How to spot a great employer
By Pam Kershaw
Sydney Morning Herald
Australia's best employers are recognised as such because 80 per cent of employees speak positively about their workplace, rarely think about leaving and strive for good results, according to the findings of a study conducted by human resources consultants Hewitt Associates.
In other companies, only half the employees reported such levels of engagement when responding to last year's Best Employers study of 40,000 employees in 160 organisations. Despite clear evidence that "best employers" have more productive workforces, a "fair number of companies" still fail to make this connection, says Mick Bennett, managing director of Hewitt Associates.
"There are a reasonable number of senior executives in Australia who don't really believe that having the best-motivated people makes a difference," Bennett says. "Rather than investing in people, they say: where can we cut costs?"
So what do the best employers do differently and how easy is it for candidates to identify the good from the bad?
The Hewitt study shows five factors distinguish top employers: leadership commitment to employees, the employment experience they promise and deliver, the connectedness between people and organisational strategy, a high-performance culture where outstanding achievement is important and an alignment between people practices and business objectives.
"All these factors are quite inter-dependent," Bennett says. "The senior executive team is trusted, has a clear vision for the business and the organisation delivers on its promises. [So as an employee] if I give my hardest and I really do perform, I'm appreciated and recognised for that, rather than being in an organisation where it doesn't matter whether I work hard or not and it's not going to make a difference."
He suggests job seekers visit prospective employers' websites to see how responsive they are to employment inquiries. The kind of people they use for their graduate-recruitment program and the sorts of questions they're prepared to answer will also indicate how they treat their employees.
Apply the truth test, he says. "Do you get a sense of authenticity from the organisation, or is it flim-flam?"
Recruitment agency Select Australia has been on the Hewitt Best Employers list for two years. Chief executive Debbie Loveridge says companies that care about their employees have a higher investment in developing staff skills and make a genuine effort to deliver on promises.
The Australian Human Resources Institute has run awards for excellence since 1998, and executive director Jo Mithen says AHRI also looks for alignment between people strategies and business strategies.
While the business should be achieving its goals, staff should be employed and managed in a way that facilitates growth and development, and encourages their greatest efforts. "If the business wants to grow, it's got to use its people to do that," she says. "So you've got to find a way to make sure people are growing with the business."
The Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency looks for policies and practices that have a positive outcome both for women and the business when awarding its Employer of Choice for Women citations.
The agency's director, Anna McPhee, says organisations are assessed on: recruitment and selection; promotion, transfer and termination; training and development; work organisation; conditions of service; sex-based harassment and pregnancy. More than 100 organisations received citations this year.
Appreciated staff work harder
Jenny Thompson, human resources manager Blackmores
"A culture about people and passion, respect and trust" is how Jenny Thompson describes life at Blackmores, a Hewitt Best Employer.
Natural healthcare company Blackmores was founded by Maurice Blackmore in the 1930s, and flourished under the direction of his son, Marcus, who is now executive chairman. Thompson says the company's culture grew from Marcus's passion for wellbeing and his philosophy of "behaving the best you possibly could" in relationships with people, society and the environment.
Blackmore was ahead of his time with innovations such as a company gym, a staff canteen serving healthy food and a certified (enterprise) agreement which supports staff who are ill or unable to work.
He expects his people to work hard, but rewards them with profit sharing and a bonus system, along with social functions such as Christmas parties and time off for departmental events.
The outcome is passionate and positive staff who are "terrific" corporate ambassadors and believe a company's culture has to represent the leader's values and have their stamp on it, Thompson says. She credits Jennifer Tait, the chief operating officer, with embedding the culture and ensuring it continues to thrive.
Websites
Hewitt Associates' Best Employers
AHRI award winners
EOWA (Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency)
Never give up
Mairead McLaughlin, marketing recruitment officer BreastScreen NSW
It took extensive work experience, a job overseas and a lot of determination before Mairead McLaughlin finally landed the kind of public relations job she really wanted. In 2002, she completed a bachelor's degree in communications with a major in public relations.
"I found it really hard to break into the industry, because there weren't a lot of jobs unless you had some sort of experience," McLaughlin says.
While she was still studying at university, she worked at a PR consultancy and then, after graduating, at an RSL club. A year working in retail followed, as her constant job applications were knocked back. In 2004 she undertook work experience with the Bulldogs rugby league team.
McLaughlin's move to London in April last year was a pivotal step when she got a job as a communications officer with Bloodbank. A contract position with Clean Up Australia followed before she joined BreastScreen NSW.
Her advice is to focus on a sector that interests you (in McLaughlin's case, it's organisations that achieve worthwhile social or health outcomes), learn how that sector works, identify the skills you'll need and keep doing work experience.
Published: 26 July 2006
