brightestThe who’s who of HR P.18

PLUS: THE BUSINESS CASE FOR DIVERSITY

HUMAN CAPITAL MAGAZINEWWW.HCAMAG.COM

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

WORKPLACE DESIGN The way we work P.32

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION MBAs to coaching P.28

GENDER EQUALITY To mandate or not? P.6

ISSUE 9.11

and best

HR’s

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editor’s letter

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COPY & FEATURESEDITOR Iain Hopkins

JOURNALIST Stephanie Zillman

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Rebeccah Elley

ART & PRODUCTIONDESIGN PRODUCTION MANAGER Angie Gillies

CHIEF DESIGNER Paul Mansfield, Plump & Spry

SENIOR DESIGNER Rebecca Downing

PRODUCTION EDITORS Sushil Suresh, Moira Daniels

CONTRIBUTORSCarroll & O’Dea Lawyers, The Next Step, Leadership Success, EmployeeConnect

SALES & MARKETINGNATIONAL COMMERCIAL MANAGER Sophie Knight

ONLINE COMMERCIAL MANAGER Sarah Wiseman

SENIOR MARKETING EXECUTIVE Kerry Corben

MARKETING EXECUTIVE Anna Keane

COMMUNICATIONS EXECUTIVE Lisa Narroway

TRAFFIC MANAGER Abby Cayanan

CORPORATEMANAGING DIRECTOR Mike Shipley

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER George Walmsley

SALES DIRECTOR Justin Kennedy

CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER Colin Chan

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER Julia Bookallil

Editorial enquiriesIain Hopkins tel: +61 2 8437 4703 iain.hopkins@keymedia.com.au

Advertising enquiriesNational commercial manager, HR productsSophie Knight tel: +61 2 8437 4733sophie.knight@keymedia.com.au

Subscriptionstel: +61 2 8437 4731 • fax: +61 2 8437 4753subscriptions@keymedia.com.au

Key Media www.keymedia.com.auKey Media Pty Ltd, regional head office, Level 10, 1 Chandos St, St Leonards, NSW 2065, Australiatel: +61 2 8437 4700 fax: +61 2 9439 4599Offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Torontowww.hcamag.com

Copyright is reserved throughout. No part of this publication can be reproduced in whole or part without the express permission of the editor. Contributions are invited, but copies of work should be kept as HC can accept no responsibility for loss.

It’s time for HR totake a bow

Letters to the editor editor@hcamag.com

Express yourself! Got a burning issue to get off your chest? Check out the readers’ forums at www.hcamag.com

The annual Human Capital list of HR’s who’s who is always one I look forward to. Much like this month’s Australian HR Awards, I welcome this opportunity for HR’s shining lights to bask in some well deserved accolades. HR is often viewed as the ‘quiet achiever’ in business; they are often only noticed when things go wrong. That’s not the right attitude to take: I’ve had countless business leaders – some of them CEOs and general managers – say to me over the years that the HR role is exceptionally difficult to do well. Think of the breadth of responsibility and accountability held by any HRD. Think of all the achievements you have made, and the difference you have made to the way

business is done in your organisation. Despite the increase in the number of awards handed out to the profession in recent years – best employers, great places to work, dream employers – the top HR professionals deserve all those and more.

Any list is of course subjective, but the one thing binding all of those on this year’s list is their strides towards best practice. HR professionals often talk about being ‘strategic partners’; those on this list do more than talk – they are those partners, and they have the track records to demonstrate it.

Elsewhere in this issue we investigate an area that is often overlooked in the day-to-day pressures of work life: workplace design. Although you might think that’s the domain of funky advertising agencies and creative types, evidence suggests the design of our physical environments can impact on employee productivity, health and engagement. Much like butterflies emerging from cocoons, the companies profiled in this article seem reinvented, fresh and ready to take on life’s new challenges. Office redesign, says one, is “a powerful catalyst and platform for organisational change”.

Iain Hopkins, editor, HC Magazine

We value your opinions and input. Human Capital would like to hear from you, so send through your comments to editor@hcamag.com. Alternatively, express your thoughts on the readers’ forums at www.hcamag.com

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HC MAGAZINE 9.11

contents

18Cover story: The who’s who of HR Who’s a mover and shaker in the HR profession? Human Capital showcases Australia’s HR high achievers from the past 12 months

FEATURES14 | Setting the bar highCredit Union Australia’s workforce comprises 70% women, with 45% senior management positions also held by women. Human Capital profiles the career of Dawn Tsoubos, general manager, HR

28 | Building the perfect leaderFrom MBAs and Masters to coaching and mentoring, the leadership development options are daunting. Here’s a guide to what you can expect

32 | Form follows functionA growing number of employers are opting for unconventional office spaces –

14

Check out the HC archive online: hcamag.com

FRONTLINE INTELLIGENCE08 | In Step: HR career experts10 | Legal12 | Technology

why? We discuss why there is more at stake than looks

38 | Inside the perfect stormHC outlines the business case for diversity

48 | Profile: Medibank Health SolutionsA HR professional talks about handling “the tsunami of change” in business and how her company has embraced remote workers

28 32

48

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IN BRIEF

news

RETENTIONWORD-OF-MOUTH ADVOCATES FAILINGn Little is being done by Australian companies to increase the instance of word-of-mouth recommendations from former or current employees, the 2011 Insync and RedBalloon Dream Employers Survey has revealed.

CEO of Insync Surveys James Garriock said that theoretically employees should be the biggest advocates of the organisations they work for, yet employers are wasting these opportunities.

Garriock said: “If organisations harness the word-of-mouth power of their engaged employees, the bottom line impact can be potent.” The second annual survey canvassed the opinions of more than 7,000 Australians, and as the title suggests it aims to uncover both specific organisations as well as the elements the general public considers to be ‘dream’ working conditions.

The research showed that just 40% of all employees are satisfied with their job, 45% are planning to look for another role within the next 12 months and just one-third (33%) were willing to recommend their employer.

Heading the list for the second year in a row was Google, followed by Self-employment, Virgin Group, Qantas and Apple. Following were: Microsoft, OMD, Walt Disney, BHP Billiton, Getaway, the police, Vodafone, Rio Tinto, departments of defence, Commonwealth Bank, Cadbury, Facebook and Lonely Planet.

DIVERSITYSEND WOMEN ON INTER-NATIONAL ASSIGNMENTSn An international expert has revealed that fewer than 20% of women are given international assignments in business, despite being better equipped to handle the pressures of working abroad.

At a seminar at Macquarie University attended by management leaders from across Australia, Dr Rosalie L. Tung presented her findings on the complexity of doing business in Asia.

Dr Tung said the alarming statistic is perpetuated by a three-pronged myth, namely that women don’t want overseas assignments (due to

family considerations); that other countries don’t want female expatriates in business dealings; and that women lack the skills/competencies to succeed.

Dr Tung’s studies have shown female managers were better able to cope with isolation abroad, because women place greater emphasis on harmony and cooperation in their interactions with local people.

Her studies have led her to suggest that female expatriates may be the ‘model’ global manager.

Corporate support, she concluded, not just for the expatriate but also for the hosts, is integral when companies decide to send a female on international assignments.

The month in numbers$34bn – the annual cost of presenteeism to the Australian economy, according to Medibank research

170,000 – the number of additional workers BHP Billiton predicts Australia will need by 2017

1% – the rise in early childhood education and care fees that would result in a 0.3% reduction in the employment rate of mothers with young children, and a 0.7% decline in hours worked, according to the Productivity Commission’s July research

1.5 hours – the length of shifts for school students approved by Fair Work Australia, despite an appeal by the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association

700 – the number of organisations that took part in the R U OK? at Work initiative in 2010, including Commonwealth Bank, Rio Tinto, Queensland Police and Centacare

PRE-EMPLOYMENT SCREENINGPERSONALITY FAKERS FOOLING NO ONEn A new book has exposed the ways candidates can skew or ‘fake’ personality assessments when applying for new positions.

In the new release, New Perspectives on Faking in Personality Assessments, the opinions of world experts are presented, with many different viewpoints on how results can be distorted by applicants.

Co-contributor Dr Carolyn MacCann, a lecturer in psychology, argued that falsifying responses in personality testing poses big problems for employers.

After considering what it means to “fake” a personality assessment, the authors consider why and how people try to second guess the “correct” answer.

MacCann said their research revealed that the truly ethical, kind and rule-abiding people are likely to get unfairly caught out by certain questions.

Currently personality testing is commonly used in filling 40% of graduate positions, and a greater number for management and executive selection.

Source: Randstad Global Quarterly Workmonitor

POLL: Working part-time is definitely possible in a management position

Strongly agree (7%)

Agree (28%)

Do not agree (48%)

Strongly disagree (17%)

7%

28%

48%

17%

RECRUITMENTINTENTION TO HIRE DIPSn Australia’s two-speed economy has driven shifts in hiring expectations as mining demand and record trade agreements continue to benefit the resources, professional services and IT industries, according to Hudson’s latest Employment Expectations report.

Nationally, employer sentiment is now at its lowest level since the October-to-December 2009 quarter.

Despite weak employer sentiment in some sectors, industries involving resources, professional services and IT remain strong.

Mark Steyn, Hudson Australia/New Zealand CEO, said it was “unsurprising” that confidence in trade-based industries slipped, and pointed to the sharp falls in global markets and the concerns over the economic situations in Europe and the US as reasons behind the dip.

DID YOU KNOW?: Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business and research firm Penn Schoen Berland have found that 84% of business leaders admit to favouritism; 9% said it was a determining factor in their last promotion

REMOTE WORKERSEMPLOYERS CAUGHT BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

n With work-from-home requests on the rise, legal advisors are warning employers to carefully consider the legal extension of workplace health and safety laws in light of the successful suit brought forward by a work-from-home Telstra employee. Kristin Ramsay, senior associate and Brisbane team leader at Harmers Workplace Lawyers, said: “Employers

often approve flexible working arrangements without giving thought to the potential risks involved.”

Ramsay said it’s important for employers to evaluate potential risks and exposures when considering and granting work-from-home requests, as health and safety obligations apply the same way to work performed at home.

Ramsay advised HR and business managers to consider whether the benefit to the employee outweighs the potential risks to the business, and whether such risks can be properly managed on a person-by-person basis.

Ramsay also pointed to the issue of OH&S risks whilst working in any remote location, and added “employers’ obligations apply to any place that the employer requires or permits the employee to perform work”.

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BREE VREEDENBURGH on 13 Sep 2011 12:17 PM I would have to agree with Gail

Kelly that mandated gender balances is not the way to go. I would be loathe to place a less-qualified woman on a board than a more-qualified man purely to meet a mandated quota of women. Positions should be won on merit, not gender. To this end, I also disagree with Kelly’s statement that she won’t rest until 50% of her leadership positions are held by women. Only if those 50% are the best people for the jobs should they be placed in those jobs.

RACHEL on 13 Sep 2011 01:28 PM Mandating gender ratios on

boards is absolutely discriminatory. If a male is best for the job, then let him have it. To dictate that a woman should have a place on a board purely because of her gender (and not necessarily her brains) is condescending and quite frankly, offensive. We can achieve on our own, thank you very much; this is 2011 and we don’t need any help reaching the top, if we happen to be the best man (pun) for the job.

LIZ MCGUIRE on 13 Sep 2011 01:39 PM I agree with Bree on both points.

Women should only be promoted if they are the most qualified person for the position. One of the reasons we have a higher number of men in more senior positions is that the majority of persons who have the qualifications and experience to be in those positions are still men...Gender bias can go both ways. We need to be careful that we do not go overboard and that we appoint the best and most qualified person for the job regardless of their gender.

THE SHEEO on 14 Sep 2011 06:59 AM Hmmmm... Convenient opinion by Gail Kelly? Yes there

are women on the Board at Westpac, largely due to efforts of Kelly’s predecessors Morgan and Joss and Chairman Ted Evans. But given Kelly has no women on her executive team, and also had none on her exec team at St.George when she left, her comments ring of “of course we’re appointing the best people but there just aren’t any suitable women”... And I don’t buy it. Quotas may be the way to remove the blind spots for leaders like Kelly.

IN BRIEF HC ONLINE

Gender equality on boards should not be mandated: Gail Kelly

What do you think? Leave your comments on all HC news and opinion: hcamag.com

Westpac CEO Gail Kelly is against mandating minimum numbers of women for company boards.

Rather, she believes that diversity and gender equality should be “a specific and targeted area of focus” for organisations.

“I’m a passionate advocate about driving diversity at work, but in my view that does not necessarily mean mandating,” Kelly said in her September address to the QUT Business Leaders’ Forum.

“I personally think mandated positions can have unforeseen consequences and unintended and poor outcomes.”

She said that the ASX’s “name and shame” approach was a great way to go.

“A conscious focus, name and shame approach where boards are held to account to have to explain their performance and their track record not only at board level, but actually at senior levels is the right way to go,” Kelly said.

Thirty-six per cent of leadership positions at Westpac are currently held by women, and it is aiming to reach 40% by 2014. However, Kelly said she would not stop growing this number until it reached 50%.

“Why accept less than 50%?” she said.She said to create this change, recruitment

models, discussion forums, training programs, measures and rewards needed to be focused around gender equality.

She added that role modelling within an organisation was important, citing Westpac’s ‘diversity stars’ – staff in the organisation who tested ideas, confirmed diversity priorities and how to implement them.

In September the Diversity Council of Australia (DCA) hosted its first annual diversity debate, with the topic “Quotas: friend or foe of business?” hotly debated by high profile business leaders.

At the end of the debate the room of industry heavyweights, which included representatives from business giants such as IBM and PricewaterhouseCoopers, voted that quotas (not just targets) for women on boards should be mandated by the federal government.

Speaking at the debate, Uschi Schreiber, deputy CEO Ernst & Young, said the time had passed to simply wait for gender equality to reach boards, because it was clear that women were “simply not filtering up the ladder”.

Readers’ comments

forum

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#1 UNDERSTAND BUSINESS METRICSRICHARD LAIDLAW, general manager of human resources, Stockland I see real evidence of HR as a profession being much better represented in discussions around business strategy, business performance, and changes within the business. I think that as a profession it’s miles ahead of where it has been, even from 10 years ago. HR professionals probably could do more to understand some of the business metrics, little things like earnings per share; what an outsourcing or insourcing transaction would do for their earnings per share over the next five years. Some of those things would help them to have better, more informed discussions at those more senior executive meetings that they are participating in.

#2 TRANSFORM THE WORDS INTO ACTIONDEAN SAPPEY, HR director, Frucor Australia There’s still a bit of a theme of what sort of seat HR has at the executive table. My personal view is that, and maybe it’s due to the business I operate in, HR more than ever has a seat at the table. As HR professionals we’ve got a lot of stuff in our armoury, whether that be learning & development, organisational development, or remuneration & benefits, and other things we can drive from a policy perspective. I think it’s really making the connections between what is going on and what you are hearing around the table and crafting that into some action that’s really going to drive some good thought leadership.

#3 PROVE YOUR WORTHJOHN FRANCOIS, HR director, Asia-Pacific, McAfee I think we’ve won that battle of getting a seat at the table. Now that we’ve got that seat at the table we have to remain proven performers, so that the business wants to keep us there. Certainly you can contribute it at a certain level, if you’ve spent your whole career in HR. There is certainly a place for that and there are certainly organisations that value that. But more and more these days you have to be able to talk from the business perspective. So rather than lead with HR initiatives you have to understand the business and make sure any HR initiative that you talk about is more business driven as opposed to just a standalone HR initiative.

#4 UNDERSTAND BUSINESS STRATEGYEDWEENA STRATTON, senior director of HR at Oracle There is a need and desire for HR people to be more across business strategy, rather than just people strategy, but I don’t see that there are a lot of people able to do that well. I think it’s evolving and it will become more critical, as defining HR talent in the future. I think in general there is a lack of understanding amongst HR professionals, [and] I think it’s something that they have to be comfortable developing be able to take HR forward.

the big story

Top tips:HR directors give their thoughts on how to remain strategic business partners

See more on our TV clips: hcamag.com

IN BRIEF THE BIG STORY

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The Australian HR community is in two minds when it comes to taking on roles in the Asia Pacific region. For some, it represents an unparalleled opportunity to further their career and to experience HR and business in general on a new level. For others, working in a regional role and for a global company is shrouded in mystery and uncertainty, and they fear they will lose autonomy and the ability to implement their own agenda. In The Next Step’s inaugural HR survey of 2010, only 2.1% of HR professionals were attracted to work in a globally driven environment and it was this perception of lost autonomy that was regularly cited as a reason.

In this month’s InStep, we spoke with three top HR leaders working in regional roles based in Australia to ask what advice they would offer to their peers seeking to take on an Asia Pacific role and what they felt it had added to their HR ‘tool-kit’ as a result.

Choosing the right organisation in which to forge an international career is a key to solving the dilemma cited above, says John Francois, HR Director, Asia Pacific for McAfee.

“The route I personally took was to secure a local role with a reputable multinational company that had a strong growth outlook in the AsiaPac region,” says Francois. “This gives you very good exposure to the initiatives being driven and challenges that are being addressed across other AsiaPac countries.”

Tony Lehner, HR Director, Asia Pacific for Unisys, agrees that research is key to making an informed decision. He cites the internet, including company blogs, as an important investigatory tool – “do they offer the right culture and tools to support working across different time zones and geographies?”

An appreciation of the organisation’s culture and an understanding of the

FRONTLINE INTELLIGENCE

recruitment Adam Wilson is a senior consultant in our permanent recruitment team in the Sydney Office. For more information call (02) 8256 2500 or email awilson@thenextstep.com.au

Success in regional HR roles – a how-to guide

Appreciate the cultural and social norms and nuances associated with each countrycultural norms across each country in the region is also one of the keys to success in performing a regional HR role. This can take on both a formal and an informal aspect, says Lehner. “I was lucky enough to study cross-cultural management as part of my MBA,” he says. “This prepared me with a better understanding that not all cultures are the same.”

By the same token, says Lehner, the best cultural advice he receives is from his local HR teams on the ground across Asia. Trusting your team, he says, is the key to success.

Tracy Staines, Executive Director HR, Media, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa for

Nielsen, agrees that building relationships at a local level is crucial in gaining an understanding of the cultural nuances across the region. She cites “the ability to listen and ask lots of questions to make sure that you understand and that you have been understood. Never assume!”

Diplomacy is important, says Staines, as is being flexible and generous with your time to help break down the tyranny of distance. “You need to build relationships and trust and that’s harder when you’re not seeing people face to face on a regular basis. Have regular calls with your stakeholders and get to know your talent at all levels.”

The assumption that one size fits all when it comes to regional HR roles is a common source of un-doing. “Appreciate the cultural and social norms and nuances associated with each country,” says Francois. “The same initiative will likely require various approaches in each country to ensure it is successful.”

With effort comes reward though, and our experts agree that taking on and succeeding in a regional HR role has given them significant career benefits, from both a professional and a personal perspective. “We have two of the biggest emerging and growth economies (China and India) in our AsiaPac region,” says Francois. “This provides great opportunities to be innovative with our HR policies and practices as these countries develop and the business and its people grow.”

Staines agrees and says that taking on a regional role has broadened her commercial and business outlook. “I’ve learnt a lot about different markets, cultures and employment practices, which has helped me broaden my knowledge and ask better questions to help solicit better solutions,” she says. “It’s broadened my experience and I think I’ve learned to listen more, be more flexible and truly appreciate diversity. It’s also taught me that high talent stands out wherever it is.”

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MARKET MOVES

radar

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

Penny Coates has joined Tower Australia Limited as their Head of People & Culture. Penny previously spent eight years with Westpac where she held a number of General Manager Human Resources positions. Prior to this Penny worked within HR and consulting roles within KPMG and Deloitte. Employers Mutual Limited has appointed Michael Hoskinson as their General Manager People & Capability. After spending five years with AMP, most recently in the role of Head of Culture & Performance, Michael moved to Citistreet as their Vice President HR and then to ASIC as Senior Manager, Leadership & Capability. Joining The Fred Hollows Foundation as their Director People & Organisational Development is Shelley Tate. Shelley brings extensive experience gained in recent roles including Operations & Staffing Manager with GE Healthcare, Group Manager People & Performance with Leighton Contractors and National Manager HR with Wesfarmers Industrial & Safety. Raquel Boyd has been appointed the Head of HR Asia Pacific with FiveTen Group. Raquel was most recently the Group Recruitment Manager with George Weston Foods and prior to this the HR Director Asia Pacific & Japan for Hewlett Packard Financial Services. SAI Global has appointed Ira Moentaco as their Organisational Development

Manager. Ira was previously the Regional Learning & Development Manager for International SOS and prior to this brings strong experience from Caltex and Qantas. Christina Reid has joined Toll Express as their National Human Resources & Risk Manager. Christina brings strong depth gained in senior HR management roles within businesses such as Telstra Wholesale, Lend Lease and IBM Australia. Australia Post has recently made a number of appointments across their Capability and Talent team as part of their Future Ready business transformation project. Sheetal Mehta, Steve Gamble, Andrew Smith, Robin Law and Adrian Tralaggan have all taken on Capability Management roles looking after specific divisions. In addition, Tesha Piccinin has taken on the role of Leadership Development Designer and Dion Reddie has accepted the role of Manager, Learning Operations and Standards. Madeleine Wilson has also taken on the role of Manager, Performance working in Post’s HR Operations division. Tim Nuttall has recently accepted the role of HR Manager – Victoria and Tasmania with Star Track Express. Tim’s has previously held roles with Jetstar, Qantas, Roche and CSR. Lion Nathan National Foods have appointed Meg Marshall to the role of

People & Culture Change Leader. Meg has most recently been working with Arup as a Senior HR Advisor and previously held roles with Nissan and ANZ. Denise Passmore has joined Westpac in the role of HR Manager looking after their Commercial division in Melbourne. Prior to joining Westpac Denise was working with Acacia Learning Solutions as their National HR Manager and has previously held roles with CSC and Teletech. Julie Watkins has joined AIA Australasia in the role of Chief Human Resources Officer. Prior to joining AIA Julie worked for GlaxoSmithKline as their VP HR for Asia Pacific.

Recent HR Market Moves

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An employee who is affected by drugs or alcohol in the workplace presents a risk to themselves, other employees, customers and your business. Costs to the business can include increased sick leave, damage to property, injury and reputational damage. But what can you do about it?

Can I test employees?An employer’s Occupational Health and Safety obligations are generally viewed as paramount when compared to an individual employee’s privacy concerns, at least where the employee is working in what is called ‘safety sensitive’ work (for example, using heavy machinery, working at heights or with flammable materials, driving or flying). Where disputes have arisen in Australia in the past over whether the employer should be able to undertake such testing on employees, industrial tribunals have upheld the employer’s right to do so where ‘safety sensitive’ work is involved. Ideally, the right to undertake drug and alcohol testing should be a specific part of an employee’s employment contract with their employer, or part of an enterprise agreement at the workplace, but in the absence of such instruments, employers will have to establish that such a right is impliedly justified in the employment relationship, including being a ‘legitimate business purpose’ of the employer.

What should be in my drug and alcohol policy?An employer’s drug and alcohol policy has to be developed to meet the needs of its particular workplace (or workplaces) and the type of work involved – there is no ‘one size fits all’.

There are a number of key elements and questions that have to be addressed in developing and implementing a policy on this highly sensitive issue:

1. When will testing be conducted?2. How will testing be conducted?3. What will happen to the results?4. What if an employee refuses to undergo a test?5. What if an employee returns a positive test?

The drug and alcohol policy should also be openly communicated to employees. All employees should be given a copy of the policy and asked to sign an acknowledgment that they have read, understood and accepted the policy.

It may go without saying, but it is equally important that the policy is actually followed on each and every occasion. If the policy is altered for one employee, then other employees may feel entitled to expect the same leniency.

What if an employee refuses?The first matter that should be determined is whether an employee is actually refusing to take a test. They may merely wish to speak to their manager, union representative or legal advisor before undergoing a test.

If an employee does refuse to take a test, the first step for any employer should be to find out why.

Drug and alcohol testing is obviously an

invasion of privacy, albeit one that has been generally accepted as reasonable. Therefore, an employee who refuses should be treated with sympathy. Most policies provide for a refusal to take a test to be treated as a positive test.

What if an employee returns a positive test?There are many factors that can affect a drug and alcohol test. Therefore, it is important first of all to ensure that the test is actually positive by conducting a second test. This should be done at a doctor’s practice or a pathology office.

The implications of a positive test should focus on rehabilitation, rather than discipline. An employee should be offered counselling and assistance in dealing with what most likely is an underlying problem. Depending on the type of work, it may be necessary to stand an employee down whilst they are undergoing treatment, to avoid endangering the employee and their colleagues.

If an employee returns a second positive test, then disciplinary action may be considered, up to and including dismissal. Before a decision is made to dismiss an employee, however, they should be given the opportunity to present their position, and this should be taken into account in determining the most appropriate action.

Testing and responding to the use of drugs and alcohol in the workplace are very sensitive matters. The legitimacy of an employer’s actions can only be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Having a well-constructed, detailed policy that is focused on workplace safety, is implemented fairly and uniformly, and is understood by all employees will go a long way to ensuring, firstly, that employees are satisfied with their treatment under the policy and, secondly, that your actions are upheld as reasonable in the event of a dispute.

FRONTLINE INTELLIGENCE

legal Michelle Wright is Solicitor at Carroll & O’Dea Lawyers, Employment & Industrial Relations Group (02) 9291 7100 www.codea.com.au

Drugs and alcohol at work

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It’s no secret in business today that Human Capital can be a competitive differentiator. When the talent pool is managed effectively, a steady supply of the skills needed to execute corporate strategy is readily available. Nurturing leadership potential and fast-tracking talented employees is key to this philosophy, as it heightens engagement and increases employee retention.

Identifying and leveraging talent for future needs can be cumbersome, and the tactical burden can be a barrier for some organisations to adopting these key tactics. If you are able to fully utilise your Human Capital Solution, many of the manual processes can be eliminated, providing you with more time to align workforce initiatives with company strategy.

KEY MANAGEMENT ROLESWhen creating your leadership development plans it is vital to understand the roles that are key value drivers in your business. Once you understand these positions and key skills required to fill them, it will be easy to identify the employees who are the closest match.

This information may already be at hand — many Talent Management solutions store the skills required for a position and, at the click of your mouse, will display a listing of current employees with the closest skills match for the role.

PERFORMANCE REVIEWSRegular performance reviews are the optimum time to identify potential leaders and plan their movement within the organisation.

When you understand the skills needed for target roles, it will be effortless to

develop learning plans that will help the employee to acquire the skills needed.

MOTIVATORSWhat is motivating your leaders and potential leaders? What keeps them engaged and aligned with the enterprise? Is it financial? For many talented people it involves being heard and included in projects that expose them to new skills and provide recognition.

It’s important to have a solid understanding of this information, as it will aid the development of programs that nurture leaders and aid retention. Keeping top performers motivated minimises turnover costs and protects your IP.

LOOK TO THE FUTUREPlanning for the future workforce will ensure your workforce is able to adapt to planned changes.

What skills will the enterprise need and what personal qualities will support your corporate DNA? This understanding should be applied to new recruits, as building your future workforce starts at

the recruitment process. If you can easily identify the candidates

who are not suitable, it will save an enormous amount of time and money on bad hires. An online recruitment solution can be beneficial.

BENCH STRENGTHHow many successors have been groomed for your key roles?

One of the primary objectives of leadership development is grooming employees for those key roles. Yet many organisations are unable to easily identify succession plans and the employees being prepared for those positions.

Your Talent Management solution can help with this vital function and should be able to provide the metrics on how succession risk is being managed within the enterprise.

While Leadership Development and Succession Planning are two separate functions, they need to work together to ensure leadership pipelines are overflowing.

IT’S ABOUT PEOPLEEnsuring you have the right people is vital. While some employees may have the desire to reach CEO, they may not have the right personality or analytical skills. So it can be beneficial to conduct some type of profiling to ensure your potential leaders have what it takes to be a successful leader within your organisation, prior to investing in expensive programs.

At the end of the day, it’s all about people, and having them in the right place at the right time, to execute corporate strategy. If you are able to leverage your existing HR and Talent Management tools, the process will be much simpler.

FRONTLINE INTELLIGENCE

technology Nick Southcombe is General Manager, Frontier Software. (03) 9639 0777 www.frontiersoftware.com

When creating your leadership development plans it is vital to understand the roles that are key value drivers in your business.

http://www.primetimetraining.com.au

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It’s not unusual for banking & financial services firms to lead the way on diversity issues, but Credit Union Australia (CUA) can claim a workforce comprising 70% women, with 45% of senior management positions also held by women. Human Capital profiles the career of Dawn Tsoubos, general manager human resources, CUA

Human Capital: What drew you to an HR role initially?Dawn Tsoubos: By chance initially. I started my career in the finance sector at the grass roots level – a teller in Frankston, Victoria. The way people received job offers internally back then was a quiet word in your ear to see if you had any interest. I was approached to work in Training and Development, to actually train other tellers, which required me to travel up to one-and-a-half hours each way for a very small pay increase. I did this as I saw a great opportunity to develop a career in the finance sector, but not necessarily in HR at the time.

HC: What is your current role and how did it come about?DT: CUA general manager, human resources. I was invited to attend a discussion regarding an opportunity in the finance sector. Knowing there were not many opportunities in Brisbane for this level of role, I took the opportunity to have a ‘chat’. It progressed from there to be a very thorough recruitment and selection process – great to see that was the case! The opportunity to be part of something really different in the finance space was very appealing, a genuine focus on our customers and customer-owned banking was a key driver, along with a very strong focus on our employees very much supported by the Board and Executive team – and I haven’t looked back once!

HC: What do you consider to be your biggest career achievement to date?DT: A couple of things spring to mind: at CUA, we very recently negotiated a transformational Enterprise Agreement, which resulted in a 85% ‘yes’ vote, a great result and, more importantly, a great vote of confidence from our employees that CUA has their interests at heart. In a former life I also had a great opportunity to work on a transformational change program for ANZ. I had the good fortune to deliver major change across Australia, South-East Asia and the United Arab Emirates. I did that whilst having a young daughter and completing my undergraduate degree!

And one more for good luck: the opportunity to present to senior HR delegates at a conference in Paris on

Setting the

PROFILE DAWN TSOUBOS

my brilliant career

Career timeline: Dawn Tsoubos

1984 First job: Clerical officer, Manpower Services Commission (UK)

1986Early career: Teller, ledger and generals officer, ANZ Retail

bar high

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Career timeline: Dawn Tsoubos

1993: Diploma of Management (Hawthorne Institute of Education)

1994: Associate Diploma of Training and Development (Hawthorne Institute of Education)

1997: Bachelor of Training and Development (The University of Melbourne)

2009: Professional Diploma of Human Resources (AHRI)

Current: Masters of HRM (Charles Sturt University)

DAWN TSOUBOSROLL OF HONOUR

1987–1995 First HR-related roles:Training officer, ANZ Retail; manager, sales and service training, ANZ Retail

1995–2008Next steps: 1995 – Organisational change manager, ANZ Retail 1999 – Senior people and operations manager, ANZ Funds Management2001 – Senior organisational change

manager, ANZ Corporate & Institutional Banking 2003 – Senior learning and development manager, ANZ Corporate Banking 2006 – Senior manager, learning and development – Business Driven Action Learning, ANZ Group HR

2008Next step:Management consultant, Create Possibilities

2009Next step: General manager human resources, QSuper

2010 Current: General manager human resources, CUA

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CUA, Australia’s largest customer-owned financial institution, has a workforce made up of more than 70% women. In addition: 3 of 7 or 43% of CUA’s directors are female 78% of team leaders are women 75% of branch managers are female 46% of management roles are held by women 45% of senior management positions are held by women 75% of all staff believe they are provided with flexible work practices 98% of CUA’s part-time staff are women

CUA has been awarded an EOWA citation every year for the last six years.

CUA attributes the high representation of women in its workforce to a number of factors including the implementation of a range of policies and procedures. CUA makes considerable investment into initiatives that support all employees in the workplace including 12 weeks’ paid parental leave, equality in recruitment and selection, flexible working practices, strong feedback mechanisms, a range of development opportunities and merit-based remuneration decisions.

Walking the talk

quite an innovative program that we were implementing with some of the top teams in ANZ – around Business Driven Action Learning – inspired by the work of Reg Revans [founder of the Action Learning Methodology].

HC: What do you think it takes to succeed in HR?DT: Demonstrated capability – your business will just expect you to know, to keep up-to-date. To be seen as a credible and valued resource, we need to speak with the business about the business and how HR can help enable them to achieve their goals.

HC: What advice would you give to graduates considering a career in HR?DT: Take every opportunity to develop your capabilities across the broad spectrum of HR; a solid grounding in the generalist space is a must, before you specialise. Network and network more.

HC: Describe yourself in a few key words?DT: Outgoing, social, team oriented, family focused, supportive, passionate, excited by life and the opportunities it can bring with the right mindset.

HC: Do you have any role models professionally or personally?

DT: Absolutely. My former leader at ANZ, on a professional and personal front, provided a great foundation for my career development, [and was] absolutely supportive, but drove me hard. She worked part-time (so did I at the time), juggled a family and a career and was by far one of the most results-driven people that I know.

HC: CUA has an impressive range of gender diversity statistics. What is your top tip for building an inclusive workforce?DT: I’m not one that specifically believes in quotas. It has to be about the right person, based on merit – that means their experiences, results, performance, cultural fit and their potential. And ensuring that this message is driven from the top is important. Therefore ‘inclusive’ is the key word, ie, everyone. So it’s not specifically about gender.

HC: How have you made flexibility work at CUA?DT: We have successfully achieved flexibility across certain areas of our business and to see this success translate across the entire organisation will be a key focus area for us over the coming 12–24 months.

HC: What’s the biggest HR challenge CUA faces and how do you plan to overcome that?DT: Ensuring continued engagement of our employees as we work towards achieving our strategic vision, which will see changes in our work practices, our systems and processes, improved efficiency and increased productivity. Ensuring that they feel truly valued and their contributions are recognised. Continuing to provide relevant, timely and purposeful communications in showing how they support the achievement of making customer-owned banking more relevant to Australians.

HC: Where is the future of HR as a profession heading?DT: Very much around aligning HR to the business, not just for today, but having a clear line of sight to the strategic intent. The HR profession has come a long way from the days of the personnel department, but there is still a long way to go. We might now have a seat at most tables, but what we do with that and how the business views that is still very varied. HR is absolutely an enabler for the business, but we often let ourselves down by not having the level of commercial acumen or delivery focus that our peers have. If we get that right, we can be a phenomenal force in any business.

Finalist: Australian HR Champion (CEO) – Chris Whitehead

PROFILE DAWN TSOUBOS

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COVER STORY HC WHO’S WHO LIST

best practice practitioners

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As a relatively ‘young’ profession, there are few opportunities for HR practitioners to pause and reflect on how far they have progressed, and even fewer opportunities to applaud those who are excelling or acting as trailblazers. Six years ago, when Human Capital ran its first ‘who’s who’ list, the HR profession was just emerging as a force to be reckoned with. Back then, the argument on most lips was how HR could stand up and be counted on executive teams across Australia. That debate, for the most part, has been won. Now the fight is how HR should retain their spot and continue to add strategic value to the organisation. All of those profiled on this list have contributed in some way to that debate.

This list of ‘hot’ HR professionals showcases the

WHO’S WHOmovers and shakers of Australia’s HR industry who have come to our attention in the last 12 months, whether they’ve made it onto our pages or others.

Predominantly from mid- to large-size organisations, these corporate leaders have spearheaded innovative projects, achieved impressive bottom line results, embraced diversity, driven down costs while upping productivity, or managed difficult changes and transitions.

You may no doubt agree with the inclusion of some of your fellow practitioners and disagree with our selection of others. You may even feel that you warrant a place in the list itself – if that is the case we want to hear from you for our next who’s who list.

Who’s a bright light in the HR profession? Human Capital showcases Australia’s HR high achievers from the past 12 months

The

of HR

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Name: CINDY GRASSTitle: HR DIRECTORCompany: MILLWARD BROWN AUSTRALIAWhy hot? Millward Brown has had a global presence for over 35 years as a research company specialising in advertising, marketing, communications and brand equity. In Australia they are a small player, with 105 staff, yet this does not mean they are lacking in innovative HR practice. Commencing with the company almost four years ago, Grass has worked with her senior team to develop career programs and strategies that work for employees. She has advocated boosting managers’ skills to have meaningful career conversations; she has implemented programs for high performers involving them in cross-functional teams. She has also challenged the view that the only way up the corporate ladder is to take on staff management responsibility; instead she advocates playing to individuals’ strengths while still delivering what the company needs. Millward Brown has been accredited as a best employer in Aon Hewitt’s annual awards.

Name: JON SCRIVENTitle: GROUP EXECUTIVE, PEOPLECompany: QANTASWhy hot? Rarely does a day go by without a story on Qantas appearing in the mainstream media. Unfortunately the old adage of any publicity being good publicity in not true: Qantas has had a turbulent few years. Scriven became the HR chief in April 2009 with responsibilities across the Qantas Group, which includes the Qantas and Jetstar brands. Beset by weakening customer demand, high fuel prices and competition from low-fare airlines, Qantas has struggled to maintain its market dominance in the aftermath of the GFC.

According to the Wall Street Journal, from January to August of 2011 Qantas shares have dropped by 32%. CEO Alan Joyce announced in August that the company would shed 1,000 local jobs and set up joint ventures in Asia in an effort to cut costs. The simultaneous announcement that Joyce’s total remuneration package increased 71% from his 2009/10 package further inflamed the Australian public. Other problems in 2011 included ongoing industrial action by pilots and engineers.

However, it’s not all grim news. In the 2011 RedBalloon/Insync Dream Employers

Survey, Qantas came fourth, with the general public voting for the realities of pay, benefits and conditions ahead of a company’s reputation as the main reason they are attracted to an employer.

Name: MEGAN BROMLEYTitle: EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE MANAGERCompany: REDBALLOONWhy hot? While many companies claim to have a ‘fun’ and ‘engaging’ culture, RedBalloon really does mean it. It’s not unusual for candidates to show up to job interviews wearing a race car drivers’ suit and helmet – and for them to get hired. As a consultancy focused on reward & recognition, as well as employee experiences, RedBalloon staff get to try the product before offering it externally; hence it’s commonplace for RedBalloon employees to enjoy hot air ballooning or sailing excursions. Always one step ahead of the pack thanks to founder Naomi Simson (one of Australia’s most highly regarded and recognised CEOs), RedBalloon remains an employer of choice, evidenced by its consistently high rankings in both the Aon Hewitt and Great Place to Work Institute awards. In 2010 the company teamed with Insync Surveys to launch its own ‘Dream Employers’ survey, asking the general public for their thoughts on what makes the ideal employer. The factors that topped the list in the inaugural poll – brand, culture and work-life balance – would come as no surprise to RedBalloon employees.

IN THE HOT SEAT

Finalist Best Employee Value Proposition

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COVER STORY HC WHO’S WHO LIST

best practice practitioners

Name: ALEC BASHINSKYTitle: PARTNER, PEOPLE AND PERFORMANCECompany: DELOITTEWhy hot? From EOWA awards as an employer of choice for women (10 years running), through to rating as a top place to work (14th) on The Great Place to Work Institute’s annual list, Deloitte Australia certainly has won its share of awards. Led by industry stalwart Alec Bashinsky, the professional services firm’s team of 100 HR professionals has been focusing on best practice in the HR space for years. With 70-75% of Deloitte’s workforce under 35 years of age, Bashinsky says the old rules of engagement no longer cut it. Not only has the company embraced social media, it has also long held the belief in the ‘career lattice’ rather than ‘career ladder’ for nurturing upcoming talent. He holds strong views on HR operating as business strategists and nurturing young HR talent. His words of advice? Don’t join HR because you are ‘good with people’. Instead, join HR if you have a passion for business; then develop the skills to be able to execute on strategy.

Name: KELLIE WARTATitle: HEAD OF HRCompany: HILTIWhy hot? Although construction, mining and building product manufacturer Hilti employs 20,000 people worldwide (270 in Australia) its appearance at the very top of Aon Hewitt’s annual best employer list was a surprise. However, the HR practices at the company speak for themselves. Ninety per cent of Hilti’s management roles are filled from within the company. Many of Hilti’s employees have joined the ‘20-, 30-, and 40-year clubs’ for retention, and employee benefits include a competitive salary, five-week annual leave, a reward & recognition strategy that includes luxury trips, and a fully-funded employee hot line for confidentially dealing with trauma and stress. Aided by an MD who is passionate about the people in the business, Warta says that despite the accolade, the company is facing HR issues not dissimilar to many other companies, including employee mobility and the threat of headhunters.

Name: JOANNE ALLENTitle: HEAD OF HRCompany: CITIWhy hot? Corporate missions and visions are often empty words on a page. Citi’s mission was to build an inclusive workplace; its vision was to have all employees engaged. Joanne Allen has transformed ‘words on a page’ to reality.

Alongside the development of a fast-track high performer program called Ignite and significant diversity achievements at Citi – all business leaders now have diversity goals on their scorecards – Allen has been instrumental in tackling unconscious bias in what has traditionally been a male dominated industry.

She cites behavioural psychology that indicates that even the most open-minded individuals have unconscious bias, including over-generalisations and wrong assumptions. Diversity plans at Citi in 2011 focused on manager accountability and education. This included training to address unconscious bias, building an engaged workforce and the redesign of jobs to support flexible work arrangements.

While Citi has come a long way, she concedes culture change is difficult: “Just ‘saying’ it doesn’t make it happen. That’s why it’s so important to not just have a single whack of the nail on diversity – it’s about fundamentally changing how we think about diversity and realising that it’s not an HR issue, it’s a business issue,” she says.

THE CULTURE SHIFTER

Finalist HR Director of the Year Finalist HR Director of the Year Finalist Employer of Choice >1000 employees

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Name: CHRIS BLAKETitle: EXECUTIVE GENERAL MANAGER PEOPLE & COMMUNITYCompany: AUSTRALIA POSTWhy hot? Anyone who has walked into any of Australia Post’s 4,433 outlets in the past two years would notice the shift in the organisation’s focus from being merely a place to post letters to a thriving retail and service business. This is no accident. Launched in 2010, ‘Future Ready’ is a five-year program that represents a transformation of the organisation. The program will lay the foundations to create a more customer-focused and sustainable Australia Post. Instrumental to this program has been Chris Blake, who was appointed in July 2010. He is responsible for working with all areas of the business to implement critical people and cultural change initiatives, and communication components of the business’s renewal program. Following senior roles in banking and PwC, where he was a partner for 10 years, Blake has a background in overseeing change in management. Australia Post is the oldest continually operating organisation in Australia; it has more than 24,000 full-time employees and more than 10,000 part-time employees, from 135 nationalities, speaking 70 languages. It’s no surprise that such an employer focuses on diversity.

Name: JOSEPH KRAYERTitle: HR MANAGER AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALANDCompany: GOOGLEWhy hot? No list of hot companies to work for would be complete without Google. Joseph Krayer has been HR manager, Australia and New Zealand at Google for the past four years; in that time the company has picked up just about every accolade going. It’s easy to see why: with free breakfast and lunch, and games such as ping pong and pool, Google is unlike other workplaces. While each employee has their own desk, Google encourages collaborative spaces where formal and informal meetings take place. As well as the on-site canteen, micro-canteens are scattered throughout the building, which provide refreshments and snacks. There is also a library for quiet time, and a Tech Station to fix any tech problems. Extra perks include free iPods, Krispy Kreme doughnuts and the opportunity for international travel. Google also offers benefits such as education subsidies, on-site fitness centres or subsidised gym memberships, health insurance plans and childcare. In the 2011 Dream Employers survey by Insync Surveys and RedBalloon Google was voted the clear winner for its culture and work-life balance.

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COVER STORY HC WHO’S WHO LIST

best practice practitioners

Name: SIMON COWLTitle: HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTORCompany: GSKWhy hot? In a career that has embraced roles requiring mastery of challenging HR tasks, such as the integration of Southcorp at Fosters, Cowl’s four years at GSK have continued the trend.

In 2010, GSK, the world’s second largest pharmaceuticals company, undertook a significant HR transformation program. The end goal of this global initiative is to simplify the HR function by moving to a shared service structure. A newly created hub for HR transactional work – known as the HR Response Centre – now allows the aligned HR resources for each business unit the scope to undertake the strategic and business partnering work. A newly established in-house recruitment team – to proactively manage the hiring for critical roles – was the final piece of the puzzle.

With competition for talent in the pharma sector being especially fierce, Cowl and his team work towards the creation of a compelling work environment.

The company’s EVP is ‘GSK in Balance,’ which relates not just to work-life balance but also the give/take relationship between employer and employee.

THE QUIET ACHIEVER

Finalist HR Director of the year

Name: KERRIE FIELDTitle: GENERAL MANAGER HUMAN RESOURCES & MEDIA SOLUTIONSCOMPANY: ST VINCENT’S & MATER HEALTHWhy hot? The healthcare sector has traditionally been dominated by transactional HR thinking; Kerrie Field has long been an advocate of transformational HR. From a ‘Global Collaboration’ strategy, which involves establishing strategic connections with overseas hospitals across three levels (research, education and employment), through to the development of learning pathways, Field has been at the forefront of HR innovation. Field’s focus in 2010/11 has been bedding in a ‘Dignity at Work’ program, which focuses giving employees the tools to maintain the dignity of and respect for others. This program aims to provide people with an understanding of their roles and responsibilities, what their contributions mean to the organisation, and how their attitudes and behaviours impact on the work environment.

Name: DEAN SAPPEYTitle: HR DIRECTOR – AUSTRALIACompany: FRUCOR BEVERAGESWhy hot? Dean Sappey found his true passion – HR – at Frucor Beverages. He has applied his earlier finance/business knowledge to his current role, with the result being an HR director focused on the commercial reality of the business. Sappey has taken the company on an “engagement journey”. Key to this has been a focus on values – One Team, Straight Up, Value You, Go For It and Trail Blazing – which reflect the culture of the business. Open, ongoing dialogue with staff about how the company is progressing is also a hallmark of Frucor. Leadership development – ranging from high-end business schools to an analysis of what motivates leaders – is not concentrated on senior staff, but rather across the company. Yet despite all the tools in HR’s armoury, Sappey says the key to HR’s influence at the top level comes down to one thing: an ability to execute strategy.

Finalist HR Director of the Year

Finalist Australian HR Champion (CEO Jonathon Moss)

Finalist Employer of Choice <1000 employees

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Name: JEANETTE WENBORNTitle: HR BUSINESS PARTNERCompany: RTA NSWWhy hot? At a 2010 conference on the ageing workforce, it was stated that retaining and recruiting talented employees was ‘the highest organisational risk’ facing Australian employers. For the RTA, which employs 8,000 staff, 1,500 of which are over 55 and therefore approaching retirement, this risk is magnified. Special attention has been paid to engage mature workers; the cost of ignoring them and allowing their expertise to walk out the door has been estimated at $100,000,000. This year has seen the launch of ‘MyJourney’ at RTA NSW, a series of seminars to help those approaching retirement to share their knowledge with staff, deal with their finances, and discuss flexible working options to keep them in the workplace. An RTA Alumni program is also in place for former staff to maintain contact, keep up-to-date with RTA and industry news and be notified of permanent and casual employment opportunities. MyJourney supports RTA’s People Plan by developing its employees, their careers and building a knowledge-sharing culture.

Name: EMMA HOGANTitle: DIRECTOR, PEOPLE & CULTURECompany: FOXTELWhy hot? FOXTEL’s rise to prominence has been steady since establishment in 1995. However, it has required a complete refocus of the company’s people strategy to support the company for its journey from growth to maturity. Since then, the FOXTEL’s people & culture team have taken a seat at the executive table, led by Emma Hogan, who has been with the company for over four years. Her focus recently has been on re-engaging employees. As an RTO, the company has paid close attention to its L&D offerings. Hogan is also co-founder of The Media Reconciliation Ring, a key part of FOXTEL’s Indigenous Reconciliation Plan. A broad collective made up of over 30 media groups, the Ring aims to drive practical measures to support and promote reconciliation in the media sector.

THE DIVERSITY CHAMPION

Finalist Australian HR Team of the Year

Finalist Best HR Strategic Plan

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COVER STORY HC WHO’S WHO LIST

best practice practitioners

Name: GARETH BENNETTTitle: DIRECTOR OF PEOPLE AND DEVELOPMENTCompany: FREEHILLSWhy hot? Gareth Bennett has long been one of Australia’s most respected HR practitioners. With strong credentials as a senior HR professional and considerable international experience (Britain, Europe, the US), his mantra has always been to be a business person first and an HR person second.

The firm’s people strategy directly reflects the overall business strategy, and it appears to be paying off with a positive impact on bottom line results: a key achievement for Bennett and his team has been the implementation of strategies for developing personal resilience in all development programs. The Resilience@Law initiative has had wider implications: initiated by Bennett, this collaborative effort with other top tier law firms and the College of Law is a leadership initiative to raise awareness and understanding of the nature and impact of stress, depression and anxiety across the legal profession in Australia.

Finalist HR Director of the Year

Name: JOANNE TAYLORTitle: VICE PRESIDENT HUMAN RESOURCES AND CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONSCompany: MCDONALD’S AUSTRALIAWhy hot? It’s no surprise that McDonald’s focuses so heavily on career development: the company is a major employer of youth – 69% of its crew are between 14 and 18 years of age and 20% between 19 and 21. An RTO for the past 10 years, McDonald’s spends more than $40m annually on training crew, managers and corporate staff. Its training programs are recognised within all industries as developing vital transferable life skills. In addition to extensive on-the-job training and online learning, McDonald’s has five state of the art training centres around Australia, and offers school-based traineeships. Taylor, who commenced work with McDonald’s in 2004, has drawn on her experience in handling IR matters, as well as the skills developed in operations and regional manager roles, for her current dual role. In 2010 Taylor was selected

as one of the final six winners in the Australian Financial Review BOSS Young Executives of the Year awards.

Name: ROBERT ORTHTitle: DIRECTOR HUMAN RESOURCESCompany: IBM Why hot? IBM celebrated 100 years in June this year; Robert Orth has been with the company for 28 years. For an organisation that pioneered many aspects of the modern corporation – from equal opportunity to employee education and development – it’s clearly been a good fit. IBM has been at the forefront of flexibility (work-from-home, hot-desking, flexi-hours), which Orth concedes is expected of a technology company. However, he insists that technology is only an enabler; true flexibility must be part of the corporate culture. The challenge for the next 10 years, he says, is to stay on top of how, when and where people work. IBM has declared its position with the philosophy of Smarter Planet: a belief that the world is becoming more instrumented (lots of gadgets), more interconnected (lots of networks linking things), and more intelligent (lots of data to make decisions that affect real change).

Name: TRACEY GAVEGANTitle: GROUP MANAGING DIRECTOR, HUMAN RESOURCESCompany: TELSTRAWhy hot? Tracey Gavegan, who had been working as interim head of HR at Telstra, was appointed officially to the role in July 2011. Grant’s tenure coincided with unprecedented change in the internal and external environments, not least of which was her role in handling Telstra’s disputes with the company’s labour unions. Gavegan has 25 years experience in human resources, and it’s likely she will need to draw on all her experience in the new role as the company continues to trim staff and streamline operations on its way to becoming a more sales-focused company.

JOANNE TAYLOR

GARETH BENNETT

ROBERT ORTH

TRACEY GAVEGAN Finalist Best Workplace Diversity Strategy

Finalist Best Workplace Diversity Strategy

Finalist HR Director of the Year

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COVER STORY HC WHO’S WHO LIST

best practice practitioners

Research by Rebeccah Elley

Name: NICOLE ALLINGHAMTitle: HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTORCompany: NEWS DIGITAL MEDIAWhy hot? A significant skills shortage in the online media industry has meant that operators in that field have had to get creative. One way News Digital Media has sought a competitive advantage is by working on employee engagement. For a number of years it has employed Aon Hewitt to measure and improve engagement levels, a crucial consideration given the company’s mostly young workforce. NDM firstly held workshops with senior leaders, and seeing the positive results for managers in the next level down in the following year’s Aon Hewitt survey, NDM is now focusing on first-time managers, helping them improve the engagement levels of their teams. In addition, sparked by Allingham’s time and efforts at the Gold Coast Bulletin in raising awareness of reducing carbon emissions, NDM is showing its CSR colours by becoming carbon neutral and leading the wider News Limited community through an initiative called One Degree.

Name: PETRINA COVENTRYTitle: CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICERCompany: SANTOSWhy hot? Oil and gas producer Santos is a top-25 listed Australian company with over 2,500 employees. Given the multi-billion dollar projects Santos is currently involved with – and the accompanying people sourcing issues – Coventry will be drawing from her more than two decades long career in global HR roles in multinational organisations over the coming years. A look at some of Coventry’s activities over the past 12 months provides insight into her role at Santos. These include leading the restructuring of several business units for efficiency; introducing a new award-winning blended learning program into Santos; leading the collaboration between UniSA and UCL on the development of an accredited MBA in energy and resources. All the while she continues to be a gender equality advocate for women in the energy and resources sectors.

Finalist HR Director of the Year

Name: COLLEEN HARRISTitle: EXECUTIVE GENERAL MANAGER, HUMAN CAPITAL Company: NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANKWhy hot? In the lead up to the GFC in 2009, NAB took the unusual step of launching its NAB Academy, an online and physical site for development and learning. While many companies were slashing L&D, NAB was investing. It stands as a prime example of the company’s ongoing commitment to building a future-proof workforce. Further evidence is found in ‘My Future’, a central component of NAB’s people offerings in recent years. My Future is a diversity strategy focused on mature age workers involving both the people leader and the employee, with the overarching goal of seeing what their career may look over the next 10-15 years. It also offers advice around employee health and wealth. My Future complements other initiatives implemented by NAB over the past year, including provisions in its Enterprise Agreement enabling mature age employees to change their working arrangements without financial penalty, and provides flexibility in when, where and how work is delivered – for example, salary averaging options, job sharing and compressed working weeks.

Name: RONAN CAROLANTitle: HR DIRECTORCompany: SANOFI-AVENTIS AUSTRALIAWhy hot? In Australia, Sanofi-Aventis is the fourth largest pharma. Carolan says the talent war in the pharma sector has never really dissipated. Workplace flexibility has been important for sanofi, alongside a reward & recognition program that provides each employee with a personalised debit card that can be loaded with funds as individuals achieve milestones. sanofi-aventis has also invested in identifying and developing leaders of the future. Once identified, employees can benefit from development programs based in Paris, Boston, Singapore and Shanghai.

COLLEEN HARRIS

RONAN CAROLAN

NICOLE ALLINGHAM

PETRINA COVENTRY

Finalist Best Workplace Diversity Strategy

Finalist Best use of technology

Finalist Employer of Choice >1,000 employees

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FEATURE EXECUTIVE EDUCATION

lifelong learning

From MBAs and Masters to coaching and mentoring, the leadership development options are daunting. Here’s a guide to what you can expect

Building the

Similar to mechanics who look after everyone else’s cars except their own, HR professionals often look after everyone else’s development needs except their own.

Julie-Anne Tooth, herself a former senior HR professional and now associate of the Institute of Executive Coaching, sees the tide turning. “As an HR professional, I was always interested in developing the HR skills that really mattered, which were interestingly enough not ‘HR’ skills but ‘business’ skills and most importantly the commercial and business acumen which is the chosen dialect of our key stakeholders in the business,” she says.

However, now that she is a coach who adopts a strengths-based approach to working with clients, Tooth sees the equation somewhat differently: “As a coach, I think a more interesting question relates to what strengths HR professionals possess and how might they use those more effectively in the business.”

Nonetheless, Tooth believes it’s important (and healthy) for the HR profession to take a critical look at itself from time to time. “I do agree that sometimes HR professionals do not prioritise their own development or give emphasis to the right type of development opportunities for themselves.”

On that note, here are some of the most popular options for both HR professionals and senior business leaders.

perfect leader

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Secondly, there’s Professional Masters (eg Master of Accounting or Master of Economics). Fast-track and intensive, these programs offer an executive-style qualification directly relevant to career environments. Time to complete is between 12 and 18 months full-time study or part-time equivalent.

Finally there’s Generalist Masters (eg Master of Commerce, Master of Business). Sometimes these have majors, such as HRM or marketing. However, there can be an option for students to complete a general track – at Macquarie University it’s called a Master of Commerce with no specialisation. Most comprise of coursework, project work and research in varying combinations. They are designed to enhance professional skills or help you acquire a deeper understanding of a specific area of knowledge. Time to complete varies due to the range of entry pathways, but most require the equivalent of two years’ full-time study.

“Your classic MBA student was an engineer or an accountant who found themselves in a management position after many years of working in those professions, and lacking skills in general management. That’s changed significantly. Although I still find many people from those professional backgrounds in my classrooms, students now come from a wide range of professions – doctors, nurses, lawyers. I once had a well known rugby coach moving into the management area and needed the skills,” says Ross-Smith.

She adds that typically, for a student weighing up whether to undertake an MBA or generalist Masters, it often comes down to what undergraduate degree they have done. For those who have done an undergraduate business degree (as opposed to an Arts degree or other), an MBA is not a logical follow-on.

“If you’ve got an undergraduate Bachelor of Business degree why would you then do an MBA? You’ve already got the basic skill sets. What makes students do the MBA is

In our desire to meet the needs of the business, we too often assume a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to leader development

– JULIE-ANNE TOOTH

MBAS AND MASTERSAnne Ross-Smith has extensive experience in tertiary education. She was involved for many years with the University of Technology, Sydney MBA program as head of the School of Management, she studied a Masters degree at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management, and is now director of Graduate Studies at Macquarie University’s Faculty of Business and Economics. If anyone is in a position to assess the pros and cons of executive education – particularly at postgraduate university level – it is her.

With literally hundreds of short courses, Masters degrees, MBAs and other business education offerings, it’s hardly a surprise that some candidates – who may have been out of the education loop for many years since they completed their undergrad degree – find it confusing.

“There are a lot of courses on offer,” concedes Ross-Smith. “Those who have been in the workforce for a number of years and are perhaps thinking about their career – usually it’s a career change or career improvement – are typically in the 25–40 age bracket. They may be confused about what choice to take. However, my experience is that they make sure they do become very well informed before they make that choice.”

What do students assess? Ross-Smith says the number one factor is the ‘value for money’ proposition. With high-end MBAs offered by Melbourne Business School and Sydney University costing up to $100,000, it’s a significant financial investment usually borne out of the student’s own pocket (although employers that sponsor students to undertake further education will often reimburse them).

The prestige of the institution, the reputation of the teaching, where it can lead post-degree – where your career path might go, how much extra income you may earn as a result of having a postgrad qualification – all become part of the mix of this complicated decision making.

Another important consideration is work-life balance. “This generation of upcoming business leaders is concerned about balancing home life with work life and study. Many women also undertake postgrad business courses, so in some instances that often transcends the reputation of the institution. The key concern becomes, is it close to home or close to work?” says Ross-Smith.

There are three categories for postgrad Masters in business. Most tertiary providers offer these or slight variations:

Firstly, there’s the MBA – a generalist degree; in terms of course structure there’s a heavy focus on development to become a general manager. It can take up to four years or more of part-time study. ‘Executive MBAs’ are specifically designed for senior executives or those aspiring to be senior executives. The focus is typically on ‘executive’ leadership. These typically take two years part-time study.

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The 2011 National Learning and Development Index found the following topline results:

L&D insights

that often the marketplace demands it. But if I was advising someone who had an undergrad business degree, I’d say you’ve got your skills there, why not think about specialising in an area you’re working in or see your future in?” suggests Ross-Smith.

Both a Generalist Masters or an MBA are viable options for HR professionals, Ross-Smith says. “If they’re working in the field of HRM and they don’t have a background in that area, they may seek to do a Master of Management or Master of Business in HRM – there are a few straight Masters of HRM around but not many. These Masters enable the student to focus on HR in more depth with a view to building their career in that profession.”

The majority of MBAs, on the other hand, don’t have a fully prescribed set of units – some have six, others nine, others 10, but most will offer 12–16 subjects, leaving the option for a student who’s interested in a particular specialisation to take 3–4 units in that area. That means the student graduates with an MBA but might have a sub-major in HR. “It really comes down to student choice here – weighing up the various value propositions,” suggests Ross-Smith.

Ross-Smith is an advocate of face-to-face learning and the peer networking opportunities it presents, and she says that knowledge of what a student’s peers or colleagues are doing does play a role in influencing study choices. However, she suggests that the one thing students don’t do enough of is ask what their employer is interested in.

“If I was embarking on a Masters I would be talking to my supervisor, my work colleagues, the HR department, to find out things like the pragmatics of doing it, their experiences, what the career path options might be if I

have a Masters, whether they would be more inclined to advise me to do an MBA or a Generalist Masters, depending on where they see my career going.

“For $2,500–3,000 per subject, 12 subjects in a degree, it’s a big personal investment. You want to be sure you’re making the right choice.”

PEER-TO-PEER LEARNINGTaking a different approach is the CEO Institute, a peer-to-peer membership organisation for CEOs and senior executives. With more than 900 members nationwide, its members meet regularly in small groups to share ideas, experiences and challenges and to be exposed to leading edge business thinking.

Of most interest to HR professionals – for their own development and that of others – is the Transitional Leadership Program, which takes up-and-coming managers and nurtures their leadership skills to that next level.

Syndicate chairman, and former head of The CEO Institute, Andrew Dalziel, says the program draws on real-life experiences and adopts a guided learning approach.

Meeting on a monthly basis, the aim is to extend members’ thinking and broaden their perspective. They have time to talk about business problems and generate discussions. All group members are from non-competing organisations so they can be free and frank.

For two of the monthly meetings this year, the Institute has engaged Mt Eliza Executive Education’s Professor Graeme Cocks to deliver case studies – Winning Organisations in Australia and Executing Your Strategic Plan.

“The aim is to encourage the rising stars in organisations and provide them with the knowledge, resources and networking opportunities to help take their career to that top level,” Dalziel says.

For four meetings each year, existing CEOs are brought in to talk about some aspect of management – from international growth and improving financial management to change management and honing media presentation skills.

Each member does an annual presentation on their own experience or current role, to expand the thinking of the group; and there is an annual site visit to a member premises to understand the workings of that business.

For most people the TLP is a 2–3-year experience. “People stay as long as they are getting a benefit,” says Dalziel. “Some stay longer and remain in the same role in their organisation. You might ask, are these people progressing? They certainly are, but they happen to be in organisations where the CEO is still there.”

Dalziel says the program is not just for CEO-aspirants, but for all business people who want to be better managers and senior leaders within their own organisations.

l 49.35% of respondents report that L&D is part of the HR function in their organisation, 14.1% report that it’s a stand-alone function and 33.6% report it’s both within and external to HR.

l 92.3% of respondents report that L&D activities are determined in the performance review process, 75.3% that they arise from compliance requirements, 75.2% that they are employee initiated, and 69% that they are decided in relation to core job skills.

l The main types of L&D activities reported as being provided by organisations include in-house training (95.1%), induction (87.6%), formal education funding (80.2%), leadership development (79.8%), e-learning (68.5%), professional association memberships (66.2%), individual career planning (63.4%), coaching (61.9%) and mentoring (61.2%).

Source: The 2011 National Learning and Development Index by Australian Human Resources Institute / Australian Institute of Training and Development / Learning Seat

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FEATURE EXECUTIVE EDUCATION

“Part of the experience is learning from others, not only their different business experiences, but also different technical backgrounds and how that might fit into a whole,” he suggests.

EXECUTIVE COACHINGTooth believes all development approaches are relevant and necessary. However, she believes that in developing leaders, businesses have given primacy to the propositional or formal knowledge gained through qualifications and training at the expense of the knowledge gained from professional work and life experience.

“As people move up through organisations, there are few formal qualifications and courses that they have not completed,” she says. “For example, in my PhD research, a senior partner suggested that he had completed his MBA and every training program available to him and was now in a position of being ‘too senior’ for training. Even so, he was looking for development and support, particularly in understanding his own style and how he was perceived and also in leading others. For this executive, the process of coaching enabled him to meet these needs.”

For HR professionals, Tooth says that looking critically at the traditional approaches to leadership development is fundamental for the future relevance and success of the profession. She adds that she is a fan of Amanda Sinclair’s book Leadership for the Disillusioned. Sinclair emphasises the important role that reflection plays as the basis for learning about leadership and the important role that learning from experience plays in leader development.

“In my own PhD research, I discovered that executives valued executive coaching as a form of experiential learning and for providing the space to ‘pause and reflect’

in their busy executive lives. I would like HR professionals to consider that in our desire to meet the needs of the business, we too often assume a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to leader development.”

An HR professional Tooth interviewed referred to her organisation’s typical approach to leadership programs as ‘spray and pray’. In taking such an approach, employers often overlook the very individual, tailored and personal development that leaders also need. Methods such as coaching and mentoring and experiential learning enable leader development to be individually relevant, real and practical (and therefore ultimately useful).

The IEC has been conducting research into coaching effectiveness since 2005 with the Coaching Effectiveness Survey (CES). Overall, the biggest message to come through is that coaching is valuable in assisting people build self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is the perception/belief that people have about their capacity to achieve in relation to actions and goals. In particular, coaching improves people’s perception of their own strengths and challenges, and their ability to communicate assertively and confidently with their colleagues and staff.

Coaching also provides a prime opportunity for HR. In Tooth’s research a range of businesses lamented the loss of the HR function as a ‘confidante’ and as individuals that they could open up to and share their development needs and problems with. “To me, a large part of this is about trust and building effective relationships with people in the business, something that I see as a real opportunity for HR. At the IEC, we believe the key to building relationships is the development of shared understanding through dialogue, so for HR professionals to possess skills that enable them to have real, honest and effective conversations with people in the business is a must.”

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Form functiondemonstrates that effective physical workplaces are those that are matched to the workforce and the user needs. These user needs are constantly changing in relation to: • Physical needs (eg ergonomics)• Functional work needs (eg working styles and

patterns)• Psycho-social needs (eg generational and cultural

expectations)Why does this matter to the average HR professional?

There is evidence that our physical work space impacts on wellbeing, our behaviour and, especially, employee engagement. Global statistics relevant to Australia demonstrate that the physical workplace can impact job satisfaction by 24%, individual performance by 5%, and team performance by 11% (Buffalo Organisation for Social and Technological Innovation – BOSTI).

Schiavello has conducted extensive research on the role that the workplace plays in employee engagement. One of their findings indicates that if an organisation and its leaders allow and encourage employees and teams to express their

Is the work undertaken in your company dictated by the physical environment, or is your physical environment dictated by the work you undertake? In most instances, the former is true. Yet research indicates we ignore our physical environment at our peril. Keti Malkoski, workplace research psychologist at Schiavello, says that the physical workplace plays an important role as a business tool for influencing employee wellbeing, attitudes and behaviours.

Malkoski notes that the way we work has changed considerably over the past few decades and we now embrace a high level of flexibility. Schiavello’s research

A growing number of employers are opting for unconventional office spaces – why? Iain Hopkins discovers there is more at stake than a desire to look good

GPT’s treehouse of meeting rooms are cantilevered over the atrium with views of Sydney beyond.

follows

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identities in the physical workplace through personalisation this can assist them in creating a sense of place.

If employees can express who they are in the physical workplace, this can foster positive feelings of ownership, belonging and attachment.

Natalie Slessor, director of consulting Australia, Woods Bagot, confirms there is a strong correlation between a workplace’s physical environment, how employees interact and ultimately the corporate culture.

“The workplace is the visible part of the culture, it gives clues about how the organisation values its people, the behaviours and processes it supports. In recent times, we’ve witnessed workplaces move from rigid (owned and closed) to agile (shared and open) spaces in which the physical barriers and the constraint of time and place to work have been removed, enabling a boundary-less, mobile, and accessible environment,” she says.

PROS AND CONSCentral to this shift from rigid to agile spaces is the active move towards flexible and shared workspaces: shared by individual employees, teams, business functions, etc.

This trend is driven by many benefits, including the potential for enhanced collaboration and communication, knowledge sharing and learning. In addition, this shift is creating more economical workspaces and a cultivation of a greater sense of community in employees that perceive themselves as equals.

As with any physical workplace approach, there are also potential downfalls which may accompany the benefits. In relation to shared workspaces, research demonstrates that there may be a loss of perceived privacy which impacts users from a personal and work perspective, a loss of control over aspects of the environment which may lead to more distractions and reduced effectiveness, and a loss of individual and team identity areas which may lead to reduced connectivity to the workplace and organisation.

The focus on group rather than individual settings in the physical workplace is driven by the rationale that employee and business effectiveness can be improved if collaboration and interaction between employees is fostered. However, with such a diverse array of individual and team identities working together in the workplace, Malkoski warns it is unrealistic to expect them all to value collaboration and interaction at all times.

“These identities – influenced by characteristics such as gender, age, culture and personality – are constantly evolving with different physical workplace needs that must be respected and balanced. Instead of imposing one dominant work mode on users, an ideal workplace should empower the user to shift between different work modes as required,” she says.

FROM RIGID TO AGILE SPACES: WESTFIELDWestfield has recently changed its Market Street Sydney headquarters from a ‘rigid’ to an ‘agile’ workspace. This decision was made, according to Ian Cornell, director of human resources at Westfield, following two-way feedback sessions with staff that indicated the company needed to unlock space, drive interaction, create open connections, allow for more mobility and flexibility, and unify its workforce to encourage collaboration and innovation. “We commissioned Woods Bagot to design a workspace that would allow all of these drivers to come to fruition,” he says.

More than simply providing employees with a fresh workspace, Cornell says the move was made to reflect the corporate culture of Westfield, and also its business imperatives. “We needed to continue to be progressive in order to produce the best properties in the best markets and to create sustainable sales and growth revenue. We wanted to invest in our people and enhance our performance to achieve these goals.”

Woods Bagot’s consulting team worked closely with key Westfield personnel in understanding Westfield’s key strategic business drivers, brand and values, and how this aligned to new ways of thinking and behaving; and ultimately injecting this into the design philosophy.

At the forefront of Westfield’s vision for the future was to: • Increase interaction and collaboration • Promote mobility and flexibility• Facilitate open communication between individuals

and teams to drive innovation In response to these drivers, Westfield’s new

workplace environment incorporates leading workplace design intelligence that fosters a new way of thinking and behaving, through embracing: • agile spaces that can be adapted for different uses over

time, and are very accessible, with great technology • embracing cross divisional collaboration by placing

settings in key ‘bump’ zones on the floor• vertical and horizontal circulation through the use of

multiple new stairs• functional settings for each division that allow everyone

to access focused workspace when they need itAlthough it’s still early days, Cornell is confident the

new environment will pay off. “Anecdotally, our staff have reacted very positively to our new workplace,” he says. “Everyone now has the opportunity to work and interact with those people from other divisions who they may never have had the chance to meet previously. The collaborative settings and break-out areas in particular have allowed for more impromptu and cross-divisional meetings to occur, which is a positive development for our business.”

the way we work

ENGAGEMENT WORKPLACE DESIGN

the way we work

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THE CASE FOR CHANGE: GPT GROUPFor GPT Group (see case study p.36) the move to an ‘activity-based working model’ was part of a larger business strategy, aimed at reinvigorating the company.

Part of the strategy included transforming the way its employees work and supporting the culture and values in a way that would increase competitive advantage.

Amy Davies, organisation change and development manager for GPT, says extensive research was done prior to making the change, including time and motion studies exploring how employees worked, and utilisation studies of the company’s various workspaces.

“We conducted a survey of staff back in 2009 to gather their views about the workplace and how it helped or hindered their performance, and we are about to embark on this survey again to measure the changes in views,” says Davies.

MAKING THE CHANGEGPT undertook a comprehensive change management program encompassing engagement and communications, training and education and transition planning activities to ensure the transition to the new workplace was smooth for GPT employees, and impacts to productivity and performance were minimised.

Open, transparent and timely communication throughout the project was crucial in ensuring employees were aware, informed and engaged in the changes. The approach taken was fresh, fun and deliberately different to typical corporate communications, to draw attention

and interest from staff. “Engaging the business in the design of our new offices was also a key part of the

process,” says Davies. “Our people were involved in everything from the initial design of the floor

plans right down to choosing our chairs and workstations – creating a sense of ownership of the final product before we even

moved in.”Davies explains that the change management

and learning activities for the project were structured around four key areas: Reducing Our Paper, Living and Performing Together, Technology Learning and Induction. Each employee was given a ‘passport’ to track their progress against each of the activities they needed to complete in preparation for the transition. The progress of teams against each area of the passport was reported weekly to the leadership team and people managers across the business.

Reducing dependency on paper was an important part of GPT’s move to an Activity-Based Working model, where employees do not have a dedicated desk. It was critical that the company supported people to learn how to work

electronically – to give them the freedom to be more mobile, but also increase efficiency and security of information.

“We ran a program called the GPT Biggest Loser to encourage teams to reduce their paper storage – it revealed how competitive we are as a business, as teams really got involved. Some members of our legal team brought in their husbands over the weekend to help with the clean up. When we started the project, we had close to one kilometre of paper files stored in the office. We have now reduced this down to around 100 metres, freeing up the space preciously taken by filing cabinets for better facilities – and we are printing about 50% less than we were before.”

Learning and mastering the technology being introduced to the environment was probably the most important aspect of the change program, and GPT implemented an extensive training program to support this. Highlighting the importance of this to the success of the change, every employee’s Performance Agreement included a compulsory KPI on technology learning – establishing clear accountability for engagement in the learning journey. Managers were also supported to learn new ways to lead in a more flexible environment.

“We had some important discussions with our people managers about their concerns with leading a team in an activity-based environment where team members may not sit together every day, and supported them to learn new techniques for managing to outcomes and performance, rather than by supervision,” says Davies.

As a final step, GPT established a number of working groups with volunteers from across the business to help decide how the space would be best utilised. “What behaviours did we want to encourage? What behaviours would not be acceptable in an environment where spaces are shared, and how do we discourage these? One of our working groups came up with a simple set of ‘house rules’ for the workspace,” Davies explains.

HOLISTIC CHANGEAs a final tip, Slessor urges employers to look at their organisational vision and values, and then look around at their office. Do they match? She says the workplace is a powerful catalyst and platform for organisational change. In her experience, the case studies with the best results are more than just workplace projects; they are about holistic change. In order to do this, organisations need to get the senior management team involved in the conversation.

“Our advice would be to look forward and try to imagine the organisation that you want; not the office space you have now. And once the journey starts, in a way it never ends, as the ROI for sustainable high performance in your terms continues to evolve and grow.”

POSITIVE IMPACT

Research from psychologist Dr Craig Knight from the University of Exeter in the UK involving more than 2,000 office workers has revealed:

l by enriching work environments employees are happier, healthier and over 15% more productive than they are in a lean, de-personalised work environment

l By involving staff in the development of their own work environments, productivity can be increased by up to 32%

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ENGAGEMENT WORKPLACE DESIGN

the way we work

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Human Capital: Can you outline what GPT Group has done with its physical work environment over the past 18 months?Amy Davies: We’ve worked to create a new work environment, in the MLC Centre Sydney, which provides our people with leading-edge facilities and technologies to support their best work. It offers a diversity of workspaces and facilities required by our people now and into the future, taking into account an increasingly diverse workforce as well as the evolving nature of work in the 21st century.

In terms of the physical environment, our workspace has undergone a dramatic transformation. While the location of our headquarters in the MLC Centre was ideal, the environment itself didn’t reflect our brand or culture, and lacked the flexibility to adapt to the changing nature of our business. The fitout was outdated and we were continually having to find more and more office space as our business grew. It was clear that from looking at our office layout and the way we were using our space that there were some inefficiencies we could address to get more value from our investment.

The new work environment we have created now sits on three contiguous floors of the building, connected by two open staircases to encourage movement and interaction between and across teams. Through leveraging clever design principles, we were able to provide our people with a greater diversity of work spaces and facilities, while at the same time reducing our

GPT GroupHuman Capital interviews Amy Davies, organisation change and development manager for GPT Group, about her company’s recent upgrade of its office space

Case study:

The ‘town square’ is the location of meetings, coffee, dining, events or reading the

paper in the sun.

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overall footprint. Sustainability was also a key driver for the change. We are targeting an Australian first in a building 33 years old – aiming for a 6 Star Green Star Office Interiors rating in an older building that hasn’t been through a refurbishment.

HC: You’ve taken a holistic approach to this change in office space – can you outline why?AD: For us, the workplace is about more than the bricks and mortar – evolving how our people work in the space was equally as important as the physical design. We’ve moved to an Activity-Based Working model for all employees based in our MLC Centre office. This means that our people are free to move around and work in spaces that suit the task they are working on. For example, if an employee needs to focus on a concentrated task such as completing an important report, there are quiet spaces where mobile phones are switched off and there are no interruptions. Or, if two team members need to collaborate on a spreadsheet, instead of emailing it back and forth or crouching over a tiny computer monitor, we have provided collaborative spaces with wireless technology and big LCD screens so people can work in real-time together on documents – saving time and making collaboration easier and more comfortable.

HC: How important was technology in this evolution?AD: The technology we introduced into the environment was key to making this work. The core principles underpinning the design were to enable our people to work anywhere at any time – providing mobility, facilitating communication and enabling greater efficiencies and productivity. We introduced a range of technologies, including tools designed to support communication and collaboration such as better video conferencing , Microsoft Communicator and Live Meeting, and tools to support real-time working such as interactive whiteboards, dual-screen computer monitors and a wireless internet network spanning three floors.

HC: Do you believe the physical work environment can have an impact on engagement, the health and productivity of employees?AD: From a cultural perspective, workplace redesign is one of the best tools we have available as HR professionals to achieve behavioural and cultural change in a business. It throws open the opportunity for really powerful conversation around the way we work, our core business processes, the way we interact, and what behaviours are acceptable and encouraged in the workplace. For us, this was a chance to take a good look at how we were working, and see what needed to evolve to achieve both a greater level of performance, but also engagement and satisfaction of our people. The cultural

context was key here – GPT was undergoing a period of renewal and transformation as a business, so transforming our workplace and the way we worked was a logical extension of this.

HC: What would be your top tip(s) for other HR professionals or other companies looking to make a big change to their office space like this?AD: My top tip would be don’t underestimate the opportunity this provides you to achieve real behavioural and cultural change. The process is key – take the time to do your research, talk to your people and get it right. The opportunity to change your work environment doesn’t come up every day. Also, the journey doesn’t stop when you move in – how you continue to drive the value out of the workplace through ongoing monitoring and education is critical to realising the benefits. While taking this approach may mean a greater investment upfront, it is hard to put a price on the value your organisation gets out of teams working together more effectively and efficiently every day.

workspaceNumerous studies and research projects have been undertaken on how to measure the impact of such a move on productivity. GPT will measure this and intends to do it across two key areas.

Collaborator spaces encourage real team work without the need to book a meeting room.

The first is to measure tangible items such as:• a 6 Star Green Star rating for office

interiors• a 5 Star NABERS rating for energy

(off a 2.5 star base)• reducing power bills by 50%• reducing printing by 25%• reducing telephone calls to remote

sites by 10%• reducing travel costs by 5% (video

conferencing)

• reducing voluntary employee turnover by 5.0%

The second is to measure subjective items such as self assessments by employees of:• engagement• comfort and wellbeing• attitudinal and behavioural change• workplace effects on productivity• improvement in collaboration and

innovation

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FEATURE DIVERSITY

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the business case for diversity

Inside the PERFECT STORM

Despite countless research reports demonstrating the benefits of diversity, many companies still struggle to get it right. Juliet Bourke outlines the business case for diversity

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We are in the midst of the perfect storm. An unprecented combination of forces have collectively propelled workplace diversity (back) onto the agenda for leading organisations. A stronger regulatory environment, economic pressures, greater stakeholder expectations and corporate social responsibility are all playing their part. Notwithstanding these forces, some remain sceptical about the business case for diversity. Perhaps rightly so? For far too long we have only heard the headlines and yet knowing the details will help organisations navigate the path ahead.

In this except from Only skin deep: Re-examining the business case for diversity, we help leaders chart their course by looking at the fundamentals of the business case for diversity. We land on some fundamental principles that make sense of the evidence, including the definition of diversity and the connection between diversity and inclusion. We conclude that there is a robust business case for diversity, but the details are not quite captured by the headlines. The case rests on understanding that diversity means more than having a sprinkle of women and a dab of colour, and that the value of diversity rests in developing an inclusive workplace – that means adaptation, not just assimilation and tolerance.

WHAT DOES DIVERSITY REALLY MEAN? Diversity has traditionally been thought of in terms of the ‘visible’ differences between people (eg gender). Diversity is about those differences but this narrow definition ultimately short-changes what it really

means. Diversity is about what makes each of us unique (eg our backgrounds and life experiences) and this broader view of diversity is encapsulated by the idea that diversity is really about diversity of ‘thought’ – where different perspectives are the point of difference rather than visible characteristics. So what does this mean for the business case? A lot.

Among other things, it creates a new line of inquiry about the nature of the case, shifting the question from “How can increasing gender and racial diversity help us improve business outcomes?” to “How rich is our knowledge bank?” and “Do we have the variety of perspectives necessary to deal with complex problems and create innovative solutions?” But more than just changing the business case conversation, focusing on diversity of thought enables us to see people as individuals rather than as representatives of a group and this helps us to find common ground when working together.

So where does that leave demographic diversity? Demographics has now become a ‘check in’ metric, or a ‘moment of truth’, acting as a lead indicator as to whether organisations are drawing from the full knowledge bank and practising meritocracy.

THE FUNDAMENTALS: BIG PICTURE STUDIESResearch by Catalyst found that Fortune 500 organisations with the highest representation of senior women performed better on average across a range of

Comparison of economic performance by Fortune 500 companies

18

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

%

+42% +16%

+26%

+66%

+53%

ROS ROIC ROE

Bottom QuartileWomen Board Directors

Top QuartileWomen Board Directors Source: Catalyst

2001–2004 2001–2004 2001–20042004–2008 2004–2008 2004–2008

-9%

Return on sales (ROS)

Return on Invested Capital (ROIC)

Return on Equity (ROE)

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FEATURE DIVERSITY

financial indicators on average (in terms of return on sales (ROS), return on invested capital (ROIC) and return on equity (ROE)) than those with the lowest representation of women.1 Similar findings come from the McKinsey & Company Women Matter report series, which considered the performance of companies from Europe, Brazil, Russia, India and China.2 And Professor Herring’s research showed that organisations with greater racial and gender diversity performed better in terms of sales revenues, number of customers and market share.3

But how should these studies be interpreted? As we have argued, we view visible diversity as a lead indicator of a healthy organisation rather than an end in itself. As such, this data indicates that an organisation is ‘fishing from a bigger pool of talent’ and accessing a deeper knowledge bank.

RESPONDING TO THE TALENT SHORTAGETapping into non-traditional labour segments offers one solution for organisations feeling the pressure of the labour/skills shortage. Women, for example, represent a highly educated source of labour yet have a rate of labour force participation significantly lower than that of men in many OECD countries. But more than just women, there are other groups that stand out as currently unemployed, underemployed or working below skill level, namely the mature age, people with a disability, skilled migrants, and in countries such as Australia, the Indigenous communities. Yet despite potential in these labour pools, many businesses struggle to identify them as talent, or adapt their workplace practices and individual behaviours that marginalise these groups.

ENHANCED INNOVATION, PROBLEM SOLVING AND RISK VIA DIVERSE TEAMS Interest in the connection between diversity of thought, innovation and creativity has been growing for some years. We recently reviewed the literature and latest research in Working in an ideological echo chamber? Diversity of thought as a breakthrough strategy and found strong evidence for this connection, as well as a link to risk predication and management.

At the forefront of this research is Professor Page, who measured the increased problem-solving capacity of teams comprising people with diverse perspectives compared with homogenous teams who were selected for their intellectual ability.4 Moreover, a review of 20 years of research on team diversity identified a positive link between groups that are diverse in terms of education, experience and identity and team performance.5

But let’s not be naive – team diversity can be a ‘double-edged sword’. Greater diversity introduces greater complexity and calls for inclusive leaders to ensure the potential benefits of multiple perspectives are achieved and the potential risks of conflict are reduced.

the business case for diversity

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ENHANCED PRODUCTIVITY VIA WORKPLACE FLEXIBILITY Despite some perceptions, research has shown workplace flexibility can be a win/win for both employees and employers. For example, in a 2009 study of 25,000 IBM employees in 75 countries, employees given the option of working flexibility (ie telecommuting and flexible hours) experienced less work-life conflict and were able to work longer hours – from half a day to two days – before experiencing work-life difficulty compared with those with traditional arrangements. Moreover, employees with flexibility and control report lower levels of stress, cholesterol and obesity6 with a direct benefit for employers in terms of reduced absenteeism7, turnover and sick leave usage, as well as increased energy.

The research also shows that the bottom line value of flexibility will only be realised if managers have the capability to transform a state-of-the-art flexibility policy into day-to-day changes to work practices, and if flexibility comes without strings.

COMPLIANCE Across the world we are seeing a number of approaches to increase board diversity8. In Australia, the ‘comply or explain’ approach to diversity reporting for ASX-listed organisations will soon be supplemented by a requirement for organisations to publicly report against a set of ‘gender equality indicators’ – including (potentially) pay equity9. Collectively, these requirements will lift the bar for all organisations – what once may have been considered market leading will soon become common practice.

BRINGING IT TO LIFE: IT ALL HINGES ON INCLUSION A diverse workforce can be a strategic choice or an inevitable reality (eg global operations). Either way, a word of caution is

Digging deeper – skilled labour and the mining industry

The current environment has made finding skilled labour to replace the ageing population one of the top issues facing the mining industry. A report by Deloitte, Tracking the Trends 2011: The top 105 estimates that by 2020 Australia will need an additional labour force of 58,000 people to maintain current levels of production. In Canada 60,000 people employed in the mining sector are expected to retire by

2020 and the Mining Industry Human Resources Council estimates an additional labour force of 100,000 will be required. In South Africa, executive search firm Landelahni found that the average age of mining professionals is 50–55. And in the US, the Society of Mining Engineers found that over 58% of industry members were already over the age of 50 back in 2005.

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FEATURE DIVERSITY

In the UK, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is

currently considering public comments it received on the Lord Davies’ report. Published in February 2011, this report made a number of recommendations for FTSE listed companies including establishing a diversity policy and measurable objectives for achieving it but stopped short at recommending gender quotas.

The Dutch government recently introduced a requirement that

women comprise 30% of boards by 2016.

Norway was the first country to introduce board

gender quotas in 2005. France, Italy, Belgium and Spain are either considering or have also introduced quotas.

In the US, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

approved a rule in 2009 requiring nominating committees to disclose if and how diversity is considered in identifying nominees for director.

Global developmentsDeloitte recently reviewed the compliance approaches adopted by 14 countries in ‘Women on Boards’ and observed a strengthening in the regimes. For example:

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Moving forward – action points for organisationsThis article is a summary of Deloitte’s Only skin deep? Re-examining the business case for diversity. The full article also sets out some practical ideas for organisations that support the business case and want to get serious about diversity.

warranted. Simply ‘having diversity’ will not necessarily deliver positive outcomes.

The key ingredient that transforms the theoretical business case for diversity into bottom line results is inclusion – the extent to which individuals feel authentic and valued, and are able to bring the full spectrum of their capabilities and energy to the table. Put simply: diversity + inclusion = improved business outcomes.

So what does this mean for organisations? It calls for ‘inclusive leaders’ capable of ensuring that all employees have the opportunity to fulfil their potential, that the benefits of multiple perspectives are achieved and the risks of conflict in diverse teams are reduced.

It will require organisations to adapt to the needs of individuals rather than persisting with a one-size fits all approach, and it will require a greater level of cultural competency amongst all employees. But ultimately, inclusion means change, not assimilation and toleration, and will require a shift in workplace culture. And this goes to the heart of the challenge for organisations.

1.Catalyst is a US-based research house. Catalyst (2011) The Bottom Line: Corporate Performance and Women’s Representation on Boards (2004–2008) and Catalyst (2007) The Bottom Line: Corporate Performance and Women’s Representation on Boards. 2. McKinsey & Company (2011) Women Matter 2010: Women at the top of corporations: Making it happen.3. Herring, C. (2009), ‘Does Diversity Pay? Race, Gender, and the Business Case for Diversity, American Sociological Review, Vol 74, pp 208–224.4. Page, S.E, (2007), The Difference: How the power of diversity creates better groups, firms, schools and societies, Princeton University Press, USA5. Horwitz, S. & Horwitz, I. (2007) ‘The Effects of Team Diversity on Team Outcomes: A meta-analysis review of team demography’, Journal of Management, Vol 33 (6) p 987–1015.6. Butler, A. B., Grzywacz, J.G., Ettner, S. L. & Liu, B. (2009) ‘Workplace flexibility, self-reported health, and health care utilization’. (Work & Stress), Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 45–59.7. Van Steenbergen, E. F. & Ellemers, N. (2009). ‘Is managing the work-family interface worthwhile? Benefits for employee health and performance’. Journal of Organisational Behaviour, Vol 30, pp. 617–642.8. Deloitte (2011), Women in the Boardroom: a global perpective 9. See summary of changes to the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act at http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/women/progserv/economic/Pages/EOWA_fact_sheet.aspx

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A well constructed Diversity and Inclusion strategy alone will not lead to an organisation’s success. Laying a solid foundation for the strategy, however, is key to ensuring long-term sustainability. For many organisations the diversity journey begins with legal compliance around EEO, bullying and harassment. The communication of policies and procedures that have been developed play a crucial role in guiding a workplace to being more respectful, however it is the knowledge and skills that are imparted to staff that are critical to ensuring an inclusive workplace that will be accepting of diversity in all its forms.

It is hard to believe that in 2011 organisations still weigh up the cost of skilling staff in the area of equal employment, bullying and against the likelihood of a claim occurring. As human beings we all have bias, both conscious and unconscious and as a result it is a fair assumption to make that at some point a negative opinion will be formed about someone or a group of people based upon race, religion, gender, age or disability without knowing all the facts, and inappropriate behaviour will result. It is never a question of if this behaviour is likely to occur; it is always a question of when this behaviour will occur.

Organisations need to be committed to developing the knowledge, understanding and skills of individuals across all levels of the organisation. Often organisations opt for a quick and easy fix either in the form of a short online program that covers the key components of the legislation or a video for all new employees to watch during induction. This does not guarantee a deeper level of understanding around the core competencies of respect and equal opportunity. To ensure that organisations maximise their return on investment when implementing diversity and inclusion strategies, significant resources need to be allocated to this basic cornerstone of building an inclusive workplace.

EXPERT INSIGHT

bullying & harassmentWritten by Donna de Zwart, General Manager, Diversity@Work. For more information please visit our website www.diversityatwork.com.au

Diversity 101 – EEO, Bullying & Harassment

Diversity@Work recommends the following approach:1. Review existing policies and procedures Reviewing your existing employment

policies and procedures is an opportunity to identify any gaps and update according to the most recent legislative changes. It is important to have this review completed prior to any awareness campaign being implemented.

2. Start from the top down All too often senior executives and indeed

board and council members are not encouraged to develop and refresh their skills and knowledge in this area. Employers are responsible for ensuring that the working environment is free from destructive and unethical behaviour. A presentation to senior and executive managers is an opportunity to discuss, illustrate and emphasise the importance of respect in the workplace. In particular the role of the law and the protection it offers needs to be covered in relation to the creation of a happy, safe and compliant work environment. This is an opportunity for Executive Leadership Teams to hear first-hand how organisations and their employees benefit from a proactive approach to EEO, bullying and harassment. This can also be

used as an opportunity to address appropriate professional behaviours and the existing workplace culture.

3. Build a proactive culture It is not unusual for organisations to

see a spike in activity around claims and reports immediately following the launch of the campaign. Anyone within the organisation that holds responsibility for staff must know the law and possess the skills to interpret and apply it properly. It is critical that managers are familiar with the law and best practice. In order to manage risk as well as develop a proactive approach to equal opportunity, bullying and harassment, managers need to be equipped with the tools to resolve complaints effectively.

4. Invest in a supportive structure Contact Officers are an important element

of the support structure within organisations and often need an upgrade of their skills and knowledge within the EEO arena. Training will further shore up and improve confidence to support internal staff in recognising and dealing with internal issues around EEO.

5. Ensure questions can be asked An investment in effective face to face

training for all staff ensures that participants are not only able to respond effectively and confidently to Equal Opportunity legislation requirements and related workplace behavioural issues but also ask questions to clarify their own interpretations. Face to face facilitation provides the opportunity to learn through case studies, observation and most importantly the sharing of experiences to reinforce knowledge.

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

EXPERT INSIGHT

technology

Adding value through OH&S automation

I think we can safely say the days of dusty policy and procedure manuals sitting on shelves are probably behind us. But reporting hazards and incidents sent via emails which might or might not be read is still quite common. Factor in the numerous spreadsheets that require days of effort to report on routine KPIs and you probably have your typical OH&S system.

Ironically, every mission statement has the words: ‘creating value for customers and stakeholders through cutting edge systems and ongoing process improvement’.

However, unlike other departments, OH&S professionals usually receive the minimal budget, simply meeting the compliance requirements of AS/NZS 4801. These standards are not prescriptive and rely on a consistent and relevant framework of risk prevention, correction and control measures.

It’s therefore no surprise that automating the OH&S process facilitates informed decision-making and promotes a healthier, safer workplace. So what are the characteristics of a good OH&S system?

ENTER THE WORKFLOWOne of the key features to look for is an integrated workflow system with unique tracking number and time/date stamp. Through email or SMS alerts on approvals, notifications escalation, reminders and task scheduling, workflow enforces consistency and compliance of OH&S processes across the entire organisation. In terms of transactions, it mainly applies

to hazard and incident management, offering a preventative and corrective approach to risk. It also needs to be flexible, mapped to the specific processes and steps that you follow.

Induction workflows can also be configured that are triggered by a new starter. In this scenario, all position appropriate policies and procedures are sent electronically, allowing employees to respond with ‘read and understood’. When policies or procedures change, another workflow is triggered and the new document is sent for review, effectively managing the process by exception. This can also extend into managing safety- centric training needs, as well as the various certifications and accreditations when they fall due.

IT’S ALL ABOUT RISKAnother key feature of a good OH&S system is the ability to define and configure a framework of occupational risks. These can be captured through online assessments, observation, inspections or audits. This allows you to identify the problem jobs, tasks, areas or equipment that are likely to or have caused injury, and what triggers them. Once risks have been identified, they can be assessed for severity and probability of occurrence. This is where an online risk matrix with modifying factors, which may increase or decrease the risk and consequences, comes in handy.

Automation consolidates all of these risks in one control panel, allowing you to mitigate and investigate through a series of workflow-driven control actions with close dates. This visual, process-driven approach allows you to manage risks holistically and offers an unsurpassed level of insight and intelligence, supporting informed decision- making.

MANAGEMENT THROUGH MEASUREMENTFinally, the whole system should come together in a robust reporting framework, allowing you to monitor assigned controls and review their effectiveness.

Furthermore, it should report in real time all the relevant KPIs as well as dashboards for all injury and hazard statistics. This framework should be capable of answering virtually any question under an audit scenario. Through the analysis of different locations and teams – even specific sections within a location – you can identify and reinforce the right behaviours in a targeted way, as well as redesign those tasks which pose the greatest risk.

There’s no doubt that taking a real time and integrated approach to risk management delivers cost savings, ensures compliance and facilitates better decision-making. It’s a key way to prevent injury, protect the workforce and create stakeholder value. Like any technology solution though, it’s a tool, and success depends on an organisation’s culture and leadership’s attitude towards risk management.

Automating the OH&S process facilitates informed decision-making and promotes a healthier, safer workplace. Ari Kopoulos outlines the characteristics of a good OH&S system

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LEADERSHIP INSIGHT

enabling leaders

Alleviating the frustrations of middle managersThe middle managers in your organisation have the opportunity to directly influence the attitudes, behaviours and performance of a vast number of your overall staff. When these managers feel frustrated by particular actions and events from above it can have significant impact on the effectiveness of their performance, which then impacts the overall performance of the organisation.

After years of training hundreds of middle managers across a wide range of industries, the feedback on the frustrations that middle managers experience with their bosses (the executives in the organisation) remains remarkably constant...

From up the chain – • Lack of clear objectives – not sharing

and communicating clearly the immediate and future plans/objectives for the direction of the organisation

• Lack of performance against objectives – staff not getting regular updates as to how the business is tracking against its set goals and objectives

• Lack of clear communication channels and protocols, which results in the information relevant to the middle manager’s role and duties not being communicated properly

• Required to take “ownership and responsibility” for their people without sufficient authority to make decisions

• Lack of support for decisions made, whether those decisions were the right or the wrong ones

• Insufficient assistance with tough issues• Changes in executive staff leading to

changes in direction and priorities – each new executive changes the previous executive’s priorities resulting

in the entire process starting all over again

• Excessive constraints on capital expenditureWhile some of the frustrations

mentioned above are inevitable, the best (and most successful) executive managers I’ve encountered are those who truly believe that high performing teams lead to high performing executives and are willing to take the time to invest in understanding how to get the best out of their people.

For HR and L&D professionals, when executives come to you to discuss issues, concerns, or just to complain about their team, I think it’s worth re-enforcing some basic fundamentals as to how they can get more from their teams – particularly with the added pressures of today’s tough economic climate:

1. Communicationiskey–The tougher the times, the more people crave information. Uncertainty creates a very unproductive workplace. Regular

focused meetings with your teams as a whole as well as regular one to ones with each individual middle manager open up the communication and feedback channels and provide an ongoing opportunity to hold people accountable for their progress against goals.

When giving feedback to your people be transparent, honest and constructive and don’t shy away from difficult conversations.

2.Deliveronyourpromisestoyourpeople– If you expect your people to deliver on their promises then so should you. Lead by example and try to always think how you would perceive your behaviour and actions if you were the middle manager looking upwards.

3.Supportyourmiddlemanagers– You want your middle manager to be accountable and find their own solutions to problems but that involves taking risks. If they make a wrong decision or try something new that doesn’t work, don’t punish them for it, otherwise they’ll be much less likely to ever stick their neck out again. Support them by assisting them to evaluate the process and work out why things went wrong so they learn from the experience.

4.Seepotentialbutrealiselimitations–Assuming you’ve got the right person for the job (and if not, move them on fast), accept that some things will never change and so your time is better spent framing tasks and interactions around areas of strength, or weaknesses that can be developed.

5.Providecoachingandoffersuggestions–When they express their frustrations about carrying out various parts of their role, take the time to offer suggestions and guidance on how to handle these difficult situations.

Remember: the more engaged and motivated your people, the greater the amount of discretionary effort – and hence productivity – you’ll receive in return!

Leonie Curtis-Kempnich Director Training and Course Development, Leadership Success (02) 80690370 www.lstraining.com.au

http://www.hrsummit.com.au

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This month’s profiled HR professional talks about handling “the tsunami of change” in business and how her company

has embraced remote workers

It’s a dilemma that faces any HR team tasked with managing staff dispersed over broad geographic regions: how to keep those employees engaged and retain them in the long run.

Medibank Health Solutions, the health services delivery arm of Medibank, has faced just such a problem. Medibank has around 4,000 people in total and Medibank Health Solutions is the biggest part of that in people terms, with around 2,500 employees. Approximately 1,500 of those are clinicians, including a raft of psychologists, doctors, nurses and allied health professionals – 600 of whom work remotely.

The company provides a range of telephone, face to face and online services. Alongside a suite of health and wellness tools, the company offers visa medicals, travel medicine, workplace injury and assessment. Phone and online tools include the Nurse on Call service in Victoria, healthdirect in other states, and GP After Hours, whereby any member of the public can call through to the health lines, and if they need a GP consultation they can have that on the phone (and soon via video conference).

RETAINING REMOTE WORKERSDenise Moore, general manager, people & culture, Medibank Health Solutions, says it’s been an “interesting” path to address retention issues for its remote staff. “Initially we were hiring nurses and the nursing work pool is very limited; there’s a lot of competition for talent. We

went towards the ‘work at home’ model as an attraction strategy. And that was great, as it was really popular, but we learned a great deal as we went along,” she says.

Moore concedes her team found out very quickly where the “pain points” were: they had to tidy up documentation and change the way the OHS environment was addressed. They also kept it limited to employees based within one hour of a metro centre. “If we had to call people into a call centre we could do so. So there was really a safety net. However, we quickly found that the pools ran dry, so then we had to go remote.”

The recruitment team determined where the demographics lay for this type of work, and targeted those demographics in their recruitment efforts.

“We have an online recruitment system and we would do initial screening over the phone,” Moore explains. “We would then travel to the location, interview people in a hotel and go through the whole assessment centre process. We’d then come back to the office, do all the credentialing, and basically hire them remotely. They would then come back into that hotel environment for two weeks of training ... then they would go home and we’d never see them again.”

It quickly became apparent that these new hires were not being properly socialised with their team leaders. “Little things, like every event we had, the work at home people became a bit of an afterthought,” says Moore. In addition, staff members were not given the emotional

No longerout of sight, out of mind

PROFILE DENISE MOORE

HR at Medibank Health Solutions

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We should have robust conversations, we should be challenging, and we should be asking difficult questions – DENISE MOORE

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support needed to help them cope with an emotionally draining job – fielding distress call after distress call from patients is emotionally challenging for anyone, even the professionally trained.

An employee engagement team was formed, which kicked off a range of initiatives, including reward & recognition programs and, most importantly, new technology. “We wanted to ensure we had regular interface so we use things like instant messaging and so on. But a big piece in the last couple of years has been the introduction of Citrix GoToMeetings, which has been fantastic for just having team leaders engage with their teams.”

This tool enables remote teams to be included in presentations, and for ‘face to face’ meetings to occur with half a dozen people present. It’s also now used for real-time training as well. “If we need to upskill our remote workforce it gives us the opportunity to bring together a whole bunch of people online, and then they can actually do a practice session; you can give them control of the keyboard and the mouse and you can actually say ‘now you try it’. People love to see each other’s faces, or even just hear the voices. It’s enabled us to do all sorts of things like Movember and Pink Ribbon Day.”

It appears to be paying off. In the last employee engagement survey conducted by Medibank Health Solutions, the work at home team actually ranked higher in almost all categories than office-based workers. Areas such as supervisor relations, information sharing, and understanding goals and objectives came out particularly strong.

A TRANSFORMED COMPANYIn addition to challenges around the remote workforce, Moore has had to handle significant change in the past two years. The private health insurance division is the original organisation and over the past two years it has acquired a number of different organisations.

Moore says the HR challenge has been pulling it all together. Not only have a number of different corporate cultures come together, but also different policies and procedures. “There’s a whole myriad of terms and conditions, different employee collective agreements and so on. My team has had to grow dramatically, since we put all this together, which is only back in November 2010.”

Medibank Health Solutions as a discrete division really came together in its current form last November, so it’s been a matter of building the team – around 30 HR professionals now work across functional streams: a business partner stream, partnering directly with the lines of business; a recruitment team; an organisation development team; a workplace relations team; and a remuneration & benefits team. “We also work very closely with the group people and culture team, rolling out those

Family: Married with one son Matthew (currently going through the marathon that is the HSC)

Favourite sports: I’m not a great sports fan, but I do try to keep fit (I have to, working for a healthcare company!) and I think I have at last found the secret to keeping up the gym attendance – I now work out with a friend and that added commitment (and her grumpiness if I let her down) keeps me coming back 

Favourite movie or TV show: Casablanca – it has everything: a luminous heroine, a rugged hero, war-torn Europe and ultimately, sacrifice and redemption

Best advice ever received: Never say, behind someone’s back, what you wouldn’t be happy to say to their face

Self-described: Passionate, opinionated, driven… but saved by a sense of humour!

Hobbies: Sleeping!

First job and/or worst job: Punching holes in watch dials for a small factory during school holidays – it was mind-numbingly repetitive. There was a woman there who had been doing that same work for over 40 years. It was a real eye-opener on the whole working experience

If not in HR: Travel correspondent – lots of travel, someone else paying…

Personal file:Denise Moore

HR is in a unique position where it’s aligned; you don’t have a territory you’re trying to protect– DENISE MOORE

programs across Medibank,” Moore says. Moore has concentrated on the elements that cause the

biggest pain for the organisation; she gives the example of performance management. At one point managers within a team may have been running four different performance management remuneration systems. Although some of the other significant issues, such as the terms and conditions integration, can’t happen until there is consolidation of the employee collective agreements, Moore says the master plan is moving full-steam ahead.

“Bringing together disparate cultures would have to be the most significant and that is going to take time. The first piece is understanding what those disparate cultures are. What we’re trying to do is not get too airy fairy about this but actually try and translate it into real things: ‘this is the way we do things’.

“We’re spending a lot of time communicating what we’re doing, where we’re going and how we want to go about it, and I think that’s making a difference. But it’s slow; you don’t turn the Queen Mary around quickly mid-stream. I’m fairly confident that next year when we do an employee engagement survey we’ll start to see some significant shifts.”

DEALING WITH CONSTANT CHANGEMoore sees her profession progressing in interesting ways in the future. Although she believes it’s obvious to state, HR has to be a partner in the business. The key is how that’s done, she says. “HR is in a unique position where it’s aligned; you don’t have a territory you’re trying to protect. I think we should be the change catalysts. We should have robust conversations, we should be challenging, and we should be asking difficult questions. I think often HR people are a bit too nice – we have to be out there rocking the boat and shaking things up.”

Moore also stresses that from her experience of five years with Medibank, the only constant in business is change.

“It’s a constant change environment; you’ve got to get used to it but you have to also resource for it. So you can’t just say, ‘it’s going to be business as usual’. I’ve made that mistake. My team would beat me over the head if I ever say ‘we have the chance to consolidate’ again because we never do. We are always onto the next thing. You’ve actually got to assume that there will be change, structure for change, and ensure you’ve got people that can deal with the stuff that’s going to come out of left field periodically.”

More industry profiles at: hcamag.com

PROFILE DENISE MOORE

HR at Medibank Health Solutions

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MARKET OVERVIEW & TRENDS

remuneration policySource: 2011 Hays Salary Guide

All employees (%)

More than 50% (%)

Less than 50% (%)

Few employees (%)

Car 11 10 23 56

Bonuses 29 17 20 34

Private health insurance

31 6 8 55

Parking 36 13 17 34

Salary sacrifice 53 7 13 27

Above mandatory superannuation

33 7 12 48

Private expenses 12 7 16 65

Other 35 9 9 47

Whenyounextreview,bywhat

percentagedoyouintendtoincrease

salaries?

More than 10%

Nil

Doesyourcompanyofferflexiblesalarypackaging?

Yes81%

No19%

(Across all industries)

More than 10%

From 6-10%

Onaverage,inyourlastreview,bywhatpercentagedidyouincreasesalaries?

7%

43% 37%

11%

Less than 3%

Nil

From 3-6%

(Across all industries)

2%7%

43% 44%

5%

From 6-10%

1%

Less than 3% From 3-6%

Ofthosewhoansweredyes,thefollowingbenefitswereindicatedasbeingcommonlyofferedto…

For further information on the 2011 Hays Salary Guide or to contact your local office, visit hays.com.au

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You what?!SIGN OFF

Last word

5 MINUTES WITH...ALLISON HARVEYHR manager, Wood Mackenzie

What is the greatest HR lesson you’ve learned so far? I’ve learnt to treat everyone equally and apply a consistent approach to everything I do, regardless of who I deal with, whether they are in management or not. Consistency and fairness is key, while integrity in HR is paramount. What’s your view on gender diversity and gender balance as it plays out in a strongly masculine industry? Many organisations that operate in the mining industry have struggled in the past to attract women applicants. However, this is beginning to change. Each year more women apply for our research and consulting roles and we see more female applications submitted to our internship programs. There definitely is a greater acceptance of women’s capabilities and contribution.

What are your favourite people-management tips? Understanding your partner group is vital. Invest the time getting to know your business and their needs. Without

that, HR cannot be effective. We need to build trusting relationships and adapt our style to the people around us.

What career advice would you give ambitious HR professionals? You don’t learn HR skills in university or at TAFE. It’s a people business which you only learn over time. The best career move I ever made was finding a great mentor who could guide and challenge me. Get into an organisation that will give you a chance to gain a well-rounded understanding of all generalist HR aspects.

What is the main challenge facing the HR industry now and how can this be overcome?Finding, engaging and retaining talent is a continual challenge. Online resources such as LinkedIn have changed the way we find talent. Any organisation can now covertly attract an employee even if they aren’t unhappy and didn’t submit an application. We can overcome this by proactively monitoring the market to understand what our competitors are offering. We can also take care of our people while they’re working for us, rather than play catch up after they’ve received another offer.

Compiled by Suzanne Mercier

18.3% is how much more men who are disagreeable earn when compared to men who are agreeable. Disagreeable women, on the other hand, only earn 5.4% more (Source: Harvard Business Review)

37% is Australia’s engagement level – one of the highest in the world (Source: Blessing White)

94% of leaders rated themselves as being moderately to extremely powerful at work, while 28% of those leaders agreed that power is misused by leaders in their company (Source: Centre for Creative Leadership)

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

“Don’t ask for power. Seek influence. It lasts longer” – EM FORSTER

An annual Career Builder survey revealed some memorable statements. One candidate listed her dog as a reference. Another included ‘versatile toes’ as a selling point. A third candidate was fired from different jobs, but included each one as a reference. (Source: careerbuilder.com)

FAST FACTS

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?