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sa Business Journal
Local tech firms off to Silicon Valley expo
IN times when employees are increasingly mobile and picky about where they work, businesses need to focus on their often-neglected ‘‘employer brand’’, Adelaide author Brett Minchington says. The managing director of Collective Learning Australia recently published his book, Your Employer Brand: attract engage retain, dealing with the importance of developing an employer brand strategy. An ‘‘employer brand’’ is made up of the aspects of a company’s culture which makes it an attractive place to work. It is increasingly important in a working environment where, by some measurements, half of all employees are considering leaving their jobs in the short term, Mr Minchington says. ‘‘All companies have an employer brand,’’ he says. ‘‘The thing is that, once you’ve defined it, you can work out ‘what do we need to do to improve it’?’’ This is particularly important in areas such as finance, where a bank can be competing for talent alongside eight or so other institutions. A weak employer brand leads to high turnover of staff, long recruitment lead-times and losing out on the best staff to competitors. ‘‘It can also impact on your corporate brand because people talk,’’ Mr Minchington says. ‘‘There are a number of global studies that have demonstrated over a long period of time that it does impact on the bottom line. ‘‘Companies where employees have a higher level of engagement, their share price has gone up or their returns, have been better than companies that have a lower level of engagement. ‘‘Engagement is all about that extra discretionary effort an employee’s willing to put in over and above the normal nine-to-five because they just want to get the job done.’’
ALEXANDRA TREDREA SOUTH Australian technology companies will dive into the middle of the U.S.’s high-tech heart to showcase their products to potential investors and business partners at a conference next week. The ANZA Technology Network 2006’s Gateway to the U.S. Summit will start in California’s famous Silicon Valley on Monday. ANZA Tech chief executive Viki Forrest said participants had been through a mentoring and partnering program to prepare for the summit. ‘‘The companies give a five-minute pitch (at the event) and wrapped around this are networking sessions and business forums,’’ she said. ‘‘At least 80 per cent of business is built on the back of networks in the U.S. Without a network you are really just in this huge, boiling ocean that you can’t make any headway in.’’ Among the SA businesses there will be mini-projector developer Digislide whose chief executive, Luceille Outhred, said ‘‘everything
exporting has just exploded’’ since the company attended last year’s event. ‘‘ANZA is just a tremendous forum for meeting all the right people in a safe environment,’’ she said. ‘‘We are wanting to send a couple of our key staff to the (U.S.) to set up a west coast office and from there build that base for those huge markets.’’ The summit provided companies with invaluable networking opportunities because ‘‘America is known worldwide for the way it networks, whereas Australians are more inclined to go it alone’’. Digislide will also attend next month’s World Technology Awards in San Francisco for which it is a finalist in the IT hardware category. Software developer NetPriva will present its Virtual Gateway product at the summit, while online music software developer In The Chair will use the event to extend networks.
COL: C M Y K
CAMERON ENGLAND
24/10/06 35 STATE
Brand of employer vital for workforce retention
Kojo has a wealth of ideas STRATEGY: Brett Minchington . . . ‘‘it can also impact on your corporate brand because people talk’’. Mr Minchington says it is important to realise employee engagement is distinct from job satisfaction. ‘‘You can be satisfied in your job and just work nine-to-five but when you’re engaged is when you tend to go that extra mile,’’ he says. Mr Minchington has developed tools to audit and
measure factors that influence employer brands. ‘‘Once you’ve got that measurement, you can identify where the gaps are. ‘‘For example, if leadership is a concern, you can then develop strategies around that,’’ he says. Visit www.collectivelearning australia.com for more details.
From Page 33 This was for its interactive DVD game, Obeez City, aimed at educating children about obesity and health. Mr Wilden said Kojo was focused on developing ‘‘rich media experiences’’. ‘‘For instance, one of the projects we are working on is a Sydney real estate tool which will allow people to buy a home-and-land package online,’’ he said. ‘‘We are also creating a secondary website for Cartridge World for children to learn about the environment. ‘‘We are hoping to help translate that site into multiple languages.’’ Mr Wilden said one of the biggest
challenges in developing internet content was ‘‘keeping up with what users of the web want’’. ‘‘The way they want sites to be built and the way they want to develop social communities, that is probably becoming the hardest thing,’’ he said. HomeStart Finance chief executive Gary Storkey said his company had been impressed by Kojo’s enthusiasm and creativity. ‘‘They’ve also taken the time to get to know how we work as an organisation by holding interviews and workshops,’’ Mr Storkey said.
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The Advertiser
news.com.au/adelaidenow
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
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Employer Branding Store For all these and more titles by Brett Minchington MBA go to
www.collectivelearningaustralia.com Over 300 pages of Employer Branding Best Practice including 9 Global Case Studies from the World's most published author on employer branding, Brett Minchington. The follow up book to Your Employer Brand Attract, Engage, Retain, ‘'EMPLOYER BRAND LEADERSHIP - A Global Perspective' defines a practical approach to building a world class employer brand from concept to design, to organisation wide integration, to measuring your return on investment. This book is the most comprehensive book in the world published on employer branding Sharing the best insights from his Employer Brand Global Tour where he has shared best practice and trained thousands of managers in more than 30 cities in 20 countries, Brett's new book, ‘'EMPLOYER BRAND LEADERSHIP - A Global Perspective' is a practical management resource for leaders at all levels and includes frameworks, models, tools, strategies and tips to assist you to lead your employer brand strategy. The art and science of employer branding has been embraced by leaders of top companies around the world and the role of the employer brand leader is growing in importance as a way to strategically manage a company's ability to attract, engage and retain talent. This book will ensure your focus is guided in the right direction and provides key learnings from 9 global case studies of top companies such as IBM, Deloitte, BASF and Sodexo who have journeyed down the employer brand strategy path before, saving you time, energy and investment.
Focused on the attraction, engagement, and retention of talent this engaging book is highly recommended for Company Directors, CEO's, MD's and Senior Managers in companies of all sizes responsible for shaping the future of their organisation. The book features the innovative Employer Brand Excellence FrameworkTM which may yet be the best solution to the attraction, engagement and retention of employees in a shrinking talent pool. The publication contains International research findings in employer branding from leading firms such as Hewitt Associates, The Corporate Leadership Council, Hudson, Watson Wyatt, the Conference Board, Hays and The Economist. Internationally supported, this book presents a number of solutions to the complexities facing organisations today as they address the challenges of attracting, engaging and retaining talent in their organisations.
www.collectivelearningaustralia.com