Davidson News and Insights

Recognised by Talegent: strengthening our talent insights for clients

Sun, 14 Dec 2025 22:35:33 GMT

Davidson Advisory has been recognised as Talegent’s Partner of the Quarter, selected from a global network of resellers. This recognition reflects a long-term partnership built on a shared focus: using data and insight to help organisations make better people decisions and enhance workplace performance.

Why our Talegent partnership matters

Talegent’s psychometric assessments and talent analytics help organisations understand not just what people can do, but how they are likely to perform, learn and lead in real roles. When combined with Davidson’s advisory expertise in workforce alignment, organisation design and leadership development, the result is a pragmatic, evidence-based approach to talent.

This partnership enables our Advisory team to:

Design assessment solutions for executive search, recruitment and internal promotions
Provide workforce analytics that support strategic workforce planning and risk management
Surface leadership potential and build targeted development pathways
Align culture, capability and strategy during periods of transformation.

Turning data into better decisions

Our clients are looking for measurable impact from their talent investments. Through Talegent’s tools, our consultants can:

Benchmark candidates and leaders against role-specific success profiles
Reduce bias and improve fairness in selection and promotion
Identify development priorities that lift individual and team performance
Provide clear, board-ready insights that support governance and succession planning.

In a tight talent market, this blend of high-quality assessment and practical advisory support helps organisations build resilient, high-performing and sustainable workforces.

Partnering for long-term performance

Being named Partner of the Quarter is a welcome endorsement of how we collaborate with Talegent and apply their solutions in complex client environments.

Most importantly, it reinforces our commitment to ethical, evidence-based advisory services that make a positive difference to workplaces and communities.

If you’d like to explore how data-driven assessment can support your workforce strategy, please email our Advisory team to start the conversation at assessment@davidsonwp.com .

ESG and Climate Change: How Local Government CEOs Are Moving from Plans to Action

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 04:15:32 GMT

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) priorities are rising across Local Government, yet readiness still varies. The 2025 CEO Index reveals that while 64% of councils address ESG at a strategic level, only 40% feel prepared to meet new reporting obligations.

Why ESG Matters for Councils

Councils are on the frontline of climate change, managing community resilience, infrastructure, and environmental assets. Climate adaptation and ESG reporting are becoming essential for governance and community trust.

Current Readiness Levels

72% of councils have been impacted by natural disasters in recent years.
Two-thirds of CEOs said their Council had assessed the impacts of climate-related risks and opportunities on its business and operations to some or a great degree.
Only 53% have published a climate emergency or adaptation plan.
ESG preparedness has slipped year-on-year, with 30% of CEOs saying they are not prepared, and only 3% of CEOs saying they are extremely prepared.

CEO Perspectives on Climate Action

Tammi Rose, CEO of Yarra Ranges Council, stresses the urgency:

“Through consistent communication, strategic integration and collaborative engagement, CEOs can lift climate risk awareness and activate meaningful adaptation planning across the sector.”

Her perspective is grounded in lived experience. The Yarra Ranges community has faced floods, bushfires and devastating storm events in recent years, forcing councils to move beyond plans and into action. Tammi highlights that CEOs play a unique role in translating complex climate data into strategic priorities that both councillors and communities can understand.

Pathways to Progress

While awareness of ESG and climate risks is increasing, the Index shows many councils are still at the early stages of translating intent into measurable action. CEOs emphasise that progress requires a structured, whole-of-organisation approach that embeds climate considerations into the very core of planning and decision-making.

Integrate ESG into Council planning, asset management, and financial strategies.
Partner with community and state government for shared climate resilience.
Translate climate risks into clear, actionable reporting outcomes.

Conclusion:

The sector is moving from awareness to action, but faster progress is critical. Councils that embed ESG into governance and culture will lead the way in building resilient communities.

�� Download the full Australian Local Government CEO Index 2025 to see how ESG is shaping the sector.

About Davidson:

Davidson is a proudly Australian company with more than 30 years of experience in enhancing workplace performance. With specialist teams in Business Advisory, Search and Recruitment, and Technology Consulting, Davidson partners with clients to deliver sustainable, outcome-driven solutions that make a lasting impact for organisations and communities.

Contact us today to discuss how we can support your council to enhance leadership, strengthen governance, and deliver transformation.

Why Cyber Security is Now a Leadership Priority for Local Government CEOs

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 22:30:00 GMT

The 2025 CEO Index confirms cyber security is now the number one technology concern for Local Government CEOs. 24% say it keeps them awake at night, and recent case studies show why councils can no longer treat cyber risk as a technical issue alone.

The Scale of the Cyber Challenge

Cyber security ranked as the top national technology priority for the second consecutive year.
Just 10% of CEOs feel their systems are truly fit-for-purpose, while 64% express reservations or lack of confidence altogether.
CEOs across metro and regional councils report equal levels of concern.
Vendor lock-in and capability shortages compound the risk.
Cyber security was first added to the survey three years ago—and while 2025 scores are higher than 2023, they are notably down from the 2024 peak, suggesting a settling of urgency post high-profile incidents.

Lessons from a Cyber Attack

Jacqui Weatherill, CEO of Greater Dandenong, shares her first-hand experience of a council-wide system shutdown:

“It’s not a matter of if, but when a cyber attack will target your organisation. The difference lies in how prepared you are to respond.”

By learning from this incident and implementing the key steps outlined above, Local Governments can enhance their resilience and better prepare for future cyber threats. As CEOs, fostering a culture of cyber resilience and continuous improvement are essential in safeguarding our digital assets and maintaining the trust of our communities.

Building a Culture of Cyber Resilience

Local Government CEOs increasingly recognise that technology alone cannot safeguard councils. True resilience depends on culture and leadership. Building a cyber-aware organisation means embedding accountability at every level, from councillors to frontline staff.

Embedding cyber into enterprise risk frameworks so it receives the same attention as financial or compliance risks.
Equipping executives and councillors with cyber awareness training to strengthen decision-making.
Investing in people and processes—through incident response plans, drills, and clear communication, not just systems.
Promoting shared responsibility across the organisation, where staff understand their role in keeping data secure.

These steps help councils move beyond compliance to cultivate a culture of vigilance, where resilience becomes second nature.

Conclusion

Cyber security is now firmly on the CEO agenda. Councils must view it as core to governance, trust, and service continuity.

Read the Australian Local Government CEO Index 2025 for deeper insights and recommendations.

About Davidson

Contact us today to discuss how we can support your council to enhance leadership, strengthen governance, and deliver transformation.

Closing the Leadership Capability Gap in Local Government: Insights from the 2025 CEO Index

Thu, 11 Sep 2025 07:11:33 GMT

Leadership capability remains the number one concern for Australian Local Government CEOs in 2025. According to the latest CEO Index, 91% of leaders are worried about gaps in their executive pipeline.

Why Leadership Capability Matters More Than Ever

Councils face increasingly complex challenges: cyber threats, climate impacts, financial strain, and community expectations. Strong leaders are needed not only to manage these pressures but also to drive transformation and long-term resilience.

The Current State of Leadership Gaps

91% of CEOs are concerned about leadership talent shortages.
Engineers, statutory planners, and senior executives remain the hardest roles to fill.
Retention challenges are rising, with 1 in 4 CEOs saying it keeps them awake at night.

Strategies for Building Leadership Capability

Grow talent from within: Develop structured succession pipelines and leadership development programs.
Prioritise culture: A positive workplace culture is key to retention and attraction.
Invest in development: Coaching, mentoring, and peer networks remain under-utilised.

Conclusion

Closing the leadership gap will define how well Local Government can meet community needs in the decade ahead. As Ken Gouldthorp, CEO of Cairns Regional Council, said: “Good people attract good people. A positive workplace culture is essential to both attracting and retaining talent.”

About Davidson:

Contact us today to discuss how we can support your council to enhance leadership, strengthen governance, and deliver transformation.

Australian Local Government CEO Index 2025 reveals leadership, culture and cyber security as top CEO priorities

Wed, 03 Sep 2025 00:35:05 GMT

Melbourne, 3 September 2025 – Davidson, one of Australia’s leading recruitment, technology and advisory firms, today launched the fifth edition of the Australian Local Government CEO Index at the LG Innovate 2025 Summit.

This year’s Index draws on insights from 134 council CEOs across metropolitan and regional Australia, providing a unique national view of the leadership, operational and transformation challenges shaping the sector.

Top Priorities and Key Findings in 2025:

People, leadership and organisational culture : 53% of CEOs prioritise it for uplift in the year ahead—closely followed by realignment, structure, and leadership development.
Cyber security : Firmly entrenched as the #1 technology issue, with 24% of CEOs saying cyber risk keeps them awake at night.
Leadership capability : 91% of CEOs are concerned about leadership talent gaps, making capability development the top workforce priority.
Service redesign and improvements : Rising into the top five for the first time, as councils face growing financial pressures and community expectations.
Community resilience and wellbeing : This is the only theme that has been among the top five overall CEO priorities each year of the Index, reinforcing Local Government’s role in helping communities navigate disruption, recovery, and long-term wellbeing.

“This year’s results show that Councils continue to invest in shared service models, modernising technology, ESG, and data-driven strategy. These shifts reflect a sector that is not standing still but adapting with intent.”

– Clare McCartin, Managing Partner – Search & Advisory, Davidson

The full report is now available at www.davidsonwp.com . Davidson invites clients, candidates, and partners to explore the report and share feedback.

About Davidson

Davidson is a proudly Australian company with more than 30 years of experience in enhancing workplace performance. With specialist teams in Business Advisory, Search and Recruitment, and Technology Consulting , Davidson partners with clients to deliver sustainable, outcome-driven solutions that make a lasting impact for organisations and communities .

Media enquiries:

Paula Price
Senior Manager – Marketing

Email: paula.price@davidsonwp.com

Davidson launches ESG Report FY25 – Building Sustainable Futures in Recruitment, Advisory and Consulting

Tue, 26 Aug 2025 23:31:39 GMT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
27 August 2025

Davidson, a leading national firm in recruitment, advisory, and technology consulting, has released its FY2025 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report. The report highlights foundational progress across social impact, environmental responsibility, and governance — underscoring Davidson’s commitment to sustainable, values-led growth.

FY2025 was a year of laying the groundwork. Davidson formalised its first Board-approved Environmental Policy, advanced initiatives to support First Nations communities, and strengthened its enterprise risk and cybersecurity frameworks under ISO 27001 certification.

Among the highlights:

Yalari Partnership: $614K+ in financial, pro bono, and in-kind support delivered; Davidson was honoured to receive Yalari’s Jimbelungare 20 ^th Anniversary Award, recognising our enduring friendship since 2007.
Environmental Sustainability: Davidson donated 10 laptops specifically to Deadly Coders to support Indigenous STEM education. Separately, 34 additional devices were recycled via PhoneCycle.
Homelessness Initiative: Strategic plan launched to enable 500 supportive housing units by 2032, targeting a reduction in rough sleeping from 337 to fewer than 100 individuals.
First Nations Enterprise Support: Provided 100+ hours of pro bono strategic advisory support to Crystal Ailan and Yurringa Energy.
Governance: Strong governance is the backbone of Davidson’s ESG approach, driving ethical leadership, informed risk management, and accountability at every level. Our team contributed 2,176 hours to governance activities this year.

CEO, Trent McMahon said:

“Our ESG actions this year have strengthened Davidson’s ability to make lasting, values-driven impacts. Importantly, recent stakeholder feedback has validated that our ESG priorities remain highly relevant, reinforcing our confidence that we’re focusing our efforts in the right areas. We remain committed to evolving our practices and contributing to a more sustainable, inclusive future.”

The full report is now available at www.davidsonwp.com . Davidson invites clients, candidates, and partners to explore the report and share feedback.

Media Contact:

Paula Price, Senior Marketing Manager, Davidson Group
Email: Paula.Price@davidsonwp.com

ESG in Action: Why It Matters and How Davidson Is Building Lasting Impact

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 00:43:44 GMT

At Davidson, we believe recruitment, advisory and technology consulting should create positive change, not just for businesses, but for people, communities, and the environment. This is why ESG is integral to how we operate. It reflects our ethos of changing lives and enhancing workplaces, ensuring that clients who partner with us engage with a firm committed to ethical recruitment, sustainable consulting, and community partnerships.

Our ESG Vision in Practice

In FY2025, we translated commitments into measurable outcomes. For clients, this means working with a recruitment and consulting partner who aligns leadership hiring and workforce strategies with environmental responsibility, governance standards, and First Nations engagement. For candidates, it means engaging with an organisation that values inclusivity, wellbeing, and long-term sustainability. From our gender-balanced leadership team (50% women) to our commitment to cultural diversity and accessibility, candidates experience a recruitment partner that not only connects them with opportunities, but also champions workplaces that reflect fairness, inclusion, and purpose.

This confidence comes from seeing the difference our initiatives have made – not only to our clients and candidates, but to our communities and the environment.

Highlights from FY2025

Yalari Partnership: $614K+ in financial, pro bono, and in-kind support delivered; Davidson was honoured to receive Yalari’s Jimbelungare 20 ^th Anniversary Award, recognising our enduring friendship since 2007.
Environmental Sustainability: Establishing a credible emissions baseline to inform future environmental goals.
Homelessness Initiative: Strategic plan launched to enable 500 supportive housing units by 2032, targeting a reduction in rough sleeping from 337 to fewer than 100 individuals.
First Nations Enterprise Support: Provided 100+ hours of pro bono strategic advisory support to Crystal Ailan and Yurringa Energy.
Governance: Strong governance is the backbone of Davidson’s ESG approach, driving ethical leadership, informed risk management, and accountability at every level. Our team contributed 2,176 hours to governance activities this year.

The Power of People

Our employees bring ESG to life every day. From STEPtember fundraising to volunteering at Yalari House, Davidson’s people demonstrate that values-driven recruitment and consulting isn’t an add-on — it’s embedded in how we work.

Looking Ahead

As we move forward, Davidson is focused on:

Deepening First Nations partnerships in recruitment and advisory.
Setting credible emissions baselines and future carbon targets.
Continuing to strengthen ethical governance.
Helping clients recruit leaders who prioritise sustainability, integrity, and inclusion.

For organisations seeking a trusted partner in ethical recruitment and ESG-aligned consulting in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and beyond, Davidson is ready to deliver.

Read the ESG Report FY2025 and watch the highlight video to see our impact in action.

Early Bird Deadline Extended for the LG Innovate National AI Summit – Now Closes COB Friday 25 July 2025

marketing@davidsonwp.com (Marketing Davidson) — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 23:31:12 GMT

We’re pleased to share that we’ve extended the early bird registration deadline for the LG Innovate National AI Summit by one week – now closing COB Friday 25 July 2025 .

While registration momentum has been strong, we’ve received valuable feedback from our partners and customers, who highlighted the impact of school holidays on those planning to attend. In response, and to ensure as many people as possible have the opportunity to access the early bird rate, we’ve extended the offer by one week.

This extension gives local government leaders, innovators, and changemakers a little more time to secure their place at the Summit and take advantage of discounted pricing.

The LG Innovate National AI Summit will bring together public sector leaders, technology experts and community champions to explore the transformative potential of AI in local government. With a packed program of keynote speakers, hands-on workshops, and real-world case studies, this is a must-attend event for anyone passionate about innovation in the sector.

Don’t miss your chance to be part of this groundbreaking event at the best possible price.

�� Register now to secure your early bird ticket by COB Friday, 25 July 2025 .

We look forward to seeing you there!

Why Attend LG Innovate 2025: The National AI Summit for Local Government

marketing@davidsonwp.com (Marketing Davidson) — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 22:12:34 GMT

With artificial intelligence reshaping the way governments operate, the 2025 LG Innovate National AI Summit is your opportunity to stay ahead of the curve.

Taking place on 3–4 September at Melbourne Town Hall , this two-day summit brings together over 150 local government CEOs, executives, tech leaders, and AI researchers to explore how AI is already transforming local councils — and what comes next.

What makes LG Innovate 2025 unmissable?

Real-World Learning from Local Government Leaders

Hear directly from pioneering councils as they share case studies, lessons learned, and live demonstrations of Generative AI in action. Discover how they’re redesigning services, rethinking workforce needs, and applying AI to better serve communities.

Global Insights and Collaboration

Gain international perspective from AI leaders in the UK, New Zealand, and across Australia, and be part of shaping the future of collaboration through the official launch of the ANZ Local Government AI Alliance .

CEO Panels and Candid Conversations

Join highly regarded CEO panel discussions, offering space for open, strategic conversations on AI investment, risks, and the leadership capabilities councils will need next.

Practical Guidance You Can Use Now

From AI governance and ROI frameworks to cyber drills and change management, you’ll take home tools and insights you can apply immediately .

New Venue. Bigger Network. More Momentum.

Set in the heart of the city at Melbourne Town Hall , this year’s summit is designed to foster connection, collaboration, and practical action .

Early Bird Offer Ends Soon

Register by 5pm Friday 18 July to secure your spot at a reduced early bird rate.
Spots are limited – register now to be part of the national conversation on AI in local government.

Using our relational intelligence to cut through the ‘busy’

Sun, 11 May 2025 22:00:00 GMT

When asking someone how they are, my pet hate is a response of 'flat out' or 'busy'.

Most of us have a great deal to do. We live in a world where we are all busy. Every. Single. Day.

We keep ourselves ‘busy’ and occupied with work and life, and many seem to now use that one-word response of ‘busy’ as a barometer of personal brand, success and impact. By being busy and achieving busy, we feel we are proving ourselves and can assimilate with others who we’re certain are also experiencing the same level of busyness. It could be said that being busy makes us feel heard, connected and accepted. Part of the ‘busy tribe’.

Then we add a layer of complexity.

Now we are navigating the myriad of competing demands and general complexity of work, life, family and community, alongside an intrinsic need to not be left out or say no to things. The high achiever in us always wants to do well, but we also fear time – we’re busy. Opportunity cost of time away from our families and building meaningful connection where it counts.

A very wise teacher of mine once said ‘manage priorities, not time’. Time is a constant and as adults we are very aware of the hours in the day and how we are best to navigate to ‘get things done’, however our ability to juggle the entanglement of these priorities in a way that builds genuine connection with people, is lost. We have become far more transactional in the way we interact and connect, in traversing through our ‘busy’ lives.

I would argue that our ability and awareness as human beings and leaders, to create deliberate time to build connection, mutual relationships, seek to understand and be genuinely curious about those outside ourselves, is indeed a silver bullet. Introducing: relational intelligence.

Relational intelligence, sometimes referred to as RQ (built from a foundation of Emotional Intelligence EQ), is our ability to understand and manage interpersonal dynamics, build trust, and connect with others effectively. Those who use their RQ recognise and value individual differences, values, needs, styles, and interests, and embrace these to build a genuine sense of connection.

Noting that barometer of ours suggests we are always busy, how do we overcome our default position of transacting, and rather ensure we are present, put others needs before ours, let others speak first, seek to understand others’ views, and so the list goes on…

So how do we unlock our RQ?

Through intentional and present leadership.

It's communicating with purpose and curiosity.
It's making a deliberate focus to deepen relationships.
It's supporting others to be the best they can be.
And it's working together to achieve as a collective.

Relational intelligence isn’t new. It’s just something that I believe has been unintentionally put in the corner. By giving ourselves the permission to wake up our RQ, that might just allow us opportunities to interact with others more authentically, cut through the ‘busy’ noise and have greater impact as leaders and human beings.

Here at Davidson we value values!

One of our values is Pursuit of Happiness . Happiness many of us get from suppressing the busy and building meaningful connections.

I encourage you to be that 1% more present and connected in your world today and every day. Imagine what could be possible, in a world that was a little less ‘flat out’ and a little more related.

And next time you ask someone how they are, listen with intent for their response…

Kristy Hammond

Senior Partner - People Advisory

Mobile: 0488 723 254

Email: kristy.hammond@davidsonwp.com

Let’s support your success

�� Ready to take the next step in your career?

�� Explore our current opportunities here.
�� Contact us today to find out how we can help.

�� Join our mailing list to get the latest insights and news from Davidson.

The hidden edge: What volunteering taught me about leadership

Sun, 27 Apr 2025 22:20:15 GMT

Senior executives are constantly navigating complex decisions, inspiring teams, driving results, and carrying the weight of corporate leadership. We are conditioned to lead — to solve, to direct, to deliver. But in this relentless drive to lead, we often forget the power of simply following.

Over the years, one of the most transformative experiences in my professional development didn’t come from a boardroom, a leadership program, or a keynote at a summit. It came from volunteering. And more specifically, from being the manager of a number of high-performance rugby teams.

At first glance, the role seemed simple: logistics, admin, support. Not exactly the stuff of strategic leadership. But there, on the sidelines, filling water bottles, washing jerseys, preparing paper work, and coordinating team meals, I rediscovered a truth that too many senior professionals lose touch with — the power of service, and the dignity of the roles that go unnoticed.

These menial, often thankless tasks, were crucial to the team’s success. And in doing them, I was reminded of how often in our organisations we overlook the people who create the conditions for performance — the unsung operators, coordinators, assistants, and enablers. This experience fundamentally shifted the way I lead. I no longer see these roles as peripheral. I see them as the bedrock of any high-performing culture.

More importantly, stepping out of a leadership identity — even temporarily — gave me the space to remember who I am without the title. Not the CEO, not the CFO, not the strategist or the fixer — just a person in service of something greater than themselves. That humility is grounding. It makes you more empathetic, more observant, and more connected. And paradoxically, it makes you a better leader when you return to your day job.

Why every leader should learn to follow

In senior roles, we’re often at risk of becoming insulated — shielded by our status, buffered from frontline realities, and conditioned to expect recognition. Volunteering challenges that. It strips away hierarchy and puts you shoulder to shoulder with others, often doing work where appreciation is minimal and outcomes aren’t tied to KPIs or bonuses.

Learning to be a good follower again reminds us how leadership feels from the other side. It reconnects us with patience, resilience, and the quiet discipline of contributing without fanfare. It also helps us appreciate the emotional experience of those in our organisations who live in that space every day.

The professional ROI of volunteering

Of course, volunteering has tangible professional benefits as well. Here are just a few:

Expanding your capability set

Volunteering introduces you to new contexts, new problems, and new ways of working. You may be leading without formal authority, solving problems with limited resources, or managing conflict in unfamiliar environments — all of which stretch your adaptability and creativity.

Reinforcing human-centred leadership

It’s easy to forget, especially in corporate environments, that leadership is about people, not just performance. Volunteering forces you to lead with empathy, clarity, and purpose — traits that resonate with modern workforces and boards alike.

Widening and deepening your network

When you serve alongside others — particularly outside your immediate professional sphere — you form more authentic relationships. Volunteering exposes you to leaders from different sectors and backgrounds, enriching your thinking and expanding your opportunities.

Sharpening strategic awareness

Working with nonprofits or high-performance community teams gives you insight into how others execute strategy under constraints. These insights can inform leaner, more effective approaches in your own organisation.

Enhancing reputation and personal brand

Demonstrating commitment beyond commercial outcomes positions you as a values-driven leader. It’s the kind of credibility that can’t be bought — only earned through action.

A challenge to my peers

If you’re reading this and holding a leadership title, I offer this simple challenge: Put yourself in a position where you are not the leader. Be a team player. Be an assistant. Be a quiet enabler. Do the jobs that don’t come with applause.

Not only will you be reminded of what real teamwork feels like, you’ll return to your executive role with sharper insight, deeper humility, and renewed clarity about what truly drives performance: people, purpose, and shared effort.

Final thoughts

Volunteering isn’t just about giving back — it’s about coming back better. Better informed, better connected, and better equipped to lead with heart. So if you’ve been meaning to get involved — do it. Not for the title, not for the recognition, but for the reminder of what great leadership really looks like: service.

By Ryan Webster, Senior Partner, Search & Advisory

�� Ready to take the next step in your career?

�� Explore our current opportunities here.
�� Contact Ryan Webster, Senior Partner, Search & Advisory today at ryan.webster@davidsonwp.com

Join our mailing list to get the latest insights and news from Davidson.

Keeping business operations on track with the right administrative talent

marketing@davidsonwp.com (Marketing Davidson) — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 10:04:35 GMT

Behind every high-performing organisation is a team of administrative professionals who keep everything running smoothly.

From streamlining operations to enabling effective communication and managing customer touchpoints, these essential roles are critical to business success—but often operate quietly in the background.

At Davidson, we specialise in recruiting skilled support staff who bring structure, efficiency, and professionalism to the workplace. Whether you're seeking a reliable Executive Assistant, a proactive Office Manager, or a customer service specialist who represents your brand with care, we find the right people to support your team and elevate your operations.

Our expertise

We connect organisations with high-quality administrative professionals across a range of roles, including:

Executive Assistants – Providing seamless executive support, prioritising tasks, and managing competing demands.
Office Managers – Overseeing office operations, coordinating resources, and maintaining a productive environment.
Customer Service Representatives – Representing your brand and building trust through responsive, customer-first service.
Data Entry Specialists – Ensuring data integrity and accuracy to support informed business decisions.
Receptionists – Creating a welcoming and organised first point of contact for clients, staff, and stakeholders.

Our recruitment approach is tailored to your specific operational needs and organisational culture—ensuring every placement adds long-term value.

Client success stories

We’re proud to support a wide range of organisations in building their support teams:

"Davidson ensured consistent candidate engagement throughout the recruitment process, providing clear communication and support at every stage."

Recruitment Business Partner, Fire Rescue Victoria

Let’s support your success

�� Ready to find your next essential team member—or take the next step in your career?

�� Explore our current opportunities here.
�� Contact us today to find out how we can help.

Join our mailing list to get the latest insights and news from Davidson.

Optimising supply chains with industry-leading talent

marketing@davidsonwp.com (Marketing Davidson) — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 23:28:12 GMT

In today’s fast-paced business environment, procurement and logistics professionals are the backbone of efficient supply chains. As global challenges reshape industries, organisations must adapt by recruiting top-tier talent to ensure resilience, innovation, and sustainability.

Davidson is proud to be a leader in procurement and logistics recruitment, helping businesses thrive with skilled professionals who drive seamless operations.

The role of procurement and logistics professionals

A strong supply chain ensures efficiency, cost control, and adaptability in the face of disruptions. Skilled professionals such as Procurement Managers, Supply Chain Analysts, Logistics Coordinators, and Operations Directors are instrumental in achieving these goals. Their expertise supports:

Supply Chain Resilience: Diversifying supplier bases and navigating global shifts, such as the move from China to ASEAN economies like Vietnam and Indonesia.
Digital Transformation: Leveraging AI-driven analytics and automation to enhance decision-making and operational efficiency.
Sustainability: Integrating green practices into logistics operations to meet environmental regulations.

Key trends shaping procurement and logistics recruitment in 2025

The recruitment landscape in Australia is evolving rapidly. Here are some key trends:

Technology Integration:
Companies increasingly prioritise candidates with experience in supply chain management software, real-time tracking tools, and data analytics. These skills streamline operations and support strategic decision-making.
Sustainability Focus:
With stricter environmental regulations, businesses seek professionals skilled in sustainable logistics solutions. This trend aligns with global efforts to reduce carbon footprints while maintaining operational efficiency.
Rise of Interim Hiring:
The demand for interim roles is growing as businesses navigate economic uncertainty. This flexible workforce strategy allows organisations to address immediate needs without long-term commitments.
Soft Skills Demand:
Beyond technical expertise, communication, collaboration, and emotional intelligence are becoming critical for cross-functional roles in procurement .

Davidson’s expertise

At Davidson, we specialise in placing professionals in roles that drive supply chain excellence :

Procurement Managers
Supply Chain Analysts
Logistics Coordinators
Warehouse Managers
Operations Directors

Our commitment to sourcing industry-leading talent ensures that businesses can adapt to challenges while maintaining efficiency and growth.

Client success stories

Our track record speaks for itself. As one of our clients shares:

"Davidson has been a knowledgeable, adaptable, and communicative partner, providing exceptional support in filling our roles."

Why choose Davidson?

Partnering with Davidson means gaining access to a network of skilled professionals who can transform your supply chain operations. Whether you’re looking for permanent hires or interim solutions, we provide tailored recruitment strategies to meet your needs.

Find your next opportunity today

Are you ready to take your career in procurement or logistics to the next level? Explore our current job openings today and discover exciting opportunities tailored to your skills and ambitions.

Enhance your supply chain resilience today with Davidson—your trusted partner in procurement and logistics recruitment!

Join our mailing list to get the latest insights and news from Davidson.

Connecting skilled Engineers & Manufacturing experts with industry leaders

marketing@davidsonwp.com (Marketing Davidson) — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 22:00:00 GMT

In today’s fast-paced world, engineering and manufacturing professionals play a crucial role in driving innovation, ensuring technical excellence, and contributing to infrastructure development across industries.

From designing cutting-edge solutions to optimising production processes, the expertise of these professionals is essential for businesses to stay competitive and achieve operational success. Securing top talent in engineering and manufacturing is key to maintaining efficiency, meeting project deadlines, and fostering continuous improvement.

At Davidson , we understand the importance of aligning highly skilled professionals with the right opportunities. With years of experience in Engineers & Manufacturing recruitment , we specialise in connecting engineers and manufacturing experts with industry leaders who are ready to take their organisations to new heights.

An outlook on Engineering and Manufacturing recruitment

The demand for engineering professionals is set to remain robust across various sectors, driven by growing infrastructure needs, evolving technologies, and the ongoing energy transition. According to Engineers Australia's 2024 report , professionals across all experience levels are in demand, though there is a significant shortage of mid-career and senior engineers. This skill gap poses a challenge for businesses looking to recruit top talent and highlights the importance of adopting strategic approaches to attract qualified candidates.

Key sectors driving this demand include:

Mining and Energy : The ongoing clean energy transition has spurred a sustained demand for engineers, particularly in electricity and sustainable energy solutions. This trend is expected to remain strong as Australia moves towards its emissions reduction targets.
Construction and Infrastructure : As Australia’s population continues to grow, the demand for engineers in infrastructure development will increase. Government investments, such as those under the Future Made in Australia agenda, are likely to contribute to this sector's growth.

In-demand skills for engineers include:

Digital engineering (such as Building Information Modelling)
Data analytics and transformation
Cybersecurity
Sustainability and environmental expertise
Strategic thinking, creativity, and leadership skills

These trends indicate that professionals with expertise in these areas will continue to be in high demand, offering job seekers a wealth of opportunities for career growth in the coming years.

Davidson’s expertise in Engineering & Manufacturing recruitment

At Davidson, we take pride in our deep understanding of the engineering and manufacturing sectors. Our recruitment process is designed to ensure that the professionals we place not only meet the technical requirements of a role but also align with the culture and values of your organisation.

We specialise in recruiting professionals for a wide range of roles, including:

Mechanical Engineers
Electrical Engineers
Project Managers
Production Managers
Manufacturing Specialists

Key benefits of securing top engineering and manufacturing talent include:

Boosting operational efficiency : Skilled engineers and manufacturing professionals can streamline processes, reduce errors, and increase overall productivity, helping your business maintain a competitive edge.
Innovation and problem-solving : Engineers are trained to think critically and solve complex problems. Hiring professionals with innovative thinking can help businesses develop better solutions to challenges and stay ahead of market trends.
Managing complex projects : Experienced project managers in the engineering and manufacturing sectors are equipped to oversee complex operations, ensuring projects stay on track, on budget, and are delivered to the highest standards.
Compliance and safety : As industries face increasingly stringent regulations, having professionals well-versed in compliance and safety standards can mitigate risks and ensure your business meets all legal requirements.

Client Success Stories

Our client success stories speak volumes about the value we bring to the table. Here's one from Karen, HR Manager at Astron Limited:

"Davidson is highly knowledgeable about remote and regional mine site roles, responsive, genuinely interested in our business, and open-minded in considering diverse shortlist options."

By partnering with Davidson, businesses can be assured that they’re working with a recruitment agency that is committed to delivering top-tier engineering and manufacturing talent, along with exceptional service and results.

Looking for your next opportunity?

Are you a candidate seeking a new opportunity in engineering or manufacturing? Davidson is your trusted partner in finding your next role. We work with leading companies across various industries to provide candidates with opportunities that align with their skills, career goals, and aspirations.

Explore Engineering & Manufacturing jobs now!

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�� Get in touch today to explore how we can help!

Fuelling business growth with the right sales & marketing talent

marketing@davidsonwp.com (Marketing Davidson) — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 01:47:21 GMT

Every thriving business needs a strong sales and marketing engine—one that not only builds brand visibility but also drives engagement and revenue. In today’s competitive market, finding professionals who bring both strategic thinking and executional excellence is key to long-term success.

At Davidson, we specialise in recruiting top-tier sales and marketing talent who understand how to connect brands with their audiences, generate demand, and accelerate business growth. Whether you're looking for a data-driven marketer, a dynamic sales executive, or a brand strategist with creative vision, we find the right people to fuel your success.

Our expertise

We connect businesses with high-calibre sales and marketing professionals across various roles, including:

Marketing Managers – Leading campaigns, market positioning, and customer engagement strategies.
Digital Marketing Specialists – Driving brand presence through SEO, social media, and paid digital channels.
Sales Executives – Building relationships, identifying opportunities, and closing deals.
Brand Strategists – Crafting compelling brand narratives that resonate with target audiences.

Our recruitment approach is tailored to each business, ensuring the right cultural and strategic fit for lasting impact.

Client success stories

Our results speak for themselves:

"Davidson provided a highly professional, friendly, and responsive service, demonstrating a strong commitment to understanding our needs and delivering excellent support."

– Stephen, Director, Genesis Equipment Hire

Whether you're a client searching for top talent or a candidate ready for your next career move, we’re here to support you every step of the way.

Let’s build your future together

�� Looking for talent or your next role?

�� Find opportunities here .

�� Get in touch today to explore how we can help.

Recruiting HR professionals who drive workplace success

marketing@davidsonwp.com (Marketing Davidson) — Fri, 21 Mar 2025 06:50:40 GMT

At Davidson, we specialise in connecting organisations with top-tier Human Resources (HR) professionals who help drive workplace success. We understand that HR is the backbone of every organisation, shaping culture, engagement, and compliance. Finding the right HR professionals is key to fostering talent and organisational growth, and we are committed to delivering the right fit for every business.

Why Davidson?

With over 30 years of experience, Davidson understands the evolving challenges of HR and people management. Our dedicated team of recruitment specialists combines deep industry knowledge with an extensive network of HR professionals to match exceptional talent with organisations that value strategic HR leadership and cultural alignment.

In addition to our recruitment expertise, we are actively engaged in the HR community. We have partnered with the Australian HR Institute (AHRI) , hosting industry events at our Brisbane office to facilitate discussions on emerging HR trends, workforce challenges, and best practices.

Our expertise

We specialise in recruiting professionals for roles such as:
✔ HR Business Partners
✔ Talent Acquisition Specialists
✔ Learning & Development Managers
✔ Workplace Relations Advisors

For clients, we offer tailored recruitment solutions to meet the dynamic needs of businesses seeking exceptional Human Resources professionals. Whether you need permanent hires, interim solutions, or specialist HR roles, we connect you with the right talent to drive organisational success and enhance workplace culture. Our recruitment approach is driven by a deep understanding of HR’s strategic role in shaping organisations and fostering a positive employee experience.

For candidates, we provide personalised career support to help you find the ideal opportunity that aligns with your skills, aspirations, and long-term goals. Our goal is to connect you with opportunities that match your expertise while advancing your career and supporting your professional growth.

Explore current job openings or contact us today to discuss how we can help you secure top HR talent or find your next great role.

High-Performance Sport and Recruitment Synergies: applying the principles of excellence, discipline, and results to talent search in Australia

Sun, 16 Mar 2025 23:00:00 GMT

"I am lucky enough to have been involved in recruitment/search in Australia for nearly 20 years. During this time, I have also enjoyed a volunteer career in high-performance sports. People often ask how I balance the two very different roles. It can be challenging, but the learnings I gain in one domain can be applied to the other. "

Ryan Webster, Senior Partner, Davidson Search & Advisory

High-performance sport is a model of excellence and discipline aimed at achieving remarkable results. The models used in elite sport are applicable to organisations seeking to secure top talent and build high-performing teams. I have seen these models deliver exceptional results time and again, however I rarely see organisations adopting these models outside of elite sport. Why?

A structured and strategic talent identification process

In high-performance sport , talent identification is a comprehensive process that goes beyond natural ability. It’s clear to me that the relentless pursuit of data for decision making in elite sport is the difference maker.

Sports measure the physical, mental, and emotional aspects of each potential hire; they focus on teamwork, alignment to culture and they are obsessed with resilience. They seek every available data point to measure candidates before considering any potential hire – only then do they apply “gut feel”.

Whilst organisations should adopt a multifaceted approach to recruitment, measuring all available data points, few do. Adding complication is the reality that gathering data to measure potential hires outside of sport is not as easy, nor as accurate as it is in sport. Yet organisations continue to rely mostly on just a few interviews to make decisions. Interviews are often frighteningly short, conducted by interviewers who rely on intuition, and in no way replicate the environment in which a potential hire will perform.

What can organisations do to better replicate the success generated in elite sports?

A colleague’s son was recently hired by a global organisation in the financial services sector. Here is a snapshot the recruitment process... 15 interviews in total with 15 different people assessing different skills, attributes, motivators and team fit; a 3 hour practical test of the candidate’s skillsets; a 2 hour debrief/interrogation of the results produced in the practical test conducted by senior hiring managers; psychometric testing; and structured reference checks conducted over half an hour with hiring managers interviewing referees. Better data than a couple of interviews over 2 hours? You bet. No surprise this organisation wins the equivalent of championships year in year out.

Cultural fit and team dynamics

Sporting teams know teamwork and alignment with culture are non-negotiable. Athletes are selected for their skills but also for their compatibility with team dynamics. Similarly, businesses must look beyond technical abilities to assess a candidate's cultural fit and soft skills, such as emotional intelligence and teamwork. Companies like Atlassian and Canva , known for high-performing teams, value collaboration and adaptability in their recruitment processes and they have a system to measure it.

Using data-driven tools like psychometric testing and skills-based evaluations are non-negotiable steps in their process. Gathering data to assess candidates' potential fit and to better predict future performance, rather than relying on qualifications, work history and interviews, is a crucial difference maker.

Mental toughness and resilience

You can’t win championships if you can’t perform under pressure. Mental toughness and resilience can be developed, but elite teams seek out those with a natural disposition in this regard - they demand it.

We operate in an increasingly uncertain environment which means the ability to cope well under stress is becoming a essential competency. Are organisations focusing enough on measuring candidates mental toughness and resilience? How do they measure it if they are?

Behavioural interview questions assessing candidate’s responses to multiple past work challenges; gathering personal histories to assess hardships and how they have been overcome; and psychometric testing can together provide a good gauge on resilience. By incorporating these tools, organisations can better identify candidates who will thrive under pressure and cope with challenges.

Long-term development: an investment

In high-performance sport, athlete development is a long-term commitment. Similarly, businesses should view recruitment as an investment in long-term growth, not just a way to fill immediate vacancies.

Companies that value a growth mindset, encouraging employees to focus on skills development and career progression do far better than their peers. You don’t keep top talent without it.

High-performing teams are built on a foundation (and system) of continual development, ensuring both employee satisfaction and long-term success, reassuring the audience about the potential for growth within their organisations.

Agility and continuous improvement

High-performance sport requires constant adaptation to new training methods, technology, and competition. Similarly, an organisation’s recruitment strategy must be flexible to adapt to changing job markets and industry trends. With the increasing demand for remote and flexible working arrangements , businesses must adjust their recruitment processes to attract top talent. By staying agile and refining recruitment practices; organisations can ensure they remain competitive in the talent market, empowering them to make necessary changes in their processes.

The need to adapt should never come at the cost of gathering the data needed to make great decisions. In recent years I have witnessed too many organisations abandoning processes aimed at gathering better data in their desperation to attract talent.

The truth is that once an organisation establishes its reputation as a high performer, it’s the candidates who will flex to meet the organisations processes – Groucho Marx great line “I wouldn’t want to belong to a club that would have me as a member” springs to mind.

Conclusion: applying elite sports models in recruitment

The principles of high-performance sport, (strategic talent identification, focus on cultural fit, resilience, long-term development, and uncompromising use of multiple data points), are effectively applied to recruitment by the highest performing organisations.

Most organisations don’t adopt these practices. Why? My guess is there are many reasons - its too hard; it takes too much time; they fear the steps involved will become a hurdle to securing talent in competitive markets; or they simply haven’t thought enough about it.

What I do know is that when they adopted, these strategies build high-performing teams equipped to outcompete and deliver results.

Ryan Webster

Senior Partner, Davidson Search & Advisory

ryan.webster@davidsonwp.com

Specialised Recruitment for Accounting, Finance and Payroll Professionals

marketing@davidsonwp.com (Marketing Davidson) — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 21:14:00 GMT

At Davidson, we specialise in connecting organisations with highly skilled professionals in Accounting, Finance, and Payroll, ensuring businesses have the right expertise to navigate complex financial landscapes. We also help finance professionals find opportunities where they can grow, thrive, and make a real impact.

Why Choose Davidson for Finance & Accounting Recruitment?

With over 30 years of experience, Davidson understands the unique demands of the financial sector. Our dedicated team of recruitment specialists leverages deep industry insights and an extensive talent network to match exceptional professionals with companies seeking expertise, strategic growth, and cultural alignment.

Our Recruitment Solutions for Accounting, Finance & Payroll

Permanent Recruitment

Secure high-calibre finance professionals for long-term success. We meticulously vet candidates to ensure they possess the technical expertise and cultural fit necessary for your organisation. If you're a candidate, we match you with roles where you can grow and contribute meaningfully.

Contract & Interim Recruitment

For those times when companies need flexible solutions to manage peak periods, system implementations, or special projects, our contract and interim recruitment services provide skilled professionals on demand, offering the expertise you need when you need it most. For candidates, this offers the chance to gain valuable experience while contributing to key projects.

Payroll & Compliance Specialists

Navigating payroll regulations requires precision and expertise. We connect businesses with payroll specialists who ensure compliance, accuracy, and seamless payroll operations.

Senior Finance Talent

From Senior Accountants to Financial Controllers, we source visionary leaders who drive strategic financial management, optimise performance, and enhance profitability. Whether you are a candidate looking to take the next step in your career or a business seeking top-tier finance leadership, we have the expertise to help.

Market Insights & Talent Mapping

Stay ahead of industry trends with our in-depth market insights. We provide data-driven talent mapping to help businesses build a pipeline of future finance leaders. For candidates, we offer insights into market trends and career opportunities that align with your skills and ambitions.

Our Expertise

We specialise in recruiting professionals for roles such as:

Financial Analysts
Accountants
Auditors
Payroll Specialists
Finance Business Partners

Whether you're a business seeking permanent hires, contract professionals, or senior financial leaders, or a candidate looking for the right opportunity to advance your career, Davidson has the expertise to support your needs.

Explore current job openings or contact us today to discuss how we can help you secure top finance and accounting talent or find your next great role.

Connect with our Recruitment Solutions leaders

Cultural Diversity Week 2025: Embrace the Journey, Shape Our Future

marketing@davidsonwp.com (Marketing Davidson) — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 00:48:29 GMT

Davidson is proud to support Cultural Diversity Week (CDW) 2025, Victoria’s leading multicultural celebration from 17 to 23 March.

Cultural Diversity Week (CDW) is Victoria’s leading multicultural celebration. Led by the Victorian Multicultural Commission, this annual event coincides with the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and Harmony Day on 21 March. It is a time to reflect on and celebrate the rich cultural heritage that makes Victoria a vibrant and diverse state.

Why Cultural Diversity Matters

Diversity is more than just a concept—it’s a strength. Cultural diversity fosters innovation, broadens perspectives, and builds stronger, more inclusive communities. This year’s theme, “Embrace the Journey, Shape Our Future,” encourages people to reflect on their unique cultural identities and share their stories of resilience, heritage, and connection.

At Davidson, we are committed to fostering diversity and inclusion in all its forms, knowing that it creates a better world for us all. We strive to cultivate workplaces and communities where individuals feel valued, heard, and empowered to share their experiences.

How to Get Involved

There are many ways to celebrate and take part in Cultural Diversity Week 2025:

Share Your Story: Whether it’s a tradition, a cherished language, or a meaningful experience, share your cultural journey on social media using #CDW2025 #EmbraceTheJourney #ShapeOurFuture .
Attend Events: Participate in community activities, including the Victorian Multicultural Festival at Grazeland from 21 to 23 March.
Host a Conversation: Engage with colleagues, friends, and family about the importance of diversity and inclusion in shaping our collective future.

At Davidson, we encourage inclusive participation, ensuring that diversity is not just acknowledged but celebrated. Join us in recognising the power of inclusion, culture, and shared experiences.

Learn more about Davidson’s social commitments and how we are working to make a positive impact.

Discover Exciting Technology Career Opportunities with Davidson

marketing@davidsonwp.com (Marketing Davidson) — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 05:58:30 GMT

The technology sector continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace, driving demand for highly skilled professionals who can lead innovation, manage complex digital transformations, and enhance organisational performance. From software engineers and data analysts to IT project managers and cybersecurity specialists, companies across industries are actively seeking top technology talent to stay ahead in a competitive market.

Davidson Technology Recruitment: Connecting Talent with Opportunity

At Davidson , we specialise in technology recruitment , matching top tech professionals with leading organisations in government, utilities, and corporate sectors. Whether you're an experienced IT expert looking for your next career move or an organisation seeking the best talent to drive your digital initiatives, our tailored recruitment solutions ensure the right fit for your unique needs.

The Growing Demand for Tech Talent

According to our 2024/25 Technology Salary Guide , technology roles are in high demand, driven by digital transformation, enhanced security, and the adoption of emerging technologies. Key hiring trends include:

Cybersecurity & AI Specialists – Especially sought after in financial services, government, and mining.
Hybrid & Remote Roles – Increasing demand for flexible contract and project-based positions.
Upskilling & Certifications – Professionals with expertise in cloud computing, DevOps, and data analytics have a competitive edge.

Looking to explore new technology job opportunities? View our latest roles here .

Davidson’s Technology Specialisations

Davidson’s technology recruitment team is dedicated to sourcing and placing highly sought-after tech professionals, our specialisations including:

DevOps, Cloud & Infrastructure
Data Analytics, Engineering & Science
Security
Software Development & Testing
Projects & Business Transformation
Product & UX/UI

Whether you're a seasoned IT professional or looking to transition into a new tech role, Davidson’s expertise in technology recruitment can help you find career-defining opportunities.

Explore current job openings or contact us today to see how we can help you grow your career or secure top tech talent for your organisation.

The Rise of the Chief AI Officer: Why Every Organisation Needs One

Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:33:31 GMT

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer a futuristic concept—it’s here, and it’s transforming industries at an unprecedented pace. From diagnosing diseases to predicting market trends, AI is becoming a core driver of business innovation and efficiency.

But with great power comes great responsibility. AI adoption raises questions about strategy, governance, ethics, and risk management. Who ensures AI aligns with business objectives while mitigating risks?

Enter the Chief AI Officer (CAIO) - a role that has grown rapidly, with the number of CAIO positions tripling in the last five years. As AI shifts from being a support tool to a strategic imperative, businesses are recognising the need for dedicated AI leadership.

The CAIO role is not just a corporate trend—it’s becoming a policy-driven necessity.

In March 2024, following Executive Order #14110 on AI governance, the U.S. White House Office of Management and Budget mandated that all U.S. federal agencies appoint a Chief AI Officer within 60 days. This move highlights AI’s growing strategic and national security significance.

Private-sector demand is also accelerating. Companies across finance, healthcare, tech, and manufacturing are appointing CAIOs to stay ahead in the AI race.

By 2030, AI is expected to significantly disrupt a wide range of industries. Here are some key sectors undergoing AI-driven transformation:

Healthcare – AI-powered diagnostics, predictive analytics, and robotic-assisted surgeries are reshaping patient care. Example: Google’s DeepMind AI has already demonstrated its ability to detect eye diseases as accurately as world-class specialists.
Customer Service – AI chatbots and recommendation engines are enhancing customer interactions. Example: Companies like Airbnb and Spotify use AI to personalise recommendations and improve user experiences.
Banking & Finance – AI is revolutionising fraud detection, credit scoring, and investment strategies. Example: JPMorgan Chase’s AI tool, COIN , analyses legal documents in seconds, saving thousands of hours in manual processing.
Logistics – AI optimises supply chains and asset management with predictive analytics. Example: Amazon leverages AI to streamline inventory management and automate warehouses.
Retail – AI-driven analytics help retailers optimise pricing, stock levels, and store layouts. Example: Amazon Go stores use AI-powered “Just Walk Out” technology to enable cashier-less shopping.
Cybersecurity – AI enhances real-time threat detection and response.
Transportation – Self-driving cars and AI-powered logistics are reshaping mobility. Example: Tesla’s Autopilot and Waymo ’s self-driving taxis are redefining urban transportation.
Defence – AI-powered surveillance and autonomous weapons are changing national security strategies .

With AI reshaping these industries, demand for AI expertise is skyrocketing.

What countries are ahead of the CAIO curve?

While still an emerging role in some regions, CAIOs are becoming essential in AI-driven industries.

The United States are leading the way with CAIOs, but a recent report indicates that 20% of Australian businesses have already established a Chief AI Officer position, positioning the country second globally in this regard, just this week Australia Post advertised for their Chief AI Officer. Other Countries the role is also gaining traction in are Canada, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and India.

As a leader of one of Australia's largest search teams, it's a talent pool our research team has dedicated resources to building out. Whilst the talent pool is still emerging in Australia, it is being supplemented by strong international talent expressing interest in moving here. In Australia, the top sectors hiring AI professionals include professional services, government, and retail.

What Does a Chief AI Officer (CAIO) Do?

The Chief AI Officer (CAIO) is a senior executive responsible for developing and implementing an organisation’s AI strategy. Typically reporting to the CEO, COO, or CTO, the CAIO ensures AI initiatives drive business growth while maintaining ethical and regulatory compliance.

Key responsibilities include:

Developing and executing an AI strategy that aligns with business goals.
Leading AI, data analytics, and machine learning teams to drive innovation.
Overseeing AI governance and ethics, ensuring compliance with regulations.
Managing AI risks, including data privacy, security, and bias mitigation.
Guiding AI investments to maximise efficiency and competitive advantage.

What’s Next for the CAIO Role?

As AI becomes a business-critical function, the CAIO will be instrumental in shaping competitive advantage and transforming business and customer operations. Organisations that fail to establish AI leadership risk falling behind in an AI-driven economy.

The question isn’t whether companies need a CAIO—it’s how soon they will appoint one.

Is your organisation ready for a Chief AI Officer? Need help writing the CAIO PD, mapping for your inaugural CAIO or supporting your organisation as it transforms through the power of AI? I'd love to connect you with our specialist leaders here at Davidson.

Clare McCartin

Managing Partner - Business Advisory, Executive Search

clare.mccartin@davidsonwp.com

Unlock Top Executive Leadership Opportunities with Davidson’s Executive Search

marketing@davidsonwp.com (Marketing Davidson) — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 03:41:38 GMT

In today’s fast-evolving business landscape, strong executive leadership is more critical than ever. Roles such as Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), Managing Directors, and General Managers play a pivotal role in driving organisational success and navigating complex challenges.

At Davidson Executive Search , we specialise in connecting top-tier executive talent nationally with leading organisations across multiple sectors including government, utilities, and corporate enterprises. Whether you’re an experienced leader seeking your next challenge or an organisation aiming to secure exceptional executive talent, our tailored recruitment solutions ensure the right leadership fit for your unique needs.

The Demand for Executive Leadership Talent

There is no doubt that the demand for executive leadership talent is currently high across industries driven by the need for skilled leaders who can navigate complex business environments, foster innovation, and manage rapid change. As a result, the market for top executives with the expertise to lead organisations effectively has become increasingly competitive.

With this growing demand, organisations are actively seeking visionary leaders to help shape the future of their companies. Whether it’s leading operational strategies, driving community engagement, or spearheading innovative initiatives, the need for executives who can step up to these challenges is greater than ever.

Davidson Executive Search teams are dedicated to recruiting for high-level executive leadership positions, including CEOs, Managing Directors, General Managers, and Executive Directors across multiple sectors. These roles offer unique opportunities to make a significant impact and lead transformative change within dynamic organisations.

Explore our current executive leadership opportunities and take the next step in advancing your career today.

Key Skills for Future Leaders

According to insights from The Leadership Sphere , candidates for top executive positions should bring a range of skills, including:

Building Trust-Based Relationships – Strong leaders foster trust within their teams, ensuring collaboration and accountability.
Developing Adaptive Cultures – The ability to guide organisations through change and foster an antifragile culture of innovation is essential.
Prioritising Employee Well-Being – Executive leaders must emphasise mental health, work-life balance, and a supportive workplace environment.

Credibility, deep understanding of organisations’ unique context, and a passion for presenting career-defining opportunities allows us to secure exceptional leadership talent.

Contact us today to explore how our tailored executive recruitment solutions can support you in shaping the future of leadership.

Davidson is thrilled to welcome Luke Heine & Aleksandra Ferguson to Davidson’s Advisory practice

Tue, 10 Dec 2024 04:32:06 GMT

Davidson is thrilled to welcome Luke Heine and Aleksandra Ferguson to Davidson’s Advisory practice

Luke Heine is our National Business Advisory leader and has an extensive background in Strategy, Operations and Transformation within boutique and Big 4 consulting organisations.

Aleksandra Ferguson is a highly sought-after transformation and operations leader most recently from one of the Big 4 consultancies. Alex is joining Davidson as a Senior Partner to spearhead our Transformation Delivery practice.

Clare McCartin, Managing Partner, Search & Advisory, is “Delighted to welcome Luke and Alex as key leaders of our growing Advisory team. Our Public Sector clients have been telling us for several years they want further options to support them in a range of areas, but the perennial challenge of customer and technology-led transformation was always of most prominent importance to them. So, just as we do when we take executive searches to the market, we spoke to our government clients to find out when these have succeeded and who was involved. Luke and Alex’s names consistently came up as proven and trusted by the public sector.”

Alex Ferguson said she is “thrilled to join the very talented Davidson team and continue my passion for leading organisational transformation and driving meaningful change for my clients."

Luke Heine is quoted as saying, “I’m humbled to have the opportunity to work lead the National Business Advisory team at Davidson and work alongside my Search colleagues to support the leaders they place with their diverse challenges.”

If you’d like to speak to our team about any of your transformation needs, please reach out to Luke or Aleksandra .

Navigating the Tech Talent Landscape: Insights from the Davidson Technology Salary Guide 2024/25

marketing@davidsonwp.com (Marketing Davidson) — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 22:00:00 GMT

As the Australian technology sector continues to evolve, businesses and professionals alike must stay ahead of the curve.

Whether you’re a hiring manager navigating the competitive tech talent market or a job seeker trying to gauge your value, understanding the latest salary benchmarks and trends is essential.

Davidson’s 2024/25 Technology Salary Guide offers key insights into the shifting demands and compensation expectations across various technology roles.

Australia’s technology recruitment landscape has seen profound shifts over the past year. Economic pressures and an emphasis on operational efficiency have reshaped priorities for many organisations, affecting demand across technology sectors.

National Hiring and Salary Trends: Adapting to New Priorities

Over the last year, we’ve seen a transition from scaling teams to optimising resources. Organisations prioritise tech talent with expertise in high-demand areas like cybersecurity, cloud computing, and data management , where skilled professionals can make a strategic impact. Roles such as cybersecurity specialists, cloud architects, and data analysts have become critical, but these professionals are increasingly complex to source, driving their value even higher.

Each region of Australia has its unique hiring demands, influenced by dominant industries and market needs

Sydney remains the leading market for tech talent, with specialised roles in cybersecurity, AI, and data analytics typically commanding 10-15% higher salaries than the national average. This reflects Sydney’s role as Australia’s financial hub and a major centre for government and public sector projects.

Melbourne offers competitive salaries, approximately 5-10% above the national average for high-demand roles like cloud engineering, data science, and DevOps . The city’s strong focus on health and public sector projects has heightened demand for data specialists and software developers to support ongoing digital transformation.

Brisbane ’s tech salaries align closely with the national average, but competitive packages are common for cloud architects, data analysts, and cybersecurity professionals . The city’s strong infrastructure investment fuels demand for tech talent supporting long-term public initiatives.

In Canberra , technology salaries are competitive, particularly in government and defence, where cybersecurity analysts, data scientists, and IT project managers remain in high demand.

Adelaide ’s tech market is more aligned with national averages, with a steady need for software development and public sector digitalisation .

Perth offers some of the highest salaries in tech, up to 10% above national averages for roles in mining, energy, and automation . These sectors rely on technology to support operational efficiency, safety, and sustainability.

The technology industry in Australia is experiencing unprecedented growth, with a projected growth rate of 5.9% over the next five years. Stuart Lindsay , our Group General Manager – Technology Recruitment, sheds light on the evolving landscape, emphasising the demand for top-tier technology talent and the importance of staying ahead of the curve.

Looking Ahead: Opportunities and Challenges for 2025

Australia’s technology sector is poised for continued evolution, with companies adapting to changing economic conditions and an evolving workforce. By emphasising competitive salaries, strategic benefits, and focused hiring in core sectors—such as financial services, government, mining, and health—organisations can position themselves as employers of choice. “This 2024-2025 Technology Salary Guide provides critical benchmarks and insights to support employers and candidates as they navigate Australia’s complex tech talent landscape,” says Stuart Lindsay , Group General Manager – Technology Recruitment, Davidson.

Why Davidson Technology Recruitment?

In today’s competitive digital landscape, the right talent is the foundation of innovation and transformation.

Davidson has been a trusted leader in technology recruitment for over 30 years, delivering tailored, data-driven solutions across Australia. We specialise in connecting businesses with high-calibre technology professionals, addressing immediate needs and planning for future growth. Davidson’s commitment to ethical business practices, quality assurance, and genuine partnerships sets us apart as a recruitment partner dedicated to sustainable success.

Stay informed. Plan ahead. And make strategic decisions for your business or career. If you're ready to discuss your recruitment needs or want to learn more about how we can assist you, contact us .

Navigate the 2024-2025 Technology sector with confidence, download your complimentary copy today.

Leadership Talent Gaps and Organisational Culture: Key Challenges for Local Government CEOs in 2024

marketing@davidsonwp.com (Marketing Davidson) — Thu, 03 Oct 2024 22:30:00 GMT

In the 2024 Australian Local Government CEO Index, leadership, people, and culture remain top priorities for council CEOs across the nation.

As local governments continue to navigate the complexities of a post-pandemic world, these elements have become increasingly vital in shaping the future of public sector leadership.

Leadership Talent Gaps

Leadership talent gaps and the challenge of finding employees with the right skills are significant concerns for most CEOs, as highlighted in the 2024 Index . The struggle to fill specialised roles—such as building surveyors, inspectors, engineers, planners, and senior management professionals—remains persistent. Nearly a third of CEOs (32%) expressed strong concern about leadership talent gaps, with an additional 54% indicating they were somewhat concerned. These concerns are compounded by the significant turnover in leadership, as many long-serving CEOs have recently concluded their tenures, taking with them a wealth of industry experience and knowledge.

Clare McCartin, Managing Partner of Davidson, emphasises the gravity of the situation, noting that “the sector is going through a significant changing of the guards.” These past two years we have seen a significant number of local government CEOs depart the sector or retire after long-standing tenures, resulting in the loss of in-depth industry knowledge. This runs parallel with one of the largest wars on good talent the sector has seen in some time and corresponds with 87% of CEOs telling us they are concerned about leadership talent gaps in the next 12 months.

Cultivating Organisational Culture

A strong organisational culture is the bedrock of effective leadership and employee satisfaction in local government. However, the Index reveals significant challenges in this area. Despite their efforts to foster leadership and strengthen organisational culture, many CEOs express concerns about the behaviour of elected officials and feel a lack of support. Around half of the survey respondents said they wanted the opportunity to participate in a CEO support network, almost double the responses for the next most popular opportunity - seeing what other local government areas are doing nationally and overseas.

The pandemic's impact on employee wellbeing presents a mixed picture. While 32% of CEOs observed positive effects, 49% believed the impact was negative. A significant challenge has been balancing flexible work arrangements with the operational needs of councils. With 62% of staff working three or four days in the office, managing expectations and maintaining a cohesive organisational culture has become a major point of friction.

As the sector faces these challenges, the importance of cultivating a culture where aspiration thrives cannot be overstated.

Discover more insights from over 170 local government CEOs. Download the full 2024 Australian Local Government CEO Index here.

Navigating the Future: AI, Technology, and Cyber Security in Local Government

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 22:30:00 GMT

Most CEOs believe that AI and other emerging technologies are years away from impacting their council’s way of working, but cyber security is of greater and more immediate concern.

In the evolving landscape of local government, the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and technology holds significant promise. However, as revealed in the 2024 Australian Local Government CEO Index , many local government leaders view these advancements as distant prospects rather than immediate priorities.

Current State of AI and Technology

Despite the growing conversation around AI and technology, most local government CEOs believe these innovations are still years away from making a substantial impact. According to the Index, 80% of CEOs expect the effects of AI to be felt in five or more years. Furthermore, only 2% of CEOs feel their organisations are utilising AI very effectively, and half (51%) believe their councils are not prepared for the AI revolution. The cautious approach to emerging technologies is reflected in current priorities: AI ranks seventh on the national priority list for technology, significantly behind cyber security and digital transformation.

Moreover, there is a noticeable reluctance to share technology services among councils. Only 16% of councils currently engage in sharing technology services, while a substantial majority (84%) do not. In contrast, councils are more open to sharing non-technology services.

The lack of immediate engagement with AI and technology reflects a broader issue of preparedness. The majority of councils do not feel confident in their readiness for AI, and many are still grappling with fundamental technology issues like security architecture and data planning.

Cyber Security: Immediate Concerns and Challenges

Cyber security has emerged as a top concern for local governments, ranking fourth overall among all priorities. This heightened focus underscores an urgent need to protect systems and data from increasing threats.

As highlighted in the Index 2024, 23% of CEOs report that cyber threats keep them awake at night, with states like NSW, VIC, and QLD placing cyber security among their top priorities. However, councils in SA and TAS are generally less concerned about cyber security, with CEOs in these states ranking it their 10 ^th and 12 ^th highest national priority respectively.

Future Outlook

Looking ahead, the trajectory of AI and technology in local government will be significantly influenced by advancements in digital infrastructure and data analytics. Local governments must navigate these changes carefully, balancing innovative technologies with a strong emphasis on foundational elements like security and network infrastructure.

While AI and emerging technologies are anticipated to make an impact in the years to come, cyber security remains an immediate and pressing concern. Strengthening security measures is essential to protect systems and data in the short term and ensure a secure foundation for future technological advancements.

Discover more insights from over 170 local government CEOs. Download your copy here .

Unlocking Competitive Advantage: Davidson’s Expertise on Mastering Market Mapping and Talent Engagement

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 22:30:00 GMT

In today's dynamic business environment, strategically mapping markets and engaging top-tier talent is critical for companies navigating mergers, acquisitions, and private equity investments.

Anthony Grey, Partner – Executive Search & Advisory at Davidson, is a seasoned expert in this arena, shares his thought leadership on how organisations can leverage these strategies to drive growth and competitive advantage.

Market Mapping for Strategic Success

Effective market mapping isn't just about identifying opportunities—it's about understanding the intricate details of competitive landscapes, emerging trends, and the needs of key stakeholders. At Davidson, we empower businesses to make data-driven decisions that align with long-term goals. Organisations can stay ahead of the curve by identifying untapped markets and recognising potential talent gaps.

Anthony emphasises that the right market intelligence can significantly enhance deal outcomes for private equity firms,

mergers, and acquisition-driven companies. This strategic insight allows firms to make well-informed decisions, mitigate risks, and capitalise on synergies across various sectors.

Talent Engagement as a Differentiator

Talent engagement is another cornerstone of Davidson's approach. In a market where the competition for top talent is fiercer than ever, fostering a dynamic talent pipeline is crucial. “Businesses that engage with high-performing talent, not just during recruitment, but throughout their career journey, build a sustainable edge,” says Anthony. At Davidson, our philosophy revolves around creating meaningful, long-term relationships with talent to enhance organisational resilience and adaptability.

Our expertise is particularly relevant for private equity-backed businesses where talent is often the key differentiator in transforming acquired companies. By engaging the right talent early, firms can accelerate transformation and ensure successful integration post-acquisition.

Are you ready to elevate your market positioning and drive growth through smarter market mapping and talent engagement strategies? Connect with Anthony Grey today for tailored insights to help you navigate the complexities of M&A and private equity landscapes.

Anthony Grey

Partner - Executive Search & Advisory

04 0331 0566

Anthony.Grey@davidsonwp.com

Celebrating 16 Years of APSCo Membership: A Milestone Achievement for Davidson

marketing@davidsonwp.com (Marketing Davidson) — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 22:30:00 GMT

Davidson, one of Australia’s leading recruitment and advisory firms, is thrilled to mark a significant milestone: our 16 ^th anniversary of membership with the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) in Australia (formerly ITCRA).

This achievement is especially noteworthy as it not only marks our 15-year milestone under APSCo’s new Member Recognition program but also reflects our enduring commitment to the highest standards in the recruitment industry.

Our Journey with APSCo

APSCo in Australia is the recognised authority for professional staffing & recruitment companies, supporting Members to unlock the potential of the modern workforce. APSCo in Australia is the only dedicated association for white-collar recruitment agencies.

Over the years, APSCo has been a pivotal part of our journey, offering valuable resources, fostering industry connections, and supporting our growth. This milestone is a reflection of our dedication to upholding the core values of professionalism, integrity, and quality that APSCo stands for.

Looking Ahead

As we celebrate this achievement, we eagerly anticipate continuing our collaboration with APSCo and engaging with industry leaders to drive further excellence. Davidson remains committed to leveraging this partnership to enhance our services and contribute to the growth of the professional staffing industry.

Founded in 1991, Davidson has evolved and adapted over the past 30 years to be regarded as an Australian company that leads in enhancing workplace performance through Business Advisory, Search and Recruitment, and Technology Consulting. With a national presence and locally sourced expertise, we possess the scale and capability to enhance and transform your workplace performance.

2024 Australian Local Government CEO Index: A Comprehensive Guide to the Public Sector

marketing@davidsonwp.com (Marketing Davidson) — Tue, 17 Sep 2024 23:45:00 GMT

As we proudly present the fourth edition of the Australian Local Government CEO Index, we reflect on the journey that began amidst the global upheaval of 2020. Initially created to capture the unique challenges faced by local government leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Index has since evolved into a vital resource, offering deep insights into the shifting priorities and enduring concerns within the sector.

The 2024 Index: A Record Response

Behind the data are the contributions of over 170 council CEOs—a record-breaking 43% increase in participation—offering an unparalleled view into the perspectives of Australia’s local government leaders. Their reflections shape the Index, highlighting the eight critical themes that define the current public sector landscape:

Artificial Intelligence
Customer and Community
Financial Sustainability and Growth
Leadership, Learning, and Innovation
Organisational Cultural Transformation
Shared Services
Sustainability and Preparedness
Technology

Shifting Priorities in a Post-Pandemic World

Moving into a post-COVID-19 world has seen new areas of focus for local government leaders, and these have been reflected in this year’s survey. However, the impact of the pandemic still lingers in areas such as leadership, financial sustainability, and employee wellbeing, perhaps forever upending expectations from both managers and employees on their work arrangements. The top five areas of priorities across the public sector for this year are:

People, Leadership, and Organisational Culture
Leadership Capability
Community Resilience and Wellbeing
Cyber Security
Digital Transformation

Key Insights Revealed

While AI continues to be a topic of discussion, most CEOs view its impact on their councils as a distant concern, with many expecting significant changes only in the coming years. The threat of cyber-attacks, however, has emerged as a major concern, with about a quarter of CEOs citing it as a significant issue, keeping them awake at night.

Despite the potential benefits, many councils remain hesitant to share technology services, though there is a greater openness to sharing other services.

The challenge of balancing remote work expectations with the realities of on-site roles continues to create friction, highlighting the importance of a strong organisational culture.

Many CEOs are grappling with concerns over the behaviour of elected officials and are seeking networks of peers for support and collaboration.

The financial impacts of COVID-19 continue to be felt, with two-thirds of councils prioritising asset management, service redesign, and procurement to regain financial stability.

Another critical finding in our fourth edition is the substantial leadership transition occurring within the sector. Over the past two years, a notable number of local government CEOs have concluded long-standing tenures, resulting in the departure of extensive industry experience and knowledge from the sector.

These insights provide only a glimpse. The full Index offers a wealth of detailed findings and nuanced observations ready to be explored and applied to your specific areas of interest.

The Road Ahead

The 2024 Australian Local Government CEO Index reveals that transformation is already underway within the sector. As we reflect on the findings of the Index, it is clear that the landscape of local governance continues to evolve, presenting both challenges and opportunities for leaders across the nation. The insights gathered in this year's report underscore the importance of strategic leadership, innovation, and adaptability in navigating the complexities of the post-pandemic world.

In Conclusion

This Index would not be possible without the invaluable contributions of participating council CEOs who generously shared their experiences, insights, and aspirations. Their candid reflections have provided a rich foundation for understanding the current state of local government and shaping the future direction of the sector.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank all of the CEOs who participated in our survey and conversation. Their contributions and honest reflections make Davidson’s annual Index a widely-recognised and respected analysis of the true sentiment across leadership within Australia’s local government sector,” says Clare McCartin, Managing Partner of Search and Advisory at Davidson.

Download your copy here .

170 Local Government CEOs Surveyed: Key Insights from the 2024 Australian Local Government CEO Index

marketing@davidsonwp.com (Marketing Davidson) — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 00:20:39 GMT

Leadership, Organisational Culture, and Community are the top priorities of local government CEOs for 2024.

Davidson, one of Australia’s leading recruitment and advisory firms, proudly presents the fourth edition of its annual Australian Local Government CEO Index. This year’s Index, informed by responses from over 170 local government CEOs across Australia, provides a comprehensive overview of the critical issues shaping local government today.

The CEO Index was just launched at the LG Innovate Artificial Intelligence Summit in Noosa, where local government leaders and AI experts have convened to explore various innovations across the sector. During a dedicated session at the Summit, CEOs will discuss the Index findings and their implications for local government and technological change, shedding light on the key insights and discussions that are shaping the sector.

“Over the years, the Index has evolved and has accurately pinpointed the areas where our leaders are incredibly stretched, while also showing a clear roadmap for new opportunities and future trends,” said Clare McCartin, Managing Partner at Davidson, “it has led significant discussions and provided a much-needed spotlight on the reality facing our leaders.”

This year’s Index delves into eight key themes that are shaping the public sector:

Shared Services
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Technology
Customer and Community
Financial Sustainability and Growth
Leadership Learning and Innovation
Organisational Cultural Transformation
Sustainability and Preparedness

Community resilience and wellbeing have consistently been top priorities for local governments, particularly in response to crises like natural disasters and the pandemic. By 2023, this focus had solidified into a nationwide strategy, with stronger connections with First Nations communities. In 2024, resilience and wellbeing were the top engagement priorities in every state. This reflects a sustained commitment to building long-term resilience, improving community engagement, and enhancing socio-economic wellbeing.

Attracting and retaining talent, alongside fostering leadership and a positive organisational culture, have remained critical challenges. These areas were the highest-ranked priorities in both 2023 and 2024, with a strong emphasis on leadership capability and organisational culture. As competition for talent intensifies, councils must create environments that attract and retain top talent through leadership development and a focus on employee wellbeing.

The public sector is going through a significant change of the guards. The Index reveals a significant turnover among local government CEOs, with many long-serving leaders retiring. This shift is creating a considerable knowledge gap and increasing the competition for top talent. As a result, 87% of CEOs express concern about leadership talent gaps in the coming year.

Another key finding that has been identified in the fourth edition, is that CEOs appear more sceptical than last year about the rapid adoption of AI and whether it will affect their council’s way of working, with most CEOs taking a longer-term view of the changes. In 2023, nearly 70% of CEOs acknowledged AI’s growing impact on councils, although it was initially a lower priority for governing risk. By 2024, more CEOs anticipated AI’s impact within five years, yet over half admitted their councils were not adequately prepared. This gap presents both a risk and an opportunity for councils to invest in AI readiness, enhancing service delivery, decision-making, and efficiency.

The Index also highlights the shift to hybrid work models, a defining feature of workforce dynamics in local governments accelerated by the pandemic. By 2022, nearly 50% of councils had implemented hybrid arrangements, with few requiring full-time office attendance. This trend continued into 2024, with 62% of staff working three or four days from the office. Councils that effectively manage the transition to hybrid work will be better positioned to attract and retain talent, improve employee wellbeing, and enhance productivity.

“While some of the key challenges remain each year, such as the pressures associated with rate capping in some states, successful integrations of shared services and the continual pursuit of innovative thinking to do more, with less; exciting new trends and opportunities have also been identified.”

Clare McCartin, Managing Partner of Search and Advisory at Davidson

Davidson’s fourth annual Australian Local Government CEO Index continues to be a vital resource in the local government sector, offering valuable insights that empower leaders to adapt and thrive in an ever-evolving landscape.

The Index can be downloaded from here .

About Davidson: Davidson, a proudly Australian company with over 30 years of experience, is a leader in enhancing workplace performance through its expert teams in Business Advisory, Search and Recruitment, and Technology Consulting. Recognised for its sustainable, client-focused approach, Davidson strives to make a positive impact on the lives of its clients and the broader community.

For further information or to arrange an interview, please contact Paula Price, Senior Manager - Marketing at paula.price@davidsonwp.com or on 0421 770 895 .

LG Innovate | Artificial Intelligence Summit for Local Government C-Suite

Wed, 08 May 2024 03:56:45 GMT

Hosted by Noosa Shire Council in collaboration with Davidson and Amazon Web Services (AWS), this summit aims to build an ongoing community focused on AI leadership and transformation in local government across Australia and New Zealand.

Discover the AI strategies transforming service delivery

Over three days, CEOs and Executive leaders from local government organisations will come together to learn about best practices for AI adoption, building ethical AI policies, upskilling staff, delivering improved customer experiences, and managing economic transitions. The summit will feature keynotes, customer stories, panels, and workshops that will provide attendees with deep insights and practical tips.

What can you expect from this AI Summit?

Australian Local Government CEO Index – Official Launch 2024 Survey Results

Clare McCartin, our Managing Partner of Search and Advisory at Davidson, will be revealing insights from the 2024 CEO Index result, providing a great touchstone that has helped to shape this AI Summit.

Keynotes on the latest AI trends and their impact on local government

Dive into insightful keynotes presented by industry experts, exploring the latest AI trends and their profound impact on local government.

Customer success stories showcasing AI-driven customer experience and operational efficiency

Learn from our special guests as they share their firsthand experiences and success stories of leveraging AI to enhance customer experiences and streamline operational processes. Gain practical tips and strategies for implementing AI solutions in your organisation, directly from those who have successfully navigated the journey before you.

Council CEO Panels exploring how councils are responding to the generative AI wave

Panel discussion on which areas of council functions will be impacted most by AI in the short to medium term and what is needed to prepare and support our people. Think about the local economic and business impact.

Live demos of generative AI in action, from information interrogation to report generation

Witness the power of generative AI firsthand as we showcase its capabilities in various applications. From real-time chatbot interactions based on RAG analysis of public council documents to automatic document creation for report writing, and even meeting summary generation based on council topics, our live demos will illustrate the seamless integration of AWS GenAI tools into everyday operations.

An interactive workshop to develop the AI Adoption Roadmap

Many leaders and change makers are wanting to get value from AI for their organisations but are unsure where and how to start. Led by industry experts and council teams, interactive workshops will guide attendees through the AI adoption canvas tool to have a clearer idea of where and how to start as well as what to consider.

If you are a CEO, or Executive leader of a local government, you won’t want to miss out on this opportunity to shape the future of local government. Get your early bird ticket here .

Davidson is committed to enhancing workplace performance through innovative solutions and strategic partnerships. As we continue to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of local government service delivery, we stand ready to support organisations in harnessing the power of AI to drive efficiency, effectiveness, and excellence. Contact us to elevate your government's future.

Clare McCartin awarded Recruitment Leader of the Year

Fri, 24 Nov 2023 01:06:20 GMT

We are delighted to announce that Clare McCartin, our Managing Partner of Search and Advisory at Davidson, has been awarded the Recruitment Leader of the Year at the 2023 SEEK Sara Awards in Melbourne.

Clare's leadership has played a vital role in the growth and development of our Executive Search and Business Advisory divisions. Her strategic vision and dedication have made a notable impact on Davidson and the wider recruitment industry.

Her initiatives, including the Top 50 Public Sector Women and the Australian Local Government CEO Index, have significantly contributed to the recruitment sector and supported the broader community. Clare's commitment to our core values and her professional approach have been key to her success.

This award acknowledges Clare's dedication to her work and her influence in the recruitment industry. Her achievements at Davidson are an inspiration to all of us.

"I'm truly grateful for being recognised in this leadership category. This award highlights our collective achievements at Davidson. My thanks go to all my colleagues for their unwavering commitment to changing lives by connecting people to opportunity. This honour belongs to everyone who has been part of our journey."

Clare McCartin, Managing Partner of Search and Advisory at Davidson

Congratulations to Clare on this well-deserved award. We are proud of your leadership and the positive changes you have brought to the team.

Behind the scenes of the Australian Local Government CEO Index

Thu, 31 Aug 2023 00:10:52 GMT

As Davidson's Australian Local Government CEO Index enters its third year, we find ourselves reflecting on the journey so far and the deeper purpose that drives this annual initiative. The Index is not just a report; it is a testament to our commitment to understanding the multifaceted world of local government.

The genesis of the index

Three years ago, we identified a need: a platform to give voice to the challenges, priorities, and aspirations of local government leaders. And so, the Australian Local Government CEO Index was born. It is more than just numbers and charts; it is a barometer of change, aspirations, and evolving challenges.

The heart of the matter

Every year, we dive deep into themes drawn from our interactions with CEOs across the nation. This year, our focus centred on seven pivotal areas:

Shared Services
AI and Emerging Technologies
Operational Excellence
Budget and Financial Sustainability
Future Work Modalities
Talent Dynamics
Emergency Services and Organisational Resilience

These areas were not arbitrarily chosen. They emerged from dialogues with the very leaders at the forefront of the local government sector, ensuring the Index is always firmly based.

Illuminating insights

A distinct observation this year has been the heightened emphasis on people, leadership, and culture. In the post-pandemic world, the significance of organisational culture has become increasingly evident. It underscores the importance of fostering a conducive environment where leaders can guide their teams with clarity, and where every member feels aligned with the broader mission.

The exploration into the AI sphere also illuminated promising efficiencies, though it brought to light the inherent challenges of adopting such technologies – namely, the need for targeted training and infrastructure.

The conversation around the hybrid work model's complexities also deserves a mention. It is evident that while the model offers flexibility, it also presents unique challenges in productivity, fostering culture, and team bonding.

Navigating talent challenges

One constant challenge? Talent. The difficulty of attracting and retaining pivotal roles like engineers and statutory planners was accentuated, emphasising the need for local governments to innovate and create compelling work environments and value propositions.

These insights merely scratch the surface. Within the full Index, you will find a plethora of detailed findings and nuanced observations, waiting to be unearthed and applied to your respective areas of focus.

The road ahead

The current local government landscape is clear: change is not just on the horizon; it is here. The hunger for innovation, collaboration, and trust underscores every page of our Index. Standing still is no longer viable, and the need for proactive strategies is more pressing than ever.

In conclusion

Every year, as we collate this Index, our respect for the CEOs who participate deepens. Their insights, experiences, and candid feedback make the Index into a beacon for the entire sector. It acts as a compass that navigates the complex and ever-evolving landscape of local government.

To all who have joined us on this journey, our heartfelt thanks. To those new to the Index, welcome aboard, and we hope the insights contained here inspire and guide your future endeavours.

Clare McCartin

Managing Partner for Search and Advisory

Australian Local Government

CEO Index 2023

Australian Local Government

CEO Index 2023

Technology Challenges for Local Government

Mon, 27 Mar 2023 20:45:00 GMT

It is not the destination but the journey that has Local Government pausing to consider their next step.

The advantages of having a single integrated IT (ERP) solution combining activities such as finance, property and revenue management, capital planning and delivery and customer and community management, are not lost on Local Government. The destination promises lower operational costs, reliable technology, a simplified, online user experience for employees, local business, ratepayers and the community.

ERP and enterprise local council specific solutions, also promise to meet the day-to-day operational requirements with better data tracking, more accurate and easy reporting and a platform from which to tackle emerging challenges and deliver smart city initiatives.

But unlike the digital transformations of the late nineteenth century (think 1980s and 1990s) and even the early two-thousands, standalone technology will not always deliver a positive ROI. Today’s successful digital transformation requires local government to prepare for a different journey. One that demands a fundamental rethink of those same models—essentially a new blueprint for how local government will add value while navigating potential risks and looming challenges.

Outside of local government, a recent study reports that only 11 percent of businesses believe their current business models will stay economically viable through this year. Davidson’s Local Government CEO Index 2022 speaks to some considerations of 111 of Australia’s local government CEOs in 2023.

A survey of current literature on Digital Transformation in Australian Local Government by Danial, Evans and Velasquez reveals the journey is further hampered by three fundamental challenges:

Insufficient benchmarking, that is, nobody clearly understands what a transformed local government looks like to help assess digital maturity.
Lack of management support. ‘LGs usually fail to adopt and adapt to new business models because of the management’s inability to recognise new technological opportunities.’
Inadequate resources, including funding, skills and even stable internet in rural areas.

While the Federal Government has released a Digital Service Standard, setting out best-practice principles, it doesn’t go far enough in closing the gap.

Here at Davidson, we recruit digital savvy and capable C-Level leaders for local government organisations across Australia.

Our deep expertise sees us partner with CEOs and their teams to advise and deliver relevant analysis and insights on which to base product agnostic strategic plans and supporting investment proposals for business and digital transformations.

And we’re there for you throughout the journey, whether that be to recruit niche technical talent, identify and manage change impacts, or as a guiding hand to ensure the successful integration and innovation of technology and business.

Let’s talk. Find out more here .

The CEO Search: 7 tips for Board Directors for a Successful Process

Wed, 22 Mar 2023 22:49:25 GMT

Jarrod McLauchlan not only recruits CEOs, but he sits on a board himself and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).

He knows first-hand the traps that directors can fall into, despite their best intentions.

With over 16 years’ experience supporting and partnering with Boards in their search for their next CEO, Davidson’s Senior Partner, Jarrod McLauchlan, knows a thing or two about the process.

‘Arguably, it is one of the most important decisions a Board will make’ he says. ‘And while many Directors have had careers in executive management roles and made hundreds of appointment decisions over their executive careers, it’s important they understand that the search and selection process for the CEO role is different.’

He goes onto explain. ‘As a Board appointment, the selection doesn’t sit with any one Director or decision maker. It’s a collective decision often made more challenging by multiple views and opinions.’

Jarrod not only recruits CEOs, but he sits on a Board himself and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD). He knows first-hand the traps that Directors can fall into, despite their best intentions.

Here are his top 7 tips for a successful CEO recruitment process:

1. Collectively agree on the type of CEO you’re looking for.

One of the most critical parts of the process is the beginning. Take the time to agree on the success measures and accountabilities of the role, and to develop succinct statements about the most important qualities, knowledge, experience, motivations and aspirations of a preferred candidate.

‘Creating the ‘candidate brief’ as a collective in an open forum, and not as individual Directors or even as a selection sub-group is critical,’ Jarrod says. The Board acts as a moderator of itself, so voicing opinions opens discussions and allows others to hear what others think is important.

2. Clarity avoids disappointment.

‘It happens more than you think. Two Directors having opposite views or opinions on the priorities of the next 12 months, the essential experience for the role, and the appetite for an untried CEO vs someone with runs on the board, to name just a few. It’s better to have that discussion upfront than at the final stages of the process when you have active candidates.’

Additionally, being clear on candidates’ notice period, remuneration and expectations, location and working arrangements from an early stage avoids wasting applicants’ time and avoiding disappointment at the final stages.

3. Form a sub-committee to expedite the selection of a preferred candidate(s).

Whilst highlighted earlier the importance of the entire Board getting involved in the briefing conversation, forming a Board sub-committee (typically 3-4 members depending on the size of the Board) makes it achievable to run an efficient process rather than trying to align the diaries of all Directors.

The field of applicants can be shortlisted and early panel interviews conducted by the sub-committee, who then make recommendations to the entire Board of the top 1-3 preferred candidates for further assessment by the Board.

4. Remain at arm’s length from applicants.

Board Directors have a significant network among which people who could be suitable and/or interested in the role. Jarrod says, ‘When working with an executive search partner, it is important to have these individuals contacted by your consultant and not by the Director with the relationship.’ Even a director making someone aware of the role can be misconstrued as a ‘tap on the shoulder’ and can raise expectations of the individual and present challenges moving forward if the applicant is unsuccessful.

‘I’ve seen this impact on personal relationships negatively,’ says Jarrod. Best to play a straight bat and refer any names to your third-party independent search partner to manage this objectively. It keeps it clean, allows for an independent, merit-based assessment, and frees the Director of any uncomfortable dealing with their contact.

5. Maintain confidentiality. Leave the due diligence to the experts.

Having an ‘offline’ chat about a potential candidate and doing your own due diligence can risk confidentiality. Networks are notorious for talking. Don’t risk losing good candidates because of a breach of confidentiality.

Leave candidate due diligence to your executive search partner. They are experts in probity checks and ensuring the values of potential candidates align with the organisation. Avoid the risk of a high-profile appointment without proper due diligence.

6. Declare conflicts of interest as soon as you become aware.

Once again, this ensures the integrity of the process and protects the organisation’s reputation as well as protects Directors.

7. Formal and informal meetings lay the groundwork for a strong working relationship.

Before making any final decision, it is strongly recommended that the preferred candidate meet with the full board and with the Board Chair (preferably informally). Use these meetings as a final opportunity to identify any potential misunderstandings, communication difficulties, personality clashes, or other areas of concern.

At Davidson, we’ve managed thousands of successful CEO searches, assessments and appointments for some of Australia's largest public and private organisations. And we’ve partnered with and coached many CEOs as they navigate their first 180 days, equipping them to add value faster and meet the challenges of their day-to-day working role.

To learn more about how Davidson’s Executive Search team can help you, contact Jarrod:

Jarrod Mclauchlan

Senior Partner,

Executive Search

jarrod.mclauchlan@davidsonwp.com

0407 808 51 7

Organisations that focus on overall employee experience have 40% lower turnover than the average company

Mon, 13 Mar 2023 21:11:47 GMT

Why measure Employee Experience? Because according to Gallup's State of the Global Workplace 2022 report less than 20% of employees across Australia and NZ are engaged at work.

The rest are just ‘showing up’. According to Davidson’s Cameron Norton, ‘Annual or bi-annual Employee Engagement Surveys are no longer enough.’

The opportunity to unlock performance by improving Employee Experience is enormous. And the numbers tell us that organisations that focus on overall employee experience exhibit up to:

2 x average revenue
4 x average profit
40% lower turnover than the average company

(Jacob Morgan, 2007)

According to Davidson’s Cameron Norton, best practices for measuring Employee Engagement and actioning the insights have changed remarkably in a short period of time. "Annual or bi-annual Employee Engagement Surveys are no longer enough."

What’s required is a robust Employee Listening program. This is when there are regular check-ins, qualitative and quantitative feedback, speedy analysis, and a clear understanding of what support employees require, ensuring a quick "insight to action" cycle across the whole employee lifecycle.

At different stages in the employee lifecycle, different KPIs or measures are used to monitor and improve employee experience and link organisational initiatives and interventions back to business operational metrics, including:

Recruitment – Time to hire, Offer acceptance rate, Quality of hire, Cost to hire
On-boarding – Ramp time, New hire engagement, Training effectiveness
Development – Productivity, 360 feedback, Promotion rates
Retention – Employee engagement, Attrition rate, Succession results

Employee Listening programs are valuable in gaining meaningful insights into employee priorities, concerns, and suggestions for improvement across the employee lifecycle.

With Davidson’s employee experience implementation and advisory services, underpinned by world leading survey software, we have reduced the time:

to compile the results from the survey from 4 months to 1 week
to produce the analysis from the compiled results from 3 months to 1 week
to produce a set of actionable insights from 6 months to 1 month

Interested in a conversation on how Davidson’s Experience Management team can leverage research, analytics and industry insights to enable business performance through the measure of employee experience?

Find out more here .

Or contact us today.

Davidson appoints AFL legend to lead its Technology Consulting division

Mon, 27 Feb 2023 21:31:23 GMT

Barry Stoneham

Sales Manager,

Technology Consulting

Barry Stoneham began his career kicking goals in the AFL. Now he’s doing it in the boardroom with Davidson Technology Consulting.

Barry, whose name is revered in sporting circles, played with Geelong Football Club for almost 15 years, serving as captain of the Cats and claiming honours including All-Australian selection.

It set a foundation for success that has fed into a post-sport career encompassing more than 25 years’ experience as a sales executive and sales leader, 13 of those in the IT professional services industry.

Now he brings his incomparable skill set to leading Australian recruitment, advisory and technology consulting firm Davidson, which has appointed him Sales Manager – Davidson Technology Consulting.

Trent McMahon, Group CEO at Davidson, said Barry’s appointment aligned perfectly with Davidson’s vision to be a leading workplace performance company.

“Our people are at the heart of everything we do,” he said. “And in Barry, we have a driven, results-focused senior leader who thrives in a positive business culture and understands how to evolve and work with high-performing teams.

“His record speaks for itself, delivering success across diverse verticals including financial services, utilities and retail, while fostering cultures of excellence and guiding sustainable growth that drives opportunity.

“In bringing these qualities to Davidson Technology Consulting, Barry will be instrumental in driving client solutions, while we further draw on his extensive sales experience across the wider group.”

For Barry, multiple factors influenced his decision to join Davidson, including a strong gender balance in the executive leadership team and the culture for which Davidson is renowned.

It spoke to a conscious commitment to a visionary, inclusive and forward-thinking culture that would drive excellence in supporting Davidson’s valued clients.

“Culture is incredibly important to me in all areas of life, including business,” said Barry. “ It’s critical. Because you can always develop skills, but culture is who you are and what you do.”

To that end, his priority as a leader is to ensure a workplace culture that is cohesive and productive, and authentically promotes a healthy work-life balance, ensuring a team that is happy, fulfilled and primed to deliver the strongest possible results.

“We want to go above and beyond the expectations of our clients in helping them pursue success and create, develop and capitalise on opportunities,” he said.

“It’s very much about being viewed as their trusted partners in growth – now and looking towards the future.”

Barry sees strong avenues for Davidson Technology Consulting to grow as the technology sector continues to evolve and upgrade, one notable trend being the rising number of clients looking to establish offshore operations alongside their onshore bases.

Yet in among the future focus is a reflective look to the things he’s learnt along the way – starting with his time playing with the Cats.

Among the influences Barry credits for his development is former Geelong coach Malcolm Blight, whose support on the field gave him confidence and a sense of self-belief off it. It’s where he learned that, among other things, creating an environment which allows for failure – and the lessons it teaches – is part of good leadership.

“To have longevity in a sporting career you have to be disciplined and demonstrate a strong work ethic in your training and go that extra level above and beyond,” he said. “And whatever you do after that, as you transition into work and to dealing with clients, you take that discipline with you.

“Respect is also something you learn from dealing with people across all the parts of a club, from the CEO level to the volunteers. So discipline and having respect for everyone in every job is really important.”

For more information or to speak with Barry or Trent, please contact Paula Price on 0421 770 895 or paula.price@davidsonwp.com.

Data Storytelling: HR’s newest super power

Mon, 13 Feb 2023 21:30:00 GMT

According to Davidson’s Lindy MacPherson claiming HR’s seat at the C-Level table has never been more important.

According to a recent article by McKinsey, since the pandemic, HR now sits ‘awkwardly between its history as a support function and its future as a strategic partner.’ Claiming a seat at the C-Level table has never been more important as HR sits poised to help their organisations navigate post-pandemic waters.

Stepping up requires HR to change their operating model and act more consistently, like other core business functions. One of the biggest changes is around HR’s relationship with data and providing more evidence, rather than hunches or assumptions.

Using data to identify key insights and then tell stories to demonstrate the context and relevance to drive action shows HR’s ability and capability to provide value and impact.

You might think, ‘But we already collect and share endless data and we’re still not being heard.’

According to Davidson Group Manager, Lindy MacPherson, this is a common misconception and not just in HR. ‘Data and relevant information are not the same thing,’ she says. ‘Data alone can be confusing and overwhelming. Numbers, graphs and tables do not tell a clear story or provide a link to business needs.

You need to demonstrate the ‘why’. To influence decision-making and drive action, data must be turned into relevant information.’

Keep these tips in mind when presenting information:

Make the complex simple and visually compelling
Use impactful titles
Use your stakeholder's language
Link the data directly to the business outcomes
Provide insight - answer the 'so what?'
Quantify the success or outcome

Still unconvinced?

Consider the following Learning & Development data:

And now the relevant results:

Which do you find the most compelling?

Interested in a conversation on how to claim your seat at the executive table through the use of compelling data?

What most people don’t know: Psychometrics isn’t just for recruitment

Mon, 06 Feb 2023 21:30:00 GMT

If you’re only using Psychometrics for recruitment, you’re missing out.

With countless surveys reporting the cost of failed hires, and poor employee engagement and retention, increasing the ROI of your psychometric suite isn’t just “best practice” it’s a financial imperative.

The value Psychometric Testing brings to the recruitment and selection process is widely accepted – that all important objectivity and reduced bias. But its capability is effective in accelerating workplace effectiveness and improving employee experience right across the employee lifecycle.

All that valuable data you gather through the recruitment process has uses far beyond the signing of the employment contract.

Onboarding

Employee engagement and retention starts here. Using psychometric data to tailor the employee’s onboarding process feels more personal and can be tailored for them to set themselves up for success.

In the current market, where talent is being drawn from all corners, your new employee may be from outside your sector or industry. They may not be familiar with the culture or have all the experience required. Tailoring onboarding to minimise these gaps makes good sense.

Starting a new role

Your employee may have been with you for years. You know what makes them tick. Right? Wrong. A new role, a new team and new responsibilities bring about a new set of required skills and challenges.

What enabled the employee to be successful in their old role may not be appropriate in their new role. Using a psychometric assessment at this time may be extremely valuable to refresh both the individual’s and manager’s insights to maximise the employee’s chance of success.

Performance and development

How does the employee like to be coached? Given feedback? What are their strengths and development areas? How do they learn? How best to manage their expectations?

Psychometric assessments offer insights into cognitive ability, skills, personality, motivation and values and peripheral factors that influence successful coaching, such as an employee’s level of openness, conscientiousness and motivation.

Davidson is your trusted expert on designing a strategy for the best use of psychometric assessments for your organisation.

Interested in improving your ROI?

Psychometrics and Safety – The numbers don’t lie

Wed, 01 Feb 2023 21:12:45 GMT

Discover how the use of psychometrics improves workplace safety. Reduce the workplace injuries of new hires, across safety critical roles, by a staggering 51%.

When assessing for safety, a candidate’s behavioural preferences only tell one part of the story. To get a complete picture of their propensity to work safely, Davidson tests for their abilities and mind-set, together with behaviours, to predict their likelihood of having a safety incident.

To support this, Davidson, over a period of 10 years, worked with one of Australia’s major rail and logistics organisations. Over 2 years, we assessed over 5,500 candidates. Our findings revealed that those employees who met the required safety benchmarks in our assessments were:

71% were more likely to lodge a near-miss incident report
6 times more likely to report a workplace hazard

And after adopting the assessment as part of selection, the organisation reduced workplace injuries of new hires, across safety critical roles, by a staggering 51%.

Those candidates who did not meet the safety benchmarks in our assessments were significantly more likely to have a work-related injury.

Specifically,

not meeting benchmark for Zero Harm Assessment – 65% more likely
not meeting benchmark for Situational Safety Awareness Assessment – 121% more likely
not meeting benchmark for Understands Safety Instructions Assessment – 65% more likely
not meeting benchmark for Visual Co-ordination Assessment – 65% more likely
not meeting benchmark for Attention and Concentration Assessment – 65% more likely

Psychometric assessments aren’t just ‘best practice’, they drive real-world outcomes.

Davidson is your trusted expert on designing a strategy for the best use of psychometric assessments for your organisation.

Interested in learning more about Psychometric Assessments for Workplace Safety?

Why digital transformation is important to consider in your strategy this year

Wed, 18 Jan 2023 22:56:30 GMT

We often hear about the importance of updating a company’s technological capabilities regularly. But why is digital transformation important to consider in your business growth strategy this year?

As businesses rapidly adjust to ever-changing operating and economic environments, digital transformation is now, more than ever, a critical component of success.

In order to remain competitive, companies must embrace new technologies and use them to their advantage. However, it is vital to ensure digital transformation projects are managed correctly to ensure value is delivered across all new technology deployed.

Davidson’s digital transformation practice leaders bring vast experience and work with you to implement purposeful and sustainable transformation that lifts your capability and drives performance.

Why digital transformation is important now

Constant change in the world we operate in means companies need to be able to adapt quickly if they want to survive. The digitalisation of processes and workflows can drive innovation and create competitive advantages that may have never been explored. By utilising the right digital tools, data extraction and analysis can be made more efficient, driving improvements in decision making, productivity, customer engagement and cost savings. Transforming your company’s technology stack may also foster the adoption of new business models, empowering you to remain agile and competitive.

Customer expectations are changing

In most cases, the modern customer expects an experience that is fast, convenient, and tailored to their individual needs. By utilising digital solutions such as mobile applications, online shopping portals, AI-driven chatbots, and interactive websites, companies can provide their customers with the personalised experiences they expect when engaging with a brand. Without digital transformation initiatives in place, businesses will struggle to meet the demands of their customers for convenience and personalisation.

Why digital technology is important - the benefits

1) Increased productivity

Digital transformation can help improve efficiency and productivity within an organisation. By implementing automated systems, businesses can streamline processes and reduce manual labour, allowing employees to focus on the value-added tasks that require a human touch. Additionally, advanced analytics can be used to ensure a full understanding of customer data and identify opportunities for improvement. This data-driven approach helps managers make informed decisions about how best to allocate resources and optimise operations.

2) Improved customer experiences

Digital transformation can also help organisations create better customer experiences by leveraging technology such as AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants. These tools make it easier for customers to access information or complete transactions quickly and easily and are fast becoming an expected option from service-based businesses. Companies can also use these technological advancements to engage with their customers in real time, allowing them to provide personalised services tailored specifically for each individual's needs.

3) Competitive advantage

Digital transformation also allows companies to be more agile when responding to changing market conditions by giving them greater control over their operations. By embracing new technologies such as cloud computing, businesses are able to expand rapidly without having to invest heavily in physical infrastructure or IT personnel. Additionally, using digital tools helps organisations stay ahead of the competition by enabling them to respond quickly and effectively when faced with unexpected challenges.

4) The importance of adaptability

One of the main reasons why digital transformation is important is that it allows businesses to adapt quickly to changes in their environment. As technology continues to evolve, companies have to be able to quickly adjust their operations and processes accordingly in order to stay competitive. By taking advantage of the digital tools available, businesses can become more agile and flexible, allowing them to make quick changes without high costs or time on developing new systems or processes from scratch.

5) Strengthening customer relationships

Digital transformation is also important in helping to strengthen customer relationships. By utilising data-driven analytics and automation tools, businesses can form a deeper understanding of their customers’ needs and preferences, allowing them to provide better customer service while also providing targeted marketing efforts based on those insights. This helps build loyalty among customers by demonstrating that their needs are being taken into consideration when making decisions within the company.

6) Data-driven decision making

Another important benefit of digital transformation is an increased reliance on data to drive decisions. Companies are able to use technology to ensure their data is working for them, utilising data collected from various sources such as their CRM, customer surveys, website analytics, and social media insights to make informed decisions about how best to move forward with their strategies and operations. Utilising this information can help companies identify areas where they need improvement or areas where they are excelling so they can focus on those areas accordingly.

7) Enhanced security

With serious data breaches becoming increasingly common, it is essential that organisations invest in robust security measures and systems designed to protect sensitive information from hackers or malicious actors. By implementing digital transformation strategies, companies can ensure their data remains secure at all times. Digital transformation also helps improve security by allowing organisations to detect vulnerabilities quickly and address them before they cause any major damage. Additionally, it helps organisations protect their data from cyber threats such as malware or phishing attacks by using AI-driven cybersecurity solutions that are constantly on the lookout for potential threats.

8) Cost savings

Implementing automated processes and leveraging cloud-storage solutions can help organisations save money in the long term by reducing overhead costs such as hardware investments or physical storage space requirements. Additionally, digital transformation can help streamline processes, which leads to greater efficiency and cost savings over time.

Is digital transformation important to your business strategy this year?

We can help.

Our digital transformation practice leaders ensure they deeply understand your business and approach your technological projects with a pragmatic and business-minded perspective. They understand the need to use digital products to grow organisational value and drive performance through digital technology.

Our practice leaders will support your project delivery journey, ensuring a smooth transition. We also support the change-management process in your organisation, closing the gap between technology programs and business by assisting with employee adoption through implementation and beyond.

Contact us to discuss your digital transformation projects and find out how we can help you enhance your workplace performance this year.

A Comprehensive Guide to Volume Recruitment

Mon, 16 Jan 2023 03:31:47 GMT

We investigate the concept and processes involved in volume recruitment.

Volume recruitment is an important element of the hiring process for many companies, involving the active recruitment of a large number of applicants to fill multiple open positions. It often involves actively seeking out and interviewing potential employees, rather than waiting for candidates to come to you. Volume recruitment is most often used by companies that need to fill many roles with similar skill sets, such as call centres or customer service departments.

At Davidson, we regularly work with clients to address volume recruitment needs in short time periods, often in response to natural disasters and times of crisis . With deep experience in recruitment, we are experts in the design and development of best-practice assessment centres and have helped a multitude of clients with their volume recruitment needs. In this article we investigate the concept and process involved in volume recruitment.

What Is Volume Recruitment?

The key to recruiting in high volumes is to actively search for qualified candidates via job postings, online advertisements and other methods to quickly fill multiple open positions in a relatively short period of time.

The Benefits Of Volume Recruitment

Traditional methods of recruitment, often involving posting one or two job openings at a time, can take weeks, or even months, to find suitable candidates. Using high-volume recruitment methods combined with assessment centres, to efficiently and cost-effectively manage the different role profiles required, allows us to find high numbers of high-quality, qualified candidates in just days or weeks.

The Volume Recruitment Process

At Davidson, our volume recruitment processes are tailored to each clients’ individual needs. Often we are tasked with complex recruitment needs with very fast turnaround times, and it is in these situations that our experience and exceptional project teams truly come to the fore. Once we have our brief from you, our team will work quickly to create a structured recruitment management approach tailored to your situation, quickly determining the most effective ways to attract, qualify, engage and deploy staff.

Setting Up Your Volume Recruitment Team

A successful volume recruitment effort requires having both a strong recruiting team and an efficient hiring process in place. In many cases we work closely with our clients’ internal HR team during a volume recruitment process. Outsourcing recruitment in these situations often assists with meeting the demand for short-term staffing while allowing the internal HR team to focus on core business activities.

Your recruiting team should be made up of experienced professionals who know how to find top talent for your open roles quickly and efficiently, and who already have a large pool of available resources to dip into quickly. They should also be familiar with your company's goals and values, as well as having a deep knowledge of each role, in order to ensure only the most appropriate candidates that fit with your company’s culture are hired.

Creating an Effective Hiring Strategy

We will also work with you to create an effective hiring strategy for your volume recruitment efforts. First, we will work with you to define which roles need to be filled and how many people should be hired for each role. Together we will create clear job descriptions that outline exactly what each position entails. Finally, we will create a timeline for when each role needs to be filled, in order to ensure all the positions are filled on time.

Our process will ensure each hiring step, such as screening resumes, interviewing candidates, and onboarding new hires, can be done quickly and effectively so you can fill multiple positions at once without sacrificing quality. Despite short timeframes we also ensure our approach complies with all legislative and client requirements.

Tips For Successful Volume Recruitment

As beneficial as volume recruitment can be, there are some tips for ensuring your strategy is implemented as effectively as possible.

Job descriptions should be clear and detailed in order to ensure the right candidates are attracted and the recruitment team is able to clearly identify the key skills and requirements easily.
Key to a streamlined and efficient process is utilising the correct technology. As experts in technological solutions, our integrated team of consultants will be able to quickly identify the most appropriate technology solutions to ensure the best results for your needs.
Prioritise speed. While quality should still be taken into account when vetting potential candidates, make sure your processes are efficient enough that you can move quickly from one candidate to the next without sacrificing quality along the way.

The Experts in Volume Recruitment

Volume recruitment can be an invaluable strategy when it comes to quickly filling multiple positions at once with high-quality talent while still maintaining efficiency throughout the entire process. By working with Davidson to set up an effective recruiting team, and create an effective hiring strategy, you can maximise your success rate to make sure your open roles are filled as quickly as possible without compromising on quality.

To discuss how we can help to enhance your volume recruitment processes, or to help with your next recruitment project, contact us .

What are Business Advisory Services and why do you need them?

Thu, 12 Jan 2023 04:31:10 GMT

You may have often heard about the importance of accessing business advisory services when considering strategies around escalating your company’s growth or to support a direction change in your company or organisation.

But, why is accessing business advisory services so important and how exactly can they help you?

At Davidson we pride ourselves on advising businesses through transformation by helping to align strategies and deliver outcomes through our extensive industry and consulting expertise. Our business advisory services provide our clients with the tools, strategies and advice necessary to optimise performance and workforces, manage risk and ensure that every aspect of their operations is running smoothly. In today’s competitive marketplace, having access to experienced professionals who can help guide you through strategy formulation has never been more important.

At their core, our business advisory services involve consulting with various members of our clients’ teams in order to develop strategies and plans that will optimise workplace performance, ensure efficiency and sustainability and improve financial results. Our consultants work with our clients to develop comprehensive strategies that cover everything from operational excellence plans to people and culture strategies; they help align these strategies with the overall mission of the company while also managing risks associated with changes or transformations within the business. Ultimately, these experts have the knowledge and expertise required to help organisations make effective decisions to achieve long-term success.

Business advisory services

Effective strategy and performance development

The primary benefit of accessing Davidson’s business advisory services is the invaluable guidance our clients’ receive in areas such as strategy development, risk management, efficiency improvement and financial planning. An effective strategy can drive improved performance across all facets of an organisation’s operations and our experienced advisors provide practical insights on the best ways for our clients’ businesses to manage change effectively while still ensuring that existing operations remain intact. By developing tailored solutions based on an organisation’s specific needs, we ensure that any strategic decisions taken are tailored towards helping a company achieve its overall objectives.

In many cases, ensuring the right business structure is the key to achieving strategic vision and Davidson’s business advisory services ensure this priority is not overlooked. Following the appointment of a new CEO, one of our clients, a local government authority, approached our team to help with future decisions about its leadership structure and operating model . The Davidson team’s review and redesign of our client’s organisational capability and current operating model were key in ensuring the organisation could deliver its new strategic vision.

People and culture alignment

In addition to providing guidance in developing effective strategies for managing organisational change or improvement initiatives, working with Davidson’s business advisory team is also beneficial in terms of workforce alignment. By understanding what drives employees within your organisation - their motivations and goals - our advisors help businesses create environments where their greater workforce is working towards achieving a common goal, creating a culture in which your workforce is aligned to your organisational purpose and strategy.

Our work to enhance the employee experience at Bendigo and Adelaide Bank resulted in the bank being able to implement a successful employee experience program. This was an important step for the organisation as they leveraged their commitment to ‘put our people first, so they can put our customers first’. Our team worked with the bank throughout the process, helping with the design of optimal dashboards as well as providing surge capacity and support through the evolution of the platform’s use.

The importance of aligning culture to growth strategies was evident when our business advisory services team helped a leading defence company to create a shared understanding of its culture to guide its ambitious 10 year growth plan. While the organisation had a strong culture already, this had never been articulated and, in an environment of rapid expansion, it was clear that the culture of the organisation would need to evolve, with a unified understanding of behaviours and values across the organisation. The outcome ensured every team member knew what was required of them for the vision to be achieved and allowed many positive things to occur.

Operational excellence

Finally, business advisory services play an important role in ensuring organisations are making smart decisions when it comes time for making investments or changes around policies or procedures. Correctly implementing transformation and change will ultimately help enhance workplace culture, leading to greater job satisfaction among employees and increased profits long term. The combination of our experts’ industry knowledge coupled with consulting experience makes them invaluable partners when formulating sound strategies for businesses both now and into the future.

Among other key issues, our business advisory services focus on developing leadership capabilities in order to navigate change. In the case of one client with an increasingly complex environment, Davidson’s business advisory services team supported leaders through transformational leadership initiatives and the implementation of a new leadership competency framework resulting in a workforce led by people with the skills to balance competing priorities, manage change and develop new approaches to delivering high quality and valued services.

Our business advisory services offer many benefits to your organisation by assisting you in developing sound strategies through aligning workforce goals designed to drive increased efficiency while lowering risk. This results in positive, tangible and measurable outcomes and sustainable impacts on financial performance and operational efficiencies.

Davidson’s business advisory services will enhance your company’s forward-thinking strategies to deliver measurable and sustainable impact. Contact us to find out how we can help enhance your workplace performance.

Six Silent Killers of Strategy Implementation

Wed, 07 Dec 2022 01:08:26 GMT

Even perfectly sound strategies don’t guarantee a successful execution. After all, implementing strategy is hard and often messy, touching organisational structure, systems, processes, leadership behaviour, human resource policies, culture and values.

The opportunity for a gap to open between an organisation’s knowledge of ‘what to do’ and its ability ‘to do it’ is enormous.

Research shows that the roadblocks for strategic implementation are often embedded in an organisation’s leadership. Michael Beer, a Harvard Business School professor and Russel A. Eisenstat, a senior organisational fellow at McKinsey & Co., has gone beyond this and identified six silent killers of strategy implementation:

Top down or laissez-faire senior management style.
Unclear strategy and conflicting priorities.
An ineffective senior management team.
Poor vertical communication.
Poor co-ordination across functions, businesses or borders.
Inadequate down-the-line leadership skills and development.

While the first three killers relate to ineffective leadership and speak to a gap in the quality of strategic direction given, the last two signal a gap in the quality of implementation and poor vertical communication to an organisational learning gap.

Beer and Eisenstat refer to them as silent because they ‘are rarely publicly acknowledged or explicitly addressed’. They advocate for the six silent killers to be tackled head-on and transformed into six core capabilities:

A leadership style that embraces the paradox of top-down direction and upward influence, learning from the feedback of those down the line.
Clear strategy, clear priorities and significant amounts of time discussing it with lower levels.
An effective top team, whose members possess a general management orientation and who embrace constructive conflict to arrive at a common voice.
Open vertical communication. The executive and lower levels are engaged in an open dialogue about the organisation's effectiveness.
Effective coordination and teamwork across diverse functions, localities and businesses. It requires unlearning the belief that “competition brings out the best in us.”
Down-the-line leadership. Mid-level managers with the potential to develop leadership skills and a general-management perspective are given clear accountability and authority.

Even with the knowledge to turnaround a failing strategic implementation, being open to unfreezing old ways of leading and working and adopting fresh approaches can be challenging for an organisation.

Typically, organisations choose one of three responses:

Avoidance – constructive conflict is scary, and no executive likes to be embarrassed, threatened, or to backtrack.
Managerial replacement – this assumes the mental models and relationships of new executives are not constrained by the past.
Engagement – the best approach but often the path least trod.

Injecting new thinking, skills and experiences into a strategic implementation, from teams and leaders who are at arms-length, can complement an engagement approach.

Does any of this sound familiar to your organisation? If so, you’ve already taken the first step.

Brent Letson, Davidson’s Technology Consulting Practice Director, has seen many examples of strong strategy flounder in implementation. ‘In my experience, the six silent killers are common patterns and occur to varying degrees across any complex organisation. Understanding how to align leadership and co-ordinate communication and functions is critical.’

At Davidson, our Technology consulting and Business Advisory teams are adept at helping organisations take the next steps—assessing, diagnosing, designing and delivering on strategic implementations at whatever phase of the journey you find yourself.

Carbon and the cloud: The hard facts about data storage

Wed, 30 Nov 2022 01:34:32 GMT

As we enter a critical decade for climate change, the environment is becoming a major focus for corporate governance.

But the more savvy and transparent businesses are in the way they address their carbon footprint, the more pressure they are placing on major cloud providers to accelerate the road to zero carbon.

Davidson’s cloud and data practice director Russell Haynes said cloud providers were aware of the pressure, with the top three providers already setting goals to deploy renewable energy and reach net zero emissions.

Mr Haynes said Google’s cloud-computing arm, Google Cloud, is leading the pack having been carbon-neutral since 2007.

It has also matched 100 per cent of its electricity consumption with renewable energy since 2017 and maintains it operates the “cleanest cloud”.

“Google is now working towards 24/7 clean power for its data centres by 2030. Amazon is shooting for 100 per cent renewables by 2025. And Microsoft is leading the way on transparency for its cloud customers,” Mr Haynes said.

But these targets are just the beginning. Corporate demand to meet aggressive carbon reduction goals will set off the next big cloud race – the race to zero carbon.

Heads in the cloud

Cloud computing and data centres have become core global infrastructure – the roads and bridges of the internet economy. But they’ve also become a significant driver of carbon emissions.

The bottom line is that storing data on the cloud uses far more energy than storing it on a computer, and therefore has an environmental impact equal with that difference.

Mr Haynes said, simply put, the emissions of cloud providers were the emissions of the businesses that used them.

“Businesses can take several proactive steps to address these concerns. From the simple step of switching to data centres on lower carbon electricity grids to the more complex task of transitioning major parts of their business to a cleaner cloud service,” he said.

Davidson delivery partner Joe Gardiner said to be sure, cloud services were almost certainly more energy efficient than privately operated data centres.

“So companies that have moved from on-premise or self-operated data centres to any of the major cloud providers have already reduced their carbon footprint,” he said.

Mr Gardiner said the advancements in virtualisation and multi-tenancy sharing in modern cloud solutions levelled out slack in the system.

“Networks on the whole are much more efficient in allocating and consuming resources,” he said.

“A good example is the move to serverless. We are seeing multiple customers embracing serverless approaches to cloud computing.

“This is like the Snapchat of servers – where the server is ephemeral – and operates for a set function before closing. This reduces waste with far fewer energy hungry servers and supporting infrastructure online.”

Mr Gardiner said tech emissions would increase further as the global economy continued to digitise and advanced AI and machine learning demanded more computational power.

“Cloud service providers are moving strongly to adopt energy supply from renewable or low carbon sources. Amazon particularly is making strides in this area with its energy partnership with Shell,” he said.

How to reduce footprint

The scale of cloud carbon emissions has long gone underreported. Until a few years ago, very few cloud customers had the means of measuring, understanding or managing their true contributions.

Mr Haynes said businesses should think about emissions in two categories – the “direct” emissions from the electricity necessary to operate a data centre, and the “indirect” emissions from manufacturing hardware and other operations to deliver cloud services.

“Businesses should start by understanding the impact of emissions from their cloud provider in both categories. And cloud providers should make it easier by being transparent about their electricity grids and upstream emissions,” he said.

Mr Gardiner said as the big cloud service providers were working toward their carbon-free and net zero carbon emissions goals, they were also helping their customers understand their own cloud-related carbon footprints.

The big three cloud service providers have tools that, in varying degrees, measure estimated carbon emissions tied to individual customers’ cloud infrastructure and services usage and help them work more sustainably.

“Businesses can use those tools to make and track progress toward their carbon-reduction targets and meet environmental, social and corporate governance reporting requirements,” Mr Gardiner said.

For example, Google Cloud’s Carbon Footprint allows customers to measure, report and reduce their carbon emissions by providing the gross carbon emissions associated with the electricity from their Google Cloud Platform usage.

“Customers can monitor their cloud emissions by product, project and region,” Mr Gardiner said.

The three “Ps”

Business leaders are increasingly realising the power of sustainable business strategies in not only addressing the world’s most pressing challenges but driving their business’s success.

However, defining what sustainability means, solidifying clear and attainable goals, and formulating a strategy to achieve those goals can be daunting.

One common way to understand a business’s sustainability efforts is using a concept known as the triple bottom line.

Mr Haynes said the triple bottom line could be broken down into the “three Ps”: profit, people, and the planet.

Increasingly, businesses are looking at more than one bottom line.

Mr Haynes said this was with good reason.

“Running a sustainable business is not just good for the planet, it can be correlated with the prosperity of the business,” he said.

“Reduced business costs, more innovative strategies, an improved reputation, and a greater number of new customers are just some of the benefits businesses see when they make the decision to look at the triple bottom line.

“To some, adopting a triple bottom line approach may seem idealistic in a world that emphasises profit over purpose, but innovative businesses have shown time and again that it’s possible to do well by doing good.

Overcoming barriers to realise the importance of shared services in managing cost

Sun, 20 Nov 2022 22:00:00 GMT

As companies continue to invest in digital solutions, build new capabilities and enter new markets, they need a service delivery model that can provide timely and localised support to the business while simultaneously controlling costs

As discussed at the recent 2022 Australian Local Government CEO Index Virtual Forum, presented by Davidson Xchange, the shared services model has many advantages over centralised services.

Davidson’s Managing Partner of Search and Advisory, Clare McCartin, facilitated the virtual forum which saw metropolitan and regional CEOs discuss the benefits and challenges of shared services.

Kelly Grigsby, City of Hobart CEO, believes shared services can deliver many cost benefits.

“I think there's an opportunity to really look at the ways that we work, what are things that we can actually provide in terms of service offerings that are best delivered either regionally or through a shared service model,” she said.

“There are certainly some great examples, one is the Cradle Coast Authority in Tasmania. There are a range of those sorts of models across the country. I think we need a really deliberate approach to shared services though, and I think when there’s local government reform on the go, like there is in Tasmania now. I think it would be terrific to see that enshrined sort of as an outcome of the review.

“There's actually a requirement that compels local government to look at how we run shared services in a really meaningful way.

“That, obviously, is needing to be driven from a leadership perspective. I think that can come from the sector, but you also need to have the right governance models in place to really drive that service planning and thinking and determine where shared services are best suited to really deliver some of those core services of council.”

Tony Harrison, City of Marion CEO, said there were three major South Australian local government councils that had adopted the shared services model.

“There are three chief executives that meet on a monthly basis, and we have a number of significant shared resources in the sense we employ a single senior manager person, a procurement manager, fleet manager, facilities, and so forth.

“One of the local governments employs them, the others cost share with us, and we have a single global perspective over three large councils for the provision of services.

“What it has done is identify what are the better practices across one, two, or three of the organisations. We've even expanded that and brought in external consultants to have unfettered access to all our data, our finances, and our systems of operation to compare how we're performing against each other, and to give recommendations we can adopt across the three local government councils for better practice, best practice.”

And while Mr Harrison is a big supporter of shared services, he said one of the major issues was leaders being “too inward looking”.

“We have 68 councils across regional and metropolitan South Australia, some large, some extremely small, and we are duplicating the same provision of services 68 times over. It just doesn't make sense,” he said.

“You've got to be prepared to let some things go in a shared services model, which you may not necessarily agree with, for that greater good proposition .”

Mr Harrison said he believed the pandemic had improved the willingness to work together. “We've seen the benefits from it within government. I would hate to think we go back to our old practices in 12 months' time. I just think it would be to a detriment to the services that we provide to our consumers, our ratepayers, the people that live, work, visit, and play in our respective areas,” he said.

“We have to find a way to capitalise from the momentum that has been built and not go back to old ways of doing business.”

To download a copy of the 2022 Local Government CEO Index , click here .

Digital edge: Rethinking strategy for the post-pandemic era.

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 05:04:25 GMT

The 2022 Australian Local Government CEO Index Virtual Forum, presented by Davidson XChange, saw four of Australia’s most innovative local government leaders share their experiences and stories firsthand.

Company leaders that are putting technology at the centre of their outlook, capabilities, and leadership mandate are leading the race when it comes to future-proofing their business.

Digital transformation ranked in the top five highest priorities of local government leaders in a post-COVID environment, according to Davidson’s 2022 Australian Local Government Index.

Davidson’s Managing Partner of Search and Advisory, Clare McCartin, recently facilitated the 2022 Australian Local Government CEO Index Virtual Forum. The panel delved into the index’s findings, while also hearing from metropolitan and regional CEOs about their own experiences.

Ms McCartin said local governments held vast amounts of personal data, which was why they were a major target for cybercriminals.

“Australia’s Cyber Security Centre reported that Commonwealth, state, territory and local government accounted for 35 per cent of incidents in the year ending June 2021. That’s a significant number,” she said.

“Robust and secure digital solutions have become more important after COVID, not just to connect citizens to services, but to shore up community resilience.”

There’s no question that the pandemic has increased the pace of business and technology capabilities will be critical to companies’ COVID exit strategies as well as to what comes next.

After seeing how the pandemic had sped up the adoption of digital technologies by several years, the forum panel explored how companies were rethinking the role of digital technology in their overall business strategy.

Ms McCartin invited Noosa Council CEO Scott Waters to share why he thought digital transformation had become such a key priority for leaders.

“First and foremost, our systems, our resilience, it’s the backbone of what we deliver to our communities,” he said.

“Once we then start to move through that process of delivering services, we then have that ability to be able to branch out and deliver the digital transformation that's required, not just within our councils, but throughout our community.

“As we become more robust in what we deliver to our community, that trust, and that resilience is then built, and that continues to be able to move forward.” Mr Waters said it didn’t matter what type of local government – all councils were the cornerstone of everything that was delivered within a community.

“The trust we instill within our community really comes back to our digital resilience nowadays. Gone are the days of the roads, rates, and rubbish. We know we are so much more than that.

“We instill the trust the community requires to be able to function on their day-to-day basis. It helps us to not only deliver those core services but then branch out into further services into the future.”

The key message Mr Waters had was the journey was “never ending”.

“Our digital transformation journey is not ending. It will continue. And the more we can invest into digital that provides better services to our community, the more opportunity we have to be able to invest into frontline services.

“So, where that back office starts to be able to get more simplified through artificial intelligence and the utilisation of more robust systems and services, the frontline delivery, that person-to-person contact is really, coming out of COVID, what our community is yearning for.

“So, it's extremely important for us for the future to invest in cyber, ensure we have that ability to be able to start to take forward the way that we will work with our community for the future.”

City of Marion CEO Tony Harrison also knows first-hand the challenges of rolling out a multimillion-dollar digital transformation program.

“It was a lot of work to get the program off the ground, going to elected members, and putting a very robust business case forward to secure millions of dollars, tens of millions of dollars, is fairly challenging in any environment,” he said.

“It's not the part you really see a lot of value for money necessarily, but it's an essential part in the reform of big organisations.”

Ms McCartin asked Mr Harrison how they were navigating cyber security within their digital transformation program.

“When it comes to cybersecurity, one of the real benefits for us has been that we've been able to transform our approach both culturally in the organisation as well as in the physical build of the new system from the ground up as we've been implementing the digital transformation,” he said.

“We identified one of the key reforms was digital literacy and cybersecurity. That fundamentally underpinned all the physical transformations throughout the whole organisation.

“And I think because of the timing of the digital transformation project and bringing digital literacy and cyber awareness into that process as one of our fundamental principles, we’ve been able to move the organisation along really well.”

To download a copy of the 2022 Local Government CEO Index, click here .

Contact Centre Staff Make the Difference

Wed, 26 Oct 2022 00:56:11 GMT

For the third year running Goodstart Early Learning has trusted Davidson to navigate the inevitable peaks and troughs of the market to attract and onboard 14 quality staff, within 2 weeks, for their front-line customer service team.

The candidates for these roles needed a high level of empathy, and an understanding of the underlying emotions and concerns that are attached with trusting the care of a child to a stranger.

Their audience? Parents, anxious about giving their children the best possible start in life through access to high quality early learning and care.

Additionally, each successful candidate would be police checked, require a working with children credential and up to date vaccinations (triple COVID-19 and influenza).

At Davidson, we see our partnerships as being for the long-term. We think ‘30 years’ not ‘30 days.’

Tatianna Mana-Daniel, Goodstart’s Family Services Partnering Lead had this to say:

“Jenny, Mikayla and the team at Davidson have provided outstanding support to us with recruitment for our 6-month peak period. For the past 3 years, they have consistently presented quality candidates within short and demanding timeframes. Their attentiveness, responsiveness and care have made our recruitment process easy, contributing to the longevity of our partnership. We look forward to many more years of working alongside Davidson.”

Where is cloud headed by the end of 2025? Just “Google it”.

Fri, 21 Oct 2022 01:16:13 GMT

Google’s Cloud Platform made headlines recently, with the tech giant holding its marquee Google Next event.

Google’s Cloud Platform made headlines recently, with the tech giant holding its marquee Google Next event. With a 35% growth from 2021 to 2022 in the use of Google cloud, one of the event’s highlights was the keynote by multiple Google executives and product owners who shared their Top ten cloud technology predictions for 2025:

Developers who start with neuroinclusive design will see a 5x growth in user adoption in the first two years.

Neurodiversity explains the idea that people experience, interpret and process the world around them in many different ways; there is no one “right” way and differences are not viewed as “deficits.” According to Google, 20% of the world’s population has non-typical, or neurodistinct, cognitive skills and talents.

By considering a range of design elements for cognitive and sensory accessibility, such as balance, proportion, unity, light, colour, space and patterns, neuroinclusive design has a profound effect on the rate of user adoption.

4 out of 5 enterprise developers will use some form of curated open source.

Open source code—publicly accessible, modifiable and shareable—is all around us. In its annual report, Synopsys found that 97% of code bases contained open source and 78% of code in code bases was open source. Alarmingly, 81% of code bases contained at least one vulnerability.

Google’s answer to what is a global challenge in managing and keeping open source safe is curated open source. In this model, a curator is responsible for including support for developers, finding and fixing vulnerabilities, updating old dependencies and tracking new ones, building in automations for testing and even offering response-based SLAs.

Google has already committed to scanning, analysing and fuzz testing over 250 java and python packages for security vulnerabilities on behalf of cloud developers and updating them as needed.

The view of Joe Gardiner, from Davidson Technology Consulting , is that ‘this is big news and a positive sign for cloud competition. Google and Microsoft have increasingly embraced open-source approaches. Having Google test and assist in maintaining these packages helps minimise cyber threat attack vectors across the industry.’

90% of security operations workflows will be automated and managed as code.

Australia’s Cyber Security Centre reported that to June 2021 the reporting of cybercrime had increased by nearly 13% – that’s a cyber-attack every 8 minutes. Security Operations (SecOps) is struggling to keep up. One estimate puts the number of unfilled cybersecurity globally at 3.5 million.

In Google’s view, the answer is not to keep hiring and training more people but to make security more agile and accessible through code to automatically scan data, detecting and performing risk assessments in minutes rather than what typically takes days or weeks.

AI is going to be the primary driver for moving to a 4-day work week.

The growth of Enterprise grade tools and solutions, such as to build and deploy changes, manage environments, operate contact centers, translate languages and make ecommerce recommendations, will see a boost to employee productivity.

Whether this translates into Google’s prediction of comfortably completing five day’s worth of work in four remains to be seen, but it’s a tantalizing idea.

90% of data will be actionable in real-time using ML.

According to Google, recent surveys show only one-third of all companies realize tangible value from their data. That’s why Google are evolving their data platforms to enable customers to be able to see, trust and act on their data in real-time for both structured and unstructured data.

The barriers between transactional and analytical workloads will disappear.

Traditionally, these workloads have been separated for good reason. Transactional systems are optimised for fast read/write and analytical systems are optimised for aggregating large data sets. Most commercial applications require access to both datasets, think personal recommendations for ecommerce.

Google is solving the problem through an integrated network of solutions that are intelligent and data-driven without affecting performance.

Over half of cloud infrastructure decisions will be automated based on an organisation’s usage patterns.

Google Cloud revealed two of their latest hardware developments to deliver workload optimised compute:

·Infrastructure Processing Unit (IPU) which is a custom board with massive storage performance all on the size of a graphics card; and
TPU v4 a machine learning supercomputer “likely world’s fastest” which is the size of a normal motherboard which they claim is “80% faster and 50% cheaper”.

Additionally, Google’s intent is to make the need to define infrastructure specifications as ‘old thinking.’ In the new world, specify a workload and Google will recommend, configure and deliver the best options for your needs.

3 out of 4 developers will lead with sustainability as their primary development principle.

According to Google, 65% of executives want to improve their sustainability efforts, but 36% lack the tools to track progress toward sustainability goals.

The Google Cloud Platform now provides, as part of their standard offer, the visibility into emissions measurements from Google data centres by project, region, product and gives recommendations for best practice.

Over half of all organisations using public cloud will freely switch their primary cloud provider as a result of the multicloud capabilities available.

Studies show that most companies use more than one cloud provider today. The prediction is that in the years ahead there will be an increase in organisations not just using a multicloud strategy to hedge their bets, but to use them to switch from their first cloud to their next cloud.

Over half of all business applications will be built by users who do not identify as professional developers today.’

The adoption of no-code and low-code tools such as Google AppSheet, MS Power apps, Retool, ServiceNow, Pega, Appian, and Outsystems will continue to be the focus of the low code movement. These tools will move development outside of central IT and help enterprises quickly build applications with automations on scalable platforms.

Google isn’t alone. Gartner refers to the adoption of no-code and low-code tools as a ‘general social and technological movement.’ They anticipate that the increased demand for custom software solutions in support of digital transformation, delivery speed and time to value is driving the emergence and growth of citizen developers outside of IT.

Gartner research says, on average, 41% of employees outside of IT – or business technologists – customize or build data or technology solutions. Gartner predicts that half of all new low-code clients will come from business buyers that are outside the IT organization by year-end 2025, too.

Here at Davidson, we source, place, and augment some of Australia's largest companies with exceptional Google Cloud talent. What is your Cloud Prediction for 2025? Share it!

Davidson beefs up Technology division to do more heavy lifting

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 06:49:11 GMT

Leading advisory, technology consulting, and recruitment, firm Davidson is expanding its Technology Consulting division with two high-profile hires.

Christopher Stone is taking on the role of Practice Director Technology while Joe Gardiner joins as a Delivery Partner in the fast-growing division.

The new appointments reflect a sharp focus on helping companies use technology more effectively to streamline and grow their operations. Part of this is an increasing focus on providing teams, rather than individuals, and workforce augmentation solutions.

``We’re excited to welcome both Christopher and Joe to the Davidson team,’’ Davidson Group CEO Trent McMahon said. ``They both have a strong background not only in technology, but in working with companies undergoing rapid change. And that means not only understanding the technology, but understanding the people who will use it.’’

``At Davidson, we start by gaining a deep understanding of the problems, then work with clients to shape a solution that fits and support them in implementing it,’’ McMahon said.

Christopher Stone joins Davidson’s Sydney office from ELMO Software and has also previously worked at Excite Safety as Chief Operating Officer, steering the company through the COVID crisis with technological transformation that spurred strong growth.

At Excite, a WHS training provider and tech innovator, Stone oversaw the roll-out of a proprietary SaaS solution that saw recurring annual revenue jump by 250 per cent. He also overhauled payment and booking systems and streamlined a fragmented marketing strategy.

``I think what I enjoy most is the ability to not only help business owners and department heads to improve their quality of work, but seeing that trickling down to those that are on the coalface,’’ he said.

Joe Gardiner comes to Davidson with an extensive background in both hands-on technology development and strategic implementation in the rapidly-evolving finance industry. Most recently he worked as a project director for technology transformation at Bank of Queensland and has served at ANZ to facilitate strategic choices in their technology architecture.

Gardiner will be working with larger clients to shape solutions that cover broader areas of work, rather than just point in time solutions.

``What we’re increasingly looking to do at Davidson is bring more team-based package solutions for key areas of client demand, such as Google Cloud Platform, Salesforce and ERP solutions,’’ Gardiner said. ``And we will be building on that by introducing a major partner for workforce augmentation. There’s so much technology work to do and such a shortage of skilled people available to do it.’’

Gardiner has a particular interest in the fintech space and founded online home loan site YouBroker.com.au, which picked up an Australian Web Award for website design earlier this year.

From sea change to c-suite change

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 06:23:27 GMT

COVID refugee Joe Gardiner relocated to the Gold Coast from Victoria recently, and joins us as a delivery partner in the Technology Consulting division.

Joe comes to Davidson with an extensive background in both hands-on technology development and strategic implementation, primarily in the fast-paced finance sphere.

Most recently, he worked as a project director for technology transformation at Bank of Queensland and has served at ANZ to facilitate strategic choices in their technology architecture.

Joe will be working with larger clients to shape solutions that cover broader areas of work, rather than just point in time solutions. He has a particular skill for engaging, understanding and communicating needs across different departments within bigger corporations.

``What we’re increasingly looking to do at Davidson is bring more team-based package solutions for key areas of client demand, such as Google Cloud Platform, Salesforce and ERP solutions,’’ Gardiner says. ``And we will be building on that by introducing a major partner for workforce augmentation.’’

Curious by nature, Joe has done some hands-on programming using Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform and is AWS certified as a Solutions Architect. He has a particular interest in the fintech space. He founded online home loan site YouBroker.com.au, which picked up an Australian Web Award for website design earlier this year. He is also completing an MBA at UNSW majoring in Technology.

When he’s not hard at work or studying, Joe enjoys spending time with family and exploring bushwalks in the Gold Coast hinterland and cycling. Don’t tell anyone, but he supports the All Blacks.

Surfing in to tackle a new role

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 06:18:10 GMT

RUGBY devotee and keen surf lifesaver Christopher Stone is riding a new career wave to take over as Davidson’s Practice Director Technology.

Based out of the Sydney office, Christopher brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in tech transformation and leadership to the role.

He previously served as Chief Operating Officer at WHS training provider and tech innovator Excite Safety, steering the company through the COVID crisis with strong growth. While there, he oversaw the roll-out of an SaaS solution that resulted in a recurring annual revenue jump of 250 per cent and overhauled payment and booking systems. His detailed understanding of the tender process, along with technology trends and design solutions will help direct business focus at Davidson.

Christopher says Davidson’s culture of ``very clear and considered objectives’’ with low politics and drama was a big drawcard after a period reassessing what he wanted from work. ``A lot of organisations have the desire to grow, but they don’t have the culture to back it up,’’ he says.

Davidson’s core values align neatly with his leadership style of ``clear communication and considered responses’’. A key part of this is appreciating that each team member is not only different in terms of personality, but in perspective, he explains.

``One of my favourite sayings is that stress is contextual. So, you might not think something is as stressful or important as someone who is more senior or junior on a team, but it’s important to understand that this is stressful for them.’’ He believes in leadership by counsel rather than direction, giving people room to develop skills and ownership.

``I’m also someone that is a great believer that kindness is not weakness and that is something I bring to the way I deal with our people and our clients.’’

While he might be kind in the office, he may not be quite so considerate on the rugby field. Christopher is a keen participant in Sydney’s suburban rugby circuit, although he admits it hurts a just little more these days and takes a tad longer to get up off the ground. And while he no longer patrols Sydney’s surf, after many years in offshore rescue, he still enjoys the city’s outdoor lifestyle.

Key takeaways from the 2022 Queensland Energy & Jobs Plan

Fri, 30 Sep 2022 04:15:12 GMT

$62 billion dollars. 1500km of high voltage transmission. 64,000 jobs and an additional 36,000 green growth opportunity jobs. Electricity emissions reduced by 90 percent. These are just some of the staggering numbers announced as part of The Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan – a roadmap to the state government’s vision for ‘clean, reliable and affordable energy providing power for generations.’

For Stephen Veness, Davidson Group Manager – Strategic Partnerships, 'we are an organisation involved in the energy sector for almost 30 years, this new plan from the Queensland State Government is hugely encouraging and exciting.’

The $62 billion investment is to be unlocked across public and private sectors and will fund initiatives across the state, including:

The “Battery of the North”

Establishment of the world’s largest pumped hydro scheme, surpassing Snowy Hydro. A 5 GW facility to be built near Mackay and a second 2 GW pumped hydro scheme is to be built near Gympie.

“Clean energy hubs”

The transformation of the state’s coal-fired power stations into “clean energy hubs” from 2027, supported by a legislated Job Security Guarantee for energy workers.

“SuperGrid”

1500km of new high voltage backbone transmission stretching from Brisbane to north Queensland and west to Hughenden to support 22 GW of new wind and new solar.

Gladstone Grid Reinforcement

To support heavy industry to switch to renewable energy and decarbonise their operations.

A Smarter Grid

To support over 11 GW of rooftop solar and around 6 GW of batteries in homes and businesses.

Additional Jobs

64,000 jobs to build the SuperGrid and an increase of 36,000 green growth opportunity jobs – direct and indirect – mostly in regional Queensland.

Queensland Renewable Energy and Hydrogen Jobs Fund

An increase of $2.5Bn to take the total to $4.5Bn.

Davidson’s strong focus within renewable energy and sustainability markets means it is well placed to assist in the exploration of opportunities and impacts from the Queensland government’s recent announcement.

We would love to work with you on this exciting plan - c ontact us today!

Technology Market Insights and Salary Guide 2022/23

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 21:21:22 GMT

MEDIA RELEASE

Our Technology Market Insights and Salary Guide (2022/23) shows that the tug-of-war for IT talent and the search for the ‘new normal’ of workplace relations continue to challenge the thinking of employers and employees alike.

This year’s guide is a distillation of the survey responses from 938 IT professionals, client conversations, partner commentary and Davidson’s own in-depth experience. It sheds light on what is happening nationally and provides market assessments, and permanent and contract salaries for Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland for a range of technology roles.

What is clear is that the appetite for remote working by employees has not lessened. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a desire to return to the office. Employees cite collaboration, career progression and development, a need for a better delineated work/life balance, focus and efficiency as key drivers to return for part of the working week.

With flexibility now an expectation, what differentiates employers in the minds of potential employees? ‘Benefits is the obvious answer,’ says Stuart Lindsay, Group General Manager, Technology at Davidson. And while some organisations are offering gym, pool and wellness allowances, the survey respondents revealed the benefits valued by employees don’t always need an expensive price tag.

But with 69% of those surveyed intending to leave their employer within the next two years, ‘employers would do well to ensure … that benefits are aligned with organisational values and purpose,’ says Imogen Studders, General Manager, Technology at Davidson. In fact, culture, value and vision was one of the top 10 reasons for those surveyed leaving along with remuneration, burnout, a forced mandate to return to the office, lack of career progression, line management, the organisation’s leadership team and uninteresting work.

For further information and all media enquiries please contact Paula Price at Paula.Price@davidsonwp.com.

Key takeaways from the 2022 Jobs and Skills Summit

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 04:38:07 GMT

A historical Jobs and Skills Summit brought together stakeholders from across Australia in a bid to tackle major challenges facing Australia’s labour market and economy.

It’s no secret that employers across the country have been struggling to attract and retain talent, while employees are grappling with cost-of-living pressures.

As experts in workplace performance, Davidson closely observed the Jobs and Skills Summit as it unfolded in Canberra on September 1-2.

The summit - attended by employers, civil society, unions, and government - was all about finding a common ground on how Australia can build a bigger, better trained and more productive workforce, while lifting real wages and living standards.

Following the Summit, a detailed report of recommendations was handed down. As leading staffing and recruitment, consulting and advisory partners, we have reviewed the extensive document and outlined key actions from the summit, including:

Increased migration: Lifting permanent migration numbers to 195,000 in 2022-23, an increase of 35,000, an additional $36.1m to accelerate visa processing, and relaxing work restrictions on international students to help ease critical workforce shortages

Reducing barriers to employment: Provision of a one-off ‘income credit’ so age pensioners who want to work can earn an additional $4000 this financial year without losing any of their pension, requiring businesses with 100+ employees to report their gender pay gap, and signing a MOU with the Business Council of Australia to develop a pilot aimed at increasing employment of people with a disability

More flexibility: Amending the Fair Work Act to strengthen access to flexible working arrangements. This includes making unpaid parental leave more flexible and strengthening protection for workers against discrimination and harassment.

Industrial relations: Changes to workplace relations laws to ensure workers and businesses have ‘flexible options’ for reaching agreements, including removing limitations on access to single and multi-employer agreements

TAFE funding: An additional $1 billion for fee-free TAFE in 2023 and accelerated delivery of 465,000 fee-free TAFE places, including 180,000 next year.

Ultimately, it’s hoped that these measures will address labour shortages by increasing the number of skilled people available to work. If you need help with a strategy to attract and retain employees in this tight labour market or our advisory services, then please c ontact us today!

*Image courtesy of Lukas Coch/AAP - The Guardian and includes Prime minister Anthony Albanese speaking to ACTU president Michele O'Neil and secretary Sally McManus during the jobs and skills summit at Parliament House in Canberra on Friday, 2 September 2022.

High-performing teams don’t all sing from the same song sheet

Wed, 31 Aug 2022 05:15:53 GMT

True diversity in an organisation is not only about gender, ethnicity or age. It turns out cognitive diversity is as important to organisational success. Why? Because it encourages more feedback on decisions, which leads to better decision making, greater creativity and improved business outcomes.

Cognitive diversity is the bringing together of a range of different styles of thinking and different perspectives. These can result from different abilities, opinions, insights, knowledge, socio-economic backgrounds, education and experience.

It is a critical consideration when recruiting for boards to avoid groupthink, but equally important when recruiting for departments and teams—operational and project. Its importance is also not limited by sector or industry.

This may sound like common sense. And it is. Why, is it so difficult to put into practice? Because we’re human and we like to surround ourselves with people who think and express themselves in a similar way. After all, a diversity of views can be messy and uncomfortable.

Here are 5 key recommendations to encourage the recruitment of cognitive diversity into your organisation and its practice:

Review recruitment criteria—are they all essential? Do they encourage candidates with a certain style of thinking?
Widen the pool of candidates—consider those who may not meet all the criteria but have a valuable skill or set of experiences
If you’re working with a recruitment agency, ensure to spell out that cognitive diversity is a requirement of the search
During the successful candidate’s induction specifically address the importance of the diversity of thinking and perspectives to the organisation and team.
As a leader, test your team’s thinking, personality and working styles and set aside time to share and reflect on the results and take actions to address any gaps.

In the words of Telle Whitney, senior executive leader and recognised expert on diversity, “Diversity drives innovation—when we limit who can contribute, we in turn limit what problems we can solve.”

Want to speak to a trusted expert on how to include cognitive diversity in your recruitment and search strategy?

Attracting the right talent is just the beginning

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 04:43:10 GMT

According to the ABS, 1.3 million people changed jobs for the year ending February 2022 and 1 in 5 of those, or 21%, had been in their job for less than a year. So, as a manager, how do you improve your chances of retaining the employee that you spent so long attracting?

Davidson Executive recruitment consultant, Cameron Norton , says that understanding the predictable cycle of emotions your newest employee faces, reacts to and deals with and putting in plans to support these can help.

According to psychologists Don Kelley and Daryl Conor, this cycle of emotions has five stages:

1. UNINFORMED OPTIMISM

The most exciting stage. At this stage, your new employee is imagining the value they’ll contribute; the calibre of the colleagues they’ll work with; and how much they’ll achieve in the first 90 days. Capitalize on that excitement. Have your new hire draw up a list of the things that attracted them to the company, team, or role. They’re going to need this list later when things don’t look so rosy.

2. INFORMED PESSIMISM

The honeymoon is over. Your employee realises they have more questions than answers; not everyone has been as collegial as expected; and they’re achieving less than expected. Assigning a mentor or buddy might be a wise decision at this point to help with any self-sabotaging thoughts, doubts and fears your new employee may have.

3. VALLEY OF DESPAIR

This is when most people give up. Even if they don’t do this publicly, you may find that privately, they’ve withdrawn. But you don’t want your new hire to be "most people," you want them to stay the course. In his book, The Coaching Habit, Michael Bungay Stanier recommends managers check-in regularly and dig deeper to understand what’s really going on. Questions such as ‘And what else?’ and ‘What’s the real challenge here for you?’ are great for this. This is also the time to encourage your employee to revisit the list they drew up in the Uninformed Optimism stage.

4. INFORMED OPTIMISM

Things are looking up. Your employee is feeling more positive, more like the person you hired. This may be a great time to match them with a newer hire so that they can cement their journey and share the knowledge and insights that helped bring them this far.

5. SUCCESS AND FULFILMENT

They aren’t going anywhere—they can see, feel and touch the difference they’ve made and the progress they’re making. And you can too.

Want to speak to a trusted expert on how to create connected experiences to drive higher levels of employee engagement and retention?

Cameron Norton

Partner ‑ Executive Search & Advisory

Australia’s Local Government CEOs say community, cyber and customers are the key priorities in new Index

Fri, 19 Aug 2022 01:58:02 GMT

MEDIA RELEASE

Cyber security, community wellbeing and customer experience have been listed among the top five national priorities for Council bosses in the latest annual Australian Local Government CEO Index.

This year’s Index, conducted by national recruitment, advisory and technology consulting firm Davidson, recorded the priorities of 111 council leaders in a post-COVID environment.

Cost and risk management rounded out the top five priorities.

Davidson Managing Partner of Search and Advisory Clare McCartin said the Index provided a strong and realistic benchmark to compare findings from the past two years to discover what had changed and why.

“Twelve months on and not only are local governments across Australia navigating the aftershocks from the pandemic, but many on the east coast are doing so, while emerging from devastating weather-driven natural disasters,” Ms McCartin said

"We also saw an alarming increase, on the year-on-year comparisons, of where local governments have been negatively impacted. In 2021, CEOs said that employee wellbeing had been 49.55% negatively impacted, whereas in 2022 this number drastically increased to 73.27%.

“Likewise, CEOs said that operational excellence had been 19.82% negatively impacted in 2021, but in 2022 this number increased to 43.56%. These compounding, hangover- effects of the global pandemic require significant attention and creative thought partnership amongst talented leaders across Australia. More than ever it also requires the sector to learn from each other and collaborate in more meaningful and substantial ways,” Ms McCartin said.

“The key findings from the Index tell us that there is an appetite—a hunger—for change, for creating high performance places of work committed to the wellbeing of staff while transforming the customer experience.”

The Australian Local Government CEO Index 2022 found CEOs listed five national top priorities:

1. Digital transformation

2. Community resilience and wellbeing

3. Cost management

4. Risk management

5. Increased cyber attacks

While the first two priorities remained the same as 2021, the findings revealed the management of both cost and risk appeared to be emerging concerns, potentially driven by the devastation brought on by the floods along the eastern seaboard during 2022.

The Index also revealed an increase in ransomware attacks on Australian public and private enterprise had prompted greater focus towards robust and digital solutions.

Many respondents indicated their work had retained the flexible working arrangements implemented to mitigate COVID-19 based disruptions; while more than 90 per cent of respondents indicated concern over leadership talent gaps in the next 12 months.

There was a strong focus movement towards using shared services with other LGAs with 67 per cent of respondents indicating they already used shared services, while more than 85 per cent highlighted, they were committed to pursuing shared services.

The Index, designed and curated by Davidson, is a unique measure of sentiment for the sector. For the second time, local council CEOs from across the country were invited to participate and pulse check their key priorities as they rebuild from the pandemic. The survey was themed across six key areas:

• Financial sustainability

• Community engagement

• Risk and Governance

• Operational excellence

• Employee wellbeing

• Technology

Chief Executive Officer, City of Joondalup, Western Australia, James Pearson actively took part in the Index and said his key priority over the past two years was implementing practical ways to keep the Council as accessible to the community as possible.

“Covid reminded us that local government matters. Keeping our doors open, literally, through the ups and downs of the past two years was a practical way to stay accessible to our community,” he said.

“Keeping rates down, giving rebates to local businesses and delivering an economic and community-based program to support local jobs and emerge stronger are just some of the things we did to make a difference.”

At the City of Stonnington, Melbourne, Chief Executive Officer Jacqui Weatherill said technology was a key priority following a major cybersecurity breach in 2021.

“At Stonnington, we know from experience, keeping data and information safe is of vital importance,” she said.

“In 2021, in the middle of lockdowns, we experienced a major disruption to our IT networks because of a sophisticated international cybersecurity breach. Pleasingly, recent digital transformation work meant we were well placed to assess, deal with the issue, and bring services back online within days. My message to the sector is clear: invest in cyber security protections.”

The focus for the City of Boroondara, Victoria, is ‘efficient customer experience’ according to its Chief Executive Officer, Phillip Storer.

“Our Transforming Boroondara program focuses on designing our organisation and service delivery around the community (customer),” he said.

“We bring together culture, skills, technology, and work processes to enable provision of a better, more efficient customer experience. Aligning the structure of our organisation with how customers interact with council has realised cost savings.”

General Manager and Chief Executive, Warwick Winn from Penrith City Council, New South Wales said council was focused on building community resilience and wellbeing through its “Finding Balance” program that placed flexible working at the core of its business and removed the typical rules and constraints of working hours and time sheets.

“Many staff embraced the new way of working. Productivity was largely maintained and, in some areas, actually increased. On the downside, some supervisors and managerial staff have struggled with not having old school direct oversight,” he said.

“We have rolled out two bespoke management and supervisory training programs across Council, which have been embraced; so, our leaders are speaking the same language as they work together to tackle day-to-day challenges that arise from managing a hybrid workplace coupled with a growing expectation of doing a lot more with less.”

Nigel Morris, Chief Executive Officer of Alexandrina Council, in South Australia echoed Mr Winn’s sentiments.

“Now it’s more than important than ever to ensure we not only look after our own wellbeing but also reach out and support each other and not go it alone,” he said.

“The role of Chief Executive Officer is a demanding balancing act of expectations of the key stakeholders of elected members, staff and community. This is currently heightened under current economic conditions, including rapid rising costs, staff and skills shortages and increased workloads as we all race to implement the grant funded assisted projects, we committed to delivering during recent State and Federal Government stimulus funding programs.”

Interim General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of Lismore City Council in New South Wales, John Walker, highlighted the flooding disaster there this year, which he said was a wake-up call for the city.

“I have always been a laggard in taking climate change seriously; (but), when the rains fell in the hills around Lismore in late February, (it) really hit home. Over 1.5metres of rain fell over two nights. The city was prepared for a major flood but what came was flooding 2.5metres higher than Lismore had ever known,” he said.

“Five months later our substantial CBD is still not functioning. Our economy is devastated. This disaster is clearly the result of climate change. We all need to take it seriously.”

For further information and all media enquiries please contact Sarah Morgan on 0421 664 969 or email sarah.morgan@vaxagroup.com.

The C-Suite Factor—Engagement is the new Retention

Thu, 04 Aug 2022 05:11:11 GMT

We've all heard of the 'X' factor, but what about the 'C-Suite' factor? And how important it is to building Employee Engagement and ultimately Retaining Talent?

The latest data from the ABS shows that 1.3 million people changed jobs during the year ending February 2022—at 9.5% the highest job mobility rate since 2012—and the trend is upward. Of that mobility rate, 22% were professionals.

SO, WHAT'S THE KEY TO STEMMING THE TIDE?

Employee Engagement. It’s a term that is increasingly bandied around, but what is it? Simply put, it’s an enthusiastic and well-intentioned two-way commitment by both employee and employer to contribute more than their job description, not out of obligation but out of a genuine desire to do so.

It includes everything from the hiring experience to the software systems used, the office location, the transparency and openness with which decisions are communicated and even the availability (or not) of tea and coffee in the kitchen. Is it different from Employee Experience? Yes. Think of the employee experience as the journey an employee takes from onboarding to exit. The quality of that journey is the employee engagement.

In Anthony Grey’s experience, Executive Search and Advisory Partner at Davidson, ‘A leader that can foster and build an environment that is conducive to furthering discretionary effort from individuals, is what separates good from great teams and organisations.’

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IS ONE OF THE STRONGEST MEASURES AVAILABLE TO ORGANISATIONS TO PREDICT EMPLOYEE TURNOVER.

It is astonishing then to read that according to the Future Forum Pulse (a survey of 10,569 knowledge workers across the U.S., Australia, France, Germany, Japan, and the UK) that most executives (66%) report they are designing post-pandemic workplace policies with little to no direct input from employees.

And the greatest divide seems to be flexible work practices. Responses show ‘that employees are more than four times more likely than executives to want to work remotely full time. And yet the data also shows that the majority of executives are building return-to-the-office plans that favour the perspective of the C-suite over what employees say works best for them.’

Forget the ‘Great Resignation.’ Perhaps the true issue lies in the ‘Great Mismatch.’ That is, the level of resistance to returning to the office and battling the daily commute and the quality of the engagement in architecting a level of flexibility to meet both employee and organisation needs.

Want to speak to a trusted expert on designing an engagement strategy to improve retention? Contact us today.

Anthony Grey

Partner ‑ Executive Search & Advisory

Change your mindset, not your methodology

Fri, 22 Jul 2022 04:00:54 GMT

When delivery goes pear-shaped the project methodology is often blamed.

Many articles are written about the pros and cons of Agile vs Waterfall project delivery methodologies and different Enterprise Delivery Frameworks.

Countless hours are spent debating which one to choose and then more hours training project staff and familiarising business stakeholders with terminology and process. Often, one methodology can be seen as a panacea, whilst another approach is demonised.

When delivery goes pear-shaped, budgets blow out, timeframes shift to the right, scope gets deferred and stakeholder expectations aren’t met, the project methodology is often blamed.

WHAT IF WE TOLD YOU MINDSET, NOT METHODOLOGY, IS THE CAUSE?

A lack of trust, a culture of blame, absence of transparency and a denial of access to timely, relevant information can kill delivery. We’ve all seen examples, a lack of accountability and unclear responsibilities, employees unempowered to make decisions out of fear of failure and the hoarding of information by a select few.

There are 8 principles born from DSDM Agile, but not exclusive to Agile, which underpins what good looks like in all project delivery, regardless of methodology. They orient teams and organisations towards a performance mindset by promoting openness and transparency, trust, accountability, and solution orientation.

Focus on the business need
Deliver on time
Collaborate—it builds shared ownership
Never compromise quality
Build incrementally from firm foundations
Deliver iteratively (yes, even with waterfall)
Communicate continuously and clearly
Demonstrate control by tracking and reporting progress.

It takes courage to admit that a shift in mindset, not project methodology, might bring greater success. Mindset influences culture, changes practices, procedures and habits and permeates messages. It’s a powerful enabler.

These 8 principles are more likely to improve delivery performance and the realisation of benefits than any extended debate over the choice of methodology.

Want to speak to a trusted expert on the best approach to your next project? Contact us today.

Davidson acquires Canberra-based technology specialist, Inspired

Fri, 08 Jul 2022 02:50:31 GMT

MEDIA RELEASE

One of Australia’s leading Workplace Performance consulting firms has enhanced its government portfolio with the recent acquisition of technology specialist, Inspired.

Davidson Group CEO Trent McMahon said the acquisition of the Canberra business further cements the consulting firm across all tiers of government throughout Australia, while meeting key strategic growth plans.

“Over the past three decades, we have worked hard to grow our government client base across Australia,” McMahon said.

“The acquisition of Inspired provides a strong opportunity to accelerate our work in the Federal Government market.

“We will work closely with the Inspired team to promote our business advisory, recruitment and technology consulting services. Under their supplier panels we will have access to more than 60 Australian Government agencies.

“It was a natural decision for both parties due to our strong alignment of values and the same open and transparent approach to doing business.”

Inspired founder Stephen D’Arcy will continue to lead Inspired and work closely with Davidson’s executive team to facilitate a smooth transition.

“For more than a decade, we have proudly built a results focused business which provides specialist resources to Government departments, private enterprise, educational institutions and research organisations in governance, project management, engineering, simulation delivery and ICT infrastructure, application development and across all commercial disciplines,” D’Arcy said.

“This acquisition looks to the next decade and allows us to draw on Davidson’s years of experience and expertise in enhancing workplace performance with a synchronised focus on business advisory, recruitment and technology consulting.

“It’s a great partnership which will provide further value to our clients and candidates.”

For further information and all media enquiries, please contact Paula Price, Senior Manager – Marketing at paula.price@davidsonwp.com

Out of the box thinking for hard to fill roles

marketing@davidsonwp.com (Marketing Davidson) — Mon, 20 Jun 2022 05:20:29 GMT

Are you struggling to attract talent? Do you have roles in your organization that are hard-to-fill? Time to explore fresh approaches to an old problem.

Uncovering talent has become one of recruitment’s greatest challenges with record low unemployment rates and skill shortages. If Einstein was right and ‘the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results’, then this challenge requires us to think outside the box.

No longer is the approach to hire one individual, to fill one role, the best practice in recruiting. So, what’s the answer?

EMPLOYEE REFERRALS

Many hands make light work. It’s a win-win to have employees—preferably top performing, trusted employees—refer those like themselves. And don’t limit referrals for open positions. Be clear on the type of skills, experience and attitude that are a good fit for the organization and encourage employees to identify these people.

And here’s a ninja tip. Use alumni as a source for referrals—those people who left the company on good terms and whom you’d welcome back in a heartbeat.

PARTNER WITH THE 'GIG' ECONOMY

The number of people working in the ‘gig economy’ is booming. According to a December 2020 report by the Actuaries Institute, ‘since 2015 the gig economy has grown 9-fold to capture $6.3bn in consumer spend, and to involve as many as 250,000 workers.’

And the good news is that the growth applies in all Australian states. The availability of professionals to assist with time-boxed, specific outcomes is something worth considering. Try Fiverr, Upwork, 99designs, and Freelancer.com, to name a few.

LOOK WITHIN

What if the right candidate was already within your organization? If there is one thing that we’ve learned over the past 3 years, it’s that the nature of responsibilities continues to change, outdating role titles and descriptions. Challenge the skills, experience and knowledge needed to perform the role—what’s true ‘must have’? Investing in an existing employee by upskilling or cross-skilling may be a quick, more efficient route than recruiting externally. That does not mean the identified employee is a perfect fit, but it shows a commitment to existing employees. And that, in turn, helps to show an organization's employee value proposition in action.

WHERE ARE YOU AT IN YOUR CAREER PLANNING?

Want to speak to a trusted expert on out of the box recruiting strategies or talent solutions to stay ahead of demand?
Find your next opportunity here or contact us to start your career discussion.

To learn more about Davidson Recruitment Solutions:

A career is both a marathon and a sprint — a few tips on how to combine both.

marketing@davidsonwp.com (Marketing Davidson) — Wed, 08 Jun 2022 05:19:13 GMT

A wise person once said that your career is a marathon. What if we told you it was also a sprint and offered some advice on how to combine both in this fast-moving, ever-changing marketplace.

The commonly held wisdom is that a career is a marathon. Decade’s worth of endeavour. But no one trains for a marathon by running a marathon. Instead, they do short/fast runs, medium runs, cycling, swimming, lifting weights, stretching and resting.

In other words, building a career requires a marathon mindset and, at different times, a sprint mindset.

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE VS ROLES

If there is one thing that we've learned over the past three years, the nature of responsibilities continues to change rapidly, outdating role titles and descriptions.

Technology research and consulting leader, Gartner, has found that 'when tasks and responsibilities change quickly, as they do during business disruption, roles become less and less useful as a proxy for required skills.' So, as you consider your next opportunity, assess what skills and experience it will add to your CV and, ultimately, your marketability, not just the dollars to your bank account.

INVEST IN COLLABORATION

Invest in those you believe in and who believe in you. Successful investments take time. This is one aspect where adopting a marathon mindset will reap the rewards.

Sought after candidates, those in the industry who are well regarded will have one, maybe two, trusted recruitment professionals in their network circle—professionals that know your skills and experience and understand what role you require to take you to the next level in your career. They will also have a solid network of a like-minded professional who will be able to refer you to your next opportunity. Do not be shy; reach out to your network and ask.

INCREMENTS ARE IMPORTANT

Increments add to career success. Unfortunately, sometimes those increments are more extended, requiring you to knuckle down. Your mindset needs to be more like that of a marathon runner. If you skip any part of your training, you may get away with it in the short term, but you will have to go back and put in those extra training days at some point in time.

Sometimes there are smaller gaps in your experience, and the increments allow you to lay the valuable groundwork in a shorter time. But, again, use the mindset of a sprinter for these opportunities. Any successful person will tell you that hard work and sacrifice made them successful; there are no shortcuts.

WHERE ARE YOU AT IN YOUR CAREER PLANNING?

Find your next opportunity here or contact us to start your career discussion.

To learn more about Davidson Recruitment Solutions:

Traditional Psychometric Testing vs Gamified Assessments!

marketing@davidsonwp.com (Marketing Davidson) — Wed, 04 May 2022 07:28:08 GMT

The best match for your business!

The gold standard of selecting, recruiting, onboarding, and developing your best candidates always includes Psychometric Assessment.

If you have recently applied for a job, you will have been asked to complete one. For companies like Davidson – who have a dedicated recruitment arm and work closely with a range of national and international clients who conduct volume recruitment, selecting the right Psychometric Assessment tool can be challenging. Davidson People & Business Advisory provides our clients with several fit for purpose assessment solutions. Enter Gamified, Situational Judgement Tests.

What are Gamified Assessments?

Gamified Assessment uses game-like mechanics and design to provide an automated, alternative selection, onboarding, and training solution. Proven to give you an enhanced candidate and recruiter experience at a more affordable price point. Yet still maintaining all the same benefits as traditional assessment solutions.

Through Gamified Assessment, organisations can customise their solution to match their organisation's values, tone, aesthetics, and culture, giving prospective hires a solid but unique first impression.

So, should I stop using traditional Psychometric Assessment?

Not quite. While Gamification is a wonderful concept, traditional solutions are still an excellent option for some organisations, offering a slightly higher quality of test results (validity & reliability).

Gamification is a more automated process that requires less input from your recruiters or existing employees—further boasting an efficient screening process, automatic feedback reports, and notifications for potential candidates for the next steps, resulting in a more symmetrical interaction between company and candidate.

So, are Gamified Assessments better than Traditional Solutions?

One isn't better than the other; it all depends on your organisation's needs and the fit of the assessment solution into your organisation.

Traditional solutions that ask candidates to answer questions about themselves may take longer for candidates to complete. However, it delivers a high-quality result. In addition, standard solutions are most utilised after pre-screening has been completed, which plays into the potential increase in cost and hours spent by employees completing the screening process.

Gamification is a cost-effective method designed to be placed at the forefront of your recruitment process. Providing candidates insight into your organisation while assessing their workplace behavioural competencies. Plus, the added benefit of a faster turnaround for both candidate and client while still providing a comparable level of assessment results.

If you think our Gamified Recruitment solution is a good fit for your company we invite you to please click below.

EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW

GET GAMIFIED TODAY

You are invited to play, experience and learn more about our graduate gamified assessment solution.

The five game-changing building blocks for success

Thu, 24 Feb 2022 03:12:54 GMT

By Clare McCartin

Managing Partner

Search & Advisory at Davidson

There is a uniqueness to Kate Roffey’s leadership style, which could be best described as game changing and it literally is.

The Melbourne Football Club President is the first female to hold the title in the club’s 160-year plus history and just seven months into her presidency, although eight years on the board, her team, Melbourne Demons, took home the 2021 Premiership trophy – ending a 57-year drought.

Renowned within the sporting, government, and corporate worlds for her transformational, inclusive and no holds barred leadership approach, Kate has the formula for success.

When not at the club, Kate is also the Director of Deals and Major Projects at Wyndham City. Her professional career has seen her the CEO of the Committee for Melbourne, the CEO of VicSport and the manager of the Melbourne Park Redevelopment for Tennis Australia.

Game-changing leaders challenge the status quo, go against the norm that ‘affect history’ and it’s this very reason why Kate was my guest on the latest instalment of the Davidson Xchange series .

During the chat, we looked at her transformational approach where she opened up about her game-changing leadership qualities – offering insights into her five key, top building blocks for success.

1. Maturity

One of the most important elements for success according to Kate is maturity. “The players (men and women) have matured both in their skills and mental ability to play the game over the years,” she said. “But also, our staffing structure has matured and certainly our board and governance structure have matured as well. When you get that maturity and the total alignment from the top down, in our case, from president down through to the board, CEO, the staff, the coaches and players, then it's quite an extraordinary thing. If you can get that in your organisational culture, it's an extraordinarily positive thing,” she said.

2. Your personality is your spark

“The thing that I bring (to my role) is that I'm a very welcoming, very open, very accessible sort of person,” Kate said. “Our main aim is to make sure we are clearly one club, one very united club, and that includes not just the people who work there, the players and the coaches but also the supporters and our past players. I'm like a mother hen at that club and I think that was the missing little bit of our jigsaw puzzle.”

3. Be accessible

Known for her openness to accept calls and text messages from players and their partners, Kate said she liked to be involved in people’s worlds as much as they want her to be. “I always say, whenever I speak to our players or our staff or anyone else, ‘I want you to be the best person that you can be’,” she said. “If they're the best people they can be, then they'll be more comfortable, more confident and more capable to be the best players that they can be.”

Kate said being accessible doesn’t just apply to the football world. “I still have staff who worked for me 15 years ago, who ring up and ask for advice. I mean, as a manager or a leader, you don't get to do anything better than help someone else take steps up a ladder,” she said.

4. Put your customer first

“A (negative) word of mouth from a customer can do a lot of damage but one positive thing said about customer service (can) spread like wildfire,” Kate said. “If there's anything organisations do poorly out there, is that they forget that it's not about us inside the organisation. I always say, when I'm down at Wyndham, the Local Government Area ‘your customers are not your staff’. Your customers are the people who live in this municipality and your job is to make their life better. Your job is to make the liveability of the municipality better, not to worry about what your office looks like or what desks you have,” she said.

5. Keep going

According to Kate, the best ‘learning process’ for individuals, is to keep going. “Whether it's work or life, (it’s important to know) you'll get knocked down plenty of times, but you've got to have the courage to get up and get in the ring again and fight on,” she said. “And our men and women are ready to go and give it their best shot for more of those nice, shiny cups, which are very nice to hold,” she said.

Leadership styles may have labels from Laissez Faire to authoritative, but it doesn’t need to be static. Success is hard to come by and often takes a lot of knock-backs before you start seeing results.

There’s always room for improvement and growth in leadership; so, why not change-up your game-plan and adopt some of Kate’s tips and start kicking goals for 2022.

To learn more of Kate’s leadership lessons; and everything from her unique reflections on the experience of Grand Final Day; to lighthearted comparisons of MFC and the storyline of Ted Lasso, please click here to view the full chat .

The Davidson XChange

Driving change and achieving the impossible

Featuring Kate Roffey: Melbourne Football Club's first female president.

Breaking gender bias in recruitment and HR

Mon, 21 Feb 2022 06:21:52 GMT

International Women’s Day - March 8, 2022

When it comes to shining a spotlight on gender diversity and equal opportunities for women in the workforce, recruitment professionals and hiring managers have a lead role to play.

After all, ensuring equality in today’s modern work environment begins with equitable hiring practices.

Yet for a number of reasons, the traditional recruitment process continues to be negatively influenced by what’s called ‘gender bias’.

Gender bias is a preconceived or unconscious view that certain role types align better to a specific gender.

It is a form of discrimination that is problematic in recruitment and human resources as it limits career opportunities for women and can impact an organisation in terms of culture, productivity and profitability.

Davidson Group General Manager Linley Walsh said gender bias unfortunately happens a lot in recruitment and is an issue that is difficult to address.

“It’s largely unconscious and this is why it’s so problematic,” Linley explained. “Direct discrimination is easy to spot and easy to call out, but an unconscious bias is often deeply engrained and therefore harder to change.”

A problem at various levels

Gender bias can occur well before the interview and selection process.

“Job advertisements can be biased towards men, with use of gender pronouns and subtleties in describing what may be perceived as a masculine or feminine workplace environment or culture,” Linley said.

“Gender bias happens often at a board level, and some industries tend to be plagued by it. Sectors like engineering and construction tend to be biased towards men, whereas there can be a bias towards women when hiring for executive assistant and receptionist roles.”

Linley says recruiters have to be careful of not falling into the trap of wanting to “please” their clients.

“A client might reference a specific gender when briefing us on a role by saying ‘he will need to have industry experience’ instead of ‘the successful candidate will need to have industry experience’,” she said.

“We sub-consciously know that the client envisages a man in the role and therefore we may feel the need to deliver on this expectation.”

Another problem, according to Linley, is that women often struggle with imposter syndrome.

“I have experienced this myself throughout my career and I still have to work on a level of self-belief even after 20 years in my chosen field,” she said.

“I see this with our female candidates too. Part of our job description, as recruiters, is not only to identify candidates that possess the skills to do the job but to coach these candidates to believe in themselves.”

Trying to break the bias

Clare McCartin, Group General Manager of Search & Advisory at Davidson, said many sectors and individual organisations have worked hard to “shift the dial” by educating hiring managers' about unconscious bias.

“We measure the numbers of male versus female candidates who apply for executive roles, and we have fewer female candidates at application stage but an equal number at shortlisting stage,” she said.

“This really highlights the fact the females are self-screening out unless they are a very close match to the brief requirements whereas male candidates seem more comfortable to put themselves forward with greater room for growth once they’re in a role.”

Linley said recruiters can help break the bias by being honest with themselves and not being afraid to call it out.

They can also use artificial intelligence during the talent acquisition process, which can be helpful in removing unconscious bias although it has it limits.

“We know that women may not be as comfortable selling themselves and maybe we need to consider acknowledging this and modifying our processes to provide a more level playing field,” Linley said.

It’s time to push the envelope

As we celebrate International Women’s Day, there is plenty the industry can do to push the envelope when it comes to gender bias in recruiting.

Clare believes recruitment firms should publish gender data for their shortlists to help drive meaningful change.

“Great female and male candidates are within reach, so it’s up to us to ensure our teams are delivering balanced shortlists so that Australian organisations have access to diverse fields of talent that represent the entire population,” she said.

“Every study ever done in this area shows the more diverse the team, the greater financial performance of the organisation and greater level of considered decision making.”

Clare said the public sector had led from the front by making impactful change in the numbers of female CEOs, executives and board members leading their organisations.

Having worked in recruitment for more than 20 years, Linley said the industry has come a long way but there is still work to be done.

“Visible role models and shared success stories pave the way for us all,” she said.

“That being said, I would also suggest that male leaders have a huge part to play in identifying the challenges and changing the narrative. Pleasingly this is something I feel we at Davidson do really well.”

International Women’s Day - March 8, 2022

How to break gender bias in your workplace

"Build Pipes, not Platforms"

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 02:52:21 GMT

Insight by Lionel Martin, our technology consultant

I've found that a recurring bias in team conversations is what I call the "Platform mindset". I think this mindset potentially causes a disservice and limits thinking. I'd like to challenge each and every one into considering a different mental model for Product design. My suggestion is to start thinking in terms of Pipes.

"If the description of your start up has the word “platform” in it, there’s a better description that doesn’t"

— Paul Graham

The word platform means many different things to many people. The tech industry has been guilty of using the term loosely to describe API-first products, Software-as-a-service, a ggregators and sometimes real platforms. The truth is, most businesses calling themselves Platforms aren't . Platforms derive much of their value from the communities they serve. Without an extensive community, one can't be a platform.

"This isn’t a platform. A platform is when the economic value of everybody that uses it, exceeds the value of the company that creates it. Then it’s a platform."

— Bill Gates

As engineers in a hyperactive tech world, we must be aware of two biases of ours that can make us Platform-obsessed. Firstly, and let's be honest, most of us engineers love the myth of thinking, designing and building One Big Software Thing that, once developed, would become indispensable to users if we were to own and operate it, because that makes us feel smart. Secondly, a large part of our tech culture is based on watching - from very far away - the rise of complex tech businesses such as Facebook, Uber, Airbnb who seemingly feature Platform business models even though we have close to no idea of the myriad of mechanisms of growth at play. This creates a confirmation bias and reinforces our first bias and the Platform mental model.

Personally I've never liked the word platform. A platform, by its very nature, is uninspiring in a business sense. Platforms are inert. They are static. And they do little more than just exist. Even an oil-drilling platform, while impressive at first glance, is immovable, cumbersome and almost impossible to upgrade. They do not evolve and are doomed to be obsolete after sucking all of the value out of their market. Not an inspiring vision for business!

The alternative to being platform-obsessed is to become customer-obsessed which is only possible when we think in terms of Pipes, not Platforms.

So here's another way to think of Products. Anyone in business is in the business of customer state management. We take customers from state A to state B, from "stranger" to happy customer.

That change is progressive and dynamic; it never happens by placing a customer to stagnate on a platform. Our customer goes on a journey, a journey we can picture as a Pipe. A marketing-minded person might call these Pipe funnels but this mental model applies very well to every part of every business.

In a marketing or sales funnel, every lead is in a known state, anywhere from cold to closed. For a Platform-obsessed person, there are only two polarised states: signed up or not, otherwise known as user or non-user. A Pipe-obsessed person, on the other hand, has transcended that binary mindset and sees the myriad of micro-state changes while prospects and customers flow down the business's Pipes: strangers in, happy customers out, and all the micro-states in between.

"Pipes have been around us for as long as we’ve had industry. They’ve been the dominant model of business. Firms create stuff, push them out and sell them to customers. Value is produced upstream and consumed downstream. There is a linear flow, much like water flowing through a pipe."

— Sangeet Paul Choudary

Pipes are a much more natural way of thinking about business, and yet, Platform-minded people still aim to deliver One Big Thing. Great business builders and operators, on the contrary, think and describe their companies in terms of state machines such as “When a customer does this, then we do that” or "We help X achieve Y by providing Z". They have a plan — and a system — for every required customer state change, to the point that it is all Standard Operating Procedures across the company (which effectively is the Product). This delights the customer (and the prospect, but that’s for another discussion) and brings scalability to the business since it doesn’t laboriously serve each customer and can, therefore, focus on growth. By focusing on the customer state changes rather than building and pushing their One Big Thing, great businesses stay market-driven instead of marketing-driven.

Our mission — as Product people — is to define all of these when-then statements and lead our teams into shipping software, content, and systems — i.e. Pipes — that relentlessly embody these statements and move customers, one state at a time, down our overall service Pipes. I have yet to meet a thriving Product team which hadn't had to make the shift from a Platform- to a Pipe-mindset under enough pressure.

So I challenge us, the next time we are tempted to make a decision from a Platform-mindset perspective, the next time we find ourselves focusing too hard on what the One Big Thing we could design, build, own and then operate is... to challenge our thinking with a Pipe-mindset perspective and be brutally honest about what the most affordable solution is to simply move our customers, at scale, from their current state to their desired state and nothing more.

Technology Consulting

Embrace the power of technology

We help to manage the cost, complexity and challenges of digital transformation to improve your organisational performance and outcomes .

The Hiring Tsunami: riding the wave of The Great Resignation and finding those impact players

Wed, 22 Dec 2021 23:20:41 GMT

By Clare McCartin

Managing Partner

Search & Advisory at Davidson

We’ve all heard of The Great Resignation or The Great Attraction, but our attention needs to be focused on the Hiring Tsunami that’s about to hit our shores.

While The Great Resignation debate is a valid reason to stop and revaluate what your organisation is doing to retain your workforce, particularly those who may have been impacted by COVID lockdowns or feeling the heightened pressure on their resilience, there is a need to push the debate further.

One area that has been overlooked or not treated with the same intensity is that we are going to see a significant spike in hiring.

Yes, it’s well documented that companies will reportedly see an increase in turnover particularly as we move into the earlier part of 2022 as we see a greater incidence of ‘new year, new job’ mentality.

But running parallel to this are the intensified hiring targets on the horizon.

Over the past 18 months to two years, organisations and leaders across the globe have been reflecting on their organisation’s growth strategies, transformation and strategic plans to ensure their businesses are not only resilient to further disruptions, but also leading the charge in their sector.

A recent Gartner survey found that 60 per cent of CEOs expect their firm’s revenue to be back to 2019 levels by the end of 2021, and another 30% expect resurgence by 2022. Only 10% think they will need longer to recover.

More than half of respondents are backing up that optimism by naming growth as a top three business priority.

CEOs said they were placing fresh emphasis on new areas and relinquishing others. “The workforce gained the most momentum, with 24% of CEOs naming it among their top three priorities, a 24% increase from last year. This rapid rise is a sign that CEOs acknowledge the toll that 2020 took on people and the role skilled talent will play in enabling organisations to meet their goals,” the report said.

We’ve all heard of The Great Resignation or The Great Attraction, but our attention needs to be focused on the Hiring Tsunami that’s about to hit our shores.

One area that has been overlooked or not treated with the same intensity is that we are going to see a significant spike in hiring.

But running parallel to this are the intensified hiring targets on the horizon.

More than half of respondents are backing up that optimism by naming growth as a top three business priority.

This means leaders and hiring managers are now running two equally important races:

to be the first choice for top performers who will drive these new areas and projects, and
speeding up the plan to reduce turnover risks with existing staff.

How you ride the wave and be the top pick for future hires

In such a tight labour market, which is set to become even more competitive, the key is to identify impact players when hiring – and fast – while at the same time keeping the top impact players already in your team engaged.

And I would even throw a third challenge into the mix – aim to get the current top impact players in your team to bring their peers, who are most likely impact players, into your organisation as a peer referral.

Liz Wiseman, researcher and author of Impact Players (a 2021 number one New York Times best seller), says impact players have a multiplying effect equivalent to three to 30 people in your office. Yes, you read that correctly. An impact player is the one in your team who will have the value of three to 30 people in your office.

As part of her research, Liz interviewed 100 top performing companies globally to find the common trait of their impact players. According to Liz, this is how you can identify an impact player:

While others do their job, Impact Players figure out the real job to be done.
While others wait for direction, Impact Players step up and lead.
While others escalate problems, Impact Players move things across the finish line.
While others attempt to minimise change, Impact Players are learning and adapting to change.
While others add to the load, the Impact Players make heavy demands feel lighter.

How we engage with impact players and what they want from their future employer

Historically, an employer of choice provides a good salary, a nice office, social activities, incentives, carparks, professional development and quirky perks in the office.

But these are all tactical items. This is what drives an impact player emotionally or psychologically:

More tailored reward and recognition plans, which meet individual needs and programs. Stop a one approach fits all mentality.
Defined growth opportunities through clear career paths with key milestones
Individual programs which look at employees as humans rather than workers.
Areas to enrich their life. They're not just interested in the experience they can have at work; they're interested in what an employer does to enrich their life experience. They want to be able to speak with pride about their work and what impact it is making in the world to their friends and families. Aside from making people richer, or ticking boxes, impact players want to engage in meaningful work…work that their children respect and look up to.
Promises made and met, particularly as we move into next year. People may not get bonuses that are as good as they hoped, miss out on promotions they feel they deserve, or be properly thanked in performance reviews for their recent hard work during the disruption caused by the pandemic. Manage this and where you can meet and exceed promises, and if you can’t do that find a proactive alternative.
And it’s no surprise that flexibility is a big part of the equation for employees.

How we reduce turnover, so we aren’t increasing the hiring needs

Much has been written since The Great Resignation conversation came out after Microsoft revealed its research which showed more than 40 per cent of the global workforce are considering leaving their employers this year.

The forecasted mass exodus has smart leaders bracing for a seismic shift in the workforce and looking at what they can do to ensure they aren’t losing their staff, particularly those impact players who will be most likely head hunted by their competitors.

Companies need to focus on the needs of their employees and find a way to drive their growth ambitions without overstretching already fatigued staff.

The other side of this equation comes down to talk often and talk early. Have regular conversations with your team and ensure you are listening. A grumble about a project today becomes a point of stress and lost sleep in a few weeks if not addressed, heard or shown to be fixed.

Place even further importance on employee wellbeing. A large number of the surveys we run for our clients show a direct correlation between employee wellbeing and attrition risks.

While a number of data points are showing attrition risks as low at present, what we are seeing when we dig deeper is a vast difference when the question is posed in two parts.

It is important to note that an intent to stay can be measured in two ways: “I rarely think about looking for another role” or “I intend to keep working for Organisation XYZ for…1 year, 2,3 etc”.

Many when they answer employee surveys are thinking about their feelings right then and there as they answer the question – but dig deeper on their longer term plans.

We recently surveyed a government body which had a 20 per cent attrition risk including people that were “on the fence” about whether they intended to stay more than one year, or six per cent definite attrition risk. The split in the information provides the correct data for the leaders and HR team to map out plans for now and for later.

If organisations take this seriously and also take the genuine effort to find out what their team members need to retain them, this period of time could become both The Great Retention and the Great Attraction when riding the Hiring Tsunami.

By seeing this as an opportunity, a serious one at that, organisations could gain a head start in the race to attract, develop, and retain the impact players they need to lead those transformational and strategy plans and projects.

Executive Search

The right leaders to achieve the desired outcomes

Industry and subject matter experts to connect and ensure your leadership team has capability and capacity to drive effective results.

New solutions needed for aged-care sector worker challenges

Wed, 29 Sep 2021 00:53:07 GMT

Aged care facing impending shortage of workers

Australia has struggled to prepare for the workforce challenge looming in the aged care and not-for-profit health sectors. As the population ages, community expectations are increasing and require organisations to build larger and more capable workforces equipped to meet these demands.

The Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) has released a new report indicating 17,000 more direct aged care workers are required to enter the existing 240,000 person workforce to meet basic standards of care. Without this, the shortage will balloon to more than 400,000 workers by 2050.

To further unpack these workforce challenges, the Davidson Business Advisory Team hosted a round table discussion with industry experts and an aged-care provider to share current challenges faced by these organisations - and share solutions to overcome them.

COVID-19 impacting current situation

Immigration has been used in Australia as a way of addressing shortages of skills in the labour market. The overarching impact of world events over the last 18 months has created a freeze in migration and the availability of employable talent across many industries in Australia.

The aged-care sector holds a strong reliance on migrant workers who currently make up 30% of the workforce. Given the ongoing visa and border restrictions due to COVID-19, the current rate of migration is going to compound the frustrations the sector are facing with filling the significant gap that is growing for workers to meet the existing and emerging demands.

Across the nation, ongoing policy reform in response to the pandemic is further disrupting the sector. In a bid to boost vaccination rates, the government announced all aged-care residential workers are required to have received their first vaccination by 17 September 2021 or face exclusion from the sector. In some States, everyone including essential workers have been confined to their Local Government Area or a 5km radius. These ever-changing conditions could see a large portion of the workforce lost. This poses the question: If demand is soaring and supply remains constrained, how will the two ever balance?

Low wages are limiting both recruitment and retention in the workforce

Any efforts to gain new entrants to the workforce will likely be offset by the high-turnover this sector faces. From our conversations, we heard the highest turnover is likely to occur in the first six months of placing a candidate. This is due in part to a lack of understanding of what the job entails, or candidates seeing the position as a placeholder, but largely due to the pay conditions.

The sector needs to offer better wages and conditions in line with comparable sectors to hold any chance when competing for talent. The Royal Commission acknowledges this and recommends unions, major employers and the Morrison government collaborate to increase award wages in the sector, which will obviously put pressure on operating costs.

Working hours are not retaining the workforce

An area with more complexity and worth exploring is the allocation of work hours for this workforce. The nature of work in this sector does not allow for the same solutions other industries may be adapting to overcome the emerging gaps in the labour market. Medical advancements and intervention are resulting in people living longer and their needs are becoming more complex.

This poses a difficult challenge for the sector due to the insufficient resources to train every employee on every complexity. As a result, the framework of rosters is based on skillset more so than availability, leaving organisations faced with roster gaps for some, and significant overtime for others.

The CEDA report found that around 30% of those in residential care and 40% in home care want more working hours, and more than 10% hold a second job. The report recommends employers need to improve their focus on rostering and adapt digital solutions to better utilise the existing workforce. While the government needs to create a new dedicated migration path to boost the labour market.

This should begin by including aged care to the specified work requirements to extend visas and allow workers on visas working in this sector to stay with an employer for longer than six months. The report also recommends the number of hours international students are allowed to work in the aged care sector should be increased.

Limited focus on career development and progression

Another area warranting investigation is career development opportunities. Aged care workers cite lack of career progression, training and development as their main reasons for leaving the industry. The government is yet to accept and approve the Royal Commission recommendation that a mandatory minimum qualification of Certificate III for personal-care workers is required.

The sector may wish to incentivise this qualification with promotions and wages. As it stands, wages are not seen to increase adequately as staff become more senior. Lack of development and pay progression are limiting career pathways, and inhibiting the workforce to see this as a career for life (or at least, the long-term).

New solutions required to overcome the looming shortage

As the economy transitions from recovery to expansion, wage pressures and increased competition for skills in the local market are increasing. Organisations are being forced to rethink how they can attract and retain the skillsets they require to meet their service demand.

Deliberate effort to be leading practice in the sector and secure local talent is critical right now. Organisations will need to embed a reputation as an established Employer of Choice within their regions as well as maximise their existing resources in order to meet future service delivery demands.

With the significant reduction of immigration, and the increased competition for local talent, candidates have the power in the local labour market right now. While this sector has a strong desire to hire people who connect to the purpose of the role, providing a purpose is not enough to retain talent without the right remuneration and development opportunities in place.

In times of a talent attraction and retention crisis, we believe organisations need to step away from the default behaviour of ‘do more with less’ and instead develop the right strategies with their existing workforce and ‘do less, better’.

It’s not just about talent pipelines and attraction, it’s about what services are delivered and reimagining how you go about it. Workforce crisis is as much about what you do and how you do it, as it is about who, and how many, you have to deliver your services.

Cross-industry collaboration is critical to address bureaucratic and regulatory barriers to accessing skills. This includes challenging collective perspectives and workforce arrangements.

At Davidson, we stand for workplace performance. This is about right people with the right skills in the right roles, but it is also about creating a workplace that delivers outcomes through its people and doing the things that matter most. This is why we take a multifaceted approach to resolve these looming challenges and complex problems.

To discuss innovative ways to address your workforce challenges and improve workplace performance.

Adam Meadows

Senior Partner - Queensland

+61 0 402 007 701

Adam.Meadows@davidsonwp.com

Gamification in recruitment will attract top talent

Mon, 27 Sep 2021 22:55:38 GMT

Companies are growing their talent pools and winning the war for top talent by creating an engaging and fun virtual alternative to the standard recruiting process.

60% of applicants abandon a job application because it took too long.

Global companies, like Coca Cola and Nestle, are already using gamification to enhance their recruitment process, placing candidate experience at the forefront.

The benefits of gamification are modernising pre-screening and assessments. This helps to streamline the recruitment process and attract top talent.

So, what is gamification in recruitment?

Gamification refers to applying game related elements to non-game contexts. Placing candidates in real life scenarios customised to business operations, making recruitment and onboarding realistic, engaging and fun.

Gamification has become increasingly popular in various industries and contexts such as recruitment, selection and feedback purposes. Gamification takes repetitive and monotonous tasks and makes it engaging and motivating for the candidate and customer to engage in.

You may have played Domino’s Pizza Mogul gamification solution that invited customers to create their own pizza, earn badges and money every time it’s sold. This strengthened brand awareness and attracted a larger talent pool who were looking to join a fun, and creative team.

Gamification tests candidates on:

industry and product knowledge
behaviours
cognitive abilities
skills like creativity, problem-solving, teamwork and customer service

A new product for the Australian market

Davidson are now offering a gamified assessment solution through an exciting partnership with Canadian gamification leader The Talent Games (TTG). TTG has successfully assessed over 300,000+ candidates across more than 130 countries and for more than 45 clients which include Coca Cola, Nestle, Shell and large global retailers.

The Impact of gamification on 20,000 candidates

Via the use of client and candidate data, The Davidson-TTG found that gamified recruitment can:

Save approximately 32,000 hours of HR labour and focus on those candidates that are the right fit for your organisation.
Increase the talent pool by 200%
Save $1,000,000 using the gamification tool
Showcase your brand

The Talent Games

More than just a game

Enhance your candidate experience and gamify your recruitment, to better attract, engage and assess your talent pool.

By incorporating gamification in recruitment, organisation can also leverage:

Unbiased Algorithms
Bias plays a major role in a lot of recruitment processes. The Davidson-TTG process has shown to take the bias out of the screening process.
AI-Based Insights
Measure your candidates against behavioural competencies and abilities.
Advanced Analytics
Discover insight into your candidate’s experience, ROI, suitable hires, job performance and diversity.
Diversity
85% of employers believe that increasing diversity in their workplace is a priority. The Talent Games support that via their gamified assessment, an organisations talent pool can increase by 200%, providing a more diverse group of applicants.

Other studies have shown that gamification is also being used to engage, and train people employees. It can equip the decision makers with effective and unbiased data to make more reliable, informed and objective decisions.

The facts: What candidates say

65% of candidates do not receive any feedback on their application. The Davidson-TTG solution has real time candidate feedback reports that get emailed to the candidate straight after completion.
74% of candidates feel gamification allows them to showcase their real potential.
91% of candidates believe the gamified solutions are relevant to situations relative to the jobs they are applying for. We provide your candidates with a realistic job preview.

Davidson’s Group Manager of People Advisory Lindy MacPherson said that using The Talent Games gamified assessment increases the candidate pool enhancing diversity, reducing bias and time spent sifting through applications. This is a great way for organisations to showcase their brand and values.

“ By using Davidson-Talent Games’ gamification technology, organisations can customise, and simplify their candidate recruitment processes to better attract, engage and assess talent through relevant real-work scenarios using game-based simulations. ” Mrs MacPherson said.

The Talent Games

Need to gamify your assessments?

You are invited to play, experience and learn more about our gamified assessment solution.

Global gamification company The Talent Games teams up with Davidson

Mon, 27 Sep 2021 00:53:59 GMT

Media Release

HR professionals Australia-wide can access new gamified assessment solution with leading workplace performance company Davidson partnering with Canadian Gamification business The Talent Games.

The Talent Games, which has assessed over 300,000 candidates across more than 130 countries, has reported 60% of applicants abandon job applications because of the lengthy application process.

The Talent Games has provided gamified solutions for global companies such as Coca Cola and Nestle, to enhance the recruitment process, and improve candidate experience.

Gamification refers to applying game-related elements to non-game contexts. Placing candidates in real life scenarios which are customised to business operations, makes recruitment and on-boarding realistic, engaging and fun.

Davidson’s Group Manager of People Advisory Lindy MacPherson said The Talent Games’ gamified assessment increases the candidate pool, enhancing diversity, reducing bias and time spent sifting through applications. This is a great way for organisations to showcase their brand and values.

“Organisations can customise, and simplify their candidate recruitment processes to better attract, engage and assess talent through relevant real-work scenarios using game-based simulations,” Mrs MacPherson said.

Davidson has become the first Australian partner of The Talent Games to bring these gamified solutions to the national market. The Talent Games CEO Paul Keijzer said the gamified solutions had multiple benefits for both candidates and business’s shortlisting process.

“We are super excited to have this cutting-edge recruiting technology in Australia,” Mr Keijzer said.

“Organisations can really transform their candidate experience, showcase employer brand, assess and shortlist talent faster and cheaper. And through games (online gamified assessments), recruiters can ensure their hiring process is fun and interactive, something that was always lacking in previous hiring models.”

Background – why use the Davidson Gamified Solution ?

The solution evaluates candidates on industry and product knowledge; behaviours; cognitive abilities and skills like creativity, problem-solving, teamwork and customer service
Save up to 32,000 hours of HR labour and focus on those candidates that are the right fit for your organisation
$1,000,000 in savings using our gamification tool
Take out bias via the use of AI-based insights
Increase your talent pool and diversity by 200%
74% of candidates feel The Talent Games allows them to showcase their real potential
91% of candidates believe that the gamified solution is relevant to the roles they are applying for.

*Above statistics based on Talent Games research pool of 20,000 candidates

Davidson has expertise in business advisory, search and recruitment, and technology consulting and has offices in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide.

Contact - Tom Davis
0450 325 047 • tom.davis@davidsonwp.com

The Talent Games

More than just a game

Enhance your candidate experience and gamify your recruitment, to better attract, engage and assess your talent pool.

The right structure proves key to achieving strategic vision

Sun, 06 Jun 2021 05:10:29 GMT

Davidson’s review and redesign of our client’s organisational capability and current operating model positioned it to successfully deliver its strategic vision.

CHALLENGE

After appointing a new CEO, a local government authority wanted insights to inform decision making regarding its leadership structure and future operating model. An optimal structure and operating model were key to ensuring the organisation could deliver a new strategic blueprint.

An assessment of the existing operating model would inform a management structure review, with the aim of strengthening its organisational capability. This would support our client’s ability to deliver its service obligations and the elected council’s policy commitments.

SOLUTION

Core design logic informed operating model

Davidson’s Business Advisory team reviewed the current organisational structure, culture and capability, and operating models, to identify where risks and opportunities existed. We then recommended changes to organisational design and delivery processes to improve performance. The project timeframe was six weeks.

A data-led approach measured and reviewed organisational capability. We developed and led a staff engagement process that combined the use of hard data (quantitative) and soft data (qualitative) to measure and understand the council’s capability to deliver on the organisational vision and strategy, and to review service delivery.

Our team implemented the process via a range of channels including:

An all staff feedback survey to measure the current culture and climate and provide a measure of engagement regarding changes to the operating model
Virtual focus groups
One-on-one consultations with the current senior leadership team.

In addition, every staff member had the opportunity to provide feedback through multiple drop-in sessions.

The consultative approach provided an opportunity for all staff to participate in a transparent and meaningful way, while the data informed the review findings and recommendations.

Based on feedback, a core design logic for the new operating model emerged. This became key to explaining the critical functions the council needed to perform. From there, the functions could be grouped in an operating structure for best value and clarity of purpose.

Reflecting the review’s findings and staff feedback, and based on organisational design principles and best practice guidelines, we developed a final report. This contained a number of integrated options for strategic improvements to our client’s organisational structure and core business processes.

OUTCOMES

Council positioned for success

Project insights enabled the council to develop a new structure to enhance performance and mitigate risk. Our client could now meet its short- to medium-term challenges with the right people in the right roles, who possessed the capacity and capability to effectively lead and manage the organisation.

The council also implemented the new operating model, which considered how each division of the organisation would work together efficiently and effectively to deliver its strategic plan.

This important piece of work set the council up for success. It is now positioned for the future, capable of delivering the best outcomes for its community.

Davidson's safety assessment reduces injuries by 51%

Sat, 05 Jun 2021 05:00:09 GMT

Davidson designed a psychometric assessment solution that predicted a candidate’s capability, in safety critical roles, to perform their role safely. This helped our client reduce safety incidents of new hires by 51%.

CHALLENGE

When assessing for safety a candidate’s behavioural preferences only tells one part of the story – to get a complete picture of their propensity to work safely, Davidson tests for their abilities and mind-set, together with behaviours, to predict safety potential.

Our client, a major Australian rail and logistics organisation, came to Davidson for help with a set of objectives to enhance its workforce’s performance in safety critical roles.

An assessment solution to predict a candidate’s capability to perform the role safely would enhance recruitment practices for safety critical roles and enable the organisation to:

minimise business risk by ensuring its workforce met safety requirements
maximise hire quality by improving the likelihood of selecting people who could perform safety critical tasks
reduce cost per hire by identifying processes to improve efficiencies in its recruitment.

SOLUTION

Our Business Advisory team created a new, customised assessment framework, which was applied across the organisation’s workforce of safety critical roles.

We used a combination of our safety, cognitive and psychomotor assessments to provide an accurate measure of an individual’s propensity to behave safely in their role.

Through our psychomotor assessment, we administered tests and simulated exercises to assess abilities and competencies specific to safety-critical roles. These had been developed from extensive research on the safe behaviours needed to minimise injury and hazards on the job. Measures included reaction time, stress recovery, attention, concentration, speed and trajectory judgement, and visual coordination.

We then applied insights from our assessments to the organisation’s recruitment, screening, selection and on-boarding practices. The insights could also be applied to the development of individuals, workforce risk-profiling and reduction, and post-incident analysis of human factors.

OUTCOMES

Over approximately a two year period, Davidson assessed 5,311 individuals. These included both internal and external candidates applying for safety critical roles. As part of a business impact study, we analysed assessment results against the organisation’s safety (all injuries) data throughout that same period.

Our findings revealed employees, who as candidates did not meet the safety benchmarks in our assessments, were significantly more likely to have a work-related injury.

Zero Harm Assessment - 65% more likely.
Situational Safety Awareness Assessment - 121% more likely.
Understands Safety Instructions Assessment - 65% more likely.
Visual Coordination Assessment - 65% more likely.
Attention and Concentration Assessment - 65% more likely.

By avoiding hiring candidates who did not meet the safety benchmarks, the organisation made significant financial savings through reduced workplace compensation claim, workplace injury-related costs and reduced injury risk overall. This created a safer workspace for all of its employees, and reduced safety incidents of new hires by 51%.

Improving disability sector's hiring success

Fri, 04 Jun 2021 05:06:57 GMT

By proving the value of using assessment centres to source high quality candidates, Davidson ensured eight disability sector organisations hired the right people to perform well in their roles.

CHALLENGE

The disability support sector is one of the fastest-growing in Australia, with significant demand for support workers with the values, skills and competencies to make a positive difference to people’s lives.

A peak body had secured funding to trial and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of using values-based collaborative assessment centres to source high quality disability support workers.

The client engaged Davidson to collaborate with eight disability support organisations (DSOs) to design, deliver and assess a recruitment methodology and two assessment centres in NSW.

SOLUTION

Four stage bespoke recruitment methodology

Our Business Advisory team created and delivered a four stage recruitment methodology to source exceptional talent. This incorporated workforce development tools and programs the client had built over several years, in addition to our evidence-based designs.

Stage 1
In conjunction with the DSOs, Davidson created eye catching, values driven advertising collateral and posted it to several recruitment channels. The advertising required candidates to complete a ‘pre-screening’ tool that assessed core role requirements, including eligibility for working with children check and Federal Police check.
We received 299 applications from the advertising campaign.

Stage 2
Candidates completed a values assessment that assessed strengths and values specific to providing disability services (i.e. demonstrating a commitment to person centred practice). We called them afterwards to check in and assess their motivation.
182 candidates completed our assessments and we conducted 147 phone interviews.

Stage 3
A validated psychometric diagnostic, designed for the sector, assessed candidates’ required capabilities for disability support worker roles. This included competencies such as flexibility, resilience, teamwork and interpersonal sensitivity.
102 candidates completed our psychometric assessments and we shortlisted 72 applicants.

Stage 4
In consultation with the DSOs we created and reviewed the key content from the existing values based recruitment resources and adapted this to create two assessment centres. We ensured the centres were objective and evidence-based. They contained several group activities, individual tasks such as a case study, and one-on-one interviews.
53 candidates attended an assessment centre.

OUTCOMES

Assessment centres effective and finding candidates

The recruitment methodology we created and implemented delivered exceptional results across the board in terms of candidate experience and changes in perception of assessment centres and recruitment.

All the DSOs concluded that the initiative:

added data, insight and value to the recruitment process
was an enjoyable and satisfying experience.

Crucially, the assessment centres selected the right people for the roles. The DSOs said they accurately assessed the right behaviours and values needed and validated their recruitment process.

Within the first month of their employment, managers rated their new disability support workers exceptionally well on all required role competencies. The new employees were resilient, emotionally intelligent, had interpersonal sensitivity, and were professional and effective collaborators.

Resolving data migration key to smooth tech transition

Thu, 03 Jun 2021 05:13:56 GMT

A large scale transformation program successfully transitioned data from a fragmented legacy environment to a new modern system, preserving its valuable history.

CHALLENGE

When data is migrated to new systems, the potential for information held within the source data to be lost or corrupted can be a significant project risk.

A world leading life insurance organisation acquired a bank’s life insurance business, and faced challenging contractual deadlines within which to complete the transaction.

Five aged legacy systems housed 500,000 rows of reference data associated with hundreds of life insurance products. Our client needed to migrate this data to a new policy administration system within the contractual deadlines.

Individual policy rules were embedded within old code in the price tables and, to make matters worse, the data was poorly formatted.

Consolidating and reconciling this large volume of data from the five legacy systems, while continuing to uphold the integrity of all policies required specific skillsets.

Our client engaged Davidson Technology Consulting, utilising our subject matter expertise and skills at analysing and solving data integrity problems to ensure a seamless data transition from the fragmented legacy environment to the new system.

SOLUTION

Reference data from 250,000 policies

Based on experience gained from delivering large scale financial program transformations, our Finance Specialist developed a structured approach to address the challenge.

The process commenced by reviewing reference data from more than 250,000 policies across the five legacy systems.

We then evaluated 120 reference data sheets administering key elements of life insurance policies, and decoded and rewrote the rules embedded within the code of individual policies.

Designing and deploying an audit and control framework meant we could trace all data changes prior to deployment in the new system.

We ensured that actuaries in the Pricing Team and product managers were fully briefed to enable them to have a deep understanding of the changes and drive the sign-off process.

During the user acceptance testing period, we led the support team to rapidly identify and address any real world and user experience issues prior to cutover. We then led the Hypercare team following cutover to provide an elevated level of support and ensure adoption of the new system. To ensure ongoing success, we trained the client’s team and provided them with a standard operating manual.

OUTCOMES

Framework key to achieving high quality data

Cutover to the new policy administration system occurred seamlessly. Furthermore, in the subsequent weeks there was only a single Hypercare incident.

Building a robust change traceability framework ensured amendments to data throughout the reconciliation process could be tracked and audited. This was key to achieving high levels of data quality.

As a result the client could proceed with the final significant release of data, which contributed to the successful transition of customers’ life insurance products.

Creating a shared understanding of culture to guide growth

Wed, 02 Jun 2021 04:47:22 GMT

Our Business Advisory team helped a leading defence industry company to define their values and behaviours that would guide their ambitious 10 year growth plan.

CHALLENGE

A major player in the defence sector, was growing exponentially. It could foresee no slowdown in growth over the coming decade.

A strong culture had underpinned our client’s success to date, but its culture had never been articulated.

The organisation had doubled its workforce and planned to do so again within the next 24 months. It had opened new and complex operations in different locations in Australia and overseas. High profile board members and key executives had joined the company. It wasn’t clear how to ensure the right values and behaviour were being lived in this environment of rapid expansion.

It was recognised that communication to all stakeholders would be crucial to success and that the culture of the organisation would need to evolve to help manage this major transformation as a consequence of growth. Having a unified understanding of the agreed culture and behaviours across the organisation was essential.

Our client’s business is complex. Divisions in the company provided entirely different product ranges to marketplaces that differed greatly in their needs. Accordingly, there was a desire to have one clearly defined culture for the company but to have a framework to allow Divisions to nuance their behaviour to serve their clients well.

sOLUTION

Defining the culture that created success and agreeing how it would evolve

Involving the board and all employees, we undertook a process to gather the data needed to define the organisation’s existing culture. An independent marketing organisation conducted research to provide insights that we used in the process.

Following this one on one interviews were conducted with the board and senior leadership team to capture insights into how they described the existing culture; what would be needed into the future; and what clients of the company would need.

Our data visualisation team created a detailed, but easy to digest report, which was distributed to the board and senior leadership team. Davidson then facilitated an off-site with the board and executive team to define the company values and create divisional charters which defined the behaviour expected in each team.

We assisted the board and leadership team to clarify how to use culture and adherence to values and behaviour to competitive advantage. Their role in communication and storytelling was crucial to success.

OUTCOMES

Unified, supported and inspired

By investing significant time into this process, the board and executive set the tone for all.

A clear definition of the values and expected behaviours allowed many positive things to occur.

New and old team members shared a common language and a shared understanding. As the new hires were onboarded, they were quickly inducted with precise and consistent language describing “how we do things around here” and “what the expectations of me are”. Leaders were provided the communication tools needed to ensure they presented as a united team across multiple locations.

The outcome ensured every team member knew what was required of them if the vision of the company was to be achieved.

Davidson ramps up a team to support flood relief

Mon, 31 May 2021 06:00:46 GMT

Davidson’s volume recruitment solution helped a client to quickly recruit a large number of staff to implement disaster relief work.

CHALLENGE

When floods hit regional Queensland, our client needed to deliver disaster relief work quickly and effectively. The weather event had impacted thousands of people, leaving them without essential services. This situation required many temporary roles, across multiple locations and specific profiles, and they needed to be filled fast.

The client wanted the local community to know that the situation was under control: help would be with them soon.

It turned to Davidson, a recruitment company experienced in engaging candidates for community recovery projects, and asked us to deliver sufficient high quality, volume hires – fast. Engaging Davidson to attract, qualify, engage and deploy staff was the most effective solution to the emergent nature of crisis. Without these roles, the client wouldn’t be able to effectively manage disaster relief response.

SOLUTION

Recruitment approach delivered large talent pool

The complexity of the client’s volume hiring needs required a structured recruitment management approach tailored to its situation.

We created a centralised point of contact for the client, with the Practice Leader available 24 hours and 7 days a week. This reassured our client that they could contact us at any time with staffing related enquires.

When the client had an urgent staffing request, we could respond with a recruitment solution within an hour and stay on pace to meet the tight hiring window.

Our client needed large numbers of candidates to start immediately. We deployed a dedicated team of recruiters who worked overnight and at weekends to attract and supply a talent pipeline. As a result, we could quickly fulfil the requests for a high volume of contractors.

An assessment centre recruitment process efficiently and cost-effectively managed the different role profiles. By creating a candidate pooling strategy, we were able to meet milestones and save the project significant time. These savings meant we could thoroughly interview candidates before matching their skillset to the role requirements.

Even though the timeframe was short, we complied with all legislative and client requirements. Our ISO-9001 accredited process ensured every contractor met the resourcing requirements, including capturing payroll details and conducting reference checks.

OUTCOMES

Volume hiring solutions fills record number of roles

This volume recruitment assignment supplied a record number of more than 150 temporary contractors across multiple locations and role profiles. Outsourcing recruitment met the demand for short-term staffing and allowed the internal HR team to focus on core business activities.

Our client could confidently implement its disaster recovery work and assist local communities to recover from the floods’ devastating impacts. This successful operational outcome also boosted its reputation as an authority capable of managing emergency situations.

Rapid team ramp up for critical government project

Mon, 31 May 2021 05:59:29 GMT

In a short timeframe, Davidson’s surge recruitment process secured high quality contact centre agents to staff public health hotline.

CHALLENGE

When COVID-19 struck Australia, the public turned to government organisations to answer their questions. Our client is a large state agency that coordinates and delivers a diverse range of support services to Queensland communities.

As the crisis took hold, the department faced an unprecedented number of calls from community members in urgent need of assistance.

Our client planned to implement a dedicated public health hotline to manage this rapidly evolving crisis and needed to urgently recruit 70 contact centre agents to field calls.

After contacting Davidson on a weekend, the department engaged us to assist with quickly deploying suitable candidates to commence the following week.

SOLUTION

Assessment and selection process measured best-fit

Our focus was on sourcing and securing contact centre agents who had the aptitude and capabilities to align with the department’s needs. The hotline called for individuals with strong resilience and emotional sensitivity, in addition to their skills and experience, to engage with callers.

We defined required skillsets, competencies and attributes of the ideal candidate. We then created a competency profile to benchmark the assessment and selection process.

Our Business Advisory team customised an assessment centre to evaluate role and culture fit minimising the risk of poor hires.

Following resume screening, our team contacted candidates and conducted telephone interviews. Each individual was reviewed and selected according to the competency profile.

We then invited shortlisted candidates to the assessment centre, where they completed in-depth interviews and took part in role plays. As the applicants progressed through the assessment centre, we scored and ranked them based on their performance and suitability to the role.

In the final stage of the assessment process, we conducted reference checks to verify quality and alignment with the skills and traits required and adherence to labour hire requirements.

A dedicated project inbox enabled our team to respond in a timely manner to all enquiries. We also conducted regular check-ins to ensure contractor performance and customer care, which reduced engagement risk and ensured we addressed all issues.

OUTCOMES

Reliable talent provider

Our evidence-based talent selection solutions sourced and secured sufficient numbers of high quality candidates in a short timeframe. We recruited 70 ongoing temporary staff to enable the successful stand-up of the COVID-19 hotline. We also established and maintained a merit talent pool for contractors to meet future workforce needs.

Based on the success of this project, we developed an ongoing exclusive relationship with the department. Our team supported further major volume recruitment campaigns, including sourcing and selecting 160 temporary staff for a state election.

Using Tech RPO to solve critical hiring challenge

Mon, 31 May 2021 05:57:42 GMT

Davidson’s technology specialisation helped our client secure the best talent against a backdrop of high demand for candidates with niche technology skillsets.

CHALLENGE

Our client had embarked on a fundamental transformation of its business from a traditional financial services organisation to a financial technology company. Key to its strategy was the transformation of its systems to become a ‘Tech-First’ business. To achieve this goal, the company needed to significantly grow its technology teams to build out numerous tribe teams.

Roles needed included data engineers, software developers and DevOps engineers. Back-end API and data engineering domains had the highest demand for these skillsets, but were the most difficult areas for which to secure talent.

Looking for an innovative solution to its talent acquisition challenge, our client engaged Davidson’s expert team of technology recruiters to support its contingent needs to and bolster their permanent workforce and deliver on their strategy.

SOLUTION

Harnessing the benefits of specialisation

Our account manager worked with the client’s Head of Systems and lead engineers to define skill requirements, and benchmarked the required standards. We aligned our delivery obligations into our client’s project management frameworks to ensure delivery of project milestones.

We formed a project team to leverage both our Specialisation and Research & Delivery practices. This team comprised the expertise of seven consultants who specialised in relevant niche markets. They were supported by our research team and our on-shore resourcing team.

The project team consisted of a:

Software Development team, comprising a practice lead and senior consultants
Specialist data consultant, dedicated to data analytics and engineering
Two cloud and infrastructure consultants managing all DevOps and SRE requirements.

Our account manager managed all communications and ensured we met delivery standards, removing the need for our client to allocate time and effort to manage multiple relationships.

OUTCOMES

A reliable technology recruitment provider

Over the course of the transformation project we placed more than 70 contractors and six key permanent hires with the organisation. All placements were made in accordance with our client’s project schedule, and as the project progressed we continued to support demand.

Despite a great amount of competition for candidates in this space, and with multiple vendors providing recruitment services, we quickly established Davidson as our client’s go-to technology recruitment provider. This was due to our ability to deliver the quality of resources needed on time, and the ease of working with us.

Thanks to a strong understanding of the technologies our client used and required skillsets, we achieved a resource retention consistently of 94% over the life of the project.

Our client was able to continue on its transformation having successfully managed one of the key risks.

Tech project back on track thanks to specialist technology recruitment

Mon, 31 May 2021 05:12:27 GMT

Our client reduced the risk of technology issues impacting its business by using Davidson to recruit specialist in-house technology roles.

CHALLENGE

Our client, like many companies, outsourced IT requirements to technology services providers. However, its business was experiencing ongoing outages. These were impacting business continuity and becoming cost and time concerns.

In addition, the client faced challenges associated with transitioning old technology systems and applications into the cloud. These tasks would require dedicated resources with specialist knowledge, always available to respond to issues.

Our client decided to bring thousands of technology jobs back in-house from outsourced service providers. This would reinforce its capability to manage technology change and minimise the risk of outages.

It embarked on a significant in-sourcing program. To support this initiative, the client appointed a recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) provider to manage the increased hiring demand for the project period.

Unfortunately for the client, the RPO was a generalist outsourced recruitment provider. Whereas Davidson had the technical knowledge, depth of industry networks, brand awareness in the technology space and targeted sourcing approach to recruit technology roles with infrastructure and cloud expertise.

We had supplied high quality specialist staff to the client for more than 10 years. Based on this long-standing relationship, the client engaged us to provide a project recruitment solution to quickly fill these specialist roles.

SOLUTION

Expertise in filling specialist roles

We partnered with the client's in-sourcing team to recruit harder-to-fill positions. The client’s brief helped define what comprised the ideal candidates, so we could tailor our recruitment processes to find people with the right skills.

Screening potential candidates ensured the client only interviewed those with the technology skills and experience that met its specific requirements.

We mined our up-to-date industry networks and market knowledge to source suitable infrastructure and cloud technology talent. This extended the reach to candidates who previously may not have considered the client.

OUTCOMES

Permanent hires across three cities

The Davidson team head-hunted and appointed nine permanent hires across Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide. These roles included:

Senior Consultant Engineer - Exchange & Collaboration (Melbourne)
Senior Consultant, VC & AV Commercials (Melbourne)
Wintel Analyst (Melbourne)
O365 Engineers (Melbourne)
Analyst, VC & AV Engineer x 4 (Sydney & Melbourne)
Kiosk Manager (Adelaide).

Outsourcing recruitment for these specialist roles removed the burden on the in-house HR team. The resulting candidate customer journey was a positive experience for all, and protected the client’s brand.

In addition, engaging a recruitment company with the specific industry knowledge and technical expertise to source candidates reduced the time taken to fill the specialist positions. This allowed the client’s internal team to focus on filling more generalist roles.

With all the positions filled, the client could bring its technology function in-house. It could now rely on permanent specialists to minimise damaging outages and to future-proof its technology capability.

“It’s refreshing working closely with a team who understand the urgency of recruitment. Always focusing on delivery, and constantly building strong relationships both with the talent acquisition team and the hiring manager community,” our client said.

Davidson remains a key supplier to this team as it continues the journey to become a completely in-house platform.

Supporting leaders to navigate change

Mon, 31 May 2021 05:09:22 GMT

Davidson’s leadership development solutions armed leaders with the capability to manage an increasingly complex environment, through experiential programs.

CHALLENGE

Local government is no longer merely responsible for ‘rates, roads and rubbish.’ The sector is facing complex challenges, while delivering a broad range of services with limited resources. Employers must equip their leadership teams with the capability to respond to this complexity and meet the demands of multiple stakeholders.

Our client is a large local government authority. It identified that leadership was key to its ability to perform to meet community needs. Davidson partnered with it to support leaders through transformational leadership initiatives and the implementation of a new leadership competency framework.

The goal was to provide senior managers with the opportunity to undertake scenario-based activities that enabled them to demonstrate leadership competency and to receive individual feedback and development.

SOLUTION

Focus on developing leadership capability

Davidson developed a program with two components:

Experiential development centre

Participants underwent a mix of practical and challenging exercises. These targeted core capabilities critical in promoting and preserving the client’s value-based leadership culture.

The program followed best practice principles by:

including both individual and group-based scenario activities
targeting each activity to assess no more than three key capabilities
designing highly experiential and challenging real-world scenarios.

Independent observers assessed leadership abilities and effectiveness, identifying areas for development and improvement.

Debrief session

Upon completion of the Leadership Assessment Centre we invited each participant to meet with a Davidson consulting psychologist to discuss their observations and to transfer learnings.

The session provided clear feedback on their leadership competency, identified strengths, areas for improvement and suggested meaningful improvement actions to pursue.

OUTCOMES

Alignment with leadership goals

The Executive Leadership Development Centre’s comprehensive integrated design and delivery system produced a number of outcomes aligned with the client’s goals and aspirations.

It provided participants with clear, consistent and relevant expectations regarding leadership roles and responsibilities.
Participants acquired new knowledge and perspectives about their own position from completing the program and debriefing their experiences. They reported a renewed sense of self-awareness as a leader.
Participants had a better understanding of how their personal and professional development strategically impacted the council’s growth.

Executives rated their satisfaction level with the program at 93.1%. The average Net Promoter Score for participants recorded 92.8%.

As a result of attending the Executive Leadership Development Centre, many participants developed a behaviour change action plan. Applying their new knowledge and understanding would ultimately deliver real results and public value.

This outcome gave the client confidence that its workforce was led by people with the skills to balance competing priorities, manage change and develop new approaches to delivering high quality and valued services.

Psychometrics used to improve sales results

Mon, 31 May 2021 05:08:12 GMT

Davidson transformed a client’s recruitment process, improving the quality of its employees and delivering a measurable increase in sales revenue.

CHALLENGE

Retailers are in the business of selling. The ability to confidently predict which candidates will deliver the best sales results and customer service delivers increased profits. The wrong hire can quickly result in lost sales, lower productivity, lower profit, poor team culture and brand damage.

Our client, an international retailer with a large workforce, relied on psychometric assessment processes to select the most suitable candidates for its store managers and retail staff roles.

The company had been using the same pre-employment system for five years but wasn’t sure it was producing better hiring results. It engaged Davidson to discover if the system was selecting the right candidates to achieve increased profit and a competitive advantage.

SOLUTION

Identifying successful retail staff and store managers

A business impact study of the recruitment assessment processes would assist the client to decide whether to continue using the system.

We analysed existing employee psychometric assessment scores against their sales performance over a six month period. By comparing actual sales performance against predicted performance indicators, we measured the assessments’ effectiveness in identifying successful candidates.

The business impact study revealed to the client that its existing system failed to effectively assess candidates. Specifically, it didn’t measure competencies that correlated with sales performance. This was because it wasn’t a fit-for-purpose assessment tool tailored to the company’s needs. Our client engaged us to develop a bespoke process that would provide confidence about its hiring decisions.

We created a two stage psychometric screening solution to predict a candidate’s suitability for a sales team or manager role and measure key competencies. We designed the process to meet the client’s brief of reducing manual input.

The first stage measured candidates’ logical reasoning. The second, a behavioural selection assessment, identified potential high performers.

After implementing the new process, Davidson completed another business impact study to measure its performance and suitability.

OUTCOMES

The new assessment and selection process increased sales and productivity.

Staff who met the new assessment benchmark were 39% more effective in sales performance than those who did not.
Revenue generated from staff who met new assessment benchmark achieved an annual average that was $62,400 higher per employee than those who did not.
Candidates reported an improved recruitment experience.
Automating the system shortened the process by an average 25%. This reduced time to hire while increasing hiring quality.

Supporting women in public sector leadership

Mon, 31 May 2021 05:04:14 GMT

After recognising the need to encourage more women to seek leadership positions within the public sector, Davidson launched the Top 50 Public Sector Women List (Victoria) to inspire and mentor female leaders.

CHALLENGE

In late 2016, Davidson determined it was time to address the gender imbalance that continued to see men hold a disproportionately higher representation on company boards and in leadership positions across Australia.

We recognised a need to highlight the achievements of women who had secured executive roles to encourage other women to aim for leadership positions.

It was decided the Victorian public sector, which had actively encouraged women to seek leadership roles, would be a great place to start our focus. At the beginning of 2017, Victoria’s Public Sector Commission reported that of the 285,423 staff across 3,388 public sector bodies, women filled 48% of executive positions in state government departments, a promising increase from just 39% in 2011.

SOLUTION

Top 50 Public Sector Women List (Victoria)

We determined an effective way of encouraging women to aim for executive positions would be to spotlight women who have already reached upper levels of management in the public sector. Our aim was to inspire and mentor others to do the same.

The result was the Top 50 Public Sector Women List (Victoria). Women named on the list would be offered mentoring, networking and career building opportunities.

Davidson promoted the program by:

reaching out to senior women leaders to encourage nominations, build awareness and drive submissions
encouraging local, state and federal government female leaders and departments to participate in the project
organising and announcing the list at a gala event, highlighting the achievements of the Top 50
raising the profiles of the Top 50 and increasing awareness of the gender imbalance issue.

OUTCOMES

Flag bearers for other women

The gala event was held during Victoria’s Public Sector Week, where we proudly partnered with Procurement Australian and IPAA Victoria to host the event and program.

The women named on the inaugural list now serve as flag bearers for other women who aspire to senior level positions. The Victorian project was so successful, Davidson rolled out similar projects covering other state public sectors.

And ultimately, the project put a much needed spotlight on the incredible work achieved by women in leadership positions in Victoria’s public sector, and why more support through mentoring and networking is necessary to continue to see the rise in the number of women in senior leadership positions.

Uplifting HR capability across government

Mon, 31 May 2021 05:02:29 GMT

Davidson developed and delivered a professional development training program across a number of government agencies that resulted in HR capability uplift across government.

CHALLENGE

Our client, a state government agency, wanted to develop a stronger understanding of the key competencies for HR professionals across whole of government. This would enable them to be strategic partners across all departments within government.

Davidson was engaged to develop and implement a professional development training program focused on key competencies for public sector HR professionals.

SOLUTION

Program underpinned by learning framework

The program, which Davidson developed in collaboration with our client, allowed for as many as 20 participants per program.

We created six education modules. These were delivered over a two to three month period in a two or four day weekly format, with ‘action learning’ activities in addition to classroom training.

Program delivery included pre and post-work assessment as well as skills assessment. It was underpinned by the 70:20:10 learning framework covering experiential, social and formal learning methods.

When participants completed the program, Davidson measured behavioural changes in participants that could reasonably be concluded to be as a result of the course.

OUTCOMES

Data confirmed program was successful

Data collected during the program and through post-program surveys determined:

88% of participants would recommend the program to others
85% of participants reported improved consulting skills post-program
90% of participants thought the program was effective in skills development
91% of managers with staff participating in the program reported they had improved consulting skills.

Davidson has now delivered the program across a number of government agencies resulting in HR capability uplift across government.

Based on the success of the program, and identified skills gaps, Davidson was then engaged to develop an internal consulting program for public sector HR professionals. With a focus on improving outcomes for internal customers, implementation of the internal consulting program is uplifting satisfaction with HR service in government agencies.

Developing leaders to support an ambitious growth plan

Mon, 31 May 2021 05:01:13 GMT

Davidson supported rapid business growth by boosting commercial and people leadership skills for a leading national financial services company.

CHALLENGE

Our client, a large national financial services company, had planned for significant business growth. It needed a leadership development solution to improve its senior leaders’ capability to deliver on this plan.

The clear objective was to prepare leaders for future growth. Davidson designed and delivered a leadership capability program to meet this need.

SOLUTION

Enhanced effectiveness as future leaders

We helped leaders understand the competencies they would need to deliver their ambitious growth plan. The competencies focussed on commercial effectiveness and people leadership.

We measured each leader’s commercial and people leadership effectiveness and provided them with insights regarding areas for development.

Each participant underwent psychometric assessment and 360 degree surveys, with individual debrief sessions and psychologist feedback, to develop greater self-awareness. There was also one-on-one debrief sessions and development planning for all participants, and we conducted Individual coaching sessions where required.

Experienced Davidson coaches, who had previously held senior executive positions in fast growth financial services companies, supported leaders over a two year period. This enabled us to adopt both a coaching and mentoring role to suit the leader’s needs. The duration of the program ensured the uplift in leadership skills was sustained during a crucial growth period.

We conducted post-program surveys and provided the client end of program measurement and evaluation of return on investment.

OUTCOMES

Leaders with strong skills and capability

Leaders said the program was practical and useful. It assisted them in achieving their growth plan through things such as:

A better understanding of themselves as leaders
Improved confidence and skills to negotiate complex commercial challenges
Increased coaching skills to positively influence teams to meet stretch performance goals
Improved ability to engage effectively with stakeholders and management.

Our client has continued to take a strong focus on leadership development to transform the business and engage its employees to deliver better results. Davidson has supported the organisation with further workplace performance solutions.

Ensuring infrastructure project is delivered on time using Davidson RPO

Sun, 30 May 2021 05:11:27 GMT

Davidson supported a client to find large numbers of skilled candidates in a short timeframe, using a cost-effective project recruitment process outsourcing solution targeting technical skill set, cultural fit and gender diversity.

CHALLENGE

Partnering with a specialist project recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) company helps organisations secure the right capability and benefit from the impact of well-matched talent on business performance.

A privatised NSW utility had undergone multiple restructuring exercises, which resulted in 24 specialist roles needing strong technical skills and a dynamic, customer centric cultural approach.

Traditionally the sector had long-tenured employees and low levels of female participation. The client wanted to identify a diverse talent pool to boost inclusion and bring about more equality. There had been few opportunities to test the market for diverse candidates due to various sector driven constraints.

Limited capacity to undertake a volume search process presented the client with an opportunity to engage Davidson in a project RPO model.

SOLUTION

Utility recruitment solution

Davidson partnered with the client’s People & Culture team and Executive Leadership sponsor to design and implement a specialist RPO solution. Based on a fixed price model, it provided certainty on spend within an expandable scope.

Our team brought in excess of 50 years’ experience supporting the utilities and technical markets. The strength of networks, and currency of project knowledge and required skillsets were key in reaching suitable candidates.

To widen the talent pool, we blended search, traditional advertising and a marketing campaign focused on social media platforms. This ensured the roles gained maximum national exposure and attracted external talent.

Assessing technical competence and cultural alignment was critical to success. All shortlisted candidates completed psychometric assessments and recorded video interviews in advance of being presented to the client. This process objectively identified candidates most suited to the role.

Our RPO team collaborated with multiple hiring managers, across many divisions, sharing status and progress updates to engage stakeholders. Progress meetings updated stakeholders at key milestones and created feedback loops allowing us to refine the process as it moved forward.

Improved diversity was a key success metric. We took a structured approach to talent pooling to reach the most diverse audience. Rather than a traditional, contingent search process – which relies on speed and technical experience match – the partnership approach supported a deeper market analysis. We uncovered applicants with strong transferable skillsets and diverse backgrounds, many of who may have otherwise been overlooked.

OUTCOMES

Industry connections filled majority of positions

Our utilities experience underpinned our sourcing strategy. More than 70% of positions filled were sourced through industry networks or direct approach by our RPO team. Social media provided an additional pipeline of talent and promoted the client’s change agenda. By improving access and participation for female applicants we tapped into a richer talent pool than alternative approaches, and worked towards improving representation within the sector.

Bespoke assessment and screening tools contributed to a streamlined recruitment process and provided significant time, cost and quality benefits.

The client saved more than 50% when based on standard preferred supplier rates thanks to our RPO model.

Overall, we met the brief’s objectives: to enhance our client’s technical capacity and capability, build on its culture and increase diversity.

Davidson’s Senior Partner appointed to Leadership Victoria Board

Wed, 17 Feb 2021 09:15:00 GMT

Davidson Executive & Boards Senior Partner Jarrod McLauchlan has been appointed to the Leadership Victoria Board following a long association with the organisation.

Jarrod has been connected to Leadership Victoria for almost 15 years, as a corporate partner, participant, alumni member as well as having completed the Williamson Community Leadership Program in 2015.

“I’m extremely humbled by the opportunity to be part of the Leadership Victoria Board and be in a position to contribute to the future of the organisation,” Jarrod said.

“After having a long association with Leadership Victoria, I feel this is a great next step as I truly appreciate and understand the important role the organisation has in our community."

“It’s an organisation committed to developing purposeful leaders and inspiring them to contribute to an inclusive and sustainable future.”

Jarrod has more than 15 years’ experience working in executive search roles across the public, private and not for profit sectors in Victoria.

He holds a Bachelor of Business from RMIT majoring in Human Resource Management and is a corporate member of the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce, IPAA Victoria and LG Pro.

Jarrod is well known for his sound expertise, knowledge and strong networks within the sectors he works in. He is highly regarded by clients and candidates alike as someone who works tirelessly to achieve the best outcome for all and through this has built strong and lasting relationships.

Highly networked, Jarrod will be working with the Leadership Victoria team to drive an alumni engagement strategy to amplify the organisation’s impact.

“Having spent my 15-year executive career focused on relationship management, as well as having been part of the Old Haileybury Association Council when we led the renewal and development a robust overarching member engagement strategy, I felt there was some value I could bring to the organisation,” he said.

“An engaged alumni network will bring significant profile and presence back to Leadership Victoria, enabling it to have a far greater impact over its next 30 years.”

More broadly, Jarrod said his responsibilities as a board member were providing strategic guidance to the organisation.

“It’s an exciting time at present as we are revisiting the vision of the organisation, having not long appointed an energetic and inspiring new CEO in Sally Hines, and also have some board renewal,” he said.

“In addition to my formal board role, it is also about being an active member of the Leadership Victoria community, and contributing to its programs and assisting in the development of the organisation.”

A father of two young boys and a passionate and engaged leader, Jarrod is motivated by the aspiration of a connected and strong community and understands the key role which Leadership Victoria can play in realising this.

Help your managers avoid bad hires

Thu, 17 Dec 2020 09:15:00 GMT

If a Hiring Manager in your organisation makes a bad hire, it’s often HR that get involved to help deal with performance issues. This is an aspect of HR that nobody really likes to do, it can be time consuming, stressful, and can leave both the organisation and employee hurting from the experience.

Wouldn’t it be better to avoid this by hiring the right person in the first place?

When a HR Manager wants to support the hiring practices across their organisation, there are a number of strategies and approaches they can take to improve results.

One of the best ways to improve hiring decisions is to implement psychometric assessment into your recruitment process. I know what you are thinking ... “That’s exactly what a psychologist would say”. But let me explain why.

Psychometric assessments are one of the best predictors of job performance available to Hiring Managers and HR. Psychometric is a combination of psych (which means mind) and metric (which means measurement). Psychometric assessment literally means mind measurement.

An eye opening comment from a HR professional

As someone who hosts full day courses for Hiring Managers and HR professionals to teach them how to best utilise, apply and interpret psychometric assessment in their organisation, it was a real eye opener for me when an attendee at a recent workshop commented that he was “shocked” at how little job experience predicts future job performance. We were running through the predictability power of various assessment techniques and this was the first time he had stopped to think about whether the selection methods they were utilising actually led to achieving the right outcome.

Organisations and Hiring Managers often place a lot of emphasis on the experience someone is bringing into the organisation but they often don’t realise that this selection method only predicts 2% of future job performance.

Just because someone has previous experience listed on their resume, it does not mean that they will be able to perform effectively in the role you are recruiting.

Here’s the graph we utilise in our assessment workshop to show the predictability power of various selection methods.

As you can see in the graph above, psychometric assessment (cognitive ability and personality questionnaires) account for a lot of variance when it comes to predicting future job performance of candidates. Cognitive ability assessments account for 26% in predicating your candidate’s future job performance. Structured interviews also have the same predictability power and personality questionnaires come in third, with a predictability power of 16%.

Looking at the graph, you will see that unstructured interviews (4%), job experience (2%) and years of education (1%), are three selection methods that have significantly lower predictability of a candidates job performance.

Two common selection methods that Recruiters and Hiring Managers use are reference checks and phone interviews. Little do some know, that reference checks have a predictability power of only 7% and phone interviews come in at 15 %. A lot of time is being spent on selection techniques that may not pay off .

So whilst a combination of selection methods can boost your predictability of performance in a role, you are able to get the most value in your recruitment process by simply putting your candidates through psychometric assessment (cognitive and personality assessment) and supporting this data by conducting a structured interview.

If you aren’t utilising psychometric assessment, you are missing a big opportunity to improve the hiring results within your organisation.

This simple solution of implementing psychometric assessment reduces the time you spend on assessing candidates, it can vastly increase the quality of the candidates joining your organisation and can ensure that you are placing the right people into the right jobs.

Why doesn’t HR implement psychometric assessment for all recruitment processes?

HR Managers and teams can often delay utilising psychometric assessment due to the a number of fears:

The good news is Davidson offers a variety of of psychometric assessments and licencing options for organisations who want and need to integrate assessments into their overall recruitment strategy and process. Our team partners with you to integrate the online assessment into your current recruitment approach, train you and your team on how to interpret the reports to inform hiring decisions and provide a cost effective self-service portal to ensure you maintain control of your hiring activities. Another great element of our psychometric assessments is that they can be used from a development perspective with your current employees and help you take them from good to great, further enhancing team dynamics and effectiveness.

To learn more about the psychometric assessment options available through Davidson, reach out to the team at assessment@davidsonwp.com and we will be more than happy to discuss how we can meet your organisational needs in the recruitment and development plan.

Written by:

HR Leadership - the Catalyst for Rapid Change

Tue, 17 Nov 2020 09:15:00 GMT

2020 has brought with it big shifts for organisations and leaders, with many highlighting that COVID-19 was the catalyst for change. Change has been expedited in 2020, some of which would have taken years. As we near the end of the year, it’s time to start looking at what the next 12 months will bring and what the key considerations are for Human Resource leaders.

Here’s my take on what is ahead for HR leaders in 2021.

What activities are HR Leaders looking to deliver in 2021?

The next phase, COVID normal, is going to be tough. Remember though, it’s in our moments of discomfort that the greatest growth is achieved. So hang in there and push through. Good days and good times are coming.

Cameron Norton is a People, Process and Performance specialist with a focus on helping leaders, teams and organisations achieve their potential.

His mission is to empower people to push beyond what’s comfortable to achieve remarkable progress in their professional lives.

Follow Cameron on LinkedIn to keep across future articles, videos and content that can help you to expand your impact as a leader.

When the advice “think positively” just doesn’t cut it

Sat, 17 Oct 2020 09:15:00 GMT

During 2020, have you been given or heard the advice that it is important that you “think positively” to try and shift your emotional state? Did it work or have a lasting impact for you?

Hopefully it was able to have some impact for you but my guess is that you need something beyond the advice of “think positively” to assist you in getting to the end of 2020 and to assist you in setting the foundations to shoot for success in 2021. This article will help you do that.

We are hearing more and more that our mental health is suffering the longer the COVID-19 lockdowns/restrictions go on especially here in Melbourne and Victoria and I naturally wanted to write an article that could assist someone to enhance how they are feeling, thinking and planning.

Mental health has been highlighted as a national priority by the Federal Government, so much so that in their recent budget they committed $5.7billion to mental health as part of the COVID-19 recovery efforts.

More than just “thinking positively”

Whilst thinking positively has always been a factor for your own mental health, another key element is that of seeing, feeling and experiencing progress. Most people equate this to achieving goals.

Tony Robbins, the well-known Motivational Speaker and Life Strategist, is quoted as saying that “ Progress equals happiness ”.

In 2020, many people have had their life dreams disrupted and their progress has either stalled or gone backwards. As a result, their life satisfaction, happiness and wellbeing has gone down.

So how do we get back on track given we are still living through the pandemic experience?

A good starting point is to utilise some teachings by David Neagle around goal setting in the context of 2020 and COVID-19.

David Neagle is one of the architects of the coaching and personal growth industry and runs The Successful Mind , a podcast focused on cutting edge information and strategies relating to success mindset, leadership, wealth creation and relationships.

After having listened to many of his podcast episodes this year, I have summarised the goal setting approach that David has put forward with key points that will help you to expand your perception of what is going on, how you are processing it and how you can utilise it for a better outcome.

The Background Context

Our goals at the start of January 2020 changed significantly in March 2020 when COVID-19 started to impact the Australian landscape. In amongst the chaos of the emerging pandemic, we had to try and adapt as best we could as the story unfolded. In the constantly changing game, we naturally went into “survival mode” or the fight or flight (or freeze) mode.

Rather than focusing on the goals we had set for the year ahead, we were thrust into figuring out how do we simply get through this and come out on the other side. I heard it everywhere, businesses were shifting from “growth” mode to “survival” mode.

Now with less than 12 weeks to go before the end of 2020, we need to try and salvage the year by putting in one last effort to achieve something meaningful whilst also giving ourselves momentum to head into the new year. Don’t wait for the New Year’s resolution to get started. Start now.

Considerations for goal setting – specific to this year

Set your team up for success in 2021

Whilst this article has been focused on you as an individual, now is also a great time to be thinking about how you can get your team set for 2021. Carrying momentum into the new year is critical for team performance leading into January.

Davidson PXP offers a number of Team Solutions that can assist in planning the goals for 2021 and also getting the team working effectively as a unit.

Get in touch to learn more about how we can assist.

Cameron Norton , National Solution Lead, Davidson PXP

Contact +61 400 913 843 or via email: cameron.norton@davidsonwp.com

Continual growth leads to Davidson’s permanent expansion into Adelaide

Sat, 17 Oct 2020 09:15:00 GMT

Davidson is excited to enter a new phase of growth in 2020 by opening its fourth office in Australia, in Adelaide. A consistent increase in demand from the South Australian market for Davidson’s national expertise: in Search, Recruitment and Advisory services has predicated the permanent expansion into Adelaide.

Headed up by Melanie Pecanek, Senior Partner with Davidson Executive & Boards, we are excited to make a positive impact for South Australian business, with a strong focus on the Government, Health, Utilities and Not-For-Profit sectors.

Melanie was born in Adelaide and went to the University of Adelaide and holds a deep connection to South Australia. She is elated to be moving home, combining her local knowledge with her consulting expertise to bring an exceptional offering to the state.

Upon announcement of the move, Clare McCartin , Managing Partner of Davidson’s Executive & Boards Practice said “ Whilst Melanie will be greatly missed in our Melbourne office, we are so pleased to activate the next step of our business strategy and bring this unparalleled Search, Recruitment and Advisory service offering to Adelaide on a permanent basis .”

This new Adelaide office represents our commitment to continue to build on the success we have accomplished in other markets and we look forward to connecting with local business networks to show them what we can offer as an established and growing Search, Recruitment and Advisory firm.

If you are based in Adelaide and would like to talk with us about your next executive appointment, or how we can enhance your workplace performance please contact Melanie Pecanek for an introduction and informal discussion.

Melanie Pecanek , Senior Partner, Davidson Executive & Boards
Mobile +61 408 898 734
Email: Melanie.Pecanek@davidsonwp.com

davidsonexecutive.com.au

Career Transition - how to support employees through redundancy

Mon, 17 Aug 2020 09:15:00 GMT

No one likes to make employees redundant. Help your employees on the way out by providing a tailored career transition program.

Career change is a very unsettling time for most individuals especially when it is not by choice and occurs through a redundancy program.

When this happens, individuals are more likely to feel anxiety, feel a sense of reluctance, seek structure, require routine and need additional support from a range of sources in order to work their way through the situation.

This is where organisations and leaders need to not only show empathy to the individuals they are exiting from the business but also demonstrate a duty of care for their employees’ wellbeing.

Navigating the job market and making a career transition is challenging enough in good times and with the impact of COVID-19 on the broader business climate in 2020, now more than ever individuals are needing support to help them in moving to the next phase for their career and life. Given this, it is fundamental that individuals be given the correct level of assistance to help guide and navigate the job market environment.

With more businesses downsizing and fewer job opportunities being presented in the current climate, individuals are needing to be targeted and precise in their job search process.

Our experience with partnering with many leading organisations providing a range of tailored career transition services, has provided us the insight to know that individuals who have the correct support, are given the rights tools and who feel they have routine and structure in their job search process have better overall levels of wellness, feel more confident in their job seeking endeavors and find new opportunities faster than their counterparts.

As a leader, it is important you are helping people with their next step as they exit the business and a quality career transition program can be a major enabler for people to get back into work sooner.

A good career transition program assists individuals learn the skills required to present themselves well to new potential employers, provides a constant anchor point for reflection and discussion and helps to create the momentum necessary for successfully outcomes to occur. Partnering with a business who are specialists in the marketplace not only ensures your exiting employees are being looked after but also that your current employees see the business creating a ‘care factor’ for past employees.

In a rapidly changing work environment, identifying new roles and opportunities across growth employment sectors is imperative. Our experienced career coaches are qualified and the specialists when it comes to assisting individuals to navigate the new world of employment opportunities. Utilizing best practice, current research in combination with our extensive database, we are able to identify real opportunities and future-proof careers.

To learn more about how the Davidson PXP team can assist your organisation in supporting exiting employees, please get in touch with Natalie Knight or Cameron Norton .

On-boarding Leaders Remotely

Fri, 03 Apr 2020 05:55:24 GMT

Boards and CEOs have such a short window to immerse new leaders in the company culture and ensure they are equipped with the right tools, background information and stakeholder maps to get them started. So how can we ensure all upcoming appointments are given every chance of success through a remote on-boarding experience?

Here are my top 3 tips:

1. Increase Pre-employment Engagement

2. Get Tools & Experiences ready early

3. Make them feel connected quickly

How will we act during this once-in-a-generation period?

What are the silver linings in all of this?

We are providing tailored on-boarding advice daily:

One of our greatest value propositions is our ability to provide our clients with deep insight into what motivates and drives their new incumbents through our insightful psychometric and cultural preference tools.

At present we are partnering with interested clients to provide objective on-boarding recommendations based on how an incumbent prefers to communicate and interact with others, the type of work environment in which they perform best, and what support will enable an optimal on-boarding experience.

Together we’re exploring ideal on-boarding experiences based on individual preferences for:

… along with many others

To understand more about how we can maximise the on-boarding experience for your next Executive hire, know that Davidson is just a phone call away.

Clare McCartin , Senior Partner, Davidson Executive & Boards

An honour to be invited to take part in Women in Leadership discussion

Tue, 03 Mar 2020 06:22:07 GMT

Key takeaways

I was very proud to asked to take part in a Women in Leadership discussion organised by Bullhorn to mark International Women’s Day .

To celebrate the International Women’s Day theme of #eachforequal , myself and several other female leaders from the recruitment industry were invited to discuss the significant role we can play in creating a gender-equal world.

We discussed how that can be achieved through our line of work in helping to find meaningful careers for those we place, as well as within our organisations and advocating for the next generation of female leaders.

We can actively choose to challenge stereotypes, broaden perceptions, and improve situations for women and one of the ways we can do that is by fostering a culture of confidence in the workplace.

I was very proud to speak about what Davidson is doing to overcome problems such as unconscious bias and how help women progress their careers.

I explained that we have looked at how we recruit our staff internally and how, after the initial phone screen, we have development testing that is aligned to our internal success profiles and use this testing to match the candidate to the job requirement to increase our diversity and inclusion.

As leaders, I believe we need to be brave about changing mindsets and challenging peoples’ thoughts, with the help of research and data. We need to find better ways to attract talent in leadership roles – people who are willing to step up and challenge the norm.

My wish is that when my sons have their own children, they are never asked “‘why doesn’t your mum drop you off at school?”. Hearing comments like that in today’s society blows my mind.

Apart from coaching and mentoring Davidson staff – both female and male - a major focus of my career has been helping women who come to me for advice on their career paths. When that happens, I always reflect back to what I’ve done and how I’ve done it and enjoy the chance to share with them the positive and negative experiences I’ve needed to have in order to get where I am today.

There is a wide network of women I’ve worked with over the years who are still in contact and will call if they need support or just want to talk about how they are going and what they need.

I have been one of the lucky ones who has never been judged or classified by my gender. The stereotype questions started to come after I became a parent. Could I continue to do a role because I was a mother? What flexibility would I require?

I have grown up in business that has been heavy male dominated but I have been fortunate enough to work with and for respectful males who believed in equality.

What has affected me most has been other women judging my ability to my role, which was more obvious after I had a family. My work ethic never changed, although my body certainly had. I was lucky that my husband and I shared the raising of our sons, so my work arrangements didn’t need to change.

I always remember the comment another female leader made to me when I asked to be considered for a particular role. She said: “It’s not your turn, your boys are young”.

At that point, I knew I was no longer valued in that company.

I love to see staff grow and strive to be the best they can and am proud to lead a company that is inclusive and provides both men and women with the means to achieve their goals, both professionally and personally.

By Jacqui Wightman , Davidson Chief Operations Officer

IT specialist Karina Honey discusses her experience with Davidson.

Wed, 05 Feb 2020 04:09:39 GMT

Karina Honey has engaged the support of agencies various times throughout her successful career as an ICT Manager and contract specialist.

A recent positive experience with Davidson’s Technology's Nicholas Leong and Elliot Price Tripcony resulted in Karina sending them a beautiful edible bouquet, as a way of thanks for finding her the right role and for their support throughout the process.

Karina has had mixed experiences when working with agency staff in the past, sometimes feeling that “either the conscious or unconscious bias of the consultants I have encountered have meant I have not been deemed appropriate for roles because I may not be the gender or age they were expecting to shortlist for a particular company."

"Once a recruiter said they had forwarded my CV to a company where I already had some connections. When I checked in with someone at the company a few weeks later, as I had heard nothing, they confirmed that they had never received the CV and were very keen to have me on board when they knew I was looking. I was very unimpressed.”

“On the flip-side, I have had some really positive experiences and that is why I wanted to send Nicholas and Elliot a gift of thanks for their supportive, friendly and transparent approach while supporting me into a Business IT Systems role within the public sector here in QLD. Both Nicholas and Elliot took the time to listen to what I was really looking for and then found me the perfect fit. The process was fast and I never felt like I was just a number. An amazing experience!”

Elliot Price Tripcony and Nicholas Leong are part of the QLD Davidson Technology team, and part of the wider Davidson organisation, which offers consulting, recruitment and transformation solutions nationwide. Davidson is one of Australia's largest privately owned consulting companies.

“As a workplace performance and consulting company, we take our roles very seriously,” Nicholas identifies that, “we take on a great responsibility every time we work with a candidate or a client, as we are committed to changing people’s lives." says Nicholas

"Where people choose to work has a real impact on their lives and the lives of their families."

"Karina was such a pleasure to work with, and it is always rewarding to find someone the right role at the right time. It is also great to be able to present gender diverse shortlists and champion women in leadership, especially in the technology space,” says Elliot.

The whole Davidson team wish Karina all the best in her new role. What a wonderful surprise to receive a personal gift of thanks.

Nicholas and Elliot with their edible gift!

You can contact Elliot Price Tripcony or Nicholas Leong in the Davidson Brisbane office on 07 3023 1000 or via email.

elliot.pricetripcony@davidsonwp.com or nicholas.leong@davidsonwp.com

To receive Davidson job alerts, click here .

Top 50 Public Sector Women reaching the top of their field

Wed, 05 Feb 2020 04:08:47 GMT

When we launched the Top 50 Public Sector (Victoria) list three years ago, it was done so with the hope it would raise awareness of successful women and act as an inspiration for younger ones coming through the ranks.

What we could not have anticipated was that it would become quite the alumna that it is today with a staggering 16 of the women appearing on the 2017 and 2018 lists going on to secure CEO or equivalent roles within the State’s public sector.

Davidson worked with IPAA Victoria to launch the inaugural list in 2017 and this year, IPAA took over the stewardship of the Victorian event from Davidson which continues to grow from strength to strength.

The objective of launching the Top 50 Public Sector Women List – which was expanded in 2018 to include a NSW Top 50 list - was to do what we could to address the disparity in the numbers of women in senior leadership roles in all levels of government in Australia.

Rebecca McKenzie , CEO with the City of Glen Eira, was named on the 2018 Top 50 Public Sector Women (Victoria) list and said initiatives such as the Top 50 and which hold up women who have paved the way, serve as important role models for aspiring young female professionals.

“The thing I have learned over the past few years is that there are so many talented women in the sector, it’s just about providing the reassurance and the encouragement for them to make the big step to put themselves forward,” Ms McKenzie said.

“I feel very strongly that our own legacy as female leaders is to do that for our colleagues, and in doing so start to change the tone of our sector in a way that ensures that the environmental conditions are there for them to enjoy the role, and to be at their best.”

CEO of Cardinia Shire Council, Carol Jeffs , was named on the inaugural Top 50 Public Sector (Victoria) list in 2017 when she was working as the General Manager Community Development with the City of Port Phillip before taking on her current role in October 2018.

“The recent appointment of several women local government CEOs and the LGPro CEO has given me reason to reflect,” Ms Jeffs said. “I am absolutely certain that I would not be here today [in her CEO role] if not for the Top 50 initiative. I am extraordinarily grateful for that.

“I now have a new definition of what remarkable leadership is - it is the organisers of the Top 50 Public Sector Women event working together to change the recruitment and networking landscape. I absolutely aspire to making game changing contributions such as this throughout my career going forward.”

Joining the Top 50 alumna in 2018, Tracey Slatter , Managing Director at Barwon Water (who held the role of CEO at the City of Port Phillip Council for almost four years), says the event is important recognition and support for those working in leadership across all levels of government.

“I am really pleased to see there are now 18 women in LG CEO roles which is a high point but there is a lot further to go,” Ms Slatter said. “It is also critical more be done to have more women on councils.

“I was reflecting the other day about women who I looked to as role models early in my career. While I was mostly in my 20s, I was lucky enough to work with some incredible women.

“And it really made a difference to me to see successful women in executive leadership positions; it is a reminder to me to reach out to more junior women and provide encouragement and opportunities to them. The Top 50 list has been a game changer.”

There is more work to be done to ensure we achieve equality in leadership for women working in the Public Sector, but the example of the alumna is serving to encourage women and helping them to strive for their professional dreams.

Current CEO and equivalent Top 50 Public Sector Alumna

From 2017:

From 2018:

Clare McCartin , Senior Partner, Davidson Executive & Boards

Leadership Development - where businesses go wrong

Wed, 05 Feb 2020 03:59:07 GMT

I was discussing leadership development with a client the other day and they asked me where other businesses had gone wrong with their leadership programs. There are many reasons, but it got me thinking about the three I see most often:

When the leadership development budget is spent only on senior leaders

I recently heard the staggering statistic that only 5% of businesses have implemented leadership development across all levels of leadership. Organisations who are getting leadership development right, are the ones who are putting just as much energy into developing the leaders who are leading the majority of the people, as well as the leaders leading the business strategy.

Leaders aren't given enough time to make sustained leadership behavioural change

I often see clients identify that they need to develop their leaders and think that sitting them in a training room for three hours will equip them to become outstanding leaders. Regardless of how good the content was in the workshop, if participants don’t put their learning into action soon after the session, chances are the learnings will be lost. Organisations need to make sure their leaders have time to practise, take accountability and put into action what they have learned, gain feedback from others, measure their success, and then practise some more.

Organisations don't create an environment where leaders are allowed to, or feel safe to learn from their mistakes

Few people are born with all of the attributes that will make them a successful leader. Some of the best leadership lessons are the hardest, and everyone makes mistakes. An organisation who picks up their leaders after they fall, helps them to understand how to do it better next time without ridicule or punishment, will develop brave, innovative and resilient leaders.

At Davidson HR Consulting we design Leadership Development Programs that deliver to your organisation measurable impact, from leadership fundamentals to challenging and experimental Executive programs.

If your Leadership Development Programs are guilty of any of the three above (or need a bit of a revamp) give me a call.

Lindy MacPherson, Group Manager, Davidson HR Consulting

Secondments: Are they beneficial?

Wed, 15 Jan 2020 03:34:51 GMT

Given the recent commitment by the Queensland Budget to spend around $314 million on skills and training over the next four years, now, more than ever, is a good time to examine the advantages and disadvantages of secondments.

Many of our clients and candidates within the Public Sector use secondments for the purpose of upskilling and training. While many have differing views regarding the true meaning of secondments, the common understanding within the Sector is that it is an arrangement entered into where the employee remains an employee of the ‘home’ Australian Public Service (APS) agency or an outside employer but is ‘lent’ for a period, by:

This can be for a variety of reasons, such as a one-off placement to help the host agency meet a short term need, or, and this seems to be an increasing reason, an ongoing formal exchange program for personal development purposes.

Feedback, from both employees and managers we work with, has been mostly positive when it comes to secondments for the purposes of training and upskilling. Interestingly, many are noting the increase in secondments are being favoured as a means for continual development of staff’s skills to remain relevant and competitive within their field.

On the positive side secondments can keep employees engaged by giving them experiences and opportunities to learn a new skill. Managers can also benefit when the employee returns to their substantive by having their new skill-set brought back to the team.

Some of the disadvantages of secondments are a lack of motivation when the employee returns to the substantive position as they see this as a demotion. They are not engaged and therefore do not perform as well as they could or would have in the past.

Traditionally, some managers resist secondments as they see there will be an immediate gap in the team and time will be needed to spend training up a new resource. Some managers resist the opportunity for one of their employees to go on a secondment as they are focused on the short term disadvantage of having to train a new employee or increase the capabilities of the existing team.

If handled well, secondments can be beneficial for both managers and employees. We have found the below tips to be effective:

What tips and hints would you add for engaging your employees in regards to secondments? Have you found value in upskilling your staff through secondments? We would love to hear from you.

Is your business ‘diversity fit’?

Fri, 03 Jan 2020 05:57:50 GMT

Gender diversity is to the 2010s what the ‘triple bottom line’ was to the late 1990s. It is a key challenge for big business and increasingly under the spotlight, particularly in the Technology space.

We are awash with stories about the dearth of women in areas of technology and digital – this is not news. However, what is of increasing interest is that although many companies are tackling the diversity problem, some approaches are more well-meaning, than effective.

A 2012 McKinsey report found that, “though CEOs made gender diversity a priority in more than 80 percent of our 60 participating companies, only about half of employees surveyed from the same companies agreed that the CEO is committed to it.”

The business case for diversity may now be proven, but it seems that action is lagging behind words.

The general consensus is that diversity is an economic reality that businesses must face. To build a dynamic and robust working environment, more women need to be involved. Unlike in the 1990s –when businesses focussed on being good corporate citizens to contribute to their bottom line –creating diverse workforces has now taken centre stage.

Deloitte’s ‘ A Global Diversity Dividend ’ report identifies:

As Deloitte so eloquently put it in their ‘ Only skin deep ?’ 2011 report: “it is not enough to create a corporate version of Noah’s Ark bringing in ‘two of each kind’. . . There is a clear argument for actively managing diversity rather than assuming you will naturally derive the benefits.”

The reality is that there is a dramatic shift in the workforce where more and more women are returning to work after having children. With this shift comes a need to adapt employee offerings and recruitment processes to ensure businesses meet women’s changing employment needs.

So what do organisations need to do?

Here’s a checklist of things to look at when reviewing your organisation’s ‘diversity fitness’:

Davidson’s Cameron Norton named Australia’s Recruiter of the Year

Fri, 06 Dec 2019 06:03:29 GMT

Congratulations to Davidson’s consultant Cameron Norton , who was recently named the SEEK 2019 Recruitment Consultant of the Year.

A Partner within Davidson’s Executive & Boards Victorian team, Cameron was delighted to receive the honour in front of his industry peers.

The award recognises a recruitment consultant who has excelled in client and candidate engagement and contributed to the recruitment industry as a whole.

So it was a fitting honour for Cameron, who has brought a new standard in candidate experience and innovation to the recruitment industry.

Cameron was one of the first consultants in Australia to use video to enhance his service to clients and candidates and bring a personal touch to his role whilst utilising the leveragability of technology.

“I’m really humbled by winning this award and feel it’s testament to the environment at Davidson where I have had the faith and support to trial new approaches, innovate, make mistakes and build better practices. All whilst working with some great people and having fun along the way”, Cameron commented after his big win.

“When I first joined the recruitment industry, I heard many stories of people saying ‘recruiters don’t get back to you".

“I saw this as an opportunity to stand out by doing basic things well and then I set about finding ways I could better communicate with clients and candidates over time. As the business grew and the volume got greater, I needed to find ways to keep evolving my approach towards candidate communications whilst not losing the personal touch. That led me to utilising digital videos as a point of difference that was scalable but also personal when it came to keeping candidates updated on what was happening with their application”.

“I really have the team at VideoMyJob to thank for the mobile app that I use for creating and editing videos quickly that has helped me to change the game in my approach. My leadership here at Davidson has also embraced my natural desire to continuously improve and evolve what I’m doing. Without that, changing the game would be so much harder!”.

Small things like a personal update video message on a Friday has had a big impact on candidates and Cameron is inundated with positive feedback from candidates for the effort he makes to keeping people informed.

As part of his ongoing communications strategy, Cameron also equips candidates ahead of interviews by sending them a suite of articles on mindset, interview preparation, interview tips and an overview of key areas to reflect upon prior to meeting with the client. Again, this is something that has helped candidates be at their best come interview time. The articles also provide a reference point for future interviews even if Cameron isn’t involved in the recruitment process.

Whilst the focus on clients and candidates has been critical to Cameron’s success. It has been the impact on his colleagues where he has naturally brought a lot of value for Davidson.

Cameron has received a host of internal awards through the Davidson Reward and Recognition program across his years with the business including multiple Most Valuable Player awards and Values Awards (awards voted on by his peers).

In his winner’s speech, Cameron thanked Bruce Davidson and Clare McCartin for having faith to bring him into Davidson to help contribute to the growth they wanted to achieve in the Executive and Boards market within Victoria. Cameron also acknowledged the great team of people around him that have contributed to his journey over time.

Cameron finished his speech by talking about how he views his position as a role where you can impact the lives of many individuals every day. He said that “you never know who might be looking at you to make a decision about their life so it’s important to bring your best to the table every day as you never know just who you might be inspiring”

2019 Aspire Awards©

Tue, 03 Dec 2019 05:46:21 GMT

Davidson is proud to support the development of individuals who identify with a disability across Australia by sponsoring the 2019 Aspire Awards©. You are invited to nominate outstanding individuals who identify with a disability for the 2019 Aspire Awards©. The awards honour individuals who: Have demonstrated leadership and advocacy in their community across Australia;Have positively contributed to their area of expertise; Have become encouraging role models and/or mentors;Have contributed to their local, national or international community; Have changed perceptions of disability;Have made a positive contribution towards creating a more inclusive society.Nominations are open to Australian residents over the age of 18 who have demonstrated achievement in the following categories: Arts Business Community Development and Advocacy Government and Non-Government Human Rights Law Medicine (including Research) Sport Writing, Fiction or JournalismThe Aspire Awards© recognise Australians who ident

Accelerating the employee experience through journey mapping

Thu, 15 Aug 2019 03:45:07 GMT

Journey mapping, it’s a term much more synonymous with Sales and Marketing than it is with HR. Organisations often invest a lot of time and money into mapping out every touchpoint they have with customers to try and improve or perfect these interactions, yet few organisations do the same with employees.

Think about the current listening strategy you have in place for your employees – let me hazard a guess that you currently undertake an engagement survey (Maybe annually? Quarterly at a stretch?) to understand the state of employee engagement at that point in time of your business.

Even with semi-regular touchpoints throughout the year, your employees are going to be at different stages of their overall employee journey, so it’s near impossible to truly gauge how their experience is shaping how they think, feel and act towards the business.

So what can we be doing differently to create a more meaningful experience?

Enter journey mapping and more active listening.

Similar to journey mapping of the customer – the process involves mapping out critical stages across the entire employee life cycle for different personas to direct where we need to seek feedback to understand how to improve pain points across their journey.

Not sure where to begin, or how it all fits in? I’ve outlined some steps to get you started.

1.Know your business strategy

Like most initiatives, start with your business strategy. Your employee experience needs to align with where you’re heading and knowing what behaviours, attitudes and initiatives will support you to get there.

Moreover, when your employee experience is aligned with your priorities and differentiators (distinctive to your business) employees will likely be more deeply connected to your brand and more motivated to promote your offering to customers and clients.

2. Identify critical roles to segment the unique journeys

It’s likely that your organisation will have a multitude of segments - that in itself can often be a barrier to starting this process. So I recommend looking to your data to find out where to begin.

Side note – don’t use demographics as the sole way to segment your employees, this will only cause you headaches.

3. Create personas and gather perspectives in the employee journey

This is the stage where you start to get input from different parts of the business to create personas. My preferred methodology to gather this information by taking a human-centred design approach, using focus groups or workshops to empathise and ideate.

This process should start to form a picture of the behaviours, motivations, values, needs at the critical points. You will start to identify current challenges this persona might experience across the cultural, physical and technology environments and where the opportunities are to close the experience gap.

*Hot tip to remember – their experience with your organisations starts before day one and continues past their final day.

4. Decide on the feedback system for your listening strategy

To get a true understanding of the experience in the moments that matter, decide on the mechanism that will provide your employees an opportunity to give feedback at that point in time. More likely to be in the form of a quick survey – find a way that you can use automation and how you can provide managers with the real-time data (data should not be siloed to HR!).

5. Implement and embed

Once you’ve gathered feedback you can start to co-create ideas to improve the employee experience at the respective points and start to make changes.

As part of the longer-term view, I would also recommend that you consider how you will demonstrate the measurable impact your interventions by connecting back to your engagement measures and operational data. (So when you're looking for a feedback system, ask this question as well)

My parting thoughts -

Before we get too excited about our employee personas and shiny new feedback approach, it’s important to remember that you actually have to do something with the feedback you’re provided.

I’m the first one to get excited about the bigger picture but we need to balance that with the reality of businesses. I encourage everyone to make sure, that from the beginning, you have a clear plan to turn continuous listening in to continuous action. It’s ok to start small (maybe just the one point in time) then build up to more.

It is an ongoing process to continually evolve the employee experience, but with a consistent approach, the results will be worth it.

Want to know more? Please reach out, I’d love to talk to you about enhancing your employee experience!

Katie Hamilton , Senior Consultant - Client Solutions

Contact (07) 3023 1058 or via email: katie.hamilton@davidsonwp.com

Experience Management - this is not a passing fad

Wed, 05 Jun 2019 04:18:41 GMT

Davidson recently attended the Qualtrics X4 Experience Management conference in Sydney, as both proud sponsor Employee Experience and dedicated consulting and implementation partner.

If you’ve been living under a rock you might not have heard of experience management. While the concept itself isn’t exactly new, it has well and truly hit the spotlight. If you’re in business, experience management should be on your agenda, otherwise, you are missing out on a world of opportunity.

Here were my key takeaways from the day:

If you think about the brands you are most loyal to, is it the product or output that keeps you going back for more? Or is it the emotions you feel, the experience you get?

As Qualtrics CEO, Ryan Smith put it:

You are either intentionally racing to the top through experience management, or unknowingly racing to the bottom.

He connected us to stories of most iconic brands that shifted their focus to experience management and rose to become some of the world’s highest-valued businesses.

However, many organisations fail to understand this - they aren’t collecting and understanding data and aren’t taking action. This was particularly poignant when the following stats flashed on the screen:

“80% of organizations feel like they are providing a great experience, yet only 8% of customers actually agree”

Businesses need to be able to measure the “experience gap” by monitoring critical interactions in their customer or employee journey in order to jump on the opportunities for improvement.

These factors matter and are critical to creating ambassadors of your business. More than connecting your team to the “why” of your business, leaders need to be focusing on how you create an environment for employees to bring their whole selves to work.

We heard from the likes of Buzzfeed, who, after some dedicated action, had 89% of their LGBTQ workforce respond favourably to the statement that “I feel I can be my true self at work”.

Bruce Davidson shared his personal journey and commitment to working with Yalari, and how that helped him to become a better business leader.

Then there was Sephora, who recognise that “companies don’t make a difference, people do” through their inclusion initiatives and “other-abled” programs. Now they are putting their money where it counts, by closing 400 stores for one day to undertake inclusion workshops (in response to a racial profiling complaint that went viral from a high profile celebrity).

Qantas and Telstra shared their journey of moving towards more proactive experience management. The messages that resonated most with me was how important it is to take an agile & phased approach, break down the steps into consumable tasks and to level up your accountability.

Specifically, in the employee experience setting – your business is probably not likely to go from an annual survey to a “digital open door” in just a few months. The way to accelerate the transition is to build trust, help your team understand that you value their feedback by showing them through action. And it’s just as important to personalise the EX strategy – look to business that have a great EX measurement strategy in place for inspiration but don’t mirror it if it does not match your business.

It would be remiss of me not to mention Dr. Dance, Dr. Peter Lovatt , arguably the most memorable experience of the conference, dancing in synchronicity with 2000 strangers (now close personal friends). I feel like I can hear the collective internal screaming of all the introverts across the nation whose leaders have taken this dance routine back to their daily huddles!

Fun aside, you couldn’t help but connect with the science behind how moving your body helps you change the way you think and how you solve problems.

I would not do justice to his personal story, research or impact on Parkinson’s disease, so please check out his page . (and check out our dance moves )

Closing off the day was fan favourite, Dom Price , Work Futurist at Atlassian. As we were feverishly writing down every bit of wisdom we could, Dom hit us with a truth bomb:

The world is suffering from knowledge obesity

Referring to the fact that we are consuming too much knowledge and not doing anything with it. Needless to say, we were writing our notes much more discreetly after this.

How many of us have piles of business, health, wellbeing books at home that we read in one sitting, then jump to the next one, hoping that by ingesting the content alone we will automatically make an impactful change? *puts a hand up slyly*

Dom hit home when he told us that “dysfunction is the gap between what you know and what you apply” and asked us to reflect on what that was in our business. Now, this isn’t to say that we stop learning and listening - but we should be questioning how we are applying our knowledge to make our business and ourselves better?

His final message?

Hit pause on acquiring knowledge and just do something, there is no better time than now.

If you are inspired to take action on experience management in your business but you aren’t sure where to start, take a look at the Qualtrics content or reach out to me for more information!

Katie Hamilton is Senior Consultant with Davidson HR Consulting- Client Solutions.

You can connect with Katie T. 07 3023 1053 M.0421 866 272 or via email: Katie.Hamilton@davidsonwp.com

Cognitive flexibility in the workplace - how limber are you?

Thu, 09 May 2019 03:43:24 GMT

Last night I attended the AHRI Performance and Reward network forum on the topic of Cognitive Flexibility.

If you’re unfamiliar with Cognitive Flexibility (CF), it is essentially the brain’s ability and ease to switch one’s thinking (or train of thought) from one task to another in order to respond or adapt to new stimuli. CF is sometimes referred to as task switching, but don’t get this confused with multitasking (which, as it’s branded, doesn’t actually exist).

Of course, there are different levels of CF, those that have a higher level usually “switch” or adapt at a faster rate. Individuals with higher CF are more likely to be able to adapt quickly when plans changes, obstacles come up or new information is presented, and are often better problem solvers.

Now the concept itself isn’t by any means new, but it is becoming more and more prominent in the workplace setting. As organisations (and therefore employees) are faced with more consistent change how we are able to respond to change is often a determining factor of success.

Our brains love certainty and therein lies a problem for modern businesses.

So when we’re faced with something “uncertain” we often switch on a flight or fight response.

Enhancing your own CF, and encouraging this within your team, can have material benefits to the organisation; higher productivity, less waste of resources, higher (and quicker) adoption of change initiatives to name a few.

Think about your business;

How often do you engage in routine tasks that are done that way “because that’s how it’s always been”?
What environment is created for you and your team to think (or operate) differently? Or does your culture encourage employees to speak up and challenge the norm?
If plans unexpectedly change, or your team is in some way disrupted, how would you describe the response? Calm, proactive and focus, or sheer panic and frustration?
What about when you’re faced with a complex concept or problem – is it impossible to comprehend, or do you get nowhere?

The good news is, you can grow your cognitive flexibility. In its simplest form, the more you expose yourself to new experiences, or different ways of doing things will start to increase your flexibility.

Things like; altering your everyday routine, practicing creative thinking, when asked a question you don’t know the answer to – don’t head straight to google – find different ways to source the information, go out of your way to meet new people.

And in a workplace context? Create space for teams to think differently about routine processes, and encouraging them to challenge static thought processes. If your team is stuck on a problem or faced with something involving complexity, deconstruct the issue – it’s easier to consume what action needs to be taken if you break it into smaller chunks.

Organisations that aren’t keeping up with the rate of change and innovation, compared to their competitors, will in time become obsolete.

So I encourage you to perform a quick cognitive flexibility audit on yourself, and your team (even use the questions posed above as a start).

Does this resonate with you? If so, I would love to hear from you! Whether it's an example of what you’re doing well in your business, or if reading this has really hit home for you in a not-so-positive way and you need some help!

A big thanks to Paula Holden for convening the AHRI forum and Chris Phillips from Grey Matta for presenting.

Kate Conrad Celebrates 13 years with Davidson

Fri, 05 Apr 2019 04:21:16 GMT

In April, Kate Conrad clocked up 13 years at Davidson, making her the longest standing employee, aside from Bruce and Rob! Kate’s position, working hours and work location have varied over the years but she has always been an integral part of the growth and development of our workplace performance and consulting company.

Here is Kate’s Davidson story.

After working as a Functions Supervisor at the Gabba for six months post overseas working holiday, I realised I’d outgrown late nights and weekend work, so I contacted Peter Murphy (former Davidson Partner) who was known to me in a previous role and told him he needed to find me a job as a PA. I was surprised when he told me he’d already spoken to my old boss and it was decided I was going to work for Davidson.

My first assignment was working as a contractor for what was then the Business Support (now Corporate) team. I did a short term assignment with an insurance company on reception. I then met with a couple of Davidson Team Managers and it was decided my first internal contract role was putting hard copy candidate files into the new database. I was glad to see the back of those filing cabinets! I quickly had to learn what a candidate, client, and contractor was, having not worked in recruitment before. I then took on a full-time role as a Recruitment Coordinator in the Accounting Division. My thirst to learn more led me to the role of Recruitment Consultant. Only a few months into my new role the Client Services Director approached me to join the team and work with the consultants and clients to ensure we were delivering the best possible service we could. I resisted for a few months but the thought of organising functions again drew me to the Client Services team.

The years went by including a GFC. My role was never static which is what I’ve always loved about it. It now included compliance duties due to staff movement which was perfect because it was time for kids! I realised I didn’t want to work full-time post kids (mainly because we don’t live close to any family) and these new skills meant I still had a role within the company!

When my firstborn was two my husband was offered a role in Darwin. I propositioned the company to let me work from home whilst being mindful that wasn’t really the done thing back in late 2012 but much to my surprise and delight, Davidson agreed. I worked from home for just over three years in Darwin, even had my second rather spirited child up there! Davidson was fabulous to me during my childbearing days. They let me return to work early and I slowly returned to the workforce working from one, to two, to three days a week. I’m forever grateful for being supported in my return to work after kids as it was much less stressful. I’ve been part-time for 8 years now and I love it. Hard work, loyalty, and dedication are respected and rewarded at Davidson and I can attest to that! How lucky am I with my work-life balance!

In early 2015 we returned to Queensland only to be located at the Southern end of the Gold Coast for my husband’s next work project. With two young kids (this year being the first year they are both at school) and being ‘default’ parent, I propositioned Davidson to come into the office once a week and work school hours three days from home. It works brilliantly. I make a point of ‘doing my rounds’ in the office every week to introduce myself to new starters and make sure everyone knows who I am so that they are comfortable asking me questions. Because of this, I’m convinced I’m front of mind for the various projects that come my way. I’ll admit it, it’s much better than being permanently based in another state never laying eyes on your colleagues. Those days were hard and I’m much happier now I’m ‘part’ of the business.

What are my most memorable moments over the past 13 years? Wow, what a question! There are so many, like social events; the milestone celebrations; watching Davidson grow from 40ish staff to nearly 200; seeing Davidson grow from a small Brisbane based company to one that is established in three Eastern capital cities; the colleagues I’ve been privileged to work alongside over the years that have helped Davidson to be what it is today; the dynamic nature of the business; the fact that I’m a valued, trusted employee that has been supported from day one; dealing with so many fabulous clients and candidates over the years; improving on our RCSA Service Delivery Standard Compliance Audit score year after year; educating consultants on Modern Awards, WHS and Privacy; holding the flag as the longest standing staff member after Bruce and Rob; being enabled to learn new skills; respected as a business partner; improving processes….. the list goes on!

I’m extremely lucky to have a job that I enjoy with the flexibility I’m granted. I honestly don’t think anyone else would be as lucky as I am!

Congratulations Kate!

Awards campaign widens and diversifies talent pool

Thu, 28 Mar 2019 04:48:21 GMT

A recruitment initiative to showcase successful women leaders and encourage more into senior roles is improving confidence among female candidates, while attracting broader interest from employers.

Over 2017–2018, Davidson engaged the Victoria and NSW public sector's peak bodies to create the Top 50 Public Sector Women program, aimed at encouraging more women to apply for the most senior roles in the sector.

"We've had greater access to diversity in our talent pools without question," Davidson group executive and boards GM Clare McCartin told Shortlist.

Following the most recent iteration of the program, McCartin presented a public sector CEO shortlist that was exclusively female – the first such instance in her 15-year career in executive search.

The program has now profiled 150 female leaders in Victoria and NSW, resulting in approaches from public sector employers in two other states with the question, "why aren't we getting our Top 50?", she says.

Davidson is likely to broaden the program to another state at some point, and is having conversations with some government departments "to see if there is an appetite".

In local government organisations in Victoria, female representation at leadership level is just 12%; in state organisations it is 36%, McCartin notes.

"That's not great given [the ratio] is at least 50/50 women working in the public service, and in some areas it's significantly greater."

Perceived barriers for women leaders

McCartin says she developed the idea for the Top 50 Public Sector Women after being invited to a ministerial advisory committee in late 2016, which was tasked with investigating the lack of female CEOs.

There, female leaders expressed their fears about applying for top management roles, she says. "They were actually quite intimidated in picking up the phone to ring a search consultant about a job. That was even female directors – one removed from a CEO – just not putting their hand up for chief executive positions."

There was also a concern in the public sector that, if diversity quotas or targets were enforced, "we wouldn't be appointing the best candidates", says McCartin.

Marketing blitz for awards

Davidson's marketing campaign, which earned it a nomination at the 2018 RCSA Awards, involved getting local and state government peak bodies on board to spread the message, as well as business press and social media, McCartin says.

"We contacted just about every secretary across state government, and as many CEOs as we could in local government, education and other areas to give us their best and brightest females to profile," she says, resulting in the Victorian awards receiving more than 80 submissions in its first year.

A panel of judges represented the breadth of the public sector and were instrumental in the program's success, says McCartin, who considers the campaign one of her team's proudest achievements.

Article originally featured in Shortlist Wednesday 03 October 2018

Clare McCartin will chair the new 'Diversity Working Group' at RCSA

Thu, 21 Mar 2019 04:17:42 GMT

Clare McCartin, Executive and Boards Group Manager at Davidson, has been announced as Chair of the new ‘Diversity Working Group at the Recruitment, Consulting and Staffing Association of Australia & NZ.’

Clare believes strongly that there is a responsibility to encourage greater education, thinking and action around diversity issues in recruitment.

The focus of the ‘Diversity Working Group at RCSA’ will be around achieving greater diversity within the sector and the committee members will explore the impact the recruitment sector has on diversity in the workforce.

The working group was formed following a recent story appearing in industry publication Shortlist, on LinkedIn’s Gender Insights Report . The story says recruiters are 13% less likely to look at a woman’s profile when she shows up in a search and 3% less likely to contact a woman by InMail after viewing her profile.

"The RCSA Diversity Working Group will drive discussion, insight and education on issues of diversity relevant to the sector,” Brooke Lord , Head of Advocacy and Policy with RCSA, said.

“And we are thrilled to have Clare McCartin volunteer to Chair the group. Her expertise and reputation in this space, her network and her passion to drive change is a valuable resource to have when you want to make real change and the way people think about diversity.”

Clare knows a lot about championing women in leadership. It was Clare’s initiative to celebrate the most talented women in the public and sector in NSW and VIC and see them recognised more publicly.

For the last two years, under Clare’s supervision, Davidson established ‘The Top 50 Women Awards’ to heighten the profiles and acknowledge the achievements of Australian women in the public sector. These events are a way of raising the profiles of these women and encouraging change. The NSW ‘Top 50 Women in the Public Sector’ Alumnae event is happening on March 28 ^th . Already, the feedback from last year’s winners is that they have experienced positive outcomes including being offered more senior roles, invited onto Boards, being asked to mentor other women and expanding their networks. Clare’s initiative is practical and inspires real change.

“I am thrilled to be supporting the RCSA drive this initiative. The recruitment sector can be a powerful force in ensuring the make-up of our workforces reflects the communities those people come from. Providing employment opportunities has a positive social impact, which I think the sector can feel proud of, however the evidence is there that we need to do more to support understanding and attitudes within our sector if we’re to realise even greater outcomes. Change happens when everyone involved is educated and people take the time to willingly make the necessary steps to challenge the status quo. I commend the RCSA for taking meaningful action in this space”

Clare is a trailblazer in the recruitment sector, working hard to give a voice and find practical ways of improving diversity outcomes across all industries.

Congratulations on your appointment Clare from everyone at Davidson.

The Diversity Working Group is now calling for participants. If you would like to explore a range of relevant issues understanding the significant impact that recruiters have upon diversity in the workplace, we would welcome your input.

To find out more about the group or how you can be involved, contact Brooke Lord , Head of Advocacy and Policy with RCSA on blord@rcsa.com.au

The Performer Series-1st Edition Gideon Donaldson's Story

Wed, 13 Mar 2019 04:47:07 GMT

How to start fresh in a new sector - twice

Gideon Donaldson admits he loves a challenge which is just as well because this quality has helped him build his career once in the UK and then again in Australia to become a consistent top biller for Davidson.

Gideon started working in recruitment in 1996 and in 2000 joined Proactive Appointments where he started and built a technology desk specialising in Oracle and Oracle Applications.

In 2016 Gideon, his wife and two children made the move from South London to Australia where the experienced IT recruitment specialist accepted a position with Davidson. Gideon started as a senior consultant and was promoted to a Principal Recruitment Consultant - Strategic Accounts Utilises, Technology & Projects in July this year after demonstrating performance levels and behaviours of a Principal. Gideon is based in Melbourne.

“I was looking for a company that wasn’t too large, which had that family sort of feel to it,” he said.

“I had been with my last company for 15 years and they were very much my career-family. I wanted to work for a company, which had good financial backing but also was the right cultural and ideological fit with like-minded people. I found that at Davidson.”

While the plan had been for Gideon to build out the Oracle and SAP Market in Australia he quickly discovered not everything goes to plan and found this was simply not a growing market in Australia.

“The more I talked to people, and I talked to a shed load of people, meeting with project managers and senior staff in that area, it was clear this was not the area for me at Davidson,” he said.

“So I started looking at the utilities sector - utility and energy companies - and set about making 12 months of appointments with project directors, managers and business analysts working in these candidate spaces.

“To map out a plan and build up that desk was a great challenge and I do love a challenge. It meant there was a lot of cold calling and showing them how Davidson is different to our competitors.

“I talked with people from all over Melbourne, but I wouldn’t start by talking about recruitment. I started by talking about people and creating relationships from that point rather than it being transactional.

“Having experienced colleagues and managers who know the Melbourne market helped me a lot. The support from the resource team being able to work roles when they come in with the confidence they know what to look for meant I was able to push for more opportunities.”

Gideon said his top three tips for the wanting to work in recruitment are very simple:

Gideon also insists working from a plan - which is updated regularly - is a key to his success. He says he works from a day plan where he highlights tasks that must be completed.

“I make a new list every day and I try to keep it achievable even though it is usually pretty long,” Gideon explained. “Being a top biller is about the realisation of a long-term plan. It’s not going to happen in a month or two, but if you build your network, your clients and candidates, they will come.

“Recruitment is a people business. It’s a small world and the best way to start the ball rolling is to get out there and say hello. Be it a sector or skill you are looking to dominate you will find that speaking with Managers / Directors and team leaders opens up a lot of other doors as many of the contacts know of each other and allows for a far more informal introduction.”

When Gideon started on the utilities desk with Davidson 18 months ago, they had no contractors in roles. He has since built that to up to 50 contractors and has set himself the target of 100.

“Working a contract desk is like the stock market," he said. “Your numbers can go up as well as down. When your numbers drop, and at some point they will, that’s when the next big opportunity is round the corner. You just have to pick yourself up and go get it and that’s what I do.

“Being identified as someone who has been a high achiever within Davidson has been the result and was really nice. The trip to Fiji will be our first since we arrived in Australia so I’m looking forward to having some down time.

“Then my focus will be on building up our infrastructure here at Davidson so we can facilitate delivery. There is a lot more we can do still and I look forward to getting in there and achieving it.”

Gideon

Culture in the Boardroom

Wed, 13 Mar 2019 04:15:47 GMT

CULTURE IN THE BOARDROOM

I recently attended the Institute of Company Directors’ Governance Summit which attracted 1,500 Directors, executives, and consultants.

Given the recent Hayne Royal Commission Report on the Financial Services sectors, not surprisingly much of the focus was on governance and more so culture.

It was gratifying to see that the theme of many presentations was on culture and the need for Directors to see their understanding of their organisation’s culture as a key priority.

Interestingly ASIC recently commissioned Deputy Chairman, Daniel Crennan QC, to undertake a review of ASIC’s enforcement policies and as an indication where ASIC is now headed Crennan warned that Directors “will be subjected to reputational damage” if Boards fail to drive a culture of strict compliance with the law.

The consequence of not taking this approach is that shareholder value will diminish, and not having an aligned culture will impact the existence of a sustainable future in the longer term.

However, culture is more than just compliance.

Korn Ferry’s global survey on leadership in 2015 concluded that “organisations see the need to make a priority of culture to drive alignment, collaboration, and performance”. In fact, one of the key findings was that “driving culture change ranks among the top 3 global leadership priorities”.

Korn Ferry recently interviewed 13 business leaders who serve on boards or are CEOs of organisations in Australia to gain their insights on the strengths and weaknesses in organisational culture. The firm sought to understand where these leaders think responsibility for organisational culture belongs and how boards and executives can work together to ensure that the culture set at the top permeates throughout an organisation. “The Tone from the Top” February 2019.

In these interviews, the focus of the discussions was on the relationship between strategy and culture and how “fault lines can form” that allow toxic subcultures to exist. Of more importance was the need to achieve cultural alignment from the top.

In a recent report from PWC – “The Importance of Purpose in a Digital World” the key takeaways following PWC’s 20 ^th CEO survey were:

We’re seeing a paradigm shift in the way organisations and individuals relate to each other.

To read more about this topic, read my white paper .

By David Reynolds, GM Client Development with Davidson Executive & Boards

The pros and cons of being a Company Director

Thu, 07 Feb 2019 03:37:16 GMT

There was a time when having a Company Directorship on your CV was prestigious and an indicator for some that they were successful in the eyes of their peers.

But the 2018 Financial Services Royal Commission into misconduct in the Financial Services, Superannuation and Banking sectors cast Company Directorships into a new light with some questioning whether it is a professional and reputational risk they are still prepared to take.

If you are considering accepting a role as a Company Director it is imperative that you do your due diligence on the company. Afterall, it is your brand you are putting in the hands of another company and Board of Directors.

Do you know the quality, skills and experience of the Chairman and other Directors? What is the track record of the company and its Board? Do their values align with yours? What is the culture of the organisation like?

And there are the questions around your role, potential liability and risks of being a Director? What is the company risk and governance framework like? How healthy are the financials of the organisation? What are the borrowing arrangements and covenants? What is the Board Charter and the formal responsibilities of its Directors?

In the same way you would do your due diligence on a new employer to ascertain whether they are a match with you and you with them, you must be prepared put aside the prestige of the role and look at the stark reality.

Is this a company you want your name associated with into the future? Because as a Director it will be, very better or worse.

Former Chairwoman of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), Elizabeth Proust, was quoted in The Australian newspaper as saying that the fallout of the Financial Services Royal Commission will be a reluctance by some to serve on company Boards.

"Talented business people will shun serving on listed public company Boards as the risks of being a Director will increase sharply following the [Financial Services] Hayne Royal Commission,” she said.

Proust added that the remuneration of full-time Company Directors in financial services institutions paled in comparison to the executives within the organisation and yet the focus on Director’s remuneration and a perception they were overpaid could lead to an imbalance of future Boards.

I agree with Proust when she said demands for Directors to pay for shares with after tax dollars in the company whose Board they served on “could lead to a situation where only wealthy people serve on Boards”.

If a Board of Directors is to best serve its organisation, it must offer a diverse range of opinions from people with broad life and professional experience. What we don’t want is a shrinking pool of people we can afford to be appointed as Directors.

The path to a Directorship can be open if you know where to start and how to push your career in the right direction.

Taking the time to develop professional networks, building knowledge of the industries you want to work with, cultivating your own brand and being an active public speaker and thought leader are all steps towards being offered a Directorship.

If you have weighed up the pros and cons and still want to be a Company Director, I suggest reading my White Paper on Being a Company Director which can be found/requested/ordered here. LINK

By David Reynolds, GM Client Development with Davidson Executive & Boards

Encouraging women to reach for leadership in the NSW Public Sector

Tue, 05 Feb 2019 05:06:12 GMT

While women make up two-thirds of the NSW Public Sector workforce, they still hold just over one-third of senior leadership positions in the sector. There is no good reason for this and the reality of seeing gender parity in the workforce remains long overdue.

In the last few years, since the gender parity in leadership discussion really started to gain momentum, a lot of progress has been made in redressing the gender imbalance issue.
But we still have a very long way to go.

“In 2017, seven of our 10 public sector clusters still did not have gender balance in their leadership positions and three of those seven had less than 40% of their senior positions filled by women,” Madeleine Culbert , CEO, Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA) , said.

“To be fair, those figures are slowly improving. Overall, the percentage gap in leadership positions has become smaller.

“In 2016, women held 36.1% of leadership positions. In 2017, it went up 1.3 percentage points to 37.4% which is at least movement in the right direction and almost all clusters with less than 50% representation of women in senior leadership positions did better in their 2017 results than they did in 2016.”

Ms Culbert said it was evident that the levels of female representation in leadership positions dropped off the further up the public sector hierarchy you looked.

Data on women in leadership positions in the Victorian Public Sector (VPS) is only marginally better with women making up a full 67 per cent of the VPS and holding 44 per cent of senior positions.

“Australia’s closest political relative is probably Canada and it does seem that they do better than us in closing this gap,” she added pointing to a 2017 newspaper story on the Global Government Forum’s The Women Leaders Index 2016-17 .

The study, which looked the percentage of women in senior positions in the public sector (or civil service) in G20 and EU nations, showed Canada was leading the way in achieving gender parity in its Public Sector with women accounting for 46.4 per cent of senior leaders in the country’s public sector. Encouragingly, Australia was second at 43.4 per cent.

Ms Culbert was emphatic that neither the public nor private sectors “can afford systems where so much potential leadership talent is simply wasted” at senior levels.

Acknowledging she is “nervous” about the introduction of formal gender quotas, Ms Culbert said she is also very aware of the adage that “what gets measured gets managed”.

“While I am a strong believer of merit-based appointments, if organisations had quotas to fulfil it would make them work harder and smarter to recruit female talent,” she said. “I don’t believe an organisation would appoint a woman into a position purely to meet a quota. That would be a risk not worth taking.”

Ms Culbert said the move by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian to set a gender parity target of women in 50 per cent of senior leadership positions by 2025 under her Premier’s Priorities was commendable.

“As the CEO of IPAA NSW, I get to see just how many extraordinarily talented women there are in our sector,” she said. “The sad truth is that women often don’t position and confidently promote themselves as well as men.

“I believe the main challenge now is the visible pipeline of senior-level talent. They key word here is ‘visible’. There is a plethora of well-qualified, highly-experienced women in the public sector and business communities, the challenge is how easily accessible are they when it comes to considering executive appointments.

“And rather than focus only on the biggest challenge, let’s think about the biggest opportunity. If we were able to introduce more flexible working arrangements for all levels of the public sector, including senior leadership levels, this would be something that would be of immense benefit to both men and women.

“Ultimately the public sector should broadly reflect the community it serves and the truth is that it doesn’t at the moment.”

This year Davidson launched its inaugural Top 50 Public Sector Women (NSW) list, an initiative to designed to highlight and recognise the achievements of women who have made it to the highest levels of management within the state’s public sector.

The program was launched in Victoria in 2017 and proved to be a very powerful way of holding up female role models to younger women in the public sector. Consequently, the decision was made to expand the initiative into NSW this year.

Submissions for the NSW awards close May with winners announced at a gala event on July 2. Nomination details and applications can be found here .

Submission for the Victoria awards close June 11. Nomination details and applications can be found here and winners will be announced in the week of August 18.

“Events like this are an important way of reminding everyone about the depth of talent that is out there in the public sector,” Ms Culbert said.

We couldn’t agree more. If you are a woman who has attained a level of leadership in the NSW public sector – or work with a woman who has – and would like to see the nomination criteria, visit here .

How to Perform Under Pressure: Lessons from Movie Stuntman, Judd Wild (Part 2)

Tue, 05 Feb 2019 04:49:33 GMT

It goes without saying that pressure is an inevitable part of a rewarding career. We often associate pressure with stress and anxiety, yet we also know that pressure is a key ingredient of success and high performance.

The Yerkes-Dodson law suggests that just the right amount of pressure is needed to reach our peak performance. So, in an ever-changing business landscape of high stakes and big expectations, how can we use pressure to our advantage as opposed to suffering the adverse effects? And just as important, how do we handle pressure in a way to help us get “in the zone” and do our best work?

It has always intrigued me to discover how my clients reach the top of their game; to discover what lights them up, drives their motivation to reach success under the most challenging of circumstances. However, it’s not just the business world where we can find out how to handle pressure and reach beyond our limits of fear and self-doubt.

Judd Wild is a leading Australian Stuntman whose career has been built on riding the wave of intense, unabated pressure. In Part One , Judd delivered three strategies for how he takes control and reaches peak performance under pressure.

Here Judd reveals three further strategies:

Reframing and visualisation

“It’s important to have a healthy respect for the fear, but just as important to then focus on the successful outcome. Reframing the way I see the situation has a huge impact on changing my mindset,” Judd says.

“You visualise yourself performing the action to perfection and you keep getting that synced in your head - the form of the stunt and how it is meant to happen; the way you’ve practiced. It gives you more confidence. As Napoleon Hill said, “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.”

Overthinking and falling into the “analysis to paralysis” state can hinder our ability to achieve optimum performance. Being able to focus on accomplishing the task at hand is vital to success.

Research has shown that telling ourselves “don’t fail” actually increased our chances of failure as our brains focus on the very thing that we are trying to avoid.

Many great performers practice visualisation techniques to prepare for that big moment. A Stuntman may visualise himself landing safely from a high fall through the window. You might prepare for a presentation by visualising yourself delivering your introduction clearly and powerfully or answering questions in a confident manner. Seeing yourself perform well can give you the confidence and perception of control you need to deliver in reality.

Hone your strengths

“Debriefing on the event is a key element. We will talk about how the stunt went and if it was seamless. Even if it was a success, we discuss how we can do it better next time. It’s about continually striving to lift the bar, to not only make it look better visually but to make it connect viscerally. We want to make it safer, improve kinaesthetic memory and our overall awareness. There are always ways to improve and reflect on how you can develop,” Judd says.

Even though Judd has reached an elite skill level, he continues to master his craft. He didn’t stop practising just because he was good at it. While we often think that improving our performance means working on our weaknesses, honing our strengths can build the confidence we need to excel in a pressurised situation.

Celebrating the wins

“It’s important to congratulate yourself on a job well done and experience the satisfaction of your accomplishment. It intuitively tells your body: “You did a good job, you get a reward”. It helps to create a positive flow of energy and subconsciously programs your body to strive towards doing good things,” Judd says. “Use positive reinforcement.”

“We are often our harshest critics, repeatedly putting ourselves under pressure before each performance. A mentor taught me a long time ago that if you were as hard on your friends as you are on yourself, then you wouldn’t have any friends”, Judd jokes. “We care about how well we perform and what this means about us.”

“So the last thing we do in our work routine should be to congratulate ourselves on a job well done. Celebrate the win, treat yourself. Do whatever it is that makes you feel good. It doesn’t have to be in front of people, but later on, just appreciate the efforts you’ve exerted in reaching that accomplishment.”

And Judd has a powerful point: When we can be truly present at the finish line and feel the success, we have more faith and feel better prepared to take on similar challenges in the future.

Based on my years in recruiting and coaching professionals from a range of industries, I’m convinced that these strategies can be learned, and apply equally well to any domain, certainly including business.

May we all jump across the cliffs of our careers with focus, wild confidence, and grace under fire!

Chrissy Mandalis, Principal Consultant - Business Support, Davidson Corporate

Davidson wins 2018 APSCo Australia Award for Diversity and Inclusion

Tue, 05 Feb 2019 04:45:15 GMT

Davidson is thrilled to have been awarded an Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) Australia Award for Excellence for their work in promoting diversity and inclusion within the public sector at a gala dinner on Thursday October 18.

These national awards are committed to identifying, promoting and celebrating best practice and excellence in the recruitment and professional staffing sector.

Davidson was awarded in the category of Diversity and Inclusion for its industry-leading project, the Top 50 Public Sector Women, designed to shine a light on the inspirational female leaders working in the public sector in Victoria and NSW and to help increase gender diversity and inclusion in leadership roles.

Australia’s public sector records a high proportion of female staff, yet the number of women in executive roles remains disproportionately low. Reports across all tiers and divisions of the public sector reveal female representation drops off between middle management and executive levels.

Anecdotally, one of the reasons for this is that emerging female leaders do not feel they have the skills, suitable opportunities or confidence to progress their careers.

Based on this alarming information, Davidson’s Executive & Boards Group Manager Clare McCartin was invited to sit on a Ministerial roundtable to assist in developing diverse leadership teams across the public sector.

After the roundtable, Clare saw a need and an opportunity to use her team’s skills, knowledge and standing in the business community to develop an innovative new project that would assist to meet key objectives and targets.

The overarching objectives of the Top 50 Public Sector Women’s list are to:

Now in its second year, the Top 50 Public Sector Women list is designed to help identify emerging female leaders in the public sector, provide development opportunities, assist with building networks and industry associations and provide formalised learning experiences.

The list recognises exceptional female leaders already working within the public sector, highlighting their achievements and placing them as role models for future generations.

Davidson launched the Top 50 Public Sector Women’s List in Victoria in August 2017.

The project is an educational process for women, as well as an awards ceremony recognising the most inspirational women leaders in the sector. Davidson created an event which had never been staged before, and used it to grow confidence, business outcomes and gender diversity. It is a unique approach and ensured that the project stood out within the public sector.

The project immediately gained the support of a series of high calibre women and men in the sector who agreed to act as judges.

The project also attracted the attention of key partners such as IPPA Victoria (Institute of Public Administration Australia - Victoria), LGPro (Local Government Professionals) and Seek who assisted in raising the profile of the event even further.

Since August 2017, the innovation has grown significantly and in early 2018 it was extended into NSW. The NSW Government partnered with Davidson for the first NSW event this year and the project attracted a record number of entries.

We are very proud to have won such a prestigious award for a project that is very close to our hearts. To find out more about the Top 50 Public Sector Women list click here.

Why coaching your staff is key to success

Tue, 05 Feb 2019 04:27:16 GMT

Why coaching your staff is key to success

Former LegoVice President Andrew Bollington once said that lifelong learning had shifted from being something which was optional to becoming essential for success in the workplace and he questioned why given our access to knowledge there continued to be skills gaps in the workplace.

It’s a fair question. We do have access to knowledge at the click of a button these days as the internet allows most of us living on the planet to type questions into Google on any subject and quickly be offered a list of answers.

Despite this, not all employers appreciate the value of continuing to educate and upskill their workforce.

“Being educated is no longer about how much you know, but about having the skills and motivation for lifelong learning so that you can learn new knowledge whenever you need to,” Bollington wrote.

Applying this logic, it makes sense to invest in your staff so they have the knowledge and skills to help drive your business forward as technology, thinking and work practices shift.

When I accepted the role of General Manager, Projects & Operations with Davidson, I revisited many of the recruitment foundations with the team through a training program, leaving no gaps in what they knew and what I thought they knew.

I understood and appreciated the depth and breadth of experience we already had and wanted to make sure we were tapping into that collectively by building on it. I find group training sessions encourage sharing, allowing us all the benefit of learning from each other’s experience.

The training I held with the team was equivalent to a high-level, fast-track graduate program to ensure all my consultants have had access to all the basic training which is paramount to success in our industry. A lot of the graduates in our industry start when they're in their early 20s and I’m not convinced they retain everything they have learned at university; that’s a feat beyond most of us.

Our training looked at everything from candidate and client control, to how to close a client, the power of relationships and other basic recruitment foundations. We did this with team members of all experience levels, where each person was coached according to the skill and knowledge they possessed.

For some team members, it was a journey to shift their understanding from thinking recruitment is just people and policies, to the understanding that there is a strong sales element to what we do. For others it was helping them refine techniques such as their personal brand and communication skills.

I had a recent training session with graduates where we went through the process of what to do when a candidate tells you they are looking for A, B, C and D and once they are put forward for just such a role, they get cold feet. We talked about selling their story back to them, reminding them what they wanted in the first place.

When we foster an environment where we encourage our team members to enjoy a journey of life-long discovery and learning, we give them the confidence to take clients on the same journey encouraging them to try new ways of working.

Our construction and property clients are moving towards working on a retained basis with us. If I had been told three years ago that would be happening, I hand on heart wouldn’t have believed it but know it’s the result of our vision and strong client relationships, allowing us to navigate new terrain successfully together.

By taking in some of the accumulated knowledge we had, notably in the Executive and Boards space where the retained model is often favoured, we were able to successfully deliver a similar retained model for clients in the construction and property market.

By keeping ourselves open to lifelong learning it helps us as consultants to grow within our roles, be more nimble when responding to changes and have the confidence ourselves to be the business coach our clients often need us to be.

By Kylie Ringelstein
General Manager, Projects & Operations (Queensland) at Davidson

Inflexible employers lose out in a candidate short market.

Tue, 05 Feb 2019 04:24:43 GMT

Inflexible employees lose out in a candidate short market.

If you were unsure if Australians are really craving family-friendly, flexible workplaces, the 22,000 likes on Rachel Perkin’s recent LinkedIn post should leave no room for ambiguity. Rachel shared a CEO’s directive that “If anyone needs to bring their child to the interview we can accommodate that. We have toys and books for younger children.” It is easy to imagine over twenty thousand people fist pumping the air in support of this CEO’s practical approach to offering work-life balance.

As of December 1st, 2018, the Fair Work Commission acknowledged the need for more flexible arrangements for workers and a “Family friendly working arrangement” was inserted into all modern awards. That being said, many workplaces just are not interested or set up to support this approach and have not created an environment that embraces flexibility and collaboration.

Teresa Messina has been working at Davidson for over 18 months as ‘Practice Lead’ in the Technology Division of the Melbourne office. Teresa left her last role where she had been a successful recruiter for eighteen years as she was, “attracted to the family feel of Davidson and the amazing opportunities for growth and development.”

Sarah Gusman, who returned in February from nine months of maternity leave, job shares with Teresa. Sarah and Teresa had worked in a previous company together and they both made the move to Davidson and haven’t looked back.

Teresa identifies that “job sharing and collaborating to use the best of our abilities allows both Sarah and I the opportunity to stay at the level we are at while working part-time in order to balance work with our young families."

The current arrangement is fluid and will change over time, as currently, as Sarah transitions from one to two days a week.

"It is a great feeling knowing that Sarah and I are allowed to manage our workflow without being micro-managed. At Davidson, no one makes assumptions about your level of commitment when you have children or asks you to take a step back. I have friends in other workplaces who were initially allowed some flexibility when they returned from maternity leave but then had no choice but to assume fulltime hours within a few months.”

Sarah identifies that "in a candidate short market many experienced women in their 30’s are off the table to the companies that don’t offer part-time, job share or work from home opportunities. Growing numbers of men also wish to lessen their hours or take extended paternity leave, so it isn’t just women that are seeking less traditional work arrangements.”

Millennials are not necessarily motivated by money and many want a work-life balance as they juggle study, side hustles or travel with their job. Fulltime roles are not the end goal for many in 2019.“ Government and private sector employers are keen to fill their diversity quotas,“ Sarah notes, ”but if they want to select from a broad spectrum of candidates, widen their scope of choice and acquire the best and brightest talent, flexibility must be on the table.”

Some companies pay lip service to the offer of a flexible work environment, remote work options or job-share roles but the prevailing lack of trust these employees feel when not visible at their desk can make it a fairly hostile place to be. Remote or part-time employees are often left out of office memos and get-togethers and this lack of communication and genuine care of employees invariably has a detrimental effect on engagement and performance.

Teresa loves that “Davidson sees my value and I don’t have to explain myself if I have to leave 20 minutes early and I am not interrogated about when and how I will be making up the time. My results are what matters. Being appreciated and working for a company that supports and champions working parents and work-life-balance, means so much. It just comes down to trust.”

Companies that see the value of attracting and supporting talented staff and offering them flexibility when it is needed will retain the best and brightest employees. These employees will be engaged and more likely to go the extra mile for a company they feel a part of and that respects them. Encouraging a collaborative way of working also offers clients and candidates full access to a company’s talent pool.

Global recruitment Insights and Data surveyed employers about their top priorities in 2019 and ‘Candidate Acquisition’ and ‘Engaging and improving the candidate experience” were the top concerns of employers. It is more important than ever for employers to identify the talent they have and make sure they have what they need to succeed in balancing work and family. Steve Job’s identified that ‘It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.’

If companies offer flexibility and promote collaboration in the workplace within an environment of genuine trust this combination will allow people to get creative, work smart and build growth.

If you are exploring your next career move in recruitment or consulting or want to speak to one of our consultants about how they can enhance your workplace, visit the Davidson website and get in touch.

Is your organisation future proofing?

Tue, 05 Feb 2019 04:23:54 GMT

Agility is the Key to Embracing Digital Disruption

There is little doubt that digital disruption is transforming our workplaces in radical ways, but what may be less clear is that without a strategic and supportive HR strategy and an “agile” business culture in place, this transformation will face enormous obstacles at best and fail at worst.

A McKinsey report, The five trademarks of agile organizations (December 2017), postulates that there is an increasing urgency for organisations to become more agile so they can quickly respond to the ever-changing digital world in order to achieve better business outcomes.

This means being able to respond quickly to rapidly changing environments where the pace of action in the workplace and decision-making is expected to be both faster and more accurate than ever.

It also means having a willingness to be early adopters of disruptive technologies, knowing that this will give you the edge in competing for both clients and talent who want access to the latest digital trends and tools at work.

For McKinsey there are five trademarks of an agile organisation:

Organisations which do have workforce agility set as a key strategy could soon find themselves playing catch-up with those who took the chances early on and reaped the rewards.

For organisations to thrive in this new technologically-driven world, there needs to be a significant mind shift among management and leaders within companies.

This shift allows the empowerment of staff rather than micro-management, encourages risk taking and has strategies in place to mitigate against risk, and allows technology to be integrated to unlock additional potential rather than just value-adding to current systems.

The way agility looks is different to each organisation and the way the required mind shift will manifest must vary as much as each company, but there are commonalities across sectors, industry and workforces.

These include teams which are able to effectively self-manage with competence being team member based and not leader based; developing teams which have cross functional skills and embracing a flow-to-the-work where staff are tasked to jobs based on priority.
Critically though, a willingness to embrace technology and agile ways of working mean nothing if they do not have the support of said HR strategies.

Leaders, in their enthusiasm to embrace technology, can sometimes make the fatal mistake of forgetting the value of their people.

Technology without capable people who know how to use it and who want to be use it to help your business grow, is quite simply next to useless.

For a company to ensure its digital transformation is smooth, it must:

If your business is not setting itself up for success in this brave, new digital world, your days are likely numbered.

To read more about this topic, read my white paper .

By David Reynolds, GM Client Development with Davidson Executive & Boards

Philip Bayne-Jardine -Experiencing the X4 Summit

Tue, 05 Feb 2019 04:16:39 GMT

Philip Bayne-Jardine, National Manager Client Solutions at Davidson HR Consulting has been attending the Qualtrics X4Summit in Salt Lake City, Utah this week. Philip and the Davidson HR and Consulting team are a fully accredited member of the Qualtrics partner network and together they can help employers enhance their workplaces.

Philip talks here about some of the learnings he has taken away so far from the X4 summit.

Being part of the Qualtrics Partner Network has already been phenomenally successful and having the opportunity to come to Salt Lake City and be a part of the Qualtrics X4 event has been a privilege and I'm very grateful to Davidson for enabling me to have this experience.

So, what have I learned? Well, I learned that although Utah is Republican, Salt Lake City has a lot of love for President Barack Obama. And you can see why. His poise, humility, candour and humour make for an amazing story teller that captured and held the audience of 10,000’s attention for the best part of an hour. Hearing how he moved on from losing a congressional race to run for senate, recognising that if he won that he would become a national figure which would increase his book sales and maybe get a new book contract. Because at the time, he was broke and needed to find a way to provide for his family whilst seeking out his ambitions. At the time it seemed to Michelle that this was a bit of a “magic beans" approach to solving their financial and career challenges, but President Obama's self-belief and positive outlook meant that they achieved his vision and so much more.

As Ashton Kutcher said earlier in the morning, unbridled enthusiasm combined with hard work and tenacity can help you achieve or overcome anything. Ashton combined this message with one of responsibility, the responsibility to “wake up to yourself" and bring your whole self to every day, responsibility to fight for what is right, and the responsibility to fight for those that can't fight for themselves. A life fulfilled is a life of hard work, gratitude and social responsibility.

Sir Richard Branson reflected on his entrepreneurism being driven by frustration, and how if you're going to topple a giant of industry you better make sure that your product is significantly differentiated from the competition. Sir Richard highlighted how important it is to make your employees feel valued and how actively listening to your employees and acting on the feedback will do this. And if you don't, your people will leave.

The insights from Zillow, Qualtrics, Buzzfeed and other speakers shared some common threads. The speakers said that if you want to know how to improve workplace performance you need to funnel your efforts into the areas that matter to you most. An active listening strategy must be established to understand what has the most meaning for your people and if you can do this and consistently act on the feedback , you will always get a greater response than simply doing what you think is needed. This approach will turn your employees into highly engaged ambassadors that want to work hard for you every day.

They also reinforced the importance of listening to your employees. This should start when they are candidates and the expectations set during the attraction and selection process need to be reinforced during the first 3 months of a new employee’s tenure. It’s well known that the cost of miss-hires is about 1.5 times the salary of the person hired. When combined with the lost productivity compounded over time, the cost is even greater. As part of that, understanding “Candidate's remorse", which occurs when the experience of the new role/culture is significantly below the expectation, is vital to closing this experience gap and avoiding regrettable attrition.

So, a lot learned and more to think on over the coming weeks.

Looking forward to today's speakers including Bill McDermott from SAP and of course, Oprah!

If you would like to arrange to speak to Philip about enhancing workplace performance, please click here to register your details.

Davidson supports Queensland Corrective Services to improve their people's experience at work.

Tue, 05 Feb 2019 04:14:11 GMT

Davidson EX were recently engaged by Queensland Corrective Services to provide a clear evidence-based insight into the actions required to improve their people’s experience at work

Duncan McKellar, the Executive Director HR at Queensland Corrective Services, describes this large organisation as one “which provides an essential frontline public safety function for Queenslanders. Every day our staff work closely with some of Queensland’s most challenging people, who struggle and often fail to cope with life’s significant hurdles. Our workforce faces intellectual, emotional and, at times, physical demands daily. The Queensland Government’s Working for Queensland employee opinion survey [run on Qualtrics EXM] is one opportunity to understand how our people are affected by their work.”

Duncan chose to partner with Davidson EX to create a clear action plan for improving employee engagement across the organisation.

“Davidson EX cut through the volume and complexity of information available from the Working for Queensland employee opinion survey and provided us with clear evidence-based insights into our potential to improve our people’s experience at work.”

“We believe that lifting employee engagement is an essential first step to co-designing workplaces and a culture that can continue to improve satisfaction at work and outcomes for Queenslanders.”

“Davidson EX provided us with the insights and the tools required for a succinct and carefully targeted engagement of our leaders, and a strong foundation for an agency-wide priority plan.”

Duncan goes on to say that, “Davidson EX helped us see past the differences in our workforce and focus on our shared strengths, opportunities and challenges. This has become the foundation for local action, participation, and leadership which are all critical to achieving cultural reform at the frontline.”

Philip Bayne-Jardine, National Manager with Davidson EX identifies that “Research is showing us clearly that businesses using employee experience as a lever to drive innovation, attract and hire the best people, increase customer satisfaction, make work more engaging, and enhance workplace performance. However, for companies to take this experience first approach they must first define their unique EX and then embed and measure this throughout the talent lifecycle from attraction, selection, performance through to transition. It is the consistent EX that binds people to the organisation, that motivates individuals to go the extra mile, and creates high performing teams that achieve breakthrough outcomes.

By partnering with the leading global experience management software of Qualtrics and our own local expert team of consultants, psychologists, and tech specialists, Davidson EX helps businesses define, design and implement their EX measurement strategy, and take a data led approach to making their people their competitive advantage.”

As Australia's only fully accredited EX Consulting and Implementation Partner for Qualtrics, Davidson are experts at creating world class EX measurement programs designed to enhance workplace performance for our clients.

“We partner with Qualtrics to design employee experiences that deliver back to the bottom line with world-class technology and expert consulting to help every employee succeed and contribute to your success”

Author Jacob Morgan (The employee experience advantage)

Says “The ROI of investing in employee experience is significant and translates into higher productivity, profit, and revenue per employee, stock price performance, and much more. We all deserve to work for an organization that invests in the employee experience!”

Talk to Davidson EX to find out how you can optimise your Employee Experience.

Alternatively, you can contact Philip-Bayne Jardine on 0404 474 387 or via email: philip.bayne-jardine@davidsonwp.com

One thing successful employee experience programs have in common – are you doing it?

Tue, 05 Feb 2019 04:10:21 GMT

Would you ever give a prospective employer (or even client) an incredibly boring answer to one of their questions in your interview?

That’s what I did recently when my now manager asked me what I thought was “the next big thing in HR in Australia”.

My response?

“I don’t believe organisations are ready for the next big thing... many are still so archaic in their practices”

I backed it up with the context that HR and Business leaders are still talking about having more regular performance reviews, or moving away from annual engagement surveys to something more frequent. I explained that many organisations still haven't got the basic fundamentals right to create an engaging employee experience.

Underwhelmed by my own answer, it got me thinking – why is this?

As I started to talk to my wider network about examples of initiatives (both incredibly successful and fabulous failures) there was a common theme - most hesitation comes from the fact that businesses don’t have a clear picture of how they are going to objectively measure the ROI and impact of enhanced employee experience initiatives.

Now I am not naturally data inclined (ask anyone who knows me well), but this is where I think the answer lies - successfully understanding both operational and experience data.

Take the example of Perpetual Guardian’s successful four-day working week trial that worked so well it is now the norm in their business.

As the program came to fruition, Perpetual Guardian set a series of benchmarks and data points, in order to measure the success of the initiative. Of course, they also had a CEO and leadership team that championed the change, a strong engagement strategy, clear guidelines and a structured approach. But where I think they really nailed was in the data and measurement.

It doesn’t sound so revolutionary when you read it – but how many businesses do you know truly understand and act on their data (both their operational data, and experience data).

Whether it’s introducing a four day work week, remote working, offshore functions or AI (whatever it is to drive better performance in your business); understanding the critical success factors, can help you approach the change with confidence.

So, next time you read about some “revolutionary” HR initiatives and think that it would never work in your business, consider what’s truly holding you back from doing something different.

Or perhaps you have an idea that’s ready to take off but you haven’t got the measurement strategy down pat?

Reach out to me – I can help guide you to take a data-driven approach for a measurable impact. Who knows, maybe the next time I’m asked what the next big thing is HR – your example will be the one I use!

Talk to Davidson EX to find out how you can optimise your Employee Experience.

Alternatively, you can contact Katie Hamilton on (07) 3023 1058 or via email: katie.hamilton@davidsonwp.com

How to add value in an increasingly saturated market

Tue, 05 Feb 2019 04:02:48 GMT

Standing out from the crowd is something we need to strive for as recruiters if we are to remain competitive in a saturated market but just how do we do that and do it in the right way? In NSW, the need to stand out from the competition is arguably stronger than other Australian markets purely because of the volume of recruiters we have working in the space and the jobs required, thanks to key and long term infrastructure projects in the CBD and surrounding regions.

Based on what I’m witnessing and my previous experience in busy markets, in particular during the resources boom in Queensland, I take a look at what can be done to separate you from the competition for the right reasons.

First contact

In a strong market, clients are telling me they are being called up to 10 times a day by recruiters eager to secure their business so in many ways the first challenge is getting through in the first place (where there is no prior relationship). If you get through, what is going to make your call and contact stand out? If you don’t get through on the phone, what is your next move?

In most cases, the only difference you can communicate quickly is your credibility, networks and enthusiasm to be not just a recruiter, but a business partner, an advisor who can value-add all the way through the process and beyond. If you can be referred or introduced to a new client even better, as nothing beats a referral and introduction from a person they already know and respect.

No matter what level you have reached in business, it remains a truism that people want to talk to people and know they are being heard and understood. Further to this they don’t want to waste their time. They want to speak to an expert and someone who gets their challenges, needs and can truly be advisor and support, rather than just providing a transactional process.

How are you communicating that? Have you researched the business and can demonstrate to the client you understand where they have been and where they are going? If you are able to demonstrate empathy, industry knowledge and understanding during this first contact, you are already streets ahead of some of the competition.

Follow up

It cannot be said enough – deliver what you say you are going to deliver.

Getting the ear and interest of the client is the first step, but you will lose them quickly on the recruitment path if you do not keep listening and do not follow through with what you say you are going to do. A recruiter’s client may have a sterling reputation and their positions may attract a lot of applications but if the recruitment experience of candidates does not match the hype, it will result in damage to the brand of the client and recruiter alike.

We cannot control what our competitors are doing. But we can control what we are doing and that means delivering a quality service and outcome. Clients want to know the person recruiting for them understands the business, the culture and the role. It is our role to demonstrate to them that we do.

Obviously, every chance we have as a recruiter to value-add should be seized upon.

Why cheaper is not always better

We have seen the cut-price tactic in recruitment used since the industry was even considered to be an industry. It can be easy to attract the attention of clients by offering a cheaper service than the competition. And for some clients this may be perfect, but as a rule of thumb, you get what you pay for.

Cutting costs usually means cut corners in delivery to save costs and make the effort financially worthwhile for the recruiter. But it is a short-term strategy, which is best left to those who are interested in a race to the bottom.

It is certainly not a strategy to build a sustainable business upon.

The rule of thumb should be simple: if you want to stand out for the right reasons, treat clients well from your first contact until your last. Do what you say you are going to do and more.

Be an expert in your space and go beyond just providing a transactional service. Instead, be an advisor long after the dust settles on key projects. Not doing so will make you stand out, but for all the wrong reasons.

Stephen Veness , Group Manager, Projects & Operations at Davidson

This story was originally published in Global Recruiter. Stephen Veness is a regular contributor to this international publication. To read his original column please click here .

Follow your North Star: your first step to becoming an ‘agile’ business leader

Wed, 07 Nov 2018 04:42:23 GMT

Follow your North Star: your first step to becoming an ‘agile’ business leader

By David Reynolds , General Manager Client Development, Davidson Executive & Boards

The push for organisations to embrace the concept of ‘agility’ is quickly gaining traction in the business world as we accept there is an ever-increasing need to be able to respond quickly to a rapidly changing world and achieve better business outcomes.

But where do you start if you are a forward-thinking business looking to be proactive in this area? I would argue the best place to start is to establish yourself as a “North Star” for the business, to guide, inspire and empower those around you.

First, let’s review what an agile organisation looks like and why it is becoming such a valuable business trend. In McKinsey’s October 2018 report, Leading agile transformation: The new capabilities leaders need to build 21st century organisations , the authors say typically agile organisations have the following traits:

This approach complements and aligns with the need to engage the whole organisation - staff at all levels - in a sustained conversation over time if the company is to become truly agile.

I believe, as do many others in the sector, that it is the role of the North Star in an organisation to be a leader who works to ensure there are learning opportunities at all levels and that they form part of regular operations and daily routines and conversations.

Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey, authors of An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization , go further stating that an agile organisation has a focus on developing the learning goals of its staff, pursuing business excellence and helping people to become the most capable versions of themselves.

They said senior leaders should be role models and cultivate an awareness of learning and development as well as the cultivation of new skill-sets and mind-sets by pushing themselves to learn and initiating and running experiments in various parts of the organisation.

Guided by a North Star, an organisation is able to re-imagine both who they create value for and how. They are obsessively customer focused and are committed to working with a wide range of stakeholders including employees, investors, partners, and communities to create that value.

Further, an organisation’s North Star guides and frames everything that the organisation is and does, from high-level strategic discussions to day-to-day tactical decisions at the front line where responses to customers or the environment are made quickly and confidently.

Over time, this holistic and agile thinking should become deeply embedded across the organisation and in its wider ecosystem.

To lead agile organisations, leaders must learn that this unity of purpose, manifest in an organisation’s people, is a source of competitive advantage every bit as viable as - and in many ways more robust - than capital, intellectual property, design, technology, and physical resources.

And importantly, leaders need to learn to communicate this message to all staff at all levels with authenticity and passion.

The design and work on culture begin to mutually reinforce each other in pursuit of the organisation’s purpose and it is here that the opportunity for wholesale transformation presents itself for both leaders and the teams they lead as they work together to co-create the agile organisation of the future.

For more on being a North Star for your organisation, McKinsey’s reports on the need for organisation’s to be agile in structure and approach and read my White Paper , Why organisation’s need to become more agile to survive.

David Reynolds

Fixing a broken employee experience

Fri, 12 Oct 2018 04:45:58 GMT

The global marketplace is volatile, uncertain and the employment deal is changing. Companies are experiencing a relentless pace of change and the reactive nature of leadership is making culture difficult to shift. Fierce competition for talent and demographic shifts are highlighting the need for organisations to proactively manage their employee and customer experience to support growth.

We have known for over three decades that we need engaged employees to deliver great customer experiences, improved total shareholder return and improved operational efficiency. But the way we are addressing engagement and the employee experience is broken. Traditional HR teams are years behind when compared to their consumer marketing colleagues, the idea of measuring engagement once per year is flawed as it misses the intricacies of change and requirement for leaders to manage their business in real-time.

To understand these challenges we consulted with over 30 senior human resources practitioners to answer a simple, but powerful question: How can we use our employee experience to deliver a competitive advantage?

From these discussions a clear answer was present—success comes from proactively designing and managing the employee experience in a way that delivers results to our business. The following themes will support you in achieving this goal.

Treat your employees like customers

Leading organisations treat their employees like customers. Any organisation has the opportunity to create brand ambassadors and product advocates that will support you in growing your business. This means listening to your employee’s feedback in a similar way to a customer complaint and acting with similar urgency.

Your employee experience is unique and should be personalised

There is no such thing as a perfect company culture. Benchmarking is useful for comparison but it ignores the complexity of your organisation. Designing an employee experience needs to start with your business strategy and being crystal clear what behaviours, beliefs and people initiatives will support you in achieving your ambitions.

Frequency of feedback needs to be practical, actionable

The trend towards continuous listening makes logical sense. However, without a clear plan for how your organisation will turn this into continuous action will result in employee fatigue, disengagement and silence. Measurement by itself is not an intervention. The value is in providing your leaders with access to real-time data to support them in having a conversation about how to improve their employee experience.

Make human data commercial to lead your business

Gone are the days where we can rely on references to out-dated research as a means of justifying investment in the employee experience. We need to utilise advancements in technology, organisational psychology and data science to understand what aspects of the employee experience predict real business outcomes. Once you know the factors unique to your organisation you can be clear on what to measure in the future and how you can partner with your leaders to deliver a competitive advantage.

Nick Tucker, Principal Consultant – Davidson HR Consulting

How to Perform Under Pressure: Lessons from Movie Stuntman, Judd Wild (Part One)

Wed, 08 Aug 2018 04:55:51 GMT

The Silver Screen is often filled with nail-biting, white-knuckled tension, explosions and high-risk action scenes. But who is behind the movie magic we love, and what can they teach us about enhancing our performance under pressure in the business world? Judd Wild , a multi-award-winning stuntman from Wild Stunts is here to share his insights.

While it is unlikely that our jobs will require us to be set on fire, roll a speeding car or dangle ourselves from a passing helicopter, we all still deal with pressure in our day-to-day work lives, from tight deadlines or delivering a daunting presentation, to pitching to a new client or attending an interview for your dream job.

Research shows that our brains can’t tell the difference between a physical threat and a perceived threat, such as an upset boss. The fight-or-flight reaction can occur in either situation. Many of us are familiar with how this survival mechanism can hinder our performance, focus, and productivity – often at the most critical of times. So how should you handle it from here?

In their book Performing Under Pressure: The Science of Doing Your Best When It Matters Most , Hendrie Weisinger and J.P. Pawliw-Fry give us an enlightening finding: the difference between regular and highly successful people is not that the latter group thrives under pressure, but rather that they are better able to mitigate its negative effects.

The ability to perform under phenomenal levels of pressure is perhaps the most defining characteristic of a movie stuntman. They excel when the heat is turned up. They are able to remain focused on the things that really matter in the face of a multitude of potential threats and distractions, and, most importantly, they are able to maintain their belief in themselves in the most trying circumstances.

Judd Wild is one such Stuntman with over a decade of experience performing high-pressure stunts on scores of films – from Mad Max: Fury Road and X-Men Origins: Wolverine right through to the worldwide YouTube sensation that is RackaRacka . Not only is Judd an in-demand performer, he’s also made the exciting leap to Stunt Coordinator and Action Designer for Wild Stunts .

Judd uses six key strategies to excel under pressure. Here he explains the first three:

Get your butterflies to fly in formation

“The best way to control my nerves in the lead up to the event is to pump myself up into a focused, energised state,” Judd says. “I find this is more beneficial than trying to calm myself down.”

“Those butterflies can be good, I just get them to fly in the one direction – stay sharp and interpret the situation in an activated way. It also protects yourself, for example, if you are a bit too relaxed and you hit the ground, you’re going to hurt yourself. I guess this can be the same as strolling casually into a serious Board meeting. But instead, if you are energised and focused, you are primed for whatever comes at you.”

Remember the five Ps

“Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. It’s pretty self-explanatory,” says Judd.

“The more practice and preparation I put into the rehearsals of a stunt, the better I perform under high pressure because I know what to expect.

“Success isn’t made from those minutes caught on film, but in thousands of hours of practice beforehand. This all helps to counteract the pressure before it even hits. The more prepared I am, the less pressure I feel.”

Breath and stay present

“Just before ‘action’ it’s more about breathing for me. It helps me to get more clarity and be present to move forward. Everything follows suit after that. If I’m not breathing properly through a stunt, my cognitive and technical ability can go slack and I’m not able to respond at an optimum level.”

“Then when it’s ‘go time’ my preparation and muscle memory kicks in. In that moment I don’t need to focus on anything else because the prior work is already there.”

Stay tuned next week for Part 2 when Judd shares his next three strategies with us.

Chrissy Mandalis, Principal Consultant - Business Support, Davidson Corporate

Davidson Technology welcomes new Victorian General Manager

Thu, 12 Jul 2018 04:53:24 GMT

With an impressive track record of building teams and developing new business streams for global brands, Jacqui Wightman is a welcomed addition to the Davidson Technology team having recently started as the new General Manager (Victoria).

Jacqui brings to the role a successful and impressive working history that includes holding senior managerial positions with Chandler McLeod Group, Hays, Altablue Australia and Peoplebank, to name a few.

She has worked extensively across financial services, resources and technology sectors and brings this level of knowledge to her roles as a strong business advisor.

Throughout her roles, Jacqui has become well-known within the sector for improving internal processes, building new business streams to reflect market demands and developing highly-motivated and successful teams within the industry.

Jacqui said she was excited about the new General Manager role with Davidson Technology Victoria and said it was a like a homecoming as she had worked with the division’s CEO Brendan Kavenagh in a previous role and had previously been a consultant for Davidson’s technology consulting firm Monitor.

“Furthermore, I’m excited to be back working in the technology sector, which has always fascinated and excited me,” Jacqui, who was the Manager – Major Account for Chandler McLeod’s $700 million technology division for five years.

“Since then I have seen the market move more towards contract placements as it strives to meet demand in what is a very candidate-driven market.

“While helping to streamline our processes for permanent placements, I will also be focusing on building up the contract business and ensuring we are the go-to place for the sector’s top contractors. Ideally, we will be able to have contractors move from one contract straight to another so we can continue to work with them in our talent pool.

“To be able to deliver that kind of service for clients and candidates, we need to establish processes that facilitate this and I look forward to working with Brendan and the team to develop those.”

Jacqui plans to bring her experience in managing teams across Asia Pacific to her new role at Davidson.

“I believe my diverse experience across a number of sectors provides me with a unique viewpoint so I can offer different solutions and delivery models,” Jacqui said. “I really enjoy putting the right people in right the roles, helping to rebuild business streams and reinvigorate the people around me.”

Brendan Kavenagh , CEO of Davidson Technology, said it was a great coup for the company to secure Jacqui as the new general manager for Davidson Technology (Victoria).

“In order to offer our clients recruitment and consultancy services of the highest standards, we need to engage the best consultants in the market,” Brendan explained.

“With her wealth of experience managing national companies, large teams and big budget clients we believe Jacqui is just that. She has diverse managerial experience and understands the IT sector and what drives those who work within it.

“We see that as invaluable and expect Jacqui will produce the same level of success for our clients as she has previously. Given the large number of projects earmarked for Victoria, we are expecting to enter a period of rapid growth and I am confident Jacqui is the best person to lead our Victorian team through that process.”

How do we encourage more women into executive positions in Australia?

Tue, 05 Jun 2018 05:02:32 GMT

By Clare McCartin , Group General Manager, Executive & Boards at Davidson

Elizabeth Cosson is a name which should long be remembered in Australian history.

In April, Cosson was appointed to the role of Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs heralding the realisation of what had been a dream for many – gender parity in the upper echelons of the Australian Public Service (APS).

“We now have achieved gender parity at the most senior level of the APS, with nine women and nine men serving as Commonwealth Secretaries,” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was excited to announce at the time.

It is a laudable achievement, but disappointing that achieving gender parity in senior positions within the APS continues to be newsworthy – or even notable.

The reality is that female representation does drop off between middle management and executive levels throughout Australia’s public sectors across local, state and federal levels and there needs to be a more concerted effort to redress this.

And while we should rightly acknowledge achieving gender parity at such a senior level, there is still much which needs to be done for this to be realised at all levels of Australia’s federal, state and local government levels.

Data released in March by Local Government NSW reveals that across NSW’s 128 local councils, women hold just 18 (14 per cent) of CEO or General Manager positions with women holding less a third of Mayoral roles (29 per cent). Some NSW Councils have no female elected representatives.

While women make up 64.4 per cent of the NSW Public Sector workforce, they hold just 37.4 per cent of leadership positions in the sector according to the NSW Public Service Commission Workforce Profile 2017 , a y-o-y increase of 1.3 per cent.

A January 2017 report from the Victorian Public Sector Commission (VPSC) reveals that while women account for 67 per cent of the public sector workforce, they hold 44 per cent of executive level positions.

So why does female representation consistently drop off between middle management and executive levels for across all levels of government in Australia?

“I think it is down to a combination of issues,” Wendy Steendam , Victorian Deputy Police Commissioner said. “The biggest of these is unconscious bias in individuals as well as systems or institutional bias.

“One of the biggest challenges for police and the public sector is the opportunity for flexibility of roles. We need to constantly look at how we adjust roles to accommodate obligations outside of work.

“Creating opportunities for part-time policing and having flexibility makes a difference to whether women stay in the organisation when trying to balance home life with work and ultimately consider executive positions. We are continuing to improve this every day, looking at ways to support an ‘All Roles Flex’ approach.”

Steendam said around 33 per cent of sworn candidates in the Victorian Police Service are women and this number steadily decreases as you go through the ranks of the service.

“As at 31 March 2018, there were 4,159 policewomen in Victoria Police,” she said. “This represents 28 per cent of all sworn members. In terms of leadership roles, in 2006 women held 5 per cent of positions at the rank of Inspector. By 31 March 2018 that had increased to 18 per cent, and in total, women hold 17 per cent of all Commissioned Officer ranks.”

Kelly Grigsby, Chief Executive Officer at Victoria’s Wyndham City Council said while setting gender quotas was a step towards achieving equality in the workplace, cultural change was what was needed if equality was to be achieved and retained.

“There is some value in setting targets, however, the danger is that they become tick the box exercises,” she said. “Cultural change is a lot less overt, but in my view, a lot more powerful with better ability to address systemic issues and provide longer lasting benefits.

“This requires a strategic intent to developing a narrative around the type of change you want to see and then putting in the effort to embed that in the organisation. We need to consider change processes that take the time to listen to women talk about their experiences, their aims and goals, the type of organisational culture that exists and the type that they want to develop.

“In this way we can develop the type of organisational and even societal culture that achieves the aim of gender equality, but in a way where the practice and process is as transformational as the outcome itself.”

Elizabeth Koff, Secretary of NSW Health is an advocate of women leading by example. She said women respond well to seeing other women in executive roles and their success encourages other women to strive for executive level positions.

She said initiatives such as the NSW Premier’s Driving Public Sector Diversity , which was developed to increase the proportion of women in senior leadership roles in the State’s public sector from the current 33 per cent to 50 per cent by 2025, are positive steps towards achieving parity.

“Women need to be recognised for the important contribution they make to the public service,” Koff said. “It offers them the opportunity to be role models for other women.”

Koff is the lead judge for this year’s inaugural Top 50 Public Sector Women (NSW) Initiative. The top 50 list was launched in Victoria last year to recognise and honour the work of women working in the public sector.

“This is an excellent opportunity to shine a spotlight on exceptional leaders, highlighting their work and creating role models for other females in the public sector,” Koff said.

The response to last year’s Top 50 Victoria list, organised with IPAA (Victoria) was so positive it was extended into NSW this year. Submissions for the NSW Top 50 list close on May 8 with those listed announced on July 2. Applications for the Victoria Top 50 list close June 11 with those listed named on August 18.

The Top 50 Public Sector Women lists are one step to supporting women on their journey to leadership roles. What else should we be doing?

This story was originally published in The Australian. To read the original story click here .

Davidson named a finalist in Australian industry awards

Wed, 09 May 2018 04:56:50 GMT

Davidson’s Top 50 Public Sector Women (Victoria) initiative has been named a finalist for this year’s RCSA Industry Awards for Marketing Campaign of the Year. Our General Manager of Executive & Boards in Victoria, Jarrod McLauchlan , has also been named a finalist for Australia’s Recruiter of the Year category.

The annual awards are one of the most important nights of the year for the recruitment and employment consulting sectors and Davidson is honoured to be named as a finalist for two categories for this year’s awards.

Davidson is a finalist in the Marketing Campaign of the Year category for our Top 50 Public Sector Women (Victoria) List initiative, which was launched in Victoria last year to a strong response from those working both within and external to the Victorian Public Sector.

The Top 50 list was launched to highlight the work of women at senior leadership levels within the State’s public sector in a bid to help redress gender inequality at leadership levels.

Data released by the Victorian Public Sector Commission shows that at June 2017, women accounted for 67% of the VPS workforce but held just 43.5% of executive level positions.

The Top 50 Public Sector (Victoria) List was launched to provide a platform where the work of women who had attained a leadership position within the Public Sector could be recognised and honored,” Davidson’s Group General Manager – Executive Clare McCartin explained.

“Women who have reached leadership positions and who are able to share their story are strong and valuable role models for women who are ambitious and want a career in the Public Sector.

“We have had such a strong response to the Top 50 List that this year we extended it to develop a NSW Top 50 Public Sector Women list and we are finding the reaction just as overwhelmingly positive for that as we had for the first Victorian list.”

Clare explained that the Top 50 Public Sector Women (Victoria) list was an opportunity for Davidson to introduce itself to the Victorian market while championing diversity in the workplace.

“Davidson was new to Melbourne in 2015 so we needed to make a splash in this market by showing what we stand for as a brand and part of that is diversity in the workplace because we understand its impact on staff well-being and the company’s bottom line,” Clare said.

“We know a huge barrier for women applying for senior level positions is confidence. By showing them women who have backed themselves and applied for senior roles, secured those roles and then gone on to do their job well is a great way of encouraging women and showing men diversity is not a bad thing.”

Our General Manager for Executive & Boards (Victoria), Jarrod McLauchlan has also been named as a finalist for Recruiter of the Year for this year’s RCSA Awards.

Jarrod joined the Davidson team in January 2017 and has 16 years industry experience to his name.

Jarrod is a highly regarded executive search leader with a strong background working with clients across the public, private and not for profit sectors.

With a specialist expertise and passion for the public and not-for-profit sectors, Jarrod is an alumni of the Leadership Victoria Williamson Community Leadership Program and takes an active interest in community issues.

He is a current member of the IPAA Victoria People & Culture Community of Practice Committee and has also previously been a Non-Executive Director with the Old Haileyburian Association. Jarrod is an active corporate member of IPAA, LG Pro, MAV, AWA, CEDA, LASA and Procurement Australia.

Applications are still being accepted for the 2018 Top 50 Public Sector Women (Victoria) list. For more details on applications for the Victorian list, which close June 12, visit the website . of the RCSA Industry Awards will be announced at the awards ceremony to be held in Melbourne on June 14. For more on the awards, visit here .

Top 50 Public Sector Women – NSW – to be recognised

Thu, 03 May 2018 05:00:50 GMT

With the representation of women in executive positions in the NSW Public Sector still lagging behind men, an initiative designed to highlight and recognise the work of women in these sectors has been launched.

The Top 50 Women List for the NSW Public Sector has been developed to focus a spotlight on inspirational female leaders within the public sector, to support and guide them through mentoring and to highlight their work as role models for other women.

While progress is being made to address this imbalance, there is still a substantial amount of work to be done to reach true equality, according to Clare McCartin , Davidson’s Group Manager Executive & Boards who are coordinating the list.

Ms McCartin said the Top 50 Public Sector Women list is designed to highlight the inequality in female representation at an executive level within Australia’s state public sectors and to encourage women aspiring to such roles.

“Last year we held the inaugural Top 50 Public Sector Women (Victoria) list and the response was quite incredible,” Ms McCartin said.

“We received a lot of submissions from and about women within the Victorian Public Sector who really are leading the way when it comes to showing true leadership in their roles.

“Given the success of the Victorian event, we decided to expand it this year to develop a NSW Public Sector Women List. There is a lot of very good work being done by some remarkable women and it is an honour to be able to share their stories.

“Women who aspire to leadership roles can only ever be encouraged by seeing other women who have gone before them who reached the heights of success. It is attainable and we want to get that message out there and encourage women to strive to reach the heights of success.”

Leaders who make it onto the Top 50 list for 2018 will receive the following:

Elizabeth Koff, Secretary of NSW Health , said she was delighted to be chairing the panel of judges for the NSW Top 50 Public Sector Women list.

“The Top 50 Women list is a celebration of the outstanding women making exceptional contributions to the NSW Public Sector every day,” she said. “There is a huge depth of female talent at a senior executive level in the public sector and opportunities to recognise and commend their contributions should be celebrated.”

Ms Koff explained the NSW Government had demonstrated its commitment to redressing the gender imbalance in senior leadership roles through the Driving Public Sector Diversity initiative which has set a target of increasing female representation in leadership roles from the current 33 per cent to 50 per cent by 2025.

Emily Phillips, Chief Executive with Agriculture Victoria will chair the panel of judges for the Victorian Top 50 Public Sector Women.

Entries are now being taken for both the Victorian and NSW Top 50 lists and the full judging criteria, can be found on the website.

Submissions for the NSW awards close May 8. Nomination details and applications can be found on the website – www.publicsectorwomen.com.au . Winners will be announced at a gala event on July 2.

Davidson Executive makes four new appointments

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 22:53:45 GMT

Davidson’s executive team, led by general manager, Clare McCartin, has recently expanded to include several key appointments across its offices in Queensland, NSW and Victoria. The new appointments, Paula Kirwan , Ryan Webster , Lee Rochester and Rohan McMaster , bring a combined 75 years of experience in executive recruitment across both public and private sectors to the Davidson team.

Kirwan joined Davidson Executive in February as the general manager of executive & boards (Queensland). She has worked in recruitment for more than 25 years across the UK and Australia. Kirwan was with Hays Group for 23 years where she was responsible for leading and growing teams and opening new divisions and business units. Recently, she was the Queensland State Manager for Toll Group Holdings’s internal recruitment division.

Kirwan commented, “I have had a variety of roles in the recruitment sector throughout my career and I have never tired of the curiosity needed to do the job well; to work to understand a business, what they need and how they operate and then help them identify their staffing needs.

“I have recruited across various industries – most recently transport and logistics and the oil and gas sector, but previously corporate services, health and education within both the public and private sector. Throughout my career, gaining an understanding of both clients and candidates needs and matching those together is an important pathway to success.

“The success of my teams is how I measure my own success. On a personal level, my greatest achievements have been putting together the teams to deliver on big complex recruitment projects and that is how I am approaching this role.

“The corporate world is evolving as are the skills required at executive and board level roles so to build a team who can truly consult to our clients’ needs will be very rewarding and satisfying.”

Webster joined Kirwan’s team in Brisbane in February as a principal consultant, executive & boards. He has 12 years’ experience in the sector and specialises in Queensland local and state government and has been responsible for placing candidates in some of the most senior roles in the State’s public sector.

Webster said, “I find there to be a wide range of diversity in the roles I am trying to fill in this sector and I enjoy how interesting that process is.

“Davidson has a reputation for being the best in Queensland in what they do recruiting for the public sector. I should know because they have been my main competitor throughout my career. I am excited to be a part of the Davidson team as we look to continue to grow our business.

“I’m also excited to be expanding by focus on boards and our presence in that space because my previous roles have always been purely delivery mode so the opportunity to stretch my wings is very attractive to me.”

Rochester joined the team in January as an executive consultant with the NSW team. He will specialise in the fields of C-suite, not-for-profit, boards and public companies, with a primary focus on the healthcare sector.

Rochester worked in the financial services in New Zealand and the UK for nine years before moving into recruitment in that space in Australia in 1999. He shared, “At Davidson, the ethos is very much people focusing on people and I really like that.

“There is a real focus on innovation around the delivery of executive searches and HR consulting solutions with a very experienced and smart team.”

In February, McMaster accepted the role of practice lead with Davidson Executive and has joined the Melbourne team. McMaster, who has spent 18 years working in recruitment in Melbourne and London, holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Deakin University.

McMaster revealed, “The team at Davidson is full of very high performing consultants who work hard to achieve great outcomes for both clients and candidates.

“I felt they were very much aligned with my own values and I saw an opportunity to develop a new space for the business which is incredibly exciting.

“I’ve never seen a team grow like I have at Davidson. Working for a business with a crystal clear vision and purpose is very inspiring and very refreshing.”

Group general manager, executive & boards, Clare McCartin, said the team’s new appointments showed the high demand for quality recruitment and consulting services in the executive space.

She said, “This has been a growth sector for some years and the growth of Davidson’s Executive & Boards team has been commensurate with this.

“We are thrilled to have such a bright, new, energetic talent joining our accomplished and passionate team.

“Our ability to be able to place the right candidates with the right clients should be reflected in our ability to source the highest quality staff for our own team and these appointments demonstrate just that.

“Our team is well placed to continue to be the ‘go-to’ executive recruitment firm up and down the East Coast in Australia.”

IPAA Queensland Top 10 Young Leaders Awards 2018

Wed, 18 Apr 2018 04:51:59 GMT

Davidson is excited to announce the IPAA Queensland Top 10 Young Leaders Awards 2018 .

The Awards, proudly sponsored by Davidson, acknowledge the invaluable contribution of innovative and inspirational young leaders who make a significant difference throughout the state.

The Awards open 16 April and close 21 May 2018 with the winners being announced at an exclusive award ceremony held in Brisbane on 28 June 2018.

Young leaders can self-nominate for the Awards, or be nominated by a peer .

Who's eligible?

To be eligible for the Awards, you must be a high-achiever in the public sector, a local, state or federal government employee in Queensland and aged 35 years or under.

Winners will receive:

Key dates:

For more information about the Awards, contact info@qldyoungleaders.com.au

Black Box Thinking: How to learn from your mistakes

Thu, 05 Apr 2018 05:04:46 GMT

When you make a mistake, how do you respond to it? Do you acknowledge the mistake and see it as a learning opportunity? Or do you see it as something to hide and be ashamed of?

I recently presented a workshop with some of Davidson’s valued contacts in Sydney on Black Box Thinking where we looked at the concept, which was termed by author Matthew Syed in his book of the same name.

“The way we conceptualise success, the way we think about success, radically shapes the behaviours that we deploy in order to achieve success,” Syed said.

Black Box Thinking is inspired by the aviation industry which has a safety system in place where each aircraft is fitted with two “black boxes” – one which records the technical data of the flight and another which records the interactions between pilots and co-pilots.

In the event of an accident or near-miss, the pilots of planes involved voluntarily submit a report on what happened and the black boxes from each aircraft are analysed in a bid to understand what caused the incident and how the industry can mitigate against it happening again.

Syed said the taking an approach to learning from your mistakes is indicative of having a ‘growth mind-set’ which means the industry is anxious not to cover-up accidents but to see them as ‘precious learning opportunities.’

Different mind-sets in numbers

“Decades of institutional learning driven by this growth mind-set, this responsibility to learn in a complex world…has driven an incredible safety record,” he said.

“At the beginning of the last century, aviation was one of the riskiest forms of transportation. In 1912, more than half of US Army pilots died in crashes in peacetime…but decades of institutionalised learning has driven the accident rate to a place wherein 2014, for the major airlines, there was one crash for every 8.3 million take-offs.

“I want to suggest that is a cultural and psychological achievement driven by this dynamic mind-set.”

In contrast to this, Syed said the healthcare sector has a different ethos where talent alone is considered enough for success and this closed down a growth mind-set, leading individuals to be less likely to learn from their mistakes.

“So when there is a mistake or a sub-optimal outcome, that is quite threatening to individuals,” he said. “And instead of saying how can we change the procedures to make sure the same mistake never happens again… there is a tendency to become defensive, to try and cover up their mistake because you don’t want to look untalented or to become self-justifying.”

Looking at the data, Syed said the Journal of Patient Safety, showed that in the United States hospitals, there were 400,000 people killed in “preventable medical error” every year.

He argues of course, that if the medical professional had the same approach to learning from their mistakes that the aviation industry has – if they saw them as opportunities for improvement and learnings rather than something to be covered up, the numbers would likely be very different.

What story does your black box have to tell?

Syed’s concept, while applied to sectors is equally applicable to individuals. We all have our own black box and those willing to open up their black box and look honestly at the story it has to tell are able to learn lessons which will help them develop personally and professionally.

The fact is none of us wants to fail. It is not something any sane person would set out to do. But failure is also a stepping stone to success when used properly. Black box thinking helps you to do just that.

“When you realise that you haven’t got all the answers, you start to do the experiments, to look at the data,” Syed said. “It starts to orient the mind individually and collectively towards the learning experiences that always exist out there if we are open to them. That’s the mind-set revolution I would like to see.”

Is this a new way of thinking you will apply?

By Rob Davidson , founder of Davidson and executive coach

Are Your BI and Finance teams happily married or headed for divorce?

Tue, 20 Feb 2018 22:50:13 GMT

There is little doubt that larger organisations have realised the importance of engaging Business Intelligence (BI) staff to facilitate data-driven change and strategy within a company to provide a competitive edge.

What has been less obvious to some is the critical need to ensure BI staff are working co-operatively with the Finance Department and that the CTO/CIO and systems across these departments are fully integrated.

While the Finance and BI teams may function well in independent silos within your business, they are able to dramatically improve business outcomes when they work co-operatively and can often be a catalyst for enormous growth.

The question GMs and other business leaders need to ask themselves as a matter of urgency are: are my BI and Finance teams in a happy business marriage or is a messy and costly divorce looming?

The changing world of BI

BI is a rapidly emerging and highly competitive field made up of graduates and industry veterans who are learning to harness the power to data to find efficiencies and growth opportunities within businesses.

One of Australia’s largest retail travel outlets, Flight Centre Travel Group, developed its Business Intelligence (BI) team four years ago. The organisation’s GM Finance – Back Office Support & Online Travel, Camille McKee said the move recognised the need and benefits of becoming a “more data-driven company”.

“Data and data analysis had previously been available only through pre-canned reports and sourced from the IT teams,” Ms McKee explained.

“The BI team was tasked with extracting and evaluating the raw data and turning it into information which allowed them to generate insights.

“Initially this information and insight was most beneficial for the marketing department but has since been adopted by other areas of the business – mostly finance – to drive efficiencies and help decision-making.”

Flight Centre’s BI Team includes business intelligence analysts and data scientists.

Australian business intelligence and analytics firm Aginic, founded in 2014, employs more than 30 BI consultants who are drawn from a diverse range of fields.

“Our consultants are not IT people; they are accountants, mathematicians, actuaries, scientists and clinicians,” Rob Mackay, Associate Director at Aginic, explained.

“For us, the IT side of BI is relatively straightforward to learn. However, having an analytical mindset, being comfortable with numbers and knowing how to use data to solve real world problems is more difficult to teach.”

Mr Mackay said the common traits shared by good BIs included:

He said candidates who had experience with analytics and data visualisation tools as well as ETL/data modelling receive “bonus points”.

With a conviction that data will be a major driver of change which will be invaluable in developing business strategy, Ms McKee said Flight Centre was very clear in what it was looking for when it developed its BI team. Primary requirements for candidates were:

The BI/CTO relationship

“We often find that the businesses which have the most success with their BI journey are those which have a close alignment between the CIO and the CFO/CEO,” Mr Mackay said.

“A BI engagement should not be seen as an IT project; it’s more of a business transformation with IT as the key enabler.

“Often for organisations, the rubber hitting the road for BI is data visualisation and, longer term businesses look to analytics being more infused with their decision-making and strategy.

“The foundational components of BI and analytics enables businesses to start to explore increasingly sophisticated and advanced ways of using their data to drive this, for example within the realms of machine learning, cognitive learning and artificial intelligence.”

Ms McKee said at Flight Centre, they had found that the importance of a healthy relationship, and open lines of communication, between the BI team and CIO or CTO could not be understated.

“When looking at a data lifecycle, most steps are performed and designed by the IT department which means that data strategy, data governance and data security are generally CIO-driven initiatives,” she said.

“These initiatives impact heavily on the BI department and collaboration between the two is necessary to deliver optimal outcomes. Maintaining a good relationship between the BI team and the CIO allows for a holistic approach to operational challenges by utilising their combined experience and knowledge.”

Ms McKee said having a BI team allowed Flight Centre to undertake timely cause and effect analysis of situations which have the potential to significantly impact a business.

This included specifically:

Heading for the rocks

The effect of a company’s BI team not communicating and working cooperatively with the CIO/CTO could spell disaster.

“If they are not communicating, you run the risk of there being conflicting strategies within a company and this can result to a lack of change management strategy where business/data definitions and systems are changed or updated on either side without the other’s knowledge,” Ms McKee said.

“One of the worst outcomes of this is either side reporting different information on the same topic and both losing trust from the business because of this.

“The best outcomes are achieved where there is communication on both sides allowing for a consistent strategy. This leads to business-wide efficiencies, new innovations and previously non-realised benefits.

“By having open lines of communication, more effective solutions are developed and there is a quicker realisation of business outcomes.”

For Mr Mackay, a truly successful relationship between a BI and CTO, is all about the numbers.

“Data comes into everything,” he said. “We have a data-driven culture which supports making better decisions, investigating new ideas in a low risk manner by developing proof of concepts, and makes us able to adapt to changing trends across the industries we work in.

“We use BI to develop an approach which sees us more as a business partner than a service provider.

“We are finding that with the current BI tools and associated infrastructure, tangible business intelligence outcomes can be achieved in a matter of days and weeks, not months and years.”

Mr Mackay advised businesses wading into the world of BI for the first time to look at what was already happening internally, suggesting that there is already some level of BI work happening, but under a different banner such as financial or operational analysis.

“In addition, don’t get too concerned initially about the tool sets you want to use,” Mr Mackay said. “A focus on driving business value often organically leads to an understanding of which tools are going to be the most useful and sustainable to the business.”

By Rebecca Willis , GM QLD Corporate & Professional Services at Davidson

Why the best EAs and PAs will always be needed

Mon, 19 Feb 2018 22:43:08 GMT

Remember that old children’s song The Wheels on the Bus ? We intuitively know the wheels only ‘go round and round’ if you have the right wheels on the bus – no matter how grand, impressive or technologically advanced the bus may be.

Now imagine the bus is your company. That would make those in C-suite the drivers and mechanics; clients and staff are your passengers.

Those responsible for making sure the wheels are turning as they should are, of course, the executive support team, the executive assistants (EAs) and personal assistants (PAs) – the mythological gatekeepers to the C-suite.

That is, if the bus has retained and looked after its wheels rather than hastily dispatching them as new technology makes grand promises of cost-efficiencies by doing the work for you.

While ‘digital disruption’ has resulted in both a fear and realisation that many jobs will be lost to automation – including notably jobs in manufacturing, administration and banking – we expect the role of executive support staff will change, but not completely replaced.

Historically, executive support staff had a clearly established set of skills which were relevant for their time – 100 words a minute shorthand, an ability to take dictation, the capacity to type at 70 words a minute and a willingness to act as a conduit/gatekeeper for their boss.

While the essence of the job remains unchanged – to assist their direct manager to concentrate on, and excel at, their job – the skills needed by today’s EAs and PAs is broader and more diverse than ever before as technology shifts the way the job is done and multi-skilling becomes essential. EAs need to show themselves as business partners.

As an experienced recruiter of 20 years in this space, my team and I are often tasked by leaders wanting us to find them EAs and PAs who can manage the tasks usually associated with the job while also having a solid handle on technological innovation around their role.

The skill-sets my clients are looking for in recruiting EAs and PAs now routinely include:

To remain competitive, relevant and best able to manage their tasks, it is incumbent upon EAs and PAs – and their managers – to enthusiastically pursue new knowledge, particularly around technological innovations.

Many EAs are future proofing themselves by upskilling in IT, Project Management, Communications, and WH&S courses adding further value to their executives.

What are you doing to upskill yourself or your EAs to keep those important wheels turning in the future workplace?

Debbie Davis is a General Manager (NSW) – Corporate at Davidson

Whitepaper: Unconscious Bias

Tue, 13 Feb 2018 02:20:21 GMT

Why the need to identify unconscious bias has never been stronger.

David Reynolds

National Director,
Client Services Davidson Executive & Boards

October 2017

Download whitepaper >

Women in Technology Honoured at Award Event

Mon, 05 Feb 2018 04:41:39 GMT

Continuing our commitment to support gender diversity in the workplace and to recognise and reward talented women working in the world of tech, Davidson Technology was proud to sponsor this year’s Women in Technology (WIT) Awards for the eighth consecutive year.

The gala awards event in Brisbane on September 14 saw a host of incredible women making huge strides in the world of tech being honoured.

“We have seen some amazing women recognised at this year’s awards and it is such an honour to be a part of that and supporting them,” Davidson Technology General Manager (Queensland) Allison Huf said. “Women have a lot of value to offer this industry and I think we need to be really focusing and re-energising women to see the future of technology.

“Events such as these provide a chance to see women being really awarded and rewarded for all of their hard work in the past 12 months and to raise the profile of women in technology because they are achieving some incredible things.

“From women working on unlocking the mysteries of breast cancer to those who have led the digital transformation of whole businesses, to pioneers in software development, the work being done out there by women in tech is truly astonishing and we are proud to support them.”

This year’s awards again saw a very impressive line-up of women named as winners for their trail-blazing, paradigm-shifting work within the technology sector.

Davidson Technology’s Client Solutions Director Adam Passonnii said the company works hard to ensure women are supported in their endeavours in the field of technology.

“As an organisation we recognise the valuable contribution made by women to the technology sector and we do a lot of work around getting more females into the digital world,” Adam said.

“Davidson is committed to achieving gender diversity within our own organization, but also helping other companies to recognise the benefits of a diverse workforce and this should include strong representation from women.

“The opportunity to support and honour women this sector is something we are happy to embrace.”

Women recognised at this year’ awards were drawn from the private sector, the world of academia and government. A full list of winners can be found here .

Allison Huf

Insights from Fiji!

Mon, 05 Feb 2018 04:39:53 GMT

Davidson’s Performer Series: sharing and learning from each other

As part of our ongoing commitment to use the art of storytelling to share and inspire, we have developed the Davidson Performer Series.

In this series, we will share remarkable stories about key members across the Davidson team.

To kick start the series, we have formulated a Fiji incentive trip video, which features employee's talking about their thoughts on working for Davidson. We hope to attract great talent into the business by sharing some of our culture externally.

Whitepaper: Why organisations need to become more agile to survive

Mon, 05 Feb 2018 04:25:46 GMT

Why organisations need to become more agile to survive

David Reynolds

General Manager Client Development,
Client Services Davidson Executive & Boards

December 2018

Download whitepaper >

Talent stacking – the key to standing out from the crowd

Fri, 19 Jan 2018 22:58:13 GMT

Have you ever seen a street where all the houses are designed the same way? Where the windows and doors are in exactly the same spot in each house? Where the same-looking driveway meets the same-looking garage for every home?

Job candidates would be a step ahead of their competition if only they understood that potential employers and recruiters alike often experience this feeling of sameness when looking at resumes.

What is really frustrating is, that just like those houses in the street which all look the same from the outside, we understand that the façade of a resume often hides the reality of vibrantly different personalities with different colours, tastes, experiences, emotions and passions.

When advertising for specific jobs, employers and recruiters list the most important skills and qualities candidates need to have as a minimum. Candidates, not surprisingly, send in applications and resumes which addresses the minimum criteria.

What they often fail to do is sell their own “talent stack” that unique set of skills, experiences, character traits and qualifications which could and should, set them apart from other candidates.

The term ‘talent stack’ was coined by cartoonist Scott Adams – best known as the creator of the Dilbert Cartoon series – to describe developing a variety of skills which combine to make someone a sought-after commodity.

Adams describes his own talent stack in the following terms: “I am a famous syndicated cartoonist who doesn’t have much artistic talent, and I’ve never taken a college-level writing class. But few people are good at bothdrawing and writing. When you add in my ordinary business skills, my strong work ethic, my risk tolerance, and my reasonably good sense of humour, I’m fairly unique.

And in this case, that uniqueness has commercial value”.

His advice sounds incredibly simple: “Anyone can develop a more valuable talent stack. Just figure out which talents go well together. If in doubt, add public speaking to your stack first”.

And indeed, it can be that simple if candidates and clients are guided through the process.

The key to building your own talent stack is understanding the value of developing individual skill-sets which may be deemed to be of little worth on their own, but when combined, join together to create a sought-after candidate.

It is important to remember that candidates do not need to be experts in each of the skills they are developing as part of their talent stack. The real power of these skills is combining them to form an impressive whole.

Keys to a good talent stack

Across the recruitment sector, there are some fundamentals we can all agree on. What makes the perfect talent stack is not one of them. This is partly because the perfect talent stack really is something quite unique to each role and each candidate.

A recruiter sourcing staff for an accounting position will be looking for a different skill-set to a recruiter trying to place marketing staff.

However, as a general rule of thumb, there are some key qualities which candidates from all sectors would certainly benefit from developing and refining.

These are:

It may seem daunting for candidates to develop a new set of skills outside of their formal qualifications and experience. The good news is that they already are without realising it, often during the course of their daily activities.

What the concept of the talent stack does, is encourages each of us to be more conscious of our hard and soft skills and to continue to develop them throughout our careers.

For some this may mean taking up a public speaking course, learning a new language or returning to tertiary education. For others, it may mean developing a reading list to help increase self-awareness.

There are lots of very simple ways for everyone to improve their own talent stack and as recruitment professionals, it would be foolish to think our bag of tricks and skills could not be added to allowing us to offer better value for clients and candidates.

What are you doing to increase your value in the marketplace? How are you developing your own talent stack?

Bo Campbell is a Senior Consultant at Davidson Corporate.

A Contractors view of the Agile Revolution

Fri, 05 Jan 2018 05:07:11 GMT

Nadir has contracted with us on many occasions and brings great knowledge and insight in his area of specialisation – Agile Coaching.

Here are a few questions I put to Nadir to get his views on the Agile revolution we are experiencing in the Tech industry.

A lot of large organisations are undergoing Agile Transformation. Do you think these enterprises truly transform?

The answer depends on how you’re defining “Agile Transformation”? To most (not all) organisations in Australia these days, Agile Transformation means a floor-to-ceiling adoption of any Agile framework (SAFe being the most popular choice at the moment). The success of transformation in these instances is measured by how religiously ceremonies are followed, how frequently features are shipped to production, whether there are prioritised backlogs of work at portfolio, program and delivery levels and so on. If this is how you define enterprise transformation then yes, many organisations can and have truly transformed. Whether these transformations have helped these companies or whether the change will “stick” is a completely different story.

Do you then think Agile Transformations are here to stay or are they just another fad?

In the last seven years or so I have seen many organisations fund programs like: “Future ready IT”, “Next Generation Program”, “New ways of working”, “Customer Transformation Program”, “Innovation hubs” etc. If anything, the momentum has picked up even more in the last two to three years with some large businesses undergoing a second or even third wave of “Agile Transformation”. These programs are heavily funded and typically run for a period of two to three years. My read is, that Australian organisations will continue down this path for another three-five years, after which most organisations will be ‘change-fatigued’ and you’ll start to see Transformation programs trending downwards.

So what does that mean for Agile recruitment in 2018?

You will see an unprecedented demand for Agile coaches, Iteration Managers, and Scrum Masters. With a shortage of experienced practitioners, you will also start seeing a lot of Project Managers moving into Agile Delivery Manager and Iteration Manager roles. LeSS and SAFe certified practitioners will be in high demand as well.

Gideon Donaldson is a Senior Consultant – Enterprise Systems at Davidson Technology

The number one reason small businesses fail to scale

Wed, 20 Dec 2017 00:53:32 GMT

“I’m the only person in this company who has the time to learn on the job.”

Every founder or CEO should have this sentence tattooed on their forehead. It comes from the CEO and founder of a tech start-up company.

Earlier this week, I was chatting with a leading venture capitalist in the tech sector. We were pondering just why it is that so many good small businesses fail to scale. What stops them reaching their potential?

After much discussion, we agreed that it’s the unknown unknowns that get them every time.

And the main one is, they just don’t know what they don’t know, about the quality of the executives they need to help them grow to the next level.

That’s when she gave me that great quote from the CEO of one of her companies, about him being the only person who has the time to learn on the job.

No company can ever exceed the combined capability of its leadership team, but when you’ve never managed a larger business before, how can you be expected to know the leadership capability you need?

Having been a founder and CEO myself, I speak both from personal experience and now from my observations as a coach to CEOs and businesses – this is the number one reason small businesses do not grow.

I recall Jack Welch saying when he was CEO of GE, one of his key learnings was, if they had a $15 million business unit and they wanted to grow it to $300 million, the trick was, they had to invest in some $300 million leaders, when it was still a $15 million business unit, or it never got there.

That’s fine for Jack Welch, he ran a huge business. He knew exactly what a $300 million executive looked like and no doubt, he had a whole leadership pipeline full of them.

For us mere mortals, how do we acquire the knowledge about what level of executives we need and how do we find them?

As a founder and CEO, if you can’t surround yourself with people who know more about how to grow a business to the next level than you do, it can be dangerous.

It’s hard, I know. Let me start with an embarrassing admission, I was the founder and CEO of a recruitment and HR consulting business and I didn’t know, so this blog is very much about, ’do what I say, not do what I did’.

If I had my time again, what would I have done differently? Well, the first thing I’d have done would have been to find someone who could help me identify the problem – convert the unknown unknowns, into known unknowns.

How would I have done that? Find a good mentor, a good coach or a good consultant is the first answer I’d give.

I did have some good mentors and good coaches along the way, but, on reflection, I never had one who’d personally grown a business like mine to the size it would ultimately reach. There’s no substitute for having been there and done that.

But, and there’s always a but, these people are hard to find and they’re in high demand. You’ve got to have something special to attract their attention. By definition, money’s no longer their main motivator, so why should they share their precious time and experience with you?

For me, the answer lies in the excitement of the start-up phase and I suspect it’s the same for many mentors and coaches in this domain. Ask any of them what chapter of their business life they enjoyed the most and nine out of ten will tell you it was the early days.

It’s like the first few months after you’ve fallen in love, nothing will ever quite match the passion and intensity of those heady days of a new love; it’s a drug and you’d pay anything to be able to bottle that feeling.

It’s the same for founders, they spend the rest of their business lives trying to recapture the rush of their early days in business. If you can offer them access, even vicariously, to that environment, you’ve got them hooked. But they are smart people, they’re rare and they can afford to be choosy.

So again, on reflection, what could I have done better to source such a mentor or coach?

Two things come to mind.

First, I’d have networked extensively within my industry with the express purpose of discovering who I needed to know.

Second, if I couldn’t find that person in Australia, I’d have travelled more. I’d have gone to more conferences overseas; that’s where I’d have found a larger pool of bigger businesses. It’s the founders and CEOs of those businesses I needed to meet.

These are the people who have the experience to know what I didn’t know, about what and who it takes to grow a business to the next level. As we’re not in direct competition, they’re likely to be more candid. Hopefully, they’d also be willing to grant me access to their senior people so I could meet and better understand what ‘good’ looks like at this level of executive.

Ultimately, this is exactly what I did and it worked to great effect, but I sure went up a lot of dry gullies along the way.

So, the greatest learning I share with my clients is that as a founder and CEO you’ve got to make it your mission to understand the leadership capability you need to surround yourself with.

You are the only person in your business who has the time to learn on the job. The rest of your executive team need to know more than you about how to grow this business to the next level. If not, it’ll be the blind leading the blind.

Trust me, there is a better way.

Rob Davidson is the Founder of Davidson and an Executive Coach

Getting the best out of your IT Contractors

Tue, 19 Dec 2017 23:00:12 GMT

We all want to get the best value out of our Contractors but often a Contractor can be more of a re-active solution rather than a proactive one by organisations.

However, with a little bit of effort and planning, businesses can get a better outcome and productivity if they maximise the expertise and strengths of the contractor effectively from the outset. A little time invested initially can save a whole lot of time and money down the line.

Here are my tips for employers looking to get the best value and outcomes from your IT Contractors:

Know what you want to achieve

First of all, know what the role is. What EXACTLY do you need to be delivered? And in what time frame?

Once you know the scope of the project, the core skills required and the length of the contract, you can effectively market the opportunity with either your recruitment partner or internal resources. Remember, a longer-term opportunity is going to attract better quality Contractors and they will often discount their rate for longer-term security and increase it for shorter stints! So, if you are going to need them for six months or longer, don’t start out on a three-month contract, start out on six.

Have a clear set of deliverables and timelines

Ambiguity does not work. Have a set of deliverables ready, then sit down with the Contractor and agree to this and make sure he/she is aware of the desired outcome. They may have suggestions that could add even more value to the solution. This way their working hours are focused and clear- and you are effectively utilising billable hours on productive work.

Conduct an induction

Once you’ve appointed a Contractor, it’s important to make them feel like part of the family and set the tone right from the start.

Be ready for them, introduce them to the team, include them in all activities (where appropriate), remember they are new to the environment. Show them where the lunch room is, let them know what/when you expect them to take a break and for how long, what time would you like them to be in the office? Leave? Is there flexibility? This will make a significant difference to how quickly and well your Contractor settles into the role and builds relationships with stakeholders.

Conduct regular WIP meetings

Conduct weekly or fortnightly meetings (no less). Don’t miss them and don’t be late (remember, you’re paying for their time). I cannot stress this enough. Get a clear update as to where your Contractor is at. Are they on track? What roadblocks are they facing where they may need your assistance navigating the environment? Are their deliverables up to your expectations? Is documentation being completed correctly? If not, tell them. Trust me, they want to know. My contractors are always asking me for feedback on their work. Better communication means better quality and efficiency.

Don't Micro-Manage

Contractors are Senior SME’s, specialists in their fields. Make sure they have all the correct tools, have regular catch ups and communicate, but don’t micromanage. It’s counterproductive and an ineffective use of your Contractor’s and your time. If you are clear about your expectations and deliverables, have consistent catch ups and communicate clearly you shouldn’t need to micromanage anyway!

Be a human being

We all enjoy working with great people and it has been proven time and time again, that people work better with people they like and respect. Your Contractor, like anyone, should be treated with respect and professionalism. Make sure they leave knowing what a great organisation and leader they have been working with.

Sounds pretty logical, doesn’t it?

Sonya Oberstar is a Principal Consultant – Strategic Partnerships at Davidson Technology

Behind the scenes with a Davidson Technology Intern

Mon, 20 Nov 2017 00:46:32 GMT

We are fortunate to have Katharina Kalb participating in a three-month recruitment internship in our Melbourne office. Katharina is rotating through three of our Melbourne key teams and is currently working with our Melbourne Digital and Software Development team.

Now at the midway point of her internship, I sat down with Katharina to explore her experiences with Davidson Technology so far and her thoughts on recruitment.

How are you enjoying your time at Davidson Technology and what are your first impressions of the office?

Well, firstly the office itself is quite impressive. It is high up in a building in the centre of Melbourne and has a great view. Everybody has a really comfortable and big working space with at least two big screens. This is my first time working across two screens and I am impressed by how convenient that is. I am happy about the friendly atmosphere in the office and how well everybody is working together within a team and across teams. All my co-workers have made me feel welcome and helped me get on with my tasks and finding my way around the office.

Is your Recruitment Internship what you expected it would be like?

No, it is absolutely not what I expected it would be like. I had limited understanding of how recruiters operate except for the job advertisements I have seen on Seek. I also thought I would have to watch my colleagues getting on with their work and may learn something by observing them carefully. The internship is so much more than I expected. It’s been really hands-on and I am being taught the importance of what a recruiter does and why.

Are you enjoying the work and is there anything you have found to be particularly interesting?

I am finding everything I have been doing so far quite interesting. I have learnt so many new skills and I have especially enjoyed observing the entire recruitment process from start to finish.

Do you feel rewarded for the work you are doing for us?

Absolutely. My colleagues have really made me feel appreciated and my contribution to the different teams has been very rewarding. I have learnt a lot of new things and all my colleagues have taken the time to teach me new skills. Things I didn’t expect was being invited to the Melbourne Cup by the company, attending lunches and I even received a Myer gift voucher in appreciation for my work.

What have you learnt about the Technology industry and is there an area that you feel most connected with?

Davidson Technology internI have learnt how all the roles we work on here at Davidson Technology are connected to each other. For example, we are filling roles for Programmers and Software Developers who enhance and create new products. User Experience Designers and Product Designers ensure that the end product is easy to use. A great user experience makes it more attractive for Cloud and Tech Salespeople to sell their products, and Service Desk Analysts help employees use these products correctly. Finally, the data accessible through these products enables Digital Strategists and Digital Marketers to gain better insights into who their customers are and what they want. At Davidson Technology, we recruit all the key roles of the cycle.

I am fascinated with the Technology industry because of its fast pace and all the new technologies that change the market every year. In 2017, technology is dominating strategic priorities of companies in every sector from not-for-profit organisations to international financial institutions. This requires individuals with a vast amount of experience and a wide range of qualifications in the latest technology. I feel most connected with emerging markets and identifying what key staff will be required.

At Davidson Technology, we believe in creating career highlights. What do you think is the key takeaway from this internship that will support your future career opportunities?

Well, I discovered what it is I want to do – recruitment! After finishing my post-graduate degree, I knew a lot about Industrial Management which I studied and all the different areas contributing to the success of a company. What I had no idea about was what it was actually like to work in this area. The internship has given me insights into how recruiters operate and what a typical workday looks like. I have found something I really want to do in my future.

Choosing a career is an important decision and I do not want to get it wrong as working is a big part of life. I really want to do something I am passionate about. Knowing what I want to do and having gained experience in the field is definitely the key-takeaway of this internship. I am sure this will enhance my career opportunities. I also feel more confident applying for jobs now because I have seen the application process from the perspective of a recruiter and have learnt what they expect from applicants.

What would be your advice for future interns at Davidson Technology?

Listen and learn from your colleagues – even when they don’t realise you are listening! Listen to them in action and learn from their different styles to understand why they select candidates for jobs. Ask many questions – everybody will be happy to explain what they are doing. Listen in on their candidate calls and observe their screening techniques. I strongly recommend attending in-house interviews to learn how your colleagues make candidates feel at ease and talk truthfully about their career perspectives.

Liz Ebeli is a Practice Leader – Software Development and Digital at Davidson Technology

7 things managers look for when hiring Software Developers

Tue, 07 Nov 2017 22:55:14 GMT

In my role, I have regular conversations with Hiring Managers in the IT industry around what they are looking for in their new hires. There are some consistent characteristics that keep coming up so I thought it might be helpful to offer some interview tips for Software Developers.

Now it’s obviously different for different companies, roles types and situations, but the following are common themes that come up.

Problem Solving – Starting off, this one seems obvious but Managers like Developers who love to solve problems and show curiosity to explore problems and tech stacks further. They want to see that potential hires can solve ‘the problem’ and offer a solution!

Passion – Developers who don’t just see the role as a 9-5 job to pay the bills, but are actually passionate about what’s going on in the industry and keeping their skill set current. A team of Developers who are doing this and bringing new ideas to the team can really drive products forward.

Commercially savvy – Developers who appreciate what the business is trying to do beyond their own role and have a customer-first mindset.

Work across the business – Managers see a lot of value in Developers who can articulate their ideas to both technical and non-technical audiences in the business and engage with key stakeholders along the way.

Testing their code – Hiring Managers look for Developers who enjoy testing their own code and appreciate the mantra that quality is the responsibility of everyone, not just the QA team.

Take suggestions on board – Organisations like candidates who are happy to take and listen to viewpoints from all team members, both senior and junior Developers.

The ‘Rock Star’ Ego – A follow on from the last point, but I’ve often been told by Managers that egos in the team can be detrimental to the results of the team and slow development down and generally make the workplace an unhappy environment to be in. So for candidates, this is good to keep in mind when you’re interviewing. Confidence is great but it needs to be managed.

Asa Hughes is a Consultant – Software Development & Digital at Davidson Technology

Putting the Customer First

Mon, 23 Oct 2017 00:57:16 GMT

For some time now we have been hearing about the importance of customer service. Net Promoter Scores became the metric for measuring a company or individual’s customer satisfaction levels. In recent times we have seen a significant development, a transformation that holds the customer at the centre to how products are designed, services delivered and brands promoted. Old sayings like customer is king, customer centric focus have been bandied around for some time, but until recently we haven’t really observed a tangible shift across the entire sector in the way businesses go to market and their commitment to their customers.

Globally, new team structures and therefore new roles are being developed which are primarily focused on driving exceptional customer experiences. Amazon is a great example of how the customer experience is at its core. In a recent interview with Neil Lindsay, Amazon’s VP of Advertising, Device Sales & Marketing, Neil spoke about how Amazon’s customer’s “needs are different, and we serve and engage with them in different ways, but we always think about them first as individuals, and we always work backwards from the experience we believe an individual customer might appreciate, before we develop anything”.

While it’s easy to see how online businesses such as Amazon need to be customer lead in the cut throat world of the e-tailing, it’s interesting to note how other businesses are embracing the customer as a key business strategy too.

Human Centred Design

In Australia and New Zealand we are starting to see the customer focus evolve to renewed interest and broader adoption of Human Centred Design principals. For those new to this concept, it is “a process that starts with the people you’re designing for and ends with new solutions that are tailor made to suit their needs”. Sounds pretty logical doesn’t it. But if we think back to more recent marketing activities, like producing a website for example, companies would build it how they wanted it to represent their business and often with little regard for how customers used the site or the information they wanted from it. With a Human Centred Design approach, you would start first with how the customers would use it and this would inform the design.

More common in the health sector, this approach is not about trying to put yourself in your customer’s shoes, it’s a more scientific approach to develop real empathy with the end user, brainstorm creative solutions, trial the ideas and then implement them. It’s iterative and very much aligned to the agile practices we are seeing in other areas of technology and wider business community at the moment.

While Human Centred Design is not a new concept, it’s starting to become more common in Australia and New Zealand. We are starting to see larger companies employ its practices in their businesses not only in the way they deliver their services, but also in the way they recruit their staff.

Bupa is one such business that is focussing on the customer experience (CX) and ensuring that delivering a positive experience to customers, at the right time is core to their marketing strategy. Bupa sees itself as an “ experiential brand ”. Bupa does not produce products, they deliver services and therefore it’s vital to their success that the customer has a positive experience when they interact with them.

Bringing customer experience into the recruitment process

More broadly than the Marketing strategy, Bupa is also using a customer first approach in its internal recruitment. Through research they have identified what is the most important criteria for candidates. When applying for a role with Bupa candidates will experience personalised videos that relate to the position and business segment that the person is applying for. Additionally, they have developed personas to match the type of people they wish to attract into their roles. Personas are more commonly used when targeting customers with digital communications but it is interesting to see it being applied effectively in the recruitment process.

Other businesses that are taking the CX to a whole new level is Vicinity Centres as it puts its abundant amount of customer data to use in understanding its customers and delivering them an enhanced shopping experience.

In a challenging retail environment, being able to use the technology to your advantage is essential in remaining relevant. When online shopping growth is outstripping in-store sales, nailing the technology and use of data is critical. This can translate into targeted loyalty programs and offers specific to individual’s previous shopping behaviour. Additionally, this type of data presents the shopping centres with potential new revenue streams as they can loffer very targeted advertising opportunities throughout their centres.

While for some, this might be starting to feel a little intrusive, for others it’s a dream come true as they are being marketed to personally, where they want it and when they are receptive to it, thus enhancing the entire experience.

Demand for customer centric candidates

As the Australian and New Zealand IT sectors move to understand and wrap themselves around their customers in an unprecedented way, we are seeing across the board a steady growth in demand for customer focused roles.

In the digital area UX and UI roles have been abundant for a while now but we are also seeing Customer Experience come into the mix. Digital businesses such as banks and digital enterprises are often first to embrace these new role types.

At the more senior levels, we are also starting to see Customer Experience Officer and Head of Experience roles with their remit being to drive the customer centric changes throughout the organisation.

For candidates looking to ride the customer experience wave, skills in Human Centred Design , UX and UI are in high demand and we envisage this to continue into 2018 and beyond.

On the whole, the Australian and New Zealand Technology markets are continuing to follow global trends with Data, Digital and Security the biggest areas of interest from a hiring perspective however additional, non-technical skills that focus on the customer experience are growing in demand. The soft skills at the top of the list are communication and empathy.

Brendan Kavenagh is CEO of Davidson Technology

Here’s how to win an argument — even when you’re wrong

Fri, 20 Oct 2017 01:10:15 GMT

I was coaching an executive on influencing skills this week. I taught him a technique that I have found incredibly powerful. So powerful, you can even use it to great effect, with evil intent.

I’m not suggesting that you’d do this, but I do love a good debate. It’s possible there may have been times, at a dinner party or two, where I’ve used this approach to sound far more impressive than the merits of my argument deserved.

Let me talk you through it.

Andrew (not his real name) was attending an important meeting. Several of his senior colleagues would be in attendance and he wanted to make a good impression. He knows his stuff, but in the presence of senior executives he can feel intimidated and doesn’t present the best version of himself. He stumbles and fails to present his viewpoint with the same authority and confidence he displays when talking to his own team.

Sound familiar? I suspect we’ve all felt this way at times.

I taught Andrew a technique called PREP, which he reported back to me, worked wonderfully.

It stands for Point, Reason, Example, Point, and it’s a great tool to help you structure an impromptu speech or to answer a tough question when you’re put on the spot.

This is how it works. Think of a situation where you might be required to defend your position or argue your point of view on a critical issue. This might be at your next executive meeting or perhaps in front of a potential client. Or at that next dinner party.

To illustrate, let’s take an extreme example.

Suppose you’re attending your next executive meeting and the CEO puts you on the spot, singling you out, she asks:

‘So, what’s your view on how we’re functioning as a team?’

If ever there was a question guaranteed to provoke an emotional response, this is it. It would be easy to become defensive and evasive in this situation, but that’s not how a top executive would respond.

This is where having the structure of PREP to fall back on can help.

Note –before responding, pause and count to two. We sound ill-considered when we rush straight in. By pausing for two seconds you will sound more considered and it’ll give you the thinking space to provide a concise and structured response using the PREP approach.

Point

I think there is room for us to improve.

Reason

The reason I say this is I feel we are tending to operate in silos and this is impacting our ability to cross-market and to service our clients effectively. It is also affecting our ability to communicate a consistent message to the business.

Example

Provide one and preferably two relevant examples to illustrate your point.

Point

So, on that basis, no I don’t believe we are operating effectively as a team right now. I think we have room to improve.

PREP allows you to deliver a mature and reasoned approach, which relies on facts, not emotion. Others might not agree with you but you’ve delivered a mature and reasoned response befitting of an executive.

This approach helps you develop what is known as an executive presence. It’s the X factor which differentiates effective executives from the rest. It’s a quality that’s hard to describe, but you know it when you see it.

I’ve also used PREP to good effect in client meetings.

Suppose you are pitching your services in the hope of winning a large piece of work. At some stage, you have to discuss how you will get a better result than they would through using their internal resources or using one of your competitors?’

Using the PREP approach your response would be structured as follows:

Again, inserting the two-second pause before responding, your response might be:

Point
Because we’ll get you the best outcome. (Note: how arrogant this response sounds on its own but when supported by the structure of PREP it takes on a different feel)

Reason
The reason I am able to say this with confidence is that we specialise in this area. We have over ten years’ experience in dealing with similar problems for a range of companies in your industry. Our client testimonials attest to the fact that our deep expertise enables us to identify the real issues faster and draw on our previous experience to tailor make solutions that exceed our clients’ expectations.

Example
For example… (at this point quote two relevant examples of similar projects and the impressive outcomes?

Point
For this reason, I think we are the best people do this project for you.

PREP is a great technique to master if you want to be a more effective communicator. I’ve found that while many people might know the right answer, the prize goes to the person who can best express themselves when it matters most. Effective communication and influencing skills are two of the keys to career success in almost every job.

Practice using PREP over the next few weeks both at work and in social settings.

I’d be keen to hear how you go. Drop me a line.

Rob Davidson is the Founder of Davidson and an Executive Coach.

This article was originally published in Business Insider. To view the story click here.

Sourcing staff who will stay safe

Fri, 20 Oct 2017 00:54:41 GMT

Injuries and accidents on the job are often described as a result of multiple complex factors, such as organisational safety culture, systems and processes and a range of ever-changing situational factors.

Organisations spend millions of dollars every year on trying to get each of these elements right but sometimes still get it wrong.

Despite the big spend on addressing these issues, and a subsequent uplift in safety performance, many of our client’s report their safety statistics plateau after an initial improvement.

To figure out why this continued to happen, we decided to investigate why and what personality traits and characteristics are likely to make an employee a higher safety risk.

Our four-year research project showed that behaviour is actually driven by both mindset and abilities. The BAM (behaviour-abilities-mindset) principles are the foundation for Davidson’s safety assessment approach and it is driving remarkable results for our clients.

Research has shown that the mindset of an individual (am I responsible for safety or is my organisation/others?), their personality traits and abilities all contribute to how aware individuals are of safety.

We have found that some individuals are more hard-wired for safety than others. You need only look at an energetic, rambunctious child who is keen to explore and discover (and hurt themselves) as opposed to a child who is much more tentative and aware of their personal safety.

Adults in the workplace are the same. Some are more likely to see workplace hazards and practice safe behaviour while others will not even though both receive the same level of training and instruction.

To date, we have found organisations who adopt Davidson’s safety assessment (and not hire the lowest 25th percentile into safety critical roles), report a 51% reduction in workplace injuries.

Additionally, employees who pass our safety assessment are 71%* more likely to lodge a near miss incident report and are six times more likely to report a workplace hazard. In addition to increased safety performance and culture, financial savings have also come in the form of dramatically reduced workers compensation claims – sometimes into the millions.

(*Research is based on independently validated QUT studies with over 5,500 candidates)

The traits and abilities we measure are grouped into broad, psychological safety factors that consistently are associated with safety-related competencies. These are:

This can be taken a step further with the ability to cross-reference the safety awareness of an individual and their suitability for a specific role by producing unique psychological profiles when it comes to personal safety.

In the same way you want to know the staff you are hiring are right for the job, you also want to know they are the safest people for the job and are less likely to jeopardise their own safety or that of colleagues.

Finding the right candidate from a safety perspective is supported by a number of psychomotor modules specific to each role.

Putting rigour around how we select and recruit can represent a relatively minimal investment for an organisation that wants to really change the profile of their workforce and get significant safety and profit uplift.

This approach is a great way for organisations to put emphasis onto both the nature and nurture part of the people equation when it comes to safety.

If you would like to hear more about this research and the findings, feel free to give me a call.

Amanda Sheard, General Manager (NSW), Davidson HR Consulting

E: Amanda.Sheard@davidsonwp.com | T: +61 2 8093 0608

Gender Diversity: Changing the Ratio & Closing the Gap

Fri, 20 Oct 2017 00:48:32 GMT

Often with Tech Diversity articles the lead headline is negative and tells of the grave state the sector is in with the lack of females, particularly at senior levels. Well, I am happy to report that in the last 12 months the gender gap in the Australian Technology market has started to close!

In the recent Davidson technology DiversIT Report 2017 , the data provided by LinkedIn revealed an 8 % increase in the number of females in IT in Australia (now 39% vs 31% in 2016) Representation of females at executive levels within IT has also grown to 17.6%, up 3.6% from 2016.

While these figures demonstrate a positive step forward, the number of females in the IT sector continues to fall below the growth of the industry. In the last 12 months LinkedIn has recorded a 25.7% increase in the number of people in Australia who identify as working in IT fields. Eight percent more females from 2016 is noteworthy, however without significant intervention this sector will not achieve gender balance for some time.

Creating Sustainable Change

Dayle Stevens, Divisional CIO at National Australia Bank was our keynote speaker at the launch event for our DiversIT Report in July. Dayle shared her insights on how she has led NAB on a path to sustainable change and increased the number of women in senior technology roles within the business. The message she left with me (and I’m sure a lot of people in the room) was that it’s not just something that we can solve through recruitment alone. How we retain and grow our female employees can impact a much faster and more sustainable change. There’s no single solution and you need to try lots of different things to find what works and what is sustainable.

To this effect NAB has implemented a number of initiatives including job swaps, the Girl Geek in Residence Program as well as extensive training for leaders to provide the tools and support to enable them to build gender diverse teams. This has seen a significant uplift in female participation rates within Technology and Digital at NAB and remains a continued focus.

Fostering new ideas and programs

Across the Australian Tech industry there are some amazing initiatives aimed at retaining and growing females in the sector. One such example is the Girl Geek Academy’s all female hackathon #SheHacks 2017. Not only was this a record for Australia with around 200 women working together over a weekend to create 30 new start-ups, but it is further supported through Girl Geek Academy launching the world’s largest all women incubator program. The incubator is designed to encourage more women to become start-up founders, coach them through developing their minimum viable product and also provide the road map to maximise their chances of a successful tech business.

Developing female leaders

Davidson HR Consulting has this year launched the Davidson Leadership Acceleration Program (DLAP) to address a growing need to accelerate and build leadership talent within Technology teams. The goal of which is to increase the representation of senior female leaders across Digital and Technology by building the capability, capacity and confidence of females to transition into more senior roles. With this program we are working closely with our clients to help them meet their gender targets and grow their pool of female leaders.

It is exciting to see these positive initiatives and changes occurring in the market.

Imogen Studders is Strategic Partnership Manager at Davidson Technology

What’s in a name? Deciphering Technology Executive Roles

Fri, 13 Oct 2017 03:39:39 GMT

Let’s face it, Technology professionals love an acronym. SAP, IBM, DB2, .Net, ITIL, TDD, COPA, ITSM, SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, CSS, SAFe, IM, PMBOK, www, JS. I could go on forever.

These days the business community has some confusing acronyms to decipher with today’s Technology Executives job titles. CIO, CDO, CTO, CTO, CXO, CCIO, CDO, CIO, CDO, CTO and no they are not typos, there are actually three CDO roles, two CIO and two CTO roles types in Tech these days.

CDO could be a Chief Digital Officer, or a Chief Data Officer or even Chief Design Officer. CIO could be Chief Information Officer or Chief Innovation Officer. CTO could be Chief Technology Officer or Chief Transformation Officer.

To help with understanding the remit of these roles, here is an expansion on what each role really means.

Chief Information Officer (CIO) – The most senior technology executive in the enterprise that manages the people, process and technology to support the organisation’s strategic and operational goals. Presides over all elements of the organisation’s technology from systems, infrastructure, data, security/governance, architecture, enterprise applications, service delivery and execution. The CIO is typically required to have strong management and financial skills and will present to the board on occasion.

Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) – Primarily responsible for managing innovation and change within an organisation. Often the innovation of an organisation is leveraged via technology. The role is usually occupied by someone with significant technical and functional expertise within a specific industry or element of core business. Can take responsibility for an organisation change agenda/program and needs to be skilled in Change and communication.

Chief Digital Officer (CDO) – Aimed at converting an organisation from analogue (or traditional technology/processes) to digital, or modern/online technologies/data/processes. Often they work within rapidly changing or disputed sectors with a focus on customer engagement. The role of the CDO is to navigate and lead an organisation through the continually evolving technology/digital landscape including mobile/online/data/social media.

Chief Data Officer (CDO) – Is responsible for the enterprise-wide governance and utilisation of data as an asset. The CDO manages the organisation’s data and information strategy, security/governance, quality control, policy, development, reporting/interpretation and monetisation.

Chief Design Officer (CDO) – Is typically charged with all design and innovation aspects of a company’s products and services. These responsibilities can include product/service design, graphic design, UX design or industrial/package/manufacturing design depending on the organisation/industry.

Chief Technology Officer (CTO) – Will usually lead technology decisions from an architectural and deployment/execution standpoint. Typically reports to the Chief Information Officer, but in technology driven organisations CTOs can lead engineering/development groups and report to the CEO. Other responsibilities can include technology thought leadership, research and development, technology policy and technology architectural/planning.

Chief Transformation Officer (CTO) – Appointed to significantly enhance an organisation’s success in transformation programs or simply to enable an environment where change is constant. A leader that holds the organisation accountable for the hundreds (or thousands) of actions and initiatives that are necessary for a successful transformation program.

Chief Experience Officer (CXO) – Is responsible for the overall experience of an organisation’s products and services. As User Experience (UX) is becoming a key differentiator in the modern business landscape, the CXO is charged with bringing a holistic design experience to the boardroom to make sure it is part of the company’s strategy and culture. Responsibilities can include UX strategy, technology/digital design, data utilisation and working with many of the before mentioned executives to enhance customer engagement.

Now you have an idea about what title to use with your respective Technology Executive, it’s time to hire the right one into your organisation and GITD (Get IT Done).

Damien Ross is Director – Executive Engagement at Davidson Technology

Juggling work and minions – the importance of flexibility

Wed, 20 Sep 2017 00:52:29 GMT

Does your organisation accommodate your need for reasonable flexibility?

As a corporate lawyer, flexibility in working arrangements can be difficult to find and achieve. There’s a stereotype that corporate lawyers should have long, rigid hours and spend the majority of their awake hours buried in contracts, chained to their desk. While this stereotype may suit some, it’s not currently for me. And it may not be for many working parents in professional roles trying to organise work and young children.

At present I like to juggle my working week as the Corporate Lawyer at Davidson with my kids swimming lessons (in a heated pool, though I’m not sure of the source of the heating), kids drama lessons, rugby tots (think 4 year olds attempting to catch a ball whilst being distracted by sticks), and at least a dozen repeats of Despicable Me.

I’m lucky enough to have found a supportive organisation that allows me to have the flexibility I need. I work three days per week, getting in early and literally running out of the door in time to pick my children up. I believe I’m productive during the hours I work and generally manage to stay on top of the company’s legal affairs. Unlike other positions, in this role there’s no time for planning future holidays. I apologise to my past employers for this admission. My work is stimulating and I feel like I’m a better parent for being able to pursue my career.

I do work on my legal skills the days I’m at home. My negotiation abilities are tested when my four year old refuses to take off his Spiderman costume for a shower, my mediation skills get a work out when he won’t share the transformer with the two year old, and my risk assessment competencies come into action when deciding whether to break up a sword fight or use Darwinian principles so I can use the five minutes to respond to a few emails.

Given I have flexibility at work, I’m happier, enjoy my work, and embrace the organisation that I’m in. Sure, there are days when I have to take work calls at home with the Wiggles in the background or undertake an urgent contract review at 9pm when the kids are in bed. But there are also days when I leave work early because my child’s snot is no longer an acceptable colour and I’m apparently a terrible parent for taking my child to day care. But when you’re working for supporting people in a supportive organisation, having a career and being the primary caregiver are not mutually exclusive concepts. Both are achievable.

If your organisation won’t allow you the flexibility you need, perhaps it’s time to have a chat to one of my colleagues at Davidson.

Candice Lee is a Corporate Lawyer at Davidson.

Onboarding: how to welcome a new employee

Sun, 20 Aug 2017 00:51:30 GMT

Making a transition into a new work environment and culture can often be quite an overwhelming process, even for the most experienced and qualified. In this podcast with ABC radio, David Reynolds, General Manager, Client Development at Davidson, discusses the importance of good onboarding and best practices that companies can adopt to improve the employee onboarding experience.

To listen to the full podcast, click link below

The single best piece of management advice ever given

Tue, 20 Jun 2017 01:12:24 GMT

Would you pay $500,000 for one piece of advice? Charles Schwab, the head of Bethlehem Steel did and he said it was the best advice he ever received.

It must have worked because by 1918 Schwab was one of the richest men in the world.

I first heard this story many years ago when I attended a workshop Verne Harnish was running on how to grow your business. This is the story as Verne tells it:

Management consultant Ivy Lee visited Bethlehem Steel Company decades ago, long before it became the world’s largest independent steel producer. “With our services, you’ll known how to manage better,” said Lee to CEO Charles Schwab. Schwab grew indignant. “What we need around here is not more knowing, but more doing! If you’ll pep us up to do the things we already know we ought to do, I’ll gladly pay you anything you ask.”

Lee took him up on the proposition. “In 20 minutes,” he told Schwab, “I’ll show you how to get your organisation doing at least 50 per cent more.” He started by having Schwab write down and prioritize his six most important tasks to complete the next business day.

Then he told Schwab, “Put the list in your pocket and take it out tomorrow and start working on number one. Look at that item every 15 minutes until it’s done. Then move on to the next, and the next. Don’t be concerned if you’ve only finished two or three, or even one, by quitting time. You’ll be working on the most important ones, and the others can wait.”

The consultant encouraged Schwab to share this approach with his executives, judge its value, and “send me a check for whatever you think its worth.” Two weeks later, Lee received a check for $25,000 – a king’s ransom in those days ($500,000 approximately in today’s dollars) and in an accompanying note, Schwab said it was the most profitable lesson he’d ever learned.

The lesson, of course, was the power of focus. The organisation that understands – and acts upon – its Top 6 and Top 1 of six is the organisation that progresses and prevails.

This lesson applies to all

Charles Schwab was right; this is the best management advice you’ll ever receive. In my experience, it applies equally well to building a business as it does to building a business unit or even to improving an individual’s contribution.

The thing which prevents most businesses and individuals from achieving their growth potential is usually one of two problems, either:

When I was a CEO, each day I would ask myself and my senior leadership team to share what was the one strategic action we needed to focus on that day, the one thing that would make the biggest difference?

My question was always, ‘Having regard to our strategic plan, what is the one thing I need to do today to ensure our plan comes to fruition?’ We’d meet each day and hold each other accountable for executing our ‘one big thing’. A daily conversation ensured our plans and our actions were aligned.

Peer group pressure works a treat. I never wanted to come to those meetings admitting I hadn’t completed my action and neither did anyone else.

It’s surprising how difficult many people find this exercise at first. Mostly, people will nominate operational issues which might be urgent but they aren’t important in the context of executing on the overall strategic plan. Training leaders to think strategically and holding them accountable for executing strategic actions is the key to creating forward momentum in a business.

This method works just as well for growing an individual desk. If you’re trying to grow a business, having each producer/fee writer nominate each day, one thing they will do to grow their part of the business can have a powerful effect. It could be as simple as writing a blog or meeting a potential new client. The key is to make sure this is a ‘big picture’ action in their context. There will always be operational work to do, but what is the one action you could take today, to build your brand or to grow your client base?

Imagine the combined impact of every producer in your business having this focus on a daily basis?

Momentum and alignment are two of the most critical drivers behind success in business. The Ivy Lee method works beautifully for creating both. Try it for three months and notice what a difference it makes to your business.

Managing the new organisational team: How is HR Shaping Up?

Tue, 30 May 2017 01:47:30 GMT

As companies strive to become more agile and customer-focused, team structures are shifting from traditional, rigid models toward interconnected, flexible teams. At the same time, other organisational trends are occurring in tandem such as:

Underpinning these trends is the adoption of technology. As hierarchies are broken down, technology is enabling businesses to develop a much faster, productive and interconnected workforce. Workers are enabled to work differently in remote teams and as contractors, part-timers or on a project basis; freeing up labour options for organisations accordingly.

Changing HR to meet new organisational needs

The new, flexible team structure has major ramifications for HR across role creation and employee engagement. It also impacts how we design leadership development, performance management, learning, career development and succession planning. This calls for a whole new approach for leaders in navigating ways to communicate with their teams and create engagement and a sense of belonging.

5 HR activities impacted by the rise of new organisational norms:

The emergence of the new organisation structure came under the spotlight with the Deloitte Human Capital Trends report launched this year. Deloitte surveyed more than 7,000 executives across 120 countries and found nine out of ten executives rate organisational design as a top priority, and nearly half (45 percent) say their companies are either in the middle of a restructure or planning one. Furthermore, only 14 percent of executives believe their companies are ready to effectively redesign their organisations; just 21 percent feel expert at building cross-functional teams, and only 12 percent understand the way their people work together in networks.

A new organisational model is on the rise. Companies are building a “network of teams” empowering them to work on specific business projects and challenges. These networks are aligned and coordinated very much along the lines of project management. The report concludes that “ in some ways, businesses are becoming more like Hollywood movie production teams and less like traditional corporations, with people coming together to tackle projects, then disbanding and moving on to new assignments once the project is complete.”

Innovation at the heart of organisational change

So how are HR leaders embracing the new changes and how can they play an active role in this redesign which is now globally underway? I decided to interview a number of HR leaders to find out how they are successfully navigating the challenges of the new organisation and discovered innovation at the heart of many of their solutions to meet these challenges.

Tapping Talent When Required

McGregor Dixon, Oceania Talent Leader at EY has observed radical change amongst teams. EY has moved to an agile work environment and this has had a significant impact on the way teams both interact and view the issue of performance.

“ Due to globalisation and the increasing use of technology, many of our teams now operate virtually. Flexibility is increasingly the norm with talent mobilised within our business as we need it. For example, many of our people fly into client locations throughout the week and have the flexibility to work from home on those days when they return. We are enabling people to discuss and agree with their managers how to do their work in a way that meets their requirements and ours. We are seeing that people are more self-directed in the decisions that they make around their own roles. In other instances it might not matter at all what location the work is done as the technology and skills enable projects to be completed effectively across different geographies” says Dixon

“The best thing is that our work environment is changing the mindset of ‘if I can’t see you, you aren’t doing anything productive’. Anyone could be working virtually at any one time so once again this leads to a culture defined by measuring output rather than visible activity which as we know doesn’t always equate to high performance.’

Creating a Sense of Belonging

EY has also altered some of their talent management practices to offer ‘counselling families’ who act as an anchor and mentoring hub.

Partners are matched with a ‘counselling family leader’ as part of an enduring connection that goes beyond usual colleagues and leaders who tend to shift and change as projects start and finish. This creates a consistent support structure which overcomes some of the disconnect that executives might otherwise experience when working in project teams or interconnected hubs.

“The instigation of ‘counselling families’ is highly successful and has had a highly positive impact on engagement. It offers a sense of belonging to a team and is a useful support when dealing with organisational ambiguity. These ‘families’ have also acted as a conduit to a more innovative culture where executives are encouraged to innovate – trying and failing is encouraged” says Dixon.
All levels of the organisation are empowered to lead. Dixon says “the organisation is changing all the time and in the past few years, the rate of team change has accelerated. Projects can last from a matter of weeks to 12 months”. He also noted that although the labour force has typically been permanent, there is an increasing use of contingent workers. “No one knows yet how much our workforce will become casualised or contingent in the future but it is certainly a trend that we are seeing a lot more of.’

In addition, EY is using more simplified assessment and performance management tools to create clearer guidance for their employees.

Organisations need to be brave to make changes

According to Sarah Sammut, HRD from Fitness First, clarity and clear communication in the new organisation to help employees navigate and thrive are key to the success of the new organisation models.

‘First up, employees need to be brave enough to embrace this new agility. The roles we see today don’t always fit nicely into the text of job descriptions and also leaders need to be very clear in terms of expectations and communication. It is no longer about the day to day but about measurable outcomes. Flexibility has become mainstream. My experience is that when employees are given flexibility it engenders great loyalty. ‘Sammut says.

She also cited particular projects at Fitness First that are now calling for a multi-disciplinary approach. For example, a recent consumer awareness branding project tracking brand metrics was led by HR who pulled together a diverse team of talent from marketing to customer interfacing roles and HR. The cross fertilisation of ideas and talent then leveraged the diversity of thought, new talent and ideas.

“With the escalation of technology and access to data, we are able to access information faster than ever before and we take a whole of business approach to improve our metrics and inform strategy continuously.

As a society too, there is a desire to have more variety in our roles. This has to do with how we take in information. For example with social media – you could be looking at something in your local town, information on Linkedin or even global news and learning on the job. We are learning in a multi-directional and fluid way. People are wanting this level of fluidity in their work life. Many of our employees work part-time and have active interests with family, study or other ventures outside our business . We have been using social media and our own app to help us communicate across diverse sites and in this way we are pulling the organisation together in new ways. We can empower people and communicate across disperse areas so much better than before” says Sammut.

Sammut observes a ‘push and pull effect’ between organisations and employees to create the new team norms.

Redefine traditional roles

Fitness First has modified some of their roles to broaden their appeal and effectiveness. For example, the role of Receptionist and Membership Consultant has been combined resulting in a 50 percent increase in the retention rate of sales staff as they find the combined role so much more rewarding. Sammut notes that this “also has a great flow on effect with our members because the person who joins you greets you, looks after you as a customer and helps to inspire you to go further in life through your fitness. This is very much in keeping with our vision. Many clubs have moved to this model and this it is working well” .

Through many discussions with HR Managers from various organisations and industries, we are seeing a clear trend towards a new organisational model in Australia. Getting the workplace environment right and instigating the right systems and processes is a continuous journey. Input and feedback from leaders and employees is helping to evolve and HR can be the innovative and thought leader to drive change effectively.

INTERVIEW: Rebecca McKenzie, CEO Glen Eira City Council, discusses gender challenges facing Local Councils

Mon, 29 May 2017 01:41:53 GMT

Rebecca McKenzie is CEO for Glen Eira City Council. She’s the current President of LGPro and passionate about seeing more women represented in leadership positions in Local Government.

In her role on the judging panel for the Top 50 Public Sector Women list, she chats with Sharon Ardley about the gender challenges facing Local Councils.

Your passion for gender balance is palpable. What drives you to become an ambassador for the cause?

Local Government is the closest level of government to the community. It goes without saying that we should also be representative of that community – in all sorts of ways, not just gender. Of the 79 Councils in Victoria only 12 are currently led by women. We know that there are far more than 12 women in local government capable of being CEOs, so something needs to shift. I intend to use my year as 2017 President of LGPro to influence change in this area.

In 2016 you participated in a working committee to advise the Minister of gender challenges in the public sector. What outcomes have you seen as a result of the findings of that committee?

Interestingly the Ministerial Round-Table is still running and will continue to meet a few times a year to monitor the progress that has been made. It’s still early days but we are discussing legislative, cultural and systemic changes which together should see a shift over time. The most recent initiative to be rolled out if a Listen Learn and Lead program, led by sector CEOs. Importantly, for the first time we are also talking about transparently and publicly measuring our progress and reporting it to the community, which should build better accountability for the change needed.

At a local government level, have you seen a significant push to gain gender balance in the workplace?

For many years local government, like all sectors, has seen an increased emphasis on equality of opportunity and diversity programs. Despite all this focus, disappointingly women remain drastically under-represented at CEO level, and to a lesser extent at executive level. The 2017 President of each of the sector’s three peak bodies is currently a woman (LGPro, MAV and VLGA) so I expect that that will also bring a greater sharpness of focus on the opportunity for change.

What programs or initiatives have you seen to be effective in growing the numbers of females in senior roles in local government?

I’ve always been a champion for appointment on merit, and will continue to be. But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be doing more to ensure that the candidate pools from which we select have a better balance of male and female candidates. Development programs, secondment opportunities, coaching and targeted executive search can all help bring that diversity. When I’m recruiting I am always very clear that I expect a balanced shortlist wherever possible, even if it means getting the recruitment consultant to work harder in stimulating interest.

How have you effected change in the gender balance in your role at Glen Eira City Council?

Prior to my commencement at Glen Eira the executive team was all men. While women were quite well represented at Manager level, it had been a very stable organisation for a long time, with very limited turnover at Director and CEO levels. Forty per cent of our executive team are now women and we continue to have women representing approximately Fifty per cent of the senior management cohort.

What do you feel is the single biggest challenge facing the public sector in achieving gender balance at senior levels?

The research that LGPro has led in the sector indicates that the biggest challenge remains the age old issue of confidence. We know that women will be less likely to apply for a role unless they feel that they are able to satisfy one hundred per cent of the requirements of the role from day one, whereas some men will be more prepared to apply first, and work out the rest later. Finding ways to build women’s confidence and enable them to develop the broad leadership skills that will support success upon appointment should therefore be a priority focus for us.

Entries are now open and nominations can be submitted for the Top 50 Public Sector Women (Victoria) . For more information go to: www.publicsectorwomen.com.au

Women simply do not apply for the top jobs

Fri, 26 May 2017 01:25:39 GMT

It is a confronting statement but the evidence is stark, “women simply aren’t applying for the senior level roles in the same numbers as men” says Sharon Ardley, Davidson’s General Manager in Victoria for HR Consulting. ‘Interestingly, when they do, they have a significantly greater chance of getting the job.’

According to the latest gender workplace statistics compiled by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, women represent 15.4% of CEOs and 27.4% of key management positions in non-public businesses. Alarmingly, 25.1% of businesses that reported their gender statistics have no females in key management roles. All non-public sector businesses with 100+ employees are required to report.

In the public sector the data is only marginally better. Data from The State of the Public Sector in Victoria Report 2015-2016, reported 39% of executives in the public sector were women. At first glance this appears to be a good proportion, however, not when you take into account that 67% of the total Victorian public sector’s workforce are female. The numbers of females are there. They are just not progressing to executive levels.

For many women, putting themselves forward and backing their skills can be a key challenge for their career advancement. Women are not inherently wired to ‘self-promote’ says Ms Ardley. They need additional resources and encouragement to gain the confidence to succeed and step up.

To address the gender issues and equip women with the skills they need to excel, Ms Ardley and her team have developed the Davidson Leadership Acceleration Program (DLAP) to work with females at all levels to gain self-awareness and develop the mindset, skills and tools required to optimise leadership behaviour, achieve results and build transformational leadership.

The program is targeted at females in management and senior management who are looking to gain an insightful assessment of their capabilities and the confidence to take the next step in their leadership journey.

“We take a data led approach to analyse strengths and identify areas for development so participants come away from the program with an individual debrief of performance, development plan and personalised support” say Ms Ardley.

Through extensive work in the public sector, Davidson has identified a specific need in this area to work with females as they advance through their careers and into leadership roles.

“We also feel that it is important to shine a spotlight on exceptional female leaders who are in the Victorian Public Service, assisting them to progress their careers by highlighting their work and raising their profiles. To do this Davidson has launched the Top 50 Public Sector Women (Victoria) initiative. These women are role models for other females in the sector and play an active role in effecting change” Ms Ardley added.

Females in the Top 50 cohort will get the opportunity to receive one of six scholarship to the Davidson Leadership Acceleration Program. “We are exceptionally excited to offer these scholarships to six of the final Top 50 and make a significant contribution to their leadership development” said Ms Ardley.

For further information about the Top 50 Public Sector Women list or the Davidson Leadership Acceleration Program please contact Sharon Ardley, General Manager, HR Consulting (Vic). Sharon.ardley@davidsonwp.com

INTERVIEW: Dr Gillian Sparkes, Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability Victoria discusses gender diversity challenges

Thu, 25 May 2017 01:45:24 GMT

Dr Gillian Sparkes, has held senior positions in both the public and private sectors. In her role as the independent Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability in Victoria and a member of the Top 50 Public Sector Women judging panel, she chats with Sharon Ardley about gender diversity challenges.

You are in the unique position of having held senior positions in both the public and private sectors. Is there a difference in approach to tackling the gender gaps in the public and private sectors?

Technically there does not need to be a difference – set a policy and implement it – but practically yes, in my experience there are different approaches. Leadership in all sectors can make the choice to embrace diversity and inclusion as an organisational principle. It is theoretically possible in any sector and any organisation to make proactive, merit based appointments; promote and develop leadership within an organisation and make unbiased decisions regarding promotion and recruitment.

My recent experience, is that the public sector is more likely to embrace the benefits of a diverse and inclusive workforce than the private sector. The Victorian public sector has made good progress towards a 50:50 ratio of women: men in leadership roles, including public sector boards.

There is still a way to go to develop an authentic culture that embraces diversity in the public and private sectors, but targets certainly catalyse women into leadership roles – enriching conversations and debates at the board and executive table. That can only be a good thing.

The focus of Environmental Sustainability Victoria has parallels with the gender diversity movement in that to develop vibrant and sustainable workforces (or environments) there needs to be understanding and commitment that we all play a role in creating healthy, balanced and diverse workplaces/environments. The decisions we make today will impact on the future.

What programs or initiatives have you been a part of to grow the number of females at senior levels?

We are experiencing an unprecedented change in attitudes and outcomes in the Victorian public sector through government policy. The momentum for change is strong.

The Victorian public sector is implementing the Andrews Government policy to achieve 50% women in leadership roles. This policy has unlocked a lot of energy, enthusiasm and outcomes and was strengthened with the release of the Victorian Gender Equality Strategy in 2016.

Throughout my career, I have been involved in championing gender diversity in many ways including as a leader of organisational and cultural change, advocating for and demonstrating merit based recruitment processes, sharing the lessons of my journey with others at forums and in more passive ways – such as through mentoring – both having mentors myself and mentoring others.

Mentors – female and male – have played an important role in my career. Seeking out and nurturing relationships with experienced and respected women and men, has helped me to develop my leadership skills and provided vital guidance. Frequent (daily) reflection, mindfulness and other techniques that develop a deeper understanding of self and the values that define you as a leader, are important rituals that I subscribe to and encourage in others.

Two key areas that women discuss with me and seek tips on are:

For myself and other women, I think one of the most important things a mentor can help with is self-belief. Developing self-confidence and the ability to take a risk, ‘have a go’ and back yourself. To know that you are normal – all people have hopes and fears – so trust and believe in yourself and your ability.

I also speak with many women about the challenges of balancing a family and caring responsibilities, with work and career. Having balanced a career with parenting, I find that other mothers in particular, are keen to share in my experiences. I have long felt that gender equality at work begins with gender equality at home – men and women genuinely sharing family and caring duties outside of work. Happily, during my 35 year career there has been a significant shift in societal norms regarding the roles of men and women in the home, as parents and carers. These roles are more equal than they were when I had my first child in 1987, for example. That is a great thing.

A key message I give others is that maintaining a breadth and depth of relationships and thought are critical for success. Building relationships with people who are different from you is important. People who will help expand your thinking, perspective and conversations outside the echo chamber of ‘your tribe’. Take opportunities when they arise, dip into diversity, be curious and take in new perspectives – work and play with people that are not from your existing networks and challenge your thinking. Personal growth often comes with some discomfort and career opportunities usually find you. Be brave and back yourself into challenging, diverse roles. Don’t worry if you start off being the only woman in the room. Just get on with the job and over time, you will be a force for gender balance yourself.

What was the single most important decision that you made during your career that has enabled you to rise to such levels of seniority?

It’s hard to select a single decision and certainly, I have personal values and principles that have guided my decisions regarding my career. However, if I had to pick one decision I would say my decision to undertake a PhD in chemistry. I was working for BHP at the time in a very male dominated, industrial setting. I had been promoted to Laboratory Manager after having my second child and came to the view that to succeed in my career, to differentiate myself from my male counterparts, I needed to have the highest possible qualifications. I felt at the time, that I needed to be more qualified than the men with whom I was competing with for opportunities. Whether the motivation was right or wrong, that decision has served me well. Studying science to PhD level enabled me to develop ways of thinking and critical problem solving that have been invaluable throughout my career.

In some sectors, gender targets are seen as the only way to achieve better representation of women. What are your thoughts on this?

In an ideal world, I would prefer not to need targets however, when I listen to respected leaders such as the Chairman of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Elizabeth Proust, speak on the issue of diversity on boards, I am increasingly convinced that targets are required to deliver the momentum required for systemic change. Targets can drive the change, that in chemistry terms – will get us over the activation energy required to achieve the ‘critical mass’ of women in leadership roles so that gender diversity eventually becomes self-sustaining and a non-issue.

To achieve change, we must change something. The need to achieve targets will incentivise change. I am watching with interest, the Australian Institute of Company Director’s current campaign led by Elizabeth Proust to get S&P/ASX 200 female board representation at 30% by the end of 2018.

What do you feel is the single biggest challenge facing the public sector in achieving gender balance at senior levels?

Maintaining authentic leadership – ensuring our leaders walk the talk is possibly the single biggest challenge for the public (and private) sector to achieve and maintain gender balance at senior levels.

While the leadership of the public service is independent of government and can set its own policies on gender balance, the sector benefits greatly when the political class also demonstrate leadership on the issue of gender balance. The Victorian public sector currently has the policies, momentum and leadership at both executive government and senior executive levels to achieve great inroads in gender balance.

In 1982, Premier Cain appointed the first woman as a Minister in the Victorian Cabinet, when Pauline Toner was appointed as Minister for Community Welfare Services. (Three years later in 1985, Helen Rodda Williams became the first woman appointed as a Secretary of an Australian government department). Thirty-five years later we have 10 women and 12 men in the Victorian, Andrews’ Government Ministry. Two of seven departmental Secretaries in Victoria are women.

Continuing to employ public sector leaders who truly believe and advocate for the value and benefit of gender balance and diversity – who continue to challenge and proactively address unconscious bias in the system, the leadership and those holding positions of power within the public sector – is critical to ensuring that our approach to gender equality, diversity and inclusiveness is embedded. Diligence and a long term commitment by all levels of leadership will be required to enshrine the current, positive shift in gender balance in the Victorian public sector.

Sharon Ardley is General Manager, HR Consulting (Vic). Entries are now open and nominations can be submitted for the Top 50 Public Sector Women (Victoria) . For more information go to: www.publicsectorwomen.com.au

Why I prefer to coach, not manage my team.

Wed, 24 May 2017 01:18:17 GMT

Earlier this year, I decided to join Davidson as the General Manager for the Projects & Operations business in Queensland because I genuinely felt their approach to recruitment is different, which suits me because I like to do things differently too.

Davidson Projects & Operations is a successful recruitment business that has established itself as a market leader within the Energy, Resources, Infrastructure and Construction & Property sectors and it is my absolute pleasure to be leading a team of seven specialist consultants across this technically focused area.

But my leadership style is not necessarily the approach everyone takes, I am definitely more of a coach and motivator than a manager. I love training and developing individuals to reach their full potential.

I grew up playing many sports as most Australian’s do and was heavily involved with athletics and basketball for most of my schooling life. More often than not I was nominated by my teammates to be the team captain, and over the years a natural progression eventually lead me to team coach.

These coaching positions have definitely shaped me as a leader and have taken me down the path to where I find myself today. My personal approach and technique as a General Manager can be best described by using the analogy of the basketball coach vs the baseball manager. Two very different sports and two completely different roles, one has to do with directing, the other has to do with teaching.

Managing teams is about directing individuals towards the desired outcome, while coaching is aimed at facilitating long-term improvement. During a baseball game, the manager focuses primarily on strategy and managing the flow of the game. As a coach I am responsible for driving the team’s performance; laying out the general strategy with my talented, trusted team members, who then run with the ball while the coach steps out of the way.

In basketball, the coach has the same authority as a baseball manager, but they get more involved with the action on the court. They call out plays and defensive schemes to the players from the sidelines during the games, but the players are then free to implement those plays (using their skills and knowledge of the game) as they see fit. A coach offers encouragement, support, and suggestions, and they instruct players on how to react to different possible outcomes depending on what the other team’s strategy of play is.

Noticeably, the roles and responsibilities of a baseball manager and basketball coach do overlap, however, while the baseball manager focuses on authority and directing, the basketball coach works in more of a teaching or facilitating capacity.

I believe that this coaching methodology works best for developmental purposes, especially when you have a team of competent professionals already performing at a reasonably high level like I do. Once you define ‘winning’ for your organisation, team members may need your guidance and support as a coach, but in most cases, they shouldn’t need direction.

This is personally what I love about coaching. My job is to coach a highly productive and professional recruitment team, by ensuring we exceed the expectations of our clients and candidates alike, and that is exactly what I plan to do.

Kylie Ringelstein has over 10 years of human resources and recruitment experience and has been operationally leading and managing teams for the last 15 years. She is currently the General Manager for the Projects & Operations business at Davidson in Queensland. Follow Kylie on LinkedIn .

INTERVIEW: Adam Fennessy, Secretary Department Environment, Land, Water & Planning discusses DELWP’s commitment to gender equity

Tue, 23 May 2017 01:08:21 GMT

As a Male Champion of Change, Adam Fennessy, Secretary Department Environment, Land, Water & Planning (DELWP), is genuinely committed to driving change and leading from the front. As a member of the Top 50 Public Sector Women list judging panel, Adam shares DELWP’s commitment to gender equity and highlights their achievements.

Do you feel that men have a role to play in driving gender balance in the workplace?

Yes, I believe that men need to step up and take responsibility and action to drive equality in our organisations and across our community. It’s important to me that gender equity is no longer seen as a women’s issue or a men’s issue, but a challenge for us all.

Is achieving a gender balanced workforce a priority for DELWP?

At DELWP, we are building an inclusive, gender balanced and flexible workforce because we know that workforces that reflect the community make better decisions and achieve better outcomes for the community.

Reflecting our community is important for us, as we deliver on our promise to put the community at the centre of everything we do to shape and support liveable, inclusive and sustainable communities and thriving natural environments throughout Victoria.

How is DELWP tracking in terms of achieving a gender balance?

At DELWP, we have a 50/50 gender target for executive roles and all roles are available as flexible. We achieved our target for a gender balanced executive last July, with 50 percent of women holding executive roles. We’re mindful of maintaining this balance and insist on gender balanced shortlisting and panels for all executive roles.

Do you feel that gender equity is a priority in the public service?

Yes, gender equity is a priority for us across the Victorian Public Service, and together, we’re committed to reflecting our community in our workforce and working towards our 50/50 gender balanced executive target.

Entries are now open and nominations can be submitted for the T op 50 Public Sector Women (Victoria) . For more information go to: www.publicsectorwomen.com.au

INTERVIEW: Tracey Slatter, Managing Director, Barwon Water discusses gender targets and why they are important.

Fri, 19 May 2017 01:02:19 GMT

Clare McCartin chats with Tracey Slatter, Managing Director, Barwon Water about gender diversity challenges at senior levels in the public sector and why gender targets are important.

You’ve had extensive experience at senior levels across numerous public sector roles. What is the biggest professional challenge you have faced and how did you tackle it?

Moving into new sectors with new content at a senior level is always challenging – there are no L-Plates when you start an executive role and you are expected to hit the ground running. There have been times when in the first few weeks of working for a new organisation I have resorted to a quick google search to understand a technical term that my team were using! In new roles you have to back your judgement and intelligence (EQ and IQ) rather than your knowledge.

When thinking back over your career, what significant steps did you take along the way that enabled you to move through the ranks of seniority?

I have always taken up every learning opportunity that has come my way – whether a formal course or an on the job challenge. I think taking a ‘learning lens’ to work has given me the confidence to tackle new opportunities and challenges without feeling daunted by them. I have always approached new opportunities from the perspective of “will I find it interesting?” rather than “can I do it?” and I think this has helped me step out into the somewhat unknown. The other lesson I have learned is that there are always other people willing to provide advice, information and assistance so you are never really on your own. Collaboration is both a necessary ingredient of a good leader and critical to being a successful one.

The push for gender diversity across all industries and sectors is strong but not always effective. What do you feel is the single biggest challenge facing the public sector in achieving gender balance at senior levels?

The public sector is complex and demanding. I still think we have a long, long way to go to support parents in the workplace. In office based settings, working parents and their children are separated from each other for long periods of time, often every day. While part-time management opportunities can help, we probably need to evolve further so that parenting, children and work can interact more seamlessly. I also think inclusive leadership styles are critical to bring out the differences between people and value these rather than expecting everyone to contribute with a similar style or approach.

What programs or initiatives have you seen to be effective in growing the numbers of females in senior roles?

Leadership programs – particularly in house – not necessarily for women only, really help female leaders to grow their confidence and signal more indirectly their interest in progressing their career.

In some sectors, gender targets are seen as the only way to achieve better representation of women. What are your thoughts on this?

Barwon Water has recently set gender (and other diversity) targets for our organisation as part of our diversity and inclusion policy. We have carefully managed this policy with input from all our staff and they are overwhelmingly supportive of it. When implementing any new policy, organisations have to be mature and non-binary in approach. Does setting targets mean men will not get promoted anymore? – of course not, because merit remains and must remain at the foundation of good decision making. What it does mean is that an organisation will work harder on its culture, language, systems and processes to overcome gender bias and send a strong message that it is open for business – to all.

Entries are now open and nominations can be submitted for the Top 50 Public Sector Women (Victoria). For more information go to: www.publicsectorwomen.com.au

Will you feast on your imperfections or starve on your ego?

Wed, 17 May 2017 03:43:44 GMT

To grow and develop at work we must quit our second job, the one we spend so much time on yet don’t even realise we are doing. It’s this second job that literally sucks the life and engagement out of workers and the productivity and profits out of companies.

So, what is this insidious second job? It’s the time and energy each of us puts into covering our asses and trying to look good at work. Notice how much time and emotional energy most people put into covering up their weaknesses and projecting a positive image at work. I feel exhausted just thinking about it.

Imagine instead, a workplace where you’re encouraged to share your weaknesses and all that negative energy is now being channelled into helping you to learn new skills and to grow as a person. A workplace where it is safe to be you.

Such places do exist according to Harvard Professor, Bob Kegan but they’re not for the faint hearted. Kegan has been studying these companies for the past few years. The ‘second job’ concept comes out of this research.

I recently attended a talk Kegan gave on this subject, he’s onto something big.

Kegan says this is a story about the future of work. We know the predictions that up to 50 percent of jobs may be replaced by technology in the next two decades and that 40 percent of companies will not exist in 10 years’ time. There is an urgent need for individuals to learn new skills and reinvent themselves and for companies to embrace a culture of innovation if we are to survive in this volatile and uncertain world.

Puzzled by the fact that so few companies have succeeded in creating the developmental cultures needed to survive, Kegan took a deep dive into this thorny issue. He set out to identify and hopefully to study, examples of companies who might be getting it right. Fortunately for us Kegan’s treasure hunt led him to three companies who have succeeded.

Kegan terms these companies, DDO’s or deliberately developmental organisations. The three he uncovered are DDO’s ‘in the wild’; they learned how to do this with no outside assistance. Having now spent hundreds of hours studying these DDO’s, Kegan and his colleague Lisa Leahy have established a consultancy committed to teaching the rest of us how to do this.

What characterises a DDO is their commitment to developing everyone in the company and to creating a culture where everyone is also committed to their own development and to that of their colleagues. Hence the term, a deliberately developmental organisation.

DDO’s in the wild

The three DDO’s in the wild Kegan and his team based this research on are:

Decurion – a family owned business employing 1,100 people across several industries: movie exhibition, real estate and senior living

Bridgewater – the world’s best performing hedge fund

Next Jump – an e-commerce company whose platform, PerksAtWork.com generates billions of dollars in revenue

Kegan identified 10 things DDO’s do differently

1. A DDO is for everyone

In most companies, only 5 to 10 percent of the workforce gets access to meaningful training and even then, most of that investment is wasted. The half-life of most executive learning and development programs is just three weeks.

A DDO is committed to developing everyone in their workforce. More importantly, a DDO is committed to developing you as a person. Everyone comes to work to work on themselves, to build a better ‘me’ not just to learn new skills.

Everyone is committed to their own development, to that of their colleagues and to the business, as a whole.

2. Take a growth mindset towards talent

As Bryan Unguard, CEO of Decurion puts it, ‘It’s better to feast on your weaknesses than to starve on your ego.’

A DDO only employs people who are committed to admitting their weaknesses and have a growth mindset.

3. Quit your second job

In a DDO everyone admits their weaknesses and shares their development plan to get better not only in terms of learning new skills but also their plan to grow as a person. This means team members no longer need to spend time hiding their weaknesses and managing impressions.

4. Don’t run around on your backhand

Using a tennis metaphor, we all have a backhand in our work; an area of real weakness. In a DDO you identify and admit your weakness and then look for opportunities to constantly practice that skill – you don’t ignore it, nor do you hide it.

For example, Next Jump identified that people tend to lean either towards being over-confident (arrogant) or under-confident (insecure). People freely admit their leaning and this forms part of their everyday dialogue. In a meeting, it’s not uncommon for someone to say, ‘As you know, I tend to lean arrogant which means I might talk too much or talk over others – please pull me up if you see me doing this.’ Or conversely, “I lean insecure, so please pull me up if I’m not contributing enough or you feel, I’m not saying what I really mean.’

They even have an app which allows them to rate each other’s performance during the meeting. This takes feedback to a whole new level.

The key is, because your colleagues know you are working to improve this skill, the feedback is given and received with good intent.

5. Fail fast and forward

In a DDO it’s OK to fail, and when you fail, fail fast and fail forward, ie. make sure you learn from it.

A DDO is a safe place to fail but it is by no means a comfortable environment in the sense that people discuss their failures and their learnings openly. This is not easy to do. As Ray Dalio from Bridgewater puts it:

Pain + Reflection = Progress

6. Use your job as a tow rope

Your job should not feel comfortable in a DDO, it is meant to stretch you to your growing edge – this is how you learn. Your job literally pulls you into greater capabilities.

7. Give continuous and candid feedback

DDO’s thrive on giving regular and candid feedback.

Interestingly, the origins of the word ‘candour’ traces back to the Latin verb candere (‘to shine or to glow’), the same root as the word, ‘candle’. Candour brings light into darker places.

Some might see the level of feedback in these companies as brutal but the trick is they play the man not the ball.

8. Well held vulnerability

DDO’s are all about learning how to be vulnerable in the service of what matters most to us. This is a skill which does not come naturally to most people.

9. Rank doesn’t have its usual privileges

The same rules apply to everyone from the CEO down. In a DDO, you lead from the front and model the behaviours you are seeking to instill across the organisation.

10. Work is not a performance

In a DDO you don’t come to work to do a ‘performance’ each day, you come to work to practice getting better at who you are and what you do. You bring your authentic self to work, faults, vulnerabilities and all.

Paradoxically, an ‘everyone culture’ as Kegan calls it, is not for everyone. What these companies have learned is that it’s hard to find people who fit this culture but it’s worth the challenge.

Next Jump, for example, comes from a sector where there is an average 40 percent staff turnover. Their experience is they do lose a lot of people in their first 12 months but in years two and beyond, their turnover rate drops to just 4 percent.

Kegan observes that DDO’s have a robust and rigorous recruitment process. Knowing that not everyone is going to fit this culture, they become obsessive about assessing cultural alignment as a part of the selection process.

My Experience

My own experience is that the DDO concept is great in theory yet will be hard to apply in many organisations. Kegan has developed a model to help companies move in this direction through evolution, not revolution.

I’ve booked in to attend a two-day workshop Kegan is running on this process; I should be better informed after that.

For now, the big stumbling block I see in many companies is that it’s hard to get buy-in from the board and the senior leadership team to embark on such a massive culture change process.

My suggestion is that if you want to experiment with the DDO model, start in one small business unit where the people already have a developmental orientation. Begin with introducing ‘DDO Lite’ and monitor the reactions and results. The challenges will be different in every company and I suspect it’s about learning, through experimentation, what works best in your own culture.

Rob Davidson is the Founder and Director of Growth at Davidson . He describes his main role in the business as ‘the thinker’ and he constantly searches local and international markets for growth opportunities. His role connects him to a myriad of recruitment industry leaders and he is passionate about creating a sustainable future for the industry through building better entrepreneurs. He is committed to life-long learning and sharing that knowledge. Follow him on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/robdavidsontalentstrategy/

Are gender balanced shortlists helping us achieve true diversity in the workplace?

Fri, 21 Apr 2017 03:37:30 GMT

When people think about diversity in the workplace, it is often the perfect male to female ratio that springs to mind, but factors such as age, race, cultural background, education and more that all contribute to true diversity.

Having said this, gender diversity is definitely on the tip our tongues. The Financial Review mentions almost daily the lack of female representation on ASX listed Boards or the widening pay gap in our big businesses, and the issue was further highlighted at recent celebrations of International Women’s Day.

But why is this such an important topic and at the top of so many government and corporate agendas?

It is well researched that gender equality in the workforce offers benefits to an organisation far beyond a numbers game. U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, Catherine Russell states that “If the world closed the gender gap in workforce participation, GDP would increase by 28 trillion dollars by 2025. She also said that “studies have found that countries with less gender inequality are more secure, and peace agreements last longer when women are at the negotiating table.” That sounds pretty good to me.

As an executive search professional with over a decade of experience recruiting Board and executive roles across the not for profit industry and the public and private sectors, I have a lot of conversations about gender balance with many hiring managers, although, I must say that sometimes I have to question how genuine and committed some hiring managers are, but that is a topic for another day.

As far as achieving gender-balanced shortlist goes, as they say in the classics “anything worthwhile doesn’t come easily”. I can honestly say that this is where I’m truly earning my fees, as my search efforts have never been more intensive than they are currently. You may have heard about the famous Accenture report about men applying for a role when they satisfy 50% of a role’s requirements whereas females may satisfy 75% and they won’t apply because they believe they don’t have prerequisites for the role. The reality is that I don’t think anyone has ever satisfied 100% of a role’s requirements and if they did they probably wouldn’t last too long in the role due to lack of a challenge.

Given this fact, males will always apply for a role when I run a job advertisement, but working with prospective female candidates around their ability to do the role and encouraging them to apply is truly satisfying.

By removing the unconscious bias in the shortlisting process it ensures women are not unnecessarily disqualified before the opportunity to interview, but in addition to this, it provides a recruitment consultant far greater leverage to present candidates, male or female from different sectors and backgrounds.

In most sectors there tends to be a higher percentage of male or female executives, for example, engineering and infrastructure sectors tend to be more male dominated vs the community services slightly more female dominated.

Which brings me to highlight a recruitment methodology which is by no means new, and something I’ve been using since I joined the executive search industry over a decade ago – it is what human resources professionals refer to as “job definition” or more broadly how a role is defined in terms of deliverables and outcomes.

Typically position descriptions are being presented as a lengthy document outlining the day to day tasks and responsibilities of a role, which to be honest can be somewhat mind numbing and often fail to provide any true insight into what outcomes you are most looking for.

It’s not until you speak with the hiring manager and ask them to visualise themselves having appointed this role and reviewing the successful candidate’s performance 12 months down the track, then ask the question “what will they have achieved and what outcomes would you have seen”?

It is this conversation which brings about a change in the mindset of the hiring manager. For all roles, whether it be a Non-Executive Director, Chief Executive Officer or even a senior manager I find that roles can be defined in 4-8 key deliverables or outcomes. For even the most conservative managers, taking them through this process will bring about a shift in mindset.

Usually a hiring manager will come into the discussion with a perceived idea that the candidates must come with sector knowledge, however, upon understanding the key outcomes of the role, the candidate having this intimate sector knowledge can almost certainly be less vital.

Being a third party facilitating this discussion adds enormous value in this process, as most typically the outcomes of a role like budget management, stakeholder engagement, leadership are almost certainly not industry specific.

So by starting with the requirement of a gender balanced shortlist, I’ve seen clients gain far greater benefit beyond just gender diversity. By appointing people from different sectors who bring the competencies required to achieve the outcomes of the role but also the ability to question current processes and approaches. Sure, it may take the new appointees a couple of months to be brought up to speed on industry specifics including stakeholder relationships and the ever growing list of acronyms, however, in the long run the organisation is in a far greater place.

We at Davidson understand this market and believe there is much more to do beyond providing clients high-quality executive search services, and as a result we are focusing a lot of attention of highlighting the leadership of female executives (and upcoming executives) through initiatives such as the “Top 50 Women in the Public Sector”. This has been designed to put the spotlight on these amazing female professionals, recognise them, help build their profile and most importantly build confidence (www.publicsectorwomen.com.au).

If you were interested in discussing this concept in any way and want to understand how your organisation can achieve greater diversity (beyond just gender) and be more innovation in what you do – all which starts with your people and thus your recruitment approach, don’t hesitate to give me a call.

Jarrod McLauchlan is a Principal Consultant – Executive & Boards (Vic)

WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP #1: Leanne Williams, CEO West Gippsland Regional Library Corp.

Fri, 21 Apr 2017 01:57:29 GMT

At Davidson we are committed to enhancing women’s careers and supporting them as they progress into senior leadership positions. Women need role models to lead the way and inspire others to follow. Our Women in Leadership series looks to create a platform to shine the light on female leaders, their insights and wisdom.

Cameron Norton recently placed Leanne Williams in her current role as CEO at West Gippsland Regional Library Corporation. He found her to be extremely impressive during the recruitment process, particularly the innovative way she presented her plans for the role and organisation.

Cameron took time out to chat further with Leanne and gain insights into how her new role is going and share her leadership insights.

As a young professional in the first half of your career journey, what has been the biggest challenge as you stepped up to the leadership level?

The leadership journey is one of self-discovery. You have to be self-aware and learn from your experiences (and mistakes). One of my biggest challenges was being able to have a difficult conversation with a key stakeholder where I felt our values did not align. At the end of the day you have to give people an opportunity to learn and grow. If the work continues to be out of alignment with your values, then it’s probably time to move on.

What advice would you give to a young aspiring leader to get to that next level of their career?

Self-awareness and emotional intelligence would be two essential skills to progress through your career. Whilst many professionals progress without these skills, people who work with leaders who possess these skills will work much harder to achieve results because they feel valued.

What are some of the key leadership activities that you do to engage your people and create a culture that is conducive to high performance?

Communication, communication, communication! Your team want to feel part of the decision making process. Whilst there are many people who do not have decision making responsibilities, if you continuously communicate with your people, they will be more engaged and feel part of the process. Knowledge is empowering. Being transparent is also really important. This will help build a relationship with your team and they will trust you more. I am also a very happy and energetic person and I hope that this rubs off on my people.

Flexibility is a term used loosely to describe working options for staff these days, what does it mean to you and have you seen results increase as a result of being flexible with your team?

Flexibility can be provided in many different ways. It can be as simple as saying “absolutely” when a team member asks if they can leave work early on a particular day (rather than giving them a grilling). If you provide your people with autonomy my observations are they will work harder. Sometimes though it is not unreasonable to provide boundaries to flexible options. The most important thing for a leader is to be consistent when allowing staff to have flexibility. If there are exceptions then you need to be able to justify it.

With technology changing so rapidly, how do you keep pace of the developments that could impact how you work?

To keep up with developments you need to research technology options, read articles, listen to podcasts or audio books and attend seminars. Keep in touch with what others are doing in the industry. My approach these days is – anything is possible so think big and laterally.

Have you started using any new technology on a daily basis to increase your own personal effectiveness? Do you have any ‘Life Hacks’ that you can share?

I like to provide myself with structure as this helps me be productive. I will commence the day by working early in the morning (5am or 6am) before the rest of the family has woken as this gives me quiet time without interruptions. This is certainly a challenge when you have three children under five years old! I have an open door policy at work so getting quiet time any other time of the day is difficult. I can’t live without my outlook calendar. This includes giving access to my calendar to staff and sending my husband calendar invites to make sure we are both on the same page. I use Evernote as a note taking application as I can use it on any device and it synchronizes between devices and with my outlook calendar. I try to avoid using applications which do not synchronize as this duplicates work and is less efficient.

How do you see technology impacting your organisation and what does that mean from a business model perspective?

Over the coming months I will be implementing a number of new technology systems which will automate administration processes. This will allow my teams to focus more on what they are really employed to do rather than administration processes. You do have to remember that the organisation does need to see savings from the implementation of new systems, so redeploying staff when part of their role has been automated may be required. Make sure you give yourself and the organisation options to be dynamic in the future. Technology is changing fast and organisations need to be able to keep up with customers’ expectations. Make sure you use technologies that are also dynamic and progressing with future trends.

Humans naturally resist change and get back to their basic behaviours when change is going to impact them. How do you approach change management and what do you see as the critical success factors to any change process?

Communicate early with your teams and try to involve them in the process. People are not silly and they know when management is embarking on change processes so communicating early and take them on the journey with you. Another really important factor is being able to tell the story. The art of storytelling about why you are making change will be a key factor in how well the change process is implemented. It is also important to remember that you are not going to win everyone over.

If you could have one super power that you could use in the workplace, what would it be and why?

This is difficult to answer, because I think all good things require hard work. The journey and what we learn along the way is the exciting part of our careers.

Cameron Norton is a Practice Leader at Davidson Executive & Boards (Victoria).

The secret to McNab’s success

Fri, 14 Apr 2017 03:41:40 GMT

McNab is celebrating a rather large milestone this year – their 21st birthday! With festivity plans underway and a lot to be celebrated, I spoke with Michael McNab to try and find out the secret to his continued success in the construction industry, through the hard times and the good.

When you visit McNab’s website, the first line you’ll read is – ‘ The not so ordinary construction company ’, this philosophy has enabled their continued success and long-term repeat clients.

Anyone who pays attention to construction in QLD will know there are always many McNab sites in prevalent locations all over the state. Probably the most well-known project right now is Blue Sky’s ‘The Duke’ in the Gabba, which you may have seen when watching the cricket on TV. That’s a lie, you’ve definitely seen it whilst watching the cricket on TV!

They have a large diversity of projects they get involved with from residential inner Brisbane through to solar projects out west. Michael mentions they partner with developers and clients that they can see a long term future and relationships with. Is this the secret?

It’s all very well building some cool projects and getting your name out there, but to be able to celebrate your 21st birthday as a builder, especially when the construction industry is not all roses – is a satisfying accomplishment. McNab, a Toowoomba based company, also now has a large office in Brisbane, boasting an impressive 250 staff. They’ve experienced steady growth in the last 2 years and don’t show any signs of slowing down.

Their growth matches their results – demonstrating their ability. In recent times they have had projects win Best Overall Development 2015 and then again in 2016, and 80% of their work comes from long-standing repeat clients. Michael tells me that they are specific and deliberate with the teams they match to a project, and they’d rather let a team recover and be strategic with the next project they go on to than win a project for the sake of keeping everyone at full capacity all year round. Is this the secret?

When talking to others in the industry, including past employees of McNab who have gone off to start their own companies, they attribute their abilities, knowledge and success to the foundational training they gained through their cadet program at McNab. A big part of this program includes everyone being taught the importance of being a relationship builder from the get go. Could this be the secret?

To be a successful builder and in fact to be successful in any industry – Michael believes in the need to place an important focus on everyone being held accountable for their decisions, due diligence to customers and ensuring no rash decisions are made. They have worked with companies that have grown with them across multiple industries both current and past and this attitude is part of what has enabled them to do so. “You need to be outcome focused not process focused, and this is where so many come unstuck. There is more than one way to achieve a positive outcome and this is where the importance of not making rash decisions comes into play.” Michael explained. Possibly this is the secret to their success?

McNab put their name on the map in 1996, starting off small time in Toowoomba building a service station for Woolworths. From there they built 20 servos up and down the Queensland coast and made a name for themselves. When asked why he started McNab in the first place, Michael explains “I didn’t go out with a grand plan to have a hugely successful company. I had an opportunity to start my own business and it has flourished over time.”

“The defining moment I probably knew I had ‘made it’ as some would say, as a builder, would be when I opened the Brisbane office.”

Michael has clear expectations of his employees and their skill sets for his business; training, leadership and people. “We put a lot of effort into the beginning of our employee’s career with the business. When staff have been with us 6-8 weeks they begin their full McNab training program.” Michael states. A lot of the staff are long time serving and he attributes this success to this focus of investment from the start. He mentions, however, that it gets harder to ensure the expectations and successes of staff as the company grows to the size it has. They have had to innovate, and that includes developments like their new safety app to help reduce worker injuries. Maybe this is the secret then?

Michael’s goal is to influence change and he certainly made it clear this was an emphasis of his over the last 21 years. Michael describes “One of the best ways to influence change and be an innovator in the industry is to get people on board with your goals. Storytelling plays a major part in this. You can ask or tell someone to do something and they might do it, but follow this up with a story of an example related to this situation and suddenly everything is more relatable and memorable. They will act with purpose and intent and remember to do it again next time in that situation.” Funnily enough, his philosophies and beliefs and teaching through storytelling remind me of another large successful company, born in the sunshine state – Flight Centre. Both centred on people doing a job they love, rather than the other way around.

We’re hoping Michael will continue this approach with storytelling and share some of McNab’s proudest moments in the lead up to their 21st birthday bash later this year. Congratulations on the milestone Michael and everyone at McNab! As it turns out, Michael’s secret to success is no secret at all. It’s on their website, was evident throughout our interview and collectively on the face of everyone at McNab.

‘There’s no one secret ingredient, just a group of not-so-ordinary people with a focus on building incredible projects and long term relationships along the way.’

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS – Executive & Boards – News, Trends and Skill in Demand

Fri, 10 Mar 2017 03:42:32 GMT

Across Australia, the demand for experienced Executives & Board members remains consistently high.

Areas where we are seeing growth are:

Technology:

There is significant focus on Cyber Security and Risk at Board level.

For some organisations the focus is on ensuring that the skills to manage this sit within the Executive team. For others, that operate with significant data etc, the need is for skilled technologists with cyber and risk experience (CISO) to sit on the Board.

Coca-Cola Australia recently restructured to have their CIO report directly to the CEO.

In the past these skills were a ‘nice to have’ within an organisation. Now they are a ‘must have’, at least at Executive level.

The challenge here though is that as technology and digital skills are relatively new, candidates with these skills are often Gen Ys who may not yet have the required governance and Board skills.

This then requires Boards to rethink who, and how they hire. We are seeing some organisations establish Advisory Boards whereby people with the specialist skills, advise the board but don’t sit on it. This provides opportunities for technologist to gain board insight and to build up their experience for progression onto the Boards in the future.

Skills assessments within organisations are key to determine what skills are required and where they reside within the business. We are often called upon to conduct these for our clients.

HR:

It is a widely held belief that traditional HR leaders will become obsolete if they do not embrace the future world of work and the changes that this represents.

Tomorrow’s HR leader needs new skill sets that harness new technologies, predicts future needs and demonstrates agility in responding.

We are seeing a move towards identifying and attracting HR leaders through non-traditional sources.

Candidates that are progressive thinkers, modern leaders and influencers are attractive candidates for key HR roles.

Not-For-Profit (NFP):

Organisations within the NFP sector are starting to restructure themselves to accommodate senior Sales and Marketing roles. Business Development, Marketing, Digital, Branding; these are becoming more common as NFPs endeavour to become more commercial and improve their marketability.

Salaries are becoming more competitive in the NFP sector in order to meet market demand.

Diversity is a key area of focus at Executive and Boards level.

There is a conscious move at Executive and Board level to include greater diversity within shortlists.

This is not limited to gender but incorporates ethnicity, race and age as well.

In Government and the public sector there is significant focus on meeting 50:50 gender targets. Often this requires shortlists to present a balanced representation of males and females for roles.

Unconscious bias is an often debated and key focus in recruitment at senior levels.

Another observation is the move by some organisations to employ staff that reflect the diversity of their customer base. This is particularly evident in service-based organisations such as Insurance and Government agencies such as Centrelink.

Salaries – some are on the decline.

With the decline in the mining industry there has been a notable decrease in Executive salaries. This is particularly evident in the Mining, Oil and Gas sectors.

Whilst this is creating opportunities for other sectors to employ experienced, ex Mining Executives, we are seeing them having to take a significant reduction in their salaries.

For some employers this is casting doubt over candidates long term motivation for taking on roles at lesser rates and as such, they are undertaking additional due diligence to ensure reliability of senior hires.

Qualifications

For some candidates there is an expectation that an MBA will get you the job.

Whilst having an MBA is good, candidates still need to demonstrate leadership and success in order to secure senior roles.

David Reynolds is Group Manager, Executive & Boards at Davidson

Are you running a sustainable business or a social experiment?

Mon, 20 Feb 2017 02:01:14 GMT

When it comes to running a successful business it’s key to remember that A comes before E in the alphabet.

As I continue to reflect on what lessons I have learned over the past 25 years in recruitment, I’ve come to realise it all comes down to one word, accountability.

Just like A comes before E in the alphabet, accountability should come before engagement in business. Engagement without accountability for outcomes is not engagement at all, its complacency.

And when it comes to engagement and culture I suspect many of Australia’s business leaders and HR managers don’t truly understand it. I know I didn’t.

In fact, I’m on record saying that before the GFC, we were so obsessed with culture and engagement that we were running more of a social experiment than a business.

At the height of our social experiment, we created a global precedent by giving someone three months paid conception leave. Yes, we paid a person to take three months leave to do whatever activity it is that usually leads to pregnancy. We truly were a great place to work. No wonder BRW rated us as one of the top 10 best places to work in Australia.

Our culture was focussed too heavily on being a nice place to work. Nice doesn’t pay the bills and it’s not fair to your people. Your job as a leader is to make your people successful and your job as a business owner is to make a profit. You can’t have one without the other.

Leaders and HR managers love to boast about their high staff engagement scores, but unless that correlates with higher profits, they’re not engagement scores, they’re complacency scores. Are your people engaged or are they comfortable, there’s an important difference?

I recently heard Andrew Bassett, the MD of Seek, talk in Brisbane about his views on what challenges lie ahead for Australian business and workers. Bassett used the other C word – complacency. This, he said, was his greatest fear for Australia. Technology will replace many jobs and Bassett, who is well placed to comment, was not optimistic that sufficient new jobs will be created to replace those that are lost.

He believes many Australian businesses are being too complacent. Complacency is a terminal diagnosis in our rapidly changing world and most businesses are not adapting at the rate which is required to survive.

I would extend that to include individual workers. Most are equally complacent; few are doing the brave work required to upskill and remain relevant. This should come as no surprise as few companies are focussed on creating genuine learning cultures where people are held accountable for their own development.

Most companies are still stuck in the social experiment paradigm where engagement scores and keeping people happy is the prime focus – staff turnover is to be avoided at all costs.

But in reality, to develop our people, we need to push them outside their comfort zones in ways which will reduce engagement scores and lead to increased turnover, and that’s ok.

One thing I know to be true is that no matter how many doona days and other perks you offer, people are happy when they are succeeding and they are unhappy when they are failing. In the future world of work, if people aren’t taking responsibility for their own upskilling there is little doubt they will fail and so will the companies who employ them.

Culture, I now realise, must support your desired business outcomes. Today, I describe our ideal culture as an innovative and high-performance culture, which is also a great place to work. It’s the culture we need to have to adapt and succeed in the face of the threats technology poses to our business model. A great place to work is not causative, it is a consequence. The focus is on innovation and performance.

So, what can leaders do to become more focused on accountability? Is it possible to create a culture where it’s ok to make your people uncomfortable?

Apparently, it is. I recently attended a workshop with Harvard Professor Bob Kegan. Kegan has been studying what he calls DDOs – deliberately developmental organisations. These organisations have cracked the code on how to build a culture in which the organisation is committed to developing everyone and everyone is committed to and held accountable for their own development. His book is called An Everyone Culture.

In my next blog, I’ll share some of my learnings from Kegan. In the meantime, you might take the time to reflect on where you and your organisation sit on the spectrum of social experiment at one end to sustainable 21st-century business at the other end.

It’s a matter of learning your ABCs.

The evolution of DevOps and Cloud is like a game of Australian Rules Football

Sun, 19 Feb 2017 22:52:16 GMT

It is now coming up to three years since I started to specialise in recruiting in the DevOps & Cloud space – where I started my journey to learn what they were all about. At the time in Melbourne, these IT specialisations were both just starting to come of age, so I was eager to meet with technical people in the market and gain their thoughts.

Initially, I would receive this kind of feedback – “DevOps is just Development and Operations working more closely together” and “Cloud is just another buzz word around storage”. However as time has marched on and the industry has evolved, both of these areas have matured and flourished to become key parts of the IT industry and imperative to the success of a modern functioning business.

For me, a massive AFL Australian Rules Football (AFL) fan, looking at it closely in a quirky light-hearted way, there perhaps could be some synergies between the evolution of DevOps and Cloud and AFL.

Within DevOps, the time saved for IT Departments can be substantial. Where things can be automated rather than being done manually, processes can be up to 1000% more efficient. Naturally, this creates greater efficiency across a business and this is where I see similarities to the evolution of the modern AFL game. The automation of some IT functions is like the ‘run and gun’ frenetic current style of AFL Football; a much faster efficient game compared to the by-gone style of a more ‘manual’ less efficient game – where it was marked, walk back, take your kick and go long to a pack. In addition to this the removal of things such as a deliberate rushed behind and dragging the ball in – can also be akin to removing the silos of a traditional IT environment – when converting to DevOps.

Whilst the increased capacity of storage and the ability to scale up rapidly through migrating to the Cloud is perhaps reminiscent of current AFL player’s aerobic capacity. Yes, the modern day players seem to be able to go to another level and put more miles in the legs when required. Whereas the AFL players of yesteryear were perhaps similar to the limited storage of the old server racks, once they were at full capacity – there was simply nothing left and nothing more could be gained from them. Hence not being able to scale up for a spike in work-load consumption.

Perhaps this is a cheesy effort to draw parallels between Technology and Sport as our modern world strives to progress and changes at a more frenetic pace than ever before! Regardless, as technology evolves further and DevOps and Cloud specialists continue to be in demand, I look forward to being a #1 ticket holder in watching the play unfold.

Bernie Skinner is a Senior Consultant at Davidson Technology.

Pursuit of happiness: the rewards of a great career transition

Tue, 22 Nov 2016 03:45:00 GMT

If you’d asked me 20 years ago where I thought I’d be in my career today, I never would have guessed Group Corporate Manager for a family-owned recruitment company. In fact, if you’d asked me only a year ago, I still wouldn’t have picked it. Not too long ago, I was working for one of the Big Four banks and part-way through what I thought was my ‘career for life’. It’s funny how quickly things can change…

Five years ago, I accepted the prized mantle of Regional General Manager for Westpac. I had two decades of experience in the financial services industry behind me and I was at the top of my game. In my new role, I oversaw a big team with a big balance sheet – I’m talking 100 plus staff and a ballpark budget of $6 million.

Having been allocated the region of Central Queensland, I decided not to uproot my husband and kids for my job. I soon became a FIFO wife and mother; the constant travel and long stints away from my family took its toll. It was also a lonely experience, as flights to remote areas were usually packed with men in high-vis gear, not corporate women.

Country Australia is a tough gig. Regional communities are exposed to many difficult circumstances which city-goers don’t really think about – it’s a case of out of sight, out of mind. Not for me, as I was working in the thick of it. Natural disasters, businesses and families affected by extreme weather conditions, minority groups desperately in need of a lifeline. It was pretty brutal.

Despite how tough it was, I made the most of my time as the RGM for Central Queensland. I played a key role in the establishment of the Westpac Community Board in Queensland and, as the Chair, I helped raise nearly half a million dollars for community grants and the Westpac Rescue Helicopter. Being able to make a difference on the ground level certainly made my role more fulfilling.

However, when Westpac restructured its workforce, I knew the timing was right to give my career a shakeup. I’d fallen out of love with financial services. It was time to try something new and reinvent Lisa Kay.

So, at the age of 50, I had my first gap year (you don’t realise how much you need to re-charge until you take your foot off the pedal!). Over my 22-year stint in finance I’d never taken more than three weeks off at a time. A hiatus gave me the chance to focus on my family, health and wellness. I started running and reflecting on the things I really valued and wanted out of life. Being passionate about personal development and furthering my knowledge, I also took the time to learn about topics that interested me. Eventually, I reached the right head space to start a new career.

One day, I ran into an old colleague who mentioned her employer (Davidson) was looking for a leadership coach – someone who could coach leaders to lead leaders. Considering my experience I knew I had some skills that would benefit this role. The icing on the cake? Davidson was a recruitment company, not a bank. It was also a family owned and run SME. In other words, it was something completely different – the perfect stepping stone into a new world of work.

While working as a Leadership Coach at Davidson, I was able (and encouraged) to access the CEO and influence the business to improve its performance. It was rewarding work, so it didn’t take me long to realise I wanted to stick around, to see Davidson grow and contribute to its future success. So, when Bruce Davidson, the Company CEO, asked if I wanted to take on the role of GM for Davidson’s Corporate division, the answer was easy.

In the spirit of my new self-commitment, I negotiated a better work-life-balance, making sure health continued to be a priority. Davidson was incredibly supportive, giving me the freedom to start late on Wednesdays and work from home on Fridays, so I could go running along the beach during the week. There is no expectation for me to work on weekends or take my laptop home at the end of a work day. This arrangement benefits me and the business, as it gave me time for ‘blue sky thinking’.

During my first few weeks in my new role, I was surprised at how quickly I hit the ground running. It turned out recruitment was a lot like finance. It was ultimately about fostering relationships, matching customers’ needs to business offerings and generating ‘sales’. Sales was what I did at Westpac, and it’s what I did well. I know how to lead sales teams to achieve outcomes for the business and its clients.

At Davidson, my goal was to drive productivity and profitability – not just on an individual recruiter level but for the entire team. One of Davidson’s core values is teamwork and collaboration. With this in mind, I encouraged my workforce to start focussing on team pride and accountability. It’s not enough for our recruiters to smash their own targets, they need to be responsible for improving the division’s results with genuine passion. Today, we work towards one common goal: enhancing workplace performance, both internally and externally.

Looking back over my first few months as the GM for Davidson Corporate, I can see how the company has benefited from bringing a pair of fresh eyes into the business. My unique ‘lens’ has breathed new life into the Corporate division and Davidson’s senior leadership team. Rather than being moulded and forced to take on the views around me, I’ve been encouraged to form my own opinions and bring a fresh perspective to the table. I love how Davidson genuinely values and nurtures diversity.

If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from my career transition, it’s to go after the things you really want and back yourself. I plucked up the courage to step away from Financial Services and actively pursue the career and life I really wanted. While I quietly battled with self-doubt and ‘imposter syndrome’ during my early days at Davidson, my confidence has grown as I’ve drawn certainly from who I am, where I’ve come from and what I’m capable of. I’ve also cut myself a little slack. I’ve decided to be patient with myself while I learn the ropes of a new job, in a new business environment and in a new industry.

I’m thrilled by the career I’ve carved out of myself in 2016, as well as the opportunity Davidson has given me to demonstrate my leadership skills can determine new outcomes for the business. The culture at Davidson is incredibly uplifting and empowering; I’m no longer part of the ‘sausage factory’. I have a healthy work-life balance and finally feel successful in the ways that matter to me. There’s nothing more rewarding.

Lisa Kay is the Group Manager for Davidson Corporate .

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS: CORPORATE RECRUITMENT

Mon, 21 Nov 2016 03:38:28 GMT

What’s happening in the Australian Corporate Recruitment market?

There is a real feeling of buoyancy and optimism across the Corporate Recruitment market going into the new year. We are seeing clear pockets of growth in key industry sectors and in all capital cities.

Strong candidates with professional qualifications, technical skills and industry experience are in regular demand across the board.

In the Brisbane market we are seeing a number of large corporates in restructure mode, reassessing their role types, reporting structures and span of control. This provides great opportunities for some candidates while others find themselves looking for a new opportunity when they were not expecting the change. Medium and large businesses are focusing more and more on analytical positions where the employee adds value to the business through their skills and insights.

In the Digital Marketing space we are seeing a skills shortage of quality candidates with industry and comprehensive digital experience. This can create a bidding war for talent and generally sets a high expectation for the successful candidate. This is particularly evident in the Brisbane market and to a lesser extent in Sydney and Melbourne where demand is high but candidate supply is more abundant.

Where are the growth areas?

Growth is steady in the Not-For-Profit and Health sectors. The Financial Services sector is continuing to experience restructures, opening up the market to good quality candidates to enter.

Sales skills are always in demand. Sales leaders with proven capability and business development skills are sought after across most sectors.

Professional Services and Retail sectors are showing growth. However, no growth can compare to the Digital Marketing space where customer experience, content and optimisation are key skills in high demand.

Sources of Industry information

Staying abreast of industry trends and news is the cornerstone to being a trusted advisor to our clients. Online subscriptions are a popular way to keep up to date and allow you to access information anywhere, any time. Here are a few of our preferred resources:

Marketing: AdNews , Marketing Magazine and B&T

Accounting and Finance: In-the-black

General: The Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland have an outstanding series of podcasts for SME clients to enjoy and also really interesting blog series.

Inside Small Business is one of our favourites, a regular column written by our own Michael Simonyi is a must read!

An Upcoming Industry Event to look out for:

The Family Business Australia Chairman’s lunch is held in November, Davidson Senior Consultant Michael Simonyi and Practice Leader Brian Cunningham are hosting a table and have nominated one of our valued clients to be inducted into the “FBA Hall of Fame”. This is a really special occasion which allows us to learn more about the goals of the FBA and also the challenges that face our SME community in general.

Lisa Kay is the Group Manager for Davidson Corporate.

Changing the way we think about our career

Fri, 21 Oct 2016 03:46:00 GMT

A multi-faceted career is no longer remarkable. In fact, it’s quickly becoming the norm. Up until the 90s, the traditional approach to career progression was built on the ‘job-for-life’ mantra. This view promoted the acquisition of a ‘qualification for life’ and the development of specific associated skills, including the mastery of skill-based technology, to succeed through a linear career path. The pinnacle reward was securing permanent employment status, a concept which identified employees as repositories of knowledge – assets an organisation needed to source, recruit and retain for future business success.

The latest statistics show this way of thinking is well-and-truly on the way out, with more than 50 per cent of individuals who are in between jobs choosing to change their industry and more than 40 per cent choosing to change their major occupational group. Along with the desire to change careers, the frequency in which we do so is also increasing. At present, individuals tend to remain in their roles for five years on average. This is expected to drop to three years over the next ten years.

In light of these trends, the question we need to ask is: how do we prepare and position ourselves for success in the future world of work? The need to develop skills in career transition will soon apply to everyone, not just the future leaders and courageous candidates of the world. What’s critical for us to understand is the specific skills we need to develop.

In the current marketplace, the job-for-life approach has been replaced by a desire for diverse career experiences. In order to navigate the new land of opportunity, professionals must adopt a life-long learning approach and develop a wider collection of associated skills, which can be applied to multiple occupational groups and industries – in other words, ‘transferable skills’. Rather than being the ‘holder of knowledge’, more emphasis needs to be placed on an individual’s ability to find and evaluate information. This leads to an expectation for rapid technological uptake and innovative learning.

Evidently, the future world of work will require career transition skills, which allow a person to reinvent themselves, time and again, to remain relevant. This theory is supported by Reid Hoffman, an American entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author, who is best known as the co-founder of LinkedIn. Reid acknowledges that constant career reinvention is the cornerstone of the future. He explains it as, “Maintaining our careers in a state of permanent beta,” (i.e. a continual work in progress).

In Hoffman’s view, keeping your career in constant flux forces you to acknowledge your ‘bugs’, or the fact that there’s always room for improvement and development. This life-long learning approach will help career participants evolve successfully within the growing VUCA environment (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous). Drawing parallels to business entrepreneurs, he stresses we each need to become career entrepreneurs – constantly reviewing our strengths, aspirations and market realities to boost our competitive advantage.

Bill Burnett, the Executive Director of the Design Program at Stanford, confirms the need for continual reinvention, stressing that the ’70-year career’ of the future will accommodate two to three completely different career paths. This highlights the inadequacy of the traditional linear model, which bread the notion that career success is discovered by ‘finding your passion’. Burnett and others in this field, such as Cal Newport, all agree that the idea of ‘finding one’s passion’ is one of the most disruptive concepts for any individual. What’s needed is a road map for navigating the challenging road ahead.

Professional reinvention, like all change-based projects, requires both technical and adaptive skills. From a technical perspective, we suggest there are three main sources of individual action for career progression and transition, which you can take today to prepare for the future world of work:

Understand your direction : as we move into a job world characterised by countless opportunities, understanding your true purpose, values, and desires will provide the rudder you need to navigate the market.

Build a network of trusted advisors: and start today. You will need a network of confidants who can help you evaluate your career path, review your skill progression, and explore your next career move.

Build career capital : you don’t need to discover your passion to start moving along the road to success. In fact, what you do professionally has little to do with it. What’s really important is how you proceed. Keep testing your skills. Strive to be leading-edge. Embrace the uncomfortable and new. Don’t limit yourself to repetition and comfort. Through deliberate practice, you’ll develop specialised skills, which will become your competitive advantage.

Lastly, to effectively manage your progression in an increasingly VUCA environment, you must build your adaptive skills and capacity to meet the changing demands of a fluid work environment. The key challenge ahead is a development one: how can we improve our ability to make sense of the world around us? As we are faced with growing complexity and more challenges, we need to take our knowledge and competencies to the next level.

Our ability to progress and succeed in the future world of work will be determined by a number of factors, including:

As with any change in behaviour, it’s critical to understand that adaptive skills are equally as important as the technical skills we have outlined. They work hand-in-hand. As a trusted colleague of mine once said, “There’s no benefit in showing me how to use a treadmill if you can’t show me how to develop the commitment to getting on the treadmill at 5am every morning.”

Ultimately, successful transition through any change pathway requires the grit and resilience to stand in the face of adversity as well as a commitment to developing the technical skills needed for advancement. Have the courage to take the first step.

Stacey Blanch is the National Business Development Manager for Davidson Consulting and HR Solutions.

Need Sleep? You’re Not Alone

Thu, 20 Oct 2016 03:39:40 GMT

We’ve all experienced the impact of poor sleep on our productivity and effectiveness at work. Over the past year I’ve noticed the topic of sleep – particularly the need to attain more of it, has become a major concern for many of us. I’ve been party to countless conversations, where people have fretted about their inability to achieve more than four hours sleep each night. This apparent trend was confirmed by Charles Czeisler, the Chief of the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, who stated that 69 per cent of individuals are reporting insufficient sleep.

This modern-day ‘sleep crisis’ got me thinking about the root causes which may be driving our collective inability to ‘switch off’. Czeisler and his team have stressed that, “Sleep variability is one of the most important factors in determining how well someone sleeps.” In other words, it’s better to go to bed at a consistent time every night. However, according to Maria Konnikova, who recently wrote an article titled “ Why Can’t We Fall Asleep ?” for the The New Yorker, there remains a greater environmental cause which we need to be aware of and that’s ‘blue light’.

The human eye is an amazing example of evolution. Within the human eye we have melanopsin receptors which only respond to changes in light and dark. These receptors are connected directly to the part of our brain that regulates our body clocks (a.k.a. circadian rhythms), thereby preparing the body for either wakefulness or sleep. Melanopsin receptors are so effective they even work for many blind people, maintaining their circadian rhythms.

Our environment has certainly changed over the past few years. Today, we are surrounded by computers, televisions, phones, and e-readers. These devices emit shortwave, ‘blue light’ spectrum light which our circadian systems, via the melanopsin receptors, interpret as daylight. The result? They delay melatonin release (a hormone which encourages sleep) for up to 1.5 hours. Critically, a recent study found these profound effects do not require prolonged exposure to ‘blue light’. A single exposure of less than 12 minutes can cause significant sleep disruption.

So, if we’re serious about catching zeds, we need to reconsider answering those last few emails before bed. It’s time to shut down earlier, so we can enjoy more shut-eye.

How to construct a successful desk to ride NSW’s booming civil infrastructure wave

Fri, 20 May 2016 03:52:07 GMT

New South Wales is currently experiencing a surge in projects and work across the construction and infrastructure sectors, which is expected to run for several years.

While the figures vary depending on the source and sectors classified, it is broadly accepted that the state can expect in excess of $60 billion in government investment for major projects over the next three to four years.

Furthermore, it’s not a matter of when, as already we are seeing projects underway.

Up until recently, the civil infrastructure market in NSW has been quiet. Industry professionals have looked enviously at their interstate peers and competitors with their busy projects and strong order books, in most part, due to the booming energy and resources sector.

Western Australia experienced decades of mining and gas projects, which have kept the state’s economy and hiring prospects buoyant. Queensland, with the coal industry and more recent CSG/LNG projects, has also seen several positive years.

The tables have certainly turned for NSW.

For now at least, energy and resources appears to have had their day in the sun and State governments, with the exception of NSW of course, appear to have lost their appetite for spending on infrastructure.

The outlook for the NSW market is strong and we’re on the cusp of a genuine boom period.

Westconnex, Northconnex, Parramatta Light Rail, Newcastle Light Rail, Badgery’s Creek Airport and North West Rail Link are all at various stages of development and are merely some of the headline acts among a long list of projects, which will impact the state moving forward. This is in addition to large construction investments already in place such as Barangaroo, which is well on the way to altering the Sydney skyline in a major way.

NSW has attracted some leading international contractors with a track record for delivering the most prestigious and technically challenging projects worldwide, from specialists in tunnelling to rail contractors with very specific skills and experience. Undoubtedly, an exciting period ahead for all associated with the industry.

However, this will present challenges, including the ability for both consultancies and contractors to secure the right talent for their projects. We are heading into a market where a skills shortage is inevitable, impacted by both the volume of work and one-in-five civil professionals reaching retirement age over the next 10 years.

The challenge is interesting, but it is certainly not a new one. Recently, the Australian upstream gas industry faced enormous challenges arising from such a busy time.

With seven of the world’s largest LNG projects running concurrently, businesses were faced with the challenge of attracting and retaining talent. This involved looking interstate or internationally for specific skills, while in other areas the ability to transition professionals from other sectors with complimentary traits was vital.

As the civil market grows and companies need to increase their workforce, we will witness a number of similarities experienced previously in the gas sector.

The recruiting pattern will look like this:

Stage 1: Movement of candidates within the NSW market

Stage 2: Movement of candidates from interstate to NSW

Stage 3: Movement of candidates from overseas

With this in mind, it is important that hiring managers, recruiters (both internal and recruitment agency) and HR professionals within the civil market are not just able to map projects and build talent pools locally, but interstate and overseas. There are a number of challenges with the mobilisation of candidates from both interstate and overseas – they should not be underestimated.

There is a need to be ahead of the curve and best position organisations to secure top talent quickly, efficiently, and in line with project requirements – especially when this involves relocation.

The companies who adapt their talent sourcing strategy and embrace this change in the market will be the ones who ultimately obtain access to the best talent.

Those who continue to use methods, which may have served them well up to now (when largely untested), may encounter major challenges as the market accelerates forward and talent becomes scarcer.

What does this mean for recruitment?

It will certainly become a busier market with plenty of jobs need to be filled, however a busy market does not mean that everyone will be successful.

This is 2016 and our client base (or potential client base) is complex, well informed with recruitment processes, adept in the use of social media and has a high expectation of our industry. And so they should.

What we offer to our client base should be a professional service, a service which adds genuine value to their hiring process and instils a confidence that their business will grow and be more successful as a result of the work we have undertaken.

My key tips include:

There are of course other factors which will impact the market and candidate care will be a huge factor as businesses compete for talent to service their large projects.

As recruitment professionals, the advice and care, given and shown, during a busy market will be a major factor in the success or failure experienced in leaner markets.

The success of the civil infrastructure space will be determined by its ability to attract, develop and retain talent over the next three to five years.

Many of those will undoubtedly transition from the resources sector. However, the move may not be simple and there are several factors, which will determine how plausible this move is. Giving honest and empathetic advice to those facing challenges in this process will go a long way to building relationships that can be mutually beneficial for years to come.

Ultimately, the cards are in the hands of those in the infrastructure sector and those hoping to enter from other spaces will need to demonstrate the ability to be adaptable. Similarly, recruiters will need to adapt to ensure we continue to add value at all points in the process.

For those who do, there is a sector which is about to explode in NSW waiting and a plethora of opportunity.

I know, I and my team, are looking forward to it.

Stephen Veness has a strong track-record recruiting in the technical space with significant experience across oil and gas, mining, power, water and civil infrastructure. Stephen is the Group Manager of Davidson Projects & Operations and has an experienced team of consultants across Energy & Resources, Project Support, Procurement and Property & Construction disciplines.

Flexible working arrangements. Do they really work?

Fri, 25 Mar 2016 03:53:48 GMT

Flexible working arrangements have become more and more popular over the years.

Traditionally, this was something that only working mothers and carers utilised, but it is becoming very common that workers want to adopt flexible working arrangements for a number of reasons.

Employees have reported that they are more productive and more engaged in their work when there are able to balance the demands of work with other aspects of their lives.

As a working mum myself, I can see the benefits of offering flexible working arrangements. I sit here writing this article on a Saturday morning while my husband has taken my little girl to the park. Trying to fit all of my work in the traditional Monday to Friday working hours would not always be possible.

Many large corporates such as Telstra, ANZ and Westpac started the trend of offering flexible arrangements to all employees. But what about the public sector?

So what exactly is a flexible working arrangement?

There are various ways a workplace can be flexible. Some examples are:

To get a further grasp of flexible working arrangements, I recently spoke with the Director of Corporate Governance at the Insurance Commission (which is a portfolio office of Queensland Treasury) Lina Lee who recently set up two satellite offices to offer her staff more flexibility.

One office is at Alderley, opened a year ago, and one at Mt Gravatt, which opened in January this year.

Lina surveyed her staff on flexibility arrangements prior to seeking out the preferred location and she had a 77 per cent response rate, which anyone in internal communications would understand is a very high engagement level.

She came to realise that this was something the employees would like and would take advantage of.

Lina said it has been working really well. “We had great success after opening the first office at Alderley, which prompted us to open the second office at Mt Gravatt,” Lina said.

The benefits of offering flexible working arrangements

Flexible working arrangements can be mutually beneficial for the employee and employer. Below are some benefits for both parties:

Benefits to the employer

When you give the option of flexible working arrangements you will attract more skilled workers than if you only offered the traditional 9-5pm arrangement.

Employees want more freedom over where and when they work and they’re willing to quit to get it, according to a new study by leading North American IT provider Softchoice .

Softchoice recently surveyed 1,700 of their employees and they found:

When I asked Lina about the productivity of her team she said she hadn’t seen a decrease at all, in fact the opposite.

They conducted a survey three months after they opened the first office and they received only positive feedback from managers and staff.

“Absenteeism has dropped since the opening of the satellite offices and introducing a working from home option for staff,” she said. “Everyone has access to these flexible work arrangements as long as their Manager endorses the arrangement.”

Benefits to the employee

Lina has received feedback from her staff with regards to the satellite office arrangement. “There is no congestion on the major roads when staff choose to work at the satellite offices as the locations are in the suburbs,” Lina said. “One employee was travelling one-and-a-half hours into the city, whereas now her travel time has dropped to 35 minutes when she travels to the satellite office.”

How to manage flexible working arrangements?

“Having clear guidelines/protocols on working from the satellite offices, for example being available at short notice to come into our main office for meetings is vital and these guidelines are posted on our intranet,” she said.

“Approval to work from the satellite offices must be sought from the employee’s managers with clear outcomes/outputs agreed upon before working from these locations. If there is a reason the flexible working arrangement was not working, managers are entitled to revoke privileges at any time.”

One of the things that Lina would like to see working better in the new arrangement is that all of the desks are not always filled in the satellite offices.

“We run calendars of when people will work out of the offices and circumstances can change at the last minute,” she said. “If we are paying rent for these offices then ideally we would like them to always be filled to capacity each day.”

One of the reasons that flexible work arrangements fail is when there is a trust issue – if management do not trust their employees, then this type of arrangement will not work.

“We are considering extending the use of our satellite office to other areas in Treasury, which should assist us in getting our desks filled to capacity,” Lina said.

Government departments traditionally are flexible in terms of time. When talking to my clients many still don’t have access to the right technology that would allow them to work from anywhere other than the office. With the trending changes towards workplace flexibility, this could something government departments will need to consider in the future.

What are your experiences with flexible working arrangements? We would love to hear your thoughts?

The key to career transition is authenticity

Mon, 21 Mar 2016 03:57:58 GMT

When Mark decided to wind up his sales and marketing business and go into recruitment he wanted to create a story that underpinned the connection between his past and current role.

He stressed that starting his own business and building it from the ground up was not that different to starting up and running a search desk. A high energy and social person, his marketing consultancy, though successful, had become a lonely place as he was a sole trader.

Mark was looking forward to leveraging old contacts, creating new ones and working within a high energy environment in a larger team. He settled very quickly into his new role and was able to leverage the marketing skills and commercial understanding as a former business owner to great effect. Success in the new role came faster than other new starters in the organisation because of these transferable skills.

The key lesson Mark learnt was making a career transition takes courage, authenticity and involves taking an inventory of the skills that are transferable to create an exciting new beginning.

Like Mark, you might have made steps towards a new start. Maybe you know what you are going to do next, however it’s not always easy to explain it to others. You might be ditching a corporate career to start up a new business, taking a new role in a different industry or perhaps taking a career sabbatical. Whatever the transition, you are likely to draw unwanted comments from colleagues, friends and family.

Typical responses range from:

Comments like these test our resolve and remind us that not everyone runs with the pack. Whatever you decide to do next, it’s important to consider what your career narrative is; how does being authentic to yourself and your values shape the future threads of your career and life?

When you know yourself well, it becomes easier to point to the values and themes that have shaped, and will continue to shape, your career.

Lisa had worked in senior HR roles for more than a decade. Originally a psychologist, she had crafted a career which was focused on making a difference to people and organisations. Developing leaders was a particular strength and she was a mentor for many in the organisation.

Though she loved her career, as she took on more senior positions, her working hours and stress increased – often to the point where she felt that she was not able to devote as much time as she would have liked to her family.

After a number of months travelling overseas and interstate for work and with her last child about to start school, she was finding her schedule punishing. This realisation led her to decide it was time to take a sabbatical to spend time with the family.

Having always coached and mentored leaders in her organisation to be authentic to themselves, show their vulnerability and stand up for what they value, she found herself faced with the same question. Did she have the courage to follow through and ask for a career break?

What if she was unable to go back to her role or what if she struggled to get back into the job market as a more mature worker?

She was able to negotiate a one year career ‘sabbatical’ and potentially return to her old role. The decision was personally liberating and colleagues and associates gained new respect for her as they were able to identify the underlying themes that connected her professional life.

She was being authentic. Her transition to a sabbatical was successful and her loyalty to her firm is stronger than ever. She is now negotiating a part time return to work at the end of the year.

Once you decide on the transition, it’s vital to think about the value that you will bring to a new role or venture?

Though you might feel your transition is really about the continued search for meaning and purpose – which it might well be – don’t forget that in the marketplace you have a value proposition to impart.

In the case of Mark it was his marketing ability, proficiency to network and sociability – all great attributes and skills to bring into a new environment.

For Lisa, when she returns to the workforce she will have a renewed sense of energy and focus underpinned by years of experience.

Both Lisa and Mark’s examples illustrate the importance of keeping fresh and agile through your career. Given that you might be in the workforce for 40 plus years, it’s a marathon you are training for, rather than a sprint. Much like an Olympic athlete, in order to stay vital you will need to regularly recharge and refresh to enjoy peak performance.

Explaining your career transition in a compelling way, drawing the important connections between your values and self and communicating the unique value you offer are three key ways to focus on attaining great results when reinventing your new direction.

When embarking on your career transition consider the following:

Analysis paralysis:

Career transitioners can get stuck in overanalysing the right career move. The pressure – often self-inflicted – comes when we consider our transition in it being our calling or true vocation, which can add too much pressure on the decision.

When Saul quit his job as an architect in his 30s to study robotics the voices of others around the practicality of his choice was exacerbated by his own fears that robotics might ultimately not be his vocational calling. With many of us changing jobs several times in our lives, it’s important to put your choice in perspective. Saul started his studies then switched to IT where he is now happily employed as a program manager. Narrow your transition focus down to two to three areas, then start your targeted research. Remember it’s possible to change course along the way.

It is an iterative process:

People rarely wake up one day ready to reinvent their career overnight. Sometimes the most successful approaches involve making small changes to a current role, taking on a secondment or a stretch assignment, networking with others in the area you are interested in or taking a course to learn new skills. You might make smaller changes role-by-role. Sometimes financial imperatives will dictate the pace at which you can make the changes you desire.

Ask yourself the right questions:

Think about what is important to you about your career rather than jumping into what it might be. What sort of environment do you flourish in and what is most energising? What careers were you drawn to when you were growing up and why? Focusing on what nourishes and stimulates you will help you to discover the right direction.

Get professional help:

A career coach can guide you through to the next stage more effectively than trying to do it on your own. You will have access to tools that will assist in clarifying your career drivers, values and personality style, plus you will get all the support needed on how to present at interviews, how to craft a brilliant CV while being able to research the companies, courses and vocations that you are looking for to make the right move. You will also obtain advice and help on negotiation, interview techniques and much more.

The importance of self-belief:

Visualise yourself in the new space and you will find that feeling you are already there can be very powerful. It’s sometimes hard to shake off the old ‘you’ – especially if you have had a career for a long time and associate yourself closely with your work. Don’t let the naysayers win. Often others are so used to your career that they find change challenging. In this instance remember that other people’s opinion are none of your business! This is your transition and it’s unique to you.

Network, network and network:

If you think you want to work in a new profession or role, start by having a coffee with those who do currently do this type of work. What does a day in their life actually entail? You might find that this makes or breaks your decision to retrain or transition before you go to all the effort. If you decide you really want to make a change, start widening your network of people who can help.

Rule 34 – Be a brown rat if you want to succeed

Mon, 21 Mar 2016 03:47:03 GMT

Charles (Red) Scott was a celebrated American CEO and a leading business coach. Towards the end of his career Scott compiled a list of 36 rules or ‘Business Cardinals’ reflecting his philosophy on how to succeed in a competitive business world.

Experience has taught me that we ignore Red Scott’s rules at our peril.

Before we come to the full list, I’d like to explain rule 34 – for me, it’s the one that matters most.

Rule 34: Bet on a brown rat, not a white rat

The story goes, that in a distant era, when experimenting on animals was acceptable a team of scientists decided to see what would happen if you tied a group of white rats and brown rats by the leg and placed their water dish just out of reach. To the scientist’s surprise, all the white rats died and all the brown rats chewed their own leg off to get the water.

I’ve Googled this topic extensively and have never found the research paper so I suspect the story is apocryphal.

Still, the message is a powerful metaphor for the importance selecting high performers, people who are hungry to succeed.

When I recruit consultants for our business, one of the things I literally, ask myself is, ‘Is this a brown rat?’ In the highly competitive business environment we all operate in today, there is no room for people of average ability and even less room for people of average motivation.

In the future world of work, average is over.

In fact, Tyler Cowan wrote an entire book on this topic entitled, Average is Over. Cowan’s message was clear, the best way to counter the threat that technology will take your job is to be excellent at what you do. Technology will replace many jobs in the future but there will always be a place for people who are masters of their craft.

So when you’re selecting staff for your team, it’s useful to ask yourself if you think this person is a brown or a white rat? Are they a high performer or will they be content with average?

Personally, I wouldn’t invest in a business which is prepared to accept average performers anymore. When you’ve got people like John Chambers, the President of Cisco predicting that ‘Forty percent of businesses won’t exist in ten years’ time, they just don’t know it’, you realise that we’ve all got to raise the bar on what levels of performance are necessary, if we are to survive and prosper in future.

The future belongs to ‘brown rats’ and the businesses fortunate enough to attract them.

This sounds daunting as I write it. I get it – I feel it just as much as you do but the prospect of being replaced by a robot isn’t much fun either.

F.O.B.O or the fear of becoming obsolete is now the top concern of employees according to a recent study by Oxford Economics . There’s not much point in worrying about becoming obsolete if we aren’t prepared to do something to prevent it.

The best response I know is to focus on becoming a brown rat. Understand what excellence in your role looks like and do the hard work it takes to get there. Do that and someone will always be willing to employ you.

Here's the full list of Red Scott's rules. See which ones resonate for you.

Rob Davidson is the Founder and Director of Growth at Davidson .

The role of LinkedIn in the public sector

Thu, 21 Jan 2016 03:47:18 GMT

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network consisting of approximately 400 million members with a new member joining every two seconds.

Unlike Facebook and Twitter, which many professionals use more on a personal basis, LinkedIn is dedicated to professional development and networking platform.

The platform assists in building your professional identity online, stay connected with colleagues and peers in similar industries and provides you with the latest news, inspiration and insights to help further your knowledge base.

As consultants working within the public sector we have contact with many job seekers and hiring managers. We have found approximately 60 per cent of the people we work with do not have a profile or do not engage with LinkedIn for the following reasons:

As consultants we believe that it is beneficial for everyone to have a profile on LinkedIn for the following reasons:

Staying connected with your network

In the public sector there is a lot of movement and it can be hard to stay in contact with managers and work colleagues. LinkedIn provides a way to keep in contact with these people, which can be useful when you need references, mentors and advice on sharing expertise. I often find that candidates struggle to stay connected to past managers. This is a great way to stay connected especially if you need references from them.

Managing your own professional development

LinkedIn is a great way to get the latest news about your industry, events and the community. You are able to get customised news delivered based on your industry and connections. With the marketplace becoming more competitive and the risk of jobs being replaced by technology it’s becoming more important to continue learning and developing professionally.

Experts at your fingertips

LinkedIn gives you the opportunity to engage with thought leaders, industry experts and the community. This social media platform provides you with the opportunity to join and set up groups. These are networks of like-minded professionals where you can engage in discussions, seek advice and share articles of interest.

As a public sector employee there are some things you need to be mindful of if you are going to engage on LinkedIn. The public sector commission’s code of conduct does not allow public sector employees to comment on government and departmental policy. Furthermore, sensitive and confidential information should never be shared on social media. Always think, if you don’t want to see it on the front page on the newspaper with your name attached don’t post it.

Once you have made the decision to join LinkedIn, it is important to set yourself up correctly. To assist, I have compiled a starting to do list to help you get started or check your current progress:

Setting up your profile

Building your profile

If you are interested in connecting on LinkedIn with the government team, we would love to hear from you.

Skye Veivers (Account Manager)

Anna Fett (Panel Services / Accounting /Policy)

Holly Nugent (Business Support)

Constructing the next workforce: Thinking outside the Box with Simon Box

Thu, 21 Jan 2016 00:10:51 GMT

Davidson Projects & Operations consultant Merryn Thomlinson continues her conversations with leading construction managers to determine the future of work within the building and property industry and how we can prepare.

Simon Box is the Director of leading commercial construction company Box & Co who are making a name for themselves in the industry for their forward-thinking approach. Simon chatted with Merryn about the future of the industry and how we can best prepare today’s workforce.

Can you tell me about your career pathway to date and how you came to be the Director of Box & Co?

I studied a Bachelor of Applied Science (Quantity Surveying), which is now Urban Development. My father was a Quantity Surveyor and my grandfather was a builder. I did six years in a Quantity Surveyors’ office as I completed my degree part time. Then I went overseas and worked for a construction company in Ireland as a Contracts Administrator and Project Manager.

After that, I came back to Australia and worked as a consultant in my own small business as a Project Manager and Quantity Surveyor. At that time, the family company G & J Box had been wound down as my dad had decided he had had enough. Between G & J Box and Box & Co, there is probably a seven year hiatus, and then my brother Jeremy and I started Box & Co in 2006.

What effect do you think technology will have on the construction industry in the next 10 to 20 years?

It is going to have a significant impact. I think communication will be one area, as the use of mobile technology is changing quite rapidly. I think I can see in the not too distant future that most people on site will have tablets and interactive computers or phones where they can do most things on site, as they go, rather than going back to an office to access drawings, defects etc.

I think the area of pre-fabrication will grow as well. There is a big push in the pre-fabrication part of the industry right now and also 3D printers where they are actually printing whole buildings now. That is pretty mind boggling. There is a lot of work being done in robotics now as well for the laborious tasks like bricklaying and rendering. A lot of buildings are bespoke one-off designs so it is hard, unless they are repetitive floor plates and things like that to get something robotic.

Obviously BIM is a big trend that is coming in, as is 3D modelling and interactive design, which involves all the consultants and the builder. I believe they are probably the major ones that will impact us.

What trends do you see happening in the market at the moment?

If we are looking just at the market in Queensland, the biggest one is the high-density residential building trend. There is no mistaking that there is a mini-boom happening there right now. That is probably the major one.

I think it is still very competitive as a trend. I’m not seeing margins or competition changing too much. From a Brisbane and Queensland perspective, that is the major trend at the moment.

What do you think we need to be doing today, to prepare for tomorrow?

The biggest thing now in business, regardless of whether it be construction or any another industry, is that you need to be agile. All businesses needs to be agile, so you can adapt to change quickly. That could be anything – it could be your business systems, your resources or the type of work that you do.

You need to be in some way embracing innovation. Ask how can you do the things you are doing already quite well, how can you do them better?

If you are not looking at that, you are not staying in front of the cycle.

What do you wish you knew at the start of your career that you know now?

I wish I knew just how important people are to your business and how important culture is in a business. That is something you learn through the journey by making mistakes on certain hires or certain roles, but that is what our business is built on – our people.

What do you look for in new recruits?

The number one thing for me is do they fit the culture of my business. My questions all come around how they approach things, how they negotiate things, what they do in their spare time, what interests them and what do they do if they have a problem.

By asking these type of questions, you can determine their personality, rather than focusing on their CV that they have rehearsed. I always try to get a few curly questions in there to really understand their personality because obviously seven out of 10 candidates, that come forward, are going to have the competency skills, but it is whether or not they are the right person for your business.

What are some of the big challenges facing your industry now?

I think the culture of undercutting is still there. That is something we try to avoid. I think wage costs are a significant challenge, and I think that is as a result of the mining boom. All the wages got blown out so much in that time because the big mines could pay what they wanted to just get their projects done. People come away from that thinking that there is a certain expectation of salary and you are constantly battling with them to advise them on what is real.

If you are paying guys too much you don’t get the productivity. So productivity is a big issue for us, and obviously getting salaries back to something that is reasonable. I don’t think there is going to be deflation in salaries, but it is probably more just keeping a lid on it.

And in the next five years?

I think we are going to see a big increase in activity, probably starting from the middle of next year. That is largely due to the fact that the US economy is really going well, and Australia mirrors that at some point.

Experts are saying the middle of this year, so that will be a challenge the next five years as it might be a five year cycle. We need to prepare and be ready for that. Having procedures in place to manage some growth, the volumes of work etc. That is probably the challenges for the next five years.

Margins seem to continuously becoming tighter, how has this changed from when you first joined the construction industry?

I think from my perspective, my perception of margins becoming tighter has changed. I think the culture of undercutting and the fact that people come in on low margins is just a self-fulfilling prophecy in a way.

You don’t win a job by your margin. You win a job by having the smarts. By having the best subcontract coverage, and by having the best base costs. A margin is such a small component of a project.

Let’s just take a $5 million job, $4.5 million of it is cost and half a million of it is margin. So why would you cut the smallest component of the job costs to try and win the job? Why wouldn’t you look back at your program and ask, can I do this smarter? Have I got enough subcontract coverage? Have I thought about the best way to do this? Is there a savings I can put forward through my experience?

And how do you think they will change in the next 5-10 years?

I think they will go up because I think the activity is going to go up. We’re not going to be a contractor who will expand five times, but the pricing strategy is the most important thing. We will probably take on a similar bind, but just increase our margins a little bit.

I think for too long, contractors have undervalued themselves. We are the guys out there taking the most risk, generally not the clients. Because most of the time contracts are geared towards the client. We are the ones taking all the risk, why wouldn’t you want to get paid for that properly?

There are so many risks: safety, industrial relations, quality, rain, latent defects, all those sorts of things that are thrown on to the builder deserve to be appropriately allocated as margin.

I think even with the undercutting, they will increase anyway because activity will increase. I think that is generally the next five-10 years, how they will roll.

What do you think the next generation joining the construction industry needs to be aware of and focus on to be successful?

Have the focus on people and relationships and take away the focus on dollars. Concentrate on getting a good team of people around you, and being able to work together with good people is a big thing for the next generation. A lot of the next generation are very much focused on making money quick and getting to wealth quickly.

You have to look at greater fulfilment. You’ve got to be enjoying what you are doing. To enjoy what you are doing, you have to have good people around you. I think the next generation needs to be particularly thinking about that, if they want to be successful. We couldn’t have been successful if we didn’t have an empowering good team of people. I think that is one thing.

Hiding behind email is a trend that is becoming quite dangerous and superficial. You’ve got to pick the phone up and you’ve got to continue having contact with people. You sort many of your problems out when you have meetings. Hiding behind the digital world is something that I think needs to be looked at.

In saying that, I think being digitally savvy is important. I think being on the front foot with that and all the different changes, whether it be cloud technology or the types of systems that are out there, phones and big data, is a must.

I’m pretty focused on doing that because as a leader of a company, I want to be able to tell my staff about it, rather than being told about it. Remaining relevant is a big thing, even for the next generation.

Merryn Thomlinson is a Consultant with Davidson Project & Operations and this is part of a series of interviews she is conducting on the future of the construction industry. Her last chat was with Pellicano’s Construction Manager Chris Nock and Hutchinson Builders Chairman Scott Hutchinson .

Constructing the next workforce: A chat with Hutchinson Builders Chairman Scott Hutchinson

Mon, 21 Dec 2015 04:03:59 GMT

Davidson Projects & Operations consultant Merryn Thomlinson continues her series of conversations with leading construction managers on the future of work within the building and property industry, and how we can prepare.

Hutchinson Builders is one of Australia’s largest privately owned builders, employing more than 1,400 people. Well-known across the Australian construction industry, Hutchinson Builders Chairman Scott Hutchinson sat down to discuss the Australian construction market and the challenges that we face and trends in the industry.

Can you tell me about your career pathway to date and how you came to be the Chairman of Hutchinson Builders?

I’m the fourth generation in my family to hold this position. I studied engineering, then I completed an MBA.

I was Managing Director from 1992 to 2002 and the business was getting bigger and bigger. We bought shares into a larger company about seven or eight years before I became the Chairman. We didn’t like that operation so we sold the shares and went back to being ourselves.

My father met our present Managing Director Greg Quinn at Master Builders and was really impressed by him. I remember he said to me ‘there’s a guy at Master Builders that could run BHP.’

I said that he sounded good and wanted to bring him in. After 10 years, I was starting to want to do other things. Dad resigned as Chairman, but remained a Director. I became Chairman and Greg became Managing Director and it has been very successful. I had no qualms about handing over, he has 10 times the capacity that I have.

What effect do you think technology will have on construction in the next 10 to 20 years?

We are largely into modular and off-site manufacturing. I’m sure 3D printing will have an effect.

People are trying to do steel buildings now, whereas traditionally we have worked predominately in concrete. There is a lot of teething problems changing from one major system to another and there is a lot of expertise built up in the previous technology, which means the next technology has to be a lot better before it takes over.

That is probably the same with any industry, but especially within construction. They are going to have to be a lot better at steel construction, before it takes over from concrete. That is just one example. It’s all steel in America and its all concrete here. This surprises me given that our processes and methodologies are usually the same.

Everyone is talking about modular, but at this stage it is only economically a good decision when you do it in the bush. In the city it doesn’t work. You have to do things quickly in the bush, and modular is a lot quicker.

We had three modular factories and we now have two. We are working to try and get them to work in the city. You will find a lot of people pushing modular will say it works in the city, but it doesn’t. However, it may end up doing so.

What trends do you see happening in the market at the moment?

It’s all residential at the moment. There is a bit of retail, but mainly residential. That’s across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, but it’s got to end soon.

We don’t know what’s going to come past that, if anything.

What do you think we need to be doing today, to prepare for tomorrow?

It comes down to training and development. We have a massive training operation that Greg runs. It is a big cost to the business, but I think its good value for us because it helps us recruit people who are the best people to come into the construction industry. Especially women, as there is a very low uptake of women in construction.

It might be something to do with the culture or the image, but we are doing what we can in this area. We support the National Association of Women in Construction, we are their major sponsor for their awards. I manned a stand at Brisbane Boys College and St Aidan’s Anglican School, which was a girls and boys combined career night.

In the four years I was there, not one parent of a girl or girl approached my stand. This needs to change drastically.

Are there any innovations or new movements that our counterparts overseas are doing that we should be aware of?

We found Canada to be very close to Australia. New Zealand was a bit like Australia and Japan was different, but not that different. I have heard Singapore are making modular mandatory so that they don’t have as many concrete trucks clogging the cities.

Any innovation has to have real benefits before it sets in.

What do you wish you knew at the start of your career that you know now?

I think I should have gone into Quantity Surveying, rather than engineering. In the MBA, I did every human resource subject I could do and I came away with a lot of theoretical ideas, which was good.

Most importantly, I wished I found our Managing Director earlier on.

What do you look for in new recruits?

Attention to detail, ability, attitude and being able to get along with people.

The people who haven’t had on-site experience may struggle. Clever chippies are still the real ace in your pack. It’s all a matter of being able to do the micro and the macro. If you have on- site experience you can often do the micro, and then you have to learn the macro.

What are some of the big challenges facing your industry now?

Industrial relations is a bit of a challenge, but I think we handle that well. Greg has come from an industrial relations background from Master Builders and knows the priorities of the unions.

Holding and motivating staff is a big challenge for our industry.

We look after our people and try and recruit for life. Many of our staff members have been with the company for 10 or 20 years.

And in the next five years?

Retraining or trying to keep the best staff will be a challenge. But at this stage we are still motivating and attracting the right staff.

Margins seem to continuously becoming tighter, how has this changed from when you first joined the construction industry?

It hasn’t changed. It’s always been tight.

We are turning over $1.5 billion and making $20 million. Some of our competitors might be doing a little better as they are dabbling in engineering or doing their own developments, but that is further up the risk curve and you are competing with your clients.

We keep all of the profits in the company and that keeps us well capitalised to do the bigger jobs.

And how do you think they will change in the next 5-10 years?

I don’t think margins will change in the next 30 years, it’s just the way it is. There are very few barriers to entry. Nearly every client or organisation will give an undercapitalised builder a go, it does stop when a few go broke.

Then after a year or two, everyone forgets about the people who went broke and they are back to using undercapitalised builders who are risky. That’s just the way it goes. The sad thing is, the undercapitalised builders take out some really beautiful jobs when they go down.

What do you think the next generation of construction workers needs to be aware of and focus on to be successful?

I’ve got a lot of confidence in the next generation. They are certainly willing to get in and give it a go. You’ve got to give them authority and include them on decisions and empower them. If you do that, they react well.

Everybody says they have less desire to do repetitive work, but construction is not a repetitive job so that’s not really an issue here.

Its long hours, but it’s well paid. The difference between someone who is 95 per cent enthused and committed, as to someone who is 75 per cent enthused and committed is millions of dollars on a job. That’s the challenge as well.

The most important thing to be successful is to take responsibility, and if the responsibility is getting too much then you need to communicate. We are constantly trying to check in with our staff and make sure they are ok as sometimes people are going through things in their personal lives, which can really affect their work.

It’s our job to keep on top of that and ensure we have the right support available.

How can we be the Google equivalent in the construction industry?

Fri, 23 Oct 2015 04:06:59 GMT

We have all heard of the perks of working at Google: pinball machines in the lunch room, on-site medical facilities, hairdressers and gyms and paid time for volunteering outside of work.

The list is endless – so much so that the company has been ranked number one in Fortune Magazine’s top 100 best places to work six years in a row.

Following this globally renowned status, Google records impressive staff retention and long lists of candidates all vying to work at the company.

Through recent conversations with clients across Queensland, it got me thinking why are these employee engagement programs only reserved for creative industries? As a candidate-scarce sector, we should be thinking more like this.

Over the past eight years I’ve been working within this micro-specialisation, I’ve seen ups and downs in the industry in terms of job availability and the staff to fill key specialist roles, particularly Estimators, Cost Planners and Contract Administrators.

This key concern has grown ten-fold in the past six months, particularly in the area of high rise residential experience.

While the job description and the salary packages are key to potential candidates, what continues to come out through discussions with candidates I work with is – why should I work there over another company? How do they look after their staff?

Our candidates within this sector are spoilt for choice given there is presently a small pool of talented professionals to fulfil key roles.

The answer is simple really, our sector is candidate-scarce which requires us more than ever to put time and energy in ensuring we not only retain our current workforce, but be seen as an ideal place to work.

Cockram is a 154-year-old construction company with offices across Australia. Established in 1861, they have 300 staff members across Australia, and 45 in Queensland alone.

Their executive team all started as graduates and record a minimum of 18 years with the company: WA Manager 20 years; NSW Manager – 20 years; QLD Manager – 18 years; and VIC Manager – 20 years.

It’s with this in mind, I sat down with Cockram’s Queensland State Manager Chris Meade to discuss what they are doing right in regards to staff retention in a market where candidates are being heavily head-hunted to lucrative jobs across the globe.

Chris narrowed it down to two key areas: always ensure there are further job opportunities for staff and they know about them; and develop a strong culture that is unique to the business that they couldn’t get elsewhere.

They must be doing something right. Aside from recording large retention rates across the industry, they are about to embark on a further expansion into the Queensland market. With an increasing national footprint, the company has grown rapidly in the past five years, more than doubling their turnover in Australia.

“We have an internal program where staff can work in our offices across the world,” Mr Meade said. “When an employee gets itchy feet they are offered the opportunity to work in other Cockram offices such as interstate in Australia, America, China, New Zealand and many other locations.

“The fact the staff know from day one that if they want to travel and expand their expertise and horizons they can do it within the company.

“This has been very rewarding for younger staff who want to travel the world. Working in other offices is actually encouraged and there are constant internal emails going around about opportunities that are available overseas.”

Mr Meade also said the company puts a lot of time into the company’s on-boarding process.

“We would rather the on-boarding process be as long as needed rather than people leaving without all the information or because they didn’t feel supported enough in their first few months in the role, which can be stressful in any area,” Mr Meade said.

“As part of the on-boarding process, the executive team will call or meet (pending location) with the new staff member.

“In the chats, they will explain their role in the business, what they do and how they can work together in the future relating to their core role and skill-set.”

The culture was developed over years by their HR team who carry out company-wide staff surveys, host annual conferences for all team members and staff meetings every quarter with the leadership team.

“A few years ago, we realised we needed to sell Cockram as a company of choice as much as a candidate would sell themselves in a job interview,” Mr Meade said.

“To do so, we ensure everyone in the company knows what is going on and any exciting projects we have coming up. They all know what tenders we have out and what jobs are coming up.

“The days of employers taking for granted that people will work with them is over. For us, it’s not just a technical fit when hiring new staff, we place a strong emphasis on how well the staff member fits personality wise with the team and aligns with the corporate culture and values.”

Given our industry is presently candidate-short, companies need to be doing everything in their power to attract and retain the best talent.

Likewise, it’s our job as experienced recruiters to ensure this message is conveyed to potential candidates.

Companies that think beyond salary packages will do well. It truly can be the smaller areas that will attract and retain the right talent.

Don’t believe me, just Google it.

Five key steps towards attracting and retaining quality staff in a candidate-scarce market:

Jess Mitchell is a Practice Leader with Davidson Projects & Operations

How to survive a restructure in the public sector

Thu, 22 Oct 2015 04:08:25 GMT

The phrase ‘that was because of a restructure’ is becoming one of the most uttered phrases in our chats with clients and candidates within the public sector.

Given recent changes within Queensland’s public sector, the simple fact is restructuring has become part and parcel when it comes to management these days.

It is for this reason we decided to speak to Queensland Health’s Corporate Services Director Deputy General Susan Middleditch who has managed four restructures and believes there will always be restructures as long as there are changes to government.

“Restructures are generally due to changes through MOG (Machinery of Government),” Susan said. “Public Service restructures happen often and they can be disruptive, but they can also be beneficial.”

No matter what the reason, restructures seem to generate a certain amount of angst or stress. There are many steps management and employees can take to ensure that a restructure has positive outcomes for the team and division.

Susan has shared her thoughts on how to manage the process from a personal and management perspective.

Engage a Project Team to manage the process

If possible and budget allows, set up a project team to work on the restructure as they won’t be caught up in their day job and will be solely focused on the task at hand.

Throughout my career, I have worked in organisations where external consultants were used. One of the key phrases a consultant used was ‘observe from the balcony, not the dance floor.’

If you are on the dance floor you can only see what the person next to you is doing. If you observe from the balcony, you can see the whole dance floor.

Having a project team ensures that there are clear objectives in place and that the organisation is being considered holistically.

“With the recent Hunter Review, we developed a coordination role who made it clear who was responsible for what,” Susan said. “We then had an implementation team. This worked really well. It is beneficial if the person in the coordination role is an executive or at a high level.”

Communicate the reason for the restructure

Managers should have a clear understanding of what they are trying to achieve with the restructure. They should also know how they are going to achieve the objectives set.

It is important to get ‘buy in’ from as many stakeholders as possible to ensure everyone is working towards a common purpose.

Communication is key. Communicate as much about the restructure as soon as you are able to.

Obviously there will be some things that need to be kept confidential, but anything that can be communicated to employees should be done in a timely matter.

“I don’t think you can communicate enough when it comes to restructures,” Susan said. “When you are going through the process, it takes 19 forms of communication before it sinks in. People have different timeframes when they are dealing with change and you have to continue to take that into account.

“Make sure you make yourself available, not just to your direct reports but anyone from A03 to Executives,” Susan said.

Celebrate the wins

Communicating project successes of the restructure is a good way to make sure everyone stays focused.

If you celebrate achievements along the way it will help everyone stay focused and see the benefits, rather than the negatives, from the restructure.

Susan suggests putting together weekly updates about the restructure, which keep everyone informed but also mark off key milestones and achievements.

“Find some good news and share it,” Susan said. “One thing we did well with the Hunter Review was to have a Frequently Asked Questions section on the website and regularly update it with our progress.”

Benefits of restructuring

If done well, the new structure can bring cost savings and efficiencies without affecting the organisational culture.

“When I worked at DEEDI (Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation), we went through a restructure of the Corporate Service division,” Susan said. “We drove efficiencies that saw us reducing our team from 21 per cent to seven per cent of the overall budget.

“When I first joined Health in 2012, we integrated corporate services such as Finance, HR and Infrastructure and they have all been communicating well across the department.

“In 2012, we measured our employee engagement after the restructure. While it wasn’t great during the restructure, we have seen a huge lift in employee engagement since the process.”

Deal with the uncertainty

In every restructure there is a level of uncertainty. One of the key steps is to learn to get comfortable with change and go about your day-to-day business as usual.

“You need a lot of personal resilience when going through restructures,” Susan said. “I try not to take it home with me and surround myself with good people. It is good to have someone who you can ring and download to at the end of the day.

“I would suggest a career coach – preferably not someone from the organisation or your partner. I also find keeping up with your routine and things that make you happy – for example I like to go to the gym in the morning before work and I keep up this routine – makes a world of difference.”

Seize the opportunity

Whether you are in management or an employee, you will need to accept that you might not know everything that is going on. Don’t let yourself get anxious about what is going to happen, instead seize any opportunities that might come about as a result of the restructure.

“Going through restructures is hard,” Susan said. “You are dealing with people and the unknown. I actually love change. I enjoy the opportunity to identify positive changes and see it as an opportunity to do things a little bit better going forward.”

Skye Veivers is an Account Manager at Davidson Corporate

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Why the logistics and supply chain industry needs mature workers

Tue, 20 Oct 2015 04:14:58 GMT

We’re going to be working longer, have multiple jobs in our lifetime and most of all have a multi-generational workforce, according to research into the future world of work.

According to the recent CEDA report , an increase in life expectancy and decreased fertility rates will see an increase in the proportion of the population aged over 65 over the next 50 years.

While futurists can’t agree on how long we will live, one thing is for sure we will be living longer and in turn working longer.

Lynda Gratton, one of the world’s leading researchers on the future of work, suggests in her research that in the future, we may well live until we are 100 years old, in which case we will have to work well into our 80s in order to be able to afford to live in retirement.

Even if we discount Gratton’s estimates by 10 per cent and assume we may live to 90, the issue remains, we will be working longer.

This all means people are likely to stay in the workforce longer leading to a wider-range of ages being represented within an organisation.

Simply put the days of two to three generations making up a workforce will be a thing of the past. For the first time, we will start seeing workplaces with around five generations working side-by-side and we will start to see more mature workers in the workforce.

As someone who has been working in this industry for the past seven years and in charge of sourcing the right talent for my clients within this area, I see this as a positive for companies within supply chain and logistics.

The benefits of mature workers in your team are endless. It’s often under-discussed and under-reported how difficult it can be for mature workers to find new roles even during upswings in the business cycle.

In the past, the majority of mature workers within the industry were placed in contract and contingent roles as a lifestyle alternative to permanent full-time roles.

I think this is a great step in the right direction, but with regards to the future image of the new workplace, we need to make further inroads in this area.

We need more mature workers in permanent roles in the logistics industry. Based on my experience and research, here is why we need more mature workers in the workforce.

Experience saves your company money

Supply chain and logistics is about critical thinking, long term industry knowledge and vast stakeholder relationships.

Dr Sheela Yadav is an associate professor of business at the University of Indianapolis and has been researching the effects of hiring a workforce of 50 plus. In Indiana, the transportation, distribution and logistics industry is actively recruiting older workers with demonstrated managerial skills from other fields. Dr Yadav studied this case study as part of the broader research project.

“Much of logistics or supply chain management is about critical thinking and common sense,” Dr Yadav said.

“Older workers bring broader perspectives to the table. They are used to making savvy decisions, making trade-offs, and understanding how to balance costs and benefits. We would do well to make use of the human capital we have in our older workers.”

Experience should be seen as capital for the business

Based on experience and feedback with my clients, mature aged workers are usually more satisfied with their job than their younger counterparts.

Three leading researchers at Harvard (Dychtwald, Ken; Erickson, Tamara, and Robert Morrison) put a report together called “Workforce Crisis: How to Beat the Coming Shortage of Skills & Talent.” In their research they found 69 per cent of workers aged 55 and up reported the highest overall satisfaction with their jobs, compared with younger workers.

They were more likely than younger workers to say their pride comes from work and a career, and less likely to say they have too much work on their plates.

We all know happy workers generally means less conflict in the workplace and higher productivity.

They are more adapted for creativity and problem solving

Researchers report that ‘practical creativity’, the solving of everyday problems, peaks later in life. This type of creativity is especially valuable in the workplace because it draws on synthesis, reflection, wisdom, and restructuring of existing patterns to design solutions to problems.

They can help you to lower your employer turnover

AARP (formerly the American Association of Retired Persons) found in a recent report ‘The Business Case for Workers Aged 50 +’ that ‘practical creativity’, the solving of everyday problems, peaks later in life.

This type of creativity is especially valuable in the logistics workplace because it draws on wisdom, experience and restructuring of existing patterns to design solutions to problems.

They can serve as role models for younger employees

Younger workers need role models to aspire to. Mature-age workers have built up knowledge and skills during their time in the workforce, and using these skills in workplace mentoring programs can reduce staff turnover, train other employees and increase staff morale.

Furthermore, through their experience mature aged workers have knowledge and skills obtained during their time in the workforce, so they can help you to:

In my opinion, it makes good business sense to move past stereotypes and the old stigma surrounding mature workers.

As research shows, the future workforce will be multi-generational and with a strong contingent over 50 years of age.

As an industry we need to lead the way and show that this is positive and will have multi-layered benefits for the company, the workforce and more importantly for employee engagement. As far as I’m concerned, the benefits surely outweigh any stereotypes businesses have about hiring mature workers.

If your business welcomes mature aged workers, you’ll be seen as a more attractive employer to a growing proportion of the workforce in the future.

This article was originally published in My Logistics Magazine . Odette Richards is a monthly columnist for My Logistics Magazine.

How to attract high-performing ‘non-family’ talent

Tue, 20 Oct 2015 04:05:34 GMT

Attracting and retaining high-performing talent is one of the biggest challenges facing family businesses in Australia today.

Few would argue that the ability of a business to attract ‘top talent’ – real performers – will to a large extent dictate how successful the business will be in the longer term, as it moves beyond requiring just the founder’s expertise.

Yet many family businesses struggle to attract that talent.

I’ve worked with family-owned enterprises, of all sizes and across many industries, in Australia for the past 12 years and am constantly seeing businesses battle with this critical issue.

In my experience, it’s not that the talent isn’t there – the issue is in attracting the right people. A significant percentage of candidates I interview for roles within family owned businesses will either decline to pursue the opportunity or will show hesitancy for the role through our discussions.

My process then involves dispelling some of the common concerns prospective staff have in working for a family business. So, what are these concerns? They include:

Do any of these issues sound familiar? I’m sure you’ve heard at least some of them yourself, but what really concerns me is the regularity in which I hear these fears and how often I see top talent choose not to pursue terrific career opportunities because of three little words – family owned business.

So, what to do? Well, acceptance that these are (potentially at least) real issues and a genuine desire to do something about them is a great start.

A realisation on the part of the family owners that they are not the stores of all knowledge, and that bringing top talent into their business will not harm its growth and longevity prospects – in fact, quite the opposite – is the second step.

Once we’ve made the psychological leap and accepted that we have a perception problem, addressing it can be relatively simple. For instance, if I address the concerns raised above, they might be countered by:

These are just a few examples, but I’ve found that being able to clearly address the initial concerns of prospective candidates results in them choosing to progress their interest in the role I’m recruiting.

It can be confronting and it can mean having to make some uncomfortable decisions at times, but improving the prospects of attracting high-calibre talent is surely the only way forward for the family-owned businesses that represent the back-bone of Australia’s economy.

Michael Simonyi is a Senior Consultant with Davidson Corporate .

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The future of leadership and how it relates to the public sector

Mon, 21 Sep 2015 05:02:38 GMT

It is no secret that Australian workplaces are facing significant challenges. There is the ageing population, advances in technology and the fact that people want or need more flexibility in the workplace.

As a recruitment consultant, I get a look into the world of work from both the employee and the employer’s perspective and there are three key areas that often arise in our discussions and they are; the rise of a contingent workforce, the aging population and the effect of technology on organisations.

All of these factors require a change in the approach to leadership.

Engaging with your contingent workforce

A contingent workforce is one that does not get paid entitlements such as annual leave, sick leave and public holidays.

It includes temporary staff and skilled contractors. It can also include consulting arrangements where the engagement is based on a deliverable, rather than labour.

Approximately 24 per cent of Australia’s working population are engaged on a contingent basis, according to the Australia Bureau of Statistics and the contingent workforce has increased over the years in the Government sector.

Most managers we meet have at least 10 per cent of staff who are contingent workers. Some even having up to 50 per cent of their team who are not permanent full-time employees.

There are many benefits of having a contingent workforce.

Managing a contingent workforce requires a targeted approach as traditional employee value propositions tend to be targeted towards permanent employees.

Through discussions with our clients and candidates who work within this space, here are a few ways you can effectively engage with your contingent employees:

Effectively managing a multi-generational workforce

According to the CEDA report , an increase in life expectancy and decreased fertility rates will see an increase in the proportion of the population aged over 65 over the next 50 years.

With a conservative predicted life expectancy of approximately 85 years for men and 88 years for women by the year 2061, a retirement age of 65 seems increasing unrealistic.

Although many are not happy about the thought of working until they are 70, many more are not excited by the idea of spending the last 20 years of their life in ‘retirement’ either.

This all means people are likely to stay in the workforce longer leading to a wider-range of ages being represented within an organisation.

The rise of these multi-generational teams bring new challenges to leadership. Managing a team of individuals with differing priorities, objectives and motivations has always been challenging, but there is now the added complexity of facilitating engagement between generations who seem to speak another language.

So what do we need from our leaders to make this work?

Utilise technology more in managing your team

Many industries are feeling the impact of an increasingly distributed workforce. Most of us are aware on some level the world around us is changing at an exponential rate.

As technology progresses the way we work, when and where we work, and even what is work also changes. The ability for people to be connected from anywhere in the world is challenging the 9-5pm, office based standard.

Here are some tips on managing a team who are not physically together:

These are just three of the ways our world of work is changing, and the skills and competencies leaders require to succeed in this environment must also change.

Nick Petries’ paper on Future Trends in Leadership identifies the following attributes as crucial for our future leaders;

The ability to operate in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment requires leaders to operate at a high level of cognitive development in order to come up with complex solutions.

Have you been involved in a leadership program recently and what was your experience? Do you think it helped prepare you for the challenges you face? We would love to hear your views on this and the future of leadership.

Anna Fett is a Consultant for Davidson Corporate

How to build resilience in a tough market

Mon, 21 Sep 2015 04:38:03 GMT

“You must treat each application as a new opportunity, not as one more potential disappointment.”

This was a sentence put to me recently by an expert in his industry when explaining how he maintained resilience in a tough market.

It was suggested I speak to him as he was someone I needed to know within a niche industry sector I was exploring.

At the time, he had just started a contract with a reputable government body and was working on challenging cases and achieving a great work/life balance.

Given his great background and previous experience, I presumed he had strolled into this role as he had all the prerequisite skills, contacts and experience – and a great demeanour to match.

I was surprised to learn that he had plenty of unsuccessful applications prior to gaining the job he was in.

With a smile on his face he told me how he couldn’t let the past rejection show when he went for interviews. He said you need to brush them off and treat each application as a brand new opportunity: not as one more potential disappointment.

Easier said than done, obviously! But it got me thinking as it was a powerful message about maintaining resilience while looking for your next role, particularly if you’re not currently employed. Taking a leaf out of his book, I’ve compiled a few key steps to building and maintaining resilience in a tough market.

It’s competitive out there

Rather than be intimidated or disheartened by this fact, take it as an opportunity to stand out from the pack. Join groups on LinkedIn relating to your industry, connect with old colleagues to see what they’re up to, where they’re working and go to as many work events as possible (industry related, run by peak-bodies etc.).

Consider further study; other than ensuring all your role-specific tickets and qualifications are still in date, take some time to reflect on what skill gaps you may have or where you’d like to grow.

Research training providers thoroughly and only commit to studying something that genuinely interests you. A big trap I see candidates fall into is doing a course because they think ‘it’ll look good on the CV’ or that it will guarantee them a job/higher income.

Unfortunately there are no guarantees in life; so if nothing else – doing a course because you want to rather than thinking you have to will be an enjoyable and worthwhile experience.

Take all applications seriously, give them the time they deserve

Tailor each application, make sure all of your details are up-to-date and correct. Don’t just do one CV for every job and send the same cover letter. Tailor it to each particular job and detail exactly why you are suitable for this particular role. Here are a few great articles on how to keep your resume out of the no pile or how to write a CV see this great article.

You’ve made it to the interview stage; now make a great impression

Congratulations, you’ve been invited to interview! Your application has stood out from the pack and now an employer wants to take time out of their busy day to meet with you in person. We know it’s competitive out there, so take a moment and congratulate yourself.

One mistake I see a lot of candidates make is by approaching the interview with the wrong attitude; as another source of disappointment and not as an exciting opportunity.

Don’t let past rejections show

Be careful not to let your apprehension and nerves be misinterpreted as bitterness or negativity. Avoid commenting in generalities such as ‘companies these days are all <something disparaging>’ or ‘most of these places want <something you know you don’t have>’.

Just because you weren’t successful with company X for not having particular experiences or qualifications doesn’t mean company Y won’t have you for the same reason.

I see candidates get hung up on the various reasons they’ve been unsuccessful in getting a position and grow bitter from the experience, which is unfortunate, and counterproductive.

Stop worrying about what could go wrong, and get excited about what could go right.

Take on feedback and keep moving

If you’ve been informed you were unsuccessful for a job there are a few things to keep in mind when asking for feedback.

If you’re dealing with a quality employer you’ll get genuine, useable feedback you can implement. A common one I hear my candidates get frustrated with is that they’re ‘overqualified,’ which is a way of explaining there might not be enough scope in the role to keep you challenged long term.

While this reason can be annoying, understand it’s coming from a place of finding the right person, at the right point in their career, for the right role. Ask for detailed feedback and let the employer know you’d really appreciate their honesty – even if it could sound potentially negative.

When receiving feedback there is only one appropriate response (regardless of whether you agree or not) and that is; THANK YOU.

It’s not productive to argue over feedback; it won’t improve your chances of being reconsidered for that role.

The good news is my contact is still in his fulfilling job, gaining more experience and skills to keep relevant for the changing job market – and acting as an inspiration for jobseekers along the way!

Ashleigh McKenzie is a Senior Consultant in Davidson Trades

* Davidson Trades is no longer part of the Davidson Group. For more information please contact the Davidson Projects & Operations team.

Are you a meerkat or an ostrich? The future profile of an accountant

Mon, 21 Sep 2015 04:13:31 GMT

In the animal world, an ostrich will run and hide and avoid a problem, while a meerkat will sit up, scan the horizon to watch for danger and look for ways to address the risks and adapt.

Why are we giving you a little lesson on the animal world? No, we aren’t going to talk about animal husbandry – we’re going to use it as an analogy to describe the current environment within accounting.

Please pardon us for trivialising such an important topic, but it’s a true reflection of the present market.

We’ve all read the latest research surrounding the future world of work. While the exact figures differ pending which research you read, they all have one thing in common: accountants are under threat and robots are to blame.

Please pardon us for trivialising such an important topic, but it’s a true reflection of the present market.

Just recently The Economist said 94 per cent of the responsibilities of accountants and auditors will be completed by robots in 20 years’ time. Interestingly, recreational therapists are safe with only 0.003 per cent to be affected in the future.

Earlier this year, the Minister for Communications released a CEDA report on the Future of the Australian Workforce. The report discusses how although new technologies will without a doubt create job losses, there will be new jobs created in other areas. Therefore, it’s likely there will be a similar amount of accounting jobs in 20 years’ time, but the responsibilities of an accountant will look distinctly different.

The facts are we all know the role of an accountant is going to change, but what is not being discussed is how to stay ahead of the pack and be well placed for the new jobs that will be created.

Combined, we have 20 years of experience in recruiting in this space and we speak to clients and candidates within our field every day.

The way we see it, accountants have two options. Either retrain as recreational therapists or start sitting up and working out how they will be able to provide more than the automated processes of robots and become a valuable business advisor for future employers.

Everyone is reading and hearing of the latest research mentioned before, which is very directed at accountants, but the way they respond is very different.

Some process the information and stick their head in the sand: the ostrich-like mentality. And yes we know, in reality ostriches do not bury their heads in the sand – they lie low at the approach of trouble and press their necks to the ground in an attempt to become less visible… but the effect is the same.

While others process the information and say to us ‘ok, what should I do to ensure I’m in the six per cent who are not only employable in 20 years, but highly in demand?’ Or ‘how do I find the staff who are equipped for the future and technology advances?’ This is what we call the ‘meerkat-like’ approach to the future world of accounting.

So what are the traits of a ‘meerkat’ accountant? Through sourcing high-performing talent within this field, we have observed the following traits within accountants.

A ‘meerkat’ accountant:

An ‘ostrich’ accountant:

Ben Suddaby and Toby Walsh are Consultants with Davidson Corporate.

7 steps for women to successfully negotiate their salary

Thu, 20 Aug 2015 23:20:42 GMT

A negotiation is a courtship; a dance where you take a few steps forward and a few steps back or sideways. But ultimately, one leads and one follows.

So why are women, who can often successfully bust a move on the dance floor, traditionally not great negotiators in the workplace?

Further studies show women are great at negotiating for others, it was just when they had to negotiate for themselves they came unstuck.

A study by the American Psychological Association in 2012 linked this back to women’s natural inclination to be advocates for others, rather than looking after themselves as well as they would look after others.

I’m sure none of this surprises you. But thankfully, just like a dance, you can learn the steps and you can practise to become a better negotiator.

Over the past 12 years, I have assisted a large number of candidates to successfully manage the process between employees and employers when it comes to negotiating salary packages.

While negotiating can be very daunting, it is easy to learn how to do it effectively and become advocates for ourselves.

Negotiating isn’t just about money

When the appropriate time comes, think about the total package and benefits on offer – this does not mean just the cash components plus super. Salary packages can also include car parks, professional development opportunities, gym memberships and extra annual leave.

Prior to the negotiations, work out what is important to you and those around you. I have worked with candidates who have indicated they want to take on further education to strengthen them in a relatively new area to their industry.

Through successfully negotiating, they were able to include professional development agreements into their salary package, which was a win-win for the company and the candidate.

The company was getting a staff member who was willing to learn more in their field (which was a new area/technology) and bring their new learnings to the office and share with their team.

This wouldn’t have happened if the candidate hadn’t mentioned it and come up with her own proposal during the negotiation process.

Determine what your parameters are for negotiation

Spend time predetermining what you are willing to accept (i.e. your minimum wage), what figure you will be happy with and what is important to you and your future goals.

A good negotiator will go into a meeting with clear figures in their head of what they are willing to accept, how low they will go, the ultimate figure they would be happy with and always a backup plan of what else they can suggest if they don’t achieve a figure they are happy with.

Research, research and…yes, more research

Don’t be underprepared when going into negotiations. Research the company and their history and their future plans. Read their annual reports and media releases.

If their reports show a strong growth plan for the next five years, put forward an option of a salary package that grows with the company based on KPIs. It’s the same when locking yourself into a home loan, you do your research about interest rates and what is the best option for you.

Why don’t we do the same for our career, which is longer than a 30-year home loan?

Why wouldn’t you do the same level of research for something as powerful for your future happiness at work?

Also make sure you know your market value. I would recommend starting with online salary guides and surveys, speaking to your industry body or association, and speaking to your recruiter. Your recruiter will have a good guide of what is reasonable and realistic within the current market.

By doing your research, you will be able to justify your proposal.

Choose the right time to raise the subject

Make sure you pick the appropriate time to discuss salary. Read the situation. Too often I see people bring salary up too early or too late. It’s a fine line when it should be mentioned but it’s important you learn to determine when to bring this up.

You need to demonstrate your worth before discussing money. There are so many things you want to establish with your potential new employer, such as your fit for the role, qualifications and culture fit, before mentioning salary expectations.

Be aware of the power of relationships and language

Hannah Riley Bowles in her article, ‘ Why Women Don’t Negotiate Their Job Offers ’, uses Sheryl Sandberg, of Facebook, as a great example of successful negotiating. Sandberg suggests a ‘think personally, act communally’ strategy. The ‘I-we’ strategy involves asking for what you want, while signalling to your negotiating counterpart that you are also taking their perspective. So, how does it work?

“Sheryl says that in her negotiations with Facebook, she told them ‘of course you realise that you’re hiring me to run your deal team so you want me to be a good negotiator,” Bowles said.

“Sandberg wanted Facebook to see her negotiating as legitimate because if she didn’t negotiate, they should be worried about whether they’d made the right hire.

“Second, you want to signal to your negotiating counterpart that you care about organisational relationships,” she said.

“After pointing out that they should want her to be a good negotiator, Sheryl recounts saying, ‘this is the only time you and I will ever be on opposite sides of the table.’ In other words, ‘I am clear that we’re on the same team here.’”

While on language, don’t discount the power of small talk when negotiating. As like a dance, you court your partner. You make small talk and develop a rapport or relationship. When tangoing, you don’t just jump straight into the dip, you work up to the technical dance step.

First, introduce yourself. Take a little time to get to know them and where they are coming from. This also goes a long way into building trust.

In a Stanford University study , called ‘Schmoose or Lose’, students who were encouraged to engage in small talk prior to negotiating were reportedly more likely to come to agreement than those students who didn’t.

Ask questions and listen

Great negotiators ask carefully thought out questions designed to better understand the other side’s interests.

“Don’t just ask people what they want; ask why they want it, for what purpose,” Jeff Weiss (a consultant who specialises in corporate negotiations and relationship management) advises.

“Moving from ‘the what’ to the ‘why’ gives you more grist for the collaborative mill. Rhetorical questions are also no-no.

“Asking questions like ‘don’t you think this is fair?’ simply paints others into a corner,” Weiss explains.

Always have a Plan B up your sleeve

I am constantly shocked when I ask candidates and clients what they will do if the other person doesn’t agree to their first option.

A good negotiator will have a Plan B of what they are willing to accept. This takes into account the deciding factors from the above tips.

For example, if during the negotiation process, an employer mentions that they are unable to afford the salary you want at the moment, see if they are open to including performance-based incentives or bonuses.

Once you have been in the role for three months or six months, you could suggest building in bonuses based around measurable results.

Overall, it’s critical to get this negotiation right, as you need to feel as though the employer understands your potential value to the organisation, while at the same time not tarnishing the potential employment relationship before it even starts.

When you really put your mind to it and apply these tips, it will ensure you and your employer are dancing to the same song.

Rochelle Munro is the Group Manager of Davidson Corporate

Jack of all trades or a specialist contractor? What is the best choice?

Mon, 20 Jul 2015 23:33:41 GMT

The term jack of all trades could not be more relevant to today’s environment within the construction sector.

We’ve got employers needing candidates to literally be a jack of all trades. And then on the other side of the coin, we have employers needing their staff to be a specialist in their field.

As a recruiter who works solely in trades, I am witnessing both from my clients.

Some contractors are seeing the benefit in utilising specialised trade contractors early in the design process. HVAC contractors and electricians, in particular, are being used more and more in a design/build or design/assist role, because of their precise understanding in installing and maintaining complicated systems.

The construction market is trending towards these specialised, collaborative teams that deliver more innovation to building spaces.

Meanwhile, a lot of construction companies are pushing newcomers to become a jack of all trades, rather than specialising in a single area to make themselves more marketable and employable.

Being a generalist works for some companies with multi-ticketed operatives becoming the normal. For example, in the civil market, clients are now looking for candidates who are not just labourers, but have additional tickets as a roller driver, bobcat and dumper.

In the past, they may have requested just a labourer with the other machines operators being ordered in separately. Previously, this may have required four candidates, but as the workforce is more flexible this can now be wrapped into a jack of all trades candidate.

For the civil industry this would be a short-term solution to reducing costs, but long term may have a negative effect on the skillset of the workforce.

Its little wonder the candidates I work with are confused when they are hearing mixed messages.

So what is the best option and most importantly, what relates best to the future of the trades industry?

Through discussions with clients, I can see the need for both. A generalist worker and a specialised worker – they both have their purposes, it just depends on the client’s need and the size of the project.

If you do it right, being a jack of all trades should be considered a strength. Your ability to adapt to the needs of the business will be highly sought-after. There is no reason to feel that this is an inferior path.

Generalists bring much-needed balance to the workplace and make communication across disciplines a lot easier.

These jacks of all trades workers are extremely talented individuals with skills in multiple disciplines.

From my perspective I see the jack of all trades being an excellent all-rounder and an invaluable asset to any team, but only to assist in filling the gaps of the workforce.

Whereas, a specialist contractor will instil confidence as they specialise in a key field. The have a different approach to the work and have been through a structured apprenticeship-like program, which makes an employer feel like they are limiting the risk to a project.

However, specialists aren’t always required. The job availability for a specialist tends to be scarce and can require a lot more travelling for work.

As you can see from above, there is a strong case for both, it just needs to fit the job and the personality of the worker.

I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this. What do you think?

David McIntyre is a Senior Consultant in Davidson Trades

* Davidson Trades is no longer part of the Davidson Group. For more information please contact the Davidson Projects & Operations team.

Leadership lessons can be found anywhere… even in the seven kingdoms!

Mon, 22 Jun 2015 04:55:03 GMT

Most of us have either been lucky enough to have known, or at least have heard about, a remarkable mentor or leader. A leader who has the unique ability of drawing lessons from the most mundane or common place situations.

As we develop, whether as leaders or simply in pursuit of a better version of ourselves, the most critical lessons can be sitting right in front of us. The challenge is in our awareness of them.

Leadership gurus Warren Bennis and Robert Thomas in their book ‘Geeks and Geezers: How Era, Values and Defining Moments Shape Leaders’ (Harvard Business School Press, 2002) argued that successful people learn to become leaders from life’s experiences; the smaller occurrences of everyday life.

However, rather than just ‘experiencing’ moments, good leaders do two things differently: firstly, in what they make of the experience – ‘what one takes away from it, how one distils it, and arrives at a solution that is sensitive to the context of the experience;’ and secondly ‘to actually engage in acts of leadership that become model acts for others.’

As practiced by successful people, it is how we encode and activate our experiences that leads to greater learning and ability.

‘Both the ability to lead and to teach others about leadership depends on how well we develop and use two qualities: awareness and sensitivity.’ This theory is explored further in an interesting article by Baba Prasad .

Now, during my days, I have the pleasure of meeting with a wide variety of professionals faced with an even wider array of circumstances.

But of late, one of the most common interests/discussion points has been the hit TV show Game of Thrones!

And I am happy to report that even in the Seven Kingdoms, leadership lessons can be found. So for all my GOT-addicted colleagues, this one is for you!

Stacey Blanch is a National Business Development Manager in Davidson Consulting and HR Solutions

How to set yourself apart from other candidates

Fri, 19 Jun 2015 04:43:35 GMT

Offshoring + cost minimisation + aging workforce = increased competition in the job market.

And it is only going to get more competitive.

Now dubbed Generation Jobless, our young adults are feeling the impact of this new market.

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released showed “the youth jobless rate was double the unemployment rate, with 12.2 per cent of 15 to 24 year olds looking for work” ( Sydney Morning Herald ). This equates to 257,000 young Australians unemployed.

And they are not alone.

Skilled professionals in all domains are feeling the pressure of increased competition for employment opportunities. In particular, we have seen a wider strata of qualified candidates all vying for the same limited number of opportunities available in market.

So, when faced with a job market that has no room for average, how do we set ourselves apart from other candidates that may be more qualified?

As outlined by Caris Thetford , the critical question you must ask yourself is: What sets me apart?

You must ask this honestly and objectively in light of the current state of play.

Yes, you may have updated your resume, perfected your cover letter and prepared your references … but so has the majority of other candidates.

Ticking these traditional boxes do not set you apart from the competition, they are simply the cost to enter the game!

Thetford has outlined some examples of what you can do to stand out from the crowd.

These include:

If you truly want to compete for that amazing opportunity, then get ahead of the crowd! Go beyond the average response and truly showcase yourself.

Stacey Blanch is a National Business Development Manager in Davidson Consulting and HR Solutions

The pros and cons of outsourcing project controls

Mon, 25 May 2015 05:00:50 GMT

With many LNG projects moving from ramp-up to production and investments slowing down in Australia, the current resources market is undergoing a transitional phase.

In a tough market, it is easy for innovation, technological progress and market trends to drive project resources offshore in the hope of finding cheaper alternatives.

Jeff Collins looks at this further in his article ‘ The Pros and Cons of Outsourcing Project Controls ’ after speaking to companies who have outsourced varying aspects of business operations.

In the past few months, I have encountered a number of conversations around businesses outsourcing project controls teams. I often wonder if outsourcing sometimes creates more harm than good.

For the purposes of those weighing up the options and the current transitioning phase within the industry, I reviewed the pros and cons of outsourcing from a project controls point of view.

In the article, Jeff says “outsourcing project controls includes several key benefits for the business, but also possesses risks to the success or vitality of the business. Before you make the step of hiring an outside contract for project controls, keep the following points in mind.” He lists the pros and cons as follows:

THE PROS

THE CONS

While outsourcing teams may offer immediate benefits for businesses, is it really worth the cons listed above?

In a digital age, any compromise to company information, whether it be small or large, can break down a project in a very short period of time. Is it worth the risk?

I welcome thoughts and experiences around the topic and if you have any ways to improve the process.

Eleanor Byrne is a Consultant in Davidson Projects and Operations

Five practical steps to build charisma

Thu, 21 May 2015 04:56:18 GMT

Early in my career, I regularly found myself in bookstores looking for the next book on ‘building confidence’ to give me the edge and to assist with my professional development.

I know most of you have also been in the same situation wandering aimlessly up and down the aisle at the book shop (or surfing Google for the more tech savvy!).

Today, my search has evolved to books about ‘building charisma.’

One of the best books I have come across on this topic is by Olivia Cabane. Her book The Charisma Myth highlights that the three foundation pillars needed to start building charisma are power (being perceived as able to affect the world around us), presence (having a moment-to-moment awareness of what is happening) and warmth (goodwill towards others).

These three pillars resonated with me because I realised I had seen them in action before.

We have all had a work colleague who has what appears to be a natural ability to light up a room when they enter, who inspire, motivate or simply bring a smile to the people they interact with. They seem to exercise these three pillars organically. But rest assured, while this ability may come easier to some, this ‘likeability’ can be practised, and like any other skill, can be learned.

Another author or expert, I suggest you investigate is Aja Frost and her recent article on The Muse .

Aja has outlined practical ‘likeability’ steps that we can implement today that will not only increase your power, presence and warmth, but will also make you happier in the process!

“Many of us have mistakenly believed that personality, was totally organic – that you couldn’t cultivate likeability. This is not entirely true. We can all do several simple things on a routine basis to not only become more well-liked, but also happier,” she says.

Happy reading!

Stacey Blanch is a National Business Development Manager in Davidson Consulting and HR Solutions

Becoming an Employer of Choice

Thu, 21 May 2015 00:13:13 GMT

For businesses with trades and blue collar workforces, what exactly does ‘Employer of Choice’ mean, and how do you get there?

The phrase has held a considerable amount of popularity of late, but most employers really don’t understand the importance of becoming an Employer of Choice.

It’s more than just a buzzword; it is representative of a whole new corporate culture.

It means that people will choose to work for you. It means that people will choose to dedicate themselves to your success. It means that people will choose to stay with you, even when they are being courted by other employers— employers with exceptionally attractive propositions.

Positioning your business as an Employer of Choice is not necessarily easy and it’s certainly not a quick fix. It is something that requires a consistent and concerted effort and, above all else, follow through.

Surprisingly it doesn’t mean your company has to get listed by a prominent magazine, website or industry award. It’s really more about understanding the hallmarks of an Employer of Choice and nurturing those attributes into your company

In the near future there will be a severe skills shortage as markets start to improve and some countries, such as Ireland, employ rebate schemes for skilled trade workers to return home. As a result the labour pool will contract, meaning companies will need to think outside the box in attracting talent.

With a skill shortage, comes various problems including a severe upturn in the cost of labour, which is perfectly illustrated in the this article about the UK construction market by Karl West.

Although this report is from the UK, it serves as a warning to Australia as the number of tenders starts to increase. So moving forward it is essential that your business is in the strongest position to attract and retain quality employees.

Reasons for becoming an Employer of Choice

Trust is a key driver of sustainable engagement, which drives performance. The latest meta-analysis published by the Employee Engagement Task Force, headed by David MacLeod and Nita Clarke, found that the top 25 per cent most engaged companies enjoy the benefits of:

Aside from the statistics, an Employer of Choice that can attract and retain a loyal workforce will enable management to focus on business strategy and growth, rather than being consumed by staff turnover and all of the associated challenges.

Strategies to help achieve Employer of Choice status

Below are methods that some companies with blue collar workforces, have found very effective for not only attracting new employees, but also for retaining them.

Attracting –

Retaining –

Are you an Employer of Choice?

To become an Employer of Choice is a long process, but when you can answer yes to those questions you will be well on the way to achieving this enviable status. This will produce a happier more efficient workforce doing what they do best…. increasing your profits!

David McIntyre is a Senior Consultant in Davidson Trades

* Davidson Trades is no longer part of the Davidson Group. For more information please contact the Davidson Projects & Operations team.

Suicide in construction: The silent killer

Thu, 26 Feb 2015 04:59:29 GMT

I have recruited for more than eight years in the UK and Australia and unfortunately, in that time, one of my candidates took his own life.

This happened around five years ago in the UK, yet it still plays on my mind to this day.

About two months ago, I was speaking to a client (in Australia) and the candidate mentioned came up in the conversation. The client was telling me his funny stories about the candidate and said he was an old mate who he had unfortunately lost touch with. He then said ‘I must drop him a line to see how he was getting on.’

Unfortunately, I had to share the terrible news to the client and despite it being a phone conversation it was clear it hit him hard.

I’m sorry to bring up a dark subject, but the problem is within our industry we don’t bring it up enough. Stereotypically, we think it’s not the done thing to speak about our emotions or talk about matters close to the heart.

Well, I think given the statistics and the reality of the situation, it’s time for our industry to sit up and make this a matter of priority.

Sadly, the numbers of those within the construction industry taking their lives is on the increase. We all have a responsibility not only as employers, employees and contractors, but as members of society.

The problem

Construction workers are more likely to commit suicide than men on average in Australia

According to a recent PwC report on mental health in the workplace over the past 12 months, 25.1 per cent of workers in the construction industry reported a mental health condition.

Furthermore, 8.9 per cent of construction workers reported a condition affecting their mood, such as depression, which is considered one of the risks for suicide.

So what are we doing as a building and construction industry to ensure no one else has to make a call like I did? What are we doing as employers to support construction workers?

One great group is MATES in Construction. MATES in Construction is a charity established in 2008 to reduce the high level of suicide among Australian construction workers. It is owned and controlled by the Australian Building and Construction Industry.

It is based on the simple idea that ‘suicide is everyone’s business’ and that if the building and construction industry in Australia is to improve the mental health and wellbeing of workers and to reduce suicide then it cannot be left to the mental health professionals, but rather everyone in the industry must play their part.

Tomorrow take the time to speak with people on site as it can be the small and seemly insignificant conversations that mean the most to people.

If everyone just had one extra conversation on site this would have a massive impact on the mentality that it is ok to talk about your feelings.

Construction employers, workers and their families can contact the MATES in Construction hotline 24 hours a day, seven days a week on 1300 642 111. Other great links include www.headsup.org.au and www.beyondblue.org.au .

Remember, it’s everyone’s responsibility to reach out and help their mates.

David McIntyre is a Senior Consultant in Davidson Trades

* Davidson Trades is no longer part of the Davidson Group. For more information please contact the Davidson Projects & Operations team.

Pre-fabrication: another perspective

Fri, 20 Feb 2015 23:23:35 GMT

As we enter a new year I wanted to reflect on a burning issue that was the cause of much debate in 2014.

With some contractors estimating that their total hours spent in pre-fabrication are going to triple over the next five years, it’s clear that pre-fabrication is here to stay here in Australia.

What is the current perception of pre-fabrication?

Well opinions seem to be divided, falling squarely into two camps.

For companies, pre-fabrication has revolutionised the construction industry by providing a genuine alternative to conventional building projects. The process is predominately used to produce a cost effective, competitive edge to increase productivity and reduce project time, hence minimising cost.

From the workers point of view there is a general feeling that the contractors are deskilling the industry in a bid to make a greater profit.

In light of the recent tragedy on 3 December when a worker in Edmonton fell through a fibreglass sheet to the concrete floor some five metres below, and subsequently passed away in hospital without regaining consciousness, I contemplated whether there is another side to the pre-fabrication debate that may have been overlooked.

Is Employee Health & Safety the real winner out of the pre-fabrication revolution? Pre-fabrication operations in general will provide a safer working environment, not only in a reduction of working at height and having to compete with other contractors for operating space on site, but also better welfare facilities and reduced exposure to the elements. The outcome would seem to provide a cleaner, safer working environment where the potential for incident is greatly reduced.

So does pre-fabrication provide a cost saving mechanism for the Contractor or a genuinely safer working environment for the Employee? Or both?

My opinion is that anything which helps construction employees return home safely from work every night must surely be considered as a win – win situation.

David McIntyre is a Senior Consultant – Client Services in the Davidson Trades

* Davidson Trades is no longer part of the Davidson Group. For more information please contact the Davidson Projects & Operations team.

SME employers: are you settling for ‘just good enough’?

Fri, 20 Feb 2015 00:08:15 GMT

The majority of my clients are SME/mid-market businesses, typically owned by families, private equity or management – people with real ‘skin in the game’. When talking with leadership about their challenge in attracting the ‘right’ talent, there’s often a recurring theme: “we struggle to compete with corporates for the best people.” But does this belief lead to settling for someone who is ‘just good enough’, rather than someone who will genuinely raise the average?

Comments I typically hear include:

“Big companies can afford to pay more”

“They offer a career path that we can’t”

“People feel more secure working for them because of their size”

“They have budgets for training and development that we can’t match”

“We don’t have the marketing budget to support our sales team that corporates do”

“Our systems and processes aren’t as advanced as those in bigger companies”

“We don’t have the employer branding that corporates do – we don’t look as good on someone’s CV”

I believe there are ways for SMEs to appeal to top talent and have them seriously consider mid-market businesses as their employer of choice.

So, let’s explode a few myths….

“Big companies can afford to pay more”

Perhaps they do on occasion, but given the focus on taking costs out of businesses following the global financial crisis (GFC), in my experience they rarely do. In fact, it’s commonplace for a corporate to offer less than smaller businesses, based at times on the logic that ‘if someone wants to work for us, they’ll accept less, because of our brand.’ Then there’s salary banding, which means that a company will only pay within a certain salary range for a given position, regardless of the calibre of an individual candidate, and won’t deviate from that policy for fear of creating what they perceive as inequity.

“They offer a career path that we can’t”

Do they? The career ladder that’s often discussed at interviews has a lot less rungs on it post-GFC, with organisations flattening their structures. That means fewer potential opportunities for promotion, and a lot more bodies to climb over to get there.

“People feel more secure working for them because of their size”

When I’m interviewing and ask people what they’re seeking in a move, security is routinely near the top of the list. When I drill into what security actually means, size rarely features in the discussion that follows.

What is important? Clear vision and strategy, a well-established presence in a given market, a reputable product/service offering, and experienced leadership making consistent, commercially-sound decisions are the most common desires. All of which are well within the capacity of a small-to-medium-sized business to deliver.

“They have budgets for training and development that we can’t match”

Sure they do. Or they did, because those budgets were slashed with the onset of the GFC.

“We don’t have the marketing budget to support our sales team that corporates do”

Except that the marketing budget went the same way as the learning and development budget when the GFC hit. Along with most of the marketing team.

“Our systems and processes aren’t as advanced as those in bigger companies”

Perhaps, but there are plenty of corporates struggling to successfully implement large-scale IT system roll-outs, which is causing their sales teams no end of heartburn. And SMEs can utilise a CRM system, for example, as effectively as any corporate. Robust systems are about mindset, not size.

“We don’t have the employer branding that corporates do – we don’t look as good on someone’s CV”

When I look at someone’s CV, I want to know what they’ve achieved against key deliverables. I think most recruiters and hiring managers feel the same way. It’s fair to say people will assume that someone who’s worked within, say, a large FMCG or pharmaceutical business, should have received a solid grounding in sales disciplines, but the fact that someone has worked predominantly in corporates can also be a negative in some situations.

Think about your own business – will someone who’s only worked in corporate environments successfully make the transition to yours? I’m sure you’ve seen people fail to do so – I know I have.

Of course, there will always be a percentage of the workforce that specifically wants to work for a corporate. However, there are a number of advantages SMEs bring to the table, which in my experience, make a compelling case:

You don’t need to go to extreme lengths to ‘brand’ yourself as an employer of choice, but giving real thought to just what it is that your business offers – and ensuring you present that in a compelling manner to top performers – will go a long way to securing the talent you’re really seeking.

Want more ideas as to what you can do at a practical level? Please drop me a line – I’m happy to help!

Michael Simonyi is a Senior Consultant – Sales & Business Development in Davidson Corporate.

How to keep your resume out of the ‘no’ pile

Wed, 11 Feb 2015 04:57:27 GMT

You would honestly need to have your head in the sand to not know that the job market has changed and will continue to do so.

It is not just the increased competition for opportunities, but the changing recruitment processes due to technology advancement and automation.

So why do many of us continue to dust off the same ‘ol resume’ we first crafted years ago and expect it to represent a clear and relevant professional summation in today’s market?

Let’s be clear. Research has confirmed that recruiters only spend an average of 6.25 seconds looking at a candidate’s resume before deciding ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

Of that, 5 seconds is spent looking at just six things:

The last 1.25 seconds is spent scanning for keywords that match the open position.

What does this mean?

Understand the purpose of your resume. Your resume is the key tool to give recruiters the critical information they need to put you in the ‘yes’ pile.

It is not a tool for you to tell the world of every amazing achievement you have accomplished – you will have your time to outline this in your interview.

Make sure you summarise the information needed by recruiters on the first page and be selective – include only the information relevant to the opportunity at hand.

For further suggestions (and tools and examples) for your resume I recommend you read ‘What your resume is up against’ by Susan Adams and ‘ Six words that might get your resume tossed in the trash ’ by Lily Zhang.

Stacey Blanch is a National Business Development Manager in Davidson Consulting and HR Solutions

The healthy option to attracting and retaining talent within the Queensland construction market

Mon, 22 Dec 2014 00:02:27 GMT

Attracting and retaining the best staff is always high up on the agenda item within Queensland construction companies.

This topic comes up on a daily basis for me as I speak to hundreds of clients in Tier 1, 2 and 3 construction companies, candidates and other strategic industry partners and representatives.

Furthermore, many clients ask me what true points of differences they can offer over their competitors to attract and retain the best staff in the industry.

And on the flip side, candidates talk to me about what they look for from their next employer vs their current situation.

One common theme, in both sets of discussions, which continually comes up is around mental health in the construction industry and what is being done to combat this issue.

Why is this? The CEO of Mates in Construction (MIC) Jorgen Gullestrup said the construction industry experiences around 191 suicides a year, that’s 30 per cent more than any other industry.

That’s one in every six people who work in the industry. Since MIC began in 2007 in Queensland, the rate has dropped to eight per cent.

While they are clear they can’t take full credit for this, anyone within the industry can see that there is a strong correlation between the program starting and getting people talking and the number of suicides and attempted suicides dropping.

So what does this mean for your company? Or the construction industry as a whole?

The construction industry isn’t straightforward, as many different companies are involved in specific individual projects. Each part being contracted out again and again, as the work packages get divvied up to each particular specialist.

You can work for a company, but be out on-site, away from the head office and the company’s employees.

How do you as an employer look after the staff you barely ever see? How often do you get to speak to, see, or socialise with people from your company?

If you work on the same site as them or the same part of the office, then you’ll get that opportunity, but otherwise, you could work somewhere for 20 years and rarely see or speak people within your place of employment. That’s not a normal situation in other industries.

And how do you as an employee voice an opinion or be heard?

There isn’t a simple answer from an overall perspective Grant Galvin the MD of the Master Builders Association said.

“Construction is the fourth largest employer as an industry and the cascading effect of work being subbed out and with so many different project types within the industry, we are only just touching the tip of the iceberg on mental health awareness and suicide prevention in the industry,” Mr Galvin said.

“Job security is a big worry for a lot of workers and legislative changes for companies. If we could keep one political party in for two terms it would create stability and a steady flow of work, without the stop start nature we are currently experiencing.”

Companies like Woollam Constructions and Watpac have Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) in place for their staff to access, should they have any need or want, to talk to a professional about work, money, family, friends, health etc.

It’s a start and they both acknowledge that it’s something that needs to come more to the forefront of company improvement initiatives.

A number of mid-tier companies that I spoke with credited their longevity of employment (upwards of a 12 and 20-year averages) to having a mixture of more experienced workers mentoring and working closely with younger, fresher employees to show them the ropes and lend them support professionally and personally.

Other company initiatives like boot camps, end of trip facilities and flexible working hours also contribute to the happiness of their employees. These companies have a family focus and believe in give and take.

They don’t work their staff every Saturday, rotate the undesirable days as much as possible and hold a realistic view of family and personal commitments outside of work.

You could call it work life balance, or you could call it mental health checks.

Despite all of this, I still found in my discussions that mental health is still taboo within the industry.

Every day I talk to candidates looking for work, either out of work or unhappy in their current place of employment. The common theme is that people are at breaking point from being overworked, underappreciated, with little support and a desire to be happy.

Rarely are they looking to leave because of wage. Many tell me they want to leave because of the six-day working week, 70 hour weeks for $120-$140k a year.

While the pay sounds great, when you break it down over the hours worked it works out to be about $35 an hour for a highly skilled experienced employee, who barely sees their family and friends.

A couple of years ago, offering an additional $20k to a potential employee would do the trick.

But more and more, my colleagues and I are finding that employees have realised the age old ‘money doesn’t buy happiness’ rings true.

They tell us they would trade some of that wage for a Saturday off, a social touch team, Friday afternoon drinks with the people they work with and the ability to spend times with loved ones.

There are many ways a company can add value to the lives – at work and outside – of their employees, than just monetary incentives.

To attract and retain the best talent and to combat the suicide rates in the construction industry, the non-monetary ‘value adds’ are the incentives that will see you hiring less, and hopefully saving a life.

If you would like more information on strategies to attract the best talent or ways to keep them, let me know. After all, I work in this industry because I’m passionate about building relationships and helping people find their right place at work.

Lizzi Byrne is a Consultant at Davidson, Projects & Operations

Talent assessment evolves

Fri, 19 Dec 2014 23:55:28 GMT

Assessment has been an integral tool for identifying talent for decades, changing shape over time to meet new trends and developments in what constitutes the ‘right’ employee. The way we assess talent has been moulded to reflect changing business environments, developments in HR and organisational psychology, and advancements in technology. From a focus on experience to recognising the importance of person-job fit, employers now value a person’s fit to the broader organisational context: its vision, culture and values.

Organisations are on the verge of entering one of the toughest employment markets in history, predicts Claudio Fernandez-Aroz in his 2014 HBR article, 21st Century Talent. With the pressure of globalisation, an increasingly aging population, and stifled talent pipelines he states that organisations who are able to identify potential, retain it and develop it will gain the competitive advantage.

More than ever, as we head into 2015, psychometric assessment is crucial for identifying potential and ‘right-fit’ talent to help organisations achieve their business strategy.

‘Good’ Talent Identification

Reflecting back, talent identification efforts in the early 1980s focussed on selecting the smartest and most experienced employees. An accumulation of 90 years of research firmly positioned cognitive ability as one of the strongest predictors of learning and job performance (Schmidt and Hunter 1998).

By the late 1980s, ‘person-job fit’ underscored best-practice talent identification strategies. Organisations emphasised matching people with positions, such as with the increased use of personality questionnaires. By the 1990s, emotional intelligence (EQ) began to rival IQ in predicting the performance of leaders, and candidates were assessed on their ability to meet specific role competencies.

A focus on job-specific competencies saw the development of a range of new psychometric assessments: safety attitude assessments, mechanical ability assessments, attention and concentration assessments, just to name a few. No longer was it sufficient to promote the brightest and most experienced: to remain competitive, organisations needed outstanding performers; not just sufficient ones.

‘Great’ Talent Identification

Today, however, with efforts to effectively map people to jobs commonplace, organisations are again seeking out a new competitive advantage. For good companies to become great, Jim Collins in his seminal book, points out that talent identification needs to align with company strategy, vision and culture.

Research suggests the cost of making a bad hire can be 10 times an employee’s annual salary. In the words of Collins “….to build a successful organisation and team you must get the right people on the bus.”

Finding the Right People

But how can we identify the ‘right people?’ In their May 2014 HBR commentary on the issue, Kuncel, Ones and Klieger point out that algorithms, analytics and data are likely to hold the key. The authors encouraged organisations to leverage more objective data to identify, retain and develop potential talent.

Likewise, the CEB 2014 global assessment trends report positions ‘identifying high potential’ as a new global top priority and with it predicts a growth in the use of assessment and talent metrics.

The impact on talent assessment

Just as the qualities we look for in great candidates have evolved over recent years, so too have the instruments we use to identify them:

The disruption of traditional pricing models seen in 2014 is set to continue in 2015 with a focus on volume-based licensing and more competitive pressure. We are increasingly seeing clients of all sizes utilising assessment as a core part of their talent acquisition strategy.

The trend in ‘big data’ has seen an increased desire for metrics. The popularity of assessments is likely to increase as organisations leverage insights for use throughout the employee lifecycle. Clients are now using the data from talent assessment to inform other parts of their business strategy.

Through gamification, psychomotor testing and a focus on providing realistic job previews, the world of assessment has become exciting and fun.

Assessment providers recognise the importance of an EVP and are increasingly focused on promoting the client brand through assessment portals, communications, and reporting. Technology now allows reports to be produced in the clients own ‘look and feel’ with a focus on organisation-specific competencies and values.

So, the research suggests that a competitive advantage in 2015 is likely to come from access to reliable and valid assessment tools which provide insight into skills, competencies and alignment with vision, values and culture . Of even greater importance though, is being able to use this rich data to continue to retain and develop talent.

As Jim Collins puts it:

“ If we spend the vast majority of our time with the people we love and respect – people we really enjoy being on the bus with and who will never disappoint us – then we will almost certainly have a great life, no matter where the bus goes ”.

Jade Hindmarsh – Principal psychologist

The neuroscience behind New Year’s resolutions

Thu, 18 Dec 2014 23:59:44 GMT

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It’s time to dust off those New Year’s resolutions. As 2015 approaches we’re looking back at those resolutions that seemed so reachable 11 short months ago. Why were they so hard to keep? What can we do to increase our success?

This year – determined to take a more scientific approach to our own resolutions – we’ve explored the research on the neuroscience behind New Year’s resolutions. Here are the top ten things we found:

1. 88% of New Year’s resolutions fail, according to a 2007 survey of over 3,000 people conducted by British psychologist Richard Wiseman
The brain area largely responsible for willpower, the prefrontal cortex is located just behind the forehead. The prefrontal cortex has a few more things to worry about than just our New Year’s resolutions. It is in charge of keeping us focussed, handling short-term memory and solving abstract problems. No wonder it can’t always keep us on track with our resolutions as well.

2. Research suggests that willpower is inherently limited
Think of willpower like any muscle in our body. Exercise it too much and our ‘willpower muscle’ will get tired. Our prefrontal cortex can become fatigued and needs time off to recuperate. Our willpower muscle can be strengthened with exercise.

3. Will power takes actual energy
An experiment by Professor Baumeister in 2007 college found that students who fasted for 3 hours before performing self-control tasks had significantly lower glucose levels than those who didn’t have to exert self-control.

4. Make only one New Year’s resolution
Any more than one and our prefrontal cortex can’t handle the additional load. In 2002, researchers at the University of Albany in the US asked a group of male subjects ‘not to think about a white elephant’ while writing down their thoughts – a challenging mental task that puts strain on the prefrontal cortex.

Afterwards the subjects participated in a ‘beer taste test’ but were warned they would be later required to drive a car. At the end of the test, those who performed a mentally challenging task drank significantly more beer than those engaged in the simple tasks – suggesting that ‘a stressed prefrontal cortex’ doesn’t make very good decisions.

5. 40% of our daily lives are taken up by habits and it takes anywhere from 28 days to 254 days to change a habit
But when you find yourself a slave to an unhealthy habit it’s likely that your basal ganglia is to blame. Your basal ganglia is a more primitive and unconscious brain region responsible for storing habits, routines, and automatic responses. When behaviours, such as driving a car and brushing our teeth, become embedded in the more unconscious basal ganglia region we are freed up to use more conscious and higher order cognitive functions which live in the pre-frontal cortex.

But what happens when our habits aren’t good for us? The only way for us to change a bad habit is for the prefrontal cortex – or thinking part of the brain – to override the activity in the basal ganglia.

To do this researchers have found that self-affirmation is the key. When we are kind to ourselves our brains release the chemical serotonin which is essential for proper functioning of the pre-frontal cortex. What does all this mean? By spending time reflecting on qualities you like about yourself your brain is better prepared to kick the nasty habit in favour of a healthier one.

6. Research indicates that each of us have certain cornerstone habits – if we get that habit going it helps us build positive habits in other parts of our life
Try to identify what could be your cornerstone habits. Set just one of these as your New Year’s resolution. Make it a tiny habit if that helps.

Given that New Year’s resolutions and habits are all about willpower, anything we can do to build willpower is a bonus. Research suggests that the number one way to build willpower is to have a disciplined physical exercise regime. So, how about picking up that bike you used to ride or that tennis racket that’s been gathering dust in the cupboard?

7. Set tiny goals
Often we fail because we are too ambitious and set resolutions that become daunting and not achievable – think ‘get into better shape’, ‘be a better parent, partner and friend.’ The trick is turning your grand resolution into a set of achievable goals and creating an environment to help support you. It is easier to change your environment than it is to change your behaviour – it’s easier to not buy the potato chips than resist them when they are staring at you from the pantry.

8. Surround yourself with a good social network – a well-researched link exists between social support and stress, with increased support related to lower blood pressure, heart rate and cortisol levels
What does this mean? Your social network has a huge impact on your behaviour. Leverage this network to help keep you on track or at the very least assist you to reduce any stress and anxiety you might have about reaching your goals.

9. You will fail
That’s OK. None of us are perfect and on occasion, life will get in the way of our goals. When this happens, don’t use it as an excuse to abandon all that good intent. Get back up on that horse and start again. Some research indicates that we usually fail between seven and twelve times before we finally achieve a goal.

10. Honour your strengths
The final word in this piece should go to Kelly McGonigal. Kelly holds a PhD in psychology and is a lecturer at Stanford University in the field of health psychology. She is the author of the bestselling book, The Willpower Instinct.

Most New Year’s resolutions are based on the assumption that who you are really is inadequate and must be improved through self-discipline, joyless striving and maybe a leftover Christmas miracle.

I invite you to take a different approach this year, one that starts from the recognition that whatever it is you want to be, do, or have, you already have the seeds to make it happen. With a bit of focused energy and self-compassion you can reach your goals.

Instead of vowing to makeover your personality, why not commit to honouring your strengths and values?

We hope this assists you to set and keep one important resolution in 2015. Best of luck!

Rob Davidson – Founder and Director of Growth

Jade Hindmarsh – Principal Psychologist

Redundancy = Opportunity

Thu, 21 Nov 2013 00:05:12 GMT

Have you been made redundant or are you currently unemployed and looking for a job? Are you sitting at home applying to hundreds of SEEK ads, losing your motivation and self-confidence because you’re not hearing any feedback, or if you are it’s only to be told you are one of 200 applicants who have applied for the job?

If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’re going to keep getting what you’re getting! So, let’s flip “redundancy” on its head and turn it into “Opportunity, Development, Charity, Community, Engagement and ultimately Employment!”

Every week, I have a candidate, contact, client or friend made redundant. Although these conversations are challenging and I empathise with how they feel when they are faced with this unexpected situation; the flip side is that, over the past five years since the GFC, I have seen most of these redundancies end in genuine success stories. Some of these success stories are:

If you’re reading this thinking; “they are just lucky and that won’t happen to me”, then read on…

One key component to each of these stories is that they all took action and thought outside the square to gain their next opportunity.

I would like to help you with your success story and help make 2014 your best year yet. I need to warn you in advance that securing your next position will take dedicated focus and hard work on your behalf. This will now be your full time job. This is when the fun starts…think about the options and opportunities that await you…

This time of year is a challenging time for gaining employment – so, if you can financially cover yourself until the New Year, then I suggest investing some time on ways you can ready yourself for 2014. Suggestions I often recommend include:

Volunteering is great for your health and for your career!

Gaining exposure to volunteer organisations not only helps other people, it also increases your own confidence and happiness. Additionally it connects you to people in your community, and from what I’ve observed, it opens opportunities you would never have even expected might come your way. Who knows, these opportunities may result in career openings. There are a lot of connected people involved in charities willing to help people with a strong work ethic and community values. So instead of putting all your eggs in the one basket sitting at home, submitting your CV to SEEK ads – take action, make a difference, boost your self confidence and feel good about it! (Oh, and you might even end up with a new job as an added bonus).

A survey carried out by the TimeBank through Reed Executive showed that among 200 of the UK’s leading businesses:

Volunteering has also been proven to have incredible health benefits including increasing your self-confidence, combating depression and staying physically healthy.

In 2011 I had a life changing experience; I went to Siam Reap in Cambodia with a company called Globalteer; a not for profit volunteer organisation who help disadvantaged communities around the world. For three weeks I volunteered as a teacher at a school called “Anjali”. I taught school children a range of practical and theoretical skills to enhance their ongoing education and development. I have never been a teacher before so at first it scared me and pushed me right out of my comfort zone, but I ended up loving it and I now know that if I ever have a career change, teaching is something I would definitely consider! I also know I had a big impact on those beautiful children during my time there, however the impact on myself personally was profound. In giving my time to them, I had actually given myself a gift even larger and can honestly say it was one of the most satisfying experiences of my life.

You don’t have to travel to Cambodia to give yourself the gift of giving to others. By helping others, I assure you will gain a new perspective on your own situation and also feel a great sense of satisfaction. The momentum of activity will help you on so many levels including gaining new skills, improving your mental and physical health, improving your self-confidence. making new connections, and ultimately gaining new employment! My personal picks leading up to Christmas are – The Salvation Army, The Smith Family, St Vincent de Paul, Meals on Wheels and Vital Connection Soup Kitchens, but there are so many options and it’s such a personal choice. (Tips on choosing the right charity for you).

Let’s face it, 2014 is just around the corner – make a difference in 2013 and set yourself up for your Best Year Yet in 2014!

Findings from the Frontline – September 2013

Fri, 20 Sep 2013 23:56:48 GMT

Welcome to my monthly update; focused on issues that I’m seeing in my business, which may be of relevance to you and yours.

My insights are gained by:

By way of background, I’ve been recruiting since September 2003, with a specific focus on sales, sales leadership and business development roles across the resources, construction and engineering sectors for the vast majority of that time.

Please feel welcome to give me your feedback – I’m keen to understand whether what I’m seeing aligns with what you’re experiencing.

People aren't making decisions because of the election.

Maybe, but I’m not convinced that this isn’t often the “excuse du jour”, being used by salespeople to explain why they can’t convince clients to make decisions. I’m sure there’s some level of inaction due to Saturday’s poll, but I can’t help think that the issue is being a bit
over-played by salespeople seeking an easy “out”. Will your buyers’ world really look that different come Monday?

Understanding the buyers' journey is key.

Judging by the take-up of places at our Sales Forum in early August, the feedback from
attendees afterwards, and the amount of interest in future events we’re planning, there’s plenty of interest in learning more about buyers’ behaviour, aligning sales processes to that behaviour, and engaging with buyers at an earlier stage of their “journeys”. If your business isn’t investing in expanding its knowledge in this area, be concerned – it’s likely your
competitors are.

Transferrable skills aren't in vogue.

When hiring, employers are, by and large, insisting on seeking salespeople and sales leaders with specific domain experience. They’re looking for the shortest possible ramp-up period before new hires become productive and aren’t inclined to look too closely at people lacking a track record of sales success in their specific sector. Probably not the time to be hoping for a quantum career change!

Roles are being left unfilled.

If the “perfect 10” can’t be found, plenty of employers are leaving positions vacant, often for months at a time, rather than compromise on their “wish list”. Understandable to an extent, perhaps, but you have to wonder what opportunities are being missed in the meantime.

Your CV - it really needs some work.

You won’t be surprised to learn that I read a lot of CVs. On the whole, I’d say most people do a pretty poor job at promoting themselves, which surprises me a little, given that people in the sales space should realise that their CV is effectively a marketing document. It’s a candidate-rich market, folks, particularly at more senior levels, so investing the time to get this right is a must. No, I won’t do your CV for you. Yes, I will spend the time to critique it and give you some pointers if you get stuck.

As always, please feel welcome to call anytime should you wish to discuss my pearls of wisdom further, be looking to source high-quality sales talent, or to discuss where your career is heading.

Regards…Michael

Findings From the Frontline Edition 4

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:53:56 GMT

Welcome to my monthly update, focusing on issues that I’m seeing in my business, which may be of relevance to you and yours.

Please feel welcome to give me your feedback – I’m keen to understand whether what I’m seeing aligns with what you’re experiencing.

Sales pipelines coming under scrutiny.

Interesting meeting with the Sales Director of a multinational last week, who talked about the level of ‘interrogation” being applied to his team’s sales pipeline to ensure that the business truly understands the potential, and possible hurdles facing, each significant opportunity. Then had almost the identical conversation with the MD of a 10 person business, who’s doing the same. Perhaps the days of “rubbery” projections, based on the gut feel of the salesperson, are becoming numbered.

The rise of the telemarketer.

Not sure that I’ve seen enough evidence to call it a trend, but I’ve come across a number of businesses who’ve engaged telemarketers to perform the cold-calling function their Sales Reps have traditionally carried out. The idea is to bypass the “call reluctance” of many salespeople and have them spend more of their time in front of “qualified” prospects. Nothing new in this business model, perhaps, but interesting to see suppliers to sectors such as construction and resources adopting it.

It's as tough as ever to find high-quality salespeople.

Despite the rise in redundancies and terminations, and the resulting surplus of people looking for new positions, most companies are still saying they’re struggling to find proven high-performers. In some cases, the employers’ expectations may be unrealistic, but there’s no doubt that people are staying put in their positions, rather than risk making the wrong move in a tough economic climate.

The value of networking.

I’ve had a number of sales leaders tell me they’ve gained value from exchanging ideas with peers from different industries, with a view to looking at how other sectors might be approaching the challenges we all face. I suspect there’s a twofold benefit involved – the exchange of ideas itself, and the comfort of knowing you’re not alone out there! In fact, the feedback has been so positive I’m looking at the potential of conducting roundtable discussions, involving sales managers from a variety of sectors bouncing off each other. Let me know if this might be of interest to you!

As always, please feel welcome to call anytime, should you be looking to source high-quality sales talent or wanting to discuss where your career is heading.

Regards…Michael

Findings From the Frontline Edition 1

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 03:26:07 GMT

Welcome to the first of what should be monthly updates, focused on what I’m seeing in my business, which may be of relevance to you and yours.

The last thing I want to do is bombard your inbox with useless spam, but I’d like to think I gain insights into what’s happening “on the ground”, by virtue of:

Enjoy, and please feel welcome to give me your feedback (I’m a recruiter, I can take you being direct!).

2013 so far:

Shorter Christmas-New Year breaks. From what I saw, people tended not to take extended breaks into January this time around. It might have something to do with wanting to be seen to be keeping the shoulder to the wheel in tough times, but Monday, 7 January seemed to be “back to work day”.

The exodus from corporate. Candidates continue to be attracted to the idea of leaving corporates for SMEs. Their reasons? Budgets increasing while people numbers and resources head the other way, convoluted bonus systems that always seem to end up with the same result – little to no payout despite strong individual performance, and a flattening of organisational structures turning the corporate ladder into a corporate stepladder, are all specific reasons I’ve heard so far this year.

Safety-first thinking. Plenty of well-performed people, not happy with their current lot in life, are keeping their powder dry in terms of jumping ship. Their rationale? Largely, the fear of a move turning out to be the wrong one, leaving them exposed in a tough economic climate. What that might mean, in terms of staff turnover if/when the economy improves, only time will tell.

Who wants to be a manager? Sales managers, particularly in larger businesses, are finding that increasing reporting demands and administrative burdens are restricting their capacity to do what they really want to do – spend time in the field coaching their sales teams and talking to customers. In addition, they’re seeing companies remove layers of middle management as they “right-size”. It’s perhaps not surprising that I’m increasingly talking with people attracted to the idea of pursuing senior sales or BDM roles, rather than continuing to lead sales teams.

A bit of confidence! No matter what the numbers might be saying, and time will tell whether this is grounded in anything other than hope, there’s a definite note of optimism out there. The mood in Mackay, for instance, had definitely lifted between my November and January visits there.

As always, please feel welcome to call anytime, should you be looking to source high-quality sales talent or wanting to discuss where your career is heading

Regards…Michael

Findings From the Frontline Edition 2

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 00:12:18 GMT

Welcome to my monthly update, focusing on issues that I’m seeing in my business, which may be of relevance to you and yours.

My insights are gained by virtue of:

Enjoy, and please feel welcome to give me your feedback (I’m a recruiter, I can take you being direct!).

2013 Quarter 1 is done and dusted:

There’s business out there, but it’s patchy. Companies I’m talking to – often direct competitors – are reporting a real mixed bag in terms of market conditions. Some seem to be holding their own, while others are telling me tales of woe in terms of market conditions. There’s not universal doom and gloom, but there’s not rampant optimism out there, either.

Investment in systems is paying off. It’s probably no coincidence that businesses which have spent time on their sales processes, and on coaching implementation of those processes into their sales teams, are reporting a payoff. More effective targeting of prospects, more productive meetings with those prospects, and more accurate, realistic pipelines are examples of the anecdotal feedback I’m hearing.

But not everyone’s doing it. The good news, for those who have put structure and rigour around their sales processes, is that plenty haven’t. And I’m not just talking about the SME sector, which is where one might expect less structure – there are corporates I’ve met with that are still not using effective CRM systems, and plenty of salespeople and BDMs working without KPIs other than the sales number they’re expected to deliver. Scary, but true.

Compelling EVPs matter. If you’re looking to attract top talent and you don’t have a compelling EVP, you’re in strife. Don’t know what an EVP is? It’s your Employee Value Proposition, and it’s the reason people decide to join your business (or not). Good people need to be sold the opportunity if you’re going to have a shot at convincing them to leave what they’re doing now (and your pitch need not have anything to do with what you’re going to pay them, by the way).

“Turning up” works. Some of the best few performers I’ve talked to in recent months have a very simple outlook – be persistent, be consistent, and try to deliver value in every conversation and meeting they have with a customer or prospect. Simple stuff, but it seems to work. Who’d have thought?

As always, please feel welcome to call anytime, should you be looking to source high-quality sales talent or wanting to discuss where your career is heading.

Regards…Michael

Why are we accepting ‘acceptable mediocrity’?

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT

Disturbing research regarding under-performance of the sales function in many businesses came across my desk late last year and troubled me over the Christmas-New Year break, and I suspect I’m not alone. It’s very much stayed top of mind as I’ve returned to work in the New Year and started speaking with clients about their plans for 2015.

Michael Pascoe’s piece in the Sydney Morning Herald references the findings of the RPMG Revenue Performance Index, in which 172 CEOs were interviewed specifically about the revenue performance of their businesses. A worrying 68% said their organisations missed or will miss their current year revenue target, 67% reported not being confident of meeting next year’s target, and 58% of sales reps missed or will miss their current year quota (with 27% of sales reps missing quota by more than 20%).

The report is sobering reading, with executives, sales managers, marketers, CRM vendors, sales trainers and recruiters all copping their share of the blame for contributing to a climate of, as one CEO put it, ‘acceptable mediocrity’.

If this resonates with you, the good news is that you’re clearly not alone in being frustrated by the underperformance of your sales team.

After reading a recent blog post by my Davidson colleague, Shawn Ket, in which he discusses that “knowing is not enough . . . we must do”, perhaps it’s not such a mystery as to why sales underperformance is being tolerated.

Right, so we know that you’re likely to be frustrated by the performance of your sales team and, if you’re in the same boat as the RPMG survey respondents, you’ve perhaps become almost accepting of it. We also know that, despite knowing that you need to do something, there’s every chance you’ve not acted meaningfully on it.

The good news is that businesses taking positive action are finding that it’s paying off. A number of companies I work with have raised the bar over the past 12-24 months, in terms of expectations of their sales function and, anecdotally at least, are being rewarded for it. They report improved performance against targets and increases in market share, typically through taking a combination of the following actions:

Well, it’s 2015 and – for most of us – it’s six months from the end of the financial year. The economy isn’t about to spring to life, either domestically or internationally. Commodity prices are unlikely to rebound anytime soon, and governments sure aren’t about to wave magic wands.

The situation simply isn’t going to resolve itself. Businesses and leaders prepared to grasp the nettle and act are the ones, from what I’m seeing, thriving despite the environment. Wouldn’t you prefer to be among them?

Michael Simonyi is a Senior Consultant – Sales & Business Development in Davidson Corporate .

Findings From the Frontline Edition 3

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT

Welcome to my monthly update, focusing on issues that I’m seeing in my business, which may be of relevance to you and yours.

My insights are gained by virtue of:

Please feel welcome to give me your feedback – I can take you being direct!

It's not all doom and gloom:

Mining production on the rise? While new project development remains largely on the backburner, we’re seeing an increase in mine owners/operators recruiting management roles in Planning, Production and Maintenance, and anecdotal feedback suggesting that mine production levels are increasing.

Is there hope for the property market? Response from our clients in property development and construction, to recent changes in legislation surrounding planning, has been extremely positive. Early days yet, but there are definite sentiments of hope emerging around commercial and residential construction.

As always, please feel welcome to call anytime, should you be looking to source high-quality sales talent or wanting to discuss where your career is heading.

Regards…Michael

The best way to beat them is to specialise

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT

“The employer is looking for industry experience.”

“The employer is looking for a very particular skill-set.”

I know candidates don’t want to hear these words. Generally speaking, I don’t want to be saying them. So if you are a candidate who is getting blocked by such sentences, is there anything you can do? Of course there is! Turn the objection on its head.

Let’s assume you have several years’ experience, and in your professional life you have generally worked 40 hours per week; week in and week out. Put all of those hours together and the undeniable truth is, you are skilled, you know your work and you perform to a high level.

But can you sell these skills as your area of expertise in an interview?

As a candidate preparing for an interview, make sure you know your specialist skills inside-out and most importantly, that you can articulate them. Once you have these clear, then practice selling those skills like the specialist you are. This may sound simple, but you would be surprised at how many people fall short when it comes to truly ‘selling’ their skills.

For example, consider this scenario:

Interviewer: “Have you built budgets in Excel within the health industry before?”

Candidate 1: “No, I have never built budgets in Excel within health.”

You can be sure that at this point Candidate 1 is facing an up-hill battle to secure this role. What’s more, it’s highly likely that Candidate 1 is feeling deflated by their own poor answer, and it is highly probable that their next answer will be equally uninspiring and lacking in confidence.

Let’s look at the same scenario with a candidate who is well versed in selling their skill-sets:

Interviewer: “Have you built budgets in Excel within the health industry before?”

Candidate 2: “I have not been directly employed within the primary health industry, but in my role within (…insert industry…) I built and managed the entire budget process for company XYZ from scratch, which is a multi-site business across 4 states of Australia, turning over $200m pa. As a part of that process I met with 8 Site Managers and partnered with them to understand their business drivers and the commercial realities of their individual sites. This was a new experience for the Site Managers and the feedback from the business on the FY17 budget process was very positive. Once the budgets for each site had been created I then prepared a consolidated Group budget, all in Excel, which I presented to the CFO, who then delivered the budget to the Board for approval. Excel is a tool that I have used throughout my entire career and I am competent at the intermediate to advanced level. I have been using V look-ups, pivot tables, formulas and marcos throughout my career. I have been writing macros for over 7 years.”

Clearly, Candidate 2 has given a much stronger answer.

Why is this answer so compelling? The four strengths of Candidate 2’s answer are:

It is highly probable that while delivering the above answer, Candidate 2 observed positive, reinforcing body language from the interviewer. Consequently, Candidate 2 is now more likely to feel good about him/herself and will answer the next interview question with continued confidence.

So when you are next preparing for an interview, spend time articulating your key skills and be well rehearsed in presenting yourself as a “specialist” in these areas.

Brian Cunningham is a leading specialist recruiter in Accounting & Finance, for the Corporate division of Davidson .

A Love Story Made Me Cry and Taught Me the Art of Public Speaking

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT

Training exercises don’t usually make grown men cry but this one did.

Many years ago, I attended a workshop on public speaking, the technique I learned was so simple and so powerful I have used it ever since.

If I describe the exercise, you’ll understand what I mean.

There were 12 of us sitting around a board room table. The task we’d been set was to spend five minutes writing our business vision. Each person was then to read aloud what they’d written.

It was so boring – 12 versions of the same corporate blah blah. No wonder our staff nod off in meetings when leaders proudly pronounce their vision to the team.

What came next changed all that completely.

We were instructed to tear our first version into tiny little pieces.

Now the task was to dig deep within to find a deeply personal and vulnerable story. This story, when told, would segue neatly into our business vision in a way which touched people’s hearts and engaged their emotions.

One story from the headmaster of a large private school brought a tear to our eyes and left a lump in our throats.

His corporate speak version was something along the lines of, ‘The school I am building will create responsible adults who make a positive contribution to the communities in which they live etc etc.’ Boring!

The story he next told was different. It wasn’t the authoritative headmaster speaking, it was a quietly spoken, vulnerable human being speaking from the heart and this is what he said:

‘When I was growing up, my father was a prison warden. Th ere was a corruption inquiry at the jail and my father was implicated. The case went to court and my father was found guilty. He was dismissed from the prison service and never worked another day in his life. He became a hopeless alcoholic.

My bedroom was next to the kitchen and many nights I’d fall asleep listening to the sounds of my drunken father throwing pots and pans and yelling at my mother.

To escape from this stressful home-life, I created my own fantasy world. Each night as I lay in bed I would retreat into my other world. In this life, I was married to a beautiful woman called Sally. She had shoulder length blonde hair. We had two wonderful children, a dog, and a family filled with fun, laughter and happiness. I’d live in that world every night.

Thirty years later, I am married to a beautiful woman and her name really is, Sally. She actually does have shoulder length blonde hair and we do have two beautiful children. We even have the dog. And yes, our house is filled with fun, laughter and happiness. Somehow I dreamed my fantasy world into existence.

And our school, is one which creates families like this.’

There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

What actors get taught that the rest of us don’t know is how to tell powerful stories. They know that the first thing they must do with an audience is to ‘plug in’ as they call it – connect with the emotional system of every person in the room as quickly as possible. Do this and people will hang off your every word. Fail to connect and you lose the room before you’ve even started.

There’s lots of research to behind this technique. It’s Friday morning and I’m not in the mood for lots of theory but if you are, read the works of Albert Mehrabian, he’s a leader in this field.

Now, whenever I speak, I only ever tell my own stories. It’s the only thing I’m truly an expert on – my own journey and my own stories. I embrace my vulnerabilities and admit to my many weaknesses.

This works for me and it seems to connect well with the people I speak to.

Of course, you must know your subject and have something of value to impart. The thing is, I’ve never met anyone I can’t learn from. We all have learnings to share if only we knew how. Story telling is what works best.

We all know how to be real and we all know how to be vulnerable. We all have valuable stories to tell. Often the hardest part is knowing how to begin.

To gain the confidence you need, try this technique, it works for professional actors, it works for me and it’ll work for you.

Rob Davidson is the Founder and Director of Growth at Davidson .

Can the public sector drive the lean approach by taking lessons from the manufacturing industry?

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT

With the constant pressure to do more with less, there is a growing interest in running lean teams in the public sector.

Lean is a management philosophy that is based on Toyota’s approach to process improvement and was coined in the 1980s by an MIT research team led by Dr James Womack, who later went on to develop the Lean Enterprise Institute.

Given my experience in recruitment within both manufacturing and public sector industries, I have witnessed firsthand the benefits and challenges of running lean teams.

As a recruiter within the government sector in Queensland, I have noticed an increasing interest in the lean approach and how it can be applied in non-manufacturing workplaces.

I am constantly asked, what exactly is the lean approach and can it work within the public sector?

Simply put, the lean approach is based on the analysis of processes to remove and reduce waste.

Some of the key traits of the lean approach include:

Running lean teams is more than just operating in an under resourced environment, it’s about evaluating existing processes and the value they provide the end client or customer.

It has traditionally only been used in manufacturing or similar industries.

However, the former CEO of Melbourne City Council, Dr Kathy Alexander, believes it’s ideal for the public sector.

Dr Alexander was responsible for introducing the lean approach to Melbourne City Council during her tenure from 2008-2014. This made Melbourne City Council the first local council to adopt the lean approach in Australia.

By driving a lean process, Dr Alexander was able to keep Council’s rate increase to below CPI levels over five years, while still putting on two new major events, building two new libraries, a new recreation centre and catering for a 23 per cent increase in the population.

“We wouldn’t have been able to do that without applying the lean approach,” Dr Alexander said.

Dr Alexander introduced the Lean concept after seeing the results of previous restructures and job cuts.

“These days, in cities in particular, population growth and the associated demands, are increasing so we have to do something and show we are being as productive as possible,” Dr Alexander said.

“Beforehand, the Council had employed a consultancy firm to conduct a three-month study. The result was a structure change.

“They changed the executive team by taking a layer of management out of the organisation.

“All up they saved around $7 million in costs. However, the trouble was that the organisation stalled for about a year afterwards. Productivity plummeted, because people were still using the same processes, but with just less people this time.

“As a result, people burnt out and a lot of time and energy was spent on replacing and training new people to drive productivity.

“I worked out it cost around $3.5 million for the Council to save $7 million.”

It was after this process Dr Alexander, who had previously worked in the health sector, began investigating.

“I knew the Flinders Medical Centre had started a study on running lean processes in healthcare,” she said. “I knew people in the Flinders Medical Centre so I asked them to work with us as consultants. I wanted to work with people who had experience in the non-manufacturing application of lean.”

Many argue that this approach can be hard to implement in the public sector, when services provided may not be delivered to a ‘customer’ and the value to the taxpayer has to be considered.

“Everyone associates lean with the manufacturing industry,” she said. “The lean approach can be used anywhere.

“People say, but we are different to the manufacturing industry. I think that’s why it hasn’t been picked up as much in the Public Sector as much as it should be.”

Dr Alexander said she preferred the lean approach as it gave her more insight into what the community truly wanted.

“This approach focuses on the customer,” she said. “We found out that we were often wrong in what they wanted and valued.

“An example of this was when we thought the community wanted nurses to be answering the phones to make appointments.

“But what came out was that they didn’t care who they spoke to, they just wanted to ensure their appointment was booked.

“Through this, we managed to cut administration time and it meant that nurses could spend up to 10 per cent more time with the clients rather than answering phones.”

Another area lean processes assisted was in the maintenance of parking meters across the city, which equated to around $3 million in uncollected revenue.

“We had a protocol that if someone called in to report a faulty meter, we did not issue infringement notices for 12 hours either side of the report,” she said.

“When we examined the process we found out that a large percentage of the time, the problem was not that the meter was faulty, it was just full of money.

“The solution was a variable collection program depending on the utility of meters. We had jumped to a solution without really understanding the problem.

“This also had a flow-on effect of a 30-per-cent increase in productivity in the call centre as people calling up to complain about the parking metres had been one of the biggest reason for their calls.”

Once you’ve decided to adopt the lean approach, it can be hard to work out where to start. Dr Alexanders says there is no wrong place to start.

“The idea is to start articulating and dissecting the problem,” Dr Alexander said. “Even if you start in the wrong spot, you can identify that it’s not the problem and something else is.

“It can be slower to get started, but it’s not wrong. I would select three high-volume processes in the organisation and look to engage the relevant managers in the process of analysing and dissecting them.”

To really succeed you need to have the right skills and experience on board.

“You have to have someone who is a guru, someone who understands the philosophy,” she said. “Someone who is very good with the tools, who is able to coach and teach and develop executive teams and the team leaders.”

Dr Alexander said lean is a way of thinking and leading, not just a set of tools.

Her experience with Melbourne City Council has changed her own management style and she has replaced the saying ‘don’t come to me with a problem, come to me with a solution’ with ‘if you can’t come to me with a problem, you have a problem.’

Dr Alexander said there is always room for improvement and you have to encourage people to think about the real problem.

“By encouraging people to jump to the solution, you miss the opportunity to really analyse a problem and find a solution that fixes the real issue permanently,” Dr Alexander said.

Ultimately, the success of running lean teams is dependent on engaging employees to analyse the existing processes and to contribute to improvements.

This can only come from building a culture and a team that supports this.

Have you operated lean processes in your sector? How did you find it? To continue my research into this area, I would love to hear your experiences.

Anna Fett is a Consultant with Davidson Corporate and is a Government Specialist. Anna regularly writes about matters relating to the workforce and the public sector. Her last blog looked at The future of leadership and how it relates to the public sector.

Constructing the next workforce: A chat with Pellicano’s Construction Manager Chris Nock

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT

As a general manager and construction manager, Chris Nock has been actively involved in the industry since the mid-1980s and has worked within the field across South Africa, the UK and Australia.

Now the Queensland’s Construction Manager for Pellicano Builders, Chris has witnessed firsthand the changes and challenges facing the industry. Davidson Projects & Operations Consultant Merryn Thomlinson sat with Chris recently to discuss the future of the building and property industry and how future generations can best prepare.

Chris discusses the all-round skills shortage currently facing the industry; what he looks for in new employees; what we can do to encourage young people into the industry; and new innovations revolutionising the future productivity of the industry.

What has been your career pathway to date?

I completed a Bachelor of Science in Building Management at the University of Cape Town, graduating in 1984. In the mid-80s, I left South Africa and moved to the UK to work on-site based roles. I moved to Australia in ’87 and worked on-site based roles, until I joined FKP in ‘92 where I moved from a Site Supervisory role to a Construction Manager role in the mid-90s. I have held General Manager and Construction Manager roles ever since.

What effect do you think technology will have on the industry in the next 10 to 20 years?

We are starting to see more advancements in certain aspects of what we do, but for the most part relating to building structures in particular, the changes in material technology has not been overly dynamic.

I think we are still stuck with traditional materials we have used for hundreds of years being concrete, bricks and mortar. There are some interesting advancements in the actual delivery of structure though the areas such as the adoption of modular construction techniques. It is certainly gaining momentum, which in turn offers clear advantages in speed and quality, but this appears to have a more beneficial and popular application in the area of finishes.

There are noticeable areas of advancement in green and energy efficiency initiatives. Similarly advancements in finishing products occur from time-to-time. Energy efficient cladding and glazing advancements are two areas that come to mind. There are some interesting advancements in the areas of design and design coordination, estimating, cost management and document control areas through the software packages that are currently available.

I can see as a result of this that certain disciplines will fundamentally disappear and others will become more prevalent, but for the actual delivery of the building structure itself we are still stuck with the format of people, traditional concrete, bricks and mortar for the foreseeable future.

What trends do you see happening in the market at the moment?

Residential construction is where the majority of the activity is at the moment in South East Queensland and that is driven by a number of factors. The major factors being the emerging Asian market, their investors and low interest rates.

The mining sector has slowed down, so all levels of government appear to be actively looking to encourage construction activity. It is evident that there is a lot of people moving money out of Asia that in turn is going into these residential projects.

How long that goes for nobody knows, but from past experiences it would appear that we have probably two or three years to run, what for us is, the latest mini-boom.

What do you think we need to be doing today to prepare for tomorrow?

We definitely have an all-round skills shortage. The industry need to be more proactive in providing incentives in encouraging young people into our industry. Unfortunately, activity in our industry is cyclical and quite often by the time they complete their training there aren’t any guarantees that there won’t be a slowdown in construction.

However the overall trend, driven simply by population growth, makes our industry an attractive one to be involved in.

What innovations, that our counterparts overseas are doing, that we should be aware of?

Modulisation. We need explore to this more. A huge slice of the European and Asian residential construction markets have adopted modular construction as the standard. Doing as much assembly off-site, modulising and prebuilding and basically bringing it to site in large components that simply get craned and bolted in to sections has tangible benefits for the builder.

This trend ultimately assists in dealing to some degree in addressing the current skills shortage. The Hickory Group in Victoria is a prime example of taking advantage of this process. They bought in some of the old Ford workers that had been made redundant with the closure of the motor industry plants and utilised their expertise within their factory to produce high quality modular bathroom units.

They have taken their skills and applied them to our industry with great success.

What do you look for in new recruits?

I would put enthusiasm and integrity as my primary considerations. Expertise and academic qualifications are a consideration, but at the end of the day it is not an overriding prerequisite.

Quite often, I find some of the best employees are those that have done a trade initially and then wanted something more, so they have motivated themselves and worked at the same time and studied and then got the academic qualification to support and complement their practical knowledge.

Longevity with past employers is certainly a consideration. Looking at the environment they come from and compare it to the environment that you are going to be putting them in.

For example, we are very much active in the design and construct arenas so I look for people with that background and experience. I also look for people who want to expand their horizons and don’t simply want to be pigeonholed into being just be an administrator or just be an estimator.

They ideally need to have an interest and show a flair for other disciplines, within what we do as builders.

And in the next five years?

I think the main challenge will be getting skilled people across the board. The move towards greener technologies will be a task in itself and we will need to be building smarter, greener buildings quicker and more efficiently. Finding the people who have the skills to deliver them across the spectrum will be a challenge.

Modular technology and delivery systems will continue to become more in vogue simply because of the skills shortage. More componentry will be assembled off-site. Importation of overseas product due to the high costs of local labour will continue to grow.

What do you think the next generation needs to be aware of and focus on to be successful in the construction industry?

Every new generation witnesses the continued and exponential growth of technologies around them. By nature the newer generations are less likely to be intimidated by technologies and more likely to embrace it, work with it and reap the rewards.

Our industry is no different. Building is constantly becoming more complex. With all of the smart technologies that the market is demanding we need to be ahead of the game. Smart buildings, efficient and green buildings – we need to embrace these technologies and have a clear understanding how these are applied for the benefit of the end user.

Merryn Thomlinson is a Consultant with Davidson Project & Operations team and this is the first in her series of interviews on the subject of the future world of work in the construction industry.

INTERVIEW: Joe Arena, CEO Procurement Australia discusses gender diversity in the procurement sector

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT

Davidson is delighted to welco me Procurement Australia as a proud supporter of the upcoming Top 50 Public Sector Women (Victoria) event to be held in Melbourne in August.

Procurement Australia has a strong history in the public sector and we take a few moments to chat with their CEO Joe Arena about gender diversity.

Procurement Australia has come on as a supporter of the Top 50 Public Sector Women (Victoria) event, why do you think it’s important to acknowledge female leaders within the public sector?

As an organisation Procurement Australia is committed to gender diversity in the workplace.

Created by government for government over 30 years ago, Procurement Australia’s heritage is embedded in the fabric of the public sector.

As a small organisation 49 per cent of the Procurement Australia team is female, including two female executives in the leadership team of four, and three female board directors.

Procurement Australia has created the Let’s Network – Women in Procurement group auspiced by the board and lead by Susan Riley, Councillor at the City of Melbourne. Susan is a leading female in the public sector being the first and only Deputy Lord Mayor for the City of Melbourne.

This group encourages the sharing of knowledge, enablement and professional networking for the industry and both the private and public sectors. The network’s aim is to develop professional skills and expertise, and encourage and mentor up-and-coming women in the procurement field through a series of bi-monthly meetings across the states.

As CEO you provide leadership and strategic direction for Procurement Australia, what steps have you taken to encourage gender balance within the workplace?

We actively recruit and promote women in the workplace.

Procurement has traditionally been a male dominated profession and today we are seeing so many talented, dynamic female procurement specialists working with us to deliver outcomes for their organisation.

Procurement Australia also acknowledges and champions female leaders with the creation not only of the Let’s Network group but also a National Procurement Managers Board of which there are currently two female members.

In Victoria we have a CEO Advisory Panel of which we are pleased to have Rebecca McKenzie CEO of the City of Glen Eira participating along with Noelene Duff CEO of Whitehorse City Council. These women are great leaders to inspire our team and we are creating opportunities for other women in the industry to share knowledge and network as well.

The push for gender diversity across all industries is strong but not always effective. What do you feel is the biggest challenge companies face in achieving gender balance at senior levels?

Often it is encouraging women to apply for the positions that have traditionally been held by men.

The intention has to be genuine and transparent. It is important to mentor and encourage women to apply for the senior roles.

In some industry sectors, gender targets are seen as the only way to achieve better representation of women. What are your thoughts on this?

I’m a firm believer in gender targets. I still feel that all things being equal, males tend to get selected. This is a mindset we must change and setting gender targets gives women the opportunity to not only be placed in a senior role but also demonstrate that they are capable at senior levels. I believe that some time in the not too distant future we won’t need gender targets as they would have done their job.

You’ve had a long and successful career in supply chain and procurement, what major changes have you seen within the industry?

Historically procurement has always been filled by people that had little to no qualifications who could demonstrate a competence in getting quotes and processing orders. Although the profession is still relatively immature in various industry sectors I’ve seen greater professionalism that has turned a processing job to a strategically important function in most organisations. Procurement is also moving away from just purchase to pay and contracts management to strategic sourcing. Many procurement professionals are now involved at a more strategic level at their organisations than before.

Procurement professionals now manage categories of spend which includes the mitigation of risk, managing internal demand and supplier performance. Procurement professionals are better educated at tertiary level with some attaining post graduate qualifications. There are primarily two ways that funds leave an organisation; one is paying for staff the other is paying for stuff. Procurement is responsible for delivering value when procuring the stuff.

In terms of female representation have you noticed an increase?

Most definitely yes. There is now a very talented group of female procurement professionals, our own organisation reflects the change. Having said that, I feel that there is a long way to go. From my observations the vast majority of procurement professionals are male. This is something that must be addressed.

Entries for the Top 50 Public Sector Women (Victoria) close June 12. For more information go to: www.publicsectorwomen.com.au

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Early Bird Deadline Extended for the LG Innovate National AI Summit – Now Closes COB Friday 25 July 2025

We’re pleased to share that we’ve extended the early bird registration deadline for the LG Innovate National AI Summit by one week – now closing COB Friday 25 July 2025 .

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With artificial intelligence reshaping the way governments operate, the 2025 LG Innovate National AI Summit is your opportunity to stay ahead of the curve.

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Early Bird Offer Ends Soon

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