HR Week 2007

I ran a session at the NSW AHRI week on talent retention strategies in call centres.
Callan McDonnell from Suncorp shared the stage to share a case study of what Suncorp had done to improve retention in their high volume areas.
We described the initial situation to the group of attendees and asked them to suggest ideas of what they would have done to work towards a higher retention level.
Here is a sampling of some of their suggestions:

• Introduce a rewards and incentive process toboost levels of morale
• Re-frame job titles to give a greater sense of meaning to the role and also to demonstrate that their positions are appreciated
• Introduce clear progression pathways
• Set a development program
  
• Introduce a rotation system if possible
• If possible, personalise the desks and introduce a well-being program
• Set clearer expectations of what the job is about and build the employment brand
• Conduct a culture survey of staff to determine what staff expectations are
• Look at a more structured management system that understands competencies requirements and routes for advancement
• Create more opportunities for fun at work
• Streamline recruitment processes to also allow for flexibility
• Introduce a mentoring program for team leaders
• During the recruitment interview show both the positive and negative aspects of the job
• Introduce assessment centres to look at applicability of person to the role

Transport Supervisory program

Toll’s new Transport Supervisor Program targets our unsung heroes!
Over sixty-five of Toll’s unsung heroes – its frontline supervisors and managers - have enlisted in the ‘Transport Supervisor Program’, an initiative of Toll Personnel. The program is a ten-day training workshop which leads to them to gaining the highly valued Certificate IV in Frontline Management qualification.
The course is conducted in non-consecutive days and focuses on issues which face all frontline manager; including teamwork, communication, conflict resolution OH&S and conflict management. Participants represent the whole spectrum of Toll Group’s.
Tanya Mittiga, organiser of the program sees this as an opportunity to both crystallise participants’ understanding of management issues as well as network with colleagues from Toll’s different divisions; “It’s so exciting to see our frontline managers so keen to learn and share their ideas about effective management”, “Our supervisors and front-line managers really are responsible for generating Toll’s bottom line - so it’s great to be able to offer them a chance for professional and career development”.
The training is conducted in a hands-on manner, with brief lectures punctuated by activities, discussions, role-plays as well as presentation skills workshops. Participants have also been lucky enough to have guest speakers from around the Toll group.
Upon completion of the course, participants will be eligible for their Certificate IV in Frontline Management - a highly valued, nationally recognised qualification. Ambitious participants can even continue their studies by enrolling into a Diploma in Frontline Management.
Gavin Wedell, head facilitator of Management Consultancy International, the Registered Training Organisation conducting the training says that response to the program has been overwhelmingly positive; “The frontline managers really are the unsung heroes in any organisation. These are the men and women at the coal-face of the business. All too often we see insufficient attention paid to them, so it’s great to see the Toll Group being so proactive in offering professional development for its supervisors.” “What’s also so nice is that the training is heavily focussed around people skills - it’s not unusual for our frontline managers to have never had any formal training in management, with many having worked their way up to management roles in the organisation. What we’re giving these guys is a chance to crystallise what they’ve already learned on the job about management and also a chance to learn some new ideas to bolster their effectiveness.”

Staff Engagement

I listened to a fascinating presentation by Kevin Panozza, chief executive of Hewitt Best Employer award winning enterprise, SalesForce. His attitude towards staff development and his commitment to achieving an engaged workforce come across very strongly.
Here is a summary of some of what he had to say in his dynamic presentation at the AHRI luncheon

Sales Force is an outsourced contact centre with 5000 seats. The business has displayed consistent profit growth
Kevin says that within all relationships, expectations are set for us/ by us: whether or not these expectations are met increases or decreases the level of satisfaction.
Therefore in a corporate culture where staff expectations are met, this leads to positive corporate culture. Often the call centre is perceived as a threat/ burden.
Staff engagement = the measure of how people feel about being at work.
It is essential that staff feel good about being at work if you want to serve the customer well - particularly in call centres which are often described as sweat shops.
What are the eight enemies of engagement? If you know what they are then what can you do about

Enemy Number 1:

Uniformity – making everyone the same. Accentuate the whole leads to the individual feeling diminished. Rather, celebrate the individual as a strategy: Be yourself dress code, personalised work stations, no hot desking, performance based remuneration, develop a leadership pool, hold competition and events. The Sales Force culture = sum of individuals attitudes.

Culture depends on its people and not the other way around.

Enemy Number 2 – Rule driven behaviour. Do it because you are scared. Not being able to make decisions for yourself makes people stressed.

Instead – Have simple guidelines, empower team members, recruit intuitively, recruit for attitude, invest in training. There might well be a solid corporate structure but ultimately it is the agent that talks to the customer. Intuitive behavious is to be encouraged.

Enemy Number 3 – Don’t let call centre look drab – have lots of colour everywhere. Dullness in countries with no sun leads to more suicides. Create atmosphere for creativity.

Enemy Number 4 – Isolation. When the headset is on and computer screen on, you can feel isolated. Use communication – is not a staff newsletter. Interactive training and interactive group interviews to keep close. Team leaders do conversations to see how people are travelling. Tell them if they are living up to expectations.

Sales Force has 'Chairs in' = one on ones for honest feedback. 10 minutes of honest feedback with manager once a fortnight.

Enemy Number 5 – Being taken for granted. Cost of replacing an experienced agent is $10,000. Rather - Use recognition strategies, Awards events, certificates, Chairman’s award. Socialising with work mates, team outings, vouchers, Certificates of attendance, occupancy, turning up on time. Issue these publicly.

Enemy Number 6 – The deep end = you feel lost. Rather have a strategy – go through induction program. Go through the Sales Force Rainbow book. How will you make way in your environment.

Enemy Number 7 – Lack of career opportunities. Instead look at team development as a strategy – find people and help them to get ahead. If you want to get ahead, there are opporunities galore and a brochure that describes how to get ahead. The Sales Force business has an internal RTO that provides training up to a Diploma level, and there is encouragement to do courses.

Enemy Number 8 – Boredom & Tedium – Scripts that need to be followed. Your strategy should be it’s ok to have fun at work. Competitions, dress up days, events, international food day and parties.

There is no doubt that there is a link between commercial performance and staff engagement.

John Kotter

An amazing session with an amazing man. I would love to crawl inside John Kotter's head and download all the information stored there.
Prof Kotter is dean at Harvard Business School and has some great insights into leadership and what makes change work in an organisation. He is emphatic that there is a difference between management and leadership, with both skills sets being equally needed. Management is all about planning, budgeting, organising, staffing, controlling and problem-solving - anything that makes an organisation run efficiently.
Visionary leadership on the other hand is about creating strategy and ensuring buy-in to that vision; motivating for action and helping an organisation to grow and evolve and adapt to changing circumstances.
Leadership is needed at all levels and no great CEO can do the job on their own.
Kotter's latest book is a parable on change and how penguins cope when the iceberg around them starts melting. This is the time we need a team - not a committee! This is the time to get complacency down - not by leaving anxious people behind - but by really talking and influencing people. It is not simply a case of throwing data at people and hoping they will read it.
When we empower others to act, we ensure that people do not become cynical when barriers appear. Instead we change the systems and structures that are creating the blockages.
Kotter used 2 Australian case studies of change leadership in action - one was the ANZ story of the breakout program and the other case study was on Centrelink and how they reacted in the hurricane disaster relief work.
Kotter's final message was, "Don't over-complicate things" - we all can make a difference.
What was also interesting was Kotter's facilitation style. He only uses videos, stories and discussion - nothing else. Something that we could follow as an example

Bruce Copley

What an uplifting and energising session that we had yesterday with Bruce Copley. The passion for learning that he generates is totally inspiring and if we could all take such a passionate approach to all our learning interventions, the impact would be immense.
Some of Bruce's thoughts:

• Sometimes it is worth taking things that are old and re-birthing them. Not every learning intervention needs to be revolutionary
• Learning always involves change - we need a heightened awareness of things around us and we can't be on auto-pilot
• We have choices in life that lead us to either walk or fly. We all reach the same destination but is there a better way of getting there. Trainers can be 'edutainers' who guide learners who take their own responsibility for learning
• Incorporate stories into training - it adds lightness to what we do. Work is an intense form of being and we need to include some lightness
• Not everything needs to be rehearsed before an intervention takes place. Have the trust in the process and understand that you can't always control the outcome. The only thing that you do have control over is the amount of passion that you bring to the process
  
• Ask learners what they want to get out of the session and have a deep respect for their intent - learn to listen deeply
• All the questions will be answers and all the answers will be questions
• Keep asking participants what do they want and why do they want it - reach at the true intention and the real objective of the session
• Create a sense of wonder during the day - something is waiting for the learner at the end that is good and positive
• Integrate games - life is a game in itself, life is a play
• Keep asking the question of yourself - where to from here? What else will this session give rise to?
• Know the difference between the map and the territory. The map provides the way, the systems and the models and the territory provides us with the knowing. Territory and the map equates to wisdom
• There is a difference between teaching, facilitating and animating - animating is the highest form of being together
• If someone takes 1 thing from a session and integrates it into their life and then shows it to someone else the cycle is complete. You become a catalyst for change in someone else
• We are all connected to the larger system and what we do has an impact on other parts of the system.

For a demonstration of the 'toothpaste' exercise have a look soon on our mci website:
www.mci.edu.au

Microsoft.Net NSW Cluster

I did a presentation on talent retention strategies for the NSW Microsoft.net cluster. There was some very interesting discussion and excellent suggestions were made.
I suggested to the group that there are a whole range of strategies that could be adopted to ensure that staff remain in the business. Some of the tactics could include

• Learning and development programs
• Mentoring possibilities
• Good human resource practices - such as following the Investors in People framework
• Taking care of the small things - thanking people and providing the right tea or coffee.

Companies adopt strategies that suit them best and survey to determine what would encourage people to stay. An example would be from St Georges bank where 2 new strategies have been promoted recently in the media - one was to offer grandparents some form of leave to take care of grandchildren and the other was to allow those who stayed for 5 years and took a slightly lower salary base, one year off to travel and explore.

In terms of determining a solution for your own business, one possible way forward would be to hold 'stay' interviews. Don't wait until people leave and give you an exit interview - which might in any event not reflect their true feelings.

The .net cluster meeting worked on devising the types of questions that could be asked in the 'stay' discussion. This conversation could be conducted one on one or could be done in a focus group - but not through email or through a formal survey.

Here are some of the superb suggested questions for a 'stay' interview:

1. What do you like about our organisation?
2. What motivates you in the workplace?
3. What motivates you as an individual?
4. What would you change about this company?
5. What are your ambitions?
6. What career plan do you have in mind for yourself?
7. What can we do to make your life easier here?
8. How was your last month - what was the high point and what was the low point?
9. What would you do differently here?
10. What could we do to allow you to perform your job better?
11. Are you happy with my performance as a manager?
12. How do you feel about your work?
13. Let us discuss your goals and set them together
14. I would like a moment of your time. I would like to get some feedback on how you feel about the business, your role and where the business is going
15. I would like some feedback on how you feel about the environment, your peers and the professional recognition your receive as well as about our product and clients
16. How can we challenge you professionally?
17. I would like to have a chat to you about how it is all going. I am interested to hear if you are happy and if there is anything we can do for you.
18. We would like to know where you see yourself going
19. If you were in my shoes, what would you be doing with the organisation

Bear in mind that if you do have these discussions, there needs to be follow-up or some form of action. If people see no change, they will not trust having further conversations with you.

AQTF2007

I attended a workshop yesterday on the changes that are being implemented for the way in which RTO's are going to be audited in future - and there are definitely some major implications for providers in terms of how they self-assess and the types of documentation that needs to be stored and the processes that will have to be put in place.
The system has changed from being input-based to becoming more outcomes-focused and is certainly a step in the right direction as it should improve the quality of delivery and assessment.
There are certainly a range of issues that were discussed at the workshop that are going to need to be taken cautiously by RTO's and as this system is new, we will have to trust that it will take time to solidify and settle in.
Of concern to us was the mention of RTO's being measured now on the rate of completion of candidates and this is something that could determine whether the RTO is high risk or not. With so many factors affecting completion rates, many of which are beyond the control of the RTO, this does seem to be a rather stringent measure.
I would welcome discussion from other RTO's as to their views on this new auditing process and also whether they feel that the vocational system in Australia is mature enough to cope with outcomes-based auditing. This was a very pertinent question raised by one of the VETAB auditors and in the room the feeling was that RTO's could be ready, but are the auditors ready to make the huge mindshift that they need to do in order to make the system work?