MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK The ROI of leadership development
HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR
GENDER EQUALITY AT THE TOP What works and what doesn’t
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LEADERSHIP, DISRUPTED Leading in the digital age
THE LEADERSHIP ISSUE
LEADING IN A COMPLEX AGE Insights from Mercy Health, GE, Knight Frank, EY & more
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JUNE 2017
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CONTENTS
+Hcamag HumanResourcesDirector
UPFRONT 02 Editorial
The time has come to consider the social footprint of candidates and employees
04 Statistics
Why trust matters in business
06 News analysis
With increasing automation in workplaces, what are the ramifications – legal and otherwise – for employers?
08 Upfront: Legal update
Employers have been warned about OHS risks for young workers
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FEATURES
THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
Is it time to review how your organisation handles the creation of position descriptions?
10 Upfront: L&D update
Is the 70:20:10 model still relevant in 2017?
12 Head to head
Why do leadership development initiatives often fail?
PEOPLE
50 FEATURES
54 Career path
With an appetite for transformation and an international perspective, Ilja Rijnen has long been an agent of change
56 Other life
When Fleur Carter isn’t working as an HR project leader, you’ll find her at full stretch
OUT WITH THE OLD…
FEATURES
CHECK IT OUT ONLINE
COVER STORY
THE LEADERSHIP ISSUE 2017
HRD’s annual overview of key leadership issues covers topics such as leadership in flat corporate hierarchies and why too many ‘female-friendly’ leadership development programs fail
As performance management practices undergo transformation, HRD looks at the key trends shaping this critical aspect of people management
46 HCAMAG.COM
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SKILLING UP FOR THE FUTURE
Looking for a career boost? A new-to-market postgraduate study option might be the perfect solution
14 PROFILE
LEARNING ON THE JOB
Iain Hopkins discovers why GE’s global leadership institute at Crotonville lies at the heart of the global giant’s operations
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UPFRONT
EDITORIAL www.hcamag.com
TREATING SOCIAL PRESENCE AS A CORPORATE ASSET
I
recently attended a conference that raised some interesting issues around the social media profiles of candidates and employees and the possible implications for employers. It seems that currently the rather one-dimensional approach to assessing – and leveraging – the social media ‘footprint’ of the ‘most suitable’ employees or candidates is limited to three things: LinkedIn, LinkedIn, and LinkedIn. However, we are rapidly approaching a time when this will need to change, and talent management strategies will need to encompass at least some elements of the social footprint of candidates and employees. For example, when will talent attraction and recruitment strategies eventually start to factor in individuals’ social profiles? And if the hiring manager is presented with two identical candidates based on the traditional
When will candidates be valued and begin to ‘trade’ off their social profiles? assessment criteria used, will a candidate with a large social network who actively produces and promotes thought leadership content get the nod over the other? If that does happen, when will candidates be valued and begin to ‘trade’ off their social profiles? How much is that network worth to an organisation that has specific strategic objectives tied to profile-raising and business development? A related – and already debated – issue is who owns what part of individual’s networks or IP? From there, will we eventually see scaled salaries for those who have valuable social profiles and networks? Will we start to see a divide between those who are social and those who aren’t, if those ‘social’ employees are more valuable? And will this see an overall shift in what attributes organisations seek when hiring? For those still tied to checking paper-based CVs and the criteria once deemed to be critical for success in a job role, it’s food for thought… Iain Hopkins, editor
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JUNE 2O17 EDITORIAL
SALES & MARKETING
Editor Iain Hopkins
Marketing & Communications Manager Lisa Narroway
Journalist John Hilton Editorial Assistant Hannah Go Production Editor Roslyn Meredith
ART & PRODUCTION Design Manager Daniel Williams Designer Marla Morelos Traffic Coordinator Freya Demegilio
Business Development Managers Steven McDonald Clive Thomas
CORPORATE Chief Executive Officer Mike Shipley Chief Operating Officer George Walmsley Managing Director Justin Kennedy Chief Information Officer Colin Chan Human Resources Manager Julia Bookallil
EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES iain.hopkins@keymedia.com.au
SUBSCRIPTION ENQUIRIES tel: +61 2 8011 4992 subscriptions@keymedia.com.au
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Human Resources Director is part of an international family of B2B publications and websites for the human resources industry HRD MAGAZINE CANADA iain.hopkins@keymedia.com.au T +61 2 8437 4703 HRD MAGAZINE SINGAPORE hrdmag.com.sg HC AUSTRALIA ONLINE hcamag.com HRM NEW ZEALAND hrmonline.co.nz
Copyright is reserved throughout. No part of this publication can be reproduced in whole or part without the express permission of the editor. Contributions are invited, but copies of work should be kept, as HRD Magazine can accept no responsibility for loss.
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UPFRONT
STATISTICS Global
WHERE HAS THE TRUST GONE? Faith in established authority is falling around the globe, necessitating a new approach to how business is conducted ACCORDING TO the most recent Edelman Trust Barometer, trust in four key institutions – governments, businesses, the media and NGOs – is dropping worldwide. While business doesn’t currently suffer from the same level of distrust as governments or the media, Edelman did discover that trust in business had declined in 18 of the countries it studied. What’s more,
CEO credibility dropped 12 points globally to an all-time low of 37%, plummeting in every country surveyed. The good news? Respondents had faith that businesses can win back that trust: 75% agreed that companies have the power to improve economic and social conditions in the communities in which they operate.
2016 2017
50 47
2016 2017
49 52
US
A WORLD OF ERODING TRUST In the last year, the average level of trust in institutions dropped three points globally. The global trust index is declining in 21 out of 28 countries, and two out of every three countries surveyed now fall into the category of distruster. TRUST INDEX
50%
53%
of respondents feel that globalisation is taking us in the wrong direction
of survey respondents feel the pace of change in business is too fast
53%
of respondents think it is “completely true” that the system is failing
100%
of the 28 countries surveyed exhibited declines in CEO credibility
Truster Neutral Distruster
60–100 40–60 0–40
Source: 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer Global Report
DRIVING COMMON FEARS
BUILDING TRUST
Business plays a role in stoking societal fears – more than half the global population worry about losing their jobs to factors such as automation, offshoring and cheaper incoming labour.
Respondents who say they’ve lost faith in the system generally have higher expectations of what companies must do to build trust with the general public. HOW IMPORTANT ARE THE FOLLOWING ATTRIBUTES TO BUILDING TRUST IN A COMPANY?
60%
60%
60%
50%
58%
55%
System failing: 72% General population: 62%
54%
Listens to its customers
30%
System failing: 67% General population: 58%
20%
Pays its fair share of taxes System failing: 66% General population: 56%
10%
Has ethical business practices Lack of Foreign Immigrants Jobs moving Automation training/ competitors who work to cheaper skills for less market Source: 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer Global Report
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Offers high-quality products/services System failing: 68% General population: 59%
40%
0%
Treats its employees well
System failing: 65% General population: 56% Source: 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer Global Report
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Russia
Canada
2016 2017
2016 2017
56 49
Hong Kong
China UK
2016 2017
2016 2017
42 40
39 34
2016 2017
73 67
47 44
UAE
2016 2017
66 60
Singapore
2016 2017
64 60
India
Australia
2016 2017
65 72
2016 2017
49 42 Source: 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer Global Report
MOST CREDIBLE SOURCE: EMPLOYEES
TOP 5 BUSINESS NO-NOS
Respondents across the globe agreed that the most credible source of communication on a topic related to a company is an employee. That was consistent across subjects ranging from a company’s treatment of employees to views on industry issues.
Survey respondents were asked which actions taken by businesses would damage trust the most. These were the top five:
CEO Senior executive Employee Activist consumer Academic Media spokesperson
% OF RESPONDENTS WHO WOULD TRUST THIS SOURCE 53
38
21 17
20
22
31
29 22
21
23
24
22
33
32 26 26
25 21
30 29 22 23
16 9
Treatment of employees/customers
2. Paying executives hundreds of times more than workers
37 29
28
1. Paying bribes to government officials to win contracts
9
Financial earnings and operational performance
11
Business practices/ crisis handling
13
11
Innovation efforts
21 23
Views on industry issues
3. Moving profits to other countries to avoid taxes
22 14
Partnerships/ programs to address societal issues
Source: 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer Global Report
4. Overcharging for products that people need to live 5. Reducing costs by lowering product quality Source: 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer Global Report
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UPFRONT
NEWS ANALYSIS
A ROBOT TOOK MY JOB… With technology predicted to impact on countless jobs in the future, important questions are being raised about the employment rights of employees made redundant due to automation TECHNOLOGY COULD make almost 40% of Australian jobs, including highly skilled roles, redundant in 10 to 15 years, according to a report from the Committee for Economic Development of Australia. The report, published in 2015, called for more funding and a cooperative approach to prepare for significant changes in the workforce. Almost five million jobs face a high probability of being replaced in the next two decades, while a further 18.4% of the workforce have a “medium probability” of their jobs being eliminated, the report found. Robots have commonly been used in manufacturing jobs, but recent trends have
world first, as other employers have introduced automation without consultation. Aviva employees who work in call centres, assess customers’ credit ratings and calculate the price of insurance policies are most likely to have to retrain. These developments pose unheralded challenges for HR professionals, not least of which is the dilemma faced by Aviva and the retraining of staff. Even more important is the fundamental issue of whose interests should be protected in such a case – those of the business and its operational requirements, or those
“An employee whose job is replaced by a robot is still entitled to receive severance pay as a result of the redundancy of their role” Kristy Peacock-Smith, Bird & Bird shown that they are now also being used in customer-facing roles in the service sector. Countries such as Japan, China, the US and Germany are leading the way in using humanlike robots in hotels, stores and restaurants. In April, global insurer Aviva announced it would be offering employees retraining for other roles in the company in the event that their jobs were replaced by automation. Aviva has extended the offer to some 16,000 of its employees in Britain. The offer is considered a
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of employees and their jobs? Regarding the latter, Kristy Peacock-Smith, a partner in the Sydney office of international law firm Bird & Bird, cites an example. Acme Pty Limited employed 50 staff members in its food processing plant to sort heads of lettuce. Two of the employees were team leaders who managed 24 workers each. The main KPI of the team leaders was to train the employees on the tasks required in the plant. However, a robotics firm had recently designed
robots with sensors to measure the density of items such as heads of lettuce. Acme decided to acquire two such robots and, accordingly, made the 48 workers redundant. The two remaining team leaders now train and manage the robots to assess the heads of lettuce and reject a lettuce if non-compliant with company standards. Once the robot has memorised the task, it can autonomously perform the task without human assistance, leaving the team leaders free to perform other more sophisticated tasks. “Undoubtedly the automation has both taken away and created jobs,” says PeacockSmith. “However, the question for HR professionals remains: are the 48 workers who lost their jobs entitled to redundancy benefits?” The long-standing principle of redundancy, as currently set out in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), is that a role is redundant if an employer no longer requires the job to be performed by anyone because of changes in operational requirements. The Explanatory Memorandum to the Act provides an example of a change to an enterprise’s operational requirements: where a ‘machine’ becomes available to do the job performed by the employee.
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3 KEY QUESTIONS TO ASK Are your organisational policies and procedures suitable for a mixed workforce of robots and humans? A chatbot developed by Microsoft was removed from Twitter after learning and tweeting racist remarks. What will you as an employer do if an employee comes to you with a complaint of allegedly unlawful conduct by a robot?
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Is your company considering introducing robots into the workplace in order to capture information during recruitment processes regarding a new recruit’s facial expressions and body language? If it is, have you considered the potential data protection and discrimination issues involved in the use and storage of this information?
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What happens with liability? Because robots have no legal personality and cannot therefore create primary liability, presumably an employer’s vicarious liability is not triggered.
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“The challenge for HR will be how to upskill employees … and how to combine those skills with whatever automation can provide” David Mallon, Bersin by Deloitte So the question then becomes – is a robot a machine? “Robots can be autonomous or semi-autonomous,” says Peacock-Smith. “By mimicking a lifelike appearance or automating movements, a robot may convey a sense of intelligence or thought of its own. However, the short answer to this question is yes – a robot is a machine; it is simply a machine that is capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically.” Peacock-Smith adds that robots are of course not classified as employees – indeed they currently have no legal personality at all. This means that until lawmakers give robots some form of legal personality, an employer who makes an employee redundant in order to introduce a robot into the workforce would still
have to say that they no longer require the job to be performed ‘by anyone’. “Therefore, based upon these simple legal principles, a redundancy situation may still arise even if the employer still requires the employee’s activities to be undertaken by a robot,” she says. “This means that an employee whose job is replaced by a robot is still entitled to receive severance pay as a result of the redundancy of their role.” While the Aviva case and countless others prove that automation is already impacting the labour market, David Mallon, Bersin by Deloitte’s head of research, warns HR not to jump to conclusions about what a future workforce may look like. “What’s happening is the skills required in HR – and the kind of skills
required in the rest of the business for that matter – are becoming essentially more and more human.” He cites research indicating that wherever new technology has been introduced – including robotic process automation or cognitive technologies like machine learning or artificial intelligence – there have been more jobs generated, not less. However, those jobs require different skill sets, such as relationshipbuilding and storytelling. “The challenge for HR will be how to upskill employees in those areas, and how to combine those skills with whatever automation can provide.” It’s this issue of complementary skills, rather than competing skills, that business leaders are now focusing on. A survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that 52% of 1,379 surveyed global CEOs are exploring the benefits of humans and machines working together. Some 39% are considering the impact of AI on future skills needs. Given these significant changes, PeacockSmith says employers should brace for a whole new body of law focused on apportioning legal responsibility for the acts of robots and indeed perhaps on a narrowing of the definition of redundancy.
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UPFRONT
EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE NEWS BRIEFS New law to cover workplace deaths
The Queensland Government will introduce the new offence of “negligence causing death”, following the deaths of two construction workers at Brisbane’s Eagle Farm Racecourse. Humberto Leite, 55, and Ashley Morris, 34, were killed when sandwiched between two slabs of concrete in a construction pit inside the renovated racecourse last year. The new law follows an interim recommendation from the Best Practice Review of Workplace Health and Safety. Employment Minister Grace Grace said the independent reviewer, Tim Lyons, had written to her advising of his preliminary view that the offence should be created.
Unfair dismissal success rates hit new low
The success rate of employers in unfair dismissal cases has dropped below 40% for the first time, according to new figures. Employers had experienced a success rate of 50–60% since 2003, peaking under WorkChoices but dropping in 2009 when the Fair Work Act was introduced. However, arbitrated unfair dismissal claims found to be “fair” or in the employer’s favour fell from 46% to 39.6% in 2015/16, according to Fair Work reports. Since 2013, the rate has fallen below 50%. During the same period, appeals claiming unfair dismissal almost doubled, from 79 in 2013/14 to 139 in 2015/16.
S. Kidman and Co fined after worker death
S. Kidman and Co has been fined $200,000 for failing to comply with its health and safety duties after the death of a 24-year-old employee. The company, which is majority-owned by Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting, was facing a maximum penalty of up to $1.5m.
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Matthew Arena died five years ago when a 353kg pole fell from a bobcat and crushed him. Chief judge John Lowndes said it was clear the company had “failed to ensure adequate control measures were in place in circumstances where it proposed to undertake an inherently dangerous task”.
Trends in EA negotiations revealed
Negotiating individual enterprise agreements is taking the majority of employers more than 12 months and most do not expect to achieve productivity gains by making an agreement, survey results released by Ashurst’s employment practice have found. The survey, which included ASX-listed participants, 69% of which had over 1,000 employees, found that an increasing number of employers are struggling to implement new enterprise agreements amid dynamic market conditions. The findings also indicate that flexibility and management prerogative and domestic violence leave have moved their way up the bargaining agenda, taking precedence even over discussions about wages.
Age discrimination occurring at 45
A University of South Australia study has revealed that almost a third of Australians have perceived some form of age-related discrimination while employed or looking for work in the last 12 months – starting as early as 45 years of age. The survey – of 2,100 men and women aged 45 years and over – found the most common form of perceived discrimination were negative assumptions about older workers’ skills, learning abilities or cognition. Survey participants also reported limited or no opportunities for promotion or training, working in organisations that undervalued them, and difficulty securing work due to age.
EMPLOYERS WARNED ABOUT OHS RISKS A recent incident at a KFC outlet has highlighted the importance of identifying foreseeable risks to health and safety A KFC outlet in Adelaide has been fined by the Industrial Court after a young cook fell into a vat of cooking oil and suffered burns to 9% of his body. This is the company’s first work health and safety conviction. On 15 May 2015, the 16-year-old cook stepped backwards and fell into a tank of hot oil that had been placed by another young worker on the floor behind him without warning him. His 17-year-old colleague had been showing a trainee how to clean an oil filter in one of the cookers and left the vat of oil on the floor behind the cooking station. The young cook was on his fifth three-hour shift at the KFC restaurant when he fell into the 51 litre tank, which was about half full. KFC was charged with offences under the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA) for failure to provide a safe working environment free of tripping hazards, and failing to maintain a safe system of work by not providing and maintaining a working procedure for filtering hot oil. Moreover, it found that the company had failed to provide adequate information, training and supervision for the tasks of filtering, changing, removing or cleaning oil from a cooker. A spokesperson for KFC told HRD the company had been working closely with SafeWork SA to ensure this type of incident did not happen again. “The welfare of our people is of utmost importance and we are committed to creating the safest possible environments in our
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restaurants,” the KFC statement said. Magistrate Stephen Lieschke said that although KFC had identified the hazard of hot surfaces, it had failed to specifically address the hazard of hot oil and where the used oil tanks should be placed once they had been removed from the cookers. “As a result, a 17-year-old trainer, a necessarily inexperienced youth, was left to work out a system for performing the task and instructing new employees, in this instance as to an unsafe procedure,” Lieschke said. “I accept that KFC did have a system of training that included some online learning, on-the-job training and skills assessment,
“When young workers are involved, business operators should be particularly mindful of ensuring they are aware of the hazards and risks” together with general safety awareness instructions for trainers. However, the system was clearly deficient, as admitted.” The initial penalty of $175,000 was reduced to $105,000 because of KFC’s early guilty plea. SafeWork SA acting executive director Dini Soulio said the case highlighted the need for business operators to identify foreseeable risks to health and safety and implement control measures to eliminate or minimise risks. “When young workers are involved, business operators should be particularly mindful of ensuring they are aware of the hazards and risks in the workplace and are trained in safe systems of work,” Soulio said.
Q&A
REDUNDANCY AND MATERNITY LEAVE Alice DeBoos Partner K&L GATES
Fast fact A total of 2,013 discrimination and breach of human rights complaints were lodged at the Australian Human Rights Commission (HRC) in 2015/16. Seventy-six percent of complaints were successfully resolved – the highest conciliation success rate on record for the HRC.
Can we make a position redundant if it is filled by a person on maternity leave? The assessment of redundancy should always be on the basis of the ‘position’ and not the person, so theoretically there should be no problem with making an employee on maternity leave redundant, right? It should be straightforward but it often is not. Redundancy is where a role is no longer required to be performed by anyone. What often happens when a person takes maternity leave is that the tasks that person performs are split up amongst others for the period and occasionally businesses then decide that the role is no longer required. Provided that the assessment of the role for redundancy remains an objective exercise, it is not unlawful to proceed with a redundancy of a role where the current incumbent is on maternity leave. Be sure to have well-articulated, objective business reasons to substantiate the abolition of the role and to ensure the decision-maker did not at any time consider the fact that the employee was currently on maternity leave when deciding to abolish that particular role. What steps are employers required to take when restructures occur and people on maternity leave are affected? There are three basic steps that need to be completed for most redundancies. They are: 1. The role must no longer be required to be performed by anyone. 2. If the employee is covered by an enterprise agreement or award, those consultation obligations must be complied with. 3. Any reasonable redeployment opportunities must be explored. It is no different if someone is on maternity leave. Care needs to be taken to ensure that, if required, consultation has occurred with the employee and, crucially, all reasonable redeployment opportunities have been discussed and explored with them. In addition, the Fair Work Act places additional obligations upon employers with respect to employees on maternity leave who may be the subject of restructuring. Even if an employee is not covered by an award or enterprise agreement, s83 of the Act obliges an employer to consult with employees on maternity leave if they make a decision that will have a significant effect on the status, pay or location of the pre-parental leave position. The employer needs to provide all relevant information on the change and provide an opportunity for discussion. Importantly, the big risk here is adverse action and discrimination claims. Human resources professionals need to interrogate the decision-maker as to the exact reasons for making a decision which has a detrimental effect on the employee on maternity leave. Look at whether other people were affected by the decision who were not on maternity leave and whether any consideration at all of the employee’s right to take leave and potentially a decision to return to work on a part-time basis formed any part of the decisionmaking process. Where decision-making processes are sound and do not include these matters they should be fully supported by documentary evidence.
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UPFRONT
L&D UPDATE
IS THE 70:20:10 MODEL STILL RELEVANT IN 2017? A new report has found most employees don’t find formal learning essential compared to social learning
The essence of the 70:20:10 framework is that learning occurs through three approaches: 70% from on-the-job experience, 20% from feedback and observation, and 10% from formal training, such as classes or courses. While there are differing views regarding the value of the model to L&D, a new report, co-authored by Towards Maturity and Charles Jennings, provides fresh evidence looking at the actions behind the numbers and the impact on performance. “In the Towards Maturity Learning Landscape, we ask workers themselves how they learn what they need to do their job. We consistently find
NEWS BRIEFS
that social and collaborative learning are top of their list,” the report’s authors said. “On average, 37% of workers find formal learning essential or very useful compared to social learning, where 90% cite working in collaboration with their team members as essential or very useful.” The report suggested that L&D needs to invest beyond the course to support the modern learner and embed learning into their day-today experience. On average, 47% of L&D leaders strongly agree that ‘our approach is shaped by models that support learning directly in the flow of work –
Training company goes into voluntary administration
Careers Australia, one of Australia’s largest vocational education institutions, has been placed into voluntary administration, with up to 1,000 employees stood down immediately without pay. A letter sent by the administrators to staff about the decision said: “We do not currently have sufficient funds available to meet payroll and other costs which would allow us to continue trading the Group on a ‘business as usual’ basis”. In a statement, Careers Australia said they were “very disappointed that the business has had to make this decision, particularly for the 1,000 staff and 15,000 students affected”. 10
such as 70:20:10’ (up from 42% last year). This rises to 86% of organisations in the ‘Top Deck’ (highest-achieving organisations) but falls to as low as 30% for those in manufacturing industries and 19% for those working in local government. “When we compare those who say they are using new models with those who are not we find that they report greater impact on the business and on its staff, more benefits from technology-enabled learning and fewer barriers to a modernised learning strategy,” the report’s authors said.
“You have to learn through your work and extend, reinforce and amplify the learning through informal communications with colleagues” But according to some, the 70:20:10 model doesn’t exactly have a scientific basis and neither is it easy to pinpoint. “There is no real scientific underpinning, but from experience it seems to be roughly right. It depends on the nature of the organisation,” leadership thought leader Nigel Paine told HRD. “You have to learn through your work and extend, reinforce and amplify the learning through informal communications with colleagues or people outside the organisation.”
Mindfulness key to workplace learning, says professor
Mindfulness training can make employees more effective learners. This point was made by Dr Sara Lazar, who recently spoke at a conference in London. Lazar – who is an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School – said mindfulness could increase both sustained and selected attention, as well as neural efficiency. Lazar pointed to Harvard studies that suggest mindfulness has an even more profound effect on the brain than its proponents had ever imagined. According to Lazar, 50-yearolds who meditate have similar performance in their frontal cortex to 25-year-olds.
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Q&A
Greg Phillips CEO DISC PROFILES AUSTRALIA
Fast fact Deloitte’s 2016 Millennial Survey found that “opportunities to progress/be leaders” was second only to “good life/work balance” for millennials surveyed on how they evaluated job opportunities.
SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS OF GREAT LEADERS What are the key attributes a leader must develop in 2017? Despite opinions varying slightly, leadership specialists generally agree that today’s key attributes are emotional intelligence, effective communication skills, confidence, a positive attitude, intuition, delegation skills, being approachable and being authentic. It’s interesting that these attributes tend to be behavioural traits rather than formal skills. I believe that leaders must understand what people expect from a leader, why people behave the way they do, that not everyone has the same motivators, and why different people have different reactions. While there are many aspects to being a great leader, every leadership attribute can be defined within just two categories – skills or behavioural. By skills, I refer to things like time management, running effective meetings, managing P&Ls, etc. By behavioural, I refer to things as they are perceived by others, that we might call qualities, such as persona, confidence, consistency of behaviour, positive manner, etc. Typically, leaders today have the required skills; however, many lack the required behaviours. I have often asked people, “Who are some leaders you admire?” I then ask, “What is it you admire about these leaders?” The response always includes words like integrity, trustworthy, honest, reasonable, confidence, attitude,
Age bias impacts L&D decisions, study shows
Age bias is alive and well in Australian workplaces, new research shows. According to the survey of 1,352 employers by recruiting experts Hays, more than seven in 10 employers admitted that an employee’s age could be a factor in talent management decisions. These included development programs, promotional pathways and succession plans. The study also found that 12% admitted that the age of an employee ‘always’ impacted what worked for them in talent management terms, 59% said age was sometimes a factor, while 29% said an employee’s age had no impact on talent management decisions.
resilience, consistency, perseverance and approachable. Note that all the responses are behavioural traits. There is a great lesson here. If you want to be an influencer at any level, people will respond to the way you behave, not how clever you are! The key attributes, therefore, that a leader must have in 2017 are the correct behaviours.
Are there any common mistakes leaders make in their goal to become effective leaders? Common mistakes include not being ‘hands on’; misunderstanding motivation (of others); not ‘walking the walk’; poor communication; and lack of focus on training for others and their own personal development. The biggest mistake is underestimating the high cost of low employee engagement. Research results clearly demonstrate the very high cost to business of disengaged employees. A Right Management Consultants survey found that two thirds of employees are not engaged in their jobs. Research by the Gallup Organisation found that 75% of workers are disengaged at work. Another national survey of employees found that 85% of people said they could work harder in their jobs. More than half claimed they could double their effectiveness “if they wanted to”. This research begs a final question, “When will leaders get the message?” A question for another time…
Walmart uses virtual reality to boost training
US-based retailer Walmart is preparing to roll out virtual reality headsets in each one of its training academies to boost employee training in areas such as customer service and management. The Oculus Rift headsets will allow employees to use interactive on-screen cues to make decisions after encountering various situations. The training sessions – designed to replace traditional instruction – will last from 30 seconds to five minutes. Last year, with the aim of further enhancing L&D for staff, Walmart opened a training academy in South Carolina – the first of 200 more to come.
Training needed to prevent cyberattacks
The 12 May global cyberattack, commonly known as the ‘WannaCry ransomware attack’, has sparked interest in cybersecurity training. Alex Manea, security director of technology giant BlackBerry, said success would come down to theoretical and practical training. Theoretical training would involve outlining to staff and discussing ways to prepare for and avoid cyber threats. Practical training might involve using ‘white hat’ hackers and having them attack a system in the same way that external hackers would – and this could uncover weaknesses that theoretical training could not. www.hcamag.com
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UPFRONT
HEAD TO HEAD
Why do leadership development initiatives often fail? Are leadership programs that lack alignment with modern challenges to blame?
Tony Fiddes
Principal, leadership & learning Nous Group I prefer to consider how to ensure that initiatives succeed: 1. Understand and address emerging demands, support leaders to cultivate different mindsets, and build capacity to meet new challenges. 2. Context is everything. Generic development doesn’t change behaviour. Leadership development should be deeply customised to create meaning. 3. Build leadership systemically. Isolated programs touching a few don’t provide the scale to drive change. 4. Think leader as consumer. Modern leaders are autonomous learners, digitally enabled, highly networked and time-poor. Development interventions tapping these traits unlock new possibilities.
Nicole Bunning
Michelle Gibbings
Director, human resources QUT Approaches to building leadership capability must align with the business’s strategic imperatives, be tailored to the context and have the executive team’s support. A critical mass of leaders participating builds a common leadership language, behaviour and mindset. Being selective about who participates in the development contributes to quality impact and outcomes. The design of development activity is important in responding to the complex and demanding international environments leaders work in, and can include considerations such as micro and blended learning, 360-degree feedback, peer learning and coaching. Programs that use data to inform the design are more likely to be successful.
Managing director Change Meridian
Leaders are confronting increasingly complex work environments. Consequently, leadership development must move beyond focusing on teaching new skills and behaviours. Effectiveness increases when it’s developmentally focused and individually targeted – equipping leaders with the self-understanding and insight to solve complex problems and lead others. This is most effectively done when it’s well targeted, highly customised, aligned with the organisation’s strategy and values, and championed by the executive team. Success requires ongoing focus and deliberate activities to embed the new practices. Often expectations about the time and effort required to secure results are unrealistic.
FOLLOWING THE LEADER TO A DISCONNECTION FROM STRATEGY According to the white paper Why the traditional approach to leadership development is failing Australia, released late last year, the country’s leadership programs lack adequate connection with the challenges faced in an economy still grappling with the end of the resources boom. The paper, by Ryan Dixon and Nora Koslowski, identified a systemic lack of alignment with the strategic intent of specific fields as a key deficiency in leadership development. The Study of Australian Leadership published in 2016 posited that Australian businesses had a poor track record of turning “innovation inputs into outputs” and associated this with a paucity of leadership capabilities. The study, from the Centre for Workplace Leadership at the University of Melbourne, hypothesised that Australian leaders don’t exhibit a willingness to seek out information in order to secure strategic advice, with more than six in 10 respondents reported ‘rarely or never’ seeking out such advice.
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9/06/2017 1:42:56 PM
SPONSORED FEATURE
SMARTGROUP
PROPOSED BUDGET CHANGES
lead to new opportunities for employee engagement Anton Gaudry, leading taxation specialist and advisor at Smartgroup, discusses how the proposed 2017–18 ‘First Home Owner Super Saver Scheme’ unlocks the potential of salary packaging WITH THE line between work and life becoming increasingly blurred, it follows that an employer’s influence on employee financial wellbeing has the potential to stretch beyond a regular pay packet. Proposed new Federal Budget measures suggest employers may soon
immediate financial goals and secure their first home. This is particularly applicable to younger employees who often dismiss superannuation as irrelevant, or not urgent. An often under-leveraged benefit, salary packaging is a way to help your people
“Most employers tend to offer one or two salary packaging benefits, but often there is more that they could offer”
to extend their salary packaging offering and help employees make the most of their pay. “Most employers tend to offer one or two salary packaging benefits, but often there is more that they could offer. When it comes to using salary packaging to engage employees without affecting your bottom line, there is a lot of untapped potential.” Offering a comprehensive salary packaging program need not be laborious for your team or put your benefits budget under pressure. Using an outsourced salary packaging provider, you can avoid the burden of administration, at minimal or no cost to your organisation. Now is the perfect time to make your employees aware of the options they have to maximise their income with salary packaging, so they are well poised to take advantage in the new financial year.
Michael Ellies, CEO, Smartsalary have an opportunity to help employees save to purchase their first home. The proposed 2017–18 Budget changes allow first home buyers to make pre-tax contributions to their superannuation fund to save for their first home. Those contributions, along with their associated deemed earnings, could then be withdrawn for a first home deposit (up to a cap of $30,000). This provides a good opportunity for employers to make employees aware of their salary packaging options, including salary packaging into their superannuation fund, which may help them achieve their
manage their finances by maximising their in-pocket pay to reach financial goals sooner – without giving them an expensive pay rise. Salary packaging isn’t limited to superannuation. Other benefits, including novated leasing and items such as laptops, mobile phones and airline memberships – for personal as well as professional use – can also be purchased with pre-tax pay, raising the employee’s in-pocket earning potential. Michael Ellies, the CEO of Smartsalary, Smartgroup’s largest salary packaging brand, says there is often the potential for employers
For help interpreting and implementing the proposed ‘First Home Owner Super Saver Scheme’ and communicating it to your employees, contact Smartgroup on 1300 665 855 or read more at smartgroup.com.au
Anton Gaudry is Smartgroup’s in-house operational taxation expert and CEO of Advantage Salary Packaging. In 2001, Smartgroup began as the leading salary packaging brand, Smartsalary, and grew rapidly thanks to a business model that places the customer at the heart of everything we do. Today Smartgroup provides outsourced salary packaging and novated leasing to over 250,000 customers through specialist providers: Smartsalary, Smartleasing, PBI Solutions, Advantage Salary Packaging, Autopia, Selectus and AccessPay.
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9/06/2017 1:43:16 PM
FEATURES
INSIDE HR
LEARNING ON THE JOB There’s a good chance the last locomotive you saw or the diesel engine that propelled the last boat you travelled in was powered by GE. Iain Hopkins discovers why GE’s global leadership institute at Crotonville lies at the heart of the global giant’s operations ASK MOST HR professionals what they know about General Electric and the answer will invariably be either “Jack Welch” or “performance management” – and sometimes the two are tied together. Welch was the visionary CEO and chairman of GE from 1981 to 2001. A pioneer in the company’s use of the formally known ‘vitality curve’ – less formally known as ‘rank and yank’ – GE’s approach to performance management was groundbreaking for the time. Key to the process was the annual performance review. From
performance management system for its 300,000-strong workforce. In their place will be a less regimented system of more frequent feedback via an app. For certain employees situated in smaller experimental groups, for example, there will no longer be numerical rankings. For Athena Kaviris, senior human resources leader at GE Transportation and a 21-year company veteran, the spirit of Jack Welch is still very much alive and well.
The average GE employee will likely visit Crotonville a number of times throughout his or her career, and the leadership programs are pitched at each level of experience there, each employee’s performance was tied to a number, and they were judged and ranked against peers. Underperformers in the bottom percentage (10% in GE’s case) were then fired. GE disposed of formal, forced rankings around a decade ago, and over the next few years the company will be matching other players on the global stage by abandoning formal annual reviews and its legacy
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Having been at the company during Welch’s reign, Kaviris can see a distinct difference from during and after his time. “People still believe that the Jack Welch approach is still very much alive at the company,” she says. “One consistent element from when Jack was here to now is that GE has always very much been a meritocracy. However, the difference in the approach today is that it
has moved from a once-a-year performance management process to a process of continuous feedback and insights all year long.” Kaviris adds that the ability of employees and managers to share real-time feedback has been much more impactful than a single discussion. “People have a stronger opportunity to then act on a specific insight given in the moment versus something they may have had months ago,” she says. “It’s fostering a sense of actionable insights, which we label as ‘continue to considers’, around a very specific example where someone is doing well and where they might have the opportunity for improvement.” GE’s contemporary feedback loop also supports the notion of constant calibration of individual performance against business
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L&D AT GE
US$1bn
Amount invested per year in employee development worldwide
1,800
Number of courses offered on campus and virtually from Crotonville, GE’s global leadership institute
1956
Year GE’s first corporate university was established
74%
Percentage of in-person leadership development sessions delivered outside the US
198
Global locations where leadership development opportunities can take place on-site
goals. “I think that’s probably been the most meaningful change beyond the fact that it’s now real-time feedback,” Kaviris says. “It’s really set up to be based on the business priorities and adjusting those as the priorities change.”
GE Transportation in context GE Transportation is a global digital industrial leader supplying the rail, mining, marine, power and drilling industries. With 10,000 full-time employees located in 65 sites worldwide, GE Transportation is considered a Tier 1 GE business, alongside digital, aviation, healthcare, oil and gas, and renewable energy. Beyond the talent that streams seamlessly across GE business divisions – Kaviris herself
has worked in six divisions during her tenure – a common linkage is the ‘GE store’. This is where various businesses can come together to support GE client needs. “Because of our cross-industry expertise and scale, we try to transfer intellect and technology across our industries and around the world,” Kaviris says. “These could be from advanced technology material, software, analytics, or from commercialising our products and leveraging best practices. What this allows us to do is drive innovation, performance and outcomes regardless of the business and the geography; it allows us to show one unified face to the customer and the communities in which we play.” The 70 HR professionals in Kaviris’ team
support all aspects of business operations, from manufacturing to commercial and functional teams. The GE Transportation team also partners with the corporate HR team for expertise within GE’s centres of excellence – for example, support for recruitment, compensation, benefits, OD and L&D. “We have the best of both worlds – the HR talent sitting resident in the GE Transportation business, supporting those teams 24/7, and then we have access to centres of excellence for other layers of expertise when needed,” Kaviris says.
Grooming next-generation talent GE has recognised that its people will be critical to staying ahead of the pack. When asked which
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9/06/2017 1:43:38 PM
FEATURES
INSIDE HR GETTING WOMEN INTO STEM
Akin to a college campus, GE’s Crotonville facility offers a number of different settings for learning & development
tenet of HR GE excels in the most, Kaviris doesn’t hesitate: “Our ability to invest in our talent,” she says. “A key part of our mission is to build strong leaders.” It’s more than words. GE’s legendary Crotonville Corporate Campus, located an hour north of New York City, is like having a worldclass educational institution embedded within the organisation. The facility is a lab, a continuous learning environment where GE brings employees together from different segments of the company – Kaviris says it would be rare to have an intact team go through training. “We think this is a big part of the experience,” she says. “You go through this learning and development experience with people who come from all different industries at GE. The courses can range from a couple of days in some cases to a couple of weeks, but the benefit does not just come from the classroom experience; it’s about immersive leadership development and plenty of best practice knowledge-sharing between peers. We also engage many external
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speakers because we feel like our markets are changing to the point where we need to bring in either customers or other subject-matter experts to the process.” The average GE employee will likely visit Crotonville a number of times throughout his or her career, and the leadership programs are pitched at each level, from first-time leaders to more experienced leaders. The Accelerated Leadership Program, or XLP, is one example. Launched two years ago, the program aims to take in students from various functional disciplines. The course is complemented by on-the-job experiences, stretch assignments and cross-functional rotations. Another option is ‘Leadership Exploration’, intended for more experienced leaders, who are able to immerse themselves in a particular market for a period of time while studying. So proud is GE of the facility that even customers are entertained at Crotonville; alternatively, they may be brought in to try to resolve a particular challenge alongside
“We feel that a company that wants to change the world really needs to reflect the world,” says Athena Kaviris. With that guiding principal in mind, GE has set a goal of having 20,000 women fill STEM roles at GE by 2020, and obtaining 50:50 male/female representation for all technical entry-level programs. “It’s not simply the right thing to do; it’s a strategy,” Kaviris says. “It’s necessary to inject urgency into addressing the ongoing gender imbalance in technical fields and ultimately transform ourselves into a digital industrial company.” A number of initiatives have been launched in recent years with the specific purpose of building talent pipelines among young people. The Women’s Network was created in 1997 to help the women working at GE advance their careers and the company’s business. In 2011, the Women’s Network implemented a series of STEM day camps for junior-high-school girls. Hubs and GE partner universities developed a curriculum that fosters girls’ interest in STEM, with the long-term goal of encouraging more women to enter those career fields. Further up the chain, Kaviris says progress is being made. GE’s long-standing Edison Engineering program, for example, was able to achieve a gender ratio of 50:50 in 2016. Even more critically, GE’s CEO, Jeff Immelt, has said that putting more executive women in powerful roles is a crucial aspect of the company’s transformation. Jamie Miller, president and CEO of GE Transportation, has been featured prominently in this push, sharing her GE career evolution and outlining how being taken out of her comfort zone has helped her become a business leader. the GE team. Kaviris herself has been fortunate to attend several courses at the recently renovated facility during her career at GE. “I don’t know if it was by design – and you certainly go there for the content – but inevitably by participating with other colleagues from around the globe and different businesses, you’ll discover pretty quickly that you’re facing a similar opportunity or challenge,” she says. “That
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connection is sparked there and continues once you move back to your normal roles.” She adds that another benefit of the collegiate atmosphere is that it has helped to accelerate her own learning. “Oftentimes I’ve been through classes where I’ve made a connection with someone who happens to be working on something I just happen to be starting,” she says, “and I can accelerate my progress by tapping into them after the class.” For those not based in the US, leadership development courses are offered on-site in 198 locations spread across 50 countries, including global learning centres in Munich, Shanghai, Bengaluru, Abu Dhabi, Rio de Janeiro and elsewhere. Despite the infrastructure and support offered to high-potential and highperforming employees, Kaviris says the
“One consistent element from when Jack Welch was here to now is that GE has always very much been a meritocracy” Athena Kaviris, GE Transportation average progression from intern to senior leader is “not as scripted” as some might believe. “There are many development avenues to potentially go down,” she says, adding that there are decades of stories of GE employees who have moved up through the ranks – intern-to-CFO-type stories – which demonstrate that if employees know how to navigate their careers and they are provided with great mentoring and coaching and stretch assignments along
the way, the sky is the limit. Kaviris speaks from experience. Although she currently resides in Chicago, where GE Transportation is headquartered, her tenure at GE has taken her to posts in Europe and other parts of the US. “My time in Europe was truly developmental – it changed me and made me the global leader I am today,” she says. “What keeps me with the company is truly the people, the beliefs and the unyielding focus on integrity.”
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sydney.hrtechsummit.com
13 September | Hilton Sydney
RETHINK THE FUTURE OF HR TECHNOLOGY • Building the business case for HR technology investment • Examples of implementation excellence from leading organisations • Strategic decision-making using big data • Driving and leading cultural transformation
SPEAKERS INCLUDE:
Lisa Broadhead
Julie Carroll
Head of HR Shared Services Fuji Xerox
Director, Talent Advisory & Solutions, People & Performance Deloitte
Bring your IT Director and save!
Principal partner
HR Tech_FP ad.indd 1 18-19_CS - Intro_SUBBED.indd 18
Darren Fewster
Bernadette King
Kristin Scheidner
Bridget Spiteri
Executive Director, Global Shared Services, Human Resources Telstra
Head of People Systems Woolworths Group
People & Culture, Customer & Digital Transformation AGL Energy
HRIS Manager Caltex Australia
Exhibitors
Official publication
Organised by
9/06/2017 9/06/2017 12:26:48 1:37:41 PM
om
THE LEADERSHIP ISSUE
E:
ory &
6:48 PM
20 CEO PROFILE: MERCY HEALTH The CEO of one of Australia’s healthcare leaders shares his views on the CEO’s relationship with HR, and how data analytics is shaping the future of workplaces
24 CEO PROFILE: KNIGHT FRANK Stephen Ellis, CEO of Knight Frank, outlines why leadership transparency has been critical to his company’s transformation, and the property company aspires to be an employer of choice
28 TURNING LEADERSHIP SPEND INTO LEADERSHIP INVESTMENT Adam Canwell explains how to instil discipline into the ad hoc practice of leadership development
30 LEADERSHIP BALANCE IN AGILE ORGANISATIONS Dr Denise Fleming addresses some of the challenges faced in establishing an agile workplace in mature organisations
32 REDUCING THE GENDER GAP AT THE TOP
What works – and what doesn’t – when it comes to addressing gender inequality at the top of the business hierarchy? Dr Gemma Munro provides her tips
34 FLAT CHANCE: LEADERSHIP IN A FLAT HIERARCHY
Flatter hierarchies are all the rage, but they do come with some downsides. Karlie Cremin outlines what it takes for leaders to succeed in a flatter corporate world
36 RECASTING THE ROLE OF ‘LEADER’
The definition of the role of ‘leader’ seems fairly clear in most organisations, but Sarah Rodgers suggests it is too restrictive for today’s business world. Is it time to look outside the square?
38 LEADING IN THE DIGITAL AGE Penelope Cottrill outlines the key skills required of leaders to succeed in the digital era. How do you shape up?
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9/06/2017 1:37:46 PM
THE LEADERSHIP ISSUE
MERCY HEALTH
AN HR HEALTH CHECK The CEO of one of Australia’s healthcare leaders shares his views on the CEO’s relationship with HR, how data analytics is shaping the future of workplaces, and why equity and inclusion should be on every business leader’s agenda FACED WITH deregulation and unprecedented demand for services – it’s estimated that 500 new workers will need to be sourced each month for the next 10 years just to meet demand – employers in the aged care sector have their share of challenges. Mercy Health, which has operations across the spectrum of health care in Australia, including aged and community care and hospitals, is witnessing these upheavals first-hand. For the past six years the man leading the way forward at Mercy Health has been group CEO Stephen Cornelissen. He says Australia is just at the start of an “exponential” increase in demand for aged care, which will continue for the next 25 years as baby boomers advance into older age. “There’s no question employers in this space are under pressure,” he says. “We employ around 7,000 people and we care for around 190,000 people each year across 49 sites in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and ACT. We care for people from conception through to death, and also families after death – so a big gamut.” Anyone who has witnessed first-hand the tireless work of health professionals knows how important they are to Australian society, and Cornelissen is a passionate advocate of Mercy’s workers and the HR team who operate behind the scenes to ensure patients receive the best care. “We have the most amazing workers and volunteers – I stand on the shoulders of giants,” he says simply.
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HR’s role at Mercy Cornelissen is quick to make a distinction between ‘HR’ and the people, learning and culture team at Mercy. “We think it’s important to call the team ‘people, learning and culture’ because HR management is only one part of how you look after people in a workplace environment,” he says. The organisation uses a business partner model, with HR business partners aligned to programs and divisions within the business. They are supported by the group HR function, which has centres of expertise that
remains a tendency to go to HR “to resolve the hard problems” when in fact effective people management requires the individual manager to resolve the hard problems, with support from HR along the way. “We very much work on that empowerment and support model. It doesn’t always work, and sometimes HR becomes the fun police as well. But that’s making sure we set up an environment where our managers and leaders are well protected, well supported and able to deliver. “Of course, everyone would always like more resources, and we’re not for profit but
“In our recruitment efforts, gender doesn’t even rank in our considerations, and that’s an amazing thing for an organisation to boast” Stephen Cornelissen include OD, IR, HR analytics, and so on. “Our BP model is a partnership model. HR for us does not sit and rest with an HR manager; instead HR is something every single person in an organisation should be aware of and every single person with a line management report needs to be actively involved in. Our BPs are very much there as a development and supporting partner for managers and leaders to be able to deliver the HR function.” While he acknowledges this approach is fairly commonplace, Cornelissen says there
we’re not for loss either – so we’re a for-purpose organisation and we work effectively and efficiently and cope as best we can.” Cornelissen – who was a finalist in the HR Champion (CEO) of the Year category at the Australian HR Awards in 2015 – works closely with his HR team. He singles out his executive director of people, learning and culture, Kate McCormack, and his heads of OD and equity and inclusion as key touchpoints. Cornelissen says equity and inclusion is both a passion for him personally, and a focus for the
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9/06/2017 1:44:27 PM
PROFILE Name: Stephen Cornelissen Company: Mercy Health Title: Group CEO Honours & awards: CEO of the Year; Health and Pharmaceuticals Executive of the Year; Finalist HR Champion CEO of the Year; WGEA – Pay Equity Ambassador Previous roles: »»Chief operating officer, Mercy Health »»Non-executive director, Catholic Health Australia »»Non-executive director, Committee for Wyndham »»General manager, Werribee Mercy Hospital »»Director clinical services, South Canterbury District Health Board
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9/06/2017 1:44:33 PM
THE LEADERSHIP ISSUE
MERCY HEALTH WHAT’S THE KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL CEO/HR RELATIONSHIP? Stephen Cornelissen responds: “Without doubt it has to be mutual respect for each other. The relationship with the HR director is one of the most important a CEO can have. It’s not only that you must have frank discussions around a whole range of things, truthfully, but as the CEO you must hear things truthfully. Your HR executive has to be able to tell you things that other people don’t want to tell you. When you get that relationship right you can manage so much better. Just be prepared to get that blunt, honest feedback from them. Kate [McCormack] and I have a very honest relationship and there’s nothing that is off limits. It doesn’t get shared anywhere else: I have full confidence that what I say to her doesn’t go anywhere, and vice versa. It’s not a polite relationship; it’s a truthful relationship and an authentic relationship. Sometimes we have polite relationships in organisations, and this one just can’t be that way. We are straight shooters with one another, believe me!” company at large. “We cannot be an employer of choice – we can’t even be an industry representative – if we have a workforce consisting of more than 90% women and we don’t have a focus on equity and inclusion.” Mercy is a Workplace Gender Equality Agency-certified organisation, and Cornelissen himself is an ambassador for gender equity and inclusion. “We go on a person’s skill and ability, and I see that constantly in our recruitment efforts; gender doesn’t even rank in our
balance in the workplace, but it’s also to do with parenting. It’s a really big one – the role of the father today is so different to what the role has been in the past. Some men are struggling with what it means if they’re not the primary breadwinner any more. What does it mean for their family? These are big questions and good questions that are coming up at last because we’re getting a balance. These issues sat with women for so long, and it’s a really exciting time today because we have that balance emerging.”
“We have the most amazing workers and volunteers – I stand on the shoulders of giants” considerations, and that’s an amazing thing for an organisation to boast,” he says. “We have 50% women participating on our board, we have 50%-plus women in our leadership team, and I can sit here and say it’s because we’re great – but really we should be at this level if we have 90% of our workforce being women – it only makes sense.” That said, he suggests there are looming “big questions” for all organisations, and society as a whole, when it comes to gender equality – particularly when it comes to the role of men. “I feel there’s a bit of an identity crisis happening now. There’s this gap between what our parents did and what we have to do today and where the value comes from. It’s not just to do with the gender
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HR data Cornelissen is an advocate of HR now using analytics to make more informed decisions – in fact, Mercy has set up a dedicated HR analytics team in its group HR function. “Too much data can cripple you, so it’s how we take the critical data out. We look at trending data and we try to take a long-term view – because data is really about storytelling.” He adds that an ERP (enterprise resourcing platform) is currently being implemented that will help to integrate HR data with other data sources, such as finance. “We can then mine that into a whole new range of data sets,” Cornelissen says. “So not just what does sick leave mean to staff rostering but what are the financial impacts? What does it mean to care
outcomes? All those things can be impacted upon. And the sick leave, what does that show us? Do we see patterns? When we see one sick person, but three days later more people take sick leave? Is that stress related? We can start to see these big data patterns.” He cites one example in which sick leave was identified as almost being treated in some areas like an RDO. “When you start monitoring you can say, ‘why do we have almost one day a month being taken by a certain group in a certain area, and what does that mean to work practices?’ ” He adds that he doesn’t chat to his group head of people, learning and culture about the data he needs; instead they chat about what the organisation needs in order to move forward. “We have our routine. We look at the data on a monthly basis – but we do that more as an executive group. The chats I would have with Kate are much more of a deep dive into key areas. Where are the trouble spots she believes exist in the organisation and what can we do to either respond to them now, or strategically what can we do to pre-empt what they might be in three to five years?” Cornelissen says that in aged care, for example, one of his biggest conversations right now is what is needed for the future workforce. “It’s not what we’ve got right now,” he says. “So it becomes how do we build that? What does that mean for training, development, recruitment? What does it mean in terms of engaging with 15-year-olds in schools right now, who might be the 22-year-olds we want to employ in seven years’ time? That’s the bigpicture stuff that Kate and I would talk about.” Cornelissen adds that his future workforce won’t necessarily be about different skill sets but instead there’ll be a different focus for those workers. “I think the skills of caring sit in most people, so rather it’s the focus we give people about how they execute that caring. It’s foundational – we can teach skills but it’s how we find the right people who have the right attitude that can deliver this. That’s the key function we’ve got to do – where do we find these people and get them into jobs that have meaning for them for life?”
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9/06/2017 1:44:34 PM
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9/06/2017 1:44:37 PM
THE LEADERSHIP ISSUE
KNIGHT FRANK AUSTRALIA
PROFILE Name: Stephen Ellis Company: Knight Frank Australia Title: CEO Education: Estate management, property, London South Bank University Previous roles: »»Chairman, Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors »»Director, Technical Real Estate »»President and CEO, CB Richard Ellis »»Senior executive sales, JLL
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(RE)BUILDING FROM THE GROUND UP Knight Frank has undergone a radical overhaul over the past five years. Steering the ship has been CEO Stephen Ellis, who outlines to HRD why leadership transparency has been critical to the transformation IN OCTOBER 2016, the leadership team at property consultancy Knight Frank had what the company’s CEO, Stephen Ellis, describes as a “confronting” and “challenging” personal development session. The company had engaged renowned author and leadership development expert Michael Bunting, and Ellis and his team were warned that the 360-degree feedback sessions they were about to undertake would be unlike any others they’d previously done. “You have to talk about the issues in front of everybody and then explain what you’re going to do about it,” Ellis says. In Ellis’s case, the negative feedback from colleagues was that there were too many three-way conversations going on around him – in other words, they felt that Ellis would talk to one person about someone else, and
then talk to another person about that person, as opposed to having total transparency and talking to everybody at the same time. The exercise not only sparked a period of self-reflection for Ellis and his senior team but also triggered a renewed interest in the importance of transparency in business. “It was quite enlightening for the whole group,” Ellis says. “We filtered it right the way through the business. From what people have told me, it was one of those watershed moments. Of course, that was only eight months ago, but it’s amazing how changes like that can have quite a big impact on the business.” With corporate scandals and wrongdoing constantly hogging the headlines, it’s refreshing to hear a CEO of a leading company talk about the importance of leadership
transparency. “I’m not going to sugarcoat facts,” Ellis says. “It would be very easy to go along and say ‘we’ve got this amount of market share, it has increased by X percent, and our turnover has changed to this’, and gloss over the downsides. But I don’t believe in that. I read all these public company reports and they are all about showing how well the company has done. My feeling is that, as an employee, I’d want to know everything, warts and all. I think you get more respect if you share the pluses, the minuses, and you demonstrate that you know what you’re doing.”
The road to now Knight Frank Australia and its predecessor businesses began operations in Melbourne in 1885 and expanded nationally through the
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THE LEADERSHIP ISSUE
KNIGHT FRANK AUSTRALIA acquisition of interstate businesses to develop a network of state-based entities. Major events in the evolution of the Knight Frank brand in Australia and the ownership of Knight Frank Australia Pty Ltd include the creation in 1994 of Knight Frank Hooker Australia, which was created out of the merger of Baillieu Knight Frank and Hooker Corporate, a wholly owned division of the Suncorp Group (use of the Hooker name ceased in 1996), and the subsequent UK Knight Frank entity taking 100% acquisition of Knight Frank Australia. These various incarnations, in addition to the tumult of the GFC, had taken a toll on the standing of the Australian operations, both from a business standpoint and an employer standpoint. Ellis was brought on board in 2010, following 23 years at what eventually became CB Richard Ellis, including a stint as the property giant’s CEO and chairman. “I joined Knight Frank in 2010 as much for the challenge as anything else,” Ellis says. “When I arrived in Australia some 30 years
HOW DOES YOUR HEAD OF HR, SHARON WOODLEY, HELP YOU DO YOUR JOB MORE EFFECTIVELY? Stephen Ellis responds: “She brings a different mindset to how I look at things and perhaps opens my eyes up to alternatives which may produce better results. Sometimes in my role you can become very closely focused on the bottom-line results without actually seeing how you might achieve those results through other means. As far as I’m concerned, she would be – apart from perhaps my COO – my closest confidante.” the best property professionals. This has two dimensions to it: one is being a best employer; the other is having the best clients. “Our whole strategy as a business was developed around that vision,” Ellis explains. The company has, for example, commenced measurement of employee engagement via Aon Hewitt. The goal is to become an accredited best employer within the next three years. “We’re aiming to get up to 75% [of employees engaged] and when it comes to best client service we’re using the net
“My feeling is that, as an employee, I’d want to know everything, warts and all” ago, I thought the company was one of the top two brands in the country when it came to commercial real estate, and I had seen the brand slip away. I thought there was an opportunity to do something with a business that was struggling in certain ways to find its own identity and what the business was really about.” While Knight Frank’s major competitors such as CB Richard Ellis and Colliers are publicly listed companies, Knight Frank remains private. Ellis says this has its challenges – not least of which are limits on the amount of available capital. However, he also believes that being private has certain advantages. “We can present ourselves as being slightly different to the competition,” he says. “The market is all about ‘big is beautiful’, which is very much the aspiration of those other organisations. Of course, that’s an easy sell. It’s a simple vision that everyone can grasp.” Ellis and a group of leaders of the business formulated a different type of vision: to become
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promoter score. I feel the two are very closely aligned – you won’t get one without the other.” Other steps followed, such as an upgrade of all of the company’s physical office spaces and the adoption of activity-based working spaces. “I believe if you give people the best accommodation they’ll perform at a higher level, you’ll attract better people, and in my experience whenever you move an office the performance of that office, in revenue terms, goes up. It gives people new zest,” Ellis says. Prior to Ellis’s arrival at Knight Frank, such decisions rarely involved the HR team. This has changed. Sharon Woodley, who joined the company as group director of HR in mid-2015, has been closely involved in the business strategy and attends all board meetings. Ellis now calls Woodley one of his closest confidantes.
The right people in the right roles It hasn’t been an easy journey. While the
Sharon Woodley, group director, HR, Knight Frank
company currently employs around 800 people, and then another 400 through a licence arrangement similar to a franchise, Ellis says 600-odd people have been replaced in the past four years. “There’s the old saying of getting the wrong people off the bus, and getting the right people on the bus, in the right positions. It’s true. Three quarters of our staff have joined us in the last four years. That’s not an easy job. You want to move people on of their own choice, but at the same time you do want them to move if they don’t fit in with your plan. It’s all about how you treat those people as they exit your business.” Ellis adds that, in his view, people know when certain individuals are not pulling their weight. “It lowers the bar for everyone,” he says, adding that when employees were asked what the company could do better, without an outlay of millions of dollars, a clear response came back: remove the underperformers.
A bright future Ellis is optimistic about the future. While there are still some wrinkles to smooth out, including a division of the business that is underperforming, he says the groundwork for future success has already been laid. “Again, if you’re a publicly listed company you’re under immense pressure to write those quarterly returns. If you can take the longer-term view and keep to your course, you will come through in the end. I actually think what’s happening now, with talent in the market just starting to look around and consider other opportunities, will benefit Knight Frank. There’s already a great vibe in our business, and I think there are tremendous upsides for the business and its employees now and into the future.”
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THE LEADERSHIP ISSUE
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT ROI
HOW TO TURN LEADERSHIP SPEND INTO LEADERSHIP INVESTMENT The world’s companies spend US$50bn a year on developing leadership capabilities, yet few know whether they are getting any return on this investment. Adam Canwell explains how to instil discipline into the ad hoc practice of leadership development BOARDS AND executive teams have tremendous insight into the value and effectiveness of an organisation’s financial and physical assets. Yet when it comes to the intangible asset of leadership development, boards and the C-suite are flying blind. Even in organisations spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year on executive development, the impact of leadership spend is barely measured. In fact, few organisations know the answers to these fundamental questions:
How much are we spending, and what are we spending it on? Incredibly, many organisations find it difficult to identify their total investment in leadership development – or even to understand where they are spending their money. Activities are usually carried out ad hoc, with little integration and often no attempt to link development initiatives with identified future capability gaps. Coming from different budgets, with different owners – and often entrenched in tradition or aligned with personal interests – leadership development has few controls.
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What impact does our spend have on business and leadership performance? Even worse, few companies are able to measure the impact of their spend – beyond tracking the satisfaction of the participants attending leadership programs. Reflecting on the millions
organisational success. It’s hard to imagine any other corporate spend of this magnitude that would be seen as successful – and permitted to continue unchecked every year – without delivering clear impact. If any capital-intensive organisation managed its capital assets in the same way
Many organisations find it difficult to identify their total investment in leadership development – or even to understand where they are spending their money her company had spent on a development program with a leading business school, one executive was of the view that, while leaders loved the program, there was little, if any, evidence that it had improved business performance. The truth is, most boards struggle to get a joined-up view of all their leadership activities, let alone understand whether and how each initiative is aligned to
most companies deal with leadership spend, the board and CEO would be fired.
Time for a new level of discipline around leadership development It’s time organisations applied the same discipline to their leadership asset as they do to other organisational assets. The frenzied tactical activity we see in most organisations
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is clearly failing. Instead, organisations need a joined-up, rigorous approach to aligning, measuring and controlling their investment in leadership development. In developing this approach, boards and the C-suite need to consider:
Purpose and profit – Organisations need leaders who behave in a way that is in tune with their culture, while also delivering exceptional performance. This needs to be an ‘and’, not an ‘or’.
Individual and collective capability – For too long, the focus of leadership spend has been on the individual leader, with individual capability and performance as the most important unit of measure. Yet we know that most of our work as leaders is in teams or groups. Arguably, the ability to work effectively in high-performing teams has a greater impact on organisational performance – and more leadership investment needs to be focused here.
Prediction and performance – Performance in a current role is a poor predictor of success in the next role up. Yet most organisations base promotion decisions almost entirely on current performance. We need to start using predictors of potential – both tried and trusted psychological assessments and also patterns in data identified by people analytics.
Leadership and context – People often see leadership either as a set of skills and capabilities agnostic to environment, or as being entirely context-specific. We believe both perspectives are correct. There are some generic skills and capabilities that all leaders need (such as influencing); whereas, others are very definitely context-specific (such as making things happen within a particular culture with the right trade-offs). Organisations need to identify both the broad-context agnostic skills that all leaders require alongside the context-specific skills and capabilities needed in this particular organisation or industry.
QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU BUILD AN EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP STRATEGY Aligning, measuring and controlling leadership investment starts with a strategy, which in turn needs to clearly support organisational performance. Only then can your focus switch to tactics and processes. Do we have the leadership to effectively execute our strategy?
Are we selecting the right leaders and investing in the right capabilities?
Are we bearing organisational and reputational risk due to the behaviour of our leaders?
Are our leaders delivering exceptional performance in the right way?
Do we have a sustainable pipeline of leaders to ensure our long-term success?
Are our processes aligned and building leadership capability sustainably?
How can we measure our progress against these priorities effectively?
How are we measuring the impact of all that we are doing?
Are our leaders delivering exceptional performance? How do we know?
How do our leaders behave? Is this causing us risk as an organisation? How well aligned are leaders’ behaviours to our organisation’s purpose and values?
How will current promotion and retention trends impact the leadership bench in the next two to five years?
Where are we currently spending and is this investment effective? Are the board and executive team confident we are producing the right leadership talent?
Boards and executive teams must take action to ensure leadership investment delivers a clear impact The leader and the system – We need to stop pretending that spending on a single time-limited program will have a sustained impact on an organisation’s leadership capability. To build an effective leadership architecture or system, organisations need to consider everything that develops leaders for the long term. This might mean performance management, career mobility, reward, mentoring or development at key transition points rather than broad sheep dips. In the current turbulent business and geopolitical environment, I believe leadership
is one of the true strategic advantages an organisation can build for the long term. Boards and executive teams must take action to ensure leadership investment delivers a clear impact. Otherwise, they run the risk of a leadership capability deficit damaging the long-term health and performance of their organisation. Adam Canwell is the global leader of EY’s Leadership Consulting Practice within People Advisory Services.
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THE LEADERSHIP ISSUE
AGILE MODELS
LEADERSHIP BALANCE IN AGILE ORGANISATIONS Dr Denise Fleming addresses some of the challenges faced in establishing an agile workplace in mature organisations
Agile Flexible Adaptive
Inconsistent Indecisive Unstable
Past Fixed Controlled Structured
Future Agile?
Netflix and Facebook. All were spectacular start-ups when they began their organisations and they are now global behemoths.
Start-ups vs mature organisations Mature organisations adopting an ‘agile’ organisation strategy face a very different organisational challenge than those that were start-ups. For mature organisations to establish ‘agile’ they need to unravel existing structures and processes and simultaneously build new ones. These changed activities also influence the remuneration, status and number of employees. To be successful, implementation strategies need to take into account the current context, the history of the organisation and the industry, together with the speed with which technology is continuing to change and be adopted by consumers and other businesses. Leadership teams in mature organisations are adopting an ‘agile, flexible and adaptive’ focus. This aims to increase customer focus and responsiveness, with greater efficiency and effectiveness in making use of new technologies and adapting to the change in the nature of work.
Enormity of the change Mature organisations may have a long history of great success, with strong market growth and profitability, powerful reputations, respect and customer loyalty. These organisations may have been: • structured into divisions • operating autonomously • part of conglomerates • operating in silos • fully integrated • operating in a global or national matrix
HOW DO we adapt? Changes in the nature of work are causing organisations to consider changing the way in which they are structured and the way in which work is managed. • Structures – should they be delayered? • Silos – should they be eliminated? • Should the existing processes be adapted or removed?
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• Should the culture of the organisation itself be modified?
Why adapt? The focus of agility models being established across the globe by product services companies such as ING is to replicate the success of technology companies such as Google, Spotify,
Mature organisations may be well governed, with tight controls over all elements of the supply and value chains, deep human and physical resource capability, and shareholders expecting success and growth to continue unabated.
Applicability However, Spotify, Netflix and Google were spectacular start-ups, raising the question of
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how applicable their organisational and work models might be for mature organisations that face significant changes in order to transition into similar agile, flexible and adaptive structures and work habits to those of the tech giants. When mature corporations are considering implementation strategies to deliver ‘agile’ with changes to the nature of work, they may need to consider alternative and different strategies to those of the behemoths.
Inherent challenges for leaders It is possible to explore an agile model from two perspectives: the organisation’s, and that of its leaders. What might leaders need to consider when changing their leadership style to one that is agile, flexible and adaptive? When the nature of work changes with fast technology and then changes again completely with artificial intelligence and quantum computing, such unknowns will need leaders to be as agile, flexible and adaptive as their technology-driven organisations and customers. Inherent in those changes are significant risks.
Agile – Quick and light in movement, active, lively, an agile mind (Macquarie Dictionary) The opposite of agile could be seen as ‘sound and stable’. When applied to governance, values and integrity, leadership needs to be ‘sound and stable’. Soundness and stability can also be helpful in providing clarity – the outcomes of AI and quantum computing may need to be sound and stable too, to enable them to be adopted. An agile leader may be seen to be inconsistent – not a sought-after leadership style or quality.
Flexible – Easily bent, willing to yield (Macquarie Dictionary) Again, structures and processes may need to be flexible as new products and services are designed and emerge in industries disrupted by their very emergence. One perception of flexibility can be indecision. So what would happen if the perceptions of a leader shifted from being flexible, in making a new environment, to being seen as indecisive? It is
very hard for people to follow an indecisive leader – followers become frustrated and eventually stop following until, in their minds, the leader’s mind is made up. New strategy implementation can falter.
Adaptive – Adapt to make suitable to requirements; adjust fittingly (Macquarie Dictionary) In periods of great change, history has shown that only those organisations that adapt to the new environment survive. But what happens when leaders who are able to adapt quickly also adapt frequently and are seen as unstable – as markets, changing quickly, need new responses? Can a leader who is perceived as
is for a start-up to do things that new and different technology enables it to do. Start-ups’ products, systems and processes can be tried and developed further as new technology emerges, or stopped and something different tried if they fail. ‘Try, fail and fail fast’ is the mantra of a start-up. That’s much easier to do if there is no existing market, customer base, suppliers, partners, and balance sheet of assets to be written off. A start-up evolves as it finds its direction, niche and vision – people don’t stay if they don’t fit. Start-ups are funded as high-risk. Leaders of mature organisations have to take established shareholders and investors
Mature organisations adopting an ‘agile’ organisation strategy face a very different organisational challenge than those that were start-ups Dr Denise Fleming unstable motivate and empower followers – or will followers divert, or block new ideas and decisions, waiting for stability to return? So which is it to be? How to find the balance? • Agile or inconsistent? • Flexible or indecisive? • Adaptive or unstable?
Implementation will need leaders to be balanced Many highly successful companies are well managed and controlled; structures are aligned and fixed to clear supply chains and distribution channels, which customers and the community understand. In moving to agile, flexible and adaptive organisational products, structures and processes, balance will be needed to ensure the leadership is not seen as indecisive, inconsistent and unstable.
Why it feels different It is not as easy to take a mature, successful organisation to an adopted ‘agile’ model as it
on the journey to a new model; their shareholders have expectations of capital and earnings returns to be maintained.
Leadership style key to success As mature organisations adopt a start-up’s model of ‘agile, flexible and adaptive’ in order to maintain their success, their leaders need to balance their own leadership styles to avoid being seen as inconsistent, indecisive and unstable, particularly by their followers and their organisations’ shareholders. Only balanced leaders will succeed on this risky, exciting but challenging organisational transformational journey in which the nature of work has changed.
Foresight’s Global Coaching provides executive coaching to the most senior corporate executives across Australia. FGC’s distinguished and highly experienced coaches are supported by a robust coaching model.
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THE LEADERSHIP ISSUE
GENDER EQUALITY
REDUCING THE GENDER GAP AT THE TOP What works – and what doesn’t – when it comes to addressing gender inequality at the top of the business hierarchy? Dr Gemma Munro provides her tips AT A recent conference with a large number of HR directors, the keynote speaker asked the audience, comprising 183 HR directors, “How many of you have invested in unconscious bias training?” All 183 hands went straight up in the air. They were then asked, “How many of you have seen benefit from your investment?” One hundred and eighty-two hands went straight down again – one brave HR director kept his hand in the air, albeit rather limply. The ongoing investment in unconscious bias training as a way to address the gender
the percentage of women at leadership level. Over the years we have practised and researched and further honed our craft, to the point where 52% of the women we work with receive a promotion within six months, 100% of the women we work with say their commitment and ability to contribute back to the organisation have risen significantly, and our clients have had to lift their five-year women in leadership targets after working with us for nine months. When it comes to getting more women into leadership roles, we know what works – and what doesn’t.
Refusing to set gender targets at leadership level results in little progress gap frustrates me and my colleagues, for two reasons: We are driven by a fundamental belief that the world will be a better place when 50% of the most important decisions for the planet are made by women. Unconscious bias training is making nary a dent in this vision becoming a reality. The fact that organisations invest close to US$10bn annually in diversity training with next to no return on investment – and next to no research confirming that the training actually meets key organisational objectives around diversity and inclusion – only increases our determination to make a difference. We have worked with the likes of Google, PayPal, Nissan and Atlassian to increase
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Let’s talk first about what doesn’t work when it comes to lifting the representation of women at leadership level:
Unconscious bias training. In our experience, HR directors look back on this as a waste of their precious budget … but as a necessary tick-the-box exercise to make stakeholders (sometimes including the CEO and board) happy. What we know is that unconscious bias tends to reinforce stereotypes, heighten bias, increase complacency, and can lead to white men feeling excluded.
Refusing to set targets. We all know that ‘what gets measured gets done’. Most of us would also agree with the statement ‘Organisations
measure what leaders consider important’. Refusing to set gender targets at leadership level results in little progress, and a clear message to employees and stakeholders that diversity is of little importance to the organisation. This is probably the right time to acknowledge an elephant in the room. We call it the ‘meritocracy elephant’, and it goes something like this: Setting targets will result in the perception of token women at the top. Our leaders are appointed based on merit, not gender. This is arguably valid when the percentage of female staff and female leaders sits at approximately 50%. When an organisation is more representative of the typical leaky talent pipeline (70% of women in frontline roles; 30% of women in leadership roles), it is evident that there is far more than just merit at play – and arguing otherwise may well be insulting to female employees.
Shying away from women-only programs because they’re politically uncomfortable. We know that, as soon as you announce you are investing in the development of your women, you will likely get two standard responses from employees: a. (From men): This isn’t fair – I’ve worked hard and deserve access to development and promotion too. b. (From women): I don’t need to be ‘fixed’, and I don’t need special treatment because I’m a woman. We have been asked so often how organisations should respond to these concerns that we have developed draft communication around each (email us at info@inklingwomen. com if you’d like a copy). In a nutshell, though, organisations need to invest in women’s leadership development because a) gender balance at leadership level will lead directly to better organisational performance; b) most organisations are far from reaching gender balance at leadership level and are making little progress, despite significant investment; and c) women’s leadership programs create direct return on investment when it comes to achieving diversity and inclusion objectives. So, what does work when it comes to
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increasing the representation of women at leadership level?
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Investing in women-only leadership programs. Women-only leadership
programs generate significantly better outcomes than mixed programs in measures like promotion rate, performance, engagement and commitment. This is for four reasons: a. A female-only learning space allows women space to speak and share ideas without interruption or silencing. A 2004 Harvard study found that, in a mixed-sex environment, men speak far more frequently – and for longer – than women. Women are also three times more likely to be interrupted when speaking than men. b. Women’s programs provide the opportunity to work with other outstanding women, paving the way for female advancement. In research conducted by McKinsey & Co., 86% of women reported that the more women in leadership they saw, the more encouraged they were to strive for higher positions: learning with other high-achieving women has a motivational effect. c. Female-only development programs support the well-documented learning preferences of women to maximise results. There is a large body of research demonstrating the benefits of an all-women learning environment, and applying that knowledge makes a meaningful, positive difference for leadership training. d. Women-only programs specifically address the unique challenges women face, allowing them to overcome barriers to leadership, which include: • The double bind (Recent research reported in the Harvard Business Review shows that confident women must also be perceived as warm to be seen as effective) • The perception that ‘good leadership’ is based on traditionally masculine qualities, including competitiveness, short-term decision-making and hierarchy • Experiences of backlash: women who violate gender norms tend to be perceived negatively
RESULTS FROM OVER 100 WOMEN WHO HAVE COMPLETED INKLING WOMEN’S PROGRAMS “I received a new opportunity as a result of the program”
Strongly disagree 2% 0%
100 90
Pre-program Post-program
Disagree 4% 0%
80 70 60 50
“I am confident in my skills and abilities”
48%
52%
Neutral 24% 10%
40 Agree
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57%
20
42% Strongly agree
10 0
13% Received a new opportunity
• Disproportionate responsibility for caregiving combined with a lack of flexible work arrangements in some organisations
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Working with all people leaders to build inclusive leadership practices.
Developing your high-potential female talent in a women-only environment rapidly lifts the percentage of women at leadership level (see boxout above). But doing this without also investing in their leaders exposes you to a risk: the women will return to work, feel unsupported in their career advancement, and leave to seek a more inclusive and supportive workplace. For this reason, we almost always work closely with the leaders of the high-potential women to ensure they can support, challenge and grow their employees as they develop their skills, confidence, knowledge and self-awareness. In doing so, we partner with our clients to gradually create a cohort of leaders with the motivation and ability to create teams in which everyone can flourish.
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48%
Received a promotion
Committing to fully flexible working conditions. In many organisations, the
flexible work policy is sound but its practice is entirely dependent on the individual manager. In organisations that have adopted an ‘all roles
are flexible’ policy and practice, the results are undeniably potent: a. At Commonwealth Bank, there was an 85.5% increase in the number of people leaders working part-time. Of the estimated 7,000 part-time employees, 89.5% were women. b. At Telstra, the ‘All Roles Flex’ program led to i) over 90% employee retention after taking parental leave; ii) significantly higher female representation across the business and; iii) three times as many men taking parental leave. You have probably attended a breakfast or panel session on gender equality and heard one of the speakers say, “Achieving gender balance is hard. There is no silver bullet”. That’s true. However, we know more than enough to choose between the interventions that help organisations achieve their D&I objectives, and interventions that don’t. The sooner we commit to the former and drop the latter, the sooner we will achieve gender balance at leadership level. Dr Gemma Munro is the founder and director of Inkling Women, an award-winning Australian business with the mission of inspiring women to lead.
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THE LEADERSHIP ISSUE
ORGANISATIONAL DESIGN
FLAT CHANCE: LEADERSHIP IN A FLAT HIERARCHY Flatter hierarchies are all the rage, but they do come with some downsides. Karlie Cremin outlines what it takes for leaders to succeed in a flatter corporate world I CAN actually remember the first time I heard the idea of a holacratic organisation discussed. It was at a conference in the US focusing on HR. A gentleman was giving a talk about this new structure, where there are open job specifications, sometimes no job titles and perfectly dispersed power within a highly productive workforce. The entire room did three things in unison. 1. Confirmed what holacratic means 2. Gasped 3. Laughed with abandon
to communicate well and had a fairly easy flow between themselves. I started to think maybe they didn’t actually need to change that much at all. Then I asked, “So, if that forecast doesn’t work out, whose job is on the line?” The room immediately fell silent and no one would make eye contact. I felt compelled to follow up with “So who is driving here? Who is deciding and communicating the strategy? Mitigating the risk?” It became apparent that no one was. And therein lies one of the main dangers of a
Without a title and power, most people feel no obligation to lead when things get tough. And subsequently businesses can start to list Years later it seems everyone is going flat. From Google to Adobe to 3M to LinkedIn, everyone has a version of this new structure. Even organisations that have not actively chosen this structure seem to have had a flat (or at least flatter) structure forced upon them. And so many businesses we see are struggling with the realities of what it means to have a flat hierarchy, and how you actively lead in them. I was visiting an organisation recently to scope out a change management project. I was struck by how much each team member I met knew about the operations of the business, and was willing to talk to me about the organisation generally. The team seemed
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flat hierarchy. Without a title and power, most people feel no obligation to lead when things get tough. And subsequently businesses can start to list, while often giving the impression of moving forward.
The challenges of a flat hierarchy There are of course many challenges to this model; however, I will discuss what I see as the five key ones here.
1. Communication channels Without clear structure around roles and reporting lines, communication can become confused. If there is not a chain of command as
such, how do you make sure that everyone has access to the information they need when they need it? How do you prevent poor decisions being made because available information was not distributed? It can also be a challenge to identify who should be told what. Organisations often either freeze and communicate nothing or communicate everything and lose the meaning in the volume. Clearly, leaders must take charge of the communication and prioritisation of information within these organisations.
2. Matching a skill set to a task In traditional hierarchies allocating tasks is relatively easy – a person’s job title will generally give you a pretty good idea of their degree of control and skill. In flatter hierarchies there tends to be much greater variation in proficiency between individuals who appear similar. This can be very dangerous in task allocation. Leaders in this environment must have a clear skills inventory of the organisation and resources within it, and be able to dynamically identify the best mix of resources to deliver a task to the highest quality with the lowest input.
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WHY GO FLAT? There are many reasons a company might opt for a flatter hierarchy. These include: • The business is more agile – Without the burden of traditional bureaucracy organisations are free to make decisions swiftly. • Employees are empowered – Employees are able to make a meaningful contribution to the business every day, and are empowered to make decisions. This should result in a more engaged workforce. • Lower cost – This model significantly reduces overheads, with less money being dedicated to management staff. However, organisations beware! Not all businesses are suited to this model. It is essential that any change to a business structure is properly planned and scenario tested. Failing to plan really is planning to fail.
Leaders need to be skilled communicators, and adept at prioritising and disseminating information 3. The legal context The legislative environment has not kept pace with the changes that have occurred in this domain. Legally, the law holds certain individuals within an organisation as more responsible than others for the conduct of the organisation, whether they directly participate or not. A flat hierarchy does not excuse a director, for example, from their obligations. Organisations, and leaders within them, need to fully understand this context and ensure that they are taking ownership of what they are legally responsible for.
4. Roles vs responsibilities Even where an organisation has an extremely flat hierarchy, there is still a need for individuals and teams to be held responsible and accountable for outcomes. Leaders in these organisations need to hold people to account for performance, to delegate responsibility fairly and equitably, and
to set the tone for the behaviour that is acceptable within the organisation.
5. Distribution of power The goal of many of these structures appears to be to establish a democratic culture where the team works together towards a shared vision in harmony. The reality is that this is not always how teams work. We often see teams where situational leaders have emerged as a result of a flatter hierarchy – and we frequently see extremely negative behaviour in teams as a result. This is not necessarily because the situational leader is trying to lead them astray – it’s simply that the power has been dispersed to a party that is not responsible for the outcome. Power ultimately should rest with the individual or team that is responsible. And this dispersion must be explicit – if not by an organisation chart then by other means. With this view, flat hierarchies require leaders to focus on developing new and
different areas of skill. Leaders need to: • be skilled communicators, and adept at prioritising and disseminating information • fully understand their team and interact with them as peers, while still maintaining power • be dynamic and able to make decisions quickly, based on consistent logic • be knowledgeable about the legal context of their actions – they need to know what they are responsible for, and the consequences for getting it wrong • lead with purpose and charisma – there’s a lot more choice in who we follow now, and leaders need to quite simply be worth following Flat hierarchies are becoming the norm, and we need to develop our leaders, and quickly, to equip them to flourish in this brave new world. Karlie Cremin is a principal and founder of DLPA. DLPA customises programs for organisations to strategically develop their workforces to help the organisation thrive into the future. Contact them today on (03) 8678 0389, or info@dlpa.com.au.
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THE LEADERSHIP ISSUE
DEFINING LEADERSHIP
RECASTING THE ROLE OF ‘LEADER’ The definition of the role of ‘leader’ seems fairly clear in most organisations, but Sarah Rodgers suggests it is too restrictive for today’s business world. Is it time to look outside the square? IN ANTICIPATION of writing an article about leadership, I was struck by the challenge of trying not to replicate everything you’ve previously read, which is somewhat daunting! In preparing to put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard in this case, I did a mental scan of the many books on my bookshelves and
What is a leader? In all of the research I conducted to identify the most commonly described characteristics of leaders, this is what I found: integrity, patience, confidence, focus, authenticity, passion, decisiveness, humility, vulnerability, persistence, creativity, accountability,
Leadership is a way of being, not something you do. It’s how you make people feel; it’s how you inspire others to achieve more than they thought possible the internet, and I tried to recall the many pieces of advice that I’ve been given about leadership during my life. The advice has come from many people and in many contexts, most of which are not related to my work. Hence, I have purposely drawn the distinction between life and work, as to me leadership is a concept that presents itself long before we enter the workforce.
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insightfulness… I could go on, but you get the idea. Interesting that none of these talk about a role or hierarchy. To me they read as a set of sound behaviours, and in some cases values. From an early age, it’s usually quite easy to spot leaders among us. They often excel in sport, have a knack for debating, find themselves on various student representative committees, show initiative
or ‘take the lead’ in group situations, are vocal and stand up for what they believe in, and sometimes for others. They fight for what is right, sometimes at great cost to themselves, demonstrate entrepreneurial flair (you know who I’m talking about: the child at the fair selling home-made lemonade), and sometimes show compassion and kindness beyond their years. Some of them are described as natural leaders and go on to hold positions of leadership in organisations. Others, it seems, are content to follow their own paths. To each of us leadership means something subtly different; and of course leadership means different things in different contexts.
Corporate leadership In an organisational context, typically when we are talking about leadership, we are, I think, collectively referring to the people in our organisations who hold positions of authority/ influence; the people we typically refer to as leaders. This definition seems to be reinforced when we look at how organisations typically structure their L&D programs: leadership development programs for a select few (typically very senior staff ); management training for mid-level managers; and other training for staff who are not responsible for managing others. There are those among us who seem to use the terms ‘manager’ and ‘leader’ interchangeably – but that’s another topic! I wonder if the way our L&D programs are structured inadvertently suggests that staff in non-leadership roles are not expected or required to exhibit the characteristics of leaders? A bit odd really. Wouldn’t it be beneficial if everyone in our organisations behaved with integrity, passion, creativity and decisiveness? Wouldn’t it be good for business if everyone behaved with accountability? Given the continual struggle of executive and HR teams alike to create employer of choice workplaces and high-performing cultures, it seems strange to limit leadership training to an elite few. I think what I am suggesting is that the organisational definition of leadership is not allowing organisations, and indeed each and
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3 ESSENTIAL TRAITS OF LEADERS Each of us will have our own criteria for assessing leadership, but for me, more than any technical ability, it comes down to three key ingredients: Vulnerability: It’s important for people to see leaders as human; that means sometimes saying you don’t know the answer or the best way forward, asking for help and creating an environment in which success is as much about the journey as it is about the result. Openness: If we are open, then others will share their ideas with us; they will know that their contributions are welcomed and valued (importantly, they won’t stop coming to us with their ideas); and in the quest for embedding innovation in our cultures, I believe this is critical. Believing: Sometimes, the best we can hope for ourselves is that someone sees our potential even when we don’t. As a leader, it’s our role to see the potential in others and help them reach it. every staff member within those organisations, to reach their personal and professional potential. Over the last two decades or so, we have come to accept the importance of culture in an organisation’s success; we have seen recruitment practices move away from a purely technical assessment to also looking for a ‘good fit’ when filling roles, and for the most part organisations have benefited from acknowledging just how important emotional intelligence is. But still, for me at least, the question remains: is the organisational definition of leadership too narrow?
Refining the definition In recent years, adding to the work of Daniel Goleman, there has been much more talk about self-leadership. Self-leadership is defined by Bryant & Kazan (2012) as “the practice of intentionally influencing your thinking, feeling and behaviours to achieve your objectives”. Emotional intelligence, or EQ, is the “ability to identify, assess, and control one’s own emotions, the emotions of others, and that of groups”. Some
of you will be asking “how does self-leadership differ from emotional intelligence?” and perhaps those differences aren’t immediately obvious, but I think the point is less about the differences and more a question of whether we are selling our organisations short by holding on to an outdated definition of leadership, and letting this definition influence how we spend our L&D budgets? It would be naive of me to suggest that everyone in an organisation is capable of being appointed to a leadership role; this is not the case. It goes without saying that while the current definitions of leadership point to a series of behaviours and values, there is much more to being a leader. Perhaps what I am left asking is that while it is not possible for everyone in an organisation to attain a ‘leadership role’, would organisations be more successful if they expanded the definition of leadership to include self-leadership and considered offering leadership programs to, if not all then at least more, staff ? You will no doubt have heard it said that leaders are born, not made; and that might be
true. Some of you will know how you feel after spending time with someone you consider to be a leader. So, if you want to be a leader, start with yourself; look within. You don’t need a title or a certain role to be a leader. Leadership is a way of being, not something you do. It’s how you make people feel; it’s how you inspire others to achieve more than they thought possible. In closing, I recall the words of one of the world’s great leaders, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world”. I think the same applies to leadership: if you want to see leadership, you must be a leader so others may follow your example. Sarah Rodgers, principal at iolite consulting, is a passionate, empathic and authentic coach, trainer and facilitator with an extensive background in organisation capability development, cultural transformation and corporate leadership. Sarah works with clients to assist them in making fundamental positive changes in their personal and professional lives. Visit www.ioliteconsulting.com.au.
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THE LEADERSHIP ISSUE
DIGITAL LEADERSHIP
LEADERSHIP, DISRUPTED: LEADING IN THE DIGITAL AGE Penelope Cottrill, principal at Nous Group, outlines the key skills required of leaders to succeed in the digital era. How do you shape up?
“DIGITAL BUSINESS doesn’t just disrupt markets; it disrupts tried and true management behaviours as well.”1 As the world we live and work in becomes increasingly digital, business leaders are challenged to provide a new kind of leadership – leadership that taps into potential, to meet the challenges of an emergent, uncertain future. Yet when it comes to digital leadership, the facts tell a story of strong demand and constrained supply. While the majority of organisations agree that digital leadership is important, 65% have no significant program in place to drive digital leadership skills.2
Digital leadership is distinctive Nous defines digital leadership as the ability to engage people to achieve digital business success by creating the conditions that maximise purposeful innovation with pace and discipline.
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To meet this challenge, digital leaders: • seek out and entertain possibilities, creating ways for good ideas within the business to get airtime • look outwards across networks and adjacent businesses, as well as major technology trends, to scan for opportunities and possible threats Seizing the opportunities of the digital age and avoiding the extinction that comes with standing still demands a new type of leadership. This digital leadership challenges many traditional expressions of leadership, such as: • command and control leadership – that can separate decisions from their context and impact • layers of hierarchy – that slow decisions and blur roles • ‘gatekeepers’ to leadership – that can
keep out new ideas and challenge diverse thinking • extensive reporting – that consumes effort, reduces speed and filters out ideas and information
Meeting the digital leadership challenge Nous recently collaborated with a selection of digital leaders – CEOs, CIOs and digital executives – from some of Australia’s leading businesses to build a framework to help define the leadership that is needed in the digital age and how it can be cultivated: Bring the mindset
Do the work
Impact beats power
Connect with purpose and customer
Create transparency
Empower the team
Foster resilience
Cultivate discipline
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Bring the mindset How we think about things guides what we do and how we behave. It is important for digital leaders to think about their leadership in ways that produce the right behaviours and drive results. Some habits of mind that Nous has identified in effective digital leaders are: Impact beats power – Digital leaders are often motivated by meaning and impact rather than traditional power and authority. They will ask themselves, what growth and success have we delivered? What have we built that was not there earlier? What impact have we achieved that we could not have imagined before?
of digital business success. They demonstrate this through the things they do themselves each day – the things they talk about, spend time on and reward in others. Connect with purpose and customer – Great digital leaders are committed to understanding and communicating ‘why’ work is important and how it delivers on a broader purpose. They put customers, their experience, and their current and emerging needs at the centre of their focus and foster the same commitment in others. Empower the team – Digital businesses have an accent on speed, so digital leaders create a culture in which everyone is encouraged
Seizing the opportunities of the digital age and avoiding the extinction that comes with standing still demands a new type of leadership Penelope Cottrill, Nous Group Create transparency – Sharing information broadly enables faster decision-making at scale and better performance. Digital leaders believe in the transparency of business information, and of their own leadership. They are open about their personal limitations and encourage others to be self-aware and use this understanding to improve performance. Foster resilience – This is particularly important for digital leaders because in digital businesses pivots or failures often signal the end of someone’s passion project. Digital leaders must model discipline and encourage others to hold ideas loosely, respect the evidence, manage negative emotions, and find the energy and enthusiasm to move on.
Do the work Digital leaders do not watch from the sidelines. They are purposeful in modelling themselves and seeking in others certain key characteristics
to sense and exploit opportunities; to constantly find new ways to deliver better customer experiences. Ideas are not held back by burdensome layers of oversight, bureaucracy and control mechanisms. Cultivate discipline – Effective digital leaders understand that discipline is as important as creativity in making innovation work. They know how to focus their attention and balance business improvement with growth and innovation. They only pursue ideas that have tested positively and ensure the business learns from every experiment before moving on.
Cultivating digital leadership Organisations must consider how to cultivate digital leadership at scale. Growing and learning fast demands great leadership across more levels. This is because distributed leadership engages people and motivates them to do their best work. It creates an environment in which answers can be found by many rather than told by a few, and
WORDS INTO ACTION Here are some tangible actions to help you meet the digital leadership challenge: Start every communication with the purpose or vision, to provide the context people need to make sensible, quick decisions. Resist the temptation to punish failure, where it is the outcome of trying hard with good, well-informed intent. Bring in digital resources from outside to change the dynamic, disrupt the current system and accelerate adaptation. Create time for purposeful reflection to deliver ROI in innovation and experimentation. Sponsor hackathons to trigger productive conversations, build relationships and demonstrate the business’ willingness to invest in cohesion. it fosters daily experimentation and innovation closer to customers. But this positive effect also exacerbates the challenge, because it means digital leadership must be fostered across a broader and often large segment of the workforce, beyond the executive level that is the go-to layer for investment in development. At the same time, we are operating in a world where traditional training is timeconsuming, costly and less helpful to modern learners who are self-directed, digitally savvy and easily distracted. The ability to grow digital leadership at all levels and at scale can be a differentiator and an accelerator for businesses. Like the world of digital business, the path to great digital leadership is not a question of ‘best practice’ but requires fresh thinking, experimentation, and adaptation. Sources: Graham P. Waller, Gartner Global Human Capital Trends 2017;
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Global Human Capital Trends 2017.
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Nous is the largest Australia-founded management consulting firm, with over 250 staff across Australia and the UK. We partner with leaders to shape world-class businesses, effective government and empowered communities.
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FEATURES
CSR
BOOSTING VOLUNTEERISM SEEK has launched a new corporate volunteering portal which aims to connect employees to organisations that need the assistance of volunteers SEEK VOLUNTEER has created a new corporate volunteering portal, which has been designed to help employers give their workers an opportunity to make a positive impact in their communities. Kathleen McCudden, group HR director at SEEK, tells HRD that 16 years ago the company recognised that volunteering plays an important role in many people’s lives and career journeys. However, challenges existed in connecting people to volunteering
second half of this year. “Feedback from many organisations Australia-wide inspired SEEK Volunteer to create this new corporate volunteering portal,” McCudden says. “SEEK Volunteer discovered there was a growing need for a corporate portal that sourced relevant volunteering opportunities on behalf of organisations. “Across the country, many companies expressed their desire to offer volunteering
“SEEK Volunteer discovered there was a growing need for a corporate portal that sourced relevant volunteering opportunities on behalf of organisations” Kathleen McCudden organisations and opportunities to contribute to society. “At SEEK we utilised our capabilities to build Australia’s single largest source for volunteering opportunities, and we are excited to now extend that offering into businesses,” McCudden says. The new pilot volunteering portal, designed specifically for corporates, is currently being trialled by select businesses and will be rolled out more widely in the
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opportunities to help increase their staff satisfaction and engagement, but were struggling with the cost of resourcing and managing volunteer programs for their staff.” To help solve this problem, SEEK Volunteer created a corporate volunteering portal that can be embedded into existing corporate intranets, allowing employees to search for volunteer roles, just like they would on the SEEK Volunteer website. “It’s hoped SEEK Volunteer’s new
BENEFITS FOR ALL Research from Deloitte indicates that corporate volunteer programs may be able to help employees develop stronger professional and leadership skill sets and better prepare employees for leadership roles: • 92% of survey respondents agreed that volunteering improves employees’ broader professional skill sets • 92% of respondents agreed that volunteering is an effective way to improve leadership skills • 80% of respondents said that active volunteers move more easily into leadership roles Despite these results indicating that volunteerism is a valuable tool for developing talent, nearly half (47%) of respondents said their workplace did not offer a volunteer program. And 66% of respondents who reported that their employer did not have a workplace program said they would like their company to offer one. In addition, hiring managers look favourably on those who volunteer. • 82% of respondents said they were more likely to choose a candidate with volunteering experience • 85% of respondents were willing to overlook other résumé flaws when a candidate included volunteer work on a résumé • 85% of respondents believed that skills-based volunteering helps employees demonstrate accountability and commitment Source: Deloitte Impact Survey: Building Leadership Skills Through Volunteerism, 2016
corporate volunteering portal will provide a user-friendly, time-saving and streamlined solution for organisations to source an ongoing supply of appealing and relevant volunteering opportunities for their staff,” McCudden says. The corporate volunteering portal by SEEK Volunteer also features reporting tools for businesses, which is helpful in tracking employee engagement. For further information on the Corporate Volunteering Portal please call 03 8517 4553.
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SECTOR FOCUS: HR STRATEGY
THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM Companies are losing money by neglecting a task that is fundamental to almost every aspect of HR. Is it time to review how your organisation handles the creation of position descriptions?
WITH THE modern workplace in a state of constant disruption, there is an increased need for clear and concise HR policies and procedures. Employers need to ensure that all employees are aware of their roles and accompanying responsibilities in the workplace to facilitate a smooth-running and productive environment. A key but often overlooked part of this is ensuring that each employee has a clear position description (PD) with their tasks
• poor engagement • ineffective teamwork • the inability of managers to set clear performance expectations “In a nutshell, poorly written PDs don’t deliver what the business needs. They make managers’ jobs harder,” says John Egan, founder of Workforce & Governance and Egan Associates. With so many organisations professing that their people are their greatest asset, Egan says
“HR practitioners should consult with line managers to create templates and a framework that will help them design roles comprehensively” John Egan, Workforce & Governance clearly communicated to them from the commencement of their employment. Yet while companies are adept at building business cases for other areas of operation, the PD is often thought about – and documented – in a much less rigorous way. The resulting poor-quality PDs can lead to problems right through the employee life cycle, leading to: • jobs being incorrectly graded • poor hiring choices being made
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it is inconceivable to see so little care go into role design. He adds that this can also be put down to the way organisations view writing PDs as an administrative task, as opposed to a business case for a significant spend. Clearly, it’s time for a rethink.
What goes wrong? Paul Adams, senior associate at Workforce & Governance, says employers typically go
wrong in three key areas when it comes to job descriptions: Overemphasising things other than what the role is hired to do, such as with pages of detail about the organisation, its values, mission and expected behaviours. This is just a lazy way of delivering information and makes the PD seem to have more substance than it does. While important, these statements don’t belong in a PD and should be kept separate.
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Providing no guidance or structure in the PD template. Often PD templates have little more than a blank space for accountabilities to be entered. Compare that to the thick templates required for a business case – yet it’s the same thing! The PD is the business case to spend money on hiring someone that may be there for years. PD templates should provide a detailed framework that assists line managers in entering comprehensive information, ensuring a complete and useful document.
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Deciding that less is more. It isn’t – it is less. Scanty PDs lead to surprises (usually unwelcome), and a lack of clarity and engagement with the role. Indeed, if not ‘nipped in the bud’ there’s a danger of poorly written PDs being copied from the same template (or being generated fresh each time) and then spreading across the organisation. Adams sees this “all the time” and suggests that often the first thought a manager has when they need to write a PD is ‘where can I find a PD that I can copy?’ “Copying a poor PD virally reproduces it, with repeated copying spreading the damage through the organisation, infecting more and more roles and their incumbents,” Adams says. Another misconception is that the PD is only useful during the recruiting and onboarding stage of an employee’s life cycle with a company. In fact, for most roles a PD should be an ongoing statement of how the role contributes
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HOW SHOULD HR BE INVOLVED? to the organisation at a fundamental level. “It should outline expectations across the spectrum, including leadership, planning, financial, governance, customer and other stakeholder relationships,” says Adams. “It can provide useful links to strategy and major programs, such as how the role will contribute to transformation, including cultural change.” Together with performance plans, it can also provide ongoing clarity of purpose between managers and employees, as well as a reference for performance reviews. “The ripple effect of a well-written PD can be felt throughout the entire employee life cycle, from recruitment, engagement, and employee development to better relationships, teamwork and effectiveness in the role,” says Adams.
Steps to improvement What steps can be taken to ensure PDs are created in a more effective manner? Firstly,
Paul Adams suggests the role of HR should be to: • provide a framework that will help managers to write PDs • assist and provide advice on PD creation • determine and advise if the work can be done other than by hiring a permanent employee (or if it is duplication of work being done in another part of the organisation) • act as a quality-control check. “HR may work closely with the manager, but the manager is accountable,” Adams says.
Egan suggests that organisations must stop viewing PD writing as an administrative task that line managers simply outsource. “Pitch it as a business case to justify the creation of a role that will entail significant expenditure,” he says. “That should ensure it is treated more seriously.” Managers also need to be made aware of the benefits they will see from an effective job design process. “Help them understand how it will make their roles easier by improving hiring decisions, clarifying relationships and expectations, enabling clearer development paths and authorities, reducing role overlap, ensuring accurate grading of roles and boosting
staff effectiveness and engagement,” Egan says. Another tip is to describe how the role contributes to team, division or corporate strategy – this is fundamental for staff engagement. “HR practitioners should consult with line managers to create templates and a framework that will help them design roles comprehensively,” Egan says. “HR can also advise on ways to make the role clearer and easier to evaluate or grade.” As for who should be involved in the process, Adams suggests line managers should have prime accountability for the creation of PDs, with input from HR (see boxout above).
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SECTOR FOCUS: HR STRATEGY Brought to you by
THE FALLOUT Paul Adams outlines three key areas in which poor PDs lead to problems: Hiring. “If the accountabilities for a role are not clearly understood by the company, how can the best person for the role be appointed? When creating a new position, how can the company be certain a new hire is even necessary if the details of what is expected of a role are not clear? A new hire might find their role overlaps with or duplicates others, or worse, fails to contribute effectively to the organisation’s goals.”
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Work value. “Poorly written PDs may misrepresent the level of work experience or professional expertise required, leading to off-target evaluations and the wrong pay grade being set. This results in inappropriate pay decisions, disengagement or ‘golden handcuffs’, depending on whether the role is graded high or low.”
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Performance. “Position descriptions provide the basis for performance expectations in line with the organisation’s strategy. Managers will find it difficult to set expectations, or objectively assess whether the employee is performing well if referencing vague role requirements.”
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WORKFORCE & GOVERNANCE Workforce & Governance provides cloud software that automates position description documentation, job evaluation and pay analysis, drawing on 14,000 accountability statements across 25 job families. It saves HR time and enables consistent and reliable outcomes. For more information, contact us on 02 9225 3225, or at workforce@ewag.com.au or www. workforceandgovernance.com.
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“Line managers are accountable for the performance of their teams in delivering against corporate strategy and annual plans. They are the most knowledgeable about the strategy as it relates to their teams and what their teams’ capability gaps are that may need filling through additional roles – it just makes sense that they should write the PDs,” he says. He urges employers to again think of the process in terms of a business case. “Advice would be available for managers to help write the business case to contract out work, but it would be a rare organisation indeed where a business case would be delegated to HR.”
Not locked in stone Importantly, given the constant state of flux most businesses operate in today, the PD
updates are available to the organisation instantly,” Adams says. Standard forms can be created for new PDs that will avoid the smorgasbord of formats present in many organisations and ensure key sections of the PD are not neglected. Yet flexibility hasn’t been lost, as customisation of these forms to accommodate company or role-specific sections is only a click away. When teams have a large number of PDs to write, PDs can be automatically generated using templates that can then be customised for specific roles. Preview functions allow teams to see at a glance how PDs are progressing. Finished PDs can be exported in professional formats – no time-consuming fiddling with Word. When updates are made, responsive formats change to fit.
“The right software can make child’s play of creating organisational charts” Paul Adams, Workforce & Governance should be fluid and evolve as the job changes. This will ensure that it always reflects what is needed from the role at a practical level, and allow it to keep pace with changes to organisational, divisional or team strategy. “Holding the document in an online database can facilitate ease of review and change as required,” Adams suggests. Indeed, technology can be a boon to job design. Databases allow easy access to data, including standard PD templates that enable roles to be clear and consistent inside and outside the organisation, saving time and improving quality. “These templates become a reference library for writing new PDs from scratch. As the company completes new PDs they are added to this library, increasing its power. And instead of wasting time trawling through cluttered file systems to find relevant PDs, the database of PDs can be searched in an instant. When changes are made, the
As position descriptions are added, they can automatically populate organisation charts, which can be viewed in their entirety or in sections such as job families, divisions or business units. Exporting charts for use in reports or documentation becomes as easy as clicking a button. “The right software can make child’s play of creating organisational charts. And with cloud technology you can access a database of corporate and template PDs on any device at any time,” Adams says.
A worthy investment The PD can be an effective way for your employees to clearly understand their roles and accountabilities. They can also provide them with a clear indication of your expectations and give them the confidence they need to do their job well – most would agree that’s a payoff worthy of investing some time and energy in upfront.
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FEATURES
SECTOR FOCUS: L&D
SKILLING UP FOR THE FUTURE
Looking for a career boost? Perhaps you’ve got some skills gaps that need plugging? A newto-market postgraduate study option might be the perfect solution
THINKING OF a return to study? You’re not alone – the postgraduate market in Australia is in robust shape. Many professionals are turning to further study to bolster their existing skill sets or develop new skill sets to stay on top in a rapidly changing corporate world. According to the most recent data from the Department of Education and Training, in 2015 those undertaking postgraduate study made up 27% (1,410,133
different level of qualification in future. While to qualify for this study option students must hold an undergraduate degree, which is verified by OUA when they apply, they are then free to enrol in as many units as they like, selected from six of Australia’s leading universities: Curtin University, Griffith University, Macquarie University, RMIT University, Swinburne University and Uni SA.
“Postgraduate Single Units may be the entry point that provides the confidence for them to start a degree” Rhys James students) of the Australian higher education market, a 2.9% rise over 2014. Key areas of study were business, teacher education, law, and nursing and health. To cater to students who are keen to learn but time-poor, education providers have moved with the times. One example is the recently launched Postgraduate Single Units by Open Universities Australia (OUA). These are stand-alone units that sit within a range of different programs, giving learners the flexibility to further their study towards a
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OUA’s 115 Postgraduate Single Units are available in the following areas: environment and sustainability; history and geography; media and communications; society health and community; business and management, eco and finance; employee relations; logistics; education; health; law and justice; science and engineering, architecture and construction. Examples of the types of units available include Human Resource Management, Project Risk Management, Leadership and Management, Strategy, Human Geography,
Real Life Writing and Criminological Theories – however, the list is constantly being added to. It should be noted that these are full units; that is, they are structured learning units that have not been modified from degree programs. Indeed, these units are often part of accredited programs; for example, Design Thinking for Business is a unit offered by RMIT University as part of the Executive MBA. This program was awarded a fivestar rating by the Graduate Management Association of Australia for its MBA (Executive), and has just been awarded the European Foundation for Management Development accreditation. (HRD looked at the emerging importance of design thinking in HR in Issue 15.03.) As always, flexibility is the key. Complementing OUA’s existing offering in undergraduate units, these postgraduate units can be taken as true stand-alone units. A huge benefit of the unit-by-unit approach is that their completion provides the opportunity for credit transfer to other qualifications – a graduate certificate, for example.
The need for continuous learning Rhys James, corporate sales manager at OUA, believes Postgraduate Single Units will appeal to three core groups of people: Those who want to update their skills because they have not studied for a while and want to remain up to date, or those with a skill gap who wish to complement their existing skills. Key points to note: • Units will suit people looking for continued professional development. • 1 x unit = 120 hours, which may suit Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements. • Unit costs may fit within corporate training budgets.
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WIN-WIN FOR LEARNERS AND EMPLOYERS Rhys James suggests continuous learning – like that offered via Postgraduate Single Units – has benefits for individuals as well as the organisations that offer staff benefits such as funding for further education:
People who want to study but for whom the thought of a full degree is overwhelming due to other commitments in their life such as work, family, etc. “Postgraduate Single Units may be the entry point that provides the confidence for them to start a degree,” James says. “The ability to apply for Recognition of Prior Learning may help them to continue to a full degree in future.”
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Benefits for individuals Postgraduate Single Units offer the ability to select units that are relevant to what the individual wishes to learn rather than the formal structure associated with a full degree.
Postgraduate Single Units are an easy way to build capability and expertise quickly and develop relevant skills for leaders of tomorrow.
Postgraduate Single Units are an appealing entry into further learning, rather than committing to a full degree.
Postgraduate Single Units offer costefficiencies through the ability to spread training budgets further. For example, why waste money sending people to a conference when, in many cases for the same cost, staff can develop real skills applicable to their roles?
Those who are studying for personal interest with no career outcome in mind.
There’s also a more subtle but equally compelling reason why further study might be attractive: growing anxiety that robots and machines are taking over the jobs once done by humans. “McKinsey & Company* estimates that current technology could replace 45% of work that people do,” James says. According to McKinsey, certain roles and
Benefits for organisations
professions are more vulnerable than others. Accommodation and food service businesses are ripe for automation, with machines able to perform about 75% of the work in those fields. On the other side of the coin, humans are more likely to hold sway in technology, government and education jobs because people beat machines when tasks are less predictable and repetitive.
Despite these disturbing numbers, James says it’s unlikely that robots will push humans aside completely – it’s more likely that machines and humans will work side by side, each doing slightly different but inter-related tasks. An equivalent today might be human interaction with Siri, Apple’s personal assistant. It’s also likely that humans will always prefer humans in
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BEFORE YOU COMMIT… Undertaking further study is a huge undertaking. Rhys James suggests these tips prior to taking the plunge: Be prepared! This is advanced study so think about the commitment that you are making and assess whether you have the time to dedicate to it at this stage of your life. If you’re new to study, OUA offers a unit called ‘Start For Success’. This is a free short course available to anyone but especially useful for those preparing to study.
certain roles – such as nursing, for example. However, regardless of the profession, James suggests everyone needs to be aware of the latest developments in their field. “Postgraduate Single Units are an excellent way to address skill gaps and stay ahead without the need to commit to a full degree,” James says. All students, regardless of their professional background, should consider several key issues before taking the step. Firstly, James suggests finding an institution that provides high-quality learning environments that are flexible and suited to the needs of students. For example, OUA has multiple study periods allowing students the flexibility to study when it suits them, rather than traditional semesters often associated
• A dedicated space to study. Make a clutter-free, comfortable space with adequate light. Make this space your learning space and nothing else. • A great support network. On the third point, James adds: “When you study with OUA, you’re online but never alone. OUA has student coaches who can help you to better manage your time and your study load. There is also a free student counselling service for students who need more support.” Students might also want to: • Become familiar with course materials. Familiarise yourself with programs used for the course and purchase books listed in your first reading lists. • Set a study schedule and stick to it. This
OUA’s top study tips: Find small pockets of time spread throughout the day for opportunistic revising, reading or listening. Don’t try to eat an elephant in one sitting – plan your work and be consistent. Do something that will interest you and keep you motivated.
OPEN UNIVERSITIES AUSTRALIA For over 20 years OUA has helped more than 300,000 students to achieve their study goals and attain a higher education degree. OUA is the national leader in online higher education, offering students the ability to choose from over 150 degrees across a variety of disciplines from 10 leading Australian universities. Visit www.open.edu.au.
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In 2015 those undertaking postgraduate study made up 27% of the Australian higher education market, a 2.9% rise over 2014 with studying on campus. In addition, students should consider universities with well-established links to the corporate world. “OUA partners are researching cutting-edge topics relevant to the workplace, and continually adapting and updating units and programs frequently to ensure programs remain up to date,” James says.
Distance education Juggling study and other life commitments, including work, can be a major stumbling block for many learners. The good news is that students don’t need much to make online learning work for them – just a few basics are required: • A computer and internet connection.
will help you keep up with the pace, meet deadlines, and ultimately succeed. • 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. • 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. • Reward yourself. Always having something to look forward to will most likely help you to stay dedicated.
*Source: McKinsey Quarterly: ‘Where machines could replace humans – and where they can’t (yet)’, by Michael Chui, James Manyika and Mehdi Miremadi
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FEATURES
SECTOR FOCUS: PERFORMANCE REVIEWS
OUT WITH THE OLD…
As performance management practices undergo transformation, HRD looks at the key trends shaping this critical aspect of people management
AS THE end of the financial year approaches, it’s likely your HR team will be heavily involved in the performance appraisal process – especially if appraisals are still completed as part of the annual review process. In this traditional approach, staff are stacked and ranked through crossteam calibration – the overarching goal being to determine annual remuneration decisions and identify opportunities for cost
essential to continuously invest time in their people and regularly reflect upon, evaluate and measure performance at all levels against specific criteria,” he says. “This includes ongoing meetings with individuals and teams, allowing them to be provided with timely feedback, making sure they are rewarded for performance, and helping them through any performance challenges.” He adds that giving employees ongoing
“Instead of asking staff to rate themselves as ‘poor’ in an area, change the wording so that it allows people to rate themselves as ‘I need help’ ” Rob Bromage, intelliHR reduction through restructure. However, times have changed. Significant global companies like Deloitte, Accenture and SAP have overhauled their approaches to performance and questioned traditional methods because of the behaviours they drive and how they define organisational culture. It’s something Rob Bromage, CEO of intelliHR, has witnessed first-hand with clients. “Our clients are now realising that it’s
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support to grow and learn is absolutely critical. All meetings (and observations) about performance need to be well documented and meaningful data provided to business leaders in real time so they can be used as indicators of business performance. “People should never go into performance reviews and feel elements of surprise,” says Bromage. “If performance feedback has been ongoing and provided as it happens, people
will understand what their strengths are and what areas they need help with. As such, they should be able to participate in a performance review which is more a two-way discussion around how they can improve.”
Repositioning ratings systems A common theme linking the overhaul of performance appraisals in many of the aforementioned companies is a rethinking of performance ratings. Bromage says the issue with a rating system is that it puts a negative spin on employee appraisal; employees are nervous, and if it is only happening once a year they don’t know what to expect. This can lead to a poor employee experience in the lead-up to and also after a review, which will negatively impact on performance and reflect poorly on the business itself. Rating systems say a lot about the culture of a business. For example, Company A uses traditional ratings like ‘exceeding expectations’ and ‘unsatisfactory’ or ‘below expectations’, whereas Company B uses language such as ‘awesome’ for great performance and ‘needs help’ for low performance. If you give a staff member a choice, most would prefer to be working at Company B. Rating systems like Company B’s encourage openness and honesty when people need help, while also helping managers to understand their role in supporting the staff member in reaching their potential. “So instead of asking staff to rate themselves as ‘poor’ in an area, change the wording so that it allows people to rate themselves as ‘I need help’,” says Bromage. “The key to empowering an employee is to be clear around expectations and give them room to grow, whilst maintaining guidance through continuous feedback and positive reinforcement. A rating system should be crafted to be used positively, building trust to help the staff member on their journey from unconscious incompetence to conscious
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THE PERILS OF PERFORMANCE RATINGS competence,” he says. “Every staff member will have their own strengths and areas for development. A good leader backed by a supportive company will know how to bring out the best in its people.” What can be misleading is when leading companies claim they have ‘scrapped’ performance ratings. This is rarely entirely true. While there are companies moving away from the rating system, which can be beneficial as it urges leaders to invest more time in their people, there is still a need for ratings as an effective tool for providing quantifiable data and a guide for feedback. When effectively used, ratings can help an employee and manager identify what needs to be focused on to help an employee reach potential, but also where a superstar can be recognised and better leveraged for organisational economic value.
Researchers from Kansas State University, Eastern Kentucky University and Texas A&M University found that even people who are motivated by a genuine desire to learn respond negatively towards less-than-perfect performance reviews. “We thought, if anything, they’d be able to take it and apply it to their own jobs,” says management professor Satoris Culbertson. “But they simply don’t like negative feedback either.” Culbertson and her team concluded that much of the time and energy spent on the performance review process is often wasted, as employees tend to forget the helpful elements of a discussion as soon as they hear criticism. “For a really strong performer, getting a four on a five-point rating scale can be devastatingly bad,” Culbertson says.
Trends to note Two other key trends in this space are selfempowerment and autonomy for employees; and continuous and transparent feedback for all involved parties. While self-empowerment and selfservice has been a theme in everything from employees taking ownership of their professional development to how they reward and recognise others, the same concept
should also be applied to performance management, suggests Bromage, who says just about every employee comes to work to achieve something for the good of the company. Whether it be at an operational or strategic level, everyone wants to contribute in some way to have purpose – it’s a key motivational driver. Employees will generally be happier when they have control over their work. When you
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s of CEO succession
FEATURES
SECTOR FOCUS: PERFORMANCE REVIEWS Brought to you by
NOT SO FAST… Analysis by CEB shows that eliminating ratings may lead to three unintended outcomes: • An average of 10 fewer hours spent by managers on performance-related conversations, despite having more time available to them. Managers do not shift that extra time towards ongoing, informal performance conversations. • An 8% decline in top performers’ satisfaction with pay differentiation because managers have trouble explaining how pay decisions are made and linked to individual contributions. • A 6% drop in employee engagement because managers are unable to set expectations for their employees, hold clear performance and development conversations, and provide appropriate rewards and recognition. To guard against this, CEB recommends providing ongoing, not episodic, performance feedback; making performance reviews forward-looking, not backwardlooking; and including feedback from peers, not just managers.
INTELLIHR Rob Bromage is an HR technology specialist with more than 20 years’ experience. He is the managing director of intelliHR, a cloud-based people management platform that allows organisations to maintain a real-time handle on performance, creating a culture that contributes to strategic decision-making with data-driven insights.
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give good people more responsibility, they tend to flourish. Being in charge enables people to regularly evaluate and measure their own performance, which in turn will encourage meaningful and constructive discussions with business leaders. When it comes to more regular feedback, it’s standard for most people leaders to check in with their staff daily, ask how they are going and give some direction and feedback. When extended into a regular one-on-one catch-up, Bromage says this activity can be leveraged to support better conversations between staff and their leaders. “Quality conversations and interactions
performance, which may be suffering because the business has been recruiting the wrong people and training is insufficient to bridge the skills gap. Upstream, this negatively impacts job satisfaction and engagement in the team, leading to increased sick leave and high levels of attrition. Unplanned leave and attrition directly lower the capacity of the organisation to produce, service or sell, and are costly. “Without deep HR insight, the business cannot fully understand the right action to take, potentially missing a great competitive opportunity through maximising performance,” Bromage says.
“It’s time to look at performance through the eyes of the staff member” Rob Bromage, intelliHR increase engagement and communication,” he says. “When notes are recorded, the data captured is likely to be related to support needs, development needs, coaching, job satisfaction, performance expectations, achievements and recognition. This information can provide powerful insights into performance, inform learning and development initiatives, or even be used to simplify formal reviews by tracking performance conversations over time.”
HR data and performance The performance review process can provide a rich pool of data from which HR can make more informed decisions. Indeed, as performance appraisals are a key source of employee data, and many business performance issues can be distilled down to people-related problems, effectively analysing trends in data becomes even more important. Bromage cites the example of sales
The role of technology Technology has been the enabler of most of the key trends outlined above. Technology has changed the way we live and interact with one another, and as part of that businesses must move faster to keep up. Bromage says businesses must apply creative thinking to what workforces will look like in the future – and technology can play a critical role in maximising the performance of those workforces. “When we first started developing the intelliHR platform, we were setting out to develop what we thought was largely an HR system. We realised as part of our journey that it was actually all about people management,” he says. “As part of this learning we came to see that tools shouldn’t just be about the business and meeting objectives but about the people as knowledge workers, their empowerment, and improving the holistic employee experience.”
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PEOPLE
CAREER PATH
DRIVER OF CHANGE
With an appetite for transformation and an international perspective, Ilja Rijnen has long been an agent of change
During a year spent travelling through Australia, New Zealand and Asia, Ilja Rijnen’s first day of a job as a kitchen hand provided him with a future direction when a manager scolded him so severely as a motivation tactic that he quit. In a roundabout way this incident prompted Rijnen to study psychology at Amsterdam University. “I’m always very curious about how people are motivated. I was triggered [by that incident] in thinking, ‘What drives people in their ways of motivating others?’”
2005
STARTS CAREER WITH IKEA In Rijnen’s first professional position he was responsible for learning and development for IKEA’s operations in the UK and parts of Western Europe. He joined the company just after its reorganisation. “They took a risk; they hired me in a mid-senior role. I had the background but not the experience. I learn best by doing, and I deliver what I promise.”
FINDS A DIRECTION
1998
STUDIES PSYCHOLOGY Back in his native Netherlands, Rijnen’s degree studies were slowed down by the need to care for his mother. After she passed away, he was granted a government scholarship to finish his master’s in psychology. The extra time and money allowed him to do additional internships in his field of choice and indirectly led to his first professional position. “It gave me quite a bit of experience that brought me to my first real job outside of university.”
2008
MOVES TO DIAGEO
2009
TAKES FIRST HR POSITION Not finding his purpose on the supply chain management side, Rijnen was encouraged to apply for a broad HR role during one of the company’s reorganisations, and despite his reservations he joined HR. “They gave me an option to go into HR, and I didn’t want to; I thought HR was dull – I like the learning side, the transformation side and how HR can be used as a driver of business performance. I thought HR needed a shake-up; and they agreed.”
2015
JOINS EDRINGTON
Having relocated to Singapore with Diageo, Rijnen was approached by Edrington, where he eventually took the role of regional HR director Asia-Pacific and India. Key to Rijnen’s decision to join Edrington was the fact that the luxury alcohol maker – which was in the process of integrating its Asia-Pacific business – was owned by a charitable trust. “I’m proud that last year we gave £18.5m worldwide. The company has transformed in the last two years. They hired me to lead the Asia HR change agenda.”
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1996
Having hit a ceiling at IKEA, Rijnen was approached by drinks brand Diageo, which offered a change of gears with a global supply chain capability management position. The company was in the midst of a recasting of emphasis to become more customer-centric. This coincided with the GFC, which itself necessitated a change in model. “It was exciting times, amidst a lot of change.”
2012
SNAGS ROLES IN JAMAICA AND MIAMI The year-long program Rijnen ran to help leaders identify their purpose was integral to attaining his first position outside Europe, when he was asked by a past trainee to join Red Stripe in Jamaica. At the same time he was offered the regional project for Diageo Latin America and the Caribbean, led from Miami.
“In the end I did both [roles]. I wanted to work and live abroad”
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PEOPLE
OTHER LIFE
BY ANY STRETCH When Fleur Carter isn’t working as an HR project leader, you’ll find her at full stretch
TELL US ABOUT YOUR OTHER LIFE Email hrdeditor@keymedia.com
FLEUR CARTER traces her passion for yoga back almost a decade to the job that took her to a new city and the opportunity this presented to try new things. The job was a stressful one, and yoga turned out to be an oasis of stress relief and calm – so much so that Carter pursued training to become a yoga teacher a year after trying her first class. Carter’s love for yoga took her to India more than once. The second visit resulted in a lengthy stay, when she took up the study of Tibetan Buddhism
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Number of countries in which Carter has practised or taught
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– which she found to be “spiritually aligned” with yoga – and the language, and also met her husband, himself a Tibetan Buddhist. “You could say yoga led me to my husband,” Carter laughs. Even back in Sydney, these days on staff at IKEA, she maintains a daily routine and regards it as key to her development. “My practice has given me a lot personally: stress management and resilience. It’s very much about finding peace in every moment and being more connected to others.”
2,000
Estimated number of hours spent in practice
6
Number of yoga mats Carter owns
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