SPECIAL REPORT
INNOVATIVE HR TEAMS 2021
INNOVATIVE HR TEAMS Australia 2021
Celebrating the best and brightest HR teams across the country
SPECIAL REPORT
BUSINESS STRATEGY
INNOVATIVE HR TEAMS
HRD SHOWCASES THE INDUSTRY’S MOST FORWARD-THINKING TEAMS AS THE HR SECTOR continues to evolve and adapt to ongoing changes, we’ll look back on 2020 as the year of innovation. From leading the crisis response during the early stages of COVID-19 to navigating what exactly the new normal will look like, HR professionals have been in the thick of it. “The whole world changed,” said Brooke Adams, head of HR at Slalom Australia and one of HRD’s Innovative HR Teams winners. “Our mental, physical, emotional health was all put to the test, and as employers we had a responsibility to help our people adjust and navigate this new, uncertain environment.” As the biggest experiment on working from home began, HR professionals had the
unique task of keeping the ship afloat without knowing when – or if – the workplace would ever return to normal. By May, almost half of the country’s workforce (46%) was at home, according to the ABS. While some employers already had flexible working arrangements in place, most weren’t prepared for the scale that was required, and the speed of change marked the biggest workplace disruption in recent history. Looking back, what followed was a test of experimentation and resilience. But amid crisis comes opportunity, and this year’s Innovative HR Teams winners are a true testament to what can be achieved when the going gets tough.
WINNERS BY STATE
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ACT
1
International
1
NSW
20
QLD
1
VIC
5
WA
2
“The whole world changed. Our mental, physical, emotional health was all put to the test” Brooke Adams, head of HR, Slalom Australia A time of transformation Pre-pandemic, the HR industry was already undergoing dramatic transformation. Rapid speed of digitalisation and advancements in HR tech had allowed leaders to strip back many of the time-consuming manual processes, focusing instead on policy and change management. According to Gartner research, the top three HR priorities going into 2020 were to build critical skills and competencies for the organisation, strengthen the current and future leadership bench, and implement organisational design and change management. Businesses were also harnessing the power of data collection to gain a better understanding of their people and drive change from within. On the policy front, initiatives in the diversity and inclusion space were becoming bolder. HR leaders recognised that Australia still had a long way to go to achieve pay
INNOVATIVE HR TEAMS 2021
equity, and that only sustained, ambitious goals would drive change. The #MeToo movement had opened the conversation around harassment in the workplace, and there were calls for greater representation and access for the country’s First Nations people. The mindset around diversity and inclusion had also seen a shift within the C-suite, with more companies committing publicly to long-term goals in order to address workplace inequalities. But as the pandemic hit, priorities shifted. Maintaining engagement from afar, supporting employee wellbeing and responding to the changing markets all became critically important. If HR was in a transformation
people-centric policies as office and home life began to blur. The strain of working from home in an often less than ideal set-up, coupled with tough economic conditions and uncertainty, led to high rates of burnout and change fatigue. Research by Asana, which surveyed 13,000 workers around the globe, found that 77% of workers in Australia experienced burnout in 2020. Australia had one of the highest rates of burnout globally, with the average amount of annual overtime among office workers reaching 436 hours – almost double what it was in 2019. As a result, health and wellbeing became critical, opening the conversation around mental health and creating a golden
“Without substance behind the technology, be that good policy, good change management ... technology by itself is useless” Michael Morris, talent director, Employsure phase before, now it was on fast-forward. Leaders in the industry had long known the power of bold, forward-thinking HR to futureproof their organisations, and the response to the pandemic required exactly that.
Putting people first The submissions for this year’s Innovative HR Teams list revealed a real focus on
opportunity to develop a workplace that truly supports its employees. Where wellbeing initiatives may have once been considered a perk, now they have become essential. “One of our massive focuses was taking a really holistic approach to wellness and appreciating that wellness can mean different things to different people,” Adams said. “I think around the world wellbeing
METHODOLOGY HR teams with operations in Australia and at the forefront of change and innovation were invited to submit nominations, specifically highlighting their initiatives and achievements throughout 2020. Key areas addressed included innovation in talent management; diversity and inclusion; recruitment; reward and recognition; culture; and HR technology. Additionally, all applicants must: • have had business operations in Australia in the past 12 months • have demonstrated how their team advanced HR’s reputation in their company All submissions were evaluated and selected by an internal editorial and research panel. is going in that direction, and what used to work with a standard one-size-fits-all package of benefits has really changed.” The thinking around health and wellbeing showed true innovation as HR leaders sought to carve out the connection and belonging taken for granted in a physical office. This was particularly critical for new recruits. The sudden shift to remote working encouraged HR leaders to re-examine their onboarding process, creating opportunities for connection, building engagement, and
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SPECIAL REPORT
BUSINESS STRATEGY
INNOVATIVE HR TEAMS
WINNERS BY INDUSTRY BANKING 1
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & SERVICES
CIVIL ENGINEERING 1
LAW PRACTICE 1
CONSTRUCTION & ENGINEERING 2
MANAGEMENT CONSULTING 2
FINANCIAL SERVICES 2
MARKETING & ADVERTISING 1
GAMBLING & CASINOS 1
MINING & METALS 1
GOVERNMENT 3
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES 1
HEALTH, WELLNESS & FITNESS 2
REAL ESTATE 1
HOSPITALITY 1
RETAIL 2
HUMAN RESOURCES 3
VETERINARY 1
supporting mental wellbeing from the very first day.
Enabling innovation through technology In 2020, technology played a key role in delivering resources online through meditation apps, podcasts, webinars and an array of virtual fitness opportunities. Embracing virtual technologies and automation marked another standout area of innovation among this year’s winners. As HR teams were asked to achieve more with minimal time, the automation of time-consuming manual processes involved
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HR Teams winners, said that while new tech had played an enabling role over the last 12 months, the real innovation had come from the thinking behind it. “Without substance behind the technology, be that good policy, good change management or good reinforcement of why you’re using it, technology by itself is useless,” he said. “You need to understand your HR function and where the pain points are, where the really big opportunities are to either implement cost savings or make processes significantly more efficient.” He believes HR technology will continue to evolve and become more efficient, especially in the virtual and remote working space. “As the world moves more towards hybrid arrangements, there’s going to be more technology that will help you interact and engage with remote teams, because engagement will continue to be vital,” he said. “There’s never going to be a time when the engagement of your workforce isn’t important in the eyes of HR professionals.”
Finding the right flex
in recruitment, onboarding and payroll was essential. The crisis required bold thinking and leaps of faith, but it opened up opportunities for rapid transformation. According to KPMG’s recent HR New Reality survey, 89% of respondents agreed that HR teams had played a leading role in their organisations’ response to the impacts of COVID-19. By shifting to virtual alternatives and embracing technologies like AI, COVID forced business leaders to grapple with new ways of working that they may not have envisioned for another five years. Michael Morris, talent director at Employsure, and another of HRD’s Innovative
As business leaders map out their new ways of working, engagement, flexibility and culture are all going to be key, because while flexible work arrangements were a necessity in 2020, now the focus is on getting them right in the long term. KPMG’s research highlighted working arrangements as a top priority for the HR industry in 2021, both in terms of enabling leaders to manage remote workers and redefining workplace culture to embrace virtual working. Flexibility, in various forms, was a key theme running throughout the submissions, which showed businesses taking innovative approaches to enabling employees to do their best work. As the industry awaits whatever challenges 2021 has in store, it’s clear the world of work has changed forever. But having pulled up a seat at the table, HR leaders are well positioned to play a key role in designing the future of their organisations.
INNOVATIVE HR TEAMS 2021
INNOVATIVE HR TEAMS 2021 Racing and Wagering WA (RWWA) Telephone: +61 8 9445 5521 Email: matthew.thomas@rwwa.com.au Website: www.rwwa.com.au
deliberatepractice INNOVATIVE and Japara HR TEAMS Telephone: +61 3 9008 5840 2021 Email: info@deliberatepractice.com.au
Website: www.deliberatepractice.com.au
Accor
Maddocks
Aurecon
Nous Group
Australian Bureau of Statistics
NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet
BNP Paribas
ORIX Australia Corporation Ltd
BPAY Group
PHD Australia
Deloitte Australia
Property Exchange Australia (PEXA)
Employsure
Quinton Anthony Pty Ltd
Export Finance Australia
RetireAustralia
Fitness Playground
Reward Gateway Ltd
Harris Farm Markets
Slalom Australia
ICD Property
VetPartners
Insentra
Winning Group
Insight Enterprises
WSP Australia Pty Ltd
IPC Health
Yancoal Australia Ltd
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SPECIAL REPORT
BUSINESS STRATEGY
INNOVATIVE HR TEAMS RACING AND WAGERING WA www.rwwa.com.au
T
he last 12 months have been a roller-coaster ride for the HR team at Racing and Wagering WA (RWWA). Before the pandemic arrived, they were tasked with maintaining employee engagement during a proposed privatisation of the company’s wagering arm. But once borders closed and uncertainty took over, the business faced its most difficult period yet. The team of 11 HR professionals at RWWA recognised that improving agility and streamlining processes were going to be critical in tackling the new challenges brought on by the pandemic. In a competitive jobs market made even more so by border closures, finding and retaining talent was a top priority. One way the team responded to this challenge was by embracing the use of AI interview responses in the recruitment process, which allowed them to assess the cultural fit of applicants and boost the candidate satisfaction rate to 95%. Matthew Thomas, RWWA’s general manager of people and culture, said 2020 had been a year of immense learning and innovation, shifting people’s mindset around the use of different technologies. “I didn’t think we’d be exploring AI for another four or five years,” he said. “But it was a reminder that pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone is how you truly learn, both in terms of your own abilities and how you interact as a team. Sometimes we limit ourselves and our thinking around what we’re capable of, but over the last 12 months the HR team have really proven our ability to transi-
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tion and mobilise to meet the needs of the business.” Tech-driven solutions allowed them to reduce manual recruitment processes by six hours a week and develop a more engaging, successful onboarding process. By streamlining these key HR functions, the team shifted its focus to supporting RWWA’s people. Regular employee checkins provided a people-centric approach
to wellbeing – something that has always been at the heart of the company’s HR strategy. “For us, technology has been an enabler, but the human element and everything we do from a people perspective will always be at the forefront,” Thomas said. These are just a few of RWWA’s industryleading initiatives that have earned the HR team well-deserved recognition.
INNOVATIVE HR TEAMS 2021
deliberatepractice www.deliberatepractice.com.au
2020 WINNERS Alfred Health ANZ Wealth Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA) Black Dog Institute C.H. Robinson Worldwide (AU) Pty Ltd Carlton United Breweries Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Employsure Georges River Council GHD
S
ourcing candidates to work in the aged care sector is challenging even in normal times, but due to the pandemic, the alreadyconstrained workforces are further pressured by the practices and processes aged care operators have implemented to protect their residents, as well as the requirement for staff to only work at one home. To address the risk of staff shortages, Japara’s HR team and deliberatepractice, a specialised HR consulting firm, came up with a Surge Workforce solution, which solved the challenge of delivering a skilled and trained workforce that could be deployed to a facility at short notice. The integrated recruitment and onboarding program saw the redesign of the qualified personal care assistant position to focus on key tasks and responsibilities that could be performed by nonqualified candidates with transferable skills. The team also worked with key corporate client partners to identify a surplus of available workers, and leveraged a range of tools, including a customised AI platform, to effectively assess the high volume of applications. The solution included the implementation of a communication strategy and plan to provide information about the recruitment project, as well as pre-boarding and onboarding processes to enhance the workforce’s performance and satisfaction. The Surge Workforce Solution offered “extremely valuable” and “very high quality” support to Japara’s permanent employees and residents, with managers being overwhelmingly supportive of this solution. Further outcomes included the development of new career pathways for non-aged care workforces and an uplift in customer centricity.
ICD Property Insight Liverpool Hospital, SWSLHD Maddocks Merri Health Mirvac Moore Stephens Queensland and Northern NSW MYOB NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet ORIX Australia Corporation Ltd PHD Australia Property Exchange Australia (PEXA) Queensland Department of Education Schneider Electric Sunsuper Uber Vodafone Australia White Clarke Group Winning Group WSP Australia
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INNOVATIVE HR TEAMS 2021
INNOVATIVE HR TEAMS Australia 2021
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