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Recently, I was fortunate enough to attend an evening hosted by by the Institute of Directors in Marlborough where Sheffield and their team of specialised consultants shared the outputs of their recent Leadership Survey.

This year's focus was on the ‘emerging’ leaders group across the South Island, specifically leaders under the age of 50. More than 60 leaders were spoken to as part of this survey, concentrating on the big question, “what are the big issues facing South Island business leaders today?

There were five clear takeaway areas from the survey and interestingly (thankfully), all focussing on performance and people.

Leadership Survey Takeaways

1.    The importance of people skills is now a top priority for our leaders and is usually the critical shortage in their leadership teams.

2.    While having a strategy in place makes good business sense, making sure your strategic priorities are clear, translated into measurable goals and objectives and regularly reviewing how you’re tracking against achieving your business goals is fundamental.

3.    Even if you have the best strategy in the world - if the culture isn’t right, you’re in trouble.

4.    Gen Z is here! Employing across five generations in one company is becoming the norm. A key focus moving forward will be how we motivate, reward, support and lead with such diversity.

5.    Coaching is in, traditional performance management is out! Looking forward, being flexible, agile and focussing on continuous improvement will drive success.

While I didn’t participate in the 2017 Sheffield Leadership Survey, it is great to see the focus this year is about 'people.' The takeaway challenges for leaders this year are refreshing and good to see.

People are and need to be, the number one priority. How we attract, develop and lead ‘our people’ will impact how successful businesses are moving forward.

Amanda Parish, Intepeople HR & Talent Partner

Did any of you notice this interesting article in the Business pages of Stuff last week?

Employees rating Employers Article

It essentially outlines how there are now websites like Trip Advisor that you can go to and rate your workplace – usually out of 5.
The site the articles uses as an example is www.glassdoor.com.

As a seasoned HR professional I had to go and check it out and see how it could affect the EVP (Employer Value Proposition) of a company – i.e. the impact this could have on how attractive are you to work for.

Glassdoor calls itself a career community website that features areas such as: Jobs, Salaries, Interview Questions, a place to rate employers and quite a large employers section where employers can place job ads and get free advice on some career type issues.

Be aware that there are already a number of New Zealand based companies on there – usually bigger one e.g. Banks, Insurance. Interestingly as part of your login you are asked to rate where you currently work so it won’t be long till there are a number of NZ employers on there. Glass door has over 30 million users…

So what does this mean for Employers today? I see pros and cons
good%20or%20bad

Pros:
• If you have a really great place to work you will get free advertising and endorsements
• Negative feedback is always a chance to take a step back and ask yourself some hard questions about how it really is working at your place
• You get free feedback on areas you may need to improve on
• It’s a relatively controlled environment where there is not a lot of space for employees to rant about really bad experiences
• It will encourage employers to ensure their recruitment processes are robust and transparent that they provide a high standard of customer service to their candidates

Cons:
• The feedback you may receive is out of your control and there is no opportunity to respond to this
• Employers will really have to live up to their promises
• You may struggle to attract the kind of staff you really want
• You have to rely on perceptions from people who may be very one sided in their views
I do believe this type of rating system is a bit of a wakeup call for Employers. They need to be aware and ready to deal with the impact of these websites on their employment brand.
The changing face of available workforce shows us that the younger Generations are consistently relying on endorsements when it comes to making decisions.
Good feedback could add strength to your employment brand but criticism may have the opposite effect.

Do you have any thoughts on how these rating sites may impact at your workplace?

by Emma Worseldine

The hot HR topic at a work BBQ last week was how much impact the 'Millennials' will make on cultures of the future.
If you aren’t already aware – Millennials are:



We Are Millenials

It has also been said that in the workplace they want:

 

So I decided to go and do a bit of research on how different they actually are when it comes to workforce planning.

Do we as Leaders and HR Specialists have to think differently when planning for and dealing with the younger generations?

Millenials love social media

It seems the answer is Yes and No.

Fortune Magazine has released 5 myths about Millennials in the workplace:

 

All these myths are debunked in the article.
Check it out HERE:

In fact each of the other generational groups – Baby boomers, Gen Y, Gen X – all have their own set of characteristics and myths associated with them.

These characteristics and myths show that we need to be aware of the need to create a workplace where employees of all ages are embraced for the different traits that they bring.

Baby Boomers Traits

So respect each generation and build a workplace where everyone is treated like an individual.

The success of a culture is the ability to bring individuals together to achieve your company’s strategic goals.

Perhaps think of it as an alliance – check out this earlier blog on Alliances

We would welcome your thoughts on whether or not millennials need to be treated differently in the workplace.

By Emma Worseldine

 

References used for this Blog:

  1. http://www.millennialmarketing.com/who-are-millennials/
  2. http://talent.linkedin.com/blog/index.php/2013/12/8-millennials-traits-you-should-know-about-before-you-hire-them
  3. http://fortune.com/2015/04/13/5-myths-about-millennials-in-the-workplace/

Whakatū | Nelson

Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara | Wellington

Ōtautahi | Christchurch

Waiharakeke | Blenheim

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