About two-thirds of employees do not know or understand their employer’s business strategy and are not engaged in their jobs, according to a survey of 336 organisations by Right Management Consultants.
About two-thirds of employees do not know or understand their employer’s business strategy and are not engaged in their jobs, according to a survey of 336 organisations by Right Management Consultants. The remainder of employees are unsure of or disengaged from their employers’ missions and business strategies, leading to negative consequences such as lower productivity and product quality, more customer complaints and higher turnover. Management’s effective communication of the vision of the business to all employees is one of the biggest differentiators between engaged and disengaged workforces, said Chris Gay, senior vice president and practice leader, employee engagement & communication, for Right Management Consultants.
IR changes explained over breakfast
A series of breakfasts are being held throughout the country in order to inform employers about the recent WorkChoices reforms, due to take effect on 1 March 2006. Led by Federal Workplace Relations Minister, Kevin Andrews, the breakfasts will cover the challenges and ramifications that employers are likely to find themselves up against in the workforce. Andrews claims that employers will be required to cater for a more flexible workforce as a result of predicted labour shortages. This means employers will need to be more innovative as the workforce of the future will be a mixed bag of older workers, parents and people with special needs, who in turn will require part-time work and flexible working hours.
Talent2 enters India
Talent2 has entered into a strategic alliance with Pro-Lease India to provide recruitment and HR solutions to the Indian market. Pro-Lease India is a wholly owned subsidiary of InterPro Inc, which is a significant shareholder in Talent2 International. The joint venture will see the creation of a new entity called TalentPro India. Talent2 will provide intellectual property, regional sales services and project management skills to TalentPro India, particularly in the space of talent acquisition management services. TalentPro India will outsource recruitment and talent management for major local and multinational corporations operating in India. TalentPro India currently employs 250 people in approximately eight Indian cities, and provides payroll, HR outsourcing and staffing services.
Working together from a distance
Organisations across the globe are adopting virtual teaming in response to the demands of interconnected, fast-changing, competitive business. Dr Gundry, director of UK company Knowledge Ability, believes managers in charge of virtual and geographically dispersed teams need to come to grips with associated challenges. He says there are many benefits for companies using virtual technology, such as being able to coordinate operations around the world, set up worldwide alliances, improve on supply chains and get work done faster and more cheaply because people do not have to travel. Gundry will present one-day seminars for managers of virtual teams in Melbourne (1 May), Sydney (5 May) and Canberra (3 May).
Accounting for single woman demand
Single women: look no further. Accountants top the list of eligible bachelors. A ‘Fella Filter’ was invented by KPMG demographer, Bernard Salt, to help single women find their ‘Mr Right’ on Valentines Day. The filter took 1.3 million men aged 25-34 and filtered out the married, de facto and gay men, those who have children from a previous relationship, as well as men who earn less than $60,000 a year. This revealed 86,000 single, unattached, largely heterosexual and rich young men. At the top of the list were 3,460 accountants, 2,657 sales and marketing managers and 2,233 software designers. Salt also said: “Generation X must deal with the recruitment and retention of Generation Y as well as managing the demands of retiring boomers. The Xer’s time has come.”
Hiring recruitment talent
Internal Recruitment Group (IRG) recently opened, in order to provide services to a select group of recruitment companies as well as recruiting talent for internal recruitment teams. Ann Jackman is director of IRG, and has more than 20 years experience in a variety of roles, from regional to general manager for global recruitment companies Adecco (then Centacom) and Manpower. Most recently, she was NSW manager for a specialist company in the recruitment agency space. With more than 20 years experience in the recruitment market, IRG’s client base includes government, SME firms as well as large national companies.
