'We're looking for talent everywhere'

Over the past couple of years, Accor have been rolling out the culture of "Heartist"

'We're looking for talent everywhere'

The number one skill a HR practitioner needs to have is courage, according to Sarah Derry, senior vice-president, talent & culture – Pacific, Accor.

“A senior HR practitioner needs to have courage and the reason I say that is that when it comes to the work that we do, we have to stay the course,” she said.

Derry added that it’s important to stand up when other people may not necessarily agree with a decision or what must be done as an organisation.

“The other thing is we need to challenge ourselves and that actually takes a lot of courage,” said Derry.

Over the past couple of years, Accor rolled out to their existing team members the culture of “Heartist”.

“Heartist is the way that we approach our interactions with people and it’s a belief that we’re artists in the industry,” said Derry.

“When you put heart and artist together, you get Heartist and that’s our cultural piece.”

Derry is one of the speakers at the upcoming National HR Summit in Sydney and specialises in the areas of culture transformation, strategic business planning, leadership development, employee engagement and organizational behaviour

She has told HRD that the company has been focusing on strong inclusion and diversity policies and procedures

“That means that we’re looking for talent everywhere, really focusing on identifying the top talent of the business and having a really strong learning and development platform,” said Derry.

“Once employees come in it’s about retaining them and making sure that they’re part of the business for the longer term.”

Sarah Derry will be speaking at the National HR Summit in Sydney in the Director’s Forum on 25-26 March. To register, click here.

Recent articles & video

Sydney mall reopens with caution and care after tragic stabbing incident

4 in 10 Aussies checking work emails while on leave: survey

Australia's HR leaders investing more in AI – despite concerns: report

Worker claims unfair dismissal after swapping permanent role for time-limited position

Most Read Articles

WA introduces changes to long service leave regulations for local government workers

Employers express concern about doubling annual leave, at half pay

Worker resigns over frustration amid workplace investigation