Around 12 months ago, our data told us we had higher staff turnover than previous years. At the same time, surveys and exit interviews were identifying extremely high engagement scores in most areas, but low scores in relation to career development and professional development. We dug deeper and found several issues relating to the lack of opportunities around career development.

Having recently implemented a new HR information system (HRIS), we knew there was a module for performance management that we hadn’t yet developed. That went hand in hand with a review of our performance management process. The new process could incorporate a strong connection with professional development and career development, and be enabled by the HRIS.

A democratic approach

After an employee survey, and utilising data from exit interviews, we presented the problem   we’d identified and the solution we’d devised to the executive. It was important that we had their support and they were keen to remain across what was happening.

We also had a working group made up of employees and managers to help design and guide the process.

Our focus was not just to ensure a clear professional development process and framework, but to support it with an HRIS element that reduced the amount of time a process like this might take up. In the not-for-profit space, time is a luxury most people don’t have. We needed to improve efficiencies and add value, rather than add administrative effort.

Another deep focus was ensuring every element of the system was fit for purpose. One excellent piece of advice I received when we spoke with other organisations that used the same HRIS was, “Don’t get caught up in what the system can do. Instead, focus on what you need it to do.” 

“[AHRI Certification] recognises job-based learning and expertise, and offers me greater confidence in my own decision-making.” – Megan Werner CPHR, People and Culture Business Partner, Stroke Foundation

Our previous performance management process involved meetings in November and December, with notes typed into Word files. It simply wasn’t conducive to structured, ongoing development. There was a great opportunity to change things.

We looked at our HRIS, at the key functionalities that were available. Then we created our processes to align with the pieces of functionality that matched our needs.

A new approach to career development

As we planned and executed the additions in functionality to the HRIS, we realised the result of those changes was far greater than the sum of their parts.

For example, there are now more areas that can be developed and customised for each individual in terms of performance management and professional development. There are employee goals, career goals, competencies for each role, performance reviews and more.

Other changes included:

• Check-ins are now happening at least once a month and people are going into the system with their managers and assessing their role competencies. Importantly, that’s not from a performance perspective, but instead from the angle of where they need to develop to do their job well.
• The mindset has changed from assessing how a person is performing in their role to assessing areas for development.
• Goals are set and regularly assessed – it’s a living platform, as opposed to a Word file that’s rarely opened because it’s hidden in a folder somewhere.
• Salary reviews aren’t connected to these performance check-ins or to performance reviews. Instead, it’s up to the manager and employee to work out how the process works best for them.
• Feedback and data from the system has already led to new offerings within the business, such as internal training programs and a mentor and emerging leaders program. 

It also brought a simple but powerful change to the timing of the major annual performance review, from the very busy November/December period to the much more manageable January/February one.

Overcoming challenges

The major challenge of the Team Stroke Performance and Development Project was a personal one – the fact that I am not an IT developer.

There was a lot of back-end work to be done on the system. While the vendor was exceptionally helpful and supportive, I had to develop a strong understanding of what our HRIS can and can’t do.

I did not anticipate the amount of time that was going to take, so I spent a lot of time learning about that space. Having said that, it was a positive experience and I now feel I have a new level of knowledge. It was excellent personal development.

I have been with Stroke Foundation for 19 years. I started out as the executive assistant to the CEO. So, for someone like me who doesn’t have a breadth of experience across organisations and sectors, doing this project to achieve my AHRI Certification shows how I’ve been growing and progressing.

You learn so much as you work in a role. This Certification recognises job-based learning and expertise, and offers me greater confidence in my own decision-making. 

This article first appeared in the April-May 2024 edition of HRM Magazine. Megan Werner CPHR is the People and Culture Business Partner, Stroke Foundation

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Today, organisations are arguably more people-centric than they have ever been in history. Company culture and employee wellbeing are now fundamental tenets of company health. 

Challenges such as inflation, economic uncertainty and the pandemic presented a medley of challenges for organisations, not least the ones that involved employees, such as health and safety standards, hybrid work and employee engagement, to name just a few.

All of these elements, playing out through the heartbeat of organisations, are the core responsibility and remit of the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) or Chief People Officer (CPO). Recent advancements in people analytics, and the dire need to drive attraction and retention, along with diversity, equity and inclusion, make this role an absolutely critical component of the C-suite. But that’s not to say that HR leaders need to stay inside their HR box.

While there is no catch-all concrete data on which functional areas CEOs were in prior to them becoming a CEO, anecdotally, we can see that it’s often the Chief Financial Officer or the Chief Operating Officer who gets tapped for the job.

The HR function has very rapidly transitioned from a mostly administrative role to a central strategic one, and HR professionals have become trusted advisors to CEOs in major corporations.  

So why not put them in line to be the successor to your next CEO?

Some major brands are already putting former HR leaders into the CEO role. General Motors (Mary Barra) and Chanel (Leena Nair) are just two of many examples.

It’s to be expected that top-tier CHROs and CPOs feel they have the requisite skill sets to lead organisations into the future of work. They understand the employee mindset and have a strategic comprehension of how to build a conducive environment that enables passions to take tangible shape into products, services, efficiencies and client satisfaction.  

But before stepping up, HR leaders first need to ensure they have enough experience in certain areas in order to set themselves up for success as a CEO.

The four must-have skills of a CEO

There are four ‘must-haves’ for CHROs and CPOs to become considered for the CEO role. These suggestions have been selected as useful for all industries and organisations, although there would also be additional action points required in certain industries. 

1. Accountability for a P&L

A key component to both consideration and success as a CEO is demonstrating responsibility for a profit and loss statement. Almost always, especially in the commercial sector, CEO candidates will have a deep understanding of business models: how the business makes money, how it garners a profit and how it sustains that profitability over time.

This also clues them into potential financial risks that could be on the horizon that should be avoided. It’s the difference between being a budget holder and a financial forecaster.

“Many leaders are exceptional at what they do, but are siloed in their skills, expertise and outlook.”

CHROs and CPOs don’t traditionally have the opportunity to hone this skill set. They can gain this experience by taking on additional responsibilities such as leading a business unit, or serving on the company’s executive committee. 

Developing a deep understanding of the company’s business strategy and financials is paramount. Additional competencies can also be gained through executive training and development, such as an MBA or other postgraduate finance degree.  

2. Multi-faceted executive experience

Many leaders are exceptional at what they do, but are siloed in their skills, expertise and outlook. CHROs and CPOs looking to become CEOs need to have a considerable level of multi-faceted executive experience throughout their careers, which showcases their mettle and ability to think beyond traditional departmental boundaries.

In particular, those with cross-functional experience and/or international exposure will be favoured for CEO consideration. CHROs and CPOs who have led other functional departments – such as sales, operations or finance – are ideal. 

Even if a portion of an additional department’s responsibilities has been under HR’s purview, this will be incredibly advantageous. Additionally, managing teams and aligning strategy across different geographies and cultures will be seen as extremely relevant to any potential CEO appointment.   

3. Big-picture vision

Long-term, strategic thinking is an essential ingredient for CEOs’ success. As leaders, they have an ability to envision the future of the business, and make short-term decisions that benefit the organisation over longer timeframes. 

Part of this decision-making comes from top-tier experience, and part of it comes from having an intimate knowledge of the company’s competitive stature in the marketplace, and a vision for what can be achieved.

For CHROs and CPOs, it’s important to establish your own informed and considered vision for the organisation, and how you will lead as CEO. Communicate this clearly and effectively. 

To establish this vision, actively seek out learning opportunities within the business. Participation as an active member of the Board is ideal, as it will enable access to big-picture strategic challenges and opportunities, as well as provide insights around the priorities of other functional leaders (the CFO, COO, etc.). 

More broadly, develop a thorough understanding of your key industry trends and emerging technologies. Developing a digital-centric mindset to solve challenges is also beneficial.

4. A supercharged professional network

Navigating complex challenges and driving business growth is the hallmark of CEOs, yet they are only as good as the network they have around them. 

Having the support of not only the senior executive team, but the broader management structure and employee base is an imperative for success. The current focus on company culture means that successful CEOs have to foster positive, collaborative and transparent working environments.

CHROs and CPOs usually excel at this, and tend to have more experience than CFOs or COOs. They are, as their title implies, ‘people people’. They usually have very well-established company networks and strong relationships with stakeholders, the board of directors, other executives and, of course, employees. Establishing even stronger strategic ties, both internally and externally (think: investors, government, media), is prudent.

If you’d like some tips for how you can do this, check out HRM’s article on the power mapping method.

Cindy Yang is Managing Partner, Korea; Bob Bellano is a Senior Partner in the Los Angeles and Newport Beach offices; and  Fernando Zavala is Managing Partner, Iberia at NGS Global, an executive search and leadership advisory firm.

Want to learn more about effective leadership and management? Sign up for AHRI’s short course to understand your leadership style and learn how to create key performance indicators.

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Eating lunch at your desk; staying back at work for an extra hour; working on the weekend – no one wants to do these things, but so many of us do. Why? Because our bosses are doing it.

Mirroring our bosses behaviour isn’t always a problem, but it can easily become one.

Why do we mirror each other?

There are two main reasons junior employee might mimic the work behaviour of influential people.

Firstly, they’re eager to impress and matching the output of their manager seems like a good way to be noticed. Secondly, the front runner of the pack sets the pace. This isn’t always a bad thing. Positive mirroring can help young workers advance – and having a high bar to reach is often the push they need.

And mimicking can get much more granular than simply adopting the same work habits. Research suggests that when you mirror the body language of someone else, say on a date or in a job interview, you can increase the chance of leaving a good impression.

But there are plenty of reasons encouraging mimicry can be problematic in a workplace.

“The followership principle serves us well in many cases, but when there’s a difference in power, people often think they need to follow suit even if they don’t quite agree with something; they don’t want to rock the boat,” says James Hancock, business director at Making Work Absolutely Human (Mwah).

He notes that it’s not just bosses who will find their behaviour is mimicked, but anyone in a position of power or influence. Using someone who has just joined a graduate program as an example, he says the person they might try to emulate might not be their boss, but their peers who are a year or two ahead of them.

“They will look to them to see what they say and do as their own path forward, be it good or bad.”

Following the leader

The idea that you can’t leave before you boss does is a relic of the past that we haven’t got rid of yet. When staff are junior within an organisation, their workload is likely lighter than their superiors, so it doesn’t make sense that they’d have to constantly pull late nights at work. So why do they?

“I thought it made me seem like I was a slacker. At the time, I had to prove myself and I wanted to seem ambitious,” writes Cindy Krischer Goodman for Miami Herald.

“But after weeks of staying late for no reason, my new husband insisted I was being foolish. So, I quietly slipped out around 7pm, leaving my computer on to look like I might still be around.”

Working extra, unpaid hours is a scenario most of us would be familiar with. Often we do this to prepare for the next day, or to meet an important deadline, but then there’s the problematic form of overworking: doing so to be seen as a ‘hard worker’.

In an article for ABC Life, a Sydney lawyer named Zoe articulated that sometimes these issues can be industry specific.

“I know a lot of young graduates, particularly in law, who suffer from their managers’ perception that they’re only ‘hard workers’ if they dedicate hours upon hours of extra work, working up to 80-hour weeks,” she says.

But Hancock says in his experience this over-working epidemic is widespread. “It’s not industry specific, we see it everywhere. People feel they have to keep lifting up because someone else is constantly snapping at their heels.”

In my first job, I had little responsibility and very little work to do (much to my frustration). I would count down the seconds until I could go for my lunch break, but I wouldn’t take it until my boss did. I’d wait for him to leave, make sure he noticed I too was leaving and then I’d rush outside, quickly scoff down a sandwich and make sure I was back at my desk before he was. Why? Much like Krischer Goodman, I wanted to be seen as ambitious.

“The whole idea of not leaving before the boss leaves is sort of cultural. “Even though we know we need to be flexible and measure output, many leaders and workplace cultures value facetime,” says Hancock.

Drawing on an example from his previous employer, a large corporation, Hancock says there was a rumour that the CEO understood the importance of modelling good behaviour but her workload wouldn’t always allow for her to leave on time. Instead of visibly staying back, she’d walk out the door at 4pm and then walk in the back door straight afterwards and continue working in a new space.

This might be an extreme example, but it shows the importance of following through on what you said you’d do and setting the tone for those underneath you.

“Of course, there can be exceptions,” says Hancock. “But if you said you were going to do something, you need to be seen as doing it 80-90 per cent of the time. Visible leadership is critical.”

It’s hurting our careers

It’s not just junior staff who fall victim to this. When impressing the boss is seen as an important part of climbing the ladder, or receiving praise from a superior patches up a personal insecurity, it’s hard to break away from that hamster wheel.

This behaviour, however, could have the opposite desired effect.

In a popular BuzzFeed article from earlier this year, author Anne Helen Petersen wrote about ‘millennial burnout’ – the idea that young employees are prone to working themselves to the bone in an effort to appear as if we’re going above and beyond. We’re all aware of the negative effects of burnout – HRM has written about this before – but the fact that millennials have their own subsection of this epidemic is alarming.

Helen Petersen speaks of “errand paralysis” – the inability to complete seemingly simple tasks due to a looming sense of feeling overwhelmed – as one of the side effects of millennial burnout. In a workplace, this might amount to missed deadlines, unhappy clients or a backlog of administrative work.

Another way mirroring senior staff may be hurting employees is differing perceptions. For example, while employees might feel they’re coming across as committed when they stay back late, their manager (who has complete oversight of their workload), might see red flags about their time management skills. Or if an employee tried to match their boss’s manner in which they address or interact with other staff, they could be seen as “too big for their boots”.

Advice for employers

So what can HR do to ensure junior staff are only mirroring their superiors in the best way?

Encouraging staff to keep their bosses informed of their progress throughout the day can be a good way to ease some of the guilt employees may feel when knocking off for the day or slipping out to lunch during a flurry of busyness.

Keeping a diary might also be a great way for them to reflect on the work they’ve done in the last week and can act as a place for them to jot ideas/concerns down that they can address with their manager during scheduled meetings.

Hancock says it’s important to remember that young workers can experience a strong sense of missing out. Even if they aren’t professionally ready to take on a specific task, they should still be included.

“A great way to do that is by creating a space for them. This can be done by making the interaction on a project more active observation than simply shadowing, which allows the newer employee to safely ask questions. They can provide feedback and insights throughout, or even a mini report of observations with fresh eyes – whether they are younger, new to the particular team or to the organisation overall.”

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In my thirty years as an executive director, non-exec director, CEO and management consultant, I’ve seen very few HR directors ascend to the apex of their organisation. In fact, it’s more common for the best HR execs to move on to a similar job in a larger organisation. Conversely, I have seen those in other professions climb up their company ladder with no issues.

So why don’t more HR stars become CEOs?

Always the bridesmaid…

It might not surprise you to find out that half of the world’s chief executives come from one of three backgrounds: finance, operations or marketing – according to research conducted in the UK by Robert Half (paywall), via Management Today.

The remaining half are sourced from 23 industries, ranging from legal to IT and strategy. Only five per cent of CEOs have an HR background.

I am one of a relatively small number of CEOs who took the route from HR to the top. As such I have sought to advise HR colleagues who get the feeling that they are always a bridesmaid, never a bride.

My own impression is that decision-making interviewing panels often see the HR function as necessary, but not critical to the corporate mosaic of the organisation. While this view is misguided, it strikes me that the HR profession needs to position itself more strategically and  bang its drum more loudly.

It doesn’t have to be a long way to the top

In response to the question of why more top HR execs don’t become CEOs, clichés tend to be the answer. “HR isn’t strategic enough” or “HR doesn’t have enough broad-based business acumen”. Personally, I don’t buy this line of reasoning at all. In fact, in recent decades the HR function has become more integral to business success.

Let me give a few examples:

Developing ‘talent strategy’  

This is viewed as a prime determinant of corporate success, with intellectual and human capital being viewed as increasingly important.

Get the right people in the right places; ensure you have the right talent strategy, team dynamics, and culture; and you’ll have strong foundations for success. It is chief HR officers who are at the heart of creating and delivering on an organisation’s talent strategy.

Acquiring core skills (‘soft skills’)

Modern corporate leaders are required to demonstrate the full gamut of core skills including: empathy, outstanding communication, and the ability to deliver constructive, critical feedback. These skills are attributes that have traditionally been the cornerstone of the HR function.

Creating corporate culture  

Organisational success depends on how things get done as much as what gets done. Creating the building blocks for the development of an important corporate culture is very much within the experience and skill-set of HR professionals.

Promoting diversity and equality

Legal requirements and modern corporate ethics place a significant priority on ensuring that inclusion, diversity and equality are properly prioritised. The HR profession has a proud history in being at the forefront of this agenda.

How do you make the leap?

So, what can the HR profession and individual HR professionals do to promote both the function and their roles? Here are some suggestions:

Think like a corporate animal

HR professionals should view themselves as business managers and need to continually ask: “how can I add value to the bottom line, how is what I do assisting the organisation to meet its objectives?”’ This will mean thinking less narrowly about HR as a personnel type function, but rather as a key player in enabling the organisation to reach its corporate goals.

Make sure HR is always sitting at the top table

As a CEO, I have personally always had the HR manager reporting directly to me. I recall having several finance and corporate services directors resent my “take-over” of “their” HR function. For me, the CEO’s primary role is about directing change management within the organisation and HR is integral to this process.

I also take the view that the chief HR officer should have a place at the management team’s table. HR bosses need to demonstrate to CEOs that they are indispensable and that their reach goes way beyond that of traditional personnel management.

Get qualified and experienced  

HR professionals are capable within their discipline, but how many go above and beyond? A business degree, for instance, provides knowledge of all the main corporate disciplines. In terms of gaining wider experience, HR professionals should be the first to volunteer to be seconded into any cross-discipline project teams. Here they will both pick up a broader range of skills by rubbing shoulders with secondees from other professional backgrounds, and at the same time get themselves noticed as corporate team players.

Shifting expectations

While it’s tough at times to reach the top, the future is far from bleak for HR professionals. Times really are changing. Slowly but surely the perception of the HR department as a back-office, largely administrative function, is being altered.

Over the course of my career, I have concluded that the business of leadership revolves around change management. For transformation to be sustainable, we need leaders who have skill-sets which so many able HR chief officers already possess. It is my hope that more HR professionals will take up the challenge of becoming a CEO.

The future of HR may be as a springboard to director and CEO roles. For this to happen, HR professionals need to display their aptitude for talent and culture management; a skill-set that separates them from other candidates. That said, these attributes form only part of what makes an effective CEO.

HR professionals need to also demonstrate their corporate credentials, their MBA, the seconded corporate roles and job rotations undertaken – it is these types of commitments that will provide evidence to interviewing panels that an HR director is ready to take on the role of CEO.

William Taylor is a freelance writer, consultant and public speaker. He is a former HR director, council CEO and management consultant.

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Rick Thompson FCPHR, People & Culture Business Partner, Powerlink Queensland and AHRI Queensland State Councillor

Rick Thompson knows a thing or two about braving the cold. The former BHP Billiton employee was stationed just south of the Arctic Circle in Yellowknife, Canada – a far cry from the dry tropics of his hometown in Central Queensland.

“Honestly, one of the biggest challenges was the weather,” he says.

“Facing temperatures of minus 30 degrees Celsius was tough. The solution was layers – lots of layers of clothing.”

During Thompson’s stint there, BHP Billiton was looking to sell its Ekati Diamond Mine.

Thompson took the lead on HR separation activities – disentangling and re-establishing everything from the HRIS and payroll systems, to HR policies and processes. He also oversaw the transitioning of staff to a new employing entity and the transition of the retirement fund.

“Our focus was on separating out all of those things from the global business and getting Ekati standing on its own as a separate business entity,” he says.

“That way, once a buyer was identified, it was easily able to be split out and sold.”

It was a mammoth task, with more than a few challenges, including shifting deadlines, and the relatively high risk of unfair dismissal and industrial action cases being brought by Canada’s unionised workforce.

“The key to managing that risk was developing a clear and transparent employee communication strategy – communicate early, communicate often,” says Thompson.

Taking on the assignment turned out to be a very worthwhile detour from the role that originally took him to Canada in the first place – HR manager at BHP Billiton’s Jansen Project, which was then the world’s largest potash venture.

“Mergers, acquisitions and divestments – these opportunities don’t come around that often, so from my perspective it was about grabbing hold of the opportunity with both hands and getting in amongst it,” he says.

Now living back home in sunny Queensland, Thompson has achieved HR certification after applying through the Senior Leaders Pathway in January.

To complete the requisite case study, Thompson used his previous work in getting the Ekati Diamond Mine “shop-window ready” from an HR perspective.

“It’s great that AHRI has provided an option that recognises the skills and experience that a lot of HR practitioners already bring to the table,” he says.

“For my experienced colleagues, I would highly recommend exploring the Senior Leaders Pathway to certification.”

He says his certified status currently sets him apart from many in the profession, and he’d like to see it become a requirement for all HR practitioners.

“When HR certification reaches the level that it becomes a requirement – both from a practitioner’s perspective and a prospective employer’s point of view – that’s when we’ve been successful,” he says.

“It’s incumbent on all of us to lead that change from within our own ranks. As US president Ronald Reagan said, ‘If not us, who? If not now, when?’”

“It’s great that AHRI has provided an option that recognises the skills and experience that a lot of HR practitioners already bring to the table.”

Henriette Mancini FCPHR Director, Mancini Management Group Pty Ltd

Henriette Mancini was juggling two toddlers and her own growing HR consultancy when, earlier this year, she decided to add HR certification to her plate.

Rather than becoming overwhelmed by the workload and curling up in a heap of stuffed toys on the floor, Mancini has already managed to achieve certification. And she says it has improved her career “enormously”.

“My clients think it’s quite an achievement because they know me as an individual, having two children and running my own business,” she says.

“But also, they only bring the best into their businesses – they’ll only hire a certified accountant or a certified builder – so for them it’s further endorsement that they’re working with the right HR practitioner.”

Mancini elected to take the Senior Leaders Pathway to HR certification, drawing on her previous work as Specsavers HR director, Asia-Pacific.

“My children were two and three, so I needed something that could fit in around their schedule. I couldn’t be tied up, sitting in a classroom or doing a webinar.”

For the requisite case study, Mancini detailed her work developing a talent program which boosted training and capability among local Specsavers staff, while also improving the sustainability and longevity of business operations in Australia and New Zealand.

Her advice for other HR professionals considering the pathway is: “Think about an initiative that has delivered a tangible outcome – not only from a people perspective, but from a bottom line and commercial perspective.

“The flexibility of the certification meant I could stop when I needed to and pick it up again that evening or the next morning.”

“It’s quite an intense process in that you can’t just deliver surface-level HR information – it requires you to dig deep and provide evidence, data and metrics that prove what was achieved in the particular case study.”

Mancini admits that it wasn’t always easy.

“I’m not going to lie – there were times when I thought, ‘Am I doing the right thing? Do I really need to add this to my workload?

“There would be times at night when my daughter couldn’t sleep and so I would be typing away on my case study while she sat on my lap, ‘working’ on her iPad too. Or I would get a call from a client saying, ‘We need you on site right now. We’ve had a WorkCover incident’.”

Ultimately, however, she says the process fit very well with her other commitments.

“It was so accommodating in terms of being a working mum, but also as someone who works for themself – which means you have that extra pressure of needing to get work done otherwise you don’t get paid.

“The flexibility of the certification meant I could stop when I needed to and pick it up again that evening or the next morning.”

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The 2018 Hays Salary guide and recruitment trends is out, and it paints a picture not just about what to expect in terms of wage increases, but also which sectors of the job market are growing. So check out what HR roles are currently being paid and also what employee expectations are for their next salary review.

Two of the key trends in the report, which surveys nearly 3,000 organisations and can be read here (sign-up required), is that the labour market is returning to strength and companies are expecting to hire. However, there is a real shortage of skilled professionals which is making organisations less effective.

Supply and demand?

In a market of under-supply, salary increases become more likely to attract top talent. Nearly 90 per cent of employers say they intend to offer increases this year, which is just as well as employees say they expect one. Surveying 1200 professionals about what was most important to their career in the year ahead, 67 per cent said a pay rise. Not surprising, given the salary stagnation of recent years.

It’s not all good news, however. Although employers are more willing to offer salary increases than they were in 2017, the value of those increases will fall, with 65 per cent intending to raise salaries at the lower level of 3 per cent or less. In addition, while 8 per cent of businesses increased salaries by 6 per cent or more in their last review, only 6 per cent intend to increase them by that much this year.

After pay, the chief benefit that employees are seeking is flexibility – and employers have responded: 84 per cent say it’s the most common benefit they offer. Ongoing learning and development opportunities are also aligned, with employers and employees both saying this is the second priority for them (73 per cent).

Of those employees (46 per cent) who have itchy feet and are looking to change jobs in the year ahead, a little over half said the chief reason was due to no promotion prospects. This suggests that organisations could be doing more to develop existing talent, particularly since 44 per cent cited a lack new challenges, and 29 per cent said poor training and development were factors.

So what about employment trends for HR?

After several years where restructuring and outsourcing have been dominant themes, in-house HR recruitment is on the rise again. Those who are specialists in talent acquisition and retention will be particularly in demand.

In recent years, businesses addressing organisational development and change management have been more likely to call in a consultant. However, in response to market confidence and investment in recruitment and development, the industry has shifted towards building internal talent teams who can drive people strategy and partner with key stakeholders across an organisation.

As a consequence, the search is now on for HR Business Partners who are strategic, multi-skilled generalists. But Hays reports that contract rates are still outpacing permanent salary packages – something that businesses will have to address.

Across Australia, the contract market remained strong in 2017-2018, particularly in Federal and State governments in Canberra and Adelaide, where the focus was on agility to respond to project demands. However with a Federal election pending, there could be a shift towards more permanent HR engagements in 2018-19.

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As a parent of school-age children, I find myself reassured by information that has been seeping into public consciousness for some time – that soft skills are what employers look for over and above everything else.

When I leave home to catch the bus in the mornings, I wonder whether the occupants of the Teslas and Mercedes-Benz that speed past me to deliver children to one of the most expensive private schools in the country (close to where I live) aren’t wasting their money.

Certainly, the latest research from online platform JobGetter may make uncomfortable reading for these parents, as it supports data suggesting competitive academic scores don’t cut it anymore. Instead, employers are shifting their focus towards candidates whose skills will allow them to work most effectively and adapt to the changing world around them.

Penguin Random House and major consulting firms Ernst & Young (EY) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) are just three big companies to have stated openly that they no longer require university degrees in their search for good candidates. Instead, they want to recruit newcomers who have a broad range of life and education skills and experiences.

Required skills in 2030

JobGetter’s 2017 Soft Skills in Demand report supports the recent findings that two-thirds of all jobs will be soft skill intensive by 2030, as detailed in the Deloitte Access Economics and DeakinCo Soft Skills for Business Success report.

So what are those ‘in-demand’ soft skills?

1. Communication
2. Friendly/Approachable
3. Self-motivated/Ambitious
4. Driven by outcomes
5. Positive and enthusiastic

Catherine Friday, education leader of EY Oceania, explains the shift away from academic qualifications.

“We used to consider academic scores as the first ‘threshold’ a candidate needed to pass, but we’re now enforcing a more interpersonal hiring practice that allows candidates to demonstrate their networking, leadership and communication skills in an interview scenario much earlier on in the process,” says Friday.

“In fact, I’ve noticed that those who’ve come to EY after a ‘gap year’ or period of industry experience tend to have well-developed soft skills and are far more mature and poised in our working environment.”

Cultural, not generational

Paul Fiumara, a partner at Brisbane accounting firm DFK Hirn Newey, tells a similar story. Though he was frustrated by the calibre of Gen Y university graduates, he told news.com.au that he didn’t blame the students.

“I think it’s a failure of the system that universities are just pushing people out without having some practical experience along the way,” he says.

“Students often come out of their university time having done presentations and various things that make them think they can function in the workforce, but it’s quite a different world. What you think you’re doing in universities [is not] what you find in practice.”

DFK’s solution has been to offer cadetships to train first-year university students. “They’re cheaper than a graduate, so it just makes sense for us as a business, too,” says Fiumara.

Though programs like DFK’s run parallel to a university course, some employers are ditching qualification expectations altogether.

Interestingly, those crucial communication skills, the ability to get on with people and self-motivation, may be lacking due to the fact that society has become more affluent. Kate Carnell, while she was CEO of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that she thinks it’s a problem that school children are not doing part-time work as much as they used to while at school.

While it offers young people the luxury of focusing on their studies, coming from a comfortable background also deprives them of skills they would’ve picked up in the workforce before taking up a full-time role. It isn’t helped by parents encouraging their children not to work but focus on their studies exclusively.

(For more on how to develop your workforce, read our latest article.)

If Carnell is right, it may be that the kids sitting in the rear of those Teslas and Mercedes Benz are the ones who are really disadvantaged.

New to HR? Consolidate your foundational HR skills and knowledge with AHRI’s BSB41015 Certificate IV in Human Resources course. Enrolments for the six-month course close 12 October 2018.

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Two years after they began the AHRI Practicing Certification program, a team of talented public sector HR professionals graduated at the AHRI Public Sector Conference.

HRM caught up with a few of the graduates to talk about their achievements and how their new certified status has benefitted them personally and helped raise the credibility of the HR profession.

“Over the last two years doing the certification program, I feel as though I’ve really grown in terms of having a more strategic focus to my work, and I also managed to get a promotion over that time as well,” says Sam Robertson, Assistant Director HR Policy and Analytics Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

How did she do it? By designing a new performance management framework for leaders and senior executives as part of her APC capstone project. (To find out more about this, read our report).

Nick Kirkby, Assistant Director Department of Immigration and Border Protection, felt that his capstone project not only helped him develop his skills, it also benefitted his organisation.

“The thing that I’m most proud of through the project is that I was able to engage with stakeholders across the department and get their input for a program that was developed to improve manager engagement,” he says. “So, by doing that I’ve helped the department achieve its capabilities, which in turn makes me feel very good about myself.

“I would advise anyone to give certification a go. There’s no downside to expanding your understanding and knowledge of HR, and it will make you a better practitioner in the future.”

Learn more about strategic HR through the AHRI Practising Certification Program. May 2018 intake enrolments are now open and close Friday 6 April.

The post HRM TV: Profiling the HR leaders of the future in the public sector appeared first on HRM online.

‘It’s not what you know, it’s who you know’. How often have you heard that comment – frequently said by someone who isn’t rising fast enough in their career?

But like all such aphorisms, it contains a certain truth. In this case it’s that networking is good for your career.

LinkedIn has long been the networking platform of choice. Why? Well simply because it is the world’s largest professional network, claiming 500 million members globally, including more than nine million in Australia.

(Want to know another way to help your career and build your network? Join AHRI’s Mentoring Program – exclusive to AHRI members. Applications close 31 August, so hurry!)

So it was intriguing to receive today a list (which can be found here) of LinkedIn’s most popular HR professionals in Australia – popular in terms of how many views their personal profiles receive. HR is one of several categories featured as part of LinkedIn’s Power Profiles for 2017. Other categories include the most popular CEOs and founders, the public sector, marketing and advertising, and fashion.

Matt Tindale, country manager, LinkedIn Australia and New Zealand says, “These Power Profiles have developed their brand on LinkedIn by sharing their diverse experiences and voicing their opinion on topics that matter. They are adding value to the community with their insights, helping our members get better at what they do and achieve their professional goals.”

The seven HR professionals who make it onto the list are from a range of organisations including Australia Post, NAB, Vodafone, ANZ. Six of them are women and one is a man.

One thing that stands out on some of these LinkedIn power profiles are the articles that they have posted. For example, Cassis Sellars, head of people and culture at TBWA, talks about the ‘blind spot’ among managers who fail to really understand what employees do and how they are contributing to an organisation. She offers some easy-to-achieve tips on how to make staff feel more valued.

Investing time in actively posting good and relevant content pays dividends, says Tindale. He suggests not only sharing your articles but adding your thoughts and commentary to group discussions which are related to your industry or occupation. Make links between your experiences and your brand, he adds.

Another tip from Tindale is to keep it authentic and don’t force it. If you feel strongly about an issue that matters to you, share your perspective by publishing long form posts.

Nurture your network is another mantra online. Add value to your network by engaging in meaningful conversations and helping other professionals by sharing useful or insightful information. It will all help to get you noticed, perhaps even by a prospective employer.

However a big no-no– even if you are looking for a job – is to approach someone and ask for a job directly. Not only is it bad etiquette, it will serve you far better if you to get to know someone well first, and build trust. Only once that is established, is it possible to broach meeting up over a coffee – because there is nothing like face-to-face to cement a connection.

(Is it a good idea to resign on social media? Read our article.)

Networking tips

In many ways networking is easier online. It requires chutzpah to make new contacts in a room full of people you don’t know. From around the net, I’ve collected four of the best tips for doing this successfully.

1. Be intentional, says Madeline Bell, president of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “Networking should always be done with an intention, and not just to collect business cards and be seen. Approach networking as you approach your work: Set a goal for yourself and find a networking opportunity that meets that goal. In the situation I’ve mentioned, it was as simple as, “I want to learn more about corporate boards.”
2. The Harvard Business Review recommends to stop thinking about the word “business” and focus on relationships. Research shows people evaluate everyone they meet in terms of warmth and competence. Warmth being the more valued quality. Actively showing interest in other people is powerful — and kind.
3. Do NOT “work the room” says Darrah Brustein, the founder of Network Under 40. Don’t try to meet as many people as possible; focus on making just a few solid connections. People can sense when you’re simply speaking with them to grab their card and go.
4. Adam Grant, organisational psychologist, has a theory on “givers” those who seek out opportunities to help people they respect and appreciate. “If you’re a giver, then you build quality relationships, and with those relationships you’re exposed to opportunity over the long term. You actually increase your own luck so far as you contribute things to other people.”

The post The most popular HR professionals on LinkedIn (and how they did it) appeared first on HRM online.

Some recent personal experiences have made me wonder whether we all need reminding about being careful with what we say about our work in public spaces. You hear all the time about being indiscreet on social media, it’s still an burgeoning minefield but it’s fair to say the message is out there, whether heeded or not.

Yet being overheard in the real world, speaking about your employer, employee, clients, colleagues or associates is not really discussed – particularly being wary of negative remarks or comments that call into question the person’s interpretation of confidentiality.

I learned the hard way. Very early in my career, I worked alongside a very senior staff member who had a great sense of humour and provided me with much needed guidance. Travelling back together from a meeting, I casually mentioned someone’s name, no doubt in the context of attempting to demonstrate my understanding of the day’s proceedings. I was given a harsh reprimand to NEVER mention names in public again as “the walls have ears.”

(Advance your HR career by developing new HR and leadership skills with AHRI’s short courses.)

Being overheard, misquoted, recorded or misrepresented is a risk you take when speaking freely in public – even if you consider your comments to be innocuous or spoken in a “code” that others would not understand. You’d be surprised how much people can decipher if they are given a reason to listen in.  Sadly, I have come across several people who have landed themselves in difficult situations at work by making candid or indiscreet comments in public spaces, only to have someone who knows the person/company being discussed relay this information back to the injured party.

At the serious end, you could find yourself dealing with possible legal or contractual issues. Perhaps a more common scenario is damage to your “brand.” Keep in mind your values and what personal and professional message you want to send others in the wider community.

I challenge you to find someone who has never revealed a little too much to someone they barely know and later regretted it.  After work events where alcohol is present can be a particularly problematic. I am not suggesting you shouldn’t speak about your work or career at a café and share ideas as this is how many of us work, network, plan, study and learn. Just be mindful of what you are saying.

I recently sat near a woman on a peak hour train. Speaking very loudly, she answered a call and had very clearly just been to a job interview. I could tell you the company, the position, her opinion of the remuneration, questions she didn’t like and what she thought of one of the panelists who she named in full multiple times. What if I worked for the company concerned or had been a family member of the panelist?

Indeed, an acquaintance told me she recently interviewed someone she had, only month earlier, heard talking very candidly on the tram about her supervisor, who she explicitly named.  Yes, it was a “private” tram conversation and she may have been a wonderful employee and the complaint worthy and legitimate, but her lack of judgement in a public space was unfortunate. I don’t know the outcome of the interview, but I can’t imagine this helped her chances. Employers value discretion.

When you have to talk

What if you need to be available to clients while you are out in public, as many of us do? I doubt your employer or client would want their private details or the specialized advice they are paying for, shared with wide world. So here is my strategy for public phone calls:

1. Be mindful of where you are
2. If something confidential comes up, explain you cannot speak
3. Avoid talking negatively about your staff or business problems

On a related topic, avoid talking negatively about your staff or business problems to or in front of customers – especially at the counter. It is not appropriate and makes customers feel uncomfortable, even invisible.

It’s all too easy to get some people to spill, you just have to ask how their day is going. Don’t be that indiscreet person – it could stall your career.

Helen Green is director at Career Confident. Her article was originally published here.

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