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HUMAN CAPITAL MAGAZINEHCAMAG.COM
NIMBLE & ADAPTIVE?Ultimate HR teams P36
MASTER OF BRIGHT IDEASInnovation P40
PROFILEHR at Adshel P50
ISSUE 11.04
CELEBRATING 10 YEARS
PLUS: ARE AUSSIE COMPANIES WRONG ABOUT THOUGHT LEADERSHIP? P48
GLOBAL TALENT STRATEGIES
RELOCATION
WORKER VISAS
CROSS-CULTURAL MANAGEMENT
GoingGL BALEXPERT ADVICE
HCAMAG.COM
editor’s letter
1
COPY & FEATURESEDITOR Iain Hopkins
JOURNALIST Stephanie Zillman
PRODUCTION EDITOR Roslyn Meredith
ART & PRODUCTIONSENIOR DESIGNERS Jonathan Harding, Jonathan Phillips
DESIGNER Marla Morelos
PRODUCTION MANAGER Rebecca Downing
TRAFFIC MANAGER Abby Cayanan
CONTRIBUTORSPeople + Culture Strategies, The Next Step, Kenexa, Frontier Software
SALES & MARKETINGMARKETING EXECUTIVE Anna Farah
COMMUNICATIONS EXECUTIVE Lisa Narroway
NATIONAL COMMERCIAL MANAGER Sophie Knight
ONLINE COMMERCIAL MANAGER Sarah Wiseman
CORPORATECHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Mike Shipley
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER George Walmsley
MANAGING DIRECTOR – BUSINESS MEDIA Justin Kennedy
CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER Colin Chan
HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER Julia Bookallil
Editorial enquiriesIain Hopkins tel: +61 2 8437 4703 [email protected]
Advertising enquiriesNational commercial manager, HR productsSophie Knight tel: +61 2 8437 [email protected]
Subscriptionstel: +61 2 8437 4731 • fax: +61 2 8437 [email protected]
Key Media keymedia.com.auKey Media Pty Ltd, regional head office, Level 10, 1–9 Chandos St, St Leonards, NSW 2065, Australiatel: +61 2 8437 4700 fax: +61 2 9439 4599Offices in Singapore, Auckland, Torontohcamag.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.
Express yourself! Got a burning issue to get off your chest? Check out the readers’ forums at hcamag.com
I’m always bemused by the confusion the word ‘innovation’ raises in people. Is it meant to be about the earth-shattering, ‘big-bang’ changes, perhaps requiring big money and big brains? Or is it the smaller incremental steps that can lead to something more significant? Perhaps it doesn’t help that innovation is so closely tied to creativity – and creativity is often seen as wafty and intangible. It’s what people with ponytails do, but it’s not something the night watchman at the factory would partake in.
And yet, fundamentally, creativity is about ideas, and innovation is the implementation of ideas. When it’s thought about like that, it suddenly becomes a whole lot more relatable.
As our feature on page 40 reveals, there are three keys to unlock innovative ideas in people – permission, environment, process. Along with clarifying and communicating what innovation actually means, HR has a critical role to play in all three. Interestingly, under the permission piece comes this tidbit: it’s important to let people know that most of the ideas they have, and that everyone else has, are not going to make it. This is important, because once people realise they will have a lot more silly, untenable ideas than great ideas, it takes the pressure off.
Author and creativity expert Nigel Collin, interviewed in this issue of HC, notes that most people in organisations don’t feel they have permission to think differently, to think outside the square, to push the parameters. Added to that, they lack the environment (both physical and mental) to produce ideas. And finally, there is no process in place to bring those brilliant ideas towards some commercial end-goal. Without those elements in place, it’s likely your creative employees – and despite popular perception we are all in fact creative – may be whistling in the wind.
Iain Hopkins, editor, HC Magazine
Human Capital wants to hear from you. Email us: [email protected]
Once people realise they will have a lot more silly, untenable ideas than great ideas, it takes the pressure off
Whistling in the wind
3HCAMAG.COM
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HC MAGAZINE 11.04
contents Check out the HC archive online: hcamag.com
REGULARS04 | In brief: news06 | In brief: hr insight
FRONTLINE INTELLIGENCE 08 | In Step – HR career experts10 | Legal12 | HR consulting13 | Technology
40 | Master of bright ideasWhen it comes to innovation, are you a helicopter or a vending machine? One takes a holistic view, the other churns out tired ideas day in, day out. Iain Hopkins uncovers some tips to ensure your workplace is bursting with brilliant ideas
48 | Thought leadership? Think againCraig Badings and Dr Liz Alexander discuss why current job ads targeting professional ‘thought leaders’ reveal how little most of these organisations really understand about thought leadership and how they’re selling themselves and the position short
Cover story: Global talent strategiesWhy should organisations source talent from abroad? Simply put, talent shortages demand it – and it’s likely your competitors are already doing it. In a comprehensive report, HC looks at everything from visa requirements to cross-cultural management
40
36 | Building the ultimate HR teamGraham Winter asks the question: Is your HR leadership team the role model for nimble and adaptive or siloed and conventional?
50 | Profile: The price is rightFrom consultant to in-house HR professional, Joanna Price of Adshel talks to Iain Hopkins about rebranding, rapid growth, and playing devil’s advocate
4 HCAMAG.COM
IN BRIEF
news
The month in numbers
Percentage of workplaces that are first-aid ready. Education was the best-performing industry (still only 21.5%), with hospitality at 10%*
500,000 The number of employees expected to make up the temporary workforce by 2015̂
Percentage of employers that have hired a disabled worker in the past five years. The survey also revealed 35% have modified the original job description and altered their usual work processes to accommodate the candidate’s disability^^
Sources: *Safe Work Australia’s newly released First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice ^Adecco Group’s 2013 Temporary Labour Report ^^Employment Office polled 300 employers around Australia
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
PENALTY RATES ANNOUNCEMENT HAS EMPLOYERS SEEING RED n Prime Minister Julia Gillard has controversially announced that the Fair Work Act will be amended to include a new modern award objective that aims to enshrine an employee’s right to be paid penalty rates. The announcement was angrily received by employer groups, who have long since lobbied for reductions in the current penalty rates.
Speaking at an Australian Council of Trade Unions summit in Canberra, Gillard indicated a specific provision would be inserted into the Fair Work Act, guaranteeing that workers covered by a modern award will receive higher rates of pay for work performed outside of normal hours. While this is a victory for unions campaigning for legislative protection of penalty rates, the proposed change has been criticised by business groups.
The question of penalty rates is currently before a Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission as part of the Award Modernisation Review.
PAYROLL
RISK MITIGATION FAILUREn According to the head of the peak payroll body, an alarming number of Australian companies are non-compliant and not meeting statutory requirements. This is compounded by companies using inefficient payroll practices and having unqualified staff manage what is a complex process.
Australian Payroll Association managing director Tracy Angwin sounded a warning to company directors, chief financial officers and HR managers over the urgent need for all businesses to come up to speed on their payroll obligations or risk serious consequences, including substantial penalties and brand damage.
“The fact is that most businesses are not taking their payroll obligations as seriously as they should be, and are failing to leverage payroll as an asset of the organisation,” Angwin commented. “We can see that through payroll disasters such as the rollout of Queensland Health’s flawed payroll system, which could ultimately cost taxpayers up to $1.2bn, and the $20m payroll fraud at retailer Clive Peeters.”
Angwin said that changes to the Fair Work Act at the end of 2012 mean that businesses need to be fully compliant on their payroll systems or they risk substantial fines from the Fair Work Ombudsman.
WORK-LIFE BALANCE
SINGLE WORKERS IGNORED n A new body of research has revealed that workplace flexibility policies designed to be family-friendly may have an unintentional side effect – single workers also struggle to find the time or energy to ensure their work and home lives are balanced.
The message to employers, the researchers say, is that just because some workers live alone doesn’t mean they don’t have lives beyond the office. The Michigan State University study* found workers who struggle with maintaining a work-life balance (regardless of family circumstances) report less satisfaction with their lives and jobs and show more signs of anxiety and depression.
The focus of companies tends to be more on helping workers find a ‘work-family’ balance. The broader new concept is called ‘work-life’, though for many employers it remains just that – a concept, study co-author Jessica Keeney added.
“As organisations strive to implement more inclusive HR policies, they might consider offering benefits such as flexible work arrangements to a wider audience than just parents,” Keeney said. *The research encompassed two studies of nearly 5,000 university alumni
RECRUITMENT
A THIRD OF EMPLOYERS NOT HAPPY WITH TEENAGE WORKERSn New research has found that up to a third of employers find teenage workers unreliable and immature, and unable to commit to meaningful long-term work.
Welfare organisation Mission Australia surveyed some 200 Australian employers and found that many are unsatisfied with the performance of younger workers. Not having a driving licence or transport also hindered a young person's chance of employment and most work offered is casual.
While 66% of organisations said they would be looking to recruit before June, most will be offering casual positions. What’s more, a third of young people given a job by those surveyed were children of employees, colleagues or friends.
13%
49.5%
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IN BRIEF
Downsizing remains an unfortunate fact of business life, but without appropriate HR planning it can result in long-term business damage
HR insight / downsizing
DOWNSIZING: THE HARD QUESTIONS ➜ Why does employment downsizing make sense for the organisation? ➜ What is the business case for employment downsizing? ➜ What is the problem that the organisation is trying to solve? ➜ If the problem is short-term cash flow, are there alternative ways to cut costs? ➜ Do prospective layoffs include hard-to-find skill sets? ➜ How will the downsizing affect high performers who are difficult to replace? ➜ What are the short-term payoffs from a downsizing strategy? ➜ What long-term threats to the organisation’s strategic success might be associated with employment downsizing? ➜ What long-term costs might the organisation incur by implementing employment downsizing? ➜ Do the long-term benefits associated with employment downsizing outweigh its short-term costs? Source: SHRM Foundation's Employment Downsizing and its Alternatives
DID YOU KNOW?IBM enacted the biggest staff layoff strategy of all time in July 1993 when 60,000 employees lost their jobs. When Louis V. Gerstner Jr., viewed by many as one of the great CEOs of the second half of the 20th century, joined IBM in 1993, the company was in deep trouble. IBM had already cut workers in the late 1980s. The company had 405,000 workers in 1985; this dropped to 225,000 in July 1993. The workforce reduction and cost cuts saved IBM an estimated $4bn.
COST SAVERS A 2009 survey of 513 US-based companies by consulting firm Towers Watson revealed the most popular cost-saving tactics and the percentage of companies implementing each: ❶ Freeze or reduce hiring: 60% ❷ Cut travel and entertainment: 60% ❸ Reduce pay or raises: 60% ❹ Scale back employee events: 51% ❺ Conduct targeted layoffs: 40%
Attrition – in which people who leave are
not replaced. With this approach, employees
have the opportunity to exercise free choice in deciding whether to
stay or leave
HAVE YOU CONSIDEREDVARIATIONS ON A THEME?
Voluntary termination, which includes buy-out offers.
The main advantage of a buy-out is that it gives
employees a choice, which tends to reduce some of the stigma
associated with the loss of a job. However, the downside is that the best employees
may opt for it
Early retirement incentives – in which a
company offers more generous retirement benefits in return for an employee’s promise to leave at a certain time in the future. Sometimes, early retirement
offers are staggered to prevent a mass exodus. Retention bonuses with different quit dates may be
used to ensure an orderly exit
TREAD CAREFULLYAccording to a survey by Drake International, which polled companies that had undertaken redundancies:
40% of staff that remained became less motivated than they had been previously. And 41% admitted they had lost respect for their employers
46% said they would not be likely to make any form of recommendation of the business to friends or colleagues looking for future work
The survey pinpointed the fact that within a short period of six months after businesses were downsized, a 45% chunk of these businesses employed either temporary or permanent staff to fill positions that had been chopped in the downsizing operation
Only 21% reported an increase in productivity
40%46%
45%
21%
8 HCAMAG.COM
in 2013, businesses are driving change through productivity gains, cost minimisation and greater customer centricity. HR needs to be at the forefront and driving these changes by focusing on initiatives that deliver tangible commercial benefits. So what place is there for Diversity and Inclusion (‘D&I’) in this environment?
The reality is that experienced and successful HR leaders know that hard- headed, evidenced-based, commercially driven HR initiatives are required as a key to success with C Suite stakeholders and Boards. Like any other area of HR, D&I initiatives can build a competitive advantage for businesses. Understanding this is a powerful tool for HR professionals to deliver successful outcomes and accelerate their careers.
A BUSINESS CASE FOR D&IAt a recent function hosted by The Next Step, Liz Griffin, former Director, Global Diversity & Inclusion at Ernst & Young, shared her experience and insights on the topic of “Workforce Diversity: Compliance or Competitive Advantage?”
Liz spoke on how the overall approach to diversity has changed over time, from an initial focus on equality and compliance – for the purpose of managing liability and risk; to a focus on diversity – concentrating on data collection and analysis; through to an emphasis on inclusion – creating a competitive advantage through workforce diversity – led by the words and actions of organisational leaders.
If the current environment is driving a need for strategic agility and improved productivity, what is the business case for the current D&I agenda? Liz indicated that research has shown that, by engaging a diverse stakeholder group, businesses will drive diversity of thought, flowing on to more sustainable engagement, which supports businesses in building more effective relationships (both with their own people and their customers). Metrics derived
FRONTLINE INTELLIGENCE
recruitment Penny Holt is a Senior Consultant in our Executive Appointments team based in Sydney. For more information, call 02 8256 2500 or email [email protected].
Website: www.thenextstep.com.au
from a variety of research provides some strong evidence that a concerted focus on D&I can deliver positive commercial outcomes.
THE SUPPORTING D&I METRICSLiz outlined that research undertaken by McKinsey in 2012 indicates that companies with more diverse executive teams have 53% higher ROEs and achieve 14% higher EBIT margins.¹ Companies with women Board members outperformed those without women Board members by 26% over the past six years in terms of share price, return on equity, gearing, book value and average growth.² Workforces that are both diverse and inclusive have 12% higher employee productivity; 19% higher retention; 57% higher team collaboration – diversity of thought and therefore innovation; and 42% higher team commitment.³ In terms of diversity of teams and experience, 85% of respondents stated this improves reputation or financial performance or both.4
As Liz indicated, these are very compelling numbers.
POSITIONING AND EXECUTIONSo given the strength of these metrics, how do HR practitioners develop the ability to position D&I as a cornerstone to their contemporary HR frameworks? More importantly, how do they develop the personal toolkit to successfully execute D&I initiatives? If it is assumed that an engaged and productive workforce is key to any business strategy, HR practitioners, through open and business-focused conversations, need to create an effective D&I agenda. They also need to outline what is involved in implementing this agenda, being aware that it will impact every aspect of business strategy; and, in Liz’s view, it’s not a matter of implementing a bunch of stand-alone initiatives.
Liz’s view is that implementing a D&I agenda is about macro, systemic change aligned with organisational perspectives encompassing structure and strategy, processes, capability and style. With this in
mind, HR practitioners can work with business leaders to explore questions such as:• Do organisational processes ensure we are
identifying and developing the right talent, or are we recruiting in our own image?
• Do people leaders have the skills to identify and provide the right development opportunities to draw out team members’ diverse strengths and capabilities?
• Does the organisational structure allow opportunities for experienced people as they move through life stages and careers?
• Do we understand the organisation’s dominant leadership style? Is it allowing us to maximise productivity and hear from everyone in the team?
• Are leaders benefiting from innovation and diversity of thought across the business, e.g. in bringing new products to the market?
THE FINAL WORDAs Liz indicated, the first place in developing a D&I agenda for HR practitioners is building their own capability and toolkit to set the agenda. Understanding the research and presenting the metrics is a start. Business is commanding more strategic counsel from HR on people-related initiatives that will drive greater internal engagement and improved customer centricity, and the facts speak for themselves if presented well. If HR practitioners are able to bake D&I initiatives into business plans, they can be a powerful means of driving competitive advantage and enhanced commercial outcomes.
1. McKinsey, Is there a payoff from top-team diversity? 20122. Credit Suisse Research Institute, Gender Diversity and Corporate Performance, 20123. Corporate Leadership Council, Creating Competitive Advantage through Workforce Diversity, 20124. Ernst & Young/Economist Intelligence Unit, Globalisation Survey, 2010
Diversity & Inclusion – Competitive advantage?
By engaging a diverse stakeholder group, businesses will drive diversity of thought, flowing on to more sustainable engagement, which supports businesses in building more effective relationships.
9HCAMAG.COM 9HCAMAG.COM
MARKET MOVES
radar
By supplying Market Moves, The Next Step is not implying placement involvement in any way.
Kellie Egan is the new Director of HR at Atlassian, covering Australia and APAC. Kellie’s previous role was as HR Manager at Wavelength International, a recruitment and consulting firm specialising in the healthcare sector.
Airservices Australia has recently appointed Tim Starr as National WHS Services Manager, heading up a team of seven in Canberra. Tim started his career as an HR graduate at BlueScope Steel and worked in HR and line management roles for CSR before moving into HSE at Harsco Metals nine years ago. He then joined Bis Industries where he worked as Divisional Risk and OHSE Manager for Steel Services and Manager of OHS Systems across the group.
Clare Ryan has joined the Commonwealth Bank as an HR Manager in the Wealth Management division. Clare has over ten years’ experience in generalist human resources, having previously held HR business partner and HR management roles with the Nokia Group, JP Morgan, Optus and ABN AMRO.
In February, a full circle took place when Russell Kronenburg joined Peters Ice Cream in the role of GM People & Performance. Russell joins CEO Steven Audsley, with whom he worked for a number of years at Pacific Brands when they owned Peters Ice Cream.
After a number of years at ANZ, working with both the Retail and Private Banks, Sally-Ann Nadelman is delighted to make the move to Sydney to head up the L&D function at News Ltd as National Learning Design & Delivery Manager. Sally looks forward to “a great opportunity with a big transformation agenda”.
David Klages is the new Head of HR Strategy & Policy at QSuper, based in Brisbane. Over the last five years David has held senior HR roles at PWC in Sydney and Asia. In particular, over the last two years David worked with PWC Japan as Director of Performance & Transformation, a key leadership role providing advice on global HR practice. In addition to David’s experience as an HR generalist and in OD, he spent his earlier career in IR-focused roles so brings with him more than 18 years of HR and leadership experience.
Geraldine Moody has joined Virgin Australia as Group Executive People, Culture & Sustainability. Her previous roles include Chief Operating Officer of Baker & McKenzie’s offices in Australia, and General Manager, People & Development, at the Australian Stock Exchange where she was a member of the Group Executive Committee. She has also worked as a lawyer and senior executive adviser to the Chief Executive at Mallesons Stephen Jaques.
Professional services provider in the occupational rehabilitation and injury prevention space, Konekt Australia, has appointed Susanna Bradley as Head of People, Performance & Culture. Susanna
has held HR leadership roles in a variety of organisations, including software developer Altium Limited and specialty pharmaceutical company Invida.
Swinburne University of Technology has welcomed Rita Cincotta as Associate Director HR. Rita has made the move after a number of years at AMP, where Rita’s role in the HR team was integral to the success of the integration of AXA and AMP.
Andrew Kalinowski has joined Apparel Group as General Manager Human Resources. A former lawyer, Andrew has worked across a variety of sectors, including legal and retail, having held the roles of HR Manager at Minter Ellison in Brisbane and Group General Manager of HR at the Colorado Group.
Recent HR Market Moves
10 HCAMAG.COM
FRONTLINE INTELLIGENCE
legal Kathryn Dent is a Director of People + Culture Strategies. For further information, phone 02 8094 3107 or email [email protected]. Margaret Chan is an Associate at People + Culture
Strategies – phone 02 8094 3116 or email [email protected]
In a recent webinar hosted by People + Culture Strategies, we discussed the significant implications of the Federal Court’s decision in Barker v Commonwealth Bank of Australia (“Barker”) for organisations seeking to implement changes to employment contracts, whether by way of change resulting in termination of employment (as often happens during restructuring) or otherwise. Although Barker was appealed to the Full Federal Court ( judgment is currently reserved), the finding at first instance was that an employer’s breach of its redundancy policy amounted to a breach of the implied duty of mutual trust and confidence. This duty is that a party to the employment relationship “will not, without a reasonable or proper cause, conduct themselves in a manner which is likely to destroy or seriously damage the relationship of trust and confidence”.
The breach of this duty in Barker by the Commonwealth Bank’s failure to take “timely and meaningful steps” to follow its redeployment policy – even though it was expressed as to “not form any part of an employee’s contract of employment” –resulted in compensable damage in excess of $300,000. The lesson from Barker is that,
given the inability of employers to rely only on the written contract of employment as the sole authority of the process of implementing change, employers need to consider the risks inherent in introducing and managing change before such change is actioned, and further, to consider the issues which may influence the success of the change – such as communication and treatment of employees.
PROVISIONS YOU SHOULD LOOK OUT FORWhere the change involves redundancies, employers may also have additional obligations under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (“FW Act”) and any applicable Awards, Enterprise Agreements, contracts and policies – specifically the obligation to notify and consult with employees.
In addition to consultation obligations, section 389 of the FW Act provides that it will only be a “genuine redundancy”, and therefore an exception to claims of unfair dismissal, if the employer has considered “reasonable redeployment” within its organisation and that of “associated entities”. There are also additional notification requirements under Part 3–6 of the FW Act where 15 or more employees will be dismissed.
PROCESSIf an employer decides to vary an employment contract – e.g. to effect a salary cut or demotion, to relocate an employee or to alter a reporting line – the extent to which they can do this without consent depends on how flexibly the contract is worded to accommodate future change. In the absence of such flexibility an employer will not be able to make unilateral changes to the contract without risking a breach of contract action (or other claims such as unfair dismissal, and if for a “prohibited reason” – discrimination or adverse action claim).
Where substantial changes are accepted by employees but not documented in writing, there is also the risk that a new contract may come into existence combining implied and verbal terms which do not necessarily accord with the original contract and which may be difficult to prove at a later date. For this reason, any variation should be documented in writing and the employer should take the opportunity to confirm what other terms and conditions apply, referring to the original contract of employment where applicable.
A recorded version of the webinar is available for purchase. Please contact Corinne Ozols on (02) 8094 3100.
There is nothing permanent except change… … and it would be rare for any change within an organisation not to impact the people working for it. Kathryn Dent and Margaret Chan outline some of the risks and key lookouts for employers when introducing workplace change
12 HCAMAG.COM
FRONTLINE INTELLIGENCE
HR consulting
HR IS SHIFTING FROM A SERVICE TO A STRATEGIC BUSINESS DRIVERThe VP of Operations says, “I need you to hire five new engineers for me”, and HR traditionally responds with: “When do you want them by?” However, this ‘yes-man’, ‘service-centre’ attitude of HR is changing, and fast. In progressive organisations HR is emerging as a real strategic business function, not simply a shared service for implementing policy and process. It is quickly becoming viewed as the owner of the organisation’s key strategic asset – people; and is no longer simply expected to maintain this asset, but to critically increase the returns on that asset. This is shifting HR into a position to lead a real and positive disruption in business.
THE BEFORE AND AFTERI like to use the analogy of a car mechanic versus a car engineer to describe the shift in HR thinking. The mechanic services the car, typically following a standard process of, for example, changing the oil, cleaning the filters, etc. The mechanic will also fix a problem once it has occurred. Through their admirable service, mechanics support the goal of a smooth-running car that gets us from Point A to Point B.
The car engineer, on the other hand, is pivotal in designing the solution to achieve the desired outcomes. Starting with the goal of a smooth-running car that gets us from A to B, they will design and build tyres, gearboxes, fuel systems, etc., that interact with each other and the external environment to produce a successful car.
Strategic HR has transformed itself to become predominantly an engineer instead of a mechanic. In the boardroom they are becoming deeply connected to the business strategy, then they design people agendas to achieve those business outcomes. Increasingly, the CxOs are turning to the
CHRO to drive their business forward through workforce capability. The conversation is now around hiring the very best people and then maximising their experience so as to use our people as a competitive advantage. Smart executives know it is one of the last really big levers left to pull in order to exponentially increase business performance. For an increase in Employee Engagement and Performance Enablement of 0.25%, Kenexa research has shown the link to an increase in Return on Assets (ROA) of 1.14%. Mention that you can get a 1.14% increase in ROA to your CFO and watch their interest peak!
SUCCESSFULLY ACHIEVING THE HR SHIFT Shifting HR to become the strategic ‘engineer’ is driven top down by the HR leadership. Great HR leaders are maximising the strategic impact they have on their organisations by: • Building credibility into the boardroom
through bringing a disciplined business
Shifting HR – leading positive disruptive change
Andrew Brock, Client Services Director, Kenexa, an IBM CompanyLevel 2, 451 Little Bourke St, Melbourne
Phone (03) 9602 3899 or email [email protected]
focus to people management for example, by articulating the financial impact of HR decisions.
• Proactively driving a people strategy that is measurably linked to business performance by providing feasible business cases for HR programmes.
• Creating an HR unit that is efficient, flexible and able to adapt along with the business and external environment.
• Demonstrating the value, that we all know HR can bring, by using together business and HR data to show the bottom-line efficiencies, improvements and growth that can be achieved.If you had answered the opening question
from the VP of Operations by saying “How do you measure the effectiveness of your engineers?”, you may have uncovered, with more probing, that perhaps it is more of a knowledge and engagement issue. So instead of needing more people, training and engaging the current engineers more effectively would be a far greater return on investment. That is the real essence of the HR shift. Now, as HR practitioners we need to build and then display these new competencies within our organisations and become the leaders of disruptive change.
13HCAMAG.COM
Temporary employees can prove to be a valuable employment strategy if organisations take a best-fit approach
Q Should businesses use temporary employees for key technical roles, or are they
simply a band-aid solution?
A Today more than ever, businesses understand the need for flexibility in the workforce. For many
organisations, introducing temporary staff into the employment mix is a best-fit solution. The key, as always, is aligning the workforce with corporate strategy...
SHOULD YOU SOURCE TEMPORARY STAFF? Businesses choose to take on temporary staff for many reasons. It may simply be a matter of filling essential roles during an employee’s absence, for long service, sick leave or maternity leave, or it may be part of a larger strategy.
Temporary employees help organisations meet demands during busy business periods. They provide relief and stability for permanent staff while helping businesses avoid the cost of hiring a regular employee. For employers faced with the challenge of seasonal customer demand, or temporary surges in trade or short-term projects, temporary employees are the obvious answer.
Many businesses are now choosing to hire temporary staff to access expertise for a given project. Temporary arrangements allow organisations to access skills they might not otherwise have access to, such as specific IT, accountancy, legal skills and payroll.
BENEFITS FOR PERMANENT STAFFAlthough hiring temps may be met with suspicion from some permanent employees, having temporary employees as an ongoing solution to fluctuating service levels is actually highly beneficial to permanent staff. It provides a cushioning effect, protecting
Temporary workers take on technical roles
FRONTLINE INTELLIGENCE
technologyNick Southcombe is the General Manager of Frontier Software, an Australian-based global provider of HR and Payroll software and associated services. Nick can be contacted at [email protected] or by phoning 03 9639 0777. Website: frontiersoftware.com
permanent staff from the prospects of a business or economic downturn.
Highlighting the added job security added by temporary staff can help ease any concerns your permanent staff may have with temporary arrangements.
AGENCY OR DIRECT HIRE? Sourcing temporary staff can be challenging. It’s especially challenging when you’re attempting to fill a technical position that requires particular skills and knowledge. Businesses often look to external staffing agencies and recruiters to help source both large numbers of temporary employees and employees with specialist skills.
Deciding to source your temporary staff directly from the talent pool or via an agency depends greatly on your employment strategy. For employers wishing to fill a key, individual role, your recruitment department may be the best option for accessing a best-fit candidate. If you intend to implement an ongoing staffing strategy, developing a relationship with an agency may help to streamline the process. This can deliver a clear economic advantage while reducing the burden on your administration.
Choosing a reputable partner-agency is mission-critical. As temporary staff are employed and paid through the agency, it is vital that you can trust the partner to uphold the standards you would expect for and from your own staff.
BEST FIT STILL APPLIESThe same care should be taken when hiring temporary employees as you would permanent employees. If anything, it is more important than in normal circumstances that your temporary employee will rapidly acclimatise and reach productivity expectations.
Temporary employees can prove to be a valuable employment strategy if organisations take a best-fit approach. On-demand
employment is now part of the corporate mix, helping businesses access specialist skills without going over labour budget.
The demand for temporary workers is on the rise. You may be surprised to find that temporary employment is extending beyond traditional industries such as manufacturing and construction, to become a larger part of corporate Australia.
Not only has this steady growth been seen in administrative roles, but organisations are now more likely to hire temporary employees to fill technical roles. With businesses still recovering from the GFC, temporary workers are now seen by more businesses as an essential part of their employment strategy.
Frontier Software takes a best-fit approach when matching clients with on-demand payroll staff. Providing staff for critical functions such as payroll requires a thorough understanding of the client’s business. We work with payroll professionals who have come directly from our ranks, so our clients know they’re getting quality payroll staff.
14 HCAMAG.COM
corporate communicationHR SKILLS
HC talks to corporate speaking expert Gabrielle Rogers about the importance of speech training in the modern world
Talk the talk – and mean it
“Those who can speak get to the top – as simple as that.” So says corporate speaking expert Gabrielle Rogers. Typically (and incorrectly), speech training has been viewed by many workers and managers solely as a means of communicating more confidently in media interviews, and potentially, in worse-case scenarios, communicating positioning in crisis scenarios.
However, Rogers says this largely misses the point. She believes that all executives who wish to make their points clearer in all situations (including boardroom meetings, job interviews, shareholder meetings and company speeches) should be placing greater focus on the way they speak and how this is experienced by everyone around them. Here she outlines what’s involved.
Human Capital: Why is speech training important in the corporate world in 2013?Gabrielle Rogers: We’re in business with people, and all of that unspoken, instinctual connection that happens with people is the tone of the voice, the posture, the way someone moves, the way they hold their coffee cup. It doesn’t mean a lot in black and white but it does mean a lot in terms of our everyday interactions. Our voice is so much a part of who we are, like a fingerprint or a face. It’s another opportunity to enrich our work, to have people gravitate towards us, and to isolate people as well.
HC: Where do you start with verbal business communication?GR: There’s one phrase I like to say to help people clarify
what they’re going for – ultimately, what I like giving to people is the opportunity to say what they mean and mean what they say. The ‘meaning what you say’ part is about the 93% rule, whereby 93% of communication is about the physical use of the body and tone of the voice. We can be saying one thing but the audience is picking up on all this other stuff that we’re giving off – and if we’re not aware of it due to our lack of vocal awareness, then we’re not in their eyes meaning what we say. That’s where the disconnect happens. That’s where business communications can break down.
HC: So there’s a contradiction going on between the words and the actions?GR: Countless studies have been done, and it keeps coming back to this: 7% is the words we say, 55% is our physical presence, and 38% is our voice. That’s powerful stuff. Fortunately for speech trainers, it’s not airy-fairy – it’s quite concrete; it’s physical. There are specific muscles that we use to speak, and if they’re not working well, we’ll be let down.
HC: Is it possible that HR professionals have not been aware of how they are projecting themselves and this has held them back in the corporate world?GR: It absolutely could be. The exercises I draw upon are primarily stolen from actor training. Actors are the ultimate in persuasive language: being able to say something and having a group of people honestly believe you mean it. To quote Condoleezza Rice – she wanted to graduate from politics with people never knowing what she personally thought about anything. If you have the skills to affect people through your voice, through your physical presence, it’s very powerful. Most people are completely unaware that they can separate what’s going on inside their mind and what’s actually being presented to the listener.
A lot of people appear to be naturally great speakers, but if you analyse their technique and put it back together
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again, perhaps on someone who isn’t always hitting their mark, you can give them the skills and technique to be able to hit it every time, regardless of whether or not they believe in, or agree with, what they’re saying.
HC: So you can help people develop those connections with the audience?GR: That’s right. Even if they’ve been handed the message three minutes before, they can use certain skills to break it down and deliver that message. They’re in control of it, rather than being at the whim of the listeners’ response or being at the whim of how they’re feeling that day, or what they feel about that message. If you apply the right corporate performance techniques, you can pretty much sell coals to Newcastle.
HC: We talk about trust and transparency in corporate communications – can these be conveyed through speech?GR: We’re all born with a great ability to communicate, but things get shut down along the way. Working with a voice trainer, or even being mindful of your speech patterns, one can learn to be free when communicating, or at least appear to be free, and also be authentic and reliable, even though that might not be the case on that particular day. What’s important for me is it helps people to be transparent. It’s a buzzword, but transparency is such a sought-after commodity. A lot of people won’t do business with people because they don’t trust them. That ability to trust is so personal that anyone who gets the opportunity to feel they trust themselves and their voice more will instantly carry that down the line. Whoever you’re working with, if you are communicating in a way that is free, clear, confident and calm, that has an amazing trickle-on effect.
The current mould is: here’s the spin, let’s do some jazzy buzzwords, let’s puff ourselves out and be number one. But
If you apply the right corporate performance techniques, you can pretty much sell coals to Newcastle
– GABRIELLE ROGERS
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corporate communicationHR SKILLS
I think that underestimates the integrity of the listener. Most people are bright, and we underestimate that they are making decisions based on their personal opinion of you.
HC: How about tone of voice? You wouldn’t want a flippant tone if talking about a workplace accident…GR: Absolutely not. About 80% of people who come to me are concerned about the tone of their voice. Most people speak much higher in their pitch range than they need to. Again, that’s just a physical problem that can be fixed relatively easily. The gravitas and depth of tone is one of the things that starts to shift when you start working on your voice – and it’s wonderful to see people start to feel like themselves. They listen to themselves and hear how they speak and they think, “That’s me – that’s my voice and who I am”, as opposed to trying to sound like someone else.
HC: There is a high degree of self-awareness required?GR: It’s one of the first things to do in voice training: you stop listening for your voice and start feeling for it – where it’s placed in the body. This is why there are certain male actors that women around the world, regardless of culture, want to listen to – because it resonates in certain areas of an individual’s body, which appeals to the listener. It’s a very personal, physical feeling when your voice is in place.
It changes the way you breathe, the way you move, the way you think, in a very clear way which is very intoxicating once you get there.
HC: I’m an HR professional giving a budget speech to other members of the executive team. What tips would you give me to help with nerves?GR: First of all, the thing you need to know is it’s good that you’re feeling nervous. Everyone feels nervous so we need to facilitate that anxiety, to use that adrenalin and apply that to your technique. Then your technique for public speaking will help you give a dynamic speech. The next thing I would do is give you some breathing exercises to help you to connect your thought right down to the depths of your voice, to the gut of your voice. Then there are many other tricks and tools to connect and think about how you want to affect your audience, so it becomes about the story you’re telling and not about you. You’re using all that adrenalin; you’re putting all that energy into the story you need to tell during the next 30 minutes, and making some clear, firm decisions that you have thought about beforehand around how you want to affect that specific group of people. With practice you get those muscles working in such a way that nervousness is fine; you become good at being nervous.
Gabrielle Rogers has launched a new app to help workers
practise their speaking techniques
cheaply and easily. ‘Speak Like A Pro’ is downloadable from
iTunes.
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Planning & recruitingINTERNATIONAL HRCOVER STORY - INTERNATIONAL HR
Why should organisations source talent from abroad? Simply put, talent shortages demand it – and it’s likely your competitors are already doing it. HC provides a guide to global resourcing strategy over the following pages
It all starts with a
plan
With a labour market in which the unemployment rate persistently hovers around 5.4%, international recruitment is a modern reality. Research by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations shows that 35% of skilled jobs went unfilled in 2012. Yet even as the government constantly reviews and streamlines processes to get more foreign workers into the country, the skills shortage continues to bite.
International sourcing has become a standard feature of many workforce-planning strategies, and to avoid being left behind, you should consider it as another tool in your armoury, suggests Tiffany Quinlan, HR director, Randstad.
“With these skills shortages having a corrosive impact on productivity and growth prospects, it may be necessary for some organisations to turn to overseas candidates to attain the skills needed,” she notes.
HR’s roleIn the past, the role of HR in international assignments was to manage the process of getting an employee from one country to another. This ranged from drafting employment contracts for the period of expatriation, to ensuring salaries and expenses were paid in the right currencies and into the right accounts in the right countries, to liaising with removalists, travel agents and real estate agents to get the employee, their family and their belongings moved.
Although all these things still need to occur, a level of sophistication has now developed around international assignments. Other issues such as security, global talent management and managing the needs of a wide range of international assignees (age, experience, life stage, skill sets) are relatively recent challenges.
For example, there used to be a typical profile of an expatriate in many companies: male, aged 30 to 40, moving up the ladder and getting an overseas appointment to round out their company experience on the way to a top job. Now a wide range of employees take up global assignments.
And regardless of employee desires, there still needs to be a commercial imperative, which always comes first.
What are the key questions to ask?There are a number of visa options available to employers wishing to access overseas skills, but before you investigate these (see feature on page 24), employers must ensure they have the right systems and processes in place:1. Buy-in from the business. Successful international recruitment requires the whole business to be behind it. There is no point in this being an HR initiative with C-level support if the line managers are not on board. Take the time to discuss the strategy with all key stakeholders.2. Relocation – Have a set policy in place for handling relocation. Check what your competitors offer to make sure you are favourably placed with candidates and understand the cost implications.3. Onboarding – International candidates need a more robust induction than those from Australia. For example, transportation, office hours, dress code and OH&S may be radically different to what they have experienced before, and time taken to explain these logistics and follow the standard induction process will positively impact on retention of your new employee.4. Skills development – In order to sponsor international candidates, organisations must also show they are investing
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in local skills development. This isn’t just a matter of meeting requirements of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship but is also critical to ensuring the skills shortage is addressed locally now to minimise its impact in the future.5. Future proofing. Have a policy in place that ensures you retain the skills of any international candidate for as long as possible. Although most are generally loyal as a result of the opportunity afforded them to move to Australia, having several small retention-focused steps in place for the first five years yields an even greater ROI. Examples include agreeing to sponsor for permanent residency, writing off visa application costs on a pro-rata basis over a number of years, and offering a bonus after an agreed period of service.
Planning and strategisingResource planning can ensure an organisation has the right people with the right skills, at the right time. This means working with the rest of the business to identify future staffing needs, so you are able to avoid ‘panic filling’ a role.
International workforce planning, although more complicated, shares many similarities with its localised
cousin. There are a number of key elements to developing an effective recruitment strategy that allows businesses to identify where talent gaps are, what skills are needed, and why looking overseas for talent might be the best solution to recruitment issues: • Ensure you have someone in your organisation
specifically responsible for/dedicated to resourcing.• Determine what your business offers employees – why
should people choose your organisation over another?• Work out what your business needs in terms of roles
– one cost- and time-saving idea is to build a library of generic job descriptions that allows managers to amend the finer details and then compare the organisational needs to existing roles.
• If there are gaps between needs and provision, evaluate whether you can fill them by adjusting the roles of existing employees – providing training or flexible working arrangements to current staff may help fill gaps and develop solid career paths as a way of building loyalty.
• Monitor where your business does its hiring from – this will enable you to gauge the most successful and cost-effective channels.
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Planning & recruitingINTERNATIONAL HRCOVER STORY - INTERNATIONAL HR
SGMC International, a company specialising in international workforce planning, attraction and mobility, advises clients across three key areas: strategy, delivery and support. Nathan Cox, SGMC’s director of government and employer services, suggests his company’s most significant impact on client needs comes with an understanding and demonstrated knowledge of where the highest concentrations of desired global skills lie. SGMC also looks at a number of critical indicators at the strategy stage. This includes detailing any skills gap training required to bridge differences in training and licensing across two countries; understanding language requirements; looking at
social, economic and political factors of the source country and the ‘pull factors’ of the host country. This results in a ‘Migration Probability Index’, or a detailed understanding of the responsiveness of the people the client is targeting for overseas work opportunities.
A ‘plan of attack’ is then formalised in what SGMC refers to as a Skilled Migrant Attraction Program (SMAP), which is naturally unique to the needs of individual employers.
Each SMAP has a marketing component targeted to sourcing the best talent. For example, when searching for highly specialised positions it will include a strong trade media component, a lot of social media to get the message
legal proceedings or administrative action.• Keep records relating to the payment of sponsored
and overseas staff and appropriate use of leave, employment contracts and assignment letters.
• Notify DIAC and keep records (dependent on the specific obligation) of your obligations as a sponsor. These include changes in position, job tasks and job location or cessation of employment. Seek guidance before changes are made to a 457 visa holder’s role and tasks or any proposed reduction in their salary package.
• Regularly review the terms and conditions of employment of your 457 visa holders. This includes regularly reviewing and adjusting 457 visa holders’ salaries against the local market rate in line with reviews of your local staff.
THE 457 VISA REQUIREMENTS – POSITION TO BE FILLED• Ensure the position to be filled is in a sufficiently
skilled occupation on the approved occupations list.• Understand the terms and conditions, market rate and
guaranteed earnings criteria under the 457 visa program.• Accurately specify and break down the earnings that the
applicant will receive in the role.• Consider how you will determine and demonstrate the
market rate for the occupation and that the foreign national will receive guaranteed earnings that are at least equivalent to what would be offered to an Australian undertaking the same role in the same location.
• Consider any licensing/registration requirements.
VISA APPLICATION • Confirm that the applicant has the necessary
qualifications, skills and experience for the position. • Ensure the applicant understands and has agreed to
the salary package and guaranteed earnings specified in the nomination application.
• Ensure the applicant meets the minimum English language requirements.
• Ensure the applicant’s health and character are satisfactory.
• Confirm that children and other dependants satisfy dependency rules.
For more information about employing foreign nationals, contact Teresa Liu, partner, Fragomen, MARN: 9896488, at [email protected] or T: +61 2 8224 8518
IMMIGRATION CHECKLIST
DOES YOUR BUSINESS HAVE PROCEDURES TO CHECK THAT A NEW EMPLOYEE OR CONTRACTOR HAS APPROPRIATE WORK PERMISSION AND LAWFUL STATUS?• Implement procedures to check that any new employee or
contractor is entitled to work in Australia, including when renewing contracts.
• Implement procedures to regularly check that employees or contractors who hold temporary visas are entitled to work.
• Ensure any recruitment company that refers potential employees has appropriate systems in place to check that the person has appropriate work permission and lawful status.
• Ensure appropriate systems are in place to monitor visa expiry dates/changes in visa conditions.
• Ensure your temporary visa holders understand their visa conditions and any work restrictions they may have.
• Ensure managers/supervisors of temporary visa holders understand your obligations as an employer of foreign workers, including 457 sponsorship obligations.
BUSINESS SPONSORSHIP UNDER THE 457 VISA PROGRAMBefore being able to sponsor foreign nationals for temporary work in Australia under the most common program, the 457 visa, businesses must gain and hold status as a Business Sponsor and commit to a series of sponsorship obligations.
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) and Fair Work Inspectors audit and monitor businesses from time to time, so it is important that you keep records demonstrating your compliance with sponsorship obligations. • Know when your current Business Sponsorship
status and related sponsorship obligations expire. • Keep records showing recruitment of staff who are
Australian citizens and permanent residents of Australia. • Keep up-to-date records regarding training and
training spend. • Keep DIAC or your Migration Agent advised of changes
in the business that may affect your ability to continue to meet sponsorship criteria, eg changes in training spend, retrenchments, business restructuring,
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TECHNOLOGY
Competition has never been so fierce for talent around the world, so it must be recognised that access to a global talent pool…needs to be a part of a very complex puzzle that HR and operations must continually work on
– TIFFANY QUINLAN
out to localised groups, as well as tapping into local industry networks. For larger, more general campaigns, SGMC looks to create more noise, including extensive above-the-line advertising to secure a high number of candidates for interview.
Hitting the target audience: working on delivery Attracting international applicants requires a different approach to accessing the local market. After all, you want to make sure you get applications from not only the most qualified but also the most ‘move-ready’ applicants.
However, Quinlan says it is important to recognise that Australia is not the only country suffering a skills shortage. “Competition has never been so fierce for talent around the world so it must be recognised that access to a global talent pool is not the sole solution, rather it needs to be a part of a very complex puzzle that HR and operations must continually work on.”
Cox adds that employers are becoming more aware of the need to get their brand across as many platforms as possible. Building on SGMC’s ‘strategy’ phase is the ‘delivery’ phase. For example, clients from Canada, who are looking for huge numbers of engineers to put infrastructure in place to support the mining boom there, need a multipronged strategy, including job expos, industry websites, networking sites such as LinkedIn, local media where talent pools exist, and anywhere they will get good brand exposure to potential employees.
Support providedThe question of whether to partner with recruitment companies that have global networks, or to use internal company networks, eg overseas-based offices, also needs to be considered. Role delineation must also occur: does a third party handle job interviews as well as the onboarding process or is this handled in-house? Some might opt for a third party to manage all back- and front-end activity, including representing the company at industry events. For others, a third party may construct the infrastructure for an international recruitment campaign and provide backup support to their representatives in the market.
Regardless of approach taken, it is vital to map out each step of the candidate journey, documenting all touchpoints on that journey. “We provide candidates with ongoing information about their progress, and detailed briefings of what is required of them and the support available to ensure they remain committed throughout,” says Cox. “We work with the client to help them understand how they will increase their chances of success, with success being a new employee who is happy and supported in their job.”
Arm yourself with knowledgeKnowledge is strength, and international resourcing is no different. “Australia has a sophisticated migration
program that gets skilled migrants into jobs quickly. Knowing how this works and responding positively to the challenges posed by domestic skill shortages will improve the bottom line for Australian business,” says Cox.
Many businesses, particularly SMEs, are overawed or intimidated by the phrase ‘international recruitment’, but with the right planning it needn’t be difficult, Cox adds.
Skilled Migration 2013 is Australia’s first national employer conference dedicated to helping businesses unlock the opportunities of the international workforce. The agenda will walk participants through every step of the international recruitment process, from understanding Australia’s visa and skills recognition system to developing more effective international recruitment attraction strategies. A diverse line-up of speakers from business and government will aim to provide businesses looking to recruit internationally with insight that will provide a competitive advantage in their skills attraction activity. Keynote presentations from diverse backgrounds – government, industry, academia, policy and strategy – will include an overview of Australia’s economic outlook and the role of skilled migration from the Commonwealth Bank’s chief economist as well as the CEO of the Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency.
The conference breaks the process down to its separate components: workforce planning; the economics of skilled migration; employer-sponsored visas; skills assessment; English-language testing; market research; and international recruitment strategies. The end result? Attendees will leave confident in the knowledge that they understand what they need to include in their own international hiring strategies – and how to execute on those plans and processes.
For further information, visit skilledmigration.org
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Case study – MWHINTERNATIONAL HRCOVER STORY - INTERNATIONAL HR
Having no set teams and up to 10% of a 7,500 strong workforce operating outside their home country might sound like HR’s worst nightmare – yet MWH has thrived
As a global water infrastructure and management consulting firm, MWH has structured itself as a truly global operation. While there are offices in numerous countries, MWH does not operate on a country-by-country level but rather on a global level. So, if a project is won in Australia, for example, the global directors, including HR, will assess who they have globally that can do the job best and get the desired results for the client, and fly these engineers/consultants in from around the world accordingly. Human Capital talks to John Darmody, senior global director at MWH, about the benefits this innovative approach to business is bringing.
Human Capital: MWH takes an innovative approach to global business. Can you outline how this has impacted on your own career?John Darmody: My own career has been one primarily of moving around the company. The company has allowed me to do that over a 30-odd-year career. I’ve had long-term assignments in Egypt, US, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia. For me it’s been what the company has always been about – moving people around within the company rather than hiring people locally and then letting them go when projects ended in a particular geography.
HC: Walk me through what would happen with a project in, say, Qatar?JD: Generally, it’s around a specialisation; a recent project in QLD, for example, was about water treatment, so you go to whoever is our water knowledge specialist. We’ve got a global water knowledge specialist who is well connected
Global players
with various groups around the company. We then ask: this is what the project requires – who are the best people we’ve got to do that kind of work? Then we go to them, look at what they’re currently doing, look at their personal circumstances. Can they move around? If so, is it with family? We’re flexible in terms of marrying opportunity up with different people. That’s the largest challenge we face right now – continually sifting through our staff to try to find out who the best available resources are to bring into projects.
HC: Who runs the projects?JD: A project manager – often that will be someone local, but on a big project where it would require specialist high-level skills, if that wasn’t available locally we’d bring in an international project manager. But we’re very aware that a job in Australia needs to have Australian flavour; you can’t just drop it in and hope the differences in culture and ways of doing business will just work themselves out – they don’t.
HC: What happens at the end of a project? Do people return to a home base?JD: For me it was looking at the end of a tour of duty and saying, ok, I could go back home but I’m enjoying being away, and if I need to make a move let me consider the whole company as my oyster rather than just what’s on offer in the place I left. So we do offer up coming home as an option, but we’ve found once they get the taste it might be five to 10 years before people get the urge to return home. Projects range in duration from several weeks or months to three or four years.
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HC: Does HR have a role in the company?JD: A huge role. When thinking about what our biggest obstacles are, they’re all related to HR in some fashion. Immigration is a huge one; that’s something that is coordinated and handled by HR – they’re the ones who are experts and specialists in immigration issues. They will often hire specialist firms to advise them, but ultimately the responsibility for the immigration issues resides with our HR group. Taxation is another major one; generally people don’t want to be caught up in double taxation situations, so they want the company to provide them with advice on the mediation of one country’s tax laws versus another’s.
Also, everyone wants someone in that country next week, or two weeks. For HR to be staffed and experienced enough to not only do it but do it at speed, I take my hat off to them.
HC: Where is HR situated?JD: Five years ago we had HR reporting to regional geography, so we had an HR group that looked after Asia-Pac, another in Americas, another in Europe. Over the past five years they’ve moved ahead with standardisation within their areas, but if we really want to be a global company we’ve decided we need to have global HR, and instead of having the HR director five years ago reporting to the Asia-Pac president, now the HR director in Asia-Pac
My own career has been one primarily of moving around the company
– JOHN DARMODYreports to the global HR director. It’s flicked the hardline reporting from being local to being global while still retaining a very local focus.
HC: What other support do you provide to employees?JD: We’ve got a global mobility policy, which means that no matter where you are in the company there are guidelines as a first point of reference for working out what people are entitled to when it comes to a move. We use that as the guideline, but in most cases you’ll find every family and individual is unique and therefore we’ve got different requirements. You don’t want to be short-changing them due to a guideline – you want to be looking at what their needs are and trying to meet those needs.
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INTERNATIONAL HR
As the Federal Government continues its simplification of Australia’s tangled migration policies, Teresa Liu considers the recent changes and what it means for business
The amendments to the visitor visa program announced on 13 March and taking effect from 23 March 2013 further progress the Federal Government’s simplification and deregulation strategy, which committed to reduce by 50% the total number of visa subclasses by 2015. This strategy also counterbalances the Government’s commitment to strengthen the integrity of the visa program, as seen in the changes to business visitor visas on 23 March and more broadly to the Temporary Work (Skilled) Subclass 457 (457 visa) from 1 July.
Managing the use of business visitor visas can be a headache for global mobility professionals, particularly where the line between ‘business’ and ‘work’ activities becomes blurred.
Whilst the 457 visa is the primary tool for employing temporary foreign workers in Australia, in time-critical situations businesses have relied on business visitor visas to enable certain foreign workers to work in Australia for short periods in particular circumstances. Ambiguous policy guidelines developed by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) previously allowed business visitor visas to be used in this way in specialised circumstances; however, these guidelines seemingly contradicted what many considered the broader legal condition imposed on such visas, prohibiting work that could ‘ordinarily be carried out by an Australian citizen or permanent resident’.
On 23 March 2013, the Government introduced a new Temporary Work (Short Stay Activity) subclass 400 visa to specifically allow short-term work in situations prescribed under law. The visa carves away these activities from the business visitor visa program and introduces more narrowly defined allowable business activities.
WHAT IS THE NEW SHORT STAY ACTIVITY VISA? The new Short Stay Activity visa allows entry to Australia if the work will not be ongoing and it: • is highly specialised (as defined under new policy); or• fulfils compelling circumstances relating to Australia’s
interests (for example, a natural disaster); or• is an invitation to attend an event, such as a
conference or cultural event. Granted for up to three months, this visa is subject to
a work limitation that restricts the visa holder from participating in a different activity or undertaking work for another organisation. The work should also not have an adverse impact on the employment or training opportunities of Australian citizens or permanent residents.
While the Short Stay Activity visa provides greater clarity on allowable work activities and a potentially longer period of allowable work, there is concern that applications will take extended periods to process and that a high level of evidence is needed to support the visa application.
WHAT WILL THIS MEAN FOR BUSINESS VISITORS?At the same time the Short Stay Activity Visa was introduced, nine existing visitor visa subclasses were consolidated into four ‘simplified’ subclasses:• Subclass 600 (Visitor) visa• Subclass 601 (Electronic Travel Authority) visa• Subclass 602 Medical Treatment visa• Subclass 651 eVisitor visa
In the case of business visitors, a new definition of ‘business visitor activity’ has been introduced. This specifies business activity to mean any of the following:• making a general business or employment inquiry;
expert insight – migration
A simpler business visa program?
25HCAMAG.COM
• investigating, negotiating, entering into or reviewing a business contract;
• an activity carried out as part of an official government-to-government visit;
• participation in a conference, trade fair or seminar in Australia unless the person is being paid by an organisation for participation; but excludes:
• an activity that is, or includes work for, or supplies services to, an organisation or other person based in Australia; or an activity that is, or includes, the sale of goods or services directly to the general public.Business visitors also have a new condition 8115
imposed upon their Visitor visa, ETA or eVisitor visa, which prohibits them from working in Australia, other than engaging in a ‘business visitor activity’.
The more narrowly defined ‘business activity’ may mean that some activities allowable in law and policy under the old categories will now be viewed as work, and business visitors may now need a Short Stay Activity or 457 visa (depending on criteria). Obviously, this would impact on timings.
Businesses also need to consider their system of tracking and approving business visitors and ensuring their activities comply with the new definition of business activity.
THE CURRENT CLIMATE FOR 457 VISAS AND HEIGHTENED COMPLIANCE Whilst the new Short Stay Activity visa is aimed at urgent and non-ongoing short term-work, the 457 visa is still most appropriate for short- to medium-term skill shortages. In February, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Brendan O’Connor, announced measures to strengthen the integrity of the 457 visa program and protect Australian workers, following a review by the Ministerial Advisory Council on Skilled Migration.
Amongst the new measures to be introduced from 1 July 2013 is a new ‘genuineness’ criterion. This requires employers to demonstrate they are nominating positions where genuine skill shortages exist and where the positions are consistent with their businesses’ core operations.
Further changes include an increase to the language requirements for certain positions, an increase in the market salary exemption from $180,000 to $250,000, and tightening of existing compliance and enforcement powers.
Bolstering these reforms is a recent joint announcement from Minister O’Connor and the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, the Hon. Bill Shorten, that the Fair Work Ombudsman will have wider powers to monitor and enforce 457 visa conditions. These new powers are intended to ensure that visa holders are paid at market rates specified in their approved visa and that they are working in the position for which they were most recently nominated.
Business has raised concerns that the reforms will simply increase red tape for compliant sponsors. With a federal election looming in September 2013 and the potential for a new government and Immigration Minister, it is possible that some of these measures may be scaled back.
The tightening of the 457 program coincides with the introduction of the Migration Amendment (Reform of Employer) Sanctions Act 2012, which comes into effect from 1 July 2013. The Act introduces new civil penalty provisions against employers who are found to have employed a foreign national without appropriate work permission, regardless of whether or not the employer knew or was reckless about the worker’s visa entitlements. Corporations face a maximum civil penalty under the Act of $76,500 and individuals $15,300.
Importantly, employers who demonstrate they took reasonable steps at reasonable times to verify an employee’s eligibility to work have a statutory defence under the legislation. This includes employers who show they used DIAC’s free Visa Entitlement Verification Online service to check a prospective worker’s work entitlements (with the worker’s consent) or who can otherwise demonstrate satisfactory evidence of the worker’s Australian citizenship, permanent residency or visa with current permission to work.
CONCLUSIONThe Government’s regulatory reform agenda aims to streamline the visitor visa framework to make it simpler and more efficient. While this is welcome, whether ‘simplification’ happens in practice remains to be seen. Undoubtedly the 457 program will be heatedly debated as the election draws closer. The Employer Sanctions Act, tougher standards and increased monitoring of the 457 program highlight the importance of having procedures in place to check permission to work, business activities, and in establishing systems to manage your foreign workforce.
Teresa Liu is a partner at Fragomen (MARN: 9896488). For further information, email [email protected]
Whilst the new Short Stay Activity visa is aimed at urgent and non-ongoing short-term work,
the 457 visa is still most appropriate for short to medium-term skill shortages
– TERESA LIU
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relocationINTERNATIONAL HRCOVER STORY - INTERNATIONAL HR
Relocations can be a highly emotive subject for staff, and the cost of failure is high. HC provides some tips to navigate the pitfalls and provide the proper support
On the
Willingness to relocate is one thing; adaptability is another – and is the key to any successful relocation. As the following extreme example of a relocation gone
horribly wrong demonstrates, robust HR practices are also vital.
A large corporate company employed a UK single employee for their Melbourne office. Pre-arrival relocation steps and interaction with the employee were limited. The employee had a long history of depression involving periods as an ‘inpatient’, and this may have been uncovered had the company carried out psychometric testing on adaptability for the move prior to engaging the employee.
The employee relocated to Melbourne in July 2008, with the plan for repatriation in December of the same year. The employee became depressed after eight weeks
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and began to feel very isolated. She made no attempts to socialise and the company made no effort to provide her with networking support or a ‘buddy’ to take her out. Despite being located in a desirable part of Melbourne in a house only 15 minutes’ walk from the beach, she had never once ventured out to the beach for a walk.
Around late September, the employee tried to commit suicide during a business trip to Brisbane, wanting to throw herself off her apartment balcony. As a consequence, she went to see a local doctor and was then taken to the hospital where she was sectioned for a week.
A third-party relocation provider was engaged to handle the departure management and coordinate the removal services and lease closure as the employee needed to return to her home country for treatment. It was discovered months later that the employee had committed suicide as a consequence of her depression.
While it’s impossible to know if the tragedy could have been prevented, employers owe it to their employees – and to themselves – to administer best practice in this area.
Where to startWhat’s important? Linda Pendlebury, director of Life Relocation, suggests a first step is to be clear on what’s at stake, purely from the financial point of view. Firstly, review the host location cost of living, as this can have a major effect on any relocation. Then consider the overall cost if a relocation happens to go wrong; this can run to hundreds of thousands, considering the initial cost of hire, relocation expenses, downtime until new hire, re-hire costs, etc.
“On the flip side from the dollar value loss, the returning employee may feel a loss of self-esteem if the relocation has failed for reasons relating to adjustment. This could have a detrimental longer-term effect than the loss of company revenue,” says Pendlebury.
Tiffany Quinlan, HR director at global recruitment firm Randstad, suggests it is vital to set clear expectations with the candidate upfront. “Relocating overseas may sound glamorous, and to some extent it is; however, there are so many logistical considerations to take into account,” she says.
Creating a plan, offering support and dedicated assistance for the first few months is imperative to ensure the process is robust and the employee and employer are both confident. Pendlebury suggests a number of key points to smooth the process significantly:• Get the whole family involved in the process from the
very start; this will alleviate any fears.• Involve the whole family in any decision-making; this
often helps HR or senior management identify any families for whom the move absolutely will not work.
• If resources are not available in-house, use a relocation specialist as the first point of contact for the family throughout the relocation process. This will provide familiarity and reduce anxieties and stresses.
• Provide accurate timescales within which each part of the process is clearly organised. This also helps reduce uncertainty around the move.
Pre-arrival stageNeeds assessment is vital to gain an understanding the individual’s or family’s particular lifestyle needs. It will help the relocation company to not only understand their housing and schooling requirements but also to identify any issues to be addressed regarding expectations of their new location.
Pendlebury suggests the major factors most individuals face are cost-of-living adjustments, particularly if moving from a lower housing cost location to a more expensive location – eg Manchester, UK, to Sydney, Australia, or even more locally for a move from Adelaide to Sydney.
“In some instances, employees are happy to have a ‘change of lifestyle’ to suit the new location to gain the benefits that the new host city may hold,” she says. “Examples of this would be for a family residing in a rural location in the US to move into inner-city Melbourne and live in a townhouse/apartment to be able to walk into the city and have access to the many attractions around them.”
Organising an orientation trip for the employee and their spouse/partner to alleviate any concerns is key to a relocation. This enables them to review the new location, identify property styles in order to adjust their housing budgets accordingly, find schools for their children and get the general feel of the location. This helps set expectations very early on and prior to relocation. It is also critical in identifying employees who may be unwilling to move following the preview trip, and will alleviate the high costs and stress of a relocation failing six months after the move.
Online information – Information is crucial to any relocation, particularly as most relocations are now being undertaken by a younger generation than in years gone by. Some service providers, such as Life Relocation, offer clients access to a Web-based information centre that provides everything the employee needs: pre-departure guidelines, information on driving and local transport, cafes and restaurants, education, health services, insurance, real estate, shopping areas, banking, taxation etc. Assistance with banking and foreign exchange transaction support are also worth considering. “All these little things make life much easier in the long run,” Pendlebury says.
Coordinating services includes arranging removal service for household goods, processing the working visa, finalising travel arrangements, arrival accommodation, etc.
Cross-cultural programs – Assisting the individual/family in adapting to new cultures and customs through cross-cultural guidance assists with engagement more efficiently. Quinlan suggests employees will need to be cognizant of elements such as how the host-country economy works, people’s norm behaviours and business/social etiquette. “Investing in a cultural assimilation course for the employee prior to arrival can
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relocationINTERNATIONAL HRCOVER STORY - INTERNATIONAL HR
go a long way to them not being overawed by their new home as soon as they touch the ground,” she says.
Indeed, there are concrete facts that need to be imparted – learning how to be ‘culturally intelligent’, for example, as well as understanding the etiquette of the business culture, the foundations and values of the country, potential ‘hotspots’, and so on. Yet Patti McCarthy, director of Cultural Chemistry, suggests there are also personal issues that arise, which cannot be dealt with in a pro-forma way. These can range from tensions between work colleagues because of different working styles, to marital issues, loss of self-esteem, and so on. These problems often don’t present for a few months – the first six months of an assignment is known as the ‘honeymoon period’ – and it is when this fades that reality starts to bite.
Don’t forget the family… and the spouseFirst-time movers can be naïve about how hard it can be to build new networks, and providing people with strategies, resources and even personal contacts can fast-track this process, suggests McCarthy. Adding a new level of complexity, in a world where dual-career families are common, many accompanying spouses need help with job searches and introductions. “New hires often put in very long hours, or travel a lot, and it does not take long for disappointment and loneliness to set in,” says McCarthy.
Sources cite up to 42% of international assignments ending in failure, with key reasons being unhappiness of the spouse/family and an inability to fit in with a different culture. Ernst & Young’s Driving Business Success – EY Global Mobility Effectiveness Survey 2012 noted: “Another shortfall revealed by the survey…is the number of failed assignments and unsuccessful repatriations…with personal issues outside the workplace being the main cause of early repatriation, inadequate ongoing assignee support from global mobility must play a part.”
“Cross-cultural training is not a magic wand; it won’t make everything easy, but it is so important to manage people’s
expectations at the start, so that they are mentally and emotionally prepared for the experience,” McCarthy says. “Providing upfront and ongoing coaching support in those first few months can be critical to the success of the posting.”
On-arrival stagePendlebury suggests the basic coordination services to make the transition more seamless is for the relocation provider to book flights, book chauffeur transfers from the airport to their short-term temporary accommodation, book appropriate short-term temporary accommodation allowing for the needs of the individual/family, and arrange for a food hamper customised to the individual/family needs, as it can be stressful to arrive in a new location with jetlag and not know where to shop!
Smoothing out the arrival process by assisting with home and school searches relieves the individual or family of the stress and anxiety of understanding a new city and dealing with an alien real estate market. Most relocation companies provide an arrival pack with useful local information. More comprehensive services include support with arranging car finance, rental furniture, furniture purchases, language lessons, health care, etc.
Settling-in support helps build new social networks that are vital for the trailing partner/family who can soon feel isolated after a move away from friends and family. “Life Relocation provides our clients with details of the local networking groups within the new area,” Pendlebury says. “We look for sporting groups for the twenty-something
KEY POINTS: EXPATRIATE ADMINISTRATIONAN EXHAUSTING BUT NOT EXHAUSTIVE LIST OF CONSIDERATIONS…
• Salary package: Cash component, currency, where it’s paid, where it’s taxed, tax equalisation, cost of living allowance, hardship allowance, superannuation continuity
• Perks: Home visits, school fees, tax on fringe benefits, relocation leave, extra annual leave
• Productivity: Language classes, cross-cultural training, driver or translator, communications in host country
• Housing: Sell or rent out own home, find accommodation in host country, pay rent in host country, relocation allowance, international removalists, local storage, family relocation, visas for all, ability of partner to work in host country, suitable schools and health care, security/health considerations
• Risk minimisation: Immunisations, pre-assignment medical, transit insurance, travel insurance, vehicle insurance, health insurance, safe driving courses, evacuation plans, personal security (bodyguards)
• Repatriation: Length of assignment, career development planning, managing expectations
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single employees as we find that they assimilate far easier with a sport or activity that they have enjoyed in their home country, such as cycling, running, netball.”
RepatriationRepatriation is possibly the least understood and most neglected area of international assignment management. Pendlebury suggests that at the very least the organisation has to grapple with the position to which the employee is returning. Does the new position utilise his/her newfound skills or will the repatriate find themselves in a ‘holding pattern’ job and feel underchallenged and under-appreciated? Is the repatriating family prepared to experience reverse culture shock? Do they realise that re-establishing old work relationships and friendships involves more than merely being back in the city again?
“The world did not stand still while the employee was abroad,” says Pendlebury. “The individual has changed, the home organisation has changed, and friends and family have changed.”
Furthermore, the employee may miss the status conferred by the posting overseas; this is often a challenge for employees in government postings. The assignment position, housing, automobile and cost-of-living allowances have ceased. These issues must be dealt with
if the organisation is to maximise its investment in the employee, ensure the transfer of knowledge gained by the employee while abroad, and ultimately retain the employee.
Repatriation should be planned along with all the other components of the relocation at the outset, before the employee has departed for the assignment in the first place.
Further supportSometimes it pays to think outside the square. McCarthy, when working with large organisations, will often connect individuals who work for the same company but in different departments. For example, within a few weeks she might provide cross-cultural training for two young couples from South America, who seem nice and need to make new friends but whose paths will probably not cross. “To me it seems the obvious thing to connect them, yet the HR manager tends not to think of doing so,” McCarthy says.
In a similar vein, a ‘buddy’ system can be a valuable support system, but it has to be done well or it’s a waste of time. “Buddies have to be at a similar managerial level and ideally from the same country, so that they can help the new person to understand the local issues,” McCarthy says. “Unfortunately, a buddy is often more senior and too busy to help, and the program is not really followed through, so it amounts to nothing.”
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global mobilityINTERNATIONAL HRCOVER STORY - INTERNATIONAL HR
Help at handHuman Capital talks to Deborah De Cerff, chair of the newly established Employee Mobility Institute
to other people: a line manager, an HR practitioner, a reward, comp & benefits manager, a payroll professional running an international payroll. It could even be health and safety managers who have never previously had to think about the health and safety of their employees when they’re now travelling overseas. They’ve got to be able to understand all the touchpoints within finance, payroll, tax, immigration, HR, recruitment, even potentially travel and corporate housing markets.
HC: Why is this important?DC: Mobility is no longer just the traditional expat assignment of a person going overseas for two or three years and then coming home; we’re talking about companies that are hiring staff from overseas – foreign nationals – and bringing them into Australia. What are the risks wrapped around that, how do they attract those people, how do they retain them, what benefits do they offer, what is the immigration legislation that they need to maintain?
We’ve got people who are being sent to remote locations in Australia on a short- or long-term basis. That area was one of the things that prompted this discussion about forming the Institute. Many practitioners in the industry – consultants, logistics management companies, relocation management companies – could not get any data on Australia.
The Institute will be a local-based industry group that will give us the ability to start mining local data, to look at the trends around moving people domestically, or how we are handling fly-in, fly-out [FIFO] arrangements and the impact on the community of those FIFO workers. Also,
what challenges does HR need to address, for example, if they’ve won an engineering project and they need to send a large number of people into a remote location they’ve never been to before?
HC: What are Australian HR professionals struggling with most? Migration laws?DC: This is a massive issue, especially if their organisation has never recruited someone from overseas before or has never sent anybody out. Being aware of the different types of visas, especially for those coming into Australia, and understanding what it means when they take on employee sponsorship and recognising they can’t outsource their obligations, is critical. You can pay someone to help you do the application and provide support to help them work through the paperwork, but you are responsible for this individual. There are many companies for which it’s just another piece of legislation they need to learn about, and unless they have the ability to leverage migration practitioners, they find it difficult to keep up.
HC: What else will the Institute provide to members?Our goal is to be an independent platform so the business world has a place to go to with one voice. We’ll also aim to:• provide relevant and accessible education,
professional development and networking opportunities across all mobility industry sectors
• educate and lead employee mobility industry practitioners and service providers to improve service standards and the quality of day-to-day administration practices
• be the career partner for employee mobility practitioners throughout the Australasia region
• become the independent peak body that organisations use to build their local and global mobility management and support program capabilities
• offer an environment that provides peer support and recognition within their own industry or related industries.
Human Capital: Can you outline why the Institute has been established and who you are targeting?Deborah De Cerff: The Institute is being established to represent a specific group, the talent mobility industry, throughout Australasia. What we’re trying to do is help the Australian market mature, to catch up with the rest of the world when it comes to the function of running a global mobility practice, and recognising that Australian businesses that are now running across state and country borders, so mobilising a workforce is essential to their projects. Our mission is designed to advocate, promote, represent and grow the talent mobility sector in the Australasia region. At present, it’s segmented. I’m seeing an influx of global mobility specialists who want to be hired in Australia. The problem is they don’t exist; there’s only a limited pool of specialist professionals out there and they all have very different skills.
HC: Is membership limited only to those specialists?DC: No. It will be open to anyone who touches on managing a mobile workforce in any shape or format. What’s happened over the last five years is many HR generalists have been given mobility as an add-on function to their core business. It often falls
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cross-cultural managementINTERNATIONAL HRCOVER STORY - INTERNATIONAL HR
As Australia starts to realise the key role it can play in business in the Asian region, Peter Szilagyi considers some of the potential stumbling blocks – and how to create a cultural awareness toolkit
Did you know that by 2020 it is estimated China will have more middle-class consumers than the rest of the world combined? Over the course of the next few decades Asia will have a transformational impact on the rest of the world. The change will be felt across commercial, cultural and social divides and will evolve much faster than many of us realise. In just over 10 years Asia will not only be the largest producer of goods and services but also the largest consumer of them.
For Australia, and the organisations we work in, much closer ties with Asia will be an increasingly common theme. Asian partners will be ever more present in mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, new market entry and offshoring. ANZ, Jetstar and Rio Tinto are leading organisations that have taken deliberate steps to grow their business throughout Asia, and many other companies are following suit.
Late last year the Federal Government released the Australia in the Asian Century White Paper. The White Paper is an important statement of the impact of Asia on Australia. With the release of this paper it is timely to consider our role and own effectiveness as HR managers in the Asian Century and the need for ‘Asian literacy’ within our organisations.
Cultural awarenessA subject matter expert on China once commented that there is as much diversity in China as in Europe, with differences in language, culture, and cuisine. If we add all the other countries in Asia, we have an amazing yet
complex maze of cultures and ways of thinking. The good news is that there are some consistent patterns
within Eastern and Western cultures that give us a clue as to how we can flex our mindset and behaviours. These differences have been shown to be true across numerous studies and disciplines (eg anthropology, sociology, management and linguistics), and some classic studies include those written by Geert Hofstede, Edward Hall and Fons Trompenaars. While most studies are generalisations, they are a great source of information and we can think of them as a behavioural toolkit.
Cultural awareness toolkitAccording to Hofstede’s famous study, there are several dimensions that allow us to differentiate between cultures: • Power distance: the degree to which hierarchy, level or
status are accepted in a society• Individualism versus collectivism: the degree to which
individuals take care of themselves (or family) versus the degree to which individuals expect members of a group to look after them
• Masculinity versus femininity: the degree to which assertiveness and material reward is valued (masculinity) versus the degree to which cooperation and modesty is valued (femininity)
• Uncertainty avoidance: the degree to which members of a society feel comfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity
• Long-term versus short-term orientation: the degree to which members of a society focus on short-term outcomes versus the longer-term and ongoing traditions
HR MANAGERS IN THE ASIAN CENTURY
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Cultural elementEastern cultures‘High context’Generally speaking… it is:
Western cultures‘Low context’Generally speaking… it is:
Power distanceHigh…accepted that authority should not be challenged…
Low…accepted that authority can be challenged or questioned…
Individual versus collectivismLow individualism…accepted that teams are greater than the sum of individuals…
High individualism…accepted that individuals should be recognised for performance…
Masculinity versus femininityLow masculinity…accepted that cooperation and mutual agreement are important for success…
High masculinity…accepted that assertiveness and material rewards are important for success…
Uncertainty avoidanceLow…accepted that members of society feel comfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity…
High…accepted that members of society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity…
Time orientationLong-term orientation…accepted that members of society have a focus on longer-term outcomes…
Short-term orientation…accepted that members of society have a focus on immediate and quick results…
Note: There are many differences between Asian cultures; for example, Japan would be higher on masculinity than China. For more information on Hofstede, go to http://geert-hofstede.com
DID YOU KNOW?
A recent study by Right Management* highlighted that leading across cultures was a critical element of organisational success in the ‘human age’. It often requires making decisions in complex or ambiguous environments, understanding cultural nuances and adapting one’s style accordingly. *Leading Across Cultures in the Human Age
Viewed holistically, these intercultural differences are a pervasive and complex part of day-to-day life. Often when we are so focused on our daily work, we can miss small cultural differences. Silent disagreement, for example, may go unnoticed for extended periods of time. For HR managers involved daily in influencing stakeholders, managing conflict and communicating broadly, all of these dimensions play a crucial role. They play an equally important role in the design of programs we lead, such as employee engagement, talent management and organisational change.
Improving your own effectivenessThe cultural awareness toolkit outlined in the table below is a great start to consider how you can adjust your mindset. The first step to make when working in Asia is to consider the culture first and develop a strategy that is mindful of the differences you may face. That way you are much more likely to succeed.
In ‘low context’ cultures, typically in the West, behaviours that are direct and forthright are familiar and preferred. These include ‘speaking up’, ‘getting to the point’, or ‘being clear and concise’. Conversation is typically free-flowing, with people jumping in to speak often before a sentence has even finished. Debate is encouraged and conflict can be viewed as a source of creative tension. In contrast, for ‘high context’ cultures, typically in the East, conversation is not direct but can be ‘circular’, and inferences, suggestion and implication are part of the whole message. What is unsaid can carry more weight than what is said. In building your effectiveness, ensure you are conscious of your communication style, which can include listening more than speaking, pausing in conversation, and trying to understand the full message.
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When building relationships or managing stakeholders, be conscious of collectivism, hierarchy and long-term orientation. For example, ensure you are engaging all impacted stakeholders and your relationship is not only about work. Make time to have conversations, meetings or events that go beyond ‘processes, systems and projects’. Recognise that hierarchy and respect for position are even more important in Eastern cultures than in your own. While open and free debate may be encouraged in Western cultures, it may be dangerous territory. These points touch on the importance of ‘saving face’, which is widely understood but arguably not well practised by Western managers.
When it comes to managing teams, be conscious of the importance of collectivism and femininity. For example, recognise the importance of achieving consensus and agreement before mandating decisions (both with your direct team but also those impacted by your work). Ensure you are managing, recognising and rewarding team performance as much, if not more, than individual performance. When managing teams to project timelines, be conscious of the importance of long-term orientation and risk aversion. Have an open conversation early on about risks, and adjust your own understanding, plans and tolerance levels.
Improving workforce capabilityThe Asian literacy of your workforce is a critical capability for success in the next decade and beyond. This capability is not a ‘one size fits all’ and will mean different things to different organisations and workforces. For a sales force it might mean deep language and cultural expertise in particular countries based on export market exposure. Conversely, for cross-functional or project teams it might mean broad-brushed understanding of cultural differences.
The first step in building capability is to understand the external environment and company strategy. In your planning sessions, conduct a deep dive on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, with particular reference to Asia. Key questions to ask are: Where is the demand for Asia capabilities coming from now (and in the next five years)? What is the nature of this demand (specific or general)? Where is the supply of this capability in the current workforce?
Building this picture then allows you to understand where the talent gaps present themselves. Addressing them might mean: 1. Buying capability from the market through recruitment (eg for graduates Asian studies could be important, or for senior managers Asian regional experience might be a ‘must have’)
2. Building capability through integrated corporate training programs, rotational leadership and talent programs or secondments for high performers 3. Borrowing capability through specific consulting or advisory services
The other important consideration is the nature of your HR systems and processes. Based on the tools outlined above, consider the degree to which your talent and performance management processes give equal or greater weight to high-context behaviours compared to low-context behaviours. How do your reward and recognition processes differentiate between individualistic versus team-based recognition? Finally, how do your corporate training programs handle differences in learning styles between high-context and low-context cultures?
Whichever the strategies deployed, important considerations should be focused on building the Asian literacy of your leadership teams and raising the level of awareness of your workforce to the opportunities presented by Asia. None of this is easy or quick! If you study the Asia expansion of ANZ, Jetstar and Rio Tinto you will see deliberate steps taken over many years that have now positioned them well to benefit from the Asian Century. If you are interested in reading more on workforce capability, the Asialink Asia Capable Workforce Study is an excellent resource.
SummaryThe Asian Century will be an exciting and turbulent period with many opportunities and challenges. Take the time to read the findings of the Australia in the Asian Century White Paper. It is an important guide to how Australia companies will interact with Asia in the future. On a practical level, think broadly about how your role will be a key enabler of the success of your business in this Asia-centric environment – and remember, when in doubt take a pause!
Peter Szilagyi, CAHRI, GPHR,
HRMP, is an experienced HR
practitioner who currently works as
recruitment and talent manager of global projects at
Rio Tinto
WALK THE TALK
Research from Mercer* reported that, while diversity and inclusion were critical for competitive advantage, the biggest hurdle was leadership support or ‘walking the talk’. Highlighting the relationship between greater cultural capability, the rise of Asia, and business benefit is a key to unleashing that support!
*Asia Pacific Diversity & Inclusion Perspective – Australian Report
Asian partners will be ever more present in mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, new market entry and offshoring
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The new diversity frontierHuman Capital talks to Andrea O’Bryan, vice president of Diversity@Work, about tips for managing culturally and ethnically diverse work teams
Human Capital: Evidence suggests Australian executive teams and Boards are still not particularly ethnically diverse, although this is slowly changing. What is your experience?Andrea O’Bryan: I’ve found our clients who we’ve already partnered with in building their strategic plan towards better gender equity now have the appetite for building a culturally rich workforce. As we know, 20–25% of Australian residents are overseas-born, and the largest growth in religious affiliation has been in Hinduism and Buddhism. Our workforces need to authentically represent communities in which we live and do business.
HC: Do you think unconscious bias is holding back companies from utilising the diverse skills they may have at their fingertips? AO: Unconscious bias does stop organisations from benefiting from the creativity, superior problem-solving and higher profitability a well-managed diverse workforce can deliver. We all have unconscious bias as we are naturally wired to automatically and subconsciously stereotype and categorise people who are different from us, and I advocate for all – from staff to managers, and executives through to CEOs – to be cognizant of their unconscious bias.
It’s critical for organisations to reflect on their decision-making across the gateway of recruitment, through to how and who they choose to experience professional development programs, and step up into higher duties, and thereby have the greater opportunity for promotion. Workforce planning decisions are crucial for ensuring a greater pathway for diversity and inclusion for all the team and thereby greater productivity and revenue.
The feedback our clients give is that our suite of customised Unconscious Bias programs has been successful in driving a strong awareness of how unconscious bias limits sound business decisions and a real eagerness to explore a new model of decision-making.
HC: What does the term ‘cultural competence’ mean to you? This is more than holding ‘multinational food days’ at work and so forth, isn’t it?AO: When I reflect upon the term, I focus on recognising my own cultural programming and how my values impact on my decision-making and trigger my emotional responses. Being conscious-aware enables me to be more sensitive to other cultural perspectives, exercise greater self-regulation and suspend judgment based on cultural assumptions.
HC: With globalisation and technology, it’s commonplace now to have teams scattered across the world. What competencies might a cross-culture-competent manager display?AO: Understanding cultural differences and committing to developing agility in your communication style by adapting to the needs of the differing cultural audience. This should be complemented by being sensitive towards other cultural perspectives and practising self-awareness when making judgments to ensure decisions are not driven by cultural assumptions. And, most importantly, a curiosity to keep on learning and challenging your cultural lens frequently.
HC: Can you provide some tips for building cultural competence across a workplace?AO: I will refer to the key themes of our Leading Diversity @Work Program as these are resulting in positive changes across Australian industry. They comprise: understanding the business imperatives of cultural diversity; identifying one’s own cultural diversity and the diversity of team members; recognising the challenge in leading and working in culturally diverse teams; developing greater self-regulation by suspending judgment based on cultural assumptions; recognising the significance of cultural influence on communications styles; beginning to map and bridge potential cultural differences; identifying your own unconscious bias and potential unconscious bias of your team members.
HR teamsSTRATEGY
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Graham Winter asks the question: Is your HR leadership team the role model for nimble and adaptive or siloed and conventional? Three comments posted by CEOs in response to the launch of my new book First Be Nimble: A Story About How to Adapt, Innovate and Perform in a Volatile Business World raise interesting questions (and exciting possibilities) for HR leadership teams:• “Adaptability must become our core capability”• “It’s time to shift from managing change to change readiness and resilience”• “Co-creation is ‘make-or-break’ for us”
All three comments are right in the ‘hitting zone’ of the contemporary HR department and present a great opportunity for the HR leadership team to be a highly visible exemplar of an agile, responsive and connected service provider and partner.
Of course, that’s certainly a compelling vision, but the reality of day-to-day pressure from business units to provide operational HR support can make this a real challenge to address.
HRteam
Building the ultimate
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How can HR grasp this opportunity, while maintaining credibility in its core operational business?
BEGIN WITH A FRAMEWORKThe research into First Be Nimble revealed five core principles that present an easy-to-use framework for an HR team that sees its role as equipping and supporting the enterprise to adapt, innovate and perform in challenging times. Those five principles are:• Co-create• Build to flex• Be brave not busy• Leap-learn-adapt• Let go – welcome the squirm
Each principle, when infused into leadership and team practices, will help to develop a dynamic HR function, characterised by strong collaboration within, and strong partnering across, the organisation.
CO-CREATEThe core capability that characterises the nimble, adaptive team and organisation is co-creation. This is the ‘secret weapon’ of entrepreneurs and fast-moving businesses because great collaboration enables them to accelerate fast, to break through bottlenecks, and to scale
up quickly to capture those windows of opportunity. Of course co-creation doesn’t just happen; it develops as a
culture when teams share the big picture, share the reality, share the air, share the load, and share the wins and losses.
HR teams can showcase co-creation by challenging the traditional ‘experts in silos’ model that reveals itself in specialists in recruitment, remuneration and benefits, learning and development and the like, all doing a great job but failing to leverage synergies that can fundamentally change the business.
A good place to start is by asking the first ‘share the big picture’ question: ‘What can we collectively do for the enterprise that we can’t do in our separate functions?’
For hints to the possibilities of this question, let’s reflect on the other four principles.
What better place to start building the capability for flexible, connected teams than in the HR function?
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HR teamsSTRATEGY
BUILD TO FLEXThe best organisation structure for adaptive organisations is nimble, connected teams who form fast, collaborate on problems and opportunities, and learn on the run.
What better place to start building the capability for flexible, connected teams than in the HR function?
For example, a strong and nimble HR leadership team will actively seek out practices and policies that no longer fit the operating rhythm of an evolving business. In their own team, and partnering with the business, they will be the champions for more flexible approaches to performance management, change management and recognition/reward programs that can slow down the organisation and limit everyone’s capacity to learn and adapt.
BE BRAVE NOT BUSYNimble and adaptive teams are busy but not frantic. They play to their strengths, make confident choices and are clear about priorities.
Strong HR teams make confident choices and say ‘No’ to the business. That confidence comes from being a leadership team that understands the ‘business model’ (whether that is private, public or not-for-profit sectors), takes a whole-of-system view, and then prioritises in line with the business needs – not the compliance needs.
What would your HR team do differently if they were ‘brave not busy’?
LEAP – LEARN – ADAPTThe single most important capability when faced with adaptive challenges is the ability to learn.
A learning culture is a feedback culture. Again, the opportunity presents itself for the HR leadership team to set the bar for candid and respectful conversations with colleagues.
The HR team can also lead the way by showing how it experiments, trials prototypes, captures learning on the run, and learns how to handle disruptive change.
The operations areas of every enterprise know that the big challenges aren’t the technical issues of yesteryear. Everything from the business model onwards is open to reshaping in order to keep the enterprise viable and aligned with its customers. That’s adaptive change, which is all about engaging people, building resilience through open-feedback conversations, and developing teams where people challenge and support each other in equal measure.
LET GO – WELCOME THE SQUIRMMany of the changes faced by enterprises are disruptive and emotionally challenging. As William Bridges highlighted in
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Graham Winter is the author of Think One Team and the recently released First Be Nimble: How to Adapt, Innovate and Perform in a Volatile Business World. Visit thinkoneteam.com for more information.
Managing Transitions, it’s not the change in technology, job role, or business model that is difficult, but rather it’s the psychological transition because we lose things.
When a company uses digital technologies to transform its business, the change for people in sales, service and administration is less about role and more about their identity and security. Understandably, they react emotionally, and yet a core characteristic of nimble and adaptive teams is the ability to regularly transition (ie to leave something behind and start anew).
HR is in something of a quandary. To be a role model of change resilience, the team will embrace disruption as normal, expect a level of conflict and emotional upheaval while people transition, and they might even do some disrupting of their own to build resilience across the organisation.
How do you do that when engagement, employee wellbeing and minimising stress are seen as core HR business and any drop in those numbers gets the red lights flashing?
For starters, the HR team can prepare and act as a leadership team, not a group of specialists. Second, when strategising, there are sacred cows to be challenged here. One of those is a fundamental question: “Is HR’s core job to shape and strengthen the organisation so it can handle future challenges, or is the core role to work alongside
others who do the disrupting?” That’s a question for a much bigger debate.
THE TIME IS NOWThe comments at the beginning of this article reflect many others that I have heard from CEOs and other senior leaders.
They want to develop a culture that is less restricted by traditional ideas like managing performance and managing change. They know that high performance definitely requires frameworks and disciplines but are finding it challenging to answer the core question: “How do we develop a more adaptive organisation?”
The First Be Nimble principles aren’t in themselves a pre-packaged answer, but they do work when infused into leadership and team development, and in performance, talent and change practices.
Only one area of business is perfectly placed to bring those pieces together. The HR profession knows it, the changes in title to people & culture describe it, and now the challenge is there for the leadership team to do it. Perhaps that starts at the next HR team offsite with a commitment to co-creating, building to flex, being brave not busy, and some leap, learn and adapt.
Oh … and perhaps more than a little of “let go – welcome the squirm”.
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When it comes to innovation, are you a helicopter or a vending machine? One takes a holistic view, the other churns out tired ideas day in, day out. Iain Hopkins uncovers some tips to ensure your workplace is bursting with brilliant ideas
Masterof bright ideas
The aroma of Play-Doh can send even the most seasoned adult back to childhood. Few would question the origins of the ever-popular art and craft modelling compound. Surely it was always intended for kids? Not exactly. In the 1930s the product was first developed as a wallpaper cleaner – it would literally clean grime off wallpaper. A random dinner party conversation in the 1950s, about how a kindergarten teacher had started using the compound as a craft tool, set the wheels in motion for a total transformation of a product whose sales had recently started to wane. The product was reworked and marketed to Cincinnati schools in the mid-1950s. Play-Doh was demonstrated at an educational convention in 1956 and prominent department stores opened retail accounts. The rest, as they say, is history.
It’s just one example of innovation in business – of grasping an idea and running with it; of using a challenge or significant change – waning sales in this case – to foster innovation.
When it comes to innovation it’s important to recognise that all people can be creative and therefore can be innovative – but there’s a catch. Dr George Land, a pioneer in the field of creativity and innovation, has conducted studies indicating that, as we go through life, and especially our careers, we use our creativity less. Nigel Collin, author of Herding Monkeys and CEO of Thinkativity, outlines
what Land did: “He gave a bunch of kids a creativity test, then gave it to them again five years later, and again five years later, and then to adults. Each time he did the test the results dropped considerably. It doesn’t mean we become less creative; we simply use it less.”
Collin has found people are a lot more creative than they give themselves credit for, and more importantly, they’re more creative than other people give them credit for – and this has huge implications for business. “If we don’t nurture or encourage the creativity of our workers, we’re not going to get the ideas to fuel innovation,” he says. “It’s a matter of unlocking that potential.”
A different way of thinkingAn analogy works best when considering how most people think in business. To generalise, people either think like helicopters, or they think like vending machines. Those who think like helicopters see things from a distance; they obtain a holistic point of view. But they can also fly around and look at multiple angles, or fly in close and look at the detail and then fly back out again. Because they have this ability to see the world from a different point of view, they come up with more possibilities; they can see more alternatives. Then there are those who think like vending machines: the coin goes in the slot, a button is pushed, and out the bottom comes the same old idea, maybe wrapped up in a slightly
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of bright ideas
Ultimately, creativity is about ideas; innovation is the implementation of ideas
different way. This latter approach is dangerous, says Collin. “We’re all busy, no one has time, but if we go ‘yes that’ll do’, and don’t come up with different ideas it’s not going to be conducive to innovation.”
Three keys to unlocking innovationThere are three keys to unlocking innovation in people: permission, environment and process.
Permission is critical. If people in an organisation don’t feel safe to put an idea on the table without ridicule or fear of failure or negative ramifications, they’re not going to. As Collin says, the truth is most people in the workplace don’t feel they have permission to think differently, to think outside the square, to push the parameters. “Unless people are clear about not wanting vending machines but rather helicopter ideas, people will play it safe, or they will provide the ideas they think you want to hear.”
An organisation therefore needs to create a culture or a policy that gives people permission to come up with
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radical ideas, and to fail. “That’s when you’ll find the disruptive ones, and that’s what you’re after,” says Collin.
The second, environment, has two facets to it: the physical environment and the workplace environment – perhaps best described as the ‘mental environment’. “This is where we look at mechanisms that allow people to think differently and outside the square,” says Collin.
Collin maintains this is more than just the physical environment, although that’s very important – this is why so many organisations now have ‘thinking spaces’; it’s also why artists have studios. “If you’re stuck for an idea one thing to do is get out of your space and change your environment – you’ll find you’re stimulated.”
It also includes time. Ideas never strike when you need them to; they don’t work 9–5 and may strike when least expected. Therefore, it’s important to put mechanisms in place to give people time to be creative. “I’m stunned at the number of organisations that don’t allow their people thinking time. Just 20–30 minutes a day to sit and think. There’s a perception that unless we’re doing, doing, doing, we’re not being productive,” Collin says.
Another environmental element is collaboration. Collin explains: “A collaborative environment is incredibly important because if you’re going to think like a helicopter and come up with different ideas, one of the easiest ways to do that is to tap into the perspectives of other people, because everyone thinks differently. You must create a culture where it’s ok to collaborate. Not just internally within a team, but with other teams as well. You’ll find if the marketing team just collaborates with the marketing team they’re going to always come up with marketing-based ideas. They should be collaborating with the warehouse or even with industries outside of their own.”
There also needs to be an environment of risk-taking. This does not mean financial risk but rather creative or innovative risk, which comes back to the permission piece: you want people to take a creative risk with their ideas. Every success story has gone through a series of failures. The classic example is Edison, who, depending on what source is believed, went through 1,000 or 10,000 failures before developing the electric light bulb. Every time he failed, he learned what not to do. “We discover things we never would discover – that’s how a lot of ideas have been born,” says Collin.
The third key to unlocking innovation is process. It’s critical to have the right processes in place to create ideas and to act on those ideas. In most companies, Collin notes, this is handled in an ad hoc manner – people sit in a room, a problem is outlined, a call for ideas is made. Collin advocates a process in which people can consistently generate ideas and then direct those ideas towards an end goal.
“The easiest way is to think of a funnel. At the top of the funnel you’ve got your challenge or your opportunity – you pour all your ideas at the top and then at the bottom you’ve
High-performing companies take a deliberate approach to fostering a culture of creativity, imagination, and original thinking – and today’s technology has taken this process to a whole new level.
As Ari Kopoulos, national sales and marketing manager at EmployeeConnect, says, existing HR tech vendors will look towards organic integration with social media platforms. The collective wisdom is calling for functionality that natively accesses: • social talent pools facilitating candidate search and acquisition • the ability to profile a candidate based on their online activity and reputation • the ability to track social recognition, influence and collaboration. Peerindex, Kred and Klout will become important numbers• tools that connect and facilitate collaboration, making knowledge social and part of a conversation
The evolution of cloud-based, mobile-centric applications will continue, with content and process for almost every aspect of HR – yet it is augmented reality that may be the most exciting development. This allows users to create more meaningful relationships between data, objects and location.
Kopoulos notes the introduction of Google Glass. Essentially, it’s a wearable computer in the form of stylish glasses, which offers the user a display of information in a hands-free manner. Interaction is by voice commands, but eye tracking and facial recognition will not be too be far away. Although in its infancy, the market for wearable technology is expected to reach 1.5 billion by 2014.
Leaving the privacy issues aside, this interface introduces a subtle, real-time decision-making element to the user. It allows you to address the challenges, in context and in the moment. It can add layers of content and data over the object, facilitating a richer and more informed experience. Through the action of changing location and looking, you will be presented with context-specific information, effectively improving and enhancing your relationships, objects and events.
“It has extraordinary potential as a learning tool, delivering a truly immersive, context-sensitive and engaging learning experience in real time,” Kopoulos says. “These can be curated into stories, streams and narratives, adding more value to the process.”
Technology and innovation: Where to next?
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TECHNOLOGY
great at thinking up ideas but great at implementing. Then there are others who appear to not be doing anything at all. They sit in a brainstorm and don’t say much, but at the end of the session they come up with the idea no one saw. Collin says this group is often overlooked when teams are being established. “We go for the thinkers or the implementers – the observers often get overlooked because they’re not seen as valuable. Yet if you don’t have observers in your team you’re missing a great opportunity. They’re the helicopters in many ways.”
Likewise, Collin says, some people are very analytical thinkers – Six Sigma-ish in their approach, good at getting an idea and pulling it apart. They are very necessary, but so are the dreamers. “The dreamers often don’t analyse things much, and they may not be good at doing stuff – but they’re excellent at finding unbelievable solutions. It’s important for HR to understand that dynamic, and to help other people understand that dynamic,” Collin says.
And finally, HR plays a key role in clarifying what innovation means. Most people jump to the conclusion that innovation is radical and ‘big bang’ – the things that change the world; others believe it’s incremental – a small change that may lead to bigger things. HR can help to simplify and clarify this creative-innovation argument.
Ultimately, creativity is about ideas; innovation is the implementation of ideas. When that connection is made, it’s easier for people to participate. “To say we’ll do some training and development about innovation – it’s all too hard. But if it’s just about ideas it’s a lot easier for the worker in the warehouse to grasp,” Collin suggests.
Change the catalyst?Contrary to how most people perceive innovation, it’s not something that stalls when times get tough. In fact, quite the opposite can happen. Times of great change, such as now and the preceding five years, can be the catalyst for innovation to occur. Collin says the ‘batten down the hatches, concentrate solely on what it takes to keep a business alive’ mentality during periods of change is very necessary. Yet if business leaders are just running the ship and ensuring the t’s are crossed, it’s likely they’re missing out on opportunities; they’re not searching for the next disruptive idea.
“When that happens during change different opportunities open up,” Collin says. He cites Hollywood in 1927, on the cusp of the sound era in movies – an incredibly disruptive event that most studios were unprepared for. Studios were not soundproof; many actors could not speak English. If you didn’t adapt – and quickly – you were left behind. Walt Disney was different; he saw opportunity. He made the first synchronised sound cartoon. “That type of innovation came from a disruptive time of change,” says Collin. “It’s the difference between reacting and responding – it doesn’t mean getting rid of what you do, it just means looking at what else is possible.”
got a filtering mechanism. This is where you need to decide which ideas are good and which aren’t so good. It allows you to separate the evaluating and judging of an idea from the creation of an idea.”
A common mistake is to judge an idea as soon as it’s born; it gets squashed before it has time to evolve or breathe. A process helps firstly to clarify the problem; it ensures you’re clear on what it is you want and need ideas for. Secondly, a brainstorming or blue-sky (or however it’s branded) session will get the creative juices flowing to generate ideas. And finally, it’s necessary to evaluate and judge them.
Throughout that process it’s necessary to have a process leader, someone who the buck stops at. That person, the project manager or similar, needs to allow his/her team to let ideas flourish, and then evaluate the ideas. Evaluation requires producing an initial shortlist of 20–30 ideas from the 100 or however many are produced during the brainstorming. From there the top three that meet the most criteria should be selected. Which is the most practical? The more viable? Following this is the testing phase of an idea. Collin elaborates: “This is where you start picking it apart – undertaking the financial analytics, identifying the fatal flaws of an idea, pulling it apart. You interrogate an idea. That must come when you’ve whittled your list down to a shortlist, otherwise you’ll be evaluating in detail 100 ideas, which will never happen and as a result nothing gets done.”
Where does HR sit?HR plays a role in three key areas in innovation. Firstly, it’s the permission piece – Collin says HR is integral to passing on and filtering through the permission piece, letting people know it’s ok, and more than that, expected, to present ideas.
The second piece is the retention and attraction of the right mix of thinkers. There are different types of creative people. There are those who are great at thinking; they come up with ideas; however, they’re not great at implementing them. Then there are those who are not
I’m stunned at the number of organisations that don’t allow their people thinking time. Just 20–30 minutes a day to sit and think
– NIGEL COLLIN
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delivered – too much advertising, or blatantly favouring one agent over another – credibility is lost, traffic drops and ultimately the value of the advertising reduces anyway.
How is the balance achieved? Ultimately the company plays to its strength: the intellectual horsepower of the employees. “We get multi-discipline teams together, and wrap their heads around a given problem at a given time. And given that it’s so dynamic, this happens on a daily basis. We get together once a day to say, ‘This is what I worked on yesterday, this is what I’ll work on today, and this is what will stop me’. Whatever that blocker is, we’ll wrap more people around that to get that thing out of the way to keep it moving.”
For Carroll this is not about best practice. As a market leader, no one else has led the way, so it’s about what’s best for now. “When you need the best heads in the room to solve something and you’re dealing with a dynamic market, you could use this approach,” she says.
“There’s comfort knowing there’s so many people involved, but there’s also a real velocity. When that happens, we’re all on. If someone needs to take a rest, undertake training or take time off, someone else can come in and take that spot because we’re not so dependent on one person,” she adds.
Every company wants to collaborate more effectively, but few manage to execute on truly effective, company-wide collaboration. This multi-discipline approach, Carroll
believes, fosters collaboration across REA Group’s 700 global employees. “If you talked to any one of our employees, they would have contacts in every function. It’s not even functions – they’re just people who work with other people who happen to do finance or happen to do IT,” she says.
Becoming agile At REA Group, boundaries and silos don’t exist. There is no HR department as such. There are a handful of people at REA who happen to be HR specialists and who are business people, and they help solve business problems.
This is where the Agile working methodology comes into its own. Agile was born out of IT teams in the 1980s and 90s. Inundated with projects, under-resourced, and under immense pressure to provide a return on significant financial outlay, it was quickly evident that a better way of doing business had to be developed. Carroll recognises many synergies with HR’s current position.
She adds that business success today, more than ever, comes down to human potential – the capability to get things done, whether that’s new technology or putting hotels on the moon. “We’ll get there if we want to do that; the question is do we want to, do we have the ability and competency, and are the right triggers in place to make that happen? Agile is a trigger to unlock the potential in people.”
At a functional, everyday level, Carroll and her team have a stand-up meeting that happens to be people focused. Other employees from around the business attend these meetings to ensure the tasks being worked on are prioritised correctly. Carroll cites an example: “A team leader might come in to say he’s concerned with absenteeism. He’d like to see that as a priority on the wall.”
The wall Carroll refers to is a ‘Card Wall’. As the name suggests, this is a somewhat ‘old school’ system of physically posting cards on a whiteboard and moving them through a priority list. It includes a 90-day
In December last year, when HC interviewed Simone Carroll, general manager of HR at REA Group, it was quickly evident that ‘how things are done’ at REA Group is radically different to most companies – and this is the result of two key factors. Firstly, the HR function is fully integrated into the business, using lean and systems thinking – indeed this has been adopted company-wide – and secondly, the company is also an advocate of an agile working methodology.
How did lean thinking, usually associated with manufacturing processes, come to be used in a company in the digital space? Carroll reveals that, contrary to most people’s concept of lean, it applies in every business and every process. It is not a tactic or a cost reduction program but a way of thinking and acting for an entire organisation.
It essentially starts with a problem to be resolved. The problem specific to REA Group is getting the balance right between two possibly conflicting stakeholders: the consumers who use the various REA sites (eg realestate.com.au) and the advertisers who pay REA Group (eg the real estate agents). On one hand, the consumer wants to use a search engine, type in specific criteria (for example, “two-bedroom townhouse in Liverpool”), and for the matching property to appear at the top of the list. On the other hand, REA’s clients expect their property to be first on the list. Yet if a second-rate search experience is
Case study: REA Group
Lean and agileImagine if you had no clearly defined HR department, but rather business people who happened to specialise in HR. Imagine if your team meetings were attended by anyone who wanted to show up – and you had no set agenda items. Such is the case with REA Group
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plan, and a list of activities being carried out on a weekly and daily basis. Items are prioritised based on business value and complexity.
It’s up to Carroll to ensure that those items deemed to be high value but almost impossible to execute are moved along by liaising with team members, coaching where necessary to remove ‘blockers’, and negotiating with other employees. A ‘retro’ section is where one in every 10 items is retrospectively reviewed: what worked, what didn’t work, what needs to change.
Carroll notes these retrospectives are critical – a time to stop and reflect. Everyone contributes to this process and it can be cathartic for whoever felt puzzled or stumped by a ‘blocker’. “It helps them to move on. And it’s those things, where you get puzzled, that often lead to the next round of innovation,” she says.
Since the company moved to Agile three years ago, the traditional
concept of an HR meeting has also been turned on its head. Every two weeks the HR team gathers together and everyone writes on a card what they want to talk about. There is no agenda. The card is put on the wall. All participants use a pen to write three marks against what they want to talk about. The items talked about – for 10 minutes only – are those that get the most number of marks.
“What happens is the team knows
what the priorities are. Instead of the manager saying, ‘These are our priorities’, the team figure it out. If that list is not right, the manager will intervene,” Carroll says.
“This is a very intuitive way of working. It takes a while for people to lose their institutionalised thinking, the red tape, the procedures and stakeholder management, and then they realise this is just people getting things done.”
Carroll notes that the skill set for HR also changes. For example, a drive for execution, to get results, now becomes key. There’s also the ability to influence others – to prioritise in front of others. And tied to that is an ability to understand strategic direction. Finally, there’s business acumen: HR must demonstrate knowledge of what’s going on in the rest of the business.
“There’s nowhere to hide; you truly are a business person,” she says.
Would this suit other companies? Where would they start?
Carroll suggests first considering the market you operate in and what you are trying to achieve. Is it market leadership? Innovation? Perhaps it’s trying to get more out of the human capability that you know you have because you found it and you’ve paid for it, but you’re not seeing the sparks.
“What you need to do is create an operating rhythm and a methodology to support that,” she says. “It will create and encourage these creative clashes of skills. That’s where these sparks occur. Humans thrive in those situations, where you take one skill set and put it with another totally different one, and give them a problem to solve. My advice would be to seriously consider it and then look at organisations that are doing it.”
Agile is a trigger to unlock the potential in people
– SIMONE CARROLL
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EXPERT INSIGHT
superannuation
Super, slicker,
For more information, visit rest.com.au or call +61 9086 6347. This article does not take into account your individual objectives, financial situation or needs. Readers should consider the appropriateness of REST Industry Super to their personal situation and before making any decision about acquiring or continuing to hold an interest in REST Industry Super, they should read our Product Disclosure Statement (at rest.com.au or call 1300 300 778).
Human Capital: What is SuperStream and why should HR professionals who are payroll managers be aware of what its objectives are and what the outcomes may be?Damian Hill: SuperStream is a key part of the government’s Stronger Super reforms that aims to increase operational efficiencies in the superannuation system. It proposes to do this by introducing a uniform approach to how super funds and employers interact. The result will see more accurate processing of transactions, and employees will have better access to information about their super contributions.
The reform will affect how a business makes superannuation contributions to a fund and how it sets up new members with the fund. Employers and payroll managers will need to be able to remit contributions and support data electronically, including meeting the compulsory data standards and timeframes.
HC: Will employers be forced to change/adapt their payroll software to factor in changes introduced by SuperStream?DH: Employers will need to provide contribution and member data to super funds in a format that complies with SuperStream requirements. If you are an employer with 20 or more staff you will need to comply with the new standards from 1 July 2014. If your current payroll software does not provide an output that complies with the new standards, you should contact your provider to check that it will from 1 July 2014.
HC: What if third parties are involved – eg accountants or clearing houses? How will they need to change their processes to remain compliant?DH: Employers and payroll managers can continue to send data to a clearing house or accountant however they wish to accept it, but the service provider will need to convert and send the data in the correct format to the super fund. It’s a good idea to check that the clearing house or accountant will be compliant. They should also be aware that the legal
smarterHC talks to Damian Hill, CEO of REST Industry Super, about
some of the government’s innovations around SuperStream
responsibility for meeting the standard lies with the employer, not the service provider.
HC: HR and payroll managers are constantly asked by employees about belonging to more than one super fund. Will SuperStream impact on the ability to consolidate funds at all?DH: While the legislation to consolidate funds is still in draft, the reforms will make it easier for employees to consolidate their super. It is proposed that the ATO [at the date of preparation of this article] will notify funds if it finds that a member has accounts in more than one fund. The active fund for the member will then be required to advise them of their options to consolidate, which they can either agree to or alternatively opt out.
HC: Does this impact on all employers, and when is it expected to take effect?DH: Yes, it impacts all employers. From 1 July 2014, employers with more than 20 staff will be required, by law, to use the standard for sending contributions to funds. If a business has less than 20 staff, it is proposed they will have an extra year to implement the standard.
HC: Is there anything else you believe HR professionals should know about SuperStream?DH: While there is a lot to take in, managers shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that these reforms will eventually lead to more efficient processes for them. There is also a lot of support out there. We’ve already begun communicating with employers so they can start preparing for the changes now, and internally we’re updating our systems and products to ensure we will be compliant when the changes come into effect.
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job adsRECRUITMENT
A leading magazine publisher is recruiting for a Senior Editor, Thought Leadership Asia... A global law firm has posted a position for a Thought Leadership and Client Publications Manager… A professional services firm is looking for a Thought Leadership Manager…
Exciting positions – but something is fundamentally wrong with each one of these adverts.
The term ‘thought leader’, once reserved for influential academics and visionary leaders such as Charles Handy, CK Prahalad, and Stan Shih (founder, chairman, and CEO of Acer Group), is now showing up in a wide range of job postings. In the majority of cases, this is not only misleading but serves to further dilute and undermine the concept of thought leadership.
Why? Because most ads that mention thought leadership in the job titles are offering little more than glorified editorial or content marketing positions.
DON’T CONFUSE CONTENT WITH THOUGHT LEADERSHIPDespite the fact that many companies like to think of themselves as ‘thought leaders’, few really are. But before we dissect some of the job descriptions we found in a wide variety of adverts, let us address what we mean by thought leadership:
“Thought leaders advance the marketplace of ideas by positing actionable, commercially relevant,
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP? think againCraig Badings and Dr Liz Alexander discuss why current job ads targeting professional ‘thought leaders’ reveal how little most of these organisations really understand about thought leadership and how they’re selling themselves and the position short
research-backed, new points of view. They engage in ‘blue ocean strategy’ thinking on behalf of themselves and their clients, as opposed to simply churning out product-focused, brand-centric white papers or curated content that shares or mimics others’ ideas.”
Don’t mistake thought leadership for sharing or ‘curating’ other people’s viewpoints or simply having your own strong opinions about a topic. And it’s certainly not about pumping out regular content. If what you are producing doesn’t deliver new insights that influence your target audience to change the way they think, feel, or behave about an issue, then it isn’t thought leadership.
HERE’S THE PROBLEM Let’s take a closer look at this ad for a Thought Leadership Manager that we discovered recently:
“The successful candidate will have a great track record of content development and managing multi-channel campaigns, ideally in a professional services environment or large corporation. Experience or understanding of thought leadership is desirable, ideally relating to the financial services sector.”
So experience or understanding of thought leadership – for someone with the job title of Thought Leadership Manager – is merely desirable? That’s like saying you’re prepared to hire an engineer who may not be fully cognizant of the principles of engineering. Who would do that?
Companies serious about finding someone to drive their thought leadership approach need to elevate it to a strategic
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level and ensure candidates have the insight and knowledge to plan, build and evaluate a true thought leadership position. GETTING IT RIGHTIt’s not all doom and gloom, however. Despite many poor thought leadership job adverts out there, a few organisations are on the right track. Here’s the best (edited) example we’ve found to date for a Director of Thought Leadership.
Job description:Responsible for managing all public relations and thought leadership activities for X company, including creating the thought leadership plan, managing the company’s public relations agency program deliverables, coordinating editorial interviews with executives, coordinating news release approvals, placing executive speakers as part of the Corporate Executive Speakers Bureau program and creating their presentations, creating customer case studies, and both organising and executing online webinars and live, multi-speaker seminar events.
Consults with Corporate and Business Unit Marketing leadership to ensure activities support overall corporate communications objectives and associated initiatives. Works with partners in Corporate Marketing, as well as business unit leaders and subject matter experts to support the company’s over-arching brand and image goals, both internally and externally.
Responsibilities:• Ensures alignment with broader Corporate Marketing
thought leadership program, coordinates with corporate marketing and X teammates, business unit leaders, legal/compliance and subject matter experts, and both internal and external vendors to create a comprehensive PR and thought leadership plan. Plan components will span all of the necessary elements from coverage analysis and thought leadership messaging development and media outreach through executive speaker topics and venues, webinar and seminar topics and participants, and the maintenance of a calendar of all activities and events.
• Understands and monitors coverage of industry issues and key thought leadership themes, and X’s comparative share of voice.
• Identifies new industry issues and thought leadership themes for which X may need to develop and communicate a position.
• Secures strategically effective speaking engagements for executives and ensures that they have everything they need to perform effectively.
• Manages all planning, coordination, budget and logistical elements of both on-line and in-person thought leadership events, including digital webinars as well as seminars for clients and prospects that typically feature analyst, client and company speakers.
This advert is far more strategic. With eight mentions of the term, no one could mistake this for a purely content creation, marketing, or PR role. Indeed, it’s clear that company X understands that thought leadership needs to be an integrated part of the entire organisation, embedded within the culture, and not just another marketing, communications or public relations ‘add-on’.
There are, however, two critical pieces missing: 1. Emphasis on a proven ability to drive an overarching thought leadership strategy, and 2. The ability to oversee the kind of research that provides clients and customers with evidence that the thought leadership approach is credible and viable.
Without research, this company runs the risk of becoming just another organisation that’s offering opinions. Whether they’re successful at ‘walking the talk’, however, is a different story.
A POINT OF CLARITYJust because your company regularly publishes white papers, editorials, opinion pieces, research projects, conference papers and the like doesn’t mean you’re a thought leader. Thought leadership is about differentiating yourself in the minds of your target audience by providing them with fresh insights that solve an issue or challenge that impacts on their lives – insights they would not have seen or thought of themselves. In other words, thought leadership serves to illuminate and solve a client’s or customer’s unmet needs.
The concept is far from faddish. It’s been around for over 15 years and is a growing discipline recognised by many organisations as the way to truly elevate their brands above the considerable noise currently confusing the marketplace.
The number of positions in this field and affiliated support roles will grow. It will be in the best interests of everyone responsible for creating these thought leadership positions to get their job descriptions right. If not, they run the risk of attracting the wrong people and contributing to the erosion of a concept that, when done well, engenders trust, engagement and loyalty in an era when all three are becoming harder to elicit from increasingly sceptical clients and customers.
Craig Badings is a director of Sydney-based Cannings Corporate Communications. He is a published author on the topic of thought leadership and writes a regular blog at thoughtleader shipstrategy.net/ Dr Liz Alexander is an author, business book strategist and consulting co-author.She teaches strategic communications at a leading US university. They are the co-authors of #Thought Leadership Tweet: 140 Prompts For Designing and Executing an Effective Thought Leadership Campaign
Despite the fact that many companies like to think of themselves as ‘thought leaders’, few really are
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HR at AdshelPROFILE JOANNA PRICE
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From consultant to in-house HR professional, Joanna Price of Adshel talks to Iain Hopkins about rebranding, rapid growth, and playing devil’s advocate
The transition from HR professional to HR consultant or vice versa is always an interesting one to track. For Joanna Price, people & performance director at outdoor media company Adshel, the transition from consultant to in-house HR professional was natural. “I set up my own HR consulting practice, which I ran for 10 years. Adshel was my best client, and that’s how I ended up here,” she says.
She concedes she would not have made that jump for many companies. As a consultant she loved working on a range of businesses – and while the issues may have been similar it was the people who made the outcomes different. Adshel, she adds, was special. “It took the previous CEO about two years to convince me to come on as an employee because of the fact I was so connected to my consulting practice. I was working a couple of days a week at Adshel and having my consulting practice on the other days. It grew from there. I wouldn’t consider doing this for many organisations,” she says.
Indeed, Price’s association with Adshel, on the consultancy side, stretches back to 2005. The company needed support around their first cultural survey. The results revealed employees didn’t feel they had an understanding around role clarity. Price was called in to overhaul all position descriptions. She then developed Adshel’s performance management systems. “My relationship with them ended up being every time something new needed to be developed – a new tool – I kept coming back,” Price says. By the end of 2008 it was
decided her services were needed on more than an ad hoc basis so she moved in full-time.
Price adds that the height of the GFC was an unusual time to be bringing an HR function in-house, but the real tipping point was the exorbitant recruitment fees the company was forking out. “The business was spending half a million dollars per year on recruitment fees,” Price says. “One of the reasons for bringing me on was to harness that and get some control over it. I brought it all in-house. The first year I was here the total recruitment spend was under $60,000, a significant reduction.”
HR AT ADSHELPrice is a member of two teams at Adshel: the management board team of seven who run the business; and, secondly, the P&P team that looks after talent acquisition, performance management, onboarding, succession, people development, payroll, and work health and safety. The best part, she says, is looking after the Adshel benefits programs, which includes coordinating wellness days, volunteer days and charity events, and organising the yearly health checks provided to every employee. “It’s broad-ranging and that’s really just the start. I get constantly amazed about the areas I get drawn into within the Adshel business,” she says.
There are two significant challenges for Price and her team over the next 12 months. The first is already underway: a company-wide rebranding. Although Price wasn’t with the company when it undertook its first
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For a long time Adshel had a disconnect between its external brand and what the internal brand was saying
– JOANNA PRICE
culture check in 2005, the results indicated the company had a highly competitive culture. Yet Price notes the “very corporate brand” of that time didn’t match with the competitive sales culture. “For a long time Adshel had a disconnect between its external brand and what the internal brand was saying,” she says.
That disconnect extended to the fact that when Price entered Adshel the first thing that struck her was that the business was fun. This was reinforced by a new marketing director who brought fresh blood and a different lens.
The time was also right for a rebrand. “Internally we didn’t have strong brand advocates. So people knew what Adshel did, but I don’t think as a brand we were talking about our brand in the marketplace, or even in our own personal lives.”
The management team worked with staff across the business, as well as external clients, in order to understand what Adshel meant to them. A new set of brand values for the business was developed from those insights. Close work with a design team resulted in a logo to support those values.
“The regular review of our internal core values is critical,” Price says. “It’s an all-of-company initiative – it doesn’t get decided around a boardroom table. The last time we reviewed our core values, about 18 months ago, we ran a series of workshops in the office. It was a wonderful time to get together and really think about
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what it’s like to work at Adshel, and determine the words used to describe that.”
A ‘creative challenge’ saw teams coming up with the creative once the core values were decided. In order to ensure the values were being embedded in the business, one core value was showcased each month. Employees were asked to vote on people they believed were living the core values and demonstrating associated behaviours. Results were announced at monthly lunches.
“The nominations flooded in,” Price says. “What I loved most about it was people took time out of their busy days to say something about someone they work with. It wasn’t just one sentence; people wrote paragraphs, pages on other people. I was very proud of what people invested in as part of that core values project.”
Price has already witnessed a transformation in attitude about the Adshel brand. “It’s given us a new opportunity to now start talking about who Adshel is and what we do. It’s created a lot of internal excitement and will be very important as we move towards a major transformation project,” she says.
That transformation project forms the second major challenge facing Price. It involves insourcing the company’s operations facilities (all services related to getting outdoor advertising set up, including posting, cleaning, maintenance, electrical and glass), which will require a headcount increase of 100 people, bringing the existing headcount of 160 up to 260. “This gives us a great opportunity to showcase our brand to a far wider audience than we’ve had before,” Price says. “We’re also hoping we’ll be able to attract the best available talent, and the brand plays a big part in that.”
Yet this growth also presents challenges. While the HR team will double in size (from three to six), Price says she’s concerned about HR managing the change, keeping up
Family: Ten years ago I got an instant family; I met my husband and he had four children, so 10 years ago we created a family. I’m extremely proud of what we’ve all achieved as a family unit. We’re a great success story. Favourite sports: Through my family I’ve become an AFL and English Premier League fan, and I’m an Olympics junkie. When it comes to actually competing, I’ve got three left feet – I’m better off watching. Favourite movie or TV show: Love, Actually – we watch it every year as a family when we decorate our Christmas tree. I’ve watched it more times than I have fingers and toes. Best advice ever received: It’s more a life lesson than advice. When I was 17 I lost my brother very suddenly. He had just done his HSC and had everything to live for. In that moment what Tim taught me was I had to live each day to the fullest and make the most of every opportunity that came my way, or create my opportunities. That’s what I’ve done, and I owe that to my brother. Self-described: Versatile, enterprising, interested, caring, and I give great hugs. Hobbies: Watercolour paint when I have time, but my life outside of work is really about good food, good wine, good company.
First job and/or worst job: First job – I spent a lot of my teens babysitting, and it earned me enough money to have a holiday in New Zealand, which I was quite proud of doing all on my own at age 17. If not in HR: I want to run a foundation that raises awareness and funds for issues that relate to the brain and mind – it’s on the bucket list at some point.
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THE HUMAN ELEMENTHaving witnessed the HR operations of countless companies in her time as a consultant, Price is well placed to comment on what CEOs expect from their HRDs in 2013. “They expect us to be able to keep our businesses informed about HR trends and best practices. They expect us to partner them as part of their journey – understanding the pain points, the market demands and where their business is pitched, and ensure any decisions made around the business have the people at heart,” she says.
Is this a perspective the CEO might not obtain from other executives? Price believes it is. “We’re the human element. It’s people that make a business successful – not systems and processes. So being able to attract, retain and maintain good talent in the business should be at the forefront of every single CEO, and that’s the role HR should play with their CEO.”
Price’s enthusiasm is palpable. “I love people. People fascinate me, interest me. I’m an extrovert; it’s what makes me tick.” As for the best and worst part of her job, she doesn’t hesitate: “Being in a creative field we have interesting, quirky and diverse people, and that is the best and worst of it – it’s what I love most about it; both spectrums are covered.”
with recruitment, onboarding, bedding people down, keeping up with people. “We’re going from 160 people to 260 people. That means the tentacles that P&P has need to stretch further. One of our challenges is about making sure we still have a connection with people and we still remain relevant to people and not distant.”
In the planning stages, Price acted as “a devil’s advocate, a trouble shooter, and ensured as part of that process that communications strategies were involved as part of the restructuring”. The key was to reduce as much negative impact as a result of the restructure as possible and to ensure people got back on with their jobs as quickly as possible.
She also recognises that part of the change is about fortifying existing employees so they can be the best they can be – hence the company is investing in a new development tool which focuses on personal and cultural effectiveness. Price explains: “It starts at the ground level, at making sure people are aware of themselves as much as possible in terms of how they are behaving, and how their behaviour is impacting on their teams and in the business. We see that touching every corner of the business and every person in the business, from the CEO to the poster cleaners on the streets.”
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the lighter side
ATTENTION YAHOOS: MORE MEMOS FROM HR When Yahoo!’s HR director Jackie Reses and CEO Marissa Mayer announced the end of full-time teleworking at their organisation, it went viral in minutes.
The funniest commentary has come from a Twitter parody that mocks the perceived ‘hard-line’ nature of the decision and Yahoo!’s approach. The account, ‘Yahoo! HR’ (@_YahooHR), is quickly gaining followers for its amusingly draconian edicts addressed to imaginary Yahoos. Here are five of the best examples: 1. Yahoos, we are blocking Google Search in all corporate offices. Yahoo! Search is a great alternative, just as good, if not better. 2. Lincoln once said, “Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.” Please remove the wheels from your desk chairs by 3pm. 3. We need to be one Yahoo!, and that starts with a sensible dress code. Get excited. Tuesdays are now Turtleneck Tuesdays. 4. Pregnant? Starting in May, we are rolling out the Maternity Stay initiative. Doctors will be on site to deliver babies at your desk 24/7. 5. Process blocking your success? Bureaucracy getting you down? You’re fired.
WHAT’S YOUR SITTING STYLE AT WORK?Contrary to Mum’s advice on sitting up straight, many employees are finding novel ways and positions to sit down in the office while using the tools of the trade.
Based on a study by office-furniture maker Steelcase Inc., the Wall Street Journal notes some findings on the common positions adopted by office workers in different situations.
The Strunch is a ‘stretched-out hunch’, which occurs when professionals using laptops on a table surface push the computer away from them as they get tired. To deal with the strain of the hunch, they prop their chins up with the non-typing hand. For a little privacy while checking smartphones during a meeting, the Smart Lean is apt, where workers lean back and to the side. Finally, as high-resolution screens get bigger, workers recline in their chairs further and further away from their monitors. This is the Take-It-In position.
The rise of such body contortions is due to the advent of personal devices like tablets and smartphones, taking their place as office tools for productivity. But there are gender differences in the ways people sit as well. Men are more prone to reclining deeply, while women often prefer to lean back and pull up their knees or feet, drawing their tablets or phones close.
The one commonality, however, is the body aches they all suffer from.
The world’s shortest interview? “Do you think in 140 characters? Are you the #keeperofthehashtags? Master of Memes...? Then you might just be what we’re looking for!” This is the introduction to Pizza Hut’s recruitment video that is part of their campaign to find a new social media manager – or as they call it, “Manager of Digital Greatness”.
In addition to the video, the company has launched a new hashtag – #becauseimgreat – to drum up interest in the campaign. But the most innovative element of their strategy is the interview format they are proposing.
Interviews for the next “Manager of Digital Greatness” will be just 140 seconds long, in a nod to the 140 characters in a tweet. This is how long applicants will have to show and tell Pizza Hut’s interviewers why they are a great fit.
The company wants applicants to be able to demonstrate that they can deliver in the hyper-fast-paced world of social media. “It’s the modern-day elevator speech,” Doug Terfehr from Pizza Hut told Forbes. “The time you have to tell a story, engage a customer or leave a lasting impression on someone socially has shrunk to seconds.”
Yahoo!!
Turtleneck Tuesdays!
written by Stephanie Zillman & Rose Sneyd
