Walk in their shoes: HR at Unisys
25/08/2010
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In the interests of building empathy and emotional capital, people managers are often advised to figuratively walk in the shoes of their team members. In 2009 John Maley, human resources director at Unisys, took this advice to the next level by participating in Operation Boss Lift. Organised by The Australian Department of Defence (ADF), the objective of the exercise is to show employers what their staff are doing when on active service for the Reserves. Not only has the ADF been a long-term client of Unisys, but the company also employees several Reservists. Maley's name was put forward by a colleague, and he soon found himself on a plane to the Solomon Islands.
"I should confess that as a new Australian - that's my excuse - I had to first find out where the Solomon Islands were!" Maley says. "It was fascinating - as well as filling in a large gap in my local geographical and historical knowledge, it was great to see firsthand what individuals gain from being a Reservist and how this can benefit their employers.
"I also got to fire a rifle with live ammunition and eat Army rations, which was a lot better than I expected - but then ours was heated up! All in all it was a fantastic experience and I learned a lot from it."
Early career
As indicated to his reference to being a "new Australian", Maley hails from overseas - in his case Glasgow, Scotland. After completing a Masters at St.Andews University, Maley's early career ambitions were directed towards working in taxation. However, after eight years in taxation he decided this was not where his heart lay. He moved into an IT consultancy and became a resource manager, and then an international mobility manager. "I made the change to HR as I enjoyed dealing with people not paperwork," he says. "Being a resource manager I was matching people to the consulting opportunities that we had across the UK, EMEA and on occasion South America. I learnt very quickly you could really help people achieve their personal objectives, as well as the company's objectives, such as travel, exposure to new technologies or project lifecycle elements and I got a real buzz from making that happen. That sense of fulfilment, together with some encouragement from colleagues, made me realise I wanted to continue a career in HR."
Maley at Unisys
Maley moved to Australia two years ago and joined Unisys at the end of a three-year transformation program for the company which had not been as successful as initially hoped. A new global CEO, Ed Coleman, was appointed in late 2008 and he refocused the company and resources around four areas of strength. This involved restructuring and a number of changes to reduce the company's cost base, including people.
"It was a tough time that required some hard decisions, many of which affected individuals," says Maley. "But this early action helped position us to weather the GFC storm. It's often tougher to be a professional HR team when things are not going well in the business as there is pressure on everyone. I believe that the ANZ HR team and our colleagues around the world have continued to retain the confidence of the business and our advice is valued. Today business is strong both globally and here in ANZ. Many people contributed and I'm proud that the HR team has been part of that."
Maley's current role is HR director for Australia and New Zealand. He holds a number of key responsibilities including: ensuring Unisys is compliant with local employment laws in Australia and New Zealand; managing the HR Generalist Team to ensure they are working on the priorities that support the business; dealing with complaints and grievances; and providing support and education for managers. Like many companies, Maley says Unisys has a model where the 'people managers' focus on managing people, and HR provides the support to the managers as necessary.
He has a team of nine HR professionals across ANZ, who have responsibility for 1,200 people across Australia in many locations. "Quite a few of our staff are based on ADF bases so they are literally over the country," he adds.
Old and new challenges
The HR challenges of Unisys mirror the broader talent challenges of Australia. In other words, Maley is concerned about a strengthening employment market and the accompanying competition to attract and retain staff. In addition, he adds that Unisys is continuing to focus on cost management - not a unique proposition by any means - but one which makes the retention challenge greater.
Therefore, HR efforts are focusing the 'softer benefits' given to staff. For example, Unisys offers flexible working arrangements for staff. "A lot of people really value this flexibility as it allows them to manage personal arrangements, especially child care arrangements. Also, the company is performing well and that is good news - people like to work for successful companies," Maley says.
To this end, each quarter the company holds Town Hall meetings in all of the major locations across ANZ. "Our staff have the chance to hear about our latest business results, major wins and HR and marketing initiatives, as well as the opportunity to ask questions of executives. We also record these and make them accessible to staff in remote locations," Maley explains.
This sense of authentic leadership extends to Maley and his colleagues doing Round Tables with staff when visiting different locations. "I sit down with a dozen staff and pose the question 'What is it like to work at Unisys' and where possible I try to address any concerns. The staff have told me that it is this sort of approach that they like at Unisys," he says.
Maley believes the evolution of HR as a profession over the past 10-20 years will stand it in good stead for the future - but he warns that the profession must move with the times. "With ongoing shortages of good skilled labour the importance of managing them well and seeking to meet their needs as well as those of the business will continue to grow. HR will be expected to the experts in making this happen," he says.
Maley adds that HR will need to be a profession that embraces technological change and also helps to drive it productively throughout businesses. Unisys recently conducted a study on the increased use of consumer technology (iPhones, netbooks, social networking applications) in the workplace - a trend called the 'Consumerisation of IT'. The study found that 97% of Australians use their own devices for work purposes, which raises a range of security and liability issues. However, Maley warns it's not just a technology issue. "We must make sure our HR polices and training address things like how to secure mobile devices, what is/isn't acceptable social media use at work, and the use of this technology to better engage employees," he says. "We can't stop it, so let's embrace it and use it to our advantage."
Maley feels HR needs to step up to the plate in other ways. For example, if HR wants to be perceived as the go-to 'people experts' it needs to figure out where people issues are heading to next - much like the CIO needs to have a strategy around future technology in their business.
"As an example, we need to be focusing on what Gen Y feel is important in a good employer that they want to join and stay with. I for one think I sound like my parents criticising 'youngsters nowadays' if I spend too much time dwelling on the differences and the things that make me a little uncomfortable - such as their desire to be on Facebook all the time or listen to their iPods at their desk. I think we need to recognise what is different and decide what is good for our businesses and what is not," he says.
Maley also has a refreshing take on the trend of HR professionals wishing to include or involve themselves in absolutely everything going on in an organisation - especially when things go wrong. "Sometimes I think that HR people try to position themselves as being critical to everything," he says. "I read an article recently in an HR journal which said the cause of a major and very public product recall for a car company was an 'HR issue' related to poor training in quality assurance. Whilst there may be some small element of truth in that, it came across to me as being a little arrogant. I think if HR wishes to continue to be regarded as professional we need to avoid such attempts to position ourselves as central to absolutely everything."
