA: It’s actually something a little bit more than policies and processes.

It’s around looking at the culture, and understanding how we consciously address unconscious bias and the way people think in this sector as well. One of the core things we have done over the past year is try to provide our mature workers with every opportunity to be able to pursue their career.

‘My Future’ is a program we have created that provides options for our mature age workers, around how they work, when they work and where they work. The mature age experience is very much about helping our employees understand themselves, what their career may look like over the next 10–15 years, and understanding what that means, whether that is full-time or part-time work. We look at their health from that perspective as well, understanding there are different health barriers and options they need to look at to have a healthy lifestyle at that age. We also look at their wealth to make sure if they’re looking at changes in their current work arrangements, [and if] they understand how it will affect them financially.

It’s been a critical program because it involves both the people leader and also the employee. Through that process we’ve been able to launch the program over the past few weeks and we have been inundated with applicants for the mature aged program. But on top of that, around the mature aged workers program, we’ve had to look at unconscious bias, and make sure with our leaders that some of the personal bias they may have doesn’t affect the recruitment process and influence the way we invest in our employees.

HC: How much of this depends on the direct manager having a conversation with their team member – about the future, what their plans are, etc?

RA: It’s one of the critical things we saw in the pilot. People that attended

the program and had their manager attend as well had better conversations.

It’s important here because not all the managers in that program fall into that set of being mature age, and they may be younger than the mature age participant that’s attending the program. They haven’t had the experience or don’t see some of the barriers that a mature aged worker would see. In addition to that they are able to work through what their future looks like, what that redirection looks like, and some of the requirements. By having managers and employees work together on the pilot they came out with some of the barriers and many of the solutions.

HC: Can you outline what workplace flexibility means at NAB? RA: Flexibility is key to anything we do in this organisation and flexibility especially in this mature age space was one of the underlying things our mature age workers came back to us with in the pilot.

Ninety-one per cent of the participants in the program said they would work longer for NAB if they could work in flexible arrangements. Flexibility is by all means beyond the concept of full-time and parttime. It’s how work gets done, where it gets done, the ability to work offsite.

HC: What steps would you recommend other employers take to attract mature age workers?

RA: One of the things we’ve seen at NAB and what I would recommend to a lot of employers out there is address the way you think first of all; understand those biases within the organisation, that you already may place in the way you advertise when looking to attract new recruits to the organisation. In NAB we have mixed panel interviews, so we have a mix of gender and age of people actually interviewing candidates. People are actually then able to overcome some of the biases. When looking at short listings we strive to make sure we have the best representation and the best candidates for those roles. It’s all about their values; we are looking for diversity.

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“What we’ve got across the lifespan is an assumption about productivity, and until we address that dialogue about lifespan contribution then any change to the retirement age will not have any impact on that discussion or that mindset,” says Norris. “We must start to inform and educate people, to say there is a lifespan contribution at work from every age.”

Monroe urges employers to look in the mirror if mature workers are unproductive or disengaged. “When it comes to coaching and working with mature workers in their late career stage, it’s interesting to look at how much they have invested in themselves in terms of remaining employable and marketable, but also equally to what extent the organisation has continued to invest in them professionally, to ensure their skills are kept alive and that they are continually able to contribute and be productive in the workforce. Research has found that less is invested in workers over 45 than those under 45. It’s a dual responsibility to take a look at this issue in organisations: to examine whether it’s prevalent and then address the imbalance.”

Monroe also believes it’s unfair to brand every individual as part of a homogenous group.

A major criticism of mature workers – that they are inept with technology – should be looked at on a case-by-case basis.

“Our most recent hire at SageCo is a 67-year-old gentleman, and in the six months since he joined, he’s introduced new technology to our organisation

“When working with people with long tenures we find it’s really difficult to pull apart the person from the role; the person becomes the role, the role becomes the person” – Catriona Byrne

that we now use in facilitating programs and solutions to organisations.”

While age discrimination and unconscious bias will continue in the workplace, Monroe feels the awareness of the risks of age discrimination has increased over the last decade and most organisations have taken steps in policy and practice to attempt to eradicate it from the workplace.

“Elizabeth Broderick’s recent address on age discrimination, her last address as the commissioner responsible for age [there will be a dedicated age commissioner appointed over the coming month], I believe really made a mark on the landscape and will continue to keep it on the radar of organisations.

“It is out there, and we hear a lot of stories from workers who feel discriminated against within the workplace when it comes to promotional prospects or opportunities for

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professional development, and also sadly through the recruitment industry where they may be overlooked or largely ignored for roles for which they are inherently skilled and capable of doing.”

Solutions

REALITY CHECK n The MyCareer Employment Forecast highlighted that the fastest growing sector continues to be the Twilight generation (over 63) with jobs growing at 8.6% per annum n This generation now represents 477,000 workers in Australia, a number that has continued to grow at around 10% per annum since 2005 n Australian Bureau of Statistics figures predict a 40% increase in workers aged 55–59 and 65% in workers aged 60-64 by 2056

Retirement… or redirection? »» N ine out of 10 Australians aged 45–70+ view retirement as: • an opportunity to give back and share experience and skills with others • a period to get the balance right between leisure and having impact • they disagreed strongly that it was an end to their productive years »» 76% of Baby Boomers are attracted to Fusion Careers – combining a life-work experience to meet financial, lifestyle and community goals.

Fusion Careers are not ‘gap fillers’ between the mid-career and the life of leisure. This is a genuine next career path for the Boomer and one that has potential to form a richer HR nucleus »» The key attractive job features for eight out of 10 Boomers are learning, flexible workplaces and ‘giving back’ Source: The BeNext Futures of Work Survey. Further information: www.benext.com.au

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Where to start? Monroe suggests tackling the “blue of the flame” – that is, whatever the priority or risk is for the organisation. That may be tackling the higher injury or workers’ compensation rates, which will generally happen in blue collar environments where the physicality of the role is higher, or knowledge loss as subject matter experts retire, or it may be that employees simply need a framework for late career and retirement planning.

The first step in the aged management journey must be about creating the data story.

This involves looking at both the quantitative workforce age profile and also qualitative data to either reinforce or challenge the quantitative data – getting out there and having conversations with the mature workforce, either one-on-one or in focus groups, to really find out what works for them, what doesn’t work, and what will cause them to either stay or leave the workforce.

Once the organisation has the compelling data story, it can then move onto creating a demand for solutions amongst the executive team and frontline managers, create the solutions that address the priorities that the executive team and the data have raised, and then look at ways of creating some sustainability and embedding those solutions across the organisation.

“Essentially a lot of problems are caused by conversations that have never been had when it comes to mature workers,” says Monroe. “We often receive comments that this is the first time these mature workers have been invested in, in terms of planning for their future. With 30–40 years’ tenure behind them, it certainly is time to start that conversation.”

Support will come in the form of putting in place flexible work options and role redesign so employees have the option of working longer but differently beyond traditional retirement age.

Redefining flexibility Catriona Byrne, director of SageCo, hints at blinkered vision when people suggest they are happy to work longer but want to work differently; the assumption is that this means working part-time.

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“It can be really hard to manage, so people shy away from it. I think the trick is it starts with a conversation. What does the individual need and what does the organisation need? Very often it might be project work, or adjusted hours, or the capacity to apply for more leave. There are different reasons, but you won’t find out unless you ask the question,” she says.

Monroe provides a specific example of role redesign. In this instance it was a company where the desire to hold onto the long tenure senior people was creating a bottleneck in the organisation.

However, by connecting with those mature executives and looking at where they wanted to go in the last stage of their career, the company discovered that many wanted to absolve themselves of much of the big budget responsibilities and the people management.

Fortuitously, it was those very opportunities being sought by some of the high potential talent coming through.

“By looking at ways of recreating the role, so that the long tenure mature workers could focus on their areas of expertise – mentoring, dealing with clients, etc – they could step aside almost in a lateral way in order to enable the talent beneath them to move through and up the organisation.”

Byrne adds that placing a “knowledge lens” on someone’s career can assist in recognising very quickly what their real contribution has been to the organisation. It can become an indicator of future role design.

“When working with people with long tenures we find it’s really difficult to pull apart the person from the role; the person becomes the role, the role becomes the person. If you’re trying to replace them, you can’t.

“One person we worked with decided they needed four different types of skillsets or four people to replace them. So looking at it through the knowledge lens can distil it and give distinction to what you actually need to replace

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Final tips

and how you might retain them longer in a really productive way,” she says.

Blue collar and employee health Chris McHugh, executive general manager, GIO Workers Compensation Portfolio, warned at the Australian Insurance Summit in June that employees over 45 have been found to be significantly more likely to die or be injured at work.

The statistics also indicate that an older worker will remain on benefits longer than their younger colleague for the same injury. It is estimated currently that 33% of injured workers aged 60–64 will remain on benefits until retirement age.

Again, Norris views mindset to be a severe barrier to those looking to return to work. “There’s still a big focus on disability in return to work, and that dialogue does derail it,” he says.

“The employer needs to have the age management education at hand or embedded, that while someone is 60 and they have injured themselves at work, there is every likelihood that their expectation is to return to work.

“If we address the mindset: they’re 60, they’re close to retirement, why return to work, this is what happens when you get older. We need to change that, the evidence doesn’t stack up.”

Norris suggests shifting the mindset about the value contribution of that worker, regardless of age, will result in more proactive return-to-work programs. “What is the task to individual capacity fit? That must be part and parcel of the return-towork program. As soon as we start getting into dialogue about age it gets lost in age bias – we must get back to the task and the individual capacity to do those tasks.”

This person-task fit might include improving work scheduling, reducing physical loads, reducing postural demands, improving visibility, etc. Job design needs to consider the work contact and physical loading of a task, the dangerous workplace environments that people are exposed to, the organisational environment (poor supervision through to poor work scheduling, perhaps generational conflict within team makeup), and the pressure for production (overriding cultural makeup that says high capacity must be produced).

HR should foster an age management competency mindset across the key stakeholders: employees (via health and wellbeing programs, EAS), the employer (management), the return to work team, and the organisation.

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“What we’ve got across the lifespan is an assumption about productivity, and until we address that dialogue about lifespan contribution then any change to the retirement age will not impact on that discussion or that mindset” – David Norris

What further steps do employers need to take to ensure their mature workforce remains not just safe and healthy, but productive?

In terms of heightening the retention and engagement of the mature workforce, organisations need to focus on educating frontline managers who are ultimately responsible for engagement and retention levels.

“At the end of the day they need to be aware of the opportunities that exist around embracing the mature age workers in the workforce, and not just [worry about] the risks and challenges,” says Monroe.

“Educate the line managers, create conversations and connections, create flexible work policy and practice at all levels and all stages of the life course, and also focus on supporting the mature workers in terms of planning their late career and retirement transition.”

Left to chance it won’t happen, Monroe adds, and those mature workers will head out the door taking with them 30-odd years of experience, knowledge, and relationships.

HR plays a critical role in this. Monroe says it’s up to HR to gain executive buy-in, and then to ensure that managers are equipped to have those conversations as well.

“There is an assumption that all leaders are able to have powerful and authentic conversations, and what we’ve found is that’s not always the case. So where there is a skill gap, filling that skill gap through powerful conversations, training and programs for leaders so they can sit down, connect with and create win-win solutions for their mature workers.”

Norris challenges one final mindset: the idea that business sustainability equals youth. Too often when business sustainability is considered the assumption is that it involves a younger, more invigorated workforce or pipeline. What’s neglected is that multiple entry points can exist across the lifespan into the workplace.

“It’s about developing a talent management strategy across the lifespan. Career enhancement doesn’t necessarily have to mean hierarchy or up the ladder. For people in the second half of life one of the key things is the desire for greater meaning and greater participation. By offering that in your talent development strategies you’ll certainly gain a lot from attracting and retaining mature age workers,” he says. HC

COVER STORY employer EXPERTbranding INSIGHT

Is your organisation Generationally Intelligent (GQ)?

I

t’s 2011 and the Australian workforce now has more people leaving than entering.

It is acknowledged that many industries have a shrinking talent pool which is becoming increasingly worse and will continue to do so over the next few decades. For employers to find the talent they need and stay one step ahead they will already have begun to recruit from non-traditional labour pools, resulting in a more diverse workforce.

These pools represent an overabundance of people actively seeking employment including: people with a disability, Indigenous Australians, GLBTI and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, which may include skilled migrants and refugees.

There is another pool of talented, skilled and knowledgeable people – our over-45 mature workforce. If leaders can recognise this potential and recruit them into the organisation or at least ensure the retention of their existing mature aged staff they will have access to a wealth of in-depth knowledge.

Older members of an organisation understand its systems and processes, products and services. They understand and have established relationships with the organisation’s client base, and in fact, in an ageing population they are likely to represent the client demographic. This workforce has proven their loyalty and fortitude. So why would any organisation want to lose them?

The obvious response is fear of ‘retirement’. For the organisation it is assumed that an employee over the age of 55 will be considering retirement at some point in the coming decade. This assumption may be false. For many over-45 employees the prospect of retirement may be a very distant consideration.

They may wish to continue working for as long as possible for financial and social reasons. Employees may, however, want to continue working in different ways, including flexible working arrangements, redeployment or transition plans.

So, when does an organisation have the conversation with an employee about their ongoing work or retirement plans?

Often it is the same issues that preclude other diverse groups from entering the workforce that prevent an ageing workforce from remaining. Part

of the reluctance for organisations to have these conversations or to ensure that these options are available to their mature aged workforce can be linked to systemic bias around ageing. In essence, the real challenge lies around affecting cultural change.

Many organisations have had ongoing resources in place to tackle issues as they relate to sexism and racism in the workplace. Ageism as it relates to older workers is yet to be really addressed. There is a lack of awareness of GQ – Generational Intelligence. The generational cohort into which we are born shapes our view of the world and the way in which we value and behave at work. Age is something that we all have in common and ageing is an inevitable part of being human. Much of the reluctance to have meaningful discussions around retirement and the ageing workforce is due to a disconnect between generations.

Just as organisations have invested in raising the CQ – Cultural Intelligence quotient – within organisations it may be time to start investing in some GQ. In doing so, organisations can commence meaningful discussions with their ageing workforce, and find out what they require as they move through different stages of their working lives.

When staff feel safe and valued in an inclusive work environment they are more productive and efficient, they want to come to work, but more importantly they want to stay.

What processes can organisations put in place to build GQ and tackle the dilemmas that an ageing workforce presents? Diversity @Work recommends the following: 1. Develop GQ – Generational Intelligence by offering staff programs that explore generational difference and how this impacts on their behaviours and decisions in the workplace 2. Check that organisational policies and procedures are free from ageism 3. Raise awareness around and communicate zero tolerance of ageist behaviours 4. Provide avenues to assist employees to uncover their existing unconscious bias, particularly as it relates to ageism 5. Provide opportunities for staff to have meaningful discussions around their retirement options at any stage of their working life

Donna de Zwart About the author Written by Donna de Zwart, General Manager, Diversity@ Work. For more information on solutions, strategies and programs in Diversity & Inclusion please visit our website www.diversityatwork. com.au, where you will also find information on the Diversity@Work 2011 Employment and Inclusion Awards www.hcamag.com

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FEATURE knowledge management

Knowledge transfer:

Pathways to a better future

As Baby Boomers increasingly look to move into retirement, what is best practice in terms of knowledge management? Simon North explains that it should and can be fun from the point of view of both the learner and those who are ‘giving’ the learning

T

he move to digitisation has seen an increasing dichotomy between virtual relationships and face-to-face relationships. This can be represented by the difference between, for example, traditional networking between people and LinkedIn via the internet.

Knowledge transfer moves between two ends of the spectrum. At one end you have digitised knowledge on a database, which is then mined as and when you require. You have to find ways of putting the data there, be it by scanning, converting books into a digitised form or digitising engineering drawings.

What you’re doing is trapping as much data as possible in a digital form. Information in this format tends to be fairly dry and one-dimensional. Whilst a very efficient way of capturing data, this method is not necessarily the most effective when it comes to the transfer of data and of knowledge to third parties.

Human-to-human communication is much richer and more effective than basic digital information tends to be. Thinking about it from a learning-style viewpoint, someone might prefer to read and someone else may prefer to listen and ask questions. The digital knowledge base systems don’t suit everybody.

The definition of knowledge is about being

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aware of, having information about and being able to distinguish. Translating that into the learning hierarchy, there are big differences between awareness, knowledge and skill. As the Chinese proverb says, “Tell me and I’ll forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I’ll understand”.

There’s a real depth of penetration around knowledge transfer. The more you think about it in those terms, the more you can see the opportunity there is to make knowledge transference fun.

Fun at work?

Knowledge transfer should and can be fun from the point of view of both the learner and those who are ‘giving’ the learning. This can be applied to both older people, who are typically the ones passing on knowledge and wisdom, and younger people, who are usually the learners. If you think about the current situation, there are effectively two tribes. There are those that have knowledge that needs to be transferred and there are those who need to learn it.

It is a prerequisite that those who transfer the information need to be respected – there needs to be a dignity for the older worker and a respect for the value that they have. The organisation has to do more than

FEATURE knowledge management

purely stripping them of all the knowledge they have and leaving them feeling exposed and useless. The quality of the knowledge transfer has to be predicated on that level of respect for those who have the necessary knowledge.

What’s the end game here? What result is the employer trying to achieve? The aim is that the company/organisation captures the ongoing appreciation of knowledge (as an asset) in its organisation and in its business as well as in internal issues like products and product development. But who is this process of knowledge transfer actually for? The primary beneficiaries are shareholders – which is fine as they’re the ones who take the risk of investing capital in the venture. We’re not saying that’s a problem, it’s just that we must be clear that this is a shareholder issue; it’s about the quality of the business.

Knowledge transfer isn’t, therefore, a one-off process; it’s inherently part of the company’s culture and ethos. It needs to be systemised within an organisation just like oxygen is systemised within an organism. It’s about learning tomorrow from what you are today. It is absolutely critical that any business that wishes to be better tomorrow than today must learn to learn lessons. In writer and motivational speaker Daniel Pink’s book Drive, being more masterful and better tomorrow than today is, in the author’s view, a key determinant of what people who go to work do.

People want to work in challenging environments, with challenging colleagues. Why? Because we want to be stretched and to learn – if we do the same old thing dayin day-out, we become robotic and stale. We are not stimulated in any way and we don’t move forward.

Passing the baton, with creativity When someone dies, some people talk about it in terms of ‘passing’ – passing on, passing through or passing away. In that sense the transfer of knowledge is like passing a baton from one runner to another. Think of it in terms of giving someone a baton securely, so they can protect it as they run, before giving it to the next runner – just as the thousands of people who’ll carry the Olympic flame in the build-up to London 2012 will need to do as they pass it around the world and then across Britain. In the context of a company, passing on knowledge is about the protection of the brand, the organisation, the team and also the individuals involved in it.

Businesses will want to establish processes of transferring knowledge that are fun. What they’ll also

want to do is involve the older, experienced workers in co-creating that learning process and making it as experiential and practical as possible. The more that knowledge transfer can be made into something practical, the more likely it is to be fun and used.

Storytelling is becoming much more in vogue with regards to interesting learning. Older colleagues have a larger pool of stories, which is why stories tend to come from them; [they are] wiser people who have lived longer and had more experiences.

Take the Bhopal incident in India. In 1984 there was an explosion at the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant. It killed thousands of people immediately and to this day people are still dying from the poisonous gases that escaped from the plant. By 1987, the parent company Union Carbide Corporation was employing engineers to work from home for around three or four days a week, receiving graduate engineers who’d lay out drawings of the Bhopal plant.

The older engineer would tell his group of graduates that it’ll never happen again. He’d go through with them why it happened, what caused it and why it’ll never happen again. As part of the generation that made a mistake that led to multiple deaths, the older engineers were transferring the knowledge and the lessons learned to the younger ones.

For an employer, overseeing the passage of workers through to an end point of their career, followed by a precipitous drop into their retirement is quite an old fashioned model in the 21st century. As time goes on, this will be merely an option for workers, as opposed to the mandatory business model it used to be. How does the older worker stay plugged in? How do they continue to contribute to the area of knowledge transfer when their main full-time role within the organisation comes to an end? They might not want to keep working full-time but may still be interested enough to want to be involved in the company’s learning processes. They could continue to contribute as a mentor or they might want to be coached so that they can be a coach. Mentoring is more based on drawing from experience, whilst coaching is a safe environment where the individual works it out for themselves. HC

“Humanto-human communication is much richer and more effective than basic digital information tends to be”

About the author Simon North is co-founder of Position Ignition, a UK based late career planning company for organisations and career consultancy. Visit www.positionignitionorg.com to learn more about their late career planning solutions or www. positionignition.com for personal career support. www.hcamag.com

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HR Consulting

SELECTION INNOVATIONS – ‘HIRING FOR FIT’

O

ver the last 10 years, assessment and selection techniques have become increasingly high-tech, transferring much of the work online and automating the sifting/ testing components. This has increased the success rate in identifying talented individuals and enabled scarce resources to be focused on the high-touch, latter stages of assessment.

However, selection still tends to address one challenge – identifying candidates who fit the job requirements as closely as possible.

In most instances, this focuses on some combination of skills, personality, aptitude, knowledge and motivation.

For all its capacity to deliver more effective outcomes at vastly reduced cost, such an approach still risks overlooking two key issues – the extent to which candidates will thrive in a specific work environment/culture and the concept of selection being a ‘two-way sell’, in which candidates are assisted to make the right selection decision just as much as the employer.

How often have you hired someone who clearly has what it takes to be successful in a job – all the right qualifications, an impressive track record, an energetic personality and the talent to deliver the outcomes you need – only to see them underperform, fail to ‘click’ or disappointingly drift out of the organisation?

How employees relate to your actual environment explains much of this phenomenon. If your culture gels with the individual – meets their needs and values, enables them to feel fulfilled – they are much more likely to thrive.

So we need an effective way of assessing a candidate’s ‘culture fit’, based on an understanding of what the culture is truly like once experienced ‘on the ground’ (and not necessarily the sort of aspirational statement that we tend to put up on the wall) and simultaneously enabling candidates to evaluate their own fit. Happily these two goals work neatly together. All we need to do is ensure that the assessment experience is shaped by a clear understanding of the working environment (not just the job itself).

If we can do this, not only will we make better decisions, we will also save money (because we don’t need to proceed any further with people who

just won’t fit) and achieve competitive advantage (because we are attracting and selecting people more effectively than our competitors). There is also evidence that great candidates are likely to be attracted to an employer taking this approach, not only because the experience will feel more impressive, but also because candidates feel good when they are treated as though the decision is as much theirs as the employer’s.

So how do we identify cultural characteristics so that we can build them into the assessment process? One obvious source is employee surveys. Many Kenexa clients are working with us on culture surveys or employee engagement surveys – both of which are rich sources of insight into the work environment. Focus groups and stakeholder interviews can also be great methods. With the right information, it can be surprisingly easy to establish what the work environment asks of your people.

Once that is done, the key link for an assessment process to make is between organisational culture and individual sources of motivation. Each of us is motivated differently – and psychometric questionnaires allow us to pinpoint individual drivers. But that is only the beginning...

We are working with some of our clients to produce online ‘realistic job previews’ that provide candidates with a clear insight to what life in a particular organisation would be like – ranging from simple passages of text or video clips, all the way up to interactive simulations and totally immersive virtual worlds. Clearly the latter approach suits high-tech organisations (and more ‘tech savvy’ candidates), but the more basic simulations are widely applicable.

This is an exciting area which is at the forefront of assessment and selection methods. It is enabling us to have a much better idea of who will thrive, and it allows candidates to self-select much more effectively. It is also providing the employers who seize these opportunities with genuine competitive advantage – and promoting their brands at the same time.

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

EXPERT INSIGHT

Engagement superhighway F

or online publisher News Digital Media (NDM), being able to measure and improve its employee engagement is critical given its fast-paced environment and mostly young workforce. Working in a business with short turnaround times, NDM’s 500+ employees also expect to have the results of any surveys they do almost instantly.

NDM has been measuring its employee engagement for four years now and has a strong focus on developing actions to improve engagement, not just measure it. It had been using a bespoke engagement tool until recently but it took 40 minutes for their time-pressured employees to complete. NDM found Aon Hewitt’s Rapid Engagement tool (specifically designed for SMEs) to be much shorter, reducing the time to complete by 35%, but still giving all the information needed. The fast, eight-week process from beginning to end meant employees got the results very quickly. It was also a very costeffective solution, allowing NDM to spend more of its resources on improving engagement levels.

“We’ve found Aon Hewitt’s Rapid Engagement tool is ideal for us” says Nicole Allingham, NDM’s Human Resources Director. “I have no doubt that it would also be useful for smaller or larger organisations that recognise the difference that engagement can make to business results.”

The survey’s results have been very helpful in identifying and prioritising issues the company

Employees today challenge their organisation • Is there a compelling reason to continue working here?

• Is it worth putting in extra effort?

• Am I supported to be successful in my role?

What answer would your employees give to these questions?

needed to address. NDM receives a variety of reports in PowerPoint and Excel that allows it to easily explore the data and test out hypotheses.

This helps determine what NDM needs to address to improve engagement.

The survey provides concise, useful data which proves very valuable as it helps managers understand what they need to improve within their teams. The data is also critical in demonstrating where the company as a single entity can improve and how engagement is linked to other factors such as tenure and turnover.

When NDM first started measuring engagement it relied on Aon Hewitt to run workshops with its senior leaders on how to improve engagement levels. They saw the impact of this in the following year’s survey results when engagement levels had improved for managers at the next level down. NDM is now focusing on first-time managers, helping them to improve engagement levels of their teams.

As NDM’s HR team has partnered with Aon Hewitt to grow its capability in developing action plans from the survey results, they now do more of this work themselves. “Aon Hewitt has been our trusted adviser for some years now,” says Allingham, “and their guidance will continue to be important to us, although we can now do more of the planning ourselves.”

With few local peers, NDM hasn’t yet focused on benchmarking. “Benchmarking will become more important in the future as we increasingly compete in a global marketplace for talent,” says Allingham. Aon Hewitt’s global benchmarking data will help NDM compare itself with other organisations recruiting from the same talent pool.

For NDM, engagement is a continual process of improvement. Having regular, cost-effective data to measure progress and identify further areas for development is therefore critical. NDM finds the Rapid Engagement tool is ideal for guiding them in this process.

“A focus on engagement is now an integral part of our company. Our senior leaders can see how it affects revenue and impacts our business” – Nicole Allingham, Human Resources Director, News Digital Media (NDM)

SME employee engagement

More than size alone HC: Do you believe that engagement comes down to company size?

James Rutherford: We’ve certainly seen examples of very high engagement in organisations of all sizes. Our data would support that organisational size does not matter, but what I do think has an impact is the ability of an organisation to change their engagement level quickly. I think that is impacted by organisation size.

HC: Is that typically because small companies are nimble and can shift things around – for good or bad?

JR: Yes, I think so. The actions of small companies are far more immediately felt because of their scale. Take a change of leadership as an example. This could be a leader’s style resonating or not resonating with the organisation, and that level of leadership effectiveness would be one of the key factors signifying a best employer. Clearly, in a small company that’s present on day one of that leader being in place, impacting the engagement level of the business. In a larger organisation that can take months, possibly years to filter through. That’s an example of smaller companies having the advantage if they can get these things right, quicker.

HC: But it’s not all positive for SMEs, is it?

JR: There’s a perception that the grass is always greener. We talk to large employers and they say it would be great if they could get everyone into a room and tell them what needs to be done, it would be easier to manage, and that is certainly a valid perspective.

But then we get the smaller employers who say it would be great if they had some of the resources large employers were able to bring to bear on the engagement challenge. There are pros and cons on both sides, but it’s about identifying the strengths you have as an organisation and playing to those.

HC: What are the key levers to pull when influencing engagement levels?

JR: We have four areas that impact on engagement.

The first is leadership effectiveness, which asks ‘do I have that vision and that sense of connection of

the leadership team to the vision?’, and also do they operate with a sense of people being important, and do they display organisational values?

The next is the connection between the individual, the company and the strategy. It’s the classic sense of purpose or connection between the individual and the company – do I buy in to what the company is trying to achieve? Most of the best employers are very successful in terms of business measures, profitability and market penetration, but they also have a mission statement that people buy into – that broader sense of purpose.

Thirdly, these organisations will typically have a clear differentiation based on performance. This is where we get into that discretionary effort piece – is it worth my while to put in the extra effort for this company? If I see myself working really hard, putting effort in, but being rewarded by someone in my team who I don’t think works nearly as hard as me, that’s going to impact on my engagement.

The final piece is around effective people practices.

The way these companies manage their people works very well in their individual business context. It’s this concept of best fit rather than best practice. For larger organisations, most will follow the GE lead for performance management, for example, the bell curve with active performance management for the bottom 5–10%, and overt reward for the top 10–20% – but it’s not necessarily right for every organisation. In a smaller organisation, you can do things quicker and more collaboratively, and that forced differentiation of performance won’t work for you. You’re likely to still have it but the mechanism by which you achieve it will be different.

Engagement by company size in the Australian/NZ market Average company engagement score

Human Capital profiles two SME business leaders and talks to James Rutherford, senior consultant at Aon Hewitt, about whether or not company size has any impact on employee engagement

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

1–399

400–999

1,000–2,999

3,000+

Company respondent size

Source: Aon Hewitt

www.hcamag.com

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SME employee engagement

Linda Cooper I

t’s always interesting to note at what point employers decide they need a dedicated HR resource. In the case of mortgage and financial services distribution business Firstfolio, HR has been part of the team since day one. From 2004 to 2007, the publicly-listed company was known as Affiance; since 2007, it’s been known as Firstfolio.

Linda Cooper, general manager human resources, has been with the company since those early days, after several years in other professions and roles, including logistics and sales in a multinational shipping company, and account management at McCann-Erickson. Although she’s been in HR for over 10 years, Cooper believes that early career diversity has helped with her understanding of broader business issues.

“It’s been a while since I worked in those other areas but when our marketing manager talks about a strategy they want to deliver, I understand the basis of it from a practical point of view, not just a people point of view. I think that assists when you are sitting with the executive team – it enables you to contribute to the conversation at a different level.”

From 35 people in 2007, the company has grown to 140 nationwide. Likewise, in 2007 the company had one billion dollars in loans under management; today that stands at $21bn – a 76% growth rate.

“The organisation has evolved year-on-year and will continue to do so. That in itself creates quite a unique culture,” says Cooper.

Indeed, since 2007 Firstfolio has completed 10 acquisitions, four of which have changed the business significantly. Cooper has focused her efforts on cultural integration.

“We often buy smaller businesses, typically those of 10–20 people. Quite often they are suburban-based businesses, so we’re very mindful of the impact that acquisition can have on people, that it wasn’t their original choice to work with us.

There’s a strong focus on bringing those people on-board. We talk about being ‘on the bus’, so we want all our team members to know the destination of that bus, to ensure they want to go along with the ride.” Cooper and the executive team are very aware

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of the people cost to the business. “We’re a service business and we rely on the IP of our team members.

As a service business, the cost of our staff is 60% of our total cost – that’s quite considerable. We need to ensure we’re making the right choices and maximising the benefits of that,” she says.

Cooper adds that the tolerance-level impact of disengaged staff is not high in a SME. “If we have 10% of our staff disengaged and that has a P&L value of $1.2m, that’s significant in a small business,” she says.

“We do focus on what is best practice and how to get it right. That’s how we make our investments.

We’re currently working with SHL, who lead that talent assessment space, by conducting a bespoke project with them to create a pre-screen around cultural fit. We’re also looking at what ‘good’ looks like in our business and how we can build talent from within. Typically, if you look at SHL’s client base it’s more the Macquaries of the world, but we understand the importance of it. That’s an area we’re willing to invest in, in order to get it right.”

When asked about the challenges facing HR professionals in SMEs, Cooper says resourcing and budgetary constraints have an impact, as well as “the onus to ensure the programs you scope deliver”.

However, Cooper does not feel pressured to compete with the big players when it comes to attraction and retention; she’s aware of Firstfolio’s distinct offering and is very clear about this setting the company apart.

“Where we’ve had staff come from larger companies, it doesn’t always work – as some staff prefer that very structured environment. Others prefer what our environment has to offer, which is more hands-on, broader, and provides the ability to have input and see the results of your actions quite quickly. There are certainly areas – like remuneration – where we can’t compete but generally it’s one component of an overall offering.

Quite often it’s about being in a business like this, which is growing rapidly, and the understanding that that brings opportunity. Maybe you don’t get that in larger organisations.”

“We believe that modelling innovation drives innovation… but I think it’s a cultural attribute and state of mind that you consciously need to foster” – Linda Cooper

Thilo Pulch, www.pulchphotography.com

SME employee engagement

www.hcamag.com

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SME employee engagement

In my experience…

The one people management tip that I would share with leaders in larger organisations would be…

Don’t forget the people when developing the process. I think there’s a danger in larger organisations that the process becomes over-engineered and the focus then becomes about the process rather than the people who engage with it. Sometimes that can discourage action and innovation, so where possible, think small.

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Cooper cites an example she heard from one staff member who had come from a larger corporate. That company had a very structured way of making an improvement suggestion – it had to be logged online, then go to a committee, then it had to be evaluated – so the feedback then was “it became too hard”.

However, Cooper does not want to “big company bash” because she understands the complexity of making changes in these companies, the layers of messaging required and the dilution of the original message as it moves through the organisation. “I have a lot of empathy for someone trying to drive change through a 30,000-person organisation. The logistics would be extremely challenging,” she says.

Although it remains a relatively small company, Firstfolio has in place some innovative HR practices. ‘Firstfolio Dreams’ is an engagement program tied in with the company’s belief in innovation and ‘thinking outside the square’ when it comes to engagement.

Employees complete a formal proposal and outline why a particular cause is important to them and why they would like Firstfolio to support them.

Dreams can be local or international and the support provided is in the form of travel and accommodation, any costs associated with working with the charity or NGO, full salary for a four- to six-week period, and any living-away-from home expenses. This year, for example, a breast cancer survivor asked Firstfolio to support her in working with the Cancer Council to train as a facilitator to run ‘living well after cancer’ workshops. She spent time in Tamworth and Dubbo.

Another staff member, who was passionate about stopping child labour, went to Romania and worked for six weeks teaching English to children.

“It broadens the horizons and understanding of not just those who take part, but our other staff, too. Part of the program is the commitment by those staff members to update us via blog about their experiences and then present back their experiences,” Cooper says.

“We believe that modelling innovation drives innovation,” Cooper adds.

“Our business partners acknowledge that Firstfolio is innovative. But I think it’s a cultural attribute and state of mind that you consciously need to foster. The important thing to note around Firstfolio Dreams is the underlying strategic objective that the employment experience matches the experience of the corporate brand, that there is synergy between the two, and it seems genuine.”

SME employee engagement

www.hcamag.com

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SME employee engagement

Robyn Sefiani “I

think I’ve had the best of both worlds,” says Robyn Sefiani when asked to compare her time leading her own SME with her time as a business leader in a large global firm. “I had a fantastic experience leading the South Asia region of Edelman, which is the world’s second-largest PR firm. I was able to bring a lot of those big-company learnings and PR knowledge to my own business when I established it.”

Sefiani Communications Group was established 12 years ago and in that time it has grown to become Sydney’s largest privately-owned corporate/financial PR firm, currently employing 20 staff. In an industry still regaining its composure after the GFC, Sefiani is currently experiencing unprecedented revenue growth (37% in the past financial year).

Considering the company bears her name, it’s hardly a surprise to learn that Sefiani is passionate about her business and the people who work there.

As the MD, Sefiani has three directors under her and the staff fall into groups under those directors. While she has delegated some people responsibilities to her directors, Sefiani believes it’s in the company’s best interests for her to remain involved.

“I’ve always led the people management side of the business because that’s what we have to sell.

In a consulting business you’re only as good as your people so I’ve always placed huge importance on making sure we recruit the best people, that we empower the people we have, that we make sure they get a lot of professional training and development, and that there’s a happy working environment,” she says.

Sefiani dismisses the notion that SME leaders can often get so bogged down in the day-to-day challenges of staying afloat – paying bills, doing paperwork, meeting clients – that they lose sight of what makes employees happy. “In a business of our size, if the leader of the business is totally focused on cash flow and the business side, then that is dangerous,” she says.

“You must be right across the business, making sure you’ve got the right people doing the right sort of work, that the clients are happy,

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that you’re marketing the company properly and so on.” For a small company, Sefiani benefits from surprisingly robust HR practices. Transparent, open communication is crucial to the smooth running of the company. A fortnightly staff meeting provides everyone – from the most senior employee to the most junior – with a chance to voice their opinion.

Likewise, an annual conference off-site allows Sefiani to articulate her vision of the company, remind everyone of its founding values and philosophy, and to cover plans for the coming year. Everyone takes part in brainstorming sessions. “Everyone is made to feel valued and everybody has a say,” says Sefiani.

This extends to more formal performance appraisals. In the first year of someone joining the company, a performance review is done at three, six and 12 months, and then in subsequent years an informal review is done at six months and a formal 360-degree appraisal at 12 months. Sefiani sees all the input from the appraisee prior to the review so she can see where they believe they’re doing well or where they might need further development, and the person doing the appraisal will sit down with her to discuss it together before that review takes place. Sefiani is also personally involved in all the senior reviews.

Poor performance is a burden on any organisation, but its impact is perhaps magnified in smaller firms where others are forced to pick up the slack. Sefiani concedes that several years ago, during a particularly barren time for talent, she did make a poor hire who simply did not work out. “It was evident to everybody probably in the first week.

I think you know very quickly if you make a wrong hire. It’s hard for the rest of the team. Everyone tries to get along with everyone else and particularly in our culture we try to help each other, but if you’ve got a square peg in a round hole and it’s just not going to fit, then no matter how much counselling you’re doing for that person, at the end of the day you’ve got to make that tough decision.”

Indeed, in order to protect its collegiate environment, the company has employed a rigorous recruitment process. While ever mindful of the

“I’ve always led the people management side of the business because that’s what we have to sell. In a consulting business you’re only as good as your people” – Robyn Sefiani

Thilo Pulch, www.pulchphotography.com

SME employee engagement

www.hcamag.com

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SME employee engagement

In my experience…

The one people management tip that I would share with leaders in larger organisations would be…

Empower your people to be the best they can be. It’s as simple as that. It’s trusting your people, having the confidence to delegate more to them, to see how much they can take on. You can be blown away by the potential of people, but if you don’t give them that opportunity to work to their limits, you’ll never know what they’re capable of. They’ll sit at their desk and do their job but you’ll never really uncover and unleash their potential.

professional skills required for the jobs on offer – writing, communicating, implementing PR programs for clients, knowledge of the media – Sefiani also looks at personality during the interview process.

“Our clients say that the people at Sefiani are smart, professional and friendly – that’s always resonating with me when I’m interviewing someone.

Are they a Sefiani-type of person? That’s not to say that everyone here is a clone; that would be a terribly boring type of workplace. Individuality here is treasured and we do have people with quirky personalities, but that sort of difference makes the workplace fun and interesting.”

Interestingly, Sefiani reverses the tables on the recruitment agencies she uses. Following an interview, instead of responding to the standard question, ‘what did you think of the candidate?’, Sefiani prefers to ask what the candidate thought of the company. If the response is, they absolutely loved

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the company and really want to work for Sefiani, that’s a big tick. If they were impressed but still not sure what they want to do, and are doing other interviews, if it’s a half-baked response, she won’t bother to do a second interview. “They must feel themselves that the cultural fit is right,” she says.

Does Sefiani ever feel pressured to compete with larger players when it comes to attracting or retaining staff? “I don’t feel pressured because I hear from the market that Sefiani is an employer that people want to come to – but we do operate in the top tier so we’re competing head-on with the global firms in the Australian market. So, yes we’re competing for the same talent and there is a shortage of PR professionals in Australia. Our offer is quite different to a global firm’s offer. We attract probably a different style of person. Having worked in an international consulting firm and my own small firm, there is no doubt that smart people progress more quickly in a small firm because opportunities are thrown at them.

In a large firm there is a lot more structure. You can be locked in at one level,” she says.

In terms of retention, Sefiani says the challenge for small business is keeping people engaged if they’ve already been promoted through the ranks.

“The answer is you must keep growing. That’s what’s motivating me to drive the growth of Sefiani now and it’s why we’ve had rapid growth this year. I’ve got all these great people, and I want to keep them – I want to make sure they’re challenged, and that they don’t feel they must leave Sefiani in order to progress their careers,” she says.

With several exciting announcements already made in 2011, including a strategic alliance with a social media intelligence company to offer clients a groundbreaking end-to-end risk mitigation and crisis management service, does Sefiani believe that innovation is more easily hatched in a smaller business? “In a small business you have the choice to innovate or not,” she says. “I know people who run small businesses and they are very content not to grow but just to do their work really well with a small group of clients. I don’t fall into that category.

I’m constantly looking for new and better ways to do things. If you have an entrepreneurial spirit you’re never content to do the same old, same old. In large organisations innovation is just expected and you probably have people whose jobs are to think about new and better ways of doing things. In small business, if it’s led by an entrepreneurial thinker, then certainly innovation will happen.” HC

EXPERT INSIGHT TECHNOLOGY

Twitter’s value proposition for HR In part two of a two-part series, Ari Kopoulos outlines whether Twitter holds any value for HR

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n part one we looked at how Twitter’s unique functionality facilitates a new way to build relationships in the form of real time conversations. It’s a tool that provides two-way access to the collective stream of knowledge, wisdom and consciousness, empowering humans to engage as sources of truth and creativity.

Most organisations, and in particular their Marketing departments, have quickly realised Twitter’s value as a way of building thought leadership, extending the brand and maintaining customer engagement, through conversations. The key things here are the words ‘conversation’ and ‘customer’. In many ways your employee can also be considered your customer worthy of conversation.

Using Twitter to build relationships that identify, attract and screen candidates is an obvious choice. Progressive organisations, and in particular recruiters, regularly tweet job alerts, with appropriate hashtags and headlines to ensure it will be amplified through re-tweeting. But a word of warning: any tweet seen promoting or selling a service without engagement will fly into the void.

Remember, it’s all about conversations; once that is established, the proposition has value.

If you assume that the best candidates are currently employed, Twitter gives you a way to connect. You follow, they follow, start a conversation, share and engage. In this regard, Twitter taps into the passive jobseeker market, effectively making you a headhunter. Naturally, Twitter won’t necessarily replace your current recruitment process, but it can serve as a costeffective channel and that vital first step in getting in touch with your new employees.

Perhaps the greatest value of Twitter lies in learning and development. It’s unique in that it can deliver sustained, discrete chunks of information,

via your network, that can be absorbed in a relatively short time. In fact, research shows that tacit knowledge requires interaction.

Twitter connections provide that environment for dialogue, understanding and context.

Furthermore, the next generation of employees will intuitively use Twitter to accomplish their work, often without consciously thinking about it.

As such, a Twitter timeline of hashtags, lists and saved searches can represent a source of skills, competencies and knowledge required to progress one’s career. Consider the value of instant response to questions and queries on any subject.

It’s a passive channel delivering organic learning.

Employees can also use Twitter to keep track of news and industry trends by following thought leaders, specific topics or even conferences. Think of it as mentors delivering nuggets of wisdom, thoughts and solutions to problems. Why have a mentor when you can have a mentor for the day, topic, or conversation? Furthermore, creativity and innovation occur when people, often from different disciplines, connect and approach issues from multiple perspectives.

As leaders you may have reservations in unleashing Twitter as a source of learning and recruitment; however, when you consider it facilitates engagement in a relevant, timely, interactive and personal manner, Twitter represents a unique opportunity to extend the value proposition of your HR strategy.

Like any new technology, a successful outcome requires planning, policy and – in some cases – a shift from the traditional command and control mindset. Think of Twitter as an opportunity to truly connect with information and people in a way that is natural and conducive towards productivity.

About the author Ari Kopoulos is the national sales & marketing manager at EmployeeConnect. For further information visit www. employeeconnect.com.au

FEATURE organisational resilience

Strength in unity: Building organisational resilience for a competitive advantage

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FEATURE oganisational resilience

While the benefits of building up the personal resilience of employees have been well documented, there has been less debate around organisational resilience and developing proactive strategies to develop a resilient organisation as a collective.

Paul Clifford provides his tips

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t’s hard to imagine an Australian industry that is facing more uncertainty and change in 2011 than the energy sector. The federal government’s decision to put a price on carbon, the push to grow the renewable energy sector and reduce reliance on traditional sources of energy such as coal and oil, and the variable forecasts for energy demand, supply and pricing are just some of the forces leading to uncertainty and change in organisations in the sector.

Whatever uncertainty and change organisations face, whether they are in the energy sector or in any other part of the economy, what matters most is how their employees respond. There are many and varied responses to uncertainty and change in organisations, as in life generally. The responses range from relish to recoil. Responses at the former end of the continuum are what we call resilient responses. They include employees who persist, bounce back and thrive in situations of pressure and stress. Responses at the latter end of the spectrum, what we will call ‘resilience failure’, are the ones organisations need to attend to the most. They include absenteeism and disengagement, as well as destructive and sabotage behaviour. They hinder an organisation’s ability to adapt successfully to future challenges, anchoring them firmly in the status quo, leaving them well behind others who capitalise on their own ‘change-ready’ workforces.

Many organisations have typically responded reactively to individual instances of resilience failure.

They have waited for employees to show signs of an inability to cope and arranged stress management training or encouraged them to use employee assistance programs. Whilst these solutions are often helpful to manage resilience failure, they should not be the primary strategy to build resilient employees.

Enlightened organisations look at resilience from a proactive and systemic standpoint. They ask themselves: “What structures can we build proactively across the organisation such that when change and uncertainty arrives, our employees have a shared resilience competency, and as such are prepared, and thrive rather than just survive?”

In a recent series of interviews with leaders from a number of segments of the industry including renewable energy, regulation, market operation and

“The mission for organisations is to help their workforce develop the shared resilience competency to maximise productive responses to uncertainty and change”

trading, and energy generation, transmission and distribution, I asked them about the challenges their organisations face in 2011 and what actions they believe they need to take to effectively deal with the challenges. An assortment of challenges were mentioned, many presenting employees with varying degrees of uncertainty and change. The strategies leaders put forward to deal with these challenges were mostly proactive and systemic, and as such, they built the shared resilience competency that enabled their employees to thrive through future upheaval. It is the organisations that focus on building this shared resilience competency, we would argue, that are going to have a medium- to long-term competitive advantage in the energy sector beyond 2011.

This article provides some insight into the challenges faced by organisations in the energy sector in 2011, challenges that are presenting employees with varying levels of uncertainty and change. It looks at the impact on employees and how leaders in the sector are helping to build this shared resilience competency to lessen the impact and create a medium and longterm competitive advantage for their organisations.

The challenges As mentioned in the opening to this article it is hard to think of a sector of the Australian economy experiencing more uncertainty and change than the energy sector at the moment. Leaders interviewed talked about a raft of challenges fuelling uncertainty and change within their organisations such as the uncertainty and change of government energy policy and regulation, energy demand and supply forecasts, escalating energy prices, the carbon tax, climate change, and the transition of the economy away from traditional sources of energy to renewable energy.

Other challenges mentioned are routinely faced across all industries such as business growth, integration post merger, workplace safety and skills shortages.

The impact on employees The uncertainty and change such challenges bring can be confronting for many employees. As an example, policy and regulatory uncertainty can thwart a leader’s ability to make effective and timely decisions www.hcamag.com

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FEATURE organisational resilience

and create difficulties in clearly communicating the organisation’s future direction to employees. In these situations employees can be left in a state of limbo, unsure if projects will proceed, unclear about what tasks they should start, stop and continue, they can be confused when changes in decisions and strategies are left unexplained, and disconnected from organisational purpose and mission. For those employees who lack resilience, this uncertainty and lack of clarity can spiral into more dangerous territory. It can breed suspicion with thoughts that the organisation’s leaders have something to hide and are deliberately shutting employees out. It can create great frustration when employees see their hard work go to waste when decisions are changed. It can also lead to anger with employees acting out in overt and covert ways as an act of revenge based on their belief that the organisation’s leaders have betrayed them.

If you feel a long bow has been drawn between regulatory uncertainty and such employee antagonism towards leaders, think again. In times of uncertainty, many people fill the gap with their own, often false, assumptions about what is going to happen to them.

Many have a tendency to believe the most cataclysmic outcome will prevail and, worse still, many fall into the trap of believing it is the deliberate work of one or more people, rather than it being the result of situational factors. This means that when employees perceive that leaders are indecisive or not communicating with them, some will settle for the belief that terrible outcomes are inevitable, caused by the deliberate acts of management. Add to this the fact that many employees do not reveal the true state of their dissatisfaction and that some leaders are not intuitive enough to see it even when it is visible, and the long bow becomes a balanced assessment.

Resilience failure can be harmful to an organisation’s ability to successfully navigate the challenges and forge ahead with superior capabilities.

The mission for organisations is to help their workforce develop the shared resilience competency to maximise productive responses to uncertainty and change. At stake is employee wellbeing and in some cases the very survival of organisations.

Strategies for resilience building Throughout interviews leaders discussed a number of strategies they are using or intend to use in 2011 to meet organisational challenges. Such strategies will also have a secondary effect of assisting in building employee resilience.

One of the strategies aimed at meeting the challenge of business growth was taking action on performance management. Some of the leaders

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interviewed discussed their intention to move away from a focus on forms and evaluation to a greater emphasis on regular feedback, coaching and greater employee participation in the performance management process. Whilst encouraging an empowered workforce to drive business growth, the latter approach also builds a resilient workforce through the fostering of employee initiative and increased employee learning. Employees are taught skills in soliciting feedback, encouraging them to be proactive in gaining feedback rather than waiting for it to be delivered. They are also taught to receive feedback constructively, focusing on what can be learnt through the process rather than taking offence. Employees who use their initiative and actively learn become resilient as they are more likely to identify solutions to problems and take a positive perspective when difficulties arise.

Another strategy mentioned looked to address the specific challenge of expanding into a new area of service delivery. The strategy was cross skilling. Cross skilling involves skilling up employees with new skills so they can take up new tasks or positions including having the capability to take on other team members’ roles in their absence. Whilst being able to ensure organisational capability to deliver a high quality and continuous service, cross skilling also builds employee resilience as it expands an employee’s repertoire of skills giving them greater career choice. This provides employees with greater confidence in one’s ability to continue to find interesting and challenging work and greater access to such opportunities. Confidence and capability are two pillars of resilience.

When leaders employ strategies aimed at building employee capability and improving performance they are invariably also creating the foundations of a shared resilience competency that employees can leverage to great advantage. An organisation that can truly call itself resilient will have a competitive advantage because its employees will be able to turn threats into opportunities and do it more quickly.

Conclusion In a section of the Australian economy marked by so much uncertainty and change it is important that leaders are vigilant to empathise with the impact this has on employees. Rather than waiting for the signs of resilience failure leaders can take active steps to meet organisational challenges that as a byproduct build resilient employees. In building this shared resilience competency, leaders will discover they have developed employees ready for whatever challenges lie ahead, actively turning threats into opportunities, and focused on helping to create a thriving organisation. HC

About the author Paul Clifford is a senior consultant with FBG Group.

For further information phone 1300 88 66 29 or email pclifford@fbggroup.com.au

FEATURE oganisational resilience

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FEATURE change management

The elephant in the room

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LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT e-learning

Think change management is too hard? Get back to basics. It’s as easy as visualising a rider on an elephant, walking along a path, suggests Dr Adam Fraser

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hen I was an academic (in a previous life), I noticed that people in this environment were drawn to complexity. They would always find the most complicated way to explain something and always gravitated towards the most complex solution to a problem. My take on the driver for this behaviour was two things: 1. It formed an intellectual barrier that did not allow the average person to access that world.

Intellectual snobbery at its highest level.

2. They saw simplicity as a sign of intellectual laziness and poorer quality.

The problem was that this attitude made the material mind numbingly boring. I must have sat through over 300 academic presentations and never stayed awake in any of them.

However, most importantly it hampered their ability to teach and pass on concepts. I never had a lecturer help me learn and understand concepts – they just threw information at me.

However, when I moved into the business world as an educator, I discovered the amazing power simplicity has. In a meeting with Ralph Norris, CEO of the Commonwealth Bank, I asked him what the biggest mistake we make in business was. His reply: “We overcomplicate it. I run this bank on five simple principles. Simple principles allow people to learn them fast, remember them and have clarity about what behaviours they have to exhibit.”

My obsession with understanding how people change recently led me to a psychologist from the University of Virginia, Jonathan Haidt. He has a change model that I think is one of the best that I have ever come across, because of its simplicity.

The model consists of three parts: a rider on an elephant, walking along a path. Sounds weird? Let me explain: The rider is our logic, our rational side.

The elephant is our emotional side.

The path is the environment in which we are changing.

Within this model you can see that the logical side has very little control. The rider can pull on the reins as hard as they like, but if the elephant wants to go in another direction the rider can do little to stop it. An example is that you know you shouldn’t text your ex at 3am but you still do. The elephant has the most power in this model.

According to Haidt, to facilitate change you have to do three things: 1. You must give the rider clear instructions about what change needs to occur. What are the exact behaviours you need them to exhibit? If the rider does not know exactly what they need to do they can wander off all over the place.

2. You must appeal to the elephant. You have to make it so that the elephant has a desire to go in that direction.

3. Lastly you have to clear the path. You need to make it easy for the elephant to go there. Ensure that there are no roadblocks.

I have been using this model in my work with companies with amazing results.

Guide the rider I was with a department of a bank. As a group they came up with a goal to become number one in customer service. While that is a great goal, I pointed out that there are no clear behaviours attached to that goal. How will people change their behaviour to achieve that goal?

Upon reflection they then came up with a clear behaviour: Never pass a customer on, do not transfer them to another department, and you must solve their problem on the spot.

Since the introduction of this clear behaviour they have seen a sharp rise in their client satisfaction.

Motivate the elephant I was working with a manufacturing group who was having problems getting people to stick to safety policy. The problem was that the employees saw safety as unnecessary because they thought www.hcamag.com

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LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT e-learning

From the coalface Paul Leonard is the former Australian market CEO of Moore Office Systems and Thomson Reuters, where he took the company’s legal and tax unit into the electronic publishing world.

Leonard is now director of the SMB business unit at Pitney Bowes Australia, a leader in mailstream and customer communication management (CCM) solutions.

In that role he is undertaking a transformation project, taking the company from a transactional hardware focus into implementing a full-service offering focused on CCM. He provides Human Capital with his top change management tips for leaders: »» Communicate your overall objectives to staff as early on as possible. It’s important that everyone understands what the target outcome is. »» Meet with the key business and sales leaders and set realistic expectations with them on their expected roles and contributions.

Don’t try and achieve everything in the first quarter. »» Set early milestones and targets that can be easily achieved and use them as motivational triggers for all layers of staff. Set the teams up to succeed. »» Do a thorough due diligence on the bottlenecks to achieving change and address them upfront in the early part of the change management program. Be honest and clear about the change that has to happen. »» Create clear reporting metrics and new business pipeline management tools to create clarity and accountability for the change program. Track the progress and make sure you provide the tools for staff to see how they are going. Eliminate confusion or fear. »» Create learning portals for staff to allow them to self-educate around new company products and strategies. Empower the staff to learn about the new strategy in their own time. »» Ensure the management team is all on the same page and there is solidarity in the ranks. Make sure everyone is pointing in the same direction. »» Celebrate success as you progress through the business transformation plan. Recognise contributions and make sure everyone is rewarded with praise. »» Engage other stakeholders across the company as it’s not just your business unit you are transforming. Communicate your plan across the business.

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they were bullet proof and would never get hurt.

In my research on the company I found out that the major accidents people had in the company were due to another person cutting corners. In other words, when an individual did not stick to the safety policy they put their co-workers at risk. Then I presented to them and talked about how they would feel if their actions led to a mate being injured or even killed. How would they feel if they took away their colleague’s livelihood and left their family struggling to survive? I then had a guy in the group talk about when he did not follow policy, which led to a co-worker being seriously injured.

They went from thinking that not paying attention to safety was a cool/brave thing to do, to the realisation that their actions could hurt their mates. Their elephant was seriously motivated.

Clear the path A number of years ago I was engaged by a law firm to put in place a work-life balance strategy for the senior associates and lawyers. I presented the strategy to the partners and they were on board. Six months later when we reviewed the project it had had little impact.

Why? Well, the strategy was simple and they knew the exact behaviours they had to do, so it wasn’t that. The elephant was engaged because they all wanted to see their families more and to reduce their stress. The reason it failed was that the partners penalised them when they exhibited those behaviours. The problem was that the partners put barriers on the path.

From now on when you are trying to change anything in your life or leading others through a change process, ensure that you: 1. Guide the rider with crystal clear behaviours 2. Appeal to their elephant 3. Clear the path

About the author Dr Adam Fraser is one of Australia’s leading educators, researchers and thought leaders in the area of human performance. For more information visit www. dradamfraser.com

LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT e-learning

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REMUNERATION HR reward packages

Greener pastures...

Better or just different?

The past 12 months has seen a strong trend towards HR reward packages being expressed in more ways than just pure base salary. David Owens says the benefits of the whole package need to be understood and valued accordingly

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very year, the level of reward and the way HR professionals are remunerated adjusts to pressures within the market caused usually by economic, industrial, enterprise and individual factors. On the whole, the changes over the past year seem unexceptional… that is, until we look deeper.

Looking at median salaries, packages and benefits reported through the HR Partners’ online HR Salary Survey where over 20,000 HR professionals have recorded their remuneration data over the last three-and-a-half years, we find that the median salary across HR, recruitment and OHS reported over the last two years was $77,500 plus superannuation and benefits of $9,700, for a total package of $87,200. When reviewing just the data from the last 12 months, packages appeared to remain stable. This suggests that things haven’t changed much, yet the slow growth in base salary hides a strong growth in benefits.

2010–2011 Salary and benefits movements Rank

Position

Movements Salary

Benefits

Package

HR Roles 1.

HR Manager

Up 0.5%

Up 6.1%

Up 1.2%

2.

HR Coordinator

Static

Up 11.0%

Up 0.9%

3.

HR Consultant

Static

Up 3.0%

Up 0.3%

Specialist Roles

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1.

Remuneration & Benefits

Up 11.6%

Up 51.6%

Up 17.2%

2.

Recruitment Manager

Up 3.0%

Up 31.0%

Up 8.1%

3.

Industrial Relations Specialist

Up 2.7%

Down 0.5%

Up 2.4%

REMUNERATION HR reward packages

In the general labour market, activity has exploded over the past year. The MyCareer Employment Forecast April 2011, for example, found that in the year to February 2011, the managerial and professional segment of the Australian workforce grew by 3.2%. Likewise, the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations’ Skilled Vacancy Index found that in the year to April 2011, the number of professional vacancies grew by 20.5%. Looking more broadly, the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ March 2011 Labour Price Index reports that the overall cost of labour has increased by 3.9% between 2010 and 2011.

Likewise, there have been some major movements in reported HR remuneration. Salaries are generally comparable between responses encompassing the past 12 and 24 months. Yet it is the benefits components which have generally grown substantially more than salary.

Over the last 12 months the incidence of cashbased bonuses and commissions being included in remuneration schemes has remained stable, with 38% of those completing the survey involved in them. In general, roles that earned a median bonus received similar amounts paid out in both years, usually a few thousand dollars. Interestingly, Remuneration Specialists have seen the greatest increase to their bonus payments with the median bonus increasing by $1,500 to around $8,000. The number of Remuneration Specialists involved in a bonus scheme increased too, from 68% to 71%.

One possible reason why salaries have not grown more than they actually have may be due to an eagerness to start a new job – indeed, the huge rise in labour market vacancies is not matched by the rise in actual new positions, which suggest that there is a great amount of ‘seat swapping’ happening, exacerbating already-strong employment growth. The HR Salary Survey’s Cost of Enticement (a measure that actually records how much money it would take someone to move

jobs) supports this: the HR market has seen a small drop of 0.5% in the cost to entice; it’s only a small shift but one which may indicate a slight easing about overall financial or job security. However, the strongest candidates are not so easy to tempt. A Remuneration Specialist will generally cost almost $3,500 more to attract than other roles in the HR community; while at the other end of the spectrum, HR Coordinators suggest they have been willing to move to a new role for no discernible increase in order to move to a good new role. But in general, there has been a very low tolerance of pay cuts as part of moving to new roles.

Cost of enticement 2010–2011 HR roles

Increase or fall in cost to entice

HR Manager

Up 1.8%

HR Consultant

Down 3.0%

HR Coordinator

Down 4.6%

Specialist roles

Increase or fall in cost to entice

Remuneration & Benefits Specialist

Up 18.7%

Recruitment Manager

Up 8.2%

Industrial Relations Specialist

Down 1.6%

About the author David Owens is managing director, HR Partners. For further information visit www.hrpartners.com.au

For employers and employees, the key learning is that there is a strong trend towards reward packages being expressed in more ways than just pure base salary and that the benefits of the whole package need to be understood and valued accordingly. Finally, as the availability of talent starts to thin, and willingness to move to greener pastures for little extra reward dissipates, we should expect a return to a market where strong salary and bonus increases occur across the profession to match strong growth in the wider employment market. HC www.hcamag.com

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The sharp end of business True leaders need to be both transformational and adept at the day-to-day, but achieving that is easier said than done. Here are three employers leading the way in leadership development

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usiness survey after business survey reveals that having technical and management skillsets is not quite enough for success at the next level. Many leaders find that a deeper knowledge in the following areas is required: • powerful communication methods • talent and change management techniques • developing strategic direction • driving innovation Developing leadership capability and those accompanying skillsets is no easy task, yet it’s not out of reach – as these three case studies prove.

Leadership development at Aegis Australia When asked why many organisations struggle to find leaders within their own ranks, Christopher Luxford, president and country head of Aegis Australia, says it comes down to what he calls “the day-to-day”. With senior people operating 14–15-hour days, Luxford says it’s difficult to find time to simply think. “We think for a living, and most leaders today don’t think because they just don’t have time. They are constantly reacting to the pressures of the day-to-day running of the business. So leadership development takes a back seat to operational excellence and operational improvement.”

Luxford, who is just two months into his role at Aegis, says one of his primary objectives will be to teach his people how to be great leaders, not just great managers.

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“It’s all about behaviours,” he says. “How do they instil passion and energy in their teams? How do they create a dynamic environment in their group? To me leadership is not about what you do, it’s about what you are.”

To that end, Luxford is embedding in his organisation a set of seven behaviours – examples include having customer satisfaction at the centre of everything the company does, creating a learning culture (being able to criticise, debate, discuss), and operational execution.

“I want to build a series of leading indicators that we can build leaders around, so as we build our managers into leaders and as we build our succession plan, I want to be able to measure the behaviours those people are demonstrating in those seven critical areas. If we do that we can move them into pretty much any role because we’re already doing what I call the explicit knowledge transfer; this is more about that tacit knowledge.”

There are also specific initiatives Luxford is putting in place to groom the next generation of leaders. He’s transformed what used to be the ‘monthly business managers meeting’ – essentially the 30 or so people who reported to the executive leadership team – into a ‘business leaders summit’.

“The key is it’s their meeting and they are presenting to their peers,” Luxford says.

For existing senior leaders in the company, Luxford is taking a different approach. He notes that these people, by their nature and the nature of Aegis (essentially five separate business entities),

“We think for a living, and most leaders today don’t think because they just don’t have time… so leadership development takes a back seat to operational excellence and operational improvement”

– Christopher Luxford

CEO REPORT leadership development

are generally pretty broad business leaders, almost like mini CEOs: they’ve got financial responsibility, people management responsibilities, product development and customer mandates.

“If you look at leaders at the top of their game, what you’re trying to do is help them with their own evolution. Do they want to become an entrepreneur?

If they’re running a $50m business today, would they want to run a $500m business tomorrow? Are they looking to become a thought leader in a given area?

Who are the best thought leaders in the world that they listen to?”

Luxford asks these leaders for their five-year goals, and then develops a path to achieve them. “The five-year goals are normally around getting them tapped into the world’s best thinking in a particular area. Perhaps it’s going to conferences and meeting some of their idols or mentors in the business world.

We want to start to evolve their thinking.”

He adds that while some executives may need to brush up on things like people management skills, these gaps in knowledge are easily closed. The real challenge is to change the mindset; to get them thinking like leaders. “I want to help them ratchet up their thought leadership level to a point beyond their peers in the marketplace. That helps us from a competitive advantage level, and helps them from a career development level.”

Ultimately, Luxford is aiming for a ‘balanced’ leadership team. He’s well aware of the criticism aimed at HR professionals for their lack of wider business knowledge but he refuses to single out that discipline. To demonstrate his balanced approach, he uses a triangle. Employees sit at the bottom left corner, investors or shareholders are bottom right, and customers at the top. He then asks people to map every business function against that triangle. The results are not surprising: typically HR would be placed with employees; finance would be with shareholders; sales would be with customers. “Who sits in the middle?” he asks. “Me. I’m the only one – so there is imbalance. My goal is to bring all of my leadership team into a better balance so they are across all three.

“For everything we do we need to be able to measure the impact on outcome. I need to see what the impact on outcome is for employees, for shareholders or investors, and for customers. If an innovation has some impact on all three of those, then I have no problem going ahead full tilt. The biggest challenge is getting people to that balanced perspective.”

Leadership development at Altis Consulting For John Hoffman, CEO of Altis Consulting, an information technology firm, the leadership challenge is providing opportunities for people to move through the ranks in order to keep them engaged with the company. “The senior management team is incredibly stable and there hasn’t been much churn in that group,” he says. “So we need to create opportunities for those individuals coming through to develop their skills. We also know that in stepping into these bigger shoes, they will make some mistakes. We’re a peer consulting business so all our staff are externally facing. When you make a mistake dealing with a client it can have some reasonably sized repercussions for the business. Worst-case scenario is you can lose a client relationship.”

Hoffman has developed key initiatives to minimise that risk. To broaden out the exposure to leadership challenges, he has expanded the leadership group, which meets via teleconference every three weeks and also once a year for a two-day facilitated workshop. The progress of participants is measured against a set of activities that have been delegated out to the leadership team; they range from new product/service offerings, changes to the performance management program, changes to social responsibility programs. “This is one opportunity to step up – it’s tearing down the walls that have traditionally existed between senior management and the rest of the organisation,” Hoffman says.

Originally from the US, Hoffman is an advocate of promoting people based on a willingness and aptitude to take on greater responsibility, rather than age and experience. “There’s a difference in Australia in regards to age. Here it seems you must pay your dues before given the opportunity, versus the US where if you show the aptitude you are given more opportunity to step forward and be successful. So we’re implementing that mindset here. Saying that, we do try to keep our experienced staff involved in a mentor capacity with individuals we believe have got significant opportunities in front of them.”

In addition, for all of Hoffman’s direct reports there is a leadership coach, an external party who assists in career guidance. For the ‘upcomers’ Altis uses a variety of soft skill coaching through third parties and internally through the company’s own people and performance manager (a certified EI

“Everyone has a core competency that they concentrate on and are passionate about but we’ve been challenging them to participate in different areas to round out their skills” – John Hoffman

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trainer). “We’ve implemented a custom-developed soft skills training program, which includes group and individual sessions. There’s a strong concentration on how you handle some of those tough challenges leaders face: negotiation, how you deliver and accept feedback, managing conflict, and so on. They spend two days in workshops with their peers and then have one-on-one coaching on their soft skills.”

There’s also a belief at Altis that leaders need to be cross-skilled: they must possess project management skills, technical skills, business development skills, general consulting skills. The best way to develop those skills? Internal projects.

“We’re doing that very specifically to ensure people have career paths to become regional managers – they are people who manage profit and loss across a geography or a practice line – and they must have skills across all those areas. Everyone has a core competency that they concentrate on and are passionate about but we’ve been challenging them to participate in different areas to round out their skills with regard to their career development, and for succession planning,” says Hoffman.

Leadership development at FedEx Express Australasia FedEx has turned its succession planning and leadership development into the bedrock of its retention strategy. Kim Garner, managing director of FedEx Express Australasia, says that one of the important ways his company has managed to retain good talent is to promote from within – to look to its own ranks to fill key positions. More than half of FedEx’s global management team has risen through the ranks of the company. In Australia, 82% of current management is promoted from within.

How has this happened? The aim at FedEx, Garner says, is to develop leaders as partners: “We have a specific plan for leadership development, separate from – but in line with – FedEx’s overall talent management strategy. We’ve had a great deal of success with this. We also plan for leadership succession within the company and actively maintain a pool of potential future leaders. Seventy per cent of our managers in AsiaPacific started their careers at non-management positions at FedEx.” At FedEx, leadership development is a

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“70% of our managers in Asia-Pacific started their careers at nonmanagement positions at FedEx” – Kim Garner

process that starts with the Growth, Opportunity, Leadership and Development (GOLD) Program, which prepares employees for potential succession into management. As part of the GOLD program, FedEx provides the opportunity for senior management to mentor FedEx frontline and professional employees who are keen to move to management. The mentoring sessions provide the employees access to the fundamentals of FedEx leadership from the senior management perspective.

“We have a very clear, defined roadmap and processes to identify, unleash and move people up through the organisation – both professionally and personally. It plots the various courses to be taken and when, and we are constantly working with employees to make sure they complete their goals and bring that new-found knowledge back into the workplace,” Garner explains.

The journey to leadership positions does not end there. When FedEx employees move into management, these managers enter a two-year curriculum of management leadership training, a structured and systematic development roadmap.

There are at least five different training courses that must be successfully completed – including the FedEx Leadership Principals course, which challenges leaders to think critically and deeply about management issues.

FedEx managers must also take a module called Managing and Coaching for Effective Performance within the first six months as a manager. This course provides interaction process, feedback, reinforcement, and coaching skills so that managers can manage and coach team members towards effective performance in FedEx’s key philosophy: People-Service-Profit.

Although the HR function plays a critical role in developing programs that are aligned with that philosophy to recruit, retain and develop talent, FedEx does not compartmentalise HR in the way that many companies do. Instead the company ensures that every one of its line managers plays a crucial role.

“It’s the line manager who hires and nurtures new employees, is ultimately responsible for people development, addresses performance issues, helps develop employees to their full potential, and works with employees on their career advancement,” Garner concludes. HC

CEO REPORT leadership development

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Rebeccah Elley speaks to HR leader Cindy Grass about how her branding, media and communications company managed to land themselves as one of 11 companies on Aon Hewitt’s 2011 Best Employers survey

Award-winning HR L

ike any HR professional operating in a SME environment, Cindy Grass has a challenging job on her hands as HR director for Millward Brown Australia. Although the company has had a global presence for 35 years as a research agency specialising in advertising, marketing communications and brand equity (as part of Kantar Group, the insights arm of WPP, they are the world’s second-largest market research organisation), in Australia they remain a relatively small player. The Sydney and Melbourne offices employ 105 people.

However, being small and nimble has its advantages – for one, the ability to adapt quickly to improve or enhance the employee experience. With a citation as one of Aon Hewitt’s Best Employers in 2011, the hard work is paying off.

When she joined the company three-and-a-half years ago, Grass realised there was a fair amount of work to be done to improve employee satisfaction within the company. “When I started with Millward Brown I thought there was a lot I could offer to this company. I love to be hands-on and work with everything from the strategy through to the delivery of meeting people and interviewing them,” she says.

“I’m quite passionate and committed to a company and seeing it grow,” she adds.

Indeed, it was close to the start of her tenure that Grass had thoughts about getting the business into a position where it could be considered for being a

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great employer and somewhere great to work.

Grass believes an award like this is not something that just happens; she says it has been building towards this since she started there, and it’s truly been a team effort. With the help of senior staff, Grass found the support needed to create strategies to ensure employee engagement. “Of course I could not have done this on my own, nor is it something you can do on your own. I had to get the company on-board. They are very supportive and I could not have done it without them.”

Grass adds that from a personal HR point of view she is over the moon, especially because, as she concedes, organisations in her field don’t often find themselves on these ‘best employer’ lists. “We were all very surprised but delighted; it’s a big achievement. It’s not something Millward Brown would generally go for, but the company has come a long way with their thinking on leadership, people and engagement, and what it actually means.”

Employee engagement Grass sees a strong alignment between employee engagement and the transparency of organisational leadership and strategy. She adds that wherever possible employees should have a sense that their efforts have an impact on organisational strategy and success.

Grass explains that a turning point for

Thilo Pulch, www.pulchphotography.com

TEAMBUILDER cindy grass

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Millward Brown was getting all the staff involved in the direction of the company, as a failure of previous years was the exclusion of employees from the strategic planning. According to Grass, although this entails a much longer process, the results speak volumes; as reflected in the Aon Hewitt results, now all employees feel like they are part of the future of the company.

Grass also maintains that, as an HR professional, it’s important to be able to talk the language of business and to truly understand where the business is heading. She says the same principle applies to all employees. “It was not just the managing director or HR professional standing up there and saying what we stand for.

The employees must contribute to each and every quarter and be heard. They contribute to the success of the company, and what we are able to do is share those rewards back.”

Retention strategies Most HR practitioners are aware of the importance of strategies focused on retaining staff, with reasons ranging from costs saved in recruitment to overall employee productivity.

Grass explains that Millward Brown’s philosophy is to retain everyone, from ‘B’ performers (those who do their job and do it well),

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“We ask the high performers to give us feedback, to tell us what it is that is driving them.

It’s not always the rewards; they want to be heard, they want to be listened to, and they want to be part of the groups and projects that are going to get them exposure” – Cindy Grass

through to the true stars, the high performers. For high performers, Millward Brown has targeted training programs including rewards and other incentives. “We ask the high performers to give us feedback, and to tell us what it is that is driving them. It’s not always the rewards; they want to be heard, they want to be listened to, and they want to be part of the groups and projects that are going to get them exposure.”

Millward Brown uses cross-functional teams to allow everybody a chance to voice their opinions, expertise and different insights. For example, as part of the company’s ‘happy people’ initiative, a cross-functional team of eight has been working on a revamp of the company’s employee benefits.

These people take part in this project above and beyond their day-to-day jobs. Why? Grass says it’s about making a difference, gaining exposure to other parts of the business and being a part of something they’ve never been a part of before.

“Why would a junior quantitative researcher all of a sudden want to be part of creating benefits in HR? Because involvement in all areas and initiatives will help people to feel involved and not feel that it’s up to someone else to do it. They are learning and growing, and influencing the direction the company is heading.”

Grass recommends creating a meaningful discourse between managers and employees to ensure that career conversations are taking place: “A lot of managers don’t know how to have those conversations, so I advise coaching managers.

Whether it’s a learning opportunity or exposure to education or overseas assignments, they need to ask ‘what it is that the employee needs?’.”

Questions such as ‘where do you want to go?’ and ‘what do you want to do in the future?’ need to be asked. Grass believes that in the past few years, people have been apprehensive about putting forward their career plans. For example, they may have hesitated to say they want to move overseas; she has aimed to change this perception by making it OK to propose an overseas stint. “We have actually been able to change that culture.

We’re happy for employees to tell us where they want to go – we want to help them get there. People are now quite comfortable to say they’d like an opportunity to work overseas – and then we have the opportunity to talk that through.”

These conversations extend to the management team. Grass says that the temptation

TEAMBUILDER cindy grass

in any business is to promote people solely based on their technical excellence, regardless of their other attributes.

She suggests taking a different approach: “We’ve looked at a few of our senior account roles and looked at people’s strengths. Not everybody is a great people leader and not everybody is great for clients, so we’ve tried to step away from the traditional viewpoint that the more senior you get, the more people you must have working underneath you.” Although she concedes that not everyone has that viewpoint internally, she says it’s up to HR to influence the discussion and outline the benefits of a different approach.

“We’ve looked at our teams and said ‘OK, these people are strong people leaders and have a real desire to do that, [so let’s] give them more people to grow and develop’. And these people over here are really strong for clients and are managing it

brilliantly but when it comes to internal people, one-on-one development, they are not strong. So we’ve shifted the roles slightly, even though they are paid relatively the same. We try to play on their strengths, and at the same time, make sure we deliver.”

She adds that such an approach can be turned into a powerful retention strategy. “It’s not about someone saying they do not want to do something; it’s about them playing to their strengths, and making a contribution to the business.”

Grass long ago recognised the benefits to be gleaned by offering flexible work practices. She says it’s essential to understand how to cater to the personal needs and life situations of employees.

“What it came down to for some people was flexibility and the opportunity to work part-time,” she says. “We have lots of different scenarios – we have job shares in all different types of businesses.

It’s something that we do look at when someone

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comes to us. They’re not just your traditional parttime [roles]; we hope that by being that flexible, we will be paid back.”

One unique case described by Grass involved a mother, last year, who said she could only work one day a week. Millward Brown kept her job open for an entire year, to allow her to help her son with his HSC. Grass says the employee has recently returned to work and is stronger than ever. “She thought it was amazing that we were able to do that. We went out on a limb for her because we thought she was a fantastic employee.”

Retention has been at an all-time high for Millward Brown, through understanding the needs of the employee. Due to an employee referral program, Millward Brown was able to hire all their people internally last year, by using the word of mouth of their own employees. Grass says they encourage people to nominate others and receive a reward if the person makes it through their

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probation. “They are all really well connected and networked, and that defines a lot of our people,” she says.

The ‘happy people’ initiative It’s significant that Millward Brown uses the term ‘happy people’ as a succinct summary of their employee value proposition, as the ultimate goal is to make employees happy. “Best employer to me is about standing out amongst the best in what you are doing for people,” says Grass.

Millward Brown has shown how clear communication with employees and effective HR strategies can create employee satisfaction or, indeed, ‘happy people’. Grass offers one final word of advice to her HR cohorts: “The old mantra of attract, retain and motivate is critical to the success of a company. With a positive, upbeat approach, and being able to deliver, you will get the job done.” HC

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THE LAST WORD compiled by Suzanne Mercier

n The percentage of businesses seeking to make themselves more attractive to potential employees dropped from 82% to 71%.

Source: PwC Private Business Barometer, May 2011

n The higher the level of self-compassion, the greater the individual’s experience of happiness, optimism, wisdom, and personal initiative, which contributes to stronger workplace performance.

Source: An examination of self-compassion, Neff, Rude & Kirkpatrick

n A 15-year study of people doing complex work revealed that a central driver was the mix of emotions, motivations and perceptions over the course of a work day. The more intrinsically motivated they are, the higher their level of achievement.

Source: Harvard Business Review, Teresa M Amabile & Steven J Kramer, May 2011

Quote of the month “Failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently” – Henry Ford

5 minutes with...

Zoe Falson

Head of human resources, The Reed Group What’s the greatest HR lesson you’ve learned so far?

For newly-established HR units – you can’t do everything overnight, so take it one bit at a time. We need to work with our people at all levels – to consult with them and see things from their perspective so that we get buy-in. If we do it on our own, we miss out on their perspective and the initiative falls short.

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

The Reed Group won the Diversity at Work Award ahead of some very big players.

There’s no question that construction and mining is a male-oriented industry. We are working hard by encouraging women to enter the sector, targeting schools and colleges. The results are encouraging: we have moved from 19% to 25% of women in our workforce, but it’s definitely a work in progress.

What’s your favourite peoplemanagement tip?

HR provides strategic direction for the company but it is also a service role across the organisation. We need to get out from behind our desks and talk to people, to be seen and be approachable.

What career advice do you have for ambitious HR professionals?

Learn the business and be comfortable meeting with stakeholders at all levels both within and outside the organisation.

We have to know the impact of our advice on the business. This increases our credibility and ability to value add, and makes a seat at the table more likely.

What’s the main challenge facing the HR industry right now?

There is no doubt that finding and attracting people to the organisation is one of our challenges but so is developing managers so that they look after their employees. Additionally, HR people must remain at the forefront of knowledge so they can provide credible advice and recommendations… to continue with lifelong learning!

How should HR professionals overcome that challenge?

By learning the business, understanding where the business is at that particular time, including its level of sophistication.

Develop relationships with all stakeholders and influence decisions, particularly at senior level. Learn financial principles so you can assess the implications of recommendations.

Can you believe it?

An HR manager gave a candidate her application form. After an hour, she was still staring at it. The HR manager asked if everything was alright. The candidate asked him if he wanted her Earth Name where name was indicated on the application! Source: hrtales.com

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