Your employees are keeping track, why aren’t you?

I have 2 sons who work in the mining industry as HD Fitters, their closest friends are also Fitters, and I can tell you this; nobody knows the market movements of pay rates better than my boys and their peers. 😂 They are up to speed and making strategic moves to increase their earnings a good 6 – 8 months before their employers seem to cotton on there’s been some market shifts in pay that they need to address.

I’ve collated salary data over the past 4 years from leading salary guides to demonstrate the impact of skills shortages, closed borders & new perspectives on living on HD Fitter (mining industry) market pays

There’s been a 21% increase at the bottom end of the range just in this financial year alone, the upper range has increased by more than 50% in the past 3 years. If you are in this cohort, and aren’t taking a strategic approach to setting salaries, then there is a very good chance your rates of pay are longer competitive.

While other occupations within the mining industry haven’t seen the jumps like HD Fitters, there have been some significant movements. Dump Truck Operators have only seen a 1% increase over 3 years at the lower end of the pay range, however, there has been a notable 23% increase at the upper end of the range.

Outside of the mining industry, Financial Accountants in general have seen a 15% increase in salaries since 2019/20, yet administration based positions have seen very little movement.

The Approach

How an organisation pays and rewards its people has a big impact on its ability to attract the best talent, ensure that they are challenged and motivated and whether or not they will stay with your organisation. When we partner with our clients we are looking to support the overall organisation strategy, the HR strategy and the desired organisational culture.  To be effective, the strategy needs to consider the internal relativities between roles; the organisational needs & values and the external market.

In taking a strategic approach to looking at remuneration and benchmarking total packages we can determine if you should take a temporary or permanent approach to address pay issues. We can consider your employee demographic, industry trends, employee engagement and the future of work in making recommendations to suit your organisation. We can look at non-financial drivers of attraction & retention.

Catch up on our Future of Work blogs HERE

The Leadership Factor

Organisations are only as successful as their approach to hiring the right people, setting clear expectations, engaging employees, managing performance and recognising and rewarding employees for a job well done. If you would like a strategic approach tailored to your specific business needs contact us to arrange an obligation free chat about how we can help.

Through impactful HR we create a positive employee experience every time.

We aim to create future-focused, people centred HR solutions to accelerate organisational and employee wellbeing, engagement and performance by making HR easy.

THE PEOPLE & CULTURE OFFICE SUPPORTS HR TEAMS AND ORGANISATIONS AUSTRALIA-WIDE TO TAKE A FRESH APPROACH TOWARDS THEIR PEOPLE AND CULTURE FUNCTION. 

Who we are

Is it the skills shortage or something else?

Let’s put our thinking caps on for a hot minute. When was the last time you undertook some leadership development at work? Never?

Did you know the direct Manager is responsible for up to 70% of turnover and lack of engagement in the workplace?

Organisations that focus on employee engagement have 43% less turnover, absenteeism reduces by 83% and 64% fewer safety incidents.

But let’s back it up a sec, Employee Engagement? That’s just people being happy & satisfied at work isn’t it?

There is a considerable difference between being satisfied and being engaged at work. It is often the difference between being content and going the extra mile. 

For organisations to grow, advance and maximise performance, they need engaged people who work together using their strengths to complement one another. The most effective managers take responsibility for creating an engaged workplace. It sounds straightforward, but it is not always that easy.   

To succeed, managers have to bring employees together in collaboration, provide clear direction, put effective measures in place and accept responsibility for maximising each employee’s full potential

And as with every new skill, this needs to be developed.

So thinking about this, and the stats relating to employee engagement;

  • 83% less absenteeism
  • 43% less turnover
  • 64% fewer safety incidents
  • 10% higher customer metrics
  • 18% higher productivity

I ask you this.

Do we continue to blame the skills shortage for our inability to attract & keep employees 

Or do we make changes to the way we lead our organisations

Imagine just for a moment if we created workplaces where employees looked forward to coming to work, stayed longer and missed fewer workdays. Where they acted with more confidence and direction and could quickly handle distractions and times of uncertainty.

What would your organisation look like if we transformed the work environment? Would the skills shortage be as big as a factor to your future growth and sustainability?

The People & Culture Office are Gallup Engagement Champions, if it’s time you moved your people function beyond employment contracts and HR policies you can reach out to us here.

Through impactful HR we create a positive employee experience every time.

We aim to create future-focused, people centred HR solutions to accelerate organisational and employee wellbeing, engagement and performance by making HR easy.

The People & Culture Office supports HR teams and organisations Australia-wide to take a fresh approach towards their people and culture function. 

Who we are

Are you ready for the new era of work? – job design

This post is the second post in a series running throughout 2022 taking a deep dive into the new era work. This post is all about job design and how it links to employee satisfaction and productivity.

There’s no denying the past few years have triggered a major shift in how people view work, life and the existential crises that has accompanied living through a pandemic. Even if, like me, you live in Western Australia and have largely been unaffected by lockdowns, poor health and loss of income, there is no doubt that at some point throughout 2020 and 2021 you were given cause to pause and reflect on whether you are truely living an authentic life or not.

Effective job design has an impactful relationship on the achievement of operational objectives and goals. It drives alignment of the HR function to the business structure, process and people goals to better mitigate risks.

The purpose of a job analysis is to provide an in-depth understanding of the competencies required for success in order to select appropriate candidates. The job analysis and design process looks at the current workforce situation and future workforce needs to future proof the organisation. It looks at continuous improvement / automation, grouping of logical tasks and job families, person specifications to best match the position profile, technical skills, capability, societal expectations and influence.

Societal Expectations and Influence

Thanks to a mixture of living through a pandemic and differing personal values of Millennials and Gen Z compared to Boomers and Gen X, the lens through which we view the social construct of work has been turned on its head.

Work from home mandates from 2020 continuing into 2022 has sped up the shift in flexible work arrangements, the connectivity of teams and how job tasks are completed in a remote environment.

The balance of power has shifted to employees, according to this recent ABC Australia article work from home arrangements have increased from 8% of Australians prior to the pandemic to 40% over the past 2 years and is expected to continue at high levels until the pandemic ends. This has opened the job market up to people who may have had barriers to employment in the past such as people with disabilities and primary carers.

There is greater understanding that an employee brings their whole self to work, personal obligations don’t go away when they clock on and return when they clock out. The employee offering is now being looked at as a human deal; inclusivity is all about offering employees choice and a level of control.

The ability to work from in an environment you are physically comfortable in and a structure to suit personal commitments such as child and elder care and home schooling has led to the desire to hyper personalise the work day. Think standing desks, plant lady obsessions, playing soft music and taking breaks when they suit you and your work style best.

What was a niche philosophy of allowing teams to design their own job roles and allocation of tasks to suit individual strengths and career aspirations has grown in popularity.

It’s an understanding that one size doesn’t fit all, that the key to a happy, healthy workforce is about doing the right work, at the right amount, at the right pace and the right time, in the right location.

We will explore this concept further when we look at compensation and benefits, in the meantime you can jump across to my Instagram here and here for a little sneaky peak.

Does the grouping of job tasks make sense? Are your employees dying of boredom?

When allocating tasks do they complement each other or are you building hybrid roles of very different beasts?

Let me explain, and I’m being very broad here, quite often in smaller organisations there will be an employee who undertakes finance, payroll, HR and marketing tasks.

When recruiting you split the role between what is required skills wise and what is required behavioural and capability wise. Building a person specification (info which guides organisations to determine which employees are best fit for specific jobs) based on the above brief is an exercise in contradictions.

Finance people tend to be black and white, numbers focussed, introverted, problem solving is viewed strategically and focussed on cost. Good HR and Marketing people are creative, empathic and can weigh up the shades of grey to determine a win win solution to problems. Problem solving is viewed both holistically and strategically with bent towards risk minimisation, even if that may be the most expensive option.

How easy is going to be to find an employee that fits a person profile ticking all those boxes?

Jobs need to be looked at realistically and critically, maybe the answer is to have two part time employees instead of just one?, or maybe outsource some tasks? It isn’t just about what needs to be done but who is around to do it.

And of course once you have a clear picture of the knowledge, skills and abilities of the job at hand it is much easier to determine an appropriate pay level that reflects the position requirements.


Another factor of job design that greatly impacts productivity and retention is the “sexiness factor” of the job.

Think about a receptionist / switchboard operator for a large corporate. If you’ve ever sat at a switchboard with 20 incoming phone lines you will know this to be true:

a) it’s very busy and talking all day is draining

b) people are rude

c) it can be soul destroying

To provide some variety to keep employees engaged, productive and employed, the organisation may choose to invest in automation to divert incoming calls to the relevant department greatly reducing calls at the front desk. This would free up the employee to undertake a greater range of duties, aiding to break up the day and maintaining focus and attention.

This is a simple but effective example of using technology to address factors contributing to turnover in the organisation. This reduces costs, increases efficiencies and retains corporate knowledge.


We will have a lot to unpack in the coming months, so if you don’t already, follow us on our socials here and here, navigate back to our blog roll and sign up for newsletters, or, follow me on Linkedin for regular education posts just like this.


It’s time for HR to move beyond policies, practices and processes, HR’s value proposition to business is to ensure HR professionals and their practices’ produce positive outcomes for key stakeholders, employees, line managers, customers and investors.

Like what you see? Click around and discover how partnering with us can give your business a competitive advantage by aligning strategy with people & culture, or, give us a like on Facebook for regular updates on industry trends, blog posts & photo’s of me having coffee at my regular haunts and / or my dog & cat disrupting my work day.

THE PEOPLE & CULTURE OFFICE IS A KALGOORLIE BASED HUMAN RESOURCES (HR) CONSULTING COMPANY THAT SPECIALISES IN DEVELOPING PARTNERSHIPS WITH SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES. WE CAN PARTNER WITH YOU TO GAIN A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE THROUGH EMPLOYEE INITIATIVES. 

CONTACT US TO ARRANGE AN APPOINTMENT TO DISCUSS WHAT SOLUTIONS WE CAN PUT IN PLACE TO DRIVE ACHIEVEMENT OF YOUR STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL GOALS.

AT THE PEOPLE & CULTURE OFFICE YOU ONLY PAY FOR THE WORK WE UNDERTAKE FOR YOU;  NO ANNUAL OR MONTHLY FEES; NO CONTRACTS; JUST QUALITY, LOCAL, SERVICE.

Are you ready for the new era of work?

There’s no denying the past few years have triggered a major shift in how people view work, life and the existential crises that has accompanied living through a pandemic. Even if, like me, you live in Western Australia and have largely been unaffected by lockdowns, poor health and loss of income, there is no doubt that at some point throughout 2020 and 2021 you were given cause to pause and reflect on whether you are truely living an authentic life or not.

“The Great Resignation” in the US has fuelled a so called anti-work movement that has given rise to mass resignations, labour shortages, an increase in minimum wages and conditions. In Australia & Europe where minimum employment standards and safety nets already exist, the likelihood of the great resignation on the scale being seen in the US is less likely, but what is undeniable is the power dynamic between the employer – employee relationship has been turned on its head.

Driven less by income, employees in Australia are now viewing work through a lens of “is my job / employer fulfilling me; aligning to my values; accommodating my wellbeing; giving me a sense of belonging.”

What this all really means is

Are you ready for the new era of work?

Is your employee value proposition agile enough to tap into workers desires to fuel your business success

Over the next few posts we are going to take a deep dive into these concepts and more.

We will be looking at employee wellbeing, benefits and structuring an appealing employee value proposition.

Whether the generational divide has any influence over successful compensation & benefits strategies.

Planning and job design and how it links to employee satisfaction and productivity.

The importance of employing the right person for the job and how this plays in to your workplace culture.

Factors contributing to turnover such as lack of trust (by both an employer and employees), work hours, employee autonomy and control, work life integration and whether your offer is a human offer or designed around maximum profit.

We will have a lot to unpack in the coming months, so if you don’t already, follow us on our socials here and here, navigate back to our blog roll and sign up for newsletters, or, follow me on Linkedin for regular education posts just like this.


It’s time for HR to move beyond policies, practices and processes, HR’s value proposition to business is to ensure HR professionals and their practices’ produce positive outcomes for key stakeholders, employees, line managers, customers and investors.

Like what you see? Click around and discover how partnering with us can give your business a competitive advantage by aligning strategy with people & culture, or, give us a like on Facebook for regular updates on industry trends, blog posts & photo’s of me having coffee at my regular haunts and / or my dog & cat disrupting my work day.

THE PEOPLE & CULTURE OFFICE IS A KALGOORLIE BASED HUMAN RESOURCES (HR) CONSULTING COMPANY THAT SPECIALISES IN DEVELOPING PARTNERSHIPS WITH SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES. WE CAN PARTNER WITH YOU TO GAIN A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE THROUGH EMPLOYEE INITIATIVES. 

CONTACT US TO ARRANGE AN APPOINTMENT TO DISCUSS WHAT SOLUTIONS WE CAN PUT IN PLACE TO DRIVE ACHIEVEMENT OF YOUR STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL GOALS.

AT THE PEOPLE & CULTURE OFFICE YOU ONLY PAY FOR THE WORK WE UNDERTAKE FOR YOU;  NO ANNUAL OR MONTHLY FEES; NO CONTRACTS; JUST QUALITY, LOCAL, SERVICE.

What is it that you do?

I know you work in HR but what do you ACTUALLY do?

I don’t know a single HR person who hasn’t been asked this question at least once.

More than just policies and hiring & firing, HR is an integral component of any business looking to succeed. Human Resources is the function in an organisation that manages all employees and ensures maximum engagement & productivity, as well as making sure the company is protected from any issues that may arise from the workforce.

So what is it I can do for you?

A lot of businesses have been sold this idea that an outsourced HR function is a booklet of extremely (boring) generic policies, a template of an employment contract, a lock in contract and monthly fee’s whether you use the service or not.

Heck no! And I can’t stress this enough HECK NO!

Quality HR is a function that will add value to your business, policies are there to support the operations, but the role of HR in a business is a strategic one.

While a lot of senior managers view HR’s role as being there solely for the company, a good HR person will balance whats best for employees against a managers expectations. HR’s main objective is to minimise risk against an organisation, so understanding how managements expectations will impact the workforce, both in a positive and negative way, and being able to communicate that in a respectful and persuasive manner, is the role of HR. Theres no point in acquiescing to every request from management if it’s likely to bring the organisation before Fair Work and / or totally destroy the reputation of the organisation within the community and as a good employer.

Managing risk isn’t just about keeping Fair Work from your door, it’s managing the risk of not having the right people in the right place at the right time, the risk of developing a poor reputation as an employer, the risk of not being able to recruit in a proactive and cost effective manner, the risk of losing your top talent because you aren’t addressing performance issues and the risk of setting your pays way too high or way too low.

The People & Culture Office is Kalgoorlie owned and operated; with a background in mining & trades and considerable experience in undertaking high volume recruitment we are your local choice for quality HR services that will add value to your operations.

No lock in contracts, no ongoing fee’s and nothing but one on one quality service.

If you’re looking for less selling and more helping its time for us to chat.

Like what you see? Click around and discover how partnering with us can give your business a competitive advantage by aligning strategy with people & culture, or, give us a like on Facebook for regular updates on industry trends, blog posts & photo’s of me having coffee at my regular haunts and / or my dog & cat disrupting my work day

It’s time for HR to move beyond policies, practices and processes, HR’s value proposition to business is to ensure HR professionals and their practices’ produce positive outcomes for key stakeholders, employees, line managers, customers and investors.

THE PEOPLE & CULTURE OFFICE IS A KALGOORLIE BASED HUMAN RESOURCES (HR) CONSULTING COMPANY THAT SPECIALISES IN DEVELOPING PARTNERSHIPS WITH SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES. WE CAN PARTNER WITH YOU TO GAIN A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE THROUGH EMPLOYEE INITIATIVES. 

CONTACT US TO ARRANGE AN APPOINTMENT TO DISCUSS WHAT SOLUTIONS WE CAN PUT IN PLACE TO DRIVE ACHIEVEMENT OF YOUR STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL GOALS.

AT THE PEOPLE & CULTURE OFFICE YOU ONLY PAY FOR THE WORK WE UNDERTAKE FOR YOU;  NO ANNUAL OR MONTHLY FEES; NO CONTRACTS; JUST QUALITY, LOCAL, SERVICE.

The lasting legacy of poor leadership

“A fish rots from the head down”

My friend was stood down from her job due to COVID-19 on March 23, she, along with her colleagues, hasn’t had any contact or communication from her employer at all during this time. At the time of writing this blog that’s been 11 weeks.

I have another friend who’s team at work was sat down by their manager a matter of hours after initial lockdown announcements were made and were told they’d probably have to make people redundant. This is a business who’s core operations were not affected by the lockdowns at all. No discussion about how the operations may change or how the business values their employees and will aim to do everything in its power to retain jobs – straight to the fear inducing.

Kylie McLerie from Collective Culture Consultancy, a Kalgoorlie based business consultancy service that specialises in leadership development, believes that “Leadership is, or should be, a people based exercise. Effective leaders are always remembered for how they made people feel valued and part of the big picture, not simply a cog in the wheel.”

Leadership comes from inspiring and empowering those around you, a position title doesn’t make you a great leader, which is why you find great leaders at all levels of an organisation. (You can read more about this here).

If I were to ask you to think of your most inspiring and well respected managers or supervisors at work, and their most admirable traits, many of you would respond with some common themes; honesty & integrity; good communicator; inspirational; accepts accountability; empathy; ability to delegate & empower; humility; transparency; resilience and decision making capabilities.

Kylie McLerie states the ability to be a great leader comes from the ability to “be the standard that you expect. If it isn’t modelled from the top then it won’t be part of the culture”

“What you do has far greater impact than what you say” Stephen Covey

An organisations culture is the standard it accepts, not the standard it expects. If a leader can’t emulate the right behaviours then why should your employees?

Which brings me to my opening quote “A fish rots from the head down”

If a leader in your organisation thinks is kosher to not follow policies and procedures; lead by intimidation and fear; not communicate; speak poorly of clients, employees and / or people from minority groups; withhold relevant information from employees, then guess what?

Your employees will think that it’s ok to act that way as well

It will impact business profitability significantly.

Employees will have low rates of engagement and productivity, they’ll speak negatively about their experiences while working for you and you’ll suffer frequent and high turnover – and that’s just the obvious symptoms of poor leadership.

“Leadership is not about you; it’s about investing in the growth of others” Ken Blanchard

Employee HR Meeting | The People & Culture Office | Kalgoorlie

In 2015 a behavioural statistician, Joseph Folkman, commenced a study to look at the legacy of poor leadership within organisations. The aim was to conduct analysis to reveal any correlation between an executives capacity to effectively lead, and the impact of that leadership style on their direct reports and so on throughout the organisational structure.

Joseph gathered 360 degree feedback on 6000 leaders, looking specifically at the feedback from their direct reports and was then able to match those direct reports to 360 degree feedback from their direct reports.

The results were statistically significant. Managers who came in at the lowest 10% for their coaching skills had direct reports who’s coaching skills rated in the 45th percentile. Thats 5 points below average. On the flip side to that, Managers who scored exceptionally well for their coaching skills had direct reports who scored in the 60th percentile, or 10 points above average, for their coaching skills.

It is clear from this study that good coaches tend to develop good coaches and that poor coaches influence others in the opposite direction.

If you promote internally you can see the legacy implications of poor leadership.

“Value your team, you’re only as good as the people around you” Ali Kent

Like what you see? Click around and discover how partnering with us can give your business a competitive advantage by aligning strategy with people & culture, or, give us a like on Facebook for regular updates on industry trends, blog posts & photo’s of me having coffee at my regular haunts and / or my dog & cat disrupting my work day

It’s time for HR to move beyond policies, practices and processes, HR’s value proposition to business is to ensure HR professionals and their practices’ produce positive outcomes for key stakeholders, employees, line managers, customers and investors.

THE PEOPLE & CULTURE OFFICE IS A KALGOORLIE BASED HUMAN RESOURCES (HR) CONSULTING COMPANY THAT SPECIALISES IN DEVELOPING PARTNERSHIPS WITH SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES. WE CAN PARTNER WITH YOU TO GAIN A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE THROUGH EMPLOYEE INITIATIVES. 

CONTACT US TO ARRANGE AN APPOINTMENT TO DISCUSS WHAT SOLUTIONS WE CAN PUT IN PLACE TO DRIVE ACHIEVEMENT OF YOUR STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL GOALS.

AT THE PEOPLE & CULTURE OFFICE YOU ONLY PAY FOR THE WORK WE UNDERTAKE FOR YOU;  NO ANNUAL OR MONTHLY FEES; NO CONTRACTS; JUST QUALITY, LOCAL, SERVICE.

In the wake of a global pandemic, what changes will you make?

This morning I made my pilgrimage to the local coffee van in the park, my journey there is adjacent to a number of bike paths and walking trails. For the past 7 weeks my well trod journey has presented young & old out riding bikes, walking, Mum & Dad and the 2.5 kids out living their best lives in the sun & soaking up nature.

The global pandemic has seen the best and worst of humanity, amongst the stories of dust ups in the Woolies loo paper isle are stories of bike sales going through the roof as people step away from their smartphones and endless social commentary about the future of work.

Nationwide lockdowns and directives from all levels of Government to stay home has opened the door to many employees having a work from home conversation with their bosses.

If the past 7 weeks have taught us anything, for many employees having to continue to structure their work around traditional office hours, in a traditional office building, dealing with traditional office politics is an outdated, and unwanted mechanism.

See, the thing with employees is they have lives outside of work. They have children and elderly parents, friends and pets they’d prefer to spend a lot more time with. Big, big lives that don’t always fit into the neatly compartmentalised structure of the daily grind we have been conditioned to accept.

What happy, productive employees need is flexibility. The freedom to structure their workday around the other demands in their life.

COVID-19 gave parents the ability to work from home and spend a lot more time involved in their kids lives, lots of very confused (but happy) dogs were going for lots of walks and trips to the park as more and more people grabbed any opportunity to get outside and soak up the sun & fresh air. For many, our lives simplified and became a whole lot more free, quite literally overnight.

People found that with out the constant interruptions and frustrations of office politics they got so much more work done.

But, as with everything what works for some won’t resonate with everyone.

Recently Mark Bouris interviewed Georgia Vidler, Director of Product at Canva on his podcast The Mentor. Understandably their conversation quickly turned towards the changes Canva had implemented to continue being a productive organisation in the face of the lockdown & social distancing requirements in Sydney. Mark admitted that prior to this period he always thought people requesting the flexibility to work from home were having a lend of him, what he found was he had a much, much more productive workforce.

While employees were positive about the changes made, there was a good percentage who indicated they liked working from home but also craved the social interaction that working in the office gave. They didn’t want to be back in the office full time though, they wanted a blend of both. This lead to Mark looking at creating 2 teams and having them in the office a week about, of course this means going forward he needs less office space, giving up a whole floor in the Sydney CBD will offer considerable cost savings.

But more importantly to the sustainability of the business, Mark was able to see a different – a better way – of working and ran with it.

I’m not pollyanna, I am aware that not everyone working from home will do the right thing, but chances are if they are that way inclined they probably aren’t working to full capacity in the office either. A line manager who has an understanding of each job role and the expected outputs will pick up on this pretty quickly and effective performance management processes will address the shortfall in achieving the expectations of the organisation.

Given that you pay people to do a job, not sit in a chair, if the job isn’t 100% customer facing does it really matter where the employee works from? And if they are achieving their outputs does it really matter if they only work for 7 hours on the odd day here and there instead of sitting on Facebook for the last hour of the day because people can’t get past the concept that unless they are “at work” for 8 hours then they aren’t getting full value from their employees.

I know I’d rather an absolute star who applies themselves and gets their work done in a 4 day week than pay someone to fluff around for the majority of the day and be under the pump to meet deadlines.

Quality over quantity baby…….. Quality over Quantity.

What changes do you hope to come out of the global pandemic? Have you made any lifestyle changes that improves the quality of your life?

Like what you see? Click around and discover how partnering with us can give your business a competitive advantage by aligning strategy with people & culture, or, give us a like on Facebook for regular updates on industry trends, blog posts & photo’s of me having coffee at my regular haunts and / or my dog & cat disrupting my work day

It’s time for HR to move beyond policies, practices and processes, HR’s value proposition to business is to ensure HR professionals and their practices’ produce positive outcomes for key stakeholders, employees, line managers, customers and investors.

THE PEOPLE & CULTURE OFFICE IS A KALGOORLIE BASED HUMAN RESOURCES (HR) CONSULTING COMPANY THAT SPECIALISES IN DEVELOPING PARTNERSHIPS WITH SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES. WE CAN PARTNER WITH YOU TO GAIN A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE THROUGH EMPLOYEE INITIATIVES. 

CONTACT US TO ARRANGE AN APPOINTMENT TO DISCUSS WHAT SOLUTIONS WE CAN PUT IN PLACE TO DRIVE ACHIEVEMENT OF YOUR STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL GOALS.

AT THE PEOPLE & CULTURE OFFICE YOU ONLY PAY FOR THE WORK WE UNDERTAKE FOR YOU;  NO ANNUAL OR MONTHLY FEES; NO CONTRACTS; JUST QUALITY, LOCAL, SERVICE.

What does good HR look like?

Whether your organisation has an in-house HR team or you’ve engaged an external HR consultant you need to be getting a lot more value than employment contracts and legislative policies.

Your HR function needs to be business driven and have a strategic approach that aligns the people and culture initiatives to the organisations’ strategic priorities and its values.

To be an effective function within the business your HR team (internal or external) needs to be able to competently perform the critical elements of the people function, but more than that, the executive or leadership team needs to allow them to do their job.

Presumably they have been engaged because management has recognised the need for HR support, as with any professional or expert within their individual field they are there to provide expert guidance and solutions for the business. Their professional knowledge, analysis and reports should be utilised to make evidence based business decisions.

If an Engineer were to advise on a particular course of action to avoid catastrophic failure management wouldn’t disregard their recommendations. High turnover, poor leadership, poor culture, lack of strategic direction, undervalued employees, poor reputation, inability to attract & retain employees are all a sign of catastrophic failure on HRs behalf.

Sometimes these outcomes are a result of the leadership teams failure to act on the recommendations of HR, too heavy of a focus towards business outcomes and a lack of balance with the people aspect of running a successful organisation. It’s the role of an experienced HR practitioner to present an effective business case to influence and educate management, to make a convincing argument as to why an investment in your strategy will result in a greater opportunity to meet the organisational goals.

The Australian HR Institute has developed a Model of Excellence; the competencies to which HR specialists should be measured against. The model reflects the “business and people” approach that is widely regarded as best practice and aims to:

  • contribute to a profitable and sustainable workforce
  • increase workforce competency and engagement
  • develop excellence in people management
  • create a dynamic and productive work environment

The Model of Excellence

Business Driven – HR adds value to the organisation through understanding the organisational context and objectives. They fully understand your business operations and the priorities of the business; drive a competitive advantage for the organisation through HR initiatives & projects; are proactive in managing the impacts of of economic, political and legislative influences

Strategic Architect – HR develops goals and plans which contribute to the strategic management of the organisation. They develop and implement HR strategies that add value, are valued by the organisation and ensure organisation strategies are achieved; apply analysis to the organisational outcomes and how they might be achieved from a people perspective; take action to ensure HR activities improve the organisations performance and design and deliver solutions to workforce issues, challenges and opportunities

Ethical & Credible Activist – Influences through the provision of valued insights. They have a track record of achieving positive people outcomes; exercise sound judgement and courage when influencing decision making; display a high level of personal values and leadership, they embody ethical behaviour and accountability.

Stakeholder Mentor & Coach – Builds quality relationships and partnerships with key stakeholders to ensure organisational capability. Engages with industry and internal & external stakeholders to develop effective HR solutions; coaches managers to develop their competence and confidence to perform their people management responsibilities effectively; engages in solutions focussed conversations

Expert Practitioner – Builds, maintains and applies expert HR knowledge to deliver HR benefits to the organisation. Continually develops knowledge; challenges the status quo and develops insights on how decisions affect organisational design, culture and performance; understands metrics and makes informed business decisions after analysis

Culture and Change Leader – Foster a sustainable organisational culture in response to the internal & external environment. Has an understanding on the creation of a positive workplace culture; designs HR solutions to foster an optimal organisational culture; translates culture & values into workforce and workplace practices; champions a values based culture

Workforce and Workplace Designer – Designs a workplace that sustains a capable workforce. Aligns the workforce profile with the needs of the organisation; designs a productive, sustainable and engaging workplace that integrates work and life; constructs and designs jobs which match the needs of the organisation and employee capabilities; establish frameworks and systems that ensure a productive and engaged workforce; builds frameworks that enable the development of workforce capacity and capability to meet the future needs of the organisation

Where does your HR team sit within the HR Competency Model? Do they require additional support to provide a HR service that is consistent with the organisational strategic direction and best practice?

If you have engaged an external HR consultant are they meeting this need for you? Are you getting 100% bang for your buck or are you literally getting employment contracts and a booklet of legislative policies?

Employment Law & people management is a complex beast, if you need assistance navigating your way around we are on hand to provide support & add value to your business

I‘d love to meet with you to discuss how I can create a HR Strategy that adds value to your business, Contact Me for an obligation free chat.

This post is the 3rd in a series of how quality HR solutions can add value to your business. Catch up here & here

HR is so much more than a set of policies and procedures. Strategic HR Management is about developing value adding strategies surrounding compensation & benefits, workforce planning, recruitment, performance management and career development. The policies and procedures aspect of HR is about compliance and risk management; they work within the wider business environment but their core purpose is to provide a risk management framework to manage the industrial relations and employee relations aspect of the business.

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It’s time for HR to move beyond policies, practices and processes, HR’s value proposition to business is to ensure HR professionals and their practices’ produce positive outcomes for key stakeholders, employees, line managers, customers and investors.

THE PEOPLE & CULTURE OFFICE IS A KALGOORLIE BASED HUMAN RESOURCES (HR) CONSULTING COMPANY THAT SPECIALISES IN DEVELOPING PARTNERSHIPS WITH SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES. WE CAN PARTNER WITH YOU TO GAIN A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE THROUGH EMPLOYEE INITIATIVES. 

CONTACT US TO ARRANGE AN APPOINTMENT TO DISCUSS WHAT SOLUTIONS WE CAN PUT IN PLACE TO DRIVE ACHIEVEMENT OF YOUR STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL GOALS.

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