The great thing about focusing on diversity this month is that we have the opportunity to delve into what it actually means. Diversity is a term that often gets bandied around, but how many of us actually know what it means ?

In terms of an actual definition, diversity is about the acceptance and commitment to embracing employee’s similarities and differences in terms of gender, age, cultural background, physical abilities, sexual orientation, religion and race.

It is easy to get distracted by all the noise and think that workplace diversity is all about employing more women and increasing their representation at senior levels and on boards. But what about family friendly work hours? This is another hot topic grabbing the headlines.

The area of diversity does seem to be a bit of a mind field at times. You need to tread carefully to be inclusive rather than exclusive. You don’t want to promote “Family friendly” work arrangements to the detriment of staff that have no family. But then re-branding the policy as a “life balance policy “ doesn’t really cut it either.

The crux of the diversity focus relates to values. Developing organizational values that encompass  – acceptance, support, valuing and belonging of staff, respect and commitment are key.

A recent study by Deloitte Australia and referenced in HC ONLINE, found that while  “diversity is a good thing, it needs to be paired with inclusion in order for the organisation to reap the full benefits. “When employees think their organisation is committed to, and supportive of diversity and they feel included, employees report better business performance in terms of ability to innovate (83% uplift), responsiveness to changing customer needs (31% uplift) and team collaboration (42% uplift).”

Having a Diversity Policy is a good starting point but there’s no point having a map unless you go somewhere and use it. If your organization is yet to develop a Diversity Policy, here is a Guide that may be of assistance.

Implementation of Diversity Policies throughout organisations is vital. From the CEO down to the mail room, everyone needs to be on board to make it work. It’s an on-going process and as such, to get it right, support programs and education may be required.

What’s all the fuss about?

It is widely accepted that diversity in the workplace does have a positive impact on your bottom line. Employee turnover decreases, staff satisfaction and engagement increases – all of which translates to greater productivity. Understandably organizations are now taking this seriously and investing in the concept.

So who’s doing it well?

Not surprisingly, organizations that strive to be ‘employers of choice’ are leading the way in integrating their diversity policies into the working fabric of their organizations.

Clearly Deloitte have grasped the concept. A simple web search unearths myriad examples of how, as an organization, they just get it. In 2011 Deloitte prepared a report entitled “Only skin deep? Re-examining the business case for diversity”, that confronts the big issues about diversity that organizations face. It’s a worthwhile read.

 IAG, Telstra and CommBank are other examples of companies that not only clearly communicate their policies but also demonstrate how it’s implemented from the top down.

It’s early days for Diversity policies in the workplace but like all good things, it’s worth investing in so as to reap the rewards.

Australia as a nation is a vibrant, multi-cultural society. Rich in diversity and colour. We benefit as a society from insights and experiences that everyone contributes and all organizations should strive to do the same.

Viva Diversity!

As Mother’s Day approaches, many young women believe that their mothers blazed a trail, created equal opportunities for women and showed that you can have it all – kids, career and a fulfilling personal life. And these young women would be right, but only up to a point.

Most workplaces talk the talk, using phrases like ‘work/life balance’ and ‘family-friendly policies’, but what that really means in practice is that they provide a laptop and a smartphone so employees can remain tethered to the office at all times.  Despite anecdotal evidence that workers who are given more flexibility repay their employers with increased productivity and loyalty, women – usually mothers – looking for flexible workplace conditions rarely rise to the top.

In my opinion employers are missing out on a large group of extremely productive and valuable workers by focusing too much on the importance of long hours in the actual office, with too little flexibility being offered to staff who have extra commitments ( ie Kids) that require more freedom in their jobs.

There are however examples of working mothers who have clawed their way to the top.

Recently some of the nexthire team went along to a Women in Business Breakfast put on by Vecci.  The keynote speaker was  Ita Buttrose. The amazing Ita rose to the top of the highest selling magazine per capita in the world all the while looking after two children as a single mother.  She notes in an interview that working mothers should certainly not be tied to the job.

“Who said we have to work 24/7? Companies have downsized and workers are expected to do two or three jobs. Now? We are overloaded. If the office culture suggests you are not a good worker if you don’t do those long hours, then that’s bad management.  Good management lets your staff have personal lives.”

This kind of thinking is exactly what I’m talking about when it comes to employing mothers.  More often than not they’re fantastic workers, are incredibly loyal, and will always get the job done.  By offering flexibility to your staff and not being afraid to hire them, you’ll get some great people and your business will undoubtedly benefit in the long run.

Things need to change, and we all need to help make it happen.

We need more senior executives walking the talk by encouraging and modelling genuinely-family friendly policies.

And we need men and women alike to not only thank their mothers on Mother’s Day, but to pick up the baton and run with it, demanding a change in workplace culture so that all workers, regardless of gender or parental status, can be rewarded for the merit of their work rather than the quantity of their hours in the office.

Here at nexthire we have numerous working mothers on staff. Their hours are tailored to meet the needs of their role and flexible enough to accommodate their other job – as Mum.

Jason Snell.

Most people have lied in an interview. While the degree of deceit varies, it is very likely that a future employee has atleast embellished a story during the interview process. Some common ‘little white lies’ that I often see in resumes include:

1. Padding education & qualifications

2. Omitting gaps in employment history

3. Inflating previous titles

4. Exaggerating sales figures

The cost of a bad hire can be significant.  A bad employee can have a negative impact on a company’s morale. Strong negativism, a poor attitude and incompetence can spread quickly within any organisation. This is why you want to stop such a person before they get into your company.

There are a number of techniques you can utilise to try and ensure that your next hire is your best hire. I’ve listed a few of these below.

1. Undertake psychometric and skills based testing on job applicants.  This will give you an idea of the person beneath the façade as they are impossible to ‘fake’

2. Use LinkedIn to cross check the experience of candidates with their CV

3. I often get a feeling that a person is just ‘not quite right’ when interviewing them.  Simple intuition will sometimes be more accurate than any hard data. A good way to test a candidate is to throw them a few slightly obscure questions during the interview. This will help you see how they behave when they are pushed to find an appropriate answer.

4. Perform a comprehensive background check and if possible include any contacts you may have in at companies that the candidate may have worked at. You don’t have to limit yourself to the stated referees of a candidate (although you do have to ask the candidate permission to do this.)

5. The most obvious of these is very simple…hire a professional.  Recruiters and shortlist providers like nexthire interview candidates day in day out and are highly experienced in weeding out the star candidates from the bad.

The techniques for doing this are invariably learnt over time, and even the best hiring managers will let a bad hire slip through the cracks from time to time; so don’t be alarmed if you find after some time that a new hire is not as good as first thought.  Learn from your mistakes and try to not let it happen again.

Jason Snell.

Team cohesion is increasingly important in the current business climate.  Ask any room full of managers and they’ll tell you the same thing. Good people are hard to find and even harder to keep. It takes more than a salary and benefits to keep your team in place.

In addition to the loss of IP, there are large costs associated with losing staff.  A recent report by Deloitte detailed the potential costs of high employee turnover “Companies that lose key talent to new opportunities must bear the costs of attracting, recruiting, and training new employees to replace those who have left. These expenses can mount quickly. In fact, after accounting for these costs plus the loss of intellectual capital, client relationships, productivity, and other job skills, the ultimate cost of replacing a lost employee can be two-to-three times that employee’s annual salary”. As you can see the dollars and time really do rack up if you have high staff turnover.

As I’ve written before, one of the most impressive turnarounds in sport (and in the corporate world for that matter) in recent years has been at my former hunting ground the Geelong Football Club. Their success has been well documented, but what really impresses me is Geelong’s ability to maintain a cohesive team on and off the field.

I was able to talk to Geelong CEO Brian Cook and pick his brain about how he manages to keep his team so successful.  Cook has built a highly skilled, corporate team at Geelong and is passionate about maintaining it well into the future.

While Cook is the first to admit that there is no magic trick to assembling a solid business team, he does strongly believe that “talent is important but character is even more important”.

“I have no doubt that respecting good character has helped build a club environment that people want to work in and enjoy coming to work.” Says Cook.

Cook credits a number of different strategies with the strength of his team.  Shortlisted below are the key techniques Cook uses to keep his team together. The essence of which is that a happy employee is a loyal one, and in order to have cohesiveness you need loyalty.

Cook’s Shortlist of techniques for a Cohesive Team

• Setting mutually agreeable goals

• Being supportive and helpful and providing opportunity

• Being there for his staff

• Not being afraid to give his staff ‘the big jobs’

• Paying well and ensure the range of remuneration is not at extremes but at a high average

• Aiming to enjoy the company of staff both individually and as a team

• Developing trust by being honest, sharing and be as inclusive as possible

Of course each organisation has its own nuances when it comes to people management, and each individual invariably has to be managed differently.  Having said this, by utilising some of the above tips and adapting them to your situation, you should find that in time, your team will become inherently more solid and an asset for the business.

Jason Snell.

When I meet with clients I invariably mention my “push/pull theory” in relation to Social Media Recruitment.  At present, the vast majority of the recruiter market are pushing jobs out to candidates via newsletters, SMS, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and job boards which were a major leap in our industry 8 years ago.

These are all great and play a significant role in the way we do business, but the next step is to utilize social media to facilitate two-way communication and establish a working relationship. By doing this, businesses are actually pulling candidates in with relevant information that is of use to that individual candidate.

No more ‘post and pray’ but rather engaging with your candidates is the only way to truly get the full benefit out of social media. Easier said than done I hear you say and you’re right. Using social media to advertise roles and recruit candidates is the easy part. The hard part is the regular engagement and on-line relationship building.

LinkedIn is the master of this by not only creating the platform, but for also creating a cosy space for Groups to form, express ideas and engage.

A recent survey by Jobvite found that 89% of the businesses surveyed planned to use social media to recruit staff this year. Social media recruitment is clearly catching on but how you use it is the key!

(source: Jobvite.com)

My favourite graphic at the moment is by Bullhorn Reach that shows just how recruiters are using social media. It’s an impressive diagram and includes big numbers, brace yourself!

Here at nexthire we are about to embark on the next phase of our social recruitment plan.

Our Blog – hirethinking, is set to become a treasure trove with insights and anecdotes from industry gurus and will be linked with our Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin use. This is the start of our conversations with candidates.

Whether you “Like Us”, “Follow Us” or “Connect With Us”, we will be investing more time in social recruitment to deliver you your nexthire.