Are you ready to go back to Work Choices?

By: Natasha Hawker

Good morning to a new Coalition run Australia. After quite possibly the longest ever campaign in Australia’s history we're done – but are we? After a massive swing to the Coalition across the country does this mean that SMEs need to brace themselves for further changes to the already complex world of Employment Relations? I hear you say - 'But hey I was only just getting my head around Fair Work – arrrgghhhh!' So what is the likelihood of large scale change in this area? Let’s look at this in more detail.

Previously, I attended a luncheon with Joe Hockey and Executive Women he was quite adamant that there was unlikely to be much change to the current employment relations landscape. I do tend to believe him, as I think that with their other major agenda items such as the Carbon Tax their focus there will leave little time for much else in the short term. I would only anticipate a couple of minor tweaks, for example, reducing the Unions ready access to the workplace this area. Presently, I don’t see that there is much appetite within the government to revert to Work Choices. It is a very low priority for them at the moment. They are much more likely to try and increase productivity using other levers, such as company tax and the Carbon tax. This is despite an increased appetite amongst businesses for greater relaxing of Employment Relations legislation however, I would not pin too much hope on this coming off in the near future.

Even if I was wrong, it would take another 18 to 24 months to implement, so no urgent changes are required. However, I am always surprised at the low levels of compliance with even the basic Employment Relations requirements. Please take our HR Survey to get an instant assessment of your gaps.

My overall assessment is that it will be minimal & delayed change but my advice is if you work to achieve engaged and well managed teams then productivity and profitability will follow.

Natasha Hawker owns Employee Matters Pty Ltd; an HR Consultancy that assists small to medium businesses with their HR functions to make them more efficient and profitable. Their offering includes HR Management, Recruitment, Training, Coaching, and Exit Management – find them at www.employeematters.com.au

Why Exit?

By: Natasha Hawker

Why would you ever want to do an exit interview?

Just recently, a client of ours had a senior member of the team resign and we are assisting them with the replacement of this role. We have just conducted an independent exit interview with the employee leaving the role - you might ask 'why?'

You might also say good 'riddance!' Or 'what would be the benefit of that?' Well, I'm glad you asked:

1. Recruitment - in the case above, the employee had faced some challenges in the role and before recruiting for this role again, we were able to obtain detailed information that will help us recruit the best possible candidate for our client
2. Information - employees are generally more forthcoming when they have resigned. You often find out ‘gems’ of information that would otherwise be withheld. Is this perhaps an opportunity to restructure the team or reduce headcount at a low cost point?
3. Rehire - ever lost an employee that you wished that you hadn't and wished you could get them back? An exit interview is an opportunity to reiterate the fact that should they ever wish to return they are welcome to approach the business to see whether there is a suitable role available. People need reassurance after resigning to ensure that there are no hard feelings or misunderstandings 
4. Stats - why are your team leaving you? Is there one team or area that has particularly high turnover? Is this telling you that there is another, bigger problem that you need to deal with to stop the drain of skills & talent? Healthy unmanaged attrition should be between 10-20% 
5. Alumni - ex-employees can become future clients, advocates for your business, rehires or just great sources of information. Take a longer term view of the resignation and the opportunity that it might bring rather than the gap it creates

 You should have someone other than their direct manager complete the interview - either HR or a manager from another team or division. You should have set questions, so that you can develop data over time for analysis.

Do you conduct exit interviews in your business and, if so, what have you learnt from them?

Natasha Hawker owns Employee Matters Pty Ltd; an HR Consultancy that assists small to medium businesses with their HR functions to make them more efficient and profitable. Their offering includes HR Management, Recruitment, Training, Coaching, and Exit Management – find them at www.employeematters.com.au

Want to save about $8,000 on your recruitment spend?

Now - let me start by saying that we are not a Recruitment Agency - far from it! We recruit for our clients for an hourly rate and there is no success fee. This typically saves businesses up to 70% off their recruitment costs. To you and your candidates, we look and feel like your very own internal recruitment team.

We made one of our clients very happy today. Over the years he has become used to paying recruitment agencies on average $8,500 + GST per placement - but then he started using Employee Matters for recruitment and he gets great service including:

• the same experienced corporate Recruitment Partner each time
• the ads are written for his approval, based on his criteria
• the candidates are carefully screened all candidates are treated with respect 
• and every application is responded to, whether ultimately successful or not

 One time he came to us with a role, we found two candidates that he really liked and he had to make a tough decision - but this was handled with care and sensitivity.

Two months later, with his business expanding, he needs another employee. We rang the candidate that had placed 2^nd the first time around; he was still interested, was interviewed again and offered the role. He is thrilled and so is the client, because instead of paying over $8k - he paid $500.

When I asked the candidate why he would reconsider a role that he was originally the 2nd choice for, he said "Tiffany was incredibly sensitive and caring but diplomatic and professional. She gave me detailed feedback and it made sense. She handled it in such a way that I was happy to hear this news from her. It was only the second time in my life that I have dealt with someone in recruitment that was supportive rather than just doing her job.” (Otis)

More of our clients are enjoying working with their Employee Matters Recruitment Partner, reaping the benefits both financially and through the ease of the process. They enjoy having an expert helping them make the right recruitment decisions.

Do you think that this model of recruitment might work for you?

Natasha Hawker owns Employee Matters Pty Ltd; an HR Consultancy that assists small to medium businesses with their HR functions to make them more efficient and profitable. Their offering includes HR Management, Recruitment, Training, Coaching, and Exit Management – find them at www.employeematters.com.au