"By giving people insight
into their personality and making it easier to understand
why they behave the way they do, it makes it easier
for them to understand why they need to change."
Andrew Etherd reports
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Aaron
Dodd says executive coaching is about helping
people develop the skills, confidence and attitude
to better suit the job they're in or are being
considered for.
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Do you feel you have it in you to move up a peg? can
you see yourself in your boss' seat or managing the
team you are part of? Maybe you do have what it takes,
just not the skills to apply that ability. Executive
coaching is a growing field, says Aaron Dodd of Odin
Management Consulting. "A large part of that is
driven by the skills shortage, employers are preferring
to invest in their staff rather than let them move on,
it is a way of retaining staff.
"A typical example is a sales rep moving into
their first sales management role. The traits and skills
that make an effective sales person are often the opposite
to being a sales manager. We coach them through the
transition process, into focusing less on themselves
and more on getting the best out of their team, A year
or so down the track, they are looking at the next step
and they will come back to us to be coached again,
"Executive coaching makes up maybe 25% of our
business," says Mr Dodd. "It is about getting
more out of the people already in the business. We look
at what the 'coachee' is trying to achieve. There is
skills coaching, remedial coaching if there is a problem
with that person's performance or management style.
There is strategic coaching, which is about teaching
people how to deal with a particular situation and transfornational
coaching which is about changing entire behaviours to
suit a role."
Changing behaviour may sound scary, but it is logical
and scientific, based on a century of research.
"We look the personality first" explains
Mr Dodd, "and how it fits with the role they are
trying to achieve or are being considered for. Everybody
has a defined personality and differnt roles require
different behaviours, so we look at where the mismatches
might be and coach people to change their behaviours
so that there is a better fit for the role."
Behaviour is not personality, says Mr Dodd. "The
behaviour that you have is the result of your personality
filtered through your attitudes, values and beliefs.
It is easier to change people's behaviour if you can
give them insight into their personality. A lot of psychologists
will say that your core personailty traits are set from
about the age of four. But your attitudes, values and
beliefs can change. Behaviour is what people see on
the outside, by giving people insight into their personality
and making it easier to understand why they behave the
way they do, it makes it easier for them to understand
why they need to change."
Coaching at this level is not a soft option. "Sometimes
we have to be blunt," says Mr Dodd, "and it
can be confronting. Sometimes it is more subtle. But
it is face-to-face, showing people that we are not basing
our information on hearsay, that there is actual science
behind it."
Its root function is to eliminate
many administrative and tedious tasks whilst providing
secure and accessible employee data. This then allows
companies to focus on more important areas of their
jobs, such as their employees.
HR Technologies is the software development and distribution
division of Odin Consulting, one of Australia's leading
management, people and performance consulting businesses.
Odin HR Technologies provides advanced web-based applications
for decision-support, performance management, and integrated
administration tools, designed for Human Resources professionals.
Odin HR Technologies believes that people are the most
important asset in any organisation. As the war for
talent becomes a protracted global campaign, organisations
have to work harder on their corporate culture to ensure
that they have the sort of business where they can attract
good people to join them and more importantly, retain
their talented employees.
It is therefore imperative that HR professionals have
leading edge tools to aid the selection, management,
development and performance of employees, to effectively
drive the organisation's competitive advantage.
HR Advantage is a simple to use yet powerful Human
Resources software (HRIS/HRMS) program with the depth
and functionality to handle a wide range of HR and Corporate
objectives, starting with basic needs in small companies
and fully scalable to address complex requirements in
larger organisations.
HR Advantage was designed and crafted in conjunction
with HR professionals right from the start. Its root
function is to considerably eliminate many administrative
and tedious tasks whilst providing secure and accessible
employee data. This then allows clients to focus on
more important areas of their jobs, such as employees.
Performance Advantage offers an innovative, cutting
edge approach to administering employee performance
appraisals, placing HR professionals at the technological
forefront of this crucial human resources and managerial
function.
Performance Advantage not only automates performance
appraisal administration, it elevates it to a superb
relationship, productivity and behaviour modification
tool, effectively driving change, productivity, development
of core competencies, and ultimately, bottom-line results
for your company.
Prevue Advantage provides businesses and HR Professionals
with a suite of reports that assist in human resource
decision-making. These reports compare the candidates'
general abilities in terms of verbal, numerical and
spatial skills to those of top performers.
The reports also provide an objective perspective of
individual's interests and motivations in terms of the
candidates' preferences for various types of work. Finally,
and perhaps most significantly, Prevue Advantage provides
feedback on an individual's personality traits and how
they compare to the preferred traits for a specific
job.
The importance of benchmarking personality traits to
job requirements can be better understood by example.
Consider how uncomfortable you would be if the pilot
flying your next flight was a risk-taker and disliked
following detailed plans? How concerned would you be
if your child's school bus driver was extremely assertive
and very competitive?
In addition to stipulating minimum experience and education
prerequisites, the job requirements should identify
the personal characteristics that are desired in a candidate.
Shelley Dempsey
The moment of realisation came when the Melbourne company
manager was forced to dismiss his second executive for
non-performance and disciplinary issues. "I thought
to myself, there must be something I'm not doing right,"
says Wilm Leibenstein, managing director of Fibrisol
Service Australia - a niche food products manufacturer
with 40 staff.
"I really felt I probably wasn't asking the right
questions [when interviewing] and didn't have the organisational
processes to find out whether these people would be
suitable long-term."
Outsourcing the HR recruitment function to Odin Consulting,
which has offices in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne,
proved to be the answer. The entry of psychometric testing
and other high-level professional services into the
equation means that the strike rate for recruits is
now 100 per cent. "Odin have recruited about six
people for us over the years and they are still all
with us," says Leibenstein. "They have also
just found a new person for us in South Africa."
He adds: "Sometimes you may not like the results
they come up with, but I think it has pretty much proven
that these tests and processes are definitely worthwhile."
One day a fortnight, Odin Consulting has a physical
presence in the Fibrisol office, which has led to the
firm outsourcing other HR functions to Odin such as
performance management, executive coaching and training
courses. "It has all worked really well,"
says Liebenstein, who adds that the process has been
far cheaper than hiring a full-time HR Manager. "We
know what the money would be for a really super-class
HR guy," says Liebenstein. "It would be more
than $100,000 per year and we've spent far less than
that."
Demand has risen amongst SMEs for outsourcing HR functions
such as recruitment, payroll services, occupational
health and safety, salary benchmarking, executive coaching
and employee satisfaction surveys, according to Don
Holley, managing partner at Odin Consulting.
Motivated by a skills shortage that is forcing SMEs
to compete harder for good staff, HR outsourcing is
now becoming more accepted in the marketplace, he says.
Companies also tend to hire on skills and fire on personality,
so they are realising it is important to carry out personality
testing when hiring.
"Companies have accepted that they can outsource
IT - they've been doing that for some years now - and
I think HR is now following," he says.
Those who have outsourced recruitment for a while are
also tending to now demand other HR services. "I
think some firms have found it a little frustrating
and at times a little unsuccessful when dealing with
pure recruitment firms. The feedback we're getting now
is that they're looking for somebody who really understands
their business and can help get the right people, but
also make sure they keep them."
Lachlan Colquhoun
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|
Odin
Consulting is just the start of where Don Holley
and his partners want to take it.
Don Holley |
Don Holley says he treated every business he managed
as if it was his own, so it was inevitable that one
day he would turn his entrepreneurial talents to a start-up
venture for himself.
Holley, who graduated with his MBA (Executive)
in 1999, was included in the BRW Upstarts list of Australia’s
fastest growing new businesses for his role as one of
three partners in Odin Consulting, which came in ranked
at number 57.
“I was very successful at managing other people’s
businesses and made a lot of money for them, but there
was always this desire to see what I could do on my
own and it’s been very rewarding to be part of
a successful company,” says Holley, whose earlier
career was in the automotive accessories retail sector
with management roles at the Beaurepaires and Midas
chains.
Odin was formed in 2003 and has offices in Brisbane,
Sydney and Melbourne and is concentrating on the burgeoning
market for human resources outsourcing, with a capability
to manage all facets of the HR function for businesses
small or large.
Odin also has distribution rights to a proprietary
psychometric assessment called Prevue, which is essentially
a risk management tool to screen prospective employees,
and a performance management methodology called Appraisal
Smart.
While performance management is one of the current
buzzwords in the HR industry, the 36 year old Holley
says many organisations lack the expertise and the tools
to implement an effective system.
“We have Appraisal Smart now to a point where
it is accessible to most companies. It is a hosted system
with a user pay scenario and as such is accessible to
small to midsized companies that need to have good practices
in place. It’s such a competitive market for talent
that effective performance management and development
systems can give companies a real competitive edge.
“One thing about performance management is that
you really need to give people regular feedback and
make it clear what the expectations are and create development
plans for them, that can be effectively managed. The
software makes the management of the process far simpler
and more efficient,.”
HR outsourcing, he says, is particularly attractive
to small and medium sized organisations, and this is
proving to be a market niche for Odin.
“What we’ve done is find a good tool where
employee’s role descriptions are linked to a performance
management system that is managed online. Many companies,
particularly those with around 60 to 100 employees,
can’t justify an expensive full time high level
HR resource,” says Holley.
“So we basically provide the tools, know how
and people to go in there and create an effective HR
function within their organisation, and there is a growing
niche market for those services.”
Odin is also involved in the recruitment function,
where it pursues two models.
“Unlike many recruitment firms, Odin looks at
how it can help clients reduce the costs of recruitment,
and in some instances provide them with the recruitment
software to manage that process better, and we’ll
use tools like the Prevue assessments to help them minimise
the risk of making the wrong decision,” says Holley.
“Alternately, we can undertake the whole recruitment
and selection process ourselves.”
Odin is a long way from Holley’s early career
in retailing and franchising, and he attributes the
shift largely to the benefits of his AGSM education.
“I was with one company for many years, earned
the accolade of Manager of the Year and was one of their
youngest ever regional managers but as I was going through
the MBA I started to question if this industry was the
one I wanted to be in. I realised that I probably only
stayed there because my roles were growing and I kept
on being promoted,” he says.
“I did my MBA because I recognised there was
a lot more to learn and I wanted to learn it."
I was also looking for a way to apply it and it has
always been my desire to start my own business.”
The MBA, he says, taught him to critically evaluate
what was on offer to the customer, and this perspective
has been useful in building up Odin.
“Consulting, HR and recruitment are very fragmented
with thousands of players so we wanted to create a point
of difference which was multi-faceted,” says Holley.
“So now we’ve got a flexible process where
we do recruitment and selection, which is about 50 percent
of our business, and the other half is organisational
development related services.
“We find that our offering is very attractive
because we have a whole end to end HR service that clients
find valuable.”
Although it is three years old, Holley says Odin is
“just at the start” of where he and his
partners want to take it.
“I’m really committed to growing this business
and think there is great potential to achieve our goals
with what we have to offer our clients,” he says.
“We want to grow this into a quality Australian
consultancy and then take it offshore.”
Odin Consulting is pleased
to announce its inclusion in the 2006 BRW
Upstarts list. Odin was ranked the 57th fastest
growing start up company in Australia. 75 companies
made the list.
David James & Emily Ross
Excerpt:
"A co-founder of Odin Consulting (rank 57), Aaron
Dodd, used online job advertising to catch the company's
first recruit. He made sure the ad reflected the spirit
of the company, which was set up in 2003 and now has
offices in in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. He was
looking for self-starters who could handle working alone
much of the time and created an advertisement that was
able to strike a balance between the risks and rewards
of being part of a fledgling business. Dodd found the
right person and avoided the need for more expensive
recruitment processes, the type of costs that start-up
companies like to avoid"
Andrew Heathcote
Excerpt:
One Upstart that is in the process of changing
its accounting firm is Odin Consulting, which provides
human-resources services to a wide range of clients.
It concentrates on mid-size companies that are big enough
to need a human-resources department but not big enough
to want to bear the cost of setting one up internally.
The business was started in 2003 and has achieved impressive
growth.
Odin Consulting has three partners: Aaron Dodd runs
the Melbourne office, Julanne Martin is in Brisbane
and Don Holley is in charge in Sydney. Speaking on behalf
of his colleagues, Holley says his company recently
decided to stop using the small accounting firm it had
used since its inception.
It was a difficult decision and Holley suspects that
he and his partners took too long to make it. "We
probably should have acted six months ago." Holley
says it was not that the firm was doing a bad job; they
were capable accountants. The problem was that, as Odin
matured, it needed additional services and assistance.
"When your business grows, your expectations change,"
Holley says. "You need to have confidence that
the person will be with you for the entire journey."
Few business owners enjoy meeting their accountants
and Holley describes changing accountants as a hassle.
"You need to make a big investment in getting a
person up to speed". Odin is yet to sign up a new
accounting firm and Holley says options are still being
considered. Odin wants an accounting firm with a national
presence and a record of helping firms expand.
Ian McKean
Small businesses need HR skills too, writes Ian McKean,
and one way to get them is to outsource
FOR many, the term "outsourcing" means a
call to a customer assistance line of, say, a credit
card provider or hotel chain that has them speaking
to someone in Glasgow or New Delhi.
But the reality is that outsourcing takes many forms,
and large companies using international call centres
are but one example of how the phenomenon is effecting
the modern workforce.
If they lack the funds or specialist knowledge needed
to perform them internally, small and medium enterprises
(SMEs) also seek to outsource key business functions
.
One of these in today's tight market for skilled labour
is specialised human resources services helping businesses
attract, retain and develop staff.
"We've got a war for talent happening at the moment
and its not likely to go away in the next 10 to 20 years,"
says Jo Mithen, executive director of the Australian
Human Resources Institute. "So companies are understanding
that its much more than just getting somebody in the
door and giving them a pay of X amount every year and
hoping everything will be fine.
"They've really got to work hard to get the most
out of the individuals and provide a workplace where
that individual wants to stay, because they'll walk
out otherwise. So in that environment it makes perfect
sense for SMEs to bring specialised HR services to help
them through that challenge," she says.
Rapid growth made the decision to outsource easy for
Ferag Australia, the Australian arm of a Swiss-based
printing industry supplier. In the past three years
sales have increased fourfold and staff numbers trebled
as a result of aggressive business development strategies
and company acquisitions.
But while management knew it was clearly successful
in achieving key business goals, it gradually dawned
that it did not know much about HR. There were no guidelines
or documented policies addressing day-to-day HR issues
and as a result, no consistency in responding to employees
needs.
"This did not really matter too much when we were
a small company, but now with 65 employees it was imperative
that we address these issues," says managing director
Markus Haefeli .
"It is a very subtle day-to-day change that you
hardly notice, but over a few months can spiral out
of control and ruin a good company."
Ferag turned to HR specialist Odin Consulting to conduct
a broad-ranging review of its situation, and propose
practices, policies and procedures.
Haefeli found that one of the most important benefits
of bringing in specialists was that employees had access
to an independent party, which would respect their opinions
and treat them in a confidential manner.
"The management of Ferag and I have always focused
on business and have built up a reputation with our
staff for transparent and honest feedback, sometimes
very blunt and business focused. This type of relationship
is not always conducive to people coming to you with
their problems."
After surveying and interviewing a broad cross-section
of employees Odin made recommendations which eventually
resulted in new HR practices in a range of areas including
induction and orientation, remuneration and benefits,
performance appraisal and management, training and development,
and succession planning.
Mithen agrees that "this idea of coaching and
specialised learning and development is essentially
what HR is all about, but in smaller companies they've
not had to think about it. You wouldn't have an HR manager,
for example in a small business, who would also be able
to do executive coaching, appropriate learning and development,
manage industrial relations and all those other things,
so it is appropriate to bring in specialists for those
areas to help you manage your people the best way you
can."
For another Odin client, niche food products manufacturer
Fibrisol Service Australia, a head-count of 35 meant
that a full-time HR manager has never been an option.
Fibrisol primarily calls on its expert partner when
it is looking to recruit executive-level managers. Having
an independent third party with specialist recruitment
knowledge and an insider's understanding of the business
is invaluable, says managing director Wilm Liebenstein.
"I believe having a neutral person who over time
comes to know the organisation and can take a view on
who would be the best fit, produces the best results
for us."
The manufacturer also turns to Odin when it is looking
to assess the strengths and weaknesses of its managers,
and develop coaching programs.
"Its not the intention to criticise someone, but
everybody has their weaknesses and I think its worthwhile
to have a look at these, again from a more neutral person,"
he says.
Emily Ross
The managing director of the consultancy McDonald Monahan
Associates, Dennis McDonald, says only a very rare organisation
can afford not to pay full value for an outstanding
performer. "But pay is not always the right motivator,"
he says. McDonald's firm provides advice to companies
on leadership and board-level matters. He says managers
need to consider carefully the alternatives to rewarding
an aspirational performer with a pay rise. Other ways
to recognise and reward a valuable employee include
the opportunity for extended learning, a challenging
project, a promotion or a company award for performance.
Managers need to recognise that the incentives motivating
staff tend to vary greatly according to age. Workers
in their 20s expect steady pay increases, and top-level
performers who are moving into their 30s are looking
for challenging roles. Organisations need the ability
to constantly assess and manage the risk that their
best performers will leave for other jobs. McDonald
says the need to protect the company in these circumstances
is a direct responsibility of the chief executive and
the executive team, and is not something to be delegated
to the human resources office. McDonald is a strong
advocate of processes that let an organisation quickly
recognise its top talent, and that allow the development
of talented people. This is where effective performance
management systems can make a difference.
If you are running a company and a valued employee
asks you for a pay rise, how do you react? The NSW managing
partner of Odin Consulting, Don Holley, has the answer.
"Just be thankful," he says. "At least
you were asked - some employees may have just walked
out." Holley's firm concentrates on recruiting,
coaching and organisational development, and he is aware
that many good employees are often overdue for a pay
rise. He says: "My advice to clients would be,
if you haven't thought of this question you should have.
It could be that the job has changed and should be reclassified,
but if you don't have a system in place, you don't know."
The other thing to consider is whether the employee's
salary is still market-competitive. "If you end
up having to offer more money, make sure it is linked
to performance," Holley says.
If a manager is confident that employees are being
paid reasonably for the work they do, a request for
a pay rise can sometimes be met by other incentives
such as flexible working conditions. "If they can't
get a pay rise," Holley says, "you have to
be damn sure that you have other things that make them
happy to continue working."
ONE OF YOUR TOP PEOPLE WANTS A PAY RISE:
* Before rejecting the pay claim outright, ensure
that the present salary is market competitive.
* If you are going to offer perks instead of pay (flexible
hours, for instance) don't just refer the whole deal
to your human resources department.
* Effective managers know what they have to offer valued
employees to retain them.
* Ensure that the company is aware of the people who
are its top performers
* Always have a strategy in place to discourage them
from seeking greener fields.
Deborah Tarrant
RECRUITMENT
Reports that Australian are moving away from a job
for life are overstated, according to research, Deborah
Tarrant writes.
Employees are staying longer in jobs, contradicting
suggestions made since the retrenchments marking the
end of the 1980s that the concept of a job for life
was outdated.
Recent research shows the average tenure for employees
in Australian organisations is six years and nine months,
compared with the 2001 average of just below six years.
The research results reflect a stronger economy, social
change and employers' improved approaches to retaining
staff, say human resources academics and recruitment
industry specialists.
However, the trend also flies in the face of a fresh
outbreak of a "war for talent" caused by skills
shortages in certain sectors, which is expected to increase
job churn.
The increased tenure revealed by the results shows
the much-reported move away from the job for life has
been overstated, says Jon Williams, managing director
of Hewitt Associates, the international human resources
consultancy that commissioned the survey of 40,000 employees
in 140 Australian organisations.
"People are wanting to stay working with organisations
for longer," he says.
In part, this reflects a fresh significance in the
role of an employer. "There is a growing school
of thought that suggests, as society becomes more fragmented
and more people are living alone, that continuity within
one workplace has assumed a greater meaning in people's
lives."
The survey results also show employers have improved
their ability to keep staff happy, Williams suggests.
This encompasses not only better general human capital
management practices, but a stronger insight into the
differing requirements of the baby boomers who focus
more on job benefits and salaries, and the emphasis
on career development, learning, growing and flexibility
that emanates from the subsequent generations X and
Y.
Generational differences aside, when it comes to how
long an employee chooses to stick with an organisation,
there's a quantifiable gender gap.
The Hewitt Associates survey shows men choose to stay
significantly longer with employers an average of seven
years and 10 months while women record an average of
five years and seven months per job, showing a lower
tolerance to staying in an unsatisfactory role.
Women appear faster than their male counterparts to
decide that an employer is not the place for them and
take action, says Williams, whose organisation publishes
an annual best-employers list examining best practice
in people management across a range of Australian companies.
"However, among the best employers organisations
that have excelled at engaging and retaining people
this gap between men and women drops to just 10 months,
although women do still stay for less time than men,"
he says.
Overall staff turnover is lower in high-engagement
organisations that focus strongly on their people management,
although these inherently tend to be successful and
rapidly growing organisations.
"Whilst their turnover is low, this is balanced
by larger numbers of new people who have joined these
organisations to support their growth and therefore
have shorter tenure," Williams says.
The capacity to retain staff starts with expectations
established in the recruitment process and organisations
are displaying more self-awareness in this area.
Organisations have become more adept at letting candidates
know what to expect, Williams observes.
"To retain people, companies need to make the
culture and the requirements of a role very clear from
the outset," he says.
"It is important not to over-promise and under-deliver."
His point is supported by Roger Collins, professor
of management and human resources strategist at the
Australian Graduate School of Management.
He confirms that Australian employers have become more
clear-cut about their own needs, and therefore better
able to hire the right people for the right roles.
Historically, employers have traded on loyalty, Collins
says, although with the increased emphasis on skill
sets in the workforce, they have begun to recognise
that they may not need all of their employees all of
the time.
Commonly, employers are dividing their workforce into
three distinct categories:
Makes: With skill sets essential to the business model,
hired for the long term and actively "grown".
Buys: Hired for their immediate impact, and expected
to stay for three to five years.
Rents: Contractors who are hired for a short term,
usually less than a year, who tend not to be trained
within the organisation.
Recruitment specialist Don Holley, of Odin Consulting,
predicts that as competition in the job market increases,
employers will need to hone their capabilities continuously
to retain the staff they want to keep.
"They need to be looking at the environment they
are offering, the quality of leadership and ensuring
people are aligned with their business goals,"
he says.
JOB LOTS
* Average job tenure is six years and nine months,
compared with just below six years in 2001.
* This reflects a stronger economy and social change,
HR specialists say.
* It also shows employers have improved their ability
to keep staff contented, they say |
