Human Resources Director 15.04

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CULTURAL DIVERSITY The missing link in business performance PREDICTIVE MODELLING The future of corporate learning?

WORK-LIFE BLEED The health impact of excessive work hours

STEERING A GLOBAL GIANT Johnson & Johnson’s CHRO on his company’s ‘North Star’

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CONTENTS

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UPFRONT 02 Editorial

With microchipped employees, has technology gone too far?

04 Statistics

Employee job satisfaction and engagement

06 News analysis

Amid calls for shorter working weeks, HRD looks at the cost of excessive working hours to business

08 Upfront: employment law update

The FWO is reminding companies about underpaying young employees

18 FEATURES

FIVE TRAITS OF TOMORROW’S EMPLOYEE

Fiona Monfrooy outlines how HR can support the unknown workers of tomorrow

10 Upfront: L&D update

How a strengths-based approach to L&D is inspiring learners

12 Opinion

Dave Ulrich outlines why now is a great time to be working in HR

13 Head to head

Are Australia’s tertiary education institutions keeping up with the demands of the workforce?

PEOPLE

20

FEATURES

MASTERING THE LOGISTICS OF HR

Linda Clinch provides five tips for HR directors working in companies with global aspirations

55 Career path

14 COVER STORY

GUIDED BY A CREDO

HRD chats to Johnson & Johnson’s global CHRO about how big data is helping to debunk myths, why the company’s credo remains its North Star and why stepping out of his industry helped shape his career

25

HR has been a calling card for Bank of Queensland’s Belinda Jefferys, from before the term existed

56 Other life

For Keith Burnell, leading fitness classes is all about energy – both his and the class’s

22 FEATURES

HCAMAG.COM CHECK IT OUT ONLINE

WHY CULTURAL DIVERSITY = HIGH PERFORMANCE

Angela Henderson outlines why her company has invested in cultural diversity

SPECIAL REPORT

2017 MBA GUIDE

Want to reinvent your career? The answer may be postgraduate study, of which the shining jewel is the MBA

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12/04/2017 3:07:24 PM

UPFRONT

EDITORIAL www.hcamag.com APRIL 2O17

THE RISE OF ‘MICROCHIP MANIA’

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t’s mildly disturbing to think that your employer could track your every move – or at least it’s disturbing to me in 2017. Fast-forward 20 years and my viewpoint may have changed. That’s the nature of technology – what was once deemed intrusive and ‘out there’ is now deemed acceptable and a part of everyday life. For several years we’ve seen organisations using wearable technology like smartwatches and Fitbits to assist with health and wellbeing initiatives, and to minimise accidents in the workplace; now a Swedish company, Epicenter, has unveiled plans to embed a chip into 150 workers.

The ‘digital innovation’ company’s use of radio frequency identification chips will enable staff to open doors, use office technology like photocopiers, and even pay for food at the in-office cafe with the swipe of a finger. However, the chips will also be used to assist bosses in tracking

Epicenter’s 150 workers volunteered to embed the microchip, which is about as big as a grain of rice their employees’ activity, including monitoring the number of hours worked and toilet breaks.

Epicenter’s 150 workers volunteered to embed the microchip, which is about as big as a grain of rice.

At present, the ‘what’s in it for me’ factor for employees in situations like this seems like an intractable hurdle. Why would an employee agree to such a physical intrusion? Unless employers can sell such a concept, this will likely remain the major stumbling block. While as consumers we’re quite used to handing over personal information – sometimes unwittingly – via social media platforms and during leisure activities like shopping, this is usually because the ‘what’s in it for me’ factor is satisfied: for example, provide your shopping history and you’ll receive frequent flyer points, service upgrades or discounts. For employers it’s far more challenging – not only is there widespread mistrust of business leaders (not to mention political leaders), but privacy laws would also need to be navigated.

For now, I like to ‘decouple’ from technology as often as possible – although I concede that if my wearable device determined that I really was not a morning person and would be more productive starting and finishing work later, I could be won over…

EDITORIAL

SALES & MARKETING

Editor Iain Hopkins

Marketing & Communications Manager Lisa Narroway

Journalist John Hilton Editorial Assistant Hannah Go Production Editor Roslyn Meredith Bruce Pitchers

Business Development Managers Steven McDonald Clive Thomas

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Chief Executive Officer Mike Shipley

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Chief Operating Officer George Walmsley

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UPFRONT

STATISTICS

SEEKING JOB SATISFACTION

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT Employee engagement is on the rise worldwide, with one in four workers counting as ‘highly engaged’, while two in five qualify as ‘moderately engaged’.

The total worldwide engagement score is 65%, which is up 3% on the previous year.

Better engagement requires support and rewards, leaders, and purpose and meaning ALMOST ONE in every two employees has some kind of plan to start a job search in the next year; that’s one of the findings of a recent survey of just over 1,000 employed Australian adults that cut across age, gender, and workplace setting.

The survey, 2016 Snapshot of the Australian Workplace: A Future That Works, by HR think tank Reventure, found that the biggest hurdle for employers looking to keep their staff was

58%

29%

13% the percentage of respondents who agreed strongly with the statement ‘I enjoy going to work each day’; another 40% agreed somewhat1

the need to offer them job satisfaction and true engagement through purpose and meaning.

This came ahead of the challenge of the impact of technology and the manner in which it alters the way that work is defined and accomplished.

Also among the key items identified as challenges were performance levels and health and life issues, along with the need for rapid adaptation to keep pace with change.

the percentage of Australian workers who often or always1 experience high stress in connection with their job

Australia’s engagement score – seven points below the global average2

Global 2015 engagement 65% +3 pts Top engagement drivers Enabling infrastructure +1 EVP +3 Rewards & recognition +5 Career opportunities +4 Learning & development +4 Largest Positive Dimension increases Rewards & recognition +5 Work-life balance +4 Performance management +4 Learning & development +4 Career opportunities +4

1% the level by which this score is down compared to the study the year before2

Source: 12016 Snapshot of the Australian Workplace: A Future That Works, Reventure, 2016 | 22016 Trends in Global Employee Engagement, Aon Hewitt

ON THE JOB HUNT

FOLLOW THE LEADER

While close to half of surveyed employees reported being either extremely or very satisfied with their current job, this figure is outstripped by the 49% who reported they would either definitely or probably look for a new job in the next 12 months.

Slightly more than seven out of 10 workers reported feeling their boss had vision and direction (71%); most of those who reported this were female and older workers.

My boss respects me as an individual and not just as someone who produces results

53% I have a lot of respect and admiration for my boss

48%

33%

42%

The poor leadership at my workplace is the most stressful part of my job

35% My boss lacks clear vision and direction

29% I would prefer to have a new boss over a raise

23%

11% Extremely

I am actively looking to leave my organisation because of the leader directly above me Very

Somewhat

Source: 2016 Snapshot of the Australian Workplace: A Future That Works, Reventure, 2016

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22% Source: 2016 Snapshot of the Australian Workplace: A Future That Works, Reventure, 2016

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Europe

North America 2015 engagement 65% +1 pt Top engagement drivers EVP +5 Talent and staffing +3 Enabling infrastructure 0 Career opportunities +5 Performance management +9 Largest Positive Dimension increases Performance management +9 Work-life balance +5 Work fulfilment +5 Career opportunities +5 EVP +5

Latin America 2015 engagement 72% +1 pt Top engagement drivers Career opportunities +4 Senior leadership +3 Rewards & recognition +4 Learning & development +6 EVP +2 Largest Positive Dimension increases Empowerment/autonomy +7 Performance management +7 Learning & development +6 Work fulfilment +5 Manager +5

Africa 2015 engagement 59% -3 pts Top engagement drivers Career opportunities -3 Senior leadership 0 EVP -3 Performance management -2 Rewards & recognition +3 Largest Positive Dimension increases Rewards & recognition +3 Empowerment/autonomy +3 Work-life balance +2

2015 engagement 60% +2 pts Top engagement drivers EVP +2 Senior leadership +2 Rewards & recognition +2 Career opportunities +3 Talent & staffing +1 Largest Positive Dimension increases Learning & development +4 Performance management +3 Career opportunities +3 Empowerment/autonomy +3 EVP +2

Asia-Pacific 2015 engagement 65% +5 pts Top engagement drivers Enabling infrastructure +3 Rewards & recognition +6 Learning & development +4 Career opportunities +4 EVP +3 Largest Positive Dimension increases Rewards & recognition +6 Work-life balance +6 Reputation +5 Learning & development +4 Career opportunities +4 Source: 2016 Trends in Global Employee Engagement, Aon Hewitt

PURPOSE AND MEANING

PEAK PERFORMANCE

More than seven out of 10 employees agreed they were looking to live a more meaningful life; six out of 10 agreed that they found purpose and meaning in their job.

Exactly 50% of respondents agreed with the statement that ‘some days of work don’t really get my maximum effort’, while 33% agreed that they often found themselves getting distracted at work.

80% 70%

77%

75%

60% 50%

56% 56%

3%

72% 60% 59%

62% 63% 60%

60% 59%

40%

HOW MUCH TIME WOULD YOU SAY YOU WORK AT MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE?

30% 20% 10% 0%

13%

43%

41% Millennials

Gen X

Boomers

Total

80–100% 60–79%

I am looking for ways to live a more meaningful life I find purpose and meaning in the work I do I feel my contributions at work are valued Source: 2016 Snapshot of the Australian Workplace: A Future That Works, Reventure, 2016

40–59% 39% or less

Source: 2016 Snapshot of the Australian Workplace: A Future That Works, Reventure, 2016

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UPFRONT

NEWS ANALYSIS

WORK-LIFE BLEED Australians are working longer hours than ever before, but at what cost?

AUSTRALIA SHOULD consider a four-day working week or a six-hour day. That was the proposal by the leader of the Greens, Richard Di Natale, at the start of March.

He cited Sweden’s six-hour working day trial in the aged care sector as an example of a means to increase productivity. The Netherlands has also introduced a four-day working week.

“If you are an individual employee, it should be all right to request flexible work hours and it should be up to the employer to prove why you can’t have them,” Di Natale said. “We have to start making progress in this area, because we

Dr Lindsay McMillan from global HR thinktank Reventure and lead researcher of the national campaign to renew workplaces – titled ‘a future that works’ – welcomed the announcement as the start of a robust debate about changing entrenched work practices.

“The debate around the four-day work week and penalty rates signals Australia is coming in the right direction when it comes to workplace well-being and engagement,” Dr McMillan says.

Dr McMillan added there was a need for a broader discussion on workplace issues, not just work flexibility, in order to improve employee satisfaction and performance.

“Employees feel like they can’t turn work off any more” Dr Lindsay McMillan, Reventure have so many people in this country who are working more hours than they should.

“At the same time, we have so many people who are underemployed or, indeed, unemployed.”

The senator added that there are examples around the world of ways to encourage productivity and allow people to spend more time with their families and not do unpaid overtime.

“In Australia we’ve got people doing more hours than any other developed nation on earth, an average of 44 hours a week,” he said.

The push from the Greens sparked debate from business leaders and proponents of reduced working hours. For example,

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“One survey showed employees feel like they can’t turn work off any more, whether they were in the office or not, and that’s been a product of technological change,” he says.

“Some Scandinavian countries have introduced interesting initiatives like turning emails off on Friday night, to respect employees’ home lives.”

Why should business leaders heed these trends? In addition to rising workers compensation claims, there is increasing evidence that the escalation in chronic diseases – such as diabetes and heart disease, not to mention the increasing prevalence of mental health issues – is tied to the amount of time people spend at work.

A new study from the ANU has found the time needed for health and well-being is being displaced by working time, and time recovering from work. The researchers interviewed 55 people across four employment sectors, and the majority of those did little to no exercise. Instead, the time was allocated for more work or to recover from work, either alone or with others.

“Unlike physical activity, eating and sleeping could not be ignored, so instead the time spent on them was shortened as much as possible,” the report stated.

The report was produced by National Health and Medical Research Council Research School of Population Health senior fellow and associate professor Jane Dixon, and research fellow Lara Corr.

For Corr, the overarching aim of the research was simple. “With people working longer hours and more non-standard hours, we wanted to know if they still have time to do these basic health activities that prevent a lot of chronic diseases,” she tells HRD. The researchers found that no one was immune from work-related health impacts.

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A NATION OF OVERTIME WORKERS The Australia Institute recently released research that showed the average full-time Australian worker does 5.1 hours in unpaid overtime each week (the equivalent of 264 hours per year).

The study of 891 workers also revealed: • Almost one-third (32%) don’t have access to paid holiday leave.

• Over half of those with annual leave didn’t take their whole entitlement.

• That result would equate, across the whole labour market, to 48 million unused holiday days, worth $11.1bn annually.

“We were surprised there was no discussion around maximum working hours” Lara Corr, Research School of Population Health While blue-collar workers had in their favour set working hours so they could have more structure in their week, the flip side was not having the opportunity to negotiate with managers to have time off or to ask for flexible hours. This situation was mirrored for lower level white-collar workers. Middle managers got the worst of everything, Corr says.

“They got the longer hours that were unpaid overtime, and they weren’t that flexible because they needed to be on the job and generally were unable to work from home. Senior management were lucky in that they had more autonomy over their working hours, so they could go home for dinner with the family and then go back to work on their laptop at home. But that also meant they had this work-life bleed, and no one really stopped

working; work seeped into the evenings and the weekends.”

Of particular note was that evidence that indicates productivity declines after 50 hours per week was largely being ignored by senior management. “People are working much more than 50 hours a week and we were surprised there was no discussion around maximum working hours for those senior managers and no protection for them – they’re not necessarily covered by unions, for example.”

Corr says that even unpredictable shifts can reap havoc on personal schedules.

“As soon as your work hours become non-standard, it just adds a whole other layer of complexity,” Corr says.

With the likelihood of Australia adopting a four-day working week or six-hour working

days distant at best, what can employers do to improve the situation? Corr recommends that employers review their policies to ensure they are transparent and fair. She cites the concept of organisational justice.

“Everyone should know what their rights are and how flexible their workplace can be, when they can get leave, and how many hours their maximum load is,” she says.

Employers should also be discussing maximum working hours and job intensity for all workers, but especially senior executives.

Globally, Australia is heading to the top of the list in terms of hours worked, but Corr says concepts like reduced working weeks or reduced working hours per day are “really complex issues” that must factor in the vast numbers of underemployed people and questions around gender stereotypes.

More than anything, the concept of the ideal worker must change. The ideal worker has no care responsibilities, is totally devoted to work and will work all hours. Is that really an ideal worker? “The evidence suggests it’s actually not,” says Corr. “And that’s very gendered as well. We need to have lots of conversations around status, class and gender and all those big pieces that are wrapped up in working time. When we’re talking about long-hour workers, we’re still talking, in the majority, about male workers. Guess what? Men don’t want to be working those long hours, either.

So it’s really not good for anyone.”

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UPFRONT

EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE NEWS BRIEFS Secret employer payments to unions to be criminalised Making or receiving secret payments that encourage unions to trade off workers’ rights is set to be criminalised. The plan was revealed by Prime Minister Turnbull and Employment Minister Michaelia Cash. Under the proposed laws, payments with the intent to corrupt would carry up to 10 years in prison and a $900,000 fine for an individual, increasing to $4.5m for a company. Moreover, other illegitimate payments will result in a two-year jail term or a $90,000 fine for an individual, rising to $450,000 for a company.

Landmark 457 visa changes announced Fast food businesses will no longer be able to sponsor foreign workers on temporary visas unless they can prove a specific need.

The federal government announcement is the first time an entire sector has been banned from using 457 visas.

Peter Dutton, minister for immigration, announced the end of the Fast Food Industry Labour Agreement, which saw hundreds of foreign workers take jobs at fast food outlets. The workers impacted will be forced to leave Australia once their agreements run out unless the restaurant is able to present an individual case as to why they should remain.

FWC called in to resolve mining dispute Unions and engineering firm Laing O’Rourke will argue their cases before Australia’s industrial umpire after more than 800 staff were stood down from the $36bn Inpex gas project in Darwin. The Electrical Trades Union and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union launched

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an application with the FWC after 850 people were made redundant by a dispute between Laing O’Rourke and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The unions allege that Laing O’Rourke breached provisions of their agreement with their workforce that requires consultation with employees before any redundancies are made.

LGBT rights slow to gain traction Just over half of global organisations have tailored their diversity and inclusion policies to specifically accommodate lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) employees, according to a recent study

by Mercer. Results found that one-third of firms with diversity and inclusion policies don’t have a designated program for LGBT employees, while a separate fifth of organisations rely on other corporate policies to accommodate for LGBT individuals. About two-thirds of global organisations have a separate anti-discrimination policy that covers LGBT employees, and an additional 6% plan to adopt such a policy within the next 12 months.

EU’s top court rules on headscarves Employers will be allowed to ban workers from wearing headscarves, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled. In its first decision on the topic of women wearing Islamic headscarves at work, the EJC ruled the garments could be banned, but only as part of a general policy barring all religious and political symbols. The court said the ban must be based on internal company rules which state that all staff must “dress neutrally”. The court also ruled that customers cannot demand workers remove headscarves if the company has no policy barring religious symbols.

FAIR PAY CONTINUES TO BE FLOUTED The FWO is reminding companies about several laws relating to paying young employees Retail giant Coles has promised employees will be paid fairly after one manager posted an in-store notice asking staff to work without pay.

“I am asking team members to give me 4hrs free labour,” read the message, issued in a Coles store in Western Australia. “Yes, it is a big ask and I would not be requesting this unless it was absolutely necessary.”

While employees were expected to go without additional wages or time in lieu, the manager did offer free pizza to anyone who gave up their time.

Peter O’Keeffe, state secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association deemed the request “unacceptable”.

“If an employee of Coles works for the benefit of Coles, or indeed for any other company, then they are both entitled and required to be paid for it,” he said.

O’Keefe said that he had spoken to senior level staff at the supermarket’s head office and said they were “aghast” the request had been made.

Coles released a statement in regard to the request, saying the notice was in defiance of company code and culture.

“Coles values the hard work of all of our team members and the notice in the store is completely out of step with Coles’ way of working,” the statement read.

“The notice, which was posted by a trainee

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manger, was quickly removed. Any team members working at the stated time will be paid as normal.”

Moreover, the Fair Work Ombudsman, Natalie James, said that too many employers mistakenly believe that a range of workplace practices relating to paying workers are acceptable when they are in fact unlawful.

“It’s time to address the myths that have achieved widespread levels of acceptance and are resulting in employers short-changing young workers around the country,” James said.

In particular, the FWO said it’s important to remember the following: • Payment in kind is unlawful. Employees must be paid wages for all work performed.

• Internships can only be lawfully unpaid

Payment in kind is unlawful. Employees must be paid wages for all work performed when they are a requirement of a course at an authorised educational or training institution.

• Employers must negotiate and lodge a registered training contract for an employee in order to lawfully be able to pay trainee or apprentice rates. An employer cannot pay an employee trainee rates just because they are young or new to the job.

• Employers cannot require staff to purchase store produce. This includes any items for which the worker may receive a staff discount. For example, an employer cannot require workers to purchase the particular clothing stocked in a retail outlet.

Q&A

MANAGING MENTAL WELL-BEING Joydeep Hor Founder and managing principal PEOPLE + CULTURE STRATEGIES

Fast fact Research from Medibank Private indicates that stressrelated workers’ compensation claims have doubled in recent years, costing over $10bn each year

To what degree should an employer take an employee’s mental illness into account when considering the employee’s ability to communicate within the workplace?

Many employees successfully manage their mental health without it impacting on their work. However, some employees may require short-term adjustments to accommodate their condition, and others may require ongoing workplace strategies.

The ability to work with others and to communicate effectively is a key component of a productive work environment. It is appropriate that all employees adhere to the basic rules of behaviour in the workplace, such as treating everyone with courtesy and respect and not interacting in a way that is demeaning, threatening or bullying.

Where an employee has displayed conduct that is of concern in terms of the manner in which he or she is communicating within the workplace, a threshold issue is whether the employee’s mental health is a contributing factor. Where it is contributing to or exacerbating the communication problem, an employer should make clear that the behaviour is unacceptable, but also explore what reasonable adjustments could be made without compromising the core responsibilities of the job.

For example, an employee might be permitted to work more flexibly for a specified period (for example, in terms of hours or from home) or to take some form of leave, to minimise the risk of confrontations in the short term. Another strategy might be to establish a temporary reporting structure that limits the interactions the employee has within the workplace. However, allowing an employee to avoid communicating within the workplace altogether, or for an indefinite period, is generally not a viable long-term option, as there are very few types of employment where communication is not regarded as an inherent requirement.

At what point is it pragmatic to cease disciplinary processes and come to a settlement with an employee who has a mental illness?

There are a number of scenarios where it may be pragmatic to seek to resolve a difficult employment situation with an employee who has a mental illness. They are premised on the notion that the employer has made efforts to date to accommodate and support the employee, and that the issue of any settlement is approached with sensitivity to the employee’s condition.

One scenario is where, despite reasonable adjustments having been made, the problematic conduct is continuing, but the medical evidence is inconclusive as to the likelihood of any improvement of the underlying condition in the foreseeable future.

Another potentially problematic situation that might lend itself to a pragmatic resolution is where the employee has been unwilling over a prolonged period to cooperate over the provision of timely and informative medical documentation to enable the employer to make a fair assessment of the nature of any reasonable adjustments, and the capacity of the employee to perform the key requirements of the job.

Finally, the escalation of conduct to a serious situation, for example involving potential threats to other employees, may warrant swift intervention to bring to an end the consequences of such behaviour for the health and safety of other employees and to restore the equilibrium of the workforce in the short term.

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UPFRONT

L&D UPDATE

BUILDING ON STRENGTHS Can a growth mindset result in enhanced business performance? One company believes so

on your overall motivation and therefore engagement?”

Schneider Electric’s leadership development approach flips this concept.

“We look for things employees are doing well and look for ways to take this to the next level. We don’t ignore weakness but instead leverage existing strengths to compensate and prop up weakness,” he says.

Another initiative improving L&D across the

“We look for things employees are doing well and for ways to take this to the next level” Scott Nell, Schneider Electric Energy management company Schneider Electric Australia is improving L&D across its organisation through a strengths-based Positive Leadership philosophy for work and individual development.

Scott Nell, senior manager of organisation development and talent, explained to HRD how the initiative works, and how both learners – and leaders – are reaping significant benefits.

“Traditional models for creating development plans require employees to look at the competencies for their role and then be assessed against those competencies,” Nell says.

“On the surface this seems like a fairly logical

NEWS BRIEFS

thing to do; however, what ends up happening is simply pointing out all the things that a person is not good at.”

Once these perceived weaknesses have been identified, development plans are made to focus on weakness or close the gaps, Nell adds.

“Is it any wonder that people are not inspired to actually implement such plans? In fact, research from the CEB shows that when development plans focus on weakness, overall performance drops by around 24%,” he says.

“Imagine if you were forced to do things that are de-energising to you and you perceive you perform poorly, what effect does this have

Staff not receiving cyber risk training

Data from cyber insurance provider CFC Underwriting shows that a quarter of its claims in 2016 could have been avoided through better staff training on cyber risks, with internal employee-related data breaches increasingly becoming a key concern for HR teams.

CFC’s research revealed that 27% of SME staff are not being adequately educated about online threats and suggested more thorough training in this area. The core of this issue, according to the underwriter, is that many of these organisations simply do not know where to start and lack a good understanding of their cyber risk profile.

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organisation is Schneider Electric’s Flourish, Ignite, and Illuminate program, which promotes growth mindsets among its leaders.

“Based on Dr Carol Dweck’s vast body of research, we have built this philosophy into all our leadership offerings, as well as standalone workshops.”

He adds that Schneider Electric examines how both fixed and growth mindsets play out in sports, children and in business.

“We really take the time for experiential learning that challenges thinking and looks at ways of treating failure as learning; challenges as opportunity and values effort as a core predictor of success,” he says.

Corporate training market is about to be disrupted

Josh Bersin, founder and principal of Bersin by Deloitte, has claimed the US$130bn corporate training market is about to be disrupted.

As many organisations begin to shift from Learning Management Systems and invest in new infrastructure to help employees learn, the potential impact of G Suite, Microsoft Teams, Slack and Workplace by Facebook is massive.

However, in this new world of learning, employers who previously might have had just one solution for product training increasingly find themselves with the ability to shop around.

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Q&A

Adam Canwell Global leader leadership consulting practice ERNST & YOUNG

Fast fact According to The Energy Project’s 2013 study, What is your quality of life at work, employees are three times more likely to stay with a company that has a clearly defined purpose.

PURPOSE AND PERFORMANCE What is the value of purpose for driving performance in organisations?

An organisation’s purpose has bottom-line implications and is not just some feel-good soft stuff. Our research shows that organisations that are purpose-led outperformed the S&P 500 index by up to 14 times more between 1998 and 2013.

Organisations that have a compelling purpose achieve this performance because they are better able to leverage the intrinsic motivation of their employees.

When employees are personally motivated in this way, they give greater discretionary effort and have more energy for the work.

EY research shows that employees working for organisations with clearly articulated and meaningful purpose are 1.4 times more engaged and 1.7 times more satisfied. And it’s not only our employees who care about organisation purpose. Research shows 73% of global consumers would switch to brands with a clearly articulated purpose that resonates and inspires a call to action in them.

How can leaders bring organisation purpose to life?

Leaders are accountable for crafting a compelling narrative that engages employees on an emotional level, helping them connect to the organisation’s purpose and thereby making their work personally meaningful. This is exemplified in the parable of the two bricklayers: Two people are working side by side, laying bricks at a

Does education equate to job satisfaction?

According to a report by Curtin University, higher levels of education do not necessarily translate into higher satisfaction at work. In fact, the higher the level of education, the lower the proportion of workers that are very satisfied in their job overall. Of those workers with a postgraduate degree, 23% report being ‘very satisfied’. This compares with 34% of those with Year 11 and below as their highest level of education. University graduates and postgraduate workers are also more likely to report being ‘dissatisfied’ and ‘not so satisfied’ with their jobs overall than other workers with lower educational attainment.

similar speed. When asked what they are doing, the first says, “Laying bricks” and the second says, “Building a cathedral.”

For each of us, the purpose of our work is very personal and our leaders’ job is to create a climate where we can articulate our own purpose and connect with a higher order purpose that is bigger than us alone. In this volatile, uncertain, ambiguous and complex [VUCA] environment organisations have to adapt to survive and thrive. A clear purpose provides leaders and staff with a compelling North Star to guide them in making decisions and taking action.

Is purpose just another HR fad?

This idea of organisation purpose is not entirely new. In recent times, Simon Sinek has popularised the concept through his 2009 TED talk ‘How great leaders inspire action’, encouraging leaders to tap into the power of why.

The research around the role of purpose and its links to organisational performance stretches back decades. One seminal study was undertaken by Professor Litwin and Robert Stringer at the Harvard Business School in 1965.

They demonstrated the impact of a positive organisation climate on improved performance. Their research showed that the key dimension of organisation climate to get right is clarity and one half of the clarity puzzle is the mission and direction of the organisation.

The mission of an organisation and the direction set by leaders is most potent when it is aligned to, and an expression of, the organisation’s high-order purpose.

Report provides L&D insights

A survey of 3,418 Australians

by Upskilled has provided insights into corporate L&D. Seventy per cent of workers want to undertake further study. However, despite 74% being aware there were funding options available to support this further study, and 52% stating that access to financial support would encourage them to study, only 9% had actually had their course subsidised. Flexibility was also key, with 44% wanting to study completely online, 26% wanting a blend of on-campus and online, and just 6% wanting full-time campus study.

What does the rise of AI mean for L&D?

Moshe Vardi, a respected computer scientist and professor at Rice University, said that human beings are approaching a time when machines will be able to outperform humans “at almost any task”. Vardi has made the bold prediction that half the world’s population could be unemployed within the next 30 years. The result would be that middle-class jobs could rapidly decrease, while inequality would increase. “I believe that society needs to confront this question before it is upon us: if machines are capable of doing almost any work humans can do, what will humans do?” he said. www.hcamag.com

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12/04/2017 3:23:10 PM

UPFRONT

OPINION

GOT AN OPINION THAT COUNTS? Email hrdeditor@keymedia.com

A GREAT TIME TO BE IN HR A combination of forces is shifting HR to centre stage, and it’s how HR handles these forces that will deliver business value, writes Dave Ulrich WE SEE four forces making HR more central to business success: the context of business (STEPED: social, technological, economic, political, environmental and demographic changes), the increased pace of change (VUCA: volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity), the demise of employee wellbeing (individuation, isolation, indifference, intensity) and the requirement to be outside in (attend to customers, investors and communities).

Collectively, these four forces shift HR to centre stage. In our new book, Victory Through Organization, the first sentence is: “HR is not about HR.” Rather, it’s about attending to these four forces to deliver business value.

While it is a great time to be in HR, it is not without downsides. I find three models helpful for HR professionals to respond to the new opportunities.

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Resource demand. The demands on

HR are increasing through the four forces noted above. HR professionals are being asked to do more. Some of these demands can be moderated (for example, don’t do non-valueadded work). But the focus should be on resources. What resources can HR professionals access to help them cope with their increased demands?

I see two categories of resources: personal and departmental.

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Personal resources. HR professionals

can better respond to increased opportunities when they have the competencies to

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succeed and a more personalised career map.

Competencies are the skills HR professionals bring to their jobs. We have spent 30 years studying which HR competencies have personal and business impact. Through our research, we identified nine competencies for HR professionals. Three were foundational (compliance manager, analytics designer and implementer, and technology and media integrator). Three were strategic enablers (culture and change champion, human capital

manager, or leader. Within this mosaic, HR professionals may choose to stay within one quadrant (eg functional excellence in rewards, learning or organisation design), or they may move across quadrants throughout their career (eg moving back and forth from centres of expertise to business).

Departmental resources. HR professionals seldom succeed by themselves. In our research, we found that the quality of the HR department had four times the impact on business performance that the quality of individual HR professionals did (hence the title of our book). Part of creating an effective department is making sure that roles are clear, which is about decision rights, accountabilities and responsibilities. HR departments should be organised to mirror the business organisation. If the business has more centralised governance, HR should be more centralised, with common HR practices across the enterprise.

But we have come to appreciate that relationships matter as much as (or more than) roles. If the structure is mostly

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While it is a great time to be in HR, it is not without downsides curator, and total rewards steward). But three had the most impact on HR professionals around the world: • Being a credible activist allows the HR professional to be invited to the business dialogue and be personally effective.

• Being a strategic positioner helps the HR professional deliver the most value to business customers and investors outside the organisation.

• Being a paradox navigator is the competency most connected to delivering business results.

HR professionals who have these competencies can take charge of their careers. HR professionals can work in four areas: functional expertise, geographic area, business unit or outside HR. They can work at three stages: individual contributor,

right, HR leaders need to build positive relationships throughout the HR community.

There have been many studies of positive relationships by psychologists and marriage therapists, which include sharing a common purpose, respecting differences, having realistic expectations, caring for each other, sharing experiences and growing together.

As HR moves to centre stage to deliver real business outcomes, the demands need not be threats but rather opportunities if personal and department resources exist.

Dave Ulrich is a university professor, author, speaker, and management coach and consultant.

Ulrich is a professor of business at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and co-founder of The RBL Group.

For more, visit daveulrich.com.

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UPFRONT

HEAD TO HEAD

Are our education institutions keeping up?

The skill sets desired by employers are changing rapidly – and our tertiary education providers are struggling to keep pace

Rob Carroll

Alison Sibree

Director human resources Optus Business

VP of HR, APAC & Japan Oracle

Australia has experienced a rapid decline in the number of STEM graduates over the past 10 years.

The resulting skills gap will threaten our growth potential unless we take urgent action. Universities have a key role to play here, but employers must also do their part. In 2016, Optus partnered with Macquarie University to establish the Cyber Security HUB as a centre of excellence for cyber education, skills and research and development.

Together, we will train more than 1,000 people in cyber technologies over the next 10 years.

Industry-university partnerships such as this one could serve as a useful blueprint for addressing the gaps in technology skills in Australia.

Digital transformation means we need new employee skill sets, such as a global mindset, agile thinking and very strong interpersonal skills – because these employees have to deal with new ways of working.

I think there are some universities that are becoming more geared to what industries want. Traditionally, universities have churned out what they believed was needed, and that’s why we sometimes had gluts or a dearth of certain disciplines at any one time.

However, I was recently contacted by one of the universities in Melbourne to say they were doing an industry round table in Singapore in an effort to understand from various employers what type of capabilities, attitudes and disciplines we are looking for – so there’s definitely a greater willingness from universities to work with industries.

Rose Thomson CHRO Travelport

I think there will always be a delay in what you learn at university and what is happening in business. To use my own education background as an example, I did psychology as my undergraduate degree. It really wasn’t until I hit the workforce as part of IBM’s graduate program that I got clarity on where I wanted to go in my career. I went back to the Macquarie Graduate School of Management and did a master’s degree majoring in HR and marketing. When I undertook subsequent HR jobs, I learned the most from roles I felt I was completely out of my depth in. That’s when you learn the most.

So yes, organisations can help bridge that skills gap, but sometimes doing is more effective than studying.

IS THE SUPPLY MEETING THE DEMAND? According to Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends 2014 report, the labour market continues to experience a “talent paradox”, wherein companies persistently struggle to find the talent and skills they need despite high unemployment rates. The most apparent explanation for this trend is the increasing gap between the expectations of employers and the skill set fresh graduates and new employees have to offer following their internships and degrees. According to a new report by the Foundation of Young Australians (FYA), these are the top four skills in highest demand in Australia (which FYA calls “enterprise skills”): digital literacy (demand up by 212%); critical thinking (up by 158%); creativity (up by 65%); problem solving (up by 26%).

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12/04/2017 3:24:41 PM

COVER STORY

JOHNSON & JOHNSON

GUIDED BY A CREDO Iain Hopkins chats to global HR leader Peter Fasolo about how his company is guided by a 75-year-old credo, how big data is helping to debunk myths, and why stepping out of his industry helped shape his career JOHNSON & JOHNSON is a behemoth of an organisation. With over 127,000 employees working in more than 265 operating companies located in 60 countries, it is one of the few companies that can rightfully claim to be truly global. Among its well-known consumer products are Band-Aid, Tylenol, Johnson’s baby products, Neutrogena skin and beauty products and Acuvue contact lenses – to name just a handful of household names.

First incorporated by brothers Robert Johnson, James Johnson and Edward Johnson in 1887, the company is celebrating its 130th anniversary in 2017.

For executive vice president and CHRO Peter Fasolo – who heads Johnson & Johnson’s 2,400 HR professionals globally – the secret to his company’s longevity is not just the innovation of its people but the company’s credo, which is celebrating 75 years in 2017.

While some might scoff that a company credo veers too closely to a mission statement or vision – empty words spouted at corporate get-togethers – there’s little doubt that the Johnson & Johnson credo is the foundation of the company.

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“If you are to know anything about Johnson & Johnson, it’s that our values define who we are as a company. They were written down by the son of our founder Robert Wood Johnson 75 years ago, and they are as relevant today as they were back then,” Fasolo tells HRD.

HRD: Can you briefly outline your role at Johnson & Johnson?

Peter Fasolo: I have global responsibility

HRD: Can you outline the credo and why it’s so critical to how Johnson & Johnson operates?

PF: The first and foremost responsibility we have as a company is to ensure we’re providing high-quality, innovative products to the nurses, doctors, mothers, fathers, families that we have the privilege to serve.

The second responsibility we have is to the employees in our company around the world. Our responsibility is to provide them

“Be willing to get your hands dirty, because no speech ever moved a company” for HR at the company. I report directly to our chairman and CEO. I’m a member of our executive committee, and I chair our pension and benefits committee. I’m also a member of our management compensation committee. Probably most importantly, I have the real privilege of helping to look after our 126,000 employees and their families around the world.

a safe environment. We therefore pay close attention to their careers and give them a sense of security, and create an environment where their careers can flourish.

The third responsibility we have is to the communities in which we serve around the world. We give back to our communities. Well over 85% of our employees are involved in some level of community engagement and volunteer

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PROFILE Name: Peter Fasolo Company: Johnson & Johnson Title: Executive vice president, CHRO HR experience: 25 years Previous roles: »»Chief talent officer, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (2008-2010) »»VP, human resources, Johnson & Johnson (2004-2007) »»Various HR roles, Bristol-Myers Squibb (1992-2004) Qualifications: Doctor of philosophy, University of Delaware; master’s degree, industrial and organisational psychology, Fairleigh Dickinson University; bachelor’s degree, psychology, Providence College

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COVER STORY

JOHNSON & JOHNSON admin or recruiting – we’ll have the best practices and be able to scale up.

HRD: How does Johnson & Johnson’s HR team tap into big data for decision-making?

“What the analytics team has found is that teams with the best credo scores also have higher engagement” work. We give over US$1bn (A$1.3bn) worth of products/services back into our communities each year. We are a company that is committed to sustainability and to alternative forms of energy and water conversation.

Fourth is a responsibility to our shareholders. Our credo guides us. If you take care of your patients with high-quality, innovative products and you are committed to your employees and give back to your community, the shareholder will get a fair return. Those constituents and stakeholders are ordered in this way for a reason. That credo, that guidance, has been a real North Star for the company for decades. It served us well then and it serves us extraordinarily well today.

HRD: What’s on top of your HR agenda in 2017?

PF: We are literally halfway through a big transformation journey of our own HR function. We are disaggregating the HR function, meaning we’re putting the more transactional, administrative work into a shared service environment in places like Tampa, Florida; in Prague, Czech Republic; and Manila in the Philippines. These are high service, repetitive support functions. Things like recruitment, performance management,

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comp management can be done universally and very effectively. It also allows our corporate centres to focus on the talent agenda, for example, the comp strategies, and then our business partners can support their businesses more effectively.

HRD: Where have those shared services functions been based prior to this point?

PF: The HR business partner was essentially doing everything on behalf of the function.

We did have centres of excellence – in recruiting, in compensation – where there were global policies and frameworks in place, but the fact of the matter is before this transformation our HR business partners were doing a lot of this work themselves.

What that resulted in was unevenness in service levels and lots of different approaches to things like performance management or succession planning.

I want our HR leaders to be in the talent game, to be rewarded for outcomes rather than process. I want to invest in software as a service and cloud technology so we can leverage the scale of J&J and we don’t have to debate the variety of ways to do performance management, employment relations or comp

PF: We’re currently building out a pretty robust people and data analytics capability, because as you go and disaggregate the HR function, you have HR business partners focusing on the agendas I’m describing, and you have to build out capabilities to ensure line leaders and HR leaders have insight into their workforce. So we now have a 15-20 person data analytics group, which is providing insights into what works and doesn’t work, what are the best predictors of success, and how people are moving around the globe in terms of their careers. At J&J we do around 25,000 job placements a year: 60% on the outside, 40% on the inside.

That’s a huge number of movements to keep track of. We have thousands of people who are on expatriate assignments, who are third country nationals, as well as undertaking inpatriate assignments. We want to make sure those movements are being tracked and outcomes are being understood so we can leverage insights for maximum impact.

HRD: This is a new area for HR – where have these people been drawn from?

PF: They are a mix. Most of them are PhD industrial-organisational psychologists, some have MBAs, some have come from business, and others come from data analytics. It’s a mix of capabilities, and what we’ve realised is a few things which have become apparent as part of this HR transformation. First, we needed to get a lot better in what I call customer service and service level agreements. Just because your customer likes you – in our case our internal customers, the employees and line leaders – doesn’t mean you are providing world-class service.

Working with our leaders in the customer service and logistics area, we’ve tried to establish what world-class customer service means and the outcomes we should be

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working to. Then we’ve been building up this data analytics group, who take a series of our policies and our actions and outline what is working and what isn’t working. Then we make adjustments along the way.

HRD: Can you provide some examples?

PF: Our data analytics group has provided really good insights to our workforce on areas like performance management. Does selfrating really work or not? Or recruitment – is it better to hire an experienced person in a certain part of our organisation or to hire college graduates and train them? We were able to break some myths in this area. Our line leaders in some parts of the organisation had a bias of hiring experienced people at the expense of college or university graduates. What we were able to show them is that they were right: for the first year an experienced hire will give you a higher performance level. However, after 12 months those lines started to cross and the college or university hires ended up being higher performing and more committed. In addition, retention rates were higher and they were more likely to stay with us for a longer period. We’ve since expanded our university hiring and have almost debunked that myth.

Not only is our credo an important part of our values system but we measure it.

Every other year we do a global credo survey.

Essentially we’re asking our employees whether we live up to our credo for those four constituents: our patients, our consumers and customers; our employees; the community; and our shareholders. We get surveyed responses back and we analyse those responses. Although it’s confidential, every manager gets a score of how well they’re doing.

What the analytics team has found is that teams with the best credo scores also have higher engagement and they also happen to have the highest level of innovation and strategic alignment. So it’s great to have impressive credo scores but there are also variables that are related to it. It’s hard to say it is cause and effect, but we’re learning that if you can get really good credo engagement then you’re more likely to have an innovative

ALL ABOUT HEALTH Johnson & Johnson has a company-wide goal to become the world’s healthiest company by 2020. There are four strands to J&J’s holistic approach to health and well-being: monitor the employee’s own health; educate employees about correlations between health and performance; create an environment that fosters well-being and encourages employees to take ownership of their health; and maintain efforts on health initiatives. Although benefits vary depending on location – J&J in the UK, for example, has its own health trust with HR directors as trustees – certain benefits are global. For example, flexible transition back to work, part-time working, and job sharing for new mothers and caregivers in the family are offered around the world. Other benefits in the US for mothers include:

Parental leave Eight weeks of paid leave during first year of birth/adoption, in addition to 17 paid weeks off for mothers

Fertility benefits Maximum of US$35,000 for couples

Breast milk shipping Temperature-controlled delivery service for moms travelling for business

Adoption benefits US$20,000 for each adopted child under 18

Children with special needs Speech, occupational and physical therapy, as well as applied behaviour analysis

environment where people understand where you’re going at a strategic level. That’s a recipe for success.

HRD: On a more personal note, you could be described as a boomerang employee – you left Johnson & Johnson at one point but have since returned. How do you think stepping outside and then returning has helped your perspective on working at Johnson & Johnson?

PF: I think it’s always good to get outside perspectives and learn from other companies in other industries. I stepped out of the industry but I also stepped out of the traditional global corporation and went into private equity [at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co], which has a whole different set of business principles. I came back here with a greater appreciation of the power for good that a company can have on a global scale.

J&J has been here for 130 years – this just happens to be my time, our time, right now

Surrogacy assistance benefits US$20,000 reimbursement per child for services related to surrogacy process

Childcare benefits Six childcare centers across J&J campuses; discount offered with national provider

guiding the corporation. We feel a strong responsibility to the leaders who gave us the helm, and we have an equal responsibility to hand over this company to the next generation and leave it in a better place.

HRD: What do you believe you’ve personally brought to the executive team thanks to your experiences elsewhere?

PF: I’ve brought other learnings from other industries, especially in the M&A area and the innovation space. Things like speed and agility, and accountability. Our job at the top of the organisation is to articulate where you want to go – call that a vision or strategy – but then you have to allocate people and financial resources to make that vision real. You have to be very good strategically but also operationally. Be willing to get your hands dirty, because no speech ever moved a company. A speech gives a vision, but then you have to go in and dig deep, layers down, and really support your people to make that real.

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12/04/2017 3:25:45 PM

FEATURES

HR STRATEGY

FIVE TRAITS OF TOMORROW’S EMPLOYEES ‘Scrum master’, ‘delivery lead’ and ‘head of digital innovation and emerging channels’ are just three job titles that didn’t exist two years ago. Senior HR executive Fiona Monfrooy outlines how HR can support the unknown workers of tomorrow IT’S NO secret that the dynamics of workplaces and workforces are evolving globally. Advances in technology are disrupting organisations at the core, and employees are increasingly demanding more flexibility, greater collaboration and a purpose beyond just profit within the organisations in which they work.

As a result, not only are workplaces changing but many of the skills required of employees are changing too.

Over the last few years, we’ve seen advances in technology create a particular need for new types of roles. In fact, at ING DIRECT, we have seen the creation of jobs such as ‘scrum master’, ‘delivery lead’ and ‘head of digital innovation and emerging channels’. Futurist Thomas Frey predicts that 50% of jobs that will be available in 2030 don’t yet exist. Technology is creating a need for people with skills in data handling, data mining, and the knowledge of the latest digital trends, as well as expertise in how these can be utilised for the benefit of the business.

For HR teams, the evolving workplace and growing focus on people as one of an organisation’s greatest assets has propelled HR to the frontline of organisations in

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helping to manage this change. HR is core to an organisation’s strategy and needs to play a leading role in business transformation.

People are discovering a pressing need to upskill across new and emerging areas, and to ensure they have a strong set of transferable skills that will help them succeed in the future. So what are the traits of the ‘employees of tomorrow’, and how can organisations and HR teams support these individuals?

This is where having the right mindset is key; individuals will need to have the ability to collaborate, influence and continually learn. It’s as much about mindsets as it is about skills and experience.

Those who are disruptors, people who challenge the status quo, who are curious and have the courage to take it on and make it happen will be the ones who will find the opportunities and be the most rewarded.

People want to feel that they’re truly making a difference to others’ lives. They want to feel connected to the business purpose and be excited by it 1

Continual adaptation of skills

In a rapidly evolving workplace, agility and responsiveness to change are essential.

Business transformation is never-ending, so embracing change and learning to thrive in an ambiguous environment is an ongoing challenge for everyone in the organisation.

Change is the ‘new norm’ and we need to champion it as such.

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Employees will move in different directions, rather than just up

The traditional career ladder as we know it will become a thing of the past, replaced by a lattice-type framework.

The lattice career framework promotes continued growth and development by creating career paths that move laterally, diagonally up as well as down, while they tap

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THE CEO OF THE FUTURE Research conducted by Reventure and Converge International, titled CEO Insights: The Future of Work, surveyed 50 CEOs to obtain their insights on 10 topics impacting on leadership in the modern workplace. Not surprisingly, the research found the days of a hierarchical, dictatorial workplace are gone – leaders must lead through engagement, persuasion, role modelling, trust and creativity. The following are the top 10 pointers that surveyed CEOs had for their colleagues:

into the networks around them. This allows people to move into different areas of the organisation, to try new roles and develop new skills. Businesses are increasingly interested in people with diverse backgrounds as they value the positive influence this has on innovation.

People need to be more accountable for their own careers, to push themselves beyond what they thought was possible, to think like an owner, and be adaptable to and drive change.

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Roles will become more globalised

The world is becoming a smaller place thanks to advances in technology making communication and collaboration from remote locations possible.

Teams are increasingly global, with people able to work from anywhere.

The benefits of global synergy are substantial.

By taking into account local influences and ways of doing things, you end up with a real diversity of thought that is key to innovation and progression. The pace of change globally is varied, so colleagues in some countries will likely be more progressive in certain areas, while colleagues in other countries will have different experiences to contribute.

This means people can learn from each

1. As leaders you need to model the change you want to see occur in future workplaces.

2. Recognise the authority and seize it to make even small changes that impact on you as CEOs but also on your workplaces and employees, and the industry in which you specialise.

3. Talk about how you measure performance around vision and innovation, not just the short-term benchmarks.

4. Relinquish authoritarian control; delegate to and trust in others who will work in teams – and grow their resilience and wellbeing.

5. In a team environment the CEO will need to compromise on decisions, see opportunities and skills in the team, negotiate, persuade and lead.

6. As a modern leader, be nimble, adaptive and creative – innovate and show vision to compete in a global market in a time of rapid change.

7. Be a friend to ambiguity and uncertainty.

8. Find a way to let go of the day-to-day control and step away from the detail, and to reflect on what you have done, where you are going, and what you are contributing.

9. Be open to changed work practices that reward creativity, provide community, engage in sustainable practices, nurture and support staff, and see connectedness of business, family and community life.

10. The changes do not have to be revolutionary, but they start with each and every CEO being open to connecting head and heart, listening carefully and slowing down to allow reflective action to guide decisions. other, share successes and frequently adapt innovations.

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People will have multiple career paths

For the employee of tomorrow, it’s highly likely they will not be limited to one career path.

As the use of artificial intelligence increases, the automation of processes and adoption of global standards will reduce reliance on some roles, while opportunities for new roles will be created.

Many of the roles we currently have may not have existed 10 or even five years ago.

Who knows what the future holds? It’s about being adaptable, consistently seeking ways to stay a step ahead, and being open to new and unexpected career paths.

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A desire to be part of something bigger

status and earnings may influence decisionmaking to some extent, it is critical to have a clearly defined business purpose that goes beyond profit if you want to attract and retain the best people.

People want to feel that they’re truly making a difference to others’ lives. They want to feel connected to the business purpose and be excited by it.

That’s one of the reasons why, irrespective of your role, the customer is so important and should be at the heart of everything you do. Increasingly, organisations are adopting a human-centred design approach to developing products and services for customers, and there’s no doubt this approach will shape people practices too.

Fiona Monfrooy is executive director of human resources Australia at ING DIRECT.

Motivational drivers are also changing. Whereas

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FEATURES

TALENT MANAGEMENT

LIFE IN THE FAST LANE: MASTERING THE LOGISTICS OF HR Managing a workforce of more than 340,000 employees in 220 countries across the globe has its challenges. Linda Clinch, regional HR leader at DHL Express, provides five tips to help propel your organisation to the checkered flag YOU’RE TRACKSIDE at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne and the atmosphere is electrifying.

The first racing car screams around the corner, others close on its tail. It has barely stopped in the pits when its crew springs into action, refuelling the car and replacing worn tyres. Two

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of the team run through diagnostics and countdowns with barely a word spoken, while another stands by to direct the car out as soon as the way’s clear. Within seconds the car punches out of the pits – back in the running for the Formula 1 championship.

Working in HR may not always feel as

exciting as F1 racing, but it does require similar skills: planning, coordination, and responsiveness to any situation.

At DHL Express Oceania, we run a pit crew of 15 people from four countries with responsibility for almost 2,000 employees.

We may not be going at 300km/h like

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Formula 1 cars – most of which DHL transports, along with equipment and crew, for the entirety of their global race schedule – but as an express delivery service we do have to be fast: the livelihoods of thousands of businesses depend on it. Getting goods across the world, at exceptional speed and immense scale, is an extremely complex task.

The only way to succeed is if every member on the team – each with their own unique cultural and professional heritage – is on the same page of how to get the job done.

The team at DHL has had to rewrite that page a couple of times, but the process has been worth it. In February 2016, the Top Employers Institute named us a Global Top Employer for the second year running – making us the only company to receive the accolade in all regions of the world.

For the most part, the efforts of the real HR heroes go on behind the scenes, just like those of the pit crews at any motorsports event. While it’s great to pick up awards along the track, what’s more important is sustaining the culture that lets us compete and outmanoeuvre logistics challenges without making a wrong turn.

Here are five winning tips from our DHL playbook that any company with international reach or aspirations can use:

1. Be strict on standards but flexible on execution Global standards maintain quality at a consistently high benchmark, but achieving those standards may take different approaches in different places. Giving local teams the flexibility to adapt to local practices and norms, while remaining true to the spirit of the law, is the best way to empower and motivate them to take pole position. In Oceania, we do this with our annual Appreciation Week. By putting a local spin on the global program, we can better engage with employees in a manner that they can relate to.

2. Train to engage In 2010, we invested millions to launch a bespoke training and development program called Certified

International Specialist (CIS), involving everyone from couriers to our board of directors. CIS is focused on engaging staff and getting them united around DHL’s values and goals. For those doing the training – managers, directors, board members – it’s also a constant reminder of the fundamentals of how to operate and why. It works, too; since we put CIS in place, engagement levels among our staff have risen by 16% overall and the program has been honoured with accolades such as the Stevie Awards. We recently opened an Oceania CIS Centre of Excellence in Brisbane to reinforce our commitment to staff.

community activities. That sense of community shouldn’t only exist within office hours. We also offer maternity/paternity leave entitlements to support our people as they grow their families.

We also believe in empowering the less privileged in our community. Through our annual Global Volunteer Day program and activities throughout the year, our employees actively give back by donating their resources, time and knowledge.

5. Let your teams have a say If you don’t create an open workplace culture, you’ll miss the issues and

Getting goods across the world, at exceptional speed and immense scale, is an extremely complex task 3. Stay local, learn global Let local teams use their market knowledge and cultural insights to solve challenges for customers, but don’t keep top-performers confined to a single market.

Putting your best specialists in overseas postings or secondments prepares them for leadership and supplements local teams with cross-cultural expertise. Deutsche Post DHL Group, which DHL Express is a part of, uses an online Job Watch to connect talent to overseas roles precisely for this purpose. We also send out a weekly job vacancies bulletin to all DHL employees in Oceania so that the team is aware of new opportunities in the region and are actively encouraged to pursue them.

4. Share the prize Recognition goes a long way to cultivating the spark of a winning team. At DHL Express, we have a range of initiatives designed to appreciate the everyday heroes of the business, such as our Employee of the Year awards (the 2015 winners travelled to Uluru as a reward) to ongoing team building and site events where employees bond over cooking classes, family picnics and other

warnings that eventually cause your well-oiled machine to fall apart under race-day pressure.

At DHL Express, we survey our employees formally on an annual basis and augment this with pulse surveys throughout the year to find out from all staff what’s working and what isn’t, then acting to remedy those issues before they overheat. These surveys and the follow-up actions implemented have helped us take employee engagement and learning levels to record highs in the business.

The stronger the bonds of your workplace culture, the faster and smoother you’ll perform in whatever ‘pits’ you face in your business.

It may not be as exciting to watch, but the logistics of HR have the same winning formula as those of any professional racing team: communication, camaraderie, and candidness about what needs to be fixed. Embrace it and your business will have the best chance possible of success on any international circuit.

Linda Clinch is the vice president, human resources at DHL Express Oceania.

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FEATURES

DIVERSITY

WHY CULTURAL DIVERSITY = HIGH PERFORMANCE As all eyes are currently on gender diversity, other areas – such as cultural diversity – can be neglected. Angela Henderson, HR business partner at CMC Markets, outlines why her company has invested in this area THE WORLD of currency and stock trading never sleeps and it’s an exciting business to be in right now. Factors such as Brexit, Donald Trump’s presidency, rising inflation and a falling Aussie dollar make 2017 a difficult year to predict.

However, one certainty exists for most Australian organisations – the need for successful business strategies to secure a prosperous future in both the domestic and Asian economies.

Organisational effectiveness Like those of my counterparts in HR, two of my key focuses are organisation effectiveness and managing talent. In the service era, it has never been more important to put the customer at the heart of your business. Then it’s about ensuring you attract and retain talented staff to provide ongoing value to your customers so they remain satisfied and loyal.

This sounds simplistic but in reality it requires in-depth knowledge of your business, its products and services, your customer needs, market trends, opportunities and threats. Understanding these factors enables you to direct the best use of talent to deliver the best ROI for the business.

In the case of CMC Markets, we clearly

22

identified what the brand should represent and investigated what was important for our Asia-Pacific customers. The process identified that CMC Markets should lead the way through trader education, premium customer service and the best trading platform and tools.

A few years on, it’s clear we have the formula right as the company continues to attract our industry’s biggest number of high value clients.

Put simply, we deliver a better user experience and customer service to this segment.

Cultural diversity enabling business strategy How do we achieve these results? We embrace cultural diversity, establish a rigorous recruitment criteria and induction program, and then allow talent to thrive in strong teams that are geared to delivering to clients’ needs.

Our staff come from a wide variety of countries and backgrounds, so they have personal experience of cultural nuances and traditions CRACKING THE CULTURAL CEILING According to 2014 research from Diversity Council Australia, people with Asian cultural backgrounds are well represented in entry-level and mid-level jobs in Australian business, yet they are significantly under-represented in leadership roles. While 9.3% of the Australian labour force is Asia born, only 4.9% make it to a senior executive level.

• Only 17% of surveyed Asia-born workers strongly agree that their organisation uses their Asia capabilities very well.

• One in five are very satisfied with career progress and opportunities.

• 22% strongly agree that they have worked in organisations that value cultural diversity.

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What that means in practice is that alongside departmental managers and team leaders, I have literally hand-picked each member of staff who represents our brand to customers in Australia and across the AsiaPacific region.

As we have a high proportion of Asian customers in Australia and across the region, we employ Mandarin and Cantonese speakers who are also fluent in English, both verbally and in written form.

These customer-facing staff and managers sit across the business and have enabled us to achieve a core business objective to provide service excellence to a key group of customers, who want to speak to someone in their own language who understands their needs and can resolve issues quickly.

Beyond the language barrier Our staff come from a wide variety of countries and backgrounds, so they have personal experience of cultural nuances and traditions.

Currently, approximately 35% of our staff are of Asia-Pacific descent.

When I see a CV from a candidate who has a university degree, who has worked in one or two service-orientated jobs, and is bilingual, I want to see them, to assess if they are a good fit for openings in our multicultural team.

I know those candidates are more likely to understand our customers and can deliver a personalised service each time they represent our brand over the phone, email, or social media.

Quality assured approach One of the key overriding factors we select our people on is their desire to serve others and their ability for conversation.

Our experienced staff understand customers sometimes want a deeper interaction and wish to chat about what’s happening on the markets, or discuss a new product offering. It’s important to

REWARDING TALENT Many of our clients trade currency in the evening when the UK and US markets are open. Managing the nightshift for CMC Markets is Meredith Shen, senior client services executive.

However volatile international currency and stock markets become, Meredith ensures she delivers an unparalleled client service experience to drive customer satisfaction and loyalty across the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

Meredith began her career with CMC Markets in Singapore in 2013 and relocated to Sydney to join the customer service team in 2015. After a few months, she was talent spotted for advancement and took on the senior client services executive role. Her professional demeanour and encyclopaedic product knowledge enable her to successfully serve even the most demanding of clients.

In line with our business strategy to support key customers, Meredith is fluent in Mandarin and English and her ability to anticipate the current and future needs of her customers ensures the people she interacts with feel valued and satisfied their needs have been met.

Plan to succeed As 2017 unfolds, I plan to continue my focus on cultural diversity and how to manage it effectively to further improve our workplace performance, productivity, relationships and competitiveness. I invite you all to do the same. Here are some tips on getting started: Pledge to increase your understanding of culture diversity.

Join an online discussion group or sign up to receive information on cultural diversity, so you learn a little each day/week.

Develop your cross-cultural communication skills and interactions.

Analyse how your business strategies and operations can benefit from cultural diversity.

Develop an action plan for managing cultural diversity in your business. have the entire team skilled up to manage these conversations without having to pass enquiries on.

Having a multicultural team that tends to be bilingual means staff can service a wider range of customers, therefore creating greater efficiencies for the business.

Gender diversity We are all acquainted with the skills mix females can bring to teams. It’s often said that women bring empathy and intuition to the workplace. Add to that an interest in finance and accruing new technology skills and you

have a very compelling formula for a global online business like ours.

I believe our company also benefits from a good degree of gender diversity, and we have women in a number of management roles across the business – such as business operations, stockbroking, marketing, communications and customer service.

It’s a source of pride for me as HR business partner that many of these female executives began their careers in our customer service team and have progressed to lead departments they have a passion and aptitude for.

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SPECIAL REPORT

MBAs

THE HRD MBA GUIDE 2017

SWITCHING (CAREER) GEARS

They say that a change is as good as a holiday – perhaps it’s time to apply that logic to your career? The answer may be postgraduate study, of which the shining jewel remains the MBA

FOLLOWING A move from a small town in Zimbabwe to Perth and then Melbourne early in her life, Barb Hyman, EGM people and culture at REA Group, eventually opted to study law at Monash University. However, once she entered the workforce as a solicitor, she felt something was missing from her working life.

She commenced and completed an MBA at Melbourne Business School, which relaunched her career in a totally new direction.

“As a lawyer you execute someone else’s ideas – I had ideas; I wanted to be heard,” Hyman told HRD. “Doing an MBA was a way of fast-tracking; it was a big risk, I went into it blind. But it gave me an opportunity to be in those front line conversations and be part of that ideation.”

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SPECIAL REPORT

MBAs

MBA SNAPSHOT »»The Australian MBA market is worth around $500m per annum »»More than 30 Australian universities offer an MBA degree »»20,000 students are currently enrolled in an MBA in Australia »»There are 60 different MBA courses available in Australia »»Up to 80% of students are from overseas. The top five countries for overseas students studying in Australia are China, India, South Korea, Vietnam and Malaysia MBA in hand, Hyman commenced work with the highly esteemed Boston Consulting Group and then went on to work in various marketing and business development roles for Orica and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, before landing the HR role at REA Group.

Hyman’s story is typical of why many professionals opt to undertake an MBA – a change in career path.

The MBA is still one of the most valuable postgraduate degrees for a professional to have in their educational arsenal. Not just because of the weight an MBA designation adds to job applications, but because of the relevancy of the knowledge and skills acquired throughout the study process. On top of that, the networking opportunities an MBA degree affords students is unparalleled.

As Chris Patton, pro vice chancellor (international and enterprise) at Southern Cross University explains, most MBAs – including the MBA offered by Southern Cross – are heavily focused on leadership within a management context, which is a pivotal trait in successful advancement.

“As we move into the expanding digital age, leadership no longer means do as I say,” Patton explains. “It’s a professional approach to empowering employees and being able to draw out their best, with efficiency and impact.”

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Staying ahead of the game MBAs have had to move with the times in order to stay relevant to a rapidly changing business world. Contemporary MBAs differ from traditional programs in at least two key respects. First, rather than treat each topic area as separate, today’s best programs focus on integrating knowledge around solving concrete, real-life business problems.

Second, there has been a growing demand for programs that allow candidates to combine the breadth of the traditional MBA curriculum with a depth and specialisation in a particular area like technology or change management.

Indeed, 2016 research covering 1,000 students at 35 business schools worldwide (including three from Australia), highlighted just how rapidly the MBA space is changing.

The resulting report, Time for MBA 2.0, produced by education consultants CarringtonCrisp with support from the European Foundation for Management Development, pointed to a move away from the traditional two-year MBA towards options such as e-learning and blended learning. In addition, the popularity of specialist MBAs has soared to the point that

interest in specialist and generalist MBAs is more or less equal – the most popular specialist MBAs were finance, international management, IT and entrepreneurship.

Students were also found to have high expectations that a business school will assist them with finding a job upon graduating. The top five career services that prospective students expect to be provided are: career coaching, a mentorship program, career development workshops, consulting projects with a company and a personalised career plan.

The report also shed light on what skills students expect to develop from MBA study.

At the top of the list was leadership, followed by critical thinking skills, entrepreneurialism, negotiation skills and communication skills. Self-awareness came at the bottom of a list of 17 skills.

The report also noted several contrasts between genders. Among them was that men are more likely to want to improve their entrepreneurial skills, with women prioritising negotiating skills.

Business schools have reacted. Course delivery is the prime example of the attempt to match what students are looking for. Course

ON THE GLOBAL STAGE In 2017, INSEAD’s MBA program was announced by the Financial Times as being the world’s best for the second year running. To achieve the top ranking in the publication’s Global MBA Ranking 2017, INSEAD scored highly across several categories, including alumni career progress, international diversity and idea generation. In 2016, INSEAD – which has campuses in France, Singapore and Abu Dhabi – became the first school with a one-year MBA program to take the top spot.

2017 rank

2016 rank

3-year rank

1

1

2

INSEAD

France / Singapore / Abu Dhabi

2

5

4

Stanford Graduate School of Business

US

3

4

3

University of Pennsylvania: Wharton

US

4

2

2

Harvard Business School

US

5

10

9

University of Cambridge: Judge Business School

UK

49

56

58

Macquarie Graduate School of Management

Australia

54

66

65

AGSM at UNSW Business School

Australia

76

87

84

Melbourne Business School

Australia

School

Country

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materials can now be supplied online well in advance of classes commencing, and greater study flexibility is now offered. Australian Catholic University (ACU), for example, offers both a standard MBA during weekday evenings (which has a more international flavour) as well as the MBA Executive, taught part-time in weekend intensive mode.

Dr Al Marshall, Faculty of Law and Business at ACU says the MBA Executive program attracts executives from a diverse range of organisations with an average of 17 years’ managerial experience. The face-to- face intensive weekend mode of delivery provides opportunities to network and engage with industry and business leaders as guest speakers who bring in a wealth of experience.

“It’s no longer enough to teach the basics,”

Marshall says. “All our course content must be practical, ethical and global in outlook. Social responsibility, ethical leadership, governance, sustainability, innovation and entrepreneurship are the cornerstones of our programs.”

used in MBAs, as Patton explains: “What we’ve learnt from the 70/20/10 model is that significant development also happens outside of a formal learning environment. Southern Cross students benefit from varied

The popularity of specialist MBAs has soared to the point that interest in specialist and generalist MBAs is more or less equal Theory mixed with practice The 70/20/10 learning framework, which captures the three types of learning – experiential, social and formal – is typically

assessments, across various formats. All assignments, case studies, presentations, analysis and reports are based around contemporary management and shows you

I WANT TO BE THE BOSS

WHO VALUES ETHICS AND ASSETS ACU’s Master of Business Administration (Executive) will take your career to the next level. Offered in intensive weekend mode with six start dates per year, the program has an emphasis on ethical leadership.

It’s designed for busy professionals who are ready to transform from skilled managers into highperformance influencers.

CRICOS registered provider: 00004G

Are you ready to make your move?

MIDYEAR APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN yourfuture.acu.edu.au

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SPECIAL REPORT

MBAs

QS GLOBAL 250 BUSINESS SCHOOLS REPORT 2017 The QS Global 250 Business Schools Report 2017 identifies the top 250 full-time MBA programs around the world, in 36 different countries. The report focuses on two key elements: employability of graduates and research excellence.

Top 10 business schools in Asia-Pacific for employability: Rank

Institution

Country

1

INSEAD

Singapore

2

AGSM, University of New South Wales

Australia

3

Melbourne Business School, The University of Melbourne

Australia

4

Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad

India

5

NUS Business School, National University of Singapore

Singapore

6

Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore

India

7

UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney (UTS)

Australia

8

The HKUST Business School

Hong Kong

9

Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University

Singapore

10

Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta

India

15

UQ Business School, University of Queensland

Australia

17

Macquarie Graduate School of Management, Macquarie University

Australia

18

College of Business and Economics, The Australian National University

Australia

COURSE COSTS

6%

Increase in average MBA fees from 2016 to 2017

$47,500

Average cost of a program in 2017 ($44,866 in 2016)

$2,500+

Increase in average MBA cost for full fee paying domestic students

$30,000

There are now 14 MBA programs costing less than $30,000

$$$

The three most expensive business schools in Australia are: Melbourne Business School ($85,470); Australian Graduate School of Management at University of NSW ($81,600); and Macquarie Graduate School of Management at Macquarie University ($80,000) Source: MBAnews.com.au

how to develop solutions to complex commercial situations. Students are equipped with real-world skills, which they can apply to their workplaces throughout their studies.”

Business schools are also continuing to forge strong relationships with the business world, both to shape course content and to expose students to real-life business challenges.

Associate professor Jo Earl of Flinders University says the opportunity for Flinders students to take part in practical work-related experience is an essential part of the learning experience. Flinders MBA students have the opportunity to participate in industry placements and projects where students work as a team to solve a real business problem.

Flinders MBA students have completed placements with businesses such as Business SA, BT Financial and Scope Global.

“Our work integrated learning placements offer students the opportunity to work in real roles in real organisations and try out potential career paths,” Earl says. “Our advisory group,

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Flinders MBA students have the opportunity to participate in industry placements and projects where students work as a team to solve a real business problem consisting of seasoned business professionals, provides regular input into initiatives and a real-world perspective. Our teaching staff interact and present their research out into the community so there is a regular flow of information back and forth between businesses and the university environment.”

Students are encouraged to engage with the mentoring opportunities on offer, including networking events and other informal opportunities to gain job-related experiences.

“Through experiential learning, our students gain fundamental insight into the nature and complexities of the workplace,

which makes them more adaptable and valuable to prospective employers,” Earl says.

Patton adds that Southern Cross is “talking to the corporate world daily”, which enables the university to identify emerging trends and content needs and add these into the MBA. Southern Cross will also align with the needs of any organisation it works with in order to build bespoke partnerships to deliver an MBA that’s relevant to their employees’ career goals and succession plans.

“HR leaders, especially those in organisations with long average tenure, often tell us that they want their staff to be exposed

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SPECIAL REPORT

MBAs

EXECUTIVE MBAs Another relatively recent phenomenon has been the development of Executive MBAs. These are designed to specifically meet the education needs of managers and executives, allowing students to earn an MBA (or another business-related graduate degree) in two years or less while working full-time. To cite one example, Monash has introduced an EMBA designed for experienced professionals who have at least six years’ work experience and at least four years’ professional or managerial experience. The MBA, by comparison, remains aimed more at emerging professionals with a minimum of three years’ work experience and one year of professional/managerial experience.

ACU’s Executive MBA, for example, enrols students who have on average 17 years’ experience in industry.

Each student brings valuable insights to the cohort.

“We have industry leaders conducting guest lectures through our masterclass and MBA experience evenings,” Marshall explains. “These industry experts present real-world business challenges that are workshopped and solved in class.”

Students in ACU’s MBA Executive come from a diverse background – banking, retail, HR, accounting, through to marketing, consulting and teaching – and Marshall notes that small boardroom-style classes mean that networking is enhanced by working closely to other industries while studying the MBA so they can discover new ways of doing things and apply those in their own industry, so our online learning environment is built to facilitate and encourage that type of interaction and networking,” he says.

with other students. ACU also offers an international study tour, which exposes students to global issues.

Learning and developing through structured course materials is the vehicle ACU uses to launch the experiential and social/exposure aspects of the 70/20/10 model.

Marshall adds that ACU’s MBA Executive course materials are delivered online, meaning that group work is often carried out in online forums where the

lecturers can monitor progress, and information is shared via learning platforms. However, he believes the physical interaction between the lecturer and students, and students networking with each other, is still an important component of the MBA experience.

“We recognise that students are time-poor, so our MBA Executive program caters to busy professionals by running weekend intensive classes in short, manageable blocks mixed with online learning,” he says.

The decision to tackle postgraduate study should not be taken lightly. Juggling family, social and work lives can be tough

Going digital The decision to tackle postgraduate study should not be taken lightly. Juggling family, social and work lives can be tough and business schools have responded by offering online learning and the ability to complete courses in an accelerated mode. Flinders University’s online option, for example, offers opportunities for peer interaction and assessment and the convenience of saving on travel time and managing conflicting schedules.

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The Flinders online modules allow students the option of studying entirely from home.

“Some students might not want to complete an MBA entirely online but work and family demands might require this type of flexibility,” Earl says. “We empower students to design a study plan around work and family incorporating online, regular weekly classes or intensive workshops.”

Likewise, SCU’s online MBA uses a bespoke

online learning environment built specifically for SCU student needs, and its virtual classroom facilities provide fully interactive and connected learning, including a social platform, notification and discussion boards, and interactive presentations, all on the terms of the individual students.

Earl adds that students are increasingly recognising how important the social aspects of education are and will seek opportunities to

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network. How can this be facilitated with online learning? Flinders University offers an online student lounge where students can interact with each other virtually. This social aspect is mirrored on the physical campuses, which include a new $63m student hub and plaza where students can meet more informally. The hub also includes a dedicated 24/7 accessible study and social lounge space, called The Cove, for postgraduate students.

“These spaces help our students connect, study and relax with full kitchen facilities, smart boards, bookable group study spaces and the latest technologies,” Earl says.

Making the choice As more than 30 Australian universities now offer MBA programs, how can prospective students make the right choice?

Earl suggests that it’s essential to find a university that will support a student on their learning journey – this is critical because most people enrol in an MBA as they want to move up from a specialist role to a senior generalist management position or take their career in a new direction. Students might look at overall satisfaction and good teaching practice for postgraduate business courses (Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching, or QILT).

Other key considerations will be price and duration. However, Patton says it’s also critical that students take into account their work, family and social obligations.

“Time is always a major deterrent for professionals looking to go back to school, which is why ensuring the university you end up choosing offers flexible learning and supported study is important, so you can continue to work full-time and not sacrifice family or social time,” he says.

Marshall adds that it’s critical to shop around and look at the alternatives and consider which delivery methods best suit your learning style. Beyond that, it is extremely important to consider the quality of teaching staff. Finally, he suggests students should also think about: yyCurrency of content

yyFlexibility of delivery yyFlexibility of start dates and time allowed to complete yyIncorporation of technology yyManageable class sizes

The future As the workforce continues to evolve, major areas of focus within MBAs will shift. From traditional areas such as general management, Patton says business schools will likely see a shift towards a focus on responsible management. That is, economic and social impact, innovation and sustainability, and ethical decision making. There is also a bigger focus on getting closer to practice, and teaching the soft skills of management. We’ll also likely see: More specialisation – there continues to be increasing demand for MBAs that allow students to specialise in a particular area. Business schools are working hard on bringing new specialisations to market in the next few years.

1

More flexibility – students increasingly want to study in a range of modes: online, intensive and face-to-face and mixed.

2

Closer integration with workplace learning – most of the business schools contacted by HRD expect to be working closely with companies to ensure that in-house workplace learning is aligned to and recognised as part of MBA programs.

3

Broader connections – a key to the MBA experience is the people you meet and study with. You learn from them, they become your support network and later they become key resources for you in your career.

However, this should not be restricted to just the 20 or 30 people in your class. MBAs should increasingly provide you entry into a global network that can support you throughout your career and technology is making this possible.

4

TOP 10 TIPS FOR DISTANCE LEARNING SUCCESS 1. Become familiar and ready with course materials. Familiarise yourself with programs used for the course and purchase books listed in your first reading lists.

2. Set a study schedule and stick to it.

This will help you keep up with the pace, meet deadlines and, ultimately, succeed.

3. Create a workspace. Make a clutterfree, comfortable space with adequate light. Make this space your learning space and nothing else.

4. Set goals. And meet them. Your first goal may just be to organise your workload and that’s a great place to start, but set even bigger goals for yourself as you move on.

5. Contact your instructor regularly.

Keep in touch with your instructor and regularly contact them with any questions you may have.

6. Take practice exams. Time yourself while taking practice exams so you know whether or not you are assessing an exam within the allotted time.

7. Make or join a study group. Many distance learning online programs can link you up with your classmates, which can be worthwhile, both academically and socially.

8. Reward yourself. Always having something to look forward to will most likely help you stay dedicated.

Source: www.topuniversities.com

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SPECIAL REPORT

MBA GUIDE

THE MBA GUIDE 2017

Location: Adelaide, Victoria Square; online

Location: Online or on-campus

Website: www.flinders.edu.au/mba

Website: https://online.scu.edu.au/mba-hr/

Official name of MBA program: Master of Business Administration

Official name of MBA program: Master of Business Administration Part-time or full-time? Accelerated part-time

Part-time or full-time? Part-time and full-time

Course duration: From two years part-time

Course duration: 1.5 years Intake dates: Mainly March and July; January and July for online accelerated Strengths & emphasis: Individual approach to career and career development. Flexible delivery Admission criteria: Bachelor degree or equivalent qualification or completion of the Graduate Diploma in Business Administration.

Minimum three years of work experience

Intake dates: February, April, July, September, October, December Strengths & emphasis: Four specialisations offered: Accounting; Information and Knowledge Management; Health Services Management; and Managing and Leading People Admission criteria: • Demonstrated professional standing – either a bachelor’s degree (or a similar qualification) from a university, or have other experience that we regard as equivalent to a degree.

• Be proficient in English.

Current number of students undertaking MBA: 110 Cost: Local $23,546 per year and international $29,200 per year (approx) Weekly time commitment: 12.5 hours per week per topic.

12 topics in total

Current number of students undertaking MBA: Master of Business Administration: 369 students Graduate Diploma of Business: 14 students Graduate Certificate of Business: 40 students Cost: $2,450 per unit for domestic students. FEE-HELP available Weekly time commitment: 15-20 hours

Pass rate: 96% (approx)

Pass rate: n/a

Accreditation: AMBA assessment 2018

Accreditation: n/a

Skills mastered: Evidence-based management practices and

Skills mastered: The latest concepts, knowledge and business insights to match a fast-paced global digital economy

application. Skills to propel from middle to senior executive

ADDITIONAL MBA OPTIONS

NSW AGSM, University of New South Wales: business.unsw.edu.au/agsm/mba/mbax Macquarie Graduate School of Management, Macquarie University: mgsm.edu.au UTS Business School, UTS: uts.edu.au/future-students/ business/about-business/uts-business-school School of Business, University of Western Sydney: uws.edu.au/sob/changemaker.html University of New England: une.edu.au/unebs

QUEENSLAND University of Queensland Business School: business.uq.edu.au

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Griffith Business School, Griffith University: griffith.edu.au/business-government/griffith-businessschool Central Queensland University: cqu.edu.au/mba

VICTORIA Victoria Graduate School of Business, Victoria University: vu.edu.au/courses/master-of-businessadministration-bmpf College of Business, RMIT: rmit.edu.au/about/oureducation/academic-colleges/college-of-business/ Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne: mbs.edu/education-development/degreeprograms/mba Australian Catholic University (also Sydney, Brisbane): acu.edu.au/679606

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Location: Sydney

Location: Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane

Website: http://mba.sydney.edu.au/

Website: acu.edu.au/679606

Official name of MBA program: Master of Business Administration (MBA)

Official name of MBA program: Master of Business Administration (Executive)

Part-time or full-time? Part-time

Part-time or full-time? Weekend intensive – part-time

Course duration: 2-3 years Intake dates: Sem 1 (February) and Sem 2 (July) Strengths & emphasis: We combine high-level research with a practical, hands‑on approach to learning and a focus on you as an individual to ensure that you realise your ambitions. Our MBA has a strong focus on developing the personal and interpersonal skills needed to lead in today’s hyper-connected, global environment, which is increasingly characterised by disruption Admission criteria: http://mba.sydney.edu.au/mba/how_to_apply • Five years of managerial or professional work experience Current number of students undertaking MBA: n/a Cost: http://mba.sydney.edu.au/mba/fees Accreditation: We are the only Australian business school to achieve membership to CEMS – the Global Alliance in Management Education, in addition to international accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) Skills mastered: With an MBA from the University of Sydney Business School, you can become your future anything: • Learn with a cohort of like-minded professionals • Maximise your analytical skills • Develop the ability to articulate cogent arguments • Practical, real-world learning • Fine-tune your management, leadership and professional skills

Course duration: Two years, 12 units of study Intake dates: Six intakes per year Strengths & emphasis: Small, boardroom-style classes, flexible with six start dates per year, tailored for busy professionals, weekend intensive units, offered in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane CBDs (ability to pick up units in different states) in stateof-the-art facilities. Global, ethical, practical Admission criteria: To be eligible for admission to the course, an applicant must have completed the following prerequisites: • A degree in a related discipline and evidence of suitable industry experience; or • A degree in a different discipline and evidence of substantial industry experience; or • In special circumstances, applicants who do not meet any of the above requirements but who have a sound and sufficient basis for application can apply directly to the course coordinator.

Applicants must provide a portfolio demonstrating that their knowledge, experience and skills are such that they are likely to succeed in the program Current number of students undertaking MBA: 114 Cost: $3,650 per unit (DOM)

Monash Business School, Monash University: monash.edu/mba

WESTERN AUSTRALIA Business School, University of Western Australia: business.uwa.edu.au Curtin Business School, Curtin University: business.curtin.edu.au

SOUTH AUSTRALIA Adelaide Business School, University of Adelaide: business.adelaide.edu.au Business School, University of South Australia: unisa.edu.au/business

TASMANIA

Weekly time commitment: 16 hours (approx)

Tasmanian School of Business & Economics, University of Tasmania: utas.edu.au/business-and-economics

Pass rate: 100% pass for MBA (Executive) who complete

ACT/NT College of Business and Economics, Australian National University: cbe.anu.edu.au Faculty of Business, Government & Law, University of Canberra: canberra.edu.au/ about-uc/faculties/busgovlaw School of Business, Charles Darwin University: cdu.edu.au/business

Skills mastered: At ACU’s Peter Faber Business School our purpose is to challenge, empower and inspire graduates to make a positive difference for self and society. The theme of the course is ethical, global and practical decision-making. We teach modern business practices and challenge you with possibilities of current business theories and practices that will lead to the development of higher level strategic skills in: • Ethical leadership • Change management • Corporate governance • Management for sustainability • Global practices

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SECTOR FOCUS

L&D

BIG DATA AND THE FUTURE OF LEARNING Predictive modelling is set to revolutionise how organisations deliver L&D initiatives.

HRD explores the latest developments and where the future might lead

HR PROFESSIONALS are becoming more and more adept at utilising the insights gleaned from big data to bolster their decision-making capabilities. Talent management, recruitment and performance management are just three areas in which big data is being used, not just to underline past trends but to forecast ahead.

Now it’s time for L&D departments to get in on the act. Karlie Cremin, principal of

“E-learning has to a certain extent started to change this; however, the correlations between that data and outcomes have not been completely established yet,” she says. “For this reason, it can be difficult for organisations to know where to start.”

Adaptive, personalised career paths A predictive tool Perhaps the most exciting development regarding the use of big data to shape

“The easiest, and subsequently cheapest, application is using workforce data to predict skills need” Karlie Cremin, DLPA Dynamic Leadership Programs Australia, says this is a relatively new development, especially in Australia. While some companies are embracing data insights, Cremin says there are unique challenges in the L&D arena, primarily because there is not as much pre-existing data on L&D activities.

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platform from which to take strategic action.

There are several ways this can be used in the L&D space, as Cremin explains.

“The easiest, and subsequently cheapest, application is using workforce data to predict skills need,” she says. “This then provides the roadmap for where you need to be investing to ensure that the organisation has access to the skills it needs, when it needs them.”

Beyond that, Cremin says the possibilities “are endless”. For example, predictive modelling can be used to tailor L&D programs to the individual user. It can also be used to forecast the effectiveness of a program, from which course conveners can make changes to ensure highest yield. HR practitioners can even utilise predictive modelling to identify high-performing candidates for early selection into leadership programs.

“These are just some of the uses we know of right now,” says Cremin. “I struggle to fathom the scope of predictive modelling in this space in the future. It will be huge.”

corporate L&D is predictive modelling.

Predictive modelling is the process of taking a data set and utilising identified variables to model the probability of different outcomes.

This allows users to draw correlations between variables and identify predictors within a data set. This then provides a

Countless surveys and research papers have identified that employees value career paths and development plans – these are often cited as the most valuable retention tools for employers. Data insights are helping on this front, too, by providing HR with the ability to track data on an employee during their journey through their employment with the organisation. This can be used for predictive modelling around development plans and optimum times for investment, development and progression.

“What this means is that big data is already allowing development plans and the way individuals manage their careers to be highly customised to the individual, and highly adaptive to variables such as personality, stage of life and preferences in general,” says Cremin. “Big data is now

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LINKING L&D TO BUSINESS OUTCOMES

giving us access to create an intersection between customising L&D activity for the needs of the individual, customising L&D activity for the organisation and predicting the point where both will have the highest utility. This is truly exciting.”

Even more revelatory is the potential for data insights to be used to hone training effectiveness. For example, these insights may reveal that learners tend to skip over or appear to be disengaged with one component of a course. Data captured by e-learning platforms can reveal huge amounts of information about a user’s interaction, learning preferences and often how that correlates to absorption

Any HR professional knows how challenging it can be to prove the ROI of a learning initiative. Can big data help to link, for example, improved sales performance to a learning intervention? Karlie Cremin responds: “The biggest advantage of big data is that it is relatively inexpensive to gain quite a lot of insight. There is certainly a huge amount of activity in organisations at the moment building models that map investment in many areas, including L&D, to strategic outcomes – and subsequently ROI. This is something we have been doing for years with our programs. Provided the work is put into identifying and testing the correlations, L&D activity should always be linked to an improved organisational performance metric.

Big data makes this easy and affordable to measure, map and test performance as it relates to the input – for example, a specific training course. This means that businesses will be able to much more confidently allocate funds to courses or programs in a way that is most relevant to the organisation.”

of information and their use of critical thinking. This data can then very easily be used to piece together a course specific to the individual, which covers the same information as the course everyone else does. The difference, however, is that it’s

customised to ensure the best learning experience for the individual.

“The implications of this, particularly for those who have not thrived in traditional learning environments, should really not be undervalued,” Cremin says. “This has the

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SECTOR FOCUS

L&D Brought to you by

GETTING CFO BUY-IN

power to completely change how we view and approach education.”

Need to get an L&D initiative over the line with your CFO? Karlie Cremin suggests bringing their attention to three critical areas:

Don’t forget the human element

The cost of not taking action – highlight the ways in which the organisation is not getting a return on current activity and the opportunity cost of continuing on that way.

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The value of the strategic currency of data – information is power. If you hold information on L&D that your competitors don’t, you stand to become an employer of choice with a workforce that becomes increasingly superior over time.

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Data doesn’t occur in a silo – the data harvested and interrogated for L&D will have value for other areas as well. Through utilising a big data model, all areas of the business will thrive, and are better informed to make higher quality decisions.

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DLPA Dynamic Leadership Programs Australia (DLPA) is a bespoke leadership and business development program provider that drives strategic objectives and unlocks the potential of current and emerging leaders. With corporate strategy at the heart of DLPA’s programs, our team works hand in hand with each client to identify key barriers to their success, develop leadership skills, align organisational values, and empower people to reach higher levels of performance. For further information email info@dlpa.com.au

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Despite the exciting developments, Cremin is mindful of relying too heavily on the algorithms and machine learning that result from big data. This is especially the case if HR relies solely on these insights to make decisions about who is likely to benefit most from a training investment.

“I do worry about what we lose by taking direction from data, and overlooking the humanity in our workforce,” she says.

“I would stress that data should always

but again, big data can potentially help.

Cremin has noticed that in many organisations in recent years there has been a reluctance to invest in items that are not strictly operational. This, of course, means that the burden for HR professionals to demonstrate ROI has increased significantly.

The great thing about investing in big data is that it is reliably measurable.

“In short, it’s our belief that any organisation not investing in this now is going to be obsolete very shortly,” she says.

“They will find it impossible to attract talent; they’ll find themselves without the skills to deliver core outputs, and will eventually

“There will always be a requirement for us to look at the world in context and decide what all the information is telling us” Karlie Cremin, DLPA be used to inform, not to direct action.

I don’t believe in completely writing off an individual because the data indicates that they are not going to be a top achiever.

The most productive workforces are diverse workforces.”

She adds that while data can be used to predict which employees are likely to benefit the most from training – and machine learning and associated outputs are a highly efficient way to mine huge amounts of data – the outputs still need to be interpreted.

“There will always be a requirement for us to look at the world in context and decide what all the information is telling us,” Cremin says.

Get on board now There is also the critical question of return on investment for any learning initiative –

become irrelevant to the marketplace. This is not discretionary spending for anyone with long-term goals.”

As for the future, Cremin says “the sky is the limit” for big data and predictive modelling in L&D. She urges HR to brace for an ever-increasing rate of change from this point onwards. Her personal hope is that leaders can utilise big data in a way that means their organisations are higher performing, and the individuals within them have a more customised career path that is meaningful for them.

“Of course, the ultimate would be that education becomes more and more accessible and adaptive to needs so that every single person has access to a quality education,” she says. “I’m really hopeful I will see that in my lifetime.”

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SECTOR FOCUS

TECHNOLOGY

GETTING BEHIND BIG, BIG DATA

The HR profession may have been slow to join the big data revolution, but now it’s available and the insights provided by algorithms and machine learning will transform how decisions are made and how people are engaged and managed

Firstly, the way in which decisions are made about people will change. This doesn’t mean that those technology platforms will be making decisions; rather, it means that instead of the traditional slow decisionmaking process, executives, HR, managers and even employees are empowered with data insights at the point of decision-making.

In an instant, they can quickly visualise their data and make informed decisions.

Secondly, it helps HR create personalised services to employees. Ricciardi says that in much the same way that Google will return search results to a user based on the sites they have previously visited, HR can now provide more meaningful personalised employee experiences – and this, of course, leads to greater engagement.

Machine learning “WE’RE JUST scratching the surface of where big data can take us.” Those are the confident words of someone who has been at the forefront of HR cloud technology for almost 20 years. As the senior vice president and general manager of Cornerstone OnDemand’s business in Asia-Pacific and

and mobile technology that allow for the collection of immense amounts of data.

“Most companies have data, which has historically been retrospective, looking back at what has happened in the past,” Ricciardi says. “Today, however, thanks to cloud solutions like Cornerstone, companies

“As you pump more data into the algorithm you can identify nuances and biases within your original hypothesis” Frank Ricciardi, Cornerstone OnDemand Japan, Frank Ricciardi has watched HR’s standing in the business evolve first-hand. A major driver of that evolution – especially for the past five years – has been the availability of HR data analytics and decision support.

While he concedes that HR has been one of the last of the business leaders in the executive suite to have true access to the technologies that allow for rich insights and more informed decision-making, Ricciardi says this is rapidly changing thanks to cloud

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not only have access to their own data but also access to data across many, many thousands of companies around the world encompassing many tens of millions of employees. We’ve been able to anonymise the data and build meaningful algorithms to not just look at what has happened in the past but also to predict what will happen in the future and prescribe what possible actions should be taken.”

This has major repercussions for HR.

It’s natural to want answers to problems.

A good example might be the analysis of regional sales data within a company. If the data shows that Europe is not performing as well as Asia, then what is the reason? We could hypothesise that it might be economic variances in these regions or that it might be that the team in Asia is better trained and has a higher level of competency.

“In this case, you would need to look at the sales, training data and competency data to determine if a correlation exists and if the hypothesis is correct,” Ricciardi says.

However, this is all retrospective.

Ricciardi says the next level is predictive and prescriptive analytics: taking what’s happened in the past and applying algorithms and machine learning to make predictions of the future.

Some may be confused by the term machine learning and how this plays into HR data. Ricciardi says the term covers two areas. One is the data and the infrastructure that sits behind the data: the databases, the processing power, the algorithms and the data science. Second is the front-end component,

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HR AND PEOPLE DATA which encompasses the all-important user experience. This is perhaps the most critical component – data needs to be presented in a meaningful way that is easy to interpret and at the time at which it is needed.

IBM’s Watson is considered a pioneer in machine learning. Watson combines the technology and the processing power, plus the framework to write algorithms that are applied to that data.

“As you pump more data into the algorithm, you can identify nuances and biases within your original hypothesis,” Ricciardi explains.

“These nuances and biases are things you might not find meaningful if you were looking at a single data point or a small data set.

However, when you put millions, hundreds of millions or billions of data points together, the machine becomes incredibly powerful. When

Does HR have the capability/skills to truly leverage people data? Frank Ricciardi responds: “There’s an element of oil and water with HR and data. It’s not because HR doesn’t want the data, but because it has historically required advance support and skills usually only found within finance or IT. This was mostly only available to big companies, who have been doing this kind of work for almost 20 years. Today that’s not the case. Cornerstone has done this for you. It’s big data insights as a service delivered right through the application and available at the point of need – the point of need where decisions need to be made. We have made these insights not only available to HR, but to the executives, managers and employees to deliver maximum impact to the organisation.

It’s all about empowering people to make effective decisions.”

we work with the machine, humans make better decisions and become more effective at performing the task at hand.”

Now, back to HR. When someone applies for a job, the machine can interpret data about them and help to make recommendations about whether that person should move through the screening process. Even before a company hires that person, the machine can make a prediction

about the possible success of the hire – thus identifying the risk of making a bad (and costly) hiring decision.

Ricciardi says the “highest level of data interaction” one can have is understanding what possible actions to take thanks to insight. “We also know what we could or should do because of these algorithms,” he says. “We know that by changing the parameters, certain things will happen.”

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SECTOR FOCUS

BIG DATA Brought to you by

WHERE TO NEXT? Frank Ricciardi highlights two emerging areas in HR big data: Data insights will become the norm “When I talk to HR people they are fascinated by the insights that we can actually provide and they want them.

Imagine being able to predict the successful hires, flight risk, compliance or successors.

Imagine being able to prescribe development interventions, learning paths and career paths. And we’re only just getting started on how we can use this data to enhance productivity and employee engagement and experience.”

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Benchmarking will be invaluable“You’re an HRD or CHRO at a financial services company with 10,000 employees based in Australia. Imagine having a service that allows you to compare your company with similar companies – or even different companies in different industries – around the world with regards to staff retention. With Cornerstone Benchmark, you will be able to do just that. It will help clients make decisions that are not just about their own people but decisions about the business itself, including how to direct investment and better compete.”

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CORNERSTONE ONDEMAND Cornerstone OnDemand is pioneering solutions to help organisations realise the potential of the modern workforce. As the global leader in cloud-based human capital management software, Cornerstone is designed to enable a lifetime of learning and development that is fundamental to the growth of employees and organisations.

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He cites an example everyone can relate to: weather forecasting.

“We see that it rained today in Sydney.

We can look at all the historical data and say, ‘Generally, it rains when the low-pressure system meets the high-pressure system.’

Then we can say, ‘Well, that’s happening tomorrow, so it will probably rain.’ Then we can prescribe to you: take an umbrella.”

So, in our context then, we may see that people who consume development, are meaningfully connected to other employees, who contribute to social dialogue within the organisation and who have high performance scores are a possible future leader. Imagine getting some help from the machine to

“Before the cloud and before machine learning this would not have been possible,” Ricciardi says. “Your manager may have said, ‘You need to do this, and then do that’ – and that was a personal opinion and possibly interpreted as the only way to do it. Now the machine can present seven different options to you.”

Big, big (people) data Cornerstone is 18 years old and has been in the cloud since day one. Being established effectively at the same time the internet was taking off means the company has a vast amount of employee data across over 3,000 clients and more than 30 million employees. Since starting in learning management back in 1999,

“If you take a simple equation like happy employees equals happy customers, data can put HR at the centre of the world” Frank Ricciardi, Cornerstone OnDemand more proactively identify these people, recommend career paths and prescribe further development.

Empowering employees Back in the workplace, access to insights has one other key benefit: it empowers employees to make their own decisions.

A good example is plotting their own career path. Previously, if a product manager wanted to become a chief technology officer one day, their options might have been restricted to the direct manager’s direction about how to move from point A to point B. Or it may have been a collaborative effort – a conversation between employee and manager. However, the machine knows many thousands of people that have moved from A to B and, as such, can provide the various possible paths between these two points, which competencies and development are required, and how long each path may take.

Cornerstone today provides a full suite of talent solutions for the employee life cycle: from talent acquisition and onboarding, L&D, performance management, compensation management, career and succession planning and enterprise collaboration. The company was also the first to incorporate enterprise social networking into the talent suite – thus providing insights into how well connected people are within the organisation. All of this together, Ricciardi says, means that Cornerstone has what it calls “big, big people data”.

“We have more data on employees than probably anyone else in the world,” he says.

“If you take a simple equation like happy employees equals happy customers, data can put HR at the centre of the world. I believe the HR leaders who are the savviest supporters of technology and the most prolific investigators of data will be the most comfortable at that executive table.”

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SECTOR FOCUS

CULTURE

CREATING A ‘FUMISH’ CULTURE A positive corporate culture is one that fosters respect and creativity and invites everyone to participate on an even ground. HRD outlines how you too can create a FUMISH culture CULTURE IS the glue that binds our communities, organisations, groups and families together. A culture can be positive, toxic or somewhere in-between – but it’s obvious that employers that aim towards a positive culture reap significant benefits.

While positive may seem like a subjective term to use – after all one person’s idea of a perfect company may vary depending on age, circumstance, even gender – there are some defining traits of a positive culture.

of a positive culture with an acronym: FUMISH, which stands for: friendly, uplifting, motivating, inviting, supportive and happy.

However, there’s a potential problem: times are tough, budgets are tight, and people are stretched. Richardson hastens to add that there’s a key difference between staying positive all the time and having a positive culture.

“Life is tough, business is tough and there

“Life is tough, business is tough and there will be times that are tough.

But if you have a FUMISH culture then those times when things do get tight will be easier” Dwaine Richardson, Corporate Challenge Events For Dwain Richardson, managing director of Corporate Challenge Events, a positive culture is the feeling you get when you visit a workplace. “It’s that initial vibe but it’s also carried throughout your entire experience with the company. Not only do your staff feel this but so do your clients.”

Richardson sums up the key characteristics

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will be times that are tough. But if you have a FUMISH culture then those times when things do get tight will be easier,” he says.

Creating a FUMISH culture The term the fish rots from the head down places organisational leaders as key players in any effort to create a FUMISH culture.

“I think it’s well and truly shown that the best leaders recognise the importance of culture,” says Richardson. “I’m a big believer in leaders setting the example.

Since I founded Corporate Challenge Events, whenever I’ve had a meeting with managers around doing team events and the managers have said they won’t be involved, my comment is always, ‘If you want to get the best out of this program, I’d suggest you get involved. Don’t separate yourself out from your team’.”

In Richardson’s experience there are typically two roadblocks to establishing a positive culture: time and commitment.

“It’s not that time or commitment should be a barrier, but those two become the barrier. In terms of the time barrier, I use the example comparing it to everyone’s excuse for not exercising: I don’t have time. But we all know if we do exercise we’ll be more efficient and we’ll have more time. It’s the same here: we know that a positive culture will create a better organisation for us but we can’t because we make excuses like, ‘I’ve got to respond to this email’ and, ‘I’ve got these KPIs I must meet’.”

Similarly, in terms of commitment, Richardson says he will often be asked about organising a three-hour The Amazing Racestyle team event on behalf of a client, and the client will then outline a multitude of issues or challenges they are trying to resolve in the organisation. “I say, ‘We’re not going to solve it in three hours. You need to now put a plan together and commit to an ongoing desire to change the culture in your workplace’.”

Help along the way Helping with the plan are service providers like Corporate Challenge Events. Richardson says his company can help as much or as little as a client needs. Some organisations with large HR teams might require Richardson and his team to assist only with single components

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HOW TO CREATE A FUMISH CULTURE Dwaine Richardson outlines his three Es:

of their predetermined culture-building plan.

Others might require assistance in designing an entire culture-change program.

In relation to Richardson’s three Es (see box, right), Corporate Challenge Events provides services that touch on education, engagement and environment. For example, in the education space are the company’s corporate training services. This training typically covers cultural change – areas like behavioural profiling, working with teams on clarity of values, vision and mission, or sessions on how to build resilience.

Under the environment banner are the company’s conferences and events services.

“Our team will help with the event logistics, whether a conference or a team meeting, and they also advise on how you create an environment that is more conducive to getting the most from your people,” Richardson says.

Education “We’ve all heard the anecdote about the CFO who says to the CEO, ‘What happens if we train them and they leave?’ And the CEO responds with, ‘What if we don’t train them and they stay?’ That’s what the education component is about. The more you do this, the better employees feel about the organisation, and the more positive the culture is.”

Engagement “This is around people getting to know each other and appreciating and understanding each other. Knowing who they are, not just for the position they hold within the organisation. Whether you’re the CEO or the check-out operator at the supermarket, at the end of the day you’re both individuals and you’ve both got your own stories to tell.”

Environment “This encapsulates the two items above. Don’t just sit in a boring square room to deliver a personal development session. Create an environment that will get the most out of people. It’s the physical as much as the mindset environment.”

Under engagement is the team-building arm of the business. Richardson says that after 23 years of experience in the field, this is the company’s “bread and butter”.

Team building in focus Team building has come a long way since the days of group hugs and the trust fall from

days gone by. Today, Richardson says team building has become more creative. For example, one popular option is tying CSR programs into a team-building exercise.

Corporate Challenge Events’ most popular program over the past three years has been bikes for tykes, whereby a team or groups of teams undertake a series of activities and

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SECTOR FOCUS

CULTURE Brought to you by

WORKPLACE CULTURE MONTH For the month of April, Corporate Challenge Events is spreading best-practice tips and guidance about how to create a positive workplace culture. Dwaine Richardson explains: “When we looked into it, we were surprised that we couldn’t find anything like this anywhere in the world. Our plan is to put the spotlight on the importance of culture for the entire month of April – not only how important it is but how simple it is to create a positive culture. I’ll be releasing an ebook with some simple tips on creating a positive team culture, and we’ll also be hosting a number of events in Australia and New Zealand and using our social media platform to showcase how other companies are enhancing their culture. We’re also encouraging people to use the hashtag #workplaceculturemonth to highlight what they’re doing in their organisation.”

CORPORATE CHALLENGE EVENTS Corporate Challenge Events is a leading corporate training, team building and conference planning provider with offices across Australia and New Zealand. Its vision is to help clients achieve a positive fun team culture by delivering unique and rewarding team events, corporate training and staff experiences that leave a lasting happiness.

Website: www.corporatechallenge.com.au Email: info@corporatechallenge.com.au Head Office: +61 3 9753 2562

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then collaborate with each other to build flatpack bicycles, which are then given to kids with serious medical conditions.

Another popular option is cooking classes.

However, rather than cooking for cooking’s sake, teams will make tasty dishes and donate the food to a kitchen that helps the homeless.

There’s also a merging of team building and events occurring.

“What we’re finding is a willingness for organisations to understand it’s more important to break up a one-day or two-day conference with something else, perhaps something light-hearted,” Richardson says.

“That comes back to the environment piece –

successful team-building event is making sure that whichever provider is chosen understands the outcomes you’re hoping to achieve. Secondly, it must be delivered in a non-threatening way.

“The perception of team building has changed,” says Richardson. “Today, it’s perceived as being a recreational fun day where people turn up and the barriers fall between the CEO and the people on the front line. It’s about appreciating the person for who they are, not appreciating them for their job title. So it needs to be non-threatening and inclusive so everyone can take part.”

Richardson has no doubt that team

“It’s not that time or commitment should be a barrier, but those two become the barrier” Dwaine Richardson, Corporate Challenge Events create an environment where people are not sitting in a seat for two days straight and not really taking it all in. By throwing something different in midway, you break it up and help to raise people’s concentration levels.”

For example, an The Amazing Race-style team-building event might be worked into the event. This is particularly effective if people have travelled to another city for a conference. The clue-hunting team-building exercise is used to explore the city.

The Corporate Challenge Event website lists plenty of other examples, and Richardson says it really depends on the style of the conference or event and the amount of time delegates have.

“It could be anything from an outdoor two- or three-hour survivor program onsite, or an amazing race offsite. Or you could even put a socially responsible program in place where the kids are brought out to the venue.”

Richardson adds that the key to a

building in particular can help build positive cultures. Among the benefits are six key points to remember. Team building can: • Show that the organisation cares about individuals • Foster inclusion • Create a sense of team camaraderie • Bolster engagement • Create a sense of fun • Produce significant flow-on effects, for example, greater collaboration across divisions “The more people understand each other the more likely they are to work more effectively with you,” says Richardson. “I don’t have to be the same as you but if I can understand you I can then get to know you better. I’ll know how to work with you and communicate with you more effectively. These are all offshoots of effective team building, and it’s something positive cultures excel at.”

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INSIDE HR

CANON

A SUM GREATER THAN ITS PARTS Guided by a unique philosophy called Kyosei, Canon ensures its duty of care extends not just to employees but to the natural environment and communities in which it operates WHILE HR disruption may be a hot topic right now, disruption in other areas of business, and indeed other industries, has been on the agenda for many years. One need look no further than the photography and imaging field. Kodak is today held up as an example of what not to do when it comes to innovation. In 2012, when the company declared bankruptcy, critics were quick to pounce on the reasons for its decline.

Besides failing to capitalise on the digitalcamera tech that it had actually helped to create, Kodak also underestimated how consumers wanted to interact with their photos in a digital age.

It’s perhaps why another player in this market, Canon, places innovation at the heart of everything it does – not just ideation but idea follow-through. Today, it is one of the world’s leading imaging brands, helping people to connect, communicate and achieve more than what was once possible through imaging solutions for business and consumers.

The Canon Group in the Oceania region comprises Canon Australia, Canon New Zealand, Canon Finance and, more recently,

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SUNSTUDIOS, Converga and Harbour IT. Canon’s Australian R&D company, CiSRA, develops and exports digital imaging technologies for use in Canon products worldwide.

The Canon Australia team has over 775 employees, and the HR team, led by director of human resources, communications and facilities Sara Marshall, consists of 15 people.

Although her appointment was only made in January this year, Marshall will be heading up the people element of Canon’s business diversification strategy, as well as driving a variety of initiatives across Canon, including the Employee Advocacy Program, an ongoing initiative that encourages employees to build and share their knowledge of the business and the imaging industry.

“New ways of working are firmly on the business agenda,” says Marshall, who has previously held senior positions with ASXlisted technology, financial and fast-moving consumer goods businesses, including Reckitt Benckiser, Mercer, ABN AMRO and Campbells/Arnott’s.

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INSIDE HR

CANON

SPREADING THE LOVE In the marketing world, and increasingly the HR world, employee advocacy is a strategic, sustainable program to encourage employees to share brand values and messages in an organic way. An employee advocacy program should be: Strategic: Implemented with goals in mind and metrics in place to measure progress towards those goals Sustainable: Designed and built to last, with support from management and a plan for keeping enthusiasm up, such as recognition for spreading positive words about a company, its products and services Organic: Participation should be voluntary and out of genuine interest. You’re inspiring advocacy, not mandating it; people should want to take part.

Indeed, over the last three years Canon has embarked on a unique change program, using a hybrid solution that has seen the business define the next generation of highperformance workers in Australia.

“We want to ensure our employees are empowered and enabled with the appropriate tools and technology to work in a way that best suits them,” Marshall explains.

“We hope that having these processes in place will empower our employees to service our customers to the best of their ability and deliver bespoke solutions and an excellent customer experience.”

An underlying philosophy No matter the external market turmoil or global instability, Canon starts with a solid base. Its unique corporate philosophy is ‘Kyosei’, which means living and working together for the common good; it is founded on a responsible approach to working.

Introduced in 1988, this philosophy clarifies

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Canon’s stance on partnerships formed with stakeholders in the region and defines how Canon, as an organisation, interacts with stakeholders, from communities to corporations and customers.

“Simply put, it means ‘living and working together for the common good’,” Marshall explains. “It envisions the achievement of a sustainable society in which all people, regardless of race, religion or culture, live harmoniously and work together into the future.”

Through corporate activities based on Kyosei, both globally and locally, Canon

to minimise conflict, sometimes it is unavoidable, so we have policies and training in place to ensure we avoid unconscious bias, and our managers are equipped with the skills to resolve disputes effectively,” Marshall says.

“Conflict in any workplace can be difficult to manage, and at Canon we take the sensitivities of all those involved very seriously.”

With this in mind, Canon has taken steps to ensure employees can work collaboratively and effectively together. The company’s high-performance workplace initiative was implemented to empower employees to work in a way that best suits them.

“We believe that each step we take in trying to work for the common good – as individuals and as an organisation – does make a real difference” Sara Marshall strives to resolve imbalances in the world.

“We believe that each step we take in trying to work for the common good – as individuals and as an organisation – does make a real difference,” says Marshall. “Of course, actions speak louder than words.

We aim to act morally, but more than this, we aim to make a positive difference to all we come into contact with and, through our behaviour, contribute to positive change.”

Does ‘living and working together for the common good’ mean there’s a lack of creative conflict at Canon? Far from it, says Marshall, who emphasises that the goal is to minimise conflict as much as possible by building a cohesive working environment; ensuring the company has empathetic people managers and strong communication processes and tools; and employing people who want to work harmoniously and positively together.

“While we have processes in place

“We try to ensure there are the tools and technology in place as well as the physical spaces to accommodate for those who need to collaborate,” says Marshall. “Likewise, we aim to ensure there are quiet areas and robust technology to support employees when they need to focus to be effective.”

Giving back Kyosei is also reinforced by Canon’s CSR initiatives, which have the philosophy embedded within them.

Canon’s national environmental grants program sponsors community groups and schools undertaking initiatives that have a positive environmental impact and those whose cause would benefit from Canon’s products and services.

For example, in 2016 a community group called Living Ocean was awarded a $5,000 grant in kind for their work raising

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awareness of the human impact on oceanic health through two key projects: a marine studies program that monitors ocean wildlife, and a beach clean-up campaign called ‘No Plastic Please’.

The company also participates in Planet Ark’s Tree Day program each year, with all of Canon’s employees enjoying a BBQ and participating by getting their hands dirty and planting trees. Canon also gifts a seedling to every employee to plant at home. The company recently redesigned its Sydney headquarters to become energy efficient, cutting consumption by over 70% from the previous building.

Canon’s CSR initiatives also aim to give back to the communities in which it operates.

“The HR team tries to ensure each step we take in trying to work for the common good – as individuals and as an organisation – aims to make a real difference,” Marshall says.

An example is Canon’s annual Honours Scholarship program, which sees one marketing student from the University of Sydney awarded $6,000 to support them in their studies.

Employee advocacy Your employees reach 10 times more people than all your corporate social media accounts put together. That’s a statistic from Edelman’s annual Trust Barometer, which measures consumer trust levels in the institutions of government, business, media and NGOs. Employers who can tap into the positive sentiment, and that have brand advocates, can reap dividends.

In 2017, brand advocacy invariably focuses on social media and how positive messages about a company can be spread through employee networks. Internal engagement and empowerment are critical steps towards employee advocacy. Employers who trust their employees, who encourage them to use social media and actually try to help employees gain

their own personal benefits and achieve their own personal business goals on social media, will be successful.

The Canon Advocacy Program is an initiative that encourages employees to build their knowledge so they have an understanding of each element of the business they might not typically engage with. Canon believes that their people are their most important assets and the best representatives of the company, so it encourages them to work together to learn and grow in the workplace.

The advocacy program consists of three key areas: Learn – Seminars, knowledge-sharing sessions, learning programs covering topics such as photography techniques, product education and loan programs.

Experience – Putting their new knowledge to the test at events and in ‘real-life’ scenarios such as Canon Collective events, which encourage photographers of all levels of experience to learn more about the art of great photography.

Share – Enabling employees to easily share with their networks, friends and family.

“Employee events that take place as part of the program include product loan and training programs, opportunities to attend trade shows, tours of the printing rooms, and overview of the product functions and sessions on business services and cloud technology,” says Marshall.

“Hosts of the sessions are selected based upon their job descriptions and level of experience. They understand that the key to increased workplace performance is a shared knowledge base and intercompany activities.”

Canon employees are also encouraged to share their experiences with the Advocacy Program on their social channels. As incentives, they are given discount codes for the Canon Store to share with family and friends, while a Lead Rewards program encourages them to introduce friends to a Canon solution or service for their business. All Employee Advocacy related information is then shared via Canon’s intranet platform, Pixel, so all employees can benefit from this knowledge sharing.

THE POWER OF EMPLOYEE ADVOCACY What can an employee advocacy program do for you?

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INCREASE YOUR REACH Your employees reach 10x more people than all your corporate social accounts put together.

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ENGAGE YOUR EMPLOYEES Over 50% of employees say that communication and honesty are key factors driving engagement.

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BUILD TRUST On average, an employee advocate is 2x more trusted than your CEO.

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HELP YOU SUCCEED IN RECRUITING 33% of companies see decreased time to hire.

49% find an increase in quality of candidates and 43% in quantity of candidates.

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SAVE COSTS The cost-per-click for Facebook ads increased 24% in 2013.

On average, one employee share generates 4 clicks on Facebook.

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GENERATE SALES A 12% increase in brand advocacy generates a 2x increase in revenue growth. Leads developed through employee social marketing convert 7x more frequently than other leads.

Source: Edelman Trust Barometer, ARS Research, jobvite.com, Cisco, IBM

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SPONSORED FEATURE

BEHAVIOURAL VERSATILITY Brought to you by

IF ONLY THEY WERE LIKE ME… Luke Ross outlines why the development of Behavioural Versatility is so vital to workplace relationships and organisational success

RESEARCH SHOWS that behavioural styles will generally fall into four categories, and this means that 75% of behavioural styles will be different to yours. Effective navigation of these differences in the workplace through Behavioural Versatility is the key to success, yet Behavioural Versatility receives very little attention in most interpersonal effectiveness programs.

Instead, most programs focus on helping the individual understand themselves.

What are the benefits?

Research shows that Behavioural Versatility has a significant impact on leadership performance, and leaders with higher Behavioural Versatility: • perform better on 46 out of 47 leadership competencies • are 17% more effective at supporting diversity and inclusiveness • are 27% more effective at leading teams • are 25% more effective at coaching others Research also shows that Behavioural

Individuals who have high Behavioural Versatility focus on getting the best out of others Behavioural Versatility is the ability to accept, accommodate and support the behavioural preferences of other people. It is a measure of interpersonal effectiveness and indicates a person’s ability to interact effectively and gain the support of co-workers, regardless of differences in behavioural style.

Individuals who have high Behavioural Versatility focus on getting the best out of others by supporting the other person’s behavioural preferences. They make other people comfortable by managing interpersonal tension effectively.

People with low Behavioural Versatility expect others to behave just like them. They often make others uncomfortable and create unproductive tension in the workplace.

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Versatility has a significant impact on nonleader performance. Non-leaders with higher Behavioural Versatility: • perform better on 14 core workplace competencies • are 27% more effective at managing conflict • are 26% more likely to positively influence others • are 22% more likely to express opinions in an effective way The good news is, Behavioural Versatility is a learned skill. It is not a stable personality trait and is a function of the behavioural decisions you make as you interact with co-workers across these four domains: 1 Image – Do you dress to please yourself or meet others’ expectations?

2 Presentation – Do you communicate in a way that is easiest for you or focus on making it easier for the listener?

3 Competence – Do you focus on your objectives or on helping others achieve theirs?

4 Feedback – Is your view the right one or do you try to understand theirs?

How do you develop behavioural versatility in the workplace?

Developing Versatility starts with a multi-rater assessment. Research consistently shows that we are a very poor judge of our Behavioural Versatility, and specifically Tracom research shows that people with low Versatility (as seen by others) have an artificially high view of their own Versatility.

Next, a training program will show people how to be Versatile. The most effective way to do this is to ensure the program shows individuals how to profile others so that they can predict and accept behaviour different to their own. Additionally, it needs to teach individuals how to accurately adjust their image, presentation, competence and feedback to suit others.

The following two questions are a useful way to evaluate your organisation’s approach to developing interpersonal effectiveness: 1. Do your programs contain a multi-rater assessment of Behavioural Versatility?

2. Do your programs focus 75% of their time on showing people how to profile others and teaching them how to be Versatile (as opposed to focusing on understanding their own styles)?

If you would like more information on a Behavioural Versatility Program that has been used by 3,282,503 individuals in 18 languages and with 32 country norms – Social Style & Versatility – please visit the team at www.socialintelligence.com.au.

The Social Intelligence Group is the Master Trainer and Distributor for Tracom in Australia and New Zealand. They certify trainers to deliver the Tracom Social Intelligence Programs and provide the program materials. Luke Ross is a Registered Psychologist and the Director of the Social Intelligence Group.

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upcomin

#HRSummitAU

AWARDED AUSTRALIA’S BEST BUSINESS EVENT

Join us at these upcoming HR Summit events

PERTH

21-22 June • Mercure Perth

MELBOURNE

19-20 July • Melbourne Convention Center

BRISBANE

18-19 October • Stamford Plaza Brisbane

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INDUSTRY EVENT

NATIONAL HR SUMMIT

Sydney’s Luna Park was abuzz during the last week of March with the 15th annual National HR Summit.

Awarded Australia’s best business event last year, the 2017 program featured keynote speakers, award-winning HR directors and business leaders including Olympic track cyclist Anna Meares, Bersin by Deloitte’s head of research David Mallon and Peta Credlin, Sky News host and former Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister

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FEATURES

NATIONAL HR SUMMIT

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Join HRD at these upcoming National HR Summit events: Perth 21-22 June 2017 Melbourne 19-20 July 2017 Brisbane 18-19 October 2017 Find out more and register at www.hrsummit.com.au

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PEOPLE

CAREER PATH

ALWAYS MOVING FORWARD HR has been a calling card since before the term existed for Bank of Queensland’s Belinda Jefferys

In the year before starting university, while seeking a job to fund her education, Belinda Jefferys sees a job listing that sounds perfect – except it specified applicants had to be male.

“I knew that in 1975, legislation had been passed that you couldn’t discriminate on the basis of gender, so I asked to be put forward for the job. It was pivotal for me. I didn’t get angry; I just worked through the problem. I got the job in the end.”

1980

1994

HELPS LAUNCH A NEW BUSINESS CONCEPT

A move to Sydney with her then husband kicks Jefferys’ career into high gear with a series of high-profile contracts. The stand-out assignment comes when she is contracted by Westpac to set up its first call centre, a concept that at the time was “a brand new proposition”.

“I’ve done a lot of different things; I’ve seized a lot of opportunities.

[Contract work in] Sydney really turned my career around.”

2009

TRANSFORMS BANKWEST Within the first four months of taking the top HR role at Bankwest, while Jefferys was living in Sydney and commuting across the continent to Perth, the sudden sale of Bankwest to CBA necessitated a total restructuring of the company and downsizing 400 roles.

“It was an enormous challenge. We had to take it apart to rebuild it – and we did so successfully. What we had to do was tough, but I was proud of the way we went about it.”

2011

RETURNS TO ADELAIDE An out-of-the-blue call from a headhunter sees Jefferys returning to Adelaide to work for Elders, an ASX listed company. It is a period of restructuring for the venerable company, which is returning to its core business of agriculture. Jefferys is tasked with a people strategy that supports the delivery of the organisation’s three-year strategic plan.

Crucial for Jefferys is the new experience of reporting through a boardroom committee as part of the governance required of a listed company.

TAKES A STAND

1981

STUDIES INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS Raised in a working-class suburb by parents with high aspirations for their children, Jefferys, the daughter of a union man, pursues a business degree as it enables her to major in IR and personnel.

“The [British] miners’ strike was underway – it was a clash between working people and the state. I saw industrial relations as an area that could have an impact on people’s lives.”

1997

CONSULTS FOR FOXTEL (AND OTHERS) Jefferys establishes a successful consultancy, which goes on to perform across industries as diverse as defence, tertiary education and cable television.

“I was the second person in HR at Foxtel; it was special to be part of a team of people starting something brand new.

We were motivated by the power of a go-live date that would not change regardless of what happened.”

2016

JOINS BANK OF QUEENSLAND Settled in Adelaide, Jefferys receives an unexpected call seeking advice that culminates in her joining the Bank of Queensland as group executive people and culture. These days, a home base in Adelaide co-exists with an apartment in Brisbane and a weekly commute.

“With that leadership team in place, with the skills, enthusiasm, passion and drive to achieve, I thought, ‘How could I let the chance to be part of something like this pass me by?’ ” www.hcamag.com

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PEOPLE

OTHER LIFE

TELL US ABOUT YOUR OTHER LIFE Email hrdeditor@keymedia.com

FIT AS A FIDDLE

For Keith Burnell, leading fitness classes is all about energy – his and the class’s

WHEN KEITH BURNELL accompanied a friend to a group fitness session six years ago as a reluctant tagalong, he could not have anticipated the way the class would resonate with him. In fact it drew him in so thoroughly that in early 2016 the IPC Health HR officer undertook official training to become an instructor.

What keeps Burnell coming back even beyond the workout itself is the music and, perhaps most importantly, the social aspect. “I hate to exercise on my own. Through fitness class I’ve made so many friends. When I started facilitating the classes they were incredibly supportive. Group fitness class is about being around the people and the energy that they bring. It’s a fun time; getting fit is a bonus.”

As to why he became an instructor, Burnell says: “It’s a blast! I remember watching how an instructor could move the entire class and bring them all along with her; there was so much energy and so much fun. I would not be able to teach those classes if it weren’t for the people in them feeding me energy. It’s good to help people change and meet their goals, to see them having fun, and making friends.”

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Classes Keith teaches per week

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Estimated typical number of moves in an aerobics class

9

Pairs of trainers Keith owns (along with 25 workout shirts)

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