When future lies elsewhere

When future lies elsewhere

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When future lies elsewhere

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Do you have someone who is a valuable employee but you know it is only a matter of time before they start looking for opportunities in greener pastures for their career growth? How do you deal with that?

Last week, a client asked me about whether they should be doing “Stay Interviews” with their people as distinct from “Exit Interviews”. It is an interesting question and it provided the stimulus for this blog. 

My lived experience

There have been three times in my working life when, upon announcing my resignation to take up a new career opportunity, my boss responded: “Why are you leaving ? We have great plans for you!” And I said: “Sorry but you forgot to tell me about them.”

If we had had those conversations, I might well have been happy to stay and explore the opportunities where I was…..or I might have elected to move on anyway because the opportunities and my needs were not a match.

In either case, we would have both known where things stood and we could plan accordingly with the benefit of that knowledge.

The Reality

The reality for most organisations is that they do not do staff performance and development very well. There might be annual reviews that can feel more like a transaction that we are contractually obliged to complete (ie to tick the box) than a meaningful process for planning and delivering on performance and development goals and job requirements.

Even those which do performance appraisals reasonably well can fall Ito the trap of treating them as an annual event rather than as part of a continuous improvement and engagement process. 

And even where the systems might in theory be appropriate to the exercise, too often managers are not properly trained and equipped to do them or provided with adequate time and prioritisation to get it done properly.

This begs the question of what value the employee gets from the process.

And, in so far as an employee who might be at risk of leaving, their manager might not know (or even not want to know). And sometimes people are so busy in their own world that they can’t see outside that.

So there are all sorts of reasons why a disenchanted employee could fly under the radar and surprises when they say “I’m going”. 

What should happen?

A skilled and  effective manager should be able to have open conversations with their team members about their individual performance and wellbeing not just in their current role but beyond that too.

You should know what the employees’ strengths are and where their future career path is likely to take them.

This should involve an understanding of how far the organisation can support that employee’s career path and where that is likely to end.

For this to happen, you need to be having regular conversations about all of that and have a plan for the employee to execute agreed actions with your support – that can include looking at alternative jobs or projects in the organisation that will help both employer and employee and it can also be about how you can support the employee to take the next step in their career outside your organisation.

The quid quo pro for the employee is that, in return for your support for their career development, they will assist you with succession of their current responsibilities to others

It is all about honesty, transparency and collaboration.

About Stay and Exit Interviews

My ideal is that these are just part of the ongoing performance and development management process through a continuous coaching model rather than stand alone events.

The “Stay” bit is just part of the ongoing conversation in your catchups or is programmed as a specific point of discussion at some stage in the process.

The “Exit” piece can be the final conversation in that process.

Perhaps you want to have an independent person or HR to have a conversation with the exiting employee to get some distance and assure transparency. I get that.

Sometimes, the answers to those questions lie in the reasons that you want to do them………and sometimes they are the very reasons why you shouldn’t do them. I’ll leave that question with you to have a think about.

If you are looking at better ways for you to uncover improvement opportunities with your people practices and culture, that is something that we can help you with.  

Please call us on 0438 533 311 or email enquiries@ridgelinehr.com.au if you want to explore how we might be of assistance.

 

 

 

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Changing the mindset on flexible working

Changing the mindset on flexible working

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Changing the mindset on flexible working

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Is it possible for the parties to the current proceedings in the Fair Work Commission re a model working from home term in modern awards to do other than treat it as a contest between employers and workers?

Sadly, the answer is “no”. Our workplace relations system is designed to be driven by conflict –  by claims and counter claims by employer associations and unions based on opposing ideologies and traditional and political views on how they should represent their constituents in industrial proceedings.

And the Fair Work Commission itself and its members are firmly positioned as the arbiters in that contest as is intended under the Fair Work Act 2009.

What all of that means is that our systems and the positioning of the key parties involved are not conducive to collaboration or to partnering in long-term strategic change. Every case is a transaction in conflict and that is one of the reasons why we have a productivity problem in this country.

So how is that going to deal effectively with issues like “working from home”?

The irony

The COVID pandemic changed the landscape completely because lots of people were not allowed to go to work – they had to work from home if they were going to work at all.

Those circumstances gave rise to some innovative changes to award provisions which allowed employers and employees some additional flexibilities around arrangements with hours of work and use of leave entitlements.

These included temporary options of:

  • varying ordinary hours to operate up to 10.00 pm enabling people to arrange their working hours around their parenting responsibilities and
  • employees being able to schedule their meal and rest breaks to times that suited them rather than the specific times prescribed in the award and
  • being able to utilise annual leave to cover more time off work but at a proportionately reduced pay rate 

Of course, once the COVID lockdowns were over, these flexibilities were removed from awards without any real consideration of whether there might be a case for retaining them.

That was a pity and an opportunity missed because the pandemic lockdowns gave employees the experience of working from home and many liked it and that fundamentally changed how we think about work as part of life. 

So what now?

The Fair Work Commission was tasked last year with undertaking a “Work and Care” review of modern awards and the consideration of “working from home terms in modern awards” is a step in that process.

It is being reported that, as we move further on in time from the pandemic closedown period, more and more employers are demanding more and more workers to return to the office – in some cases full-time and in others for typically 2 or 3 days per week.

The flip side to that is that study after study shows that a majority of people want some flexibility in their working arrangements and, for those whose jobs can be done from home, that is commonly desirable for them. It has become a sought after attribute in employers’ offerings to the labour market.

If you believe the media, employer groups are now advocating the abolition of penalty rates in return for flexibility in hours of work, something which the Federal Government has already pledged to override by protecting penalty rates through legislative change.

It is a bit of a mystery why we don’t simply revisit how the FWC dealt with working from home arrangements during the pandemic – they did do some practical things that seemed to work like allowing an employee and employer to agree to an arrangement of ordinary working hours outside the span of hours in the Award where an employee wants that and the employer is happy to accommodate it. Sure, you might need to make some adjustments to protocols around the right to disconnect in the individual’s case but it really shouldn’t be that hard. 

Some employees have a statutory right to request a flexible working arrangement

Employers now have additional obligations and exposures in relation to requests for flexible working arrangements for workers who have a statutory right to request a flexible working arrangement. These are people who have 12 months service with an employer and:

The odds are that many of your employees fit under one or more of those categories.

Employers now have to genuinely consider and consult with workers about requests for flexible working arrangements, there are strict procedural requirements and timelines involved and a worker who is not happy with an employer’s refusal of their request can take the matter to the Fair Work Commission for mediation, conciliation or arbitration. 

Awards have already been modified to specifically provide for disputes over requests for flexible working arrangements to be dealt with in accordance with dispute settlement provisions in awards.

One of the concerns that employers could have is whether insertion of a working from home clause in Awards would result in in expansion of the right to have a dispute with an employer dealt with by the Fair Work Commission to all award-covered employees rather than just those in the categories that have a statutory right as noted above. Logically, it would have that effect.

So what does all of this mean?

Flexible working and working from home are here to stay.

Employers who continue to resist that will find themselves not just challenged to find and retain the people that they need in a competitive labour market where flexible working is a valued commodity, but will also likely be challenged in the FWC and possibly other jurisdictions to justify that resistance on “reasonable business grounds”.

There are organisations which are more than happy to offer flexible working arrangements because they see the value in them for employees, they equip their organisations with the tools and leadership skills to manage people in those flexible arrangements, they hold people accountable for their performance and behaviour and they actually see improvements in productivity. That is what the future workplace should look like.

So the question that you need to answer for your business is “Do you really want to engage in a tug of war that you can’t win?” 

Please call us on 0438 533 311 or email enquiries@ridgelinehr.com.au if you want to explore how we might be of assistance.

 

 

 

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ABN : 24 091 644 094

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Dealing with the positive duty to prevent sexual harassment

Dealing with the positive duty to prevent sexual harassment

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Dealing with the positive duty to prevent sexual harassment

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As people will be aware, there has been a huge amount of publicity on the subjects of sexual harassment and gender inequalities in recent times and there are significant changes that have happened or are about to happen in multiple jurisdictions.

Arrival of positive duties

One of those changes is the relatively new positive duty to prevent sexual harassment, sex discrimination and gender-based behaviours which became enforceable under the Commonwealth “Sex Discrimination Act 1984” in December 2023.

The Australian Human Rights Commission has compliance and enforcement powers whereby it can enter workplaces for inspections, interview staff and initiate prosecutions for breach of that positive duty.

We have also seen new positive duties to eliminate or control risks associated with psychosocial hazards which include sexual harassment and gender-based behaviours become operative in most States and Territories of Australia under Workplace Health and Safety laws. It has recently been announced that this will happen in Victoria late this year and there is already a panel of Psychosocial Hazard Worksafe Inspectors operating in Victoria.

What difference do positive duties make?

The traditional approach to dealing with such issues as sexual harassment has been to have a policy to express commitments, procedures for dealing with issues and training to educate people on expectations and then to act on any complaints or breaches reported.

That has proven to be ineffective in preventing sexual harassment.

The positive duty means that organisations now have to conduct risk assessments to determine whether there are any hazards that give rise to risks of sexual harassment and related behaviours and, if there are any such hazards, to implement appropriate control plans, much as has been required for physical WHS risks for many years.

Risk factors in construction

Here are some of the risk factors that are featured in publications by the AHRC:

·       most of your workers are men

·       most of the supervisors or managers in your workplace are men

·       your business involves interacting with third parties (such as clients, customers and/or others)

·       you employ casual staff and/or workers on short-term contracts

·       your workplace is very hierarchical

·       your workplace lacks diversity

·       your workplace is isolated or remote

·       your workplace is divided by gender (for example, women in the office, men ‘on the tools’)

·       alcohol is consumed, especially at work social events

·       you and/or your staff do not understand sex discrimination, sexual harassment, and other unlawful behaviours

·       disrespectful behaviour is generally accepted or common in your workplace

·       you don’t have a policy or code of conduct which sets expected standards of behaviour

·       you have not responded appropriately or held people accountable for unlawful behaviours in the past (or have not applied a policy or code of conduct consistently).

How many of those risk factors are present in your workplace? If you are in civil construction, probably most of them.

The Australian Human Rights Commission Framework

The AHRC has developed a set of 7 standards for complying with the positive duty in preventing and responding to sexual harassment and related behaviours and these are:

1.    Leadership

2.    Culture:

3.    Knowledge

4.    Risk management

5.    Support

6.    Reporting and response

7.    Monitoring, evaluation and transparency

There is some excellent guidance material available at https://humanrights.gov.au

The Leadership Standard

Of those 7 standards, the one that has been called out as the most important is “Leadership” because that is where it all starts.

The standard describes the leadership responsibilities as follows:

1.     Senior leaders understand their obligations under the Sex Discrimination Act and have up-to-date knowledge about relevant unlawful conduct.

2.     Senior leaders are responsible for ensuring that appropriate measures for preventing and responding to relevant unlawful conduct are developed, recorded in writing, communicated to workers and implemented. Senior leaders regularly review the effectiveness of these measures and update workers.

3.     Senior leaders are visible in their commitment to safe, respectful and inclusive workplaces that value diversity and gender equality. They set clear expectations and role model respectful behaviour.

‘Senior leader’ refers to any person with responsibility for the management and governance of the organisation or business.

In a small organisation or business, this will usually be the owner and any manager.

In larger organisations and businesses, this will usually include the board (or equivalent), chief executive officer (CEO), executive leadership team (ELT), partners or executive manager.

Senior leaders hold ultimate responsibility and accountability for the governance and legal compliance of their organisation or business.

They are responsible for their own actions, the actions of those who they lead and influence, allocation of resources, oversight of compliance and shaping the broader workplace culture.

They set the ‘tone from the top’ – meaning that what they say and do gives a strong message to workers about what is acceptable, important and valued.

What the Australian Institute of Company Directors has to say

The Australian Human Rights Commissioner called on the AICD to help in education of directors about sexual harassment, its drivers and things that they need to be doing to meet their duties as directors in this context.

The AICD has developed: “A director’s guide to preventing and responding to sexual harassment at work”. In essence, it follows the 7 standards published by the AHRC. It also notes some really important questions that Boards should be considering including:

·       Do all directors have an adequate understanding of workplace sexual harassment and its drivers?

·       Are you confident directors’ personal communication styles and behaviour model the desired culture?

·       Do you discuss this at board level?

·       Are you comfortable that the board understands the dynamics and prevalence of sexual harassment in the organisation and how it relates to the organisational culture?

·       Does the board, or relevant board committee, consider workplace sexual harassment risks in overall risk management and governance?

So, you can see that the expectations of senior leaders go a long way beyond just putting policies in place – they need to be leading from the front and that starts at board level.

The Queensland development

From 1 March 2025, if a risk has been identified, employers must also implement a comprehensive, written prevention plan that identifies risks, control measures for managing these risks if elimination is not practicable and the process for consulting with employees during its development.

Employers will need to consider specific worker, workplace and work environment characteristics, such as lack of diversity or isolated work, which may heighten the risk of sexual harassment and sex or gendered-based harassment occurring in their workplace.

In essence, this means that any business needs to conduct a risk assessment in line with regulations and the Code of Practice and develop a control plan on how each identified risk will be mitigated.

This applies to all Persons Conducting a Business or Undertaking which has people working in Queensland.

New jurisdictions at the Fair Work Commission

The FWC has been able to issue stop sexual harassment orders for some years, but it isn’t a jurisdiction that saw a lot of activity for the simple reason that, unless the alleged perpetrator was still working in the organisation, there was essentially nothing to stop, and often cases could fail to result in any action on jurisdictional grounds.

If the alleged sexual harassment happened after 6 March 2023, the FWC can also conciliate on sexual harassment disputes and either issue a certificate to allow a court application to proceed or arbitrate itself and has powers to award compensation among other things. 

Conclusion

The challenge starts with senior leadership in our organisations which means, in an industry such as ours, it predominantly starts with the men in those senior leadership roles, whether on boards or executive teams in larger organisations or business owners and managers in smaller ones.

And the process starts with understanding the truths about sexual harassment and gender-based behaviours, what drives them and what impacts they have on people plus what your obligations as a senior leader involve.

Beyond that, it is playing your part individually and collectively to drive the cultural change that is necessary to make the industry a psychologically and emotionally safe place for people and women in particular.

Who is up for that challenge?

This article was originally produced for CCF Victoria’s Bulletin publication.

Please call us on 0438 533 311 or email enquiries@ridgelinehr.com.au if you want to explore how we might be of assistance.

 

 

 

CONTACT US

Ridgeline Human Resources Pty Ltd
ABN : 24 091 644 094

enquiries@ridgelinehr.com.au

0438 533 311

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The results are in – what next?

The results are in – what next?

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The results are in – what next?

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The Albanese Government has had a landslide victory at the federal election – so what does that mean for employers?

One thing that this resounding election victory for Labor signals is that we have certainty about what the future of federal government looks like for at least the next 2 terms.

The Liberal/National Coalition is in disarray and its agenda, attitude and culture have been emphatically rejected by the Australian people.

I believe that our democracy is healthier when we have a strong Liberal Party as a responsible and influential balance in Parliament. So this is a sad state of affairs and it does mean that it will be years before we can hope for that to happen with what they have left in the Parliament.

So what does that mean if you are an employer?

Accept reality

If you were banking on the cavalry arriving via the return of a coalition government, forget it – it ain’t happening and won’t be for the foreseeable future.

So, all of those changes that Labor has made to employment laws in the last 3 years and which have flown on to modern awards are here to stay.

The right to disconnect (which for most businesses isn’t really a problem if they understand properly how it works) is staying.

Wage theft as a criminal offence (which is only a problem for someone who knowingly and deliberately rips employees off) is staying.

Employee expectations about flexible and hybrid working are also here to stay judging by the public backlash against the Coalition’s rhetoric on getting people back to the office and their subsequent and embarrassing backflip on that policy.

The demographic has shifted – we now have more millennials and Gen Zs and younger than Baby Boomers in the workforce and they are demanding honesty and transparency and purpose. So it is time to rethink your value proposition as an employer if you are going to attract and retain the talent you need and have a productive and happy workforce.

What else is coming?

The Albanese Government has already done most of what it wants to do in relation to changes to employment laws.

It has already forecast two areas for change:

  • The prohibition on restraint clauses in employment contracts for people whose remuneration is less than the High Income Threshold; and
  • Legislating protections of penalty rates due to some employer associations making application to the FWC to vary awards via annualised wage arrangements that might provide relief from penalty rates

There are also further reviews going on in the Fair Work Commission relative to Gender Wage Equality and with respect to “work and care” and they could deliver more changes in the next year or two.

The other area that businesses of all sizes need to be paying attention to are the positive duties which have come into play federally in relation to the prevention of sexual harassment and gender-based behaviours and, by State or Territory, in relation to the elimination or control of psychosocial hazards

In Queensland, the positive duty to prevent sexual harassment etc has also been subject to State legislation with all businesses having to assess risk sand put in place control plans by 1 March 2025.

What employers need to do

We developed our HEART model to provide simple guidance on the steps that organisations now need to take to be able to demonstrate true compliance in the new positive duty regime. It provides a roadmap for transparency and engagement as well as for effective compliance.

HONESTY

Educate yourself about what psychosocial hazards and sexual and other forms of harassment and discrimination are. Then have a good hard and honest look at yourself, your policies and practices and your peoples’ behaviour.

ENGAGEMENT

Consult with your people, educate them and listen to what they have to say. Build a culture of collaboration and shared interest.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Develop and implement positive policies and practical procedures to drive positive changes in language and behaviours and hold everyone responsible for playing their part.

REVIEW

This isn’t a transaction – it is a continuing journey and you need to continue to monitor and measure progress in collaboration and partnership with your people.

TRUST

Exercise empathy and vulnerability in leadership. Encourage and recognise diversity and peoples’ contributions and perspectives. Build trust, ensuring psychological safety for all.

Conclusion

We think that the election outcome is a victory for Australin culture and it has no doubt been fuelled by rejection of what we are seeing happening overseas and especially in the USA. We don’t want to be like that.

It is also a great opportunity for all leaders in business to take stock of exactly how aligned their workplace behaviours are with the desired Australin cultures.

Rather than thinking of the positive duties that have been introduced as just more compliance burdens, look at them as opportunities to explore, reflect and improve workplaces to be the best that they can be…..where people want to work.

If you would like to explore ways to take positive action to deal with all of these challenges, check out our suite of PosWork services at poswork.com.au or call us on 0438 533 311.

CONTACT US

Ridgeline Human Resources Pty Ltd
ABN : 24 091 644 094

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0438 533 311

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What are the big HR issues for SMBs in 2025?

What are the big HR issues for SMBs in 2025?

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What are the big HR issues for SMBs in 2025?

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Hey everyone, 2025 is already shaping up as another big year of legal change so we are running a free webinar to give you the heads up on what the big issues are this year. 
Headlining that list is the new criminal offence of wage theft and the Voluntary Small Business Wage Compliance Code that became operative from 1 January. 
But there is lots more with changes already happening with a number of awards, people being able to prosecute unfair contract claims next month, the new positive duties regarding psychosocial hazards and sexual harassment to really kick in plus more to talk about.
Joining me to discuss all of that is the wonderful Jessy Warn from HR Gurus who are specialists in helping SMBs with PEOPLE STUFF with NO FLUFF.
They have just celebrated their 15th birthday so they aren’t new kids on the block – they know their stuff.
See you there.

 

 

CONTACT US

Ridgeline Human Resources Pty Ltd
ABN : 24 091 644 094

enquiries@ridgelinehr.com.au

0438 533 311

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Why we call it people business

Why we call it people business

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Why we call it people business

example flexible working arrangement

Human Resources Management is a business function developed in large organisations with large work forces where scale is important and, in most of those organisations,  policy, process and risk management are the priority. So does that work for SMBs? We don’t think so (in fact, we don’t think it works well in most organisations).      

A story from long ago

Early in my career as what was then called a Personnel Management practitioner, a very wise and loved boss of mine taught me a life lesson. Let’s call him Mike. It was that, if you are going to be successful in the field, you had to earn people’s trust. Mike spent a lot of time getting to know people and letting them get to know him. People came to Mike with all sorts of issues with confidence and he showed them that he was there for them by acting on them or advising them. They would even accept a “no” from him because it was Mike and they trusted him to be honest with them. From an organisational perspective, being informed about things happening out in the business equipped Mike to strategically deal with emerging issues before they became a problem and to lean in and provide support if someone was struggling with something at work or otherwise in life.

That is a lesson that I have used repeatedly in the work that I do.

When Mike moved on, the organisation’s first HR Manager replaced him and he liaised with senior management and issued instructions and policies from his office. People then came to me with their issues, saying “you’re not Mike but we trust you and you are all we’ve got”.

What is Human Resources Management?

According to Wikipedia:

  • “Human Resources Management is the strategic and coherent approach to the effective and efficient management of people in a company or organisation such that they help their business gain a competitive advantage”; and
  • HR professionals manage the human capital of an organisation and focus on implementing policies and processes.”

Not very inspiring, is it?

And the language is hardly engaging, is it?

And not very people focused either?

The concept that people are human resources to be managed is perhaps, in itself, dehumanising, don’t you think?

In too many organisations, HR is seen as the enforcer of corporate risk management via policies and procedures. That approach really sends a message that, rather than people being an organisation’s greatest assets in truth, they are seen as the organisation’s greatest risks.

And that is one of the reasons why HR doesn’t work as it was perhaps intended to – that, in the pursuit of risk management and legal compliance, organisations placed those above people.

What is people business?

In small to medium businesses, the primary driver of success is the quality of the people and the relationships between them and with other key stakeholders like customers and suppliers.

So, unlike traditional HRM, it is very human-centred and that is why we call it “PEOPLE BUSINESS” – it about how we get the right people in the right roles doing the right stuff in the right way so that they and the business flourish together.

Of course, we need some policy and procedures but they are designed to help people to perform and behave to the standards expected so that work is enjoyable and productive for everyone…..and of course there are legal compliance requirements that need to be dealt with and actions that need to occur in the event of non-compliances but they are the footnote rather than the headline.

We use our 4c model to help our clients with their PEOPLE BUSINESS:

  • Commitment – the fundamentals that deliver purpose and compliance
  • Capability – the tools and systems that enable good people practice
  • Competency – the skills and knowledge that deliver positive outcomes for businesses and people
  • Culture – the integration of all of that to deliver everyday employee engagement and high performance.

That is what PEOPLE BUSINESS looks like.

Conclusion

If you are an SMB, you need to assure your compliance with legal requirements but the way that you do that sends messages to your people and you want these to be the right ones.

It isn’t just about making people follow rules – it is about how you get them engaged and happy to follow the rules because they know that the rules are right and they want to be successful in their role and relationships at work.

If you would like to learn more about ways that we can help you with your PEOPLE BUSINESS, please call us on 0438 533 311 or email us at enquiries@ridgelinehr.com.au.

CONTACT US

Ridgeline Human Resources Pty Ltd
ABN : 24 091 644 094

enquiries@ridgelinehr.com.au

0438 533 311

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