One very happy client - want to know why?

I thought it is about time I let you into a secret - we can save you over 66% of your current recruitment agency costs or, if you currently do it yourself, probably 33%.

We have a client - a Technology Protection start up that has a massive presence in the US and is expanding into Asia. They offer mobile security devices for your phone so, say you are out at a bar and your phone is lost or stolen, you will have a new one delivered to you with all the content of the original - within 24 hrs. I, for one, would love that security...

They needed to hire their senior team in preparation for ramping up to a headcount of 200. At the time we partnered with them, they had the CEO, CFO and Director of HR - they needed to find the rest of their senior team. What we offered them was a highly experienced recruitment team able to liaise with senior execs - plus a bespoke service:

·         we wrote the ads and placed them in SEEK

·         culled & appropriately rejected the unsuccessful applicants

·         phone screened and coordinated interviews

·         provided verbal feedback

·         completed reference checks and organised background checks

Some of the salary packages were $200k for which an agency would typically charge 25% of total compensation - we charged an hourly rate and, effectively, played their temporary 'in house' recruiter.

Guess what the difference was - on average $4,500 vs. $50k!

Plus all those offered roles accepted and we are yet to have a fall off. The applicants loved how they were managed and treated throughout the process and the business has money left over to invest in other things.

 I just thought you might like to know......

Unique yet? Think again!

In Greg's last last blog he touched on the WHS structures and processes now rolled out routinely in large organisations (200+ employees). In this blog, we continue by encouraging SME’s to emulate their large business counterparts and suggest some immediate practical steps that will see your business well on the road to safety and compliance…

Unique yet? Think again!

Think how overwhelmed SME’s felt in 2011, when safety culture antagonists such as the WHS Act - Regulation and Codes of Practice come into effect.... ouch...

We need to discover creative ways to integrate safe practice into overall business conduct. Where it’s done really well, the big guys consult with the employees to define and document policy relating to work health and safety. Done effectively, health and safety outcomes are achieved in accordance with defined plans.

 Ideally, this is measurable; in ways shown to be consistent with activities:

·         consideration of legal requirements

·         standards, codes and guidelines

·         health and safety hazards and risks, etc.

Work health and safety management in SME’s should be approached with the same objectives in mind:

 ·         effective SME safety governance - insisting that workers routinely demonstrate practices that reflect the commitment of the safety policy across every system of the business

Don’t forget that failure to exercise such due diligence may result in criminal conviction and/or significant financial penalty (yes, even for an SME). Due diligence is a new duty that requires SME owners/operators to not only have an understanding of their health and safety risk profile, but also to take positive steps to put in place ongoing safety governance and management arrangements.

How can SME’s meet their due diligence obligations?

 You can start by bringing it to life with practical, bite-size steps such as:

·         promoting workers' knowledge and health and safety matters through effective consultation and training

·         ensuring everyone understands the nature of the business, as well as the workplace risks and hazards

·         insisting on a timely, documented response to incidents and issues

·         providing reasonable resources that are appropriate to the degree and extent of organisational risk identified

 If the due diligence process is built progressively, it will naturally lead to the capture of real-time ‘people data’, on the go. When this happens you will see that WHS, done well, can improve safety, prevent hazards and provide measurable improvement in adaptation and alignment within your business plan and overarching company strategy.

These are the must-do steps to ensure you comply with your work health and safety responsibilities:

 

·         effectively implement your health and safety policy

 

·         establish focussed health and safety training - for all officers and workers

 

·         facilitate a consultative approach to all health and safety matter - ensuring all workers are a part of the decision-making processes that affect workplace health and safety

 

·         identify quantitative and qualitative safety targets - with the aim of driving ongoing hazard and risk data collection and analysis

 

·         implement agreed controls in response to identified risks and hazards

 

·         broadcast regular health and safety information - to all workers and visitors to the workplace

 If you are doing these things, you are well on the way to establishing a positive and effective safety culture!

 If your SME needs help to grow a healthy safety culture, call Employee Matters ….

 

 

Are your Work Health and Safety needs unique? No Way!

I though that you might like a change from me, so I have asked a WH&S expert from our team to write this blog.

 

In 2010/11 - 374 people died due to work-related traumatic injuries.

Australia’s Lost-time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) paints an unsettling work health and safety scenario - one week or more was lost per million hours worked.

Worse still, we are only now up to March - 30 lives have been lost in Australian workplaces so far ...

But how could these statistics be of any possible relevance to SMEs? We're not the same as the big gun industries - we don't hazard the same risks! They have agriculture, mining, forestry and construction - that's sowing, tree felling, mine blasting - the big stuff!

The truth is that SME workers frequently face very real workplace risks - given that 99% of Australian businesses are SMEs - this situation cannot be ignored.

Why?

OK, natural protective mechanisms, typically built into the culture of large (200+ employees) organisations by natural evolution - think how higher staff volume might equate to greater information capacity and, therefore, to greater necessity in supervising  work practices:

·         think about the complex safety management systems - the policies and safe operating procedures

·         the hierarchy of control, the complexity of infrastructure - the representatives - the systematic ways of controlling or eliminating risk, and their continuous development

·         the huge diversity of Safety Employees; advisors, managers, coordinators, analysts, strategy and risk professionals; there are many more

Now think of the barriers to building a safety culture for SMEs...

• the typical capital-raising constraints that so often result in low investment in safety practice
• the severe time constraints on business owner/operators, who often take the view that ‘our safety management system will just have to wait’

Think of how the post-GFC economic conditions severely dampened SME business confidence - we couldn’t help but focus on the bottom line, just to stay in business- and we still can’t!

Greg Baynie is one of our HR Partners and our resident expert in W&HS, call him today for an obligation free discussion to understand your risk and exposure.

 

Behind every great woman there is a great man

 

Whilst we are celebrating International Women's Day today I wanted to remember that good business partnerships are often founded on couples going into business together whose strengths lie in diverse, but complimentary, areas. So often we hear the catchcry “Behind every good man there is a great woman”, as if his success depends on this support. It has often been, to my chagrin, and I am sure to most feminists as well, that the female role is seen as one of support and often played out in the background. I would also speculate that to see the roles reversed may not sit particularly well with many men; think of Dennis Thatcher and Tim Mathieson. Remember the scramble, when Julia Gillard became PM, to craft a suitable role for the first ‘new man’ of The Lodge.

The reality is just that though, I could not have started Employee Matters without Mark’s expertise and his encouragement, support and confidence that he had in me; that firstly, we could do it and secondly, that it would be successful. Part of the reason for this is that we have complimentary skill sets; I am apt to jump in and not be buried in detail for long, but I’m great with developing and maintaining relationships. Mark writes like a poet and is a wordsmith and I certainly lack great skills in this area. Mark is focused on the finance, IT, editing and the risk & compliance side of the business, enabling me to get on with what I do best. This is often the struggle faced by SMEs; trying to be an expert in all areas of running a business. We don’t always agree on everything, but we have trust and respect in our relationship that enables us to work through issues to find or create a solution. All employee relationships need these ingredients to be successful but, sadly, they are often lacking to the detriment of the relationship and the business. The employer needs to let their employees know that they matter.

So I guess I am one of the lucky ones to have a ‘great man’ behind me.

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