Source: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/career/infographic-cost-of-a-bad-hire/3897?tag=nl.e098

Have you heard the whispers that Fair Work Australia is under review?

Don’t worry if you haven’t, they are keeping it very quiet.  In fact, they are having ‘closed door’ reviews

The intention of the post implementation review is to gain input from stakeholder groups about the effectiveness and ease of use of the legislation.

It has been suggested that in many respects the current legislation is just as controversial as its predecessor, Work Choices.

The review provides stakeholders with 69 example questions with the intention of prompting them to make submissions.

The questions are not exhaustive however stakeholders are encouraged to raise other issues in the terms of reference.

Written submissions are due to the Review Panel by 17^th February. We’ll keep you posted!

If like us, you have been following the Social and Community Services equal pay case, you’ll be pleased to hear Fair Work Australia (FWA) has finally handed down a decision.

On Monday 30^th January, FWA found that workers in the community and disability sectors were severely underpaid compared to public service workers doing similar jobs. This decision will result in an increase of between 19 to 41 per cent for pay rates in the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award.

This increase will be phased in through nine equal installments over eight years, beginning December 2012. The timeline for is as follows:

• 1st July: Modern Award Classifications must commence.

• 1st July: Pay increase from the Annual Wage Review.

• 1st December: Phase-in of Equal Pay commences.

Community Sector groups have welcomed the decision but are now seeking assurance from federal and state government to fund the increase.

The Full report outlining the decision can be found on the FWA website.

Last month, Work Health Safety (WHS) Act changes came into effect in 5 of the 9 jurisdictions in Australia, with NSW moving from Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 (NSW) legislation to the Work Health Safety Act (2011).

The harmonisation process is said to provide “greater consistency and clarity across Australia” (WorkCover 2012) but in many ways has left small to medium-sized business owners with less understanding of their responsibilities than ever before. Many organisations without a dedicated WHS team are finding it difficult to balance the time to dedicate to WHS with their other responsibilities.

Here’s where to start:

• Become familiar with the complexities of the new Act, Regulations and Codes of Practice.

• Review any existing WHS systems and, where required, update policies and procedures to meet the new requirements.

• Identify PCBUs (persons conducting a business or undertaking) and their officers to gain understanding of obligations throughout the organisation.

• Review consultation provisions  and have methods in place for consulting with staff, volunteers, contractors and others.

• Put WHS on the agenda of every staff meeting.

• Communicate new obligations to all people concerned and back this up with continuous updates.

• Be able to demonstrate that you are doing everything that is ‘reasonably practicable’ to achieve full compliance.

Please feel free to contact any of our team to discuss how your organisation can meet your WHS responsibilities.

Lyndell Fogarty

CEO, performHR

Why did you decide to found performHR?

Jenny Roberts (former joint CEO) and I founded the idea of performHR in my lounge room whilst my youngest daughter, who was 20 months at the time, watched ABC for Kids. We were both passionate about creating a professional HR service that small to medium-sized businesses could access in a way that worked for them. We also saw a need to provide corporate with an ‘HR overflow’ department: skill sets that they could tap into for projects and interim support.

We were also passionate about changing the way HR is viewed, moving from compliance cop to business enabler. We provide our clients with peace of mind with their compliance obligations first, and then we ensure that their HR systems enable their business to perform optimally.

What makes performHR unique from other outsourced HR specialists?

performHR is unique from other outsourced HR specialists in that we focus on what we call ‘customer love’. That is, we ensure our clients receive pragmatic HR solutions in a timely manner, packaged and delivered to ensure that it meets their business objectives; always balancing legal obligations, ethical aspirations and business objectives.

What is the secret behind performHR’s success?

Our culture, our desire to provide excellence in service to our clients and our strategic business relationships (and a whole lot of stubbornness to boot!)

What do you think your strengths as a HR specialist and a businesswoman/CEO are?

The question that most of us don’t like to answer…. I would have to say that my strength is my ability to have difficult conversations, to be open to ideas and my passion for ensuring our clients’ expectations are met.

What career achievement are you most proud of?

There are two highlights that I am most proud of:

1. performHR being a finalist in the 2011 Hunter Business Awards in only our second year of business.

2. Developing an Innovation Leadership Program for a financial services organisation that was subsequently adopted globally.

What motivates and inspires you?

Making a positive difference in people’s lives, whether that is our clients, our business associates or my team. I love to see people achieve things, to get results and to challenge their own glass ceilings.

If you could have your career over again, what would you do differently?

I don’t think there is anything that I would do differently. I have had so much diversity and opportunity with different industries and changing businesses, and all the while managing this meaningful work life with raising our three daughters.

What is your advice for others looking to open their own business?

A few things:

1. Be clear on why you want to start your own business. Be in love with your reason because some days the love of your reason will be the thing that keeps you going.

2. Acknowledge that there is going to be a lot that you know and a lot that you don’t. Employ a Business Coach to work with you on the big ticket items.

3. Surround yourself with a great ‘cheer squad’. This is my term for the people that will support you: family, business colleagues, trusted advisors.

What is in store for performHR in 2012?

Lots and lots of growth, as it becomes increasingly complex for business owners to deal with their people issues. Our offer for businesses who don’t need (or don’t want) their own internal HR department fills a need they have and allows them to focus on their core business with the peace of mind of knowing that they have us on tap to assist when they need us.

When you’re not at work, what do you like doing?

Being with my family, training for my first ever triathlon and getting tangled at hot yoga.

“All that time on the job. Shows we are working harder, right? Well according to the statistics, maybe not.

Yet we have this fascination to see ‘bums on seats’ and use time in the office as some measure of value – rather than measure efficacy.

Really. Would you rather have people in the office getting their work done and leaving or have them hang around the full day accomplishing nothing in particular?

Time to review what it is you’re trying to achieve?

And by the way. Owners and managers have their own way of wasting time while looking busy.

Pity.

With a little more thought, some accountability and new skills, they could be getting more done and factoring in some downtime.”

Source: ActionBites (http://actionbites.blogspot.com/2011/08/are-workers-lazy-or-are-you-rewarding.html)

What is an Exit Interview?

An exit interview is typically a meeting between at least one or more representatives of a business and a departing employee, who has usually voluntarily resigned over being asked to leave the business. An exit interview allows the representatives of the business to ask questions of the departing employee, gaining a better understanding of their decision to leave the business and what issues can be addressed to increase retention rates in the business.

What are the Benefits of Conducting Exit Interviews?

1. Exit interviews provide an opportunity to resolve any issues and airing grievances with leaving employees, or may provide the chance to retain the employee, giving the chance for them to discuss their issues with management.

2. Exit interviews are seen by existing employees, future employees, professional institutes and accrediting bodies as a sign of a business with quality effective people-management, and one that is willing to seek out feedback on themselves in order to continue to grow and develop.

3. Exit interviews accelerate managers’ understanding and experience of people and business management, with hearing and handling feedback as a powerful development tool.

4. The results and analysis of exit interviews provide relevant and useful data in the areas of recruitment, induction, training, retention and growth opportunities for employees.

5. Exit interviews can be used to obtain and transfer useful knowledge, contacts, tips and experience from the departing employee to their successor.

How to Conduct an Exit Interview:

1. Adopt a structured approach- don’t treat an exit interview in a casual manner or as a formality: ensure that it has a structure and purpose to it. Remember that the more you can find out about why an employee is leaving, the more opportunity this gives you to make improvements to the business to prevent further resignations.

2. Ensure appropriate staff conduct the interview- you should always try and use a neutral third party where possible, who is disconnected or has little day-to-day contact with the employee.

3. Environment- The room that the interview is conducted in should feel as warm and inviting as possible, in a neutral office away from the employee’s day-to-day workspace and with the seating arranged in a circle, rather than having the employee facing a panel.

4. Arrange the exit interview for their final week at the business- You should not rush to organise the interview as soon as the employee has put in their letter of resignation. It is unlikely that the employee will feel comfortable being completely honest and open in the interview if they are aware that they still have time left at the business, fearing that the information they share in the interview could be passed on to other employees or that they could be treated harshly for the remainder of their time at the business.

5. Don’t get defensive- the employee may make comments about the business during the interview that you do not agree with or like. It is important to not become defensive or question them about the truth of their statements in a manner that comes across as disbelieving, as this can lead to a confrontational situation.

If you need help conducting exit interviews within your business, please contact performHR at 1300 40 60 05 or info@performhr.com.au.

“Everyone will be waiting for the cry “and they’re racing” at the Cox Plate tomorrow. But there is a greater cry being heard around the country today. It’s the cry to drop the barriers to women, bringing the full force of their capacities to the boardrooms of Australia. The corporate world needs to catch up with the rest of the world, including the track.

Years ago it was that great gelding Phar Lap who carried the hopes of a nation to 14 wins in a row – a feat only matched a couple of weeks ago by the mare Black Caviar. She’s odds-on to break the great record tomorrow when she runs in the Schweppes Stakes with jockey Luke Nolen guiding her home.

Total female domination might have been achievable if one of the famous Payne sisters was in the saddle: Michelle, for instance – the reigning queen from a family of many female jockeys. And it’s worth remembering that the female jockey trend was started by the remarkable Linda Jones from New Zealand more than 30 years ago.

More female winners are at present being planned for by Finance Minister Penny Wong, who recently released new guidelines for government business enterprises which require that by 2015, “no one gender can hold more than 60 per cent of board positions”. Charlie wonders how many genders there are but assumes it means neither men nor women can be more than 60 per cent of the total.

Big business is starting to make some advances on this issue with women comprising 26 per cent of all new appointments to ASX boards in 2011, compared with only 5 per cent in 2009 and 8 per cent in the two prior years. Non-profits have been at the fore with 30 per cent of board positions being women and the group of eight universities have 37 per cent. State governments are also setting a pace. New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria have committed to 50 per cent of all new board appointments going to women by the end of next year.

But the number of women is still far too low. At the end of August, in fact, women were only 13 per cent of all the members of the ASX 200 boards. But the race is on and the Institute of Company Directors points out the success of chairmen’s mentoring programs, in which people such as Don Argus and Ziggy Switkowski have supported women into the ranks

The push is on because it makes business sense. How can a country realise its potential if it denies itself the capacities of 50 per cent of its people?

We have known for many years that women make the key purchasing decisions; 75.1 per cent of women identified themselves as the primary shoppers for their households, according to Mediamark Research & Intelligence’s Survey of the American Consumer in 2009 and, according to a study from the Boston Consulting Group, women ”control $12 trillion of the overall $18.4 trillion in global consumer spending”.

In Australia more than half (53 per cent) of our professional classes are women and in our industry, media and marketing departments have always pushed hard to get women to higher levels.

With all that economic power and key decision-making capability, why wouldn’t any board in the country, profit or non-profit, want as many women as possible to guide its business to the market and to its customers?

Back women. That’s the message.”

Sourced from  http://www.smh.com.au/business/media-and-marketing/companies-need-to-get-on-with-gender-diversity-20111020-1ma6w.html#ixzz1bNXeZerJ

“Dear Evil HR Lady,

I’m an American and male and am currently filling a 2 year expat assignment in Europe.  It turns out that the high level male employees frequent the sauna in the company gym.  Naked.  I’ve been told that if I really want my ideas to be heard, the best way to do this is to join the executive team in the sauna.  I’ve also been told that it would be very offensive if I was not naked.

My American sensibilities make me cringe, but should I join them?

Aiyee, just when I thought I’d heard it all, I get this new question.  It’s perfect timing, really, as it turns out that your company isn’t the only one that has, uhh, naked activities.  Der Spiegel just reported on, well, here’s a quote:

A German insurance company has admitted hosting a decadent sex party at a Budapest bathhouse to reward its best agents for their work. Details of the secretive event include color-coded prostitutes and a ban on photos.

In another Der Spiegel article they refer to prostitution as another form of compensation:

At a certain level workers and customers can “no longer be rewarded with money,” another industry insider says. But incentives outside the ordinary pay raise or bonus are not simply a question of hierarchy, event specialist Eisner says. The likelihood of such perks is higher for certain roles.

Now, this makes me want to send a note to the compensation specialists over at Compensation Cafe and ask how they would work this into a “total compensation” plan, but I shall refrain.

Now, I realize that prostitution is nowhere near in the same category as a naked sauna conversation.  But, in my mind (and yours) naked and business should not be in the same paragraph, let alone the same sentence.  I couldn’t carry on a business conversation with my boss if she was sitting across from me, naked.  I just couldn’t.

Clearly, the sauna thing is a cultural issue.  It’s not a big deal to them, but it’s a big deal to you.  Which makes me wonder how you’d act in such a situation.  If you’re nervous and prone to giggling at the assets in question, even if you’re in the room, you probably won’t be making the best of impressions.

I have noted in the past, that if business is discussed in the cafeteria, you should probably not eat at your desk.  However, if you’re incapable of getting food from the plate to your mouth without spilling it in your lap, it’s better to eat at your desk.

It’s about trade offs.

It’s also about not looking like a fool.  If the company execs are having their bonding in the sauna and everyone knows it and you waltz in and drop your towel, it’s going to be a clear move to suck up to the bosses.  Keep in mind, that unless this European company is in England, the language they will be having these naked chats in will be their non-English native language.  If you’re not truly fluent in that language you’ll look like an interloper.

Is this truly the only way to gain their attention?  I suspect it is not.  In fact, unless you’re explicitly (probably bad word choice there) invited, I’d say it would do more harm to your career than good.  I wouldn’t stalk the sauna in the hopes of running into the Sr. VP.  If you happen to be there when he’s there, great.  Talk.

But, otherwise, I’d put your efforts into building relationships and understanding the culture of your host company in ways that don’t involve naked sweating.”

Sourced from http://www.bnet.com/blog/evil-hr-lady/should-you-get-naked-with-your-boss/2386?tag=fd-featuredStory2

Earlier this month, the performHR team had the honour of attending the Hunter Business Awards 2011, hosted by the Hunter Business Chamber, for  our nomination as a finalist in the Small Business Excellence category.

The Small Business Excellence Award recognises the contribution businesses with less than 20 employees make to our region, and we were humbled to be a part of this category with so many other dedicated and hard-working businesses.

Over 500 guests attended this year’s Awards held in the beautiful Starlight Room at Wests Leagues Club, New Lambton.

The exceptional number of entries in this year’s Awards is indicative of a region that is powering ahead in technology, education, science and  humanities, and we are thrilled to be a part of it.

While we did not walk away with the win, we came to realise that the old cliché that we feel like winners anyway applies to us. performHR began in joint CEO, Jenny Robert’s lounge room over 18 months ago, and has since grown to an office in Hudson Street, Hamilton, where a dedicated staff of ten work with over 70 clients throughout Australia.

It has been a long, challenging, daunting, but most importantly, rewarding and exciting road to get to where we are today, and our nomination really cements to us that what we are doing is important and matters.

However, we certainly did not get here alone. The team at performHR would like to thank our family and friends for their continual love, support and faith, as well as our clients who make our time at work enjoyable, and who challenge us to continually improve our services.

We’d also like to congratulate C-E Solution on their deserving win in our category, as well as all of the winners and nominees.

On the whiteboard above our desks at the performHR office, this quote continues to motivate and inspire us:

“To love what you do and feel that it matters- how could anything be more fun?” – Katharine Graham

We hope that whatever you do in life, it brings a smile to your face and makes you feel like what you do matters.