Values: Just a policy or espoused behaviour?

When we talk about organisational values, sometimes we speak of those words on a poster that are displayed around the office, meeting and lunch rooms.  But sometimes we are actually talking about those guiding principles that connect an individual to an organisation and outline desired behaviours.  These values are the fundamentals of an organisations culture.

Many organisations, taking the resources industry as an example, regard “safety” as one of those values that is held above…

Engagement Activities for all Businesses, Great and Small

Good news for small business: you don’t have to break the bank balance to retain your talent!  In a time when small business are attempting to attract and retain from the same talent pool as large businesses, respite is offered for small businesses with a range of innovative, effective and affordable engagement activities.  Employee research suggests that engagement activities or ‘perks’ are what keeps people in your business (Matuson 2012).  There are four broad ways that you may…

Engagement’s Own Thumb Print

Whilst the academic community is still divided on what is the correct way to measure the construct of employee engagement, the commercial world has run with the idea regardless. There are many, many ways in which we can measure the engagement levels of your employees and as mentioned there is no wrong way – they all seem to be correct.

If you have decided that you would like to measure how engaged your employees are, instead of asking what is the right way to do it, maybe ask…

Internal Branding – the Key to reconnecting your Customers and Employees

Customers drive sales and profitability. So how do your employees interact with and engage customers? How would your customers describe their experience? Do your customers have an expectation on how your employee will represent your brand?   

So how does an organisation manage its customer experience to ensure its people, processes and culture are reinforcing customer expectations? A key foundation of customer experience management is internal branding.

Internal branding in…

Will you be coming back to an empty office in the New Year?

New Year’s resolutions: typically they involve trying to change oneself for the better. The New Year brings about a new resolve to improve their lives –a new diet, new exercise regime or in some cases, a new job. For any business, this time of self-improvement can come at a cost in the form of employee turnover.

Research shows that employee turnover can cost businesses serious amounts of money: Mercer Human Resource Consulting estimates the cost of staff turnover ranges from 50% to…

Meaningful Employment Value Propositions for Generation Y

Generation Y is widely defined as the people born between 1982 and 2000. In total there are in excess of 5.15million Generation Y people currently living in Australia. Understanding how they view the world is critical as Employers grapple with skills shortages and an ageing population. Companies that can understand and cater for the needs of this younger group of workers will be more likely to attract and retain this critical group of workers.

In an article published by the…

Attraction and Retention – Navigating the Perfect Storm

The recently released HAYS Salary Guide points to a “perfect storm” on the horizon for employers. The survey highlights 3 factors which will contribute to the storm. These are:

Positive Hiring Intentions – most employers are planning on hiring more people

Widening gap between candidate and employer salary intentions – most candidates expect more than employers are prepared to pay

Skills shortages – 54% of employers in Australia are experiencing difficulty in filling critical…

Employee Engagement for Competitive Advantage

Your brand is only as safe as your least engaged employee. Engage your employees and align them with your corporate vision and values, as they are the face that represents your business at all levels, interacting with all stakeholders. Employee engagement is also an effective source for competitive advantage. Not only are employees an asset that is dynamic, flexible and resilient, but they are also difficult for your competitors to replicate, a source of value and uniqueness.

Activity Based Working Drives Attraction and Retention

The new trend in office design is referred to as Activity Based Working (ABW). This concept has been developed based upon the idea that people will be more engaged and satisfied in their jobs by removing hierarchical structures from the workplace. Hierarchy is removed from the workplace by removing symbols of seniority and creating an environment which fosters collaboration.

Activity based offices are designed to give people the freedom of how to work, where to work and when to work.…

Are you helping to put a man on the Moon?

There is a well-known story linking NASA and employer branding during the rush to place man on the moon.  In this story, it is suggested that whilst inspecting the NASA facility prior to take-off, President Kennedy came across a janitor in the hallway.  Casually asking the janitor what he specifically did in the facility.  The janitor’s response was quite remarkable.  Not “I clean the ablutions and mop the floors”.  No, the janitor showed an organisational-centric response in saying…