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Talent management

Flexibility - Just do it

Fri, 22/08/2008 - 14:39 — Juliet Bourke

Juliet BourkeImplementing flexibility is a challenge and may require some "hand-holding", especially for managers who have not gone through their own flexibility experience.

Flexibility - just do it! That's the message I hear from the "converted".  As though managing a flexible workforce were the easiest thing to do, and not the challenge that it is. 

A little acknowledgement that flexible work practices require a new way of thinking about work, and some assistance with making practical changes, would go a long way. 

Yesterday I heard a senior leader express his commitment to embedding flexibility into his business (it was one of Australia's leading banks), his acknowledgement of the demographically driven economic imperatives of flexibility (read here: the increased number of women in the workforce and ageing population) AND an acknowledgement that managers may need some hand-holding when entering this brave new world. What a relief. Now managers in his business can ask for a helping hand. 

When we acknowledge that implementing flexibility is a challenge, especially for managers who have not gone through their own flexibility experience (eg working in a job-share - and frankly, how many people have done that?), we can create a space for a more open conversation about what managers need to implement flexible work practices. 

Predicting tomorrow's skills requirements, today

Thu, 21/08/2008 - 14:33 — Amanda Green

Amanda GreenThe country that produces the best equipped talent pool to work in the global economy will receive the cream of the world's work.

Around the world we are seeing a change - economic growth is being accompanied by a growing role for services and knowledge-based industries.

In Australia, with unemployment at a record 33 year low, and predictions that skills shortages will run to half a million people by 2020, we will need to access high value, competitive skills from beyond our borders.

This year IBM released the findings of its Global CEO Study which surveys over 1300 CEOs worldwide. The CEOs interviewed from Australia and New Zealand highlighted people skills as the greatest external force impacting their business in the next three years.

We are also dealing with the emergence of the globally integrated enterprise which is allowing work to be done from anywhere, and more importantly, where the skills are available.

And the world is getting more competitive.  The globally integrated economy is going to increase competition particularly in services, which underpin our economy. And much of this competition will come from increasingly skilled labour forces in places like China and India.

Employee Engagement: A Worthwhile Investment

Fri, 15/08/2008 - 15:33 — Rosemary Ruthven

Relationship Capital cover"A person's passion for using their talents is the power source that drives an organisation" (Dr Carlos A. Raimundo).

A recent Gallup study suggested that approximately 74% of all employees are either "unengaged or actively disengaged."

Assuming the statistics are correct, that means the average business organisation is operating with a loss of about one third of its potential effectiveness.

That's not taking into account the cost of missed business opportunities or lost customers, and certainly doesn't include the cost of sabotage and other acts of revenge disengaged employees might undertake to "get even" with an organization.

According to Dr Carlos A. Raimundo, psychiatrist, MBA and researcher in behavioural modification and neurophysiology, even the most reliable employees, if not truly engaged, can become robots.

"A robot is someone who maintains the cultural standard without adding ‘new life'," he said at a recent Ten Minutes to Clarity workshop. "Every human needs to know he or she is making a difference; contributing something unique which ultimately inspires new style and growth."

Advance Australia Fair

Tue, 05/08/2008 - 10:48 — Anne Summers

Anne Summers

Will women be better off under the Rudd government?

Advance Australia Fair! I can't think of a better title for a session exploring issues affecting women in the workplace. 

Because we want a fair deal for women. We have not had that for far too long but we can hope that, with the election of the Rudd government, that is going to change.

In the time available to me today, I want to remind us of what we lost under the Howard government and what we want restored to us under the Rudd/Gillard government.

In November 2003, I published a book called The End of Equality, which documented the reversal of women's rights under the coalition government.  It made three key points:

1) That the Howard government brought an ideological perspective to women and tried to send us back to the 1950s; in particular, it tried to bribe us into having more babies and it used policy to deter mothers from working, unless they were single mothers in which case they were given no choice.

2) The Howard government also downgraded, disempowered or outright abolished key agencies and offices designed to advocate for women's equality and to monitor our progress.  As a result, it sent a strong signal to the community that women's status was no longer of concern. 

Realising the Adaptable Workforce

Fri, 09/05/2008 - 09:48 — gapadmin

Justyn SturrockBy Justyn Sturrock

The latest report from IBM highlights how ‘cracking the code for Talent' can help companies take their workforce performance to the next level.

Today, more than ever, organisations worldwide are focusing their time and attention on maximising the value of their workforces.

As organisations become more globally integrated, and as traditional geographic and competitive boundaries disappear, the need to identify, develop and connect talent has never been more critical.

Every two years IBM conducts a global CEO Study where we go out and talk to over 1,000 CEOs, and each time we do this, the people agenda is always top of mind.

In 2004, when we asked CEOs what their greatest concern was for their organisation, three primary themes emerged: growth, responsiveness and agility.

And CEOs were almost unanimous in their belief that the greatest hurdle to addressing these themes was the capability within their organisations.

The importance of numbers

Wed, 03/09/2008 - 09:47 — Anne Summers

Anne SummersIt is now commonplace to see women ministers on the nightly news discussing carbon emissions trading schemes, health funding, Indigenous issues and all of the other big policy areas of our time.  Women have a new authority that emphasizes the competence they have always had, but not always been allowed to exercise.

Despite the concerns I expressed in my last two blogs on Open Forum ["Australia's not so secret shame", 18 Aug 2008; "Advance Australia Fair", 5 Aug 2008 - Red.], there is of course much to be pleased about in the way the current government has made it possible for women to actually participate directly in policy direction. The most significant is the number of good, competent women in senior positions in the government.  The importance of women being at the table cannot be overstated.

There are ten women on Kevin Rudd's front bench - 4 in Cabinet, 3 in the outer Ministry and 3 parliamentary secretaries. Women are 20 per cent of the Cabinet and 23.3 per cent of the total ministry, the highest level ever for an Australian government.

However, this number falls far short of many governments elsewhere in the world, especially in Europe, where it is now becoming commonplace for 50 per cent of ministers to be women. Even the conservative French President, Nicholas Sarkozy, has almost equal representation of the sexes in his cabinet.

As a country we have lagged badly in opening up the powerful institutions of our country to women but since the election of the Rudd government there does seem to be a change of attitude towards appointing women.

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