Human Resources Director 15.01 by Key Media

PROFILE Next stop Australia: The Freshii HR story

HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR

CHANGE PROGRAMS WITH TEETH New strategies for a new era

HCAMAG.COM ISSUE 15.01

GROWING WORKFORCE 4.0 The rise of micro-credentials

2017: YEAR OF HR DISRUPTION

Stories of change, adaptation and innovation from Coca-Cola | Masters Home Improvement | Envato

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EDITORIAL www.hcamag.com JANUARY 2O17 EDITORIAL

SALES & MARKETING

Editor Iain Hopkins

Marketing & Communications Manager Lisa Narroway

Journalist John Hilton Editorial Assistant Hannah Go Production Editor Roslyn Meredith

ART & PRODUCTION Design Manager Daniel Williams Designer Marla Morelos Traffic Coordinator Freya Demegilio

Business Development Manager Steven McDonald

CORPORATE Chief Executive Officer Mike Shipley Chief Operating Officer George Walmsley Managing Director Justin Kennedy Chief Information Officer Colin Chan Human Resources Manager Julia Bookallil

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Human Resources Director is part of an international family of B2B publications and websites for the human resources industry HRD MAGAZINE CANADA iain.hopkins@keymedia.com.au T +61 2 8437 4703 HRD MAGAZINE SINGAPORE hrdmag.com.sg HC AUSTRALIA ONLINE hcamag.com

LAST PERSON TO LEAVE CLOSES THE DOOR WALKING AROUND the headquarters of a dying company is sad. Packing boxes litter the hallways, artwork has been removed from the walls, and removalists are literally dismantling the office. This was the case when I visited Masters Home Improvement HQ in Sydney’s northwest. Once a bustling home to over 250 employees, in early December it was a shell of its former self. One of the last people standing was Gillian Davie, the company’s head of HR. Davie talked eloquently and passionately about the company, its culture and the way in which it ended. HR was, not surprisingly, heavily involved in the final chapter of the company – a company that started just five years ago with such fanfare and ended up being branded as “Woolies’ great mistake”. Davie said that glib summation did not do justice to the hard work and dedication of the people who worked there. “As I went around to stores, I was talking to people and they were saying, ‘I’m going to be here until the last tool in my – always ‘my’ – tool shop sells’. A lot of the team had helped build the stores. They knew the

HR was, not surprisingly, heavily involved in the final chapter of the company customers, and so it was like their second home. All of a sudden it was, well, the family will be broken up because all the teams will leave. But everyone rallied.” While she’s sad to be leaving Woolworths after 23 years, Davie suggested to her team that they treat the experience like a valuable – and hopefully rare – learning experience. She will be sharing her story and the story of the Masters HR team at the National HR Summit in March. For those interested in hearing from someone who has a unique take on the difference HR can make in the lives of those impacted by perhaps the biggest work-related disruptor of all – the loss of a job – I urge you to attend. Iain Hopkins, editor

HRM NEW ZEALAND hrmonline.co.nz

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JANUARY 2017

CONNECT WITH US Got a story, suggestion or just want to find out some more information?

CONTENTS

HRDirector_au +Hcamag HumanResourcesDirector

UPFRONT 01 Editorial

30 COVER STORY

THE YEAR OF HR DISRUPTION HRD looks at the biggest disruptive forces that will impact HR over the next 12 months in L&D, technology and leadership development

The demise of Masters Home Improvement has been well documented, but HR’s role in ensuring that people exited the company with dignity is worthy of praise

04 Statistics

FEATURES

Domestic violence and the workplace

COACHING

06 News analysis

In periods of uncertainty, one proven professional development option is executive coaching

What role should HR play in protecting employee data?

08 Upfront: Rewards & benefits

Why CEO pay should be linked to staff mental health

10 Upfront: Technology

Is technology dumbing down staff ?

46 FEATURES

PROFILE: A FRESH APPROACH TO LEADERSHIP

Freshii opened its first 100 restaurants faster than Subway, Starbucks and McDonald’s. Iain Hopkins discovers the key to its global success

PEOPLE 12 Head to head

How has your HR team been disrupted and how are you coping with this?

54 Career path

Louise Hope’s career so far has included stints at the Sydney Opera House, the Royal Bank of Scotland and her brand-new role at AFTRS

56 Other life

Lessons learned from Tim Rath’s rock star past are helping him keep his team in sync

14 FEATURES

NATIONAL HR SUMMIT 2017 HRD interviews three speakers from the National HR Summit, all of whom are facing disruption head-on

FEATURES

CHANGE PROGRAMS WITH TEETH Peter Szilagyi reports on the latest digital tools that are challenging how we handle change

HCAMAG.COM CHECK IT OUT ONLINE

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I H

INNOVATIVE HR TEAMS 2017 Proudly sponsored by

IS YOUR TEAM DRIVING INDUSTRY CHANGE? IS YOUR TEAM AUSTRALIA'S MOST INNOVATIVE? HRD magazine is searching for Australia's most forward-thinking HR teams for its second annual Innovative HR Teams report. No matter how you define innovation in the HR profession, we want to hear what your team is doing differently. Look out for the 2017 Innovative HR Teams report in the March issue of HRD.

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STATISTICS

JANUARY 2O17

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE & THE WORKPLACE

There are countless reports that confirm why it’s vital to ensure the psychological and physical safety of employees, and sometimes this means looking beyond the workplace DOMESTIC OR family violence (also referred to as ‘intimate partner violence’) is a significant issue for workplaces in Australia, according to Michele Grow, CEO of Davidson Trahaire Corpsych. It involves an abuse of power by a partner, ex-partner or family member, and keeps talented people – mainly women – out of the workforce, Grow tells HRD. It can include physical and psychological violence (actual or threatened), sexual assault, financial control, emotional abuse, damage to property, or social isolation. Indeed, when an employee is living with

Number of Australian women killed by their current or former partner every week

34%

Percentage of women who have experienced physical violence since the age of 15

domestic and family violence, there are often very real costs and negative impacts that flow to the workplace. “Some of these behaviours at times will come into the workplace, meaning the employer then needs to take action and provide the appropriate support and intervention to ensure the ongoing safety of the workplace,” Grow says. “Physical injuries can mean more sick days and poor attendance. In addition, those affected may take many unplanned days off with no apparent reason.”

16%

THE FINANCIAL COST OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE The impact of domestic violence is felt not just by the victim of violence; children, family, emplyoers and society as a whole must shoulder a significant financial burden as a result of its impact.

48%

Percentage of victims who reported Percentage of victims who said they being distracted, tired or unwell at had disclosed having experienced work; 10% took time off work domestic violence to their manager Sources: Australian Human Rights Commission; Australian Institute of Criminology; ABS

THE COST TO SOCIETY Some common production or workplace-related costs and impacts include decreased staff performance and productivity; increased staff turnover and absenteeism; negative impact on the organisation’s reputation and image.

Annual cost 2021–22 if no action taken ($bn)

Summary of annual costs by cost category 20

15.577

10 8.048

7.530

IMPACT ON PARTICIPATION IN THE WORKFORCE Domestic violence can affect a victim’s or survivor’s participation in the workforce, including their ability to find work and to attend or stay at work, as well as their performance and productivity while at work. The reasons for this are varied but may include: the physical and psychological harm of violence the need to attend medical or legal appointments, seek safer accommodation or care for themselves or affected children

5 3.452

Pain, suffering and premature mortality

863 Health

1.077 1.181 Production* Consumption** Administration and other

Category of cost

a disrupted history of work 1.104 280 Second Economic generational^ cost of transfers^^

Total

Total (excl. pain, suffering) Source: Access Economics

behaviour by the perpetrator that seeks to prevent a victim from leaving their sphere of control

Source: Australian Human Rights Commission

*Including average weekly salary; **Includes damage to property and loss in household disposable income; ^ Includes cost of juvenile and adult crime; ^^Transfer costs refer to the inefficiencies created by taxation in the economy

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SUMMARY OF WORKPLACE COSTS ($M)

Victims

Perpetrators

Children

Family & friends

Employers

Society

Total

25.3

106.6

131.9

5.5

8.3

78.6

4.0

82.6

0.1

Victims unable to perform household chores or voluntary work

52.1

1.5

53.5

Perpetrator time off to perform household chores

1.0

Lost management in productivity

14.2

Search and hiring replacement and retraining

36.2

Homicide and premature death

9.7

140.6

150.3

Total

87.1

79.7

175.2

142.0

483.9

Victim absenteeism from paid work due to injury, emotional distress or attending court Victim absenteeism from paid work due to late to work or leaving early Perpetrator absenteeism from harassing victim Perpetrator absenteeism from criminal justice processes Perpetrator absenteeism from attending family court

Source: Access Economics

EMPLOYER DO’S AND DON’TS

COSTS TO THE WORKPLACE AND ECONOMY ECONOMIC COSTS

In 2002/03 the cost of intimate partner violence to the Australian economy was estimated at $8.1bn If no preventative action is taken, this cost is projected to rise to $9.9bn annually by 2021–22; $235m of this total will be borne by employers and $609m will take the form of production-related losses. WORKPLACE COSTS

Within the population of women who have experienced violence, or are currently experiencing violence, the ABS estimates that 55–70% are currently in the workforce – that is, approximately 800,000 women, or around one in six female workers. This means that a significant number of Australian workplaces will be impacted by women’s experiences of domestic and family violence. Source: Access Economics

DO’s Those in leadership and governance roles must recognise that domestic violence is a workplace issue and be prepared to put in place appropriate responses, including clear policies and procedures that demonstrate a commitment to support impacted employees. Support reasonable requests such as flexible work arrangements, relocation, changes to contact details and access to leave, including special domestic violence leave, if appropriate. Education and awareness can be improved through a range of activities, such as training, information sessions, newsletter articles, inclusion in OHS and team briefings, posters, and supporting special days such as White Ribbon Day. Facilitate referrals to specialist domestic and family violence support services.

DON’Ts A combination of lack of awareness of the issue and the signs, lack of confidence to address the issue, and lack of knowledge of the support available means that people often do not get the support they may require. Collaboration and consultation is critical. Don’t try to immediately remove the person from the workplace, or escalate the issue to emergency services or crisis support networks without the victim’s consent and approval. This can potentially exacerbate the issue. Doing nothing is not an option. Instead, provide a safe, confidential space; share non-judgmental observations; ask if they are OK; provide reassurance about their job; ask what the organisation can do to support them – these are all steps that can be very helpful. Source: Davidson Trahaire Corpsych

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UPFRONT

NEWS ANALYSIS

DATA BREACHES AND HR Several high-profile cases around the world have highlighted the importance of preparing for data breaches. HRD looks at how serious the threat is and what role HR can play THE TERM ‘insider threat’ is a nod to the growing understanding that internal data security deserves as much – if not more – attention than the external threats we know and fear, according to Guy Eilon, senior director and general manager of data security advisory Forcepoint. “While high-profile data breaches through external hacks are often those that make the news, the reality is that the majority of data breaches fly under the radar,” he says. Indeed, around 53 million security incidents took place last year alone, according to a global report by IBM. Forcepoint revealed that almost all (94%)

Consequently, the term ‘insider threat’ encompasses a number of threats that stem from internal vulnerabilities. These include accidental leakage (when an innocent employee leaves sensitive data lying around), social engineering (when an employee falls victim to a phishing scam), or a purposeful leakage (when an employee has a specific motive to steal sensitive data). The latter was seen recently in Australia when a former employee of the information services and compliance company SAI Global was found to have accessed its database and made copies with a USB device before joining the company’s competitor InfoTrack.

“HR must work with the IT teams to get good tracking and lockdown technology in place ahead of time” Lynne Lewis of top ASX-listed companies, government departments and large NGOs have been exposed to an internal data breach. Furthermore, over half believe that they remain exposed. “While the headlines would lead us to believe that these are due to sophisticated cybercrime from foreign adversaries, over 60% of these incidents were in fact due to the company’s biggest asset: their employees,” Eilon tells HRD.

The Federal Court found that the business development manager had breached his employment contract with SAI Global, his employment duties under the Corporations Act, and the company’s copyright through his unauthorised use of the data.

Wrongdoing must be trackable In order to combat the threat of employees stealing information, HR really need to work closely with their IT teams, says Lynne Lewis,

partner, intellectual property, at law firm Minter Ellison. In particular, it’s important to ensure that there are comprehensive systems in place so that employees doing the wrong thing can be tracked, Lewis tells HRD. Employers have the option of accessing technology that allows them to see if an employee has been downloading onto USB keys or if they have been taking their computer home, hooking it up to devices and downloading from it or printing from it. However, Lewis has come across organisations, quite often large ones, that don’t have sound IT systems in place. For example, there may not be any logs kept of USB keys that are plugged in and out of workplace computers. “If I’m running a case, I want to be able to show that the night before someone actually departed or the night before they handed in their resignation that a USB key was inserted into their work computer and that XYZ was copied over onto that,” Lewis says. “HR must work with IT teams to get good

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LARGE-SCALE INTERNAL LEAKS AROUND THE WORLD ACCIDENTALLY PUBLISHED • (2016) Michael Page: The records of 711,000 job candidates were accessed by two individuals “without malicious or fraudulent intent”, according to the global recruiter. Candidate data relating to China, the Netherlands and the UK were released. Global consulting, technology and outsourcing services firm Capgemini was named as the IT service provider behind the data breach. INSIDE JOB • (2013) Vodafone: Using privileged insider access, an IT contractor for Vodafone copied customer names and bank account details of two million customers from a server located in Germany. LEAK • (2016) Mossack Fonseca (Panama Papers): 2.6TB of data on politicians, criminals, professional athletes, etc, was leaked from law firm Mossack Fonseca, including emails, contracts, scanned documents and transcripts – a total of roughly 11.5 million documents.

“High-profile data breaches often make the news, but the reality is that the majority of data breaches fly under the radar” Guy Eilon tracking and lockdown technology in place ahead of time.”

Clearly communicate staff exits HR teams also need exceptional internal communication in place whenever an employee resigns, Lewis adds. “I’ve seen many circumstances where the information doesn’t necessarily get told to the correct people who might notice that something unusual is happening with people’s access to premises or documents during that period of time,” she says. “Had they known that person had resigned then they might have actually spoken up about seeing some strange things happening.” It’s also important to be careful with

document destruction policies because sometimes important information can be lost, Lewis says. She cites one of her clients who introduced a 30-day policy whereby everything would disappear after 30 days. “That can be really hard to recover,” she says. “But they can put in place an exemption to that if they’ve got a basis for it in their system.”

What staff can learn HR professionals need to develop an understanding that data security is an issue for more than just the IT department, the CIO or the CSO, Eilon says. It impacts on recruitment and training and should involve active participation by every staff member.

He adds that staff training can help reduce the instances of accidental and socially engineered data breaches. Moreover, training employees on how to maintain safe data practices is a great way to improve overall security. He says staff should learn to recognise and report a phishing scheme email, understand the importance of separating work and personal technology use – including the dangers of third party apps – and of course take seriously the importance of having unique and complex passwords across various platforms. Beyond training, however, there are technology solutions that also form part of an effective data protection program. “New-to-market tools are capable of using computer learning to recognise abnormal employee behaviour, identify any potential threats, and record those actions to produce a court-admissible piece of evidence in the form of a playback video, for prosecuting illegal and malicious actions,” Eilon says.

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UPFRONT

REWARDS/BENEFITS UPDATE NEWS BRIEFS Nearly half of HR managers plan to raise salaries About 45% of Australian HR managers are planning to increase the salaries of existing employees, according to new research by Robert Half. Moreover, 88% of HR managers will be rewarding their staff with a bonus, with 26% of those saying bonuses will be increased. Staff in Victoria and NSW have the best chance of getting a pay rise, as 60% of Victorian and 52% of NSW HR managers plan to increase salaries. This is compared to Queensland (36%) and WA (32%), where pay rises seem considerably less likely.

What do marshmallows and HR have in common? Marshmallows have been involved in a series of studies that examined the link between delayed gratification and life outcomes. The results proved to be a great teaching tool for managers and employees. Patience – and the ability to hold out for a larger reward down the line – can be a key to lasting success. The studies involved children who were given a choice of one small reward – provided immediately – or two small rewards if they could wait a short period of time. The results found that children with the ability to delay gratification tended to have better outcomes later in life.

Career-pathing talks should focus on rewards When asked about the most dissatisfying attributes of their previous jobs, those surveyed in a recent CEB study answered as follows: people management (47%), future career opportunities (44%) and recognition (37%). Aaron McEwan, HR advisory leader at CEB, suggested that employers should focus on tackling the

key drivers for attrition in local firms. The report also advised managers to prioritise informal career-pathing discussions in order to rebuild levels of trust and get staff motivated once more. While conducting these career conversations, senior staff members should acknowledge the strengths and positive contributions of employees.

Employers under fire for withholding super Employers withheld at least $3.6bn in superannuation payments to 2.4 million workers in 2013/14, according to new research. This equated to about a third of workers not being paid part or all of their compulsory superannuation. The report also showed that employees under the age of 30 and workers in the construction, hospitality and cleaning industries were most likely to be shortchanged superannuation. ACTU president Ged Kearney said it should not be up to individual employees to chase their employers for entitlements owed, and he urged that the ATO be given more resources to deal with breaches.

Australians ahead on parental leave offerings Mercer’s 2016 Global Parental Leave report has highlighted that companies are voluntarily opting to expand their parental leave benefits because these have become a frontline tool in the battle to attract, develop and retain the right talent. Australia rated second in Mercer’s report, with 64% of companies providing paternity leave above the statutory requirement and 22% planning to increase the number of paternity days provided. Globally, 38% of companies provided paid paternity leave above the statutory minimum. The US took the top position, reflecting the fact that there are no statutory requirements for US-based companies.

WHY CEO PAY SHOULD BE LINKED TO STAFF MENTAL HEALTH A former Victorian premier has called for performance bonuses of CEOs to be linked to the mental wellbeing of employees The chairman of beyondblue, Jeff Kennett, has called for the performance bonuses of chief executives to be partially linked to the psychological health of staff. In a speech given at the Business Council of Australia’s (BCA’s) Mentally Healthy Workplaces Discussion, Kennett argued that measuring and addressing workplace mental health should be led from the top. “The issue of mental health isn’t just a workplace issue – but if we get it right in our workplaces there will be a ripple effect,” Kennett said. The former Victorian premier is also pushing for senior executives to undergo mental health checks with a psychologist every year. He says this is not just in the interest of the individual, but also of the organisation. “Increasingly I’m finding as chairman of beyondblue that I’m getting calls from very senior board members or CEOs that one of their direct reports has hit a brick wall – in other words, the pressures on senior managers today seem to be increasing,” he says. Kennett also argued that making the mental health of employees one of the annual KPIs of private sector executives and government department heads would boost overall profit and staff productivity. “I want to make sure that rather than members of the BCA and industry leaders

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just calling for tax cuts, they also put a priority on the mental health of their staff,” he said. “I would have the board establish a KPI for the CEO, in terms of the conditions of the workforce, and I would have the CEO prepare the KPI for their direct reports.” He added that close to $11bn was lost in productivity each year because employees were not happy at work.

“The issue of mental health isn’t just a workplace issue – but if we get it right in our workplaces there will be a ripple effect” The BCA event also featured comments from its chief executive, Jennifer Westacott, who called on Australian CEOs to rise to the challenge of improving mental health. “Mental health and safety is not the domain of the community or health sectors alone – business has a lot to contribute,” Westacott said. “It’s important that psychological safety is taken as seriously as physical workplace safety and that businesses take practical steps to improve workplace wellbeing, organisational culture and workplace bullying. “Our organisations recognise the need to work closely with each other to make sure we’re getting it right in the initiatives workplaces are introducing. This is about productivity and growth, as well as health and wellbeing.”

Q&A

ALL ABOUT CULTURE Alan Heyward Executive manager ACCUMULATE

Fast fact In a survey of 1,000 US-based, full-time employees by BambooHR, 75% of employees who were recognised by their managers once a month reported being satisfied with their jobs. Eighty-five per cent of those who were recognised weekly reported being satisfied.

How can HR lead by example in creating a sustainable culture of recognition? To create a vibrant, sustainable culture that allows a company to drive positive behavioural change, it’s essential for recognition to be viewed as a strategic organisational imperative, rather than an HR initiative. However, that is not to underestimate the role HR needs to play in establishing and reinforcing a recognition culture. HR can play a lead role in consolidating the disparate strands of recognition across the organisation into a framework that is consistent, integrated (ie everyday recognition through to annual awards), visible and measurable. It can help create an environment that allows the organisation to harness the inherent strength of its employee communities by fostering greater connection and collaboration, greater knowledge-sharing, and greater understanding and appreciation – across teams and across borders. It can role-model the desired behaviours, both personally and by identifying and empowering recognition advocates across the business to do so. Importantly, HR can facilitate the generation of deeper insights into drivers of employee engagement by utilising multiple HR data points beyond recognition (eg performance ratings, attrition, absenteeism, engagement survey results, etc). These insights can be used for everything from recognition program enhancements to key influencer identification as part of a broader organisational talent mapping program. But HR’s ability to influence will of course depend heavily on the level of buy-in and active support of the entire senior leadership team. What can HR do to get buy-in from staff and the C-suite for this type of culture? Getting executive leadership on board is ultimately all about creating a measurable ROI. Show them evidence of where a strong recognition culture has driven significant, sustainable behavioural change in like organisations, whether it be unifying a merged workforce, embedding cultural values, or driving individual performance improvement and bottom line results. Use market research and various internal employee data points to establish causal relationships between recognition and a range of engagement drivers to clearly illustrate its strategic importance. To engage staff, it’s about making recognition highly visible, and creating a natural, elegant and delightful user experience. It’s about making the context for recognition clear. It’s about delivering a highly personalised experience, and connecting people on both a professional and personal level to create a true sense of community. Err on the side of overcommunicating via a range of internal channels, although relevance and value are obviously key.

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UPFRONT

TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

IS TECHNOLOGY DUMBING DOWN STAFF? Is rapidly changing technology counterproductive for developing employees? John Hilton talks to author Dr Jenny Brockis about the impact it has on learning

Technology has enabled us to do much more than we did before, but in some ways it makes us lazy, according to Dr Jenny Brockis, medical practitioner and author of the book, Future Brain: The 12 Keys To Create Your High Performance Brain. “It has changed how we think, it has changed how we learn, it has changed how we entertain ourselves and in some ways it can contribute to mindless behaviour,” she tells HRD. “For example, many of us are walking

NEWS BRIEFS

around with our heads down on our phones and having more accidents. Is that dumbing us down? I think that is.” So what’s the answer for employees who use computers and smartphones regularly? It really comes down to choosing to use technology wisely, Dr Brockis says. “We learn how to do certain things at school and now we have all these apps which can do it much more quickly for us,” she says. “And we know it will be more accurate

Gamification in, CVs out?

Social media has made it easier for organisations to check out a potential new hire even before recruiters get to meet them. “So should they still ask for CVs?” asks author Amy Pay. “Not only is [the internet] re-shaping social circles, it’s also disrupting business practices; long gone are the days when all you knew about a job applicant was what they choose to put on their CV.” One of the latest tools HR is using to recruit candidates is gamification, because bespoke games can easily identify how a new hire will react to certain situations, as well as gauge their abilities in areas like multitasking and how well they might fit in with a team.

too. So we take the easy option because it’s quick and it’s easy. “However, it’s the slower route which is actually involving us to think something through and work out the answer.” Indeed, where attention to detail counts, it’s necessary to slow our thinking down. Dr Brockis says it’s important to reflect on what’s necessary in your life and how you need to apply your thinking. “If speed is the order of the day, then certainly accessing the technology is the way to go,” she says. “But if you want to have that deeper, more reflective thought, then removing yourself from technology is important.” In fact, it has been shown we learn more effectively and retain information better if we take notes using a pen on paper compared to using a keyboard, Dr Brockis says. “If you’re studying things for work or general interest, sometimes going back to what we used to do, the old-fashioned ways of things, actually helps us to be more effective in how we apply our brain and our thinking.” She adds that it also helps to switch off the phone or turn off the computer (even if it’s just for 15–20 minutes) at some point or at several points during the day. “This helps us to re-engage with what the time actually is,” she says. “This also helps to slow down frantic thinking and enables us to feel like we actually do have time to get on with work.”

How tech facilitates a 20-hour work week

A PR agency based in Newtown, Sydney, has made some big changes to focus on a healthy work-life balance for all staff. Renae Smith, director of The Atticism, has limited her employees’ ‘in office’ hours to just 20 hours per week (Tuesday–Thursday), and encourages staff to work remotely (and only part-time) on Monday and Friday. “Staff still check their emails on Monday and Friday and anything urgent is always responded to – but you can do this at the beach, at a cafe or even in bed,” said Smith. “We have the technology to work so well remotely now – let’s use it.”

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Q&A

Michelle Farrar-Eagles General manager HR

HOW TECHNOLOGY IS SHAPING RECRUITMENT

GENERAL PANTS CO

How did you find and source talent for the busy Christmas retail period?

Fast fact A report by KPMG said 30% of organisations intended to replace their legacy HR systems in 2016 while 40% were going to move their operations to the cloud. Despite this push, 50–75% of all HR initiatives will fail to deliver, according to research by technology research firm Gartner.

I looked at historically how I’ve done summer casual campaigns in the past across various businesses, and this year we just decided to do it differently. There has got to be a better way of finding talent and engaging with them rather than having to go through this monotonous process that’s reactive, takes forever and is really impersonal. So we created a General Pants talent community with LiveHire. We invited people who had applied in the past to join our talent community. We also did a couple of targeted marketing campaigns on social media because a lot of our target employees live a large part of their lives on social media. So it’s a bit of a no-brainer to tap into where they are already hanging out and communicating socially with their friends. All they had to do was create a general profile in our GP talent community. Once they had created a profile they could express interest in working at a store in a particular location. We then introduced video interviewing as the first stage of the process. This enabled us to get to know who was interested in working at GP’s on a more personal note, not just names on paper or a profile. I must admit, we were a little unprepared for the amount of video responses we got. But it was a great

Will phone calls survive the workplace?

With the advent of more modern technology, will phone calls soon go the way of the telegram? Business consultant Larry Alton says, for many workers in a largely millennial workforce, traditional phone calls are starting to become obsolete. “With the millennial generation working both intentionally and unintentionally to change the tenets of the prototypical ‘office’, will there ever be a point where phone calls are no longer used in modern businesses?” he asks. He adds that any unplanned phone call can be a disruption because there’s an imbalance of preparedness between the caller and the called.

experience. We got to see people who were really passionate about working at General Pants, had the right values, had the energy, and who really wanted to work with us rather than just get a job.

What was the method you were using before LiveHire? It was a traditional applicant tracking system where everybody applied for a role online. We had about 150,000 people that applied for roles in about eight years at GP who we hadn’t engaged with further, beyond their initial application. So we really wanted the opportunity to engage with them and find out where they were at in their lives. Some of them may not have been suitable back then and might be suitable now because they obviously had further experience in that time.

What’s an example of how the technological aspect of it was embraced? We had some people answering questions about why they wanted to work for General Pants and they would say, “Want me to turn my video camera around so you can see my wardrobe? It is all General Pants”. And to get that level of engagement and excitement from them is contagious. They are the people we want to be as ambassadors in our stores.

Facebook videos to educate users on AI

Facebook has launched a series of videos that attempt to demystify how artificial intelligence (AI) works. According to a blog post by Facebook AI researchers Yann LeCun and Joaquin Quiñonero Candela, the six educational videos aim to counter misconceptions regarding AI, which “remains mysterious” for many despite the fact that most people rely on AI every day. “We want to tell people it’s not magic,” said LeCun, director of AI research. “This is not Terminator. It’s real technology that’s useful.” The blog explained that “AI is a rigorous science ... using algorithmic techniques borrowed from the human brain”.

Will virtual reality be the next big trend in HR?

Financial services firm Fidelity Investments is experimenting with ways that virtual reality can be used in the workplace. It has developed a prototype for a retirement VR app that, according to senior vice-president Sean Belka, could help “human resources managers to keep track of employees and their retirement plans”. He said, “VR’s focus on compelling visuals could be a way for people to better digest complex information.” In a demo, users are initially shown a primitive digital cityscape with one skyscraper supposedly representing the company, and other buildings signifying competitors. www.hcamag.com

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UPFRONT

HEAD TO HEAD

GOT AN OPINION THAT COUNTS? Email hrd_editor@keymedia.com.au

How are you coping with disruption in your industry? How is the HR function adapting and navigating disruption and supporting the organisation to do the same?

Samantha Pearce

Director of administration, HR and accounting ICD Property Our strategy is to keep our company lean, enabling us to be nimble and to respond quickly to disruption in the market. At ICD Property, we thrive on change, adaptation and always try to create a win-win outcome. We put fun into everything we do, and we make exceptional choices. We always ensure we have an exit plan, and we see this as property development 101. Our HR team is building strong partnerships within the industry, which helps us to respond quickly to market changes. In addition, we promote company values to engage and reward behaviours in the areas of passion, innovation, collaboration and consideration. These behaviours encourage our young and dynamic team to upgrade their thinking, adopt new technology and have a willingness to try new ideas.

Tony Lehner

Director HR Unisys Asia Pacific At Unisys we’ve made a conscious effort to build a workforce that combines experience with innovative new thinking through our HR and recruitment strategies. Over the last eight years we’ve increased the proportion of employees aged 18 to 30 from under 2% to more than 26% of our Asia-Pacific workforce, with all the improvements you’d expect from greater diversity. In the last six months we focused on employee development relevant to market requirements – now 72% of people have Individual Development Plans (up from 5%). Our people told us they wanted flexible work options but also wanted to collaborate and feel part of a community. Consequently, we work in the office three days a week, with the option to work remotely the other two, with flexible start times.

Jennifer White HR director Avnet

Disruption is part of our day job! Avnet has evolved many times over its long history to ensure they provide the most innovative solutions to partners and to best support the team. At a team level we are focused on disrupting our own models to work smarter and achieve greater efficiency (for example through automation) to enable us to dedicate more quality time to the organisation – guiding, partnering and challenging older or less effective thinking patterns, processes and models. Our priority is balancing the short-term business deliverables with long-term culture development such that we elevate and amplify the positive experiences our people have through this time of transition and dynamism.

DOES DISRUPTION MEAN THE DEATH OF ‘ESTABLISHED KNOWLEDGE’? The disruption of markets and business models is increasing and accelerating, according to decision-making expert Gary Klein. He claims that, pitted against the latest technologies, established knowledge and proven ways of making decisions are “less and less reliable”. “While we live in an age of data abundance, which promises more informed decisions than ever, most decision-makers find it harder than ever to make decisions and thus to navigate an ever-challenging business environment,” Klein says. He adds that two major challenges facing businesses are the need for the rapid creation of new insights, and accelerating professional development and knowledge transfer inside the business in order to stay on top of change.

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EXPERT INSIGHT

WORKPLACE RELATIONS

Brought to you by

GIG ECONOMY COMPANIES:

ARE THEY AS ‘UBER COOL’ AS THEY SAY? Joe Murphy outlines the potential legal risks of incorrectly engaging gig economy workers THE ‘GIG ECONOMY’ involves businesses that operate in an environment where they engage workers through digital means (usually via tablets or smartphones) to perform on-demand work for short-term engagements. Businesses like Uber, Airtasker, Deliveroo and Foodora are immediately recognisable in today’s media and have generated a significant buzz around not only what they do but how they do it. These red-tape busting and regulation avoiding businesses have also attracted a significant degree of scrutiny from regulators in many countries, including Australia, the UK and the US.

drivers were not contractors but were in fact Uber employees. In coming to that decision, the Tribunal considered the drivers’ lack of control over pricing and other requirements placed on them by Uber, such as preferred routes, meant that the drivers should properly be considered to be employees and not contractors. The result was that Uber was ordered to make back payments of employment entitlements for 20 drivers, including payment for each hour they received less than the minimum wage as well as other employee payments. The attraction for Australian employers to the gig economy models is the same as that

Uber recently received some bad news from the Employment Tribunal in the UK The manner in which these companies engage their workforce has attracted much attention and debate as to whether the individuals performing the work are being paid fairly and according to law.

Are these individuals really contractors or are they employees missing out? When these issues are brought before the Courts and Tribunals, they will look at a range of factors, including whether they are truly entrepreneurial in nature operating a business, contracting with others, using their own equipment, whether they can dictate their own hours and, finally, the degree of control they exercise over the work they perform. Uber recently received some bad news from the Employment Tribunal in the UK when it was held that a small group of Uber

in the UK or the US. That is, if you employ contractors, the outgoings in terms of fees are usually less than paying wages and other employment entitlements to employees. Other benefits include reduced legal risk and other costs (often those ‘contractors’ must have their own insurances etc).

Is it worth it? Many businesses that employ staff (usually one of the highest costs of running a business) might be asking themselves whether they should be looking to strategies that embrace the technology and ‘disrupting’ type of business models that we now see in Uber, Deliveroo etc. The UK Employment Tribunal’s decision should cause Australian businesses to pause. Australian Courts and Tribunals continue to hear cases every year where businesses are

regularly caught out (some innocently, others not so much) and they often end up wearing significant damages and penalties. One of the most significant Australian cases involved similar circumstances to Deliveroo and Uber. In Hollis v Vabu the High Court of Australia held that bike couriers in that case were in fact employees despite keeping their own hours and supplying their own equipment. The Australian Fair Work Ombudsman continues to clamp down on businesses who avoid the costs associated with paying employees under workplace laws. The vigour with which the Ombudsman has pursued these cases has paid off in the Courts with a number of significant decisions resulting in significant damages and penalties being awarded against businesses. Deliveroo and Foodora have also recently been identified by the union and labour law firm Maurice Blackburn as being a target for them. The firm has indicated, “We think these companies are exploiting ambiguities in the law to underpay these workers and we are going to bring a case to make sure it stops.” If you are a business looking to restructure your employment arrangements, then you must ensure any arrangements are structured in a way to best avoid the pitfalls that Uber has recently encountered in the UK. Joe Murphy is a Director at Australian Business Lawyers & Advisors (ABLA). Serving business and only business, this legal and advisory firm is trusted by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and is the leading voice for industry in the Fair Work Commission. Call Joe on 1300 565 846 or joe.murphy@ablawyers.com.au if you have any questions about matters raised in this article.

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NATIONAL HR SUMMIT

MASTERS HOME IMPROVEMENT

HR’S TOUGHEST CHALLENGE Few industries have been as disrupted in recent years as retail – and there have been some unfortunate casualties along the way. Iain Hopkins chats to Gillian Davie about the final days of Masters Home Improvement

ON 18 JANUARY 2016 it was announced that Woolworths would be exiting the home improvement retail sector by either selling or winding up its two businesses in that sector: Home Timber & Hardware and Masters Home Improvement. Woolworths’ decision to withdraw from the market ultimately resulted in the majority of the Home Timber & Hardware stores being sold to Mitre 10/Metcash. This was the same outcome that Masters employees had hoped for – but alas it was not to be. On 24 August, it was announced that all 82 Masters stores would close before the end of the year, and their stock would be liquidated and the properties sold. With the closures impacting on some 6,200 employees, business analysts called the sad outcome the largest voluntary wind-down in Australian corporate history. In the frantic days that followed the

August announcement, Gillian Davie, director of HR for the home improvement division of Woolworths, was strategising with her senior-level colleagues about next steps. She was asked by one of her consultant partners what the desired outcome would be and what success would look like at the end

say to me, ‘It was an awful outcome for the business, but I feel like I was cared for and treated with dignity and respect’ – that is what success looks like.” The follow-up question for Davie – a 23-year veteran of Woolworths – focused on how that outcome would be achieved.

“From the get-go, we knew we weren’t dealing with 6,200 individuals; we were dealing with 6,200 families” of what promised to be a challenging and emotional downsizing operation. “I said that on the final day, when the last store closes, if I’m in the carpark and I meet one of our team who is finishing up that day and ask them how they are feeling and they

She tells HRD her first reaction was to flash back to when she worked in a Woolworths store. “When you’re working in the store, your store is your world. It has a strong culture and your colleagues are like your family. I knew straight away that people

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NATIONAL HR SUMMIT

MASTERS HOME IMPROVEMENT

In hindsight, Davie says this decision was “genius”. “The store managers absolutely cared for our people, but we knew they’d have their hands full keeping the stores running. We actually had a spike in sales when the announcement was made – oddly proving the old saying that any publicity is good publicity. So the role of the ESAs was to support our people – to have one-on-one chats, to check on mental wellbeing. That was one of the things that helped alleviate the stress in the stores very quickly.” Davie adds that one of Masters’ strengths had always been its agility. “Our

MY NUMBER ONE CHANGE MANAGEMENT TIP… “My tip for any major change – and this is something I’ll take with me moving forward in my career – would be to walk in the shoes of those impacted and really understand all the touchpoints that individuals will have with the change. There’s absolutely a place for change frameworks, change theories and HR processes, but I think sometimes perhaps we get so caught up in that we forget about the people experience. For example, the experience that someone with a disability might have regarding redeployment could be quite daunting and different to someone who has only been with a company for a short period of time with good contacts back to their previous employer.” ringing a contact centre or jumping on a webinar for more information was not going to cut it. We needed face-to-face support.”

Support when it’s needed most The senior leadership team at Masters took the unprecedented step of placing an HR manager in every store. Davie’s team expanded from seven to 70. The 63 new members, known as Employee Support Advisors (ESAs), were recruited with the help of The Next Step and Hays, and were onboarded in just seven days.

happening on the shop floor.”

The plan of attack While Davie and her team worked hand in hand with the Mitre 10 HR team to ensure the Home Timber & Hardware employees were well looked after, her real focus was on the Masters employees. The future of 6,200 employees had to be considered. “More importantly, from the get-go, we knew we weren’t dealing with 6,200 individuals; we were dealing with 6,200 families,” she says. Although the leadership team opted to partner with turnaround/restructuring specialists KordaMentha, it is significant that

“Our philosophy was that we’d taken a big part of their life away that they had control over – ie employment – so how could we give control back?” communication really since January changed to face-to-face,” she says. “We didn’t want people hearing things in a memo or from an email.” ‘Huddles’ or team meetings ensured that staff heard critical news from managers before they heard it from the media or other parties. “We knew it would be newsworthy, so it wouldn’t take long,” Davie says. “We also wanted families to be informed by their loved ones and not hear it on the six o’clock news. We got the news disseminated across the business within half an hour of the annoucement.” The huddles would eventually play an important secondary role for the HR team themselves: “We started daily huddles. The goal was to check in with each other. What were the hot issues? Was there anything that had come up that no one had expected? It was really about listening to what was

the senior leadership team remained largely intact throughout the wind-down process. As Davie says, “Usually the consultants come in to wind down the business and the senior leadership team leaves straight away; that hasn’t happened here.” It’s also significant that no change manager was taken on board. “We did it ourselves with guidance from KordaMentha, and I absolutely would not have changed a thing in that regard,” Davie says. “We owned it. Sometimes I think with change managers the company doesn’t get the right understanding or buy-in of the change – it all becomes the change manager’s job. We didn’t want that.” The CEO of Woolworths Ltd, Brad Banducci, gave a commitment that all store team members who wanted a job at Woolworths would be offered a job at Woolworths. There was no obligation to

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accept that role, but it would be offered – and that’s what occurred. Those who did not want to take redeployment were offered paid redundancies. “Our philosophy was that we’d taken a big part of their life away that they had control over – ie employment – so how could we give control back?” Davie says. “That’s why the redeployment or retrenchment offers were made. The end result was 1,650 employees opted to transition into other parts of Woolworths – predominantly the supermarkets but also into Big W, Dan Murphys and corporate.” “The big thing with this was choice,” Davie adds. “This was a shock to everyone. Even though some people in the public arena may go, ‘oh sure, anyone could see this coming’, the reality is our team really had hope and believed in the Masters proposition, so it was a shock.” To ease the shock, HR worked diligently behind the scenes. For example, counselling services were offered. Interviewing workshops were held, and staff were offered LinkedIn profile-writing tips. One employee even offered to take LinkedIn profile photos for staff. Over 4,000 hours of tailored training was offered to employees to help them in their job search, and for those who opted for redundancy, the HR team at Masters established a job placement program. Over 100 external organisations assisted in placing over 580 employment opportunities through their networks. Documents outlining exactly what was to happen were created in-house. “We knew this document would sit on the kitchen table at home and would be discussed with families or close friends,” Davie explains. “It was written so that the individual, who might be in a bit of shock, would get home and then use this document to help explain what would happen. It would help to answer some of the questions from family members.” Davie adds that “every step of the way”

‘HEALTHY TENSION’: UNION RELATIONS Amid the turmoil of the decision to voluntarily wind down the business, one of Gillian Davie’s first calls was to the union, who she says was a “valued partner” throughout the process. Although she admits she “absolutely did not” have a background in IR, she says the fundamentals were straightforward to learn. “It’s about the relationship and the respect that you have and need to earn with the union. There needs to be a healthy tension of course, but from January our director of stores and I were meeting with the national secretary of the SDA just to keep him informed of what was happening and what our intentions were. When unfortunately the outcome that we got was announced on 24 August, he was literally my first phone call. It was a heads-up out of courtesy, just as the news hit the ASX. That was part of the respect we’d built.” the HR team was checking in with staff members. “If someone had opted to take a job at Woolies, we wanted to know how their actual experience was playing out.” Davie herself went through that experience. “I asked my team to send the letter to me as if I was a person about to be redeployed. What information is important for that person? What should the tone of the letter be? We found a couple of opportunities to improve it doing it that way because, let’s face it, this was not business as usual. Our processes needed to be tweaked because of the sensitivities involved.”

period. And although Woolworths offered her another internal role, she has opted to move on. “I’m sad to leave Woolies but also really excited,” she says. “This experience has energised me about what’s possible and has given me a new lease on life about what I might do next.” While she feels that retail is “addictive”, she has no set plan in mind. “One thing I’ve said to my team is to be prepared for a slower pace somewhere else. We’ve forgotten what normal is just because it’s been frantic here for so long.”

What’s next? Following what she describes as “a huge 12 months”, Davie was looking forward to a holiday with her husband and four kids over the festive

Gillian Davie will be telling the Masters story at the National HR Summit, Sydney, 29–30 March. For further information, visit hrsummit.com.au.

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NATIONAL HR SUMMIT

COCA-COLA

LEADING THE PACK IN AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE In a disruptive world, how is the HR team behind one of the world’s most recognised brands developing the leaders of tomorrow? HRD chats to Coca-Cola’s Anjanette Murfet

HOW DO you groom the leaders of tomorrow when the pace of change is so rapid that long-term planning is almost impossible? From small start-ups to older established companies, this is the vexatious question that is weighing on many of today’s HR leaders. It’s an issue that Anjanette Murfet, HR director, Coca-Cola South Pacific, is grappling with. Her industry, like all others, is undergoing significant change. “It’s difficult because we’re preparing our leaders for jobs and problems that don’t exist yet; we don’t know what the challenges are going to be. For me the focus must be on ensuring our leaders are capable of managing and leading change and innovation,” she says.

Assessing current challenges Innovation has been fundamental to CocaCola’s success since its inception in 1892, and

Murfet feels that forecasting for the years ahead naturally starts with assessing the business challenges of today. “As an HR community we need to be very clear on the challenges for the business and how we can meet those challenges from a people perspective to help drive business results,” she tells HRD.

is investing time and resources to innovate some of its most popular beverages. Consumer demand for sugar reduction, fewer kilojoules and smaller serves, plus the development of Coca-Cola’s ‘hydration portfolio’ – such as the recent launch of Smartwater – have been key focus areas.

“We’re preparing our leaders for jobs and problems that don’t exist yet; we don’t know what the challenges are going to be” In Australia, the current business challenges for Coca-Cola are focused on two emerging and fundamental principles: providing more beverage choices, and providing more information to consumers. In terms of beverage choices, the company

“We know that while many people want to reduce kilojoules and sugar intake, they don’t want to compromise on taste. It’s a difficult balance to achieve but it’s something we’re striving to get right, and feel that we are,” says Murfet.

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NATIONAL HR SUMMIT

COCA-COLA

“Some organisations are not necessarily the best place for agile, lean thinking – the elements that encourage innovators to thrive. Coca-Cola has always prided itself on being innovation leaders. It’s engrained in everything we do.”

Innovating through personal development

DEALING WITH DISRUPTION: FLIP-THINKING At a recent training exercise on innovation at Coca-Cola University in Atlanta, Anjanette Murfet was introduced to the concept of ‘flip-thinking’. “We were given a business problem and were told about the flip concept,” she explains. “Essentially you flip all of your traditional thinking about that concept on its head and look at how you can do it differently.” Author Dan Pink is an advocate of flip-thinking, and claims that it “melts calcified thinking and leads to solutions that are simple to envision and to implement”. Organisations that are disrupting entire industries have often flipped the conventional wisdom. They’ve taken age-old beliefs and turned them upside down. Pink writes: “What they’re doing, and what I’m advising based on their success, represents smarter advice – despite (perhaps because of) running counter to what many others believe.” Coca-Cola will be looking to overcome these challenges swiftly and ahead of the competition. There might even be some tips gleaned from the disruptors in other sectors. Murfet adds that some of the most admired companies today have fundamentally changed how businesses operate. Facebook, for example, creates no content; Airbnb has no beds; Uber owns no cars. “You’ve got a lot of disruptors out there who are changing the face of what and how people consume services and products. Fundamentally for any business you need to think about how quickly you can move and how you can future-proof your business.” What does this mean from the HR

perspective? Murfet sums it up: not only must HR be agile and innovative but so too must Coca-Cola’s workers. “We need to ensure our workforce is agile and can take an innovative approach to these trends. Our leaders meanwhile need to have the resources they require so they can focus on the right priorities,” she says. While agility and innovation are traits that can be sought out during recruitment – Murfet suggests getting candidates to present their next big idea, for example – the issue runs deeper. I think it’s also about how you create the culture of your organisation,” she says.

This innovative thinking extends to the company’s leadership development programs. With an eye on future talent and the potential leaders of tomorrow, in 2016 the company introduced its first intern program. Unlike traditional intern programs, which typically target final-year university students, this intern program taps into students who are only in their second year of study. “We’re looking to bring that talent in very early and build the pipeline – not for today but three or four years down the track,” Murfet says. “When they do eventually join us they’ll already be engaged with the culture and understand what we do. It also helps us to understand how they work, how they think, so we can build a better workplace.” For existing employees, Coca-Cola University provides continuous L&D opportunities through nine schools – one of which is the Leadership Institute. Murfet herself attended a two-week residential course in Atlanta for senior leaders in 2016 called ‘Summit’. Topics included future leadership, change management, and innovation (see box: ‘Dealing with disruption’). For mid-level managers, Coca-Cola runs its six-month LEAP management program. Twenty-six Australian employees went through the program in 2016. It starts with a week of in-house class training, which covers the fundamentals of leadership: change management, effective feedback, etc. A fourmonth digital component follows, which is

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run through a partnership with Harvard University. The final piece is a practical component, which in 2016 covered lean start-up thinking. “Participants were given a business challenge we are currently facing,” says Murfet. “The business challenge this group focused on was around our hydration products. They formed small groups and they developed a solution to a problem, which was then presented to the executive team. A number of those ideas are being looked at as real business solutions.” High-potential talent is not forgotten, with a number of programs on offer through partnerships with business education leader Harvard Business School. A host of online Harvard and Duke University courses are also offered to employees.

Innovating through other means Murfet is also aware that internal processes and procedures can hamper innovation. For this reason the company will be implementing its Performance Enablement program globally in 2017. The program eliminates performance ratings and the mid-year/end-of-year review process, and shifts towards a more agile performance management practice. “It’s a system of two-way feedback, both up and down,” Murfet says. “It’s a monthly routine and it’s very purposeful: the manager will sit with the associate [employee] to ensure they’re focusing on what’s going to drive the strategy. Then of course it’s looking at external trends and assessing if they need to course-correct and make a change.” However, it’s not just one-on-one; there’s also a team routine, which involves the team looking at the work that needs to be delivered and then having a discussion around who may have the capacity to work on a particular project or who has the greatest strength in that area. “It’s calling on our resources in

4 CHANGE TIPS Anjanette Murfet has handled significant change projects throughout her career, most recently during her time at GrainCorp. In an age of disruption, what are her top change tips? 1. Plan, check, plan, check and repeat. “Before implementing the change plan, use the concept of what I call the red team, which consists of people who are not involved directly in the change. Run through the change plan and get their feedback on what you’re missing. What are your blind spots? Have you addressed everything?” 2. Provide everyone with crystal-clear direction on what the change is and how you’re going to get there. “For me it’s critically important to paint a clear picture of what it looks like when you get there. It’s often missed, dismissed as ‘we need to make this change because of…’ People get caught up in their own process of change. But I think if you can paint a picture of what the future looks like – the destination – that helps sell the what’s-in-it-for-me element.” 3. Script all of your critical moves and don’t have too many choices. “It creates ambiguity and can cause change fatigue.” 4. Find the feeling. “Find the feeling to motivate people to understand, accept and help drive the change. That again ensures you paint the picture of what it’ll look like when people get there. Also, understand that each person is on their own particular journey and some will get there very quickly and others won’t get there at all, and you’ll have a lot of people in the middle.”

“Fundamentally for any business you need to think about how quickly you can move and how you can future-proof your business” a very different manner. It’s one other way we’re trying to address the rapidly changing market we’re in.” Technology is also playing its role in building future leaders. As part of the Performance Enablement initiative, a development program is also offered called ‘90-minute Workouts’. These are virtual sessions that allow managers to log on from anywhere in the world and undertake a facilitated 90-minute session on a particular topic – it could look at giving feedback or how to prioritise workloads. “It breaks down the barriers to traditional classroom learning and ensures people have the flexibility to do it in their own time, at

their own pace, in the comfort of their own home,” Murfet says. “We’re lucky because we not only have the resources to put into L&D and these other initiatives but also the commitment. There’s recognition that leadership is critical to the success of the organisation,” she adds. “Without that commitment you will struggle.”

Anjanette Murfet will be taking part in a panel discussion titled ‘Leadership development: Are we ready for tomorrow’s future?’ at the National HR Summit in Sydney, 29–30 March. For further information, visit hrsummit.com.au.

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NATIONAL HR SUMMIT

ENVATO

HR’S ‘NEXT BIG THING’ Do you know what an MVP is? It might be time to learn. HRD talks to James Law, HR director at Envato, about where HR is heading

ASK JUST about anyone who works in HR and they’ll agree that while the profession involves hard work with constant challenges – some seen and others unforeseen – there’s one redeeming feature: it’s never boring. Indeed, by

That’s not to say disruption is easy to deal with. Planning for the ‘next big thing’ is something of a thankless task given the speed with which the work environment is changing. “There are so many next big things

“The key skill, I believe, is to have the ability to try things and then iterate once you’ve learned what works and what doesn’t” its very nature – dealing with human beings – and given its relatively short history (not counting its previous incarnation as ‘personnel’), HR must be nimble, flexible and innovative. Apart from perhaps IT, no other business function should be embracing disruption as much as HR.

that it’s hard to keep up,” concedes James Law, HR director at Envato. Law will be tackling that topic at the National HR Summit in Sydney. He’s particularly keen on focusing on work being something one does, as opposed to

somewhere one goes. He’ll also be looking at how to use ‘Minimum Viable Products and Processes’ – terminology he says he has “stolen from the digital product geniuses out there”.

ALL ABOUT MVPS A minimum viable product (MVP) has just the core features necessary to deploy the product, and no more. Developers typically deploy the product to a subset of possible customers – such as early adopters thought to be more forgiving, more likely to give feedback, and able to grasp a product vision from an early prototype or marketing information. This strategy helps to avoid building products that customers do not want and seeks to maximise information about the customer per dollar spent.

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NATIONAL HR SUMMIT

ENVATO

“It’s a way to work your way through the unknown challenges we face as work changes from a job with an employer to a portfolio of jobs that you can do from anywhere,” he says. “The key skill, I believe, is to have the ability to try things and then iterate once you’ve learned what works and what doesn’t – and not be afraid to make mistakes along the way!” Of course, any future forecasting about disruption would not be complete without talk of technology. Envato itself operates a group of digital marketplaces that sell creative assets for web designers, including themes, graphics, video, audio, photography and 3D models. Among its high-traffic marketplaces is ThemeForest. Needless to say, digital fluency and literacy flow through the blood of most of the company’s workers. Law says working in any digital business means that the barrier to entry for a future competitor is non-existent, so you have to constantly be looking at ways to provide your community – in Envato’s case the customers and contributors – with the best experience possible. That means constantly looking for better ways to solve the most important challenges you have. He adds that HR at Envato has been positively disrupted by SaaS (software-as-a-service) tools that can automate some of the manual tasks an HR team has to cope with. “This allows us to stay fairly streamlined and focus on things that add value,” he says. “These things are more likely to enable than stifle businesses’ growth. It’s also far more interesting for the HR team to work on so it is in everyone’s best interest to work with technology, not against it.” Although Law says he’s been lucky to work in technology companies, meaning new technology has been “thrust” upon him, he believes that if there’s a way to speed up processes that don’t require

SIMPLIFYING A COMPLEX WORLD In a complicated world, Envato strives to keep things simple. “The HR team tries to help managers find the best teams and enable them to do their best work. It’s that simple,” says Law. “I believe there are nine main elements to doing that, and they are very simple but hard to do effectively in a busy life.” Don’t waste time making assumptions; ask and listen. Give managers and teams options as to how they can work; we all want flexibility and there is no work-life balance any more, just life! Help people build relationships (it’s your most important job). Create an environment where trust is the default and needs to be lost not earned. Create work options so people can choose work they can fall in love with. Develop people by helping them gain skills and experiences. Set clear expectations and recognise actions that meet those expectations more than rewarding them. Create a sense of belonging by creating opportunities for people to bring their life to work. People feel better if you give a sh*t about them.

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human intervention, which then frees HR up to tackle challenges that do require greater human collaboration, “then you are doing yourself, your business and the HR community a disservice by not adopting it”. While there’s a major push within Australia’s education system for students to take up STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) subjects, Law feels employers could be doing more – with the proviso that knowing what technical skills will be required in 10 years’ time is impossible to predict. “Employers need to broaden their understanding of STEM beyond the latest coding language – although that’s important – to product management principles, data science, problem-solving, global markets, etc.

of the benefits size can bring. Yet with many HR leaders from well-established larger organisations like IBM hoping to foster ‘start-up’ subcultures within their teams – using buzzwords like ‘agility’, ‘passion’ and ‘authenticity’ in an effort to capture that entrepreneurial spirit – Law surprisingly says there are important lessons that smaller companies can learn from larger companies when it comes to managing talent. “I’ve learned a lot about the way large organisations invest in R&D,” he says. “I think if you are having a conversation with anyone – and you should be having a lot – and you don’t think you can learn from it, then you are kidding yourself. Even if you are learning what you don’t want to do then you are still learning.”

“If you are having a conversation with anyone – and you should be having a lot – and you don’t think you can learn from it, then you are kidding yourself” I’m no expert but I think STEM still has an image problem, and we need to ensure the breadth of opportunities studying STEM can provide is understood and gets kids excited. If we can connect kids to technology they use every day – Mindcraft, Instagram, etc – and what they will need to learn to be part of the creation of this technology, then we will get closer to getting them excited about STEM.”

Borrowing from the big players – and vice versa Since it was established in 2006, Envato has grown to over 300 employees and contractors working globally. It remains small enough to be nimble, yet large enough to leverage some

Law adds that large businesses are often far better at structured change management because they have a bigger ship to turn around. “I learn a lot when I speak to them and use it every day to help Envato try and change and adapt our thinking,” he says. Conversely, Law believes the large businesses he deals with appreciate what a company like Envato is able to do effectively with less resources and smaller budgets. “We avoid processes that don’t add value, and we try and solve organisational challenges rather than HR challenges. I believe that simplicity is hard but effective for any organisation.” How does Law keep his own skills sharp? Not surprisingly, he says the digital world

HOW HAS YOUR HR FUNCTION BEEN DISRUPTED BY TECHNOLOGY? “We’ve embraced it! By way of example, we don’t want to be fixated on hand-delivering a contract, waiting to have it signed and returned, chasing someone who hasn’t returned it, reprinting it because someone lost it, finally getting it back and then filing it. No one enjoys that sort of process when it could be emailed, e-signed and filed automatically in seconds. Then you have time back in your day to talk to teams about what their greatest challenges are and workshop solutions to fix them – and that’s much more fun.” plays a critical role. “I meet with a lot of people from a lot of different companies and I read and listen to as much as I can about what other people think about leadership and people. There is no shortage of free information and therefore no shortage of opportunities to learn new things in a digital world. For me that is the best thing a digital age has given us… that and Uber.”

James Law will be giving a TED Talk on Day One of the National HR Summit in Sydney, 29–30 March. The talk will cover the question: What will be the next big HR breakthrough? For further information, visit hrsummit.com.au.

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Sponsors Legal Sponsor

Silver Sponsor

People + Culture Strategies is a unique Australian law firm that also provides management consulting and leadership development services in labour, employment and migration law. It services employers nationally including prominent blue-chip corporates, government departments, not-for-profits and senior executives. The firm has been recognised as one of the most forward-thinking and innovative professional services firms in Australia.

Affinity’s HR and Payroll system is a single source platform and offers a complete HRIS and payroll services for companies looking to outsource. Affinity also provides Software as a Service (SaaS) for a wide range of HR modules. Clever technology delivered on mobile devices. Empower your most important asset – your people.

Joydeep Hor, Founder and Managing Principal T: (02) 8094 3101 E: joydeep.hor@peopleculture.com.au W: peopleculture.com.au

T: 1800 778 326 (AU) or 0800 729 633 (NZ) E: info@affinityteam.com W: www.affinityteam.com

Workshop Sponsors

Knowledge Sponsor

Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning partners with clients to create world-class leadership development solutions for managers at all levels. Leveraging the management insight, thought leadership, and expertise of Harvard Business School faculty and authors from Harvard Business Review. With more than 20 years of practical experience, our innovative, technology-enabled solutions drive meaningful and lasting business results. Cathy Francis, Senior Strategic Relationship Manager T: +61 402620916 E: cathy.francis@harvardbusiness.org W: www.harvardbusiness.org Coffee Zone Sponsor

One Platform. Many Possibilities. intelliHR is the essential core People Management platform for business providing the necessary infrastructure to align, manage and enable your People and Culture Strategy. intelliHR’s vision is to empower HR in businesses worldwide through the innovation and development of accessible, transformative HR technology. Sonya Clark, Business Development Manager T: (07) 3231 6556 W: www.intellihr.com.au

Corporate Challenge Events is Australasia’s leading team building, corporate events and training provider. Established in 1994, we believe success is created through positive, fun team cultures. Our passion is to help organisations achieve this by delivering unique and rewarding events, corporate training and team experiences that leave a lasting happiness. Dwain Richardson, Managing Director T: +61 3 9753 2562 E: info@corporatechallenge.com.au W: www.corporatechallenge.com.au

ELMO is Australia’s leading talent management software provider offering innovative HR cloud technology to over 2 million users throughout Australasia. Our in-house approach to development, implementation and support ensures fast, smooth and successful implementation. Our unified suite manages Recruitment, Onboarding, Performance and Learning. The ELMO Course Library offers access to hundreds of editable compliance and professional development courses, specific to jurisdiction and industry. T: 1300 884 510 E: contactus@elmotalent.com.au W: www.elmotalent.com.au

www.hrsummit.com.au

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Luna LunaPark ParkSydney Sydney••29-30 29-30March March2017 2017 Workshop Sponsors

Health@Work is a national corporate health and wellbeing service provider, delivering a comprehensive suite of health services across a range of demographics, industries and sectors. We pride ourselves on providing a high level of customer service and ensure that our programs are designed to address the specific needs and requirements of our clientele.

Vitality Works is a Sanitarium company, passionate about health at work. We are a leading provider of Workplace Health Services across Australia and New Zealand. From health assessments to engaging wellbeing programs, and from the corporate office to the mining site, our world class programs demonstrate real returns.

Kristina Dagleish, Director T: (03) 9639 5039 E: kristina@healthatwork.net.au W: www.healthatwork.net.au

Justin Kirkland, Business Manager – Eastern Region T: 02 8244 3432 E: justin.kirkland@vitalityworks.com.au W: www.vitalityworks.com.au

sgfleet is one of Australia’s leading specialist providers of fleet management, vehicle leasing, and salary packaging services. We also provide heavy commercial fleet management and leasing services. sgfleet is in a unique position to provide a variety of services and innovation across Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Phil Clump, National Manager T: 1300 138 235 E: newbusiness@sgfleet.com W: www.sgfleet.com

FREE WORKSHOPS AT THE HR SUMMIT EXPO Registrations are now open for a selection of free interactive workshops at the National HR Summit.

•Strategies to develop a positive workplace culture

Dwain Richardson, Managing Director and Anita Kropacsy, Corporate Training Manager, Corporate Challenge Events

•The future of HR technology: Navigating the ever-evolving landscape Jason Portelli and Laurie Young, Solutions Specialists, ELMO Learning

•The five key elements to achieve an effective health and Subscribe-HR has led the field in HR Automation Cloud Software, providing solutions for People leaders. With over 50,000 users interacting with our e-Recruitment, On-boarding, Core-HR, Surveying and Performance solutions, customers like Kikki.K, Adelaide Convention Centre, Lonely Planet and Bankstown Council have reduced HR Friction Points and realigned their Culture to their business objectives. Mathew French, Founder/CEO T: 1300 543 544 E: mathew.french@subscribe-hr.com.au W: www.subscribe-hr.com.au

wellbeing program Kristina Dagleish, Director, Health at Work

•Five ways to motivate and help your employees save with a novated lease Anthony Moss, Business Development Manager, SG Fleet

•The evolution of performance management: Then, now and the future John French, Executive Director, Subscribe HR

Find out more and register online at www.hrsummit.com.au

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Exhibitors corporate

Adobe is your partner in online learning, mobile learning & online collaboration. Adobe have the creative tools, LMS platforms & Virtual Classrooms to help you create, deliver & track your learning cost effectively. Check out the latest SaaS Learning Management System (LMS) Adobe Captivate Prime & the Adobe Connect Virtual Classrooms. T: +61 2 8968 1600 E: sales@webqem.com W: https://www.webqem.com/solutions/complete-online-

crayon

As a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Creative Agency for Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Corporate Crayon powers high performing cultures through employee energy. We create meaningful experiences through a creative collaborative approach to employee engagement with diagnostics and practical tools so HR leaders can capitalise on their one true competitive advantage: their people. T: 0438 633 631 E: evelyn@corporatecrayon.com W: www.corporatecrayon.com

learning-solutions/

The Australian Institute of Company Directors is committed to excellence in governance. We make a positive impact on society and the economy through governance education, director development and advocacy. Our membership of more than 39,000 includes directors and senior leaders from business, government and the not-for-profit sectors. T: +61 2 8248 6600 E: contact@aicd.com.au W: www.aicd.companydirectors.com.au

T: +61 (2) 8667 3178 (Australia) or +64 (9) 968 2133 (New Zealand) E: info_ANZ@csod.com W: www.cornerstoneondemand.com.au/growth-edition

ConnX is a HR software provider focused on developing and delivering innovative solutions. Everything we do is designed to improve the lives of HR/Payroll professionals. We are passionate about delivering HR solutions. ConnX, first released in 2003 has matured into a market-leading solution with 500 clients and 250,000 users. Zane Knight, Company Director T: 1300 266 694 E: sales@connx.com.au W: www.connx.com.au

Cornerstone OnDemand is a global talent management software that is pioneering solutions to help organisations realise the potential of a modern workforce. Growth Edition is our simple, intuitive solution for growing businesses. It takes performance reviews from painful and unpopular to simple and meaningful, and our integrated e-Learning not only boosts productivity, but also fosters employee engagement and retention.

Deakin University take pride in being able to support, mentor and guide our students as they acquire the abilities and talents they need to become responsible global citizens and highly valued employees. Our Recruitment Services team help you reach and recruit graduates to support your business growth with free services including branding, talent matching and shortlisting. E: recruitment-services@deakin.edu.au W: www.deakin.edu.au

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Luna LunaPark ParkSydney Sydney••29-30 29-30March March2017 2017

Foresight’s Global Coaching provides executive Coaching and Mentoring to senior business leaders. Our Coaches are experienced non-executive directors of public and private organisations, all being distinguished business leaders in their own right. Our robust coaching model is unique and we are considered the best Senior Executive Coaching firm in Australia.

At MEGT, we believe the key to business success lies with your greatest asset – the people you employ. We recognise that every workplace is different and offer a tailored, flexible approach to help you recruit, manage and develop your workforce.We are also proud to be the largest and only national provider of Australian Apprenticeship Support Network services.

Heather Konsti, Operations Manager T: 02 9955 2611 E: hkonsti@globalcoaching.com.au W: www.globalcoaching.com.au

T: 13 6963 W: www.megt.com.au

Frontier Software provides world class, employee lifecycle solutions to attract, nurture, and reward an organisation’s most valued asset – their staff. Leveraging over 30 years’ experience in Human Capital Management solutions – ichris optimises employee engagement and the user experience. Frontier Software is proud to provide HR solutions to over 1500 clients globally.

mlcoa is a premier provider of Independent Medical opinions and advisory services to insurers, government departments, self-insured companies and the legal profession. With a proud 30-year history, mlcoa delivers premium reporting services across all capital cities and key regional areas of Australia. Additionally, mlcoa can facilitate international bookings in the US, Canada, NZ and UK. T: 1800 mlcoa1 (1800 652 621) E: contact@mlcoa.com.au W: www.mlcoa.com.au

T: 1300 376 684 E: sales@frontiersoftware.com.au W: www.frontiersoftware.com

Good2Give is a not-for-profit organisation that makes it easy for businesses and donors to give. Committed to building a more giving society, we advise businesses on how to engage with charitable organisations and provide technology solutions and services to efficiently and securely process company and employee donations across Australia and New Zealand. Good2Give has granted over $155 million to more than 5000 Australian and international communities since 2001; we plan to deliver $300 million in donations by 2020. T: +61 2 9929 9633 E: info@good2give.ngo W: www.good2give.ngo

For 30 years, ORIX Australia has been delivering a range of salary packaging, fleet management and leasing services in Australia and New Zealand. The dedicated ORIX team around Australia offer simple and flexible Novated lease solutions that provide a fantastic employee benefit. T: 1300 363 993 E: novated@orix.com.au W: www.orix.com.au

RITEQ is a specialist in delivering Workforce Management and Employee Time and Attendance Software Solutions across a broad range of business sectors. With more than a decade of experience, RITEQ enables sites around the world to drive efficiency and improve profitability. Nick Maltby, Sales Executive T: 1800 896 152 E: sales@riteq.com.au W: www.riteq.com.au

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HR DISRUPTION

L&D

GROWING WORKFORCE 4.0 Traditional learning may be turned on its head if micro-credentials take off “DISRUPT YOURSELF or someone else will do it for you.” Those were the words of Professor Jane den Hollander, vice chancellor of Deakin University, at a November roundtable event held in Melbourne. It’s a worthy sentiment, one that was echoed around a table that included Cliff Rosenberg, MD of LinkedIn Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia; Irene Dietrich, senior manager, learning management, talent and culture at ANZ; Tim Fawcett, director of corporate and government affairs at Cisco; representatives from Deakin Digital, and others. DeakinDigital, backed by Deakin University, is putting words into action by shaking up corporate L&D. Professor den Hollander conceded that traditional university and business school courses such as MBAs were coming under pressure in terms of how much they cost students, and because of the rise of digital and online learning. The demands of employers are also putting pressure on universities to up their game. “We need to provide courses that are digital, sustainable and affordable,” Professor den Hollander said. LinkedIn’s Cliff Rosenberg echoed these sentiments: “Problem-solving, teamwork, even leadership – these skills are not developed very effectively through traditional university qualifications. Millennials also have certain expectations around how they will learn.”

Enter micro-credentials The field of micro-credentials, which measure and validate professional experience and represent this in the form of digital badges, has resulted in DeakinDigital working closely with industry bodies, deploying leadingedge technology backed by global education standards to give organisations a modern way to recruit, develop and deploy their people. These credentials – based on professional

capability standards – are a solution to digital disruption. DeakinDigital maintains that tired models of doing business and structuring work have resulted in many businesses fighting to hold market share. It advocates a globally recognised credential system. Professional practice credentials could potentially be the recognition and transportable symbol of capabilities in action. Further, credentials will take into consideration that non-formal

“We see credentials as providing the data to make decisions around how employers deploy and develop people” Simon Hann WHAT ARE CREDENTIALS? Credentials are a formal guarantee that skills and knowledge acquired through learning and experience have been successfully completed to the agreed outcomes. They: use a neutral language focused on applied outcomes, not just learning inputs allow shorter, more discrete packages of L&D to be undertaken and recognised focus on authentic assessment and real outcomes from the L&D process communicate and digitally record the skill, knowledge and attributes obtained, allowing the holder to attach a digital badge to their online or physical profile allow micro-credentials to ‘stack’ into a macro-credential (qualification) that recognises activities completed in the workplace and/or professional settings outside the ‘walls’ of the traditional educational provider (eg universities or technical, vocational education and training providers) remove time restrictions and costs associated with completing highly structured inflexible degree qualifications

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experience and capability developed through professional practice is just as valuable as formal learning and that this experience must be recognised to meet the requirements of future work. For employers, there is more authenticity in credentials because they are tied to reputable assurance of professional practice against a standard that is assessed through independently verified evidence of skills, knowledge and experience. If they are not the sponsor of the credential, the employer can request the individual provide access to the digital data supporting the credential and, potentially, items such as the evidence collected and information on the workplace/employer and even the assessors.

The framework The credential framework (see below) includes core professional capability standards that global research continues to confirm will be essential components of all jobs in the future. The framework also includes specialist professional expertise credentials developed in conjunction with professional associations (such as ADMA – the Association for Data Driven Marketing and Advertising) or organisations with global expertise in the field of practice. Core professional practice credentials

Specialist and common professional expertise credentials

Communication

Lead and develop people

Teamwork

Empower others

Digital literacy

Adapt and change

Critical thinking

Drive strategic results

Self-management

Innovation

Professional ethics

Content marketing (ADMA)

Global citizenship

Digital marketing (ADMA)

Emotional judgment

Data-driven marketing (ADMA) Creative (ADMA)

Time for change Simon Hann, CEO, DeakinDigital, told HRD that up to 80% of leadership development

programs failed to deliver the sustainable behavioural change desired. Some of this, he said, had been due to changes in the way people want to learn. “You’re not going to wait three months to do a leadership course to find out how to have a performance management conversation,” he said. “You’ll go online, you’ll find a video, or find an expert to take you through that. I can see a shift from expensive investment by employers into their own training content towards a better investment in measuring capability.” Hann cited a report by The Economist sponsored by Google in which organisations and employees were asked their view on the skills required by the workforce of the future in order for organisations to remain competitive. The skills came back as problemsolving, critical thinking, teamwork and communication, and digital literacy. The challenge up to this point has been the traditionally limited ways of measuring those skills. “They’ve never been expressly developed by organisations. They’ve focused on greater customer experience, or greater leadership skills, but the underlying capabilities, the make-up if you like, are those soft skills. Good customer experience comes from good communication,” he said. Given the mobile workforce, these credentials are based on global standards. “The fundamentals of good communication, whether it’s in Australia or China, remain the same,” Hann said. While its credentials are backed by Deakin University, Hann said DeakinDigital had also “white labelled” the credentialing machine. This meant that partnerships – such as that with ADMA – could be co-branded. “It’s not too much of a stretch to think there will be organisations and other industry associations that start to issue their own credentials. So an individual might get a Google credential in customer experience which is essentially measured and assessed to the Google standards for that capability and skill.”

CONTINUOUS LEARNING As depicted below, the HR life cycle can harness capabilities to shape jobs, recruit and select individuals, assess their development needs, manage talent and performance, and link attainment of credentials to more refined reward and benefit systems. Business need

Workforce planning & job design

Reward & benefits

Succession

CAPABILITIES & CREDENTIALS

Performance

Define talent & potential Selection & recruitment

Learning & development Source: Bowles 2009

The value proposition for HR will come from the visibility and measurement of where the organisation’s capability currently sits. “When HR is undertaking planning around how strategic objectives will be met, they must know the capabilities required to get there. It’s then targeting development programs around capability, as measured by the credentials. From the workforce-planning perspective, if you’re putting together a project team and you know you need people who are strong on teamwork and problem-solving, you need to know who you have with those skills. You can now have an inventory of the organisational capability that meets the profile for that team.” Ultimately, Hann hopes this might shift HR and hiring managers from making subjective assessments of people towards data-driven decisions. “We see credentials as providing the data to make decisions around how employers deploy and develop people. It’s verified evidence that someone does have the desired capabilities.”

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HR DISRUPTION

EXECUTIVE RELATIONSHIPS

HR AND FINANCE: JOINED AT THE HIP Disruption is causing two traditionally opposed C-suite executives to work more closely together than ever before NO PARTNERSHIP could potentially have a more immediate impact on business performance than CFOs and CHROs joining forces to work collaboratively. Yet HR departments and the CFO’s office have historically not worked as collaborators. The tide, however, is shifting in disruptive companies where the two worlds of HR and finance have begun to converge, with immediate results. At the start of a new year

were in agreement that aligning HR and finance could create immediate strategic value within an organisation.

Bridging the divide “As companies seek to grow, the two most likely obstacles they will face are a scarcity of funding and a shortage of human capital. To overcome these finance and talent bottlenecks, CEOs are increasingly

“While traditionally separate functions, organisations are finding closer collaboration between HR and finance is generating big results” Steve Vamos and with businesses looking ahead to 2020 and beyond, companies are increasingly being tasked to rethink the traditional relationship between finance and HR – to think more broadly, be more strategic and commercial, and be less siloed in structure. That’s according to a business forum hosted by Oracle Corporation in Sydney in October, at which a range of industry leaders

coming to rely more heavily on both the CFO and the CHRO,” said Tim Jennings, chief research officer and research fellow at analyst firm Ovum. He added that a growing number of organisations were turning to digital platforms that bridged the traditional divide between the two areas. “This allows both HR and financial decisions to be made based on

A PERFECT PARTNERSHIP The forum highlighted a range of key areas that CFOs and HR directors need to consider when striving to add value to their business. They included: The bottom line: CFOs and CHROs need to work together to reduce their organisation’s cost-to-income ratio through the use of workforce modelling and strategic workforce planning tools. Breaking down business silos: Organisations need to strive to break down the traditional barriers that exist between the HR and finance departments. Collaborative tools can assist in this process. Shared metrics of success: Both HR and finance need to be able to judge the success of their efforts based on similar criteria. ROI on top talent: HR wants to attract the best talent, and finance wants to keep costs contained. Methods to determine the ROI of new hires is therefore becoming increasingly important. The cost of diversity: Diversity is on everyone’s agenda; however, initiatives are not free. The cost of new programs needs to be carefully measured against results achieved. Productivity: Productivity is a priority for all businesses, yet it can have a different meaning for different stakeholders. A clear, cross-departmental definition is important.

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the most accurate data available within the organisation.” Another forum speaker, Steve Vamos, non-executive director of Telstra and Fletcher Building Limited, and former CEO of Microsoft ANZ and Ninemsn, said, “In 2016 and fast-changing times, to be truly successful business leaders have to shift their mindset. We need a mindset that is better suited to the world in which we operate and that strongly enables the potential that people and technology have to achieve great things. “This is particularly important when you consider the relationship between HR and finance. While traditionally separate functions, organisations are finding closer collaboration between the two is generating big results. Working together, HR and finance can more effectively support new initiatives, explore new ideas and raise productivity. This changed mindset can deliver immediate results and, over time, help boost the business bottom line.” Sue Kent, head of HR at consumer finance business Pepper Group, said, “While HR deals with people, and finance is focused on money, it is vital to build a solid bridge between the two areas. The biggest cost to our business is people, and so making sure we retain the very best and make them as productive as possible is important for future growth. “It’s also important that no department has its own particular agenda. All must work together towards a shared goal. When information is presented to senior management, whether by one department or together, it needs to be consistent and accurate, and this can only come from having a platform that spans the business.” Kent’s colleague, Cameron Small, Pepper’s group chief financial officer, argued that an important factor for his

HOW MUCH COLLABORATION IS OCCURRING? A survey of 340 senior executives in finance and HR by Willis Towers Watson examined how well companies were fostering collaboration between the functions – and how well they were achieving the alignment that collaboration could engender. As the graph below shows, HR and finance teams in about four in 10 organisations work together on setting strategy for reward programs, and the same proportion collaborate on determining changes to reward programs – despite the fact that only about two in 10 HR managers think their function works with finance to set overall workforce strategy. Finance managers are considerably more likely to think they work with HR on setting workforce strategy, but they are much less likely to believe they collaborate with HR on developing the company’s annual budgets. In what ways do finance and HR work together in your company? Finance agrees

HR agrees 46%

Finance and HR work together on developing annual budgets Finance and HR work together on setting workforce strategy Finance and HR work together on setting strategy for reward programs Finance and HR work together on determining changes to reward programs Finance and HR will collaborate more in the next three years

62% 35% 23% 39% 41%

43% 42% 49% 70% Source: Towers Watson, July 2013: Driving Performance Through Enhanced HR/Finance Collaboration

company’s success was having a flat management structure. “Communication and collaboration is key, particularly when it comes to the HR and finance departments. By understanding the priorities of each, informed decisions can be made that will help the organisation achieve its goals.” James Finlay, sales director, HCM, at Oracle in Australia, concluded,

“No partnership has more potential for immediate impact on business performance than CHROs and CFOs working in collaboration to create crosspillar efficiencies, plan a workforce of the future through workforce modelling and strategic workforce planning, and increase efficiencies and productivity through changes to operating models.”

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HR DISRUPTION

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

A GENERATION SET UP FOR FAILURE? Much like millennials have changed the way we work, soon they will change the way we lead. However, Hiam Sakakini suggests the old leadership development models will not work for this generation

WE’VE NOW moved firmly into an era in which millennials are taking on the responsibility of managing people. The problem is their predecessors haven’t given serious consideration to the unique ways millennials learn, adapt and grow as

professionals, and consequently are not arming them with the critical leadership capabilities that ensure future sustainability of an organisation. I see it everywhere: senior leaders taking a page from the old textbook, ‘How to manage

and grow a workforce’. But this advice simply doesn’t work any more for the 6.1 million millennials in the workforce today. How scary to think we are potentially missing easy opportunities to engage this segment of future leaders. Having spent a significant portion of my career both managing a team of millennials and learning about their needs, it has become apparent to me that this old way of developing our future leaders doesn’t develop leaders any more. To get some perspective let’s look at the trends Gen Y bring with them: • Millennials typically have itchy feet and tend not to stay in a position longer than two to three years maximum. • They like to work in sprints – short projects with rotating teams increase their productivity and engagement. You’ll notice that emergent leaders will feel compelled to solve a problem presented through a project and then retreat to being part of the team once the problem they noticed is solved. • They prefer a leader who is involved and inclusive, a mentor and a coach, as well as a friend. Someone who is accessible, not hierarchical. Someone who genuinely cares about them as a whole person – not just during their working hours.

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• They need immediate feedback on their performance. They want it straight after a milestone is achieved. They are natives of the digital world, which has propelled the art of instant feedback. • They are driven by their core values, which anchor their every decision. This seems to be instilled by a great relationship with their parents, who tend to be the key influencers in their decision-making. • They enjoy a challenge, they like to be constantly stimulated, and they aren’t afraid to stretch themselves out of their comfort zone – especially when the project has impact. So, with all these trends in mind, the challenge now is how do you grow leaders who typically don’t spend very long in a single role or with one employer? What strategies do you need to implement to fulfil their need to feel challenged and learn best on the job? And how do you factor in their care about impact, not status and titles? How you incorporate all of this into a journey that develops leaders for the future will determine the long-term success and stability of your organisation.

It starts with managers of managers Typically, promotion and therefore, by default, succession planning rewards bottom-line results. Type A personalities that are quite driven, fearless, competitive and focused do exceptionally well as individual contributors rising through the ranks because they are as goal driven with their careers as they are with their KPIs. They get noticed, they openly ask for a promotion, and they are seen as natural leaders over and above those who seem ‘too emotional’. I will admit that, as a young saleswoman at Google who loved to smash through every target handed to me, I was that person. Before I knew it I had a team and was expected to teach them the tips and tricks that I knew instinctively. The problem was I was never equipped to coach, and as a result I faltered ... badly.

HR FUNDAMENTALS: OLD VS NEW Old-school

New-school

Hire for a specific team

Hire for personal values and cultural fit

Hire for skills and experience

Hire for motivation, growth mindset and aptitude for change

Promote based on bottom-line results and short-term achievements

Promote on results combined with behaviours and long-term impact

Develop leaders through high-potential fast-track plans and programs

Develop leaders through experiential on-the-job projects that bake in coaching, reflection, tools and guides

Give feedback at performance review time

Give feedback in real time

How can managers of managers play a crucial role?

Pay attention to how your superstars are achieving their KPIs. Are they collaborative? Are they inclusive? Do they ask for feedback from their teammates as well as from you? Are they helping their team towards achieving their collective goals? Rewarding the how as much if not more than the what through your competency and behaviour frameworks will by default get the right future leaders into the next leadership layer. Support your new managers with learning the art of coaching. This is a new skill that typically only gets taught after an individual contributor becomes a manager, and is crucial to their success and the success of their team. Be the meta-coach.

Deconstructing leadership learning This is a challenge! And it will require investment of time and the support of a good internal or external learning and development business partner, but the investment will pay off. Within everyday workplace teams, projects and initiatives, there exist golden opportunities to learn valuable leadership lessons. This all starts with a) identifying the learning opportunity, b) keeping the right tools, principles and techniques at your fingertips

to match the scenario at hand, c) having the guidance of an experienced facilitator who allows the team time to stop, reflect, give feedback and experiment. I don’t think leadership programs will entirely be replaced by this approach; however, the tools and principles that lie within them can be deconstructed into bite-size, easy-to-use downloadables, facilitator guides and ‘how to’ videos that can be used within the life cycle of any project or initiative. Capitalising on the learning opportunities within everyday business projects will mean a richer experience for all involved and potentially less time and money spent on formal leadership learning courses. Ultimately, the ramp-up time to upskill future leaders will be significantly shorter, coinciding with the trends of millennials and their itchy feet! PS An interesting side effect will be more ROI for your L&D budget. Hiam Sakakini is the co-founder of Think Change Grow and is the former head of leadership development at Google APAC. During 14-plus years of working in Fortune 500 companies in a range of roles, Hiam has developed a passion for pinpointing the simplest strategies to help individuals and teams build the skills, confidence and competence needed to become genuinely customer-focused and deliver outstanding bottom-line business results. Visit thinkchangegrow.com.

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HR DISRUPTION

TECHNOLOGY

HR TECHNOLOGY: THE NEXT WAVE What’s next for HR technology? HRD sat down with Stephan Scholl, president of major tech player Infor, and Helen Masters, vice president & managing director for South Asia - ANZ & ASEAN at Infor, to chat about why technology remains the single greatest disruptive force in HR HRD: What for you has been the biggest workplace technology game changer of the past decade? Stephan Scholl: Mobile and cloud are the biggest game changers I’ve seen as part of this digital transformation that’s happening in every industry, from government to manufacturing to retail. It probably started in retail when the Amazon playbook completely disrupted the retail space and put it on its ear. A $400bn company came out of nowhere and took that market by storm. Every aspect of all industries has been dramatically impacted by digital.

HRD: What do we mean by ‘impacted by digital’ and can you provide an example? SS: ‘Digital’ is a broad term, a bit like ‘cloud’. If I think about the manufacturing sector, which is one of Infor’s largest sectors and probably the next sector being forced to transform, manufacturers used to have a somewhat simpler business model. You were either a manufacturer that built products like sports shoes or cars, and you had production set up with staff and employees who were acclimatised to low volume and being highly specialised. Or on the other side of the coin

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you had widgets, volume, size and scale. What’s happening today is both those models have collided. Everybody wants a configured or customised order – from golf clubs to Nike running shoes to Ferraris and Fords. It’s the shift from a one-to-many relationship to a one-to-one relationship. Everyone is looking to build a unique oneto-one relationship with a customer. For HR, that has disrupted the sort of people you hire, the profiles of the people you need,

the business process and architecture you require, and the connectivity across your supply chain. That’s just one example.

HRD: Do you believe Australian businesses are fast or slow adopters of new technology? Helen Masters: I do business in Southeast Asia and here in the Pacific, and I’ve spent time with Australia’s public sector, and what I’ve noticed is local governments specifically

“The big piece right now is the talent science side: the notion of profiling and hiring the right people” Stephan Scholl AVOIDING TECH FATIGUE With constant upgrades, and new systems and gadgets always beckoning, it’s no surprise workers are feeling the strain. How can HR help mitigate the risk of tech fatigue? Stephan Scholl responds: “I see tech fatigue occurring when companies undertake tech transformations and it’s positioned – as the cloud has been – as a cost-saving measure instead of a transformation. Tech fatigue is avoided when the CEO has demonstrated to the workers that they are transforming their customer’s relationship with the company. The business is growing and digital transformation and technology is at the core of it. From the HR point of view it’s critical to translate a CEO’s message around transformation and make it applicable for each employee. It’s magic when it happens.”

are bringing on board people focused on digital transformation. They’re calling them digital transformation officers and they are focusing on customer engagement. What I’m telling manufacturing clients is that right now things are slow in your sector, but the key is to undertake your projects now – modernise, upgrade, get your cost centres as efficient as possible – so that when we do come out of the slump you are so far ahead of your competitors that you leapfrog ahead. SS: The conversations we’re having, particularly with government agencies, are around moving off old, highly modified HR systems and adopting the newer HCM suites that run in the cloud. Twenty years ago government and government agencies spent heavily on technology. So this is the cycle of renewal; rather than just doing the small changes and upgrading existing systems, they are making step changes and adopting a whole new philosophy. It’s hard to get money from existing public funds, so they are now saying rather than just undertaking incremental small steps let’s go big.

HRD: All aspects of the workplace have been impacted by technology – can you talk about how it has impacted efficiency and productivity? SS: The big piece right now is the talent science side: the notion of profiling and hiring the right people. We have amazing data from Footlocker, the shoe retailer. The productivity improvement per salesperson is dramatic when talent science is utilised to hire the right people: high double-digit improvements not just to performance but in terms of retention rates, attrition rates, and satisfaction rates. We’re seeing a huge rise globally in taking the human element of interviewing and adding a moneyball element – using a baseball term. Talent science methodology will have a huge impact on retail, government agencies, hospitals, every industry.

3 TRENDS TO WATCH OUT FOR WorkForce Software Australia has identified three key technology features that will drive workforce management advancement in 2017: 1. Increased demand for workplace flexibility Workplace flexibility is set to become even more important as many employees are increasingly looking for jobs that let them work from home or offer flexible hours. A cloud-based solution lets users log in from any Web-enabled device without being limited by browser or the need to install plug-ins and applications. This boosts workplace flexibility and productivity by letting employees access data remotely and at any time. Because they see a consistent instance of the software they are using, it is simple for employees to switch from laptop to smartphone to tablet without difficulty. Cloud deployment opens up the workplace from being the traditional office space to anywhere the individual employee finds themselves. 2. Real-time leave management An automated system makes it easy for employees and managers to manage time-off requests in real time. As a result, employees can take a proactive approach to managing work-life balance while adhering to organisational leave policies. 3. Data sharing In many ways, sharing data goes hand in hand with real-time processes; one feeds the other to maximise productivity. For example, the data produced by a workforce management platform that can gain real-time insight into a worker’s activity can feed that data back into automated systems, which can ensure workers are optimally scheduled. For further information, visit wfsaustralia.com HRD: How about the impact on collaboration? SS: Today email is an old-fashioned way of communicating and collaborating. We have our own tool called Mingle, which is like a Facebook for companies. The notion is it’s all based on the end user – so you come in on the morning and it’s all based on your function, your wall, you have your network of friends. Friends in the business context are people you work with every day. If you’re in sales and you deal with the order, then you have the plant manager, the receiving division, the packing group, the shipping department. It’s all instant and it’s all auditable, so it can be tracked. It’s matching how millennials connect with their friends. I’ve hired 4,000 people over the last four years in this company, and I’ll tell you the interviews are all about our

culture, our workplace environment, how we conduct business, and how we communicate.

HRD: Looking ahead to 2017, what is going to be the next big disruptor in the technology market? SS: It’s the next evolution of data science and analytics to help businesses run better. The byproduct of that is we’ll get more into the dynamic science of getting so much more information on employees and customers. That will impact everyone’s job. We’ve built a dynamic science lab with MIT that does nothing but crunch the data for large customers. It’s amazing what you can uncover in terms of hiring profiles and product strategy, to name just two areas, when you have the right data and your customer behaviour information can be crunched in minutes rather than weeks.

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FEATURES

EXECUTIVE COACHING

CALMING STORMY SEAS: EXECUTIVE COACHING In periods of uncertainty it’s in the interests of both employers and employees to commit to professional development, and one proven option is executive coaching “THIS IS a really tough time to be a CEO or running a large corporate division,” says Denise Fleming, managing director, Foresight’s Global Coaching (FGC). “There’s generally nobody to talk to once you get to that level, and it can be a very competitive environment. That’s why we often see CEOs

up their leadership skills. “The future is indefinable. The challenges a leader today faces will require high levels of courage and a truly open mind to enable them to lead their organisations successfully to some new place, probably in a changed marketplace,” she says. How can these choppy seas be navigated?

“No doubt a lot of what’s to come will be brilliant and exciting – but it’ll take courage on the side of leaders to get there” Denise Fleming, Foresight’s Global Coaching of large corporations stay for five years and at the end of that period they’ll need at least 12 months to do nothing but rest. They are burnt out – it’s often a 24/7 job and most of them are 365 days a year. You can’t keep that up.” This personal stress is magnified during uncertain and often volatile business conditions. Fleming says there is only one response: leaders must exponentially ramp

One answer may lie in executive coaching. “Working with a former CEO or country head, which is what all FGC coaches are, can provide a confidential space to try to make sense of what’s happening and come up with the best possible solutions,” Fleming says.

Why use an executive coach? Finding an effective coach is critical.

Although history over many decades has shown the benefit of having an internal mentor – as opposed to coach – Fleming warns the mentoring process must be well structured and the mentor must be a senior executive from a different part of the business, otherwise confidentiality issues can arise. Much more effective, Fleming says, is an external coach who works with a leader in an environment of total confidentiality. “Another employee acting as a sounding board can’t do that,” she adds. HR practitioners, for example, can provide an executive with feedback on a whole host of issues pertinent to the organisation, but they must do so carefully. “Giving feedback to a more senior executive may not be a good career move for a HR practitioner,” says Fleming. “Internal sounding boards may not see the organisation objectively or understand the full ramifications, particularly in terms of how decisions may impact the board of directors.” An external executive coach will be fully briefed on negative issues, which can be addressed within the coaching environment. They may also have greater understanding of those issues in terms of the impact on the executive’s career aspirations. The coaches at FGC are themselves non-executive directors and have often had extensive senior-level leadership experience. In short, they know first-hand both the external environment currently facing leaders and the stresses these leaders are under. “As a senior-level coach you only have credibility if you’ve been there, done that. It doesn’t matter what qualifications you have or where you’ve come from and what theory you have behind it – unless you’ve actually sat in one of those high-level roles you have no understanding of the enormous pressure and the stress in these jobs,” Fleming says.

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EXECUTIVE COACHING VS LIFE COACHING Foresight’s coaches are also committed to continuous learning themselves, including monthly development meetings with their colleagues and two off-site sessions a year. To cite just one example, for the last two years FGC has been researching and learning about what Fleming calls the global digital revolution. “We looked at the industries that were going to be dramatically impacted by technology; we looked at the leadership in those sectors and the sorts of things they’d have to do differently,” Fleming says. “Our focus has been on coaching leaders to navigate these changes.”

The practicalities The FGC model starts by matching the senior executive to the right coach. Firstly, a

Is there a fine line between executive coaching and life coaching? Denise Fleming explains: “It’s easy to see what’s common between life coaching and coaching leaders in an organisation: both involve work with people. The appropriate life coaching can provide support to someone who needs individual help for whatever reason, but usually they pay for that service themselves. Executive coaching is measured against the objectives set by the organisation, who pays the fee, and it’s only successful if it meets both the organisation’s and the client’s [executive’s] objectives. There has to be an organisational return. In this environment many are relying on leaders’ success – the investors, the employees, the board.”

brief is taken from the executive’s manager or chairperson. “We ask them, what do you want this executive to do differently that will make your job easier? It’s critical to get their involvement because they know what this particular individual could do that could make the organisation more effective, more efficient or deliver whatever it is the board wants them to deliver on,” Fleming says.

A separate brief is obtained from the group HR leader or most appropriate HR professional. The objective is to gain insights around how the executive works with people: Do they have loyal reports? Do they have difficulty retaining people? How do they work with peers? Finally, a brief is obtained from the executive – the client – to get a sense of the challenges they are facing. “It’s holistic,”

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EXECUTIVE COACHING Brought to you by

ONE BIG MYTH Denise Fleming says it’s a myth that anyone with business experience can be an executive coach. “They can’t,” she says. “Brilliant coaches are very rare and very special.” Here are some characteristics they must hold: • Credibility and peer respect; not just knowledge of administrative or business roles but genuine credibility from having been there, done that. They must understand the dynamics and politics of large organisations • Collegiality and collaborative skills – and the ability to communicate with clarity • Wisdom and authenticity, with a genuine commitment to the success of the client and their organisation; it’s not about them

Fleming says. “For example, sometimes people have external pressures at home. Or internally they may have difficulty with peers, or difficulty with direct reports, or they may be extremely keen to get that next role and they don’t quite know why they haven’t got it or what they have to do next.” Those three briefs are then merged together into what FGC calls the ‘Coaching Brief ’. From there the organisation will set the objectives. That brief is used by Fleming and her team to select the most suitable coach; that is, the person with the right background, experience, knowledge and personality to deliver what both the organisation and the individual hope to achieve.

about enhancing our client’s ability to make decisions, to own what they’re doing. The client always owns the decision they take, but a coach will help them to make sure they’re exploring the right areas, asking the right questions, and so on.” The agreed objectives form the backbone of assessment of ROI. The FGC model is simple in this regard: advancement towards the organisation’s agreed objectives is considered the appropriate return on the coaching investment. These objectives might, for example, concentrate on integrating an acquired business or preparing an executive to step into a CEO role. The organisation has the opportunity at any time to change those

• Intellectual rigour

“As a senior-level coach you only have credibility if you’ve been there, done that”

• Personal confidence

Denise Fleming, Foresight’s Global Coaching

• Superior listening skills • The ability to frame and ask the right questions. “If you know the right question to ask, it can be a game changer,” Fleming says

FORESIGHT’S GLOBAL COACHING FGC began as a subsidiary to Foresight’s M&A advisory in 1997. FGC provides Executive Coaching to the most senior corporate executives across Australia, and in the UK, South Africa, the United States and parts of Asia. FGC‘s distinguished and experienced Coaches are supported by a robust coaching model.

From there it’s up to the executive and their diary to decide how much time they devote to the coaching sessions. “In our model you have total uncapped access to a coach. There are no specific sessions. Everything is customised to you and your needs,” Fleming says, adding that ideally a face-to-face meeting is held at least every two weeks. (This can escalate to a couple of times a week during a restructure or major upheaval.) “It’s a relationship, not a timed-session model,” says Fleming. Every three months FGC will review the coach with the direct manager, the executive themselves and the HR representative to make sure objectives are being met. A contract may run for only 12 months, or it may be extended depending on personal circumstances. The one proviso, Fleming notes, is that the executive does not become dependent on the coach for decision-making. “Our coaching is

objectives. Senior executives will also be given confidential personal objectives such as stress reduction or enhanced leadership capabilities; these are assessed in total confidence by the coach. “The evidence of our success is the longterm relationships we have with our corporate customers, which goes back in some cases to when we started in 1998,” Fleming says. “It isn’t hard to assess ROI in our model because we coach to measurable objectives. That’s what we do – there’s nothing woolly about what we do.”

Courage It takes courage to be a great leader, and Fleming reiterates that this new era requires a different kind of courage. “We can’t predict what will happen in the future. No doubt a lot of what’s to come will be brilliant and exciting – but it’ll take courage on the side of leaders to get there.”

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FEATURES

CONTRACTOR MANAGEMENT

DOTTING THE I’S AND CROSSING THE T’S With contracting increasing in popularity for both workers and employers, how can HR create contracting relationships that are both value-adding and compliant?

THERE HAS been a quiet revolution transforming the make-up of Australia’s workforce over the past decade. Australian Bureau of Statistics figures for 2013 indicate that 17.2% of the Australian workforce is selfemployed. This equates to two million persons. And since 2013, independent contractor numbers have surged from 8.5% (986,000) to 11.2% (1,310,000) of the workforce.

on how independent contractors should be managed. However, this uncertainty may cause already-busy HR professionals to pause before advising their organisations that engaging contractors is the way forward. Certica® is on mission to change this perception. The company aims to champion the right of businesses and individuals to engage in compliant and mutually beneficial

“We’ve entered the era where individuals can now participate in a global economy, without the need for support of a multinational corporate employer” David Marriner, Certica® With any great change comes uncertainty, and that’s also the case with how employers are engaging with this growing workforce contingent. David Marriner, CEO of Certica®, says “a maelstrom of regulatory nonsense and red tape” will not hamper the growth of this labour force contingent; nor will different and oftencontradictory viewpoints from regulators

contracting arrangements. The ultimate goal is to allow HR to focus on high-level strategy, while Certica® manages the dayto-day operations. “We partner with businesses and individuals to provide certainty to all parties that the obligations of the arrangement are being met,” says Marriner. “With us taking care of things like taxes, insurances, employment and

contracting laws, registrations, lodgements, superannuation, and so on, being in business becomes simpler and more rewarding, and our clients can focus on what they do best – growing their own base of happy customers.”

A global trend Australia is not alone in this shift towards more contingent workers. There is a worldwide trend towards freelancing and outsourcing specific functions to microenterprises, and the growth of web platforms has helped drive this growth. “Talent can now be sourced and engaged via the internet from any location in the world,” Marriner says. However, it appears that Australia’s rigid workplace relations legislation has not kept pace. Marriner feels the difference in global labour rates presents an arbitrage opportunity with clear incentives to engage talent outside of Australia. “We’ve entered the era where individuals can now participate in a global economy, without the need for support of a multinational corporate employer,” he says. Marriner adds that self-employment will also be a critical driver towards the Prime Minister’s vision of an innovative and entrepreneurial age, “yet Australia’s regulators and labour laws are structured in a way that demonises contracting”. Indeed, there is an assumption that contracting is used by business only to avoid liabilities or to disadvantage workers. “This is not true,” says Marriner, who laments that the term ‘sham contracting’ has been used by regulators as a pejorative label to describe all contracting arrangements, “with seemingly little effort being placed on using the term in its truest legal sense”. “The trend to present an ideological bias against contracting implies that these arrangements are somehow less legitimate than direct employment, but this is simply not the case,” he says.

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THE FLEXIBLE OPTION

Sham contracting in focus Under the sham contracting provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009, an employer cannot: – misrepresent an employment relationship or a proposed employment arrangement as an independent contracting arrangement – dismiss or threaten to dismiss an employee for the purpose of engaging them as an independent contractor – make a knowingly false statement to persuade or influence an employee to become an independent contractor “We do not tolerate sham contracting, and support strong laws and penalties against businesses and individuals that evade their legal obligations,” Marriner says. “It’s critical that all commentary on the topic takes care to distinguish the difference between sham contracting – which is a

Today’s national average tenure in a job is 3.3 years. This means that a vast majority of workers are seeking flexibility and transferable skills and are reacting to market demand and supply for work. Marriner says it’s important that HR professionals examine the make-up of their workforce to ensure that outcomes can be delivered dynamically and without the rigidity or constraints of traditional employment models. “We know first-hand, businesses large, small, publicly traded or family owned can start developing a diverse mix of independent contracting and employees any time of their enterprise journey. Basing your business growth on whether you can afford an extra employee under a fixed employment structure is unnecessary and indeed stifling.”

deliberate or reckless misrepresentation of an employment arrangement as a contractor arrangement – and the very legitimate term of ‘independent contracting’.” When engaging contract labour, it is essential to ensure that contractors meet strict compliance and conduct standards as required by regulators. A failure to uphold high compliance places the engager of contract labour at risk of employment claims, taxation and superannuation liabilities, workplace health and safety breaches and insurance claims.

Below the line compliance Much of the mainstream commentary on

high-profile legal cases involving independent contractors to date has focused on what Certica® calls ‘above the line’ engagement practices, centring on the many interpretations of the Fair Work Act (2009). While these issues are all critical in determining the true nature of a contracting relationship, Marriner says they are just the tip of the iceberg. “It is absolutely imperative that we spend time addressing the ‘below the line’ deeming laws that govern responsible contracting,” he adds. Below the line areas of concern include: • individual remittance of workers’ personal income tax • provisions for individual superannuation

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CONTRACTOR MANAGEMENT Brought to you by

SUCCESSFUL CONTRACTOR ENGAGEMENT David Marriner provides his tips for engaging contractors ‘in totality’. • Practise what you preach: if your contract allows the contractors to work for other clients, or delegate work and accept/reject work as it suits their business requirements, make sure that you allow this to happen in practice. All too often, we find that the agreement doesn’t marry up with the operation. • Review your engagement regularly: industrial relations is an ever-changing landscape. Ensure that you have a mechanism in place to capture any changes to deeming laws, the treatment of contractor payments/expenses, and that you regularly apply those changes within your business. • Get advice: all too often, businesses rely on their accountant or commercial lawyer for IR advice, yet this area of expertise is so unique and complex that you truly do need to seek specialist advice. • Don’t dress it up: make sure that the offers of work you are making are clearly communicated up front, and ensure that workers are aware of your intent to enter into a contracting arrangement before they start work.

CERTICA Certica® makes contracting simple and compliant for both contractors and the businesses that engage their services. With headquarters in Brisbane, Australia, Certica® is considered the industry leader in contractor compliance and management, and continues to deliver Certainty to 100% of its clients, keeping them Contractor Ready™.

• workers’ compensation for deemed workers • remittance of payroll tax for deemed workers • adequate individual insurance coverage • building licences, blue cards, etc. “By only considering the ‘above the line’ issues, we are neglecting to address the unfairness created by abusers of ‘below the line’ compliance, the effect of which impacts all of us,” Marriner says. “We all use hospitals, schools, roads and transport, so workers – whether they are contractors or employees – should equally contribute to their responsibilities for taxation,

language and obligations. Transparency and intent are paramount.” This includes job advertising. Any contractor procurement advertising must be clear and unambiguous as to the employer’s intentions in engaging contractors. “Far too often recruiters ‘dress up’ the advert to increase applicant responses; however, this may expose your business to risks of sham contracting due to a misrepresentation of the offer,” Marriner says. “Furthermore, you are less likely to attract an entrepreneurial individual with advertising that doesn’t champion the benefits of flexibility and control which contractors seek.”

“Contractors allow businesses to see the ‘outside in’. Treat the contractor like a person who is needed and cherished by the organisation – that’s because the contractor is needed and cherished” David Marriner, Certica® superannuation, etc, and ensure that they are adequately insured to cover the risks they might incur for themselves or others.” Ignoring these issues is tantamount to endorsing contracting as an avoidance scheme, he adds. “We believe that contracting is a right of choice available to businesses and individuals alike; however, compliant contracting means being responsible and meeting all of your statutory obligations.”

Other considerations Many of these obligations extend to third-party partners such as recruitment agencies. “Responsible contracting starts before an offer has even been made,” Marriner says. “Any business that seeks to engage a contractor to provide services must ensure that all parties involved in procurement have sufficient knowledge of contracting

Marriner adds that contracting is all about the ability of both parties to accept or reject certain conditions of employment, and both parties should have bargaining power in the arrangement. Finally, HR should ensure that contractors are onboarded in a consistent and compliant manner. The days of the contractor sitting in the corner who no one talks to should be over. “Just like you would induct any new employees, HR professionals should absolutely take the time to facilitate a contractor induction to your business culture,” Marriner says. “Using a contractor does not mean that unique organisational culture cannot be lived and breathed. On the contrary, contractors allow businesses to see the ‘outside in’. Treat the contractor like a person who is needed and cherished by the organisation – that’s because the contractor is needed and cherished.”

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PROFILE

FRESHII

A FRESH APPROACH TO LEADERSHIP Freshii opened its first 100 restaurants faster than Subway, Starbucks and McDonald’s. The key to its success is not just the vision of CEO Matthew Corrin, but also the innovative people policies of its VP of people culture, Ashley Dalziel, as Iain Hopkins discovers FANS OF the popular television series Undercover Boss may recall Freshii CEO Matthew Corrin’s appearance on the show six years ago, when he became the youngest-ever CEO on the program. Although the show is notoriously confronting for business leaders – they get a sneak peek at what it’s like to work ‘undercover’ in their own organisation – Corrin says it was a “fun experience”. Importantly, it reminded him of how familyoriented Freshii’s stores are. “The franchise partners treat employees like family, and there’s no better feeling than that,” he says. While franchise operations have their own unique challenges, Corrin says he wouldn’t have it any other way: “With a franchise model, with the exception of being the founder of your own business, there is no greater entrepreneurial venture – you’re effectively running your own business and living the Canadian or American dream.” This entrepreneurial spirit is embedded in Freshii’s culture. Corrin cites one of the company’s hourly workers, Jason, who started working at Freshii when Corrin

himself was managing one of the stores. “I let Jason buy into that store,” Corrin says. “He bought a 10% stake in the store, and just over two years ago he took a 100% stake in that store. Then he purchased a second location, and now he’s about to buy his third.

massive success? It’s beneficial to backtrack to Corrin’s original mission for the company: to encourage people to live healthier lives by making healthy eating as convenient and affordable as possible. “Ten years ago when I founded the

“We’ve created a place where people can achieve their personal goals, their philanthropic goals, their financial and philosophical goals. When you find a place where you can do all that, it may be forever” That’s a brilliant story of living the American dream, but equally it makes me so proud that he’s now paying it forward by letting his employees buy stakes in the stores that he runs so they can all become entrepreneurs.”

Tapping the power of millennials How else can one account for Freshii’s

business, what I found was that people would take the path of least resistance – they’d eat a burger or pizza,” Corrin says. “I believe the more convenient and affordable we make it, the more we’ve eliminated the excuses for why people won’t eat healthy food.” The company’s employees live and breathe this mission to this day – and Corrin insists it

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PROFILE

FRESHII

LEADING MILLENNIALS: MATTHEW CORRIN’S COMMUNICATION TIPS “I talk in sound bites because sound bites are memorable. They are easy for others to understand and articulate, and by others, in Freshii’s case, I mean not only the hundreds of franchise partners but the thousands of employees who don the Freshii uniform every day and the dozens of team members at HQ.” “Choose the right communication channel. Pick the right moment to know when to make a verbal statement or type a personalised letter to someone. In the world of information, you’re being hit by hundreds of data points. You want your messages to cut through and be memorable. I’d say I spend a disproportionate portion of my energy thinking about the packaging of the message as much as the message itself.” “Be accessible. Of course I use email and social channels, but face-to-face is so important. The power of looking someone in the eye and reading their reaction – you can’t get the same feeling any other way.”

has been critical to attracting the right talent to the company. Some 98% of the company’s management team are millennials, including Corrin himself. In addition, two thirds of the company’s franchise partners are millennials – and these employees, he says, want to work somewhere they can truly believe in. Corrin has become something of an expert in recruiting, engaging and retaining millennials. He insists his generation doesn’t learn and respond to traditional communications in the same way as other generations. As a result, Freshii has created tools that appeal specifically to these younger workers. Examples include ensuring all training tools are online, with a strong focus on images and videos and less focus on text. The company’s VP of people culture, Ashley Dalziel, adds that a key to retaining these notoriously (but perhaps incorrectly branded) fickle employees is to provide what she describes as “experiences money can’t buy”. “We provide experiences that they might not have access to at their age and stage of life,” she says. “It might be doing a team workout with a world-class triathlete, or sitting in the box seats at a sporting event.

We’re cognizant that it’s not just about giving people more money.”

The triple bottom line Another key is triple bottom line reporting. Corrin says his generation cares deeply about more than just financial results – they care about people, profit and planet. Freshii’s commitment to CSR is impressive. A partnership with Free the Children ensures that more than one million meals per year are created for those who are less fortunate. While a major focus is on feeding kids in Kenya, the initiative is global. The company also invests in creating school gardens and kitchens so young people can access healthy, sustainable food. Corrin’s personal motto is ‘Freshii forever’. He says loyalty to one company is a very unmillennial concept, but he believes his management team is prepared to spend their entire careers at Freshii. “One of the biggest knocks on millennials is that we get bored very easily and we will gladly go to another company with the same pay and same title just because the colour of our business card is different,” he says. “What’s refreshing about our company is we’ve created a place where people can achieve their personal

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goals, their philanthropic goals, their financial and philosophical goals. When you find a place where you can do all that, it may be forever.”

Unique insights Millennials are projected to make up 30% of the workforce by 2025, and Corrin says his company is in a fantastic position to capitalise on this. “I think there are few brands in the world that have a better idea of what makes that generation tick,” he says. “Most other

and our investment in people power are really a statement of how important people are as we scale the business.” During Dalziel’s time at Lululemon, the company grew from 28 stores to 350 stores globally, and culture was critical to its success. It was a perfect training ground for Dalziel. “When I came on board, one of the things I wanted to do was define our people values,” she says. “These are the core values that are true to all Freshii people. We’ve worked those values through the recruitment and

“Most other bricks-and-mortar brands typically have a head office full of baby boomers ... We don’t have to think about what millennials want; we simply ask ourselves, ‘What do we want?’” bricks-and-mortar brands typically have a head office full of baby boomers, people in their 40s and 50s. They may be working on brands that are very millennial-centric, but they need to put their feet in the shoes of millennials and ask, ‘What do you think millennials would want?’ We don’t have to think about what millennials want; we simply ask ourselves, ‘What do we want?’” This, in turn, allows the company to move fast. “It’s how we can scale so quickly,” Corrin says. “We’re more nimble because it takes us less time to go through that exercise.”

A helping hand Like a true entrepreneur, Corrin had a vision for the company that helped shape its culture. However, with such rapid growth, he realised he needed help. “I had to empower someone who I thought was culturally aligned with me and then find ways to push it through the system as we expanded.” He lured Dalziel from Lululemon just over a year ago. “Our success is not about the business plan or the products; it’s about the people,” Corrin says. “So our head of people

onboarding processes, our performance reviews and how we recognise talent.” She places alignment to Freshii’s values and culture fit as essential must-haves in the hiring process. Every person who hopes to open a restaurant comes to a ‘discovery day’ when the Freshii team spends time with them to ensure they are culturally and philosophically aligned. “It’s critical we bring the right people on as franchise partners,” she says. “We don’t do any advertising for these roles, so whoever comes to us is already engaged and a fan of the brand. Then we go deep in our behavioural interviewing and testing because we need them to be passionate about our vision, and they need to create the type of store culture that we envision at Freshii.” Once selected, every partner who opens a restaurant anywhere in the world spends two weeks at corporate HQ. Time is spent not just on training but also on the Freshii culture. As the company grows and grows – the first Aussie store opened in Perth in late 2016 – Corrin and Dalziel will be working doubly hard to ensure that Freshii’s

WHAT’S THE KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL HR/CEO RELATIONSHIP? Matthew Corrin: “The people element is entwined in everything we do, regardless of whether it’s finance or supply chain or marketing, so I immediately shone the light on Ashley when she joined and told our department heads that she’d be involved in their work. That’s recognition that trust is essential to our working relationship. Ultimately what she’s trying to do is take my vision as the founder and, through coaching and guidance, scale that through our organisation. Given her experience at other global consumer brands, I think she sees things differently than other people on my executive team. She offers me perspectives I haven’t considered before.”

FRESHII BY THE NUMBERS

98% 23 2 100+ 4

Percentage of millennial employees at Freshii HQ; the figure is 85% at the store level Matthew Corrin’s age when he established Freshii 10 years ago Average number of new Freshii stores opening every week of the year Number of cities (in 15 countries) with Freshii stores Number of hours Matthew Corrin sleeps each night, thanks primarily to having two young children

winning culture remains strong. “As the brand has gotten bigger, the culture has gotten stronger,” Corrin says. “That’s counterintuitive, but it’s true. With Ashley’s help, I believe it’ll continue to gain strength.”

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FEATURES

CHANGE MANAGEMENT

CHANGE PROGRAMS WITH TEETH The latest enabling digital tools are enhancing and changing traditional change management principles and methodologies, as Peter Szilagyi reports HOPEFULLY THE January period is a quiet one for your business. It might provide a small opportunity to take a breath and reflect on the past year (and the year to come). One area that is worth some reflection is how well change initiatives have been embedded in your business. Now, I am not a betting man, but I suspect that if you were to ask a roomful of your business leaders to raise their hands as to whether they were managing multiple projects at any point in time, you would see a lot of hands go up. With all of these change initiatives underway, and jockeying for ‘cut through’, the question then becomes how do you best equip your leaders to most effectively execute change initiatives?

CHANGE CAN COME IN MANY SHAPES AND SIZES • Implementation of a new IT system – new system interface, new processes, new accountabilities • Organisational restructure – new roles, changed responsibilities, new leaders or team members • Outsourcing, offshoring, insourcing, mergers, acquisitions – changes in processes, accountabilities, team members • Cost-cutting – changes in policy, entitlements, doing more with less Individually or collectively these initiatives raise stress for those impacted by change, and without a strong engagement plan change initiatives can fail due to resistance, apathy or lack of awareness.

We know that the success of projects is directly correlated to how effectively change is planned, delivered and sustained. Why then do so many large-scale change initiatives fail? There are many reasons for this but, fundamentally, basic principles are not applied, and, arguably, the latest practices are not leveraged to full effect (ie old tools are used to solve new problems). The most basic principle is the need to engage

of change when experiencing something different to their status quo. The Kübler-Ross Change Curve (see Figure 1) is probably the best known of the models explaining how people respond to change. As you can see there are four phases: 1. Denial, 2. Resistance, 3. Exploration, 4. Commitment. Your role as an HR business partner (and a business leader yourself ) is to recognise the movement through these phases and apply

In the current digital landscape there is an amazing variety of new tools that can meet this basic need to engage those impacted, and give change initiatives some serious teeth those impacted by change in a meaningful dialogue. A meaningful dialogue involves a two-way exchange and some participation or contribution in the change initiative rather than being isolated from it. In the current digital landscape there is an amazing variety of new tools that can meet this basic need, and give change initiatives some serious teeth. Are you and your business leaders aware of them? Let’s look at the intersection between traditional change management principles and methodologies and the latest enabling digital tools. Countless studies have shown time and time again that people go through stages

strategies and tactics to bring people along the journey. The ultimate objective is to have a committed workforce (not a workforce in denial or active resistance, or passive passengers). There are classically three phases to managing a change initiative really well: 1. Plan, 2. Deliver, 3. Sustain. Done well these phases will bring those impacted through the change curve. Phase 1. Plan: As with any project, the first phase in managing a change is to plan, plan, plan! This stage is all about clearly articulating why we need to change, planning how to get there, considering the people who

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Figure 1: Adaptation of Kübler Ross Change Curve

Morale and competence

KÜBLER-ROSS CHANGE CURVE (ADAPTED) Denial Disbelief; looking for evidence that it isn’t true Frustration Reality Recognition that things are different; Shock sometimes anger Surprise or can follow shock at the event Unhappiness Low mood; lacking in energy

Future way of working Integration Changes integrated; a renewed individual Competence Learning how to work in the new situation; feeling more positive

Experiment Initial engagement with the new situation

Time

Plan

Deliver

Sustain

Table 1. Plan phase Key steps »»Diagnosing the need for change »»Identifying key players/ stakeholders How can digital tools help? »»Develop a deeper understanding of your workforce and target audience Example tools Audience and data analysis tools tableu.com powerbi.microsoft.com domo.com tagul.com

»»Assessing risks »»Building a transition plan

»»Engaging in early dialogue

»»Build collaboration and visibility of program schedules, risks, and issues

»»Leveraging social tools internally to build early awareness (ie allow leaders and employees to break through levels)

Project management tools wrike.com basecamp.com trello.com

Collaboration/engagement tools yammer.com slack.com workplace.fb.com

will be interested and/or impacted by your change, and determining what success will look like once we’re there. In this phase it is important to develop a deep understanding

of the vision and the target audience. These tools provide opportunities to collaborate with key stakeholders and influencers. You can openly share planning,

schedules and risks/issues. Collaboration tools give the opportunity for sponsors (senior leaders who advocate for the change) to directly engage with employees rather than having to rely on cascaded communication, emails and infrequent town halls. The data analytics tools outlined above also allow projects to gain a deeper understanding of the employee base. In a digital environment the landscape is flatter and there is opportunity to understand employees and engage them in participation in a much more dynamic and meaningful way. Phase 2. Deliver: In this phase of the change approach the rubber really hits the road. By now the program should have a good view of the overall change, the reasons for the change, individuals/teams impacted, and the supporting communication plan. This step involves building a detailed impact assessment, creating communication materials and actively engaging the business. Ultimately, that final point – ‘active engagement’ – is the most important. A change management plan is only as good as how well leaders engage the business. In relation to some of the ideas outlined above, many of these tools overlap and support each other. For example, the use of storyboarding or cartooning is a powerful way to communicate, train and engage. This could mean using them to communicate the vision, the need for change and detailed impacts to audience groups; or as a facilitation tool in training sessions. Project management tools, for example, can be a powerful way to organise plans but are also communication tools used for schedules, status, impacts and risks in an open-source manner. The key here is open engagement and participation. Phase 3. Sustain: In this phase it is important to sustain the change initiative. Too often projects come to an end, budgets are cut, transition to ‘business as usual’ is rapid and other priorities take over. An

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FEATURES

CHANGE MANAGEMENT Table 2. Deliver phase Key steps » Developing detailed impact assessment » Communication planning How can digital tools help? » Develop strong understanding of how employees are impacted » Build communication plans into your project schedules and make that cadence visible

» Communication delivery » Training and upskilling

» Creative communication tools differentiate your message channels and cut through to target audience groups

» Online training build software can rapidly author and distribute training materials

Example tools Audience and data analysis tools + previous tools for analysis, planning and collaboration, PLUS: Visual image libraries Creative communication tools Process and organisational tools Storyboard generation/cartooning istockphoto.com/au lucidchart.com storyboardthat.com shutterstock.com draw.io powtoon.com cacoo.com pixton.com Creative training tools Alternative presentation tools Communications planning Visual and info graphics prezi.com wrike.com canva.com customshow.com basecamp.com piktochart.com trello.com Content development Rapid video production en-au.articulate.com biteable.com gomolearning.com mysimpleshow.com grovo.com Table 3. Sustain phase Key steps » Measuring outcomes » Post go-live support How can digital tools help? » Develop a strong picture of outcomes through online surveys

» Continued dialogue, improvement and refresher training » Celebrating success » Maintain ongoing collaboration and engagement

» Differentiate pre- and post go-live communication » Reward and celebrate success

Example tools + previous tools for collaboration, planning, communications and training, PLUS: Pulse survey tools tinypulse.com 6q.io

Detailed survey tools surveymonkey.com wufoo.com checkbox.com

organisation or project faces its largest dip in productivity during the first month of delivery. At this time several performance criteria need to be monitored closely and acted on to sustain the organisation. At a project level, training courses and attendance should be monitored, as well as requests for support, or elements unique to the change program (eg system response times). Don’t let yourself or your leaders fall into the trap of beginning a change program with a bang, only to let the tail end of the project slowly dwindle to an incomplete stop. A successful change program means more than reaching your desired future state – the business and individuals involved have to stay there (until the need to change again in the future of course). There are so many opportunities to improve the likelihood of project success by leveraging a good understanding of the theory of change management (ie the step-bysteps) and applying the landscape of digital tools at your fingertips. This list of course includes only a fraction of the tools available. The key point is that there has been a lot of scrutiny of digital tools from a consumer and marketing perspective. This landscape can also be effectively used internally to make the most of change initiatives for your leaders and for yourself. Finally, remember that a key competency for you as an HR practitioner is to be a change champion.* This means understanding both the theory and practice of change. Take the time to understand how to build a case for change, identify and manage stakeholders, and of course sustain change. This article is but a short review that can help you build capacity and capability for your leaders and ultimately for yourself! *Reference: Ulrich, D (2012), HR from the Outside In, McGraw-Hill Education

Celebrating success redballoon.com.au tapmyback.com redii.com wooboard.com

Peter Szilagyi, CAHRI, GPHR, HRMP, is an experienced HR leader in talent management, transformation and change management. He is a regular contributor to HRD Magazine.

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PEOPLE

CAREER PATH

EXPLORING HER PASSIONS

Louise Hope’s career so far has included stints at the Sydney Opera House and the Royal Bank of Scotland, and her brand new role at AFTRS

1999

Louise Hope graduated with a BA (Hons) in English Literature FINDS HERSELF and Language in the UK but had “literally no idea” what AFTER UNIVERSITY she wanted to do. She eventually attended a graduate fair and took up an opportunity with the Royal Bank of Scotland where she managed the cashiers’ desks. 2000 “I naturally gravitated towards coaching and training LANDS HER the team, many of whom were school leavers.” DREAM JOB Hope found her dream job with a specialist training provider (Tony Walsh Associates), delivering training to the most hard-to-reach groups – offenders, 2003 young offenders, people with substance abuse issues, women living in hostels, FALLS IN LOVE WITH AUSTRALIA and the long-term unemployed. The role honed her ability to connect with people After being persuaded by a friend to leave her job behind for one year to do a in all situations. little travelling, Hope came to Australia. She arrived in August and remembered “The team was very special and the work culture was much like family. The job itself being shocked at how cold it was. made me fearless to a certain extent – there’s not much I haven’t seen.”

“Eventually I fell in love with the Aussie sense of humour, the beaches and the consistently great weather. I come from Manchester where we have about five days per year of sunshine”

2007

FINDS INSPIRATION AT THE OPERA HOUSE Hope joined Sydney Opera House as an OD and learning consultant and immediately connected with the company and its people. In 2012, she moved into the OD and learning manager role, and was subsequently promoted to head of OD&L. “The setting itself is obviously one of the most beautiful in Australia, if not the world, but what the team achieves inside is truly inspirational. I feel like I left 900 friends and family members behind when I left.”

2004

DEVELOPS HER HR CONSULTING MUSCLE Hope started work at Gow International as a senior consultant. Gow is a private RTO and consulting firm working with large commercial, government and not-for-profit organisations across Sydney, Greater Sydney and the Hunter regions. “It provided me with a great opportunity to develop my HR consulting muscle, whilst doing what I love the most – helping businesses and their people to be more effective by driving engagement and performance.”

2016

EXCITING NEW POSSIBILITIES AT AFTRS Hope joined Australian Film Television & Radio School as director of people and performance. Even though she has only just started there she sees truly committed, passionate and engaging people who want to give their very best to each and every student. “We have a new, exciting corporate strategy and vision for 2021. I see lots of opportunity here to further support and engage the team, so I’m really excited.”

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PEOPLE

OTHER LIFE

Age when Tim started playing the drums

2–3

Number of hours spent practising each day

Number of years playing in a punk rock band

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE

Lessons learned from Tim Rath’s rock star past are helping him keep his team in sync

IT WAS a close friend of his parents who got Tim Rath, chief people officer and founder of Lazada Group, interested in playing the drums. His love for the instrument led him to start playing in high school and eventually join a local punk rock band. Rath spent the next few years playing at gigs with his band across his hometown of Bonn, Germany. These days, though, he mostly plays the drums as a hobby and as a way to relax. Learning to play the drums is no mean feat, Rath says, and the first year of learning is the most challenging. His biggest tip for would-be drummers is to find a great

teacher who inspires you, and be patient. “Playing the drums has taught me many lessons,” he says. “The drummer is an integral part of the band, helping everyone to keep time and rhythm. To get to the point where you’re ready to keep that rhythm, though, you really need to put in your time in practice. “Similarly, at work, you need to put in the effort to continuously learn and improve your own capabilities so that you contribute effectively to your team or organisation. Working – and playing – in sync produces great results for everyone.”

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