In Conversation With Rose Clements, VP HR Microsoft

Executive Briefing Series �In Conversation with�� Presented by Robertson Executive Search Contact: [email protected] L10/ 155 George Street, Sydney AUSTRALIA 2000

In Conversation With

Rose Clements

Human Resources Director

Microsoft Australia

�Workplace Culture & Employee Flexibility�

July, 2010

mailto:[email protected]


INTRODUCTION

Employee flexibility and workplace culture are significant challenges for many

organisations in attracting and retaining talent. In today�s cultural context and

family friendly environment, organisations can lose talented candidates if they

are unable to demonstrate these capabilities in their organisation.

Microsoft HR Director, Rose Clements, recently spoke at Robertson

Executive Search�s regular �In Conversation With� lunch series in Sydney and

shared how Microsoft manages to unpeel this �onion� to deliver the �work is

what you do; not where you go to� approach.

Recent ABS statistics inform us that there is a rise in �singletons� due to an

increase in the divorce rate, people choosing not to enter �couple-dom� and

aging widowed baby boomers. Interestingly, one in three families in Australia

is a single parent household inspite of the lag effect of the baby bonus which

has seen an increase in the birth rate.

At Robertson Executive Search we are often called upon to be coaches and

mentors to candidates and clients. We deal with a variety of career scenarios;

for example an executive moving locations to undertake a new role and the

resulting issues of family, culture, parity, perceived increase or loss of long

term opportunity in their home base; or a candidate considering an industry

change and what that may mean from a career perspective.

One of the primary questions we are asked by candidates is about

organisational culture � what is it like; is there workplace flexibility; does the



Behaviours Leadership Culture Symbols Systems

organisation provide the tools for workplace flexibility; what is the cultural

model etc.

Culture quite simply can be �the way things are done around here.� We ask

our Client organisations to fully brief us prior to any search especially on

culture as it is such an important area for candidates and for Clients

themselves.

CASE STUDY: Microsoft

Microsoft see�s culture as a business issue and take a systematic approach to

create a culture �to purpose� which recognises that everyone does things

differently.

There is a strong ethos of �working to the job not to the clock.�

Rose commented that the hypothesis Microsoft operates on is that people

receive information with interest when it is presented through behavioural

symbols. For example, there are no designated car parking spots for anyone,

or a probationary period. This signals that everyone has a critical role to play

and being at Microsoft means you�ve got an �A+� and they trust you will work

hard to keep to that standard.



Even business as usual items are assessed from a perspective of �what kind

of message are we emitting� as behaviour is the biggest indicator of culture.

Leadership is at the centre of this system as it impact 70% on the climate

within an organisation and climate in turn impacts on 30% of business

outcomes. Culture, according the work done by Microsoft and Gallup, drives

business outcomes.

Microsoft also believe that �every single employee is entitled to an

outstanding manager� as managers hold the key to the employee experience.

They operate on a model of a series of promises where the role of the

manager is to manage their business outcomes

The model, illustrated above, encapsulates the MS Employee value

Proposition (EVP).

The EVP was based on a series of employee interviews where staff were

asked �what kind of Microsoft do you want?� This led to wide ranging

WWhhee

Environment

Strategy Climate Leadership

People

Organization

System

Business

Results

Culture

70

30%



responses and the categories above were created. What was clear however

was that the manager of an employee held the key too the employee�s

experience. Therefore, development of people manager�s is a high priority at

Microsoft. Managers and their teams are held accountable to �what and how.�

Mechanism and time have no relevance in this scenario. They view is very

much about working to the job not the clock.

Microsoft�s approach is quite different when contrasted with other MNC�s. The

focus is on a mental model underpinned by a behavioural model. The mental

model is about the �operating system� and the behaviours are all about the

�soft skills.� There is a continual effort made to not blame or deny, but rather

ask �what is it about my circumstances that I can control?� This goes hand in

hand with suspending judgement of individuals to a form of constructive

thinking and shifting the way people think. This has resulted in some excellent

outcomes for Microsoft as follows:

- YoY Revenue & Profit growth

- Unmanaged attrition rate of <2%

- Average employee tenure: circa 5 years

- 70% vacancies filled internally

- 40% Senior Executive team are women

- 2009 Hewitt�s �Best of the Best� Employer award

- EOWA Employer of Choice two years running

- Numerous Diversity and Industry awards

- High Employee Engagement:

- 94% proud to work for MS

- 92% feel their managers treat them with respect and dignity



- 91% like the kind of work they do

- 91% would recommend MS as a great place to work.

This example was contrasted across Telecommunications and Financial

Services especially as to what flexibility meant.

In Financial services especially insurance, there has been a paradigm shift in

terms of what it means to be flexible as most of their employees are in their

mid 30�s. The GFC was a call to change which meant wholesale review and

steps are being taken to get closer to the customer.

Whereas, the telecommunications experience is seen to be quite different.

Flexibility is a burning platform here, but for different reason. Here, 50% of the

workforce is older than 50. The objective is to retain impending retirees longer

as engineering and other relevant IT skills are a scarce resource.

This led the discussion to the MS �Employee Value Proposition (EVP)�. A key

insight was that performance management did not have a fixed bell curve.

This means that employees indicated that they wanted dynamic KPI�s, did not

want to compete with one another and sought rewarding opportunities. This

led HR to take a bold step - everyone at Microsoft know each others

compensation ratios, performance ratio and succession plan. This also meant

that career development became vital and the process transparent.

Ultimately, there was consensus that flexibility comes from trust. Many

organisations do not deploy flexible arrangements, inspite of the fact that

technology can enable it quite easily.



Synopsis

Workplace culture and flexible working conditions are clearly an important

topic in the modern day war for talent, in regards to attracting and retaining

the best people.

It was clear from the Microsoft example and from the audience that each

workplace and industry has their own challenges and nuances. To do nothing

you risk the possibility of losing your best people to companies that do value

flexible workplace behaviour and further to be branded a company that is not

open to change, either directly or indirectly through social media channels.

Looking into the future the best and brightest from the generations to come

will make work choices based on flexibility and not earnings potential.



Attendees:

Anthea Grace AICD Senior Policy Advisor

Fiona Wardlaw AMP GM Human Resources

Andrew Boyd CSR Executive General Manager, HR

Rose Clements Microsoft HRD

Stephen Hale Ogilvy Earth Managing Director

Cassandra Kelly Pottinger CEO

Tracey Gavegan Telstra HRD Operations


Economy & Finance

In Conversation With Rose Clements, VP HR Microsoft